Thinking Ahead

Oh man, holiday season is just around the corner. Once Halloween hits, it starts a domino effect of holidays that just make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Halloween
Thanksgiving
Christmas
New Years

I love planning for parties, Aaron and Alisha are throwing their annual Halloween party and we can't wait. This year they are making it pot luck, so now that costume worries are out of the way, the next thing to start thinking about is the food. This weekend, I would like to do an Iron Chef Pumpkin Battle at home and test out some recipe ideas. Of course there will be roasted pumpkin seeds, but I was thinking about making pumpkin soup, Joe wants to make pumpkin bread, and there are a few other ideas I want to try out.

Our new friend, "Joe Black" is also throwing a Halloween party the same night. We still plan to make an appearance at this party. It's important to me to do more things with new people we meet. Joe and I just don't have enough friends.

After that, it's doing the rounds with family for Thanksgiving. I love this part too, the more turkey I eat the better, I say. Food is my favorite.

And then it's Christmas time, which is so great. I love buying gifts, it's definitely a joy for me to think about Christmas gifts. And I pretty much do it all year. Everytime I hear someone talk about something they've been looking at, I tuck it away in my mind and keep my eyes peeled for when Christmas time comes. And we're planning on throwing our 3rd party this year, which I'm looking forward to. The decorations and the gag gifts are such a highlight for me. I can't wait.

It's Boston Tea Party, Not Boston Birthday Party

I woke up yesterday morning at 4:30. I had to make a flight out to Boston by 6:45 so I had to get out of my cozy bed. I wasn't thrilled about it. It was chilly and rainy and dark. And that's not really conducive to waking up.

Anyway, I drove all the way out Harrisburg, boarded a tiny plane with seats enough for 36 people and landed in Logan by 8.30 am. Still not really happy to be awake. Before I got into a cab, I called Joe at work. It was his birthday. I just wanted to let him know that I landed safely and was ready to take a cab into the city. He told me it was still raining and that it would probably rain all day. Bummer. I guess he won't get his car detailed after all. Good thing I stopped by the dealership the day before to pick up valve stem covers and an emergency triangle. He thought the valve stem covers made his car look really cool. OK.

I spent the day in a fancy building meeting my co-workers for the first time. That was actually nice. To put a face to a name is much better than talking to someone for months that you've never met in person. We all sat in a room talking about our plans for the rest of the year. We took an historic trolley tour of the city, which was alright even though I've been to Boston many times before. And then we ate dinner at the Elephant & Castle. I know, I know. Who decided on the Elephant & Castle? There's already one in Harrisburg, I didn't have to go all the way to Boston to eat lamb stew.

Can someone tell me why there are 2 Dunkin Donuts on every block in the city? That's a little obsessive about donuts, don't you think?

The nice part was that I got to the airport and saw that the last direct flight was delayed. I had time to switch my late layover flight to this earlier direct flight and actually got home 2 or 3 hours earlier than scheduled. I even had time to visit Joe at band practice. So I felt like I didn't miss his birthday entirely after all. And that put a smile on my rashy face.

Random Shite #4

Bank holiday comes six times a year
Days of enjoyment to which everyone cheers
Bank Holiday comes with a six pack of beer
...then it's back to work A.G.A.I.N.

Fantasy Football Update: I traded Trevor Sinclair out since he's out on injury with no return date. I put in Morten Gamst Pedersen from Blackburn. Currently ranked 7414th in the world and still beating Jules! Ha!

I went to Target yesterday and bought a dog costume for my cat. It ended up fitting on Athena, so she'll go as a bee for Halloween. She's not very happy with the costume on but she doesn't struggle to get it off either. Pictures to come!

Most people I know have these things on MySpace. So apparently, I'm out of the friend loop because I'm not on MySpace. Screw it! I'm way cooler because I use Blogger! MySpace? My ass.

Operation Surprise Birthday Present is in Progress

OK, I just made an appointment with Gary to come out next Thursday to detail Joe's car. I had apprehension when he said he operates by appointment out of his vehicle. But then after talking to him for about 10 minutes, I felt like he was a real professional and that he wouldn't screw up Joe's car like the windshield repair guy did. Did I tell you that story?

When we went to the beach, a pebble flew out of an SUV and chipped Joe's windshield. (All SUV's should have mud flaps!!) I think he almost cried. Anyway, he got Safelite or a similar windshield repair company to come out to fix it. Wouldn't you know that the guy sprays solvent onto the windshield and then puts the can directly onto the hood of the car! There was a ring on the hood after that, the solvent must've bubbled up the paint. I think Joe almost cried for the second time over his car. He eventually got the ring buffed out, but that was probably the last time he'd trust some guy with his car.

