NaBloPoMo Month - "Regional Edition - Local Style"

NaBloPoMo Month - "Regional Edition - Local Style"
Entry #14 - 11/14/2013

I receive a daily email from a blog title "The Daily Blog" with a prompt for a blog posting each morning. Sometimes I use the prompt suggestion, some days I modify it to fit my own idea of what I want to write about and some days I take "photographers" section and make it a blog post. Okay, technically I haven't done the latter ever...but I'm changing that today.

 

The photographer prompt for today was - local. So I decided to drive around town since I had the day off from work and take my camera with me. If you follow me on Instagram you've often seen some of my handy work with my iPhone. But today I took out the big camera that I purchased when I lived in Reno and drove around the Oklahoma countryside and through Stillwater.

 

Stillwater is a city in north-central Oklahoma and it the county seat of Payne County. In 2012, the city population was estimated at 46,560 and in 2010 CNN Money Magazine named it amongst the 100 top places to live. The nickname for the city is "Cowboy Country" due in part to the university that's located here - Oklahoma State University.

 

Today's trip doesn't begin to encompass everything that makes up Stillwater, but rather a small portion of my background and how Stillwater compares.

 

 

Stillwater at the moment is home. The picture below left is my current home and below right is my first apartment when I returned to Stillwater in 2006. Little did I know how much Stillwater was going to impact who was, where I had come from and what I would do with my life. When I left Stillwater in 2008 I was a completely different person than when I returned five years later in 2013.

 

For me Oklahoma State University and Eskimo Joe's will ever be tied together, because it is impossible for me to think of one and not think of the other. From the first time I set foot on the campus of OSU in November 2001 I knew that I wanted to partake in the allure that it had to offer. Have there been moments of regrets, absolutely...but without coming to OSU and Stillwater to live for the first time in August 2002, I honestly don't know what path my life would have taken. Everything happens for a reason, people have told me before, and while I used to hate hearing that, because it was usually said in one of the worst moments of my life...I'm beginning to see the truth in that.

 

 

I grew up in the country. Surrounded by open fields and blue skies...just like the one pictured above. And while I could never see myself country living again, unless it was on a Texas ranch named Southfork, I do appreciate the throwback to a time gone by when I see these things on a daily basis. Yes I loved living in the cities and will most assuredly continue to live in cities - but there is something about looking out across pastures that makes you appreciate Oklahoma for what it is. And there is the lakes...here's the thing about Stillwater, until recently I didn't really know where Lake McCurtry was in Stillwater, because I never wanted to know. My dad loved the lakes...he loved the water...he loved to fish and for the better part of fifteen, nearly sixteen years now I have avoided with great passion such places. But as life often does, new memories can be made that makes once appreciate such places - and as such the lake. It was great moment to drive out there today and photograph the water.

 

Hope you've enjoyed my photo essay/blog. Until next time...ciao bella!

 

 

 

NaBloPoMo Month - "Love is Love in Hawaii"

NaBloPoMo Month - "Love is Love in Hawaii"
Entry #13 - 11/13/2013

Today, Governor Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii signed a bill that will allow same-sex couples to marry as soon as December 2nd in the aloha state.

"Finally, today now all those who have been invisible will be visible to themselves and the whole world," the governor said of this milestone for the LGBT community! The Hawaii senate passed the bill Tuesday afternoon with a 19-4 vote before sending it to Governor Abercrombie...and just FYI how wonderful is that name. I wonder if the Governor wears Abercrombie...leading me to think...you are who you wear...which caused me to think if I had to have a last name of the clothes I wear most often...hells bell Clairee...I would be Joshua Casual Male Old Navy! Such a long name don't you think!

It seems as more and more states begin to either pass such marriage equality bills or work to pass them that the Senators and Governors and Representatives are speaking more eloquently of the topic and it not only encourages but it inspires...Senator Clayton Hee, began to tear up shared his remarks, "I could never have imagined that I would play a role in such a profound yet, in my mind, a really simple thing to do - bring justice and equality to all of us."

