Monday, January 30, 2006

year of the dog

Finally, a year to regroup! In 2006, wrongs will be righted, the underdog will become an "overdog" and the idle rich may just become the idle poor. Watch and see. From January 29, 2006 until February 17, 2007 the disquiet, just, fair, loyal, suspicious, critical and sometimes pessimistic RED FIRE DOG will reign supreme, creating an overall positive influence.

Find out what the Fire Dog year has in store for your Chinese sign.

Get your personalized forecast now.
Fortunately, we need not BEWARE of this particular dog. Fire Dogs are generally benign, resilient, and compassionate characters--perhaps with a penchant for lust and fierce loyalty to kin and causes. They gripe often, growl when they're angry and whine when they're lonely or hungry. Bottom line? Fire Dogs are a cindery mix of moody combustion and passionate, benevolent concern for their fellow man.

This fiery watchdog will inspire us all in 2006. You'll feel compelled to emulate the playful, loyal aptitude of this great canine pal. Almost instinctually, you'll want to engender the flock's highest mission and work to save the world. You will be obliged to pitch in and give 110%. And you will be rewarded for your labors with a huge cosmic cuddle around hearth and home by the end of this fiery but positive year.

Money
The money picture in 2006? Just okay. Don't expect to break the bank at your favorite casino, win the lottery or receive a surprise inheritance. This is not one of those windfall years. You see, a Dog is not the type to easily part with hard-earned cash. It's not that he's stingy. The Fire Dog is a cautious soul. He will definitely inspire you to think a dozen times before impulse-buying anything that you don't actually need.

On top of that, the Dog will beg us all to double our charitable contributions and jingle change into every open hand. Dogs are fervent believers in helping the unfortunate. With so many reasons to give—and there will be tons—try not to give in to too many handouts. You may end up donating all that money you saved.

Love and Lust
This year, we will all fall in and out of impassioned love at least once...and many people—more than in a long time—will get married, settle down and make a normal life for themselves and their offspring. But beware, although dogs are oddly loyal in most areas of life, dogs are rarely faithful in the matters of sex, and this year may be proof positive. Dogs don't prevaricate often if they can help it. But where sex is concerned, they fib prolifically.

Loyalty
Dogs are notoriously faithful to causes, beliefs and institutions, and almost obsessively loyal to family and friends—in fact, they give a warning growl the way a real dog does. The loyalty level this fiery Dog year will reach heights of zeal.

In general, the Dog year 2006 will be a time of rebuilding, renaissance, safety and security. It will bring about massive restructuring of everything from bridges and dams to houses and causes. Closer attention will be paid to environmental issues, reducing global warming, quelling warlike behavior, and improving our planet's longevity. Passions will advance and then retreat. We will embrace new commitments and discover new routes to realize our dreams. It'll be up to each of us – the members of the Red Fire Dog's flock – to manifest our deepest desires for peace and prosperity.

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Friday, January 27, 2006

the weather in chicago

45º
"FROLICSOME"

happy new year

# When is the Chinese New Year's Day in Year 2006?

January 29, 2006 is the first day of the Chinese new year.

There are three ways to name a Chinese year:

1. By an animal (like a mscot).
This year is known as the Year of the Dog.
There are 12 animal names; so by this system, year names are re-cycled every 12 years. More.

2. By its Formal Name (Stem-Branch).
The new year is the year of bingxu.

In the 'Stem-Branch' system, the years are named in 60-year cycles, and the Name of the Year is repeated every 60 years.
2006 is the 7th year in the current 60-year cycle.

3. It is Year 4703 by the Chinese calendar.

Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.

The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.

The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.

The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.

Probably more food is consumed during the New Year celebrations than any other time of the year. Vast amounts of traditional food is prepared for family and friends, as well as those close to us who have died.

On New Year's Day, the Chinese family will eat a vegetarian dish called jai. Although the various ingredients in jai are root vegetables or fibrous vegetables, many people attribute various superstitious aspects to them:

* Lotus seed - signify having many male offspring

* Ginkgo nut - represents silver ingots

* Black moss seaweed - is a homonym for exceeding in wealth

* Dried bean curd is another homonym for fulfillment of wealth and happiness

* Bamboo shoots - is a term which sounds like "wishing that everything would be well"

* Fresh bean curd or tofu is not included as it is white and unlucky for New Year as the color signifies death and misfortune.



Other foods include a whole fish, to represent togetherness and abundance, and a chicken for prosperity. The chicken must be presented with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completeness. Noodles should be uncut, as they represent long life.

In south China, the favorite and most typical dishes were nian gao, sweet steamed glutinous rice pudding and zong zi (glutinous rice wrapped up in reed leaves), another popular delicacy.

In the north, steamed-wheat bread (man tou) and small meat dumplings were the preferred food. The tremendous amount of food prepared at this time was meant to symbolize abundance and wealth for the household.

House Cleaning

The entire house should be cleaned before New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve, all brooms, brushes, dusters, dust pans and other cleaning equipment are put away. Sweeping or dusting should not be done on New Year's Day for fear that good fortune will be swept away. After New Year's Day, the floors may be swept. Beginning at the door, the dust and rubbish are swept to the middle of the parlor, then placed in the corners and not taken or thrown out until the fifth day. At no time should the rubbish in the corners be trampled upon. In sweeping, there is a superstition that if you sweep the dirt out over the threshold, you will sweep one of the family away. Also, to sweep the dust and dirt out of your house by the front entrance is to sweep away the good fortune of the family; it must always be swept inwards and then carried out, then no harm will follow. All dirt and rubbish must be taken out the back door.



Bringing In the New Year and

Expelling the Old

Shooting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve is the Chinese way of sending out the old year and welcoming in the New Year. On the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, every door in the house, and even windows, have to be open to allow the old year to go out.

New Year Activities Set Precendent

All debts had to paid by this time. Nothing should be lent on this day, as anyone who does so will be lending all the year. Back when tinder and flint were used, no one would lend them on this day or give a light to others.

Everyone should refrain from using foul language and bad or unlucky words. Negative terms and the word "four" (Ssu), which sounds like the word for death, are not to be uttered. Death and dying are never mentioned and ghost stories are totally taboo. References to the past year are also avoided as everything should be turned toward the New Year and a new beginning.

If you cry on New Year's day, you will cry all through the year. Therefore, children are tolerated and are not spanked, even though they are mischievous.



Personal Appearance and Cleanliness

On New Year's Day, we are not suppose to wash our hair because it would mean we would have washed away good luck for the New Year. Red clothing is preferred during this festive occasion. Red is considered a bright, happy color, sure to bring the wearer a sunny and bright future. It is believed that appearance and attitude during New Year's sets the tone for the rest of the year. Children and unmarried friends, as well as close relatives are given lai see, little red envelopes with crisp one dollar bills inserted, for good fortune.

More New Year Superstitions

For those most superstitious, before leaving the house to call on others, the Almanac should be consulted to find the best time to leave the home and the direction which is most auspicious to head out.

The first person one meets and the first words heard are significant as to what the fortunes would be for the entire year. It is a lucky sign to see or hear songbirds or red-colored birds or swallows.

It is considered unlucky to greet anyone in their bedroom so that is why everyone, even the sick, should get dressed and sit in the living room.

Do not use knives or scissors on New Year's Day as this may cut off fortune.

While many Chinese people today may not believe in these do's and don'ts, these traditions and customs are still practiced. These traditions and customs are kept because most families realize that it is these very traditions, whether believed or not, that provide continuity with the past and provide the family with an identity.

The Year Of The Rat


1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996

People born in the Year of the Rat are noted for their charm and attraction for the opposite sex. They work hard to achieve their goals, acquire possessions, and are likely to be perfectionists. They are basically thrifty with money. Rat people are easily angered and love to gossip. Their ambitions are big, and they are usually very successful. They are most compatible with people born in the years of the Dragon, Monkey, and Ox.


Link for chinese calendar and zodiac


Web Page designed by students in the
Chinese Culture Center's Children Web Class

Thursday, January 26, 2006

whats on my table

i left my house this morning and saw what was on my table....

