October 31, 2007
[happy halloween...] ...or, well, as happy as it can get at the very moment.
I shall be writing scarcely in the short term. Some of it is because I'm busy prepping for our cruise to Oz/NZ -- we leave in 9 days, yay!
But mostly it's because I continue to be baffled that some people out there -- as in the past, I never name names when it comes to statements that can be perceived as "offensive" -- cannot draw the line between what I write on here and what I do in public, how I maintain my relationships and friendships, or how I conduct myself at work.
I may be naive, what with the shockingly public aspect of the Internet these days, but everything on here is, in my mind, purely personal and private. If you don't like what you see, leave. No one is forcing you to delve into my personal life. And you shouldn't take anything I write on here too seriously. It certainly isn't a source of gossip. It certainly is not gospel. And I certainly do not mean any harm. Life is too short. And lest you forget, I have feelings too.
Whatever I say on here is 99% impulse-blogging. I am not a complete drunk 24x7. I do not hate anyone in my life. And I will do my job with the utmost conduct of professionalism, drawing a clear distinction between my personal and professional lives.
If some of you wish to use my words against me, I can do nothing to stop you. After reading this and my genuine intentions for putting my thoughts down on electronic paper, only you can decide if what you have done is appropriate and fair. Or not.
All that said, writing is a form of escape for me. It also lets me share my life with those who choose to share it with me; and some of those people are very dear to me yet heartbreakingly far away. It hurts me that the distance that separates me from my family and friends is wider than my ability to bridge it, no matter how advanced we have become technologically.
I am happiest when I can share my happiness with my family and friends -- the people who really care about me (and vice-versa).
And I am saddened that a tiny percentage of people out there want to deprive me of this joy. @ 15:40
October 30, 2007
[brazil 2014] Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup in its 20th edition, 4 years after South Africa!
Yawn.
The lack of suspense was an erection-killer as there were no other countries from South America -- it was their turn under the continent rotation system -- vying to host the quadrennial World Cup. Fittingly, the rotation system will end after the 2014 tournament.
Brazil hosted the World Cup once before in 1950. Only four other nations have hosted the World Cup twice - Mexico (70/86), Italy (34/90), France (38/98) and Germany (74/06).
Geography is quite a big deal when it comes to football's most prestigious tournament. The host nation has won the trophy 6 (out of 18) times. An European country has never won outside of Europe. Brazil is the only South American team to win in Europe (1958). The tournament has only been held outside of Europe/South America four times and all four times, the World Cup champion was from South America. All 18 World Cup champions have been from Europe and South America; Brazil leads with 5 followed by Italy (4), Germany (3), Argentina/Uruguay (2 each), and France/England (1 each).
Italy is the current World Cup champion (viva italia!), beating France in penalty kicks in Germany 2006. @ 14:30
[find someone else] Now that all three leading Democratic Presidential candidates -- Clinton, Obama and Edwards -- have come out in opposition of the nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey as the next United States AG, one thing stands out as crystal clear:
If dude cannot unambiguously articulate in one sentence that waterboarding is torture and is therefore illegal, his nomination should be opposed at all costs.
The next Attorney General is the chief defender of the rule of law in this country, and the law (and Article 17 of the Geneva Conventions) specifically forbids torture. If he refuses to uphold the law, find someone else who will. It's that simple.
From WaPo:
"By refusing to acknowledge at his confirmation hearing that waterboarding is torture, Mukasey appeared to throw his lot in with those who embrace an authoritarian strain of moral relativism, one that excuses abhorrent and illegal policies as long as the president declares they're in the national interest."
And just so we are all clear about waterboarding -- it consists of immobilizing an individual on his or her back, with the head inclined downward, and pouring water over the face to force the inhalation of water and induce the sensation of drowning.
If you don't consider that torture, you do not deserve to be AG. Or President. @ 13:39
October 25, 2007
[three down...] So...
This past weekend was the third in a series of four back-to-back fetch Halloweekends this October. Ski's Halloween party was a little less fetch than years past, but still pretty fierce -- thanks to the ladies of the night aka me and my friends :-D
Rewind. A rainy, sultry and disgustingly humid Friday night kicked off with French wine night (let's see... a lovely St Emilion red from Bordeaux and a perfect Montrachet white from Burgundy) with Crave, L'David and some fierce new Brit-ches -- Simon and Jeremy, who were en route to Vegas and Palm Springs -- at chez nous. That was followed by an uproarious French dinner at Montsouris (blood sausage anyone?), mais oui! Very convivial and fetch.
That, in turn, was followed by a trip to Remingtons on the other side of town (why??). Mmm-hmm, you heard me right. We went to a gay country-western bar! Kwazy. I can finally check that off my list (the Eagle is the only one left :-o) and I can safely say I won't be back. Line dancing is just not my thang no matter how cute the cowboys are (Jake and Heath they are not, trust!). The Brit-ches' fascination with cowboys is way beyond my comprehension level.
Anyho, Remingtons beget Nellie's which was surprisingly dead on a Friday night (or maybe it was just that we showed up at closing time?). The evening (morning?) ended (started?) at Kevin/Dan's impromptu lil' soiree where I decided that everyone was getting wasted except for me (surprise!) so I left.
And then there was Saturday... oy!
After yoga, the evening's fetchtivities got a kickstart at Nordstrom Pentagon's Bobbi Brown cosmetic counter where professional make-up artist -- Dyron -- turned Chuck and myself into Miss Ireland and Miss Gaysia... complete with fake eyelashes (rhinestones are fetch!).
My extreme makeover included a cheongsam (Chinese waitress dress), red fishnets/pantyhose, red sequined Mary Janes, stick-on red nails, a completely chinky wig... AND real-to-the-touch foam boobs aka foobs! I loved my super-long jet-black wig so much I was stroking it all night and begging everyone to pet it... over and over and over. The drunker I got, the more I pestered *giggle*
The evening's highlights included the ladies of the Miss Universe Pageant -- Miss Hungary (Taylor), Miss India (Abbas), Miss Iran (David), Miss Ireland (Chuck), and me as Miss Gaysia. Tony went as a sailor boy. Ms Brett topped last year's award-winning Courtney Love performance with... *drumroll* It's Britney Bitch! There was also Dr Bend Over (Rick), Stoner (Jason), the Priest (Aaron) and his Altar Boy (Justin), Roxie Hart (Evan), escape-from-rehab Amy Winehouse (Blaise), and the fabulous InterPlanet Janet (Peter)!
The ladies of the night stormed JR's for the after-party, and most of us ended up at Aaron's for the after-after-party. The rest (aka moi) got super blitzed, downing vodka crans one after another to numb the pain in her toes/feet -- contrary to popular belief, I do *not* like my feet bound! -- and ended up face-down-ass-up in bed instead of attending the after-after-party. The next morning's imprint combo of eye shadow, foundation, lipstick on my pillow would've made Tammy Faye proud. And my feet was twice its normal size from the MJ's.
What a fierce, drag-tastic, boo-tacular night out in the ghetto!
