louise on the left (coast)

Seriously, My kids have finally retired their worn out VCR tapes of Blue's Clues. (Only the shows with Steve, because Joe wasn't anywhere near the same thing.) They now have a new flavor of television viewing obsessage. They like to watch Yo, Gabba, Gabba . If you don't know what this show is like, the only way I can describe it is like the Teletubbies got into Mommies "special stash" of Flintstones vitamins, and ended up crashing the rave with Deee-lite. Not kidding. It's some wild-ass, crazy pre-school fun. But, what do you expect from folks who hang out with Paul Frank. And if you love Paul Frank, they way we do, then check this show out. It's a wild ride. For starters the demographic for the show is, I believe, pre-schoolers, you know, like Blue's Clues was. But my girls now ages 8 and 12 can't get enough of this thing. Seriously, they'll watch it and laugh, and laugh for hours. They make everyone coming over to the house watch it wi

Or, in the cases of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, The (Final) Day In The Life. I read the news today, oh boy. 'bout two unlucky stars who once made the grade, And though the news was rather sad, I just had to laugh... Actually, no I did not laugh. When I heard the news today I so didn't laugh. I cringed. First, the biggest sex symbol of my 1970's childhood has to go and die of "anal cancer," but then gets her own death sniped by an even bigger star from that same time period dying the same day, as well? Wow, what did that Charlie's Angel do to deserve all that ? Back to how she died. I'm not proud to admit this, because I know it speaks to how shallow I suppose I must be, but when I heard what kind of cancer she specifically had, I seriously cringed. Can't it just be "death by cancer ?" Does it really have to be "she died of anal cancer?" So, I decided that I needed to find a prayer for not getting this, since it bot

It's true. LaRouchepac .Org actually cost my local Trader Joe's roughly $150.00 of my dollars last week. Granted, I'm small potatoes, but in this economy, losing any business should matter. But, apparently, to Trader Joe's, it doesn't. To be honest, they seemed insultingly laid back about how just how their loyal customers felt about being confronted with racist images at their store. Which seems, I don't know, wrong. I'd have done more to get my right to do business needs met, if I were them...but, I'm getting ahead of myself, here. Apparently if you are a member of an annoying cult looking to set up shop in a busy marketplace to, apparently the front of Trader Joe's is the place to be. -- Who knew? So, just how does LaRouchepac .Org get away with comparing Obama to Hitler? Because they have the right to free speech, that's how. Even if it gets racist, they can do this. And I do get that this is America and we do that here, but, som

Well, the great journey has commenced and after all the interviews, the driving, the meetings the deep thoughts from Eric, Mark and Em, we followed the merry trio back to the home of all great art, Los Angeles. Here in LA, Mr. Schaeffer had a screening of all his dates in Los Angeles to get a democratic perspective, aka, votes from his friends, to modify what he was going to do anyway. But, not before the following: Remember the woman, Erin, from our last segment? The woman he improvised an interview with on his way to meet with his Colorado date, Lauren? You know, the one I said was interesting and complex? Yeah, apparently Eric remembered Erin, from his previous segment, too. And before he could even get out of Colorado Eric inexplicably begins to spew a gross, lurid sex-fantasy ramble about, not the he was on a date with that night, but "a dream" about her girl friend, who did nothing at all but answer a few questions of Eric on his way into the date. It was b

Yes, folks: Yesterday began the final week of public school sex education for my sixth grader. Note: This is a continuation of my former post I started regarding a class my daughter is taking in their final two weeks of sixth grade. For the record, I asked my daughter (known in this blog as "Yellow") to be sure to let me know how week two of this "unit" went. She has. And so, as per her fine note taking skills from the second and final week of Middle School Family Life Unit here are her collection of both questions, comments and answers as relayed to me by a sixth grader, known here only as "Yellow." Yellow said that she and her girl friend ("Lavender") had submitted a question that their science teacher, (known here as "Mr. Blue") that Mr. Blue was absolutely convinced the boys in the back of the room wrote as a prank. Apparently, Mr. Blue was having none of it, and gave these guys a hard time about their submission of the follo

Okay, it's almost done, these recaps of this show that I, so foolishly, committed myself to doing. But, here it is...My second to last recap of this Showtime series: Okay, so Eric and his crew are in Denver , this time, in order for Eric to have his "first date" with a yoga instructor there who he had high hopes about. Here's the thing. Why didn't they know this would be a bust? It was obviously not gonna work from the start. That's a lot of driving to waste on something inevitably that isn't going to end up butterflies and roses, you know? To begin with in the first 30 seconds of the show we hear the date "Lauren" (from Colorado) tell us proudly, "I love Jesus. I believe in the Bible and so I live my life based on the principles that I find there." So, then good old 'Em quickly pounds Lauren with a gunshot of a query: "Given that you're a Jesus lover and believe in God how does Eric's sort-of homosexual tendencies

I looked it up first. For the record, I want to categorically state that tried to do research first. I wanted to know what to expect from the final two weeks of my daughter's sixth grade Middle School Family Life and Human Sexuality Unit. There were rumors abroad that the final two weeks of their public sixth grade education would cover this topic, and the school alerted us that we might care to know what would be covered. Here's a description I found of what we might expect: A typical sixth grade "unit" of Middle School Family Life and Human Sexuality could include -- ..Understand growth and development during puberty and promote self- awareness. Establishes class ground rules that promote open and honest discussion of family life and human sexuality...stage of human development...identifies physical and nonphysical changes that occur during puberty...anatomy of the human reproductive system...physiology of the human reproductive system, ,,,describe fer

Okay, look, I said I would do this, that I would actually take the time to comment on each and every episode of this show but, trust me, this is getting to be a tougher promise to deliver on as each week goes by. And to be honest, if I didn't have TiVo to help me out, then the truth is I'd never be able to do this at all. The show is becoming such a blur to me without having good digital memory assistance. So, my point is I'm behind my episode recaps, however here is my next highly sought after "episode-re-cap" of Eric Schaeffer's smokin ' hot cable show, I Can't Believe I'm Still Single, Part Two . This show, which is almost the last show (she asked, hopefully) was his Kansas date, the episode in which Mr. Schaeffer journeys from Colorado to Wichita, Kansas to meet with the lovely Emily aka DJ "Hailey Jones." Emily/Hailey actually seemed quite good-natured and friendly, and held up very well, I thought, to his off-putting antics. S

...Stay awake after flying into the Manchester, N.H. in after flying the "red eye" from Los Angeles by drinking many cups of ice coffee. ...Set your car radio station WRSI , "The River" found at 93.9 FM or 101.5 FM In fact, anywhere near Southern Vermont or Western Mass. border there is a magic FM station where you can hear precisely what music your subconscious absolute requires hearing at just the right moment. The folks who create these play lists are completely psychic and will read your mind to feed your ears precisely what will become the perfect soundtrack to whatever your personal journey is at that moment. How great is that? I mean, whatever the circumstances. From dropping in unexpectedly for a parent's birthday, to high school reunions to watching cows parade down Main Street. Whatever the reason. It will work. Tune in. Leave it on. Listen. You'll thank me later. When in Brattleboro for 48 hours, you can do any of the following. --