A bowl with tangerines, oranges, apples and grapefruit -all fresh
2 NY magazines , 2 TIme out NY, vegatarian magazine, good housekeeping

tax statement from bank, flyer from uptown coffeehouse, a statement from AIM mutual fund, renewal for donation to mercy corp and North shore animal league, mailing with coupons for chockful of nuts coffee

a weightwatchers points finder, the metro section of the new york times.

a plastic bag with spoons, napkins and oatmeal packages with splenda packages.

a plastic bag from XPN with assorted cd related stuff in it

Ellen Foster by kaye Gibbons, the Three hour diet by JOrges Cruise, a spiritual comfort book from Vincent from the darlist

boo klets from ACS, the parents guide to child abuse and neglect, elevated risk conference and critical case conferences

rent statement, a letter from my landlord about window guards, the NYP newsletter,
empty bank envelopes for deposit at the ATM and a rejection letter from brooklyn college

flyer from shoprite and a bath and beautyworks cardboard flyer with coupons,

the calendar and book suzi sent me

nico's cd chelsea girl

the weather in chicago

19º
"SWELL"

Capricorn Horoscope for week of January 26, 2006

Capricorn Horoscope for week of January 26, 2006

Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
Right before Christmas, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that slashed funding for student loans, child care, and health benefits for the elderly and poor. Vice-President Dick Cheney aborted his trip abroad in order to race home and cast the tie-breaking vote. I suggest that you regard the 51 Scrooges who committed this sin as your anti-role models in the coming days, Capricorn. You can't afford to be anything but generous to the deprived and disadvantaged--including the underprivileged parts of your own psyche that you sometimes neglect.

dreams

yesterday was a killer of a crisis day ....
i came home late and ate and went to bed...
i dreamed


I was in a room and sometimes i was outdoors. Lisa From Vector formerly Lisa from AGF handed a ticket to a private shawn colvin show that was happening at 60 Lafayette street. THere was discussion in the dream about Lafayette street in manhattan or Lafayette street in Brooklyn. 60 lafayette in manhattan is family court but the show was happening at 60 lafayette in brooklyn near BAM. I think bought a ticket for 46 dollars for another shawn colvin show through ticketmaster for 46 dollars. I saw myself getting a single seat on the aisle mid orchestra. THe show was to happen a few hours after the private show near BAM. Somehow my brother also got a ticket to that show on the side with limited view.
the next scene i was at an auditorium like a gym with chairs and there was a stage. I was handed a Slurpee and looked up and on the stage was mary chapin carpenter. I knew the slurpee was from her. i raised my slurpee glass to her, thanking her for the treat and she nodded back
I started skipping around happy with my slurpee. I stopped in my tracks and hoped it was a diet slurpee not a regular one.
it was huge like a barrel of popcorn you get at the movies. so i went to top off my slurpee and check if it was a diet one...

my alarm clock rang..

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

barbara boxer opposes Alito

Today, I am announcing my opposition to the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court of the United States.

According to Article II of the Constitution, justices of the Supreme Court may not be appointed by the president without the advice and consent of the United States Senate. So it is our solemn duty to consider each nomination carefully, keeping in mind the interests of the American people. And this nomination is particularly crucial because the stakes have rarely been so high.

First, consider the context in which this nomination comes before us. The seat that Judge Alito has been nominated for is now held by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who came to the Court in 1981.

For years, Justice O'Connor has provided the tie-breaking vote and a commonsense voice of reason in some of the most important cases to come before the Court, including a woman's right to choose, civil rights, and freedom of religion.

Second, consider the tumultuous political climate in our nation. President Bush understood that in 2000 when he promised to govern from the center, and be "a uniter, not a divider." Sadly, this nomination shows that he has forgotten that promise because it is notnfrom the center and it is not uniting the nation.

The right thing to do would have been to give us a justice in the mold of Justice O'Connor, and that is what the president should have done.

Let me be clear: I do not deny Judge Alito's judicial qualifications. He has been a government lawyer and judge for more than 20 years and the American Bar Association rated him well qualified. He is an intelligent and capable person. His family should be proud of him and all Americans should be proud that the American dream was there for the Alito family.

But after reviewing the hearing record and the record of his statements, writings and rulings over the past 24 years, I am convinced that Judge Alito is the wrong person for this job.

I am deeply concerned about how Justice Alito will impact the ability of other families to live the American dream -- to be assured of privacy in their homes and their personal lives, to be secure in their neighborhoods, to have fair treatment in the workplace, and to have confidence that the power of the executive branch will be checked.

As I reviewed Judge Alito's record, I asked whether he will vote to preserve fundamental American liberties and values --

Will Justice Alito vote to uphold Congress' constitutional power to pass laws to protect Americans' health, safety, and welfare? Judge Alito's record says NO.

In the 1996 Rybar case, Judge Alito voted to strike down the federal ban on the transfer or possession of machine guns because he believed it exceeded Congress' power under the Commerce Clause. His Third Circuit colleagues sharply criticized his dissent and said that it ran counter to "a basic tenet of the constitutional separation of powers." And Judge Alito's extremist view has been rejected by six other circuit courts and the Supreme Court. Judge Alito stood alone and failed to protect our families.

In a case concerning worker protection, Judge Alito was again in the minority when he said that federal mine health and safety standards did not apply to a coal processing site. He tried to explain it as just a "technical issue of interpretation." I fear for the safety of our workers if Judge Alito's narrow, technical reading of the law should ever prevail.

Will Justice Alito vote to protect the right to privacy, especially a woman's reproductive freedom? Judge Alito's record says NO.

We have all heard about Judge Alito's 1985 job application, in which he wrote that the constitution does not protect the right of a woman to choose. He was given the chance to disavow that position during the hearings -- and he refused to do so. He had the chance to say, as Judge Roberts did, that Roe v. Wade is settled law, and he refused.

He had the chance to explain his dissent in the Casey decision, in which he argued that the Pennsylvania spousal notification requirement was not an undue burden on a woman seeking an abortion because it would affect only a small number of women, but he refused to back away from his position. The Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote, found the provision to be unconstitutional, and Justice O'Connor, co-writing for the Court, criticized the faulty analysis supported by Judge Alito, saying that "the analysis does not end with the one percent of women" affected... "it begins there."

To my mind, Judge Alito's ominous statements and narrow-minded reasoning clearly signal a hostility to women's rights, and portend a move back toward the dark days when abortion was illegal in many states, and many women died as a result. In the 21st century, it is astounding that a Supreme Court nominee would not view Roe v. Wade as settled law when its fundamental principle -- a woman's right to choose -- has been reaffirmed many times since it was decided.

Will Justice Alito vote to protect Americans from unconstitutional searches? Judge Alito's record says NO.

In Doe v. Groody in 2004, he said a police strip search of a 10-year-old girl was lawful, even though their search warrant didn't name her. Judge Alito said that even if the warrant did not actually authorize the search of the girl, "a reasonable police officer could certainly have read the warrant as doing so..." This casual attitude toward one of our most basic constitutional guarantees -- the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches -- is almost shocking. As Judge Alito's own Third Circuit Court said regarding warrants, "a particular description is the touchstone of the Fourth Amendment." We certainly do not need Supreme Court justices who do not understand this fundamental constitutional protection.

Will Justice Alito vote to let citizens stop companies from polluting their communities? Judge Alito's record says NO.

In the Magnesium Elektron case, Judge Alito voted to make it harder for citizens to sue for toxic emissions that violate the Clean Water Act. Fortunately, in another case several years later, the Supreme Court rejected the Third Circuit and Alito's narrow reading of the law. Judge Alito doesn't seem to care about a landmark environmental law.

Will Justice Alito vote to let working women and men have their day in court against employers who discriminate against them? Judge Alito's record says NO.

In 1997, in the Bray case, Judge Alito was the only judge on the Third Circuit to say that a hotel employee claiming racial discrimination could not take her case to a jury.

In the Sheridan case, a female employee sued for discrimination, alleging that after she complained about incidents of sexual harassment, she was demoted and marginalized to the point that she was forced to quit. By a vote of 10 to 1, the Third Circuit found for the plaintiff.

Guess who was the one? Only Judge Alito thought the employee should have to show that discrimination was the "determinative cause" of the employer's action. Using his standard would make it almost impossible for a woman claiming discrimination in the workplace to get to trial.

Finally, will Justice Alito be independent from the executive branch that appointed him, and be a vote against power grabs by the president? Judge Alito's record says NO.

As a lawyer in the Reagan Justice Department, he authored a memo suggesting a new way for the president to encroach on Congress' lawmaking powers. He said that when the president signs a law, he should make a statement about the law, giving it his own interpretation, whether it was consistent with what Congress had written or not. He wrote that this would "get in the last word on questions of interpretation" of the law. In the hearings, Judge Alito refused to back away from this memo.

When asked whether he believed the president could invade another country, in the absence of an imminent threat, without first getting the approval of the American people, of Congress, Judge Alito refused to rule it out.

When asked if the president had the power to authorize someone to engage in torture, Alito refused to answer.

The Administration is now asserting vast powers, including spying on American citizens without seeking warrants -- in clear violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- violating international treaties, and ignoring laws that ban torture. We need justices who will put a check on such overreaching by the executive, not rubberstamp it. Judge Alito's record and his answers at the hearings raise very serious doubts about his commitment to being a strong check on an 'imperial president.'

In addition to these substantive matters, I remain concerned about Judge Alito's answers regarding his membership in the Concerned Alumni of Princeton and his failure to recuse himself from the Vanguard case, which he had promised to do.

During the hearings, we all felt great compassion for Mrs. Alito when she became emotional in reaction to the tough questions her husband faced in the Judiciary Committee. Everyone in politics knows how hard it is for families when a loved one is asked tough questions. It is part of a difficult process, and whoever said politics is not for the faint of heart was right.

Emotions have run high during this process. That's understandable. But I wish the press have focused more on the tears of those who will be affected if Judge Alito becomes Justice Alito and his out-of-the mainstream views prevail.

I worry about the tears of a worker who, having failed to get a promotion because of discrimination, is denied the opportunity to pursue her claim in court.

I worry about the tears of a mentally ill woman who is forced by law to tell her husband that she wants to terminate her pregnancy and is afraid that he will leave her or stop supporting her.

I worry about the tears of a young girl who is strip searched in her own home by police who have no valid warrant.

I worry about the tears of a mentally retarded man, who has been brutally assaulted in his workplace, when his claim of workplace harassment is dismissed by the court simply because his lawyer failed to file a well written brief on his behalf.

These are real cases in which Judge Alito has spoken.

