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CNN right now: Henry Waxman is grilling the CEO of Lehman Brothers.

$450 million of compensation. He has to explain that. LOL

http://finance.google.com/finance?cid=983582

When we got our 0% interest car loan last year, I knew things were weird. Because no money made for them on that transaction. Now, because of those sorts of wacked loans, the credit market is sliding, frozen, pick an adverb...

Wow. I will hate to see our retirement statement. It is fascinating in a car wreak kind of way. I keep refreshing that link. It's like it does a big drop, they realize the drop, buy on the sales, hold steady for bit, rinse and repeat the next day.

”POST SEASON 3 LEADERSHIP OF THE CHARMED ONES”

I am probably going to get bashed for this. I have never thought it was a good thing for the writers to automatically allow Piper Halliwell to become the new leader of the Charmed Ones in S4, based upon the fact that she had become the oldest sister upon Prue’s death. ( Read more... )

Omg, omg, it's finally coming down. For three years I've been harping on an economic disaster and finally it's here. What do people think about all this? Am I exaggerating?

OMG, I think I overdid things just a bit today. I was a little sore from my riding lesson yesterday; my legs were complaining this morning, so to reward them, I spent a couple of hours shovelling hogfuel (bark mulch) into a big wheelbarrow and pushing the loads all the way across the farm to the paddocks. Sue and I were putting fresh hogfuel in the paddocks, just by the gates, to make the ground a little firmer. Jack is going to put more on the paddocks with the tractor in the next couple of weeks, so we just did the fronts of them by hand. It's heavy work, and after about 12 loads each, we were getting a bit giddy. Still, a good afternoon's work. Jack was busy with Rick, building the shed for the horse trailer; it's almost done, yay!

The horses were really good coming in even with all the banging and sawing and commotion going on. It's good for them to see lots of activity, because it makes them a lot more bombproof. They're used to loud propane guns from the blueberry farm next door, so if they're on a road and a car backfires or something, they're less likely to spook; a good thing!

I spent a little time working in the garden; it's slowly winding down, just a few beans left, and the last of the peas. Still have brussel sprouts, carrots, chard and some beets coming along. I pulled a couple of onions for the soup, and the leeks are almost ready. I cut back the leaves on the one zucchini plant I have; they're giant! They were hiding a mutant zucchini; it's growing around the base and must be at least 6" in diameter! I can't get at it, because of the way it's growing, so who knows how big it will get? I once grew a zucchini that was so big I had to use an axe to split it open...

Traffic was terrible on the way home; as usual, once it speeded up there was no sign of why it was so slow in the first place. Those mysterious speed bumps on the freeway, I guess. It took ages to get home, so I was glad I'd had the foresight to put the pot roast in the slow cooker; dinner was almost ready for me. Sue gave me a big day old wholewheat baguette, so I made something my Mom used to make: bread pudding! It's just come out of the oven, and tastes just like Mom's. Raisins and cinnamon and bread and custard..all hot and yummy. Glad I thought of it. I have a big pot of potato corn chowder simmering, too. Very domesticated I am this evening, lol.

Time to go stir the soup, and then maybe a long, luxuriously hot bubble bath is in order..I think I've earned it!

No classes this afternoon, access to a somewhat-outmoded Hitachi that occasionally shifts into kana without warning--perfect time to journal. Not about Japan, though. I ripped through Proven Guilty Thursday and Friday, and I have Thinky Thoughts about Harry Dresden & Co.

( Follow, an ye dare )

Now to get my hands on White Knight! No spoilers for books after Proven Guilty in the comments, please. I might have to kill you.

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The Earth says hello. You twinkle above us, we twinkle below.

My rendition of Hair, ladies and gentleman. *bows* Thank you. Thank you.

This may be another sign that I'm really old, but it truly baffles me that one of the most popular songs in America isn't a "new" or "original" song. It's an OLD song, re-arranged, with new lyrics stuck in. And it's not just any old song, it's one of the most famous songs in modern music history. I'm looking at you, Kid Rock's All Summer Long. I mean... Sweet Home Alabama? Really? I mean, if he grew up in Alabama, it might even be understandable. But he grew up IN MICHIGAN. Not that there's anything wrong with Michigan, of course, but do you see the utter and complete disconnect of using this particularly Southern iconic song?

