Leslie's Omnibus

Drive-Bys

I'm still not back on my A-game, but here are a few goodies for you in the meantime:

They've now wrapped filming on the first season of Game of Thrones. Here's a behind-the-scenes peek that has me positively giddy:



I put the tee-shirt (either one of 'em, actually) on my Christmas list.

Now if George would just get back to finishing A Dance With Dragons, I'd be a completely happy fan girl.
_____

Also on my Christmas list:
I got this for a couple of my bosses. They've all raved about it and loaded it up immediately. Now I want one for myself!
_____

Excuse me while I howl with laughter:
Mayoral challenger James Meeks scrambled Thursday to put out a political fire touched off by his suggestion that only African Americans should be eligible for city contracts set aside for minorities and women.

Meeks made the statement on Wednesday during an interview on WVON-AM (1690). It happened during a discussion of why African-American businesses got a 7 percent sliver of Chicago’s $1 billion spending pie through Aug. 31, down from 8 percent a year ago.

“The word ‘minority’ from our standpoint should mean African American. I don’t think women, Asians and Hispanics should be able to use that title,” he said. “That’s why our numbers cannot improve — because we use women, Asians and Hispanics who are not people of color, who are not people who have been discriminated against.”

Hours after making those remarks, Meeks back-tracked by saying he would only exclude white women if elected mayor. The set-aside program currently earmarks 25 percent of all city contracts for minorities and 5 percent for companies owned by women.
Now tell me again who's the racist?

Buh-bye, Reverend Meeks. You just publicly shot your campaign for mayor in the left ass-cheek. (Major style points there, though!)

Update: He clearly doesn't understand the basics of back-pedalling.
_____

It's bad enough when it happens in the movies. When you've paid good money to see a top-notch play and it completely throws the rhythm of the acting off, it's outrageous:
Just before the end of Edward Albee's “Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” a cold and brutal dawn rises over New Carthage. The dangerously destructive nocturnal games of George and Martha are subsumed by their mutual loneliness. In Pam MacKinnon's very arresting and intense Steppenwolf Theatre Company production, which takes its audience on an exhausting voyage through some of the horrors of marital codependency, Tracy Letts' George finally puts his hand gently on the shoulder of Amy Morton's Martha. She puts her head back. He is about to sing, softly. Their nonsense song — “Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Virginia Woolf, Virginia Woolf” — has become a kind of lifesaving lullaby. On Saturday afternoon, the audience was rapt.

“Are you all right?” asked George of his Martha.

Suddenly, from the back of the house, a boppy, perky, electronic tune rang out in answer to that deeply existential question. Letts and Morton froze. Mouths of audience members dropped open. The phone rang on. And on. And on. Freed from its merciful, muffling confines, it got louder. Instead of staring into the depths of a New Carthage exorcism, we were suddenly transported to a pachinko parlor in Shinjuku.

Make no mistake — the moment was gone forever. Letts and Morton gamely paused and then finished the last minute or so of the play, but this was like a fumble with seconds to go. There was no time for the team to recover. And, at that instant, the ringing cell phone of Saturday, Dec. 11, became the most egregiously timed audience-caused interruption of my entire theatergoing career.
When are people going to learn act like grown-ups and turn their fucking phones off???
_____

Giggle of the Day:

Leslie

Rubber-Necking

Ear Worm of the Day:


Once again, blame it on the Steve and Johnnie Show. They played this some time around 3:30 a.m. and it'll be ringing in my ears for the rest of the day.
Leslie

Glurk


It's days like this I really miss the Princess Mom.
Leslie

Drive-Bys

Ear Worm of the Day:



Heard in the wee small hours of the morning on the Steve & Johnnie Show. I haven't been able to shake it ever since. (And that's okay with me, because it's happy-making.)
_____

This news makes me sad:
Eleven jobs are being cut at Brookfield Zoo to help close a $1.3 million budget shortfall.

The Chicago Zoological Society announced the staff reductions on Monday, citing budget adjustments and reductions that it says are necessary to ensure financial stability in 2011. The staff cuts bring the society’s work force to a 15-year low. The society says the staff cuts don’t include positions that deal with animal welfare or public safety.

