Bury my heart at Wounded Knee Disneyland
I don't really want to be cremated, but folks, if I was into it, I would SO love to have my ashes sprinkled at the Happiest Place on Earth. But I'd rather be on Thunder Mountain or in Sleeping Beauty's Castle than Pirates of the Caribbean!
Disneyland officials will likely never know whether the woman who sprinkled some sort of powder onto the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride was trying to send a loved one straight to Davy Jones' locker.
Disney officials shut the ride down for about 45 minutes Friday after they saw the woman sprinkle something into the ride's water. But they said they couldn't determine what it was because it dissolved so quickly.
Blogger and longtime Disneyland watcher Al Lutz said he received several tips indicating it was human ashes.
Disneyland Resorts spokesman Rob Doughty said he couldn't confirm that. He said the rider, who was not arrested, told park employees she had dumped baby powder over the side of a "Pirates" boat.
Lutz, who first reported the event Tuesday on his Web site miceage.com, said more and more people are leaving their loved ones' ashes behind at Disneyland.
"It used to happen every once in a while at the Haunted Mansion, but now it's happening more," he said.
Without written permission, it's a misdemeanor violation of the state Health and Safety Code to scatter human ashes on private property, but enforcement is difficult. Officials say the ashes pose no health threat.
"I can tell you that we do get people from time to time asking for permission to sprinkle ashes. Our policy is when we are asked for permission, we deny the request," Doughty said. "Beyond that, we don't know."
I can totally see why they would be concerned, in this day and age, when they see someone sprinkling powder into the ride, but on the other hand, I'd hate to see someone get arrested for carrying out a loved one' final wishes.
I'm #7 (on the third list!)
How about Professor Tenure-Caused-My-Divorce, or Professor My-Lobotomy-Improved-My-Personality, or my favorite, Professor Your-Life-Means-Less-Than-My-Experiments...
Stolen wholesale from Jon Cogburn (it was just TOO good to excerpt!):
Irritating Assistant Professors-
(from phred) Professor I'm-a-Fraud-and-Pray-To-Jesus-That-No-One-Will-Figure-It-Out,
(from phred) Professor I'm-Above-This-Place-And-Should-Be-At-Harvard,
Professor Rebel-Without-A-Clue,
(from Mark Silcox) Professor Only-Teaches-His-G**d***-Dissertation,
Professor Promising-Young-Man.
Irritating Full Professors-
(spelling courtesy Mikhail Emilianov) Professor Couldabeena-contenda,
(from Knecht Ruprecht) Professor Exploits-Grad-Students-as-Cheap-Labor-in-his-Consulting-Business,
(from Mikhail Emilianov and rm) Professor I-Have-Five-Stories/Jokes-So-Get-Used-To-Hearing-Them-All-The-Time,
(from John Emerson) Professor I've-Got-A-Nobel -Prize-So-Go-F***-Yourself,-I-Can-Talk-About-Whatever
-I-Want,
Professor Midlife-Crises,
Professor Old-Yellow-Notes,
Professor Screws-Up-Even-Simple-Things-So-As-To-Get-Out-Of-Service-Work
Professor Slum-Lord,
(from soup biscuit) Professor Tells-You-Everyday-How-Far-He-Is-From-Retirement,
(from Knecht Rupert) Professor Twenty-Graduate-Students-Do-All-My-Research,
(from redfoxtailshrub) Professor Used-To-Be-Cool-But-Now-Viewed-With-Knowing-Bemused-Looks,
Professor Uses-Tenure-To-Pursue-Hobbies-Or-Job-On-The-Side-Full-Time,
(from Mark Silcox) Professor Wishes-He-Was-Rich.
Irritating Professors That Could be Assistant or Full-
(from rm) Professor Complains-About-Working-Conditions,
Professor Drunk-Pants,
(from John Emerson) Professor I-Could-and-Sometimes-Do-Recite-This-Lecture-in-my-Sleep,
(from soup biscuit) Professor Laughs-At-His-Own-Jokes,
(from rm) Professor My-Jokes-Aren't-Funny-But-They're-All-I-Have,
(from cryptic ned) Professor Only-Person-At-Tiny-College-To-Have-Ever-Published-A-Book-In-A-Printing-Of-More-Than-200,
(from The Llama Butchers) Professor Seriously-Tardy-With-Grading-Papers-Because-He's-Blogging-on-Useless-Crap-All-The-Time
Professor Stared-Into-The-Void-And-The-Void-Stared-Back!-(Though-In-Reality-Void-Finds-Whole-Business-Distasteful),
(from Sifu Tweety) Professor Your-Work-Will-Never-Be-As-Important-As-Mine,
Professor Watches-Sports,
(from Rachel) Professor Wears-Clothes-With-Many-Holes-As-Though-That-Credentials-his-World-of-Ideas-ness.
