THE Worst Hypothesis EVER

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1173100

Friday Night Plans

I can't decide what to do, but here are the options (should I fit them all in?):

- The Stork Club in Oakland
Happy Hour 5-8 pm
awesome drink specials
Kelsey and Ben at the turntables

- No Name from Alice is having an Oktoberfest party at the Irish Bank. Starts at 6pm and ends in the Gutter

- Fabulandia: Terra
Featuring David Hamill, Carrie Lederer, Philip Ross, James Sansing, Tonya Solley Thornton and Genevieve Quick
Curated by Lauren Davies
Opening Reception: Friday, September 30, 6-9 PM
Exhibition runs: September 30-October 29, 2005
Gallery Hours: Wednesdays-Saturdays, 1-6 PM
Artists Talk: Wednesday, October 12, 7-8:30 PM ($3-10 sliding scale admission)

Fabulandia is a two-part exhibition that speculates on the world of the future. A fantastical place, filled with new strains of plants and odd creatures that inhabit a mysterious landscape barely recognizable as planet Earth. The first in the Fabulandia series, Terra, presents the work of six artists envisioning this futuristic environment-an overloaded world that meshes the natural with the artificial in a landscape filled with sleek urban-scapes, extraordinary gardens and terrains of the impossible. Rather like an analog vision of a digital future, the exhibition ranges from carefully rendered works on paper depicting futuristic plants and structures to post-apocalyptic landscapes made from plumbing supplies and motorized shrubbery. Welcome to a place called Fabulandia, where low-tech and high-tech collide in a hybridized vision of the future.

-Fiery Furnaces at Cafe Du Nord


-Madelia and Death of a Party at Club Shutter

So Hot

I am really into stupid videos this month. But seriously, when it's good, it's so good.

Rejection Letter From Matador Records

Check out this letter. This guy's band (I won't name names) was rejected by Matador. Here is what they said to him:

Dear ____,

thanks for writing. I think you've written once before about this.
I'd really rather not check this out if that's ok with you

best wishes
GC

I Am Smiling

So..Yoshi asked Eric Judy (bass player of Modest Mouse) for tickets (Yosh plus one) to that Download show at the Shoreline. Normally I would be excited, but this time I am ultra-excited because they are playing with Arcade Fire. Hence my previous Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire postings. Obviously, I've been waiting for confirmation that I'm going to this show. Well, lucky lucky me! I'm going. Eric said that we are on the list...and I couldn't be happier. I mean, without "being on the list" I highly doubt that I could have afforded this show. It's like 40 dollars or something. Screw that!

Tattoo Ideas

I think this poster from Arcade Fire could translate into a really awesome tattoo. Just an idea.

Modest Mouse- ish

Check this video

Whatever Happened to Kate and Laura

Umm- if you remember them...they are now designers. And they aren't even using their Berkeley degrees.

From The People Who Gave Me My 3rd Tattoo

Where they are now.

oh jebus

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/23/refugee.slain.ap/index.html

Fun Fun Fun

From Mindy.

Vive Le Blog

Blogs Save the world...in a way

What is going on with the Tropical Storms?

I went on CNN.com and saw that Rita has moved up to a Category 5 Storm.

One question: what is going on in this world?

I know that we're all wondering why the weather has been really strange in the last year. So, I casually asked my friend Vincent what he thought. He told me to look up HAARP. I did. I found tons of conspiracy theories surrounding HAARP and Tesla and the manipulation of weather by our government.

This site was my favorite (for the music).

Lunch Time and Hollywood

So, for lunch I had to go home. My sister left a curling iron on in the bathroom and since I've been through a fire before, I freaked out and had to go turn it off. 2 things happened on my trip:
1. I got to see some Hollywood team filming a movie staring (starring?) Will Smith. They actually built a Bart Station on the dog park by my house. (See Tim and the Station on the Left)




2. My feet got seriously blistered up from a new pair of shoes. Now I'm sitting at work looking like a freakin leper.

For Christmas

I own Goomi the Ninja Barnacle King and a purse from Tokkisom, but for Christmas, I want the poos.

*black star faycat*: Oh, with the Google jokes

Go to Google, type in the word "failure" and click on "I'm Feeling Lucky". Ah, wittiness.

Show tonight

Wednesday, Sept 21st
The Holy Kiss
Black Ice
Militant Children's Hour

The Elbo Room
647 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA
Doors at 9 pm$6, 21+

Is this Fer Realz?

Did I read this right? Kerry and Edwards MIGHT run again?

We need a better strategist for the Democratic Party.

My New Tat

So-- a Hurricane Katrina Refugee gave me a tat. It was for a fundraiser. Sorry, this isn't a full pick. The box goes all around the tat.

I Have These Weird Friends on Myspace From Florida

They posted this, and I'll take their word for it. If it's true, it sucks. If it isn't, I still think that it is important to post conspiracy theory whenever possible. We need to keep on our toes.


