Spring has finally arrived in all its colorful beauty...Everyday should be like the last 5 days...
The pinks from cherries & magnolias, lavenders of early azaleas, creamy white andromeda bells, bright yellow forsythia, fields of daffodils, the many faces of pansies, & the perennial bleeding heart, all have made an appearance....
Pic #6 is a home very high on a hill with so many daffodils on its slope, looks just beautiful when you come around the curve, #2 is a closeup of the many different daffodils that someone took a lot of time to plant on that slope...
You're a couple weeks ahead of us.... and it's great to see such lovely flowers. I'm particularly fond of bleeding hearts and that one is a beauty. Enjoy!
We just watched "Carousel" on Public TV. A great musical. I had not seen it before. John and I were both teary when they sang, When you walk through a storm. Rogers and Hammerstein - of course.
Jan... the bleeding hearts are in the last picture. They are the ones with the greenery and the pink flowers shaped like hearts. They are perennials and I've been trying to establish some in my front yard with no success.
My front yard has a southern exposure and I just found out that bleeding hearts can't take anymore than 6 hours of sun max... and they can thrive in the shade.
So Rick made me a bed on the eastern side of the house this morning.... and I will try to grow them there. My mother used to grow the most amazing ones at my childhood home in Massachusetts. I wish I had her green thumb.... but I don't.
Think that all those flowers are not favorites of deer, they don't eat daffodils, hyacinth, andromeda, but they sure love tulips & hosta & you don't see many rhodys around town either...& when I tried to grow roses, forgetaboutit...they ate the buds before they could open, same with tulips...
Renee, that bleeding heart was brought from my old house when this one was built & it grows back every year so far, & I cut it back to the ground when it turns yellow...but have not been able to have it take elsewhere...the front yard faces south, but the treeline is so close that there is not all day sun there, that side gets sun late morning early afternoon...
I love peonies, but have not been successful at all...my friend has beautiful peonies...I cut some of hers just to have them in the house, they smell so nice...
But Carol knows, she has the one flower I would so love to grow & it is virtually wild at Carol's & in Florida too...the gardenia...the most delicate flower with a fragrance that just can not be copied....
I did manage to get my clothes washed and folded. I watched several movies and all had three stars and all were depressing. The last one was the Ides of March. Anyone see that one?
Yesterday early AM when I was watching the rerun of the earlier recorded Correspondence's Dinner, I heard someone talking about the Duck Dynasty. It's another reality show and it's based in Louisiana. I hadn't heard of that show. I did look it up and watched an episode and didn't see the attraction to it. I did a little search and found that there are quite a few reality shows based in Louisiana, about 9. I haven't heard of most of them.
There are so many cable channels on TV now that they have to create shows where they watch weird people doing their weird things. We do have a lot of people who would qualify around my state.
And our streak of beautiful days has ended...while it is in the mid 50s, w/o the sun shining, & some rain showers, it feels chilly....but we need rain, for April so far only about 1", average is about 3"...but the wet weather today will do little since it is only showers, no sustained steady rain forecast...w/o rain there is a sheen of green pollen on the water still in the wetlands...
Coreen, this weekend it's predicted that our lows will be in the 40s. That's unusual for May but I'm not complaining. I'll take the cool weather for as long as we can get it.
Your cooler weather makes your flowers so much prettier than ours in the summer. The heat here wipes them out after our short spring. I love pansies and have, with lots of work, kept a few going thru the summer. I have to keep them in the shade.
Jan.... The Master is loosely based on the life of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. I haven't seen the movie.... but Hubbard was both charismatic and very weird... if not slightly insane. Now that I've read that expose on Scientology and it's founder, I'd like to see that movie.
Coreen... we aren't getting any rain today nor are we supposed to all week. But we have had plenty of rain recently and it's knocked down some of the pollen.
I understand that those reality shows are cheap. The Duck Dynasty was negotiating a raise to 200 thou per episode. I read that they had more viewers than American Idol, at least one week.
Carol... I've seen Duck Dynasty once... it's not for me. I hope the guys do get more money.... the show is immensely popular.... IMO, they should get as much as they can while the getting is hot.
I do like a show on Animal Planet called Call of the Wildman. It's set in Kentucky and is about a group of guys who catch wildlife where they're not wanted for a very reasonable price. The leader is a guy called Turtleman. Say you have a raccoon making a mess in your shed.... they come over and get rid of it for about $80. They don't use guns.... they catch all the animals with their hands (they wear heavy gloves) and put them in sacks and then release them back into the wild far away. I don't watch it often, but when I do, I enjoy it.
A couple of years ago you and I were discussing a reality show about houseboat people. I still haven't seen one of those. PBS had this special about this couple who converted a large barge into a houseboat and lived on it, in the Atchafalaya Basin, for 10 years. I found the story very interesting and even bought a small book written by the woman who lived on the barge. The book just didn't tell me enough. I wanted more info on the day to day details of how a person lives out in the middle of nowhere. It's not like they could run to the quick stop when they needed stuff. They had to live off the river/land. I could watch that kind of reality show.
Here is a link to the Louisiana PB program about the houseboat.
Renee, I've watched several of those shows where they catch those big catfish with their hands. One involves a contest where 5 or 6 groups of guys compete each week for the largest catfish. They have to get the fish in still alive. What they do looks pretty scary to me. I'm pretty scared just putting my hands down in the river to rinse them off when I get worm dirt on them.
I still haven't set up my catfish hoopnet to try to catch some catfish. I plan to give it a try soon. I don't want to take it away very far because someone might steal it. I'm not sure that my area, around my wharves, are good catfish territory. I think I'll start chumming the area, throwing some bait down to make it more desirable.
Renee, we watched about 3/4 of the movie. I had heard the same thing. It is just a very weird movie. I too have read a lot about Hubbard. I may rent it again. My tolerance level for weirdness was at its peak and I needed to get the movie back before I had to pay for another day. I will await your assessment.
The Impossible, about the tsunami was a real cliff hanger. If you cannot tolerate the suspense, I would not recommend it. It was good though and I was glad I rented it.
I had read another book written by another woman who had experienced the same tsunami. It was well written but a much sadder story. The name of the book was "The Wave."
John and I both loved "The Sessions." I was surprised about John. Thoutht he would go to sleep.
Our little dog has a lesion on her face, just below where she once had an eye. It was infected and gave her one round of antibiotics but didn't heal so she is on her 2nd round of antibiotics. I think it is healing now. Poor little girl. She has tooth problems and the vet thought it might be an absessed tooth causing the lesion. don't know for sure. We had her teeth cleaned about 6 months ago and now she needs it again. I have tried brushing her teeth and she is so resistant to the little toothbrush in her mouth. So I started cleaning them with a damp clean cloth. The vet said she may need teeth cleaning every 6 months.
I ran across several back to back episodes of Duck Dynasty this afternoon and watched a few. Actually those guys are pretty entertaining and fairly sharp guys. It's a more interesting program than most everything else that was on.
This is what happens sometimes when you tape a movie on TV and watch it later. I taped a movie, The Next Three Days on TV. We did not get to the end. I cannot find another showing of it on TV Guide and cannot find at Redbox. Any suggestions?
If nothing else, you might be able to find it and stream it on Amazon. It works pretty well and they charge you so much per movie. I watched the second season of DA on Amazon and paid per episode.
ah dammit!... the #@%# bear hit my bird feeders last night. I knew I was playing with fire by not taking them in at night. Since Rick is now retired, we stay up a little later and get up a little later. I didn't want to have to get up earlier just to put out bird feeders.
Luckily, it took down the pole... but all my feeders are still intact. Rick will put the pole back up. But now I have all my birds sitting in trees and wondering where the hell is their breakfast.
Sorry about that Renee...but Know the feeling of having to get out & feed the crowd every day...when my garage door opens, greeted by lots of birds talking & squirrels standing looking at me, all saying 'about time'...
Now here's one of those 'really?' facts...from cnbc this a.m....
Oreo is the #1 cookie in sales, topping $1 billion annually, but Girl Scout cookies are #2 with sales shy of $800 million & the GS only sells them from Jan - April...
Coreen, do you remember your last Oreo? I have an occasional craving for them. I haven't had a GS cookie in a long time either. I just don't run across them.
Sorry about your bear bird feeder raider Renee. I don't think there's a pole block for them.
My squirrels still get to my feeder and I think they are enjoying the challenge I present to them. There's at least one that gets up on the top of the swing frame and looks me right in the eye, defiantly, before it turns around and launches to the top of my feeder. I grab my water rifle and try to scare it off. Sometimes that works.
I could try to move my feeder to where they wouldn't have a launching spot but that would put it in the middle of the front yard and I couldn't watch the birds there. At least I have slowed down how fast they empty the feeder and provided us both with entertainment.
The pole is back up... the feeders are full.... you'd never know a bear had been here right now. Guess I gotta take them in at night and get my butt up again.
Carol... sounds like you've got squirrel that belongs in Cirque du Soleil.
I buy GS cookies every winter.... thin mints and samoas... I take them with us when we go to our timeshare in northern NH.
I don't crave oreos but they are my favorite cookie. I cannot eat just one. Don't buy GS cookies either. I cannot leave cookies alone if they are on hand.
Didn't sleep well last night. My right knee is acting up again. I overdid my walking the other day. It was much better before this but not entirely without pain. I finally got up and took a tylenol and drank some sleepy time tea. Did get back to sleep about 3 am and got in about 3 hours. I will nap today.
Don't eat oreos either, the times I did have GS, liked the samaos...If I buy cookies it's Pepperidge Farm Maui or Tahiti choc chips (milk choc) they also have others made with (dark)...they also make soft cookies which are ok...
But find it impressive that GS cookies in just 1/4 of the year can sell enough to be the #2 seller when its competitors are huge companies...
Jan.... the bears den in a mountain just down the road. The feeders are hanging on bolts that go through the pole... it only takes a minute to bring them in. I was lucky this time that none of the feeders were ripped up or destroyed. The bears would be here often if I left them out and that can get expensive in having to constantly replace the feeders.
It just means I have to get up to put them back out... which also only takes a minute. But if I want to sleep in... or lie there talking to Rick... I'll feel guilty about my hungry birds.
I love cookies and like I said earlier, cannot eat just one. I have a little cookie treat I can make that is not too high calorie and since I put it together myself, I tend to eat fewer of them. I use the chocolate graham crackers - one long cracker - break it into 2 pieces and put a layer of choc hazelnut spread on each cracker, a layer of marshmallow cream on top and voila, a cookie that satisfies my endless sweet tooth. Peanut butter is good with either choc hazelnut spread or marshmallow cream too.
If you are going to watch the Voice knock out rounds tonight, you can go to the Voice on Facebook and they have a place where you can play along and select which singer you think the coach will select. I did that last night and it was fun.
Well Jan, 6 out of 8 times I did. Sometimes it was easy but for several, it was just too close and it's not who I thought was best, it's trying to decide who each judge thought was best.
One of the things I love about May is that the Rose Breasted Grosbeaks return. Here it is May 1st... and right on schedule, I see my first one in my feeders this morning. And the Phoebe's are singing away and building a nest inside the roof of our woodshed.
My fingers are crossed and double crossed that the black flies stay away for awhile.
Do we all have a soul mate out there? And do we also have those people out there, who when we are around them, bring out evil aspects of our own personalities that we don't even want to admit we all have?
My years in corrections, all of the time I've spent watching true crime stories/trials, and in my own personal experience, I think at least the latter is a fact.
Unfortunately, I've not been blessed by running across my soul mate. My life was too focused on my work/career for me to recognize if one did come within my radar. It seems that if a soul mate did come around, there would be at least a few bells and whistles that would have gone off.
After keeping up with the Jodi Arias trial, I really think that Jodi and her victim each brought out the evil aspects of the other. Heck, even some of those covering the trial show evil aspects of their personalities while doing it. Perfect example is Nancy Grace. If you have ever watched her covering these murder trials, you have to have seen the evil that shows on her face when she talks about a defendant.
Renee, I think that you mentioned that you married your soul mate. Did the rest of you ever find someone who you thought was your true soul mate? I'm sure there must be more than one out there for each of us if we are lucky enough to run across him.
Also, did you ever come across people who you felt brought out evil aspects of your personalities?Often, it can be someone we don't have the option to totally avoid interacting with.
