Lessons to Learn from Reality TV

Lessons from High School Reunion:

1. If you hear a rumor about a dear friend, ask them first before jumping to conclusions.
2. If you are a prostitute do not confide this to your bipolar friend from high school.

Forget March Madness, It is Cougar Madness!!!

March brings more than the NCAA tournament as creative web sites use this month to have their own "tourneys" -- one of the best, if not the best, is "Cougar Madness" which is conducted over at www.thundertreats.com

Here is an update on the tourney from the cougar coveters, ooops, I mean tourney organizers:

Even though there were no overtime thrillers in the first round, there were still plenty of upsets. The biggest of all had to come in the South region when underdog #12 seed Famke Janneson took down the powerful #5 seed Daisy Fuentes. Another surprise to us all was when the #11 seed Michelle Pfieffer smacked around #6 Martina McBride. All the number 1 seeds cruised to victory and are looking finer than ever. Just go ahead and set your browser homepage to Thunder Treats so you are sure to keep up to date with Cougar Madness.

Irish Step Dance -- Now for the Real Thing

How to Irish Step Dance Part III

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

How to Irish Step Dance Part II

How to Irish Step Dance Part I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjUzzRZwWW4

Lights and Music

Sunday night concerts are tough; particularly when it is the night after the celebrated night for St Patrick's Day parties. But I ventured out to the Bluebird at 10 pm on a Sunday night and navigated around trying to find a parking spot on the street that did not require a residential permit. The concert was sold out which meant extra long lines for the libations. But the scenery was incredible; Denver's hip crowd -- ranging in age from 20s to 40s -- were out in full force. Then again, where else would they go on a Sunday night? The energy of the crowd reached a frenetic level when the band came out and never really dissipated. All the young moves choreographed to all the young grooves; the balcony dancing along to the masses jumping up and down. A band that refreshingly matched the energy of the crowd, and insisted on giving people their money's worth. As I walked out into the spring night triumphant over the last vestiges of winter and headed back to my suburban enclave, I was glad that I let Sunday night be the new Saturday night (even though Monday remains Monday; sigh). The name of the band you ask? Cut Copy; from Australia; recreating 80s dance music with a modern flair.

Jesus to perform in Brighton

Jesus and his flock will be descending on a little town in search of a manger and/or Beautiful Disaster's house. Actually, his flock will be physically appearing at Heaven Fest – the largest Christian Music Festival in the Rocky Mountain region. It features 80 bands on 8 stages including such legends as Third Day, Skillet, and DA T.R.U.T.H. The festival takes place August 8^th. According to the organizers, "Heaven Fest will not just be another Christian event where we all have fun, go home, and nothing real has happened. Forget that. Heaven Fest will be an event where Jesus is given the center stage to do what He wants to do. And when it's all over, I ONLY want to be saying ONE THING. Simply; "That was God"."

This is the second year in a row that Brighton has hosted it. Why Brighton of all places, you may ask? Was that the only place they could find room in the inn? I suspect it is due to A Beautiful Disaster. Apparently she has taken on mythical status on the part of the flock because of her handling of a clandestine text messaging session between her son and a teenage girl. Recognizing, as the Catholic Church does, that text messaging sows the seeds of temptation, A Beautiful Disaster snatched the cell phone from her son, confiscated the cell phone, and removed the door to his room so she can always she what he is doing. It is easy to see how such actions have made her the hero of the Heaven Fest crowd and why they would want to stage their festival in the town where ABD nipped sin in the bud.

 

You got to give this lawyer points for creativity

‘Impressive’ Cover Letter Reportedly Bombs at Bingham
Posted Mar 11, 2009, 10:41 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

A frustrated job seeker who has been rejected by many of the biggest and best law firms apparently decided to try a creative approach with a cover letter dispatched to Bingham McCutchen.

The cover letter, said to have been written by an unemployed lawyer and mailed to Bingham, was posted at Above the Law. The letter recounts the writer’s top 15 percent law school rank and law journal experience, but goes on to offer “an outside perspective”—the opinions of nine law firms, offered in a variety of permutations, that the job applicant has an “impressive” background.

Lawyers at Debevoise & Plimpton, for example, were "most impressed" with the writer’s resumé. Alston & Bird and Blank Rome “remarkably” came to the identical conclusion that that the applicants’ "qualifications are impressive."

“Clearly, there is a consensus among many firms that I am ‘impressive,’ ” the cover letter posted on the blog says. “Although there is some disagreement about whether my background, credentials, qualifications, resumé, or a combination of these is impressive, it is obvious that I am impressive on some level. Furthermore, while these accolades were all included in rejection letters, the opinions still hold true and are strong measures of my value as a candidate in your colleagues' and competitors' eyes. Thus, I am undoubtedly qualified for a position in your litigation department.

“Finally, if I do not receive an offer for employment, many firms will be quite disappointed. Dozens of firms have indicated a desire for my ‘success’ in the ‘future’ with a ‘challenging’ or ‘rewarding’ position ‘somewhere else,’ and I do not intend to upset these firms by failing.”

The letter writer reports receiving a tenth rejection within three days.

Rush, Bigger than God?

From today's Washington Post:

Rush Limbaugh told what he thought was a joke to a cheering crowd at the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual gathering of conservative activists and politicians. In his rambling remarks televised on FOX News, Limbaugh said that when Larry King died, he went to heaven and was met at the gates by Saint Peter. King's one question was: "Is Rush Limbaugh here?"

"'No, he's got a lot of time yet, Mr. King,'" said Limbaugh, pretending to be Peter.

"So Saint Peter begins the tour," said Limbaugh. "Larry King sees the various places and it's beyond anything we can imagine in terms of beauty. Finally, he gets to the biggest room of all, with this giant throne. And over the throne is a flashing beautiful angelic neon sign that says, 'Rush Limbaugh.'"

The audience laughed.

Limbaugh said, "And Larry King looks at Saint Peter and says, 'I thought you said he wasn't here.' He said, 'He's not, he's not. This is God's room. He just thinks he's Rush Limbaugh,'" said Limbaugh.

The crowd erupted with laughter, applause and hoots. Conservatives thought it was hilarious that God would envy the rival deity named Rush Limbaugh. Not a boo, not a hiss, not a grumble was heard from the crowd.

While CPAC was a secular event, it was an event sponsored, supported and attended by Christian Right organizations and leaders. The CPAC program listed as co-sponsors: Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council and Liberty University's law school. Exhibitors included the Alliance Defense Fund, Liberty Council and Regent University's Robertson School of Government. Focus on the Family held a reception for former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.

No doubt, a lot of conservative Christians were in the room. Days later, no Christian Right leader has objected to Limbaugh's claim to be bigger than God, a claim similar to what John Lennon said in 1966.

When Lennon said, "We're more popular than Jesus," Bible-belt Christians roared with anger. They burned Beatles records, banned Beatles songs on the radio and boycotted Beatles concerts. They tolerated no rival claims to the messiah. When Limbaugh uttered a parallel claim, those who see Christianity under attack offered no response. No cry of cultural hostility toward religion was heard. No demand for an apology boomed from pulpits. No boycott was launched.

Stop Making Sense

From the entertainment world:

Rihanna is back with Chris but she may testify against him on his criminal charges. File this in "Things that make you go hmmmm . . . ."

Oprah is concerned about the hasty reconciliation: "You need somebody to tell you the truth in this moment. And the truth is guys, both Chris Brown and Rihanna, if I were your friend, I would call you up and I would say 'Give it some time, get yourself some counseling, take care of yourself, heal yourself first'," she said during the live broadcast.

"And also, 'Love doesn't hurt'. I've been saying this to women for years - love doesn't hurt. And if a man hits you once, he will hit you again. He will hit you again. I don't care what his plea is, he will hit you again.'"