I don't know why I keep dressing up in drag. I kept swatting hair out of my face all night like flies, my feet hurt like a mofo for days, I had to constantly check my makeup all night -- not to mention surgically remove it off my face the next day, and, worst of all, I had no place to put my wallet OR my mobile! How do women do it?? All that I-can't-even-lick-my-lips makeup, toe-crunching heels, and in-my-face hair... and then you have to carry a purse everywhere you go?! WTF? No pockets??
Women should rule the world. Period. For putting up with those conditions imposed on them by men.
I was so uncomfortable I literally stripped down to nothing as soon as I got into the house. Yup, I did it right there in the kitchen (yes, I was drunk :-p).
Yea, yea, you want to see piccies :-p I put it all the way down here so that you'd at least read through some of my blabber instead of just jumping to the juicy visual bits. But I bet you didn't. Whatev, this album is in a new fancy flash format. It *may* load a little slower but it's so much easier for me to produce. Lemme know what you think!
Y'like?
Anyho, I was so busted I could barely move on Sunday (but I did stop by at JR's for a quick drink *evil grin*). You know you've had a good weekend when it took you until Tuesday to recover! ;-)
One more Halloweekend to go before Halloween!!! Ladies, are you ready? @ 16:46
[$3 flights] There is another big news on the aviation front today besides the A380...
Far more interesting and exciting news for me -- it's all about me, y'know -- is the early liberalization of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore air route; the fourth busiest in Asia. The Malaysian government (finally) announced today that AirAsia plus (most likely) Tiger Airways will be allowed to ply that route.
That means no more MH-SQ monopoly on this route and no more $200 one-way fares (for a 30-min flight), YAY!!!
Since UA only flies to SIN, I take the SIN-KUL flight (and back) regularly to go home to see my 'rents. I took two round-trips last year and each time I take that flight, it irks me to no end that I am effectively paying about $1 per mile flown. How much is $1/mile? Imagine paying $10,000 for an economy class ticket from New York to Singapore! That is what happens when government regulation creates a monopoly.
An existing 34-year-old agreement allowed only Malaysia and Singapore Airlines to fly this highly protected and coveted route, operating more than 200 flights a week between the two capitals. Open skies was to come in Jan 2009 so this is very much welcome news for all KL-S'pore travelers!
I foresee RM9.90 (US$3) flights on AirAsia! @ 15:59
[size matters...] Otherwise, the hype surrounding a seemingly routine flight from Singapore's Changi Airport to Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport this morning would have not made headlines as the sun rose around the globe.
In a much-delayed triumph for Airbus, the $320mn superjumbo A380 -- the largest commercial airline ever to fly -- took off this morning (8:00am SGT) on her maiden voyage as Singapore Airlines flight number SQ380 from Singapore to Sydney with 455 passengers ending the nearly 37-year reign of the Boeing 747 jumbojet as the world's largest passenger plane. The 747 made her maiden flight from New York's JFK to London Heathrow in January 1970.
This flight comes nearly two years behind schedule after billions of dollars in cost overruns for Airbus. Singapore Airlines will be the exclusive A380 operator -- the first of 19 planes on order -- for 10 months until Emirates gets theirs in August 2008 -- the first of 55, easily Airbus' largest A380 customer.
The fully double-decked A380 -- as tall as a 7-story building -- is capable of carrying 853 passengers in an all-economy class configuration; almost twice that of the 747. Singapore Airlines opted for 471 seats in three classes - 12 Suites, 60 Business and 399 Economy.
Regardless of the size of this behemoth, the plane can fly non-stop from New York to Hong Kong (8,000+ miles!) without refueling.
The Suites, btw, sound like flying castles in the sky - sliding doors, leather upholstered 35"-wide seat with an obscene 81" seat pitch, huge table, 23" LCD, plus a 78"x27" separate bed! Better yet, in a first, two of the suites can be joined to provide double beds giving a whole new dimension to the Mile High Club ;-)
Check this out:
I drooled down my chin and my pant legs when I saw that picture! I would love to try one out but, much like the Concorde, I probably will never choose to afford it ($4,000+ each way from SIN->SYD!). And it won't be available as free seats either. In fact, since most of the carriers who've ordered the A380 are from Asia and the Middle-East, I would probably not even see the interior of the A380, much less the Suites, anytime soon. Sigh.
Anyho... Business Class seats, on the upper deck, are 34" wide and have a seat pitch of 55" that can turn into wide flat beds. All that plus 15.4" screens. Economy Class seats are on both decks and they have HUGE (for coach) 10.6" video screens at every seat.
The A380 enters into regularly scheduled service between Singapore and Sydney on October 28th on one of the three daily flights in each direction. Singapore to London service starts next spring.
All hail the new Queen of the Skies! @ 15:36
October 24, 2007
[newphoneyay!] NewphonearrivedMonday,lovingitlongLONGtime,notimetowrite,gottago,bye. @ 10:53
October 19, 2007
[20 years later] Today marks the 20th anniversary since Black Monday -- the largest one-day percentage decline in stock market history.
On Monday, October 19th, 1987, the Dow dropped 508 points or 22.6% to 1739.
And on this 20th anniversary, the Dow plunged 367 points today (or 2.64%) to end at 13,522. It is the worst Oct 19th since the 1987 crash. My weekend is off to a great start *groan*. But I shouldn't fret. A 22.6% drop today would've meant a 3,200-point drop (!!!).
Incidentally, the anniversary of Black Monday has been a day of stock advances more often than not. In the past 20 occurrences, the Dow has fallen just four times, risen 11 times and been closed on 5 occasions (weekends). In a sign of the changing dynamics of the US economy, only 22 of the 30 Dow components in 1987 are still trading today.
A similar one-day crash will probably not happen today. It might happen over multiple days, but single day drops are now blocked by trading halts (aka circuit-breakers) which trigger at the 10%, 20% and 30% mark.
Oh, who cares... The weekend is here! And what a weekend it's gonna be... My liver is already saying "Oy!" @ 17:36
October 18, 2007
[baby sachin] OMB, I absolutely *had* to share this picture of Anusuya's lil' bundle of baby boy joy, Sachin, who just turned 4 months old. BTW, Anusuya is my BFF from middle/high school and she now lives in Perth, Australia.
Isn't that the most ridiculously cute picture of a baby you've ever seen?? I think I ovulated a little when I saw this picture. I'm so jealous!
I'm sad that I won't be able to make a detour to Perth -- um, Sydney to Perth is like a 4-hour flight! -- before or after my 2-week NZ cruise next month. It's just too bad lil' Sachin hasn't met his Aunty Kiat yet. And I haven't seen Anu since her wedding two years ago!
Sigh. Soon :-) @ 18:25
[heaven & hell] I am one meeting away from screaming like a banshee! Argh!
Anyho... *regains composure*
This past weekend was lovely, wasn't it? Low 70s. Sunshiney. Low humidity. Perfect. And this week, we've had high 70s and low 80s. The average high is 68° and average low is 49°. Isn't Mommy Nature too fabulous and nice to us? I love Her long, Long time.
Pictures from last weekend... But before I get there, let's do a quick recap, shall we?
