Words Can't Describe...

I know it was like a week ago, but last Thursday night, during a midnight showing of the new Christopher Nolan Batman movie, 12 people were killed while 50 were injured when a man opened fire inside the movie theater!

I just... there's no words for that. It's just sad. People go to the movies to escape reality for a few hours and enjoy the entertainment onscreen before them. No one thinks something like this is going to happen! I know first hand, having worked/managed a theater for a few years, working many midnight special premieres like this for blockbuster movies, I never thought of something happening like this there!

Reports say that witnesses said someone, whom now is assumed to be the shooter, exited through the theater's side emergency exit door appearing to take a call early on in the movie and then the shooter came through the door not too long later, so obviously it was propped open.

My mom heard on the news today that someone is putting a lawsuit out against the theater, the film studio and the doctor that had been treating the shooter prior to the incident.

I can definitely see stricter policies and procedures for the theaters from now on.

When I worked there, our ushers were supposed to be doing "theater checks" every 15-30 minutes and the theater checks included checking that the exit doors were shut tight, that the sound and picture on screen were of acceptable quality, and looking for unruly patrons in the theater doing things they shouldn't be. I know though, that often times we had to remind ushers to do these checks and that some of them "half-assed" the checks.

I can see these being much, much stricter now as those emergency exit doors are supposed to be shut tight for a reason - they don't open from the outside and they swing outward so it's not like someone can kick it in.

I read somewhere that the movie started at 12:15am and calls about the shooting came in at about 12:38am. Should a theater check have been done during that time? Possibly... I know at our later shows we'd dismiss the ushers after they did one final theater check.

I'm not trying to point blame, but as a former movie theater employee of several years, it does make me wonder.

I feel horrible for all those families of the victims though! And the community... having been part of a community affected by a major shooting, I know what's that like and it's not pleasant at all. Let's be sure to continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers!

Is the Zombie Apocalypse upon us?

Remember last November when I asked what you would do if the Zombie Apocalypse actually happened?

Well, after the events of last weekend, you might want to start coming up with a plan if you haven't already!

I'm sure by now, you've heard about the "Miami Zombie attack" where a naked man (whom they're saying was believed to be under the influence of drugs similar to LSD called "Bath Salts") attacked a homeless man in broad daylight and was feasting - literally eating! - his face for a good 18 minutes before police were alerted and arrived on the scene. They told the crazed man to stop and he didn't and ended up shooting him 12 times before he finally died.

The victim is in critical condition at a nearby hospital and there's talk that if and when he wakes up, he might not recognize his own face, as his nose, eyes and ears among the flesh on the top portion of his face and head were chewed up - his chin and gotee are the only parts that reportedly remained untouched!

That's crazy stuff!

A witness who gave his account to a local news reporter in Miami described the man as insane and zombie-like, saying the closest thing he could think to describe it was like something right out of AMC's The Walking Dead!

That's just freaky!

I'm hoping the victim makes it out of his critical state okay and I really do hope this is an isolated incident - otherwise, you better be prepared! Wouldn't hurt to have a good weapon, some non-perishable canned goods and some bottled water on-hand, just in case! Or at the very least, brush up on some zombie apocalypse survival tactics by playing some zombie shooter games, reading some Max Brooks (like his Zombie Survival Guide or World War Z) or studying zombie shows like The Walking Dead or any of the George A. Romero "...of the Dead" movies.

When Celebs Keep Their Word

Another holiday-ish story that moved me... when celebs live up to their word.

I'm sure we all remember last summer when Afghanistan-based Sergeant Scott Moore posted a YouTube video asking actress Mila Kunis to be his date to a Marine Corps Ball and then shortly after she said she would Corporal Kelsey De Santis posted a YouTube video for Kunis' Friends With Benefits co-star Justin Timberlake asking him to take her to her Marine Corps Ball. He agreed as well, but many wondered if they would actually follow through or if this was just a publicity stunt for their new movie which was due to be released soon.

Turns out, they both did. And reports say they were very humbled and respectful at the balls.

How neat is that!

Mila Kunis and Sergeant Scott Moore

Corporal Kelsey De Santis and Justin Timberlake

I've always liked Kunis (and even more so after I found out she was a hardcore WoW player like myself) and JT... while I wasn't really an N*Sync fan, he was my favorite in their group and he grew on me after I really liked some of the songs off his 2nd solo album.

This just makes me like them even more! They really made these soldier's evenings and what a great way to show support for our Armed Forces!

Thoughts on the recent Penn State scandal

Penn State has been in the news a lot lately the past week or so.

Penn State is a bit important to me as my parents met while both attending college there (both my parents were born and raised near the Pittsburgh area - Uniontown & Brownsville to be exact), so we're part of the Penn State family. Growing up, my parents would often wear their college sweatshirts on the weekends, watching the football games on Saturdays while doing other things around the house. I even remember constantly getting in their bedroom closet to play with their Nittany Lion plush (mom didn't want me to mess it up so she would put it up, out of reach... or so she thought!).

I didn't really hear or look into what happened until late last week when I heard about Joe Paterno getting fired and riots happening... something having to do with sexual abuse of children. Trying to figure out what exactly happened, why people were upset or defending Paterno and in order to form an opinion of my own I went searching online and came across an article that included the 23 page grand jury report of what all happened, naming a handful of others that knew of Sandusky's inappropriate and sick behavior.

To brief you (if you were lost and didn't hear about the scandal til later like I did and only heard people going on about Paterno and not really discussing what actually happened):

• The former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky hosted a program at the university for underprivileged boys called Second Mile in the '90s and 2000s. There's recently been 8 victims that have come forward saying Sandusky physically sexually abused them, some even saying it went as far as rape, when they were teens and preteens who met Sandusky while participating in the program.
  
• One of the more extreme incidents that occurred in the locker room showers in 2002 was witnessed by assistant PSU football coach Mike McQueary who was a graduate assistant at the time. McQueary returned to the locker rooms one evening to put away a pair of shoes and grab some recruiting films to take back to his office when he heard something going on in the showers, where he witnessed Sandusky doing "something of sexual nature" with a young boy. Despite Sandusky and the boy seeing him, McQueary turned away and left, doing nothing to stop it.
  
• McQueary did however return to his office and call his father and informed head coach Joe Paterno of what he saw. Not having witnessed it himself, Paterno followed protocal and reported it to PSU athletic director Tim Curley. Curley and the Sr. VP for Finance and Business Gary Schultz then met with McQueary to discuss what he saw. It's reported that Curley and Schultz did tell the PSU president Graham Spanier, however it's been said that Spanier was only told that Sandusky was just "horsing around" with a boy in the showers, not that he was sexually taking advantage of a child.

Honestly, I think Joe Paterno is the least of the people that should be held accountable here - if anything he was simply a messenger or a middleman. To him it was hearsay and from reading about it, he was following protocol/policy.

McQueary and Paterno

McQueary was the one that witnessed it, could have stopped it and taken the boy to safety and report it to the police himself. If anyone should have followed up on it, it should have been McQueary as Schultz and Curley had met with him - all Paterno did was inform the necessary PSU authority that there might be a situation, that one of his staff claimed to have witnessed Sandusky doing something inappropriate, and put them in touch with McQueary so they could begin an investigation. It was out of his hands, I see him as simply being the messenger here. Sure, he could have followed up, but again, to him it was just hearsay; McQueary was the one who actually witnessed it and should have done more.

Think about it, if you inform the necessary authorities as per protocol/policy about a serious situation, you most likely would assume that they would do their part/job. If you had only heard about the situation and still saw the person in question around wouldn't you most likely assume that nothing came of the investigation? However, if you actually did witness something such as McQueary did and still saw the person around wouldn't you question what was going on and why no punishment was carried out?

