/dev/null

The online poker school I'm in sponsors a weekly tourney, and I won it this week.

It wasn't a huge tourney - 128 people exactly. I made two big mistakes, one of which should have knocked me out of the tournament, but I sucked out on the turn instead. The second mistake came when there were 4 people left, and it did cost me a third of my stack, and let someone triple up to take the chip lead instead of doubling up to leave me with a comfortable margin.

But for the rest of the time, I both played pretty well, and several people decided to kamikaze against me. And in the latter stages, I was just stealing blind after blind, with nobody wanting to make a stand. All in all, a lot of fun, even if I'm still under the weather.

Sure, companies are freaking out because they don't know how to deal with the internet and the erosion of the artificially inflated prices for their media. But according to this article: http://consumerist.com/5405145/disney-removes-closed-captioning-from-up-rental-release Disney is taking things to a sleazy new low. Movie companies have removed extra features like commentary tracks from the rental version of their discs for awhile to encourage sales, but this is the first time I know of that they're removing SUBTITLES AND CLOSED CAPTIONING.

Imagine you have a deaf chile who couldn't see Up in the theater, and he has been dying to see it for months. Finally, you get the movie from Netflix or Block buster or Redbox, bring it home, pop it in... and no closed captioning. Not cool, Disney, not cool.

I saved you the trouble of wasting a half hour on Disneys web site. Here's the feedback form for the "corporate responsibility" department of Disney corporate: http://corporate.disney.go.com/responsibility/feedback.html

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

I've been on a genealogy roll this week. I re-signed up for Ancestry.com and they have SO much more crap online than they did the last time I got bitten by this bug.

One of the things I started to touch on the last time I was researching was that my maternal grandmother's family seemed to be primarily from Massachusetts. I thought that was kind of interesting and cracked a few jokes about Mass being my Ancestral Homeland (for those of you just joining us, I grew up in Seattle and the past few generations of my family were West Coasters).

So today I started poking at that line of the family. Discovered the kind of neat fact that my great-great-great-grandfather, Fletcher Newhall (of Lynn, Boston, and Everett), shared my birthdate (Nov 15 1816). So that was kind of cool. And then I just kept rolling, to see how long the family had been in Mass.

I finally, finally tracked back to Nicholas Potter, b. 1604 in England and came to Massachusetts in 1634.

This is just incredible to me. I have assumed for years that my family were recent immigrants. I really never expected to find that they were some of the earliest white folk to colonize these parts.

Crazy. Weirdest birthday present ever.

I'm getting farther and farther from Boston! Since college, I've moved from Allston, to Medford, and now to Woburn. And while I still love keeping up with the... ah... civil discourse on B0st0n and Davis_square, They're not as helpful to me up here.

Are there any communities for the metro north area that I don't know about, or would there be demand for one?

I had a busy bust weekend helping my Mom pack up a lot of the stuff in her house. My Dad thinks he will be getting early retirement in January and my Mom is heading to Florida for the winter. If he gets the package he has asked for, he will be putting their house on the market. I drove out to RI on Thursday noght and started packing Friday morning. We managed to get almost the entire downstairs (living room, dining room and garage) done by Friday night. We cleaned packed and staged.

I took a break Friday night to go out and meet up with a friend. Living so far away from where I grew up makes it really hard to see people. I am generally so busy everyday that by the time I actually stop at night, it is usually really late which makes it even harder to keep in touch with people. Its funny; I have been feeling really homesick lately. I've been thinking how much I miss living in RI, miss seeing people, even the people who have known me for years (yay akward teenage years!). I see my co-workers and friends who grew up in the area, running into people they have known their whole lives; every where they turn is a cousin, an aunt, a family friend...and it makes me miss RI. The people I run into out here have only known me for 10 years. When I was driving home today, I realized that I became more and more relaxed the further I got from RI. Once again, I've proven to myself that moving away was probably the best things I ever did for me. :)

Back to packing...Yesterday, we finished the downstairs and started on the spare bedroom. OMG! My Mom is a shopaholic! We spent hours going through the 2 night stands, 2 chest of drawers and under the beds. Then we moved to the closet. I had my Mom sit in a chair in between the beds and decide, keep, pack for Florida or give away on every piece I pulled out of the closet. As we were doing this, we were tossing the give away clothes onto one of the beds. The pile started to fall so I moved to intercetp and managed to kick my Mom in the foot. The problem is that she had sneakers on and I had socks. There was this loud crack like a pencil snapping and I got a sharp pain in my toe. I hopped around, swore a little and then proceeded to finish cleaning out the closet.

