new releases

Remixes and new releases from the past few weeks that are all worth the hype.Beirut's new album is slowly leaking, and everyone's excited over My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille. But I ask.. didn't we hear this three years ago on a b-side or something?Beirut - My Night With The Prostitute From MarseilleBeirut - La LloronaBishop Allen also have a new album called Grrr...., set to release in March.Bishop Allen - DimmerIGIF have pulled together a stripped-down version of Lykke Li's Tonight, which is apparently the first song she ever wrote. Something a little special.Lykke Li -TonightThe Decemberists previewed a new song, The Wanting Comes In Waves, from their upcoming album, The Hazards Of Love, on BBC Radio. It features Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond.The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes In WavesMake sure to check out The Devoted Few's new one, Tom Said.The Devoted Few - Tom SaidAnd another track from the upcoming release of Antony and the JohnsonsAntony and the Johnsons - AeonRyan Adams is releasing a little Extra Cheese for Valentine's Day on iTunes, featuring this previously unreleased track, recorded at Daytrotter.Ryan Adams - Hey There, Mrs LovelyAnd of course, remixes:Royksopp - Happy Up Here (Mr Vega Remix)Sebastien Tellier - Kilometre (Ted & Francis Remix)N.A.S.A - Watchadoin (David Starfire Remix)I think my bandwidth on this account is about to run out, if you desperately want a track featured in this post, email me and I'll send it your way.

Do you makes promises to someone

Have you ever made promises to a friend or anyone that you forgot or left unfulfilled in life,have you ever bothered to even fulfill a promise in life that you had left as it is,even i had not fulfilled some of my own promises i make that i forgets it and leave it,do you make such promises that you dont even care and that you just say it for the sake of the person who hears it.How do you feel about such thing?

Busy Bee

In my summer hiatus from the Blog, I have:had a Girls' Movie Night at my housefinished an objectgone camping with the family unitgotten my new Higher Maintenance Hair Style (henceforth known as the HMHS)begun a new object which is kicking my ass--more on that another day, as I am really pissed at the moment at it.First up: Movie NightThe Table Scape... Because we are fabulous dahlings...A Darling GreetingMy personal icon of fabulousnessThe Movie of ChoiceBlogless Amy guessed just based on the invitation alone. She is a sneaky, crafty girl. Not as many of girlfriends could come as I had hoped due to it being in the summer and all. Apparently, a lot of them take vacation. Who knew? But those who did come had a nice relaxing time. I hope.At the end of the night (and two pitchers of Mimosas), they decided to take just one picture of the event. Delilah and I in our fabulousnessNext? I did manage to finish my sweater. I hope it fits. It looks a bit small-ish. I had a knitting epiphany while blocking it and based on reading something, somewhere (I've lost track now). I've been knitting sweaters in my bra size. This is not ideal if you want to put something underneath it. Duh. Then, we were off on our family vacation--camping here. We are old school here at Chez Finley. We roll in a tent.No sissy pop-ups or trailers for this family. We had a great time, although it rained for a big chunk of the time. We did make it to the beach.We found a salamander which we imaginatively named "Sal". I know. We spent a lot of time around the fire.Some of us spent a vast majority of the time annoying his older brothers...I'm not sure which is more amusing to me...the look of blatant disgust and annoyance on Connor's face, or the complete lack of caring, disregard and not giving a shitness on the Bug's face? It might be a draw. Some of us knit in the dark by lantern light. My husband thought this was a bit excessive. I may have uttered the phrase "Bite me" under my breath at him. Maybe.Me and zee Bugness. The big joke of the weekend is that Mommy needed the Happy Juice (see the pink cup?) so that we could all have a good time. The Captain. He is my lover. I'm only sad that, after the long weekend, our affair is almost over. (Good thing I can pick him up anytime I want to, eh?).Notice also my hair, if you would. This is the last picture of the old hair on record. Notice its lack of style, its complete ease of wearing due its casualness. It is boring. It is plain. It is gone.I was smart enough to take a picture last night after I got home from the 3 hour cut-color-highlighting marathon since it will never look this good again. Well, not until I go in for my 6 week trim, anyway. I have to go out today for all sorts of HMHS gadgets and gizmos to make it look this good. But, I love it. It is very new and modern. And different. All good.

