August 29, 2007
Dumb question, isn't it... then again maybe not.
Seb tagged me, and he had been tagged by Hulda, and it looks like she got the idea from Bree. Go figure. Anyway, the way they put it...
You'll always have celeb crushes!
They were feeling borderline obnoxious today, they took it out on me and I'm going to take it out on you!
Remember the "8 Random Facts About Me" thing? Yeah, it's basically the same thing, so here are the rules:
1. You post your top 10 fantasy guys/girls.
2. You tag 10 people.
3. You CANNOT tag someone who has already been tagged.
4. You have to let the people you tagged know that they've been tagged.
5. These are the rules they must be repeated every time.
6. THERE MUST BE PHOTOS! AT ALL TIMES!
Now here are mine...
#10. Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren is a motion picture, stage, and Academy Award-winning actress, widely considered to be the best-loved most popular Italian actress. During a career spanning more than 50 years, Sophia has amassed 100 films to her credit. She received an Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in 1990, and in 1999 People magazine called Sophia "one of the world's most stunning and age resistant women.” Her chemistry with both renowned director/actor Vittorio de Sica and Marcello Mastroianni (her favorite co-star), produced such successful collaborations as Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow; Marriage, Italian Style; The Priest’s Wife; Gun Moll; A Special Day; and Ready To Wear. Other favorite co-stars of Sophia included Anthony Perkins (Five Miles To Midnight), Robert Wagner (The Condemned Of Altona), Paul Newman and David Niven (Lady L.), Gregory Peck (Arabesque), Marlon Brando (A Countess From Hong Kong), Peter O’Toole (Man Of La Mancha), Richard Burton (The Voyage and Brief Encounter), Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner (Cassandra Crossing), and and Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau (Grumpier Old Men). She's also a respected businesswoman and author of a number of books.
And if you really wonder if a 72-year-old woman can still look good, consider this: she posed for the 2007 Pirelli calendar along with Naomi Watts, Penelope Cruz, Hilary Swank and France's Lou Doillon, and Sophia was dressed in little more than her diamond earrings. She's here simply because she's still one of the most beautiful women in the world.
#9. Quentin Tarantino
Gifted film director, actor, and Oscar winning screenwriter. His films include Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill (2003 & 2004) and Death Proof featured in Grindhouse (2007). And I would have to list him as my favorite director and screenwriter.
#8. Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa (1940 – 1993) was an American composer, musician, film director and satirist, with a career spanning more than 30 years. He worked in almost every musical genre and wrote music for rock bands, jazz ensembles, synthesizers and symphony orchestra. His passion for American politics was a big part of his life. Throughout his 1988 tour, he regularly encouraged his young fans to register to vote, and even had voter registration booths at his concerts.
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Scientology, how about that? You hold on to the tin cans and then this guy asks you a bunch of questions, and if you pay enough money you get to join the master race. How's that for a religion?
~ Frank Zappa, to a concert audience at the Rockpile, Toronto, May 1969
#7. Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler is best known for his comedic roles, such as in the films Billy Madison (1995), Happy Gilmore (1996), and Big Daddy (1999), he has broken into romantic and dramatic roles, such as Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Spanglish (2004), and Reign Over Me (2007). He's pictured here with his wife Jackie Titone. I think he's very funny.
#6. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. King was one of the main leaders of the American civil rights movement. He was a political activist and minister, and is regarded as one of America's greatest orators. King's most influential and well-known public address is the "I Have A Dream" speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC in 1963. In 1964, Dr. King became the youngest man to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (for his work as a peacemaker, promoting nonviolence and equal treatment for different races). On April 4, 1968, he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
#5. Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz is perhaps the most famous portrait photographer living today... period. Her shots of celebrities, including musicians, politicians and athletes, have been celebrated worldwide. She strives to incorporate the public persona of her subject or sitter into each of her photos. Rather than static headshots, she often uses her subject's entire body, most often while in motion, to dispel any artificial qualities. Annie has photographed for magazines (Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, etc.) as well as prestigious advertisers, such as Gap and American Express. She is one of only two living photographers to have had an exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery. Annie is not only a wonderful woman, she's the most amazing people photographer that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.