Professor Will-F***-Anything-Young-and-Naive-Enough-To-Admire-Him.
Add your own in the comments, especially you lurking academicians out there!
1
Professor Everyone-is-out-to-get-me
Professor I'm-THIS-close-to-retirement-so-I'm-not-even-going-to-try-anymore
Professor Who-cares-what-the-subject-is, let's-discuss-my-politics
Professor I-want-all-the-students-to-like-me, so-I'm-going-to-give-easy-tests
Professor Goes-to-meetings-and-has-one-single-agenda-that-has-to-be-brought-up-at-every-meeting, no-matter-how-unrelated-to-the-topic-at-hand
Professor I-have-family-drama
Posted by: ricki at November 14, 2007 06:05 AM (O5SYw)
2
I'm not faculty, I'm staff at a state university, but I guest lecture on "computer stuff" and I think I should qualify as "Professor I-Could-and-Sometimes-Do-Recite-This-Lecture-in-my-Sleep." Because I could, and sometimes do.
And my personal favorite is Professor I-Have-A-PhD-so-I-shouldn't-have-to-learn-anything-new-ever-again-What-do-you-mean,-you-don't-support-WordStar-4.0-and-Windows-3.1?
Posted by: Jenna at November 14, 2007 08:33 AM (fd/rX)
3
Professor I'm-a-middle-aged-balding-male-and-I-wear-an-earring-to- seem-cool-but-mainly-I'm-a-liberal-asshole.
Posted by: dogette at November 14, 2007 04:20 PM (q/UVc)
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Professor I-can't-teach-but-I'm-cheap-labor-because-I'm-tri-lingual-and-already-employed-by-the-university-as-a-researcher
Professor smells-like-weed
Professor should-not-teach-in-a-classroom-with-windows-lest-he-sees-a-short-skirt
Professor better-hope-my-team-is-winning-when-I-grade-your-tests
Posted by: Archerychic at November 16, 2007 02:44 PM (QqM7O)
Who said this?
"For many Democrats, the guiding conviction in foreign policy isn't pacifism or isolationism, it is distrust and disdain of Republicans in general, and President Bush in particular,"
"In this regard, the Democratic foreign policy worldview has become defined by the same reflexive, blind opposition to the President that defined Republicans in the 1990s — even when it means repudiating the very principles and policies that Democrats as a party have stood for, at our best and strongest,"...
1
I would not vote for him over Fred, but would over any of the other Dembulbs. Lieberman's right on the war and foreign policy, but he has terrible (in my view) ideas on domestic social policy. He's a social "conservative" on TV/movie/music censorship (I'm not) but a social "liberal" on pretty much all nanny-state/big government/welfare issues.
But he's still the best of the bunch on that side of the aisle, and better than most of the current crop of Republicans.
Posted by: wRitErsbLock at November 13, 2007 01:55 PM (+MvHD)
2
hahahaha. Thanks for sharing that. It amazes me what kind of creative stuff people come up with for YouTube. (The Izzard bit is funny on its own, but it's even better with the lego choreography)
Posted by: ricki at November 13, 2007 03:09 PM (qrkix)
Posted by: Margi at November 14, 2007 01:37 AM (wSEpS)
5
You'd probably also appreciate the "Trooper Clerks" fan film at Atom Films, where the stormtroopers work at the "Death Stop" and argue about useless crap all shift. It's a riot even if you haven't seen Clerks.
Posted by: nightfly at November 14, 2007 03:02 PM (PuuC1)
And Neither is Britney SpearsHeadline of the Day: "Spears' Lawyer To Judge: 'You're Not A Pop Star'"
Seems poor li'l Brit Brit just can't make it to the drug lab on time. You'd think that since she has cars and drivers a plenty this would actually be an EASIER task for her than it would be for the rest of us who need to drive ourselves or rely on a crappy car or **horrors** take the bus to get where we need to go.
