bloody hell

I'll be spending my wedding anniversary in SAN (timelines just shifted at least a week). Nbh, get prepared to come visit me in SAN for our wedding anniversary...:-)

Posted by jennj at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

san antonio....any suggestions?

I'm really not looking forward to April. Despite it being the month of my birthday and wedding anniversary.

Why? Because I will have to be in San Antonio from April 9th to 28th (I'm flying back on my wedding anniversary). Oh, and if the dates shift out I may end up being in SAN on my wedding anniversary. The only bright spot is that Fiesta week is April 20-29 so maybe I can check some of that stuff out.

I was thinking that since I'm closer to NM there than Boston maybe I'd do a side trip on the weekend to Albuquerque or Taos or see if there's anything going on at spaceportamerica or Area 51. No dice. It's a pain in the ass to get to any of these towns from SAN. I would have to connect in Dallas or Houston or Phoenix in order to get to Albuquerque no less (I have to admit, I will be doing more research on this...but it's disheartening so far).

I've been to Dallas many, many times on business over the years so I've seen a lot there so that's not really a weekend getaway for me. I hate Houston. Don't care to go to New Orleans again. So. I may end up just flying to L.A. to visit family. That can be done easily enough from SAN.

Any suggestions? The thought of being in SAN for two full weekends is depressing me. Not that it's a bad place. It's just...I've pretty much done all the tourist stuff I want to do there in my previous trips. Although, I guess I could go ride roller coasters all weekend.....

Posted by jennj at 09:04 AM | Comments (2)

oscars

Well, starting it at 8:30p.m. EST was teh suck. There was no reason why they couldn't have shown the red carpet stuff from 7:30-8. I thought Ellen did a good job and she'll be back next year.

We had some friends over and we were discussing if Peter O'Toole will win and M said, "What happens when a Best Actor/Actress winner dies before next year's show, who presents?" So wrong. But so funny.

Wins that made me happy because I didn't believe they'd win but I secretly wanted them to: Alan Arkin. Little Miss Sunshine for original screenplay. Pan's Labryinth (although it should have gotten best foreign language) cause I was a little worried it might not get the wins it deserves.

Disappointments: Judi Dench only because she was awesome (& creepy) in Notes in a Scandal (not that Mirren wasn't good in The Queen). Children of Men didn't win anything, fucking bastards (*shakes fist*).

The dresses.....most were okay. None really stood out. I wish Jennifer Hudson had worn that red dress the entire time cause when she showed up on the red carpet with that silver flash gordon jacket thing I was appalled. Fortunately she took the jacket off while seated and when she won. And girl, you should have kissed George when you had a chance. Receiving your Oscar from him? Oh yeah.

Stop with the dance troupe crap. I love you Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, but that whole skit just added to a long evening. There were a number of things that were extraneous that added to a long evening (Can you say Celine Dion?). Stop It.

And that guy who accepted for An Inconvenient Truth? Dude, you should have just gotten on your knees and given Al Gore a bl*w job cause that would have been just as uncomfortable as your acceptance speech but at least more entertaining.

Posted by jennj at 09:05 AM | Comments (5)

sometimes you get the space madness

It turns out NASA has detailed, written procedures for dealing with a suicidal or psychotic astronaut in space.

"The documents, obtained this week by The Associated Press, say the astronaut's crewmates should bind his wrists and ankles with duct tape, tie him down with a bungee cord and inject him with tranquilizers if necessary."

Posted by jennj at 08:08 AM | Comments (6)

um, have you heard about conservapedia?

The following text is from the main page:

"Conservapedia is a much-needed alternative to Wikipedia, which is increasingly anti-Christian and anti-American. On Wikipedia, many of the dates are provided in the anti-Christian "C.E." instead of "A.D.", which Conservapedia uses. Christianity receives no credit for the great advances and discoveries it inspired, such as those of the Renaissance. Read a list of many Examples of Bias in Wikipedia."

Some gems from the entries:

1. Holocaust: "The Holocaust was the massacring of the Jewish race during World War II. The Germans are not to blame for this but the Nazi are. Besides 6 million Jews dying, 3 million Christians were killed also along with many priests and nuns. This is a very touchy subject for the Jews and is not often discussed amongst them."

That's all it says, folks.

2. Abolition: "Abolition is the act of officially revoking an existing institution by legal means, either through making it illegal, or merely not letting it exist in any way or form. The word was used commonly in the United States during 19th century in the context of slavery. People who wanted to end slavery, campaigned for “abolition” and were labeled “abolitionists”. The word is used in other contexts as well(for example, today some people push for the abolition of abortion), but that was the most common."

That's all it says, folks.

