Remembering Mary Kay Bergman, one of South Park's premier vocal talents, who died ten years ago today.
it is possible I'd seen stand-up before watching Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip, but if so, Richard made me forget about it. RPLotSS was one of the first shows that incorporated performance into stand-up
Richard covered a lot of ground in 80 minutes. a meditation on love, loss and the difference between men and women:
about his near-death from an explosion while freebasing cocaine. merciless
NOTE: I feel silly even mentioning this, but just in case. This is RICHARD FUCKING PRYOR peoples. offensive language is a given. do not listen at work or at grandma's house.
I just called AT&T to move my home phone service to the new place next week. After confirming I can keep my existing number (had been pretty sure I could -- only moving about 5 miles within the same zip code), I was very specific: "I don't want to make any changes at this time. NO CHANGES AT THIS TIME. Move it JUST LIKE IT IS."
After answering the requisite questions to prove I'm me and will still be me at the new address, I was asked to hold, after which the lady came back and said everything's all set, and that she had given me a different bundle and...
ANNOYED! ANNOYED! Was I not clear enough that I wanted NOTHING CHANGED AT THIS TIME? Which part of that failed to get through?
See, someone I know well just moved a couple of months ago and decided to make changes to her AT&T service at the time of the move, and it turned out to be a huuuuuge clusteryouknowtherestofthatword, with AT&T unable and/or unwilling to do what they'd said they'd do, calls to them requiring 45 minute hold times, financial incentives that mysteriously vanished after she signed up, etc. Well. That was more than enough for me to decide to move my AT&T stuff exactly as is, which is why I was annoyed with the proclamation of having been put into a different bundle.
But wait a minute. As I was gearing up for a snippy-fit, the lady proceeded to enumerate the features of the bundle, and it sounds like my monthly bill will drop by 25% or so. And I'll keep all my existing services including Ringmaster which I really like, plus get free unlimited long distance (which I have to admit would be nice in order to keep from running down my cell phone battery in gabfests with friends in other states).
So, if I later rant that AT&T has well and truly hosed my service in the process of moving it to the new address, I'll only have to look at this post to remind myself that I didn't stand my ground. Not standing my ground is something that's not like me. Let's find out whether I'll regret it.
There's another thing I want to do in the move, that I may have to just be annoyed about and then put on my big-girl panties and get over it: I want a glider. I have wanted a glider outside the front of my house for ages and ages. Now I'm going to have a perfect place for one. And thanks to CraigsList, I've found one that would be perfect at a price I'm comfortable with. It all sounds positively halcyon, no? Can't wait!
BUT! Not so fast there, Ms. New-Condo-Owner. It turns out that putting such things on the lawn is not routinely permitted in this development. Nope. It interferes with cutting the grass (which I am happy to report is THEIR responsibility). I'm perfectly welcome to put it on my back patio but, as nice as the patio is and as much as I look forward to enjoying it, part of its charm is its privacy. The view I want to view from the glider can only be viewed from the front yard.
It's annoying, but I knew it was a condo when I signed all those papers and that I wouldn't be totally unfettered in what I can do to the outside part. So I have to submit a variance, sort of a mother-may-I form, to the Board of Directors which will convene next week to review such requests. I'm not optimistic, but it's worth a shot. If they say no, then I'll have to decide whether I want to go ahead and put it in back on the patio.
But really, between these two views for serenely gliding back and forth, wouldn't you prefer the one from the front yard?
I just installed Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) server edition on the music server and managed to get Squeezebox Server, as it's now known, installed. I found this excellent guide:
http://havetheknowhow.com/Install-the-software/Install-Squeezebox-server.html
I tried stable main (7.4.0) but it didn't work due to some database conflict but testing main (7.4.2) worked. It looks good, although I've got no tunes in it yet as I have no idea how to create the disk space and make it visible from my Windows 7 computer. I know it will involve samba, which I have installed. On ClarkConnect, I could get a visual display of the server from the web browser with the included GUI or with Webmin, but Webmin is not available by default on Ubuntu and seemingly it can mess up one's config files?
I've posted on
ubuntuforums.org for some answers and hopefully will hear soon. It
would be so nice to get this fixed up before leaving on Sunday and get
the bits of computer cleared up off the floor and desk finally after
three months. I miss my music server!
If you haven’t heard of Ashley Force Hood, you probably don’t pay much attention to racing. Not only is she extremely successful -- in September, she became the first woman to win a National Hot Rod Assn. U.S. Nationals championship in the funny car division – she is also part of a racing dynasty, as the the daughter of four-time national champion John Force. Also, she was voted the Hottest Athlete in an AOL Sports Poll in 2007. From racing to romance, she reveals the music that has gotten her through both triumph and tough times in her Guest DJ set.
This weekend, Ashley will be in Pomona as part of the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals. She’s been writing updates for USA Today that you can read here.
RR
Walt Kelly and his friends Pogo and Porkypine still say it best:
"Y'know, it seems to be me this is all backwards....
We, Ever'body, ought to keep our big mouths shut all the
whole year long so's we'd have time to think of two minutes worth of
somethin' to say on the eleventh day of November."
to all veterans and their families, thank you.
The poppy is an uncomplicated creature. It has one color. It is not parasitic or solitary. It grows simply, and in groups, like schoolchildren.
But its symbolism is rich, with a magnitude that has spanned many countries, and many centuries. For such a little flower it carries meanings that are vast and weary; that are eternal and quiet in the earth.
In Greece and Rome the poppy meant sleep and death - worlds beneath the cold eyelid. Opium was extruded from its seeds and sleepy breaths colored ancient dens and palaces. Poppies decorated the tombstones of their dead, welcoming the lengthy sleep. In Persian literature, the poppy is called the eternal flower - for emotions unrelenting and without end; for loyalty without limit.
The poppy fields in The Wizard of Oz were billowing and fearsome, promising an everlasting sleep. In Egypt opium was daubed on the neck and wrists like a hypnotic perfume.
It wasn't until 1915 that the significance of the little red flower passed into Europe as well, when the ground was already red. Towards the end of the year a poem was published - a trifle sentimental, a little maudlin, as most affairs of the heart are - and its beginning is familiar:
"In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row...
The fragrant drops of blood growing amongst the white purity must have been a shocking sight to the soldier; in a poem it might be less awful but no less meaningful. The poppy had become a part of their spoiled landscape.
"That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below
1915 was a terrible year. Gallipoli - Ypres - Nueve Chapelle - Loos - The Battles of the Isonzo...the poppies must have shuddered in the stinging breeze.
"We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields
When the war was over, and the hardness and the bitternress had set in, the poppy had adopted another symbol - the four blasted years that had called the Edwardians in from their play, that had rubbed the gilt off the lily. Its brave, bloody image was burnt on the dying soldier's eyes.
On Veteran's Dan/Remembrance Day the popppy is worn, sewn into wreaths, displayed in houses (Aubrey does this): it is still held high.
"Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields"
