Soxy

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 09:25 AM) A friend of mine told me that Billy Corgan took out a FULL page ad in today's Trib. In it he says, among other things, that he wants to get The Smashing Pumpkins back together. I don't really care about Billy or the Pumpkins, but I found that to be an interesting way of trying to communicate with your ex-band mates. Anyone else see this? Yeah, it's on the front page of the Trib Website and you can actually view the ad.

high school: blue and orange (ick) college: black and gold (I liked that a lot) grad school: no clue, green and something I think....

I saved up my bonus points from my debit card and cashed in my change jar (okay, okay, it's a piggy bank shaped like a baseball, but you know...) and bought a digital camera. I got a Canon A520. So far it's pretty good. Hooooooray!

HOOOORAY! Hell Yeah!

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jun 20, 2005 -> 09:20 PM) I feel like a damn babysitter after tonight. What's the going rate these days? I got $8/hr....

Just bought tix for me and my sis for the Yankees series. Woohoo! (special trip back to see them, my best effort to increase attendence...)

linky Sen. Robert C. Byrd Laments KKK Connection By VICKI SMITH, Associated Press Writer Mon Jun 20, 3:45 AM ET MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Sen. Robert C. Byrd (news, bio, voting record)'s new memoir reveals both his encyclopedic knowledge of political history and the unlikely inspiration that helped launch his own political career: A Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. It was a Klan leader who motivated the young Byrd during his short-lived tenure in the racist organization — something he writes was "an extraordinarily foolish mistake" that has haunted him for 40 years. "It has emerged throughout my life to haunt and embarrass me, and has taught me in a very graphic way what one major mistake can do to one's life, career and reputation," the West Virginia Democrat says in an autobiography being released Monday. "I displayed very bad judgment, due to immaturity and a lack of seasoned reasoning." It's a mistake he has paid for time and again, the only significant scandal ever attached to a man who grew up in Wolf Creek Hollow and who next June stands to become the longest-serving senator in U.S. history. Even now, with the 2006 election more than 18 months away, Republicans are using it in their campaign to oust him. Byrd has not declared whether he will run again, and his book gives no hints. "Robert C. Byrd: Child of the Appalachian Coalfields" chronicles his 87 years, from boyhood to his re-election in 2000. But at 770 pages, the $35 paperback from West Virginia University Press is more weighty tome than light reading. It portrays a man who is religious, socially conservative, respectful and respected — a man for whom a promise is an unbreakable bond. But it is more the chronology of a career than the story of a man, dispassionately detailing virtually every federal dollar brought to West Virginia. According to Citizens Against Government Waste, he's helped secure $1.6 billion for the state just since 1999. But any reader expecting an apology will be disappointed. Byrd is proud of supporting a state that suffered more than most through economic recessions — long exploited for its natural resources and slower than most to attain prosperity. "The Washington critics of 'pork' had a full-time job in trying to keep up with me," he writes. Byrd says the book is intended to tell the story of the place he holds dear, the state he says grew up alongside him as the money trickled in. More than his own, "it's a West Virginia story," he told The Associated Press. "And it's still unfolding. There are still chapters ahead. "I want to try to get our young people to understand that if I can do it, they can do it, too. Poverty doesn't need to hold anyone back," he said. The book reflects Byrd's appreciation for political history, but the private man remains private, revealing little of his heart. One exception lies in his explanation of the folly with the Klan. As a boy, he watched a parade of white hoods in Matoaka, learning years later his father had been among them. Back then "many of the 'best' people were members," he says, and Byrd was vulnerable to the anti-Communism rhetoric. He recruited 150 members, and when Grand Dragon Joel L. Baskin came to a meeting in Crab Orchard, Byrd was unanimously elected Exalted Cyclops. "You have a talent for leadership, Bob," Baskin told him. "The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation." "Suddenly lights flashed in my mind!" Byrd writes. "Someone important had recognized my abilities. I was only 23 or 24, and the thought of a political career had never struck me. But strike me that night, it did. "It was the appealing challenge I had been looking for. Wolf Creek Hollow seemed very near and Washington very far away, with the road in between all uphill," he says. "But I was suddenly eager to climb the mountain." He belonged to the Klan for a year, then moved in 1943 to Baltimore to help build ships. Byrd says he never resented blacks, Catholics or Jews, but he failed to "examine the full meaning and impact of the ugly prejudice behind the positive, pro-American veneer." "My only explanation for the entire episode is that I was sorely afflicted with tunnel vision — a jejune and immature outlook — seeing only what I wanted to see because I thought the Klan could provide an outlet for my talents and ambitions." Byrd has been married 68 years to high school sweetheart Erma Ora James, who pushed her congressman husband to earn a law degree with 10 years of night school. She has backed Byrd through many careers, from butcher, salesman and welder to his first foray into public life. Byrd won a seat in the House of Delegates in 1946 and has not lost since. In 1952, he was elected to the U.S. House, and he went to the Senate in 1958. The book suggests he deals with his family as he does the world, with reverence and commitment. In 1958, 15-year-old daughter Margie drafted her first "constituent to senator" letter, complaining Byrd had not delivered a dog she had been promised. She gave him a week to make good, threatening to report his failure to the newspapers. That day, she got her dog.

