Here's a story I heard from my friend's mom today...


A man was sitting in his living room, reading the paper when his wife came in, took a section of the paper from him and smacked him upside the head with it.

"What was that for?" he asked, taken aback.

"I was doing the laundry when I found a piece of paper with the name Rosa Jean in your pocket. You pig! How dare you!" She made as though to hit him again with the paper.

"Wha? No... honey, how could you think I would do that to you? Rosa Jean is the name of the horse I was betting on the other day."

The wife calmed down, then apologized for doubting him and being so quick to react.

A few weeks later the man was again sitting in his living room reading the paper when his wife came into the room and smacked him upside the head with a frying pan.

When he came to half an hour later, he asked "what on earth was that for?"

"Your horse just called."

Folk Fest is at Jericho Beach Park in Vancouver Today through Sunday. Even if you don't have the money to buy tickets, consider popping by and listening to some of the performances from outside the gates... there's an excellent "black market" along the beach path outside the fence, where the infamous $5 tarp and many other amazing finds are waiting for the right people to seek them out.

With 7 day-time concert stages, There's something for everyone. If you don't like one form of music, wander around a while and you'll find another you love. Trust Me.

Every year since I was two months old, I have spent the third weekend of July at Jericho Beach Park in Vancouver. That weekend has always been somewhat magical to me. The Folk Music Festival is a whole world of it's own.

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Joss created this low-budget, high-humour show that will be streaming online for free next week, and only next week... then it'll cost ya.
go to: www.drhorrible.com and check out the teaser trailer, and read Joss' letter of explanation below.



I can't believe I'm telling you guys about something Joss related before Becker is....
*eg*

~ Jeanie

*****
A LETTER FROM JOSS WHEDON

Dear Friends,

At last the time has come to reveal to you our Master Plan. BEWARE! Those with weak hearts should log off lest they be terrified by the twisted genius of our schemes! Also pregnant women and the elderly should consider reading only certain sentences. Do not mix with other blogs. Do not operate heavy machinery while reading this blog. You must be this tall to read. ‘Kay?

It is time for us to change the face of Show Business as we know it. You know the old adage, “It’s Show Business – not Show Friends”? Well now it’s Show Friends. We did that. To Show Business. To show Show Business we mean business. (Also, there are now other businesses like it.)

ONE WEEK ONLY! AN INTERNET MINISERIES EVENT!

"Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog" will be streamed, LIVE (that part’s not true), FREE (sadly, that part is) right on Drhorrible.com, in mid-July. Specifically:

ACT ONE (Wheee!) will go up Tuesday July 15th.

ACT TWO (OMG!) will go up Thursday July 17th.

ACT THREE (Denouement!) will go up Saturday July 19th.

All acts will stay up until midnight Sunday July 20th. Then they will vanish into the night, like a phantom (but not THE Phantom – that’s still playing. Like, everywhere.)

And now to answers a few Frequently (soon to be) Asked Questions:

1) Why, Joss? Why? Why now, why free, why us?

Once upon a time, all the writers in the forest got very mad with the Forest Kings and declared a work-stoppage. The forest creatures were all sad; the mushrooms did not dance, the elderberries gave no juice for the festival wines, and the Teamsters were kinda pissed. (They were very polite about it, though.) During this work-stoppage, many writers tried to form partnerships for outside funding to create new work that circumvented the Forest King system.

Frustrated with the lack of movement on that front, I finally decided to do something very ambitious, very exciting, very mid-life-crisisy. Aided only by everyone I had worked with, was related to or had ever met, I single-handedly created this unique little epic. A supervillain musical, of which, as we all know, there are far too few.

The idea was to make it on the fly, on the cheap – but to make it. To turn out a really thrilling, professionalish piece of entertainment specifically for the internet. To show how much could be done with very little. To show the world there is another way. To give the public (and in particular you guys) something for all your support and patience. And to make a lot of silly jokes. Actually, that sentence probably should have come first.