Jan, I did hear that exchange between Adam and Blake. They do that on occasions. They are more competitive but I don't think it is serious. Did you watch DWTS this week? I saw that Andy finally bit the dust. He did last longer than I would have expected. I think many were pulling for him because of his life story.
Renee, I looked up your Rose breasted Gosbeak. I am on their migration path but I can't remember ever seeing one pass through. I did see quite a few Indigo Buntings recently and I'm just on their migration path also.
There's this really pretty little yellow bird called a Prothonotary Warbler. I see at least one every spring but not for long. Their yellow color makes them really stand out. Reading about their habitat, it seems this area would be perfect because they prefer habitats that include wooded swamps, flooded bottomland forests, and streams with dead trees. Maybe they are around but not around people.
Carol... I didn't have bells and whistles going off when I met Rick. On our first date, I was simply very comfortable around him... really loved talking to him. I know he's my soulmate now in hindsight because we've had a long relationship and we've always been friends first.
Your question comes down to do you think people can influence other people. Yes... of course they can. For both good and bad. But each of us as adults are responsible for our own behaviors. Other people can piss you off... but how you handle that feeling is completely up to you.
I don't watch Nancy Grace... but I do know that she has a long standing show on HLN. I never forget when I'm watching tv... even reality tv... that it's just a show. Television personalities develop personas for when the cameras are rolling. I bet Nancy Grace has that look down to perfection by now... and right on cue.
Carol, I actually think we can have several soul mates throughout life. They may be romantic partners or good friends. I think when we really know who we are it is easier to meet and get to know those people who might become our soul mates. I have been lucky to have had several people in my life that I have been very close to.
When John and I met, we could talk for hours. I have always felt so comfortable with him that I feel I can tell him anything. We have our disagreements of course and there have been times when I was not sure we could stay together. We are both very hot headed. I would be devastated if he were not in my life. However, having lived 6 years on my own, I know I can do that.
I felt ambivalent about Andy leaving. He took it well. I think he expected to go. He did bring a certain vulnerability and fun to DWTS. He was not as serious about the dancing.
Good start to the weekend, did not have to report for jury duty today...
Here jury duty notices are sent every couple of years to spend one day at court that fulfills your requirement for 3 years, but the way it works is you call the night before & sometimes you are told you don't have to report, but that lets you be called again within the 3 year limit...
And yes, even attorneys have to report, everyone does...years ago attorneys/judges were exempt but they changed the law...needless to say, you get to spend the day hanging around the jury room doing nothing, since very unlikely that an attorney gets picked to sit as a jury member....here attorneys trying a case get to question potential jurors & exclude them if they want...
Taking the day off to stay home, relax and get some stuff done around the house.
Must call the vet. Ryley has been on antibiotics for 6 days this time. This is her 2nd round. She started scratching her belly yesterday so I gave her a tiny piece of my Claritin. She stopped scratching. I stopped the antibiotics. Vet says this is probably a back tooth that has abcess. I think the tooth probably has to come out. We will see.
Coreen.... good on you. I've never been called to jury duty. Never stepped inside of a courtroom.
Jan... poor little Ryley... hope she feels better quickly. I took my eldest cat to the vet yesterday (she's the one I use as my avatar over on TM). The vet thinks one of her back teeth needs to come out. Too bad animals can't tell us when and where it hurts.
Renee, I did serve as a character witness for a gay guy friend years ago. He and his wife had divorced and she was trying to prevent him from having contact with his 2 year old daughter. It was not a fun experience. But he did get back his contact with his kiddo.
Renee, yes - our little friends are a lot like little kids in that way. We have only had Ryley for about 8 months but she is such a big part of our lives now.
Morning. It's cold here. I just got back from feeding the cats and my truck said 45. That's cold for down here at this time of year. I didn't want to get out this morning.
No fishing except I did bait my catfish hoopnet and only got a couple of small brim in it. Right around my wharf is not a good place to put it but I'm not up to going any farther out right now. I'll keep it out and see if I can attract a stay catfish.
I'm happy you got out of the jury duty Coreen. Anytime I've had any court dealings there was lots of waiting. That is one thing your iPhone would be good for if you learn to use it and can tolerate reading very small print.
what strange weather we are having. It is cold in the morning and warms up in the 70's during the day. It is tempting to turn on the heat early morn but we resist and just put on some extra layers of clothes.
We are getting Ryley's teeth cleaned on 5/20 and they will check to see if this lesion on her face is coming from an infected tooth track. She is on a 3rd and different antibiotic now - Amoxicillin. I now have children's benadryl in case she starts scratching again.
The vet ran some blood tests- showed the infection is not systemic. It did show she has a slight elevation of a liver enzyme that if higher can indicate Cushings syndrome. I went on to google and typed "cushings in Dogs" Guess what, a picture of a dog came up and it was a Maltese. The vet said her blood test does not mean she has Cushings at this time, but it "bears watching."
Jan, elevation of liver enzymes wouldn't indicate Cushings. There would be elevated cortisol levels and that would take a very special test. Often the elevations occurs later in the day. She could also have an elevated blood sugar or even sodium levels with Cushings. With mom's adrenal tumors, she had Cushings.
Yesterday they had the closing arguments for the Jodi Arias trial. I didn't follow the trial as closely as I followed other trials, it was just too disgusting. I am probably one of the rare few who feels some empathy for her. I agree she is totally nuts and needs to be incarcerated but I think her boyfriend helped to enable the monster she became in the end. He certainly didn't deserve what happened to him but I think she snapped like a thin crisp pretzel.
I'm thinking that there might just be one juror that may hold out for a lessor charge than first degree. Could even be a hung jury. When these trials get all the hoopla that this one has had, like the Casey Anthony and OJ trials, they don't turn out well. HLN would have these mock juries every night deciding different aspects of the case. There was not one jury that had 100% agreement on anything. I think it might be better if they didn't have all this TV coverage of these trials.
I read some of the blogs talking about the case and so many people sound almost as evil as she is. They are like vultures, circling, waiting for the kill. They scare me as much as she does.
Yes Jan, the weather around the country is crazy. I was just looking at Seattle weather and it has sunshine and temps in the 70s and 80s this week. They don't have weather like that up there this time of year. And our lows in the 40s here??? It's like someone threw up all the typical regional weather into the air and it fell back in all the wrong places.
I too was uncomfortable during the first part of the Silver lining movie. I bought the book for my nook after seeing the movie. Some pretty big differences. In the book his dad would not speak to him. His mom did not come across as so wimpy in the book. The book followed his relationship with Jennifer Lawrence almost identically. I want to see the movie again now. Will rent it.
I have not watched the Jodi A. trial but have been reading a lot about it. I think she was obsessed with him. I think he was culpable - but so much like so many other men.
Reminds me some of the Dr. Tarnover and Jean Harris thing. Except they were an older couple.
Yes Jan, Jodi and Travis were obsessed with each other. Toward the end, I think they both wanted to move on but they didn't know how to quit each other. It's one of those life stories where I think that seriously horrible fate was on their plate.
I have my own theory, different than either side presented in court but hinted at in some of their communications. It's a theory that neither side would have wanted to present because it wouldn't have helped either side.
Jodi was willing to do anything Travis wanted her to do to please him. I don't think she enjoyed a lot of it like many men and some women think she did. He had a lot of rape fantasies and liked anal intercourse. Maybe some women do like that but I seriously doubt it other than their maybe liking to please their men. I think he also got off to degrading her. Again, she allowed it. I think there was a lot of extreme hostility she had pent up because she hated herself for allowing him to treat her the way he treated her. I think that Travis didn't like himself for how he was treating her but he took that out on her.
Some may say that she lied about all of that but there was enough evidence, written and verbal, to support all of the above.
The prosecution said that she went with premeditation to kill him. I think she did go with premeditation for a show down. She says she only remembers shooting him. I wonder if she even remembers that. After she went off, she could have repressed or totally blocked the entire gruesome event but made up what she thought was more acceptable to her own psyche.
Other than serial killers, who get off to their murdering rampages, I think that probably many rage killers block the memory of those events, even OJ probably did. I think their minds will protect them from those horrific details because they can't accept that they have that kind of evil in them.
They spent something like 12-14 hours together at the end. It included sleep, sex and pornographic picture taking. Doesn't really sound like a premeditated murder plan.
He was taking another woman on a trip that she really wanted to go on with him. He had communicated to that woman that Jodi was evil, stalking him and he was very afraid of her. I think that that may have been true but why let her in his home or allow her to stay for 12-14 hours. She couldn't have held him hostage because there are pics of her naked.
Now he could have found a way to call 911 and had her hauled off but she had too much on him.
At the end, she was taking pics of him in the shower and she said that she dropped his very fine, expensive camera and he came out of the shower and attacked her. Not really buying that. I think she was in the process of threatening to expose him with all she had against him because she realized she couldn't change his mind about the trip. I think that may have set off a fight that she was better prepared for.
She claims self-defense. It could be likely that he did want her dead because he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. When their final war broke out, she was better prepared for it. The way she killed him wasn't exactly a good premeditated murder plan, it was an act of extreme rage and overkill.
I cannot understand physically attacking or killing another person unless in defense of self or others. I have been there and know what I would do.
Obsession with another person has never been a problem for me. If I am aware that someone does not care for me, I move on. I have difficulty understanding these obsessions as I have not experienced them.
From where I am, the weather continues to be fantastic...after winter's stranglehold into April, it has been splendid...cool evenings, beautiful days (but we do need rain) April should have been close to 4", only had a little more than 1"...and the trees leaves are finally out...green all around...
as far as the arizona trial, no interest...what little picked up from tv (really don't recall stories in the papers, if there were, obviously I passed them by) it sure sounds like a media circus creating ratings for the channel that covers it non-stop...& if that's the case, just goes to show what the viewing public is interested in...anything sensational, voyeuristic, filled with sexual innuendo, violence, mayhem, whatever...it attracts an audience!...
We had horrible winds last night. John woke up at 2 am and was watching out the front window. We are 3 blocks from the Univ hosp and the helicopter was trying to land and had to make multiple passes to do it. John said his heart was in his throat watching it. It did finally land safely - on top of the hospital.
We went to see the Long Island Medium today...her show was entertaining...she has a bubbly personality just like on her tv show...don't know if it is real but it was fun...& she had on a pair of Christain Louboutin crystal heels to die for!!(not really, just an expression you know)...talk about bling...
And Carol, you likely will be interested, there were Newtown families in the audience...& she read 2 of them...both these families have been on numerous tv shows often enough (Neil Heslin & the Soto family)...not sure what to think about their presence...
What did she say to them Coreen? I'm sure they are all having a lot of difficulty with their losses and need to know that they are still close to their lost loved ones.
I saw her on a show at her house the other day. She loves shoes.
She gives positive reinforcement that the loved ones are ok & with them...both families appeared very sad & searching for something...the sotos were the mother, 2 sisters & brother of the teacher who protected the children...they were very emotional weeping & theresa spent time mentioning some things that may have been specific to what they would know, hard to say for sure, but throughout with all those she read was to give a positive hopeful feeling to those obviously greiving...there were many in the audience holding things from their loved ones & quite a few dabbing their eyes with tissues...but Theresa remains positive, she says funny things, jokes (at her expense mostly) & is truly an entertainer...whether she does hear spirit, who knows, I sure don't....she was indeed what you see on her tv show & is fun to watch/listen too...
And I remain skeptical in case you didn't notice...one of the problems I had was that she would ask a general question that several people would raise their hands essentially saying pick me...& she would go towards one of them asking some more general questions & most of the time, the person responded yes to what she was saying...but those she spoke with did seem moved...
for me, I would have to have a one on one to decide if there was something there, still think I should try to set up a personal reading, even if it takes 2 years, not even sure she still does those since she has become so popular...
Watching her, I do feel that she is genuine. She gets as excited as the client does when she picks up significant signs. I think it is a very positive experience for her. I like her. I also think she does wonders for those needing her.
I had a friend who lost her father. She really got into reading John Edwards books. She found some peace doing that. She really wanted to be able to see him, John Edwards. I think these kind of things are even more important to those who lost loved ones under stressful circumstances and/or when the death was unexpected.