Just (legally) downloaded Sugarland's Twice the Speed of Life It's a nice fluffy sweet summer cd--lots of good tunes that will cheer you up. And I really like the unique voice of their lead singer.

Hurray Ross!

Happy Happy!!!!!

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 10:56 PM) Oh my god....you hit a spot with me. My girlfriend lives with 3 other girls and below their staircase they keep all their shoes. It must be a pad about 10 by 10 stacked 3 rows high. Never in my life have I seen so many damn shoes. It's an addiction, what can I say? I should have Zappos blocked from my internet. I order from them so much they upgrade my shipping to overnight for free.... As a result, though, if you ever need to know a good quality footwear company, I'm your girl to ask....

Shoes. I probably have at least 30 pairs. And I probably only have 5 or 6 pairs in my regular rotation..... But I only buy them on Clearance less than $20.

Happy Father's Day to all! Hopefully you're wee children made this a wonderful day.

Got the second cd from my favorite local Minnesota band yesterday, Alva Star (with John Hermanson, former frontman of Story Hill, another local band). Anyway Escalator (the Alva Star cd) is interesting, I think it will take a few more listens to really get into it. Kind of a fun pop rock. Their first cd, Alligators in the Lobby is still one of my all time favorite cds. I love it and would recommend it highly.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jun 17, 2005 -> 08:44 AM) What's so weird about that..? I'm closer to Jim's kids age than his. I don't know, I've never dated anyone with kids, so I guess that would be part of the weirdness.

I just realized she's closer in age to his kids than to him. Weird.

Stars make poor role models, surprise, surprise! Poll: Most Say Stars Make Poor Role Models By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer 24 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Most Americans think movie stars are poor role models and almost half say movies generally aren't as good as they used to be, an AP-AOL poll found. Australian star Russell Crowe's recent arrest for throwing a phone at a hotel employee is the latest in a long line of unflattering incidents involving major movie stars. Christian Slater faces charges he grabbed a woman's buttocks in a New York City grocery; Winona Ryder was convicted of shoplifting in 2002; and Hugh Grant was caught in a car with a prostitute in the mid-1990s. Those occurrences, combined with most Americans' preference for watching movies at home, suggest the industry faces challenges if it is to reverse a recent drop in attendance at movie theaters. Movie stars don't set a good example, said Earl Ledbetter, a movie fan who lives in Ventura, Calif. "They just don't have the morals," he said. "They marry and divorce, sleep around a lot." Almost three-fourths, 73 percent, said they would prefer to stay home and watch a movie on their DVD player, VCR or on pay-per-view. That's more than three times the number, 22 percent, who said they prefer to watch films at a theater, according to the telephone poll conducted by Ipsos for The Associated Press and AOL News. Almost half, 47 percent, said movies are getting worse, while a third said they're getting better. Hollywood's domestic revenues through last weekend totaled $3.85 billion, down 6.4 percent from 2004. Factoring in higher ticket prices, the number of people who have gone to theaters is down 9 percent from last year, according to industry estimates. After a strong start this year, movie business entered a prolonged slump, with revenues down the last 16 weekends compared to 2004. The wild card in comparing this year's revenues to 2004's is Mel Gibson's unexpected blockbuster last year "The Passion of the Christ," which drew a huge audience of Christians who were not regular movie-goers. People were most fond of comedies, followed by dramas and action-adventure movies. The AP-AOL poll of 1,000 adults was taken June 13-15 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