#4. Raquel Welch
Born in 1940, Raquel Welch is an American actress who reached fame during the 1960s as one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. She won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy for The Three Musketeers in 1974, and was also nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in the TV drama Right to Die (1987). Along with Academy Award nominees and winners Diane Keaton ( 61), Meryl Streep (57), Helen Mirren (61) and Judi Dench (72), she has been a leader in the unofficial " 60 is the new 40" movement, encouraging women to realize that life doesn't end when they hit the age of 39. I'll say!
#3. Sir Sean Connery
What can one say about the Academy Award-winning Scottish actor and producer who played 007 in seven James Bond films, then was knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in July 2000, wearing a hunting tartan kilt of the MacLean of Duart clan. He's been repeatedly named as one of the most attractive men alive by various magazines, though at 77 he's older than most sex symbols. He is also a vocal and visible supporter of the Scottish National Party, often campaigning for their cause of Scottish independence.
My favorite of his film roles? Easy, it was Finding Forrester... "You're the man now, dog!"
#2. Regina Spektor
Regina Spektor is a Russian-born American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered on New York City's East Village, and rely on a mixture of styles and techniques. She is said to have created over 700 songs, yet she never aspired to write songs herself, but rather are based on scenarios and characters drawn from her imagination. Regina possesses a unique vocal style and a broad vocal range and uses the full extent of it. For a good example, just watch this video of her song "Fidelity" from her 2006 "Begin to Hope" album.
Can one fall in love with a voice? Yes, I have.
#1. Carl Hiaasen
Carl Hiaasen is an American journalist and novelist. He attended Emory University, then transferred to the University of Florida, graduating in 1974 with a degree in journalism. He joined the Miami Herald in 1976, where he currently works, focusing on investigative journalism, concentrating on exposing schemes by developers to destroy Florida's natural beauty for the sake of profit. In the 1980s he embarked on a career as a novelist in the '80s, and he wrote his first solo novel, Tourist Season (1986), introducing many of his distinctive styles and themes. His view of Florida shows it to be a nest of greedy businessmen, corrupt politicians, dumb blondes, apathetic retirees, intellectually- challenged tourists, hard-luck redneck cooters, and militant environmentalists. Then there are specific (and hilarious) targets that he focuses on, such as a weeping fiberglass Madonna, hordes of dung beetles, a life-saving bundle of Jamaican pot, a runaway monkey, the Road-Stain Jesus, and a Republicans-only hooker.
His many novels include Basket Case, Sick Puppy, Lucky You, Skinny Dip and Strip Tease, which was made into a feature film starring Demi Moore and Burt Reynolds. He also wrote Hoot and Flush, two novels for young adults. It's a Florida viewed with a pretty satiric and often sardonic eye. Nature Girl (2006) is his latest novel, and follows the proven theme of his other books. And as you might guess, he's my favorite contemporary author.
Well, this might not exactly be as much of a "celeb crush list" as was originally intended, but I'm sticking with it.
I've tagged the following people, in no particular order:
bennbell, kiastar67, mannaz, catiag, raquel23, chloetraisnel, denaliluna, swanktrendzvanc, anachronism, alissaj, knurl, and a bonus, just because nobody ever includes him... the buzzbot.
So go for it, people, and let's see what you've got!
Tags: alissaj, anachronism, bennbell, buzzbot, catiag, chloetraisnel, denaliluna, jargontalk, kiastar67, knurl, lexidiem, mannaz, raquel23, swanktrendzvanc
Posted on 08/29/2007 11:33 PM Comments (37)
August 27, 2007
This for 30 seconds before the judges? More than 20,000 hopeful people lined up for the "American Idol" auditions on Monday, August 27th outside Philadelphia's Wachovia Center. Some had been here for days. Auditions began today for the seventh season of the hit Fox TV show.
Those driving to the auditions caused traffic jams on Interstate 95 during the early-morning rush. Southbound lanes of the major roadway were backed up because of volume, and a crash on the Broad Street exit ramp made the jam up even worse.
 Idol organizers have estimated that Philly will have the largest group to tryout in the country this year, so no matter how good the act, it's going to take a long time for all of them to be to heard.
At first, estimates were that there were going to be about 10,000 hopefuls for the auditions, then that was raised to 13,000, as optimistic people started waiting last Saturday. By this morning, estimates jumped to between 17,000 and 20,000 people who had registered to try out for "American Idol."
