Detroit Diva

The laughable controversy surrounding the movie version of  The Da Vinci Code continues. The Vatican has called for a boycott.  Doesn't the Vatican have better things to spend its time on, like covering up for pedophile priests and pretending to care about Catholics around the world.  Sony Pictures is thinking ChaChing.

I can't believe it been a week since I posted anything.  I even refrained from talking about those celebrities who had a baby last week and whom I am so sick of hearing about, I can't even bear to mention their names. In my own world, I passed out in cardio class again. I went to the doctor this time because now I'm really freaked out and convinced that I have a brain tumor or am going to need bypass surgery.  My blood work came back perfectly normal and I go for an EKG next week and if that shows nothing I follow it all up with an MRI. Oh the joy.   I'm putting the cardio class on hold for now and signed up for golf lessons instead. There should be no passing out associated with that activity unless the golf pro is exceptionally good looking or something. 

The C.E.O. of ExxonMobile, Lee Raymond, made a paltry $69.7 million last year.  Wow, now I feel so much better about paying nearly $3 a gallon at the pump.  I just wish someone had told me earlier that my money was going to such a worthy cause.  Mr. Raymond - how do you sleep at night?

Car Pool Anyone?

Mihow has an interesting post about gas prices today.  They are New Yorkers so they fill up about once a month and use public transportation.   They spend virtually nothing on gas per year.  I, on the other hand, spend a fortune.  I filled my tank yesterday and it cost me $29 and my tank wasn't even empty.  I fill up at least once a week and if I go up north to visit family I fill up an additional time or two.  Based on once a week, I spend about $1500 a year just on gas.  I don't want to own a car anymore - add my monthly car payment and insurance and we are talking nearly $5000 a year in car alone.  That's ridiculous.  I want to live someplace with good public transportation - a subway, light rail, a livable downtown, something.  Let's not even get started on what damage my car does to the environment.  Come on Detroit and surrounding region - let's put our differences aside, forget we were once the car capitol of the world, and let's move into the 21st century with some good public transportation options.

From Heidi:  Go to Wikipedia and look up your birth day (excluding the year). List three facts, two births and one death in your blog, including the year.

October 29

Facts: 1787 - Mozart's opera Don Giovanni receives its first performance in Prague.

1886 - The ticker-tape parade is invented in New York City when office workers spontaneously throw ticker tape into the streets as the Statue of Liberty is dedicated.

1929 - The New York Stock Exchange crashes in what will be called the Crash of '29 or Black Tuesday, ending the Great Bull Market of the 1920s and beginning the Great Depression.

Birth - Einar Örn Benediktsson (born October 29, 1962) is a popular music singer and trumpet player from Iceland who has worked with Björk and The Sugarcubes.

1971 - Winona Ryder, American actress

Death - 1911 - Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-born newspaper publisher (b. 1847)

Sorry about the weird underlining - I copied the text from Wikipedia and I can't get the lines to go away.

No Human Being is Illegal

In cities across the U.S., there were marches protesting the government's proposed immigration reform. Supporters of the reform were also out and the news talked to some of these people. Among the more inane comments were "They should be rounded up and shipped back" and "The U.S. can't take all the poor people coming here".  I don't know about those people but I am the descendant of immigrants and I'm always stunned when people don't support immigration.  I'm grateful nobody "rounded up and shipped back" my ancestors. As for "all the poor people coming here", I would suggest to that man that he take a good look at that most patriotic statue of all - Miss Liberty and especially these words at her base:  "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore; send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me..."  The Statue of Liberty is considered a symbol of this country for a reason. What she stands for- Freedom- is so important to so many people, not just Americans.  I tutor a student from China who recently went to NYC and she told me that the one thing she had to do was go see the Statue of Liberty.  I nearly cried when she told me that because it really hit home for me  what this country is truly about.  I'm not making my point very well but here it is in a nutshell.  The proposed immigration reform is wrong. It's racist (no talk about a wall between the U.S. and Canada, now is there) and it's just plain wrong.  That's it from the pulpit of Ann today.

I went to see the High Strung on Wednesday night.  I didn't take any pics, mainly because there were all these people shooting pictures and video and they seemed official and I didn't want to get in their way. Plus, I'm a coward and didn't actually want to appear like I was taking pictures. Stupid, I know.  I thought the band was really good. The DPL marketing guy, Conrad, told me he thought they were garage bandish. Which I have to agree with - a stripped down kind of feel to them.  While there, I ran into my book group pal, Mari - who never comes to book group anymore! She's joined a rowing club which practices at the ungodly hour of 5:30 in the morning and by the time 7:30pm rolls around she's tired.  Yikes, that makes for a long day.   Check out the High Strung at Myspace to hear some tunes.

Hello Cavities

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originally uploaded by amm1029.

And here it is unwrapped. Ooooh, sooo many good things. I actually have some of it left. I, of course, loved the Runts and Swedish Fish but my favorite was the Junior Caramels. Junior Mints, I laugh at you. Ha! You are but a shadow of your caramel brother. Yes, they were that good.  And the mini Charleston Chews. and the Sixlets! I told Lisa that I once got kicked out of the movie theatre when I was a kid for throwing Jujubes at people. I was 10 and trouble, what can I say. I'm thinking I was probably throwing them out of frustration after chewing a few and then spending an hour trying to get them out of my teeth. Wow, those things are sticky. What a selection! Thanks again, Lisa!

Oooh, prezzies

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originally uploaded by amm1029.

I've finally gotten my pics loaded and can show you what Lisa sent me in the candy swap.  She actually wrapped each thing individually. How nice is that?

IMPEACH Bush NOW!