So I asked Gary if he had any references. He said that he details the Budweiser trucks at the distribution center and that he also details the cars on the Mercedes lot behind Saturn. So I guess that means he's good. If a car dealer can trust him with his Mercedes and a few Jags, then hey, I guess I can trust him too.

The fact that Joe doesn't read this is good, otherwise my surprise would be totally ruined. I will unfortunately be in Boston on business that day so I won't get his reaction until Friday morning. I hope he likes it. Can someone take a picture of his happy face for me?

I Have An Office. Hip Hip Hooray!

Believe it or not, it takes 5 different people to agree that I can have an office. Why all the red tape? Beats me and who cares, I have an office! I feel so important now, especially since I have a real door that I can shut instead of a pretend door that I imagine shutting when I need imaginary privacy in my former cubicle.

You wanna know something funny? There was a coating of sugar in the top drawer when I opened it. The previous inhabitant must've liked sugar...a lot.

Do you watch The Office? It's a very funny show on Tuesdays. I like it because the boss is so clueless, it's almost painful to watch the situations he gets himself into. And watching awkward silence on television is...well...awkward. You should see it sometime. Really.

Review: Corpse Bride

I read before that Corpse Bride is based on a Russian folktale. A folktale, huh? I thought folktales were suppose to have a lesson in the end, or am I confusing that with something else...

Anyway, Corpse Bride is about a young man named Victor who has been arranged to marry a young girl named Victoria. Both parents have it in their head that the marriage will finally bring them into wealth, not knowing that both families are actually in the poor house. Victor gets cold feet and then goes into the woods to clear his mind. He practices vows on what he thinks is a tree branch and finds that he accidentally slipped the ring on a corpse, thus reviving her from her grave. Victor spends the rest of the film trying to return to the land of the living, while the Corpse Bride tries to keep him. As any folktale, there will be a happy ending.

This movie is rated PG, which I suppose is appropriate. It's not too scary for young children, aside from the scary music. And it's definitely an offbeat fairytale compared to something like Cinderella. Maybe a Cinderella for those little goths in training.

The only complaint I have is the ending. I think it wraps up too quickly. For something rated PG, they should make it a little more explicit that a happy ending occurs - for instance, we never do see a proper wedding, so how are kids suppose to know what happened in the end? Adults can fill in the blanks or Tim Burton intended to leave it to our imagination, but the younglings might not have an idea.

It's a fascinating study in stop motion animation. You can see the painstaking quality in the production and the music that fits like only Danny Elfman can. This is worth seeing in the theatre, but only for matinee price.

My Movie Ratings
Worth seeing in the theatre...at full price
Worth seeing in the theatre, but only if it's a matinee.
Worth renting.
Wait for it to show on cable.

Wedding Du Jour, Part 3

Ok, this is the last of a 3 part series I'm doing on the weddings that I've attended in September. Now that September is over, no more weddings!

Again, it was a wedding for one of Joe's cousins, John. It was a very informal ceremony outdoors at a reception hall. The outdoors part was much to the anguish of Grandma Metzger, as she thought John should have had a wedding at a church. "12 years of Catholic school...!", she cried.

John actually cried whilst repeating the vows and Caryn kept her cool. I thought that was awesome. Mike the Best Man even called him on it in his toast.

We sat at a table with Joe's parents, Aunt Arlene and Terry, Chad and Cousin Jennifer, and Cousin Amanda. Jennifer must've been frontloading before the wedding, because one glass of wine and she was already rowdy, pointing at Cousin Adam who finally publicly showed up with a boyfriend, and laughing at some overzealous dancers. Oh well, it made the evening interesting.

We chowed on prime rib, which was actually good. (We passed on the other options - chicken and shrimp or vegetarian.) The green beans were pretty tasty, although Joe despises any vegetable being cooked at all. The twice baked potato however, was a little sketchy. It was pretty obvious that the potatoes were kept in the oven at a low temperature to keep them warm, because the outside got dry and papery. Overall, not too bad. The rail drinks were free, anything fancy was cash-only. That's ok, I can totally understand that.

We avoided the dance floor all night until the very last dance. Cousin Ryan dragged us out there and we had to cut a rug real quick and then go hide ourselves. Well, I wasn't really scared of the dancing, it's just Joe that I'm scared of. He pulled out some Fonzi move where he dances with his thumbs out. [Shrug] Beats me, I don't know where he learned that.