And while it doesn't excuse anything, we do have to remember that Paterno is an older man, from the older generation who often believes that your word is your bond - if you say you're going to do something, that means you're going to do it. He most likely believed that Curley would take care of the situation like he was supposed to (and most likely told Joe he would), and he probably, honestly thought nothing came of it. I know if it was me, I probably would have made the same assumption - that nothing came of the investigation and that McQueary was mistaken about what he said he saw.

If anyone should have gotten fired right away, I would think it would be McQueary, Curley and Schultz for dropping the ball and not making more of an effort. Thankfully, Curley and Schultz have been charged with perjury, as their stories didn't match up and clearly they didn't take McQueary seriously as they told the PSU president Sandusky was only seen "horsing around" with a boy in the showers. McQueary should have followed up with Schultz and Curley though and he should have tried to help the boy rather than walking away. From what we know, Paterno's involvement was just that he was a messenger. And you know the saying - you don't shoot the messenger.

And that poor child... in the grand jury report, all the victims say they became uncomfortable with Sandusky. This one, to have seen McQueary walk in... I can only imagine the relief he felt, in hoping that here, someone would help and put a stop to Sandusky and then the despair when he saw McQueary do nothing and just simply walk away instead.

Being a mother of a boy... stuff like this scares me. Eventually he's going to want to do programs or join clubs similar to Second Mile (whether it be Boy Scouts, sports, whatever) where adults are trusted to supervisor the kids and protect them, not take advantage of them. Many of the victims said things with Sandusky started out innocent - dinner over at his house with his family, joining him for professional sporting games nearby with a few other kids... things you would think you could be okay with your child joining a trusted coach or mentor to do. But unfortunately some adults you think you can trust are just sick. And that scares me.

If they're cleaning house at PSU of anyone who had any knowledge or involvement of what happened, that's fine and understandable. However I feel it's quite unfair for them to single out Paterno like he has been when to him it was just hearsay and he was just following protocol being the messenger.

What are your thoughts?

Thoughts on the Supreme Court's recent ruling on video games

This past weekend my husband and I took a trip up to the Twin Cities for a wedding and on the drive home, we came across an afternoon FM talk radio show. Normally we'd flip the channel and continue trying to find a good rock station, however the topic of discussion caught our interest - it was about the recent Supreme Court ruling on violent video games and the interviewee was Melissa Henson of the Parents Television Council (aka the PTC).

As put by the Washington Times:

"In a 7-2 decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the court struck down a California law banning the purchase by children of violent video games. The court upheld a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision throwing out the ban on sale or rental of these games to minors, writing that governments do not have the power to "restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed," regardless of the amount of grotesque violence.

Scalia wrote for the majority in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association that children are not traditionally shielded from violence as they are from sexual conduct. He also stated that archaic texts and stories, such as Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Snow White and other popular fairy tales and stories depict violence as well, but we wouldn’t think of limiting children’s access to those. 

"Certainly the books we give children to read - or read to them when they are younger - contain no shortage of gore," wrote Scalia. In building a case for protecting the rights of children to purchase games that simulate decapitation, violent murder and gruesome stabbings, the senior justice actually elevated violent video games to the standard of art.

“Like the protected books, plays, and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideas — and even social messages — through many familiar literary devices (such as characters, dialogue, plot, and music) and through features distinctive to the medium (such as the player's interaction with the virtual world),” Scalia wrote. “That suffices to confer First Amendment protection."

He called the California law “seriously over-inclusive because it abridges the First Amendment rights of young people whose parents (and aunts and uncles) think violent video games are a harmless pastime."

The case is a win for the $20 billion dollar video-game industry. Approximately 46 million American households had at least one video-game system in their homes in 2010."

 Scalia definitely makes some good points.

The interview we heard with Henson was also interesting, as she pointed out that the Paducah, KY high school shooter had never held a real gun before but he had played plenty of 1st person shooters, accurately killing many of his victims with the well-known video game headshot method. She said that he had played some of the same games that the US military has their soldiers play to help desensitize them for killing.

I see her point, but the boy was 14 and I'm pretty sure that all 1st person shooter games, including the ones the military uses, have an M-rating on them, meaning "mature content" and "inappropriate for those under 17" exactly like the R movie rating. So the question is, where were the parents and why were they letting their 14 year old play a game meant for adults?

She also called this ruling a recluse, asking "what's a parent to do?"

Um, parent their child...?

Where are these pre-teen boys' parents?

Hearing her say that, my husband and I both had the same response - you take the game away from the kid and either throw it out or put it somewhere they won't find it, duh! Apparently Ms. Henson is not familiar with this approach, however both my husband and I are - I remember growing up not being allowed to listen to certain radio stations or watch certain TV shows/channels. Yes, I did occasionally sneak listening or watching something I knew I wasn't allowed to, but still, if and when my parents found out, I was in trouble.

While I understand what California was trying to do, I applaud the Supreme Court for taking a stand and basically saying that it's not the government's job to parent your child because you're too lazy or afraid to.

The problem I think (from what I've noticed) is that the generation before mine was too concerned about being their child's best friend rather than their parent so that's partially why so many teens are messed up today when it comes to right and wrong, doing things they shouldn't, and why they're so uneducated - the parents were afraid of their children hating them if they disciplined them so they let them do whatever they wanted and gave them anything and everything whether or not it was good for the kid! And now we have an entire part of a generation that can't read, write or spell for crap because their parents never made them sit down and do their homework or paid attention to what they were doing when they were at home so the kids watched whatever, played whatever, listened to whatever.

I've noticed my part of the generation (those of us in the mid-late 20s and early 30s) are sick of the way kids act and behave today - I have several friends who teach high school in the public school district and they get soooo frustrated at how some of these kids have reached the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades and can't spell, form a sentence or even study or do homework. And when they confront the parents about their child's poor performance in school the parents don't seem to care - all they care about is making sure their child is wearing the latest fashions! It's pretty sad!

Most parents I know around my age have the same attitude about parenting as my husband and I, and I'm sure it helps that the things our kids are growing up with now are things we are already accustomed to so we that can be more involved with our kids and keep up with what they're into and parent better than the previous generation did. Most parents I know with young kids take the time to spend time with them, playing together and reading, teaching them, etc because the majority of us think it's ridiculous how teens today can't spell for crap and are so uneducated about everything.

While I may be a new parent, and disciplining your child does suck (unless of course they really pissed you off, then a "time out" comes as a bit of a relief), it's my job to teach my children right from wrong and monitor what they're playing, listening to and watching.

The ESRB has a rating system for video games that's very easy to understand and is pretty similar to the MPAA's movie rating system. They have these ratings for a reason! TV shows have ratings now too and most cable providers provide parental controls so you can even block channels on your TV. And unless anything has changed, I recall video game consoles had a parental lock on them too so unless you input the correct code, the machine won't let you play. If you find out your kid is watching, playing, reading or listening to something that's inappropriate and too mature for them, set the kid down, explain to them why it's inappropriate and get rid of the item in question. Sure they can sneak it at a friend's house, but again, as a parent it's your responsibility to be involved with your child and know what kind of friends they're hanging out with (which is a whole 'nother story).

Besides, what good is banning the selling of certain games to minors when some parents will just buy it for them anyways? Right after Christmas, I went to Gamestop to pick up a few games for our brand new PS3. There were a few people a head of me in line, one of which was a mother and her son who couldn't be more than 10 years old. I forget what game it was they were purchasing, but it was M-rated. The clerk at the register, before ringing up the game, turned the parent and told her that the game was rated M, explained what that meant and what type of Mature content was in the game (I want to say it was the Call of Duty: Black Ops, but I didn't see for sure) and asked if she was sure she wanted to buy it for her son. Without thinking twice the mom said sure! What the heck?

