Post #200

Let me just express my admiration for this site:

http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Eric's Conviction overturned by Appeals Court, but NOT YET FREE...

From the family:

Here’s what we know.

Today, the Nicaraguan Appellate Court ruled 2-1 in favor of Innocence for Eric Volz and demanded his immediate release. In fulfillment of Nicaraguan law, Judge Ivette Toruno, the convicting judge who is required by law to sign the release papers, arranged for Eric’s attorney to pick-up the release papers at 2pm this afternoon. However, Toruno left the court at 1:30 and will not come back for the rest of the day. It is unclear as to whether or not she will be in the office tomorrow, as well.

Judge Toruno is currently in contempt of court by refusing to make her appointment and sign the release papers. Eric has been freed, but is still being detained illegally, against the orders of the Appellate Court.

Nicaraguan radio broadcasts have been announcing that the people need to take justice into their own hands, since word of the court’s decision. We are more concerned than ever before, for Eric’s safety.

It appears as if no one in the judicial, penal and/or immigration systems in Nicaragua is responding to requests by Eric’s attorney or by the US Embassy to process Eric’s release immediately as ordered by the court.

Maggie will appear on CNN AC360 TONIGHT and The Today Show tomorrow morning in the first hour.

PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY. That is all we can do now.

The Best Christmas Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ERIC VOLZ IS FREE!!!!!!!

http://www.ticotimes.net/dailyarchive/2007_12/1217074.htm

Eric Volz to be Freed from Jail in Nicaragua
Tim Rogers Nica Times

Updated at 10:45 a.m.-- U.S. citizen Eric Volz is expected to walk out of jail today after a Granada court overturned his 30-year prison sentence for killing his Nicaraguan ex-girlfriend, according to Armando Mejia, secretary of the penal chamber of the Granada Appeals Court.
Mejia told The Nica Times today that the court ordered that 28-year-old Volz be released from jail and that he is now free to leave the country. The plaintiff will now have 10 days to appeal the ruling.

The same court ruled to uphold the sentence against Nicaraguan Julio Martín Chamorro, better known as “Rosita.”

See tomorrow's online Daily News for an update and catch the full story in this Friday's print edition of The Nica Times.

Do Not...

...send me an email of yourself, your family, or your pets with their faces pasted on dancing elves. Do not Elf Yourself, and then inflict it on me.

I smiled for 5 seconds on the first one of these I received. On the half-dozen I have received since then, I have not smiled, nor have I come close to chuckling.

When everyone does something, it ceases to be funny. Like saying "Where's the beef?"

How I Miss Them...

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report... victims of the writers strike. But then, I was reminded that the entire backlog of Jon Stewart's tenure at The Daily Show was now online, so I went and dug up some of the "Even Stephen" bits with Colbert and Steve Carell.

*sigh.* I miss them so...

"Winterval?" *snort* PLEASE.

Thank goodness for good sense. A number of other religious groups in Britain have told the politically correct to lighten up about Christmas:

Hands off Christmas, say religious leaders

Writers' Strike

Hate it. Intrigued by what it might mean for popular culture to have an enforced vacation; but not enough to forgive the loss of Daily Show and Colbert Report episodes. And I shudder to think that Pushing Daisies might not have any new episodes after next week!

For regular blog readers, or "bleaders", you are well aware of my fondness for videos of adorable/funny animals. Well, apparently they are on strike in support of the writers too:

Middle-Aged

My birthday was yesterday. I cannot speed away from it fast enough, frankly. It was a cliche-ridden day, with every single predictable emotional response to turning 39 that you could imagine:

• I don't FEEL old.
• My biological clock is running down.
• I don't think I look old.
• I haven't done anything worthwhile with my life.
• I'm going to die alone and be found a week later, half-eaten by an alsatian.

Lordy, are those boring or what?!