love and spare change

On a whole, Australia has been responsible for churning out internationally successful artists a la The Presets, Architecture In Helsinki, etc. Then there's the ones with the quintessentially Australian indie pop/rock sound, who, despite being really, really good, get lost in the crowd with the others.But then you have the ones who sound a little different.. who capture a sound which is the perfect mix of influences and genres, it's like they've been doing it all their lives. erase.release is one of those bands. While they're still on the fast track to success, they've avoided making the cliched mistakes in trying to be too this-or-that, too rocky or more poppy, and have really developed some awesome tunes. That's where the love comes in. It's a beautiful blend, like cookies and cream, Simon and Garfunkel, or Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds. With influences like Les Savy Fav, Interpol, Bloc Party, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness and Band Of Horses, they've taken the best of the best and left the rest. And also proven that every band needs a good bearded warbler to be any sort of success.As for spare change, it's all you need to appreciate them at Spectrum on March 11, or World Bar on April 3. Until then, this is the song you'll be playing over and over. Well.. I am.erase.release - Mystery

The right to do

I am of the opinion that just because you have the right to do something, that does not necessarily make it the right thing to do. This belief stems would apply to a lot of my experiences in foster care. Examples:I was in foster care for ten years. After about five of those years, the judge on the case terminated my mom' s parental rights. The judge had the jurisdiction and thus the right to do it, but it was not the right thing to do, given the situation.I had the right, when I aged out, to turn my back on my foster family, never thank them for what they did and never speak to them again. It would not have been the right thing for anyone, but I had the legal right to do it.One of my foster mothers got angry at me and put me in respite to punish me and put me in my place. She had the right to put me in respite, but in this case, it was not the right thing to do.On the other side of this paradox is the fact that sometimes you do not have the right to do the thing which would be right. You may know what would be best and have every desire to do it, but because of the law, you may be prohibited from doing it.Examples:I lived in a foster family that was abusive. My social worker moved me when she learned that the foster parents were abusive. She knew that the best thing for the other children in that home would be to be moved elsewhere immediately, but she could not do this, by law. When the investigators assigned to the case found no evidence of abuse, she simply had to leave those other children there because she was not their worker and did not have the right to move them.By the time I aged out of foster care, the statute of limitations had run out to sue the abusive foster parents or the state for what was endured in some of my placements. It would have been right to make abusers pay back the money they pocketed rather than caring for kids, but I had no right to do so.It would have been right if my friend's parents, good Christian people who loved me, could have gotten their foster care license when they saw I was being mistreated in a foster family, but their bedrooms were too small, and so they had no right to pursue licensing.I wish more people would stop and think about the difference between their rights and the right thing to do. They are not always one and the same.

The FBI Is Keeping An Eye On Your Daughter!!!

It seems that while 2 FBI agents were running surveillance at a mall in West Virginia, they decided to train their cameras on the temporary dressing room set up at a charity event that gave prom gowns to teenage girls! the article doesn't say what these yahoos were surveilling in the first place.......but still, what a couple of sickos committing the same CRIME they're hired to prevent other people from doing.

Bullish on bullion

Some investors want savings that they can caressAROUND the corner from The Economists offices in Mayfair, a shop dealing in old coins has a faded notice in the window. It advertises what were once daily prices for Krugerrandsgold coins from South Africaand dates back to times when trade in such coins was brisk.The heyday for buying physical gold was in the early 1980s, when bullion reached its peak in real terms. Once again, business is picking up. According to the World Gold Council, retail demand for bullion in the fourth quarter of 2008 was almost five times what it was in the same period of 2007. Dealers report a surge in interest from those worried about the safety of banks or simply the lack of attractive alternatives to negligible deposit rates and volatile stockmarkets. Fanning such fears are those who argue that todays financial crisis does not so much resemble the Depression of the 1930s as the hyperinflationary Weimar era of 1923.