Yes, my husband plays CoD while he's holding our 5 months old son, although half the time he's on the verge of taking his nap and falls asleep soon anyway. As he gets older, I don't think we'll be letting him watch or play that one much if at all until he's older. Even with watching Sunday night shows on HBO like Game of Thrones and True Blood or some of the movies we watch, Jay's too young to understand it, and it's usually close to his bedtime anyway so he usually falls asleep and we just make sure he's turned away from the TV so he's not exposed to too much violence or other things he doesn't need to grow up watching. I would NEVER buy an M-rated video game for a child 10 or younger. And even in their teens, I would find out first why the game is rated M and use discretion from there.

And while I can't speak for every place that sells video games and movies, the ones around here (in the "9th most dangerous city of 2011") do card for M-rated games and R-rated movies if you look young enough. Buying a copy of CoD: Black Ops for my adult brother-in-laws for Christmas, I got carded at Gamestop as did several others ahead of me in line that were also purchasing M-rated games. And I'm 26 and definitely don't look like a teenager (and at the time I was 7-8 months pregnant too!). I've also been carded at Walmart of all places for buying an R-rated movie! So despite what some might think, places DO card for Mature products.

The bottom line is, as a parent, it's YOUR job to actually parent and teach your child, not the government or anyone else.

Interesting thoughts on movies and villains

From time to time, friends of mine post some really amusing links to articles on various sites.

This week, I've come across several that posted from Cracked.com (anyone else remember reading Cracked and MAD in the magazine aisle of the grocery store when they were kids??)

Here's the first one:
9 Famous Movie Villains Who Were Right All Along

In this one, the article touches on Ed Rooney from Ferris Bueller, The Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz, the hyenas in The Lion King and many others! It was a pretty interesting read and I love their captions too!

And another:
6 Insane Fan Theories That Actually Make Great Movies Better

This one was pretty interesting and thought provoking - I had heard the James Bond theory before, and that one actually does make a good bit of sense! I hadn't heard of some of the others though, but it definitely got me thinking!

Random Musings of the Week

I kinda like these posts as I can share bursts of things all at once!

Anyways, I've been working on my 101 in 1001 list lately!

One yearly thing I can cross off for now is #94 - go to a hockey game once a year.

The Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center in Chicago

Last Thursday I found out that hubby and another co-worker of his had pitched in to get some tickets to a Chicago Blackhawks game for another co-worker friend of theirs whose birthday was this past Sunday. The guy's been feeling a bit down lately (or so it would seem from his Facebook status posts) and they wanted to make sure he had a fun birthday. Hubby and I both went and it was pretty fun! I had never been to the United Center before, despite it also being the home of the Chicago Bulls and in the 90s when we were kids the Bulls were THE team to go see (I told hubby we were both deprived/jipped when it came to that! lol...). Our tickets were at the very top, in the standing room section, but fortunately I took breaks to sit down a little bit here and there so it wasn't too bad. Unfortunately the Blackhawks lost, 4-1, with Philly scoring 3 points in the last half/quarter (what do they call it in hockey since there's 3??).

Hockey reminds me of soccer though as it's similar - there's a goalie and you run across the field/ice trying to get the puck/ball in the opposite goal - and watching hockey makes me miss playing soccer... I played for 5 years, 8th grade all through high school. I wasn't really any good until my coach switched me to defense my junior year, then I was actually pretty decent and got to start quite a bit! I hated all the constant running that the midfield and forward positions had to do and couldn't handle it - with defense we only had to worry when the ball came down to our end of the field and then the goal was to either a) kick it up the field real hard, b) pass it on up and out to one of the midfielders or forwards so they could run it or aggressively steal it from the other team's players who were running it and then do either a) or b).

I've also worked on #4 a bit too (Watch at least 2 Netflix DVDs and 2 Instant Queue movies a month).

I mentioned earlier this month I finally watched The Blindside which we had gotten in the mail back in November. The other DVD we watched this month was Predators. It was a decent movie for a Predator action flick and better than I was expecting (only other Predator movie I've seen was AvP:Requiem and I wasn't impressed) - I figured it was produced and written by Robert Rodriguez (in which I LOVE most of his work) so I figured it couldn't be THAT bad... The premise is that a handful of different military people from all over the world (including a Black Ops turned mercenary, a Spetsnaz, a drug lord bodyguard among other similar types) and a doctor come to as they are being parachuted into a strange jungle. At first they're not sure why they're there or who put them there but they start to put the pieces together and realize that they're not on Earth anymore and that the planet is used for hunting by the Predators and that they're the game. This one stars Adrian Brody (whose face drives me nuts, it's too narrow as is his nose!) and Topher Grace with appearances by Danny Trejo (who is AWESOME in everything he's in) and Laurence Fishbourne.

I also watched the documentary called Babies on Netflix's Instant Watch last night. It was cute and interesting - there's very little dialogue in it but for an hour and 15 minutes it follows 4 babies from different cultures (Africa, Mongolia, Tokyo, and San Fransisco) from their newborn days up until around their 1st birthday as they interact with others and discover the world around them. The African culture was quite different, as the baby was part of a tribe in the wild. I also didn't understand why the farming Mongolian family let their baby boy run around with no pants or diaper on half the time - the African baby I get, as that's the culture, but yeah... it was definitely an interesting watch though!

Tiger intensely watching the Babies documentary

About 30 minutes into it Tiger came into the room and joined me - she sat down and stared at the TV for a few minutes before getting up and moving even closer to it! At one point, the Tokyo baby was crying and throwing a fit due to frustration with toys - Tiger's ears perked up and she was practically climbing in front of the TV, pawing at it and meowing, like she thought the kid was stuck in the TV! lol... for the remainder of the movie she seemed pretty intrigued and intensely watched what was going on on the screen! My kitty is hilarious... I have no idea what goes on in that little brain of hers and if she can comprehend what she's seeing, but she often gets really into watching TV with us!

So the talk on Twitter today is that OMG, Taco Bell doesn't use real meat! Honestly though... is that *really* a surprise to anyone? I thought that was old news... maybe it's just cuz I'm a Taco Bell-aholic, but yeah... regardless though, like I saw someone pointed out, the ingredients don't sound any worse than what's in a veggie burger patty. Must be a slow news day!

Also, as I mentioned on Twitter the other day, in the Illinois and Wisconsin area, this past week it seemed like the Superbowl came early as I swear people in this area were more pumped and excited about this past Sunday's Bears vs Packers NFC Championship game than the actual Superbowl! The rivalry around here is a bit crazy between fans of the 2 teams and it was all anyone could talk about this past week. Even area Walmart's got in on the action, selling Bears and Packers cupcakes for all the football parties that were happening! Now, hubby and I are both Dallas Cowboys fans, so we weren't *that* concerned about the game as our season's been over for a few months now, although I do cheer on the Bears when they're not playing Dallas (the only time I *ever* root for the Packers is when they're playing against Brett Favre as I can't stand him), so it was a bit sad to see the Bears lose, especially as they started to make a comeback in the 2nd half of the game. So for the Superbowl it looks like I'll be cheering on the Pittsburgh Steelers this year as my parents are both natives of the Pittsburgh area (dad grew up in Uniontown, mom grew up in Brownsville, both of which are about an hour drive southeast of Pittsburgh) and we still have a lot of family out that way.

In other news... hubby's getting a VERY nice raise at Verizon as the District Managers (one of which is one of my brother-in-laws) put their foot down and petitioned the owner of the company for more money as there's been a huge issue with sales reps turnover due to it solely being based on commission and well, the economy sucks. Not to mention that the person who was getting paid the most wasn't making more more than hubby and yeah... there was no possible way a person could raise a family on that, let alone barely get by themselves! So they "won" and sales reps are getting paid hourly now, but since a sales rep working 40 hours a week would be making more than a manager, well they had to redo that too and decided to restructure the entire company. Previously, hubby was the store manager of the store where the warehouse is and so he was also doubling as an administrative/executive assistant as he dealt with all the inventory and orders as well. Well they're condensing some of the store management positions, making 1 person incharge of several stores in their nearby area, thus eliminating hubby from that, but he's now the inventory manager and will be incharge of the warehouse and inventory, placing orders for all the stores and often delivering them as well in addition to training sales reps on how to better sell/push accessories. This goes into effect February 1, although we won't see the pay for it until March 1. It's pretty neat though!