There was a "Yes, yes!" door and a "No, no" door from which the hopefuls exited after their reported thirty seconds before the producers. Those who exited from the "Yes, yes!" door made the cut get to come back a second time. The broad field of contestants will be trimmed to 1,000 before the final selections are made later.
It's said that only about 100 performers will make it through to the end of the week when, at an undisclosed location, Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson will hand out the golden tickets to Hollywood for the real competition.
Episodes will begin airing in January
Posted on 08/27/2007 2:48 PM Comments (12)
August 23, 2007
"And I swear, it was this big..."
OK, it's possibly not what you might have been thinking. It could be that she was referring to the fish that got away on the last sea cruise or fishing trip with the guys that she went on.
Around just about every salt water boating marina or place where the bigger yachts congregate seem to be a series of women who hang out and just enjoy going out on boats. If you ask them what they do, they usually just refer to themselves as the "crew" onboard a particular boat, or they may be waiting for another berth on yet another sea craft.
The lightweight luggage that they seem to have available on a 90-second notice seems to contain mostly bikinis, sun dresses, bikinis, various underwear and lingerie items from Victoria's Secret catalogs, bikinis, cosmetics, sun glasses, sunscreen, bikinis, sandals and deck shoes, bikinis, CD players or iPods, a cell phone, bikinis, cut-off jeans, halter tops, bikinis and little more. And did I mention that they seem to have an endless supply of bikinis?
The seem to be attracted to a wide variety of boats. They can range from a sailboat such as a vintage 42' Pearson 424 blue water cruiser or an 83' West Bay SonShip custom luxury motor yacht fresh from Canada, though they can be smaller or larger craft as well. And though most of them deny it, some do seem to be attracted to those seagoing vessels that are owned by members of the so-called Lucky Sperm Club, and word seems to spread rather quickly when one of those craft pulls up to a dock.
Many of the hookups between the young women and the boat owners take place in nearby watering holes. Some of the owners are smilingly tolerant when approached, and some love the attention. Then there are the saltwater stud muffins who own (or have rented/borrowed) these floating craft, and they seem to have a few things in common. They have money to spend, and onboard carry an ample supply of Jamaican rum, Jose Cuervo tequila, Corona Beer, Margarita mix and Jimmy Buffett CDs with which to keep the crew entertained.
Some refer to these young women as boat bimbos, marina girls, beach babes or worse, but that's a pretty unkind cut. Some are just doing this for the fun of it during the late spring, summer, or early autumn months. They can include young women from a wide range: those who are on a break from college, who just got fired from their job at a local pizza shop, or are musicians between gigs. Some are respected professionals who are just on vacation, and doing as they like. Though most of them seem to make a bikini look pretty good, many of them are quite adept at baiting fish hooks, performing engine maintenance, reading navigational charts, or piloting a fairly large cruiser through the channel markers of an inlands waterway.
In any case, they do often make boating life interesting, figuratively for some and visually for a broader audience. And if you ever observe one of them gesturing and hear " I swear, it was this big...", then remember that it just might have been that fish that got away.
Posted on 08/23/2007 12:19 PM Comments (7)
August 12, 2007
"Four Hours..."
Was on the 'Net last Wednesday evening, viewing the news, checking some blogs, reading and sending email messages, all the normal things we do with about eight or nine windows open at the same time. The television was on as white noise in the background. The air conditioner was on as the temperature had hit 97 late that afternoon, and due to the high humidity the index was over 105. Had also been preparing another photo for my New Hope series.
Then suddenly the lights went out.
It was a mad scramble to try and shut things down, but I had been neglecting the fact for about six months that my UPS battery was very low, and only had about 30 seconds to try and shut down. Was exiting when the shutdown sound emitted a strange sound, and for some reason I remember thinking that it was like one would imagine an albatross in its death throes... then all went black.
Where was my flashlight? Found a candle that I had just relocated a couple of days before, but couldn't find any matches, then remembered that I had an old Bic lighter left over from my smoking days, and it still worked... success; there was light!
Went outside to the diminishing light of dusk to find a flashlight in my car, encountered a couple of neighbors who were wondering what happened as well. Nobody had a clue as to what was happening. A neighbor was just returning home from work, and she was surprised that our cul-de-sac was the only one in the area that was dark. Wandered down to the end, looked both ways and saw that she was right, everything else seemed to be well-lit.