Later on last night, I finally sat down on the couch and pulled off my sock. My toe!!! It's broke!!! ( Owwwweeeeyyy! )

got a few hats ready to be sold. i know some of you are looking for specific things, so just know i'm still working on those, unless you see something here you like.

comment if you want it, first come first served, prices listed include shipping.
paypal to thehattedhare@gmail.com

not so tiny, but still small-ish straw hat, purple grey and black, ribbon tie: $40




red hat with veil and pearls, elastic strap (sized for a smaller head): $30




tiniest of tiny hats (fits in the palm of your hand), black white & grey, ribbon tie: $25




satin ruffle brim, red & black, feather spray, ribbon tie: $50
(empheliath, i am thinking similar design for your order, FYI)




red hat, feathers, black ribbon, elastic strap: $35

A letter to the public in case I am murdered

I can't believe I'm about to turn 26. This has been the worst year of my life. Never did I think it was possible to receive so many threats against my life for attempting to create social change within a tiny subculture. Never did I think that I would get raped and that this would cause people in this tiny subculture to turn this traumatic experience into a joke.

Two weeks after I was raped this "big time producer" was threatening to have me gang raped. I guess he found it funny. I called the police and they said the same thing that they usually did. "We can't do anything because it's out of state." Of course it's out of state. It's a violent gang of neo-nazi's who have physically attacked me before. One of them set my clothes on fire and then violently beat the shit out of me. I was told that if I did anything about this I would be murdered.

These people aren't simply in New York. Or Los Angeles. Or Pittsburgh. They're scattered like fleas. It's not just internet drama. Quit saying that it's just internet drama. It's massive industry mobbing. It's playing with my life. It has happened at my own gigs. It has happened at clubs I've attended. My own mother has received death threats.

"Just ignore them." Just ignore threats against my life? Just ignore one attack after another? How is that supposed to solve anything? "Just focus on your music." I am focusing on my music but I'm afraid to release it. The better I do with my music the more these people attack me. "Just move on." I'm sorry but that's weak. How am I supposed to move on after all of this? Why should I? Would you?

People say that I'm making everything up and that I've gone psychotic. What have I made up? Even the police have looked at the evidence. They feel bad for me. That's what they say. "We feel bad for you but unfortunately there is nothing that we can do to help you." This is not a publicity stunt. It's the legal system unwilling to help me because this gang is scattered throughout this entire country: because there isn't enough money to be made in such a tiny industry: because I don't have enough money to give.

My friends are worried about me. They send me messages of support. They mean the world me. They tell me to keep going. That I shouldn't let these people bring me down. That they know what this is like. I have an entire army behind me but who is going to stop this gang from playing with my life? When is it going to end? Will it ever?

People say that by making posts like this I am "giving them what they want." Maybe yes and maybe no. Does that mean I don't have the right to express how I feel? People say that I am "playing victim." Where is the act? Where is the stage? I don't see myself playing anything.

All I want for my birthday is money. Maybe that sounds selfish but until I get a certain amount of money I will have no way of getting any legal assistance. I have exhausted every possible option. It all comes down to me not having enough money to receive legal help. What if they actually kill me? What if this could have been prevented by the authorities? Who will be to blame?

If I end up getting killed I will have this post as a final record of what has been going on. People will know the truth. The only thing I can hope is that the truth will not be drowned out by this violent gang that has been fucking with my life and career for the past 4 years. Even now I am afraid to say who they are. Yet many people know who they are. If I end up getting killed these people will go to jail for the rest of their lives. I don't want to get murdered (does anyone?) but these people definitely deserve to go to jail. Will they? Who knows? They seem to know how to manipulate the law pretty well. They have done this to other people. I'm definitely not the first. I would like to be the last but not at the expense of my own existence.

I bought a bicycle yesterday at the Somerville bike auction. Amusingly enough, like 8 hrs. later and in another city, I later bumped into someone else who had just bought a bicycle at the exact same auction. It is a tiny world!

While most people I know were happily asleep, snug in bed this morning around 8:00am, I was getting yelled at for explosively defocating on someone's lawn by a police officer in Newton around mile 4.5. This morning I ran The Chilly Half Marathon and did pretty well, considering my stomach got grumbly from eating pre-race jelly beans and I had to make three pit stops. However, I still finished in 1:53 and maintained a pretty solid 8:40ish per minute mile, so I'm quite pleased. This means that I'm on target to qualify for the Boston Marathon when I run the Hyannis Marathon in February.

I was very impressed by this event. It was the first year that it's been organized, and aside from lack of bathrooms at the start and a ridiculously challenging course, it was pretty close to perfect. Out of all the races I've ran, I would easily say that this one won for best swag. The race T-shirt is a nice tech shirt, and Whole Foods provided ample tomato soup, bananas, BIG bags of tortilla chips, and other snacks. Zocalo was there with a vat of freshly made chilli, and many other vendors giving away snacks and free stuff. The medal is awesome, and definitely one of my favorites! I'm totally doing this race again next year.

The weather was WET. By the time I crossed the finish line, I was totally drenched and glad to have packed dry clothes. The hills were killer, but the scenery was beautiful, the water stops plentiful, the traffic organization was fantastic and the volunteers were amazing. I cannot say enough good stuff about this race.

