Wednesday, March 29, 2006
For those who think racism isn't that big a problem in the US...
Exercise: None tonight - not enough time.
Think again! Last Thursday I watched Primetime Live. The report was called What Would You Do? and it was about experiments ABC News had done to see how people would react to a variety of ethical situations. It was sort of like putting the movie Crash into real life.
The first experiment had to do with bullies. They got some child actors together in a park with other people around and had a few of them pick on one in the group. In the first round, the bullies were dressed in your average 12 year old gear. Not quite 1/3 of the people who witnessed what was going on offered to help, however, when things were changed to where the bullies were dressed like gang members (hoodies & baggy pants), nearly everyone standing by got involved and call the cops right away.
The second experiment had to do with a couple having an argument (physical & verbal) in public. The first couple was white; the second black. Again many people chose to stay out of things or told the couple to take it somewhere else, however, more people seemed to take notice and give more empathy to the white woman. Oh and people also seem to pay more attention if the couple is wearing wedding bands.
The third and final experiment was a set up where they had cab drivers make racial comments to get reactions from people. Out of the 50 or 60 they "tested", there were only about 7 who actually spoke up and said they thought the cabbie was out of line. What was even more disturbing was that there were many who agreed with what was being said yet claimed they weren't racist or they would disagree with a statement made, say they weren't racist but then go on to make prejudice comments. I think the topper had to be the woman who went right along with it and turned out to be on the diversity board of the company she works for. Gee why is it not surprising she was the only one who didn't want her face shown?
What it boils down to is that everyone will at some time or another judge a book by its cover and most likely form an opinion of a group based on a few (Muslims appear to be one of the top groups who are faced with this these days). What is most scary about this is the number of people who think they aren't racist but in reality are.
And now for something completely different....
Touch play machines have now been banned in Iowa. All I can say is what a bunch of prudish whiners we have in this state. I mean I'm all for keeping them out of places where kids can play them, however, I see no problem with putting them in bars where you have to be 21 in order to enter. I couldn't believe I actually heard some people going on about being addicts and the machines being too much of a temptation. Oh please! If it presents that much of a problem, don't go into the places that have them. Get a little self control for God's sake! We still have casinos and grocery stores that sell lottery tickets and you seem to get along with them around.
Next up...I received an interesting email the other day from someone who happened across my blog. It seems that someone from the Raccoon River Valley animal shelter had found the post I made last May asking anyone who could to please donate so they could raise the funds needed to stay open. She informed me that although they didn't get enough money, they were able to find a way to continue to help animals be adopted rather than put down and thanked me for pleading on their behalf. It's nice to know there are still people out there who appreciate random acts of kindness. :)
On a final note....Chi got to bring his brand spankin new car home Saturday. I've got to say if I were going to be the main driver of the car, we more than likely wouldn't have bought it. The overall outside design is pretty cool (for a 4 door LOL) and I like the recaro seats (although they aren't the best for napping LOL) but the ride and the interior design leave quite a bit left to be desired in my opinion. Of course because this is sold more as a performance car that's to be expected but I would take the amenities in my car over the extra bit of power just about any day. Oh well as long as he's happy with it, the $40 grand is worth it. Oh and just to show once again just how completely AWESOME our dealer is...Ant found a bolt in his tire the other day - something that isn't covered by warranty because it's considered road debris and "preventable". Keep in mind each tire costs $250 - $300 and that really isn't an expense we didn't want to have to face so soon. As it turns out, our dealer is going to take care of it for us. :) I can't say enough about how wonderful their customer service is. For those of you in the market for a new or used car - this is definitely the place to go (click the link on the right side of the blog and check them out)! I can even guarantee that the silver 2001 Dodge Stratus R/T with less than 65000 miles they have there (assuming they still have it - it's not listed on their website), is a gem. In our 5 and 1/2 years of ownership, we never had one problem and it was kept up meticulously. :)
Otay....gotta dash.
Til next time when I will be back to discuss the immigration garbage going on.....
Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
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Thursday, March 23, 2006
OMG! Is he for real???
Exercise: 30 push ups, 50 leg lifts, and 150 crunches.