Free yourself of some of your skepticism Coreen. What do you have to lose. Life is strange and interesting. We certainly don't understand it all but we can open ourselves to these kind of experiences.
Jan, the Sessions was an interesting movie. I did a little research on it. From my understanding, the screenplay was inspired by an article written by the disabled character in the movie...""On Seeing a Sex Surrogate" on the Internet".
"Writer and director Ben Lewin, a polio survivor himself, first read about O'Brien's experience in that article and considered the material for a sitcom.
Evidently this disabled guy was considered a "journalist and poet." I can understand his being able to be a poet but how did he become a journalist in his state of disability?
I didn't know how much of story in this screenplay was actually based on the guy's real life other than the sex surrogate experience. It was pretty cool that he had 4 women who had such strong feelings for him but I wondered if that was accurate. Normal guys could be jealous over that. It did make for a happier story.
His last relationship with his life partner, Susan Fernbach, was real. This was an interview with her.
Coreen.... I share your skepticism. It's all nice and ok for someone like you to take it as entertainment. But if the LIM is ever proven to be a fraud, I can only imagine how those Newtown people will feel like victims again.
As they say... real life can be stranger than fiction... that satisfies me. I love a good magic show and like to think of the possibilities. But I also temper it by remembering that BT Barnum made a fortune by understanding that a sucker is born every minute.
Carol, I am so glad you liked the movie The Sessions. I read all the links to Mark. I especially liked the essay he wrote. I think the director did a great job of telling his story.
When I moved to Montana, I taught Community Health Nursing, last term of the students' clinicals. I taught it with the psych faculty person. Instead of lectures, we did classes where students selected a topic and presented. One of the topics was on disabilities. The female student brought a film about sexuality in the disabled. It was a graphic film like the Sessions movie. There were several students who were offended by the movie. I thought it was great. That was in 1978 so the student was ahead of her time.
They were picking horses on TM. They do every year. I didn't participate this year. If I would have, I would have chosen the horse the lady was riding. I don't even know how that horse came in.
I did read that Rick and Chloe picked Orb. You'll mentioned some interesting story about someone involved with that horse. Do you know what that story is Renee?
And congrats on your Red Socks. The Braves started out so well and then kinda went south. They are still doing OK. I noticed, when I watch the few games that I can see, that they have very poor attendance at their games. I looked to see if the ticket prices were outrageous and they really weren't. They ought to move somewhere where the fans really appreciate them.
Rick really liked the story about Orb's trainer, Shug McGaughey. He's been training horses about 40 yrs and until this past Saturday, had never had a Kentucky Derby winner. Also the horse's owners are in their 80s and have never had a Kentucky Derby winner until Saturday either.
Yeah... my beloved RSox are doing great. Watching them last year was painful... this year is a very pleasant surprise.
Would like to say that I believe in the medium thing, but unless personally touched just do not know...
That is not to say I don't accept that others genuinely believe they have experienced some contact with those that have passed...it comes done to one's faith, can not be proven or debunked...just like any religious belief, you either accept it or you don't...there is no right or wrong explanation...
I heard about finding the three women very early this morning. Dang, that will be a story. I can't believe that they could have been successfully concealed for that long. One had a six year old child. I guess she had that child during her years of captivity. This was in a neighborhood. We just don't know what's going on next door.
I found an article about Elizabeth Smart. Do you remember that she was the 14 year old who was kidnapped from her bed by this crazy and his wife and raped by him daily until she was spotted by someone 9 months later.
Eliz is speaking out and saying that abstinance education teaches girls that if they are raped that they do not feel valued or worthwhile any longer and this is why if kidnapped and held hostage that when give the opportunity they often will not try to escape.
The interesting thing is she is from a Mormon family who is quite religious.
Elizabeth's kidnapper was someone who came to the family's door looking for work and Eliz's dad paid him to do some work around the home. When I read that years ago, I made the decision to not hire anyone to do any work outside if they came to the door.
I am thinking of the woman who was kidnapped and kept in this guy's back yard for years and had 2 of his babies. The police were called several times and never found them. It was 2 women who saw the little girls with the creep and just had a sense that something was wrong. It is how we raise little girls that is the problem. I do believe that the perpetrators look for children who are submissive. They profile these girls and boys.
Jan, there must have been some kind of serious hostage syndrome going on. Most parents can't keep their teenage girls quiet and out of sight for a couple of hours.
Coreen... google mediumship and look at the wiki page. Over the years, many mediums have been proven to be frauds. There was a huge movement of them in the early 19th century... this is not new.
I just came home from having a colonoscopy ... it was my first one and the whole experience was much easier than I expected.
I feel very badly for those 3 women.... yeah they're lucky to be alive.... but I bet they need years of psychotherapy. Any guy that can kidnap teenagers and use them as sexual slaves should never get out of jail, IMO. It's very hard to rehabilitate hard core sexual offenders.
Carol... nope... I didn't think the prep wasn't so bad. Although after reading what Jan went through... I had second thoughts about going through with it. The best part was that I got to have some stuff that I don't have now because of my diabetes. I got to suck on real popsicles and mix some of the laxative with real fruit juice. A diabetic nurse called me about a week ago and said I had to use some stuff with sugar in order to keep my blood sugars from dropping too low.
But now I've gotta throw the leftovers out... well, Rick will drink the rest of the juice.
Carol... lol... I can have all the sugar free popsicles I want. Hey... what can I say... I'm a glass half full kinda person.... I always look for the silver lining.
Jan... I hope you don't have a repeat of the last time. Having an allergic reaction to the laxative is something I would have screamed about too.
Renee, curent tie in to mediums as frauds, read somehwhere today that Sylvia Brown, a pretty well known psychic appeared on a tv show when one of the women disappeared & stated that she was not alive....
but as I said, still think it would be difficult to convince a person who believed that a psychic/medium connected them to their departed loved one was a fraud...
Coreen, Amanda Berry's mom died in 2006. They say she died of a broken heart. I bet it's worse to never find your child then to know they are dead. If you know they are dead, you can at least go through the grief process eventually.
This story is getting bizarre. When the DeJesus girl disappeared, she was walking home with the daughter of the kidnapper. The daughter borrowed DeJesus's last 50 cents to call her mom to ask if she could go hang out with DeJesus and her mom said no. It was DeJesus's last money so she couldn't take the bus home. She walked and was never seen again. I can't find out if the the kidnapper's daughter was living with her father at the time.
And in an article that linked that article, I found this:
"In another strange twist in the still-developing case, Ariel Castro's son Anthony, a journalism student at the time of the kidnappings, reportedly wrote an article about DeJesus's disappearance. He even interviewed the kidnapping victim's mother. His article appeared in a local paper in 2004."
I'm thinking that the Cleveland police aren't going to get any high marks in this case either. Even whoever answered the 911 call when the girl broke out, night before last, almost sounded not to take the call serious.
At leas,t a couple of neighbors called police about things over the years that they didn't follow up on.
A moral of this story is....be a nosy neighbor.
With the new social media technology, we know more about friends who live over a thousand miles away than we do our next door neighbors. Guilty!
Not only should the police work harder on these cases but we all need to be more vigilant in our neighborhoods to make sure no one is making bombs or harboring hostages!
I just heard part of that interview of Amanda's mother with Sylvia Brown. What I heard was...Amanda's mom said...you don't think I will ever see her again? Sylvia said, yes in heaven, on the other side. Amanda's mother died before she was found so she won't see her again until heaven. Maybe that is what Sylvia Brown saw in her vision. Maybe she was just confused about who was going to be dead.
"but as I said, still think it would be difficult to convince a person who believed that a psychic/medium connected them to their departed loved one was a fraud..."
Coreen... I absolutely agree... hell, I think you can't convince a person who holds deeply held beliefs whether religious or otherwise.
You keep mentioning the money.... maybe I should keep mentioning BT Barnum :)
PT Barnum, born in Bethel, but made Bridgeport his home...celebrated every year with the Barnum Festival....
Carol, did you see/hear the actual montel williams video of the Sylvia Brown comments?, I have not seen it, just the abc report playing over the video...but the story quotes Brown saying directly "she's not alive, honey"...
What you said you heard seems to be another quoted comment later in the conversation...which taken alone could support your interpretation that Brown was suggesting something other than what the news is reporting...your interpretation is what one who believes might get, but hard to overlook the other quoted comments if accurate, that is why I ask did you see/hear the entire Brown video...
Here's another story from 2004 quoting Brown as saying "she's not alive, honey" together with the quotes you mention in your interpretation... Sylvia Brown tells mother
Renee, many of us, with out talents and skills, have wares or services to sell. Those services either help people to function better, feel better or look better. Some aren't absolutely necessary but something we are willing to pay for.
From what I have seen of Theresa, before she became famous, she went up to people in stores, restaurants, other places and talked to them about their loved ones who passed. She still does. Now she can make a living with her gift. I think that's great.
Not everyone needs to believe in that gift. Many people don't believe in counseling and that's a service that cost money. Some people don't believe in chiropractics and that service costs money. We could argue that those services are a bunch of hooey but not to those people who really believe in them.
Barnum provided a service that many people paid a lot of money to enjoy.
No Coreen, I just heard part of it, the part I quoted. I just thought that maybe her connection was a little fuzzy. Psychics aren't always right nor are the rest of us. I just thought that it was kinda interesting that her mom did not get to see her daughter before death but mom went first. I'm not a big fan of Syliva's.
P.T. was a master 'promoter'...of any and every thing that the public would pay to see...surprise, surprise...there we go again...'it's always about the money'....
Carol, I enjoy Theresa's shows, for me its entertainment, & I hope that her talent is real, but just don't know...by the way, the friend that went who does believe, had no doubts about Theresa being genuine to those she spoke with...
From what I'm starting to hear, this hostage story is going to get pretty bad.
Last night Anderson Cooper was in that neighborhood where the girls were held. He said that there were boards covering many of the windows in the house where the girls were held. There were also many boards on windows of other houses in that neighborhood. Maybe someone should be making sure other people aren't also holding hostages. Lots of young people do disappear.
Carol... yup... Barnum was a genius at understanding human behavior.
Hey whatever anyone wants to spend their money on is their business... whatever floats their boat. I've paid money to see magicians perform... I enjoyed it and I knew it was all an illusion. I'd go again today... but I will not go to the local Catholic church and put money in the basket... I may be a fool at times, but I'm particular about how I part with my money.
"“Are you ever wrong?” Safos asked. “Only God is right all the time but of course I’m wrong,” Browne responded. “But after 50 years of doing this work, I’d better be more right than wrong. I always say I hope I’m wrong. When it comes to this, I hope I’m wrong.” But regardless the determined psychic shared more of her thoughts about a suspect. “I think he really had a crush on her,” she said. “And I think she rebuffed him. I think she thought he was harmless enough to maybe drive her home.” Who ever did give Amanda that last ride didn’t take her home.
The Jodi Arias verdict is in. I don't have a clue what it will be. I figured if it would be less than 1st degree, it would end up hung and since it wasn't, I don't think it looks good for the defendant. I will be glad for it to be over. I can't even watch the coverage on HLN. I'm so sick of those people so I'll watch it on CNN.
Guilty of 1st degree! Doesn't surprise me. I would be surprised if they do sentence her to death. I still think that the death penalty is barbaric. Why are we among some of the most barbaric countries that still do that kind of thing.
I was listening to a local talk radio show out of Texas, death penalty central, and the guys who were talking and called in no longer agreed with the death penalty. That was a pleasant surprise.
CNN outside the court...the crowds of people that were standing around (actually missed the verdict announcemtnt)...can you tell me why they show up at these things?!...have to say, it would never enter my mind to take the effort to go hang around waiting for (not sure what they expect)...but that's just me...who are those people...
I know none of you watches Idol any longer, but there there is one woman, Candice Glover who, hands down, has one of the most beautiful and strongest voices I have ever heard.
Remember the name - Candice Glover. You will see and hear her again.
All 3 of the final contestants are amazing. But Candice was Blessed by God with a voice from Heaven.
And those people all hanging out at that courthouse are vultures. I haven't monitored this case like I have others. I got to the point where I couldn't even tolerate watching the HLN cast covering the case. They starting looking and acting as evil as they accused Jodi of. Flip to that channel and turn down the sound and just look in the faces of many of the regulars. Nancy Grace has been there for a long time.
