Get your voyeur on.

Memes are great for giving your readers insight about the person behind the blog. They're also great for helping you out when you're lacking (ahem) in inspiration. Or writer's block. Or political scandal fatigue. Or if you've just been too ... busy to blog.

In addition to political blogs and Perez Hilton (don't judge!), I read a few food blogs. And I discovered that they also do memes, but food related. Of course, I think this is the coolest. Thing. Ever. And since I tried to start a food blog once (let's just say it's on hiatus), and have written a couple restaurant reviews and posts about cooking and food on this blog, I thought I'd play along.

So I picked up this "what's inside your fridge" meme from eggbeater, who got it from Becks & Posh.

Inside

I eat vegetables, I swear. They're in that drawer thing on the bottom. I need to remember to throw out that quinoa.

Refrigerator door

A girl loves her condiments. And cute mini soda cans. I still don't know how I feel about that bottle of osmanthus iced tea. I love the idea of it, but now I'm a little freaked out to try it. I don't know why. I have food issues. Shocking, I know. But there are a few things that freak me out. And pre-made, bottled iced tea from China does, sorta.

Freezer

Man, I need a shelf. And what self-respecting Filipino doesn't have lumpia ready to go at a moment's notice? Also, if any of you have a good recipe for ox tails (that's what's wrapped up in the brown paper), please let me know.

Want to see more? Click here to see other folks who participated.

Jerry Falwell Dead at 73

Falwell has found himself at the center of several controversies, such as the one sparked by his comments two days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in which he seemed to blame "abortionists," gays, lesbians, the ACLU and People for American Way for causing the attacks, saying they "helped this happen."

On September 14, 2001, he told CNN that he would "never blame any human being except the terrorists, and if I left that impression with gays or lesbians or anyone else, I apologize."

Let the eulogizing begin.

The Carpetbagger compiled a list of Falwell's career accomplishments, so you don't have to.

(source)

Sunday Morning "Strangest Shit I've Seen in a While" Blogging

groensaks rock!

You've been SERVED!

To all my break-dancing friends who love to battle: Watch out, this could be you:

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (May 9) -- A man died while trying to outdo a rival with an acrobatic move while "battle dancing," police said.

Robert Stitt, 48, and his rival were competing in a parking lot Monday night when he tried a forward flip and landed on his head.

"It was just two guys dancing. Everybody was laughing," Stitt's friend John Boxley said.

Boxley said James Brown was on the radio and Stitt wanted to outdo a rival dancer, who had flipped in the air.

Police said the victim went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead a short time at a local hospital.

Police said several people were in the parking lot drinking and battle dancing - a competition in which each dancer tries one-upmanship with unique moves.

My question is, why was a 48-year-old man still trying to battle? Maybe he had just watched that South Park episode.

What Tarot Card Are You?

Fear me.

You are The Devil

Materiality. Material Force. Material temptation; sometimes obsession

The Devil is often a great card for business success; hard work and ambition.

Perhaps the most misunderstood of all the major arcana, the Devil is not really "Satan" at all, but Pan the half-goat nature god and/or Dionysius. These are gods of pleasure and abandon, of wild behavior and unbridled desires. This is a card about ambitions; it is also synonymous with temptation and addiction. On the flip side, however, the card can be a warning to someone who is too restrained, someone who never allows themselves to get passionate or messy or wild - or ambitious. This, too, is a form of enslavement. As a person, the Devil can stand for a man of money or erotic power, aggressive, controlling, or just persuasive. This is not to say a bad man, but certainly a powerful man who is hard to resist. The important thing is to remember that any chain is freely worn. In most cases, you are enslaved only because you allow it.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

(Props to the God of Biscuits for the inspiration.)

Brand Identity Overload

Donald Trump is now selling steak.

From Meat News (yes, "Meat News"):

Until now, Trump Steaks were only available at Donald Trump’s resort restaurants, but now these same steaks can be delivered to homes exclusively from The Sharper Image. Trump Steaks are made exclusively from corn-fed Angus stock—“The Butcher’s Breed” from the Midwest. Products are individually sealed, flash-frozen, packed in dry ice, and shipped in a distinctive black-and-gold Trump Steaks presentation box, according to a promo piece.

Somewhere out there, Richard Branson's getting jealous.

And I'm getting hungry.

(Photo lifted from Dethroner.)

Free Paris REDUX - Now I've seen it all

Paris Hilton supporters created a petition asking Gov. Schwarzenegger for leniency. Indulge me while I give you a little excerpt:

Paris Whitney Hilton is an American celebrity and socialite. She is an heiress to a share of the Hilton Hotel fortune, as well as to the real estate fortune of her father Richard Hilton. She provides hope for young people all over the U.S. and the world. She provides beauty and excitement to (most of) our otherwise mundane lives.

[...]

As most of America now knows, Ms. Hilton was just charged in a Los Angeles court with DUI and sentenced to 45 days in Century Regional Detention Facility in California beginning on or before June 5, 2007.

We, the American public who support Paris, are shocked, dismayed and appalled by how Paris has been the person to be used as an example that Drunk Driving is wrong. We do not support drunk driving or DUI charges. Paris should have been sober. But she shouldn't go to jail, either.

Whatever, people! Yeah, Paris is such a victim. In her own words:

"I think I get in more trouble because of who I am," posits Paris. "The cops do it all the time. They'll just pull me over to hit on me. It's really annoying. They're [the cops] like, 'What's your phone number? Want to go out to dinner?'"

So NOT sympathetic to your cause, girlfriend.

UPDATE: In response to this absurdity, I just had to create a rebuttal petition. Read (and sign) it here.

U.S. Troops = Al Qaida Bait?

Um, and this is a GOOD thing?

That's what Dick Morris seems to think. From Think Progress:

Last night on Hannity and Colmes, right-wing pundit Dick Morris also claimed that we need to keep U.S. troops in Iraq so that terrorists don’t come to the United States. But he argued that we need to put “Americans right within their [terrorists’] arms’ reach” so that they have the opportunity to “kill Americans” there. He added that therefore, “they don’t have to come to Wall Street to kill Americans. They don’t have to knock down the Trade Center. They can do it around the corner, and convenience is a big factor when you’re a terrorist.”

Great. So Morris is somehow suggesting that playing "Monkey in the Middle" with our troops is better than coming up with a strategic plan to end the war and bring our soldiers home. Fabulous.

Morris says that if you're a terrorist, it's the convenience of "killing Americans" that they love so much. So if we were to follow that warped logic, why the fuck would you want to keep American troops there?

Watch the insanity here.

(Thanks to The Carpetbagger Report for the link.)

The Oprah Touch

Oprah gave her endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama for president on the Larry King Live show last week.

"Beloved" flop aside, I wonder if this will help Obama and hurt Hilary.

Hmm.

Socialite in the Slammer

Let the "Free Paris" campaign begin!



I wonder if 45 days in the clink will teach girlfriend some maturity.

There aren't any "don't drop the soap" prison jokes for women, are there?

Basically, Miss Thang got arrested for violating her probation by driving on a suspended license. She claims to not have known about her license being suspended for 90 days, even though she signed a document saying just that:

[Paris] said that when an officer who stopped her in January made her sign a document stating her license was suspended, she thought he was mistaken and did not actually look at the document.

Poor girl. She probably thought the officer was asking for her autograph.

UPDATE 5/4: In this L.A. Times article, Hilton's attorney declared the verdict unfair, saying that Paris, whom he said was a person with "unique issues and needs" [apparently], was selectively prosecuted because of who she is.

Bitch, please. Nobody is above the law, especially socialites who are too stupid to take shit like this seriously.

Oh yeah, and Paris made the sign of the cross before hearing the verdict. What, all of a sudden she's religious? Heh.


(Photo credit: Damian Dovarganes/AP)

Do you have love for New York?

New York (Tiffany Pollard, above) dumped Tango (Patrick Hunter) to make way for another season of our favorite train wreck, "I Love New York" on VH1.

Look. They even put out a casting call on Craigslist. Keep it real, yo!

UPDATE 5/1: Word around the campfire is that New York and Crazy Mofo Sister Patterson aren't even related. Is nothing sacred out there in reality TV land?

Don't answer that.

(Props to A Socialite's Life for the info.)

Prince Harry Goes to Iraq

Prince Harry, third in line for the throne of England, will go to Iraq, despite warnings from the Mahdi army (Moqtada al-Sadr supporters) that they'll kidnap him if found.

In an interview to mark his 21st birthday, the prince said: "There's no way I'm going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country."

While I think it's great and honorable that Harry wants to defend his country, because of the circumstances by which we went into this fucking war, I'm pretty pissed off that another honorable soldier is being put at risk because of a LIE. The fact that he's a royal is irrelevant to me, because in the bigger scheme of things, he's just another soldier, not a celebrity.

The world has already lost too many lives because of this war. It just needs to end.

What I find especially infuriating is that while England is willing to send one of its royals (albeit reluctantly, due to his high profile) to fight in the war, what about the Bush Party Twins? I don't see them getting getting dressed in camo any time soon.