2) What happens when it goes away? Does it go to a happy farm for always like Fluffy did when mommy was crying and the neighbor kept washing his fender?

No, Dr horrible will live on. We intend to make it available for download soon after it’s published. This would be for a nominal fee, which we’re hoping people will embrace instead of getting all piratey. We have big dreams, people, and one of them is paying our crew.

And somewhat later, we will put the complete short epic out on DVD – with the finest and bravest extras in all the land. We’ll go into greater detail about that at Comiccon, but we’re changing the face of Show Friendliness a second time with that crazy DVD.

3) Joss, you are so kind, and generous, and your forehead is like, huge, like SCARY, like I think I can see Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint hanging off it… what can WE do to help this musical extravanganza?

What you always do, peeps! What you’re already doing. Spread the word. Rock some banners, widgets, diggs… let people know who wouldn’t ordinarily know. It wouldn’t hurt if this really was an event. Good for the business, good for the community – communitIES: Hollywood, internet, artists around the world, comic-book fans, musical fans (and even the rather vocal community of people who hate both but will still dig on this). Proving we can turn Dr Horrible into a viable economic proposition as well as an awesome goof will only inspire more people to lay themselves out in the same way. It’s time for the dissemination of the artistic process. Create more for less. You are the ones that can make that happen.

Wow. I had no idea how important you guys were. I’m a little afraid of you.

4) Joss, do you ever answer a question simply or coherently?

Shledzguohn?

There’ll be more questions, and more long, long answers, but for now I’m just excited that we’re actually making this happen. We (and a lot of other people -- gushing to commence soon) worked very hard on the show and we hope/think you guys will be pleased.

Until July 15th , I remain, yours truly, -j, of the firm j, j, m & z.

Yesterday the bus home was running a few minutes late... great for me as I just caught it... As he was preparing to depart, a passenger and the bus driver had the following conversation. I kid you not.

Passenger: Do you know what late buses and restaurants have in common?
Bus Driver: No, What?
Passenger: We're the waiters, and you're the busboy!
Bus Driver (chuckling): Well I can see that you're not a dumbwaiter!
Passenger: No, I'm a hip-wader!

So, throughout my life I've been telling my mom she's trying to poison me when she attempts to serve me string beans. I've always hated them, and she's always tried to get me to change my mind.

Today I was at the allergist, where they injected me with several common food allergens.

It's 9 hours later, and I still have a large red bump where they injected me with corn... that lead to a really big, splotchy red bump during the test.

And I still have a small red bump where they injected me with string beans. Yeah, that's right, I'm allergic to string beans. I knew she really was trying to poison me all those years. *g*

Also, I may be allergic to Yeast. I'm hoping that will turn out to be wrong, 'cause many many of the foods I like contain yeast in some form or another...

The list of "Yeast" offenders: Bread, Buns, GRAPES, Cheese, Mushrooms, Dried Fruit, Vinegar and Alcohol. Guess there was a reason I've never been much of a drinker...

Other foods I have to avoid for the next two weeks: Corn & anything sweetened with corn syrup(duh), Apple, Banana, Orange, String Beans, Wax Beans, Potato, and the aforementioned Yeast & it's various forms: Bread, Buns, Grapes, Cheese, Mushrooms, Dried Fruit, Vinegar and Alcohol.

This is going to be a very long couple of weeks...
I'm hoping that at the very least he takes Apples and Potatoes off of that list... and you KNOW I won't be able to avoid cheese forever...

The hardest part will be breakfast... I usually go to Tim Horton's for a blueberry bagel with cream cheese before work... now what am I gonna have? I am SOOO not getting up early to actually make food before work...

Did I mention that I was supposed to go do Kareoke for the first time this week for my birthday? Yeah, I'm not getting up in front of a bunch of people and singing without a shot of Baileys or something first... Gonna have to postpone till it won't throw off my final test with the allergist.

'cause Joel has inherited Suze's evil streak of last week...

1. Go to www.flickr.com
2. Type in your answer to the question in the "search" box
3. Use only the first page
4. Copy the html and paste for the answer.