Overall a very nice night. It was especially nice that flip flops were the dress code, made things so much more comfortable.

Get Your Salmon While You Can

Jules: Warning: get your pacific salmon now. Global warming is disrupting the salmon cycles in Alaska and that is resulting in parasites in the Yukon River.

Me: So what your saying is: stock pile while you can! Horde horde horde. Do not share with those less fortunate to catch their own salmon, they will perish - leaving you with yet more fish!

Jules: Well Woody took elementary hunting skills in school, and since he's (presumably) from Alaska, I shouldn't have any supply issues. Besides I work at Wegmans. You on the other hand are subject to the laws of survival of the fittest.

Me: Hmm. Sounds like I need the help of Dog Translucent.

Random Shite #3

What's up with last night's episode of Lost? Is it me or did it get us nowhere in the plot? It basically ended in the same exact spot as it did the previous week. I'm going to have to stop watching this show. File this one under the same category as Law & Order. I just can't watch without getting aggravated.

Why do I get stuck with the morons? I'm trying to train someone how to use excel and it took 3 hours (yes, 3 hours!!) to accomplish what could be done in 20 minutes. UGH!!

Did anyone read the news article about how the Danish government compensated Santa for accidentally flying a jet over his farm and killing Rudolph? Yeah...um...was that for real?

I'm adding 4 more links to my blog. The Meaning of Tingo and The Language Guy - I found these blogs to be really interesting, I hope you do too. Paperplates Estate and Chuck Taylors in Gotham - these are personal blogs that are pretty entertaining, at least for me they are.

If you get a chance, go to Google. Type in the word "failure". Then click I'm Feeling Lucky. Some White House intern is having too much fun...

Chop Chop Master Onion

I was watching G4TV last night when they showed the new controller for the Nintendo. Like what?! How are you suppose to use that?? It's basically a remote control that you hold in one hand. So....how does this things work again? And why can't you use both hands? What was wrong with a controller that you use both hands for? I don't get it.

Anyway, my confusion somehow lead me to the game Parappa the Rapper. If you remember this raise your hand. It was an insanely addictive game where you have to keep up with the rapper and press the buttons as you were prompted. Sort of a Dance Dance Revolution for your hands.

Anyway, the addictive part were the characters and the raps that you were supposedly learning. For instance, level 1 you're learning from an onion-headed karate master how to chop, kick, punch, etc. I realized then that it was Shaggy's voice that was Master Onion. And somehow, it made it more catchy.

What was the point of the whole thing anyhow? I actually had to look this one up. You are Parappa and you are pining for a character Sunny. In order to win her affections, you have to learn how to rap (I know, when would this ever happen in real life?). So you have to pass all the levels and learn the different styles of rap in each level before you can impress Sunny.

Ahh, if only things were that easy...

I'll Get You My Pretty!!

Joe and I have agreed. We are doing Wizard of Oz this year for Halloween. I told him I wanted to do something scary for this year, so I will be the Wicked Witch of the West and he will be the flying monkey.

We've already run into costume problems. On Sunday, we went to Jo-Ann Fabrics to find a pattern and pick out fabric. We found a pattern that was "close enough" but we are having trouble with the fabric. We found what we wanted, but wouldn't it be typical that there wasn't enough of it to complete the costume. There aren't many fabric stores in the area, in fact that is the only widely known fabric store around. So we are a little worried that this won't work out.

I remember from my childhood a giant warehouse fabric store that my mom used to go to for remnants. She'd make blankets out of the remnants for the beds when we lived in the city. And then I remember my dad went there for vinyl to re-upholster the car interior. I'm hoping I can find the place and I'm hoping that it's still open, because that might be our last resource for the materials we need to make a flying monkey.

Time is running short, we'll have to devote lots of man hours to pull this off by the time Halloween comes around. And we don't want to disappoint everyone, I think people are starting to expect good costumes from us. In past years, we've done some very convincing and award winning costumes - both scary and funny, and couples costumes and separate. Here is the rundown of costumes we've had the past years. You'll see how each year seems to get more and more tricky. I sometimes wish we could go back to the simple costumes.

