Tuesday, July 31, 2007

A different Kinda risk


Any body that plays golf knows that not only is it a game that needs concentration and luck, but there is also a bit of risk involved. Do I try to drive my ball over the lake, or lay up (hmm that will seem like a bad term in a moment) short of the lake and just take a par. Do I try and whack (not good) the ball through this gap in the trees, or just chip it back onto the fairway and take my bogey.

Well, this week at the Island Green Country Club in Northeast Philadelphia, there was a different kind of risk, and probably a new way to describe an up and down on the golf course. (yes its a joke stolen from a beer commercial) Club Risque,a popular strip club, held a golf outing on Monday at the golf course, and apparently, some of the strippers that went along with the outing were doing a tad more then posing. Now, I wonder who didn't see this kind of trouble coming? Strippers in bikinis and there are just going to stay in bikinis? Sure they are. Now if this was a private course in the middle of nowhere, this may not have been such a big deal. But since Island Green is in the middle of one of the few straight up (eeps) suburban areas of Philadelphia and the fact that the some of the tee boxes and greens are close to the edge of the course, which leads out to those suburban neighborhoods, some of the innocent passersby were less then thrilled with the extra shows being done in the rough and buff.

NBC10 gets credit for answering the phone when the tip came through. Now, I have no real problem with strippers in bikinis on a golf course, of course I wouldnt. But, I wonder who came up with the brillant idea in the first place. Though, what would be worse would be if Chantal or Domica could out drive me. A lap dance would not compensate for the embarassment.

Which is Better?

To be adequate at many many things or to be really good and talented at one specific thing? I have been off on this tangent because I guess I have been hanging around too many talented people. Though, really, this has been in my head since that last trip to New York. Its caused me to wonder whether I am just a cog in the wheel. You know, like in The Matrix, except I am not fighting to get out of the slime?

I cook, but I don't make up things. When I share poetry, its nothing of my own doing, its just copyright infringement. I mean, I don't really mind if that's the way its supposed to be, there have to be people buying the books, listening to the music and eating the food of a gourmet chef.

Though honestly, this question has become more confusing to me because they actually produced a movie called Daddy Day Camp and actually released it to theaters. If someone thinks that crap is some how entertaining, maybe it ain't all as bad as I think.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Poetry Train, Late night Edition-Synergy

I had another selection planned, then Bond went and put up a 10,000 Maniacs song on his blog today. And that song got me thinking about how much I enjoyed them growing up. Then, I did a search and found a Stockton Gala Days video. While they had stronger songs, better written songs, or more popular songs, this one always stuck with me. As, always, Rhian is the keeper of the Poetry Train flame.

Stockton Gala Days by 10,000 Maniacs


That summer fields grew high with foxglove stalks and ivy.
Wild apple blossoms everywhere.
Emerald green like none I have seen apart from dreams that escape me.
There was no girl as warm as you.

How I've learned to please, to doubt myself in need,
you'll never, you'll never know.

That summer fields grow high.
We made garland crowns in hiding, pulled stems of flowers from my hair.
Blue in the stream like none I have seen apart from dreams that escape me.
There was no girl as bold as you.

How I've learned to please, to doubt myself in need,
you'll never, you'll never know.
You'll never know.

Violet serene like none I have seen apart from dreams that escape me.
There was no girl as warm as you.

How I've learned to please, to doubt myself in need.
You'll never, you'll never know.
You'll never know.

That summer fields grow high.
We had wildflower fever. We had to lay down where they grow.
How I've learned to hide, how I've locked inside, you'd be surprised if shown.
But you'll never, you'll never know




If I had a Million Dollars,

I would buy you all a monkey.

Yesterday was a self imposed vacation from even looking at the laptop besides email and today, we had some modem issues in the morning, but I just wanted to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone out there. If you ever left me a comment during the blogathon, thank you because it meant someone at some point read the stuff that I was posting, especially as it became real brain drivel. But, all your comments kept me going and I really appreciate it.

I also wanted to give a big virtual hug to the people that allowed me to interview them:

Anthony
Christine O
Kailani
Dragon
Emily

Those interviews gave me at least one automatic post and at sometimes two. But it also allowed me to take some time to step away from the computer, get some food, nicotine or just some fresh air. You guys had a great sense of humor and answered without me ever having to remind you and it really helped a lot.

Thanks also Emily for your royalty offer.

Thanks to everyone who emailed me through the day and night, giving me a chance to get my brain going about something else besides the blogathon and my next post. Bond, you had me laughing. Lisa and Emily, it seemed like that when one of you left, the other one stepped up to keep me going through the night. Dragon and Anndi, the IM's hit at just the right times. Rhian, you are some early morning cheerleader.

Yoshi, thanks for running those polls and contests over at your site. A great distraction. Zeus, thanks for just being your entertaining self.

Maven, I am not sure I could have gotten through the full 24 hours without you in my messenger window.

We raised over $280 for Shriners Childrens Hospital, which really makes me feel good. I think this blog is marginally entertaining sometimes, but this was one of those times when i actually felt like I was making some little difference and that is a very very rewarding feeling.

Hugs, Kisses, Gropes, Fondlings and High Fives to everyone, you take whichever one you want.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

blogathon 48.48 Thanks

A full wrap up later, sometime, someday really soon, but to everyone out there that stayed up, just woke up or stopped by.

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Blogathon 47.48 Scenes of the city

taken by yours truly actually...



city hall great philly architecture

catsdogs 059

Blogathon 46.48 One Last Poopy Interview

Christine O of the Misadventures of Captain Poopy is my final interview. She is really really cool, lives in the best part of Florida in my opinion, can actually talk sports and had a job that I might have liked to have. Plus, she misses beer!

1.Thank you for letting me ask you some questions, you are always so
mysterious. But seriously, Florida?? Isn't that just Disney World and
beaches?

MYSTERIOUS?! HAHAHA! I spill everything from my pregnancy sweat problem to
my personal identity crises so I don't know if I'd call me mysterious, but
it sounds kinda sexy so I'll go with it. Yeah, I have to admit, Florida is
pretty cool. But it has its downsides, like crazy afternoon lightning storms
in the summer, tornadoes, hurricanes, and the HEAT! I can't even go outside
right now unless there is a pool or ocean involved! But the Disney thing and
the beaches, those are pretty convenient.


2.You win a radio contest, front row tickets and backstage passes to your
favorite band. You get the tickets and turn them over. Who is doing the show
and why?

Oh you know who I'm going to say on this one! Candlebox of course! I know,
lame, one-good-album-wonders, but I can't explain it. I love them. Big time.


3.You know I am trying to raise money for a Childrens Hospital and I know
that Capt Poopy spent some time in the NICU. Tell me just a little about
that experience?

Oh, the teary, misty-eyed question. In short, It was the most difficult
thing I've ever had to go through in my life. I had been having
complications with preeclampsia and my water broke suddenly one night, six
weeks early, and we delivered. I didn't get to hold him right afterward
because he was having trouble breathing. He was purple. He was whisked away
after I was allowed to get a quick glimpse of him amidst all his tubes.
Having a baby that you can't hold, or nurse, or take care of first-hand, and
having to ask permission just to see him and only see during certain hours
was devastating for me. Not to mention the frantic worry. Time goes by but
everything is still so fresh in my mind. The doctors and nurses were
wonderful, but they're not mom and dad. It was hard. You're doing a
wonderful thing by helping these families.

4.You are pregnant once again, and congrats by the way. Is there anything
you have had to give up that you miss food wise? Is there anything that you
are shocked you are craving?

Wheat beer with an orange slice!!! My husband has the gall to completely
outwardly enjoy them in front of me and taunt me. Haha! As far as cravings
go, I am dying for an egg, sunny-side up that I can dip my everything bagel
into! Being pregnant, all my eggs have to be cooked all the way through. I'm
shocked that I want this because I hate sunny-side up eggs usually! I am a
scrambled, omlet girl!