After a quiet Friday night and yoga on Saturday, I was itchin' to go out coz it was so nice outside and I *really* wanted to take the top down and go for a spin. I would've latched on to any excuse so when L'David suggested we go to Georgetown for some boy-ogling and shopping, we were top down, shades on, head scarves wrapped around faster than you can say "Thelma and Louise". There was some festival going on and the streets were p-a-c-k-e-d. We found parking, der. We hit a whole bunch of stores -- Kiehl's, BR, H&M, Urban -- before being summoned by Adam and Michelle to Lauriol for rooftop sangrias and margs, quesadillas and wings. Sitting outside and drinking in mid-Oct is definitely super fetch.
[L] Me and L'David on the roofdeck at Lauriol... it was 72°!
[R] Tony and L'David... and tons of sangria!
[L] Tony and Adam
[R] Me and Chris!
After Lauriol, we went to Rick's and partied with Rick/Wolfgang -- who mad a fierce buffalo wing dip -- a little before heading back to our place to change for our evening costume party event (the second of four Saturdays in a row for this month). The theme for that night's event was "Heaven and Hell". So naturally, I was the angel (not fallen :-p) and Tony and Rick were the devils *giggle*. Talk about reversal of roles.
The party was at one of the Ritz Carlton condos. That, in itself, was one of the main reasons why I wanted to go. I had never been in one of those glitzy condos before and I def wanted to go check 'em out. We had to get on some sort of "guest list" before we were even allowed through the marbled lobby. The sheer luxury of this place made it seem more like a hotel than a condo. In fact, the lines are kinda blurred a little since the condos there get maid service, room service and valet. Their condo fees though? Horrendous. We should know coz we looked at one of the condos there before deciding we could do better with a house.
The condo was, of course, HUGE. They decorated two rooms in competing Heaven and Hell themes. The Heaven room was completely white with white desserts, balloons and furniture everywhere. The Hell room was completely rouge-noir with matching red and black desserts, balloons and furniture. Amazing. I, of course, chose to retire to the Hell boudoir which is way more fun than going to Heaven :-D
Anyho, the party was fierce. Totally straight but super fierce. Most of the ladies in attendance were super hot and decked out in shockingly naughty angel outfits. Straight guys are useless when it comes to dressing up so most of them made use of the provided props -- blinking red horns and pitch forks. Rick, the uber-size Queen herself, found the biggest pitchfork in the room. Natch.
Our outfits were completed by a pink chain/leash (yes, it's becoming a theme for this year) to match my all white outfit -- halo, wings, T, jeans, spray-painted shoes -- effectively making me the devils' angel-slave. Hot. The devils all had sequined horns, bowtie, tail and pitchforks. We looked totally fierce.
Without further ado...
[L] Doesn't she look like she just stepped off the LOTR movie set?
[R] Like my handcuffs and leash? *giggle*
[L] Tony and Rick - My Devil Masters!
[R] Bitch found a Super Size Pitchfork! And you know how we love big things...
[L] Who needs Naomi and Kate?
[R] The birthday girl!
[L] Devil, birthday angel, bitchy slave angel, and fallen angel
[R] A tittoo (tit tattoo)
[L] Angel and Devil, Gay and Straight... Opposites attract!
[R] Slave Angel worshipping Devil's tail. Yum-mee!
[L] I love the dark side... and boobs!
[R] Brett, Jason, Shawn and Me @ some random, ridiculously drunken after-party
Oh, did I forget to mention that they were serving open bar Veuve ALL NIGHT?! *SQUEAL* Str8 people *do* throw good parties after all. Shocking. Anyho, we were there for this chick who bought the abandoned apartment block next to our house and is renovating it to sell as condos. She is ridiculously fierce and hangs out with some kwazy rich and party peeps. Love her!
After the party, we crashed some random party on 13th St (WTF?) and, basically, we were so toasted we couldn't even stand up -- or go to JR's :-o -- so we left. Outrageous!
I was barely able to function on Sunday but pulled myself together like only a hungover lady could and dragged my champagne-preserved yellow ass to my big boss' BBQ in bumfuck Virginia. Everyone sat through some Rugby World Cup semi-final match thingie which was way too much testosterone for me. So I hung out on the deck and chit-chatted with my gay co-worker's mother and my big boss' 18yo daughter instead. I think I am officially barred from talking to either of them ever again, LOL! What? I am such a good influence ;-)
It wasn't even 3pm when Rick sent out the Sunday at JR's bat signal. I showed up at 7:30 and he proceeded to punish my tardiness -- and force me to catch up with his state of inebriation -- with 2 Jäger shots. I know, I know, shots are evil and I have banned Jä since St Tragic's Day 2006. But not wanting to seem wimpy (to him or to bar manager Dave), I downed them both. That plus multiple drinks later, we were trashed and cabbed it back to my place for Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters. And lots and lots of drunken, hungover wibs and wings.
[L] Wick and Bwett... So Happy Together :-)
[R] Me, Rick and Brett getting shit-faced at JR's Sundays
So fetch!
As you can see, I am still recovering from my previous weekend. Writing about it is making me ill just thinking about all the alcohol I consumed over the past weekend. And this weekend is starting in less than 24 hours! I have a work happy hour then dinner tomorrow night, followed by Ski's annual blow-out Halloween Sextravaganza on Saturday night. Ski's party promises to be the one to end all Halloween parties (wait till you hear about my outfit!).
And who knows what Sunday will bring considering it's gonna be close to 80° and perfect?
My liver will never make it to Halloween itself at this point *giggle*. I love October! @ 16:55
October 17, 2007
[gigaoctet] So, awesome. The new K850i (which doesn't get here till Friday, ugh) will support M2 *and* microSD, yay! I am so sick of the Memory Stick/M2 format it makes me ill. At least microSD is more universal. The phone does come with a 512MB M2 card and together with the one I have for my K800i now, I am going to have two useless M2 cards after this. Stank.
Now, the question: Should I get a 2GB, 4GB, 6GB or 8GB microSD card? The camera on it is a 5MP camera which means 2GB will let me store about 400 pictures plus some music. Not too bad considering the 2GB card is only $20 or something ridiculous like that.
Decisions, decisions.
Oh, I have been très busy this week trying to find a new ISP for our European offices. Here are some things I have observed:
1. The French are idiots when it comes to language. They refuse to publish any of their websites in English. Contrast that to the Belgians and the Swiss where I found an ISP for our Brussels and Geneva offices within an hour. It took me weeks to scour the internet for an ISP for our Paris office. Google Translate was my best friend, but even then it was extremely frustrating and painfully slow to dig through the entire .fr internet sphere in French to find an ISP that met our needs. Ridicule, absolument ridicule!
2. The broadband in Europe ROCKS. All the VDSL (Very High Speed DSL) packages I'm getting in Europe are in excess of 16Mbps download; and all for about $100/month. Here? I'm paying $100/month for 6Mbps! They even have Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) in Paris but only for residential customers. We could've gotten 100Mbps! (or more)
3. Did you know that gigabyte is translated to gigaoctet in French? I guess octet and byte are kinda interchangeable, n'est-ce pas? Did you also know that the abbreviation is not MB/GB but Mo/Go? I don't know why I thought MB and GB were universal. Très bizarre.
