why is it that my cell is bombarded by calls only when i turn it off, or leave it in the car? There I sat in the house, missing a dinner invite, and another promising call....

it's back to winter here, one of those sunny, bright and crisp, crisp days. I'm looking forward to Austin next month, I hope it will be one of the warm sxsw's....as opposed to the year that Michaela and I huddled by the barely functioning heater on the patio of what was the waterloo ice house. 28 degrees, if i remember correctly. a whooping 13 people braved the cold for whomever she was working with. Fred maybe? I can't remember, but i do remember we finally gave up, and moved inside...and had to explain ourselves afterwards. ah, the good ol' days.

too fabulous for words.


ok some words. Look closely, he's performing the entire classic album of Judy Garland's 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall. Can you imagine the scene?????

oy, smack me on the side of the head. I left the office today at 12:30, took leave to get my hair cut. Not something I usually do at 2:15 in the afternoon, but I had to change the appointment, and then Marty is going on vacation, blah blah blah.

Except that my appointment is tomorrow, not today.

hello from home at 2:05 pm.

hooray! I am not going to bankrupt myself by going to austin for SXSW. Why? because the office is paying. All I have to do is, well, work.

Things start Wednesday, but I'm going out (on my own dime) Saturday, to see friends. And, um, maybe, fly a few aus-dfw rts. AA has that fly 3 through dfw (to aus, sat, stl, and somewhere else) and get 30 k miles. I'd like to fly somewhere in cathay or ba first class...this will help! I've registered, and start flying on Sunday!

and it looks like i'll also get into a screening of the prairie home companion film, keep your fingers crossed.

What else? Oh yes, as a member of the david tennant appreciation society (lee, you with me????), I recently re-viewed "Bright Young Things," the 2004 film version of Evelyn Waugh's "Vile Bodies." Good fun, terrific cast...even if I didn't remember DT's turn as "Ginger" (which makes the new new dr who line "am i ginger?" even more amusing). Dan Aykroyd steals every scene he appears in, btw.
Tennant also pops up in the bbc version of Trollope's "He Knew He Was Right." Excellent adaptation, and Tennant's the somewhat-comic relief. It's on netflix, and worth the rent...even though it's two discs. I hate renting series from Netflix because you're always waiting for the next part, unless you return things quickly!

back from an all too brief trip to london. Had much fun, but no curry! a second trip to the spitalsfield st john with nm, and new friend elaine was good replacement.

I did have a few minor problems with usair on the way over---three hour delay at dinner hour with no vouchers, broken seat, requested food never arrived inflight, so I rang up customer service this morning. She offered 10k miles, until i pointed out how many i spent on the upgrade. We'll see what shows up in my account.

it's a totally worthless upgrade on US...their envoy service just doesn't compare. Using the free CP voucher is one thing, cashing miles is another. I think i'd rather be in coach on UA or AA.


and what do i see....but 30k miles back in my usair account.

what a pita day. (not the bread, the pain in the ass kinda day)
el presidente has decided to leave the castle and venture in town. I think he's at hhs. We went for lunch, and then got stopped for a good 15 minutes, so the motorcade could do its thing. seeing those sharpshooters on the roof is always creepy!

not for those who are offended by the "f" word, or are faint at heart. (with our without floating buckshot)
http://cheneyplaysfolsom.cf.huffingtonpost.com/

i survived my flight home, thanks to the last four episodes of Arrested Development stored on my hard drive. And a big thanks to american airlines for giving coach passengers powerports, something that UAL doesn't see fit to do. I feel quite dumb for not knowing they were there, i guess my upgrade ratio is pretty good!

so, is everyone hale and hearty?

i am sad to leave austin today...it was sunny and gorgeous yesterday. I didn't even need a coat, my sweater would do.

I am soon to head back to DC, where i'll probably have to shovel snow in order to get into the house.

and....my upgrade on the 3 hour portion of the trip hasn't cleared, so it's back of the bus for me. I shouldn't complain, but still....

the good news: a friend may have landed a wonderful gig on an amazing tour. we should find out in the next day or so!

greetings from austin!

it's no secret that I travel a lot. But i had a first today: I sat down in my seat (3f) on a flight from dallas to austin. A few mintues later, mr 3-e comes in, and it turns out to be a friend of mine. Not a close friend, someone I see three or four times a year at events.

that has never happened before. I was going dca-dfw-aus, he was BNA(nashville)-dfw-aus.

small world, huh?

Then, I go to baqgage claim to pick up my bag (duh), turn to leave, walk to the door, look up, and see a friend from Boulder walking out the door at the same time.