5.You were once a reporter, is there anything about that job that you miss?
I miss the rush and the buzz of the newsroom, the deadlines and the writing.
The scramble of everyone when you find out about breaking news and the blood
gets pumping. I love that whole side of news. Most people in the industry
are junkies for it, like I was or am. What I don't miss is the "content" of
the news. I was able to turn off my emotions when we were in the middle of
it all, but it would all eventually pile up. Now I just try to catch
headlines. It's peaceful.

6.How can I turn my "amazing writing skills" ok, im pushing, but how can I
or one of my readers turn those writing skills into something that may make
us some money.

I'm trying to figure that out myself! The way I see it, there are a million
companies out there, and someone's writing their press releases, brochures,
and web copy and proofrreading it all. I'd start trying to dig out there to
see what's available.

7.You are stuck in a snowstorm (go with me here) and you are stuck with a
broken TV. It only gets one station. What station do you hope that it gets?

TBS for sure! Hopefully this snowstorm is on a Saturday while they're having
a Father-of-the-Bride marathon.

8.Have you ever seen Les Miserables? If not, why not its a freaking classic?

I have, actually, many many moons ago, when I lived in New York City. We
liked to call it "Less Mis-er-ah-blahhs", not for any other reason except
that it sounded funny.

9.Since my theme for this blogathon is Philadelphia, I figure I have to ask
a few Philadelphia questions. Have you ever visited the city of brotherly
love?
If you have what did you like, if not, what do you want to see?
I have been there once! I saw the cracked bell and had some a that yummy
cheesesteak. It was a short visit about 6 six years ago.

10.A cheesesteak, whiz or regular sliced cheese?

I've only had whiz and it was sooooo good! But I'm not against trying it
with sliced cheese.

11.I know you are a sports fan, whose your team and why? Or do you just
watch to keep the hubby happy?

The New York Mets! I lived in New York mostly until I was about 10 and my
family moved. But I used to watch Mets games on television and at Shea
Stadium with my Grandpa, who was the person who fueled my love for baseball.
Obsession, really. I love all sports, though, and I'll watch the Bucs play
all season long with the hubby. Without my wheat beer and orange slice.

Followup
Do you think Gruden was a one hit wonder, or will he bring the Bucs back to
what they were? And whats with all the QBs?

On Jon Gruden, my husband would say he got too big for his britches and
wanted to bring in all of his own people to coach and he flopped. He (and I
guess that means 'we') think he's getting fired at some point, either after
this season, or during, depending on what happens. That's been the buzz down
here for a while. What I can tell you, from covering Bucs events, is that
Jon Gruden is so much cuter in person than he is on TV, and he's pretty cute
on TV. The QB situation has bugged me for years; I have always been annoyed
that there wasn't one go-to lifesaver person. I guess Chris Simms got pretty
close, but he can get sloppy. Same thing with him though: totally hot in
person. FYI.

Blogathon 45.48 Figures



How often do you think I am up to get a chance to see a sunrise around here? I mean really, when I am usually in bed between 12 and 1 and Mrs Duck is up first and sometimes that is like, just before 7? So how often??

And today, when I do have the chance to see some nice orange coloring or something, and I get a crap grey day. Summer in Philly, ya gotta love it

And no, I am afraid I did not take the picture at the top.

Blogathon 44.48 Save the Cats



I have had three living companions through this Blogathon 2007. One was Mrs Duck, she hung on until 1 am and came down between 5:30 and 6:00 to check on me. Oh and to reload on her advil, but she did come and see me as well. There other duo was Lola and Bettina, my two furry feline (kids?, babies?, compadres? owners?). Lola is the Calico and Bettina is the Tuxedo and the did there best job to try and stare at me and not snore to loud as the lounged on the chairs that were unoccupied. But it was good having them around.

If I did not choose Shriners Childrens Hospitals, I would have selected Save the Cats, Inc. They are the rescue shelter that allowed us to adopt the frisky duo. And allowed was a good way to put it, since it seemed like Mrs Duck and I were applying for a job to get to take these two home.

So, I am not going to ask you to donate to Save the Cats, though be prepared for that possibility next year. But I am going to ask that if you ever consider getting a dog or cat, get one from a rescue group or no kill shelter. The animals they have there are maybe a little more work, but when you get them to trust you, they are the most loving little beasts in the world.

Blogathon 43.48 Raise your hand

if your wrists are killing you. No wait, dont raise your hand, it really really hurts when you do that. If Amy is awake, um pain in my wrists and then my elbow is not exactly a good thing is it?

Blogathon 42.48 An Island Interview

Kailani is one of those great bloggers that always seem to have a well timed kind word. She runs two phenomenal blogs, An Island Life and An Island Review. Heck, she was smart enough to name me a Awesome Boy Blogger, how could she be bad at all. Plus, she let me interview her.



1.Again, thanks for letting me interview you. Lets get this started by just telling us a little bit about yourself.

Let's see . . . my name is Kailani and I blog at An Island Life and An Island Review. I was born and raised in the beautiful state of Hawaii and work as a Flight Attendant. Even though Sparky didn't select me as the hottie of the 50th state, I still agreed to do this interview. *wink*


2.Now, I am going off assumption and you know what assuming does, but I assume you work for one of those smaller regional airlines. If someone came to you and said they would double your salary, would you work for bigger airline that means more travel?

No, I wouldn't. I really like the airlines that I work for because I have the choice of being based in the mainland or in Hawaii where my family is. My sister works for a larger airline company but is based in Los Angeles. It's very hard on her and her family when she has to commute.


3.Actually, living where you live, how do you manage to actually go to work everyday?

I'm not really a sunny beach person. Give me an air conditioned plane any day!


4.So, if you can, what do you think of the TSA?

Like any other profession, there's good and bad employees. As for their policies, I feel they're needed and makes me feel safer in the air. However, they need to exercise more consistency in enforcing these policies.


5.Strictly Hypothetical of course, but give all of our readers some idea of how to get along with in-laws?


No matter how much they get on my nerves (and believe me, they do!), I try to keep in mind that they are my husband's family. Bottom line. What also helps is that they live on a different island and I know that they eventually have to go home.


6.Since the theme of the blogathon is Philadelphia, have you ever visited our fine city?

I've never been to Philly but have been to Chicago. Is that close enough? *wink* My sister had a layover there and I went with her to hang out.


7.Cheesesteak, whiz or sliced cheese?

Is cheese whiz that processed goo in a can? Yuck!


8.You live all the way out there on the islands and sportwise there is nothing beyond the Hawaii Rainbows, sorry, Hawaii Warriors? Do you all have a team you follow?


Not really. Since we don't have a professional team, the locals are pretty much divided on who they support.


9.Do you know who Shane Victorino is?


Who? Oh, do you mean the baseball player? The one from Maui? I believe he started with the Dodgers and then was drafted by the Padres in the early 2000s. Didn't he end up with a team called The Phillies?
I was impressed


10.U2, you and I share a connection on. I know that the album, Joshua Tree came out just before I went into High School and the whole thing changed my musical listening life. What is your U2 moment?

It would have to be the release of the album - All That You Leave Behind. I found it to be very inspirational and moving.


11.Stuck in a snowstorm (ok just go with me here) and you have a broken TV set that only gets one channel, what channel do you hope it is stuck on?

I guess CNN. I hate being out of the loop and CNN would keep me updated on what was going on in the world. If not CNN, then maybe Home Shopping Network? hee hee


12.Lindsay Lohan, victim of a needy and useless family, or full blown idiot?

She needs to be taught a lesson by the criminal justice system!