3. Jesus: There's about a screen full of text. Go on, check it out. They can't even expound at great lengths on Jesus? When I looked up the ten commandments there was more text there.

4. Ted Haggard. Hmm. Found no entries on him.

5. Richard Nixon: Last sentence, "Nixon was a Christian; however, like many Christians after he died he went straight to Hell." HAHAHAHA. I love it.

Evangelical homeschoolers rejoice. You can stop using evil Wikipedia to help you with your homework.

Someone tell me this site is a joke. Please.

Posted by jennj at 10:05 PM | Comments (1)

the new "it" food?

Are chicken livers the new "it" food?!

I was browsing through restaurant menus yesterday for dinner on Saturday night with friends and chicken livers seemed to be on many menus. And then after seeing Volver last night at the restaurant we went to afterwards they had a chicken liver ravioli appetizer on the menu. I don't mind this, as I like chicken livers.

But I think I prefer cupcakes as the "it" food.

Posted by jennj at 08:30 AM | Comments (2)

jesus camp

I just watched the documentary, Jesus Camp. My thoughts are in the extended entry. It's very, very good.

Becky Fischer scares me. Really, truly, to the core of my being scares me. She is blatant about indoctrinating (she's OK with that term) children about giving their lives to Christ. She is shown using toys and things kids will find as fun to get her message across to them. Two quotes from her that leave me cold:

"It's no wonder, with that kind of intense training and discipling, that those young people are ready to kill themselves for the cause of Islam. I wanna see young people who are as committed to the cause of Jesus Christ as the young people are to the cause of Islam. I wanna see them as radically laying down their lives for the Gospel as they are over in Pakistan and Israel and Palestine and all those different places, you know, because we have... excuse me, but we have the truth!"
and
"I can go into a playground of kids that don't know anything about Christianity, lead them to the Lord in a matter of, just no time at all, and just moments later they can be seeing visions and hearing the voice of God, because they're so open. They are so usable in Christianity."

*blink*

USABLE

*blink*

Another scene that chilled me to the bone: an eight year old telling us how there are "death churches" out there where god really isn't attending. "Those people are in their church, they sing three songs and then listen to a sermon. That's not god. You need to uplift your arms and get excited." So, hey, those of you who are Christians but not Evangelicals? Go screw yourself, basically.

Mike Papantonio is the sane, Christian voice interlaced throughout the documentary. He even confronts Becky at the end and she still doesn't get it.

Watching these children listening to an anti-abortion speech and then being handed out fetus dolls, red bracelets and having a red tape with "LIFE" written across it put across their mouths is frightening.

Oof. It's a powerful film. Disturbing. Very, very disturbing.

Posted by jennj at 06:29 PM | Comments (0)

climate change concerts, oh the irony

Al Gore announced yesterday that there will be simultaneous concerts in cities all over the world on July 7 to promote awareness of climate change. Concerts will be held on all seven continents. That's right, including Antarctica.

I'm all behind the climate change problem. But I'm finding this a bit ironic. We can all agree that CO2 emissions are bad and should be reduced wherever possible. So let's put up a ton of equipment that uses a lot of electricity (never mind the diesel generation that will be necessary in Antarctica) and throw a concert using resources we know contribute to global warming and the climate change problem. Whaa?

I think the biggest one of these that bothers me is the Antarctica concert. Why would we try to spoil such a beautiful, delicate place with this kind of pollution?

And this sentence from the article makes me giggle: "He said each concert would last from four to eight hours, with a line-up that will include local talent alongside bigger acts."

Local talent on Antarctica. I wonder if there is a band called The McMurdo Five? The Penguins? I'm sure there's got to be bands at McMurdo, considering it's size and the isolation. Gotta have some fun.

*sigh*

Posted by jennj at 07:59 AM | Comments (2)

on the plus side

As of 2/3 I have worked here as an employee for four years and now accrue four weeks vacation time a year (I spent 10 months as a consultant here before going perm, so I've actually been at this company almost five years). Yay.

Posted by jennj at 03:02 PM | Comments (0)

all work and no play make homer something something

It's a sad day when you have to send an e-mail from work to your personal e-mail a list of work things you need to do over a three-day holiday weekend. *sigh*

Posted by jennj at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)

will someone get this big walking carpet out of my way?

Fun: Wookieepedia

Posted by jennj at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)

one of many reasons why i heart nbh

We both love movies and therefore we can have conversations like this:

*commercial for movie appears on the tv screen and assorted actors/actresses are shown*

Me: "Is that?"
Nbh: "Yeah."
Me: "Cool."

We looked at each other and both mentioned the actors name just to make sure we were on the same page. We were. This is the most you'll get out of me for something resembling a valentine's day post.

Posted by jennj at 07:00 PM | Comments (0)

nbh and i are going to see the police!