The neighbors were beginning to congregate now, but I politely declined what seemed to be a growing social occasion, excused myself and went back inside. My project manager mentality kicked in and I shut off the central air to avert any problem when the power was restored. Then I started cursing myself for not having previously centralized flashlights, candles and such, which is unforgivable for a so-called disaster recovery expert who has written project plans for companies advising them how to prepare for such occurrences.
The term effing was to be used as an adjective quite a few times in the hours that followed.
Finally located candles, flashlights and batteries, and put them where they could all be accessed easily. Must admit here that I'm pretty obsessive about batteries, maybe even borderline OCD about them, and always seem to pick up extra at every visit to the store.
Went back outside to see what was happening a bit after 9:00 PM, and found that the trucks from the power company were there, and two of the three employees were opening manhole covers to access the underground utilities and locate the source of the problem. There seemed to be a block party surrounding the other employee, who was trying to reassure my neighbors that power would be restored soon. When pinned down for an exact figure by one woman, he paused for a moment and replied, "Four hours."
That answer caused a number of vocal responses, ranging from expletives about food going bad in the refrigerator, one about how a man's date that evening was going to be ruined, and a woman exclaiming, "You're gonna make me miss 'CSI' on TV, and I never miss it!" But was not the last time that we would hear "Four hours."
Went back inside, pulled out my handy-dandy book light (just love such gadgets) and read a cool series of articles about Mayan culture in my son's August edition of National Geographic. Did you know that around the year 800 they had a king by the name of Kan Maax? Then I picked up his July issue, and discovered that malaria is rarely found in the United States. That was comforting to know, as I impulsively scratched the mosquito bite received earlier that evening when I had gone outside.
The power was still off. I went back outside to charge my cell phone in the car (another cool and essential power gadget) and encountered a couple of power company people in their white helmets fiddling around in a nearby manhole. I asked them how things were going. One just shrugged his shoulders and looked at the other, who replied "Four hours."
Saw another neighbor approaching them with a cell phone to his ear and a confrontational look on his face, and not wanting to hear any rants at this point, nodded and went to my car. I partially charged the cell phone battery, then went back inside. The house was still reasonably cool from having the a/c on earlier, but our two dogs were restless, sensing that something was different. I comforted them, and they were happy. My son had gone to a Philadelphia Phillies baseball game and a visit with his mother for the night, otherwise he would have been their constant companion. It was easy to see that they missed him.
Settled  in for the rest of the dark evening with Carl Hiassen's Nature Girl, his 11th novel, and one which I had been meaning to start for months now. He's one of the funniest mystery writers there is, and a long-time favorite Florida author who has worked for years as a journalist for the Miami Herald, as has humorist Dave Barry. As I got into the book, the late night time slipped by, and I fell asleep in about the middle of the book's 300+ pages.
Woke at about 5:00 AM on Thursday, and the power was still off. Went to the refrigerator to get something cold to drink, then remembered that if the power was off, I needed to keep the door closed to preserve any food possible. The drink of tap water was unsatisfying, so I opened a warm Coke and walked outside. It was dark and silent, and there were no power company trucks in sight. Thought about a pre-dawn bike ride but had to rule it out as my bike light needed recharging, and I have no death wish on the streets at that hour.
Finished the warm Coke and went back inside, opening the back door as the temperature was now about the same as inside. Let the dogs outside, but the pampered critters wanted breakfast. Since It wasn't time, I settled them back down and got a bit of a restless snooze. Maybe there was more caffeine in the Coke than I had realized.
The dogs woke me again with big wet slurps to the face a couple of hours later, so I fed them and let them outside again. When I let them back in, I closed the back door as I could already feel it warming up, and remembered that the forecast for Thursday had been for record heat in the high-90s, along with high humidity. Went back out front and there were now power truck in sight. Two neighbors were there and motioned me over, so I joined them. One had lived on the street for over 25 years, and in the whole time she had never seen the power out for more than 15 minutes at a time.
Went back in and picked up my book again, picking up where I had left off. One of the characters claimed to his wife that he was suffering from Aphenphosmphobia, the fear of being touched, and his wife was skeptical, as she had surmised (correctly) that he was having a wild fling with another woman. Made a note to look this one up to see just how real it was. But the scene that author Hiaasen painted with this was hilarious.
