Elton John Pops Concert

So, I apologize if I have already told any of you about this. But I thought the following scenario might be a good candidate for CTS:

The other week I was playing in an Elton Johns Pops Concert. I know...I should probably stop there. But there's more. The conductor's name was Jeff Christmas. Extremely nice fellow. One might even say "jolly." We were in the middle of performing "Tiny Dancer." Just about everyone I know replaces the words "Hold me closer Tiny Dancer" with "Hold me closer Tony Danza." So, I have that going through my head...DURING the performance (bad idea). Suddenly, I notice that the conductor, Maestro Christmas, is motioning to the percussion section to GIVE HIM MORE COWBELL. It was all I could to keep from laughing.

A "worthy" blog that must be "shared"

The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks.

Christmas Decorations

Why is it that Christmas decorations always make great fodder for this blog? What do y'all think of these?

Tackiness Continuum

SDB and I got to discussing something other than the baby a few weeks ago, and it is appropriate for this dying blog. So, hopefully this will breathe some life into CTS!

It started something like this (much para-phrasing, I'm sure):

SDB, coming out of Lowe's: I saw this inflatable santa playing golf. It wasn't that bad.

KAT: *incredulous look* All inflatable santa things are tacky.

SDB: Well, it wasn't THAT tacky.

*LIGHT BULB*

KAT: Is there some sort of continuum of tackiness? If so, what is that MOST tacky thing you can think of? And, then what is the LEAST tacky thing (that could still be called tacky, mind you) you can think of?

So, dear readers (the 3 or 4 of you), what are your suggestions for the bookends of this proposed continuum of tackiness?

Birthday?

Missing your due date = tacky.

;-)

The Return of Skinny Pants!

(imagine your own B-flick theremin soundtrack here…)

So, I noticed this fall that stirrup-pants are back. Well, they're not really stirrup-pants, because they lack the stirrup that goes under your foot. But, aside from that, they're cottony pants that are tight all the way down to the ankles, and the women are wearing them with the little flat shoes that I always saw worn with stirrup-pants back in the late-80s/early-90s. Just a question, who actually finds these pants FLATTERING?!? 'Cause, here's the thing: I will now create a list of the body types that are improved by these pants…

(…waits…)

Short list, ain't it? Ayuh. And it's not just the cottony non-stirrup stirrup-pants; skinny JEANS are back in, too! I never thought I'd see the day. All these leg-coverings make the wearer look like a pear, and I think they're stupid. Any other takers?

"Jaws"/"ATC" Ripoff

So, the music geek in me just noticed that the first phrase of the "All Things Considered" theme from NPR (8 notes long) is exactly the same as the first SIX notes of the "Montage" theme in "Jaws." Those of you keeping track at home: put in your "Jaws" DVD and cue it up to 53:22. You'll hear it right at that spot, and for the next several minutes. I actually went to iTunes and listened to track 7 of the "Jaws: Collector's Edition" soundtrack, and y'know what? The entire damn "ATC" theme is right there! Listen to the 30-second clip on iTunes…the "ATC" theme comes in at 14 seconds, in the low strings. Hmmm…who ripped off whom?

1971: Don Voegeli composes "ATC" theme

1975: John Williams composes "Jaws"

YOU figure it out! Either way, I claim "tacky!"

Museum of Bad Art

Holy crap! A new post!

Anyway...happened upon this gem by hitting the 'random' button in wikipedia a few too many times:

The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA)

I immediately thought of "Classy, Tacky, or Stupid?" when I read the beginning of their purpose statement:

Since 1994, the Museum of Bad Art has been dedicated to bad art. It is only through the efforts of the worldwide Friends of MOBA that we have been able to carry out our mission: to bring the worst of art to the widest of audiences.

Check out their online collection!

Also, this would make a great day trip from, say, Connecticut?

Computer error Haiku

Here are 16 actual error messages seen on the computer screens in Japan, where some are written in Haiku.

......You step in the stream, but the water has moved on. This page is not here.
......The Web site you seek cannot be located, but countless more exist.
......Chaos reigns within. Reflect, repent, and reboot. Order shall return.
......Program aborting: Close all that you have worked on. You ask far too much.
......Windows NT crashed. I am the Blue Screen of Death. No one hears your screams.
......Yesterday it worked. Today it is not working. Windows is like that.
......Your file was so big. It might be very useful. But now it is gone.
......Stay the patient course. Of little worth is your ire. The network is down.
......A crash reduces your expensive computer to a simple stone.
......Three things are certain: Death, taxes and lost data. Guess which has occurred?
......Out of memory. We wish to hold the whole sky, But we never will.
......Having been erased, The document you're seeking must now be retyped.
......Serious error. All shortcuts have disappeared.
......Screen. Mind. Both are blank.

Aren't these better than "your computer has performed an illegal operation"?

FROM THE NEFFZONE http://www.neffzone.com/

With a hint of meat...

So, let me know what you think of this. Be sure that your speakers are on. It adds to the...ambiance.

http://www.firemeetsdesire.com/

C, T, or S?

President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle have been crafted into Italian nativity figurines this year, alongside baby Jesus and wise men. Apparently, they are big sellers.

So what do you think...Classy, Tacky, or Stupid?

I need someone smarter than me

Here's the subject - The Economy. Specifically the Big 3 and Bailouts.

