Saturday, February 26, 2005

Saturday

I am so relieved that the conference is over. Feel like I can relax and just work a normal day again. I’m promising myself that I’m going to spend the first half of my back-to-work Monday cleaning up my office! What a concept, huh? I know. This afternoon, I am driving over to show the lakehouse to someone. One of these days, we'll show it to someone who will realize that it is a real find! Could happen today--you never know.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Ch Kan-Point's VJK Autumn Roses

How lucky can you get? Gene and I just happened to catch a one hour recap of the 2005 Westminster Kennel Club while watching TV Sunday. We had a blast. Can you believe how dorky we are?

We already knew that “Carlee” a German Shorthaired Pointer, had taken Best of Show but it was fun to watch all the dogs and get to see her “free stack” for ourselves. The handler takes her for a run around the ring and then comes back to put the dog in “the” pose for the judges. Carlee planted her back feet, took some baby steps forward with her front feet, stretched herself out, and that was THE moment as this photo tells. Totally without any direction from the handler, she hit the pose and held it for a full ten seconds. (This is freestacking.) She was "on!" The murmur in the crowd moved right into our living room as we joined in. WOW!

Sunday, February 20, 2005

The Movie this Weekend

Saw This movie stars Cary Elwes. Didn’t you love his “as you wish” in Princess Bride?

But first, let me tell you about the day my grandmother walked into my dad’s workshop many years ago. I think it was the first time she'd been in it. She looked at the saws on the wall and then said “SAW” loudly to my dad and kind of laughed. I didn’t have a clue. She explained to me that back in the day, when you milked a cow and it was moving around too much, you would yell “SAW” and that meant for the cow to be still.

I told you this little bit of folk lore because it is much more interesting than this movie.

Friday, February 18, 2005

Toshiba Bone Conduction Sound Pillow

LINK Don't worry about not being able to read this but do take a look. Just scroll down to the second blue retangle, the light blue one. It is a pillow which wirelessly connects to a sound source through an infared transmitter. The sound vibrates through your neck and cheek bones to your inner ear. You won't disturb anyone next to you and your ears aren't covered as they would be with earphones.

Here's my prediction: You will be listening to your cellphone through bone induction someday. No holding a phone up to your ear anymore. The induction unit may eventually be embedded into bone and possibly combined with the microphone. The unit for dialing may end up on a wristband combined with your watch, pda, and music player and probably a camera, too. Remember, you heard it here first.

My Long Weekend

Been a busy week at work. A week full of incidentals that kept me from completing several projects requiring concentration. So stayed at work until 11:30 last night so I could enjoy having a Friday off. This coming Monday will be sooo busy being a holiday that other people are lucky enough have off. I wouldn't be able to work on said projects until after Monday. Then there's no time to complete them before their deadlines. So, working late seemed like the thing to do.

I am looking forward to this long weekend which I will be spending with dear ol' Dad. We've got a couple of small projects at the old lakehouse all lined up. Nothing too strenuous and allowing plenty of time to just visit. I think his old neighbors miss him. They sure do turn up in a steady stream when he is there.

"Ms. Judy's Movie House" Reviews

I decided one blog wasn't enough. haha Check out the "Links" on the sidebar and you'll see "My Movie Reviews." Check it out and you'll see I collected all my movie opinions and put them in one place. This was created especially with ML in mind.

Monday, February 14, 2005

Whisperwind On A Carousel

Ch Whisperwind On A Carousel or Peter to his friends, was the star of one mine and Gene's first major dates. A nice, quite evening watching TV turned into an event. Much to our delight, "The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show" came on. We met mid-Dec. and our "first date" was Jan. 10. So by the second Monday in Feb., we were still learning things about each other.
That night, we discovered we had both spent lots of childhood hours pouring over those slick, color pages in "Volume D" of World Book Encyclopedia. The following Feb. found Gene in the country with me and no cable TV since. When the annual blurb naming the new champion comes on TV, you'll find us glancing over at each other with a smile in rememberance of a very special evening. (^^+v)

LINK "The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show" is a two-day event held on the second Monday and Tuesday in Feb. in New York City. Second oldest U.S. sporting event held continuously. Only the Kentucky Derby is older.

