Computer facts of interest
 

Sorry about the pic size.

underrated
 

Or some old asshole who takes a bunch of cardiac drugs that cause all kinds of surprises in the sexual function department.

(Smacked with a) POLL
 

Probably. This dog was WILD when he was a puppy. He put my sister in the hospital twice (once chasing a cat and knocking her down, and once trying to get a stick out of her hand and accidently grabbing her wrist). Going to training school was supposed to calm him down and give him focus, and he's an excellent retreiver, so there was the added bonus of not having to wade in after ducks. So he spent a month learning the ins and outs of retrieving, and he calmed down quite a bit after doing boot camp.

The look of supreme disgust and disappointment on this dog's face when you shoot at and miss a duck is downright humbling.

Edited to add: When Holden went to gun school, the guy who trained him assured us that he NEVER used shock collars on dogs. Then he spent time with Holden and realized that he finally met a dog that would only respond to the shock collar.

Computer facts of interest
 

Then I suggest adopting the practice of hitting ctrl-a (select all) and ctrl-c (copy) before you hit the submit reply button. It will save you a lot of heartache.

Kid stuff
 

Fairly.

Smokin' Stork
 

Wait a second -- are you actually taking the position that smoking during pregnancy is not a bad thing?

I think we "holier than thou anti-smoking zealot types" wouldn't bother with taking Catherine (or anyone else) to task b/c it's just so patently obvious that smoking during pregnancy is a "Bad Idea". Anyone who has not gotten the message that smoking during pregnancy is stupid is certainly not going to get any smarter by hearing it from one more person.

Speaking as an anti-smoking type, I really couldn't care less what people do to themselves -- just as long as I don't have to smell it or breathe it.

kidless
 

Well, duh. I assure you it won't be. Note, however, that only a control freak would think this has anything to do with whether it is worthwhile.*

I once heard a speaker whose child was born with Down syndrome. She said the experience was like buying plane tickets to Paris, when you've wanted to see Paris your entire life. Then you find out our your plane landed in Helsinki due to a mix-up by the airline. At first, you're pissed off, because dammit, you paid for tickets to Paris! You have a right to be in Paris! You do everything in your power to get back on a plane, but the flights are all booked, and the airline is totally unfair. So you're stuck in Helsinki. After a while, you realize that Helsinki is a beautiful city, with a rich history and plenty of fine people, good food, and moments to cherish. You find that you'd even recommend Helsinki to friends who wouldn't have dreamed of going there. Sure, Paris would have been great, too, but you're soon showing everybody photos of your vacation to Helsinki.

I'm here to tell you, everybody wants to go to Paris --- who wouldn't? But we all wind up in Helsinki or Edinburgh or Rome or Vilnius or Minsk, and surprisingly few of us are bitching about it. If you're not prepared to surrender that kind of control, parenting is not for you. If you'd sulk in your hotel room, parenting is not for you. If you'd immediately ask the concierge whether Vilnius has any good titty bars, you'll be just fine.

* Note that this post is not directed at anyone who has decided not to have kids. I respect that, and feel no need to persuade you.

Smokin' Stork
 

I really could not give a fuck one way or the other since I don't see myself having any brats of my own.

I find it astounding actually - since i recall a similar debate on the old board where the mommy brigade around here took some poster to task for indulging in a few beers, and her you have a famous woman - a ROLE MODEL - and I hear nary a peep from either Hollywood, the tabloids, or the chattering classes, save in defence of the Zeta-Douglas's for having their privacy invaded.

So, I guess you favor this new Anti-smoking facism in NY then?

not7y(where's my fucking Partagas Robusto)S

kidless
 

I think having a Down Syndrome baby would be a bit more like Detroit than Helsinki. A great many such babies are very very low functioning -- not like the kid on My Wonderful Life or whatever that show was.

kidless
 

That, and society tells you you can't take the return flight. Ever.

Overrated/Underrated
 

Hehe. Jamaica Jamaica? I think that was on Richmond and Kirby...I was once in heavy traffic (way way back when) when it let out and people walked on top of our car. With knives. I kid you not. It was one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life.

-T(We just wanted a House of Pie pie - is that so wrong?
)L

El Mariachi
 

Actually, Desperado was a remake of a very low budget movie called, I believe, "El Mariachi." They're both very fun. Robert Rodriguez has a nifty style.

kidless
 

Well, duh, I am a control freak. (And, on the off chance you inserted the "duh" to turn me on, I was just playing around with that whole nice guy thing last week.)

And my point was not the kid/relationship might be different from what I imagined and so parenthood would not be worthwhile. Things always turn out differently from what I've imagined, so what the hell? My fear is more general, that parenthood won't provide the overall wow, I'm glad I did this feeling of satisfaction that I have always (until now) expected it would.

I don't know if I'm becoming more self-aware and fully actualized, or just more cynical. Maybe I just need to go to Helsinki and take in the titty bars before I have kids so I'll have interesting stories at my disposal when I'm chatting up the DILFs at the soccer games.

kidless
 

Please tell me you mean "dad" and not "daughter."

kidless
 

Actually, one of the Mr.'s relations has Downs Syndrome. She's the most pleasant and highly functioning member of her immediate family, and certainly the only one with any charm. (Granted, her immediate family is a bunch of basket-case toxic waste, but the point holds.) She's not as highly functioning as the kid on My Wonderful Life, but sort of close. However, definitely in that family (i) the mother should really never have reproduced, (ii) having reproduced, she should have drown the "normal" kid in the bathtub.

Not to minimize Downs, but that would scare me less than, say, autism or even a bad case of ADHD. That could be like buying plane tickets to Paris and finding yourself spending the next 20 years (or the rest of your life) in a Thai prison.

BR(actually, bad ADHD may scare me worst of all because, frankly, that shit can fuck up your whole life and your other children's lives, and the ultimate option to protect the rest of your family by sending the kid into permanent institutional care just isn't there)C

kidless
 

Should I should have written FILFs? :eek:

Overrated/Underrated
 

You're right. It is Richmond and Kirby. And there is NEVER anything wrong about wanting a House of Pies pie.

kidless
 

Is too. Think "military school". (I periodically send away for the brochures to these neat places out on the east coast - Shuddup, and places like that - o, sorry, Shattuck - and then leave the brochures laying around. Works wonders on the more voluntary forms of ADHD.)

The show with the Downs kid (and Patti Lupone as mom) was called Life Goes On. Don't ask me how I know that--it's not like I ever watched it.

tm

25 Sequels this year
 

Once Upon a Time in Mexico is a sequel to Desperado. You should add it to your list. Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, lots of guns, hopefully another scorching love scene. What's not to like?

American Wedding is an attempt by the Weitz brothers to earn enough money so that the one who is currently dating Maggie Gyllenhaal can continue dating her. Did Tara Reid really have something better to do than to work on the third American Pie?

25 Sequels this year
 

Re: American Wedding, can anyone think of a trilogy (or more) where the original was good, the II sucked, and the III was any kind of improvement on II? My personal guess is that if you're sliding by II, going to III ain't gonna reverse the trend.

The only exceptions I can think of are Indiana Jones, and possibly Rocky.

I say this because, having seen American Pies I and II, I'm really not hopeful that Jason Biggs is the next Harrison Ford.

25 Sequels this year
 

I generally agree with your assessment, Atticus. Though I thought the 2nd American Pie was o.k. (not good but not awful), I do not have high hopes for this one, as I heard most of the female leads aren't in it and one of the guys is out too. While the movies are mostly about the guys' friendship, I'm not optimistic...

As for Indiana Jones, ANYTHING would have been an improvement over Temple of Doom... One of the worst cases of Hollywood nepotism by people not named Coppola ever!!! As I said before, I will have to come up with creative uses for that DVD when it comes out because, like Godfather III, I will NEVER watch it...

Yeah, I realize I knew that, for the entirely innocent reason that it came on, in my syndication area, right before wide world of sports, or some other similar show.

Educate me, puckheads
 

The easiest thing to shout at a hockey game and appear knowledgeable is: "Don't just stand there, hit somebody!"

Another way to pass yourself off as wise is to comment "next goal is huge." - Always the case if the game is within 2 goals.

str8.

25 Sequels this year
 

How about Grease III
Well, we can hope.
I actually thought the third Indiana Jones movie was better than the second.
And the Sports Guy made a case that Rocky 3 was better (or at least, more fun to watch) than Rocky 2.

But for the most part, you're clearly right.

str8.

AI
 

To bottom line it, the only sublime performer was Ruben and man was he good last night. If there was a CD called Ruben Interprets the Bee Gees, it would go on my laminated list. I called in for him ten times and I have never called in for anyone before. I hope you guys did too.

Josh Round One: It was as if some deadhead slipped into Sigma Epsilon and dosed the keg. What was up with the fist pumping and sticking his huge head into the camera? Is that some sort of cracker dance? There is a reason spinning hippie chicks take acid and jarheads drink beer.

Round Two: For Josh, not bad at all. And far superior to the tiresome prancing balladeer's version which was so very same shit different week.

Clay Round One: See above. Has anyone noticed that he is starting to get a weird pinched look to his face? Like he got a facelift? He actually is resembling Siegfried. or Roy, esp with the grotesque pancake makeup and pink lipstick. As my sister said, he is just creepy. He is lost in the twilight zone of gay straight man and gay gay man. My sister thinks he is straight but should just be gay already- otherwise it makes him some kind of reverse trannie. Someone put him out of his misery, or ours.

Round Two: I think one of Josh's frat pledges was ordered to go to the misfit frat, steal one of the freaks and threaten atomic wedgies if they didnt do karaoke Grease. Clay did a decent Frankie Vallie imitation, which doesnt mean it is entertaining for anyone but a closeted jarhead frat guy. He should be bottom two this week.

Kim- Round one. Just sucked.
Round Two- just sucked. Emotion was one of my favorite songs as a kid- I can remember getting the KTel album which had it on there. This was not even close to the Samantha Sang version. She could be safe this week bc my sister, who thought she just sucked this week, called in for her bc she thought she needed the protection. My sister is also not a caller. I almost called in for her as well for the same reason, but feared it would siphon off m Ruben votes and if I dont see him on this show again, I will be just sad bc he is so gifted.

Kim Locke, when on, is very very excellent, but she is not as consistent as she should be. The only way she isnt bottom two is if there are many voters like my sister. Tough call between her and Josh for the other spot in the bottom two. Josh did Josh good on one tune which generally is enough to protect him, so I will go Clay and Kim for bottom two, Kim goes bc there are a lot of twelve year olds "Aiken for Clay". Which is so gross btw.

And you thought there was racism on AI
 

http://espn.go.com/tennis/news/2003/0506/1550136.html

spree: Richard Williams on racism in tennis, sounding a little like Charles Manson quite frankly

(Smacked with a) POLL
 

I'm glad you smacked that kid. I hope you did it hard. The parents should have been forcibly removed with child, from wherever you were, with a swift, firm kick to the ass region. If they were too drunk to do anything but fight, good. Have the Mr. beat that ass.

This reaction is over the top. Some kids have problems and if the children were young enough and the parents were bad enough, the blame for their behavior falls squarely on the parents' shoulders. Improperly behaved children should not be put in that setting and allowed free reign and children otherwise well behaved who lose it should be removed from such a setting immediately. But the "kill it" crap is offensive and stupid and in the event that the child is a product of the parents' stupidity, quite possibly hurtful and harmful to the child in a way that could stick. Meaning, it might actually encourage the child to continue to engage in such behavior. Your friend's father could have found something better to say and should have aimed his insult at the parents.

TM

kidless
 

Interesting. I've found the exact opposite to be true.

Aha. Now I see what you're saying. (The titty analogy helped, thanks.) You're not saying that your relationship with your child won't be as satisfying as you would expect, you're saying that your relationship with your child won't be what you imagined or fantisized it would be. That makes perfect sense, but the people who don't understand this probably get upset every time something doesn't turn out exactly the way the dreamed it to be (which I guess is why your analogy works so well and this post is pointless -- good job, TM).

TM

(Smacked with a) POLL
 

I will never understand parents who bring their children to totally inappropriate settings without regard to the people around them. You have enough money to eat at a nice restaurant? Hire a goddamn baby sitter while you're at it. You can't find a really good one? A 12 year old kid couldn't possibly do a worse job than you so hire it.

Next time I will demand that the idiot parents pay for my meal which they've just wrecked. If the kid was raised to be a moron, you can't really blame it unless it's old enough to observe what the proper behavior ought to be.

p(not entirely without mercy, though entirely without sympathy)j

And you thought there was racism on AI
 

That guy is the biggest idiot. What is it about tennis fathers anyway? His daughters ought to tell him to shut his mouth. It's their spotlight and hard work. Not his.

Serena and venus are the biggest and most popular stars of women's tennis in years and years and should be thanking the tennis tour for making them millionaires many times over.

I don't hear Tiger whining about racism on the PGA, even though I suspect it's probably a lot worse there. Heck, they play routinely at clubs that probably didn't have a single black member until the last decade.

Was the kid's name Corky?

Even if it wasn't, I saw that guy in Tower Video the other day. I did not see him go into the porn section.