Jay's 30week growth  ultrasound pic

In baby news... I mentioned it on my baby blog, but since I'm sure not all of you read that, they found ANOTHER abnormality on the ultrasound yesterday (last week during the growth scan it was showing Jay's femur to be a bit small) - one of his kidneys is larger than the other. The doctor said it's possible he just hadn't peed yet and it was full, but since that's 2 things in the course of a week they want me to meet with a high risk doctor and have an ultrasound over at the hospital either at the end of this week or beginning of next week to have both looked at on their more high-tech ultrasound machines. Sooooo annoying! They've looked at his kidneys plenty of times on the ultrasounds and they were all fine... I'm really guessing it was just full at the time of the ultrasound yesterday as that just makes no sense! Grrrrr... I'll be 37 weeks on Sunday, which is considered full-term, so yeah... Jay, you can come out anytime after this weekend, okay??

My father-in-law was released from the hospital on Friday. He seems to be doing alright and they have him doing outpatient dialysis. Our church also offered to put the family up in temporary housing until their house is "fixed" and more liveable. It seems my in-laws have come to the realization that living out there is probably not the best for them at this point. They live out in the country, over an hour away from the rest of us with the nearest city/town being halfway between there and here. Their house is also on 5 acres of property which with my brother-in-laws all grown and working most of the time, there really is no one around to help maintain the property as needed. So the plan now is to get the house out there fixed up (ie: strip the basement as the mold damage was that severe) and to sell it so they can move somewhere closer to town, which would also help them save on travel expenses too as they come into town several times a week for ministry-related work and now for dialysis several times a week. The big problem is going to be with their pets, as they have a mini-zoo - they already had 1 cat and then acquired 4 kittens a few years ago that were mysteriously left on their back porch and while the original plan was to give them away to good homes, my little sister-in-law got attached and they named them all and yeah... that never happened. They also have 3 remaining dogs too, one of which is a pitbull that my brother-in-law acquired from a friend who got deployed soon after him and his wife had a baby and she couldn't handle the dog with a newborn on her own. Not sure what they're going to do... I told hubby if we had a house with a fenced backyard I'd be okay with taking 1 if not both of the non-pitbull dogs temporarily (I like pitbulls, but this one's a bit spastic and I don't feel like dealing with that with a newborn), but like he said, we don't yet so we can't.

And that's my update for now!

Forget Lennon, RIP Dimebag Darrell

December 8...

Many people on Facebook seem to be remembering today as the day John Lennon died.

For me and those into rock and metal, we all know it as the date "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott was murdered.

Who is "Dimebag" Darrell?

Well, he's probably most famous for being the guitarist for Pantera and a huge influence when it came to the world of rock and metal. After Pantera broke up, "Dimebag" and his brother Vinnie Paul continued to rock with their band Damageplan who had a stop in my hometown just months prior to his death.

From Wiki:

On December 8, 2004, Abbott was shot onstage while performing with Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio.

The gunman was Nathan Gale, who shot Abbott six times, including four times in the head, killing him instantly. Gale then continued shooting, killing four others and wounding a further seven. Gale fired a total of fifteen shots, stopping to reload once and remaining silent throughout the shooting.

Jeff "Mayhem" Thompson, the band's head of security, was killed tackling Gale, as was Alrosa Villa employee Erin Halk. Audience member Nathan Bray was killed while trying to perform CPR on Dimebag and Mayhem. It was rumored that one crowd member leaped in front of the gunman, saving the lives of several band members. Damageplan drum technician, John "Kat" Brooks, was shot three times as he attempted to get the gun away from Gale, but was overpowered and taken hostage in a headlock position. Tour manager Chris Paluska was also injured.

Seven police officers came in the front entrance, led by Officer Rick Crum, and moved toward the stage. Officer James D. Niggemeyer came in through the back door, behind the stage. Gale only saw the officers in front of the stage; he never saw Officer Niggemeyer, who was armed with a 12 gauge Remington 870 shotgun. He approached Gale from the opposite side of the stage to avoid hitting the hostage and fired a single shot, striking Gale in the face with eight of the nine buckshot pellets. Gale was found to have had 35 rounds of ammunition remaining.

Can you imagine being at a show and having something like this happen? And poor Vinnie - he was just feet away from his brother when he was murdered - can you imagine the horror?

From what I know, I believe this is the only time a musican has been murdered like this by a crazed fan onstage during a show. While there are theories as to why Gale went on his shooting spree, no one knows for sure why he did it.

Dimebag's death was a huge loss to the metal and rock world, as well as the music world as he was quite the guitarist and a huge influence. He was only 38.

I was in college at the time, however I remember I was at my ex's parents house that weekend, sleeping in his sister's room and falling asleep to the TV in there. The early morning news came on and I remember them reporting on this, as it had just happened hours prior.

RIP "Dimebag" Darrell - you won't be forgotten!

Toys and Tornadoes, oh my!

Okay, so like I mentioned in my previous post - had quite a bit going on today!

First, I got a new laptop! Yay!!!

It's a 15" Dell AMD Inspiron and the story behind me getting it is kinda... well, drama filled (a little) so I won't get into all that, but let's just say, I'm glad I have awesome credit!

I really don't like laptops smaller than 15 inches as they just seem too small with everything squished together on the keyboard - I like having a little bit of room when working on a laptop! Also, I like Dell's - my first computer of my own was a Dell and I used it for well over 5 years before I started using my Powerbook for everything as my Dell's drivers were so out of date. The Dell monitor that came with it though is what we're currently using for our desktop monitor until we can get another flatscreen one.

Before I could go pick my new laptop up though (I ordered it online through Best Buy and did the in-store pickup option) I had to hole up with Tiger in our bathroom as the local tornado sirens started going off around 3pm this afternoon!

Yeah, that's right - tornadoes in Northern Illinois near the end of November!

Talk about crazy weather we've been having! It was somewhat "normal" near the end of last week and over the weekend, however the past few days been in the upper 50s and 60s! Tornado weather seemed inevitable!

We only had to hide out in the bathroom (the innermost room in our apartment with no windows) for like 20 minutes, although Tiger was not amused and I think she peed on me at one point (in her defense though, she was a little scared and I was holding her pretty tight when I went out to check the news and see if the warning had expired or been extended). There were a few that touched down though - one just north of here overturned a school bus full of kids (only 3 had minor injuries though!) and another in the next county over that did some major damage, tearing through homes and grain silos! A few of my friends that live across town on the North side lost power because of the tornadoes too.

Anyways, after watching the news for a bit to find out what all happened and if we were in the clear, I headed out to pick up my new laptop and I've been spending most of the evening getting it all set up and downloading/installing stuff on it.

I'm really liking it so far - it's shiny and new and FAST! We got it hooked up on our home network so I don't need to pull everything on it as I can just access all our music, photos and videos on the Desktop's external HD via the network (sweet!).

It also has a webcam on it too, which is kinda neat as I've never really used a webcam before and half my family Skype's so I can do that with them now. It's got Windows 7 on it too, which I'm starting to get used to as our desktop is running Vista.

It seems pretty snazzy though and I figure since we'll probably still be here at the apartment for at least part of March (as even if we get pre-approved and really lucky with finding a house right away in January, it could still take some time to get everything finalized and us moved in), it'll be good to have as I can put Jay down for a nap in the bedroom and then use the laptop out here so I'm not keeping him up or anything using the desktop in there. Plus when we get a house, we can keep the laptop on the main floor while we'll have a separate computer room, which will be nice when Jay's a little older so he can watch his movies or shows in one room and I can be in the same room on the laptop doing stuff too. And he can use it too when he's a little older for any learning PC games he'll have.

The Muppets are back!

My theater buddy just posted this on Facebook a bit ago and thought I'd share it - the new Muppets movie is starting production with an expected release date of Christmas 2011!

This is the Muppets movie that actor Jason Segel is well involved in. For those not familiar with the actor, he starred as Nick (one of the "freaks") in Freaks and Geeks and has had a smaller role in Judd Apatow's film "Knocked Up" (starring his Freaks and Geeks co-star Seth Rogen) and had lead roles in both "I Love You, Man" (co-starring with Paul Rudd) and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" which he wrote. In television, he is mostly known now for his role as Marshall on CBS's "How I Met Your Mother."

In "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," one storyline focuses on Segel's character writing a Dracula musical which is to be performed with puppets. At the end of the film he makes this happen, and turns out, Henson puppeteers custom-made the cloth puppets that were used. Segel, being a long-time Muppet fan, decided to pitch a concept for a Muppet movie and it was accepted and this is it.

From ComingSoon.net:

"Entertainment Weekly is featuring a two-page first look article at Disney's The Muppets, to be directed by James Bobin from a script by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller. The December 25, 2011 release will stars Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Chris Cooper.

The article mentions that the new Muppet in the film will be Walter, who you can see holding the smartphone below. He's described as "a sweet, slightly naive twenty-something Everypuppet who, in the movie, is the best friend and roommate of Segel's character, Gary. Both Gary and Walter are die-hard Muppet fans."

"Walter is the kind of guy who faints when he sees Kermit," Bobin told the magazine. "Walter has a little bit of a self-confidence issue because he's the only person like him that he's seen aside from the Muppets," Segel explained. "His dream is to meet the Muppets and be around people who are like him."

EW says that when Gary and Walter learn that the Muppet Theater is in danger of being torn down, they set out to save it by reuniting Kermit, Piggy, and the entire troupe to stage an old-fashioned extravaganza."

It sounds really cute and while there's been plenty of Seasme Street movies over the years, there really hasn't been a Muppet movie since the late 80s/early 90s. I remember as toddler, I used to watch "Follow that Bird" over and over again and enjoyed "The Muppet Movie," "The Great Muppet Caper," and "Muppets Take Manhattan." I'm really excited for this one as it sounds like a Muppet movie that little kids will enjoy as well as adults (unlike some of the more recent movies).

Jay will be almost 1 by the time this comes out - and pending how he behaves, I'm thinking we might try and take him to this one. While I'm not sure if our local theater still does this now that AMC bought them out, I know they used to have a late morning showing at least once a week of films that parents could take their young kids to and not have to worry about disrupting anyone as the showing was specifically for parents with little kids. I know, 1 might seem a little young, but surprisingly, we forget that by the time they're one, they're nearly toddlers and most can already walk and talk/babble a bit.

30 Days of Me: Day 24 - The tragic recent ongoings at my college

 

Today's 30 Days of Me topic is another "Whatever tickles your fancy" post and over vacation I learned about another tragedy that happened at my former college and via my phone, stayed up on the details and breaks in the investigation as they occurred.

2 weekends ago (the weekend of October 15-17) was homecoming weekend down at good ol' NIU, however it was a bit overshadowed as news broke that weekend that a freshman art student - Antinette "Toni" Keller - was reported missing by friends that Friday evening. They said she was last seen Thursday afternoon, just past noon, walking with her art portfolio towards a park not too far from campus, just off of the downtown area of DeKalb, which many students frequented due to the close proximity of the downtown area to campus.

Following via the Facebook page that was created for her missing persons case, various groups on campus were going out regularly to help search for her and the local area police were using dogs to try and find/follow her scent, however they said the dogs seemed to lose her scent near I-88, leading some to believe maybe she hitchhiked a ride. There was also talk that maybe she hopped on a train to California as the park she was headed to had train tracks nearby that led out that way. It was also reported that some of her belongings, including her dorm key, had been found in the park.

The speculation went on for about a week until officials came forward with news that they found human remains in the park shortly after Toni was believed to have gone missing. Many people were wondering why they withheld that info for a good week or so, but turns out the remains had been burned and it took nearly a week for them to be able to confirm that they were in fact human!

Her case went from a missing person's investigation to a "death investigation."

While it hasn't been confirmed that the remains they found were hers, they did report finding more of her belongings near the burnt remains, so everyone's pretty sure they're hers, despite some still clinging to hope that she may still be alive.

Throughout this past week the officials and FBI have requested people come forward with any information they might have regarding her or the park the remains were found in and I guess they met with many people and scheduled follow-up interviews since they started the case. Soon after the press conference regarding finding the remains, her case was bumped up to a "homicide investigation."

The other day we learned they had a man in custody - a local resident known for frequenting the park who had missed showing up for his 2nd interview with the police. Turns out he stole his mother's car and fled to Mexico before the FBI found him in Louisana and then less than 24hrs later they were able to extradite him back up here to Illinois. They haven't released a lot of the details regarding why they're pretty sure he's the murderer as they don't want to compromise the case, but he is being charged with 5 counts of 1st degree murder, criminal sexual assault, and arson; his bail is $5M.

I hope they really got the right guy and it just really saddens me that something like this happened down there. They haven't revealed how he killed her (although they say there was no previous connection between them, calling her a victim of chance and opportunity), but it sounds like rape was involved and then to have been burned... I hope she was dead prior to him burning the body - could you imagine those being the last few moments of your life??

While DeKalb isn't the safest town (which really such a town doesn't exist), it's never been a real dangerous one either - when I was there the only problem we had early on was an issue with minor drunken stabbings happening on the weekend over near Greek Row and no one was seriously injured. While I was a little nervous leaving the theater at night and always had an employee escort with me as we walked to our cars right next to the exit, I never thought twice about walking across campus or in the area during the day. This happened in broad daylight on a Thursday afternoon! Being an art major, I walked plenty of times across campus to get from the dorms on one end to the art building clear on the other side of campus! It just really makes you stop and think about how it could happen to anyone and that you have to be careful even in the daytime now!

The campus has since taken increased security measures to make sure the students feel safe - they've extended the late-night ride service from 4pm-8am and have 24hr escorts available and they've made it so that in order to enter any residence hall, you need to actually live there so long are the days of having visitors over or friends stay with you in the dorms for the weekend - I'm curious how that affects the dining halls, as each resident hall has a different dining hall in it (and 2 of them are kinda crappy so everyone tended to walk over to one of the others for dinner).

It seems like NIU can't escape tragedy - first the Valentine's Day shooting in 2008 and now this grisly homicide. Aside from the campus, DeKalb is smaller community with the majority of the non-college residents being those that either commute into Chicago for work or are farmers. Homicide's just aren't common there like they are in larger cities.

Sorry for the grim post today, but I figured since it was a "whatever tickles your fancy" post I'd take this opportunity to post about what happened at my aluma mater as it's been on my mind this past week. And no, I didn't know her, however I went to the school there, only having graduated 3 years ago and lived down there for 6 years, having friends and former co-workers that still live down there too that I occasionally visit, and working at the theater I came in contact with a lot of people in the community on a daily/weekly basis so my heart goes out to my NIU Huskie family and the DeKalb community.

Celebs & Marriage - Is There No Commitment??

What is up in Hollywood this week??

First it's announced that Courtney Cox and David Arquette are separating after 11 years of marriage, and then we hear that Christina Aguilera and her husband of nearly 5 years announced their separation today as well!

Watching HLN's Showbiz Tonight (as I sometimes do for Hollywood news and gossip), they were just talking about the Arquette split, playing clips of David Arquette on Howard Stern where he admitted that he's changed since they first met 16 years ago - he's not as charming as he was back then, he's gotten more mellow, etc and that their sex life isn't as active as it once was.

Hello! People change over the years - it's a fact! No one stays the same way they are the beginning of a relationship - that's why they refer to it as "the honeymoon period."

I keep having to explain this to my teenage sister, as she complains that the guys she dates all start out sweet, caring, overly romantic and they can't seem to get enough of each other and then suddenly, months down the road the guy decides he wants his space and doesn't want to spend every single day with her and isn't doing cute, sweet, romantic little things for her like he did earlier.

It's called nesting!

You get in a new relationship, things are fun and exciting - there's so much new to learn about the person (even if you've known them for years) and things feel so much different than they did in the previous relationship... but then the honeymoon period wears off and you start to nest. You don't need to to constantly impress or woo the person you're seeing anymore because you know they love you regardless (or at least by then they should) and you start to nest into a comfortable groove or routine - usually together and you grow from there.

I'm sure if you ask ANYONE who's been married for years - 5, 10, 20, 25... even 50! - and I'm pretty sure they'll tell you that they're not the same person they were all those years ago when they first started dating/courting or when they got married. I know I'm not the same person I was 2 years ago, or even 4 years ago when we first started dating - I've grown a little bit, hubby has too.

And the sex... not to get into details, but like one of the commentators on Showbiz tonight said, when you've been married for awhile AND you have kids, going a month without sex isn't uncommon! I'll admit, our sex life isn't quite as active as it once was and we've only been married 2 years. I have friends with multiple kids and I've heard that with work and taking care of the kids, especially when they're young, it's hard to make time for it and unless you think to make time for it, it often doesn't happen!


And regarding Christina and her husband, the reason behind their split?

Here's what US Magazine online reports:

“They were very much in love,” explains the insider. "But over the last six months, it ­became clear they were more like friends than husband and wife."

Um... what?!

Forgive me if I'm wrong here, but isn't your spouse supposed to be your best friend in this world? The person you tell everything to, the person you trust with everything? The person you're closest with? Your faithful, loyal companion? I'd say your spouse is supposed to be your ultimate friend and companion!

So they're splitting because they seem to be more like best friends than husband and wife? I think that's a bit ridiculous! I'm curious to hear what their definition of husband and wife are...

Marriage is a lifetime commitment - for better or for worse. Unless something major happens in your marriage (ie: abuse, infidelity, etc) there is no excuse for throwing in the ball just because things aren't as sizzling, spicy, or romantic like they once were back in the day. Even in life, no one stays the same way forever!

So far, both couples have only separated, which means they're still legally together and there hasn't been talk (in the media at least) of divorce, so hopefully maybe these couples will be able to work out their issues and realize what marriage really is and that their alleged reasons for their separations are a bit stupid.

I really hope this isn't some publicity stunt though - Cox and Arquette are both co-starring in the upcoming Scream 4 which comes out this spring but is already getting some buzz; and Christina has a starring lead role in a major feature film (called Burlesque) due out in next month. Both couples have young kids - The Arquette's have a 6 year old daughter, while Christina and her husband have a 2 year old son. If this is some publicity stunt, shame on them for putting their kids through that for the sake of media coverage!

I'm part of a statistic

While referencing Wiki to help myself update my movie review blog, Movie Bits, I came across this cited piece of information regarding the new movie The Expendables:

"Though the majority of moviegoers were men, Lionsgate was surprised to find that 40% were women, giving "Expendables" somewhat broader appeal than expected."

Source: The LA Times

I get the impression that Lionsgate under estimated the sex appeal that some of these action stars have and that they forgot that, like men, many women will almost always see something that their favorite piece of eye candy is in!

I was one of the 40% of female moviegoers that saw The Expendables opening weekend (opening day to be exact!).

Hubby and I went and saw the 11:40am Friday show at our local AMC, as on the weekends movies before noon (and all day Monday-Thursday) are only $5 and we both wanted to go see this one - hubby for the action and the cast of action stars together, and well, I have a huge celeb crush on Jason Statham.

Being a huge Jason Statham fan (he's hot, British and makes action look good while wearing suits and sports coats!), I had been looking forward to seeing this film all summer as he hadn't been in anything since Spring 2009's Crank sequel. I was a little worried, with a huge cast, he wouldn't get much screentime, but to my delight there's a reason he's got 2nd billing under Stallone - he's one of the main characters and not just a smaller supporting role. I only wish he took his shirt off!

Hubby doesn't mind me gushing too much over Statham and these guys, as he's the same way about Angelina Jolie, Megan Fox, Milla Jovovich and Scarlett Johansson.

For those under a rock, The Expendables is the new summer action flick written, directed and starring Stallone and has an impressive who's-who cast of other action stars, such as Jason Statham, Jet Li, Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Randy Couture, and Steve Austin with amusing cameos by Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger thrown in. It is also a throwback to the 80s and 90s action movies pre-CGI, as all the explosions, fights and gunfire are real - what you see on screen was achieved through real, physical means and not computers. Also, as many of these stars are known for doing in their films, the majority of the cast did all their own stunts.

You can read my review of the movie here.

Urban Outfitters... did you REALLY think this was acceptable??

While going through my Google Reader today, I came upon this post by Tasha at Random Musings of an Overactive Imagination and like her and many others, I'm kind of outraged too!

Recently, the company Urban Outfitters, which is known for having stores in shopping malls across America, had to remove a t-shirt they were selling on their website.

The shirt in question is to the right ---->

Many feel that it promotes anorexia (a movement called Pro-Ana), as the message is "Eat Less" and is worn by a model on their site who looks pretty skinny. Their target demographic for their clothes are high schoolers too, as they rival other mall stores geared towards teens such as American Eagle and Abercrombie and Fitch.

I understand, America is becoming more obese and lazy - while viewing a local commercial for am upcoming local family summer event, my husband couldn't help but comment at how "big" some of the kids in the commercial were. But selling a t-shirt that says "Eat Less" and marketing it towards teenage girls - many of which already have insecurity and body issue problems to begin with - is just irresponsible and promoting a poor solution to an important issue. While it is important to be healthy and in shape "eating less" is not the answer - eating healthy and regular exercise is.

To be honest, I've never shopped at Urban Outfitters as I find their prices (as well as the prices of American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch, and other similar stores) to be too expensive, but I remember being in Jr. High and shopping at stores like that cuz it was trendy thing to do - if you wanted to fit in with the popular crowd, you had to wear the name brand labels. Last time I can recall wearing a size 0 was in 5th or 6th grade. For most of high school I was a size 6 and by the end of college I was at least an 8 to a 10. Now, before getting preggo, I was comfortable in size 12, as a 13 was too loose and an 11 was just slightly too tight. Aside from my size 12 Old Navy jeans, I'm in a 14 (which I blame on pregnancy). I've never been obese or "big" but I do have big thighs which is why I have to currently wear double digit pants, as the smaller sizes I can't pull over them. So far, the exercise I have tried in recent years, doesn't seem to help much in my thighs as all it does is tighten them and turn the fat into muscle. I've just come to accept that I have big thighs, which I've heard will come in handy when I pop out this kid in February. Sometimes you just can't help the way your body is. Yes, before I was pregnant I could use to lose a good 10-20lbs just to be healthier (I was in the lower 160s), but still... I wasn't skinny, but I wasn't obese either - I considered myself to be average.

This is why movies such as the Bridget Jones ones upset me - in the movie she weighs 130 or so and EVERYONE seems to think she's fat because of that, including herself - Hollywood's pretty skewed if they think 130lbs is a "fat girl" number. Watching that movie even depressed me, as at the time I first saw it in college I was at least 140lbs! Ladies, unless you're super super short, 130lbs is NOT fat! I know plenty of women, myself included, who would LOVE to be 130lbs.

