RABBIT RABBIT (supposedly good luck if you say it at the beginning of the month - ask Hoss)

Today in history:

In 1512, Michelangelo's paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were first exhibited to the public.
(Now, he's named after a Ninja Turtle.)

In 1870, the United States Weather Bureau made its first meteorological observations.
(Notice they didn't say the observations were correct...)

In 1944, "Harvey," a comedy by Mary Chase about a man and his friend, an invisible 6-foot-tall rabbit, opened on Broadway.
(This is actually one of the first plays where my sister had the female lead. She played Veta Louise Simmons...who accidentally gets committed instead of her brother, Elwood P. Dowd...Muchos Gracias to Des for correcting my error. God, you'd think I'd know this crap by now..)

In 1991, Clarence Thomas took his place as the newest justice on the Supreme Court.
(I can never hear the words "Long Dong Silver" again without thinking of the highest court in the land.)

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OK - first topic of discussion today...Barbra Streisand.

In the "What a waste of a drink" department, Barbara Streisand had a drink heaved at her by an unhappy concert attendee. To quote the article:

Streisand's publicist, Dick Guttman, said a paper cup filled with some sort of liquid was thrown on stage but apparently did not hit Streisand during her second performance in this Fort Lauderdale suburb.

This happened during the mid-concert skit that pokes fun at our current seated prez.

Here is what Streisand's manager says regarding her reaction:

Streisand's manager, Martin Erlichman, said she shrugged off the incident and responded to the angry audience member by saying: "It's a free country and they're entitled to express their opinion."

Moreover, Ehrlichman stated that the writer of said sketch (Bush impersonator Steve Bridges) is a Republican. (I'm sorry...I was waiting for Barbra to say, "Some of my best friends are Republicans...")

OK - I know some person is waiting to hear my opinion about this because they're really trying to get out of the habit of reading "Ziggy". And BTW, for the record, I'm NOT a registered Republican. I'm a registered (yet disgruntled) Democrat. And this isn't about politics - it's about quality of performance. Dammit! So here we go...

1. Are we sure the liquid in the cup was something potable (meaning drinkable)?

2. Uh - you're in Ft. Lauderdale, Babs. That's still a hotbed of controversy since Dubya's brother is the GOVERNOR (last I heard, anyway). Something tells me that many "friends of Dubya" were in attendance at the concert, you know? You can't expect the crowd in Ft. Lauderdale that may have contributed mucho dinero to Dubya's campaign to sit and watch a li'l skit about his incompetence. Besides, that's a given. Yawn.

3. OK - if you've had three bad reactions on a tour that totals 20 cities, why the hell are you still doing the sketch? For every person who actually lobs insults of paper cups full of questionable liquid at you, there are probably 4 times as many people who are just sitting there stone faced with their arms crossed over their chest and grumbling, "Why the hell doesn't she just sing 'Evergreen'? I mortgaged my house to get a ticket for this show, dammit!"

4. And let's not forget the time when she wasn't so cool with a heckler and used my favorite swear word (starts with "f", ends with "k", and is NOT a piece of silverware) at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN!!!!! She was NOT supporting free speech at that exact moment in time, now, was she?

So from all of us at Rancho Sudiegirl...drop the Bush skit, Babs. Do what many people (excluding myself) feel you do well...sing.

If you can't sing, juggle.

Create balloon animals.

Do ANYTHING but that f'ing sketch!

Thank you,
The Management.
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Well, what did I do on Halloween?

Not a hell of a lot, really.

D and I went to talk to our landlady about mortgage stuff for buying the condo we currently live in.

Ed H. and I argued over the merits of "Mary Worth" and "Mark Trail". He does read it ironically, but I can't even muster up the brainpower to do so. Deep conversation here.

We only had one kid come by our house for Halloween, and it was a 12 year old girl handing out religious tracts for her church. I would have refused except they had those orange and cream Creme Savers stapled to them, and I'm such a sucker for those.

So I took the tract, ate the Creme Saver and found out I was going to hell if I didn't change my ways.

Meh - I already knew that.

Good Creme Saver, though...highly recommended.

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Also, over the weekend, I finally saw (most of) "Grey Gardens", the documentary about "Big Edie" and "Little Edie" Bouvier Beals, aunt and cousin to Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

It made me itch, however, so I had to stop.

Seriously - it did. Seeing all the overgrown plants, the gazillion cats roaming around, the raccoons having free reign of the place, the shabbiness of this house that used to be so grand...pass the damn Gold Bond, please.

Once I researched a little bit about the making of this film, I was shocked to read that the film crew and the director had to wear flea collars around their ankles.

In addition to the house being so decrepit, they mostly contained themselves in one room...a bedroom with two twin beds and stuff scattered all over the place, and a hot plate. They lived below the poverty line, but ate pate. Huh?

The saddest part was that they had these cyclical arguments over things. Did Little Edie come home to take care of Mom, or did she have a breakdown and come home? Did Mom want her to come home?

Bicker, bicker, bicker...they'd just peck at each other like two old hens. One of the few things they agreed on was Norman Vincent Peale. Yeesh.

So "Big Edie" and "Little Edie" were members of "American aristocracy"?

Huh - give me a redneck any day. At least they're honest about the toilet they've got in their front yard or the five cars they have scattered on the property.

They don't call that stuff a "nouveau artistic statement".

They call it a "toilet" and some "broken down cars that we're gonna fix".

Still, it's nice to watch a documentary where the protagonists are crazier than I am.

And with that...I'm off to save the world - or at least get some more of those Creme Savers.

Bye.

Sudiegirl