Shortly after 9:15 I thought that I heard some trucks outside, so I went out front. There were two large power company trucks with cherry pickers there, and the neighborhood block party was already growing, like bees returning to their hive. One of the power company employees then said that they had been dispatched to the wrong location, they were equipped for pole wire problems, and not for underground repairs. They left, and now the friendly neighbor "bees" were beginning to resemble angry wasps.
Went back inside and got my bike, taking it out for an abbreviated ride as the heat was already climbing. Had not showered as I don't relish cold water, so I was feeling sticky already. As I pulled back into our street, paused to chat with a newly arrived power company man who had arrived with a smaller truck, and was already pulling up a manhole cover. You can by now guess what his response to my question was: "Four hours."
My son came back home shortly after 9:30 AM, spent some time with the dogs then went over to a friend's house on the next street. He wasn't stupid: they had power and air conditioning. Most of my day was pretty much the same: reading and trips outside to see what progress was being made.
Most of the day went pretty much the same, with occasional trips outside to hear the same platitude of "Four Hours." It hit 90+ degrees in the house today, but I napped through much of the heat. Finished the book, and can say it is highly recommended. It's witty, outrageous in parts, and it's many plots are pulled together quite well by author Carl Hiaasen. I'll be giving this one a five-star review rating on Amazon.com, without any doubt.
The morning dragged on to afternoon, and the heat was up into the high 90s. Went outside again shortly after 5:00 PM, and another power company truck had been added to the lineup. People had been calling the power company on their now-dying cell phones, and one neighbor was telling everyone how to get reimbursement forms from the power company for refrigerated food lost during the outage. My son came back home about 5:20 and went inside to feed the dogs on schedule. Suddenly one of the power company men got out of his truck and announced to the cluster of about a dozen sweating people that the power would be back on in ten minutes.
One of the women asked, "Not four more hours?" He just smiled and replied that he was going to turn it on down the street. And precisely at 5:35 PM we all saw our power come back on, amidst actual cheers from people who might as well have been Phillies fans at the ball game my son had attended the night before, when they downed the Florida Marlins, 6-4, in game two of a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park. I just smiled.
Went  back inside, and turned that air conditioner on. Checked the refrigerator and found that a generous summer supply of ice cream sandwiches had melted, so out they went, and the rest could be dealt with later. Then it was time to check the computer, an all was fine there. All that remained was to wait for the water to heat so that I could take a long, hot shower.
And so ended almost 22 hours without power.
But there were things to be learned from this, the foremost being to update, consolidate and centralize my own Disaster Recovery Kit... and get more batteries. The other will be to compose a letter to the power company suggesting politely that they equip each truck with one of those talking bird toys that can be trained to say "Four Hours! Four Hours!" over and over again.
Maybe "four hours" should be added to list of the 50 greatest lies of the new millennium.
Technorati tags: lexidiem, jargontalk, power outage, PECO, four hours, Carl Hiassen, Nature Girl, wtf
Posted on 08/12/2007 11:36 AM Comments (21)
August 7, 2007
How does one write about themselves?
As noted in my previous journal entry, I received a note today from Mark (PanasonicYouth) today with a request to click and check out his current journal entry here on Buzznet, so I went to take a look and see what it was about. I looked... and laughed out loud, not making fun of Mark, but because I'm familiar with The Disgruntled Chemist and his frequently off-the-wall blog subjects.
Mark's rules were pretty simple:
- Only list 8 facts.
- You must then list 8 TAGS at the end of the post. This means you must name 8 people on Buzznet who now must do the same blog.
- Go comment on their profile and tell them to come read yours! I want participation.
It's far more fun to do one of these things about someone else, and I did that writing about my perspective of Mark, but guess that it's now my turn, my moment of truth, so to speak...
So here goes:
- First and foremost, there's my son, and the times that we spend together. They often say that a picture speaks a thousand words, and if that's so, this one might say it best:
I'm a single dad, and my son lives with me. He's always a constant source of amazement to me. I used to think that I was pretty smart, but realize that in a few years he's going to be far ahead of me.
 I was born in the year of the steel penny. If it matters that much, you can look it up on the 'Net. Bill Gates and I share the same birthday, but not the same wealth. Life can be that way sometimes.
- I can be pretty profane at times, and am a charter member of the WTF Club.
- Am in the midst of writing some books right now. The first one covers the the usually-boring topic of disaster recovery and business continuity planning for small and medium-sized businesses. Exciting, isn't it? Right now I'm editing the first half and trying to increase it's readability, making a boring subject far more interesting to the reader.