Fortunately, he did not prevail in these cases. But if he goes to the Supreme Court, he will have a much more powerful voice -- a radical voice that will replace a voice of moderation and balance.

Perhaps the most important statement Judge Alito made during the entire hearing process was when he told the Judiciary Committee that he expects to be the same kind of justice on the Supreme Court as he has been a judge on the Circuit Court.

That is precisely the problem. As a judge, Samuel Alito seemed to approach his cases with an analytical coldness that reflected no concern for the human consequences of his reasoning.

Listen to what he said about a case involving an African-American man convicted of murder by an all white jury in a courtroom where the prosecutors had eliminated all African-American jurors in many previous murder trials as well.

Judge Alito dismissed this evidence of racial bias and said that the jury makeup was no more relevant than the fact that left-handers have won five of the last six presidential elections. When asked about this analogy during the hearings, he said it "went to the issue of statistics... (which) is a branch of mathematics, and there are ways to analyze statistics so that you draw sound conclusions from them..."

That response would have been appropriate for a college math professor, but it is deeply troubling from a potential Supreme Court justice.

As the great jurist and Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. wrote in 1881, "The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience... The law embodies the story of a nation's development through many centuries, and it cannot be dealt with as if it contained only the axioms and corollaries of a book of mathematics."

What Holmes meant is that the law is a living thing, that those who interpret it must do so with wisdom and humanity, and with an understanding of the consequences of their judgments for the lives of the people they affect.

It is with deep regret that I conclude that Judge Alito's judicial philosophy lacks this wisdom, humanity and moderation. He is simply too far out of the mainstream in his thinking. His opinions demonstrate neither the independence of mind nor the depth of heart that I believe we need in our Supreme Court justices, particularly at this crucial time in our nation's history.

That is why I will oppose this nomination

Furry will have a meeting today, again...again

i woke up a few times last night with the Title of this song in my head. I heard it on my way home and i think that it applies to a job situation that i am involved in ....
Furry may be singing the blues



Furry Sings The Blues
by Joni Mitchell
Old Beale Street is coming down
Sweeties' Snack Bar boarded up now
And Egles the Tailor and the Shine Boy's gone
Faded out with ragtime blues
Handy's cast in bronze
And he's standing in a little park
With a trumpet in his hand
Like he's listening back to the good old bands
And the click of high heeled shoes
Old Furry sings the blues
Propped up in his bed
With his dentures and his leg removed
And Ginny's there
For her kindness and Furry's beer
She's the old man's angel overseer

Pawn shops glitter like gold tooth caps
In the grey decay
They chew the last few dollars off
Old Beale Street's carcass
Carrion and mercy
Blue and silver sparkling drums
Cheap guitars eye shades and guns
Aimed at the hot blood of being no one
Down and out in Memphis Tennessee
Old Furry sings the blues
You bring him smoke and drink and he'll play for you
lt's mostly muttering now and sideshow spiel
But there was one song he played
I could really feel

There's a double bill murder at the New Daisy
The old girl's silent across the street
She's silent waiting for the wrecker's beat
Silent staring ar her stolen name
Diamond boys and satin dolls
Bourbon laughter ghosts history falls
To parking lots and shopping malls
As they tear down old Beale Street
Old Furry sings the blues
He points a bony finger at you and says
"I don't like you"
Everybody laughs as if it's the old man's standard joke
But it's true
We're only welcome for our drink and smoke

W. C. Handy I'm rich and I'm fay
And I'm not familiar with what you played
But I get such strong impressions of your hey day
Looking up and down old Beale Street
Ghosts of the darktown society
Come right out of the bricks at me
Like it's a Saturday night
They're in their finery
Dancing it up and making deals
Furry sings the blues
Why should I expect that old guy to give it to me true
Fallen to hard luck
And time and other thieves
While our limo is shining on his shanty street
Old Furry sings the blues

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

dream

i took two extra strength tylenol to stay asleep last night and i had this early morning dream

i dreamed that i was a food table with barbra streisand. i spoke to her and she was feeding her face and i went over to another person and we ogled and i said i have always wanted to meet her (im not sure that is true) but i wanted to tell her..

that her character in the way we were was important to my development. I explained that i was a jew kid in a small town with no real jewish role models except Molly goldberg and fiddler on the roof and the way we were was the first time that i saw a role model that was not a beauty but beautiful, sexual, dated and got the goy ( a taboo when i was growing up) i told her that movie meant a lot to the 12 year old kid watching in the dark theater...

she kept stuffing food in her mouth and seemed to listen to me but seemed to be polite in her response and not really moved by what i was telling her

the weather in chicago

36º
"WIND TUNNEL

Monday, January 23, 2006

the weather in chicago

26º
"CHIPPER

that silly kitty

dreams

i am up many times during the night. I had two snippets of dreams in the earliest of morning hours THis morning. I dreamed that i had to plan differently for my own security. I have apartment insurance and i have benefactors named for my investments and savings but the last Bin Ladin tape got to me and in my dream i was making plans to improve my security because the threats given, if true had to be planned for.
This is the first lack of security or truth behind the Bin Ladin threats i have had.

the second dream had me sitting at a desk on the left hand side of hte screen sharing a space with my boss stacey who was a desk on the right. She and i were talking about my increased leadership and the first time since working at CMS that i have the administrative credibility and then entered a woman. This woman looked foreign in stature and skin tone and color and was totally unrecognizable to me. She had tears in her eyes and addressed me and asked me what i knew about......

the alarm clock rang.....

Sunday, January 22, 2006

dreams

i am still waking up every few hours with hot flashes. I could not remember lots of my dreams til last night

I dreamed that there was a beating rain that flooded the roofs and caused all the ceilings in my building to leak. The building was not the building i live in but the walk up in Matchpoint or the walk up in Munich. An old walk up apartment building like i lived in on prospect ave when i first moved to brooklyn. I saw the water seeping through the ceiling and all the tenants started to come out of their apartments and walk down or up the stairs to report it. IT was not safe as ceilings were falling in but i was unharmed. the super needed to repair them and then i got word that the apartments would be painted. I was asked if i would allow them to paint the apartment without removing all the pictures on my foyer hall walls.

actually i have lots of photos from Folk stuff, falcon ridge, of concerts and signed stuff by my favorites. lots of stuff i collected are hung in clip frames...it a shine of sorts...

sally, suzi, gail cohen, amy and chris you are all there..on my wall of fame..

there are lots of dar crap and mary chapin stuff and other signed stuff i got along the way.... moving these to get a paint job would be a chore...

random things

i pick up coins and money that i find. I have found 57 cents so far this year. if i keep it up at this rate. I will find about 7.00 a year. That does not count the money i find in my own pocket

I also found a sweatshirt. A hoodie that had embroidered writing from a security company. I dont wear it openly but under my coat. Yesterday, the 21st of January, it was warm enough to wear a sweatshirt out to the store. i put on the security sweatshirt and wore it out. I was spotted by an employee of the security company who had their van parked on my street. what are the chances, that i would wear the sweatshirt without a coat (first time) what are the chances it would be 60 degrees in january, and what are the chances i would be spotted at that moment by the security company employee on my street wearing their sweatshirt...

leaving your kids home alone is a crime

Twenty four year old Shannon Cook of Westmont, Illinois, really wanted to be on the Jerry Springer show. Problem was, she had no one to watch her kids while she went to the taping.

So, she left them home alone for the nine hours that she was gone. The children, who are now in foster homes, are aged 3½, 2 and less than 1. She's been sentenced to 30 days in jail after pleading guilty earlier this week to three misdemeanor counts of endangering the life of a child because of no adult supervision. She was ordered to surrender to begin serving her jail sentence February 10. DuPage County Judge Daniel Guerin also placed Cook on one year of probation and ordered her to pay $525 in fees and fines.

the weather in chicago

27º
"VIVACIOUS"

whata delightful little move.....

The performances are outstanding, the jokes funny, the movie a comedy, the comedy very british, the Lead can be rude, the women are naked and movie is sophisticated
the dresses are gorgeous and costumes stunning.....and the angelika theater is small
get there early....eat popcorn and have fun
___________________________________
Come On In, Dearie, for Gaudy Skits and Artsy Nudes

By MANOHLA DARGIS
Published: December 9, 2005

The first thing to know about "Mrs. Henderson Presents," a period British comedy laced with a dash of tragedy and straining with uplift, is that it is inspired by true events. Beginning in the 1930's and continuing through the early part of World War II, the film tracks the history of the famous Windmill Theater in London after it was given new life by a bored widow of means named Laura Henderson. Mrs. Henderson, played by Dame Judi Dench with her familiar mixture of starch and twee, swept the Victorian cobwebs out of the Windmill, located right off Piccadilly Circus, by conceiving of shows featuring live nude girls - tastefully arranged, of course.

Mrs. Henderson was assisted in her campaign to take the full monty to the London boards by a pugnacious stage manager, Vivian Van Damm (Bob Hoskins, who helped produce the film). Apparently, Van Damm's Dutch Jewish heritage both amused and intrigued Mrs. Henderson, who, at least as conceived by the American-born screenwriter Martin Sherman, tends to drop adjectives like "delicious," call the vaguest acquaintance "dear" and utter pronouncements that might seem rather more rude if spoken by anyone less twinkly and wrinkly. On discovering that Van Damm is Jewish, Mrs. Henderson announces that "one must make do." He consequently does call her rude, but he needs a job and signs up, anyway. A strange partnership is born, along with a wafer-thin pretext for a feature-length film.