More and more politicians need to see marriage equality as Senator Hee does...we live in a world that has forever changed since 1913...since 1953...since 1973...since 2003...shouldn't it be time for those who represent the people look at things through a different set of eyes and come to realize that the world isn't as black and white as they like to think that it is. It's time to change and it's time to embrace change. I'm one of the biggest opponents of things changing (just ask any of my former IGT co-workers...hey ya'll) but it's imperative to establish the open lines of communication to ensure that we are on the cusp of being able to change. On November 20nd, the Illinois Governor (not Peter Florrick of The Good Wife - the real Illinois Governor) will sign his own marriage equality act in his state...is it not time for everyone else to embrace and do the same?

On the topic of gay stuff, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is legislation proposed in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination in hiring on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity by employers with at least 15 employees...Senator Coburn did not vote...Senator Inhofe voted nay...both Senators from Oklahoma! It is times like these, I'm ashamed to be an Oklahoman...ashamed! For the record Senator Heller and Senator Reid both of my former Nevada...Yay!

Until Next Time...Ciao Bella...

NaBloPoMo Month - "RIP One & Children, RIP"

NaBloPoMo Month - "RIP One & Children, RIP"
Entry #12 - 11/12/2013

Port Charles died in 2003.

Passions first died in 2007 and then again in 2008.

Guiding Light (My Beloved, FYI) died in 2009.

As The World Turns (My Second Beloved, FYI) died in 2010.

 

2013 Casts of One Life to Live & All My Children

 

All My Children and One Life to Live were both murdered in 2011 - on the same day no less and saved the same year in 2011, 2012 and once more in 2013. However, they too have died - at least according to lead actress Debbi Morgan (Angie) and Cady McClain (Dixie).

 

It was the Cinderella story that merged with the little engine that could in 2011 when a production company called Prospect Park swooped in and bought from ABC the rights to Agnes Nixon's iconic soap operas. PP's plan was to take AMC live in September 2011 and OLTL live in January 2012, following the respective series finales on broadcast network. However, by year's end 2011, that plan had failed and PP was no closer to airing the soaps than ABC was in resurrecting them to life once more.

 

In the late winter/early spring of 2012, ABC's sole soap opera General Hospital integrating into the cast reformed rapist Todd Manning, his songbird daughter Starr Manning and the ultimate good guy John McBain - who helped save Port Charles (the town, not the soap) from deadly bomb with the help of his longtime OLTL lover Natalie's picture. It was a miracle that a part of OLTL's Llanview history got to live on and it was that same miracle that no doubt cause PP to setup and take notice. They ordered GH to cease using the characters of Todd, Starr and John - although the actors were still under contract with ABC.

 

Long story short...Prospect Park launched AMC and OLTL online via their website and Hulu - to much fanfare! It was heralded as the moment that could change how we view soap operas and television dramas forever. Let's all remember soap operas used to air on the radio...when they went to television everyone said they would fail.

 

Alas, it was not meant to be. Several months ago, Prospect Park announced it was shelving OLTL, due in part to a suit that was brought against ABC/GH for killing off OLTL characters that belonged to Prospect Park. AMC on the other hand had a hugely successful first season run on Hulu - compared in contrast to the disappointing run that OLTL had. The aforementioned, Debbi Morgan delivered some of her most powerful work as Angie Hubbard and was poised in season two to set our computer screens and iPads a blaze with her sizzling chemistry with Vincent Irizarry's dastardly Dr. David Hayward. But it too was not meant to be...as Morgan and McClain and OLTL characters confirmed AMC's demise.

 

As Jamey Giddens of Daytime Confidential recently suggested in a podcast (available on iTunes for all you soap lovers) perhaps it's time to retire these 40-year plus shows and be thankful that the experiment was tried and failed as opposed to not being tried at all. We should look to the future of soap operas and relish in the ones that are still on the air - The Young and the Restless (who just appointed new head-writers) and The Bold and the Beautiful (who has a stellar storyline with Brooke/Bill/Katie) and Days of our Lives (who takes it old school, but still keeps it fresh) and General Hospital (who is enjoying a five year ratings high) - and with the demise of AMC and OLTL it got me thinking of how some of the best and brightest could make their way back to daytime in new roles...