The second is a novel, and is the toughest to write due to the characters, plot and subplots. Refuse to talk about it now because its plot is pretty unique, and we'll leave it at that. It's not hardcore, but some of it is pretty R-rated, to say the least... much like real life.
The third is also a novel, but is the most fun, as it's about people I've met and things that I've experienced on the road of life... like a relative who two of us talked into pissing on an electric fence as part of a contest. The names have been changed to protect the innocent... and the guilty as well.
- I stand 5 feet 9 inches tall. That's 1.75 meters outside of the US, and I had to look that up on the Web, as I'm pretty bad with the metric system.
- My brown hair is strewn with slowly-increasing outbreaks of flecks of gray, but I refuse to dye it. My moustache has been on my face all of my adult life, and there's no dye there, either. My eyes are hazel/green, and said to be nicely lashed. The profile picture of my eye is really my own eye. And my tongue is frequently in cheek.
- I spend far too much time on the computer, often waking up in the middle of the night and going online. I can easily have 15+ windows open at a single time, then loudly bitch about it when things go wrong. Guess I'll never learn. You can sometimes find me here, where I sometimes poke sticks at things. Leave comments there if you like, and send me any good ideas you might have for poking sticks at things that need poking.
- I ride. I would like to do this every day, but when it's raining, I don't. And during our current East Coast heat wave, I'm limiting the rides a bit.
My son is a frequent companion on my morning and/or evening rides, and we enjoy the time to explore backwoods trails in our area, often stopping to see things that we haven't seen before.
Well, Mark, I hope you got a few laughs out of the 8 Random Facts About PanasonicYouth that I posted earlier. And as I said before, thanks for inviting me to fritter away a few hours racking my brain while I could have been doing a wide variety of other things, like riding, editing my writing, uploading more photos or poking sticks at things in general.
And no, Funks, as you can see there was no ruse to avoid this. Just took longer to hold the mirror up, so to speak.
Tagged: melodya, sstrokerj, deliderata, mcdaniel37, sidsars, catiag, hope88, xdopedannyx
So I invite and nominate each of you who received a message from me, some old friends and new. It's now your turn to step up to the plate... eight things each, and make them good! And don't forget to nominate eight of your own... and if you run out of choices, find some new people out there and nominate them.
Technorati: panasonicyouth, buzznet, the disgruntled chemist, qotd, lexidiem, jargontalk, no pule zone, cycling, writing, wtf
Posted on 08/07/2007 5:42 PM Comments (42)
What's this?
 Got a note today from Mark (PanasonicYouth) today asking me to click and check out his current journal entry here on Buzznet, so I went to take a look and see what it was about. I looked... and laughed out loud, not making fun of Mark, but because I'm familiar with The Disgruntled Chemist and his often eccentric blog.
The rules were pretty simple:
- Only list 8 facts.
- You must then list 8 TAGS at the end of the post. This means you must name 8 people on Buzznet who now must do the same blog.
- Go comment on their profile and tell them to come read yours! I want participation.
Then I looked over Mark's list about the things that he said about himself and laughed again, for some of them I already knew to be all so true.
So here goes:
- Mark's likes tattoos... duh!
You might even say that he has more tattoos than a sailor on his fourth tour to the Orient.
- He's a genuine trashmouth at times, and if you know him, you know what I mean. He frequently employs terms that would make that sailor on his tour of the Orient raise more than a casual eyebrow (and more on eyebrows later). But as he says, he uses that offensive sense of humor as a coping mechanism.
Well Mark, try this: "It's an effing hot day today!"
- He is a truly obsessive news gleaner, and isn't afraid to speak his mind, yet frequently finds the humor in the stories he digs up.
- He's quietly active on the QOTD (Question of the Day) forums, occasionally contributing not just a new topic, but sometimes a few wry comments here and there.
- And speaking of the QOTD forum, he's formed some of his best friendships from there. There are too many of these to list, so I won't even try. And I must note that he's also a defender of the younger members there, and has used his power to blow away people who intentionally go out of their way to verbally harm or threaten others. Anyone remember BC? I'll say no more.
-
Mark's into music. And I mean really into music... just check out his videos!
- He's an avid cyclist, and rides his bike everywhere, and day or night, it doesn't bother him. As a cyclist myself, I can enjoy his adventures through his videos. Who knows, maybe we'll get to ride together someday.
