Sunday, November 30

MUSIC TRACKER

If you're a Nip/Tuck fan, like I am, then you're pretty jazzed about the start of Season 6 this January. (Actually, January is shaping up to be an incredible month for TV, so I'm glad I'll have some time off. But more on that later.)

If you've seen N/T's new promos, you're also wondering who performs the song in the spot. And it is "Flashing Lights," from "Graduation," by colossal douche, ego-maniac Kanye West.

BLACK FRIDAY, INDEED


Ah, the spirit of the season will lift you up:

A man, wielding a knife, lunged at fellow party-goers in Sacramento, CA, only to be beat back by a woman with a two-foot candy cane decoration.

Two men at Palm Desert, CA Toys'R'Us store shot each other to death after an argument broke out.

And finally (my personal favorite): a Wal Mart employee was trampled to death after people rushed the store looking for doorbusters!

Jesus is the reason for the season!

Monday, November 24

UM... YEAH, OK

I was browsing the major headlines on Yahoo! news and decided to read an article about the current spacewalk of the crew of Endeavour. It was reading like your typical, dry science article should, and then...

the article switches gears and rambles on and on (for the rest of the piece) about urine.

No, I'm not kidding. You can read it for yourself, here.

Sunday, November 23

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?

I check for software updates for my Mac on a pretty regular basis. And when there's an update, I'm quick to install it. I've been with Apple since the 1980s, and my love for their products and software only grows stronger as time passes. But since the last download - updates for Safari and iTunes - I've had some problems.

Safari is now randomly crashing in the middle of routine, low-tech actions, but there is a bigger problem: I'm looking in to adding Bluetooth peripherals, but in order to research this, I had to log in to the Network Preferences Pane in System Preferences. The minute I clicked on the Network icon, I got a pop-up window displaying the following message:


Normally, when you get an error message like this, you either click, "OK" or "Cancel" and move on. But this time, when I clicked on "OK" the window disappeared, only to pop up immediately. This occurred every I clicked on the button, in a sort of endless, maddening loop. I had to force-quit System Preferences, and set to fixing the problem.

Not so easy, as it turns out. The interwebs were a-buzz with discussion board and forums on this very topic, and while very few of them offered real, workable solutions, I felt a little better knowing this wasn't an isolated problem. After about half an hour online, reading up on the problem, I ran MacScan (to check for malware, etc.), ran OnyX (a tricked-out utilities app) and even rebooted.

Finally, I found the answer: in the Security pane, I clicked on the button that reads, "require password to unlock each secure system preference." This one, little button stopped the problem dead in its tracks. Even when its going haywire, a Mac is still an intuitive, incredible product.

Saturday, November 22

Thursday, November 20

GAME ON! Round 2

California's highest court announced yesterday it will hear multiple legal challenges to Prop 8.

Now... this is gonna get interesting.

LATE TO THE GAME


OK, I'm back.

Yes, I know Donnie already blogged about this... and yes, I know there's a much funnier Australian version, but I just had to add my two cents about Kath & Kim, one of the few (if only) bright spots on NBC's new fall line up.

I like the show. It isn't perfect, but I like it well enough.

Every so often it drifts into caricature as opposed to character work, but nothing else on NBC worth watching (save the obvious, 30 Rock), I just thought I'd throw out my support for this show.

P.S. And I love that they use Scissor Sisters as the theme. What happened to them, anyway?

Tuesday, November 18

ALMOST...


I'm almost ready to start blogging again.

My heart can't break any further, and I can't get any angrier.

I've almost figured out what to do next.


Until then, thank you for your support and patience.

Wednesday, November 5

STILL... NO... WORDS...


I've been walking around all morning, in a kind of cloud... disbelief, anger and grief wash over me. (We also lost a family member yesterday, so you can imagine how extra-emotional I am right now.)

I keep wondering... how?

How could a state that was the first to send two women to the senate do this?

How could the same voters who put the first black man in the White House return this verdict?

People keep saying to hold out hope - that the absentee ballots haven't been counted yet, and Prop 8 passed with a narrow margin. But how can I find hope in a world where this could even happen in the first place?