So Bush says, "If I didn't believe we could succeed, I wouldn't be there. I wouldn't put those kids there." Um ok Bushie baby let's get something straight here. We just past the third anniversary when this incredibly ridiculous war started and very little has changed for the better. Let me guess you've finally discovered your ratings are swirling in the toilet bowl as the water does just before it flushes and you're trying to make some feeble effort to scratch your way out. Oh here let me jump on the bandwagon of support for you. *RE*
Oh and what's even better is how you continued on from that statement, "I meet with too many families who've lost a loved one to not be able to look them in the eye and say, "We're doing the right thing.", and we are doing the right thing." I've got two words for you Mr. I'm A Poor Excuse For A President And Even My Own Party Has Started To Turn On Me - Cindy Sheehan! Yah, I can really understand how picking off over 2000 Americans and over 30000 Iraqis is "doing the right thing". And here we are talking about Saddam killing the 114 that he's on trial for being SOOO horrible. Personally, I think it's you who really needs to be on trial because right now you aren't coming off any better than any of the crazies who preceded you or the ones around now.
And now for something completely different....
The other day at work someone forwarded me an email concerning being pulled over by an unmarked police car & calling *677. Forwarded emails are (for the most part) a big thorn in my side to begin with when they haven't been properly handled (cut from the original email & pasted into a new message) because they sometimes are used as a way to obtain mailing lists especially those ridiculous chain letters tied to luck - C'mon people really!
Anyway, I think what gets me more is the people who receive the messages like the one I mentioned dealing with *677 and send them on without taking the time to see if they are real. Had the woman in the office who chose to pass the email on to all the women in the office taken the time to check things out, she would have known *677 is only good in Ontario, Canada or at least it was three years ago when the message first started circulating. I had the notion to send a reply to out her stupidity but it just wasn't worth it. I figure it will catch up to her should she ever be in the situation and she tries to call that number. I will agree with the part of the story that says you should check out unmarked police cars asking you to pull over, but please people remember it's 911 not *677. Why dial more than you need to?
American Idol....
Finally that Kevin kid was kicked off. If you ask me, he shouldn't have even made it to the top 12. He just doesn't have the voice or personality to pull it off in my opinion. And while we're on the subject of voice, Elliott Yamin has got to GO! There is something about the warble in his voice that makes me think of the cowardly lion in The Wizard Of Oz. DREADFUL! Oh and Kelly Pickler - she needs to go too. Good lord it's no wonder people from other countries think Americans are idiots and we stereotype blondes when we've got people like her vying to be the next 'Idol'.
Skating's Next Star.....
Talk about a pathetic show! I caught the last half of this WE program last night. HORRIBLE! Not only did it come off as some low budget piece of crap that showed lack of EVERYTHING, two of the judges (namely Oksana and Rudy) are unbelievably unprofessional and just outright rude! There was a guy on there who gave a pretty sloppy performance but did better than the average schmuck and these two thought they needed to laugh at him. Now I've been skating for 30 of the nearly 33 years I have been on this Earth and let me tell you even though the guy was bumbling, what he was doing was by no means easy and as bad as his performance was, it didn't deserved to be laughed at.
Otay....time for me to make like a tree and leave.
Just under two days now until the Evo comes to live with us and I shed some tears over the $10,000 cash leaving us (will probably shed some more every month when we make the payments too! LOL). At least we should still be able to save a considerable amount of money every month so it won't be long until the money is "replaced".
Til next time.....
Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
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Sunday, March 19, 2006
A Movie Packed Weekend
Exercise: None - It's my day off.
Yesterday morning I drove to my home town for my opthomology appointment (all's well and no change in prescription - YAY!) and Chi stayed home to rip the stereo guts out of his car in preparation to trade it in next weekend when we go get his Evo. When I got done, I went over to my parent's house to visit with my mom.
We talked for quite awhile and then were going to go catch a movie but as it turned out, there was nothing that sounded all that good that was playing in the late afternoon/early evening slots. Instead we just stayed in and watched one of her DVDs - House Of Sand And Fog. I have to say this is kind of a depressing movie but is good and does well to show how simple errors and cultural misunderstandings can quickly get out of hand.
Later after my dad came home, the three of us went out to eat. We had Chinese and we all got a good laugh from the fortune I received in my cookie because it was so true. It said, "Your patience can withstand even the sands of time." LOL I will admit that I'm probably not as patient as I used to be (of the wonders of being out in the working world which resides in the NOW society) but I would say that I still possess more patience than most people I come across.
