More FB from mid November. I guess I had a lot of free time on the 16th. Sorry 'bout that.

Nov 15th

We finished Season 2 of Hell's Kitchen tonight. There's no way Virginia should have made it to the finals, but in the end the right choice (Heather) won. She was shafted re: the prize, but that's a tale for another day. Trivia: Heather,who I found quite yummy, was romantically involved w/ fellow contestant Rachel. Sadly, Rachel killed herself less than a year after the show aired.

I'm 50 or 60 pages into Stephen King's new story collection and yawn yawn yawn. Hopefully it picks up. BTW, I hate when King writes about sex, even in passing. I don't care how many kids he has or how long he's been married, the text always comes off crude, like it was written by the ugly kid in high school who has to pretend he knows what boobies look like.

[that posting led to Alex, an old grade-school classmate of mine, ribbing me that I didn't know much about women either. I replied as follows: Ah, to shake the persistent reputations of our youth. Alex, I can assure you I've seen plenty of boobs. I have a subscription to National Geographic.]

Nov 16th

the rare, funny Leno one-liner: "President Obama's overseas trip has been such a disaster that people in Kenya now claim that he has an American birth certificate."

Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton have announced their engagement. 'bout time you made her an honest woman William!

Word is everyone from the execs, to Tom Brockaw, to the grunts in the field despise Keith Olbermann. He's a knob. Case in point? The man allegedly demands that staff leave notes outside his door, rather than soil his presence by having to see the underlings.

Just tried and failed to win tickets to the New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys [NKOTBSB] concert in June. Crap. Still, it's not like I won't buy tix eventually. At least the winner is a Joey fan, although I'm not keen on her bringing up Jon's sexuality on-air, and I sure as hell don't like Alley's anti-Jon bias. A woman cursed with kankles should have better manners - words to live by Alley, words to live by.

Ginger got off the school bus in a dark mood. We sat outside on the porch, enjoying this warm Nov day, but when I stopped Ms. Grump from writing on a fundraiser form she picked up a flowerpot LuLu had made over the summer & intentionally shattered it on the ground. She is now screaming at the injustice of my anger & her banishment to her room - oh, she just yelled that she hates me. I must be doing something right.

In an upset, former Milw. (current NYC) Archbishop Timothy Dolan has been elected Pres of the U.S. Conf. of Catholic Bishops! "It means the bishops have decided to opt for a confident Catholicism. They had a choice, & they chose the boldest, most outspoken bishop. U wouldn't choose him as ur leader unless u thought what he was doing in the capital of the world (NY) is what we want the church to represent." (quote of Princeton's Robert George)

btw, IMO this was a clear and bold rebuff of the passive, submissive wing of the American Church, the folks who try to get by with wringing their hands and saying "can't we all get along, even if it means we give up everything we believe in???"

Ground was broken today on the site of the George W Bush Presidential Center, set to open in 2013.

The body of 16th century Danish astonomer Tycho Brahe is being exhumed. I vividly recall reading about him in high school.

Reports on CNN indicate Iraqi Christians have reason to fear their Muslim neighbors and are more and more often staying out of sight. Ah, the religion of peace at work.

I took LuLu to get a haircut today, & while she was in the chair I went next door to do some shopping. When I returned a man approached me and asked if I'd be interested in having Lu model for him. I know - instant creep factor, & I brushed him off. But he left a business card behind & to my surprise he cks out, w/4 decades of legit art exhibitions (assuming he hasn't rigged a half dozen websites). Huh. Weird.

(he later rejected her as "too tall")

A 'Dancing With the Stars' upset - Bristol Palin sends Brandy packing. Wow. Good for her, but there's no way she was a better dancer than Brandy. Not that I care; IMO folks that spend more than half their workday dancing have an unfair advantage that skews the results (cough Nicole Scherzinger, cough). But again, congrats Bristol. Good luck next week in the finals.

Willow Smith is Wil Smith's 10 year old daughter and has a hit on her hands w/ "Whip my Hair". It's one of YaYa's current favorite tunes, and she adores the fact Willow is only a year older than her. The kids got a voice, that's for sure, but even to my pop-friendly ears the song has little more than a nice hook to recommend it.

A'ight, some of my Pop Culture training must be kicking in. When Elton John's 'Bennie and the Jets' came on the radio tonight YaYa correctly identified it, w/ no hesitation at all. She then asked me what the heck the song was about, and I didn't have a bleepin' clue. LOL

It predates my birth by a year. What, that means I can't come out and recommend it now? I've been listening to the album 'Band on the Run' a lot lately, and it is mighty fine. If you don't own a copy, pick one up. You won't regret it.

I finally saw the LOST epilogue, "The New Man in Charge". Eh. So-so. 12 minutes is too short a time to answer any question worth asking. I'd like to see Hurley's 'reign', and Walt and Ben's employment, explored further in other media as the years go by.


Nov 17th

I spent part of the morning surfing FB on the new NOOK color.

Lauren Conrad = Yum da YumYum. She looks like Marcia Brady, only not fifty and poor. Better yet, she's the super hot Marcia Brady as you *imagined* her to be when you were a kid.

Is anyone reading Stephen King's "Full Dark, No Stars"? I am, and right now it feels a lot like work. The first novella is so derivative of Poe it reads like student work from a creative writing course. The 2nd story is better, but naturally has a writer as the protagonist, just like, oh, Dark Half, The Shining, Bag of Bones, Misery, The Body, etc. Way to think outside the box Steve.

Former President GHW Bush will receive the Medal of Freedom. Congratualations, and well deserved sir.

WISN is reporting that Lawrencia Bembenek has been moved to a hospice & won't live to see 2011. I can remember my Grandparents looking at newspapers during her trial & saying they were sure she was framed; it'd be nice if some measure of justice took place while Bambi was around to see it. A request for a pardon is in the works, but the powers that be have kept her down for 30 yrs, so don't hold your breath.