First Name:

Favorite Food:

School:

or

Favorite Colour:

Celebrity Crush:

Who is your favorite Disney princess?
'cause she kicked some butt in Shrek 3.

Favorite Drink:

Dream Vacation:

Favorite Dessert:

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What do you love most in life?

or...

One word to describe you:

What do you dream about?

Dear megdalen,
I don't really know how to tell you this, but The Mafia wants you.
I think I realized it on the first of May, at the mental hospital when I saw you knock out my Avocado Plant.
I'm sure you're frost-bitten enough to understand that there is no solution to this.
I'm returning the pictures from LA to you, but I'll keep the results of the blood sample as a memory.
You should also know that I told in my confession today about the Eggplant-fetishism.
Greetings to your freaky family,
jeaniettf


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Privilege Meme - bold the ones that apply.

Father went to college
Father finished college (Sick of having him in their class term after term and failing each time, his Latin instructor actually held a vote within the class who unanimously agreed to pass him on the condition that he NEVER took Latin ever again... He needed a language credit to complete his degree.)
Mother went to college
Mother finished college(At fifty-something, she got her BA a couple of years ago via correspondence courses - yay mom!)
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor (I don't think so, unless high-school teachers count as professor's *g*)
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers (seeing as my dad was one of their peers...)
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home (Along with the numerous overcrowded bookshelves in nearly every room of the house, my dad had an entire wall in the basement where he built bookshelves from floor to ceiling. When we moved 2 years ago, mom and I had at least 25 boxes of books that we donated to various causes, keeping only the "special" ones... had to leave room for the next generation of book-tribbles.)
Were read children's books by a parent (Reading was BIG in our house. I don't remember not knowing how to read, but there were times when I'd ask one of my parents to read to me just for the fun of it... usually "grown-up" books like _The Hobbit_... and I know that before I started reading on my own, they read to me all the time.)
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18 (Ballet and Swimming mostly)
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively (well usually...)
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs (until my dad died... then I paid for myself)
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Went to a private high school
Went to summer camp (when I was a teenager... and only because I begged and pleaded to go with my friends who had been going since they were little)
Had a private tutor before you turned 18 (not unless you count my dad cramming math into my head)
Family vacations involved staying at hotels (bah! hotels are for wussies! We stayed in a tent &/or camper!)
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them (Although...technically it was a hand-me-down from my neighbour for whom it was also a hand-me-down)
There was original art in your house when you were a child (What can I say, I've got talented relatives)
Had a phone in your room before you turned 18
You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
You had your own room as a child
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
Had your own TV in your room in High School
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
Went on a cruise with your family (I went on a three hour cruise of the Islands with my grandma once... I had strep throat and spent most of the trip laying down and sucking on pretzels... does that count?)
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family


A lot of those questions aren't exactly indicitave of privilege though...
My mom went to nursing school (which was the only way her grandparents would pay for post-secondary education for her) and later in her 40's and 50's started taking correspondence courses to get her BA.
My parents were big readers, as was I... so books just kept appearing and multiplying (like tribbles I tell ya) they were thought of as essential as food and shelter.
My parents both felt very strongly about me going to University, and saved in an education trust for many years to help me pay for it. I started paying for my own education when dad passed away, 'cause money wasn't exactly flowing in then.
The car, while not a hand-me-down from my parents, was my neighbour's 3rd hand car and was a Fix Or Repair Daily Rustang.
Art and music were also big in our house, so trips to local museums and galleries (and Folk Music Festivals) were par for the course.

My guppy just had 7 babies.
**UTA**
Strike that, she's had 11 babies so far, but I've gotta go to sleep now since I have to be up in 5 1/2 hours for work. **

Now I just have to figure out what to do if they make it... tank's pretty much at capacity now.
Hrm...
They're teeny tiny and quite cute in an "I almost can't see you" kind of way.
*g*

Thanks to Dan for this link...

Joss Whedon is coming back to the small screen!