My college roommate once came across a Livejournal group years ago (back when Livejournal was the main form of blogging) that she shared with me - it was a Pro-Ana group and it saddened us both so much to see images of super skinny celebs that these young girls (most seemed to be in Jr. High and high school) were aiming to look like. They practically idolized the skin and bone images of Mary Kate Olsen back when she struggled with her eating disorder. It was just sickening. A handful people, us included, started posting trying to explain to these girls that this wasn't healthy at all and having a news design and art background I even tried to explain how a lot of images you see in magazines and such are altered in programs like Photoshop to make the celebs look more skinny and glamorous. The girls would have none of our rational talk though as we spent a week on there trying to help them - instead they continued to hold each other accountable, using their skin and bone images of celebs as inspiration while they tried to reach 60lbs... and then 50lbs... It was so sad!

Having experienced that first hand, as well as having been a teenage girl who spent time trying to fit in, and having a current teenage sister and the fact that I'm going to be a mommy soon and hope to someday have a girl, a store selling and marketing stuff like this to girls is really upsetting to me!

What were the people who approve the items Urban Outfitters sells thinking when they approved this?! It doesn't appear that anyone sees the "humor" in it (if there was any) - it comes off as being either Pro-Ana or just mean spirited. What were they thinking??

Here's the article from the Cleveland Leader, which has been making rounds on the net:

New Urban Outfitters T-Shirt Promotes Pro-Anorexia Movement
     Urban Outfitters does admittedly have at least some pretty cool clothes, but if you're bigger than say a size 8 or are anything more than small-chested, good luck finding anything there to fit. I suppose that could be the message of their latest t-shirt, "Eat Less" and maybe you'll be able to buy/wear our clothes.
     Perhaps some of the American population could stand to take the shirt's advice, but for those impressionable teens who shop at Urban Outfitters, it's message is more pro-anorexia than anything, especially when worn by an emaciated model.
     Many are outraged by the t-shirt. If you too would like to give Urban Outfitters a piece of your mind, you can send your comments to service@urbanoutfitters.com

Source: http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/13944

Actress Sophia Bush, from the hit TV show One Tree Hill, has even taken a stand against this as well and wrote an open letter to Urban Outfitters on her blog. While I'm not too familar with the actress, having never watched her TV show, I do applaud her for taking a stand and expressing her outrage about this - it's nice to see SOMEONE in Hollywood/Showbiz take a stand against this kind of thing.

What do you think? Was Urban Outfitters out of line marketing and selling the shirt? What are your thoughts?

Vote for my hometown's Free Credit Score band finalist!!

By now I'm sure you've all heard about and seen the commercials for the search for the next Free Credit Score.com band.

While I've known for awhile, all the talk in the local media here in town is that one of the final 4 bands - The Poets Dance - is from my hometown (even though on the site it's listed as Chicago) and the brother-in-law of reader & sometimes commenter Becca from Memoirs of a Girl is in the band too!

Supposidly all 4 bands are supposed to be getting equal commercial time so you can hear them all and then go online and vote, however, I watch a lot of tv later at night (usually TBS, Nick at Nite, and VH1, as well as sometimes NBC, ABC, Spike and FX earlier in the day/evening) and I only keep seeing the 3 other bands, so I finally went online to check out our hometown band, since our local market apparently isn't playing their commercial much at all!

You can check them out here in this official video:


They're called The Poets Dance, and while I voted for them because they're from my hometown and I think it'd be pretty awesome for the next Free Credit Score band to come from here!

I suggested and sent the submission link to my brother-in-laws to enter their band The Broken Fall into the contest, as a few years back they had quite the local following and made it into the final 5 for the VH1 Save the Music Battle of the Bands for our area (winners got a trip to New York to meet with record execs) - they didn't win, but a lot of people said they should have! They also won several area music competitions several years in a row and even won a RAMI - a local award thing with many different categories our city does every year... granted they haven't been too active the past 2 years or so - they both work a lot and their 2 cousins left the band for their own reasons (one decided to enlist in the Army Reserve and went off to do that, and the other... we're not sure what happened as he just stopped coming to practice for like a year straight). My brother-in-laws are both still making music as The Broken Fall (as my in-laws legally own the name and logo) and I know they said recently they finally found a few new members to permanently fill in (as they had family friend musicians help them out to lay out some new tracks), but yeah...

I'm glad at least one of the bands in the finals for this competition came from our area!

I do admit though, I also like the California band Evolove (the one with the chick singer) because to me they sound a lot like old skool No Doubt... but I can't decide if that's a good or bad thing!

Go to www.freecreditscoreband.com and check out the bands and vote (preferably for The Poets Dance!).

A League of Their Own

In the summer of 1992 I was 7, turning 8 in August. I remember that when the movie A League of Their Own came out, I wanted to see it soooo bad - I was big into baseball in the early 90s, playing softball through our local park district in the summer, watching the Chicago Cubs on TV and collecting baseball cards (my favorite player was Cubs second baseman, Ryne Sandberg).

For those not familiar with the classic movie, A League of Their Own tells about the early days of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940s, while the men were off fighting World War II. The story follows sisters Dottie and Kit - two small town Oregon farm girls who play baseball in their hometown. Older sister Dottie is back at home helping out while her husband is off at war and while she loves baseball, she enjoys playing just for fun, unlike younger sister Kit who lives and breathes the game. When an AAGPBL scout catches one of their games, he likes what he sees in Dottie's catching, but refuses to take pitcher Kit unless Dottie will go too.

The sisters tryout in Chicago with hundreds of other female hopefuls and baseball enthusiasts and both make the Rockford team, the Peaches, which is to be coached by former baseball Jimmy Dugan who is now a raging alcoholic. While Jimmy treats his job as a joke ("Girls can't play baseball..." "There's no crying in baseball!"), Dottie takes over, getting the team on track. The girls eventually win Jimmy over, as well as help get the league off the ground, as it had a rocky start with very little interest from sponsors and spectators.

Sibling rivalry starts to get in the way though, as Kit because of jealous of how much attention Dottie is getting. Also, Dottie's husband was injured in the war and comes home early. Dottie, never wanting baseball to be her life starts rethinking being on the team and part of the league.

Watching it on TV from time to time and occasionally on DVD, I'm actually surprised at how much went over my head as a little kid. While it is rated PG, there are some adult themes and some sexuality to it (for example, Madonna's character Mae is nicknamed "All the Way Mae", and we definitely see she isn't shy with the guys!). It also had an All-Star cast, starring Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Lori Petty, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Jon Lovitz, Bill Pullman, Ann Cusack and more, plus a brief appearance by Tea Leoni as Racine's first baseman.

I remember my aunt took me to go see it that summer, and despite it being over 2 hours long, I wasn't bored at all!

Also, not only was this film about girls playing baseball, but a large part of it takes place in my hometown, which made me love it even more!

Last month, the nearly destroyed Beyer Stadium - home of the Rockford Peachers - was finally restored and rededicated (some idiot decided to have it torn down around the time the movie came out).A group of 20 surviving members from the AAGPBL came out for the event, however, the woman that was portrayed by Geena Davis' character in the movie had died just weeks prior.

Here's the story that ran in our local news last month:

Home of the Rockford Peaches rededicated
By: Rebecca Klopf

ROCKFORD (WREX) - Years of hard work pay off almost two decades after the home of the legendary Rockford Peaches was destroyed.   Beyer Stadium was not just the home of the Peaches,  but it's also where hundreds of boys and girls grew up playing sports.

All of that history was torn down in 1992, but now it's alive once again and looking like it did in 1943 for future generations to use.  The field now has a brand new baseball diamond,  backstop, scoreboard, and flagpole.

A group of about 20 All AmericanGirls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) players came out to see this very important event.  The field they played on as either the home team or visitors was rededicated Saturday afternoon and the women were all given a chance to throw out a first pitch.  One woman even did it pushing a walker and an oxygen tank.   It's these women's commitment to the league and each other that drove volunteers like Greg Schwenke to become the cochair of the "Friends of Beyer Stadium" committee.