Her justification? That she has a Number One album to promote (sorry Brit, but you're actually #2. Ever heard of the Eagles?) and she's too busy to make time for the drug lab in less than 6 hours. SIX.
The judge rebuffed this claim, saying, "I have to get here at 7:30 a.m. to read (court) papers," implying that getting out of bed to go to the lab is not an unreasonable demand from the court.
Britney's lawyer responded, "But you're not a pop star with a number one album."
No, idiot, he's a JUDGE. Well, technically a court commissioner, but still. He's the judge in charge of whether or not she ever gets to see her kids. I suppose that means your client should act accordingly, huh?
I never thought I'd ever say it, but I'm starting to hope those two little boys take after their Dad in the brains department.
1
Oh, man. It is such a good thing I am not the court administrator for that court - they'd be prying my size 8 1/2 out of Brit-brit's ass.
I mean, seriously: this is what is wrong with so many celebrities today - they think "oh, poor me, I'm being ordered to get up before noon and have someone drive me to rehab" and they whine that to people who are actually working for a living - and who don't have a crowd of sycophants telling them how great they are.
I propose a new form of reality show: Trading Lives. For two weeks, celebrities will be dropped into a situation - without hired help, without yes-men - to do a job that normal people do every day. The hook is either the celeb is in heavy makeup and a false name, or everyone involved with the situation has been clued in NOT to treat them like the Very Special Person they believe themselves to be.
I'd LOVE to see Britney try to dish up food in a school cafeteria for a week. Or Lindsay Lohan clean up dog poo at the vet's. Or something.
Posted by: ricki at November 08, 2007 01:01 PM (O5SYw)
2
I was never a big fan, but I've lost all respect for her. She should be doing everything in her power to keep those kids!
Ricki, that's a great idea!
Posted by: Amanda at November 08, 2007 01:08 PM (ay+rD)
3
**pops another bag of popcorn, gets ready to watch the train wreck catch fire**
Posted by: wRitErsbLock at November 08, 2007 01:26 PM (+MvHD)
Posted by: Lukie at November 09, 2007 07:04 PM (WXIEq)
5
She is such a sorry excuse for a mother! There are some people who scream 'Legalize mandatory sterilization for the stupid',,,she is one of them!
Posted by: Michele at November 10, 2007 06:37 AM (NDJaM)
6
Words of advice to counsel: I may not have been a lawyer as long as you, so it's possible our experiences may differ on this point, but insulting the judge is generally not a wise legal tactic.
Posted by: Dave J at November 10, 2007 12:23 PM (pgMar)
7
Dave J. is right. Britney's lawyer may even be more stupid than she is.
Posted by: Jim - PRS at November 10, 2007 02:30 PM (bMUXJ)
Remember, Cowboy Chachi loves you best. Even if you don't love him.
This is about the funniest thing ever on the intertubes. Originally sent to me via email, I had to go find the original blogger and give him some love.
"Last weekend I put an exhaust fan in the ceiling for my wife's grandfather. After a bunch of hours spent in The Hottest Attic In The Universe, he had a ceiling fan that ducted to the side of his house.
While my brother-in-law and I were fitting the fan in between the joists, we found something under the insulation. What we found was this:
A JC Penney catalog from 1977. It's not often blog fodder just falls in my lap, but holy hell this was two solid inches of it, right there for the taking.
Drop by and read the rest. You'll find Cowboy Chachi (and his Cowgirl Joanie, I suppose) near the end, after a fairly exhaustive manual on How to Get Your Ass Kicked. You'll see.
1
Hilarious.
Just so you know, we hated that shit in 1977, too.
Heh.
Posted by: Margi at November 06, 2007 12:04 AM (wSEpS)
2
That is SO FUNNY! But, I'm thinking...do you think we'll look back 30 years from now at our current trends and laugh as we are at the '77 Sears catalog?
Posted by: Amanda at November 06, 2007 07:14 AM (ay+rD)
3
That is SO funny! Those fricking orange jumpsuits are something nightmares are made of!
Posted by: pam at November 06, 2007 08:02 AM (l6NIn)
4
Gosh I needed that. Great find girl - already forwrded it to a couple of friends!
Posted by: Greta at November 06, 2007 10:52 AM (Xl4tG)
5
OMG that is funny shit. Glad you found it and posted it.
Posted by: dogette at November 06, 2007 04:15 PM (q/UVc)
6
My gawd!! I had a severe flashback to those bad old days of leisure suits and big hair!!
Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!!!!!
Posted by: DCE at November 11, 2007 08:54 AM (iAtPj)
So it's November....
Yeah, it's also NaNoWriMo. And I am flirting with a long story. I don't plan on churning out a novel, but it's as good an excuse as any to work on the fiction....
So watch this space. I may or may not decide to share.
RIP Robert Goulet
Singer and actor Robert Goulet has passed away at age 73.
Robert Goulet, the handsome, big-voiced baritone whose Broadway debut in "Camelot" launched an award-winning stage and recording career, has died. He was 73.
The singer died Tuesday morning in a Los Angeles hospital while awaiting a lung transplant, said Goulet spokesman Norm Johnson.
He had been awaiting a lung transplant at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after being found last month to have a rare form of pulmonary fibrosis.
While Mr. Goulet will always be famous for his roles on Broadway and his many TV appearances, I think his last stint in front of the camera sums up his humor best:
I hope he'll still appear at 3pm..... ghost Robert Goulet is even scarier.....
Posted by: wRitErsbLock at October 30, 2007 06:37 PM (0Pi1o)
2
He barely looked like he was even 60. ::sigh:: All the great ones are slipping away, and all we'll be left with are guys with questionable hygiene, pretty boy faces, and looking like they just rolled out of bed after a night of shooting speed.
Posted by: Erica at October 31, 2007 03:48 AM (QPJM+)
3
Yea, I saw that he died this morning, it really threw me off. I actually made the comment at work, "Now who's going to mess with my stuff?"
Posted by: Contagion at October 31, 2007 02:00 PM (QQZMi)
4
That's sad. He had such a wonderful voice.
I didn't even realize he had a hereditary lung disease until I read his obit.
(And yeah...I also had the "who is going to mess with my stuff now?" thought.)
Posted by: ricki at November 01, 2007 06:41 AM (O5SYw)
5
This was the first that i had heard of this. I knew he was sick.
Posted by: Lukie at November 03, 2007 07:48 AM (WXIEq)
Posted by: c.a. Marks at October 30, 2007 02:31 PM (T7eG4)
2
This is just wonderful - happy blogiversary my dear friend!
Posted by: Greta at October 30, 2007 02:48 PM (Xl4tG)
3
The Red Sox broke the curse. Did you stop to consider that maybe that was because of you. Three years ago you started and now they have won again. I think you are our good luck charm. (of course you blogged in 2005 and 2006 but we won't mention that.
Posted by: Lukie at October 30, 2007 03:44 PM (WXIEq)
Posted by: Janette at October 31, 2007 10:03 AM (5R+zg)
14
Wow. Three years of UNC rooting on the web. All Duke fans must cheer "Yuck!"
Seriously though, congratulations. I passed the five year mark this past summer. It's amazing how quickly time passes on the Intertubes.
Posted by: physics geek at October 31, 2007 10:58 AM (MT22W)
A latte a day...
It won't keep the Doctor away, but skipping that latte might help someone in need!
Doesn't seem like much, right? But even the $4 you save in skipping your caffeine fix today can go a long way towards helping a wounded soldier.
Project Valour-IT provides laptops loaded with voice-activated software to service members who have lost the use of their hands and/or fingers in the service of our country.
They stood up for you, and now it's so easy to chip in to help them. Read more about how Valour-IT works here and here.
We're well on our way to making this the best year yet. The Army team has already raised over 10% of our $60,000 goal! Won't you help us get there first?
look out for an oldy but a goody in tomorrow's Valour-IT post.....
Posted by: Janette at October 30, 2007 12:08 PM (5R+zg)
2
Geeze... I think I must have answered something wrong...
Your Aspie score: 115 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 93 of 200
You seem to have both Aspie and neurotypical traits
Must be lack of sleep... 2 hours in 48 is not the time to take a test... only 30 more minutes and I can give Tot his medicine... ugh
Posted by: vw bug at October 30, 2007 05:39 PM (FPOeI)
3Do you like sniffing people or things? WTF??
Do you enjoy biting people - if they let you?
I grew impatient with the time it was taking to answer all the questions.
Posted by: DirtCrashr at October 31, 2007 11:47 AM (VNM5w)
4
My "diagram" looks almost the same as yours.
And WTF was with all those "are you good at estimating...?" questions. I cannot estimate ANYTHING accurately. (That is why God made rulers and speedometers). I suppose being very good at estimation is a typical "Aspie" trait or something.