I have never understood or sympathized with women who hide their age or birthdays. But in the last few years, I am finally hating birthdays too. When I was younger, it was Happy Cake & Presents Time, but now, I don't like cake as much as pie or cookies, and the presents, although nice and thoughtful, are rarely things I really want or need. I know, that sounds dreadfully ungrateful. But I live in a 745 SF apartment, and it is FULL.

I still feel that there's no point in concealing my age; the truth is the truth, and I'm very bad at pretending about myself... but I no longer enjoy the anniversary. December 3rd of 2008 will be a very, very bad day, and I am preparing to go into therapy and amplified medication. Let the cliches begin!

What the hell...?

Bananarama, "Robert DeNiro's Waiting"

Never heard of this song. Is this some kind of joke?

Stupid Internet!

OK, I guess I should take comfort in the fact that not EVERYTHING is available to be found on the internet... but it's proving to be extremely annoying when I am trying to find certain things. For example... right now I am trying to find greeting cards made by the company Punch Studio. Their stuff is everywhere in the retail market, especially TJ Maxx and bookstores and places that sell knicknacks and tchotchkes... but I can't find a complete listing of their product line, nor can I find any online retailers that have more than 2 or 3 of their products.And their stuff is GORGEOUS. Their paper products have that lovely, silky matte finish that you only started seeing in the last decade. And their designs are in that profusion style with tons of embellishment - Victorian, Baroque, Asian, etc. They made one of the prettiest (and funniest) Christmas cards a few years back that I would love to send out... but I can't find it ANYWHERE! Very frustrating. Found their website, but it only serves retailers.

Just Seen on CuteOverload:

(which prompted this comment in the Comments section:)

This humbly handmade invitation to heaven,

Scrawled on an eight-and-a-half-by-eleven,

With it's charming, sincere, and unvarnished sentiment,

And simple mackerel tabby embellishment,

Might win a girl's heart over jewels or treasure,

And bring them a lifetime of joy without measure.

Here's hoping Jess

Says yes.

Posted by: Michelle

Funky Town

Too brilliant!

So damn cute, it hurts

I'm sorry I keep posting these videos, but OMG, this will almost make you cry, it's so adorable and sad at the same time...

Two favorites

These are two of my all-favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons (besides the obvious ones like What's Opera, Doc? and Duck Season). I was reminded of them yesterday when my friend Annie giggled; her machine-gun rapid giggle is exactly like the little rabbit in this first one:

and then in the process of trying to find it on YouTube, I remembered the CAYUTEST baby penguin BB short; when he cried silently at the end, ice cubes fell on the snow. Simultaneously hilarious AND adorable; an irresistable combination.

Bunnies Rule the Internet

So now everyone else has realized that bunnies are irresistable, even MSNBC!

Music-Shmusic

When you're a native of Music City and of a Certain Demographic, it is assumed—nay, expected—that you are fond of music, preferably live music. Well, I have fought my inner nature for years, and I can no longer maintain the pretense...

I'm incredibly bored by live music. Doesn't matter what genre - classical, pop, contemporary, gospel, rock, punk, bluegrass, country (especially country), I get bored within 5 minutes. There are exceptions, of course - Nickel Creek, really good Latin beats, Indian - but even with those, I am DONE with sitting and listening in about 30 minutes. I should explain, this does NOT mean I don't like music; I will be glad to offer up my iTunes playlist as proof. But Go-Somewhere-and-Sit-and-Listen (or Stand-and-Listen) Music has absolutely no appeal to me.

I do like performing live music, though. When I'm actually involved in the process. As noted several months back, I did some backup vocalist gigs with a rock band this summer, and I've been singing with my church choir for years now, occasionally as one of 3 miked lead singers at least one Sunday a month. I love doing this. But apparently the Sit-and-Listen gene didn't make it into my DNA.