"The ladies have such a passion for something long past and that fueled my passion, and I thought, 'We have to get this done before we lose any more'," said Schwenke.

Sadly, during the 13 years it took to get the money for the stadium, quite a few Rockford Peaches were lost including Dorothy Kamenshek, who the inspired the lead character Dottie in the movie "A League of Their Own."  She passed away just a few weeks ago.

Another player, Dottie Ferguson, died a few year ago, and her son came to make sure a piece of her history lives on.

"Mom and Dad were both really upset when the field was torn down in the first place, but it will be great to have this field now and have the memory," said Doug Key, Dottie Ferguson's son.

Then there others, like Peaches player Helen "Sis" Waddell Wyatt who wants to give children today a living history lesson.  "When I was a kid we didn't have a park. We went down to some lot where the grass was up to here," said Wyatt, gesturing.  She played for the Rockford Peaches from 1950 to 1951.  "Kids don't know how lucky they are nowadays."

The changes that have been made to Beyer Stadium are only the first phase of improvements. The "Friends of Beyer Stadium" committee would like to add bleachers, sidewalks, and even a park for children in the neighborhood.

If you like to donate to help you can mail checks to the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois for the "Friends of Beyer Stadium" at 946 N.. Second St. Rockford, IL 61107.

Source: http://www.wrex.com/Global/story.asp?S=12601983

If you enjoy sports movies, movies based on true stories, historical movies or movies about underdogs coming out on top, be sure to check out A League of Their Own - it's got drama, comedy, history and sports!

MJ and WoW - where were you?

Sorry for no post last week - I didn't really have a topic/post prepared so I just decided to take the week off from Warcraft Wednesday... but now it's back!

A little over a year ago exactly (on June 25, 2009) the King of Pop - Michael Jackson - died.

Where was I when I heard?

Why, I was in WoW of course!

I remember hanging out in Dalaran, most likely on my Boomkin. Hubby was doing something on one of his characters and I was standing around waiting for something/anything to happen (our raid wasn't for a few more hours).

Some kid started talking over Trade Chat about Michael Jackson being dead. No one believed him though, I mean people joking about celebs dying in Trade Chat wasn't exactly uncommon. But then a few others chimed in as well.

Curious, I turned our TV to one of the news stations, but there was no info. I then Googled and noticed a few articles on sites like TMZ but again, not the most reliable source. I kept the TV on one of the news channels (CNN Headline News I believe) and eventually they mentioned something about MJ going to the hospital.

A few other people in Trade Chat must have been watching too, as we all started clarifying that he was at the hospital, not dead yet. But by then the Thriller/Smooth Criminal jokes were already flying back and forth in Trade Chat.

By the time he pronounced dead I was already in my raid.

But yeah, thanks to WoW, I was notified to turn on my TV and watch the news, otherwise I probably wouldn't have heard about it until people started posting on Facebook!

Keep doing the Michael Jackson dance, you male Night Elves!

What is wrong with Miley Cyrus and her parents?!

So I know a lot of people lately have been commenting about Miley Cyrus' latest video - Can't Be Tamed - and commenting about how racy and sexual it is for a 17 year old with a tween fan base, but did anyone catch her performances at the recent MuchMusic Awards?

I didn't either, but I just a few clips of it on E! News and wow... what are her parents thinking?!

This is the outfit she wore while performing "Party in the USA":

 

Can you say teenage jailbait vixen?

And here's what she wore while performing "Can't Be Tamed":

 

Yes, that's lingerie... on a 17 year old. At the beginning of the performance she came out with a matching silky wrap too which she stripped off.

Seriously, what the hell are her parents thinking? Yes, she's a teenager, but no, teenagers don't parade around in lingerie that one would wear on their wedding night!

A lot of people have said what she's doing is no different than what Christina and Britney were doing 10 years ago. The difference though between Miley and them is that their main fan base was closer in age to them - Miley went right from her kid-friendly Disney Channel show to this and the majority of her fan base are tweens and preteens. When Christina and Britney came out, I was a freshman in high school - only 2 or 3 years younger than them - and while they bared their midriffs, the sexuality really wasn't that in your face; their fashions weren't really that out of tune with what high school kids were actually wearing. And again, they were right around the same age as their target demographic. Yes, they too were on a Disney's New Mickey Mouse Club, however they were was a brief hiatus between the show and their music careers taking off.

As much as Miley's living up the moment right now, her transition to "growing up" wouldn't be as shocking or disturbing as it is if she took a good year or 2 away and then broke out with a new image/sound/whatever, spacing herself from her Hannah Montana image and fan base.

Watching the latest Miley video and her performances at the MuchMusic Awards, I feel dirty, knowing she's not even legal and she's strutting her "goods" around like that. Billy Ray Cyrus should be ashamed for his lack of parenting - my dad would shoot me if I ever went out in anything remotely like that in public, let alone in front of an audience!

"Growing up" does not mean you have to strut yourself around sexually like there's no tomorrow. 

There's plenty of young females in Entertainment who have kept their clothes on - take Kelly Clarkson for example, she's the original American Idol and has sold millions and millions of records. Her music is pretty positive and well, you don't see her strutting around in lingerie! Even the Olsen Twins, despite the one having anorexia (which she admitted to, addressed it and got help for it), are some of the richest girls in entertainment due to the kid-friendly empire they built; they too have grown up but you don't see them strutting around in next to nothing! And Natalie Portman's another strong female and former childstar who made a great transition into growing up without turning into a trainwreck - she even went to Harvard and graduated! And those are just the first few off the top of my head.

Yes, parents do have a responsibility to control what their kids watch and listen to, but you can't shelter them from EVERYTHING - it's not possible. Even if you don't allow it in your home, they'll get exposed to it elsewhere or behind your back - I remember as a kid, my parents wouldn't let me watch MTV, but my best friend's parents didn't care if she did and her 2 older brothers were always watching it, so from time to time I would catch some of it over at her house. In Jr. High I used to sneak watching TRL in our basement after school. I also wasn't allowed to listen to Top40 music in the early 90s because my parents didn't think songs like Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" was appropriate for a 6 year old. But again, my best friend's parents didn't care if she did so I would hear that stuff we didn't listen to in my house at hers.

With the internet now, kids watch and listen to almost anything - I forget who it was that blogged about it, but someone pointed out that just going down the iTune's top tracks recently and listening to the 30 second clips of them, one of the rap songs had swear word after swear word in it, just in a 30 second clip! Any kid with half a brain knows how to work iTunes. And with Youtube, while some videos require you to sign in and confirm you're 18 to view them, any kid that can do math can figure out what year they need to put in to make themselves 18. I agree, parents should be monitoring what their kid is doing online, but a lot don't. And who knows what images they're being to exposed to with the click of a button?

I think if these Hollywood parents would actually parent they could prevent their kids from turning into the trainwrecks that have become oh so common in Hollywood these days.

Take Lindsay Lohan for example - she had a very promising career and a lot of the big names in Hollywood she worked with all stated she has a talent for acting and could become great. However, look what happened - she started hanging around with the party girls of Hollywood and got too involved with drugs and alcohol to the point where her career suffered. Maybe if her parents took the time to parent her and teach her and guide her she wouldn't have turned into the trainwreck she has become. Even look at Britney now and her comeback - a large part of it is due to her family stepping in and keeping her in check at 28 years old - if her family didn't intervene and help put her back on track she'd probably be dead by now.

 

It's pretty sad that parents like Billy Ray Cyrus seem to think this type of behavior and dress is "normal" for a teenage minor and do nothing about it. Last I checked, unless your child is emancipated, they're still your responsibility until they are of legal age and you still have the final say in what they do and wear!