2004: Edward Scissorhands and Catwoman
2003: Willy Wonka and Oompa Loompa (the Gene Wilder version)
2002: Thug and Dead Bride
2001: Big Joe and Mardi Gras reveller

A Friend In Need is a Friend Indeed

What do you say to someone who suddenly lost a loved one? This is what I said to myself last night after I picked up the Sunday paper. The headline read that a man was accidentally shot in the head while out hunting. The name of the man caught my eye. I instantly scanned the article to make sure my eyes were not tricking me, yes, it was the man I thought it was.

I didn't want to call Dana immediately. I thought "what if she doesn't know yet? I don't want to be the one to tell her". I figured it would be best to wait. Partly because I didn't want to be the bearer of bad news and partly because I didn't know what to say anyway.

I talked to her this morning, and she's broken. I couldn't help myself from crying, I'm just a cryer no matter what the situation is. But I heard heart break in her voice and I lost it. The wounds were still fresh from when they broke up but they had just cleared the air the previous night and made amends with each other. It wasn't a mistake that they had that chance, he was gone the next morning. I'm sure that is at least a bright light in her eyes.

She'll be grieving for a while. And that's ok. There will be a day sometime in the not so distant future when she won't be sad anymore and she can look back on the days she had with him and smile. I never did figure out anything good to say when I talked to her. But I don't think that was the point. You can never say anything good or clever when there is a death. Except that you're there if they need you. And that's probably the best thing to fall on her ears for now.

I Am the Walrus

I'm leaving a little early today to go to West Chester to meet Jules. We're going to see Paul McCartney at the Wachovia Center tonight. That'll be fun, at least see one of the still-living Beatles before he dies.

I remember a few years ago, after George had just died:
Me: Man, remember when they were all still alive? Now only half of them are left.
Jules: No, I was born in '82, remember?

Oh snap! I can't believe that the youth generation are now the generation not to have been alive when all of the Beatles were alive. My, how times are a-changin'.

I have complete respect for the Beatles and what they've done. And sometimes I feel like I could wring someone's neck when some kid stands on their soapbox, claims they are a music guru, and yet doesn't know squat about the Beatles. How do you know music if you don't know the Beatles???

Because everyone knows that, no matter what you are listening to today, it was already done...by the Beatles. They were the architects, shall we say, of the entire music landscape we know today. So show your respect, you dumbass kids!!!

Diet Dr. Pepper Really Does Taste Like Regular Dr. Pepper

I don't know about you, but I can't get used to the taste of diet food. There is a distinct flavor of chemicals in that food that I find it surprising that normal people with good judgment actually say they can't detect. I can tell diet food from a mile away, by taste alone. And I'm no expert. So I find it unusual that people can't taste the chemicals.

That stuff is not good for you, mark my words. If you read the ingredients and you can't pronounce them, why the hell should you eat it? And don't be fooled by the fancy scientific names. Science is not English (if you watch Alton Brown, you know what I mean) and therefore you should not consume food made by science. If it grows from the ground, comes from the ocean, or walks on land, then I think it's suitable for consumption.

Case in point: synthetic fats. Remember those WOW chips? I guess they made that stuff so that you won't actually get fat (which to me is the exact opposite of eating chips in the first place). But who wants to have the runs after you've eaten a couple of chips? That doesn't sound natural!

And the new nutrition facts item of the year: trans fats. Listen, this isn't a new thing they've come up with. Trans fats are the same as laboratory engineered fats and they've been using it since the days when they stopped frying stuff in lard. Trans fats aren't naturally processed by the human body, so don't be surprised if you have Olestra flashbacks.

Substitute sugar is also on my hit list. In my opinion, this is the main culprit of that suspicious "chemical taste". In most professional's opinion, sugar is actually better for you than those substitutes. I swear the fine print on the "pink packet" said that they found that the stuff caused tumors in lab rats. You can give me any taste test and I will still know diet soda from regular soda. I almost got fooled today when I opened a bottle of Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. That stuff actually tasted alright. But I discovered that cold soda can do that to you. Just let it warm up so that it's not ice-cold and you'll tell that there's something weird about the taste. It's the substitute sugar.

Oh and by the way, Splenda isn't sugar. Don't believe them!

Next on my hit list: margarine. One of my friends insists she read somewhere that margarine is one molecule away from being plastic. While I can't vouch for this, I can say that it tastes like it's one molecule away from being plastic. In fact, I think margarine tastes too buttery that it doesn't taste like real butter any longer. They went through all lengths to come up with a healthier version of butter that they ended up making something worse.

And trust me, real butter tastes better. Real food tastes better. If you live an area where they still do things the old fashioned way, I recommend that you get out and taste what real food is. Hey, if it's not real...it's crap!!!