Blogathon 42.48 Wawa

Ahh yes, Wawa, a staple of the Delaware Valley. It portrays it self like a 7-11 on the outside, but on the inside, it is something else entirely. You can get coffee that is brewed fresh every 20 minutes or so and you don't need to have a Tall, Short, Soy mind to it. The sandwiches are fresh made and if you are in a jam for a party, you can get a couple of giant hoagies. The stores are almost always well lit and the people are almost always friendly. Its like a little convenience store nirvana. Now, if they could just find a way to get those giant red bull big gulps that I have seen out in Arizona, it might actually be a little piece of nirvana. Now, I don't mind my local 7-11, he always has my smokes for me at the ready, but for overall presentation, its Wawa!

Blogathon 41.48 Yep another meme

First, Tiff did this meme. Then Rennratt did this meme. It seemed like it might have been some sort of sign. Or its the fact that I need some more stuff to talk about and who doesnt love talking about themselves?

If you need stuff to blog about, feel free to steal it, er use it.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Nope, heck the saint I was named after may not be a Saint

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

Last week, I think. I think it was the Leo episode of my West Wing DVD

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
I can read it, so yea I like it. Dont ask anyone else

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?

salami (oh thats gonna lead to remarks)

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?

nope, two furry feline friends are enough trouble right now.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
I think so, I hid alot of myself when I am in the outside world, so most of my bad habits don't exist to you.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?

Does water roll off a ducks back?

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS

Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?

No, if I did not do it drunk in college in the Bahamas, I am not gonna do it drunk in my old age.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Frosted Cheerios

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?

nope, except for my sandals, they have to be un velcroed

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?

Mentally, yes, physically, eh

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?

American Dreamcone by Ben and Jerrys

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?

eyes.

15. RED OR PINK?
Red

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?

i have no confidence

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?

Kittie

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?

Nah, its just for the blogathon

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?

no shoes, tan shorts

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
Meatball stromboli, which was a big mistake

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?

Thursday's One Life to Live

.

22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?

Purple, I would be the new pink

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
The ocean, cookie dough ice cream, fresh sheets, Mrs Ducks hair

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Cat Wrangler

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?

Hell Yea

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?

Football, though the only sport I will pass on, on TV is hockey

27. HAIR COLOR?
brown with sprinkles of ugh grey

28. EYE COLOR?
brown

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?

nope.

30. FAVORITE FOOD?

enchiladas! or In N Out Burgers

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?

Happy Endings. Real life is scary enough

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
This Ray Romano Documentary on HBO, but I cant recall the name. Hell i dont know my own name.

33. FAVORITE FLOWER?
Sunflowers

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summers!!!.



35. HUGS OR KISSES?

Kisses, though Hugs are great when your Eeyore like

36. FAVORITE DESSERT?

Blondies

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?

who knows

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND

who cares

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?

Jodi Picoult-My Sisters Keeper


40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?

Lame old Dell mousepad

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT?
HGTV, lots of HGTV

42. FAVORITE SOUND?
The Ocean, someone special snoring cutely

43. FAVORITE CANDYBAR?

Reeces

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?

Hawaii

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
I am close to a world class chef, at least in my own mind

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?

New Brunswick, NJ

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
ones that let me get to sleep?

Blthon 40.48 Mutter Museum

We have moved to the darkest part of the evening, when things outside are quiet, the stars have seemed to slipped off to sleep and the sun is still stretching on the other side of the world. This of course would be the perfect time to talk about the Mutter Museum. This is no ordinary little place. The website lists as a slogan "Disturbingly Informative".

The Museum's collections include over 20,000 objects, including fluid-preserved anatomical and pathological specimens, medical instruments, anatomical and pathological models, items of memorabilia of famous scientists and physicians, and medical illustrations in the form of lantern slides, 35 mm slides, photographs, drawings, and prints. In addition, the College collections include over 160 portraits in oil and other media.


Sounds like a CSI's wet dream doesn't it? One of the featured exhibits right now is a study of cojoined twins. And don't forget about the livers and lungs and other innards of some of american history's most famous people.

Yum.

Blogathon 39.48 Pick Me Up Time

Well its 4 am, i have not seen 4 am in a long long time. When I need a pick me up, a jolt, I turn to music. And regular readers, what kind of jag have I been on recently when it comes to music??

Thats Right LES MISERABLES!!!

So crank it up and picture a sort of swaying duck!

Blogathon 38.48 More famous freemasons

Well, the last list did so well, I figured I would list a few more. Apparently I was wrong the last time, you have to be a Freemason, at least right now to be a Shriner. I thought it made sense last time, but it was a little confusing. Now its 3:30 so it could be confusing again.

Stephen F Austin
Birch Bayh
James Buchanan
Sir Winston Churchill
Bob Dole
James Garfield
John Glenn
J Edgar Hoover
Jesse jackson
John Jay
Thurgood Marshall
Paul Revere
FDR
Teddy Roosevelt
Harry Truman
George Washington

Blogathon 37.48 Well, that was a mistake

The stromboli tasted great. It was just the right size, the meatballs while not as good as Mrs Ducks did have a nice taste to them, so they certainly werent just some frozen hockey pucks. But, it was the cheese. The damned cheese. I don't know why I thought that mozzarella cheese would be a good idea at 11 pm, but for some reason I did. Did I not remember the lasagne fiasco from february 2007? Did I not remember the pizza tossing caper from may? Apparently not. Hopefully it is not as bad as it has been in the past, but I curse you Lactose Intolerance demons!

Blogathon 36.48 Book Review-Marriage Diaries-2 quacks

A book that started out with such promise and as time went on it just flitted out into nothingness. Thats my opinion of The Marriage Diaries by Rebecca Campbell. I think the biggest problem was the fact that none of the characters was at all likeable. Have you ever seen a Hugh Grant and look at him and say, oh you are over doing the foppery. That was the husband. Have you every thought Posh Spice would be an interesting conversationalist? Thats the wife. There friends are shallow and sort of charactiures of real people. It was one of those books that I read on a plane and somewhere over North Carolina I turned and looked at the wife and said, "I dont know if I want any of them to be happy".

Now it was a serviceable enough book because I was willing to finish it and see how the story ended as opposed to just starting a new book. That must mean something. Though another drawback, it just sort of ended.

Bleh, if you see it in a library pick it up. If its on a discount shelf, it would work for a distraction. Buy it new? I dont think so.

Blgthon 35.48 Interview with E.R.D,

Which of course stands for Emily Ryan Davis. I just want to say a big thank you to her, because not only did she do the interview, but she also did the book donation thingy, plus she has been writing a new book and has spent her down time pestering me in emails which keeps me awake. I have no idea how I found her blog, Rhian maybe, but I could be so far off the mark, it may have just been luck. Anyway...

First, thanks for allowing me to ask some things.

Oh, please, I should thank you for giving me a chance to yak about myself. Have I ever mentioned what a narcissist I am?



1.I know your name is a pen name, though honestly I would not have known that without looking at your bio or having correspondance. But, how exactly did you come up with it?

I don't remember where the Emily came from. I think I might've tried the sound of "Leah," but decided it didn't work with for some reason. Fascinating, right? Ryan-Davis, from a customer database at a previous job. I thought it sounded nice and neutral, not too German or Italian or French - not too anything. My pseudonym is blaaaaaaaaaand with extra aaaaaa. Aaaaa. My real (maiden) name's not exactly a spicy pile of nachos, either, but it is pretty distinct. As in, if I walk into Bed, Bath & Beyond and say "I want you to print my bridal registry" and give them my husband's name, the customer service lady gets about four million responses in her database. My maiden name, though? Pops right up. Not another one of me in sight.



2.You just recently got married. Any fun stories? Did it go off as well as you thought it would or were there any minor catastrophes along the way?