Remember the look on that character played by Jack Nicholson in the Shinning? Picture that in your mind and then turn to HLN, turn down the sound and check out Nancy Grace. She's got that look down! Several of the others are starting to also. I can now only tolerate the two sweet looking women who do mornings on HLN.
I did want to learn what was going on so I turned to CNN. They haven't gotten possessed yet.
So Coreen, you finally got into the Voice. They do have some incredible talent on that show and don't ya just love the judges? They are so cute and they do a great job with their coaching. I would have a hard job picking from the final group. I didn't even attempt to vote.
With the Cleveland kidnapper, I think his time was running out. He had limited income to support 3 adult women and a child and continue to keep it a secret. He hadn't paid his taxes and I heard the house was in foreclosure. I'm glad it finally ended before he felt forced to terminate the group. He had them so terrorized that he didn't need to tie them up anymore. The one girl with the child got a burst of courage and made of break for it. Maybe having her child to protect is what gave her that courage.
Watched bits & pieces, enough to know that most are good singers...still wonder whether there is a positive effect on their lives once the show ends...
No idea what the 'magic' is that makes one singer/entertainer a 'star' & the other just another singer...
I heard that Jodi did a TV interview where she said she would rather get the death penalty than be stuck in jail for life. I would have to agree with her there. Kill me fast. Having the death penalty pending will give her a more interesting life, for years to come, than being sentenced to life in prison where they are essentially through with you.
People say she is trying to use reverse psychology on her jury. The jury is still under the admonition to avoid all outside media. Yeah, like they've been doing that all along. Big farce in this day of addiction to our technology.
I don't know if I wrote this or just thought about it but they did a poll about whether people, who were under oath of the court to avoid all media for a trial, if they could actually do it. Over 50% said they could NOT. I think that I would have to be up front with the court and say that it would be impossible for me to do that.
"No idea what the 'magic' is that makes one singer/entertainer a 'star' & the other just another singer..."
Coreen, I've spent a considerable amount of time pondering the same thing. It's not the Voice..or the body. All I can come up with is....fate! Also, having someone with power, influence and money backing the person.
Oprah can make a successful star out of people and often has...ie, Dr Phil, Gayle, her BFF to name a couple. Was it her who introduced Dr Oz to the world?
The Jody trial, looks like she just wasn't that convincing a liar as was thought & not so much sympathy from those jurors...as far as her posturing about death/life in prison...time for the media to just say 'next case' & move along...stop giving this woman a forum...
I did try to surf the Net to see if any of those booted off the Voice made it in the music industry like those from Idol have. I couldn't find anything..yet.
As for the voice singers, would like to think or hope that maybe the coaches would pursue providing some of them with an expanded opportunity to become successful...
Thinking about the entertainment world, I do know that locally there are several very good singers that friends follow around to hear them...and while they make a living at what they do (not necessarily a big career, but they work at what they love) they don't get beyond being local talent...that's probably repeated in many other places...so the exposure from these 'talent' shows can be the catalyst for that one in a million....
Coreen, the tall, attractive, Asian looking woman, Judith Hill, was not just a nobody before. "She is trained in jazz and was Michael Jackson's duet partner for his "This Is It" tour before he passed away. Judith sings with Stevie Wonder on a fairly regular basis"
http://www.nbc.com/the-voice/artists/judith-hill/
There was someone else this season who had a lost a music contract. Can't remember who that was.
And she was the one I saw when it started & thought she's really good...so will she go from being a back up singer to a star...makes you wonder if she sings for the likes of Stevie Wonder & before Jackson, why didn't she get the break or are there just so many good singers that she's just another good voice....
If I had to pick a winner from the 12, I still like Judith, but the 16 year old girl Danielle who never sang before an audience before (wasn't that the story) has a great voice too(but I don't like country music)...several others do to, so its just a gamble who has the most 'star appeal' to whoever votes... singer who was not picked Carina had a good voice but she's out, so does she just slip back into obscurity or what...
You may like this less than flattering play on Nancy Grace's name, comment on FB by an Italian comedian who appears in the tri-state area...Maryann Maisano
"So last night i watched Nancy DisGrace - I swear I will neva do dat again !! ohhhfahhhhhhhhh"
I have started watching the Voice, but I do get more out of Idol. I think it is because I see the same singers each week and begin to feel a sort of bond with some of them.
We read last night where all of the judges on Idol this season will not be back next season. John cannot tolerate Nicki Minaj. I am not too wild about Mariah Carey as a judge either. Nicki has been totally nasty to Mariah. I do like Keith Urban and I am tired of Randy Jackson.
I like the judges on The Voice much better but more of the show seems to be about the judges than the talent.
It seems that more of the talent on Voice has had some chances for breaking out of simply home town popularity before. They do have a few singers who are very new to singing to larger audiences. I guess I like Idol because few of these young people have had a chance to pursue singing as a career.
I don't think it will be one of the singer's who has experience who will win this season. If they were going to break out, they probably would have already.
Coreen pointed out that young 16 year old who never sang in front of anyone before this competition. She's great. Coreen must have liked her and she doesn't even like country. If she can catch Coreen's eye, she must have something.
So far, for Blake's team, the voters chose Holly and Danielle. No surprise. Then Blake chose the Swan Brothers over Justin. I wouldn't have picked them over Justin. You didn't either.
For team Shakira, it was Kris and Sasha saved by the voters. Shakira selected Garrett instead of Karina. I agree with you Coreen, I liked Karina better. Garrett competed on last season's show and never made it past the first blind auditions. The agony of the decision showed on Shakira's face. She said it was an awful decision but she thought that Karina already had a strong voice and she thought she could still provide Garrett with more help. She also said she put all her team members names in a paper bag and asked God for help. Maybe that's why she picked Garrett. Since the voters did pick the first two it's not likely that the other two will win the competition anyway.
For Usher's team, America saved Michelle and Vedo. Usher picked Josea instead of Cathia. You didn't pick Michelle. I picked the first two and the one Usher selected was a toss up for me.
Last but not least, for Adam's team, America saved Judith and Amber. Adam saved Sarah. They almost went off the air before he made his decision. The judges are so committed to their teams. They form a very close bond.
We both picked the same for his team even though I really liked them all.
I will have to confess that I am music/musician illiterate. I wouldn't have even heard of most of the judges they have and have had on this program if I wouldn't have watched it. Somehow, I have heard most of the songs they do.
Coreen, Dr. Oz is going to have Theresa Caputo on today. It airs here at 4p. It describes the program as..."Dr. Oz goes inside psychic Theresa Caputo's mind" If you check in and can, check it out.
I didn't watch the Voice last night, but I did have favorites = Danielle and Michelle and Sasha. So my favs did get through. Danielle is so young and I bet we will see her soon as a popular country singer. I liked Michelle as she is so unusual. I really liked her audition song. Sasha is great - very strong voice.
It's a pretty powerful show. Hope you got to see it. Dr. Oz is no skeptic anymore and he said when he first met Theresa, he was a big skeptic. They documented big brain wave changes when she was connecting with spirit.
If anyone likes cliff-hanger movies, we bought the movie, The Next Three Days because we missed the ending on TV. It is an action movie which I usually don't like but this movie had an unusual plot.
Jan, Michelle is kind of a strange looking girl, attractive but not your pretty singing star type. She got the most votes in her group. That's what so neat about the Voice. Last year's finalists were not the most attractive of the bunch. I hope that just shows that we are moving away from judging by physical attractiveness.
Missed Dr. Oz...Theresa mentioned at the show that she was having her head measured on the show...again I hope she is the real deal, who knows, I don't...but like I said, she is so bubbly & fun, you gotta love her...
One comment about the Voice 12...Judith, Danielle, Sasha,(and Karina, who should not have been let go) their voices are distinct...for me the other women are pretty much like listening to the same person...I know that sounds negative, they all have good voices, but not my favs..the guys are all ok,(just not as good as the women though)...but hey, I'm not picking the winner....
Coreen, I think we have proof that something interesting is going on in Theresa's brain when she connects with the other side. Dr Oz was impressed with her ability but like most scientist, I think he wanted some physiology evidence and he was excited to get it.
Coreen, the Dr. did say that the changes are not proof of what they are doing but they show significant changes in brain activity. On the show, he said that he has a tremendous data base of these brain wave studies. He said he did one on this woman who said she was a channeler. He repeated her test while she was channeling and found significant and similar brain wave changes. Since then, he has documented these changes.
194 comments:
Spring has finally arrived in all its colorful beauty...Everyday should be like the last 5 days...
The pinks from cherries & magnolias, lavenders of early azaleas, creamy white andromeda bells, bright yellow forsythia,
fields of daffodils, the many faces of pansies, & the perennial bleeding heart, all have made an appearance....
Pic #6 is a home very high on a hill with so many daffodils on its slope, looks just beautiful when you come around the curve, #2 is a closeup of the many different daffodils that someone took a lot of time to plant on that slope...
Coreen.... BEAUTIFUL!
You're a couple weeks ahead of us.... and it's great to see such lovely flowers. I'm particularly fond of bleeding hearts and that one is a beauty. Enjoy!
Beautiful pictures Coreen.
We just watched "Carousel" on Public TV. A great musical. I had not seen it before. John and I were both teary when they sang, When you walk through a storm. Rogers and Hammerstein - of course.
I recognize most of the flowers. Which ones are the bleeding hearts?
You all are so lucky to have all those beautiful flowers and trees.
Jan... the bleeding hearts are in the last picture. They are the ones with the greenery and the pink flowers shaped like hearts. They are perennials and I've been trying to establish some in my front yard with no success.
My front yard has a southern exposure and I just found out that bleeding hearts can't take anymore than 6 hours of sun max... and they can thrive in the shade.
So Rick made me a bed on the eastern side of the house this morning.... and I will try to grow them there. My mother used to grow the most amazing ones at my childhood home in Massachusetts. I wish I had her green thumb.... but I don't.
Thanks Renee. I doubt bleeding hearts would make it here. Probably too much sun.
So nice you have a husband who will make you a bed for your flowers. My husband is allergic to any work outdoors - well actually any work at all. LOL
Thanks everyone...glad you like the pics...
Think that all those flowers are not favorites of deer, they don't eat daffodils, hyacinth, andromeda, but they sure love tulips & hosta & you don't see many rhodys around town either...& when I tried to grow roses, forgetaboutit...they ate the buds before they could open, same with tulips...
Renee, that bleeding heart was brought from my old house when this one was built & it grows back
every year so far, & I cut it back
to the ground when it turns yellow...but have not been able to have it take elsewhere...the front yard faces south, but the treeline is so close that there is not all day sun there, that side gets sun late morning early afternoon...
I love peonies, but have not been successful at all...my friend has beautiful peonies...I cut some of hers just to have them in the house, they smell so nice...
But Carol knows, she has the one flower I would so love to grow & it is virtually wild at Carol's & in Florida too...the gardenia...the most delicate flower with a fragrance that just can not be copied....
I think I love roses & gardenias equally...
Dang Coreen, that's progress. It was just drab a couple of weeks back and spring hit you guys like a ton a bricks. Great pics.
I've been a bum today. I just turned on my computer and wow.
I did manage to get my clothes washed and folded. I watched several movies and all had three stars and all were depressing. The last one was the Ides of March. Anyone see that one?
I think we watched Ides of March a few months ago. Nothing memorable about it.
We watched The Sessions Friday night. Loved it. I recommend it. We rented The Master today. We stopped it about midway. Did not make sense to us.
Oh yes, we watched "The Impossible" last night. It was good. It was about a family caught in the tsunami several years ago.
We have had a nice quiet weekend. Enjoyed it. I did a little sewing and laundry.
Jan, I don't think I could do the tsunami movie. Just the commercial bothers me.
I want to see the Sessons. I also think that Silver Linings will be out tomorrow.
Yesterday early AM when I was watching the rerun of the earlier recorded Correspondence's Dinner, I heard someone talking about the Duck Dynasty. It's another reality show and it's based in Louisiana. I hadn't heard of that show. I did look it up and watched an episode and didn't see the attraction to it. I did a little search and found that there are quite a few reality shows based in Louisiana, about 9. I haven't heard of most of them.
There are so many cable channels on TV now that they have to create shows where they watch weird people doing their weird things. We do have a lot of people who would qualify around my state.
Reality shows that have overrun TV
programing...
prime motivation...cheap
to produce...therefore if successful more profits to keep...
do I hear an echo....it's always about the money....
And our streak of beautiful days has ended...while it is in the mid 50s, w/o the sun shining, & some rain showers, it feels chilly....but we need rain, for April so far only about 1", average is about 3"...but the wet weather today will do little since it is only showers, no sustained steady rain forecast...w/o rain there is a sheen of green pollen on the water still in the wetlands...
Coreen, this weekend it's predicted that our lows will be in the 40s. That's unusual for May but I'm not complaining. I'll take the cool weather for as long as we can get it.
Your cooler weather makes your flowers so much prettier than ours in the summer. The heat here wipes them out after our short spring. I love pansies and have, with lots of work, kept a few going thru the summer. I have to keep them in the shade.
Jan.... The Master is loosely based on the life of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. I haven't seen the movie.... but Hubbard was both charismatic and very weird... if not slightly insane. Now that I've read that expose on Scientology and it's founder, I'd like to see that movie.
Coreen... we aren't getting any rain today nor are we supposed to all week. But we have had plenty of rain recently and it's knocked down some of the pollen.
I understand that those reality shows are cheap. The Duck Dynasty was negotiating a raise to 200 thou per episode. I read that they had more viewers than American Idol, at least one week.
Carol...
I've seen Duck Dynasty once... it's not for me. I hope the guys do get more money.... the show is immensely popular.... IMO, they should get as much as they can while the getting is hot.
I do like a show on Animal Planet called Call of the Wildman. It's set in Kentucky and is about a group of guys who catch wildlife where they're not wanted for a very reasonable price. The leader is a guy called Turtleman. Say you have a raccoon making a mess in your shed.... they come over and get rid of it for about $80. They don't use guns.... they catch all the animals with their hands (they wear heavy gloves) and put them in sacks and then release them back into the wild far away. I don't watch it often, but when I do, I enjoy it.
A couple of years ago you and I were discussing a reality show about houseboat people. I still haven't seen one of those. PBS had this special about this couple who converted a large barge into a houseboat and lived on it, in the
Atchafalaya Basin, for 10 years. I found the story very interesting and even bought a small book written by the woman who lived on the barge. The book just didn't tell me enough. I wanted more info on the day to day details of how a person lives out in the middle of nowhere. It's not like they could run to the quick stop when they needed stuff. They had to live off the river/land. I could watch that kind of reality show.
Here is a link to the Louisiana PB program about the houseboat.
Atchafalaya Houseboat
Renee, I've watched several of those shows where they catch those big catfish with their hands. One involves a contest where 5 or 6 groups of guys compete each week for the largest catfish. They have to get the fish in still alive. What they do looks pretty scary to me. I'm pretty scared just putting my hands down in the river to rinse them off when I get worm dirt on them.
I still haven't set up my catfish hoopnet to try to catch some catfish. I plan to give it a try soon. I don't want to take it away very far because someone might steal it. I'm not sure that my area, around my wharves, are good catfish territory. I think I'll start chumming the area, throwing some bait down to make it more desirable.
Renee, we watched about 3/4 of the movie. I had heard the same thing. It is just a very weird movie. I too have read a lot about Hubbard. I may rent it again. My tolerance level for weirdness was at its peak and I needed to get the movie back before I had to pay for another day. I will await your assessment.
The Impossible, about the tsunami was a real cliff hanger. If you cannot tolerate the suspense, I would not recommend it. It was good though and I was glad I rented it.
I had read another book written by another woman who had experienced the same tsunami. It was well written but a much sadder story. The name of the book was "The Wave."
John and I both loved "The Sessions." I was surprised about John. Thoutht he would go to sleep.
Our trees here have leafed all out and we have many flowering bushes now too. Not nearly as many as Coreen posted, but really pretty.
Our little dog has a lesion on her face, just below where she once had an eye. It was infected and gave her one round of antibiotics but didn't heal so she is on her 2nd round of antibiotics. I think it is healing now. Poor little girl. She has tooth problems and the vet thought it might be an absessed tooth causing the lesion. don't know for sure. We had her teeth cleaned about 6 months ago and now she needs it again. I have tried brushing her teeth and she is so resistant to the little toothbrush in her mouth. So I started cleaning them with a damp clean cloth. The vet said she may need teeth cleaning every 6 months.
Your little dog has an eye missing Jan? Did you ever mention that before?
I ran across several back to back episodes of Duck Dynasty this afternoon and watched a few. Actually those guys are pretty entertaining and fairly sharp guys. It's a more interesting program than most everything else that was on.
I thought I mentioned that she has only one eye. Her mother scratched it out at birth.
This is what happens sometimes when you tape a movie on TV and watch it later. I taped a movie, The Next Three Days on TV. We did not get to the end. I cannot find another showing of it on TV Guide and cannot find at Redbox. Any suggestions?
What Network was it on? Go to that Network or cable channel and check to see when the show airs again.
We are ordering the DVD from Amazon. It was less than $6.00 and I want to be able to see the entire movie on my own time.
If nothing else, you might be able to find it and stream it on Amazon. It works pretty well and they charge you so much per movie. I watched the second season of DA on Amazon and paid per episode.
When you buy the stream on Amazon you can watch it anytime you want also. It stays in your library but I guess you would have to watch it online.
Thanks for info Carol. It was a pretty interesting movie.
ah dammit!... the #@%# bear hit my bird feeders last night. I knew I was playing with fire by not taking them in at night. Since Rick is now retired, we stay up a little later and get up a little later. I didn't want to have to get up earlier just to put out bird feeders.
Luckily, it took down the pole... but all my feeders are still intact. Rick will put the pole back up. But now I have all my birds sitting in trees and wondering where the hell is their breakfast.
Sorry about that Renee...but Know the feeling of having to get out & feed the crowd every day...when my garage door opens, greeted by lots of birds talking & squirrels standing looking at me, all saying 'about time'...
Now here's one of those 'really?' facts...from cnbc this a.m....
Oreo is the #1 cookie in sales, topping $1 billion annually, but
Girl Scout cookies are #2 with sales shy of $800 million & the GS
only sells them from Jan - April...
Honestly can't remember when I had
GS cookies...
Coreen, do you remember your last Oreo? I have an occasional craving for them. I haven't had a GS cookie in a long time either. I just don't run across them.
Sorry about your bear bird feeder raider Renee. I don't think there's a pole block for them.
My squirrels still get to my feeder and I think they are enjoying the challenge I present to them. There's at least one that gets up on the top of the swing frame and looks me right in the eye, defiantly, before it turns around and launches to the top of my feeder. I grab my water rifle and try to scare it off. Sometimes that works.
I could try to move my feeder to where they wouldn't have a launching spot but that would put it in the middle of the front yard and I couldn't watch the birds there. At least I have slowed down how fast they empty the feeder and provided us both with entertainment.
The pole is back up... the feeders are full.... you'd never know a bear had been here right now. Guess I gotta take them in at night and get my butt up again.
Carol... sounds like you've got squirrel that belongs in Cirque du Soleil.
I buy GS cookies every winter.... thin mints and samoas... I take them with us when we go to our timeshare in northern NH.
I don't crave oreos but they are my favorite cookie. I cannot eat just one. Don't buy GS cookies either. I cannot leave cookies alone if they are on hand.
Renee, do you have bears stop by often? That would be quite a chore to bring in your feeders every night.
Didn't sleep well last night. My right knee is acting up again. I overdid my walking the other day. It was much better before this but not entirely without pain. I finally got up and took a tylenol and drank some sleepy time tea. Did get back to sleep about 3 am and got in about 3 hours. I will nap today.
The bod is falling apart.
Don't eat oreos either, the times I did have GS, liked the samaos...If I buy
cookies it's Pepperidge Farm Maui or Tahiti choc chips (milk choc) they also have others made with (dark)...they also make soft cookies which are ok...
But find it impressive that GS cookies in just 1/4 of the year can
sell enough to be the #2 seller when its competitors are huge companies...
Jan.... the bears den in a mountain just down the road. The feeders are hanging on bolts that go through the pole... it only takes a minute to bring them in. I was lucky this time that none of the feeders were ripped up or destroyed. The bears would be here often if I left them out and that can get expensive in having to constantly replace the feeders.
It just means I have to get up to put them back out... which also only takes a minute. But if I want to sleep in... or lie there talking to Rick... I'll feel guilty about my hungry birds.
I love cookies and like I said earlier, cannot eat just one. I have a little cookie treat I can make that is not too high calorie and since I put it together myself, I tend to eat fewer of them. I use the chocolate graham crackers - one long cracker - break it into 2 pieces and put a layer of choc hazelnut spread on each cracker, a layer of marshmallow cream on top and voila, a cookie that satisfies my endless sweet tooth. Peanut butter is good with either choc hazelnut spread or marshmallow cream too.
Renee, bird feeders sound great. Bet your birdees love them.
If you are going to watch the Voice knock out rounds tonight, you can go to the Voice on Facebook and they have a place where you can play along and select which singer you think the coach will select. I did that last night and it was fun.
Most of the time I agree with the deciding judge.
Well Jan, 6 out of 8 times I did. Sometimes it was easy but for several, it was just too close and it's not who I thought was best, it's trying to decide who each judge thought was best.
One of the things I love about May is that the Rose Breasted Grosbeaks return. Here it is May 1st... and right on schedule, I see my first one in my feeders this morning. And the Phoebe's are singing away and building a nest inside the roof of our woodshed.
My fingers are crossed and double crossed that the black flies stay away for awhile.
Carol, Did you hear the little interchange between Blake and Adam. Blake told Adam to Kiss my a***
Do we all have a soul mate out there? And do we also have those people out there, who when we are around them, bring out evil aspects of our own personalities that we don't even want to admit we all have?
My years in corrections, all of the time I've spent watching true crime stories/trials, and in my own personal experience, I think at least the latter is a fact.
Unfortunately, I've not been blessed by running across my soul mate. My life was too focused on my work/career for me to recognize if one did come within my radar. It seems that if a soul mate did come around, there would be at least a few bells and whistles that would have gone off.
After keeping up with the Jodi Arias trial, I really think that Jodi and her victim each brought out the evil aspects of the other. Heck, even some of those covering the trial show evil aspects of their personalities while doing it. Perfect example is Nancy Grace. If you have ever watched her covering these murder trials, you have to have seen the evil that shows on her face when she talks about a defendant.
Renee, I think that you mentioned that you married your soul mate. Did the rest of you ever find someone who you thought was your true soul mate? I'm sure there must be more than one out there for each of us if we are lucky enough to run across him.
Also, did you ever come across people who you felt brought out evil aspects of your personalities?Often, it can be someone we don't have the option to totally avoid interacting with.
Jan, I did hear that exchange between Adam and Blake. They do that on occasions. They are more competitive but I don't think it is serious. Did you watch DWTS this week? I saw that Andy finally bit the dust. He did last longer than I would have expected. I think many were pulling for him because of his life story.
Renee, I looked up your Rose breasted Gosbeak. I am on their migration path but I can't remember ever seeing one pass through. I did see quite a few Indigo Buntings recently and I'm just on their migration path also.
There's this really pretty little yellow bird called a Prothonotary Warbler. I see at least one every spring but not for long. Their yellow color makes them really stand out. Reading about their habitat, it seems this area would be perfect because they prefer habitats that include wooded swamps, flooded bottomland forests, and streams with dead trees. Maybe they are around but not around people.
Carol...
I didn't have bells and whistles going off when I met Rick. On our first date, I was simply very comfortable around him... really loved talking to him. I know he's my soulmate now in hindsight because we've had a long relationship and we've always been friends first.
Your question comes down to do you think people can influence other people. Yes... of course they can. For both good and bad. But each of us as adults are responsible for our own behaviors. Other people can piss you off... but how you handle that feeling is completely up to you.
I don't watch Nancy Grace... but I do know that she has a long standing show on HLN. I never forget when I'm watching tv... even reality tv... that it's just a show.
Television personalities develop personas for when the cameras are rolling. I bet Nancy Grace has that look down to perfection by now... and right on cue.
Carol, I actually think we can have several soul mates throughout life. They may be romantic partners or good friends. I think when we really know who we are it is easier to meet and get to know those people who might become our soul mates. I have been lucky to have had several people in my life that I have been very close to.