(And I have to say I hate how they are cute-i-fying it to "Aspie.")
Posted by: ricki at November 01, 2007 06:54 AM (O5SYw)
5
My diagram looks nearly identical to yours too. I feel much better. I couldn't figure out what this neurotypical was... I must've missed that pargraph when scanning.
Posted by: Bou at November 04, 2007 09:04 PM (fGpp7)
It's that time of year again......
Time for a friendly competition to help Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT!
As always, this blog supports the team representing the US Army!**
Go Army! Beat Navy! and Air Force! and the Marines!
Look for more info on donating to Valour-IT and what Valour-IT does for woulded soldiers in the next two weeks!
** This is a friendly competition in the name of improving our fundraising efforts only. All soldiers who are eligible can benefit from Valour-IT regardless of branch.
It's Amazing!
CBS moved the start date of Amazing Race 12 up to November 4! And today they released the team information for the new season. I already KNOW I'll be rooting for Nicolas and Donald, and we'll have to wait for the season premiere to see who else we'll love and love to hate!
The Rules
Some rules are real, and some are fake. The trick is knowing which is which. Fred evidently has a knack for this. From Jay Cost at Real Clear Politics:
There are two types of rules in the world. On the one hand, there are real rules. These are the rules that you need to follow, or you will be in big trouble. Stay in school is one of them. You can't do much without a high school diploma - so that is a real rule. On the other hand, there are fake rules. These are rules that most people follow because they think there are negative consequences for disobedience, but actually there are not. In fact, the ones who break the fake rules are often celebrated as trail blazers.
Bob Dylan comes to my mind when I think of those who break the fake rules. In the mid-60s, there was this rule that songs could only be three minutes long, and they had to have three verses and a chorus. But Dylan did these six minute songs that had five plus verses and no chorus. And whose ears don't perk up today when they hear the first bars of "Subterranean Homesick Blues?" Another rule said that folkies could not play rock. That just did not happen. But Dylan hired Levon and the Hawks, and went electric. At first, he was booed everywhere he went (except in the South). Eight years later he went on tour with the exact same group - now called the Band - and received 6 million ticket requests for 600,000 seats.
If you have the intelligence to see which rules are real and which are fake, the respectfulness to follow the real rules, and the guts to break the fake rules - you can get ahead in this world. In fact, people will love you for breaking the fake rules.
I think Thompson might be breaking what really are fake rules. As I mentioned above - the perpetual campaign is only a means to the real campaign. You play the game by the rules of the media to earn your way into the real contest. But there may be other ways to get to the real campaign. If there are, the media's rules are indeed fake. There are no consequences to breaking them. If you find another way into the real campaign, you can break them all you like.
I love that the MSM can't get over Fred doing things HIS way, not their way. Since when is the campaign supposed to be about the Media? I thought it was about the Message.
On a side note, if Fred handle Congress just 1/10 as well as he handles the media, we might be in business.
Read the whole piece. Jay has interesting things to say about how Fred is winning over voters and turning the tables on Rudy Giuliani in the polls. Personally, I suspect the ONLY reason Rudy is ahead in the polls and backed by strongly conservative voters is that they thought he was the ONLY one who could defeat Hillary/Obama. And really, that's how many Republicans see this primary season: pick the strongest candidate. Fred is clearly a strong contender who has the potential to beat whoever the Dems put up. So as Fred brings out his platform, more and more folks agree that he might have the winning horse in the race. And they're walking away from Rudy in DROVES.
h/t Chan at Weekend Pundit, who has a great round up of recent Fred-related buzz
1
The media has become used to not just reporting what they wish, but MAKING the news as well. Fred flummoxes them.
I'm backing Fred. Of course. I just wish he had a little more charisma. Not for me, but for the down-to-the-wire undecided.
I'd also love to know who he'll pick for VP...
Posted by: pam at October 25, 2007 06:08 AM (l6NIn)
2
Rudy and Mitt's anti-gun history and positions make them ineligible to me.
Posted by: DirtCrashr at October 25, 2007 08:17 AM (VNM5w)
3
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for VP, Pam, regardless of the top of the ticket. That'll really screw over Hillary.
Posted by: Dave J at October 27, 2007 09:31 AM (pgMar)
4
FACT - the only thing fear itself fears is Fred Thompson.
Posted by: nightfly at October 30, 2007 11:30 AM (PuuC1)