Is it awful to say the best part of my wedding was that it ended? I'm convinced every wedding is a comedy of errors, but mine? Yikes. Life got pretty rocky there for a while. I envisioned this fun, modest event with white dresses, delicious (but modest) catering, a fantastic cake, my family meeting my husband's family for the first time, presents and pictures and tearful I-Do's. Disaster struck in the form of religious zeal (or un-zeal on my part), illnesses in my family, so on, so forth. The pastor refused to marry me to my husband 9 days before the wedding. My maid of honor's husband offered to join the Universal Life Church and rush his Ordained Minister certificate so he could marry us. My coworker offered to ask her Minister of the Church of Satan friend to marry me - fee $50, but I had to be willing to let him wear his Church of Satan uniform: black suit, red tie. (I had no idea a red tie made a man devout, but hey, who'm I to criticize? It was a very generous offer!)

Ultimately we ended up at the Annapolis County Clerk's office, where the most memorable 45 seconds of the entire ordeal (ahem, celebration) occurred. I had my entire (small) wedding party with me, my photographer waiting, the marriage license all ready to go, the county clerk's chapel fee all paid, and a promise that "Your party is next." The next party got called. Not me. The NEXT party got called. Uh, still not me. The next? You guessed it, not me. I sent my husband to find out when we'd be called in; he came back with the assurance that we were (of course) next.

Allow me to state, in my defense, that I was on a tight schedule. My gracious photographer could only stay until 3 p.m. (we met in Annapolis at 1 p.m.) because she had an evening wedding booked as well. This was Friday; my wedding was supposed to take place on Saturday, but the religious disaster hit and I had to split the affair up over the course of two days. So there I was, swathed in satin and tulle, dying of thirst, shiny as a new-polished diamond because every hormone I possess decided to turn my face into an oil field, hotter than a...um...you know, hot thing - and my photographer had already pushed back her "have to leave now" limit by 15 minutes. The county clerk came out, called somebody else's name, and I completely lost it. Dehydration and stress and the oil slick that was my face collided in this massive thunderclap and I stood up, raised my voice over the milling crowd of Annapolis Naval Academy sailors and their floozy brides in fishnet dresses, and said, "I was told I'm next!" (Nope. Nothing more vulgar than that, sorry to say.) The clerk glanced at me, looked at his paperwork, turned to the Sailor Couple, and I thought he was ignoring me. Completely lost my temper. I was shrieking like a trailer park harridan inside my head (my maid of honor assures me I behaved with perfect grace, but she wasn't privy to the banshee between my ears) as I threw my bouquet at my maid of honor, snatched up the voluminous train of my snowy white gown, and stalked across the clerk courtyard. The security guard rolled his chair back to stop me - must've thought better about it as he rolled over the trailing hem of my gown and encountered the (probably feral and rabid) look in my eyes, and backed off. I stormed - stormed! - into the little office place and demanded to know why a sailor floozy (yes, I said it, and I am Unapologetic - she was wearing WHITE fishnet!!) was going ahead of me after I'd been waiting two hours! Two hours! On top of my future father-in-law trying to convince my husband I didn't love him enough because I refused to get married in a ceremony that offered my obedience - OBEDIENCE! the nerve! - and finding out my mother was afraid she'd ruin my wedding pictures because she's sick and has dark circles under her eyes - andandand - did I mention my wedding plans got very rocky?

Anyway, too late to make this long story short, but in the end the ceremony itself took about 45 seconds and bam! I was a Mrs. Forty-five seconds. My wedding pictures came out slanted, alas, but my husband's fantastic and I have a photo of him pulling a condom off the tailpipe of his car, courtesy of his friends, so it's worth it in the end. And I have two wedding dates I get to celebrate every year: the marriage certificate says June 15; all the party favors say June 16. Twice the anniversary!

Followup: so the honeymoon had to be swell then, right?

As I said, plans changed vastly over the course of the two weeks prior. We'd planned on a week in Williamsburg, VA, but that turned into a daytrip to Ocean City, MD. The daytrip became an impromptu overnight trip, but we hadn't planned on staying so we had the clothes on our back and swimsuits (in my case, a swimsuit, a pair of clean underwear, the shorts I wore over my swimsuit, and a t-shirt), no hair brushes, no toothbrushes, no nothing. We got a hotel room and the Holiday Inn provides necessities like toothbrush and comb, but they don't provide things like condoms. Just go to a CVS, right?

We were in Ocean City during the tail end of Senior Week and the Fireman's convention. CVS? Not a condom to be found. One box remained on the shelf, and it had been torn open and the rubbers stolen. My wedding culminated in a sexless honeymoon.




3.Would you like some soft shell crabs?

Imagine my horrified expression, wrinkled nose and recoiling posture, toes curling and soul cringing. Imagine it! Now look what you did to me! Their LEGS hang OFF the bread! Dangling! If you're jostled, the legs JIGGLE! It's a prehistoric spider! On a sandwich! Deep-fried and slathered with old bay and mayo and a;gkha;gha;lgha;uqpowiruq!@#$!

marylanders, what is wrong with you people? dear god. alien sandwiches. ew.



4.Who inspired you to be a writer and try to get yourself published?

To be a writer, I'm not sure. I knew I wanted to be an artist of some type; I used to try for "artistic" drawings in crayon on lined notebook paper, and my 8-year-old sense of artistic taste knew that I hadn't a visual-arts bone in my body. I couldn't sing; my mom dashed my Future Stevie Wonder dreams to the ground by pointing out that I was neither blind, black, nor male. Good thing that, too - vocalist I am not. I could read, though, and I figured out I could write when a teacher accused me of plagiarism (falsely) during the course of a "write a short story" class assignment. It's my friend Tom (doktortom on MySpace) who introduced me to How to Write books, and though he's not exactly responsible for my tawdry, trashy romance paying hobby, he is responsible for my coming to view writing as a potential career path.

To be published - I have to admit the final push to get myself published was completely an envy thing. My friend Elisabeth Drake ( www.emdrake.com) secured a contract for a pair of short stories, and I decided that if she could be published, so could I. (Not in a snotty way; more of a "well, what AM I waiting for?" way). So I contacted my current editor and here I am, proud author of two trashy romance e-books, a novella appearing in an anthology sometime this summer/early fall, and a third e-book due out as soon as I can possibly write the thing.



5.We all have influences in our writing, even me and my blog. I find sometimes I am channeling some sort of Bill Maher rant on occasion. When you are writing, do you try to keep yourself from being influenced by other writers so you don't copy there styles, or is it the best form of flattery?

I try not to copy styles in prose writing because I want to be recognized for my voice, not somebody else's. That said, I'm a product of every author I've ever read. The phenomenon is similar to accent adoption - I moved to Massachusetts and lived there for 7 years; now I say Baaaah-ston. I don't say anything else in Massachusetts-ese, just that, but it's something I picked up without even trying. I go back home to West Virginia to visit my mom, and three days into it I'm droppin' my g's and drawlin' my a's, and I can't pronounce "creek" with a long e to save my life.

In writing, I tend to borrow words more than style. I think I got "runnel" from the first page of a Bujold novel. I never would've thought of using it before I read the word in her book. Now it's one of my favorites. In blogging, I tend to borrow topics. You blogged about U2; next thing I know I'm blogging about music.



6.You are trapped in a snow storm with a broken TV set. It only has one channel on it, what channel do you hope it will be?

Any channel that will play on loop the Family Guy episode where Peter's hiding in the refrigerator, saying "There is no Peter, there is only Zuul," and Lois screeches, "Peteh, get outta the refrigeratuh!" Because that? Endless - endless! - source of amusement to me. I don't even need the whole episode. Just that scene. Barring that, I don't care as long as it'd entertain the people who were trapped in the snowstorm with me. I'm honestly not a TV watcher. Can never remember what channel corresponds with what network, and really, who has the time to sit and watch the TV Guide channel, even if you could make it through the 17-minute scroll without stabbing yourself in the eye over the fifth revisit to the Crocodile Whatshisface's memorial thing?