What's your flavor? I'm an absolut peach! It's kinda fun....

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jun 16, 2005 -> 10:00 AM) We been telling you to start a sox blog just like the Minnesota chick... you'd be great. But would it get me *fired*?

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Jun 16, 2005 -> 09:57 AM) DING! DING! DING! We have a winner! Sweet! Tell me what I've won Jim!

Frist weighs in... Frist: Schiavo Autopsy Results End Case By CONNIE CASS, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 54 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a surgeon who had questioned Terri Schiavo's diagnosis during the intense national debate on whether to remove her feeding tube, said the autopsy documenting her severe brain damage brings "a very sad chapter to a close." "She had devastating brain damage, and with that the chapter is closed," Frist said Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America." Frist, R-Tenn., said he never made his own diagnosis but did argue there wasn't enough information about Schiavo's condition to justify allowing her husband to remove her feeding tube against her parents' wishes. "I raised the question, 'Is she in a persistent vegetative state or not?' I never made the diagnosis, never said that she was not. I did say that certain tests should be performed to determine that before starving her to death," Frist said in the interview. In March, Frist and other Republicans pushed through unprecedented emergency legislation, signed by President Bush, aimed at prolonging Schiavo's life by allowing the case to be reviewed by federal courts. But federal courts rejected the parents' request to have her feeding tube reinserted. Polls found a majority of Americans opposed to federal involvement and the issue contributed to a drop in approval ratings for the Republican-controlled Congress. Debating the emergency legislation on the Senate floor, Frist questioned the diagnosis of the court-appointed doctors, referring to video footage provided by her family that seemed to show Schiavo responding to people around her. "I question it based on a review of the video footage. ... And that footage, to me, depicted something very different than persistent vegetative state," Frist said at the time. Other doctors said her reactions were automatic responses and not evidence of consciousness. The autopsy by a medical examiner in Florida, released Wednesday, showed irreversible brain damage, consistent with a persistent vegetative state. "The diagnosis they made is exactly right. It's the pathology, I'll respect that. I think it's time to move on," Frist said on CBS' "The Early Show."

Princess Leah 'Star Wars' princess inspires royal name in Norway Thu Jun 16, 8:04 AM ET OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian Princess Leah's name was inspired by a character in a "Star Wars" movie, the mother of the infant princess was quoted as saying on Thursday. "I must admit that I have always been a big 'Star Wars' fan, and Princess Leia has always been the most beautiful in the whole world," Princess Martha Louise said in an interview with the Norwegian daily Aftenposten. Princess Leah, born on April 8 this year and fifth in line to the Norwegian throne, was due to be baptised on Thursday. In the "Star Wars" movies, Princess Leia is the twin sister of Luke Skywalker and the daughter of Darth Vader. Princess Martha Louise did not explain the slight difference in spelling of the two names, both pronounced the same way.

*must start blog*

Wow, what an awful thing. Sad, sad, sad world we live in.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Jun 16, 2005 -> 09:21 AM) Are you defending marijuana? It's a drug. It's illegal. That's all their is to it. I can't wait until Apu gets to this thread. For the record, I'm not even a pothead, but after taking psychopharm it's pretty apparent that marijuana is outlawed for pretty specious reasons, especially when you consider alcohol is still legal....