Relaxin'

On Saturday I was thinking about putting that Kamden and Simon into swimming lessons for the week, but when I checked the schedule it wasn't available at the pools in our area. This would have been a great idea, but in the end I am glad it didn't work out as I am enjoying a relaxing Spring Break. Trevor is out of the house by 7:45am and then the kids end up coming into bed with me and we watch cartoons till 9:30am and then we start the day. I love it!!Yesterday my morning consisted of a nice 3 hour bike...nothing exciting to share about that. I get to watch some fun shows while biking such as Live with Regis and Kelly, The View, and my favorite The Ellen Degeneres Show. I love those shows!! Since I've started working I haven't been able to watch much tv except for in the evenings. This morning I had a 66 minute bike with single leg drills and other fun filled drills followed by a quick run. Tomorrow I am just running...yeah...honestly, my butt is getting kind of sore from the last two days of biking.One of my blogger buddies recommended that I start the run challenge again. I think it is a good idea, but I don't have my heart completely in it. I am still considering it and if I do start it I think tomorrow will be day number one. The rules are simple...just run everyday for a minimum of 20 minutes. No days off just see how many days you can run straight...Tonight Ms Kamden has dance as Simon, Trevor and I are off to Best Buy (Trevor's favorite hangout) to purchase Mario Kart (wii) and James Bond (wii)....Trevor's idea ;) The kids are unaware that Trevor is getting them (or him) the games, so they'll be happy.Tomorrow the kids are off to get a hair cut at 10;30 am and then at 5pm they are off to SEARS to the portrait studio for some pictures. The only pictures they get are their school pics which end up looking the same every year as they can only wear their uniform, so I thought it would be a good idea to get some pictures with regular clothes on.

Dexterity's Hidden About Window

Dexterity has a long development history, dating back to the late 1980's. There were many people involved in the design, development, testing and documentation of Dexterity. If you want to see some of these names, you can use a little bit of code to open the Hidden_About form in the Dex.dic dictionary. The Dex.dic is available as dictionary ID 1, even though it does not appear in the Dynamics.set launch file. You can add the code into your own dictionary, or simply using the Runtime Execute feature in the Support Debugging Tool for Microsoft Dynamics GP to execute the following pass through sanScript code: Runtime Execute Code Examplelocal string compiler_error; execute(1, "open form Hidden_About;", compiler_error); Click on the button to view the different teams. Anywhere else on the window to close it.

Save while you dine

Speaking of saving, I'm sure many of you have discount cards or restaurant loyalty cards you stuff your wallets with, in hope to shave a couple of dollars off your next visit to said restaurant.

My wallet's thick with those. Well we all got to do what we got to do to save those extra bucks, no? If you don't mind your wallet having additional bulk, then you could consider signing up for this card by NTUC. I believe it's called the U card or Uplus card. They have apparently introduced this cost-effective dining privilege program called Udining.