FEMA hires subsidiary of funeral services company implicated in scandals in Texas and Florida to collect bodies of Katrina victims

By Jason Leopold
Online Journal Contributing Writer

September 15, 2005—Service Corporation International (SCI), the largest funeral services provider in North America, implicated in scandals in Texas and Florida, recently learned that one of its subsidiaries is negotiating a lucrative contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to remove dead bodies in areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.SCI paid $100 million to settle a class-action lawsuit several years ago alleging the company desecrated thousands of corpses, and dumped bodies into mass graves.Moreover, the company paid $200,000 to settle a whistleblower lawsuit that sought to expose that two members of the Texas funeral commission, the agency which regulates the funeral industry, were actually employees of the company they were supposed to monitor—an obvious conflict-of-interest.

In the civil matter, which took place at two Jewish cemeteries in Florida, the plaintiff's attorney said that Service Corporation International of Florida, Inc., a subsidiary of SCI, secretly broke into and opened burial vaults and dumped remains in a wooded area where the remains may have been consumed by wild animals. Additionally, SCI of Florida buried "remains in locations other than those purchased by plaintiffs; crushing burial vaults in order to make room for other vaults; stacking remains rather than burying them side-by-side; secretly digging up and removing remains; secretly burying remains head-to-foot rather than side-by-side; secretly mixing body parts and remains from different individuals; secretly allowing plots owned by one party to be occupied by a different person; secretly selling plots in rows where there were more graves assigned than the rows could accommodate; secretly allowed graves to encroach on other plots; secretly sold plots so narrow that the plots could not accommodate standard burial vaults; secretly participated in the desecration of gravesites and markers and failed to exercise reasonable care in handling the plaintiff's loved ones remains." Kenyon International, a unit of SCI, is presently in charge of the delicate task of collecting the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dead bodies in the aftermath of the hurricane.

The fact that a subsidiary of SCI is in talks with the federal government, largely due to its close ties to the White House, to remove bodies in New Orleans is ghastly.The whistleblower suit dates back to 1999 and alleges that while he was governor of Texas, George W. Bush's office interfered with an aggressive state investigation into the embalming practices by Service Corporation International, a Houston-based funeral conglomerate headed by Robert Waltrip—a close friend of the Bush family who also contributed heavily to then Gov. Bush's gubernatorial campaigns, and donated $100,000 to former President George H. W, Bush's presidential library.An attorney for Eliza May, the whistleblower who served as executive director of the Texas Funeral Services Commission, the state agency that regulates the funeral business, claimed that she was fired from her state job because she raised questions about SCI's embalming practices and sought to expose the company's misdeeds. She filed a whistleblower suit in 1999 alleging "she was the victim of "political" retaliation because she was threatening the interests of a well-connected political patron of the governor," Newsweek reported in an April 21, 2001, story.

Many claimed that current White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales was also complicit in the matter and even helped SCI in a cover-up. Gonzales, who was also Bush's gubernatorial counsel, reportedly received a memo on April 22, 1996, suggesting possible improprieties by two funeral commissioners with ties to SCI."Bush and his top aides have heatedly denied the charges and suggested the entire matter was drummed up by Democratic lawyers with political motives, Newsweek reported.

The memo, written by Marc Allen Connelly, who was general counsel to the funeral services commission at the time, and sent to Dick McNeil, the Bush-appointed chairman of the funeral commission, stated that Connelly "received information" from Texas state officials that two of the funeral commissioners charged with regulating the state funeral business actually worked for SCI—the largest funeral firm in the state. Although one of the commissioners was openly an SCI officer (the one appointed by Bush), Connelly stated that state banking records he inspected showed that another of the commissioners [also worked for SCI]," Newsweek reported.The revelation represented a "a possible statutory conflict." Texas law prohibited any two commissioners from having ties "directly or indirectly "to the same funeral company.In the memo, Connelly told McNeil that he should "immediately inform the Governor of this apparent conflict and also recommend that the Governor take action to remove both (the two SCI-related commissioners) from the commission because both individuals knew or should have known of this conflict yet failed to notify the governor's office.

"McNeil stated in a deposition that after he received the Connelly memo, he faxed it to Polly Sowell, who then served as Bush's appointments secretary. "When she was questioned, Sowell was asked what she did with the memo. "I sent it to the General Counsel's Office," she said. But Sowell said she did not remember what happened after that and, in his interview with Newsweek, Gonzales said such a memo was merely one of many that might have crossed his desk and was otherwise not memorable. In any case, Bush never acted on the memo's recommendations that the SCI affiliated commissioners be removed."
© 2005 Jason Leopold
Jason Leopold is the author of the explosive memoir, "News Junkie," to be released in the spring of 2006 by Process/Feral House Books. Visit Leopold's website at www.jasonleopold.com for updates.

I found him!!!

My life is complete! After all this time, I relocated my male twin Jeshemah!

