Day Of Prayer For New Orleans

For those of you expecting to read something funny or sarcastic, or read about something bizarre that happened on the way home yesterday, I hope you're not disappointed.  Something did happen last night, but it wasn't really bizarre, and it wasn't funny.  I spent most of the evening quiet (hard to believe, I know) and at times, sick to my stomach, as I thought about the devasation in New Orleans and the other cities hit hard by Katrina.  Before I went to bed, I heard on the news that the main levee had broken in New Orleans, and soon the entire city would be flooded.  Louisiana's Governor has asked that today be a national day of prayer for New Orleans and it's people. 

I'd like to ask you, my faithful readers, to take the time that you would have spent reading an entry in TWIT and use those minutes to pray for those affected by the hurricane. 

I Was A Dealer

It's an all-too familiar site on school playgrounds and parking lots these days - the students gathered around a drug dealer, handing them their lunch money and allowance in exchange for a joint or pills or powder or crystal rocks in a little plastic bag. The dealer is always smiling; they're getting a wad of cash and are making a hefty profit, at some poor kid's expense.  I have a secret to share with you, my faithful readers.  Back in elementary school, I was a dealer. We didn't even know what pot or crack was back then.  We dealt in a much hotter commodity: I was a cinnamon toothpick dealer.

The cinnamon toothpick lab was our kitchen counter.  It was a very simple process: soak wooden toothpicks in cinnamon oil.  The finished product would then be wrapped in aluminum foil and tucked into my purse or book satchel for transport. Most would be sold on the bus before we would even get to school.  I made some good money on these, since I had no overhead and no production costs, since the toothpicks and cinnamon oil came from our kitchen cabinet.  When my supply would be getting low, I'd simply toss a box of toothpicks or a bottle of cinnamon oil into the grocery cart when Mom was doing her shopping, and she was none the wiser.

The kids liked my cinnamon toothpicks the best, since they were stronger because I soaked them in the cinnamon oil longer. They all knew not to give me away if they got caught with them in class; they were loyal clients.  But I never heard of any of my clients getting in trouble with the teachers over having cinnamon toothpicks during class.  I'm sure they must have thought they were teaching a classroom full of James Deans or Marlon Brandos, seeing us kids sitting there chewing on toothpicks.

The longer you would chew or suck on the cinnamon toothpicks, the hotter they would get.  Only the wusses would spit them out when they got hot. Some of the real tough kids would take this one step farther - they would take Kleenax or toilet paper, and wad it up to about the size of a big pea, and then put the cinnamon oil on the wad and then put it between their cheek and gum, just like snuff or chewing tobacco.  Talk about hot. You had to be one real tough kid to do this and not have the tears start flowing like water.   I never did this; I kept my covetedbottle of cinnamon oil at home in the kitchen cabinet, and I would have never even thought of bringing it to school, for fear some other dealer would hit me and steal it. 

I kept my personal stash of cinnamon toothpicks in a very cool old glass spice bottle that Grandma gave to me.  It even had a cool glass and rubber stopper on it, so they would stay good and fresh.  I came across that bottle the other day in the cabinet when I was looking for some corriander. When I opened it, you could still smell a hint of cinnamon.  I looked some more, and found the old bottle of cinnamon oil.  Maybe I'll make a batch tonight and take them to work tomorrow.

Winners From The 2005 Kentucky State Fair

The blue ribbon for the Most Over-Priced Item At The Kentucky State Fair goes to the folks at the Coco Bongo booth for their $8 Monkey Nut.  For those not familiar with this tropical delicacy, it's a fruit smoothie served in a coconut shell carved to look like a monkey. I'm pretty sure I saw the coconut monkey cups at Everything's A Deal or at Big Lots. (On a side note, the Most Over-Priced Item Sold At Slugger Field is a smoothie served in a plastic tiki glass, also for $8.)

The prize for the Most Reasonably Priced Item At The Kentucky State Fair (reasonably priced by state fair gouging standards) goes to the few booths selling cold bottled water for only $1.  Concession stands sold bottled water for $2.50 or $3, but you could find a few booths in the east wing selling it for a buck.  Last year, one of the bigger churches in the county was giving away free bottles of Dasani water.  This year, they only gave you a free bottle of water if you asked for information on joining their church.