Otherwise, fly to France.

BTW, I'm no dietician. In fact I've gained a little weight in the last several year. But I also don't have serious problems with my internal organs.

Top 5 Desert Island CDs

So the new season of Lost starts tonight. I've unfortunately been sucked into it. I tried to avoid it as much as possible, but you know how summer television can be a joke, I ended up watching reruns of Lost and now I'm hooked!!!

If I were a castaway, like the ones on lost, I would list these as my top 5 desert island CD's:

1. Definitely Maybe, Oasis
2. Weezer (blue), Weezer
3. Parklife, Blur
4. 1977, Ash
5. I Should Coco, Supergrass

What would yours be?

Top 5 Tragedies In Music Today

1. Ashlee Simpson has a second album. Say what? She should've been drawn and quartered after the first one.
2. The Click Five. Ugh, more like The Click OFF.
3. Britney Spears bears child. Oh no, take cover! The devil has begat a son!
4. Old rockers looking for young blood, it's just totally gross. I have 2 examples: Tommy Lee and Billy Idol.
5.Michael Jackson recording charity song. Only because he doesn't have his own money to donate and that's a real tragedy.

Think you can add to this list? Go ahead and give it a shot, you can post through comments or use the tag board.

Wedding Du Jour, Part Deux

On Saturday morning, Joe and I woke up early to go over to his parents' house. We packed and fed the cats and then told them we'd be back tomorrow morning. Whatever, they don't care. As long as they got fed.

We picked up Joe's mom and then took a two and a half hour drive to Bethlehem to meet up with the grandparents. The drive wasn't too bad, I finally got my Martha Stewart magazine on Friday, so I read it on the ride up. That Martha, I tell you. She's so clever with the Halloween decorating ideas. Did you know you can cover your cheese ball with black sesame seeds to make it look more devilish? No? Well thank Martha! There are also good articles on growing your own garlic, the essentials of a tool box, and a family pumpkin farm. This is a must read, October is usually the best issue of the year.

But I digress. Anyhoo, the church part wasn't torture like I thought it was. The bride, Joe's cousin Erin, looked beautiful. All the groomsmen, the father of the bride, and the groom himself (Jimmy) wore brand new matching skate shoes. Except Jimmy's pair were gray, the others were black. It definitely set the tone that things weren't going to be stuffy and formal. And I like that.

A few relatives thought it wasn't appropriate to give gifts, since this was Erin's second wedding. "She already has tea towels, and such", they said. But the fact is, it was Jimmy's first. And I don't think it's fair to Jimmy to have that sort of mentality. They ended up getting a million cards anyway. Joe and I looked up their registry at Target and got them a 3-tier pillar holder and matching pillar candles.

The reception was your typical reception held at a hotel. A buffet dinner with a little of everything - roast beef, rosemary chicken, pasta with red sauce, roasted potatoes, green bean almondine, salad and hard rolls. I must say that it tasted like typical hotel food. The beef was good, the chicken was dry, the beans were good but overcooked for my taste. Although the dinner overall was good, I said to Joe that I liked my cooking better. But at the hotel's defense, it's very difficult to cook for a crowd.

Hors d'oeuvres before the dinner were very good. A very nice cheese plate, with Swedish meatballs (I love meatballs!) and fried dumplings. The cake was simple and I thought it tasted good. The topper showed the bride dragging the groom behind her, I thought that was cute. Open bar, hey I can't complain, I had peachtree and cranberry juice all night.

One guy was a little ticked off that we switched him to a different table before he even got there. Well, we have Aunt Karen to thank for that, I guess. It was her idea to move everyone around even when she was tables away herself. We convinced Aunt Jane to do the electric slide. And the dancing all night was crazy. Young and old were cutting a rug to the Black Eyed Peas.

Overall, the night went without a glitch. A very simple and relatively inexpensive wedding. And what really counts is that everyone had a good time, which it looked like everyone did.

So next week is a week off, I'll be going to a Paul McCartney concert on Friday with Jules. But the following week is back on, another wedding for another of Joe's cousins. So look for part 3 of my wedding du jour series. Later!

Random Shite #2

Yep, the dentist agrees that I should get my wisdom teeth out as quickly as possible, as I'm getting older and it gets more difficult with age. Only thing is, the only oral surgeon covered by my insurance is in Harrisburg. I don't know who I'll find that will drive me up there, wait, and then drive me back. Such an inconvenience!