Work

So..I have quit taking my meds. Woohoo. Or not. I have managed to lose 5 pounds in the last week, but I am also violently ill. Well, that comes and goes. I can't function very well. Doug called me the other night and the conversation was kinda strained because I was getting these weird head zaps. Also, I have been late to work cuz either I sleep too much or can't sleep. Considering the fact that I was almost fired for tardiness, I decided to contact my HR department about my current condition. Here is the letter:


M,

So, I am currently taking medication for a GAD and Depression and have been getting off the medication (too much information?). The withdrawal side effects are pretty severe and I am not sure if I will be required to call in sick sometimes or be late to work. I am not sure what the procedure for these things is, but I know that it could affect my work or working hours and I would like to go through HR to make sure that it is not problematic for my job. Do you have any advice for these things? Here are a list of the side effects that I am experiencing and could experience within the next month or so:

http://www.namiscc.org/News/2002/Summer/PaxilWithdrawal.htm

http://www.adrugrecall.com/paxil/withdrawal-symptoms.html


This is, of course, something that me and my doctor talk about, but I want you to know that I am currently experiencing nausea, flu-like symptoms, and extreme head shocks. Sometimes I find it difficult to engage in conversations. I am trying to ignore these feelings and do my work, but I am a little worried that it could become obvious to other people. I don't particularly like talking to my coworkers about it and so, I thought I'd turn to your department.
Please advise.

N

And here was the response:


Good Afternoon N,
Are you asking for an accommodation for a temporary disability?
Are you asking for a change in working hours, i.e. a flexible work day to accommodate your disability?
If this is the case, you need only bring a note from your health care provider stating that you are, because of your disability, unable to report to work every day at the same time and are requesting flexible work hours for the next ______ weeks.
If your condition is affecting your work, as you state below, meaning that you are unable to perform your job effectively because of your condition, then you would need to take a leave of absence until such time that you are able to perform your job.
If that is the case, your health care provider needs to write a note stating that you are unable to work until _______, and you would then apply for California State Disability benefits and Short Term Disability benefits.
Let me know what the situation is and we will go from there.
Thanks, J

So, I am going to the doctor today to discuss this.

Plus, I have no real reason for blogging such personal information, other than the fact that nothing else is going on in my life.

except....ask sarah about Check Me Off, Chekhov. We're gonna rock your body.

Quote of the day...

"you are the director. i am just a lowly staff member trying to make a dollar out of 15 cents."

I Can't Resist Posting This... Elijah is So Gay.

Sarah sent this to me... so fricking awesome.


And did I mention that I hate him? He freaks me out in his hobbit form. Fuckin Frodo.

Something for the Weekend

Pornstar or Popstar

Animals in 'Orleans

I am totally depressed about all the little doggies and kitties and fish and snakes and ferrets and birds that were lost in the hurricane...but now we can help the ones that survived:

http://www.hsus.org/

New Orleans...

An email and link sent from a friend that was sent to him, etc etc....


Amanda,

Please forward to Kenny & Cassie Mayeaux. I can't find his email address. The photos are from Popie's boat while he picked up people from random areas in Metairie trying to escape. Popie does not know the city well enough to risk his life. My brother Moose and another brother Manning went into the city. The Billeaud coon-ass rescue armada returned home fine but shaken and scared. Apparently the current rescue efforts are not adequate in New Orleans. The only people being rescued are those from the roof tops and hospital patients. Noted below is an account of my brother Moose's journey into the city yesterday. Most citizens have not had power, clean drinking water, or food since Sunday night. The people left behind were to poor to leave and did not relatives outside of the city.

Moose said he was denied access to the city and had to sneak in. At one point he required assistance from Coast Guard workers to lift his boat over road ways and other obstacles. My brother said he rescued over 100+ people in his flat bottom boat from the St. Bernard housing project yesterday near the Fair Grounds and the LSU Dental School. Moose was once an Asst. DA in New Orleans so he knows the area quite well. Moose and a friend from Lafayette went in armed with guns and rifles for protection. He said for every one person they picked up they left 10 behind. He rescued a two month baby on oxygen, elderly residents with healing surgical wounds, and most children under 5. He said there are thousands waiting for rescue but the out of town rescue workers do not know where they are or scared to enter because of the violence from the armed gangs taking over the city. The Tulane and Methodist hospitals have already been ransacked by the armed gangs who are looting for drugs. The violence will only continue to escalate as people become more desperate. Moose said Sen. Gautreau organized a 350+ flat bottom boat rescue team from Acadiana [Lafayette area] but most were turned away once they arrived in Kenner. The Acadiana gang offered to leave the ice, water, and gas but the rescue workers said it was not necessary. My college friend who is a city attorney for NO said there are 2,000+ bodies in St. Bernard Parish [Chalmette, Violet, etc] alone. The images in the next few weeks will surprise the US that parts of our country look like Haiti or Nigeria. Please encourage people to donate the Red Cross to help the destitute start a new life in they make it out the city safely. PhilipAmanda LeBlanc wrote:
These are amazing and heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing. I shared them with my folks - I know that as sad as these photos are, it was also helpful to them to see anything "up close" about home. They are just shell shocked.

they took pictures of what they did and saw...

view pictures at: http://chrissy.shutterfly.com