The rest is the usual song and dance: Mrs. Henderson opens her purse, Van Damm hires the help, and together they put on a really mediocre show. The public eats it up, nonetheless, never more ravenously than after some of the female talent appears onstage wearing nothing but strategic shadows and even more strategically positioned props. Van Damm invokes Botticelli and classical art, but the young women posed on the half-shell, under a gigantic lamp and inside empty picture frames are strictly from kitsch. Unlike the fan dancers and hootchy-kootchy gals who once drove Mayor Fiorello La Guardia into paroxysms of moralistic rage, forcing padlocks on 42nd Street, the Windmill nudists had to pose stock still. At least the fan dancers could show off their motor skills along with their assets.

The combined forces of Dame Judi's and Mr. Hoskins's charm and professionalism help obscure the second and only other thing to know about this film: there isn't much going on in "Mrs. Henderson Presents" beyond the odd-couple routine, some gaudy musical numbers and artful nudity. The director, Stephen Frears, keeps things moving at a nice clip and doesn't tarry long during the story's side trips into the maudlin, but neither does he try to put much personality into the proceedings: this is principally the Bob and Judi show, complete with boisterous fights, silly pantomime (banned from the theater, Mrs. Henderson sneaks in, kitted out in a polar bear suit and Chinese drag) and a rich helping of sentimentalism that might make you gag if it were spooned up by less practiced con artists.

Peter Sellers appeared at the Windmill in 1948, doing vocal impressions and warbling a song written for him by his father, which is enough to suggest a more interesting history than the one imparted here. The story of the British music hall may well be chock-full of eccentric aristocrats with stiff upper lips and hearts of gold, English roses who happily open their petals, and plucky young men ready to serve God and king, but how much more agreeable it would be to discover a couple of real people mixed in with the usual shopworn clichés. Watching this reasonably funny, professionally assembled calculation is a little like snuggling up in front of the television with a mug of hot cocoa and a warm blanket. Those who prefer their drinks and recreation spiked would do well to look elsewhere.

"

Friday, January 20, 2006

the weather in chicago

33º
"GRUFF

Man Found on Q Train; Probably Died Hours Earlier

Man Found on Q Train; Probably Died Hours Earlier


By SEWELL CHAN
Published: January 20, 2006

A 64-year-old man was found dead during the morning rush yesterday inside a subway train, the authorities said, and had apparently been riding for more than six hours before anyone noticed.

The man, whom the police identified as Eugene M. Reilly of Midwood, Brooklyn, was a mail handler who had worked for the Postal Service for 35 years.

Mr. Reilly's body was found in the last car of a northbound Q train near the 14th Street-Union Square station at 7:11 a.m., according to New York City Transit.

The passengers were let off, the police and emergency medical workers were called, and the train was moved to Times Square at 7:28 a.m. while the authorities investigated. Northbound N and Q trains were rerouted to the local track, slowing those lines and also the R and W lines, which use the same track. At 9:40 a.m., the Q train in which Mr. Reilly had been found was moved to an unused track north of 57th Street, and normal service resumed.

If Mr. Reilly boarded a Brooklyn-bound Q train at 34th Street at 1 a.m. after going straight to the station from work, as was his routine, he could have traveled back and forth on the line six times before someone realized he had died, according to the published schedule for the subway line. It takes 50 to 54 minutes for the Q to travel between its northern terminus, at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, and its southern terminus, at Stillwell Avenue-Coney Island.

The police said there was no sign of trauma or foul play. An autopsy is scheduled for today. Mr. Reilly was overweight and had had heart bypass surgery about a decade ago, said his wife, Patricia Reilly.

Mr. Reilly worked on weekdays, from 4 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., at the Morgan Processing and Distribution Center, a huge mail center on Ninth Avenue between 28th and 30th Streets, a Postal Service spokeswoman said.

His wife said he always went straight home from work. The ride on the Q train from 34th Street in Manhattan to Kings Highway in Brooklyn usually takes 35 minutes.

Mrs. Reilly said in a telephone interview that she did not usually wake up when her husband came home. When she awoke about 7 a.m. to prepare for work and noticed his absence, she said, she panicked and called several hospitals. In the afternoon, she identified her husband's body at Bellevue Hospital Center.

"I didn't even get to say goodbye to him," she said.

Mr. Reilly grew up in Canarsie, Brooklyn. He served in the Army from 1963 to 1965 and was a military policeman in Vietnam, his wife said. He is survived by two daughters, 21 and 20, and a son, 16.

Yosef Y. Zaklikowski, who lived next door to the Reillys until November, described Mr. Reilly as quiet and private. "He kept his property very clean," Mr. Zaklikowski said.

Compared with deaths on the tracks, deaths inside subways and on buses are quite rare. In June 1999, Ignacio Mendez, 36, a migrant farm worker from Ecuador, was found dead on a No. 1 train on the Upper West Side during the morning rush. His body was not identified for three days.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

meeting of 1/18

i went to the childrens center yesterday to the Executive Directors meeting with Commissioner Mattingly regarding his agency's position and request for safety assessment because of the death of Nizamary Brown. The meeting was well attended and i saw many people in leadership capacity that i had known over the years.

the meeting was somber and supportive of the Commissioner. he informed us of some of the changes in the newspapers today, after his press conferences. His staff provided a guideline for conducting safety assessment on each case...

dream snippet

i was in a garage and i wanted to store my car so i could keep it out of the snow. The garage had a porche in the other bay of this two bay garage and in order for me to use the empty bay, i had to move the storage out of the way. I had someone helping me to move the storage and cleared out the space for my car

the weather in chicago

i am asked quite often why i post the weather in chicago

i started doing so after CNN FIRED aaron brown from the 10pm show. Aaron ended each show reading the next morning headlines. the Oregonian, The NY times, Miami, Houston or Dallas or Tennessean. Every night different papers and different headlines...
and he ended each night with next day's weather in chicago...

without aaron brown, i have to do it myself

the weather in chicago

30º
"SCAMPISH"

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Capricorn Horoscope for week of January 19, 2006

Capricorn Horoscope for week of January 19, 2006

Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
A psychologist in the U.K. believes that January 24 is the "most depressing day of the year," at least in the Northern Hemisphere. Cliff Arnall, whose specialty is seasonal disorders, says this day is typically a low point, when glum feelings generated by overcast weather, debt from the holidays, and broken New Year's resolutions reach a crescendo. While this might hold true for the other signs of the zodiac, Capricorn, it doesn't apply to you. The astrological omens reveal you're at the peak of your cycle, when you can triumph over challenges and accomplish breakthroughs that might normally be impossible. I suggest you proceed as if long-standing limitations have become irrelevant.

from Jen

Do it if you want...I'm always interested in what y'all have to say about yourself:

YOU
1. Name (besides LJ handle - if you're comfortable sharing it):
2. Date of birth:
3. Where you live:
4. What makes you happy:
5. Currently listening/the last thing you listened to:
6. Do you read my journal?:
7. If yes, what makes it especially good or bad?:
8. An interesting fact about you:
9. Are you in love/do you have a crush at the moment?:
10. Favourite place to spend time:
11. Favourite lyric:
12. The best time of the year:

RECOMMEND
1. A film:
2. A book:
3. A band, a song, or album:

PLUS
1. One thing you like about me:
2. Two things you like about yourself:
3. Put this in your journal so that I can tell you what I like about you.

hibernation part 2

mooch tries to hibernate

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Monday, January 16, 2006

the weather in chicago

33º
"BLAND"

wake

i went to Louis Bianco Sr, my neighbors wake yesterday. it was on 9th and 4th ave. so i walked over. i walked 3 miles and was listening to MOrtal City. I heard Family when i came up the block to the funeral home and had to shut off the player. Louis had been diagnosed with lung cancer about a year ago. his family tried holistic approaches, chemo, spiritual healing but the cancer ate away at his body and before xmas and new years he started failing. Last week, he gained some strength and then lost all major organ functioning. He was in hospice since last tuesday. He was surrounded by all his family and asked his wife and only daughter to let him go.
his wife was asked if she wanted him clean shaved and they shaved off his mustache that he has had for 20 years.

it all made me think of how we must live our life and how we must make it count. It also made me think of finally putting a will together and making my instructions clear.

without a partner or companion or husband at this point in my life, i have to make sure that my sister knows what exactly i want and what to do with my remains and my belongings. i have been thinking about my will for a while and started to procur a lawyer to create a will.

louis left a 24, 19 year old and 7 year old son. the neighbors were there and i couldnt really pay my respect to the body but rather realized wakes are for the living. As a jew who doesnt have wakes, i didnt have the nerve to look at the body.

it was sad to see the family and neighbors paying respect to this simple man.

i would rather remember him as he was on the block. helping the kids, walking with his son, caring for the older women like mothers. He was a hard working man who was committed to his wife and family. he would do what ever you asked of him, if he could help you. They werent wealthy and many times just got by. His nephew brian captured it for me. He was a good honest man, a good provider and good father and husband. He was honest and caring. they were very rich....

mutts idea of heaven

Sunday, January 15, 2006

the weather in chicago

41º
"KICKY

january 14, 2006

january 14, 2006
Your Shared Focus
Capricorn Daily Horoscope

Collaborative projects could seem overwhelming today. As you work with a team professionally or try to accomplish a goal with your loved ones, you may feel as if there are "too many cooks in the kitchen." However, it may be your ego and not your teammates that are getting in the way today. If you can take your ego out of the equation and focus on making your shared project a success, the resistance you may have felt can quickly turn into support. If you're not accustomed to working with others, try asking the people on your team what you can do to help them fulfill their obligations. Your willingness to cooperate and focus on the task at hand today may help you and your teammates work together more smoothly.