Can we agree that the auto industry made many mistakes in the 70's, 80's and even the 90's by building some crappy stuff, letting Union workers get away with some bad working habits, and not preparing for the future? (How hard is it to realize that there eventually would be an "oil crisis?") But I would say that in the 00's, the industry has made several changes to labor agreements to ward off major crises. While not a perfect industry, are their "sins" any worse than Wall Street's?

This thing in Congress is all about politics. Period.

Happy Election Day

I am a happy voter. Everything about today has made me happy. It is gorgeous outside, which they say is good for voter turnout. I voted at 2:00pm, and while it wasn't busy, there was a steady stream of people coming to vote. Joy!

As I looked over my ballot, I was thinking about voting a straight-party ticket for the Democrats. But, I paused and realized that I really wanted to cast my vote for Barack Obama specifically - not just the Democratic party.

It felt right.

I hope everyone else is having a fabulous day.

Cookie Jars and Cats

So of course with Hannah we talk a lot about things from our childhood and I have come across two things I need help remembering. This is mainly directed to Tess and Kirsten but Scott and Stephene may have used the same songs and saying growing up too.

First, do you remember saying something about "being on someone's cookie jar" when swinging? I remember saying it when you were swinging next to someone and they were right in line with you. One would say to the other "get off my cookie jar" I said it the other day at the playground and was completely perplexed by what it means or if there was more to the saying.

Second, what are the words to Senior Don Gato?? I know we sang it every year in elementary school. I remember Todd Hesse being Senior Don Gato in our 5th grade graduation play and yet I can't remember the lyrics to the song!!

Question

So, we've pretty much decided (whether in our own homes through friendly debate/banter or through media interpretation) that this country is ideologically polarized. Here's my query:

What is the crux of this polarization? Clearly Republicans and Democrats look at the same issues in very different ways- this is how we can come up with such very different solutions to the problems that are universally recognized. But what is that one factor that makes such a divisive split?

For example:

What I've heard some people say-
Republicans believe in smaller government, less taxes, strong national security.
Democrats believe in big government, more taxes, weak national security

But this is really too complicated.

What my father always said-
Republicans look out for themselves
Democrats look out for "the little guy" or "the underdog"

Perhaps this is too simplistic?

My belief-
Republicans believe that everyone has the ability to and should pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.
Democrats believe that there are some people who absolutely can not pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.

Perhaps it's futile to figure out exactly where the ideological split is, but I wanted to send this out there to see what y'all thought.

And another one

John McCain says the phrase "Lipstick on a pig" in a speech.

Barack Obama says "Lipstick on a pig in a speech."

Sarah Palin says "Lipstick" as a punchline in a speech.

All of a sudden, if anyone dares use this word again in a speech, it MUST mean that it is a smear against Sarah Palin!

Classy, tacky, or stupid?

Quick Poll

The Republican National Convention...

Classy, Tacky, or Stupid?

Return of Lamafest

Hi all - gee I hope everyone's lives have been more interesting than our blog!

Whelp, it's labor day weekend, which means LAMAFEST!

This year we went with SDB's side of the family. It was fun to watch our niece and her cousin check out the llamas and alpacas...even when our niece insisted on calling them "silly goats."

On to the pictures!

The annual favorite: the llama obstacle course:


This year's llama merch must-have: a hand puppet! Get a good look - your kids will be seeing this guy a lot! By the way, he needs a name...any suggestions?


An irresistible activity with our new hand puppet:

Friday Night Gripe

I have a gripe. Why do some people think an email should be answered in a matter of hours? I get the same sort of "I want it now" attitude with phone calls too since the advent of the cell phone.

When I get 2 emails in 7 hours asking the same question with the second one in a quasi-rude tone, it takes everything I have not to email a scathing reply back. Anyone have any appropriate ways to stick it to them?

Just thought I'd air that one out.

I really want to write about the memoir thingy, but I'm having a little bit of a crisis right now and need some input. For some reason, it has become "door-to-door" week at the Harding/Miller household. The first of the week was a possible magazine scam (for a cause that was not really explained). After telling them that Scott and I "couldn't buy it right now," I was told that I could due to my obvious demographics and that I should stick to saying that I am not interested.

The second was the neighbor girls selling rocks. Yes. Rocks from the driveway. It's better than video games, I suppose. They wanted a steep 25 cents. Is it bad that I played along and gave it to them?!

The third was a nice young lady trying to raise scholarship money for college. She was selling Cookbooks. The publisher of these cookbooks was some Christian company that also sold childrens' books about Jesus and his life that I could read to Roz and/or that Roz could read to me some day. I told her that we couldn't do it right now either. The look of disappointment on her face just about killed me. I almost asked if she would simply take some money from me outright, but my imagination got the best of me (I could just see her using it for drugs or a pedicure).

I want to give these people a chance, but I don't need anything from them. I want to help them, but they ask for too much in order for me to buy their little trinkets or scary books. We do donate to charity, and I am often concerned that our money doesn't every really go to the people who really need it. In the case of these door-to-door nomads, would my direct money be more beneficial? Or should I simply lock the door and absolutely never under any circumstance open my door unless I recognize the person (which would not have saved me from the rock peddlers this afternoon)?!

I need some advice, dear readers. And I promise, you are perfectly welcome to ignore my plea, and it won't cost you a dime!