When John and I met, we could talk for hours. I have always felt so comfortable with him that I feel I can tell him anything. We have our disagreements of course and there have been times when I was not sure we could stay together. We are both very hot headed. I would be devastated if he were not in my life. However, having lived 6 years on my own, I know I can do that.
Yes, I think we can be influenced by others for good or bad. I think the more we know ourselves, the less we are influenced, in a bad way, by others.
I felt ambivalent about Andy leaving. He took it well. I think he expected to go. He did bring a certain vulnerability and fun to DWTS. He was not as serious about the dancing.
Renee, how lovely for both of you to have the relationship you do with Rick.
Good start to the weekend, did not have to report for jury duty today...
Here jury duty notices are sent every couple of years to spend one day at court that fulfills your requirement for 3 years, but the way it works is you call the night before & sometimes
you are told you don't have to report, but that lets you be called again within the 3 year limit...
And yes, even attorneys have to report, everyone does...years ago attorneys/judges were exempt but they changed the law...needless to say, you get to spend the day hanging around the jury room doing nothing, since very unlikely that an attorney gets picked to sit as a jury member....here attorneys trying a case get to question potential jurors & exclude them if they want...
Coreen, this sounds like a fair system. I have never been called for jury duty. Don't know why.
Taking the day off to stay home, relax and get some stuff done around the house.
Must call the vet. Ryley has been on antibiotics for 6 days this time. This is her 2nd round. She started scratching her belly yesterday so I gave her a tiny piece of my Claritin. She stopped scratching. I stopped the antibiotics. Vet says this is probably a back tooth that has abcess. I think the tooth probably has to come out. We will see.
otherwise, she is eating and drinking very well and has plenty of energy.
Coreen.... good on you. I've never been called to jury duty. Never stepped inside of a courtroom.
Jan... poor little Ryley... hope she feels better quickly.
I took my eldest cat to the vet yesterday (she's the one I use as my avatar over on TM). The vet thinks one of her back teeth needs to come out. Too bad animals can't tell us when and where it hurts.
Renee, I did serve as a character witness for a gay guy friend years ago. He and his wife had divorced and she was trying to prevent him from having contact with his 2 year old daughter. It was not a fun experience. But he did get back his contact with his kiddo.
Renee, yes - our little friends are a lot like little kids in that way. We have only had Ryley for about 8 months but she is such a big part of our lives now.
Hey Carol, have not heard from you in a while. Are you doing any fishing. Would like to hear how renovations are coming on your river home.
Morning. It's cold here. I just got back from feeding the cats and my truck said 45. That's cold for down here at this time of year. I didn't want to get out this morning.
No fishing except I did bait my catfish hoopnet and only got a couple of small brim in it. Right around my wharf is not a good place to put it but I'm not up to going any farther out right now. I'll keep it out and see if I can attract a stay catfish.
I'm happy you got out of the jury duty Coreen. Anytime I've had any court dealings there was lots of waiting. That is one thing your iPhone would be good for if you learn to use it and can tolerate reading very small print.
what strange weather we are having. It is cold in the morning and warms up in the 70's during the day. It is tempting to turn on the heat early morn but we resist and just put on some extra layers of clothes.
We are getting Ryley's teeth cleaned on 5/20 and they will check to see if this lesion on her face is coming from an infected tooth track. She is on a 3rd and different antibiotic now - Amoxicillin. I now have children's benadryl in case she starts scratching again.
The vet ran some blood tests- showed the infection is not systemic. It did show she has a slight elevation of a liver enzyme that if higher can indicate Cushings syndrome. I went on to google and typed "cushings in Dogs" Guess what, a picture of a dog came up and it was a Maltese. The vet said her blood test does not mean she has Cushings at this time, but it "bears watching."
Ryley certainly seems healthy. She has a great appetite. Unfortunately a symptom of Cushings is they want to eat all the time.
It has been snowing in south Arkansas, an all time first.
Jan, elevation of liver enzymes wouldn't indicate Cushings. There would be elevated cortisol levels and that would take a very special test. Often the elevations occurs later in the day. She could also have an elevated blood sugar or even sodium levels with Cushings. With mom's adrenal tumors, she had Cushings.
I just finished watching Silver Lining. It was an intense movie. I alternated between feeling very anxious and wanting to cry. I did cry at the end.
I saw part of an interview of Robert De Niro on some talk show and he couldn't even talk much. He was crying.
I did like the movie even though I was uncomfortable through most of it.
Yesterday they had the closing arguments for the Jodi Arias trial. I didn't follow the trial as closely as I followed other trials, it was just too disgusting. I am probably one of the rare few who feels some empathy for her. I agree she is totally nuts and needs to be incarcerated but I think her boyfriend helped to enable the monster she became in the end. He certainly didn't deserve what happened to him but I think she snapped like a thin crisp pretzel.
I'm thinking that there might just be one juror that may hold out for a lessor charge than first degree. Could even be a hung jury. When these trials get all the hoopla that this one has had, like the Casey Anthony and OJ trials, they don't turn out well. HLN would have these mock juries every night deciding different aspects of the case. There was not one jury that had 100% agreement on anything. I think it might be better if they didn't have all this TV coverage of these trials.
I read some of the blogs talking about the case and so many people sound almost as evil as she is. They are like vultures, circling, waiting for the kill. They scare me as much as she does.
Yes Jan, the weather around the country is crazy. I was just looking at Seattle weather and it has sunshine and temps in the 70s and 80s this week. They don't have weather like that up there this time of year. And our lows in the 40s here??? It's like someone threw up all the typical regional weather into the air and it fell back in all the wrong places.
Carol, I agree about the weather.
I too was uncomfortable during the first part of the Silver lining movie. I bought the book for my nook after seeing the movie. Some pretty big differences. In the book his dad would not speak to him. His mom did not come across as so wimpy in the book. The book followed his relationship with Jennifer Lawrence almost identically. I want to see the movie again now. Will rent it.
I have not watched the Jodi A. trial but have been reading a lot about it. I think she was obsessed with him. I think he was culpable - but so much like so many other men.
Reminds me some of the Dr. Tarnover and Jean Harris thing. Except they were an older couple.
We rented and watched Guilt Trip tonight. You would like it, I think. We enjoyed it.
We are getting a lot of wind here tonight.
Yes Jan, Jodi and Travis were obsessed with each other. Toward the end, I think they both wanted to move on but they didn't know how to quit each other. It's one of those life stories where I think that seriously horrible fate was on their plate.
I have my own theory, different than either side presented in court but hinted at in some of their communications. It's a theory that neither side would have wanted to present because it wouldn't have helped either side.
Jodi was willing to do anything Travis wanted her to do to please him. I don't think she enjoyed a lot of it like many men and some women think she did. He had a lot of rape fantasies and liked anal intercourse. Maybe some women do like that but I seriously doubt it other than their maybe liking to please their men. I think he also got off to degrading her. Again, she allowed it. I think there was a lot of extreme hostility she had pent up because she hated herself for allowing him to treat her the way he treated her. I think that Travis didn't like himself for how he was treating her but he took that out on her.
Some may say that she lied about all of that but there was enough evidence, written and verbal, to support all of the above.
The prosecution said that she went with premeditation to kill him. I think she did go with premeditation for a show down. She says she only remembers shooting him. I wonder if she even remembers that. After she went off, she could have repressed or totally blocked the entire gruesome event but made up what she thought was more acceptable to her own psyche.
Other than serial killers, who get off to their murdering rampages, I think that probably many rage killers block the memory of those events, even OJ probably did. I think their minds will protect them from those horrific details because they can't accept that they have that kind of evil in them.
They spent something like 12-14 hours together at the end. It included sleep, sex and pornographic picture taking. Doesn't really sound like a premeditated murder plan.
He was taking another woman on a trip that she really wanted to go on with him. He had communicated to that woman that Jodi was evil, stalking him and he was very afraid of her. I think that that may have been true but why let her in his home or allow her to stay for 12-14 hours. She couldn't have held him hostage because there are pics of her naked.
Now he could have found a way to call 911 and had her hauled off but she had too much on him.
At the end, she was taking pics of him in the shower and she said that she dropped his very fine, expensive camera and he came out of the shower and attacked her. Not really buying that. I think she was in the process of threatening to expose him with all she had against him because she realized she couldn't change his mind about the trip. I think that may have set off a fight that she was better prepared for.
She claims self-defense. It could be likely that he did want her dead because he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. When their final war broke out, she was better prepared for it. The way she killed him wasn't exactly a good premeditated murder plan, it was an act of extreme rage and overkill.
I cannot understand physically attacking or killing another person unless in defense of self or others. I have been there and know what I would do.
Obsession with another person has never been a problem for me. If I am aware that someone does not care for me, I move on. I have difficulty understanding these obsessions as I have not experienced them.
From where I am, the weather continues to be fantastic...after winter's stranglehold into April, it has been splendid...cool evenings, beautiful days (but we do need rain) April should have been close to 4", only had a little more than 1"...and the trees
leaves are finally out...green all around...
as far as the arizona trial, no interest...what little picked up from tv (really don't recall stories in the papers, if there were, obviously I passed them by) it sure sounds like a media circus creating ratings for the channel that covers it non-stop...& if that's the case, just goes to show what the viewing public is interested in...anything sensational, voyeuristic, filled with sexual innuendo, violence, mayhem, whatever...it attracts an audience!...
Coreen, Happy to hear about your great weather.
We had horrible winds last night. John woke up at 2 am and was watching out the front window. We are 3 blocks from the Univ hosp and the helicopter was trying to land and had to make multiple passes to do it. John said his heart was in his throat watching it. It did finally land safely - on top of the hospital.
That must have been scary for whoever was in that helicopter.
I just returned yesterday's movie to Redbox and rented the Sessions. There were no Guilt Trips in.
We went to see the Long Island Medium today...her show was entertaining...she has a bubbly
personality just like on her tv show...don't know if it is real but it was fun...& she had on a pair of Christain Louboutin crystal heels to die for!!(not really, just an expression you know)...talk about bling...
And Carol, you likely will be interested, there were Newtown families in the audience...& she read 2 of them...both these families have been on numerous tv shows often enough (Neil Heslin & the Soto family)...not sure what to think about their presence...
What did she say to them Coreen? I'm sure they are all having a lot of difficulty with their losses and need to know that they are still close to their lost loved ones.
I saw her on a show at her house the other day. She loves shoes.
The LIM does serve an important function to those people who come to see her. I think she really loves being able to do that.
She gives positive reinforcement that the loved ones are ok & with them...both families appeared very sad & searching for something...the sotos were the mother, 2 sisters & brother of the teacher who protected the children...they were very emotional
weeping & theresa spent time mentioning some things that may have been specific to what they would know, hard to say for sure, but throughout with all those she
read was to give a positive hopeful feeling to those obviously greiving...there were many in the audience holding things from their loved ones & quite a few dabbing their eyes with tissues...but Theresa remains positive, she says
funny things, jokes (at her expense mostly) & is truly an entertainer...whether she does hear spirit, who knows, I sure don't....she was indeed what you see on her tv show & is fun to watch/listen too...
And I remain skeptical in case you didn't notice...one of the problems I had was that she would ask a general question that several people would raise their hands essentially saying pick me...& she would go towards one of them asking some more general questions & most of the time, the person responded yes to what she was saying...but those she spoke with did seem moved...
for me, I would have to have a one on one to decide if there was something there, still think I should try to set up a personal reading, even if it takes 2 years, not even sure she still does those since she has become so popular...
Watching her, I do feel that she is genuine. She gets as excited as the client does when she picks up significant signs. I think it is a very positive experience for her. I like her. I also think she does wonders for those needing her.
I had a friend who lost her father. She really got into reading John Edwards books. She found some peace doing that. She really wanted to be able to see him, John Edwards. I think these kind of things are even more important to those who lost loved ones under stressful circumstances and/or when the death was unexpected.
Free yourself of some of your skepticism Coreen. What do you have to lose. Life is strange and interesting. We certainly don't understand it all but we can open ourselves to these kind of experiences.
Jan, the Sessions was an interesting movie. I did a little research on it. From my understanding, the screenplay was inspired by an article written by the disabled character in the movie...""On Seeing a Sex Surrogate" on the Internet".