Kristin's interview with Joss and Eliza

My 12 year-old froggy-family friend Brooke just set up a website on how we can and should save the environment.

It's really quite well thought out. Especially considering her age.

Check it out:

http://www.freewebs.com/solutiontopolution/

Has anyone else had a day like this?

http://vancouver.craigslist.org/zip/347424006.html

Your 1996 Theme Song Is: 1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins

Shakedown 1979 Cool kids never have the time On a live wire right up off the street You and I should meet

Your Travel Profile:

You Are Well Traveled in Canada (60%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the United Kingdom (25%) You Are Mostly Untraveled in Eastern Europe (20%) You Are Mostly Untraveled in the Western United States (16%)

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

This is to those of you within driving distance... not that I wouldn't welcome the rest of you if you were to appear on my doorstep in a couple of weeks...

Well, that time of year has again arrived. My birthday is in a couple of weeks (though I've decided I'm not actually getting older anymore *g*). We thought we'd attempt to have one of our infamous Sebastian Friends and Family gatherings at our new house (the old one is scheduled for domolition sometime this month *sniff*).

So...

When:

Saturday May 26th

Anytime after 6pm
Where: Our new (1 year already) house
(if you need the addy &/or phone # just e-mail me and I'll send it to you.)

Thought maybe we'd go the BBQ route... or pizza... or... I dunno. *g*
RSVP so we have a general idea of how much food to get.

Also..... The New Pirates of The Carribean movie comes out that week. Any suggestions on when to go? Wanna come with us?

Andy Rooney

Tips for Handling Telemarketers

Three Little Words That Work !!

(1)The three little words are: "Hold On, Please..."

Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off
(instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt.

Then when you eventually hear the phone company's "beep-beep-beep" tone, you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task.

These three little words will help eliminate telephone soliciting.

(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end?

This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone.

This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a "real" sales person to call back and get someone at home.

What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system. Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any longer !!!

(3) Junk Mail Help:

When you get "ads" enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these "ads" with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away.

When you get those "pre-approved" letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope.

Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right? It costs them more than the regular 37 cents postage "IF" and when they receive them back.

It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50 cents before the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes.

One of Andy Rooney's (60 minutes) ideas. Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their blank application back! If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them.

You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them guessing! It still costs them 37 cents.

The banks and credit card companies are currently getting a lot of their own junk back in the mail, but folks, we need to OVERWHELM them. Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they're paying for it... Twice!

Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to increase postage costs again. You get the idea !


If enough people follow these tips, it will work ---- I have been doing this for years, and I get very little junk mail anymore.
*************
Me now I found this quite amusing. And I like the idea of making them pay the pre-paid postage costs...
*g*

~J

Happy Birthday kenix!

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Well, on Tuesday, my manager called me in to the office after my shift to tell me that I was doing a great job and as I hit the 3 month mark, I would be getting a $0.50/ hr raise, and in the future if I want to, I can move into the kitchen and work there a few shifts a week. (Technically I work "in" the kitchen, but I'm the prep cook. I'd be making actual meals instead of just prepping their ingredients.)

On Wednesday, Cory (the "other" gay guy at work - not the drag queen *g*) told me that Dirty Dancing was going to be playing on the big screen to celebrate the 20th Anniversary. He invited me to go with him and his boyfriend.
If you know how many times I've seen that movie, you'll know what I chose to do. *g*
It was awesome!

Now I'm on a mission to get my coworkers to watch the Princess Bride. *g*
I've already gotten them hooked on Grey's Anatomy and Wonderfalls.

~J

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, even if we don't speak often, please post a comment with a memory of you and me. It can be anything you want -- good or bad. When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people remember about you.

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Artistic Nerd   Whether it's painting, sewing, drawing, arts and crafts; or just splashing paint onto a canvas and calling it art; you mostly fit this description. Lots of people envy the artists, but be humble and keep working on it. There is a shortage of true artists today who actually contribute anything to society.
Literature Nerd
Drama Nerd
Musician
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Social Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
Anime Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace