Watch for Laura & Condi too.  LOL

You don’t need to speak Portuguese to understand this!!!

Update…found one :)

I don’t know how else to type that title, and since I can’t find an mp3 of Ryan Seacrest saying it, that will have to be good enough.  I don’t know many people who don’t like Ryan.  Just like the show, he appeals to nearly everyone.  If you live in LA, you know he’s got the most popular morning radio show in the city.  He’s likable and makes everyone feel likable. 

I think it’s the end of the road for little Sanjaya tonight.  But let’s face it; he’s not nearly as bad as Chicken Little!  He’s only 17 for goodness’ sake. I agree with Simon, he’s quite brave.  The pressure was really on all of them.  I can’t believe how many forgot their lyrics!  In the end I hope it comes down to Blake & Lakisha.  I think that would be a good final two.  Melinda still freaks me out a little…I can’t quite put my finger on it, but as Simon would say “I’m just being honest”.   The banter between Ryan & Simon tonight was priceless.  It couldn’t have been scripted better.  And Ryan took it like a champ, high heels, closet and all!   Paula seemed more drunk tonight, after being on the wagon last week.

Seeing Diana Ross tonight reminded me that I saw her last year on the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and La Cienega.  I was walking home from Trader Joes with 2 grocery bags in my hand, and she came whipping around that crazy corner in a Red Mercedes convertible.  The top was down, and that fucking hair of hers was practically horizontal blowing in the wind.  It seemed a little tamed tonight, and I think it was a brilliant move on her part to go on the most popular show in the world, to not only promote her new album and tour, but to really show her confidence in the wake of Dreamgirls and the fact that her character (played by Beyonce) may not have been have been received in the most positive light.  The more I read about her, it wasn’t really her fault what happened to Florence Ballard, but as her star emerged from that group, Florence Ballard was indeed left behind.  There’s no doubt Diana’s a legend however, and her catalogue of just the 12 songs tonight proved that. 

And if you want to see someone Simon really likes check out this X-Factor clip.  Leona really is great, some say the next Mariah. (Of course, she was Simon’s protege, and she won!)

I rode the bus today, (no, not with my sister)  for the first time ever in LA.  I’m not trying to sound pretentious; it’s just that I rarely even use my car because everything I ever need is within walking distance from my house (a real rarity in this city).  LA is such a car city, it’s ridiculous.  It’s like no other city in the world I’ve been to.  I realized today that without a car, you’re really screwed.  I have a new appreciation for bus riders and bus drivers.  A few observations (though after only one round trip in a bus, I’m hardly an authority):

• It was 85° F in LA today (92° yesterday).  I understand why all buses may not have air conditioning (although shouldn’t they? They do in Brazil!) but why don’t they open the windows?
• I saw no one give up their seat for women or the elderly.  I did twice, but wasn’t sure of the protocol. To me it just seemed like common sense
• One of the women I gave my seat to was about 90 years old if she was a day.  She had a lot of bags with her, and I kid you not, her t-shirt said this:

• The suckiest job in the world has to be driving an LA City bus.  Driving in LA is already the worst; imagine doing it all day in bus!
• Everyone wears headphones, but very few people talk on cell phones, which I found odd
• I must have seen 4 people in cars flip off the bus driver.  Now I see how stupid I look
• I only went 3 miles each way, and it took nearly 2 hours round trip (without a transfer).
• I don’t know what kind of fuel those buses run on, but they’re damn loud and smelly

Again, all of this may come as no surprise to anyone.  I’ve take public transit all over the world, just never in LA.  Somehow it seems much worse here, which I guess shouldn’t come as a surprise.  I’m looking forward to getting rid of my Accord in a year or two and getting a Honda Hybrid.  I’m just waiting for the technology to improve a bit.  Peace peeps

I miss Brazil!

Speaking of Brazil, Bush was in Sao Paulo yesterday.  In his speech he said, “I’m here today to tell you that America is generous and compassionate…”

Gee, remember when the world used to think that about us, without some troglodyte (aka the American president, not Bin Laden) telling them?? 

How truly sad and what an unfortunate sign of the times.