Jules sent me an email from her on-assignment location in Salisbury Maryland. Seems as though some government building is next door and they just went into code orange. A white powder substance was spotted on the sidewalk and on the doorknobs. This is her email...

The police next door taped off the entire plaza, citing a white powder along the walkway and on the door handles of the courthouse. It appears the entire population of Princess Anne has convened in the parking lot. Biohazard crew workers have swabbed the area (while unmasked others wandered around without caution) and placed the samples in a Hecht's bag. We were told we can leave the building but not to wander around to the left.

She has since received an all clear. Too bad she didn't have the gas mask dad gave us a few years ago. That would've been convenient then, eh?

I'm headed to yet another wedding tomorrow, of which I will comment on upon my return. It will be part two of a three part series I'm doing on weddings I'm attending this month. So I'll be up early tomorrow morning for an overnight trip to Easton PA. Another day with the Metzger family....

Working across the street from my home is very convenient, as I've gone home for lunch and to do some chores. I vacuumed the high traffic areas, put the dishwasher on, dried and folded laundry. I feel so accomplished!

Yep, That's Calculus in your Mouth

Ugh! I have to go to the dentist tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to it. I haven't been to the dentist in, like, 2 years. I avoid going to the dentist like the plague, but it's high time for a cleaning. Plus, I've got these wisdom teeth that have grown in that are gonna have to come out. It's not something I look forward to, but I think I finally psyched myself up for it. But I'll still wait for the doctor to tell me that I need them out before I agree to it.

Now all the sudden I'm brushing, flossing, and gargling very diligently all week before going to the dentist, thinking I'll reverse the effects of bad brushing habits. Ha!

Not only that but I've been wearing my retainer all week too. 16 weeks of braces in high school and I go and screw them up by not wearing my retainer except in emergency situations (like going to the dentist). And man, they hurt like hell trying to squeeze them back into my mouth. But in the morning, my teeth feel like they moved back to their correct positions. Dr. Rosenberg will surely be impressed.

Going to the dentist is the most un-sexy thing people do. I mean, you've got your mouth wide open and there's a doctor that 2 inches from your face. I'm always worried he'll notice my nose hair or my bad complexion (well, in high school I was worried about the complexion, but it's chilled out since then). And then you get this "spider web" from your mouth to the bowl everytime you spit. Gross. And then when you leave, you have that crappy dentist smell on your clothes and that powder residue around your mouth from the latex gloves. I'm not looking forward to it.

Mental note: schedule next dentist appointment for 2007.

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later

I never thought that I would be posting so much about Hurricane Katrina, but I feel like it's so compelling how weather can all of the sudden become a political, environmental and racial issue. For me, I don't really see it one way or the other. For me, it's a human story beyond the bounds of politics or race.

However, saying that, I want to add the now infamous words from Kanye West. Words that sparked the use of a microscope to see if there was something nefarious lying underneath the now toxic waters.

“I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a Black family, it says, “They’re looting.” You see a white family, it says, “They’re looking for food.”

“And, you know, it’s been five days (waiting for federal help) because most of the people are Black. And even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite because I’ve tried to turn away from the TV because it’s too hard to watch. I’ve even been shopping before even giving a donation, so now I’m calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give.

“And just to imagine if I was down there, and those are my people down there. So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can to help – with the way America is set up to help the poor, the Black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible. I mean, the Red Cross is doing everything they can. We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way. And they’ve given them permission to go down and shoot us!”

After Mike Myers had read his lines from the script, Kanye threw caution to the winds, saying, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people!”

Now I don't entirely agree or disagree with Kanye's powerful statements. I honestly don't believe that G Dub told FEMA or the military to "check the color of their skin before you save them." But I do think that something happened, I just can't put my finger on it.

The whole point of my blog today is to say that with the mainstream media today, we'll never know what happened. The truth is out there, though. And being a media studies major when I was in college, I've been given the knowledge to at least know a few places to look. I read today of the ethnic mix that New Orleans housed before the storm came ashore. Not only African Americans, but also a large population of Koreans, Vietnamese, and Latinos lived there. And these ethnic groups have their own media outlets. "Alternative media!", I thought to myself. I can now get someone else's point of view. So I've included links here for you, I hope you can take minute to look through them. No matter what you think, or who's fault it is, I hope you find a human story that grips you. Because, after all, we're all human.

Alternative Media Sources

The Afro-American Newspapers
New California Media
Radio Saigon Houston
The Korea Times
La Opinion
Mother Jones