I heart austin. stuff like this never happens in DC. (though i have to say I've twice seen friends while racing through O'hare.)

from Boston Globe story on the "arrested development" final bow:

"One of the finale's best lines comes while some of the Bluths are in the back of a taxi in Iraq: ''Sorry it took so long," says the driver, ''but the Cheney Expressway was backed up all the way to Halliburton Road.""

nice to know they go out kicking.

for more, go to :
http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2006/02/09/bye_bye_bluths/

hmm. blogger is weird this morning, and i don't see the little html icon. oh well, cut and paste til this is fixed, ok?

whee, free airborne at the dca admiral's club. I heart american airlines because they care about my well being. today.

on my way to austin, where it's not going to be sunny and 70. wha' hoppen?

oh, and that last post was for Lee, and her darling baby, Sasha. Because we know Sasha will grow up to appreciate all that is captain hotness. I mean harkness. I mean good.

and speaking of lee, it would be good of her to comment once in a while. After all, haven't you been in my address book for almost a quarter century???? It's past "long time" and approaching "scary."

say hello to captain jack hotness...I mean harkness, aka John Barrowman. He was spotted in episode ten (i think) of the old new doctor who. The one that will soon air in the USA, but has been seen already all over the world. so we'll call it the old new who, as opposed to the new new who, since the star of the show (the new doctor) quit soon after the first season had been filmed, but before all the episodes aired last year in the UK. So, he's been replaced by a newer who, which means the new doctor who soon to appear in the US is really the old, well, let's just stop this right now.

Anyway, I'm a fan, something I never thought I'd say. Why am I a fan? There's a great love story, and great acting and, well, Captain Jack Hotness. Err. Harkness. I don't want to give away too much of his story, so I suggest that, for now, you just bask in the harkness. I mean hotness.
(btw, I saw John Barrowman as the male lead in Sunset Boulevard a few years ago. Fantastic voice, a real broadway kinda voice. You may have also seen him in the Cole Porter bioflick "Delovely," or as the lead nazi in the new film of the musical version of "The Producers."

Only the New York Times would have the guts (hah!) to compare "Arrested Development" to roadkill.



"But there are sadder things to discuss than a Bjork-less Olympics. "ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT" will conclude — for now — on FOX after two and a half years of excellent critical notices and Emmy Awards (and virtually no viewers). But do not go gentle into that good Friday night at 8 p.m., Mitchell Hurwitz; rage, rage, for the chance to continue the show you created. All hope is not lost: SHOWTIME has publicly been courting the show in the hope that it can bring the Bluth family's selfish, alcoholic charms to the pay-cable channel.

Guest stars abound in the final four episodes. In one, WILLIAM HUNG, the dreadful "American Idol" contestant, appears as himself, and JUDGE REINHOLD, solely on the strength of his first name, has been given a courtroom show — on which Michael (JASON BATEMAN) defends the Bluths in a mock trial. In an episode called "FAMILY TIES," JUSTINE BATEMAN — Jason's sister, who made her name in that bygone sitcom — plays Michael's long-lost sister. "I've always been mildly attracted to you," she tells him. This two-hour block of the Fox series will be broadcast opposite the Olympics kickoff. In other words, it will go out as it came in: as roadkill."

and to set the record straight: i have not purchased the "hello kitty" strat. But if you want to send me one, that's perfectly fine. Some black picks for color coordination. I won't be fussy about the weight.

once again, i didn't get half of what I wanted to do this weekend, done.
But i did manage to whack away half the crap in the bedroom...one side of the room is tidy. Now i just need to decide what to do with clothing I rarely wear, but might....

Yesterday, I went over to Tysons to check out the tshirt stock at LL Bean. They have some wonderful short sleeved cotton t's with spandex. Or at least they should have them. I saw them on the website, and hied over to try them on for size. Last year, they t's sold out by mid may, so I wanted to beat the crowd. None in stock yet, and when I went to the website to order...half the colors were listed as "not in stock and no backorder." I asked the clerks about this, as it is only Feb...so if there's no ordering, why are they even on the site? I mean, something that hasn't yet been released can't be sold out. It took them a few minutes to understand my point, and we all agreed it a strange situation. So, tell me Bean's...are the shirts sold out, or just not yet on the horizon?

I did find some v necks on sale at Old Navy, they'll have to do for the upcoming trip(S) to austin.

After that debacle, I made my way up the toll road to Weggies. Lee, where were you????I half expected to see the family gathered at the food shrine!

and now, it's back to work. i'm only in the office through wednesday, so there's a small crunch.

Fascinating what a little bit of photoshop will do.

maria made some corrections in the marty shot...

Someone asked to see another photo taken with my new camera. This was done under poor lighting, no flash...i pushed it up to 1600. Weird to think of pushing digital, but that's exactly what you do.




not so bad, considering it was taken on the fly.

c'mon girls, let's start a band!



You are looking at a Hello Kitty model Fender Strat.

The Hello Kitty guitars include a single bridge-position humbucker pickup, a 1960s-style large headstock, maple neck with pink inlaid fret markers and a Hello Kitty logo on the guitars back side.

And, of course, Fender has a line of co-branded accessories including Hello Kitty guitar picks, straps, soft cases and a portable battery powered Hello Kitty amplifier. The Hello Kitty guitars will range in price from $200 to $300 and are shipping now.

They will also make a custom Hello Kitty strat for you. THere is also a black finish Squire bass. No word on whether Pearl is making a drum kit.