7.Since my blogathon entry has a loose theme of Philadelphia, I need to ask a couple of Philadelphia type questions. Have you ever visited our lovely city? What did you think? If not how come already?

I think I have, but I honestly don't remember whether it was Philly or Pittsburgh. It involved a salsa cruise, a junior year Spanish class field trip, and that's all I recall. No, they weren't serving full-rum daiquiries to the 17-year-olds. Sad to say.



8.On your cheesesteak, do you have cheese whiz or cheese slices?

Are you kidding me? Cheese Whiz is an option? My mother-in-law makes this godawful concoction called Beer Cheese Soup that's Cheese Whiz, half 'n half, bear, and onions. Could serve it up with a Playboy and a sixpack of Sam Adams and just skip the niceties, call it what it is - Man Soup.

On cheesesteak, though - I've only ever had cheesesteak Boston style: white american cheese, full grease soaking up into the bread, pepper, salt, and fried onions. Steak-Ums, not real steak. No peppers. What's the authentic Philly style?



9.Being a music nut like I am, how in the world did you get such a cool sounding day job?

I have good luck with jobs. I don't quite understand how some people can't get anything more entertaining than flipping 'em at McDonald's; I've written obituaries, poured coffee, waited tables, tutored writing and statistics, "sold" credit cards via phone, admin-assisted a music school for young kids - all interesting things (to me, anyway). I guess I know how to write letters? Say the things people want to hear? I'm adaptable? My coworkers think it's a riot that I have no clue how many strings come on a bass guitar; one coworker thinks it's a mortal offense that I didn't know who Keith Richards was 'til he pointed it out to me. Maybe I got it because I'm a likeable person. :) Don't tell my brother - he'll want to know what I paid you to say it.



10.Lindsay Lohan, Idiot, victim of a crazy family and her needs to be the family bread winner, or a little of both?

Eyeliner chemicals have seeped into her brain via her ocular fluid, rendering her useless as a human being, but useful as a pop icon. After all, Human Being isn't a job requirement in the Icon field.



11.Anything new on the horizon from your imaginitve brain?

A novella, as yet untitled, slated to appear in a less-than-PG-13 anthology with an alternate sexuality theme. I hesitate to give titles or descriptions for this interview because I'm not sure who's blogging, and I am all for not making a neutral crowd uncomfortable. I'll keep updates at my website, though, http://www.emilyryandavis.com , and there's a newsletter link and all that good stuff, for people who want to seek it out of their own free will. I don't like to smack unsuspecting people in the face. :)




Aside from that, though - more serious things are brewing. I grew up in a town shadowed by an insane asylum, and I very much want to write about that - the poverty, the isolation, the ability of people to pretend their surroundings don't exist. I want to write about the strange and bizarre crimes committed in the vicinity, while I was in high school; about the community events like baseball games and Oktoberfest that took place on hospital grounds. I want to write about my mother, a mental health nurse, and her own struggle with mental health. Meaningful things. I will, some day, but it's a story I still have to grow into all the way. In the meantime, I'll hold onto the fantasy and escapism, the fluff of dragons and princesses and fairies and things like that. A love story's easier than a semi-autobiography, right? Easier to read, easier to write, and at this stage of my life, I am ALL about easy.

I may re-evaluate next spring, after the retail Christmas season is over, my third dragony book is written, and I've had a good long regenerative winter sleep.

Blgthn 34.48 Fly Eagles Fly

Let me start off by saying right off the bat, I really can't stand that stupid song. Fight Songs are meant to be played by marching bands, with coeds running around and the wishbone offense being run. Not sung by a bunch of drunk dopes in the upper deck.

Ok, rant over, I am an Eagles fan, I swear, its just very very hard to get excited about going to a game at The Linc. And for goddess sake, the Vet was 10 to 20 times worse.

But, training camp opened this weekend, and the idea of hope springing eteneral for the Eagles to make a run back to the Super Bowl again.

I will be perfectly happy with a run into the playoffs, once you get into the playoffs you never know from there. One of the big controversies around here this year is whether Kevin Kolb is the heir apparent to Donovan. The way Donovan's knee has been acting the last few years, I would think AJ Feeley will be the heir apparent way before Kolb is ready, because I would bet you dollars to donuts that McNabb will not make it through the whole year.

But, I am not a McNabb guy. I think he takes away possesions from Westbrook, who has become easily the best player on that offense.

When it comes to defense, they are still lead by Brian Dawkins, but Dawkins can't cover everybody anymore. He still hits you like a brick bleep house, but the rest of the secondary is suspect when it comes to coverage.

So, at the end of this ramble, how do I think the Eagles will do? Wildcard, 11-6 and have a decent shot at getting to the bowl again. Once you get to the show, you never know.

Blgthon 33.48 Contest Answer-Boyz II Men!!

Congrats to Emily, she got the answer to the question right, because it is in fact Boyz II Men and Motownphilly.



To me, Boyz II Men was Philly music. At least it was my first real introduction to it. At the end of my high school term, they were hotter then hot. You could not escape without hearing End of the Road. And you know what, I did not want to avoid it. Goddess, I loved that song. Almost the perfect song. I hope it is still played at proms now.



Emily, contact me for your winnings

Blgthon 32.48 Contest #2 Cheesecentric

Ok, one prize this time, since there is only one question to answer. And since there is only one question, you only get one half hour to answer it. So, same prize, a $6 itunes gift card or a $6 sponsorship. One caveat on the sponsorship if you take it, you can not sponsor here with it. We need to share the love a little bit. One winner, first person to answer the question.

Ok, here's the question. In the mid 1990's or so, a R & B group shot there debut video in Philadelphia. Geno's played a small part as background scenery for the video. What was the name of the group?

Hurry, a half hour comes fast!

Blogathon 31.48 The Cheesesteak

Ask a native Philadelphian where the best cheese steak is and you will surely get a wide variety of answers. Heck in this household, if you ask Mrs Duck, she will say Steve's and if you asked me, I would vote for Chinks in the Northeast. But what do I know I am from Jersey, originally.

The cheese steak, known as a Philly cheese steak everywhere else is one of the culinary delights that Philadelphia is known for. You can get one almost everywhere, but you can only get a good one certain places. I remember when I first started dating Mrs Duck, I ordered one at a diner when out with her parents and I thought there eyes would fall out of there head. When I said a Cheese Steak is a Cheese Steak, I though the diner would collapse.

There are two very well known Cheesesteak places in Philadelphia, Geno's and Pat's. Pat's is said to be the first originator of the steak sandwich in 1930, though Geno's claims to be the first to put cheese on the sandwich. They are rivals, in fact the two shops are right across the street from each other.

And when it comes to the cheese steak, you can order a sandwich like so

"whiz with" means cheese whiz and onions on your sandwich
"provolone without" means provolone cheese and no onions.

And if you ever go to either of these establishments, don't delay, because you will get nasty looks and run over by the people behind you. You are there for cheese steaks, no reason to look at the menu.

On a seperate note, another contest coming soon...

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Blgthon 30.48 a Dragon Favorite


The reasons I have found Dragon are varied and many actually. She is a member of the Monkey Barn, which is one of the snarkiest groups on the internet this side of Perez Hilton. She is always tweaking my pirate, piratess, blogging buccaneer friend Lady Jane Scarlett. And she is an excellent, excellent cook. I have made a few of her recipes and they always get rave reviews. This one got reviews beyond raves. Mrs Duck's coworkers were going to track me down to get the recipe after she shared her leftovers. And its a Dragon original, so this is all her hard work.