4. I sent a nice little e-mail to the new French ISP begging for forgiveness that I didn't speak/write French (pardonnez-moi, je ne peux pas parler ou écrire en français... merci beaucoup pour votre aide -- not bad, huh? *giggle*)... and asking them nicely -- in English -- about pricing, details and all that good stuff. The response? Entirely in French. Um, salut... Didn't I just tell you that I don't speak/Write French??! Sacré bleu.
The French are weird. I need to learn French (again), LOL! @ 16:19
[magic brownies] The best line -- from Gaby to Carlos -- from Desperate Housewives this past Sunday:
"When you saw me flirting you smashed a glass. When Victor heard I had an affair he started crunching poll numbers. I need a man who cares enough to explode when he thinks he's going to lose me. I don't just love you, I love the way you love me."
I can relate to that :-D
P/S: We have come a looooong way if they are now allowed to show magic brownies on primetime! @ 15:07
[worthless dollar] Most of you don't follow or even give two hoots about the Kiwi Dollar (NZ$). But I do and since I have total control over what I put on here (yes, I love dictatorships), you're gonna care too nyah :-p
As you can see from the graph above, the NZ$ (and the A$) has been on a wild swing since the beginning of the year -- fluctuating between US$1 = NZ$1.44 in January to NZ$1.23 at its highest in July and stabilizing now at NZ$1.33. This is in contrast to the steady and relentless rise of the € and the £.
The reason for these crazy swings is because of this thing called the "carry trade". Essentially, investors borrow money in a low-interest country (say, 0.5% in Japan) and "carry" the money over to a high-interest country (say, 8.25% in New Zealand) and invest it there. By selling Yen and buying New Zealand dollars (we're talking trillions of dollars worth), the Yen drops and the NZ$ goes up which further increases the investors' "profits". The vicious cycle feeds on itself. Until, of course, a stampede in the other direction causes the NZ$ to plunge and wipes out all the investors' profits from the interest rate differential.
And what can cause a stampede? A global credit crunch like the one that happened a couple of months ago which makes borrowing extremely difficult and expensive. Within that week in early August, the NZ$ plunged 16% against the Yen and 13% against the US$.
Comprendez?
Well, in the past few months, investors (OK, speculators) have been rushing in to the carry trade and then bolting out by the billions which is causing the NZ$ to see-saw against the US$ and that, in turn, is giving me heartburn. Think about it: If we end up spending NZ$2,000 in NZ (which would be pretty easy), the fluctuations could mean a savings (or a loss) of US$11 per cent movement in the NZ$. That's quite a chunk of change when we are talking movements of 10 cents or more in a matter of days.
In short, the highly risky but extremely profitable carry trade is what's making my overseas trips more (or less) expensive. It works in our favor in Japan -- where the yen is depressed by trillions of dollars of carry trades -- and the absolute reverse in NZ; or, to a lesser extent, SE-Asia and China.
At its inception in 1967, the NZ$ was pegged to US$1.39 (yes, the Kiwi currency was *more* valuable). Ever since it floated in 1985, it has traded as low as NZ$2.55 to the dollar (in Nov 2000) and as high as NZ$1.23 to the dollar less than 3 months ago. The NZ$ has been trading close to its historic post-float highs these past few months and it just so happens we're going to New Zealand in 3 weeks' time. Perfect timing, eh?
The (US) dollar is worthless, sigh. Almost makes me wish I wasn't going on vacation to Oz/NZ next month...
NOT! @ 14:55
[hsing-hsing] From this little picture with Brondi, Brad and myself at Duplex for the Miss Adams Morgan after-party, a contest brewed 2,400 miles away in a little town called Los Angeles.
Who else but fetch gaylebrity Gary instigated it, of course...
Kiat,
I thought you would be interested to know the winning entry in yesterday’s First Annual Williams Institute "What was Brad thinking as Brondi was pulling on Kiat’s Chain" Contest.
Drumroll... and the winner is...
"Can I keep him mom? Pleeeeeez."
Here's my response:
The Chinese gov't is demanding $10mn for the rights to keep our newest drag panda -- Lucy Loose -- for the duration of 10 years.
She comes with a leash, of course.
Don't I feel like Hsing-Hsing, LOL!
Me love bamboo long, long time (as it were). @ 14:01
[yay fenty!] I wasn't a huge fan of Mayor Fenty to begin with. He sounded too populist for my liking and it seemed like he wanted to roll back all of Mayor Williams' pro-business initiatives. Not cool with me.
Well, if this is not gonna make him the most popular mayor in DC history, I don't know what is. *Finally*, DC cabs are going to switch to time and distance meters like all major cities in the world, YAY!!!
The zone system was so crap it wasn't even funny. True, it was cheap to cross town from Dupont to Capitol Hill for $10 (all in) -- regardless of traffic conditions or route taken -- but it was the same price to go 8 blocks to Whole Foods. And because we live near the zone boundary, going to G'town and anywhere north of U Street would incur multiple zone charges.
The meters would mean I won't have to pay two zones to get to Adams Morgan anymore, which could be $12 all in (add $1.50 for each additional passenger) for EIGHT blocks! Or a $10 cab ride (including tip) from JR's to my house -- a distance of four blocks! I think the new meters are going to halve those charges.
Of course, meters would suck in DC's rush hour gridlock -- almost like a ticking timebomb -- but I usually only take cabs for evening fetchtivities anyway.
I'm so excited and I can't wait for this to be implemented. With a guaranteed and cheap cab ride home, I am already foreseeing more drunken trips to the bars, yay! *giggle*
P/S: I am *still* recovering from this past weekend's shenanigans. More on that later! @ 10:37
October 13, 2007
[gore v bush] Part Deux.
Al Gore capped off a triumphant year, adding the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to his Emmy (9/16) and Oscar (2/25) wins. It is yet another slap in the face to President Bush's tragic legacy of denial and inaction when it comes to climate change.
From the NYT's Editorial, "A Prize for Mr. Gore and Science":
"One can generate a lot of heartburn thinking about all of the things that would be better about this country and the world if the Supreme Court had done the right thing and ruled for Al Gore instead of George W. Bush in 2000. Mr. Gore certainly hasnt let his disappointment stop him from putting the time since to very good use."
"Yesterday, the Nobel committee celebrated that persistence and awarded the Peace Prize to Mr. Gore and a panel of United Nations scientists for their efforts to raise awareness of the clear and present danger of global warming."
"Having squandered the last seven years, Mr. Bush is unlikely to change. Mr. Gore and the United Nations panel of scientists have shown how much citizens with courage and determination can do."
A Letter to the Editor in the NYT:
"In awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to former Vice President Al Gore for his efforts to save the world from climate catastrophe, the Nobel committee recognized Mr. Gores great contribution in trying to alert the world to the dangers that lie ahead if America and the world do not take immediate steps to reverse the man-made environmental damage to our planet."
