Soxy

QUOTE(knightni @ Jan 11, 2007 -> 02:37 AM) "Pan's Labryinth" should have been edited to PG-13. I saw the review said "R", and thought to myself that basically it will be the film's kiss of death in the box office. I mean, why have a "fairy tale" rated R? Honestly, I think most "original" fairy tales would have been rated R, like the brothers Grimm and stuff. We're just so used to the sanitized crap we think that's what fairy tales are all about: happy endings. Not people cutting off toes or turning into sea foam or whatever. Oh, and I saw Stranger Than Fiction last night. It was actually a lot better than I was expecting. Cute, fun, etc. There was a damn boom mic in damn near every frame, though, and that drove me up the wall.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 09:40 PM) Way to assume, and completely avoid the article with a snide remark. Gay bashing in San Fransisco, who would have thought that possible? Um, anyone that knows that wherever there are gay people there will be people bashing them?

Mac from Mac and PC, I think he was also in Dodgeball. I just find him totally tantalizing for some reason. . .

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jan 9, 2007 -> 06:51 PM) For fun I tried to be extremely right wing as possible, including banning porno, supporting Reagan and Robertson, and being against AIDS research and Gays, and I still got a 33. I can't even imagine how NUKE got a 37. I did the same thing for the liberal side and got a 5 The most conservative score I could get was a 38 (I'm not sure what I'm missing to hit 40), and the most liberal was a 2. Maybe the endpoints aren't actually achievable. Also, I think some issues could go either way when considering the extremes. For example, the far religious right and pornography and the stance of some far left feminists is the same (though the rationale is different).

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 02:41 PM) My wife and I went through an exercise much like that recently. We used Metra as a guide. We tried to find suburbs that had Metra stations, which had trains that were an hour to downtown or less (eliminated stuff like Geneva/LaFox/Elburn, Elgin/Big Timber, etc.). We then eliminated ones with significant crime problems or lousy school systems, ones we could never afford in any case (anything on the north shore for example), and eliminated Metra lines in the south and southwest suburbs (our families are N and W burbs). That left us a list of about 50 suburbs to choose from. Seems pretty good, yeah? We then took those suburbs and searched homes on realtor sites, and set the threshhold for 400k or less (for 3+ BR, 2+ BA, garage, yard, single family home). Suddenly, half those suburbs were eliminated because they had basically no homes available (or had like one or two, that were tear-down specials). Only about 15 of the suburbs had more than half a dozen homes that fit that criteria. It was amazing. I think we're going to end up paying for the neighborhood and the schools, and buy an older home that needs some work. Yay projects for me! When I bought my house out here that's basically what I did. I chose a nice, safe neighborhood, and a (kind of) crappy house. On the plus side, I'm now a pretty good DIYer. But it is crazy how expensive housing is out in the suburbs. Even if I landed a great job at UIC or something, I might still be priced out of my hometown. Kind of sad. It really reminds me of the housing situation over in the UK--people paying more for a small flat than I would ever want to pay for a house.

Link Pelosi bans smoking near House floor Wed Jan 10, 10:03 AM ET WASHINGTON - New House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) is snuffing out one of Congress' enduring prerogatives, still cherished by some lawmakers — the right to smoke near the floor of the House. ADVERTISEMENT Pelosi, D-Calif., announced Wednesday that effective immediately, House members would no longer be able to light up in the ornate Speaker's Lobby off the House floor where lawmakers mingle during votes. The room is often hazy with smoke, as it was Tuesday night as the House voted on anti-terror legislation; Minority Leader John Boehner (news, bio, voting record), R-Ohio, often has cigarette in hand, for example. "The days of smoke-filled rooms in the United States Capitol are over," Pelosi said. "Medical science has unquestionably established the dangerous effects of secondhand smoke, including an increased risk of cancer and respiratory diseases. I am a firm believer that Congress should lead by example." Smoke-filled rooms won't be gone entirely — lawmakers will still be allowed to smoke in their own offices. Smoking is banned in most federal buildings, and the District of Columbia recently banned smoking in public areas, as has Pelosi's home district of San Francisco and a number of other cities.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 02:16 PM) I'm hoping for something a bot closer to the city than Montgomery, but, I may have to bite the bullet. I was literally going through all the metra stops, on that line, and I couldn't think of any there that would be very affordable. I have a couple of friends renting in Downers Grove and they're talking about moving out of DuPage soon just so they can afford a house.

Montgomery is rather affordable, as are some parts of Aurora. Of course that's relative. But if you compare prices there to, say, Oswego or Naperhell--I mean Naperville they're pretty reasonable. Aurora schools are a bit suspect, but Montgomery usually goes to Oswego districts which are good schools.

QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 01:43 PM) I've been looking at houses here and there in the west suburbs and if you want something under 10 years old, unless you go way out west...you're payin 500,000 minimum. I also can't figure out for the life of me how people afford to tear down and re build. I think there's just a whole lot more rich people out there than I thought. Or people that take out mortgages they can't really afford. I have a feeling a lot of people take out those interest only mortgages and aren't really saving for when the payments will bloom up.