The award for Best Free Item At The Kentucky State Fair goes to the healthcare group that was giving out free purple yo-yos.  They couldn't open the cases and hand them out fast enough.

Rockstar: INXS - Round 8

Suzie - sang "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones.  Excellent arrangemt.  Good stage presence.  You could feel the rock and roll.  Props for stage diving.
J.D. - sang "Cold As Ice" by Foreigner.  Acted too cocky.  The song sounded like it should have been in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  Missed some notes.
Deanna - sang "The Truth" written by her.  Bad ass song.  Sang with power. Very cool clothes. A very well written song.
Ty - sang "Proud Mary" by Tina Turner. Good showmanship.  Sang with soul. Good arrangement with backup singers. Screamed too much, but at least didn't use big Broadway voice.
Mig - sang "Do Or Die" written by him.  Good well written rock song. Good stage presence. Stayed on pitch on high notes. Looks and acts like a rock star.
Marty - sang "I Alone" by Live.  Looked scarey.  Stayed on pitch on soft, low parts but was weak. Lost pitch when he screamed.
Jordis - sang "Dream On" by Aerosmith.  Bluesy on intro.  Focussed on hitting the high note too much that she seemed to muddle through rest of the song.  Should not have even attempted to hit the high note.

The voting results were revealed and the three that received the least amount of votes sang an INXS song.

Ty - sang "What You Need."  Good stage presence.  Didn't scream too much, and didn't use big Broadway voice.  Had fun with the song.
Deanna - sang "Elegantly Wasted." Sounded like Melissa Etheridge singing INXS.  Had good stage presence, and had fun.  Had trouble with pitch on the chorus.
Marty - sang "Don't Change." What was up with the fake British accent? Props for not screaming.  Trouble with pitch on chorus.

Another female rocker is eliminated as INXS tells Deanna she's not right for the band. 

Link Of The Week

There's been some major online search engine work this week.  In preparation for our upcoming trip to Graceland in a few weeks, The Divas have been trying to find info about an episode from "Coach" where Luther is at some convention, and is wearing pajamas that look like one of Elvis' jumpsuits.  During our searches, we came across an awesome TV site that you've got to check out.  It's simply http://www.tv.com.  You can find episode guides for practically every TV show ever shown - on regular TV and on cable.  The Divas highly recommend it.

You Go, President Niyazov

President bans lip synching in Turkmenistan

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — He has outlawed opera and ballet and railed against long hair and gold teeth, but now Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov is determined to wipe out another perceived scourge: lip synching.

Niyazov has ordered a ban on lip synching performances across the tightly controlled Central Asian nation, citing "a negative effect on the development of singing and musical art," the president's office said Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, one can see on television old voiceless singers lip-synching their old songs," Niyazov told a Cabinet meeting in comments broadcast on state TV on Tuesday. "Don't kill talents by using lip synching... Create our new culture."

Under Niyazov's order, lip synching is now prohibited at all cultural events, concerts, on television — and at private celebrations such as weddings.

Niyazov has led the former Soviet republic for 20 years, creating a vast personality cult around himself and issuing decrees regulating behavior in all walks of life.

In 2001, Niyazov banned opera and ballet as not corresponding with the national mentality. Last year, he called for young people not to get gold tooth caps and urged authorities to crack down on young men wearing beards or long hair.

 

Wow.  I bet President Niyazov watched Ashlee Simpson on "Saturday Night Live" last year.  If this were to happen here in the U.S., we could eliminate about 99% of the rock, country, hip-hop and rap stars. 

Ten Things I Have No Use For

1.  Any entertainer who smashes a guitar on stage
2.  Sushi
3.  Gum chewers who pop and/or smack their gum
4.  Black ink pens
5.  Frogs
6.  Cigarette smoke
7.  Drug dealers
8.  The thick, white core pieces of lettuce
9.  Celery
10. Someone who cheats on their spouse/partner