"Meantime, George W. Bush, to whom the Supreme Court awarded the election victory in 2000, has been ignoring global climate change, waging an unending war for oil (he does not seem to be troubled about human rights or creating democracy in nations without oil), trashing our environmental treaties with other nations and, in general, permitting the worlds climate to deteriorate."
"We can only ponder and grieve at all the opportunities squandered, over the last seven years, to finance research for alternatives to the worlds reliance on fossil fuels, and the lost opportunities to energize other nations to recognize the perils of and deal with global climate change."
"Maybe next time, the Supreme Court justices will follow the Constitution and allow the states to resolve their own election disputes. In 2000, they made the wrong decision not only for America, but also for our planet."
From the WaPo's Editorial more aptly titled, "Gore v. Bush"
"FOR FORMER vice president Al Gore, sharing the Nobel Peace Prize with the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is vindication. He was green when green wasn't cool. For more than 20 years, Mr. Gore persisted in the face of intense skepticism and criticism with his warnings about the impact of global warming on the planet."
"When it comes to global warming, the ire is warranted. Mr. Bush's inaction on climate change is one of the major failings of his presidency. He squandered nearly seven years by questioning the science of global warming and undermining efforts to do anything substantive about it. His recent efforts to demonstrate leadership -- from finally recognizing global warming as real to hosting a climate summit with the major emitters of greenhouse gases -- are undermined by his insistence that nations pursue voluntary 'aspirational goals' to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This is not the kind of leadership the world is looking for."
Gore's moment has been seven years in the making. This time -- as in the last -- Gore wins. @ 11:35
October 12, 2007
[geisha slave] Wow, I have a Halloween party to go to every Saturday of this month (FOUR!). Amazing. From not being a big fan of Halloween to full-on dress-up mode all month this year is quite a leap, I tell ya.
Tomorrow's party's theme (at the Ritz!) is an Angels and Devils theme -- guess which one I'm going as? ... ... ... Angel, of course! Der :-p
Shut. I don't even want to hear it. I even have my halo.
Last week's was the notorious Miss Adams Morgan Pageant (MAMP) 2007 at the Washington Hilton ballroom. Oh before we get to that, we had a BBQ on Sunday at our house in honor of, well, Christopher Columbus but mostly it was the exceedingly lovely weather outside. It was the neverending BBQ. The drinking went on for TWELVE hours. 16 people went through 22 (wine) bottles of sangria, half my Cognac collection and all my (cheap) champagne. Fetch. A big thanks to Tony who cooked some amazing wibs and wings (and sausages, yum!), and to everyone who attended -- Rick+twink, M2+twink, Chris/Dave+twink, Rob/Carlos, Dan, Tony/Mike, Carlos+twink. Yes, the twinks have name. No, I don't name people younger than me on here.
Anyho, back to MAMP. You have to know someone in the pageant or know someone who knows someone in order to buy tickets to this event. Otherwise, it's sold out and you can't get in. What's with all the fuss and secrecy about this big shindig? Honestly, only one word describes this once a year gay social event: pan-de-mo-nium. Imagine more than 2,000 invitation-only-to-this-private-party gays in one ballroom. Put them in drag or in costume and pile them with tons of alcohol. The result? A party to end all parties.
In celebration of her 20th anniversary, this year's theme was TV Land i.e. any TV character. There were lots of fun outfits (as you can see from the pics below), but the memorable ones were Wonder Woman, Flintstones, Ab Fab, etc. There were a whole bunch of others that I either didn't get or were not TV-related. Oh wait, let's not forget Batman and Robin. Their outfit was spot-on complete with amazing muscles and all. I almost thought their muscles were maybe fake until I saw them up close. Not only were their muscles real, they weren't wearing anything at all. The costume was painted onto their bodies! Holy kwap. Un-effing-believable.
When the dilemma arose this year (again!) that the HRC dinner was gonna clash with the MAMP, I was like "WTF??". At least last year I wasn't in town to choose. This year was a difficult choice.
Pfffttt. I wanted to go to the uproarious MAMP way more than I wanted to go see Ms Pelosi at the Washington Convention Center. I mean, hello... drag queens vs fundraiser. No competition.
Yes, of course you all want to know what I went as. I couldn't come up with a clever enough TV character so I went as my usual fallback position instead -- a geisha! This year's twist -- cleverly concocted by Tony -- was that I was leashed to Tony, who was dressed up as a GI, with a collar around my neck. The leash said "One of us begs for it" *giggle*
Yes, I was the geisha slave to the imperialistic white man. Go figure.
I must say that it was quite a funny couple costume since lots of people laughed and commented on our outfits. I, of course, charged them for photographs :-D Der, I'm Asian. I make money wherever I can.
The leash was quite fun and annoying at the same time. Peeing was definitely a chore coz you had to find adjacent urinals (giggle). Tony and Rick both kept me on a short leash all night and I felt like I was being dragged around the room like a little shih tzu.
Oh... pics. I'm trying out a new format here so bear with me. This new software doesn't allow me to add my own (not-so-)witty comments, bummer.
As you can see, it was quite a warm night so it was perfect. I didn't wear a shirt underneath the kimono so I was stuck with the "dress" all night. Plus, I wore these platforms -- that I found on the roadside, LOL -- that *killed* my feet. I learnt my lesson from last year and wore platforms instead of high-heel boots (whatEver was I thinking??), but even though my heels and arches weren't giving me issues, my toes felt like they were being bound. It was awful. Women's shoes are dreadfully uncomfortable and I have no idea how you bitches do it! Ridick!
The platforms made this perfect clog sound when I walked and it was made even more perfect by the split-toe socks that we took home from one of the ryokans in Japan. The dress up effort was minimal on my part which was quite a relief! Tony's outfit was just a one-piece jumpsuit kinda thing we ordered from the internet. Everything fit together great!
Jason, Chad, Tyler and Michael appeared as the Bundys (Married With children) and we were at their table (68!). Totally fierce. We were there for Mimi First who had already won before and hence was no longer competing. Aaron and Brett plus a few of their friends showed up as the Addams Family which was totally fierce! The group of "girls" that I remembered the most was the Mean Girls who showed up in their naughty Santa outfits doing the Jingle Bell Rock routine from the movie. They were super fetch!! Love those bitches.
What about the contestants, you say? We barely even watched the show after the first hour. Sure, they were fabulously and fiercely dressed. Sure their performances were raucous and hilarious. But really, you go to MAMP to check out the crowd. And the boys in attendance were ten times all that and more.
We met tons of peeps there and lots of our friends who we didn't even know were going to the pageant. Let's just say that the MAMP brings out all the boys to her yard. And lemme tell ya, some of these boys oughta go out some more coz they are *smokin'* hot! Some of them look even more delicious dressed up as hot chicks! I was like, I don't see these hot boys out at the bars/clubs. Where are these boys the rest of the year?? Do they all just come out for this one event every year? Are they in hiding the rest of the time? Or do they bus/Metro these boys in from Cute-topia or some place like that? Is there a cute boy factory in the suburbs that we don't know about??
So many questions... Including: Who won?
Let's just say I was too drunk by the end of the evening to find out. Or care. But I do remember having fun! And squeezing my kimono-clad drunk self into Duplex for the after party which was so packed I had multiple alcohol spills down my cotton kimono.
