Tuesday - yet another day that ends in "y"

Meat Loaf claims "Bat Out of Hell" rights
(Well, it's not like any rational person would want it...)







Mayor wants brothels kept from cemeteries
(Is it just me, or is anyone else surprised that THIS IS A PROBLEM?)









Lioness in zoo kills man who invoked God
(Please let this mean we're RID of Pat Robertson! HUZZAH!!!)








Happy Day of Reckoning!

Also, to WWII vets, happy D-Day anniversary. And to Cam and Chloe, two of the best twins I know, HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY!!!

Cam and Chloe are growing up to be really cool people. I don’t always pay as much attention to them as I should, but I’m hoping to change that. They’re each unique in their own right, sharp as tacks, and very loving. They’re trying to navigate their way into teenage-hood as well, and it’s not an easy job. But something tells me they’ll try to remain happy, healthy kids.

So enough sap going on here…let’s take a look at the world around us.

In the “tie a knot in it” department, the Washington Post reports on high school bathroom passes. Ah…high school…where the mundane, the profane and the absurd meet for coffee. Or as one of the characters in the movie “Clerks” puts it, “That’s what high school is all about…algebra, bad lunches and infidelity.”

High school – for the most part – was a lot better for me than junior high was. By the time I hit high school, I knew what I liked in terms of activities, as well as what I didn’t like. So no trying out for the cheerleading squad and being a dismal failure...no smacking someone on the back of the head with a flag or rifle in marching band…no drill team (or as we called it back then, “Butt Squad”) allowing opportunities for me to show my legs in a hideously short skirt.

But one thing we never had (and maybe that’s due to the fact that we were small) was the concept of the “bathroom pass”. We had other passes…for example, we had to get passes to go to the library during study hall, or if the music heads wanted to hang out in the band or choir rooms, we needed a pass for that. But if we had to go to the bathroom, I don’t remember the requirement of an actual PASS in our hand. We asked the teacher, they said yes or no, and that was it. I’m not saying it was a perfect system – that’s just what was in place at the time I matriculated.

Things are so different now for students in my old school district.

For example, the junior high kids back home get a SNACK break in addition to lunch.

HUH?

That is so NOT FAIR. We didn’t get snack breaks…we did lunch in three shifts and that had to last us until dismissal. However, they have “block scheduling” in my old school district and learning is totally different now than it was back then. It’s a whole new ball game, and one I’m glad I didn’t have to play. However, I was relieved from the burden of having to walk uphill in the snow both ways with no shoes on and having to fend off grizzly bears with my Trapper Keeper. (They were polar bears.)

So anyway – enough of tromping through my memories here.

The final note is from the “Death of Yet Another Living Legend” department…Billy Preston passed away today at age 59. This guy was a child prodigy; by age 10, he was playing piano for Mahalia Jackson (one of the greatest gospel singers of her time). He was the only musician to have the distinction to play for the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. He was also successful in his own right, but fought legal issues and drug abuse problems. He had a bum kidney too, and that’s what brought him down.

I’m sure “Big Ernie” (Hoss’ term for the supreme being) is aware that his heavenly choir is getting one H*** of an accompanist. The clouds will be rocking up there from now on.

So I will take my leave of you right now, but I will be back. In the meantime, here’s a clip from “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” that features Dan Castellanetta and Harry Shearer doing their various “Simpsonian” characters.




Hasta la bye bye…

Sudiegirl