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Ms. Judy's Movie House Review

Cellular. Exciting! I really liked it!
Shall We Dance. Fun. I enjoyed it.
The Grudge. Non-linear and sometimes creepy.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

I Was So Disappointed

Yesterday, Ericka and I were all abuzz rehashing every nuance of last night’s final episode of Amazing Race 6. Then it dawned on me! I needed to check and see if the new applications are online! (That’s my job, you know.) They were and I downloaded a couple of copies as fast as frickin’ PDF files will let you.

I handed one to Ericka and as I read the other copy, I was immediately working on a time-line for my team. My job as application manager was not to be taken lightly!

DANG! They’re looking for families this time! Teams of four! With questions like “where did you spend your last family vacation?” What good is that going to do Ericka and Caroline in their bid to get on and win Amazing Race 8, I ask? Heck, there's one dream dashed.

Today I found out that I was more disappointed than they were -- haha. Easy for me to be all excited about it. I wouldn't be the one having to take time off from life and a paycheck for the chance to win a million IF they even got chosen.

But I thought they’d make a GREAT team. They’ve got the cute all-american girl-next-door looks, they’re funny, smart, and rag on each other at the drop of a hat. They’re made for Amazing Race!

And I thought they had a great concept for a two-person team. Two people who know each other and get along at work but have totally different friends/lives outside of work and don't really know each other that well -- would they even survive as a team? Would they drive each other totally insane? Who knows? Looks like that window of opportunity has passed. If they'd made it, it would've been fun knowing someone that had made it on the show. But who knows what brush with greatness might come tomorrow? Hmmmmmm.

Here they are filling out their practice Amazing Race 7 application last month. (Past-the-deadline ap for the upcoming next race and last with TWO-person teams!)
Woman Charged with Reckless Endangerment While Making her Audition Tape for "Survivor"
Here is a newstory I found about a woman who is (it could be "WAS" by now) a school bus driver who encouraged her charges to be rowdy for her tape. Even though the parents had signed permission slips, school officials hadn't signed theirs! Crazy, huh? Click on this comment box if you want to see the full article.

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

What is Cavatappi?

You know that "Miss Information Please" moniker? Jamie bestowed that on me years ago and she still calls me up asking for information. Today it was Cavatappi. I'd never heard of it. But as usual, I tracked down the info for her. That kid's got my number and she never hesitates to ring for the info! hehe

In case it's new to you:
Definition & Description: Tubular corkscrew or spiral shaped pasta about 1-inch long, native to southern Italy.
Other Names: Elbow Twists
Best Uses: Use in entrées, side dishes, baked dishes or cold salads. Just about any type of tomato-based or cream sauce complements this versatile shape.

Sunday, February 06, 2005

Almost Heroes. Still Funny!

Almost Heroes (1998) stars Matthew Perry and Chris Farley in a silly race against rivals Lewis and Clark. I'd forgotten how funny this movie was. Guy (that's GEE, hard "g") Fontenot is probably my all-time favorite Eugene Levy character. hehe Makes me laugh just thinking about it.

Potluck (2002) I didn't know what to expect on this one and was pleasantly surprised. It is not a drug movie even though it was put out by High Times and one of the main characters is a suitcase of contraband. Weaving throughout the film-- the suitcase is bought and sold, then stolen and restolen by an unlikely cast of gangsters, artists, drag queens and activists. The other main character is Frank, the loyal mob soldier. He goes through quite a few changes when he becomes involved with the lead singer in an all-girl punk band. Check it out, you just might like it!

The Wind Take my advice. Let it blow on by.

Pauly Shore Is Dead Here's another one that I had reservations about considering the bad reviews. But if you like Pauly Shore, you'll like this. He fakes his own death to become a "comedic genius who died before his time" at the mistaken urging of his gaurdian angel, Sam Kinnison, appearing to him several times in the movie. Todd Bridges, who he meets in county lock-up after being found out, does a great job. This movie has TONS of celebrities portraying themselves, seemingly not always willingly. I think Gene enjoyed it more than me, but it still had some good hah-yucks. (Did you know Pauly Shore's mom owns The Comedy Store? Sam Kinnison was one of his baby-sitters.)

Here are some others we saw a few weeks ago:

Employee of the Month I wanted to check this out because it has two actors I like. I first noticed Steve Zahn when he played Wayne Wayne Wayne Jr in Happy, Texas (escaped convicts disguised as beauty pageant experts; here's a LINK to a photo of Wayne Wayne.) You might remember him as Hank Rafferty in National Security with Martin Lawrence, or Marvin in Daddy Day Care. The other is Christina Applegate. I liked it for the most part. Lots of twists and turns and my requisite quirky characters. You have to watch through the credits to see the actual end of the movie though.

The Village
Opie Taylor's little girl, Bryce Dallas Howard, does a fine job as Ivy.
Wicker Park I have to confess I fast forwarded through a lot of it. Maybe the muzak was worth watching those long non-action parts? Would have been better as a thirty minute movie. Mostly leaves you feeling sad for all that wasted time. The main couple's wasted time, I mean.
The Forgotten Ooops, I forgot to mention it before.
Cold Mountain. The part of Ada Monroe was miscast. Plenty of others could have played the part and been more convincing. Why did it have to be N. Kidman? And Jude Law almost missed the mark, too, but he did do dark and brooding well with those piercing baby blues. Still haven't put my finger on it, but something was off with Kathy Baker as Sally Swanger. Everyone else was convincing to me. Lots of pretty visuals and the story sucked me in.

Saturday, February 05, 2005

Got Something Accomplished!

Finally got "Links" added to my blog. Not that hard, of course. Easy enough to find the code, but had to take the time to figure out how to put it into my template. Living with a webmaster, all I have to do is ask and be shown how to do it or even have it done for me. But having that independent, stubborn streak ... IWANNADOITMYSELF! Oh and also, got my clock added. Don't let it make you rush and leave without reading though!

There are lots more things I'd like to do with this blog. One is to incorporate a photo album feature. Then comes the time factor in updating that, making my posts, communications, and searching for inspiration (i.e. surfing the internet which I can't seem to resist). Also really want to give my blog a personalized look. I'm a fairly creative person and I know I could do something really special.

But for now, I'm going to have to be satisified with it as is. When I add up the minutes of the learning curve, creating artwork, etc... well, I need to be spending my time currency somewhere else right now.

So if you are a frequent reader, watch for additions and a new look that reflects ME! For the moment, I relinquish this tool of procrastination. Signing off for now!

Thursday, February 03, 2005

Oh My God, I'm Older than Edith Bunker!

Last night, Gene and I were watching All in the Family. Gloria and Mike already have Joey so that places it toward the end of the series. Gloria is talking to her mom about Archie being 55 and then says, " After all, Mom, you're 50". Edith solemnly warbles, "Oh no, Gloria. I've got another month."

What the heck happened? How did I get to be older than Edith Bunker?

I told Vicki (she's two months my junior) about it this morning and her jaw dropped. She said the exact same thing as I did ... "Oh My God!" It was a shocker, oh yeah.

On the other hand, Vicki has taught all of us to appreciate every birthday that comes our way! Vicki, you rock!

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

State of the Union Address Drinking Game 2005

LINK I love this game. A great way to pass the time once every year! Includes Opposing Party Response Bonus Game. It's a hoot!

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Uterine Transplant. Possible?

March 7, 2002 -- A 26-year-old Saudi Arabian woman who had a hysterectomy when she was 20 received the first and only uterus transplant in a surgery performed almost two years ago. The results were revealed today. The uterus had to be removed after three months due to complications (clots in the supplying blood vessels), but those involved are calling the transplant a qualified success. Originally reported in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

Should it be done if it is possible? Some controversy arises from it not being a life-threatening situation requiring an organ transplant.

(If you were of a mind to, you could go to the Mt. Sinai Journal of Medicine site, www.mssm.edu/msjournal, in search box, type in the words, Uterine Transplant, and read more. I haven't really researched for more after reading this initial article.)

Can You Say "Grrrrr"? I Knew You Could

The dreary weather is matched only by my work day and it's not even lunch. Same song, different verse. Those of you who know me well already know the exact tune that is haunting me, and it isn't "Whistle While You Work."

Yeah! My food is here! Maybe I'll cheer up after these quesadillas!
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