The society also announced wage freezes for non-union workers, the elimination of paid internships along with reductions in seasonal labor, operating expenses and leadership salaries. Two yet-to-be-identified animal exhibit yards are to be closed and the animals sent to other accredited institutions.
If you've never been there, Brookfield Zoo is Lincoln Park Zoo's bigger, steroid-enhanced, simply amazing sibling. Yes, you have to pay to get in... but this is one zoo where you can't see everything in one day because of the size and scope of its exhibits.
____

Quote of the Day:
I looked good, especially considering I am not a spring chicken. I am an early-fall chicken.
I can identify with that!
_____

For those of you who are more intrepid than I, I give you the Cleavage-to-Age Effectiveness Ration for Dating Sites. (Apparently I'd score high.)
_____

You know I love a true love story:
When Nick Schmidt and Bahar Mallah were introduced, he told her he was sick.

At a bar after an Illini game on a chilly night in October 2008, she asked him why he wasn't drinking.
Cancer, he explained. That was typically when such conversations ended.

But Mallah stuck around long enough for him to ask whether he could buy her a drink instead.


"'I have cancer, but I'll buy you a drink?'" Mallah recalled saying to him. "'That's your line? That's a horrible, horrible line.'"
Get out your hankies for the rest.
_____

Giggle of the Day:

Leslie

Bus Fumes

You know, I've never had any respect for Jesse Jackson, but his fame-whoring antics at Ron Santo's funeral have shown him at his most appalling.

Although he was not speaking, is not a member of his family, was never a teammate and never worked with him at WGN Radio, good ol' Jesse-The-Fame-Whore managed to get himself the prime front row and center seat that should have gone to someone -- anyone -- other than him.

Worse, as the video goes on, you can watch Ol' Fame Whore check out the camera angles and make sure he gets to glad-hand the notables.

Fortunately, the commentators and others seem to have gone out of their way not to give him the attention he so obviously desires.

What a complete and utter putz.
Leslie

Winter has come hard and fast here to Chicago, but it's beautiful...

... and I got to spend some time tonight with some tweens and teens who reminded me just how cool Millennium Park and the downtown area in Chicago can be...

... and I was reminded about just how beautiful this city can be...

Where's the Omnibus Driver? Smack in the middle of the fun!
Leslie

Reading the Map


I feel like I've gone ten rounds with Hulk Hogan over the last couple of days, but finally managed to pin him to the mat this afternoon.

And now?

Ear Worm of the Day:

Leslie

Traveling Companions

The Divine Miss Marilyn wore the feline equivalent of Lee Press-On Nails to discourage her predilection for shredding the sofa. When I saw these new offerings from Soft Claws, it brought her immediately to mind:



The little booger really did love showing off her "pawdicure" and would have looked fabulous in these!
Leslie

Whoa, Nelly!


Yes, I'm having another one of those days.

Ear Worm of the Day:

Leslie

Regular Route

Yep. I'm, back to the grind and the Ear Worm of the Day is...

Leslie

Holiday Express






I don't know where eleven days have gone, but it sure is ending on a lovely note.
Leslie

In Memorium


It's a sad, sad day in Chicago for Cub fans. Why? Ron Santo passed away last night.

There may have been players better than him, but not many and none who loved the game more.

There may have been retired players who also turned color commentators, but none funnier... or more insightful... or more passionate.

And there is nor was a bigger fan of the Cubbies than Ron Santo.

I'll be listening to WGN Radio today, where I listened to him so many times. I learned to love baseball by listening to Pat and Ron.

Now I hope that someone in the Baseball Hall of Fame is paying attention. He should have been inducted long ago.


God speed, Ronnie. You'll be missed, and I'll think of you every time I hear the Cubs on the radio.

In the meantime, I dropped a donation over at JDRF, and I'll do it again on Opening Day in your memory.
_____

Update: This is one weekend when I wish I had a television here at home, instead of just the radio. I'm a loyal WGN listener, and it's been all Santo all the time. WGN is a talk radio station, and one of the beautiful and heartbreaking things they've done this weekend is allow Santo's friends and fans to call and in talk about their memories of the man. Grown men and women have openly wept when talking about how he touched each of their lives. Seriously, the man was and is loved in this town.
Leslie

Hold the Bus!