Now, I'm not angry or outraged about this -- I think "Lust For Life" used in a FAMILY Cruise commercial sort of killed my nerve endings -- but I'm baffled. I've never been much for little bits of songs being used this way. What do they call that? Sampling? But dudes, this is like, THE WHOLE SONG. And the public and industry and treating it like a NEW song, with accolades. It makes me go... huh?

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Did I mention that I'm checking out the first few seasons of Gilmore Girls again, and OMG Padalecki is FOUR! I just had to point it out again. It's downright bizarre, is what it is. Milo Ventiglia, on the other hand, has changed not at all besides slightly smaller hair. What's up with that?

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Speaking of Sam and Dean (sort of) -- HOW HARD DID THURSDAY ROCK? Although I only got to see about 25 minutes of the episode because my CW affiliate sucks... not to spoil, but it's full of OMFG! and Awww Poor Dean, and PLOTTY referential and foreshadowy goodness!

I rarely enjoy the Supernatural section of TwoP, but the recaplet for this week cracked me up. ( Check it out: )

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I must say, I was more pleased than I imagined I would be when I read that OJ is going to JAIL. And I thought I'd be pretty pleased. There is some justice in the world. Of course, he'll be in special population, so he won't be in any danger of having what he did to his ex wife and her friend happen to HIM, which would truly be justice, but I'll take what I can get. Does that mean we never have to see his smug, canary eating grin ever again?

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Okay. I don't think it's any secret that I'm a screaming lefty democrat who wouldn't vote for McCain if you paid me a million dollars.

Maybe for a million dollars, or if you held a gun to my head...

You get the point. ANYWAY, despite the fact that I am not a fan of the Republican party or any of its representatives, I have nothing personal against McCain. In fact, I almost even would say that I respect him, and I don't say that about politicians. Ever. And I have thus kept my mouth shut about his choice of a running mate. Her whole I'm such a twee redneck hick normal lady just like YOU if you shoot moose and hate other women and practice daily nepotism in your job...

But her whole comment about Obama "palling around with terrorists" is just too much. I mean, the woman is a complete twit. She's sarcastic, snide, and that scrunchy look she gets on her face drives me CRAZY. Also driving me crazy is the fact that she CAN'T JUST ANSWER A QUESTION. Do people REALLY want her to be a 73-year-old-man's heartbeat away from the presidency? Really?

Of course, as long as she's anti-choice, a whole lot of people don't care about the fact that she's completely incompetent. Ugh.

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I've been writing this post for like, three days. I better post it before I forget AGAIN!

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I haven't been reading anyone's posts on this series because I'm only now getting around to watching the eps that have been accumulating on Ye Ole DVR. But its predecessors--X-Files, BtVS, Angel, Alias--they all had, well I don't want to say an "agenda", but certainly an ideology of sorts, however complex and occasionally muddled it was. Distrustful/disdainful of big government, distrustful/disdainful of big business, distrustful of the rogue organization/individual, what have you.

So what about Fringe? Any theories about its ideological leanings yet?

Bleargh. I really should not have had the second Black Russian last night, or at least not made them so strong. Nuit Blanche was last night and while I didn't see as much bad art as last year, I didn't see as much art. I was at dinner party with some former co-workers across town and finally met up with a group of friends doing Nuit Blanche after 10. I did see some rubber ducks in a pond and the Sam The Record Man sign lit up and saw a few zombies. After an impressive but un-engaging sculpture of thousands of plastic bottles we went back to my place for drinks and guacamole. Thus fortified I went on to see a dance performance and eventually do some dancing during audience participation. I was assured that I was "gazelle-like" but am worried about the video evidence. Shortly thereafter I went home and to bed but unfortunately didn't drink any water before I did so. I'm feeling better than I was this morning but I don't think I'll be putting on real clothes any time soon. I've been lying in bed listening to the audiobook version of World War Z on my ipod which has been oddly soothing, probably since no matter how bad my hangover at least I'm not facing the zombie apocalypse. Yet.

