Chupinazo!

Today in Spain the running of the bulls in Pamplona started. Chupinazo is the first day of the week+ long festival. Don't know what it means, but it involved a lot of wine, water and soapsuds. My kinda party!

Everyone wears white with red sashes and scarves. Beautiful! My boss's admin (they live near Madrid) is there this week.

I miss Espana!

The Land of AUS and Iemma

I took a few shots of Sydney and the surrounding area while I was there, and posted them here:

Album #1: Around town
Album #2: More city shots
Album #3: The Art Biennale, on Cockatoo Island
Album #4: Around town again
Album #5: Katoomba
Album #6: Bondi Beach (watch how you say that around these parts)
Album #7: Paddington and Manly

Important to note, the premier of New South Wales is named Iemma (Yemma)!

Woe is Moe...

I'm very worried about Moe. He's the chimp that escaped over the weekend from an animal sanctuary and is now running amok in the local mountains. He's 42 (whew, not 47...) and has never lived in the wild. I bet he's in a divey bar somewhere being fed beer and peanuts, and watching himself on TV.


Bad, bad Moe.

Oh Boy George

From Reuters:

Singer Boy George calls off North American tour By Alex Dobuzinskis

British singer Boy George has canceled his North American tour after U.S. authorities refused to issue him a visa because of legal trouble overseas, he said in a posting on his Web site on Tuesday.



The 47-year-old former Culture Club frontman was scheduled for a 30-date tour, starting with an Aspen, Colorado, show on July 10 and ending in Dallas, Texas, on August 23. The tour was also to take him to New York, Los Angeles and Chicago...more

He shoulda read my blog first.

Blurfest

Just came back from 5 days in Chicago - 4 of them spent in the sun and rain in Grant Park during the 25th Anniversay of Bluesfest, a free frolic of fans and musicians, rubbing elbows with the great Midwesterners...

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...and a drive by the 47th Street Garage in La Grange (they gotta lotta nice girls out there...)

Twisted Sister

And here's one of me at 47:

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Altoon Thru the Ages

Today is my "bon anniversaire" and the celebration of the 12th edition of my 39th birthday.

Me at 4, 15, 30 and today:

Flat Elvis is in the house!

This weekend I'm going to pay a visit to Flat Elvis, a longtime companion of mine and others who has traveled the world extensively but now is happily retired in Shorewood, Illinois, at the home of the #1 Elvis Fan.

To all the June Bugs out there...

Happy Birthday!

This goes out to RZ, whose birthday is today, followed by Cousin Bob, Cousin Mary, Lizzie, Davey, Lee, James Chatman, Big Bill G., Scarlet, Colleen, Ricky Simms, Mary A., and Lucy. If I missed ya....put on your birthday suit and have some cake!



Found it here.

Thus far this weekend...

...I entered it with great anxiety, leftover jitters courtesy of my job this week, but have managed the angst down to a mere hum with the following activities:

1) Overnight visit from a long-time out of town friend, including a quick trip to the Getty to meet Al & Derek (Brooklyn DJs and California video exhibit - a must see)
2) Cross town trip to Hawaiian stores in Gardena to find flip flops big and wide enough for mgw's trunk feet. No luck, but did come home with some flying fish flags and plastic plates for the next bbq. Also a stop at Vietnamese market Dat Moi for trini pepper sauce and quail eggs.
3) Pickled aforementioned quail eggs.
4) Watched Mafioso, a 1962 Italian movie about a guy from Sicily who gets involved with the mob. Didn't finish it because...
5) ...Got a call from the lady from the best tiki bar in El Segundo, the World Famous Purple Orchid, and was lured there to listen and dance to King Kukulele and band. Made sure my pineapple glasses accompanied me, which were a big hit. (Thanks again, Derek!)
6) Then, I had the whole bed to myself because mgw is out of town...ahhhh.
7) Today I'm going back to the Getty to finish checking out that exhibit.

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And in the middle of all of this, my baby Martine has moved back into the nest to start planning Her Big Adventure. It's great having her here but I will miss taking long hot showers.

This may make your head spin...47 times.

I did some sleuthing regarding the number "47" and have found the following:

- There is a group of pseudo-trekkies from Pomona College devoted to the number - the 47 Society (see Wikipedia)

- 47 is also called a "Carol", a "Keith" (Richards?) and a "safe prime", which I have doubts about. It also has Fibonacci connections, which sounds like a bad movie from the 70s.

- There is also a counterbalance to my theory on a website called "47 Movies", whose author claims this number is lucky for him/her. (I'm guessing it's a "him", but who knows?)

I have a friend who is obsessed by the number 33 and ever since he pointed it out to me I see it everywhere...

The Middle of Mayhem

Today I read about protests in Nepal against the Maoists who are trying to overthrow the long-standing monarchy.

Reminded me of when I was a young girl, and my older brother was a page for the Democratic Convention in Chicago, 1968, working for Hubert Humphrey. One evening during the convention, we (my dad and I) were watching TV and a news story broke that there was a riot on Michigan Avenue in front of the (then) Conrad Hilton, where the event was taking place. I remember seeing on the screen bright lights, Chicago's finest, hippies and batons flying as everyone scuffled in the streets. My father sat up and said, "...let's go, we're going to get Johnnie." We hopped in the old t-bird and drove straight down the Eisenhower to the hotel, about 10 miles away. I remember my father pulling right up to the front door on Michigan Ave, and leaving the car running, said "wait here" and went inside to get his son out of harm's way. I sat in the back - I was about 11 years old? - and watched the police beat the hell out of young protesters, right there in front of me. Not long later, my dad emerged from the hotel with my brother, and we drove slowly through the crowd of people back home to Austin Blvd.