Hey what a picture! Thanks a lot!
That must have been some time ago but I think
we both are timeless gorgeous beauties,
don’t you agree?

I very much hope to see you soon!
Mick persuaded me to travel with her to the Himalayas in
autumn and after that we plan to move to Munich.
Be assured you are on the celebrity guestlist for the
house-warming party.

Miggl
QOLS, Blackett Laboratory
Imperial College London
Prince Consort Road

—–Original Message—–
From: Carey
Sent: Tue 3/13/2007 8:16 AM
To: Miggl
Cc: Michaela
Subject: Oh Happy Day

Miggl

Happy Birthday to you my friend.  I hope your birthday is as spectacular as you are my friend.  Beijos!!

Amos and I went on a wild goose chase tonight determined to find a suitable area rug for their living room.  After striking out at Cost Plus World Market, Crate & Barrel and Bed Bath & Beyond, we went for a yummy sushi dinner and headed over to a TJ Maxx which was somewhere in LA I’d never been.  Alas we found the perfect rug.  It looks really nice and the place is coming along well!

I read an amazing story today.  A friend of mine wrote eloquently about the importance of family and respecting the past, and though he was too young to remember it at the time, how it shaped him.  He posted an emotional email from his father that described a truly incredible, dangerous and life changing journey, fleeing from tyranny and hoping against hope for a better life for his children in America.  Though I knew of my friend’s past, I had never heard it from his father’s perspective, but after reading this account I gained a deep respect for where he came from and the experiences that shaped the man he is today.  It made me think about a couple of strange things that happened last week.

I had to drive to Laguna Thursday, and I was listening to the Dreamgirls soundtrack the whole way down.  It put me in a great mood, and when I met with my some of my business associates I asked if they had seen the movie.  One woman in particular expressed interest.  She’s in her late 40′s or early 50′s I think, and wanted to know more about the film.  I related the whole tale to her about Jennifer Hudson, The Supremes, Florence Ballard and the tragedy behind the real story.  She listened intently, and after I was done she responded “So it’s a black thing?” 

I was taken aback by the question, and didn’t know how to respond.  I asked her what she meant and she told me that while growing up in the 60′s her father never let her listen to “nigger music”, but that she and her sister secretly liked and listened to Diana Ross and the Supremes.  I could tell by the way she was relating the story that she had no idea that it sounded racist. (I don’t know about her father’s past, but I would venture to guess, he was also a product of his circumstances…and so the cycle continued).

We are all a reflection of our parents and our upbringing.  Some who struggled early in life (like my friend) might feel guilty about the sacrifices their parents made to ensure that their children had a better life.  After all, as children, don’t we all want to live up to our parent’s expectations?  When we act in ways that we think will disappoint them, it makes us sad.  That’s what part of growing up is all about.  Eventually you come to the realization that despite their flaws, your parents only want a better life for you.

Later the same day I drove to my aunt and uncle’s house for my regular Thursday spaghetti dinner with them.  They’re 2nd generation Italian Americans who grew up during the Depression.  They’re both in their late 70′s and early 80′s now, and since my Grandma (Nonna) died, they are one of my links to our family’s past.  My uncle served in WWII overseas fighting the Japanese and raised his family in the turbulent 50′s and 60′s.  There wasn’t one African American or Asian person within 100 miles from where he lived.  He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, but sometimes he makes off the cuff remarks about people of other races which in the modern “PC” world may not be received that well.  He is a product of his past; his upbringing, the war, the race riots of the 60′s.  He raised 3 kids (my cousins) to be decent hard working people like him, and they’re now raising their children and their children’s children the same way.  He is a good man, honest and hard working and has lived a good life.

I recently had a heated discussion with my friend Eva who’s getting her PhD in education at UCSB.  She has a utopian view that everyone has or should have the potential to be whatever their definition of success entails.  For some that might be a doctor or a lawyer.  For others it might be a ditch digger.  But because of the inequities in education, and class and race, she believes our society and our system is incapable of affording everyone the same opportunities.