I agree with Windspike: If this mission is so critical, why aren't the First Offspring doing the same?

UPDATE 5/16: Guess not:

Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt, the army chief of staff who recently traveled to Iraq, said the changing situation on the ground exposed the prince to too much danger. Media scrutiny of Harry’s potential deployment exacerbated the situation, he said.

“There have been a number of specific threats, some reported and some not reported, that relate directly to Prince Harry as an individual,” Dannatt said. “These threats exposed him and those around him to a degree of risk I considered unacceptable.”

(Photo credit: Ian Holding/PA)

East Bay: Free Movie Screening this Wednesday

To all you Bay Area hip hop fans, listen up.

This Wednesday, May 2, the UA Emery Bay Stadium theater will host a free screening of The Hip Hop Project at 7 p.m.

From Executive Producers Bruce Willis and Queen Latifah, The Hip Hop Project is the compelling story of Kazi, a formerly homeless teenager who inspired a group of New York City teens to transform their life stories into powerful works of art, using hip hop as a vehicle for self-development and personal discovery. Kazi challenges these young people to write music about real issues affecting their lives as they strive to overcome daunting obstacles to produce a collaborative album. Russell Simmons, hip hop mogul and long-time supporter of the project, partners with Bruce Willis to donate a recording studio to the Hip Hop Project. After four years of collaboration, the group produces a powerful and thought-provoking CD filled with moving personal narratives and sharp social commentary. In contrast to all of the negative attention focused on hip hop and rap music, this is a story of hope, healing and the realization of dreams. Inspired by Kazi’s work, 100% of the net profits from this film are being donated to organizations working with youth.

Say, "Torture!"

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, number 588, poses for a reunion photo with his fellow Harvard alumni.

Kudos to the students at Harvard who effectively forced Gonzales to escape through the back door during visit this weekend to his alma mater:

At a time when many in the nation are calling for Gonzales to resign, one third-year student managed to communicate the mood of his own alma mater directly to Gonzales. While the Attorney General's security detail kept protestors at bay and the photographer prepared the class photo, she slipped though the law library's front doors and approached Gonzales from behind. "On behalf of many other Harvard Law students," she said, "I'd like to tell you that we are ashamed to have you as an alumnus of this school. And we're glad you're here to be able to tell you that." Gonzales thanked the student and offered to shake her hand, but was refused. After the class photo was taken, several of the Attorney General's classmates clapped and approached the protesting students to thank them for their efforts.

Following the group photo, Gonzales ducked into the library to take a stroll around the main reading room, which, on the weekend before final exams, was full of students going over their notes. When the protestors caught up with Gonzales, the cavernous reading room, ordinarily a place of hushed whispers, echoed with chants of "shame" and "resign."

Funny. That last part kind of reminds me of the shower scene in Carrie, for some reason.

Anyway, unfortunately, Gonzales probably won't resign, even though everyone and their mother is asking him to. I swear, the inner circle of the Bush Administration is like a bunch of freakin' cockroaches --- they just won't go away!

Thanks to Jonsey (read his blog now!) for the link.

(Photo lifted from here.)

It's the new "Safe Sex Happy Meal"

Hey, look on the bright side. At least it wasn't a finger:

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A grandmother was alarmed to find a condom in a happy meal gift pack bought for her 7-year-old granddaughter at a McDonald's restaurant in New Zealand, local media reported Thursday.

The condom was discovered Tuesday night in a bag that came with Maia Whitaker's meal, which her grandparents bought at a McDonald's outlet in the city of Wellington.

[...]

The outlet quickly swapped the happy meal for a hamburger and pencil case. McDonald's is investigating the find.

Grandma was "horrified" at the thought of her seven-year-old granddaughter finding the condom in her Happy Meal, and said that it would be "difficult to explain."

If a kid came to me holding a wrapped condom, asking me what it was, I'd just take it from them, make something up, and then blow it off. And then show the kid something shiny.

I mean seriously, when did it become bad to tell a little white lie to kids?

/sarcasm



(source)

Notes from the G List

I don't even know why I care, but this blog has been demoted to an insignificant microbe in the TTLB Ecosystem.

That's the lowest on the totem pole, y'all.

For a while, I've flitted about somewhere between flappy birds and marauding marsupials, enjoying my middle-of-the-road existence.

Now, I'm amoeba-ish.

I'm a little bummed about it. Whatever.

UPDATE 4/30: I am back to flappy bird status. I never thought some random online hierarchy could provide me with some sort of validation. But it does. And I'm ashamed of myself for it. I mean, who wants to be known as an insignificant microbe anyway?

Just in time for prom

As if you needed another reason to love Brooklyn:

Paris Hilton's naked "corpse" could provide an invaluable service to students preparing for prom this season.

An interactive Public Service Announcement featuring the graphic display of a tiara-wearing, autopsied Paris Hilton with removable innards is designed to warn teenagers of the hazards of underage drinking. The display also features Tinkerbell, Hilton's forlorn pet Chihuahua with matching tiara, and debuts in the trendy Williamsburg, Brooklyn neighborhood where prom-goers frequently dine, courtesy of Capla Kesting Fine Art.

"Campaign to Rescue Women of Youth" featuring "The Paris Hilton Autopsy" offers a cadaveric nude Paris Hilton, laid out with twisted body and opened abdominal cavity on a coroner's table, while her cell phone remains in her grip. The 'unglamorous' display which includes support material from anti-drunk driving organizations counters "the disturbingly glamorized trend of Hollywood's 'girls gone wild'," according to gallery director, David Kesting.

Paris Hilton, arrested for a DUI last year, previously released a marginally effective PSA concerning drunk driving. This latest PSA includes a website by Capla Kesting, which offers high school educators an icebreaker for discussing drunk driving's consequences. Students are encouraged to take the virtual field trip at http://www.ParisHiltonAutopsy.com to view the making of the "Paris Hilton Autopsy" and compete for prizes by writing Paris Hilton's obituary.

What's more is that this sculpture/PSA is interactive in that Paris' innards are removable, allowing aspiring prom queens to see the effects of drunken driving "from a coroner's perspective."

Art. Public Service Announcement. Social commentary on The Evil That is Paris. Writing contest. What more do you want?

Brilliant.

Courtesy of the same gallery that brought you the Crowning Britney.

(Photo credit: Capla Kesting Fine Art)

If it bleeds, it leads

Take a look at this picture. Do you find it offensive?

Some may argue that the reportage element to this photo is offensive.

Others might be offended at the amount of blood is in this photo.

Still others might be offended at the sight of the gunshot wound.

And then there are some who are offended because they say that they see the wounded man’s penis in the photo.

This photo was published in the Roanoke Times on April 17.

Almost immediately, newspaper readers began to debate the image. A message board devoted to the Detroit Free Press sparked a debate the next morning over whether the picture actually showed genitalia. The Hartford Courant was bombarded with complaints, many of which reader representative Karen Hunter posted online.

"You are showing his penis right on the front page," one Courant reader complained to Hunter. "I think that's disgusting.... I think you should have blocked it out or something."

Over at the New York Post, editors anticipated that exact response. The Post ran the picture big and in color, but cloned out the flesh-colored shape protruding from the student's lap. Across town, the archrival Daily News ran the picture unedited.

People edited the photo, while its sister magazine Time ran the picture unedited.

You’ve got to be kidding me. More than thirty people were killed, and you’re worried that this dude’s dong is showing? Why are you looking so closely at the photo anyway?

Look. Humankind, in all its glory, is as much bloody, gory, dirty, smelly, pus filled, and evil as it is beautiful, loving, flowery and brilliant. But to get up in arms about whether or not you see his penis in the photo (I'm still not even convinced that's what it is), to focus on it and then call it "disgusting," is missing the point altogether.

And it's not like the newspaper published this photo out of some prurient motivation. "If it bleeds, it leads," as they say. Get your heads out of the gutter.

(Photo credit: Alan Kim/The Roanoake Times)

Snap out of it!

Hi. You may remember me as the owner of this blog.

Where have I been?

Oh, here and there. Working and playing. And dancing lots of flamenco.

And dealing with a really bad case of writer's block, which I need to snap out of soon, because I'm now part of the writing team at Bring It On!, which I'm really excited about.

Of course, I'll still be posting here, but perhaps I'll focus my political commentary over at the other place, because this blogging? It's real hard work, y'know.

Anyway. That's what's new with me.

How about you?

Oh, great.

So I finally decided to tear into my box of Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies that have been sitting at my desk for weeks.

There's freakin' trans fats in this bitch. Dammit.

Sure, the label says 0 grams trans fats, but "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" is right there, #3 on the ingredients list. That means there could be up to 0.5 grams of trans fats in a serving, which is four cookies. (The FDA allows manufacturers to label a food or dietary supplement as having zero trans fats if it has less than 0.5 grams per serving.)

Sure, it's a relatively small amount. But damn, these sneaky trans fats. They're everywhere!

(Photo snagged here.)