bizarre

I go to Chicago - John Hughes dies
I go to Boston - Ted Kennedy dies
I go to New York - Dominick Dunne AND DJ AM die

All I have to say is that Michael Vick better watch his back ... I was just in Philly

anxiety - black eyed peas

I don't fear none of my enemies
And I don't fear bullets from Uzis
I've been dealing with something thats worse than these
That'll make you fall to your knees
and that's the
The anxiety the sane and the insane rivalry
Paranoias brought me to my knees
Lord please please please
Take away my anxiety

travel musings

it's no secret that air travel security has evolved dramatically post 9/11 and after the thwarted terrorist attack in the UK several summers ago.

i play the game ... i participate in airport security theater almost every week. i don't feel any safer since 9/11 ... and certainly not since the usa went to what seems to be a permanent orange status. but, i take off my shoes, segregate my electronics, put my laptop in its own tub and smoosh my less than 3-oz liquids into a quart sized baggie so i can go to work.

homeland security is the result of 9/11 ... a desperate attempt to regain control on a seemingly out of control situation ... but how did they forget about the about trains?

i recently rode the acela from boston to new york and then new york to philly a couple of days later. no one checked my government issued identification against my ticket ... i didn't pass through a metal detector ... i didn't segregate my liquids ... and i took all of my baggage onto the train with me.

am i the only one that sees how wide open this leaves us for another attack? if we're going to stage security theater, then we need to do it and do it right. or give up and realize that there is no absolute control to be had and that everyday we wake up alive is a gift?

alice in wonderland

favorite from nyc

in other words, mind the gap?

how come "mind the gap" sounds so much cooler? maybe it's england calling me back?

philly to dallas

do i have a sign on my face that says, "please talk to me despite the fact that my headphones are in my ears?" i must ... as the drunk lady in 4E never shut up today ... i finally had to fake that i was asleep to get some relief.

i really wasn't interested in the fact that her son just is premiering a movie tomorrow in santa fe that stars joan allen and jeremy irons. it's for lifetime so in my book that really doesn't count.

but i will admit i was interested when she advised that her gay brother in 90210 had it on good authority that a certain A-lister married to a "cougar" is in fact gay himself.

blues

if you don't know the blues ... there's no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll." - keith richards

random photos - nyc

marilyn monroe's eternal neighbors

Los Angeles, California - Buried Face-Down Above Marilyn Monroe

The "Man with an Eternal Smile?"

Joe DiMaggio had purchased two crypts in Westwood Cemetery for he and his famous wife, and while divorcing in 1954 sold his to Richard Poncher. The crypt Poncher bought was located directly above that which would eventually hold the remains of Marilyn Monroe (in 1962). Nearing death in 1986, Poncher told his wife "... if you don't put me upside down over Marilyn, I'll haunt you the rest of your life." Shortly before he was interred, his wife instructed the funeral director to place him upside down in his casket, which he did.

Recently Mrs. Poncher has decided to sell the crypt and move her husband to another site. The crypt is going to be listed on Ebay and the starting bid will be $500,000. [Phil Pasquini, 08/18/2009]

[RA: Phil updated us that bidding on eBay was already over $4.5 million. Note: Hugh Hefner had long ago reserved the spot next to Marilyn.]