Do you know what's really scary about Sarah Palin's debate answers? Just read the transcript, which makes it even clearer how completely strange they are. You notice the made-up words, the sentences that dangle, or just start and go nowhere.

I mean, really, read this:

"Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You preferenced [sic] your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. You mentioned education, and I'm glad you did. I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and god bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right? ... My brother, who I think is the best schoolteacher in the year, and here's a shout-out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School, you get extra credit for watching the debate."

um....WHAT?!

Frighteningly, the phrase "best schoolteacher in the year," actually makes more sense than a lot of the rest of it.

Happy Sunday!

Not sure what the plan is for today, but I have a feeling there will be housework involved.

The debate the other night, well, Palin did better than I expected in that she spoke in sentences. The thing that really rankled me though, was her lack of acknowledgment of Biden's moment where he choked up mentioning his family. For a woman who had a baby six short months ago who mightn't have lived, I was a little surprised. You don't get over that in six months, and she will live with this for the rest of his, or her life. (Cynical me thinks that given her weird actions during her labour, loss mightn't be an issue for her) I get that she might not want to speak of such things, but even having some empathetic remark afterwards would have softened her some. She could use a little of that. But I guess that wasn't in her script. Being tough is different skill set than being empathetic.

She shouldn't fear being empathetic. Because really, everyone has hard situations, and there are enough parents out there who would have related to the both of them. And if she really wants to be a "maverick" and want change, well this would have been a good opportunity to show a little humanity. Not discussion, but acknowledgment of each of their humanity. I don't see that as a problem, and given the world view of this country right now, honestly could have used it.

Have a great Sunday.

Below is a gallery featuring photos from the 2004 version of William Makepeace Thackeray's epic novel, "VANITY FAIR". The movie stars Reese Witherspoon and James Purefoy: ( Read more... )

It's 1 o'clock in the morning and I am reading gossip about the Stargate actors. And watching clips of DragonCon and other interviews. And reading RPF. I- I can't seem to stop! Help! But they are so happy and shiny and giggly!

Michael Shanks so needs to be smooched by every one of his cast mates. *nods* Also David Hewlett talks really, really, really fast. God, Amanda Tapping has the BEST SMILE. I can't believe there are Atlantis action figures.


ETA: 1:26am. OH JOE.

I was supposed to be at Julie's house today. Do you *see* me at Julie's house? No. She had to work. On a Saturday.

So I wrote some TD 214 and finally got my printer working after owning it for three and a half months. I unpacked it shortly after buying it, but then never bothered to set it up or install the software. Then today, my mom calls me wanting to print something in her email she couldn't open (she doesn't have Microsoft Office). So, I decided to finally get around to that. Only, I couldn't find the disc with the driver software *anywhere*. And I looked. And looked. And looked.

It's all this organizational stuff I've been doing every morning in lieu of exercise. I'm so organized, I can't find anything. It's possible I might have thrown the printer driver disc away. Now it's in a landfill with my doctoral diploma and Brent Spiner's autograph.

Finally, I thought...well, maybe I can buy a replacement disc on-line. Didn't want to, but didn't see an alternative. So I went to the HP website, and saw they had it downloadable for FREE. So I downloaded it, installed it, set up my printer, and printed my mom's document.

In short, I rock.

What else did I do today?

Something else important, I forget what.

ETA: Oh! Oh! I went to Home Depot to get a board cut for a shelf at my mom's house and found out they will cut plywood to size so I can finish my bookshelves. Yay!

I had my first riding lesson since the beginning of September today, and it was good. ( cut for horse riding talk )

Stopped at the tack store on the way home to buy a couple of wormers for the horses, then at the drugstore to buy some stuff for myself. I've been looking for more of the tinted moisturizer I use, by Oil of Olay...I can't find it anywhere, damn. It was good stuff; now I have to try to find a comparable substitute. I don't wear a lot of makeup, and I really liked that moisturizer. *grumble*

To cheer myself up, I bought a copy of Ella Enchanted..it was only $9.00, so I couldn't resist. I've never seen the movie, but it looked like something perfect for a rainy Saturday night's entertainment.

