Smarty-pants Commentators
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: Barenaked Ladies
A few of the comments about the Immaculate Conception post left me scratching my head. After twelve years of Catholic school you?d think I?d remember that the Immaculate Conception refers to Mary?s conception, but nope. Once I?d been told, of course, it all came back to me. Thanks for setting me straight, folks.

Yay!
Mood:  a-ok
I received this from Vicks this morning:

Hi guys,

Thanks for the worried letters of concern, regarding the Thailand earthquake. For those of you who are loosing sleep - I'm fortunately fine!! For the rest of you who don't seem to be aware (including my family - yeah mum - where's your worried email!?!?!?!)

We were in Bangkok when the quake hit in the morning. and felt a sustained rocking for at least 10 mins - which seems like a long time! No damage. We just felt the force.

I've managed to see the news and read the papers and it's devastated such huge areas, especially the Tsunami. I'm thanking my lucky stars and my heart goes out to all of those affected.

This was my first chance to get to a comp and all is well. The weather here is just perfect. The sea is beautiful and the bungalow and resort is ace. As for the rest of the stuff - ace!!!! Off elephant trekkiing tomoz, then some snorking and lots more things! Woo hoo!!!

I'll let you all know when I get back. Happy New Year to you all!

Vickie xoxoxoxoxox

Not Cool
Mood:  down
Now Playing: Lucinda Willaims
My friend Vickie has been living in South Korea for the last six months teaching music to kids. She went to Thailand the day after Christmas for vacation and I haven't heard from her since. I'm very worried about her. I'm worried I won't ever get to talk to her again. Or get a funny email from her. I've been avoiding the news until this morning when I really looked hard at what was going on. People who were sunbathing were swept out to sea. That's just...crazy. Boats came ashore, cars and trucks were washed out. It's almost beyond my comprehension. Please be okay, Vickie.

Portia de Rossi: Fantasy Lesbian
First of all, am I the only person in America who didn?t know that Portia de Rossi was gay?

Second, is she not the perfect example of what most straight men wish lesbians were like? I mean, show of hands: men, how many of you would love to see Portia make out with another chick? Women, how many of your partners would jump at the chance to add Portia de Rossi to the mix?

Yeah, I thought so. She?s the perfect fantasy lesbian and now it turns out that she really IS a lesbian. Too bad she?s with that Ellen now. Don?t get me wrong, I?ve got nothing against Ellen, she just has zero sex appeal. Now, she?s what you think of when you think ?lesbian?.

Would it be off-color to point out that she lives in a Red State?
This lady be whack, yo.

Gah!
Is anyone else going through withdrawal from the Hanukkah song? We?re almost at Christmas and not once have I heard Adam Sandler on the radio. A pox on all radio stations!

I learned something interesting today. The feast day of the Immaculate Conception was on December 8th. Which means that the Baby Jesus was conceived on the eighth and born on the twenty-fifth? Shouldn?t the feast of the Immaculate Conception be sometime in March? Did they just randomly pick a day? I feel so used.

Ew.
From the MSN.com gossip column....

For those out there who find Jessica Simpson's dad just a tad creepy (and hey, we're right there with ya), you might want to avoid the new issue of GQ. Seems Joe Simpson isn't shy about talking about his daughter's tremendous, er, talents.

"Jessica never tries to be sexy," the former Baptist minister-turned-manager-turned-puppetmaster tells the magazine of his little girl. "She just is sexy. If you put her in a T-shirt or you put her in a bustier, she's sexy in both. She's got double D's! You can't cover those suckers up!"

Um, raise your hand if your squicky meter just hit the red? Yeah, us too.

Daddy Simpson also reveals that he decided not to let his lip-synching daughter Ashlee explore her Sapphic side in the upcoming flick "Wannabe."

"I changed it," explains Simpson of the original storyline. "It doesn't work for her to be gay the first thing out. She said, 'But it's cool, it's edgy, it's different,' and of course the filmmakers were like, 'It's cool for a woman to be a lesbian,' and I'm like, 'That's true, but not her first role.'"

See, Joe has big plans for his dark-haired daughter that go far beyond slinking into a pair of short-shorts to essay the role of Daisy Duke, as Mrs. Lachey is doing.

"She's going to be a huge movie star," he tells the mag of Ashlee. "She's like Meg Ryan or Cameron Diaz, with probably more depth. When we're done, she'll play it all."

~~

Ha. No, really. HA! When Ashlee Simpson is as big a star as Cameron Diaz I'll...I'll...nothing I can think of tops the hilarity of Mr. Simpson's assertion. It's just utterly ridiculous. Moderately more talented than Jessica, but still. Just another pop-tart.

And the dad? Ew. Mega-ew. Triple Espresso Ew.

Interesting Concept
Ever think you'd like to buy from people who share your philosphy on life? Now's your chance. Click to find out who gave the most to which candidate.

Here's a taste:
The Limited Brand
(Express, The Limited, Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, White Barn Candle Company)

$263K
73% to Republicans


Saks

$115K
95% to Republicans


Home Depot

$677K
94% to Republicans (as reported by choosetheblue.com)
More info from a longer time span


Target

$289K
72% to Republicans (as reported by choosetheblue.com)
More info from a longer time span


Amazon.com

$100K
61% to Republicans (PAC Details)

Heh.
Scariest celeb pic since Christina Ricci's stint as Triangle Head. The story is just as good as the picture, too. Mary-Kate and Ashley are following in the illustrious footsteps of Kathie Lee Gifford. Good luck with that, kids.

Another Bush Problem
From the American Progress Action Fund:

"On Monday, the White House said for the first time that President Bush's plan to privatize social security would be "financed in part by new government borrowing that could top $1 trillion." That money will make it difficult for President Bush to honor his campaign pledge to cut the deficit in half. The White House had "once hoped that budget surpluses, projected in 2000 at $5.6 trillion over 10 years, would fund the transition period," but under the Bush administration, "those surpluses have vanished." Last week, White House economic adviser N. Gregory Mankiw admitted President Bush's plan would also "include major cuts in guaranteed benefits for future retirees." Mankiw "flatly rejected raising taxes" as a way to improve benefits for the elderly."

~~

I still think that we should only give the flu vaccine to children and people under 60. That way many of the seniors will hopefully get sick and die off leaving us with less of a Social Security/Medicaid/Medicare problem. "Screw the Old" is like this administration's anthem anyway.