"Writer and director Ben Lewin, a polio survivor himself, first read about O'Brien's experience in that article and considered the material for a sitcom.
Evidently this disabled guy was considered a "journalist and poet." I can understand his being able to be a poet but how did he become a journalist in his state of disability?
I didn't know how much of story in this screenplay was actually based on the guy's real life other than the sex surrogate experience. It was pretty cool that he had 4 women who had such strong feelings for him but I wondered if that was accurate. Normal guys could be jealous over that. It did make for a happier story.
His last relationship with his life partner, Susan Fernbach, was real. This was an interview with her.
'A Mind Like Schwarzenegger's Body' -- Interview With Susan Fernbach on Behalf of Mark O'Brien
Another interesting article I found:
The Incredible True Story Behind The Sessions: A Conversation With Director Ben Lewin
Here's the sex surrogate article:
on seeing a sex surrogate - mark o’brian
Coreen....
I share your skepticism. It's all nice and ok for someone like you to take it as entertainment. But if the LIM is ever proven to be a fraud, I can only imagine how those Newtown people will feel like victims again.
As they say... real life can be stranger than fiction... that satisfies me. I love a good magic show and like to think of the possibilities. But I also temper it by remembering that BT Barnum made a fortune by understanding that a sucker is born every minute.
Carol, I am so glad you liked the movie The Sessions. I read all the links to Mark. I especially liked the essay he wrote. I think the director did a great job of telling his story.
When I moved to Montana, I taught Community Health Nursing, last term of the students' clinicals. I taught it with the psych faculty person. Instead of lectures, we did classes where students selected a topic and presented. One of the topics was on disabilities. The female student brought a film about sexuality in the disabled. It was a graphic film like the Sessions movie. There were several students who were offended by the movie. I thought it was great. That was in 1978 so the student was ahead of her time.
Carol, I thought of you when I heard the horse "Orb" had won, because of the orbs that we see in some pictures that you have talked about here.
Coreen, I do like the Long Island Psychic when I have seen her on TV. I am not much into this - although my mother was.
They were picking horses on TM. They do every year. I didn't participate this year. If I would have, I would have chosen the horse the lady was riding. I don't even know how that horse came in.
Jan, I found an interview with the surrogate who Helen Hunt played the part of.
Meet the Real Sex Surrogate Portrayed by Helen Hunt in 'The Sessions'
Carol, I read the stuff on the Kent. Derby over at TM. I saw that Chloe had picked "Orb."
Jan... my husband also picked Orb... but was too late for Craig to add his name. I picked Itsmyluckyday... he came in 15th.
Carol... Rosie Napravnik rode Mylute... he came in 5th.
I did read that Rick and Chloe picked Orb. You'll mentioned some interesting story about someone involved with that horse. Do you know what that story is Renee?
And congrats on your Red Socks. The Braves started out so well and then kinda went south. They are still doing OK. I noticed, when I watch the few games that I can see, that they have very poor attendance at their games. I looked to see if the ticket prices were outrageous and they really weren't. They ought to move somewhere where the fans really appreciate them.
Rick really liked the story about Orb's trainer, Shug McGaughey. He's been training horses about 40 yrs and until this past Saturday, had never had a Kentucky Derby winner. Also the horse's owners are in their 80s and have never had a Kentucky Derby winner until Saturday either.
Yeah... my beloved RSox are doing great. Watching them last year was painful... this year is a very pleasant surprise.
Coreen, with these phenomena in life you are skeptical but curious. That's probably the best combination.
Would like to say that I believe in the medium thing, but unless
personally touched just do not know...
That is not to say I don't accept that others genuinely believe they have experienced some contact with
those that have passed...it comes done to one's faith, can not be proven or debunked...just like any religious belief, you either accept it or you don't...there is no right or wrong explanation...
And another strange breaking news event overnight...the 3 women found alive after going missing for ten years in Cleveland...
Sometimes the good guys win...thanks to the neighbor hero who did respond to the woman's screams....
I heard about finding the three women very early this morning. Dang, that will be a story. I can't believe that they could have been successfully concealed for that long. One had a six year old child. I guess she had that child during her years of captivity. This was in a neighborhood. We just don't know what's going on next door.
I found an article about Elizabeth Smart. Do you remember that she was the 14 year old who was kidnapped from her bed by this crazy and his wife and raped by him daily until she was spotted by someone 9 months later.
Eliz is speaking out and saying that abstinance education teaches girls that if they are raped that they do not feel valued or worthwhile any longer and this is why if kidnapped and held hostage that when give the opportunity they often will not try to escape.
The interesting thing is she is from a Mormon family who is quite religious.
Elizabeth's kidnapper was someone who came to the family's door looking for work and Eliz's dad paid him to do some work around the home. When I read that years ago, I made the decision to not hire anyone to do any work outside if they came to the door.
It is a shame when we have to be suspicious like this, but it is necessary.
If you want to read the article about Eliz just type in Google, Elizabeth Smart on abstinance education.
I am thinking of the woman who was kidnapped and kept in this guy's back yard for years and had 2 of his babies. The police were called several times and never found them. It was 2 women who saw the little girls with the creep and just had a sense that something was wrong. It is how we raise little girls that is the problem. I do believe that the perpetrators look for children who are submissive. They profile these girls and boys.
Jan, there must have been some kind of serious hostage syndrome going on. Most parents can't keep their teenage girls quiet and out of sight for a couple of hours.
Ten years of feeding, clothing and medical care including a baby for 10 years??? There's lots of splaining to do.
Coreen... google mediumship and look at the wiki page. Over the years, many mediums have been proven to be frauds. There was a huge movement of them in the early 19th century... this is not new.
I just came home from having a colonoscopy ... it was my first one and the whole experience was much easier than I expected.
I feel very badly for those 3 women.... yeah they're lucky to be alive.... but I bet they need years of psychotherapy. Any guy that can kidnap teenagers and use them as sexual slaves should never get out of jail, IMO. It's very hard to rehabilitate hard core sexual offenders.
No whinning about the prep for the colonoscopy Renee? You tough! Test is the easy part.
Carol...
nope... I didn't think the prep wasn't so bad. Although after reading what Jan went through... I had second thoughts about going through with it. The best part was that I got to have some stuff that I don't have now because of my diabetes. I got to suck on real popsicles and mix some of the laxative with real fruit juice. A diabetic nurse called me about a week ago and said I had to use some stuff with sugar in order to keep my blood sugars from dropping too low.
But now I've gotta throw the leftovers out... well, Rick will drink the rest of the juice.
Makes me kinda sad Renee, that you didn't think that prep was so bad because you got to get a Popsicle.
Renee, So glad your colonoscopy experience was not too unpleasant. I have to do it again soon.
I agree on the kidnappers. Should never get out of jail. Yes, the girls are going to need lots of therapy.
Carol... lol...
I can have all the sugar free popsicles I want. Hey... what can I say... I'm a glass half full kinda person.... I always look for the silver lining.
Jan... I hope you don't have a repeat of the last time.
Having an allergic reaction to the laxative is something I would have screamed about too.
Renee, curent tie in to mediums as frauds, read somehwhere today that Sylvia Brown, a pretty well known psychic appeared on a tv show when one of the women disappeared & stated that she was not alive....
but as I said, still think it would be difficult to convince a person who believed that a psychic/medium connected them to their departed loved one was a fraud...
Here's an ABCnews story about the Sylvia Brown link to the cleveland
victims...
Sylvia Brown told Amanda Berry's mom that she was not alive
Coreen, Amanda Berry's mom died in 2006. They say she died of a broken heart. I bet it's worse to never find your child then to know they are dead. If you know they are dead, you can at least go through the grief process eventually.
This story is getting bizarre. When the DeJesus girl disappeared, she was walking home with the daughter of the kidnapper. The daughter borrowed DeJesus's last 50 cents to call her mom to ask if she could go hang out with DeJesus and her mom said no. It was DeJesus's last money so she couldn't take the bus home. She walked and was never seen again. I can't find out if the the kidnapper's daughter was living with her father at the time.
Suspect's daughter said in 2004 she was the last to see Gina DeJesus (video)
And in an article that linked that article, I found this:
"In another strange twist in the still-developing case, Ariel Castro's son Anthony, a journalism student at the time of the kidnappings, reportedly wrote an article about DeJesus's disappearance. He even interviewed the kidnapping victim's mother. His article appeared in a local paper in 2004."
Arlene Castro, Daughter Of Ohio Kidnapping Suspect, Last To See Gina DeJesus Before Kidnapping?
Kinda some strange coincidences wouldn't you say??
I'm thinking that the Cleveland police aren't going to get any high marks in this case either. Even whoever answered the 911 call when the girl broke out, night before last, almost sounded not to take the call serious.
At leas,t a couple of neighbors called police about things over the years that they didn't follow up on.
A moral of this story is....be a nosy neighbor.
With the new social media technology, we know more about friends who live over a thousand miles away than we do our next door neighbors. Guilty!
Not only should the police work harder on these cases but we all need to be more vigilant in our neighborhoods to make sure no one is making bombs or harboring hostages!
I used to be able to get updated info on this kind of story on HLN but they are still beating that Jodi Arias trial to death.
And I see that South Carolina likes their senators sleazy.
I just heard part of that interview of Amanda's mother with Sylvia Brown. What I heard was...Amanda's mom said...you don't think I will ever see her again? Sylvia said, yes in heaven, on the other side. Amanda's mother died before she was found so she won't see her again until heaven. Maybe that is what Sylvia Brown saw in her vision. Maybe she was just confused about who was going to be dead.
"but as I said, still think it would be difficult to convince a person who believed that a psychic/medium connected them to their departed loved one was a fraud..."
Coreen... I absolutely agree... hell, I think you can't convince a person who holds deeply held beliefs whether religious or otherwise.
You keep mentioning the money.... maybe I should keep mentioning BT Barnum :)
PT Barnum, born in Bethel, but made Bridgeport his home...celebrated every year with the Barnum Festival....
Carol, did you see/hear the actual montel williams video of the Sylvia Brown comments?, I have not seen it, just the abc report playing over the video...but the story quotes Brown saying directly "she's not alive, honey"...
What you said you heard seems to be another quoted comment later in the conversation...which taken alone could support your interpretation that Brown was suggesting something other than what the news is reporting...your interpretation is what one who believes might get, but hard to overlook the other quoted comments if accurate, that is why I ask did you see/hear the entire Brown video...
Here's another story from 2004 quoting Brown as saying "she's not alive, honey" together with the quotes you mention in your interpretation...
Sylvia Brown tells mother
Renee, many of us, with out talents and skills, have wares or services to sell. Those services either help people to function better, feel better or look better. Some aren't absolutely necessary but something we are willing to pay for.
From what I have seen of Theresa, before she became famous, she went up to people in stores, restaurants, other places and talked to them about their loved ones who passed. She still does. Now she can make a living with her gift. I think that's great.
Not everyone needs to believe in that gift. Many people don't believe in counseling and that's a service that cost money. Some people don't believe in chiropractics and that service costs money. We could argue that those services are a bunch of hooey but not to those people who really believe in them.
Barnum provided a service that many people paid a lot of money to enjoy.
No Coreen, I just heard part of it, the part I quoted. I just thought that maybe her connection was a little fuzzy. Psychics aren't always right nor are the rest of us. I just thought that it was kinda interesting that her mom did not get to see her daughter before death but mom went first. I'm not a big fan of Syliva's.
P.T. was a master 'promoter'...of any and every thing that the public would pay to see...surprise, surprise...there we go again...'it's always about the money'....
Carol, I enjoy Theresa's shows, for me its entertainment, & I hope that her talent is real, but just don't know...by the way, the friend that went who does believe, had no doubts about Theresa being genuine to those she spoke with...
From what I'm starting to hear, this hostage story is going to get pretty bad.
Last night Anderson Cooper was in that neighborhood where the girls were held. He said that there were boards covering many of the windows in the house where the girls were held. There were also many boards on windows of other houses in that neighborhood. Maybe someone should be making sure other people aren't also holding hostages. Lots of young people do disappear.
Carol...
yup... Barnum was a genius at understanding human behavior.