Dragon's Sausage and Potato Gnocchi

serves 4-6

1 18 0z package of Potato Gnocchi
3 smoked pork sausages (turkey sausage works great too), sliced
1/4 cup of chopped onions (Hyperion, you can skip this part)
1 clove of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons of butter
pinch of hot pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tablespoon of fresh oregano, chopped
1 cup of frozen peas, run under water to thaw
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste

1. Prepare the gnocchi according to package instructions.

2. While the gnocchi is cooking, heat up a skillet with 2 tablespoons of butter and add the sausage and onions. Cook until sausage is browned and onions are soft.

3. On medium heat, add the garlic, hot pepper flakes (optional), thyme and oregano. Cook for 1 minute or until the garlic is softened.

4. Drain the gnocchi, reserving a little of the cooking water. Add the gnocchi to the sausage mixture. Shake the skillet so the gnocchi doesn't stick. Its ok if the gnocchi browns a bit on the bottom.

5. Add the peas and remaining tablespoon of butter. Salt and pepper to taste. If needed, add a little of the cooking water to thin out the sauce.

6. Top with parmesam cheese. Let the cheese melt slightly before serving

picture courtesy of Dragon's Kitchen.

can you tell I just ate dinner?

Blgthon 29.48 Interview with a Dragon

Dragon of Dragon's Kitchen is a cooking genius. Seriously, a cooking goddess. Plus, she is a blogging beast, just like yours truly. Though she is a Dragon, so if you try one of her recipes and don't like it, don't tell her. Dragon, please take the floor.

1.Anyway, you are one of the hardest people for me to interview because beyond your world class cooking skills, I really don't know too much about you. Give all of us some details?

Well, I'm a stunning Canadian/Portuguese brown eyed brunette with a long tail covered in sexy green scales. Besides cooking I enjoy movies, musical theatre, playing cards, needlework, spending time with my family & friends, long walks on the beach and scorching my enemies.
OK only some of that was true. I'll let you decide what is true and what isn't.

2.Are you really a ninja or do you just play one on TV?

My ninja training is still in progress and it is forbidden for me to discuss it with you non ninja types.

3.Say one good thing about Pirates

One good thing? Ok. Pirates don't cry when I kill them.

4.Your site is full of lots and lots of great recipes, do you come up with most of them on your own from scratch, or are they adaptations or both? Do you have a recipe your proud of?

All the recipes on my site are recipes I've tried over the years and have really enjoyed. These are the recipes that my friends and family keep asking for, so I created the site for them. The recipes beginning with "Dragon's..." are my own creations.

I'm proud of all my recipes but when I need comfort food, I go to my Dragon's Butternut Squash and Roasted Red Pepper & Garlic Soup (http://dragonskitchensands.blogspot.com/2006/04/dragons-butternut-and-roasted-red.html) and my Dragon's Banana Blueberry Lemon muffins (http://dragonskitchendandb.blogspot.com/2006/10/dragons-banana-blueberry-lemon-muffins.html)

5.Have you ever considered cooking for a living?

I would love to go to culinary and pastry school! I still might do that. One of my dreams is to open up a little bakery and cafe.

6.Canada is not necessarily known for its culinary exploits. Is there anything that is stricly canadian in the kitchen, well besides Canadian Bacon?

A traditional Canadian dish is something called Poutine. It is basically fries covered with cheese and gravy; very delicious. We are also known for our wild salmon.

7.Since my theme for the blogathon is Philadelphia, I figure I should ask some Philly type questions. Have you ever visited the city of brotherly love?

Sadly, I haven't. But I would love to come for a visit! Could I stay with you? I'd make you and Mrs. Duck some poutine and a traditional Portuguese feast.

8.When you order your cheesteak, is it with whiz, without, or with cheese slices?

Definitely cheese slices and there better be sauted onions on that baby.
SD-Perfect answer by the way

9.How did you get yourself involved in the Monkey Barn?

I lost a bet. No, really, I did. You can read my story here. http://monkeybarn.blogspot.com/2007/04/monkey-barn-mythos-project-part-ii.html

10.Lindsay Lohan, poor victim of some crazy parents, to blame for her own troubles, or a combination of both?

Lindsay, Lindsay. At some point you have to grow up and take responsiblity for your own life.

11.anything else you want to mention or plug, now is your chance...

I went to see Hairspray last night with some friends. Loved it! Go see it!

Blgthon 28.48 Project 365 #92 Harbourtown

over on Sparky's Photo Hut, I have been participating in the Project 365 task, which means you take one picture a day and then post it for all the world to see. I am very behind, so one will get added here.

A picture from the Ducks last vacation...

Lighthouse at Harbourtown

Blogathon 27.48 To Be a Phillie or not to be a Phillie

I asked Anthony in his interview whether it is better to be a Phillie fan or a Nat fan right now. With the Phillies, they hang around, hang around, hang around and then break your heart in September. If you were a Nats fan, your year would be over in May.

As a fan that can not afford more then maybe 2 games a year, I would rather be a Phillies fan, because it means that the two games that I do go to will be worth the money spent, because they will be competitive. If I paid for season tickets, maybe not as much, because with the Phillies, you pay money that they never seem to use in the right spots. At least with the Nats, you know they will stink, so you dont have to worry about spending the money and keep it in your pocket.

But, it does get annoying, to see in front of you what the Phillies need and then sit by and watch your teams ownership not do anything about it. I think it is sort of like being a Lions fan in the NFL. They looks so potent on offense, but will need to score 50 points to win any games.

So, how about you? A team that you know will suck so you dont get your hopes up, or a team that will tease you with the playoffs and fail later?

And I am no fool, post a hot guy when you can.

Blogathon 26.48 Why we are here


Well, first off it is a blogathon, and blogathons are a way to raise money. And the lovely Mrs Duck is my inspiration for choosing Shriners Childrens Hospital. Click here if you missed her explanation.

Well, with a simple little google search, I was able to do some more tracking of all the great things that Shriners Childrens Hospital's do.

so for your reading pleasure...

Shriners goes the Extra Mile-Post Tribune, Chicago

Old Burned Fixed, He is doing fine-Enquirer, Cincinnati

Outlook Better for Man Infected in Gulf-KHOU, Houston

Teen Shares Experience as Burn Patient-Central Florida Newschannel 13

Blthon 25.48 Spammers

How brutal do you have to be to spam a blog doing things for charity?? The better question is, is it wrong of me to think of some sort of way to spam the heck out of them back because they ticked me off?

I think its kind of like cutting off a funeral procession because you want to get to the fresh Krispy Kremes. Bleh!

Blthon 24.48 Billy Penn for Dragon

In the last post, Dragon, who will be an interview subject later by the way, asked who Billy Penn was. Thanks to Dragon, I have another post now.

William Penn was the founder of Pennsylvania. He was the leader of the Quaker religion, who were the first settlers in what would be formed into Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is in fact named after his father, after the King of England wanted to show his gratidude to his Penn's father Admiral Penn. He is a founding father of the United States and one of the only that was the sole controlling power until 1776

Billy Penn is a statue on top of City Hall. There was an handshake agreement between the city's founders and the citys planner, Kevin Bacon's father I do believe, that no skyscraper would go above the top of the statues hat so that Billy would still be able to watch over what he created.

In the mid 1980's Liberty One and Liberty Two were built and they dwarfed the Billy Penn Statue. They were soon joined by more and more skyscrapers. Since that time, none of the major sports teams has one a championship in there selected sport. While the Wings and Phantoms have won titles, the Flyers, Phillies, Eagles and Sixers have all fallen short of there championship goals since the mid 80's The curse of Billy Penn was born.

Blthon 23.48 An Interview with a "Sick Mind"

As part of an effort to get to know some of my blogging buddies better, I asked for a few interviews. Anthony was one of the volunteers and he is the author at My Sick Mind, a great blog that almost always makes you think and even makes you laugh sometime. Since I am spinning into a Philadelphia sports kick right now, he is my first subject, errr interviewee.