Putting your ego needs aside when working collaboratively with others ensures that youjr full focus is directed on the group project. Egos can get in the way when multiple individuals are completing a task together because the ego is driven to seek recognition, not a job well-done. When you work as part of a team in which egos have been hushed, you and your team members can support each other, bolster each other's spirits, and share your ideas openly. Without the distraction of the ego, you and your fellow workers all enjoy being equal members of your team, and there are no resentments to get in the way of your goals. When you quell your need for recognition today, you will be able to concentrate wholeheartedly on your team's goals.

January 14th 2006 horoscope

AdZe's Fortune Cookie

Be personally effective.

Current Influence of the Inner Planets
Each influence lasts from a day to several weeks.

Your feelings are strongly associated with your community status. Get out of a public emotional cross-fire and into a long hot shower or soak.... You are challenged to act in your own best interests.... You're challenged to stay lively and alert. Double-check all details. Buy some recycled paper.... Your genuine respect can have miraculous effects.... Be courageous, daring and sexy.

Current Influence of the Outer Planets
Each influence lasts from several weeks to a month or more.

Possibly, you will learn how much is too much by taking on more than you can handle.... Get more power by vowing to become a "master."... Develop your ability to process technical data. Make an effort to think. Dare to become more intense, novel, complex, original and brilliant.... You are challenged to be charismatic. Express your fantasies. Steer clear of hypersensitive folks.... Control of others does not bring you safety, success or satisfaction. Self-control and self-transformation is helpful.

January 14th

for those of you who know my history with my birthday, it isnt a great thing. There have been many years where people have died or plans fall through or snow or cold has interrupted plans. Then there was that fateful college dinner party that didnt wait for me so i really have not had expectations or really plan for the day. Many of the nights have been spent either alone or at the theater while i have lived here in NY. My family doesnt make a big deal about birthdays..
until this year, i tried to make it a special day and learned something this year..

i went to dinner with my friend Fay and we ate lobster at cafe espanol on Bleeker and i came home. I slept in and got a call from my sister and neices. I rarely talk to her for over an hour and we caught up. I started my saturday cooking errands and make baked oatmeal and baked tofu and roasted chickpeas. I then cleaned the bathroom and around 1230 decided to do some errands in Manhattan..

i passed up chita rivera tickets and sarah jones bridge and tunnel tickets and figured i would go to the World Financial center to see the Nebraska Springsteen tribute as part of the guitar festival but didnt do that

it started raining and i didnt have an umbrella but i really didnt care while it was warm. I went shopping and went to the green market at Union Square...i saw jeffrey steingarten, food writer and judge of Iron Chef america eating his way through the green market at union square...

i do this most saturdays and went to return my ticket at joes pub for that Patty Griffin thing that isnt going forward so i wanted my money back and went to joes pub. I also wanted to eat from Angelica's kitchen and get some picture frames at Surprise Surprise so i went to 2-3 ave and decided to see what the Loews there was playing. It was cold and pouring so i got a 6pm ticket to Matchpoint. Yes COnnorgal i ended up at the movies like i usually do... i went to get some soy cheese at the store on 3rd ave and did all my errands. Time was working great and i fit it all in...

i went to see matchpoint and then decided to get my butt home. I stopped at whole foods for some cooked shrimp that was on sale and some soup. I came home and decided i didnt want any of the food i bought- i ate salad and left over baked ziti i made with tofu...

so even though i told people it as my birthday, appreciate the well wishes and celebratory message and presents, i had the day i usually have. I skipped the springsteen tribute .. it was too wet to walk to world financial center, so i missed springsteen showing up and i kept to my plan not to spend my money on something unnecessary. i am totally satisfied with the day. It also made me realize that my usual day is not bad or that birthdays are just regular days..i had a good day and just a regular day...and was satisfied with the way the day unfolded..so i guess i am pretty happy with my regular days

Saturday, January 14, 2006

simple life

Simple Life
(Mary Chapin Carpenter)

You're making lists today of all the things you haven't done yet
You're driving everyone crazy, are you having any fun yet
Mother says you oughta get married
Shrink says here's a little blue pill
Too young for your mid-life crisis
Mirror says you're over the hill

There's nothing wrong with you
The simple life gets complicated
There's nothing you can do, just enjoy the view be glad you made it

You're making resolutions and it isn't even New Year's
You could try a new religion, you could wait until the dust clears
Friends say you're way too choosy
Shrink says see you next week
Guru says control your breathing
You're afraid you might have peaked

There's nothing wrong with you
The simple life gets complicated
There's nothing you can do, just enjoy the view be glad you made it

Cuz things could be better, cuz things could be worse
Cuz life can be charmed and cursed
There's fast, slow and stall, no reverse

There's nothing wrong with you
The simple life gets complicated
There's nothing you can do, just enjoy the view be glad you made it

There's nothing wrong with you
The simple life gets complicated
There's nothing you can do, just enjoy the view be glad you made it

Friday, January 13, 2006

the worst of what i do for a living

Long Chain of Alarms Preceded Death of Girl, 7

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By ALAN FEUER and THOMAS J. LUECK
Published: January 13, 2006

A day after the bruised body of a 7-year-old girl was discovered in a blood-stained Brooklyn apartment, city officials revealed new and harrowing details of her short life yesterday, as well as repeated missed opportunities to save it. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg declared, "We, as a city, have failed this child."

The body of the girl, Nixzmary Brown, was found Wednesday at her mother's home in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Investigators said that the girl's stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, had banged her head against a faucet in the bathtub and that they were trying to determine whether that was what killed her.

Nixzmary was the fourth child in two months to die while in the custody of parents who had had contact with the city's Administration for Children's Services. "It is obvious they did not pursue this case with the intensity that they should have," Mr. Bloomberg said of the agency.

Agency officials said it would immediately begin a review of every open case involving a child who is the subject of an abuse or neglect complaint, roughly 8,000 to 10,000 cases.

Interviews with school and child welfare officials revealed just how close Nixzmary had been to getting help.

Education and teachers' union officials said that school staff members had noticed that the girl was missing classes, appeared malnourished and suffered an eye injury, and that the staff members had notified state and city child welfare officials repeatedly. In response, the city agency workers talked with Nixzmary and her parents, visited her home and took her to a doctor, who said her injuries were consistent with falling down.

Finally, in the crucial weeks before her death, child welfare workers were unable to get into her home and did not take the necessary steps to get a warrant.

"We considered asking the family court for a warrant to have the police come with us to make sure we gained entry, but at no time did we get the warrant," said John B. Mattingly, the commissioner of children's services. "People made judgments about whether this was an emergency, and those judgments turn out to be wrong."

Mr. Rodriguez was arraigned yesterday with the girl's mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, in Criminal Court in Brooklyn. Mr. Rodriguez was charged with murder and endangering the welfare of a child. The mother was charged with manslaughter, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. Neither entered a plea.

In the hearing, a prosecutor described a frightful sequence of abuse, saying that the girl had been "systematically tortured" for several weeks.

The girl was not quite four feet tall and weighed 36 pounds when she died, the officials said.

The girl had been tied up by her stepfather, she was denied food and her head was submerged under water, the prosecutor said. The final, fatal beating apparently came after she took yogurt from the refrigerator, the prosecutor said.

"There was barely a spot on this child that was not marked by her parents," said the prosecutor, Cathy Dagonese, of the Brooklyn district attorney's office. Describing the moments before Nixzmary died, Ms. Dagonese said Nixzmary had been lying on the floor, naked and unconscious, as Ms. Santiago stood by.

Officials of the Administration for Children's Services said they had visited Ms. Santiago at home in May and in December after officials at the girl's school, Public School 256, had complained. In May, they reported that she was missing classes, and in December that she had bruises around her eye.

After their first visit, caseworkers decided that Ms. Santiago was overwhelmed by her six children. They believed they had persuaded her to return Nixzmary to school and closed the case, Mr. Mattingly said.

An official of the United Federation of Teachers said a union staff member at the school faxed a report to the child welfare agency saying that Nixzmary was malnourished. Child welfare officials said they were aware of concerns about the girl's health and had discussed them with her mother.

On Dec. 1, the child welfare agency received the report of bruises around the girl's eye. At that point, Mr. Mattingly said, a team including two police detectives was sent to the home. A doctor was also called to examine Nixzmary's black eye. Mr. Mattingly said that the family told the team Nixzmary had hurt herself in a fall and that the doctor "confirmed for us that the injuries appeared to have occurred the way the child and her parents had said it had happened."
(Page 2 of 2)

It was then that the child welfare agency officials began "encountering difficulties" with the family, Mr. Mattingly said. Agency workers made repeated attempts to call and to visit the home in person, but were constantly rebuffed, he said. The agency considered asking a Family Court judge to issue a warrant that would let officials enter the house, but did not.

Nixzmary returned to school on Dec. 6, 8 and 12, education officials said. Dec. 12 was the last day she or any of her siblings were at school.