I Want To Be A Consumer... But Not A Destroyer

Last week my graduate class had a special guest: one of the original founders of our theatre department.Prior to his lecture, he wanted to get to know a bit about the current class of grad students, and went around to all of us asking about our backgrounds, what kind of theatre we liked, and where we hoped to direct after graduation.I was the last to respond, hoping that he might skip me or something. After all, there were the other grad students saying things like "I'm going to start a theatre company in rural America and provide art to people who don't otherwise get that experience," or "I'm going to go to New York and take my chances in the big leagues!"But he didn't skip me. "You're in your final semester? Congratulations! What do you plan to do after you graduate?"I didn't let my voice waver for a minute. "I'm going to relocate to a major city, probably the DC area, and transfer my talents to a job in a private industry. I'd love something in PR or Events Management.""Oh," he said. "Why not theatre?"And then I got a little chicken. The truth is, I know enough about my skills to know that, while I am a competent director on my own merits, I am in no way set up for the competitive theatre world, nor do I want to spend my time working crap jobs and doing one of the "next step" options: assistant directing "for the experience," trying to start an unpaid theatre company, etc.But I didn't say "I'm getting out of the theatre because I'm not good enough."I said "I feel like I've become disconnected from the world, and I need to spend some time back in the world before I direct my next piece."Which was probably an even dumber thing to say, because his next response was a very disappointed "Theatre... makes you feel disconnected?"And as soon as he said it, I realized my response was truer than I realized. Theatre does make me feel disconnected from the world. It shouldn't, but it does. For three reasons:1. The theatre artist's schedule is generally "work (or take/teach classes) all day, rehearse all night." The environment quickly becomes insular and restricting.2. 90% of the plays performed in America, at both the educational and professional levels, are revivals of "classics." Often, directors attempt to spin these plays so that they have a contemporary relevance, but... putting Henry V in modern dress so people will be reminded of the Bush administration is barely groundbreaking. All of the productions of Henry V in the past eight years don't have the impact of a single showing of Fahrenheit 9/11.3. Due to both schedule and monetary restrictions ('cause we don't make any money), the theatre artist cannot fully participate in the world around her.And that's what I really want, and I didn't even realize it until I said it. I want to be a participant. I don't want to live like the former child Blue, reading her parents' copies of Newsweek to memorize details about film and literature (and yes, theatre) that she was thousands of miles too far away to ever see; nor do I want to live like starving artist Blue, in Minneapolis and surrounded by culture and opportunity but too underemployed to afford any of it.I want to be a participant. More than that, I want to be a consumer. This isn't a popular statement to make, in lieu of environmental concerns, but I don't mean that I want to be wasteful, or consume beyond my needs.I don't want a lot of shoes, but I want to be able to replace my shoes when there are holes in the soles. (While I had the foot cast on, I spent the entire six weeks wearing a shoe with a big hole in it because that was the only one which matched the sole height of the foot-cast boot.) I don't want to buy a lot of overpackaged, overprocessed food, but I do want to have money to socialize with friends in restaurants.I want to take a yoga class. I want to find time to volunteer for something interesting and worthwhile (which I kind of did already -- just signed up for the American Democracy Project). If I make it to DC, I'm definitely finding some way of volunteering for Team Obama.I also want to get a little closer to current technology. I have a secret fantasy of being able to become an early adopter, but I know it will take a few income-level jumps before I get to that stage. Right now I don't even have a phone that takes photographs. ^__^Long story short, I want to be a participant in the world, not an observer. And theatre, as enjoyable as it is, makes me feel disconnected.Which is strange, because historically theatre people are supposed to be the types who are engaged with the world and use their talents to spur social change. Did that stop happening, outside of theatre textbooks? Or... has it all been transferred to YouTube?

Achieve Your Dreams Despite Pressures of Work and Family

“I will appreciate if you could post some perspective on lifestyle of people who work in office with lot of peer pressure, pressure from management and juggling between professional, family and personal life. How to make your dreams come true in such kind of environment.”


Work on Something You’re Excited and Passionate AboutThis step might seem a bit trite or obvious but it’s crucial, and I think it’s something many people don’t think enough about.
Often people think they want to do something, but perhaps it’s just something they think would be nice to do … not something they’re really passionate about. If you’re passionate about something, you can’t wait to do it, and you’ll clear your schedule and make the time to do it. You’ll find a way, and when you’re doing it, you’re excited and happy (and maybe even a little obsessed).


But what about work and family? Obviously those are also priorities, so you’ll have to schedule time for all three.

Take ActionIt’s also important, of course, to take action — you can’t just schedule the time. You have to wake up from dreaming and actually get to the doing!
Again, make the action to move closer to your dream the first action you take each day, if at all possible. That way it won’t get pushed back to the end of the day, and then to the next day, and so on. Don’t let the dream tasks be pushed back!

Chiasmus

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.


Nations do not mistrust each other because they are armed; they are armed because they mistrust each other.

Politics is war carried out without bloodshed, while war is politics carried out with bloodshed.

Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind.


As we have throughout this century, we will lead with the power of our example, but be prepared, when necessary, to make an example of our power.


It is true that you may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time.

I would rather lose in a cause that will some day win, than win in a cause that will some day lose!

Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.

Charm is a woman's strength just as strength is a man's charm.