Yay! Hot mess! What a party! A spanking good time! I'm definitely going again next year.
Me love drag queens and parties long, Long time!
P/S: Seriously though, does anyone know who won?? @ 18:12
[superphone] OMB. I have just spent the most I have ever spent for a mobile phone in my entire life.
Sony Ericsson released the long-awaited and much anticipated K850i (with a 5MP camera!) in Europe and Asia a week ago and one of them beauties is now on its way to my doorstep via an importer in San Diego *squeal*
I am so excited I can't breathe.
I also can't breathe coz it's breathtakingly expensive. Let's just say it costs more than the iPhone. The 8MB one. And we're talking the old price here.
Is the higher cost justifiable? Let's see... K850i - 5MP and 3G. iPhone - 2MP and no 3G.
Suck it, iPhone! :-D
P/S: I am comatose this afternoon at work after my co-workers dragged me out to Lucky Three in VA for all-you-can-eat dim sum. Yes, dim sum. On a weekday. And all you can eat! What a novelty. This lil' Asian piggy pigged out. Natch. Oink :@) @ 14:19
October 11, 2007
[18 hours] Exactly a month from today, we will be arriving in Sydney for our two week cruise to New Zealand on the Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the Seas. It will be our first time in New Zealand, yay!
We will visit Milford Sound first before docking at Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, Tauranga and Auckland before returning to Sydney. The Tasman Sea crossing from Sydney to NZ alone will take 2 days each way. Fun!
Even more fun is the fact that we will be travelling with *BOTH* sets of parents (don't ask). Yup, you can pick your jaw up from the ground now. Even better is the fact that our cabins are right next to each other. If we didn't love each other before, well... we'll certainly find that out on this cruise, LOL!
Anyho, I just realized that when we arrive in New Zealand, the time difference between DC and New Zealand will be 18 hours! DC falls back from GMT-4 to GMT-5 on Nov 4th (one week later than usual this year). New Zealand started their DST (it's approaching summer in the Southern Hemisphere) last month and sprung forward from GMT+12 to GMT+13 on Sep 30th.
That means that when we're having lunch (1pm), they're having breakfast (7am)... the next day!
I can safely say I have never set foot on a timezone that's so far ahead of everywhere else in my life. I think the most ahead of GMT I've been is Japan/Korea (GMT+9) and Sydney (GMT+10).
Eighteen-hour time difference! Holy kwap. @ 15:30
October 10, 2007
[geeks "r" us] The 2006 survey by the Census Bureau collected data on the largest metropolitan area's "Technology Quotient" based on the number of self-reported computer professionals aka "techies".
The results? Silicon Valley is #1 - no surprise there.
#2? It's the DC metro area! Shocking huh?
According to the survey, 6% of the DC metro area workforce is made up of "computer specialists" compared with 8.3% in Silicon Valley. The third-highest concentration of IT workers is Raleigh/Cary NC (5.3%) followed by Boulder CO (5.2%), Huntsville AL (5.2%), Bloomington/Normal IL, Trenton-Ewing NJ, Austin-Round Rock TX, Manchester-Nashua NH and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA.
In sheer numbers though, the NY metropolitan area -- with 221,020 IT workers -- dwarfs both Silicon Valley and DC but they make up only 2.5% of the area's total workforce. The DC area -- which for Census purposes is the 8th largest metropolitan area -- comes in second with 170,429 and Chicago is third with 116,374 IT workers (2.6%). LA, DFW, San Fran, Boston, Atlanta, Philly and Seattle round up the Top 10. Silicon Valley is at #11 in terms of numbers with 71,426 IT workers.
It just reaffirms the notion that DC is packed with white-collar workers. I mean, like, when you go to the bars, everyone has a degree and an office job. There's no middle class. Also, disproportionate number of computer jobs equal lots of big salaries i.e. DC is a pretty high income area compared to most other metropolitan areas which supports the ridiculously high housing prices in the city and the suburbs.
Another interesting statistic: DC is also home to the highest proportion of female IT workers at almost a third of the total IT workforce (32.3%). Interestingly enough, Silicon Valley ranks near the bottom at 22.3%; just above Seattle (20.8%).
Hmm, I just realized I'm one of 170,429... which doesn't sound very special does it? Hrmph. Yes, I want to be special... though, not short bus special :-D @ 17:19
[angkasawan] Check this out: the first Malaysian in space!
At exactly 9:23am EDT, the Soyuz FG rocket -- carrying Malaysian cosmonaut (angkasawan) Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor -- blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to rendezvous with astronaut Peggy Whitson on the International Space Station (ISS), 207mi above the Earth. He will spend 2 days in orbit and 9 days on the ISS before returning on the 21st.
Dude's gonna be celebrating the last 3 days of Ramadan (Eid is on the 13th), but he has been excused from fasting while in orbit and also given directions on which way to face during prayers. Um, I'm assuming that all he has to do is face Earth since that's where Mecca is? Der.
The launch of the first Malaysian cosmonaut into space coincides with Malaysia's 50th birthday year and also Russia's 50th anniversary of space exploration. The first ever satellite, Sputnik, was launched from the very same Baikonur Cosmodrome on October 4th, 1957.
I was kinda sorta proud of the fact that we sent a person into space! But, well, not really. Read that lil' tidbit on how Malaysia paid $25mn to Russia to fly him into space AFTER the $900mn "bribe", ahem I mean, deal to buy 18 Russian fighter jets.
Go figure. It takes bribes and financial incentives for a Muslim Malaysian to get ahead. What's new.
OMB, I'm gonna be barred from returning to Malaysia :-o
LOL!
P/S: Angkasawan is the Malay word for astronaut/cosmonaut. @ 14:29
[short sleeves] Man, was it a beautiful Columbus Day weekend or what??
After a sensational start to October with temps in the low 80s right up until Saturday's 20th anniversary of the Miss Adams Morgan pageant (more on that later), the mercury zoomed past 90 -- and even up to 94 (34°C) yesterday! -- for the past three record-breaking days -- 92° on Sunday for the BBQ at our place, 91° on Monday (new record) and 94° yesterday (also a new record). Absolutely amazing. Trust me when I say we savored every moment of it; including a 12-hour long outdoor BBQ on our front porch (more on that later).
I know, I know... 90+, especially in October, is scorching. But y'know what? I will take 90s over 40s any day of the week. A cold front is sweeping in tonight bringing in highs of 60s and lows of 40s (!!) into the weekend.
Decidedly not fetch.
Anyways, it was a brilliant 70s when I walked to work this morning (yes, I walked :-p) and I wore short-sleeves just coz I know it will be one of the last times I will be able to do so this year.
Autumn is coming and before you know it, Winter! Waaa... @ 11:58
October 4, 2007
[high crimes] The New York Times today disclosed the existence of legal opinions issued by the Justice Department in 2005 - literally as soon as Gonzales walked in - that (a) provided legal justification and an expansive endorsement for the use of a battery of aggressive and harsh interrogation tactics; and (b) pronounced that those techniques did not amount to "cruel, inhuman, or degrading" practices under international agreements.