1. Thank you for allowing me to ask you some questions. You are not concerned that some of the answers will tip the Feds off to the fact that you really are the Mad Hatter bandit?

Nope – he was indicted on Monday, so they can’t pin that rap on me.



2. Thanks to my handy stat tracker, I realize that you probably work for one of those lovely energy companies in NJ. What do you do and are you to blame for my gas being $3.00?

No, I’m not in the car gas. I’m in home and industry gas – natural gas. I’m a draftsman in our engineering department. And, no, you can’t blame me for your high gas bills, either. We just build ‘em – we don’t bill ‘em.



3. I know you love the Who, or was it the Rolling Stones? Well which is it and why? and are there any modern mainstream bands that you enjoy?

Of those two, it’s The Who. I was never really a Stones guy, mostly because the music magazines made competitions out of music, and I always picked a side. Deep Purple vs. Black Sabbath – I’m a Sabbath guy. Stones vs. The Beatles – Beatles. I don’t know why they did stuff like that, since I love Deep Purple now, too. I missed out on some good music because I fell for their marketing ploy. (There’s probably a deep-rooted developmental issue that makes me distrust media marketing). I think I have worked that one out. The Stones were always a little too scruffy for me. Townsend’s songwriting is more to my taste. I’ve always been more into the long-form than the two-minute expression. As for the Stones, I respect them, but don’t much like them. That’s also true of Springsteen and Billy Joel.

I’ve never been a big fan of “mainstream” music (or mainstream anything, really) but I do like a lot of modern music. Kings of Leon, Green Day, Kaki King, Gov’t Mule, Dave Matthews Band, Umphrey’s McGee, Fiona Apple and Chris Cornell (I’m going to the Electric Factory on Sunday). I’m not sure any of those would be considered mainstream.



4. You are stuck in a snowstorm with a TV that only gets one TV station. What station do you hope it is stuck on?

The Weather Channel. I want to know when the snow will be over and I can get the Hell out of there.



5. You are a fan of the green policy (i.e that global warming is coming and that we are to addicted to the oil companies) what do you say to those out there that say Global Warming is just some sort of media myth?

I’ll never argue the idea that it may be a created condition, but as the late Rich Ashburn used to say, That’s eyewash.” It’s hard to look at icebergs breaking and not think the water is getting warmer, but were they breaking 25 years ago? I don’t know, (since no one was taking video of them) and I don’t particularly care. However, I will argue that the protection of the earth is always in our best interests. I don’t understand how anyone could argue that limiting greenhouse gases is a bad thing. I think you can have progress and still be sensible about it. People who “blame” the media for proselytizing global warming are missing the bigger picture and focusing their energy (pun intended) in the wrong area. The truth is that we are a wasteful society that creates almost as much waste as we do product. Why does a bar of soap have to come in a box? The soap disappears and the box is trash.



6. Ok, the Philadelphia questions now, since this blog is called Philly Transplant. When you order a cheesesteak, is it whiz or cheese slices?

I order cheesesteaks like the Soup Nazi. Terse and with two words - Whiz with. Money on the counter. Next!



7. You and I are in a bar, one that allows smoking in Philly because they only serve tortilla chips, and I light up because I have had a beer or two. How do you react?


Before we had the non-smoking laws I would never go into a bar and expect people not to smoke or be offended if they did. Of course, now it’s great (in New Jersey) because I don’t come home smelly – other than the regular smell. You can smoke; just don’t blow it in my face. I just hope the place is well ventilated because I love tortilla chips and I figure the conversation would be good, so I wouldn’t want to leave.



8. Is it worse to be a Nationals fan because the season is over in May, or is it worse to be a Phillies fan because they keep you on edge until September?


It’s definitely worse to be a Nationals fan. There’s not much worse than meaningless baseball in August. Plus, they play in that dumpy ballpark (for now) and all they have to look forward to are the Redskins. Geez, that’s worse than being a Phillies fan. String me along, as long as it’s interesting. Sports is best around here when there are competitive teams in at least 3 sports. That way, the seasons link together and we can go right from one to another. With the Flyers and Sixers stinking, it was a long winter.



9. Curse of Billy Penn, true or am I just a conspiracy theorist?


I find it fascinating that in a society that has such things as iPhones and microwave ovens that we cling to superstition and believe that we have some metaphysical power that can influence events in which we do not participate. Fans will wear certain clothing when they watch games or only sit in a certain spot, believing that what they do affects the team. I’ll usually ask them, “Do you have that sort of effect on everything in your life, or just sports?”

On one hand, it’s charming, but my practical side sees it being kind of ridiculous. As far as Billy is concerned, he isn’t even buried here, and I never really understood (as a lifetime resident) the nonsense about the city’s building height restriction. It held back the city’s development for decades. But you really didn’t ask about that.

I do, however believe in the curse of Angelo Cataldi.

Followup:Curse of Angelo Cataldi, whats that?

No Philly team has won a championship since Angelo came to WIP. I think he got here right after the He was co-host with Tom Brookshier when the morning show was called "Brookie and the Rookie". He talks about it every now and then, and something tells me that deep down, he enjoys the losing, because it gives him something to rant about.
Generally, I get tired of his yelling and switch over to WXPN for my morning drive.

10. You and I both spend a lot of time in Center City and everyone knows about the Art Museum, South Street and the Liberty Bell. Give me one unknown tourist attraction in Philly?

The Kimmel Center. It’s a beautiful place that fills with beautiful music. If someone was coming here from out of town, I would make a point of visiting the Kimmel Center after a nice dinner at Toto.



11. Say one good thing about our president or his administration.

Bush’s daughters are hot.

Bthon 22.48 Blogathon Winners, Contest 1

Don't worry, I plan on doing two more of them, however, we have two winners

Widows Son got Kixx
and
Anthony got Phantoms


The other two correct answers, that I was thinking at least, were the Bon Jovi co-owned Soul of the Arena Football League and the Wings of the Major League Indoor Lacrosse League. I was disappointed at the lack of Soul information, with Bon Jovi's involvement and all.

Guy's drop me an email at blujackit at gmail.com and let me know what you want done with your prizes. Like I said, two more contests planned for the rest of the blogathon. I will care over one of the $6 prizes from here and donate one $6 prize to a random charity in the blogathon. Thanks for playing.

Blogathon 21.48 Still the Contest

So far, no winners on our sports quiz contest, which means there are still 4 prizes out there, or 4 sponsorships even.

To make your googling life easier, I will even tell you what sports

-one is a hockey team that is not the Flyers-The Phantoms
-one is in the Arena Football League with a famous owner
-one is in Major League Indoor Lacrosse, nope I've never seen a game either
-one is an Indoor Soccer team, they play in Trenton sometimes-The Kixx

So there you go, so easy with a little computer. One guess per person and there are 4 $6 itunes cards or 4 $6 sponsorships up for grabs. A Half hour to go.

***Update***
Thats 2!

Bthon 20.48 Our First Contest

The winners will be announced at 7:30 EST, so two posts from now. And there will be the possibility of 4 winners. The prize? Either a $6 itunes gift card, or a $6 donation to your favorite charity. Please just one answer per person.

Again, it is centered around Philadelphia.

Everyone, or most people know about the 4 main sport teams in Philadelphia.
The Phillies
The Flyers
The Eagles
The Sixers

But there are 4 other professional sport teams in Philadelphia. Or at least professional in the fact that the players are paid and you have to pay to see them play.

So, name one of the teams?

Bthon 19.48 If we are gonna talk Philly and Freemasons

We have to talk Ben Franklin. Obviously, he is probably Philadelphia's favorite son, him or William Penn. But I would have to back Ben. He was a free mason, but was also a renaissance man. A political theorist, physicist, scholar, writer, and i think he may have invented cable TV.