YEAH, BUT...


there's a great deal of celebrating going on in America right now...

Celebrating that took place after California's electoral votes put Obama over the 270 mark and won him the election...

But with all the cheering and yelling, nobody noticed...

PROP 8 PASSED.

I guess we're ready for a black president, but gays have to sit at the back of the bus.

Tuesday, November 4

ELECTION DAY QUANDARY

I went to the polls this morning (insert stripper joke here). I went in around 8:30 am (PST). While the joint was certainly jumping, there wasn't a line. In fact, I walked in, signed in and voted, all pretty quickly.

Watching the news (lunchtime here on the west coast), there were stories about people waiting for hours to vote all over the country.

But here in California — one of the most populous states in the unions, with a whopping 55 electoral votes at stake today — seems to be whirring away like clockwork...

but it is early.

FINAL TALLY

According to local news reports, the fight over California Ballot Initiative 8 is the most expensive campaign of its kind ever waged.

The final tally, for both sides? Over $73 million.

I DID MY PART

Monday, November 3

YET ANOTHER REASON...

CNN - like many cable news networks - broadcast a report on voter fraud and irregularities. According to their data, one state leads the way with the lowest number of reported cases of fraud, irregularities and voter machine malfunctions: California.

Yet another great reason to live in the Golden State.

A LITTLE OFF TARGET

I was wandering the aisles of my local Target - in the beauty/skin-care area - and I came across a shocking sight: Kiehls. If you are not familiar with Kiehls, it is a super high-end line of skin products favored by the rich and famous. They don't advertise, and they used to only be available in the Kiehls Store, and high-end boutiques, like Fred Siegel.

Back when I lived in the Melrose District of Weho/Hollywood, a friend turned me on to Kiehls (at Fred Siegel, and a pretty outrageous price), and I've been a fan ever since. "You only get one skin in your lifetime, so what's wrong with splurging to take care of it?," he asked me. OK, so the human skin regenerates, over time, you really get multiple chances to take care of it, but I understood his point.

The sad part of this story is that selection Target featured were some of the less-popular, odd products nobody wants in the Kiehls Store.

VIVA LA 'TOP CHEF' PROMO

If you're anything like me (and I hope you are), you've seen the new Top Chef promos and wondered, "who sings that song?" It sounds like a gayer (and cooler) Good Charlotte track... but who is it?

The band's name is Cobra Starship, and the track is called, "City Is At War," from the album Viva La Cobra. I have to admit, I kinda like the track. (OK, I bought it, but it isn't in heavy rotation at the moment.)

I'm kinda/sorta looking forward to the new season of Top Chef, and in truth, the majority of my excitement comes from this song and the promo that features it. After the whole Hung-Dale fiasco a couple of seasons ago, I'm less enthusiastic about this show. But it is still way better than any of the stupid "reality cooking" shows on Food Network.

SAY WHAT?

"America is the only country in the business of making bombs that can destroy the world, and TV shows that make it seem like a good idea." -Bill Maher

Sunday, November 2

WE WANT THE FUNK

I had the misfortune of seeing the film PCU when it originally came out, many years ago. It wasn't a great film, and the soundtrack was nothing special. But a special EP was released by a group who had a cameo in the film - George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic. It contains updated versions of a couple of their classics, and a great cover of Prince's "Erotic City," more than worth checking out. I was lucky enough to pick up a copy, when it came out, and I've been listening to it this weekend, enjoying a nice slice of funk.

Saturday, November 1

THUS ENDS...

October sweeps! I know, I know... on TV they do November sweeps, but I thought I'd put a counter on my blog, and monitor some of the statistics of this site.

Now, I know I don't have the big readership some blogs do (I'm looking at you, Donnie), but my numbers are way up, over the last time I did this. The ticker almost hit 1500 for the month. But what really blew me away was the 8 comments, from various readers.

I'd like to take a moment out to thank everyone who reads this blog - and especially those who leave comments, no matter how lame (I'm looking at a certain ginger blogger, now).

More to come!