The rain had stopped when I got home, so I spent an hour cleaning up the plants on the patio. It's starting to look like fall out there; the clematis was all brown and dead looking, so I pruned it severely, and got rid of all the dead stuff. The planters are getting very straggly, but there's still flowers happening, so I'll leave them for another week or so. Doing the fall cleanup is an ongoing project. I found several ripe figs that had fallen off the tree, so I had a taste treat for my work.

All that work tired me out, so I came in and relaxed on the couch with some coffee, a toasted tomato, cheese and cucumber sandwich (cucumber and tomato from my garden!! mmm.) and a book. I finished the John Grisham novel (The Broker)...not a particularly good book, but entertaining enough to finish. I'm not a big Grisham fan, I'd picked this up to read on the airplane because I couldn't find anything else. I'm going to start the new Dick Francis book next.

Ohh, TV guide tells me that PBS is showing 4 Britcoms from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. As Time Goes By at 6, Waiting for God at 6:30, The Vicar of Dibley at 7, and Lord of the Manor at 7:30. I love all of those shows. There is something about the British sense of humour that really resonates with me, more so than with American sitcoms, which are what we mostly get here. Time to make some popcorn and settle in for a happy making night of TV viewing/DVD watching.

Oh, yeah. I've been getting my pictures from my trip sorted; Photobucket is driving me crazy with its slowness, so I think I'll put them on my LJ scrapbook.

Caught up with most of my correspondence list, which has done a marvelous job of explaining to me why I can't watch Sarah Palin, look at Sarah Palin, or listen to Sarah Palin for more than fifteen minutes without my blood pressure sky-rocketing through the roof. Let alone write about her. I keep praying she'll just disappear after November 4 or someone will secretly replace her with Tina Fey like they did in that film with Kevin Kline entitled Dave.

Here's the posts that explain why. Apparently my correspondence list has a better stomach for politics at the moment than I do. They seem to have watched both the debate and the Katie Couric Interviews - which have been amusing my parents to no end. Every time I've talked to my parents this week - they quote another segment of the interview - making me wonder if Couric decided to do it in five day segments as opposed to all at once. Apparently there was also a really clever SNL sketch regarding the interview - which can be found somewhere on YouTube (since my parents don't tend to watch SNL) - that entertained the heck out of my Dad.

Here's the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/27/tina-fey-as-sarah-palin-k_n_129956.html

[And yes, Tina Fey could replace Palin and I seriously doubt we'd notice.]

My father is a bit of a political/policy wonk - and in his retirement has found heaven down in Hilton Head. He's on the World Affairs Council down there - which has retired Pentagon Officials, University Professors who've written extensively on the topic, and a woman who spent about 40 years in the Middle East with her husband. All they do is talk policy and plan educational seminars for high school students. While most, heck all, outside of my Dad, tend to be fairly conservative (actually very conservative) - they all, without exception, despise John McCain. Which I find interesting. My parents keep quoting George Willits - a conservative commentator for the Washington Post, who has reamed John McCain, along with the Wall Street Journal. This is sort of reassuring.

Anywho here's some good links, in case you haven't read them already:

Why Sarah Palin is not appealing to Joe Sixpack, so much as condescending to him.
Reliable VP Debate commentary including linkages
More Reliable VP Debate Commentary - including quotes and linkages
The Supreme Court Case - Sarah Palin Bashing Meme source that everyone was doing
Why you should vote and how you can register to vote

Regarding the last link, my brother to my knowledge has not voted in the past two elections.
Or if he did, it was for Nader. Always a source of annoyance for my Dad and I, who believe that if you don't vote, you get the President that you deserve. The one election I always vote for no matter what is the US Presidency. Maybe it's because there are quite a few people around the world who can't vote in their country's presidencies. And for a long time, women did not have the right to vote. It's not a privilege that one should take for granted. That said, it's nice to know you have the choice. That you don't have to vote if you don't want to - like the people in Africa, who were forced to vote for Mugabe, protested, and were beaten for it.

Here's George F. Will's Washington Post Column on John McCain's handling of the financial crisis:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/09/23/ST2008092301500.html

A very happy birthday to our favorite hedgehog, oursin! Hope you'll continue to enlighten us as long as we're around--and have a lovely day as well.