 

My solution: Oprah should adopt them both thereby making the relationship incestuous such that they would have to break up and we won't have to hear from them again.

 

Miley is penning an autobiography about her historic first 16 years on this planet. Apparently there will be a full chapter on potty training.

 

The woman dumped in the latest Bachelor will now be on Dancing With the Stars. It just seems to be a matter of time before she "rocks" Brett Michael's world.

 

Ashlee Simpson will be joining the case of the new Melrose Place. As long as they keep Pete Wentz off the show, I am fine with it. And wouldn't Nicole make a great Amanda?

The Stresses Kids Face

Yesterday we were at Toys-r-Us and my son wanted a mini-tent. We took it to my apt and set it up. He wanted it in front of the tv. Why? He said he wanted to go into the tent to relax and get away from the noise of the tv. Of course, he failed to mention that said noise was emanating from one of his tv shows which he had turned up very loudly. Still, it is nice to know that kids can have their own little retreat places to get away from the world.

For those of you nostalgiac about Sarah

Candidate for 2009 Darwin Award?

• Do Not Hide An Engagement Ring In A Frosty And Then Hold An Eating Contest
  

  By Meg Marco, 1:59 PM on Tue Mar 3 2009, 21,778 views
  

  Reed Harris wanted a memorable proposal — but he probably should have thought his plan through a little better. He hid an engagement ring in his girlfriend's Wendy's Frosty — and then he and his friends challenged her to a race to see who could eat their Frosty first. What could go wrong?
  

  "I mean, I was taking huge bites and swallowing," Kaitlin wrote. "There was no tasting at all. I get to the end and everyone starts staring at me with this weird, worried look on their face, and I have no clue what is going on around me."
  

  Yeah, she ate the ring. This is the exact thing that I picture happening whenever people try to replicate jewelry commercial proposals. If anyone ever wants to marry me, they should just ask. Don't hide anything in my food.
  

  For those of you who are worried, the ring "arrived" safe and sound after a little prune juice and fiber.
  

Cougar Humor

While some may find this humorous, lest not forget the important role cougars play in our society.

Facile Assumptions

The assumption has been that under the new Obama budget, households with incomes in the $200k-$400k range will take a big hit. As a New York Times analysis (and I know conservatives will stop reading at this point because it is the NYT, but I read the WSJ and will give it credence when its statements are buttressed with facts and hopefully the same tolerance will be applied reciprocally), while their tax bills will be pushed up, in many cases it will not be enough to get them out of the AMT range, i.e., their AMT liability would still exceed their normal tax liability and they would have to pay the AMT. The people who bear the brunt of the new tax regime will be people who work for hedge funds and private equity firms and were previously taxed at 15% and those with an income/deduction mix that would be pushed out of the AMT range, i.e., their regular tax liability is higher than their AMT liability. So it is hard to apply general assumptions across the board as to the impact of this plan.

The American Dream

So who is responsible for this economic crisis – this recession/depression? I have determined that it is not inner-city homeowners seeking the American dream, predatory banks that loaned money to them, legislators who prodded the banks to do so, Wall Street that crafted an illusory securities product to fuel growth out of illusion, Chief Executives who will earn even more mega millions in salary if they convince the market their companies are generating marginally higher revenue, and any of the other myriad of characters blamed for the situation (yes, even former President Bush). Look in the mirror for the answer. The answer is us. We reward big results no matter how illusory it may seem. The individuals that fuel the growth are the ones rewarded no matter how illusory the growth may be; the individuals who keep the train running are ignored. The companies that expand beyond their prowess are encouraged; the companies that stick to their core prowess are not. But perpetual growth such as perpetual acceleration needs increasing stimulus and force, and those elements if utilized to fuel the growth are taken from somewhere else. In this case, it comes from the core of our economic and societal foundation; it is a zero-sum game in that regard. So to rebuild the foundation requires a change in thought, attitude and value – a return to fundamentals if you will. But having eaten the apple, are we ready to go back to the cauliflower?