I argued that with intelligence and hard work, in combination with our upbringing (the morals we learn from our parents and those experiences from our past that shape us), that anyone can be successful.  I used the example of Chris Gardner (the real life man portrayed by Will Smith in the movie “The Pursuit of Happyness”).  Tyson, who with his brother actually taught Will Smith how to solve the Rubik’s Cube for the movie, writes in his blog about how annoying it is when people ask him about “the trick” to solving the cube.  While on the movie’s set he observed people asking the same thing of Chris Gardner:  “What’s the trick of going from rags to riches?”  Chris responds by handing them a copy of his book!  Tyson’s point is well taken.  He worked hard and learned how to solve the Rubik’s cube himself.  It’s not a trick.  He’s smart (he can do it blindfolded), and he figured it out, just like Chris Gardner, who simply wanted a better life for his son.  The pursuit of happiness.

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that we all want what’s best for our children.  My business friend’s father who didn’t want her listening to “nigger music” honestly thought that was what was best for her.  My uncle, who doesn’t trust other ethnicities as much, has deep seated notions that were formed during a world war.  My friend, who got the heartfelt email had a father who overcame unbelievable obstacles to provide a better life for his children.

I’ll end with a movie recommendation I’ve made before.  If you haven’t seen Babel, you should.  It’s out on DVD now and it’s really what the essence of this posting is about.  My favorite three movies last year were: Babel (to appreciate how truly the same we all are, and simply want what’s best for our children by trying to do the right thing); Dreamgirls (to realize how dreams can come true, and also be fleeting) and The Pursuit of Happyness (to recognize the potential in all of us, and that it’s never to late to pursue a good life and ultimately be happy).

There was a huge announcement from Apple today:

Apple Computers announced today that it has developed a computer chip that can store and play music in women’s breast implants.  The iBreast will cost between $499 and $599. This is considered a major breakthrough because women are always complaining about men staring at their breasts and not listening to them.

My visitors from the last two days! A special shout out to Joelle in Chile and Beate in Germany.

Aren’t my little cousins adorable! They went whale watching today, but only saw dolphins.  Not bad!! Thanks Lis.

This woman is a real hero.  Buy her book, read her story, tell her story.

From The Washington Post’s Book World/washingtonpost.com
Reviewed by Anne Applebaum

“I am Ayaan, the daughter of Hirsi, the son of Magan.”

In the first scene of Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a child of 5, sitting on a grass mat. Her grandmother is teaching her to recite the names of her ancestors, as all Somali children must learn to do. “Get it right,” her grandmother warns. “They are your bloodline. . . . If you dishonor them you will be forsaken. You will be nothing. You will lead a wretched life and die alone.”

Thus begins the extraordinary story of a woman born into a family of desert nomads, circumcised as a child, educated by radical imams in Kenya and Saudi Arabia, taught to believe that if she uncovered her hair, terrible tragedies would ensue. It’s a story that, with a few different twists, really could have led to a wretched life and a lonely death, as her grandmother warned. But instead, Hirsi Ali escaped — and transformed herself into an internationally renowned spokeswoman for the rights of Muslim women.

The break began when she slipped away from her family on her way to a forced marriage in Canada and talked her way into political asylum in Holland, using a story she herself calls “an invention.” Soon after arriving, she removed her head scarf to see if God would strike her dead. He did not. Nor were there divine consequences when, defying her ancestors, she donned blue jeans, rode a bicycle, enrolled in university, became a Dutch citizen, began to speak publicly about the mistreatment of Muslim women in Holland and won election to the Dutch parliament.

But tragedy followed fame. In 2004, Hirsi Ali helped a Dutch director, Theo van Gogh, make a controversial film, “Submission,” about Muslim women suffering from forced marriages and wife beating. Van Gogh was murdered by an angry Muslim radical in response, and Hirsi Ali went into hiding. The press began to explore her past, discovering the “inventions” that she had used to get her refugee status. The Dutch threatened to revoke her citizenship; the American Enterprise Institute offered her a job in Washington. And thus she came to be among us.

Even the bare facts of this unusual life would make fascinating reading. But this book is something more than an ordinary autobiography: In the tradition of Frederick Douglass or even John Stuart Mill, Infidel describes a unique intellectual journey, from the tribal customs of Hirsi Ali’s Somali childhood, through the harsh fundamentalism of Saudi Arabia and into the contemporary West. Along the way, Hirsi Ali displays what surely must be her greatest gift: the talent for recalling, describing and honestly analyzing the precise state of her feelings at each stage of that journey.