We got presale tickets to see The Police at Fenway on July 28th! Whee!! Here's where we will be sitting. My understanding from friends who have seen concerts at Fenway is that the angle will be slightly odd but we're REAL CLOSE to the stage. I can live with that.

Posted by jennj at 12:21 PM | Comments (2)

the police are going on tour

Nbh and I are SO going to go!! The Police will kick-off their North American tour in Vancouver on May 28. Rock. On.

Posted by jennj at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)

this is not an endorsement of barack obama

I haven't made any decisions, for me it's too early. However, this is what I like to see in a candidate. A swift, smart response.

Australian PM says: "Mr Howard said any withdrawal of US troops by March 2008 - the date Mr Obama believes should be set - would mean defeat for Washington."

Obama's response: "Obama, campaigning in Iowa, told reporters Sunday he's flattered that one of Bush's allies "started attacking me the day after I announced (his presidential run) -- I take that as a compliment."

The Democratic presidential hopeful said if the Australian prime minister was "ginned up to fight the good fight in Iraq," he needs to send another 20,000 Australians to the war.

"Otherwise, it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric," Obama said."

Posted by jennj at 08:34 AM | Comments (0)

telluride, co

Finally got around to publishing photos and a little trip report.

Telluride is a bitch to get to when you live in Boston. Fly to Denver. Hour flight to Montrose. Hour drive to Telluride.

That said, it's a great place to hang out and ski. No crowds. Good runs. Yeah, baby.

Rundown:
Golden Door Spa - Awesome
Telluride Bakery - Everything was good (and I mean everything, baked goods, pizza, bagel breakfast sandwiches) - except get brownies at the Sweet Life ice cream shop (and pick up some great ice cream while you're at it)
Smugglers Brew Pub - Great food and I understand that the stout we brought back to the house was good (I don't drink beer)
And finally, don't eat at Sophies, food was meh and the service bad

Pictures here. And a sign we saw in a store that made us giggle (taken with my cell phone):

Posted by jennj at 02:51 PM | Comments (0)

oh fer crying out loud

Look, I feel bad that Anna Nicole Smith's newborn will never know her. She'd lost her son recently. That's some tragic stuff.

However, she was not a modern day Marilyn Monroe. Unless you think that because she was blonde, had a passing resemblance to her and an early death makes it so. Which it doesn't.

I hate the media.

Posted by jennj at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)

another foray into cooking vegan on purpose

My friends K&M are coming over tonight and I'm cooking vegan for them again! This time I'm making burritos. Mmmm.

I got clever. I had been thinking refried beans and rice as the main "meat" of the burrito. But then genius struck when I was picking up the tortillas. I looked up, saw "tofurkey" and then realized, "Hey, I could get some of the gimme lean "meat", grab a package of taco seasoning and voila! have fake taco meat!"

This makes me happy because it'll make my friends happy. Cooking is love.

I've been intimidated about cooking vegan for my friends. Vegetarian I've got no problems, been there, done that. But I realized I'd never cooked vegan (on purpose) until K&M went vegan. I have vegan friends out West, but I'd never cooked for them. Anyway, the first time I cooked for K&M and K asked if I wanted to borrow any ingredients from her that I'd never cooked with before (e.g. nutritional yeast, vegan margarine) or planned on keeping on hand, that made it easier and less intimidating. I hadn't thought of _asking_ if I could borrow something from her. Duh. So, my advice to those of you who are meat eaters and would like to cook for your vegan friends: give it a try, remember that you can borrow ingredients from them and most importantly: ask them questions about ingredients. There's no reason not to capitalize on their research and knowledge.

Note: In no way do I feel that my friends are pressuring me to go vegan (nor do I have any desire to go vegan). Honoring what our friends decide to eat or if they have food allergies are the same in my book (which is why I'm willing to cook vegan or vegetarian or pescotarian or meatarian or without nuts or shrimp or....). Some people say, "Well, vegan is a choice and an allergy isn't." And you're right. I'm not going to argue that. I just don't feel it's a big deal to honor my friends choices. We all have friends with religious and other beliefs that are different from ours, should we exclude them from our lives? No.

p.s. Hopefully this will be the last time I make a big deal out of cooking vegan (cause it really isn't). Just some random thoughts going through my mind.

Posted by jennj at 12:35 PM | Comments (1)

more movies...

I saw Last King of Scotland and Monster House (thoughts behind the extended entry) yesterday before the Super Bowl. (go see Last King of Scotland).