His first revolutionary act was to the move to repeal the Stamp Act, and being the ambassador of France, and probably did some fine negotiating to get the French to become allies in the Revoloutionary War.

He invented:
bifoculs
harmonicas
charted the gulf streams
grasped the idea of a refrigeration
and the first Fire Station company.

This man was Philadelphia, evidenced by the naming of the Franklin Institute and The Ben Franklin Bridge after him.

Oh yea, and there was the whole Declaration of Independence thing.


Bthon 18.48 Career Meme


My buddy and one of my sponsors One Gal at One Gals Musings tagged me for a meme the other day. This is the first meme of the blogathon, at least for me. But, come on, you knew someone was going to pull out a meme sometime.

Its called the Career meme.

Here is how to play:
If you had the opportunity to do a 1-year internship in a company or field completely unrelated to your current career or specialty, what would be your top 5 choices?


1.ESPN-This was an idea that was much more idealogical when ESPN was not just a station that schilled for the rest of Disney's channels and also made sure to suck up to the athletes. But the hustle and bustle of trying to hit a deadline and covering some major stories has to be something.

2.The White House:If you ever watched the West Wing, I would have loved to have had Charlies job. Of course I would love it for a president I actually liked, but it still seems like it would be a great job just to see all that power.

3.The Washington Post:The newspaper of Woodward and Bernstein. That should be enough said shouldn't it?

4.Teaching:I was actually on track to be a teacher at graduation from college, but I made other choices and got out of school after 4 years instead of 5. I often wonder what the difference would have been.

5.Nike:They develop the cutting edge of sport products. They get to meet alot of great athletes and they probably have great seats at University of Oregon games since Phil Knight, founder of Nike, is an alumni with a big checkbook. What could be bad about that?

I tag anyone that wants to try it.

Bthon 17.48 Totinos

Yep, more random malarkey.

Its back to the idea that I may be in fact addicted to TiVo. Because now that I am forced to watch these TV Commercials, it is a tad painful.

The one grating on my nerves, beyond the newest Viagara one, is the Totinos Pizza Roll commercial. It may be made by the same people that did the Ovaltine commercials as well. How many times have you eaten a Totinos Pizza Roll, or any pizza roll for that fact, or in fact most frozen pizzas that you scream at the top of your lungs "I LOVE TOTINOS PIZZA ROLLS!" How high do we think this kid maybe? I guess not to high since he knew to say the name Totinos.

Blogathon 16.48 Philadelphia's Male Hottie

We here at Philly Transplant (yes I said we, its more then just one duck you know, we are a major publishing house!) believe in equal opportunity. Women should get paid just as much as men. Men should be expected to do some of the food shopping and Men should get oggled as much as women are.

In that vain, to compliment Grace Kelly from that earlier post, allow me to answer the Philly Transplant Mr Hottie.

Will Smith was born September 25, 1968, in you guessed it, Philadelphia, PA. He started out as a rapper known as the Fresh Prince, with his sidekick DJ Jazzy Jeff (cmon, who doesnt remember Summertime, from there youth)? The rapping career rolled into the Fresh Prince of Bel Aire, which then migrated into a movie career that included Men in Black, Independence Day, Ali, Hitch (great co starring job done by Kevin James) and the Pursuit of Happiness.



Blogathon 15.48 All I got...

Is One Fine Day. Now, I am not going to argue, Michelle Pfeiffer is beautiful and George Clooney is his sauve self, and yes I know easy on the eyes. But, we pay all this money for DirecTV and this is all that is on? Even my old stand by ESPN let me down, I like track and field, but I do not necessarily like track and field in Spanish, just because you have to concentrate on it the whole time, as opposed to just glancing up when they say they are on the last lap. So, maybe I need to just stare more at Michelle Pfeiffer.

Nice little quote from the movie:

Jack (George Clooney)-You are an arrogant ball juggler baby
Michelle Pfeiffers character-If you don't want your balls juggled, stop throwing them in my face.

Risque or am I just a manly duck?

Bthon 14.48 Didja ever notice...

That it seems like the phone is ringing alot more or things are coming up out of nowhere when you are doing this blogathon thing? Or is it just me and my mind?

Dont forget the promo that Emily is doing for her book Mating Call.

Ok, off to the laundry.

Bthon 13.48 Philadelphia Hottie-Grace Kelly

One of the special projects I have been doing here is the 50 States, 50 Hotties project, where I name one actress from each state, based on hotness and in which state they were born in. As a special for this weekend's blogathon, I will be naming a hottie that was born in Philadelphia. And, as a real special, if you stay tuned later, there will be an actor hottie native of Philadelphia as well.

Grace Kelly was November 12, 1929 in Philadelphia, Pa. She was an actress in world class movies like Rear Window, High Society,and To Catch a Thief. She later became the princess of Monaco when she married King Rainier. Her wedding dress from that gala still hangs for viewing in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.



Bthon 12.48 Famous Freemasons

The Shriners are members of the Freemasonry, which is another Fraternal Organization, like the umbrella over the Shriners organization. Does that make any kind of sense? Well, anyway, the Free Masons are the ones that determined the one organized "being" who is at the center of getting into the Shriners in the first place. Freemasons seem to be some of the upper echelon people of our country, the lawyers, bankers and candlestick makers. Again, I am surprised I am raising money for this charity, but they did such a special job with Mrs Duck that I could not ignore it.

Anyway, there a many famous freemasons and here are some that I recognized right off the bat.

Eddy Arnold
Gene Autry
"Count" Basie
Nat King Cole
Burl Ives
Harpo Marx
Mozart
Arnold Palmer
Roy Rogers
Will Rogers
Mark Twain
John Wayne

Blogathon 11.48 A Special Prize


Emily Ryan-Davis, one of my blogging buddies who I actually was able to convince to be interviewed by this feathery duck has offered a special little deal in honor of the blogathon.

As from her email

Purchase MATING CALL between now and the end of the blogathon and 100% of July 28 royalties go to the Shriner's fund!


So its a win win, you get a very good, steamy book of fiction and the Shriners get a little something something as well. Heres a preview blurb on the book.

Cora Phillips has witchcraft in her blood, but she's convinced she inherited the recessive rather than the dominant trait. Her mother and sister are the real heiresses to the Lune tradition; Cora has neither the interest nor the inclination to take up the Dragonkeeper mantle. Years ago, she left the New York City Witch lifestyle to the other women in her family, and said goodbye to all the velvet and lace. However, during a moment of insomnia-induced insanity, she agrees to come back to celebrate Christmas/Winter Solstice with her family.

It comes as a shock to all three women when Cora, through clumsy fumblings to "get in touch with her goddess" at her sister's urging, calls a pair of ancient dragons into her meditation circle.

Cora swears it's a mistake. Her mother swears it's the correct course of events. Eventually, every Dragonkeeper issues the call to mate. Problem is nobody expected Cora to summon even a single dragon, let alone two.

Before long, the dragons' guardians come knocking, literally, and ruin any hope of politely apologizing and returning the creatures


I want to thank Emily so so much for offering this and I myself will be buying a book. Who doesn't love witches and dragons??

Now to just find the interview which this stupid duck probably accidentally erased some of.

Blogathon 10.48 Reader

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel sorry for anyone that has a couple of us blogathoners in there Google Reader, or whatever reader they have for there blogs? I mean, when you see 100+ its daunting, I would think that the combination of 2 blogathons making about 100 posts, plus the regular weekend stuff will make it almost impossible to catch up. I see alot of "Mark as Read" happening on Monday. C'mon, don't roll your eyes, you know you are guilty of it too from time to time. It is the easiest way to get all caught up. You just miss some jewels along the way.

Ok, sinuses are clearing from the new cat litter, I know everyone was concerned. Back on track.