My pal Monica is dragging me off to the One of a Kind Show and Sale this evening. I agreed, with this caveat:


My wallet winced...
Leslie

Holiday Express





Sainted Sister-in-Law, TMBCITW and TMPAE were decking the halls on Saturday. (Shooting them in a retro mode just felt right.) I can't believe how fast these girls are growing up!
_____

Doing your holiday shopping and want to save more money? Go to Coupon Cabin for both online and printable coupons. I used it and saved an additional 20% on a 50% off deal at Kohl's. I'll certainly check it for all my online purchases going forward!
Leslie

Book Your Ticket

I can't see myself breaking the 200 book mark for 2010, but I'll come pretty close. Here's November's list:

November – 14/162

Sunday’s Child, Tom Lewis*

Hawke: A Novel, Ted Bell*

The Ghost Shrink, The Accidental Gigolo & the Poltergeist Accountant, Vivi Andrews[1]*

The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food and Love, Kristin Kimball[2]*

Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Truman Capote

We Bought a Zoo, Benjamin Mee

Hour of the Hunter, J.A. Jance*

One Hundred Dollar Misunderstanding, Robert Gover*

The Reluctant Mage, Karen Miller*

Worth Dying For: A Reacher Novel, Lee Child*

Liar, Liar, K.J. Larsen*

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, Bill Bryson[3]*

Decision Points, George W. Bush*

A Chesapeake Shores Christmas, Sherryl Woods*


[1] Yes, it’s as silly as it sounds, but what’s wrong with a little laughter every now and then?

[2] I loved this book. There’s a relentless pacing that really gives you the sense of the whirlwind that hit Kristin Kimball and changed her life forever in this true story.

[3] Recommended to me by John Cox, it’s an absolute delight, especially for anyone born in the 1950’s.

_____

While I'm on the subject of books, if you're considering getting or giving a Kindle for Christmas, here's some things you should keep in mind:

There are tons of free books out there.

Kindle does stuff beyond just acting as an e-reader.

If you have friends or family who you really trust, you can share a Kindle account and, thus, share books.

You don't need to own a Kindle to read Kindle books -- you just need one the free Kindle apps.


I have the second generation Kindle (Holy crap! I'm sorry I missed this deal, as $89 for a Kindle I'd have bought one for every member of my family), but I bought my Sainted Sister-in-Law the new wi-fi version for her birthday, and I'm bowled over by how much smaller and lighter the darned thing is -- and it holds more books, to boot!

They're holding a $100 gift card give-away for 30 users a day between now and Christmas over at the Kindle Facebook site.

Finally, keep track of other Amazon.com lightning deals here.
_____

P.S. -- Seems like I'm in good company on this keeping a list business.
Leslie

Around the Bend

Winter is coming!



(Pardon my fan-girl palpitations...)

And here's one for the guys:

Leslie

Holiday Schedule


I'm in the middle of taking an eleven day weekend. See you when I see you...
Leslie

Traffic Alert

Take this cartoon...

... and translate that conversation to a work environment. That's how my last three days have gone.

And yours?
_____

Update:
Q. Is it me or are there just more people acting nuts in the workplace?

A. Yes, when the going gets tough, more people act nuts. This is also when the tough learn every interpersonal strategy to deal with nuts.
Someone in my workplace flipped the crazy switch into the upright and locked position at 11:00 a.m. last Friday. We have yet to figure out how to turn it back to the "off" position...
Leslie

Traffic Alert

How's my day going?



And yours?
Leslie

Saturday Ramblings

Ear Worm of the Day:


Blame it on the Son of Eli.
_____

Ooooo, lookie here! Macy's is having a huge sale on Frangos, and the shipping is really reasonable. Get 'em while you can!
_____

Thinking about getting your dear one(s) an e-reader or perhaps and iPad for Christmas? Read this article first. That's about as clear and unbiased review as you can get.
_____
Leslie