In effect, the United States Department of Justice sanctioned torture.
What are these so-called *not* cruel, inhuman or degrading practices? Head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures.
Shocked? Do we care? Honestly. What is there left to say about this?
"Despite the fact that Congress repeatedly passed legislation stating that it was illegal for U.S. personnel to engage in torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, the Justice Department repeatedly redefined the terms of these prohibitions so that the CIA could keep doing exactly what the Justice Department had authorized to do before. Gonzales treated all of these laws as if they made no difference at all, as if they were just pieces of paper. An essential component of the rule of law is transparency. The laws must be knowable, not only so that people can structure their behavior with fair warning, but also to prevent government officials from engaging in abuses of power. The Bush Administration has used the shibboleths of terrorism and national security to violate this basic principle."
"The Administration said, 'Trust us.' And then this is what they did in secret." - Yale law professor Jack Balkin
"I am increasingly confident that when the history of the Bush Administration is written, this systematic violation of statutory and treaty-based law concerning fundamental war crimes and other horrific offenses will be seen as the blackest mark in our nation's recent history -- not only because of what was done, but because the programs were routinely sanctioned, on an ongoing basis, by numerous esteemed professionals -- lawyers, doctors, psychologists and government officers -- without whose approval such a systematized torture regime could not be sustained." - GU law professor Marty Lederman
"I am still stunned that we are talking about the United States of America issuing dry legal opinions about how much torture you are allowed to inflict on prisoners. Stories like this one are the very definition of the banality of evil --- a bunch of ideologues and bureaucrats blithely committing morally reprehensible acts apparently without conscience or regret." - Blogger Digby
"The techniques in question are repugnant. But in many ways, the administration's disregard for the law is worse. When your policies violate treaties you have signed and laws that are on the books, you are not supposed to come up with some clever way of explaining that appearances to the contrary, what you're doing is not illegal at all. You're supposed to stop doing it. When Congress decides to pass a law banning 'cruel, inhuman and degrading' treatment, you are supposed to stop engaging in such treatment, not to redefine 'cruel, inhuman and degrading' so that it doesn't apply to anything you want to do." - Blogger Hilzoy
"Congress could aggressively investigate. Criminal prosecutions could be commenced. Our opinion-making elite could sound the alarm. New laws could be passed, reversing the prior endorsements and imposing new restrictions, along with the will to enforce those laws. We still have the ability to vindicate the rule of law and enforce our basic constitutional framework. But does anyone actually believe any of that will be the result of these new revelations? We always possess the choice -- still -- to take a stand for the rule of law and our basic national values, but with every new day that we choose not to, those Bush policies become increasingly normalized, increasingly the symbol not only of 'Bushism' but of America." - Glenn Greenwald for Salon
Pressuring our own Justice Department to sanction torture. And then actually ordering it to be done. Without conscience. Without regret.
What else, pray tell, qualifies for "high crimes and misdemeanor"?
Presidents have resigned and/or been impeached for far less.
Fuck the Republicunts. They're all evil And evil shall rot in hell for their contempt for other human beings. @ 15:45
October 3, 2007
[guns over butter] Bush v Congress in a historic clash over priorities. Iraq? Or Kids? Guns? Or Butter?
The anger overflows...
"Never has it been clearer how detached President Bush is from the priorities of the American people. With today’s veto, President Bush has turned his back on America’s children and he stands alone. Congress will fight hard to override President Bush’s heartless veto." - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
"Today we learned that the same president who is willing to throw away a half trillion dollars in Iraq is unwilling to spend a small fraction of that amount to bring health care to American children. I think that this is probably the most in inexplicable veto in the history of the country. It is incomprehensible. It is intolerable. It's unacceptable." - Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
"Today with a single stroke of his veto pen, President Bush single-handedly jeopardized health care for millions of poor children." - Senator John Kerry (D-MA)
"Today the president showed the nation his true priorities: $700 billion for a war in Iraq, but no health care for low-income kids. The President and 15 Republicans stand in the way of 10 million children receiving the health care that we receive here as members of Congress. There have been three vetoes in President Bush's term--one to end the war, one to permit stem cell research, and now one to allow 10 million children to get their health care. That says it all about President Bush." - Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus Rep. Rahm Emmanuel (D-IL)
"Once again, President Bush has missed an opportunity to display compassionate leadership. Instead, he has resorted to political and ideological gamesmanship rather than seek a bipartisan solution that would protect this nation’s most vulnerable children." - Governor Jon Corzine (D-NJ)
"We have no choice but to try to override his veto. The Senate already has the votes to do it, so it is now up to the holdouts in the House to decide whether to vote their conscience or join the president in putting ideology above kids." - Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY)
I cannot wait for the veto override vote, which will not only seal this despicable President's lame-duck status, it will consign him to the annals of irrelevance and failure if the override succeeds.
And then I want every single election in this country in November '08 to be about how all these Republicunts are for financing the unpopular war in Iraq but against health insurance for children. "$190bn for Iraq? Yes. $7bn for Children? No." I want to see those ads played on repeat. Over. And over. And over.
Bush - Iraq over Kids, Guns over Butter.
Override his veto now. @ 18:43
[roses are red...] One of my male co-workers just bought some flowers for some peeps in the office coz, I quote, "y'all are having a bad day so I thought I'd buy some flowers for the girls in the office to cheer 'em up".
Aww, isn't that the sweetest thing?
And then I walked into my office and found three roses from him, LOL! I love it!
P/S: Should I tell him that I don't like getting flowers?
PP/S: Hmm, when did I become one of "the girls in the office"?? @ 13:49
[out of touch?] Or just plain stupid.
This just pisses me off and puts me in a mood that matches the gloomy weather outside (btw, the sun is shining now!).
Of course the President vetoed the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) today. The legislation he vetoed would've doubled - from 4mn to 8mn - the number of children covered by insurance and the cost would've increased from $5bn/yr to $12bn/yr for the next five years at a total cost of $35bn.
So let me get this straight. This asswipe of our President has the audacity to ask the nation to sink $520mn/day into the war-of-Bush's-choice called Iraq, but he thinks $19.2mn more per day to insure the children of our nation is fiscally reckless?
WTF?
By a 3 to 1 margin, the overwhelming majority of Americans support the expansion of SCHIP. What's not to support? These are our children's healths we are talking about. But nope, Bush doesn't get it.
Mr President, six MILLION children under 18 have no health insurance. Have you got no sense of decency, humanity and compassion?
The Democrats oughta try and override his veto, failing which they should bring it up over and over until they can shame enough Republicunts into overriding his fucked up veto. There is nothing more embarrassing and hard to justify than being for $520mn worth of bombs but against $20mn worth of child healthcare. Shame them all in Congress and wipe them out in 2008.
This is the fourth veto of Mr Bush's miserably failed Presidency. His other three? Two on stem-cell research legislation and one on a timetable for withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. Yup, all of which received overwhelming support from the American public.
Again, I ask... Is he just out of touch? I'm thinking he's just plain stupid. Another shameful day to be a Republicunt, and an all-around sad day for the children of America.