Nonetheless, school officials continued to try reaching out to the family, officials said. Michele Cahill, a top adviser to the chancellor, said that school attendance teachers visited the family's home on Dec. 15 and Dec. 21, but that nobody answered. School staff members also tried to contact the family by letter and telephone, education officials said, and were in touch with child welfare workers throughout December and January.

Nixzmary and her siblings enrolled at P.S. 256 in January 2004. Since January 2005, three long-term absentee reports were generated for Nixzmary: two during the last school year and one this year. While school officials are obligated to report evidence of "educational neglect" to the state, persistent absenteeism does not necessarily constitute neglect.

At the arraignment, Ms. Santiago's lawyer, Laura Saft, said her client was an overwhelmed mother who had suffered a miscarriage in November and was in no shape to stave off what she said was Mr. Rodriguez's abuse. Judge Robert Allman ordered the two held without bail and issued a restraining order barring them from having contact with Nixzmary's five siblings, who are now in city custody.

One law-enforcement official said investigators searching the apartment found what appeared to be human tissue in a jar, which the mother said had been given to her by hospital staff members after she had a miscarriage, possibly last year.

"There was something there, whether it was a fetus or not, there was something in a jar that came out of her from a miscarriage," the official said. "They kept it."

Mayor Bloomberg, at a news conference, defended the city's policy of trying to keep troubled families together but criticized the child welfare agency for having not moved with "sufficient urgency."

"In retrospect, had they pushed harder, perhaps they could have - although we'll never know - prevented this from happening," Mr. Bloomberg said.

Asked if the city's policy of keeping families together when possible needed to be rethought, the mayor said, "It is best if families stay together," adding that "when you have a dysfunctional family, there are myriad problems." and that if they are kept together, the city can "marshal resources" to help.

At the same time, a grim picture of Nixzmary's life arose in interviews with law-enforcement officials and several of her relatives. Investigators said the girl had become the target of her stepfather's anger and was sometimes bound to a chair in her room and forced to eat cat food. Because she was often held in isolation, she was sometimes made to use a litter box, they said.

They also said that Mr. Rodriguez would sometimes punish Nixzmary and her siblings by dunking their heads in a water-filled sink.

Nixzmary's grandmother, Maria Gonzalez, said Mr. Rodriguez was at times abusive. "I didn't like the way he scolded them," she said. "All children act up, it's no excuse."

Mr. Rodriguez's younger brother, Miguel, said that he had served in the Army, mainly at Ford Hood, Tex., but was discharged four or five years ago. At one point, Miguel Rodriguez said, his brother had taken the city police exam, but had never tried to join the force.

"There was no arguing," Miguel Rodriguez said of his brother's apartment at 571 Greene Avenue. Nonetheless, asked if his brother had a temper, he went on to say: "I'm not going to say no, but it was not into extremes."

The police said Cesar Rodriguez had been arrested before, on March 10, 2003, after getting into a fight with a man in Manhattan. Mr. Rodriguez was arraigned on March 11, 2003. Then, three days later, on March 14, Mr. Rodriguez pleaded guilty to harassment as a violation, the case was conditionally discharged, and he received a sentence of two days of community service.

Mr. Rodriguez met Ms. Santiago about two years ago when he was working as a security guard at her Brooklyn apartment building, said Caridad Ramos, Ms. Santiago's aunt. She had come to the United States from Puerto Rico in 1995, Ms. Ramos said.

acknowledgement/grateful

acknowledgements

i got a walk in today
i stayed on my food plan
i accomplished more than i wanted to at work
i would not let a coworker trigger me
i was on time to meet my friend Fay


i am grateful today for:

for my friend fay to meet me for dinner and to treat me
for the fog, because it slowed down a work day
early release at 3pm
for my parents who sent me money
for the temperature not to be below freezing

do you need lyrics

Lyrics Download.com
A long December, and there's reason to beleive
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember the last thing that you said as you were leavin'
Now the days go by so fast

And it's one more day up in the canyon
And it's one more night in Hollywood
If you think that I can be forgiven....I wish you would

The smell of hospitals in winter
And the feeling that its all a lot of oysters, but no pearls
All at once you look across a crowded room
To see the way that light attaches to a girl

And it's one more day up in the canyon
And it's one more night in Hollywood
If you think you might come to California...I think you should

Drove up to Hillside Manor sometime after two a.m.
And talked a little while about the year
I guess the winter makes you laugh a little slower,
Makes you talk a little lower about the things you could not show her

And its been a long December, and there's reason to beleive
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself
To hold on to these moments as they pass

And it's one more day up in the canyon
And it's one more night in Hollywood
It's been so long since I've seen the ocean..I guess I should

5 weird habits

1. i wash the pots that i cooked with before i eat
2. i cant run out of coffee or toiletpaper so i stock up
3. i have separate closets for winter/summer/casual and coats
4. i used to catagorize by cds by relationships til i had to alphabetize them because
the relationships change and i was always moving people around
5. i always locate the cat, pee and brush my teeth one more time before i leave the house
6.i place a hot iron in the middle of the stove and unplug the coffee maker so nothing can catch on fire

NEXT UP.... anyone

weird dreams

i have had a series of dreams that melt into one

two night ago, i dreamed that i was late for the joni mitchell tribute. I was explaining that i was volunteering at this place and i entered the theater just in the nick of time to find my seat and to sit down next to susan moss

last night i dreamed that i was with claudia marshall from FUV and she was picking out clothes for an event. I was in an old victorian house and there were lots of clothes in red. she was putting together an outfit and her red clothes clashed. Next i was with dar who was also there for the same event and picking out her clothes. Claudia marshall talked about richard julien.

i was also outdoors watching but participating with a woman who resembled elaine goldman but wasnt elaine goldman...we were sent to look for this spa that was written in the magazines. the spa was for the very rich and it was in a secret location. the next thing i remember it looked more a like a casino and the elaine character hit the jackpot of dimes a few times so she had a large clear trashbag of dimes. she invited me to count them and roll them with her. I asked her if she had enough wrappers to roll all these coins.

the weather in chicago

45º
"TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIC"

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Democrat says no decision has been made regarding filibuster

Democrat says no decision has been made regarding filibuster

Wednesday, January 11, 2006; Posted: 1:48 p.m. EST (18:48 GMT)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- During a break in the Supreme Court nomination hearings of Judge Samuel Alito, CNN's Wolf Blitzer asks Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, whether Democrats intend to block Alito's nomination.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're joined by one of the more outspoken Democrats on the committee, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York. He's joining us. Jeff Toobin and Jeff Greenfield are here with me as well.

Senator, it looks, based on everything we've seen and heard so far, given the 55 Republicans who are the majority in the U.S. Senate, barring some major gaffe over the next few hours or days, it looks like this is pretty much a done deal. Would you agree?

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER: Well, I wouldn't say that. I would say this, the Republicans march in lock step. And that was true before the hearings. Do you know of the votes we have had on over 40 Court of Appeals judges -- and there are 50 Republican or so, so it was over 2,000 votes -- only three have ever voted no on any of them? So they march in lockstep.

And that means that it's impossible to block a nominee, whether it's Supreme Court or Court of Appeals, no matter how right wing. The real question remains with the Democrats, and that is, do we try to block a nominee by filibuster? We've done it in a rare number, a small number, of people who are extreme, and that's a question we'll have to ask after Judge Alito's hearings.

Now, as for Judge Alito himself, it's amazing how everyone in the media just sort of goes along with all this. He says, I will keep an open mind on Roe. Well, has anyone ever said they won't?

He said, no president is above the law. Those were the two headlines in all the papers this morning.

Has anyone said, oh, yes, the president's above the law? So I think the -- it's -- we each have to make a determination, particularly on the Democratic side, about how extreme he was. As you know I questioned him pretty hard on Roe v. Wade. I came to a conclusion that in all likelihood he would vote to overturn. That was increased this morning by Senator Durbin's questioning, made it -- you know, it seemed even more so. And that's something that'll have to be weighed along with other issues.

BLITZER: Jeff Greenfield wants to ask a question. Go ahead, Jeff.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, senator. Let me offer you a hypothesis you probably won't like, that you and some of your colleagues simply miscalculated where the mainstream now is, as opposed to 15 and 20 years ago. You mentioned, 55 Republican senators, a conservative president who said he want to overturn Roe. Isn't it possible that it's your side that is now outside the mainstream, not Judge Alito?

SCHUMER: Well, let's say, you know, 70 percent of all Americans for instance, Jeff, say they do not want a Supreme Court justice who will vote to overturn Roe. I think the mainstream has moved a little bit to the right, but the president's nominees are quite far to the right.

And the bottom-line question is we at least certainly understand that Judge Alito will be conservative, and we certainly understand that he is not going to have the same views as the average Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. The question is, how far over is he? Most Americans do not believe in some of the things that, say -- Justice Thomas, I would say, would be out of the mainstream. And is Judge Alito going to be like a Justice Thomas? And that's the question we have to try to get to the bottom of.

And at these hearings where it's, you know -- the nominee is under no compulsion to answer, but still the hearings are important for you to get a view of that. You have to get a feel for it. With Judge Roberts, when he came before us, most people's view, just about everyone's view, is that he wasn't out of the mainstream. Some of us voted for him, some of us voted against him, depending on how well we thought he answered questions, depending on the fact that some people say, look, I'm going to vote against someone who is going to move the court to the right. But no one talked about blocking him. The fundamental question is, do you block somebody? And the answer to that is, is he out of the mainstream? So it's not is he conservative, does he think like I do; it's rather, is he so far over that he'll take his own views and impose them on the American people, and those views are far over.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Senator, Jeff Toobin here.