Well, I live in a pretty depressed market, so housing prices here are pretty low and we weren't really affected when the bubble burst. I'm not expecting much of an effect when I re-sell in a couple of years. I've put a little money in the house, that I should get back (and more) when I re-sell. My parents live out in the south-west (ish) suburbs, and there's been some huge fallout there with the bubble bursting. A lot of the new subdivisions have a lot of homes in foreclosure, and people had paid more for houses than they're currently worth. Plus with the housing boom, a lot of the homes are less than hot quality. My dad is a contractor and has been doing some rather major repairs in some of the big subdivisions you wouldn't expect would be needed on homes that are less than 10 years old. My parents live in an older home, so they aren't really affected by the market down-turn--but they've seen the after effects much more than I have. I guess the biggest direct effect of the housing market that I've felt is really considerign where I'd like to settle and get a job in the future. Big cities and suburbs are kind of out, and I'm going to gear my job search (in two years) towards smaller towns and more rural communities where I'll actually be able to afford a house again.

SMU faculty not sure they want the Bush library there.

Good-bye old Catch-All Anything friend. May flights of angels sing you to your rest.

Perfect 10. Right where I thought I'd be.

Link New Jersey Panel Suggests An End To The Death Penalty January 4, 2007 5:21 p.m. EST Matthew Borghese - All Headline News Staff Writer Trenton, NJ (AHN) - The New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission has released its report on capital punishment in the Garden State. The Commission, tasked by Governor Jon Corzine to review the state's procedures and methods for execution, found capital punishment should "be abolished and replaced with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, to be served in a maximum security facility." According to the report, "There is no compelling evidence that the New Jersey death penalty rationally serves a legitimate penological intent," and that "The costs of the death penalty are greater than the costs of life in prison without parole." "There is increasing evidence that the death penalty is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency. The penological interest in executing a small number of persons guilty of murder is not sufficiently compelling to justify the risk of making an irreversible mistake. The alternative of life imprisonment in a maximum security institution without the possibility of parole would sufficiently ensure public safety and address other legitimate social and penological interests, including the interests of the families of murder victims." Governor Corzine issued a statement after the report was published, saying, "As someone who has long opposed the death penalty, I look forward to working with the Legislature to implement the recommendations."

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Jan 4, 2007 -> 05:15 PM) Ahh, it's just a bull**** excuse. Your typical groupie is dumber than a box of rocks. How he can even hold a conversation with someone like that is beyond me. I'm envisioning some Beavis & Butthead type conversations. I'm imagining there aren't a lot of conversations. I guess my biggest surprise is (like it was mentioned) that it took so long.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 4, 2007 -> 11:59 PM) "No back rubs" - German Chancellor Merkel to George W. Bush at a press conference today. Well, I am heartened if that blurb is true that he's listening to Merkel.

One more snarky comment and this thread is closed.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jan 4, 2007 -> 10:40 AM) My wife was in Flatley's school on the northside when she was a little girl. Your sister probably ran into the same thing, they were a lot better at the dance but got hit at some feis's with not keeping their hands locked at the side, which is counted as part of the style. I had a friend whose grandmother would tape her arms and hands to her side to teach her "proper technique" while dancing.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 4, 2007 -> 07:30 AM) If I am remembering my stats right, today it is much more of a minority disease than anything else... Good memory. From until.org United States: * An estimated one million people are currently living with HIV in the United States, with approximately 40,000 new infections occurring each year. * 70 percent of these new infections occur in men and 30 percent occur in women. * By race, 54 percent of the new infections in the United States occur among African Americans, and 64 percent of the new infections in women occur in African American women. * 75 percent of the new infections in women are heterosexually transmitted. * Half of all new infections in the United States occur in people 25 years of age or younger.

The I wish I was anywhere but back at work Shuffle: I know I know--Tegan and Sara (captures the mood well) Closing Time--Semisonic (I wish) Crying in the Chapel--Elvis Let it snow--Diana Krall Centerfold--J. Geils Band Say Anything--Aimee Mann Somewhere Over the Rainbow--Tori Amos Fool's Game--Bonnie Raitt Tangled Up in Blue--Bob Dylan (excellent) Amazed--Paul McCartney Bonus Suck It Up track: On My Own--Les Mis (how horribly apt)

Water and sprite for me.

My two top faves would probably be Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen, mostly for Helen Mirren's amazing performance.

Hm, here's another 5: 1.) I am a direct descendant of Jefferson Davis 2.) On the other side of my family, Calvin Coolidge is a cousin 3.) I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. 4.) My paternal grandfather was invited to try out for the Washington Redskins, my maternal grandfather for the Cardinals (neither took the offer because of either money or family reasons). 5.) Glasgow is my favorite city outside of the US.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 28, 2006 -> 09:34 PM) While we're at it, i'll throw in another very sad story about the little town of Bethlehem. Quiz question: How many of the Gospels name Bethlehem as the birthplace of Christ?

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Dec 28, 2006 -> 06:09 PM) Except when they poop in the house, and you have to clean it up before you go to work. My dog once peed in my bed. Right before bedtime. And, somehow, I still love her.