How many more sad days can we tolerate? Um, let's see... only 475 more!!
The end of his miserably failed Presidency is nigh. @ 11:15
October 2, 2007
[supreme farce] Eugene Robinson is one of WaPo's better Op-Ed Columnists, IMHO.
He also happens to be black.
Reading his "Witness for the Persecution" column today made me gasp... and admire him a whole lot more:
"I believe in affirmative action, but I have to acknowledge there are arguments against it. One of the more cogent is the presence of Justice Clarence Thomas on the U.S. Supreme Court."
I think my jaw about slammed on the ground when I read that. For one black man to say *that* about another black man is shocking to say the least.
I have never held Justice Clarence Thomas in high regard from the beginning, even as I saluted the fact that he is the second African American to serve on the nation's highest court after civil rights legend Justice Thurgood Marshall. Justice Thomas' radically conservative leanings and rulings in the Supreme Court usually make me want to throw up all over him and Scalia.
After reading more about his autobiography and learning about his 60 Minutes performance this past Sunday night, I now think he is an incompetent, self-loathing black man who can't think for himself and yet thinks the whole world is against him (which is worse than thinking the whole world owes him a living).
I, for one, am against affirmative action as well. It's racist, plain and simple. Justice Thomas opposes it as well. But he clearly benefited from them, from his degree at Yale to his ascension to the Supreme Court.
Mr Robinson got it right: Clarence Thomas' presence on the Supreme Court is an argument against affirmative action.
And he should be impeached. @ 14:45
[money, money, money] Wow. Check out the money race between Hillary and Barack: (in millions)
2007 |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Hillary Clinton (NY) |
$36.1 |
$27.0 |
$27.0 |
Barack Obama (IL) |
$25.8 |
$33.1 |
$20.0 |
$90mn vs $80mn. Incredible. These numbers include money for both the primary and general elections. If you only took into account the primary money, Barack is still ahead by about $2+mn, I think.
Four years ago, Bush and Kerry raised about $700mn during the primaries. Together with the government funding for the general election, the eventual cost of the Presidential race was $880.5mn.
This year, the candidates have raised more ($277mn) in the first six months for the primaries; more than all candidates raised through the whole year of the previous off-year cycle in 2003 ($272mn; half by Dubya). Similar Q1 and Q2 totals in 2003 and 1999 were $97mn, and $59.8mn in 1995.
The good news? For the first six months of 2007, Democratic candidates have received $162mn vs $115mn for the Republican candidates. The numbers were about even four years ago. If you take into account preliminary numbers for Q3, the gap has widened and the Republicans are now more than $90mn behind. Fetch!
We are 13 months away from the 2008 Presidential election and fundraising records are not just being shattered, they are being blown away left, right and center. Who said money couldn't buy your way into the White House? @ 10:54
October 1, 2007
[i still love...] ...Desperate Housewives. Of course, there is the added juiciness of two new (hot) gay characters this season (they didn't show up last night) but these ladies are, in my not-so-humble opinion, amazing actresses.
Scandalously slutty Edie not dead? Good. Bringing back whiny Edie? Bad. Lynette chemo-barfing in the PTA Nazi's purse while attending her son's play is howlingly priceless. Susan's stirrups moment with the new neighbor's husband had me cringing and in fits at the same time. Carlos hiding under Gaby's wedding dress was classic. But all that aside, the moment when Lynette came out with her cancer to the ladies of Wisteria Lane was one of the best scenes of the show in a long time. The lines were perfect, the emotions were raw and the pact to not keep secrets from each other fit in so perfectly well with the overriding theme of last night's episode... as well as our day-to-day lives.
Trashy reality shows litter the TV wasteland these days. But there are a few jewels out there which will catch your eye, make you laugh, cry, and react to the storyline in ways that touch you at that very moment. And that's why I still love television :-)
Oh, that and I can't wait for Bree's first acid-dripping, hair-pulling, eyes-gouging, effigy-burning fight with Katherine!!
I love me some DH. @ 17:06
[wake me up...] ...When September Ends.
Imagine my shock and horror when I awoke to October this morning.
Yes, October.
October... ??!!! WTF happened to the year? 2007 started, like, yesterday and now we're in Q4 already?
Q4 is starting out with a bang. Barely 10 weeks after the last record high and a miserable late summer/early fall compounded by doomsday predictions of the US housing market, the Dow roared past the 14,000 mark again today closing at a record high of 14,087. In those intervening and anxiety-inducingly volatile 10 weeks, the Dow swung between 14,000 and 12,500 causing investors (including myself) to be dizzy with heartburn.
Well, all those losses have been erased almost single-handedly by the Fed's decision to slash interest rates by half a point two weeks ago.
On the flipside of that rate cut, the US$ crashed, dropping below parity with the loonie. The € is at $1.43, the £ is at 2.05 (!), and both the A$ and NZ$ are at levels that are going to make me ill when I am there for two weeks next month. Only the ¥ seems to have stayed relatively weak, and I hope it stays that way until our end-of-year vacation in Tokyo is over. The weak dollar is awful for frequent international travellers such as myself. Dreadful, really.
And so the final three months of the year are here. The weather doesn't show it - we had a glorious fall weekend and it looks like we have another 7 to 10 days of warm (80s!) and spectacular summer-like weather before the temperatures start to fall with the leaves. Trust me, I ain't complainin' and I'll take whatever a non-PMS-ing Mother Nature can dole out.
As I mentioned earlier, I have two weeks planned in Oz/NZ next month around Thanksgiving (with both sets of parents, oy vey!), followed by an end-of-year vacation in Tokyo. In between, we have tons of events and parties to go to; not to mention the trio of Halloween-related events - Ms Adams Morgan on Saturday, Ski's annual blowout and the High Heel/Halloween thingie at the end of the month. I'm barely here in November and before you know it, December will bring with it an avalanche of holiday parties together with miserable short days and even more miserable frigid weather. And let's not forget work, which is getting ever more kwazy with the passing of time (part of the reason why I was AWOL most of Sept).
These next three months are going to fly by faster than I can say 2008. Sigh. Time flies by so quickly when you are having fun. Too quickly, in fact, to look back and regret. Just gotta plow forward and party on! @ 16:44
31 :: happy halloween...
30 :: brazil 2014
30 :: find someone else
26 :: swift and painful
25 :: three down...
25 :: $3 flights
25 :: size matters...
24 :: p.s.
24 :: newphoneyay!
22 :: fortress dc
19 :: 20 years later
18 :: baby sachin
18 :: heaven & hell
17 :: gigaoctet
17 :: magic brownies
17 :: worthless dollar
17 :: hsing-hsing
17 :: yay fenty!
13 :: gore v bush
12 :: geisha slave
12 :: superphone
11 :: 18 hours
10 :: geeks "r" us
10 :: angkasawan
10 :: short sleeves
04 :: high crimes
03 :: guns over butter
03 :: roses are red...
03 :: out of touch?
02 :: supreme farce
02 :: money, money, money
01 :: i'm bahhh-ack!
01 :: i still love...
01 :: wake me up...