TM

kidless
 

Having kids certainly forced me to learn to "go with the flow" a bit more. Where my apartment used to be spotless and pristine, I have learned to deal with toys on the floor and peanut butter occasionally smeared on the table top. Where I made a ritual out of reading the morning newspaper cover to cover on weekends, now, I can maybe get through the front page and sports before the kids make me get up and play. Where I used to go to happy hour and get platered most Friday nights, now I rush home to play soccer or something with the the little guys. All in all, a good set of changes for me. Your mileage may vary.

Sordid Gossip--Buttafuocos divorcing
 

Since being shot by your husband's bimbo jailbait mistress wasn't enough to have jump-started the process 10 years ago...

http://entertainment.msn.com/news/ar...px?news=121659

They've both found new loves. :love:

You saw Corky? Does he look like a washed up actor?

Smokin' Stork
 

Probably a good idea in your case, given your obvious dislike of children evident in that statement. (No one sees themselves having "brats".)



I recall the "debate" a little differently -- I think (and sorry if I'm misattributing) that paigow expressed disdain for a pregnant woman who was standing in a bar where people were smoking and criticized this woman for drinking (although paigow didn't know for sure whether the pregnant woman was drinking an alcoholic beverage or not.)

I don't know who you think the "mommy brigade" is, but I do recall many people saying, "lay off, [paigow], what business is it of yours, and besides, one drink is really not a big deal."

And since when is CZJ a role model? I don't know what other people think, but it is my view that smoking during pregnancy is pretty stupid, given the mountains of medical studies that have associated smoking during pregnancy with low birth weight and other developmental maladies. [Unlike a drink or two a week -- which has not been associated with such maladies -- I'm not talking about heavy drinking, which, of course, is associated with fetal alcohol syndrome.] You will not find ANY doctor to tell you that smoking is a good idea (at all, and much less during pregnancy). CZJ is most likely addicted to nicotine, and can't go the 10 months without it -- so she doesn't. Whatever.

As long as she doesn't do it where I can smell it, it's her business. I can think her an idiot (which I do, but not only for smoking during pregnancy -- that's pretty much in line with what I would expect from her or any other self-absorbed celebrity), but it's certainly not my place to tell her what to do in her own home on her own time.

And yes, I dig the new Bloomberg anti-smoking rules. Going out to bars is something I would consider doing now, whereas before, I really had to have a good excuse, because the stench of smoke is so off-putting.

And you thought there was racism on AI
 

Williams also said he will never salute the flag because of racism in America. "It has no meaning for me," he said.

"The whites have always said that black people were robbers. My daughters are robbers. They're going to rob you of your best shot and make it our best shot. "My daughters are the best two robbers in the world," he said.


What an assclown. If his daughters get shunned at all after this he will claim it is racism but we will all know that it is because he is such a fucking tool.

Thrashers(Sheesh, and to think that when I was a kid I was a little bit embarrassed because my father would sometimes say something uncool in front of my friends -- sorry dad, love ya, glad you aren't a fucking tool like this guy)Fan

25 Sequels this year
 

I liked Indiana Jones. I haven't seen it since I saw it in the theater, though. And that was when I was just a kid. Short Round, monkey brains, kali maaaah. What's not to like? My best friend's mother lined up for us while we were at school so we could see it on opening day. We all came out of the theater kicking the hell out of each other trying to be Short Round. Hmmm. Maybe I like it because of the memories I have of seeing it.

I hated the third one. Sometimes Sean Connery makes me thoroughly sick.

TM

And you thought there was racism on AI
 

I found Williams' comments to be quite racist, assuming that all white people think that. Maybe I have overheard someoen saying that black people are naturally physically superior and that white people cannot compete with that (and maybe Martina Hingis has made such allusions), but that doesnt mean al white people think that. His girls have raised the bar, just as Martina Navratilova did with her fitness. And his girls are so gracious and so eloquent that even if there is racism, they are probably the people to change people's minds by their excellent examples. He is completely insane. I wonder how his relations with his daughters are. I note that he and his wife Oracene/Brandy divorced.

And why isnt anyone commenting on AI? I love to read the commentary.

Smokin' Stork
 

Well, if you are considering it, please do it and go early and often to support your local bar. Bar receipts are down over 20% in NYC since the ban, and closures are already ensuing.

BR(for me, the smoking ban upside is that the bars are all empty, so I can actually have a conversation now that I'm going deaf in my old age, but I'm a non-smoker who thinks the ban is a terrible idea and it hasn't stopped the Mr. from bumming smokes off of everybody whenever we go out)C