I'm happy with my time, although I really wanted to run faster than 1:50, so next time I suppose when I don't have to run for the bushes. I'd really like to do one more half marathon before Hyannis, but I'm not sure which other local events there are between now and then. Overall, I feel great. And now it's time for lunch! :)

on the side of my face!



Three yards. Which, unbeknownst to me, includes join (a la Frankenstein) and a BIG FREAKING HOLE, free of charge!

I took pictures and sent them in an email politely explaining my dilemma and asked if I should send it back. I was a tiny bit snarky, but not much.

PS. here for the Madeline Kahn clip. because it is just that funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92IkddsjtAA

Happy Birthday baronernst! I hope your day is full of all the things you love.

I haven't seen this posted anywhere beyond the Northern Shores mailing list, so I figured someone ought to get the word out. The crown principality in Northern Shores has chosen a name and device (which still have to be submitted and approved, of course). The name is Tir Mara (Gaelic: "Land of the Sea", "Ocean Land"), and the device may be seen here.

Vivant!

( Sanitized for your protection )

Sunday, Nov. 15, 9 p.m.
Laff Your Pants Off!
ImprovBoston
40 Prospect St.
Cambridge, MA
Tickets: $12

Yeah, we could tell you what a toaster, an absinthe bottle, and a the pilgrims have to do with burlesque... but that'd ruin the surprise. Beat the Sunday night blahs and get your butt to ImprovBoston in Central Square this Sunday night at 9 p.m. for some classic jokes and jokes that are bound to be classic! LAFF YOUR PANTS OFF stars the lovely Boston Babydolls and features our special guests Vikki Likkerish and the musical (and tiny) Bethany Boles!

Saturday night was full of Vixen-y goodness. First, we resolved the last of the costume issues in a way that was both efficient and elegant and afterward, Betty and Mina worked on choreography for what is shaping up to be a show-stopping, tearjerker of a number.

And then, when the girl who was scheduled to hand out flyers in front of Oberon flaked out on me (anyone reliable want an easy gig?), Betty, Bride (one of the new dancers), and I headed off to Harvard Square. I could have been really cranky about the flakitude of the young lady, but it was a nice night, the company was great, and I'm so enthused about this show, that even something thankless like handing out flyers was fun. One of the hight points (yes, an evening of flyering with more than one high point) was hearing one woman, upon being handed a card squeal "Omigod! The Boston Babydolls! I love them! I'll be there!"

I'm going to try (and fail) to convey just how amazing this show is going to be, without giving away all the cool stuff that should be a surprise. If you haven't been paying attention, or I've been too subtle, we're currently working on a show called V for Vixen which is happening one night and one night only — Friday, Dec. 5 at 10:30 p.m. at Oberon (Two Arrow St, Cambridge, MA). There has been an amazing amount of effort by a whole bunch of people (six of us working on costumes, more than 15 performers, and we'll have more as we get closer to the actual event) and the show itself is going to be stunning.

We've revived three classic, World war II-era Boston Babydolls numbers: "Hold Tight", which we did at our first show at Axis back in 2005, is an Andrew Sisters act gone wonderfully awry; "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet" is a cute salute that was last performed in Red, Hot, & Blue in July of 2007; "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" is the Andrews Sisters again, but when you've got something good you stick with it. In both cases, the choreography and costumes have been upgraded from the original performance . "Appletree has gone from two back-up dancers to four. Of course, there's also a ton of new material, some of which was choreographed specifically to take advantage of some of the unique geography of Oberon. betty_blaize, as choreographer, and Helena Handbasket (dance captain) have been busting their butts and have a lot to be proud of. We all have been, but we've been having some fun too...(roll the clip — and if you're reading this on FaceBook and don't see a clip, try this instead)

The fact that Oberon is a nightclub with theatrical aspirations let's us craft the kind of night out that I always want to have, but can so rarely find. The music is good and high energy, without being too loud. There's no smoking, of course, and the atmosphere is festive, without being frantic or overly "Christmassy". I'm thinking of it more like a house party (well, with two big bars for them who wants) than a night at a club. We're expecting lots of folks in retro dress, and the show is snowballing along into something bigger and more meaningful than 'just' a performance.

I contacted Toys for Tots and there will be two marines there collecting toys to redistribute. We're setting up a Cell Phones for Soldiers drop point as well. We're giving half-price tickets to anyone currently serving in the military. Agent Provocateur just gave us a bunch of door prizes and is working on a little something for everyone who comes through the door (no promises).

I'm fairly confident we'll sell out at the door, but I'd love it if we sold out in advance. General admission tickets are $25.00, but you can get them for $15.00 if you use the discount code BBDVIP when buying them in advance here.

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

 

Saw 2012 today, if you can't laugh at movies like this you should not go but if you can it was pretty good though longer than it had to be.