It took time to figure this out, of course - I mean, when you're considered "artistic" and and you take lessons in violin and piano and sing in Show Choir, you naturally think you like going to concerts like everyone else... even moreso. But I was never any good with the instruments, and merely adequate as a vocalist, truth be told. My musical tastes never fell into any tidy categorizations. My likes are so scattered... I have CDs for Latin church music, Renaissance dance tunes, Gilbert & Sullivan, Sting, Indian/Bollywood, Celtic, movie soundtracks, Japanese anime soundtracks, and a smattering of pop artists... and I'd be hard pressed to tell you WHAT I listen to. I just feel sloppy, since I can never clearly explain what I like to listen to.

3 of my old Youth Group leaders are playing at a Koinoinia reunion concert tomorrow night - I grew up at Belmont Church, and live music was simply HUGE there. I owe so much to these men, and would love to go just to see them again, see how they're doing, just to touch base... but I don't want to have to sit through the concert. I change my mind about going every 5 minutes. If it was a cocktail party or a book-signing, I'd be there, no problem. But my genuine dislike of sitting and listening to music with nothing else to do is making me really hesitant about going.

If I could legitimately take along some needlework project and be allowed to sit in the back with plenty of light and space and listen in peace without having to jump up and applaud or whistle every 2 minutes, or basically STAND to listen for 3 hours (what's THAT all about?!) I would really, really like it. An interesting activity for my hands and eyes, while my ears absorb the sound. But the modern requirement that live music be aerobic; that the audience must continually be on their feet, roaring with approval, makes that impossible.

I guess a full awareness of this disinterest is useful; it means I don't bother considering concerts as an activity anymore. But I feel rather lonely in my dislike; I mean, have you EVER known anyone to say aloud, "nah, I don't really like concerts..."? So I step out into the world, ill-prepared to face the amazement of a society that almost WORSHIPS the concert-going experience.

And don't get me started on my current dislike for live theatre!

Useful Information

Tyvek envelopes - made of that shiny-smooth, plastic fibrous material that will NOT tear - do not work well in printers. They melt. In spectacular fashion.

Turn the volume down a bit first...

My Latest TV Infatuation

Pushing Daisies. LOVE it. It's got this sweetness to it, this genuine romance, fairy-tale quality (in the way that Perrault & Bros. Grimm told fairy tales, NOT Disney) with humor and whimsy... it's delightful. It's one of those series with a sense of hightened reality, where the colors are hyper-saturated, and although the setting is modern day, there's a thread of retro nostalgia delicately folded in.

The cast is superb. Lee Pace plays Ned (a character whose babies I would happily bear), and Anna Friel is Chuck, the love of his life. The writing just crackles - it goes by so fast that having a TiVo is very helpful because there are these delightful bits of dialogue that you simply can't catch in one viewing. I love shows that are as good 24 hours later as the first time you watched them.

And Jim Dale narrates, which (for Harry Potter audiobook listeners) is an absolute treat.

ABC, Wednesday nights. Start watching NOW.

Top Chef

Don't know if you've been watching it, but this is a scene I envision taking place about 2/3rds of the way through the competition with the winning cheftestant, Hung:

(please excuse the profanity; reality programming isn't pretty, folks)

Producer 1: Dude. You are acting like a douchebag. Makes for great drama...
Producer 2: ... yeah, the delusional thing makes for awesome TV!
Producer 1: ...but now you've got to pretend to have a heart and soul.
Producer 2: Do you have anything we can cry about? Any childhood traumas? A dying relative?
Producer 1: Because - and I mean this - you're pretty much the obvious choice since Tre got booted.
Producer 2: Stupid man. He was golden, and he threw it all away with one crappy dish.
Producer 1: Can you pretend to find the competitions "fun"? Because people like that shit.
Producer 2. Oh yeah. You can be an absolute prick but if you're funny...
Producer 1: ...like Dale...
Producer 2: ...and you dance around occasionally and punch your fists in the air when you win something...
Producer 1: ...cause, obviously, the humility thing is out of the question at this point!
Producer 2: ...oh yeah. Insulting the cowboys made that an impossibility...
Producer 1: ...then we MIGHT be able to spin this so that people don't burn down the studio when you win.
Producer 2: You wanna win, right?