Hey whatever anyone wants to spend their money on is their business... whatever floats their boat. I've paid money to see magicians perform... I enjoyed it and I knew it was all an illusion. I'd go again today... but I will not go to the local Catholic church and put money in the basket... I may be a fool at times, but I'm particular about how I part with my money.
I found this in that article you linked Coreen:
"“Are you ever wrong?” Safos asked. “Only God is right all the time but of course I’m wrong,” Browne responded. “But after 50 years of doing this work, I’d better be more right than wrong. I always say I hope I’m wrong. When it comes to this, I hope I’m wrong.” But regardless the determined psychic shared more of her thoughts about a suspect. “I think he really had a crush on her,” she said. “And I think she rebuffed him. I think she thought he was harmless enough to maybe drive her home.” Who ever did give Amanda that last ride didn’t take her home.
The Jodi Arias verdict is in. I don't have a clue what it will be. I figured if it would be less than 1st degree, it would end up hung and since it wasn't, I don't think it looks good for the defendant. I will be glad for it to be over. I can't even watch the coverage on HLN. I'm so sick of those people so I'll watch it on CNN.
I'm more interested in the rescued girls. I need a good news story for a change.
Guilty of 1st degree! Doesn't surprise me. I would be surprised if they do sentence her to death. I still think that the death penalty is barbaric. Why are we among some of the most barbaric countries that still do that kind of thing.
I was listening to a local talk radio show out of Texas, death penalty central, and the guys who were talking and called in no longer agreed with the death penalty. That was a pleasant surprise.
CNN outside the court...the crowds of people that were standing around (actually missed the verdict announcemtnt)...can you tell me why they show up at these things?!...have to say, it would never enter my mind to take the effort to go hang around waiting for (not sure what they expect)...but that's just me...who are those people...
Carol do you have more than one iphone charger...just ordered another (belkin) for my office from amazon, since as always, I forget to charge it...
Carol, the voice 12 should be
Danielle, Karina, Judith, Sasha,
Holly, Cathia, Justin, Sarah, Ambert, Josia, Vedo, Kris...
I know none of you watches Idol any longer, but there there is one woman, Candice Glover who, hands down, has one of the most beautiful and strongest voices I have ever heard.
Remember the name - Candice Glover. You will see and hear her again.
All 3 of the final contestants are amazing. But Candice was Blessed by God with a voice from Heaven.
Coreen, I had an old charger from my first iPhone. I used it at work when I was working. Now I keep one at each house and I have a car charger.
And those people all hanging out at that courthouse are vultures. I haven't monitored this case like I have others. I got to the point where I couldn't even tolerate watching the HLN cast covering the case. They starting looking and acting as evil as they accused Jodi of. Flip to that channel and turn down the sound and just look in the faces of many of the regulars. Nancy Grace has been there for a long time.
Remember the look on that character played by Jack Nicholson in the Shinning? Picture that in your mind and then turn to HLN, turn down the sound and check out Nancy Grace. She's got that look down! Several of the others are starting to also. I can now only tolerate the two sweet looking women who do mornings on HLN.
I did want to learn what was going on so I turned to CNN. They haven't gotten possessed yet.
So Coreen, you finally got into the Voice. They do have some incredible talent on that show and don't ya just love the judges? They are so cute and they do a great job with their coaching. I would have a hard job picking from the final group. I didn't even attempt to vote.
With the Cleveland kidnapper, I think his time was running out. He had limited income to support 3 adult women and a child and continue to keep it a secret. He hadn't paid his taxes and I heard the house was in foreclosure. I'm glad it finally ended before he felt forced to terminate the group. He had them so terrorized that he didn't need to tie them up anymore. The one girl with the child got a burst of courage and made of break for it. Maybe having her child to protect is what gave her that courage.
Watched bits & pieces, enough to know that most are good singers...still wonder whether there is a positive effect on their
lives once the show ends...
No idea what the 'magic' is that makes one singer/entertainer a 'star' & the other just another singer...
I heard that Jodi did a TV interview where she said she would rather get the death penalty than be stuck in jail for life. I would have to agree with her there. Kill me fast. Having the death penalty pending will give her a more interesting life, for years to come, than being sentenced to life in prison where they are essentially through with you.
People say she is trying to use reverse psychology on her jury. The jury is still under the admonition to avoid all outside media. Yeah, like they've been doing that all along. Big farce in this day of addiction to our technology.
I don't know if I wrote this or just thought about it but they did a poll about whether people, who were under oath of the court to avoid all media for a trial, if they could actually do it. Over 50% said they could NOT. I think that I would have to be up front with the court and say that it would be impossible for me to do that.
"No idea what the 'magic' is that makes one singer/entertainer a 'star' & the other just another singer..."
Coreen, I've spent a considerable amount of time pondering the same thing. It's not the Voice..or the body. All I can come up with is....fate! Also, having someone with power, influence and money backing the person.
Oprah can make a successful star out of people and often has...ie, Dr Phil, Gayle, her BFF to name a couple. Was it her who introduced Dr Oz to the world?
The Jody trial, looks like she just wasn't that convincing a liar
as was thought & not so much sympathy from those jurors...as far as her posturing about death/life in prison...time for the media to just say 'next case' & move along...stop giving this woman a forum...
I did try to surf the Net to see if any of those booted off the Voice made it in the music industry like those from Idol have. I couldn't find anything..yet.
As for the voice singers, would like to think or hope that maybe the coaches would pursue providing some of them with an expanded opportunity to become successful...
And yes I believe that Oprah 'created' Dr. Oz...
Thinking about the entertainment world, I do know that locally there are several very good singers that friends follow around to hear them...and while they make a living at what they do (not necessarily a big career, but they work at what they love) they don't get beyond being local talent...that's probably repeated in many other places...so the exposure from these 'talent' shows
can be the catalyst for that one in a million....
Coreen, the tall, attractive, Asian looking woman, Judith Hill, was not just a nobody before. "She is trained in jazz and was Michael Jackson's duet partner for his "This Is It" tour before he passed away. Judith sings with Stevie Wonder on a fairly regular basis"
http://www.nbc.com/the-voice/artists/judith-hill/
There was someone else this season who had a lost a music contract. Can't remember who that was.
If that woman, with her talent, looks and previous experience, can't catch a break, will the Voice make the difference??
And she was the one I saw when it started & thought she's really good...so will she go from being a back up singer to a star...makes you wonder if she sings for the likes of Stevie Wonder & before Jackson, why didn't she get the break or are there just so many good singers that she's just another good voice....
If I had to pick a winner from the 12, I still like Judith, but the 16
year old girl Danielle who never sang before an audience before (wasn't that the story) has a great voice too(but I don't like country music)...several others do to, so its just a gamble who has the most 'star appeal' to whoever votes... singer who was not picked Carina had a good voice but she's out, so does she just slip back into obscurity or what...
You may like this less than flattering play on Nancy Grace's name, comment on FB by an Italian comedian who appears in the tri-state area...Maryann Maisano
"So last night i watched Nancy DisGrace -
I swear I will neva do dat again !! ohhhfahhhhhhhhh"
She must have seen the "look".
I cannot stand to watch or listen to Nancy Grace. She turns me off just to hear her voice.
I have started watching the Voice, but I do get more out of Idol. I think it is because I see the same singers each week and begin to feel a sort of bond with some of them.
We read last night where all of the judges on Idol this season will not be back next season. John cannot tolerate Nicki Minaj. I am not too wild about Mariah Carey as a judge either. Nicki has been totally nasty to Mariah. I do like Keith Urban and I am tired of Randy Jackson.
I like the judges on The Voice much better but more of the show seems to be about the judges than the talent.
It seems that more of the talent on Voice has had some chances for breaking out of simply home town popularity before. They do have a few singers who are very new to singing to larger audiences. I guess I like Idol because few of these young people have had a chance to pursue singing as a career.
I've never been that crazy about the singing talent shows so maybe that's why I enjoy the Voice where the judges are a good part of the entertainment.
Maybe the Voice has not been around long enough for any of its winners to have made it big yet.
Idol has been around for 11 or 12 years now. It may have run its course.
I don't think it will be one of the singer's who has experience who will win this season. If they were going to break out, they probably would have already.
Coreen pointed out that young 16 year old who never sang in front of anyone before this competition. She's great. Coreen must have liked her and she doesn't even like country. If she can catch Coreen's eye, she must have something.
Coreen, last night was the results show and I didn't even know it was on. I watch other stuff on Wednesday..Modern Family for one.
I'm now watching the show online and will soon know who are the final 12.
So far, for Blake's team, the voters chose Holly and Danielle. No surprise. Then Blake chose the Swan Brothers over Justin. I wouldn't have picked them over Justin. You didn't either.
For team Shakira, it was Kris and Sasha saved by the voters. Shakira selected Garrett instead of Karina. I agree with you Coreen, I liked Karina better. Garrett competed on last season's show and never made it past the first blind auditions. The agony of the decision showed on Shakira's face. She said it was an awful decision but she thought that Karina already had a strong voice and she thought she could still provide Garrett with more help. She also said she put all her team members names in a paper bag and asked God for help. Maybe that's why she picked Garrett. Since the voters did pick the first two it's not likely that the other two will win the competition anyway.
For Usher's team, America saved Michelle and Vedo. Usher picked Josea instead of Cathia. You didn't pick Michelle. I picked the first two and the one Usher selected was a toss up for me.
Last but not least, for Adam's team, America saved Judith and Amber. Adam saved Sarah. They almost went off the air before he made his decision. The judges are so committed to their teams. They form a very close bond.
We both picked the same for his team even though I really liked them all.
I will have to confess that I am music/musician illiterate. I wouldn't have even heard of most of the judges they have and have had on this program if I wouldn't have watched it. Somehow, I have heard most of the songs they do.
Coreen, Dr. Oz is going to have Theresa Caputo on today. It airs here at 4p. It describes the program as..."Dr. Oz goes inside psychic Theresa Caputo's mind" If you check in and can, check it out.
I taped the Oz show for today too.
I didn't watch the Voice last night, but I did have favorites = Danielle and Michelle and Sasha. So my favs did get through. Danielle is so young and I bet we will see her soon as a popular country singer. I liked Michelle as she is so unusual. I really liked her audition song. Sasha is great - very strong voice.
It's a pretty powerful show. Hope you got to see it. Dr. Oz is no skeptic anymore and he said when he first met Theresa, he was a big skeptic. They documented big brain wave changes when she was connecting with spirit.
If anyone likes cliff-hanger movies, we bought the movie, The Next Three Days because we missed the ending on TV. It is an action movie which I usually don't like but this movie had an unusual plot.
She even read the Dr. doing the test and he was moved by what she told him.
Here's an article by the Dr. who did the test on Theresa:
The Neuroscience of Psychic Experience
If you missed the show today, it probably will be on his website later.
If Theresa was trying to pull a fast one, I don't think she would have volunteered to participate in this experiment.
Jan, Michelle is kind of a strange looking girl, attractive but not your pretty singing star type. She got the most votes in her group. That's what so neat about the Voice. Last year's finalists were not the most attractive of the bunch. I hope that just shows that we are moving away from judging by physical attractiveness.
Missed Dr. Oz...Theresa mentioned at the show that she was having her head measured on the show...again I hope she is the real deal, who knows, I don't...but like I said, she is so bubbly & fun, you gotta love her...
One comment about the Voice 12...Judith, Danielle, Sasha,(and Karina, who should not have been let go) their voices are distinct...for me the other women are pretty much like listening to the same person...I know that sounds negative, they all have good voices, but not my favs..the guys are all ok,(just not as good as the women though)...but hey, I'm not picking the winner....
Dr. Amen!!...
Have no idea what the brain scans mean & the most meaningful comment was as you might guess...
"Of course, these brain changes do not show proof that psychic experience is real – but it is fascinating"....
Coreen, I think we have proof that something interesting is going on in
Theresa's brain when she connects with the other side. Dr Oz was impressed with her ability but like most scientist, I think he wanted some physiology evidence and he was excited to get it.
Coreen, the Dr. did say that the changes are not proof of what they are doing but they show significant changes in brain activity. On the show, he said that he has a tremendous data base of these brain wave studies. He said he did one on this woman who said she was a channeler. He repeated her test while she was channeling and found significant and similar brain wave changes. Since then, he has documented these changes.
Anyone have a new post to put up. I have nada.
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