 

 

Erika Slezak (ex-Viki, One Life to Live)

Slezak is the baddest bitch in all of daytime and she has the Emmys to back it up - count them six in total. The matriarch of OLTL should move west to CBS's The Bold and the Beautiful - as who you might ask...Vivian Spencer aka Momma Spencer. Granted there has never been a Vivian Spencer on the canvas and we don't really know who or what Bill's momma's name is - but Slezak would fit the mold and provide a much needed boost to that age range! It's time we meet Bill's mother and let her go toe-to-toe with his preachy ex-wife Katie Logan and the slut/sister-in-law her baby boy took to bed!

 

Robert Scott Wilson (ex-Pete, All My Children)

Rumor has it and storylines suggest it that General Hospital is need of a Lucas Jones. Half-brother to Carly Jax, cousin to feuding best friends Lulu and Maxie and biological son of just revealed mobster Julian Jerome! The character who revealed his sexuality years ago was talked about by his mother Barbara Jean earlier this year, by saying he's working in a Seattle based hospital. Well it's time for Lucas to come home and mix it up with his kinfolks and add some spice to Felix and Brad's pairing...

 

Debbi Morgan (ex-Angie, All My Children)

When AMC first went off the air in 2011, CBS's The Young and the Restless snapped up the ferrous Ms. Morgan as a throwaway character dubbed by fans and critics as YoHarmony. Ms. Morgan also went on the record at the time and said she would not play the wildly popular Drucilla Winters, played formerly by her gal pal and fan favorite Victoria Rowell. However, that was over two years ago...Drucilla went over a cliff nearly seven years ago and fans are itching for her to claw her way back up from the valley of the river! If CBS/Sony won't work out their issues with Rowell...it's time for bygones to be bygones...invite Ms. Morgan back to Y&R and give her the role she was meant to play in 2011. As far as friendships go...Ms. Morgan needs to call up Victoria Rowell and tell her like it T-I-S...which is, bitch I got bills to pay!

NaBloPoMo Month - "Murder, Oh Yes She Did Children"

NaBloPoMo Month - "Murder, Oh Yes She Did Children"
Entry #11 - 11/11/2013

I'm going to continue with the Pop Culture theme in tonight's blog as Angela Lansbury tells it like it T-I-S children.

In October, Deadline reported that NBC was taking it old school and was slated to remake the 1980s writer-turned-crime-solving drama "Murder, She Wrote" with Oscar winner Octavia Spencer in the role made famous by Angela Lansbury. Though the original aired on CBS, the remake would air now on NBC - which has tried to remake "Ironside" and "The Munsters" - both of which have failed. Plus let's not forget NBC's other attempt at remaking Thursday nights must watch TV with former sitcom stars - Sean Hayes and Michael J. Fox...Hello Epic Failure.

But today, the divine Angela Lansbury came out and told it like it T-I-S and declared that a remake of the show she helped make a 12 year success was a mistake! The much honored actress, who received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for every season of the original series told the Associated Press, "I think it's a mistake to call it Murder, She Wrote..." and I have to say I couldn't agree more. While there have been other remakes of iconic television series that have been successes (Dallas), mediocre successes (90210) and downright failures (the aforementioned Ironside) - Hollywood seems to be running out of ideas. Why would the network who gave us the Law & Order franchise need to rely a show that has been off the air for nearly 17 years? It's time that Hollywood comes up with better ideas and make them work instead of just recycling the same ole stuff from yesteryear! And Octavia Spencer remembers that she won a freaking OSCAR right!? Honey boo, you're so much better this! And please...don't make us pick sides...because many of us are going to side with the original Jessica Fletcher!

 

NaBloPoMo Month - "The Good Wife"

NaBloPoMo Month - "The Good Wife"
Entry #10 - 11/10/2013

When it debuted to 13.71 million viewers on September 22, 2009, "The Good Wife" was by every definition a story ripped from the headlines...a Chicago politician is caught in several comprising positions with a hooker and his wife dutiful stands by his side...the show even referenced Bill & Hillary in the premiere episode as Alicia Florrick, portrayed by the ever stunning and always beautiful Emmy winner Julianna Margulies, returned to the workplace when the aforementioned politician went to prison for his dastardly deeds.