You and other Democrats were talking a lot about the issue of national security, executive power, warrant-less wiretaps, and there's been some questioning about that during these hearings. What has Judge Alito said or not said on that subject that you think might get people to vote against him?

SCHUMER: Yes. Well, I think he hasn't said enough. On most issues he stated some broad platitudes that don't really tell you anything, that just about every nominee from Justice Ginsburg to Justice Thomas would say. And so you have to probe further. I tried to do that on the issue of choice yesterday, and I think I made some progress. And you also have to make a judgment, and that's often a judgment that is not a science, but really an art.

BLITZER: Senator, on this whole notion of a filibuster, you know that you're very familiar with your colleagues, so-called "Gang of 14," seven Democrats, seven Republicans, the threat that the Senate Republican leader, the majority leader, Bill Frist, has made of triggering a so-called nuclear option. At this point, would you be inclined to push for the filibuster which would basically need 60 votes to overturn that filibuster?

SCHUMER: It's a good question, Wolf, but it's premature to answer it. I think I have to wait until the end of the hearings and then go back, read the transcripts, look at Judge Alito's history, talk to my colleagues and come to a conclusion. I would say it is certainly not off the table at this point. But I would also say that I don't think anyone on the committee, certainly myself and anyone I've talked to, has said we definitely should. It's a question of, first, hearing completely from Judge Alito and coming to a determination, and that is, he so far out of the mainstream that he doesn't belong on the court?

BLITZER: All right, we'll leave it right there. Senator Schumer, thanks very much for joining us. We'll look forward to your questioning. That's coming up later today.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

the weather in chicago

38º
"PERT"

Capricorn Horoscope for week of January 12, 2006

Capricorn Horoscope for week of January 12, 2006

The San Francisco 49ers football team recently endured one of its worst seasons ever. But as the losses piled up, head coach Mike Nolan continued to profess an optimism that seemed deluded to most observers. After an especially galling defeat in the team's 13th game, however, he finally confessed he was a little down. In response, San Francisco Chronicle sportswriter Ray Ratto exulted, "At least Mike Nolan isn't calling a chemical fire the Aurora Borealis anymore." I bring this up, Capricorn, because in recent months you have now and then suffered from the reverse problem: It's like you've been gazing at the Aurora Borealis and theorizing it's a chemical fire. But this glitch in your attitude is now becoming untenable. Your pretty good luck is evolving into damn fine blessings. It's time to acknowledge the beautiful truths in all of their glory.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Monday, January 09, 2006

the issues before us

Record holds hints on nominee's views
By Joan Biskupic, USA TODAY
Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's precise legal views are not clear on many issues, but his work as a government lawyer and as a judge offers some clues:

• Abortion rights.

As an assistant to the U.S. solicitor general in the 1980s, Alito helped devise a strategy for restricting Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

Then, in a 1985 job application for another government post, Alito said he was "particularly proud" of crafting arguments that said "the Constitution does not protect a right to abortion." As an appellate judge in 1991, he wrote an opinion endorsing a Pennsylvania law that required women to tell their husbands before obtaining an abortion. When the case arrived at the Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor — whom Alito would replace — was instrumental in writing the decision that struck down the spousal-notification law as an "undue burden" on a woman's right to end a pregnancy.

• Federal power.

In a 1996 case decided by his appeals court, Alito wrote a dissenting opinion in which he said Congress exceeded its power to regulate interstate commerce when it banned possession of machine guns. His reasoning broadly interpreted a Supreme Court ruling from a year earlier, United States v. Lopez, that curbed federal power. In unusually bold rhetoric, Alito wrote, "Was United States v. Lopez a constitutional freak? Or did it signify that the (Constitution's) Commerce Clause still imposes some meaningful limits on congressional power?" His view — which often has been rejected by lower courts — would limit Congress' ability to pass regulations in areas ranging from public safety to the environment.

• Presidential authority.

Alito has endorsed broad powers for the executive branch. This is a relatively new area of concern for some senators because of recent disclosures about the Bush administration's domestic wiretapping as part of its anti-terrorism strategy. In a 1984 memo, Alito said the attorney general should be immune from lawsuits alleging illegal wiretapping.

"This position (from 1984) suggests that Judge Alito would not question the president's assertion of the right to spy on Americans without obtaining a court order," says Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.

• Job discrimination and civil rights.

In 1997, Alito dissented from a majority opinion that said an African-American hotel employee who alleged she had been denied a promotion because of her race could bring a case. The appeals court's majority said that if Alito's view had been adopted, the federal anti-bias law known as Title VII "would be eviscerated."

Kennedy and other senators have expressed concerns about Alito's criticism of voting rights decisions intended to equalize power across the country, including between whites and blacks. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., has said he would ask Alito how much consideration state legislatures can give to the race of voters as voting districts are drawn.

• Police power.

Federal judges routinely must determine the remedies for people who have been victims of police wrongdoing.

In 2004, Alito dissented as his fellow appeals court judges faulted police for a search of a mother and 10-year old daughter who were at the scene of a drug investigation but who were not named in the search warrant. A female police officer had taken the mother and child to a bathroom and asked them to lift their shirts, drop their pants and turn around.

The majority opinion in the case was written by Judge Michael Chertoff, now director of Homeland Security. Chertoff wrote, "It is difficult to conceive how the search of a 10-year-old child in these circumstances could be justified."

• Defendants' rights.

Alito has said he developed an interest in constitutional law in college, "motivated in large part by disagreement with Warren Court decisions."

A hallmark of the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren (1953-69) was boosting protections for defendants, including those interrogated by police or facing the death penalty. In a 2004 case, Alito's opinion upheld the death penalty for Ronald Rompilla, a convicted killer who claimed his trial lawyers had been ineffective.

Last year, the Supreme Court reversed Alito's opinion. The court, with O'Connor in the majority, said Rompilla's attorneys failed to present evidence concerning his troubled childhood and mental illness.

schumer at the alito hearing

We will ask you: 'Do you still "personally believe very strongly that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion?'" Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York planned to tell Alito in his opening statement. "We will ask: 'Do you view elevation to the Supreme Court, where you will no longer be bound by high court precedent, as the long-sought opportunity to advance the goals of bringing about the eventual overruling of Roe v. Wade, as you stated in 1985?'"

the weather in chicago

37º
"PASSABLE

Sunday, January 08, 2006

the weather in Chicago ...

42º
"LORDY, IT'S 40"

tagged myself from my friend jillypeppercorn

Four jobs you’ve had in your life:
social worker, shoe factory worker, bathhouse attendant at a pool, janitor at polarod


Four movies you could watch over and over:
the way we were, the jerk, harold and maude, wizard of oz

Four places you’ve lived:
milford,ma; salem massachusetts, soho NYC, brooklyn NY

Four TV shows you love to watch:
iron chef america, nanny 911, Cbs sunday morning, today show

Four places you’ve been on vacation:
cancun, mexico city, florida, iowa

Four websites you visit daily:
woot, rblog, tdf.org, moneywatch

Four of your favorite foods:
boca burgers, apples, overbaked potatos, salmon

Four places you’d rather be:
any place with an ocean view, anyplace where it doesnt get colder than 40 degrees, in front of a fireplace, in a penthouse with a view of the hudson river


Four albums you can’t live without:
time, sex, love -mary chapin carpenter, mortal city -dar williams, folsom prison blues- johnny cash - no direction home, bob dylan vol 7

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Friday, January 06, 2006

these days lyrics

Well I’ve been out walking
I don’t do that much talking these days
These days--
These days I seem to think a lot
About the things that I forgot to do
For you
And all the times I had the chance to

And I had a lover
It’s so hard to risk another these days
These days--
Now if I seem to be afraid
To live the life I have made in song
Well it’s just that I’ve been losing so long

I’ll keep on moving
Things are bound to be improving these days
These days--
These days I sit on corner stones
And count the time in quarter tones to ten, my friend
Don’t confront me with my failures
I had not forgotten them

the weather in chicago

30º
"LUGUBRIOUS"

Thursday, January 05, 2006

is this guy for real

its always JEWS AND GAYS...
_____________________
who is smoting who????


CNN) -- Television evangelist Pat Robertson suggested Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine retribution for the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, which Robertson opposed.

"He was dividing God's land, and I would say, 'Woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the [European Union], the United Nations or the United States of America,'" Robertson told viewers of his long-running television show, "The 700 Club."

"God says, 'This land belongs to me, and you'd better leave it alone,'" he said.

Robertson's show airs on the ABC Family cable network and claims about 1 million viewers daily.

Sharon, 77, clung to life in a Jerusalem hospital Thursday after surgery to treat a severe stroke, his doctors said.

The prime minister, who withdrew Israeli settlers and troops from Gaza and parts of the West Bank last summer over heated objections from his own Likud Party, was breathing with the aid of a ventilator after doctors operated to stop the bleeding in his brain.

In Washington, President Bush offered praise for Sharon in a speech on Thursday.

"We pray for his recovery," Bush said. "He's a good man, a strong man. A man who cared deeply about the security of the Israeli people, and a man who had a vision for peace. May God bless him."