My mom let me borrow some of her DVDs so I spent most of today watching some of them. I brought home Intolerable Cruelty, Must Love Dogs, Pride & Prejudice, Crash, The Interpreter, and Flight Plan. I viewed the first four today. The first two were alright but probably not ones that I would watch over and over again. Pride & Prejudice - all I can say is I'm a total sucker for these sorts of films so of course I really liked it and at some point will probably purchase this one because I could easily watch it again. Crash is another sort of depressing film, however, it's a VERY good movie. It does a great job of showing how people will stereotype and develop a prejudice against a group of people based on an experience they have had with only a handful that would fit into that group. It also shows the interesting twists of fate life holds.
Well, I must be off now so I can get the laundry folded and get to bed.
Til next time....
Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
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Thursday, March 16, 2006
American Crap
Exercise: 40 push-ups, 50 leg lifts, 200 crunches. I know sort of a feeble attempt but I just wasn't "feelin it" tonight.
So I was watching this new show on ABC tonight called American Inventor. It's basically an American Idol for all the wacky people out there who like to come up with ideas for useless crap. Now I know there are some people who do have really good ideas and do come up with marketable concepts but like Idol, the majority they show are total nutballs. To go a step further, I think the people who decided to do this show also fall into the nutball side of things. I don't know why it is producers think that because they have a hit that they have to go a do a spin off thinking it will do well too. At least with the nutball inventors, they have some sort of imagination. The producers of the show obviously lack imagination since they have to rip off their own stuff. Sorry people but the inventor gig gets a BIG thumbs down from me.
Primetime had an interesting subject tonight - game theory. In one test there were six couples who knew nothing about each other but were given $100 each and told to find one another in Manhattan. Four of the women found each other first at the Empire State Building. Though I didn't like how a stereotype seemed to come into play (they all thought of the romance scene from Sleepless In Seattle), I love when women "win" these sorts of things because of the way society tends to look at men as the "leaders" and the women as the "followers". Later on two guys then found them. The other set of three couples all found each other in Times Square and everyone managed to do it in just a few hours.
In another test, a group of volunteers were overweight and asked to put on a tiny bikini and pose for pictures. If they lose 15lbs in 2 months, the pictures won't be shown but if they don't lose the weight, the pics will be shown. It's basically a way to see if making a threat "real" will actually scare someone into doing something.
And now for something completely different.....
What the hell is the deal with JC Penney's using the TRex song Bang A Gong for their commercials and just slaughtering the song. BASTARDS!
Otay...I'm off for now.
Til next time....
Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
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Wednesday, March 08, 2006
YIKES!
Exercise: 60 pushups, 50 leg lifts, 240 crunches. Wanted to do a run too but it's been raining the last two days - thunderstorms to boot...Whoohoo!
Monday the governor of South Dakota signed a piece of legislature which bans nearly all abortions in the state. The only out is if it's a life or death situation for the mother. When I found out about this, the only thing that went through my mind was, "Thank God I live in a state with a Democratic governor who wouldn't think of doing such a thing." Hopefully that nasty little piece of crap will be tied up in court for years as Gov. Rounds expects it to be and the Supreme Court won't uphold it. Of course I have to sit and wonder what the hell was the point behind signing the thing in the first place if the likelihood of enforcing it is damn near zero.
While I'm on the topic of abortion, I also have to make mention of Domino's founder Tom Monaghan who has decided to build a Roman Catholic university and college town called Ave Maria in Florida. In this town, he intends to ban all abortions, porn, and contraceptives. I can't say that I think banning porn is such a bad idea but abortions and contraceptives? Yah right whatever. Monaghan's contributions in the past to right to life groups is what got me to boycott Domino's pizza to begin with. This latest development only solidifies my sticking to it. I know....the guy sold the place off but just the idea of the connection puts me off.
And now for something completely different......
Yet another season of Project Runway has come to a close. I have to say I think the three finalists had much better designs than last year's three, however, as usual Santino completely under wowed me. I don't know what it is about his stuff but I don't think the guy has ever done anything that was even slightly appealing to me. Had it been up to me, I would have launched the guy from the show a long time ago. When it comes to actual design ideas, I (like the judges) thought Chloe had the edge. I didn't care for some of the fabrics she used but I do like her ideas because they look like they were done by someone who has tried to think outside the box rather than rehashing what is already out there.
One last little tidbit....I just heard on the news that someone stole a truck from a dealership in my home town at gun point during a test drive. It's just so :O There have been drug busts and stuff there (one of the biggest) but I don't ever remember something like that happening before.
Otay....I'm outta here.
Til next time....
Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
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