She describes how she felt as a teenager, voluntarily wearing a hijab, a black cloak that hid her body: “It sent out a message of superiority: I was the one true Muslim. All those other little girls with their little white headscarves were children, hypocrites.” She writes of meeting her husband-to-be’s family: “I concentrated on behaving properly: Speaking softly, being polite, avoiding shame to my parents. I felt empty.”

She also describes how horrified she felt as an adult after Sept. 11, 2001, reaching for the Koran to find out whether some of Osama bin Laden’s more blood-curdling statements — “when you meet the unbelievers, strike them in the neck” — were direct quotations. “I hated to do it,” she wrote, “because I knew that I would find bin Laden’s quotations in there.” And there were consequences: “The little shutter at the back of my mind, where I pushed all my dissonant thoughts, snapped open after the 9/11 attacks, and it refused to close again. I found myself thinking that the Quran is not a holy document. It is a historical record, written by humans. . . . And it is a very tribal and Arab version of events. It spreads a culture that is brutal, bigoted, fixated on controlling women, and harsh in war.”

That moment led Hirsi Ali to her most profound conclusion: that the mistreatment of women is not an incidental problem in the Muslim world, a side issue that can be dealt with once the more important political problems are out of the way. Rather, she believes that the enslavement of women lies at the heart of all of the most fanatical interpretations of Islam, creating “a culture that generates more backwardness with every generation.”

Ultimately, it led to her most controversial conclusion too: that Islam is in a period of transition, that the religion as it is currently practiced is often incompatible with modernity and democracy and must radically transform itself in order to become so. “We in the West,” she writes, “would be wrong to prolong the pain of that transition unnecessarily, by elevating cultures full of bigotry and hatred toward women to the stature of respectable alternative ways of life.” That sentiment, when first expressed in Holland, infuriated not only Hirsi Ali’s compatriots but also Dutch intellectuals uneasy about criticizing the immigrants in their midst, particularly because both Hirsi Ali and Theo van Gogh went further than the usual criticism of radical, political Islam: Both believed that even “ordinary” forms of Islam, such as those practiced in Hirsi Ali’s Somalia, contain elements of discrimination against women that should not be tolerated in the West. Thanks to this belief in female equality, Hirsi Ali now requires permanent bodyguards. But having “moved from the world of faith to the world of reason,” Hirsi Ali now says she cannot go back.

Still, she describes herself as lucky: “How many girls born in Digfeer Hospital in Mogadishu in November 1969 are even alive today?” she asks rhetorically. “And how many have a real voice?” To that, it’s worth adding another question: How many women with Hirsi Ali’s experience of radical Islam have emerged to tell their stories? And how many can do so with such clarity and insight? Infidel is a unique book, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a unique writer, and both deserve to go far.

I’ve been having a debate with my family recently about forwarding “un-sourced” photos received via email, and wondered what the “blogoshpere” thought.  To wit, in chronological order, with appropriate names changed (to protect the innocent) and commentary from my brother and cousins:

(Note: my highlighted editorial marks and yes, I do have too much time on my hands, but I’m still up until 4 in the morning documenting this nonsense!  Why to I bother?? (Inside joke))

Check these pictures out!

Here are a few Photo’s of a Lake Effect storm blowing into downtown

Buffalo , I thought they were interesting and I would share them with you.

If you are not from Buffalo the first picture shows the HSBC tower on

the left of the photo, (the tall building) the Niagara section of the

Thruway runs right next to it, milepost N 5.0 or so, and Route 5  

To the right of the photo the building that

looks like a inverted cone is Buffalo City Hall easily visible from the

Thruway at Milepost 5.8 or so.

If you are from Buffalo you know that we often have Lake Effect storms

which cause white out conditions in one area, an in other areas the sun

can be out. This often makes it hard for the people in the sunny areas

to believe that the reports of limited or no visibility could possibly

be true.