Now that I think of it, my father was 47 at the time.

Obama Spama

"It's a bird. " "No, you dumbass, it's a plane."
This is what we'd get for four years if these two were running mates.

Obama keeps spamming me. Everyday I get something from him, his wife or one of his minions. At first I was flattered, but now, come ON! Enough is enough. Know when to say when, 'bammy.

I think Hillary's messages go right to the BULK file, if you know what I mean. I am going to vote for the lady, tho, if she gets the nomination.

Remember, Obie is 47 this year...



luv
seran

86'd from 47?

I was locked out of mi blog for a day or so (right after I decided to send the link to some friends) because of TOS violation (suspected spamming). I was so proud. But I got a chance to plea my case, and the robots that be realized they were wrong and promptly reconnected me to the small world that is the internet.

Since 1999, I have had a small group of imaginary friends that I met on the internet via delphi forums. We are very good at supporting as well as picking fights with each other, launching ad hominem attacks over politics, and telling each other to "pffft" when we don't like what we read. After many turbulent years of laughter and bitching, romance and loss, this group has distilled itself into a very nice pod of people (open to newbies, by the way) who understand each other and have created a friendship where it may not have happened in Real Life.

So I raise my s'more to my Imaginary Friends!

Things are looking up financially! I won the Swiss lottery last week, and now, today I find out about this windfall. Would it be rude to correct his grammar?

CONTACT THE DIAMOND BANK BENIN
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 7:59 AM
From Ugo Dr mike Wed May 21 07:59:38 2008
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Date: Wed, 21 May 2008 16:59:38 +0200
From: "Ugo Dr mike" Add sender to Contacts
Subject: CONTACT THE DIAMOND BANK BENIN
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Dear Friend,

I have been waiting for you since to come down here and pick your Bank Draft of $1,200,000.00 ONE MILLION TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATE DOLLARS for your compensation but i did not heard from you since that time.Then I went and deposited the Draft with DIAMOND BANK OF BENIN REPUBLIC WEST AFRICA here in Benin Republic, because I travelled to Iraq to see my boss and will not come back till next month end. I want You to contact the DIAMOND BANK OF BENIN REPUBLIC WEST AFRICA to know when they will Transfer your fund and send your infomation to them such as;
1. FULLNAMES:________________

2. ADDRESS:__________________
3. SEX:______________________
4. AGE:______________________
5. PHONE NUMBER:_____________
6. CITY:_____________________
7. COUNTRY:__________________
8. PICTURE___________________

I have paid for the transfering charges and insurance fee.The only money you have to send to them is there security keeping fee which is $75.00 Us Dollars to received your Draft.This is their Contact Address, Contact Dr.Peter Udo the Manger OF DIAMOND BANK BENIN REPUBLIC WEST AFRICA EMAIL;___(dbankbenin1980@yahoo.fr) Phone number+229 93 66 52 56 Try to contact them as soon as possible to avoid increasing the security keeping fee.I gave them your transfering information but you have to reconfirm it to them again to avoid any mistake on the transfering.Let me know immediately you receive your Draft.
Thanks.

Dr.Mike Ugo

Now, if I can get Obama to stop spamming me, I'll have some extra cycles to go to Benin and claim my money!

luv and "rollin' in dough",
seran

Noisy Winged Beasts

I live very close to a large international airport - our town does what it can to keep the jumbo jets from crossing our airspace - and the din from a few miles away is usually indiscernible. But not today! There was police action up the street, so a media-copter did about 400 revolutions around my house reporting on it, yet nothing was on the news, and no one I knew had any scoop save one man. And, that man has incredible inside scoop on the town because he's our glorious Mayor. I normally don't ask him for said scoop but today I did and it was shocking: a 50-year old woman (ahem) was stabbed by an assailant around the corner from me. I mean, within shouting and viewing distance. But I heard nothing except the din of the airport. This type of crime is fairly unusual for our fair city - we're more the Driving Under the Influence types (or biking, or walking, and sometimes jogging). I work from home, I leave doors unlocked and sometimes open, and yet this didn't bother me so much since the victim - who will survive - said she thought she knew the assailant. Strange relief.

The other noisy winged beasts were a couple of mockingbirds trying to rob the nest of two other birdies - I don't know what the latter birds are, but they moved into the yard about 5 years ago and have several nests around now, they're pretty songbirds with red heads and brownish bodies. I actually went out into the yard to defend my pretty songbirds, who are skittish and flighty and birdbrained, as well they should be. I wonder what kind of bird they are...

Day is done, time to put away the puter and take a walk. I have generated thousands of words today, I think my syllable credits are all used up.



Of course, there are other types of birds around here:

47

47
I was 47 once...and what a year it was. So many bad things happened that year I turned 47. It made me think about the auspiciousness of that number - a prime number - and gave rise to my theory that that's a number that people need to pay very close attention to. I believe - and this is my theory, is not proven and probably never will be - that life-changing things happen to people when they turn 47. For me, it was the passing of my father after a bad fall - from healthy to gone in only one week. It was also the passing of a good friend, Lucy - also here one day, gone the next from a brain aneurysm. It was also the year that Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding washed out the lives of many dear friends in New Orleans - another devastating loss in my life and those of many others. My marriage was at its rockiest, and I "unmade" a few friendships during this time, too. It was as if there was a big, creaking door opening in my life, and I spent the next 3 years wondering what to do about it.

My theory is not just based on this one bad year. I've also noticed how many people do amazing things when they turn 47 - write a book, re-direct their careers, win a lottery, find true love, contribute SOMETHING to the world. So 47 doesn't have to represent doom and gloom, but change. I just checked Wikipedia, and looks like this is Obama's 47th year. Well, Hillary, you had your chance.