- Mark has the most animated eyebrows in all of Buzznet, more than Bree, and perhaps more than anyone in Los Angeles. If you doubt that, then just check here.
How can anyone do that so much? I would get a severe headache!
So there are my 8 Random Facts About PanasonicYouth. I could add more, such as his wonderful love of dogs, his borderline OCD collection of a hundred nail clippers, his vegan obsessiveness, his dumping condiments all over perfectly good food, and his attempts to change the world, but I'll stick to the rules here.
So thanks, Mark, for inviting me to fritter away a few hours racking my brain while I could have been doing a wide variety of other things, like uploading more photos, commenting of those of others, fooling around on the forums or poking sticks at things in general. Or saying hello to Bree again...
Mine will follow. Just wanted to list eight things about Mark from my own perspective.
Technorati: panasonicyouth, buzznet, the disgruntled chemist, qotd, lexidiem, jargontalk, no pule zone, bree, vegan, tattoo
Posted on 08/07/2007 2:44 PM Comments (16)
August 1, 2007
Elmo and Friends Recalled!
Toy-maker Fisher-Price is recalling Elmo and many of his friends, including the Big Bird, Dora the Explorer and Diego - 83 types of toys in all. It turns out that their paint contains excessive amounts of lead.
Please note that the Elmo shown in the illustration here is a composite, and does not indicate that this particular mode is being recalled.
The worldwide recall was announced Thursday 8/2/2007, and involves 967,000 plastic preschool toys made by a Chinese vendor and sold in the United States between May and August. It is the latest in a wave of recalls that has heightened global concern about the safety of Chinese-made products. This is the the first for Fisher-Price and its parent company Mattel Inc. involving lead paint. Children's products found to have more than .06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall under the current regulations.
It is the largest recall for Mattel since 1998 when Fisher-Price recalled and pulled about 10 million Power Wheels right from toy stores.
This was detected by a Fisher-Price internal probe and then reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Mattel is legendary for its strict quality controls, and this recall is particularly alarming since it is considered a role model in the toy industry for how it operates in China.
Statements were issued Wednesday by Fisher-Price (Adobe Acrobat .pdf file) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) stating that parents need to keep toys in question away from children and contact the company. The CPSC works with companies to issue recalls when it finds consumer goods that can be harmful.
According to Fisher-Price, this recall was troubling because Fisher-Price has had a long-standing relationship with the Chinese vendor, which had applied decorative paint to the toys in question. It was stated that the company would use this recall as an opportunity to put even better systems in place to monitor vendors whose conduct does not meet Mattel's tight standards.
This recall allowed the company to quarantine two-thirds of the toys before they even made it to store shelves. In negotiating details of the recall, Fisher-Price and the government sought to withhold details from the public until Thursday to give stores time to get suspect toys off shelves and Fisher-Price time to get its recall hot line up and running. However, some news organizations have prematurely posted an embargoed version of the story online, and some of there were stated to have been in the public interest.
Sen. Dick Durbin, (D-Illinois) had introduced a bill last month that he contended would dramatically expand the product safety commission's ability to protect consumers. In a statement Wednesday night, Durbin also called for better safety standards for products imported from China. "Sadly, this is the most recent in a series of disturbing recalls of children's toys. While the toys may be different, they have one thing in common - they were manufactured in China," he said.
"With the current tools and resources the Consumer Product Safety Commission has, it cannot adequately protect American consumers."
To see pictures of the recalled toys, visit http://www.service.mattel.com or their Mattel Customer Relations Answer Center. One of the links below may help to provide additional information as well. If you find that you own a recalled toy, it can be exchanged for a voucher for another product of the same value. For more information, call Mattel's recall hot line at 800-916-4498.
Again, please note that the Elmo shown in the illustration here is a composite, and does not indicate that this particular model is being recalled.
Official list from U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Also see current CPSC Recent Recalls
Technorati Tags: elmo, big bird, dora the explorer, fisher-price, mattel, lexidiem, jargontalk, recall, chinese imports, consumer products safety, cspc, no pule zone
Tags: big bird, celebs, chinese imports, consumer products sa…, dora the explorer, elmo, fisher-price, jargontalk, lexidiem, mattel, recall
Posted on 08/01/2007 9:09 PM Comments (2)
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