These photo’s illustrate how a Lake effect blows in and the kind of

conditions its creates in the affected area

(ed: note misplaced apostrophe’s a hallmark of a phony email)

(ed: and 2 more like this, almost the same.  Looks photoshopped to me!)

From: My Dad
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 9:24 AM
To: Carey & Multiple Others
Subject: Photo’s of Storm blowing into Downtown Buffalo

From: Carey
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 12:17 PM
To: Dad
Cc: My Brother
Subject: RE: Photo’s of Storm blowing into Downtown Buffalo

Actually the jury is still out on this one Dad 

http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/buffalo.asp

From: My Brother
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 10:35 AM
To: Carey & Dad
Subject: RE: Photo’s of Storm blowing into Downtown Buffalo

Well the jury may be out on the photos, but not the fact that Dad accurately documented where he got it from. (ed: unlike last time he sent a similar photo and I complained more)

From: Carey
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 11:05 AM
To: My Brother & My Dad

Cc: My Cousins
Subject: RE: Photos of Storm blowing into Downtown Buffalo (I’ve removed the offending apostrophe J)

Technically true, however, the person who sent them to Dad, claims their friend who still lives in Buffalo sent them to him, which is basically the same as what the Snopes website says; “someone in the Buffalo division…”  The problem is that if this is indeed a photoshopped picture that people will find impressive and forward around the world, the people who still use antiquated operating systems like Windows 95 or even 3.1 (someone in Krakow Poland logged onto my website last week using Windows 95 and 640 x 480 monitor) are vulnerable to hacks that steal information that is encrypted in small snippets of code in the email or the embedded photo.  This type of computer crime can affect everyone (imagine if our 80 year old aunt’s credit was ruined and she was kicked out of her house, and had to move in with you because of an email about a snowstorm in Buffalo!!), so it’s important to know if emails are true or not, before perpetuating the problem!

(ed: LOL, OK, maybe a bit of a stretch)

The other issue is one of pure ethics.  Someone in this thread is lying.  It may not be Dad or his neighbor but it’s someone.  This goes to the integrity of the Internet, and again perpetuates a problem.  When I get photos like this from anyone I know, I’m more concerned about people questioning the sender’s integrity and honesty, than I am about whether or not the photo is indeed real.  When it’s someone you know that’s spreading these things over the Internet, you don’t want them impugning themselves. You should always try to check the facts first.

(ed: 20/20 had a piece tonight on those Nigerian email scams, and people who actually fell for them!  One was a heart surgeon!)

–Carey–

From: My Cousin
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 11:12 AM
To: Carey
Subject: RE: Photos of Storm blowing into Downtown Buffalo (I’ve removed the offending apostrophe)

It really is therapeutic for you, isn’t it?!!!LOL…you are cracking me up!!!I enjoyed your customer service letter on your blog as well.I meant to email you about that.

The answer to “Why do I bother?!” is “Because you need to!”.

From: Carey
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 11:38 AM
To: My Cousin
Cc: My Other Cousin
Subject: RE: Photos of Storm blowing into Downtown Buffalo (I’ve removed the offending apostrophe)

I am becoming a bit neurotic in my old age aren’t I??    It’s so funny that you ended with “Why do I bother” because as I was reading your message I was on the phone with a coworker, and asked why he hadn’t responded to my email, and he said he never got it.  So when I looked, it was still on my taskbar because I hadn’t pressed Send yet.  His response, “Why do I bother?”  LOL

–Carey–

From: My Other Cousin
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 12:15 PM
To: Carey
Subject: Re: Photos of Storm blowing into Downtown Buffalo (I’ve removed the offending apostrophe)

You people have way too much time on your hands!!  J  Oh, and, thanks for removing the apostrophe!  I was, indeed, offended by it.  LOL

Update: A Customer Service Rep at this bank did the right thing, and I have removed their name as a courtesy

Oh, and speaking of that email I sent the other day to the bank that had one of my mortgages; here is their stupid canned response.  Bastards!  (Though I expected nothing more, LOL….just a venting process)

New York Times Op Ed piece by Retired Army Major General Paul Eaton

And this from Real Time, stating we are in a Constitutional crisis.