While Prince's performance was sucky, you know, it was pouring rain out and it's got to suck to do a show when it's pouring rain out. So, I don't know if his performance would have been better with clear skies or not, but I give him props for doing it. But it was still lame. As were the commercials. I officially declare that anybody who says "I only watch the super bowl for the commericals" from now on is lame. I think I liked two of them and I think one of them was the Oprah/Dave thing.

Anyway. Last King of Scotland is fantastic. What a good movie. I've always liked Forest Whitaker and I still do. His performance is superb and I hope he wins the Oscar. He deserved the golden globe. Let's see him recognized for a fantastic performance.

Monster House was cute (and quite dark for a kids movie) and I tried very hard to keep my Pixar Prejudice(tm) at bay, but in the end I found it a little slow. There are some funny bits and overall it was not a waste of time.

Posted by jennj at 02:40 PM | Comments (3)

leonardo dicaprio day

Work has been insane this last week so immersing myself into Oscar nominated movies this weekened has been a nice salve. I went and saw The Departed and Blood Diamond yesterday. I didn't intend to see The Departed, I was aiming for Last King of Scotland, but timing was not on my side. Thoughts on both movies in the extended entry. Don't read if you don't like spoilers (and there's definitely a comment about Blood Diamond that is a major thing).

I've never gone out of my way to watch a DiCaprio movie. Not really sure why. I did like him in Titanic. I did not see What's Eating Gilbert Grape (although, I probably should see that film anyway). But after seeing these two movies, he's definitely won me over.

Except for the last five minutes of Blood Diamond it's an excellent film. All they had to do was show the father reuniting with his children and the lawsuit and maybe a shot that showed that the diamond company was charged in participating in conflict diamond trade. They did not have to make it so freakin' political and show Djimon Hounsou getting ready to speak in front of all those people (whatever political body they were...can't rememeber). Anyway, Djimon, as always, is good. I totally get DiCaprio's nomination for it.

The Departed is awesome. Where Sin City has crotch violence, The Departed has head shot violence. I'm not sure I think it should win a lot of awards (haven't seen all the movies yet), but it's really good. Matt Damon and DiCaprio are fantastic. And Mark Wahlberg definitely is good (he's up for supporting actor). Jack Nicholson is well, his usual self. When I got home, nbh asked me "Does DiCaprio get killed in either movie?" "Dude, he dies in BOTH."

Good movies. Definitely helps cleanse the palate after Babel.

Posted by jennj at 07:41 AM | Comments (2)

*snort*

"Valentine's Day is like herpes: just when you think its gone for good, it rears its ugly head once more. No wonder some people prefer to call it VD."

That's the opening statement on a site that has electronic "be my anti-valentine" greeting cards. The "You'll Do" card made me laugh out loud.

Posted by jennj at 08:18 PM | Comments (0)

caption this photo

"pop quiz, hotshot. lite brite under a bridge. design appears to be flipping you off. think it might be a bomb. what do you do?"

Posted by jennj at 06:24 PM | Comments (1)

free peter berdovsky and sean stevens!

Letter to metro newspaper, rep. ed markey, thomas menino behind the extended entry. Unfortunately I can't find an e-mail address/form for the state attorney general. There is a phone number, but I'm not sure I'm up to the task of talking to people and getting the runaround.

This is the letter to the metro newspaper (no idea if it'll be published or not...I seriously doubt it as I'm sure there are more articulate-like people writing letters who agree with me). I modified it when I sent it to markey and menino.

----
The reaction of the State Attorney General, State Representatives, The Governor and Mayor Offices and everyone else with regards to the ads (these are NOT bomb or any other kind of hoaxes) for Aqua Teen Hunger Force is way out of line.

They got caught with their pants down and are trying to save face from their overreaction. If these ads were so dangerous yesterday - “Assistant Attorney General John Grossman called the light boards "bomblike" devices and said that if they had been explosive they could have damaged infrastructure and transportation in the city.” – CNN.COM - that they warranted this kind of reaction from law enforcement, where is the anger from the public that they were undetected for two weeks? When you create an environment of fear in this post 9/11 age and then get upset when you actually respond to that fear, regardless of whether it was real or not, who really is to blame? Why are we blaming people for the police reacting the way they should have when they see something suspicious and “bomblike”?

As for the two individuals who have been arrested, these two did not intend to panic the city. It was an ad. Doesn’t anyone remember the Mission Impossible III ad that created a “bomb scare” in Los Angeles last year? Were the people who installed the ads on the newspaper racks arrested in that case? No. Did Paramount have to pay the Los Angeles Police Department for inconveniencing them when they defused one of the ads? No. Free Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens!

Posted by jennj at 01:31 PM | Comments (13)

on a happier note

I don't normally watch the Grammy's. But dude, The Police are reuniting to play. I will SO WATCH THAT.

Posted by jennj at 12:23 PM | Comments (4)