Peter & Alicia Florrick in 2009

But "TGW" was much more than just a stand-by-your man drama series, it aired on the CBS after all so an element of law and crime needed to come into play - enter Josh Charles as Will Gardner and Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart. Of course there was also Mr. Big, rather, Chris Noth as Peter Florrick and our beloved Grams, from "Dawson's Creek" Mary Beth Peil as Alicia's mother-in-law from hell, Jackie Florrick. Together this cast created a serialized drama set in a Chicago based law firm and as week after week went by viewers saw one case of the week right after another.

Earlier this year the series premiered with it's fifth season opener, after a rocky season four which included the often mentioned husband of "is she or isn't she" bi-sexual Kalinda, played by Emmy winner Archie Panjabi - which turned out to be a major disappointment and flop for the former critically acclaimed series. However, the October 27th episode of the series proved exactly why it was once considered and should still be considered one of the best dramas on network television with the episode aptly named, "Hitting the Fan."

In the episode Will Gardener learns that his former lover Alicia is leaving the firm, after he took her in the 2009 pilot episode and helped her rebuild her life after Peter went off to prison...and let's not forget how hot and heavy the duo got in the season two finale! When it comes to primetime dramas, such shows as Mad Men, Homeland, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead seem to be on the lips of every critic in town, The Good Wife proved that it was in fact the best damn show on not only network television, but on network and cable television.

Alicia Florrick stood up for herself, all the while breaking down in tears after leaving her former law firm for the last time. There was betrayal, backstabbing, heartbreak and even a little afternoon romp in the sack with Alicia and her now Governor-Elect husband Peter! I have watched a lot of television in my twenty-nine years, some good and some bad, I have seen a lot of melodramatic soap operas where the announcer teases "It's the moment that changes everything" but in the October 27th episode and the November 3rd episode - they were literally the episodes that changed everything for this veteran series.

The Good Wife is more than a show about lawyers and law firms - it's a show about a woman he reinvented herself at a time when she needed it the most and as art often imitates life, the show, The Good Wife has done just that in Season 5. It has got people talking and it has become must see TV! Check out TV Guide's Top 10 Biggest Twists for the series and check it out on Sundays on CBS.

NaBloPoMo Month - "Shut the F$!# Up Tom Cruise!"

NaBloPoMo Month - "Shut the F$!# Up Tom Cruise!"
Entry #9 - 11/9/2013

It's another lawsuit drama blog tonight Honey Boo-Boo Children, as Tom Cruise goes on the record as part of a $50 million libel lawsuit against Bauer Publishing, who runs the "highly respectable and creditable" In Touch magazine, after they publish a story that claimed the film star abandoned his daughter with Joey Potter, Katie Holmes, Suri!

But that's not the story here...because I would only care if Tom Cruise abandoned his daughter if in fact it was his daughter with my beloved Josephine Potter! No, no, the story here is that the "Top Gun" star his job as an actor, compared shooting his movies on location to serving a tour in Afghanistan! Oh Tom...Tom...Tom...

According to Celebrity Net Worth (aka: the first website Mother Google gave me in my ten second research for this blog posting) Cruise has a net worth of $250 million dollars for starring in such movies as "Jerry McGuire" and "A Few Good Men" while Blurtit.com answers the question "How much does a solider in Afghanistan get per month" and the answer, according to data from 2006 is that the rate of pay for the lowest listed solider in the US Army was $1178.10 per month with an additional $225 for hazard pay duty, if applicable.

It's not as though people didn't have enough reason to dislike Tom Cruise...there is that whole Scientology crap and the fact he assisted in giving us "Rock of Ages" people already had plenty to dislike about the best known man on the planet. In addition to comparing his "acting" and the grueling work requirement that it is, Cruise also threw Olympic sprinters under the bus, by stating, "A sprinter for the Olympics, they only have to run two races a day. When I'm shooting, I could potentially have to run 30, 40 races a day, day after day." And while I'm sure in his own mind Cruise thinks there is nothing wrong with this comparison - there is something seriously wrong with this comparison. Men and women, who go away from their families for months and years on end are overseas protecting our civil liberties...which include going to see your movies, as crappy as they may have gotten in the last few years! There are just some things people should say in public and certainly not on the record for the whole world to find out - and this is one of them! There's really only two words I can say to Tom Cruise and it's not "poor Tom"...nope I'm sorry it's "Fuck you!"

Until Next Time...Ciao Bella!

PS: Maybe the next movie Tom Cruise makes he should only get paid $1178.10 per month OR minimum wage OR donate the money he does get paid to a charitable organization that specializes in helping our wounded soldiers!

PPS: You know Mimi Rogers...and Nicole Kidman...and Joey Potter, Katie Holmes are glad to have left that train wreck behind!


 

NaBloPoMo Month - "Un-Happy Meal on the Upper East Side"

NaBloPoMo Month - "Un-Happy Meal on the Upper East Side"
Entry #8 - 11/08/2013

In my twenty-nine years on this Earth I have probably heard every fat joke imaginable...from the "You're so Fat..." to "Fatty, Fatty, 2x4..." so it will probably come as a shock to many of those assholes who would sling those insults at me during recess in elementary school that once or twice in my life I was sent to bed without dinner. Now before you get up in arms about this, let me clarify...it was my Mamma's fault - no, no I joke! But it was my Mamma's rule. Growing up there was always a strict rule when it came time for dinner - you either ate what was on the plate...or you didn't eat at all! Nine times out of ten, clearly, I ate what was on the plate because, well, it was fucking delicious! But there was always that once in a blue moon moment when sauerkraut was put before me that I snarled my nose...said I wasn't going to eat that and went to bed hungry and dreaming of Lucky Charms marshmallows for breakfast!

Additionally, there were times in my childhood when there was nothing more I wanted than a Happy Meal from the Golden Arches. I wanted for whatever reason the crappy plastic toy or the golden crisp, salted to the heaven fries! But alas, I would often times have my dreams shot to hell with a quick reminder, "We'll eat at home!"

Come to find out...all these years later that my parents and my grandmother were mean, mean people who deprived me, much like a little boy's father in Manhattan deprived him recently by saying "No!" to a trip to see Ronald McDonald himself.

Attorney David Schorr is embroiled in a bitter custody battle for his 4 year old son with his soon-to-be (hopefully) ex-wife Bari Yunins Schorr. And to make matters worse, I mean seriously the dude is already going through a divorce and custody battle, he's now adding a defamation lawsuit to his already full un-happy meal!

 

On October 30th, the Upper East Side father (see you're already thinking his son is a spoiler brat and you're clearly right) said his son, whose name is unknown and we'll call Timmy Joe for purposes of this blog post, threw a temper tantrum when he said no to dinner at Mickie Ds. Couple of things to consider here...1) I'm sorry, but if I was a four year old child who had a father who lived on the Upper East Side, I would have thrown a temper tantrum from hell if you tried to take me to McDonalds! 2) Anytime "Four Year Old Josh" threw a temper tantrum, I'm pretty sure I was told..."If you don't stop that crying, I'm going to give you something to cry about." But I digress, because this article isn't about this father's parenting style...It's about this woman...

The Happy Meal Fairy!

Her name is Marilyn Schiller and she's a psychologist who Bari Yunis Schorr ratted out her soon-to-be ex-husband to for not taking their son to McDonald's for a Happy Meal. And what Schiller done next would have sent my own mother...my own grandmother into a tailspin of anger...Schiller reported Daddy Schorr to the courts. She cited the "No Happy Meal for you Timmy Joe" as an incident and recommended that Schorr's visitation time be reduced after questioning him. Schorr has recently told the "Daily News" that he regrets not taking his spoiled son to their usual dinner spot - Corner Café and Bakery on 3rd and 92nd Street - which according to their website has one of the best bakeries in all of New York City.

You see it's important to note that Daddy Schorr didn't just say no McDonald's to his rotten little kid, he said "No McDonalds. But we can go to this fancy-pancy New York City restaurant and if you don't want that Timmy Joe...you don't get to eat!" So Timmy Joe did what most four year children do when they throw a temper tantrum he said, "Then me no eat dinner you meanie poo-poo head!" And of course...I'm paraphrasing here!

I'll admit that I lost interest in the story after learning that the mother immediately after telling Schiller of her husband's dastardly (rolls eyes) doings took her son to McDonald's and caved to his temper tantrum! I just think if denying your child a trip to see Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar then my grandmother has some explaining to do when I bring her up on charges, some twenty-five plus years later and I'm going to be sending her my therapy bill because I'm one damaged reformed fast food slut!

Until Next Time...Ciao Bella