Daniel Ayalon, Israel's ambassador to the United States, compared Robertson's remarks to the overheated rhetoric of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (Full story)

He called the comments "outrageous" and said they were not something to expect "from any of our friends."

"He is a great friend of Israel and a great friend of Prime Minister Sharon himself, so I am very surprised," Ayalon told CNN.

Robertson, 75, founded the Christian Coalition and in 1988 failed in a bid for the Republican presidential nomination. He last stirred controversy in August, when he called for the assassination of Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez. (Full story)

Robertson later apologized, but still compared Chavez to Hitler and former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in the process.

The same month, the Anti-Defamation League criticized Robertson for warning that God would "bring judgment" against Israel for its withdrawal from Gaza, which it had occupied since the 1967 Mideast war.

Robertson said Thursday that Sharon was "a very likable person, and I am sad to see him in this condition."

He linked Sharon's health problems to the 1995 assassination of Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin, who signed the Oslo peace accords that granted limited self-rule to Palestinians.

"It was a terrible thing that happened, but nevertheless, now he's dead," Robertson said.

Rabin was gunned down by a religious student opposed to the Oslo accords. The killer, Yigal Amir, admitted to the crime and was sentenced to life in prison.

Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, criticized Robertson's comments Thursday, saying the televangelist "has a political agenda for the entire world."

"He seems to think God is ready to take out any world leader who stands in the way of that agenda," Lynn said in a written statement.

"A religious leader should not be making callous political points while a man is struggling for his life," he said. "I'm appalled."

Ralph Neas, president of liberal advocacy group People for the American Way, said "it is astonishing that Pat Robertson still wields substantial influence" in the Republican Party.

"Once again, Pat Robertson leaves us speechless with his insensitivity and arrogance," Neas said in a written statement.

According to The Associated Press, Robertson spokeswoman Angell Watts said of people who criticized the comments: "What they're basically saying is, 'How dare Pat Robertson quote the Bible?'"

"This is what the word of God says," Watts told the AP. "This is nothing new to the Christian community."

richard thompson lyrics

Let It Blow, let it snow,
Let the mercury bubble and dive
Life’s little traumas and courtroom dramas
Remind me I’m glad I’m alive

the weather in chicago

36º
"DANK"
A Tutor, a Triangle and Hearts That Sing


By BEN BRANTLEY
Published: November 18, 2005

Bravely flouting centuries of accepted scientific theory, the creators of "The Woman in White" have set out to prove that the world is flat after all. Inspired by the spine-tingling Wilkie Collins novel of 1860, this latest work from the poperetta king Andrew Lloyd Webber, which opened last night at the Marquis Theater, seems to exist willfully and unconditionally in two dimensions.

It's not just that this import from London, directed by Trevor Nunn and designed by William Dudley, has rejected a conventional set in favor of computer-animated projections that make you feel as if you're trapped inside a floating upscale travel magazine. It's that everything concerned with this reshaping of a landmark English mystery novel (adapted by the playwright Charlotte Jones, with lyrics by David Zippel) gives the sense of having been subjected to a similar process of flattening and compression.

Plot, characters, words and most of the performances in this tale of love, deception and unspeakable secrets in Victorian England emanate the aura of autumn leaves ironed into crisp immobility between sheets of waxed paper. There is, of course, Lord Lloyd Webber's music, which swirls and slides and glides its way into your inner ear, where it will rest for many a day, whether you want it to or not.

But even the music has the feeling of freeze-dried Lloyd Webber motifs to which water has been added for the occasion. Like the show's visuals, its sounds - with British folk and liturgical accents, along with occasional atonal ominousness, spicing the usual melodic stew - tantalize with a promise of substance that is seldom delivered.

Before we go further, let's cut to the real drama of "The Woman in White," which has nothing to do with ghostly apparitions in churchyards and virgins in jeopardy. As was reported in this newspaper, the show's star, Maria Friedman, received a diagnosis of Stage 1 breast cancer on Oct. 31, and after performing in only five of the show's previews, underwent surgery. A week later she was back onstage, in a physically and vocally taxing role.

In the best tradition of backstage stories of determination and triumph, Ms. Friedman, a longtime favorite of London musical audiences, makes an impeccably professional Broadway debut. Portraying Marian Halcombe, the plainer and cleverer of two sisters exploited for evil ends by a sinister nobleman, Ms. Friedman is required to be incorrigibly perky and to scamper a lot in heavy period dresses, a form of movement that should be forced upon no one over 12.

But when she sings of hope and heartbreak and honorable vengeance for dirty deeds, her deeply expressive voice has the sheen of emotional truth. Ms. Friedman's Marian clearly believes every word she sings. Would that the audience could share her conviction.

Lord Lloyd Webber has described his latest score as his most operatic and complex. And when the show begins, amid clouds of stage smoke, Lloyd Webber fans may be slightly disappointed by the fragmented, dissonant quality of the music, more reminiscent of Benjamin Britten's "Peter Grimes" than of "The Phantom of the Opera."

But within 10 minutes, that familiar glucose sweep of melody has begun. And while the score periodically wanders into less sweetly harmonic territory, as in a wedding sequence that turns the carol "The Holly and the Ivy" into a dirge out of a Hammer horror movie, you can always feel the music ready to return to its natural valentine frilliness.

If in Lloyd Webber productions like "Cats" (the longest-running musical on Broadway) and "Phantom" (poised to surpass "Cats" for that same distinction) the music seems on the verge of segueing into an aria by Puccini, in "The Woman in White" you often expect the songs to mutate into older Lloyd Webber beauties like "Memory" and "All I Ask of You."

Such numbers are here mostly sung by the love triangle made up of Ms. Friedman's Marian, her beauteous half sister, Laura Fairlie (Jill Paice), and Walter Hartright (Adam Brazier), the handsome young man who comes to tutor the girls (orphans, of course) in art on the grand country estate of their hypochondriacal uncle (Walter Charles). (A shriller counterpoint is provided by a pre-Raphaelite madwoman, screeched by Angela Christian as the title character.) Though much of the novel's tension stems from feelings repressed or unacknowledged, the characters here find their hearts right away. Belonging to Lloyd Webber land, those hearts refuse to stay quiet.



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MOST HELPFUL READER REVIEW
The Lady in White Masterpiece, December 22, 2005

Reviewer: mariojuarez
“The Woman in White” was well worth the trip from California to New York. The incorporation of the visual projections with the theatrical sets was magnificent and spellbinding. From the moment that the set started to breath and became alive I was taken back to another time and another place for a fine evening of theatre. Not knowing anything about the plot or having read the novel I was taken by the mystery of the Woman in White and the unfolding of the truths that would be revealed by the end of this musical experience. The great ensemble cast on the evening of December 15, 2005 was flawless with the wonderful music and a magnificent orchestra. There were technical problems with the set this evening and thus a break in the play. This break provided a few moments to contemplate the reality of the moment and the special theatrical evening that can only be found on Broadway, the show went on. Bravo to everyone associated with the realization of this grand musical. I am looking forward to revisiting this play many more times. Sincerely Mario-Valdez Juarez / Hollywood,
California.

iew from London, December 26, 2005
Reviewer: 2cineaste
With other visiting Americans, this viewer enjoyed "The Woman in White" on the West End in September chiefly because of its scenic innovation resulting in cinematic fluidity.

A hearing of the free compact disc distributed to those leaving the Palace Theater reveals that the musical score that traveled to Broadway might be better than originally perceived. First impressions found the music very reminiscent of "Phantom of the Opera," but a second hearing disproves that.

Performances (sans Michael Crawford) were substantial in all departments and the evening offered a thought-provoking and entertaining theater piece.



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. . . .
See it! (But not for the music...), October 31, 2005
Reviewer: tljcarr
Andrew Lloyd Weber's latest production qualifies as a show that fans of his--and of quality theater--should definitely see, but typical of Sir Andrew's offerings, the staging and performances overwhelm the story and the music:

A well-done use of computer graphics creates fascinating visual effects that everyone should find impressive--even those who liken it to a video game projected on a very large screen. It allowed the actors to be quickly transported to many different locations that traditional staging could not have done.

The performers--from the leads to the ensemble--were uniformly excellent. Both the cast from London and the new players all ooze talent and offer powerful performances.

Even the Victorian story was captivating. Characters were well developed and the twists and turns of the plot line held everyone's interest.

Only the music fell short. While the score was certainly original, it was far from compelling. I had two particular disappointments. The intermingling of complex symphonic tone poem passages with cutesy jingles more like those you'd expect from Beauty and the Beast was off-putting. And several numbers, which clearly had little to do with advancing the story, were inserted to showcase lead characters. While entertaining shtick, they were pointless.

Bottom line: The things that impressed you in past ALW offerings will impress you here. The things that let you down, unfortunately, still do!


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. . . .
Brantley's Folly, November 18, 2005
Reviewer: anovich22
Ben, what has happened to you? Are you taking curmudgeon pills? It's not that you trash Woman in White, which, while not ALW's best effort, is still at least a decent one. It's that you neglect to heap praise on the formidible work done in the area of set design. These computer generated graphics which become THE show are so stunning that they left me totally in awe, and I am not a young girl! It is the principal reason for anyone to see the show, and in my humble opinion, well worth the price of admission. This show is stunning to look at, not at all bad to hear, and much better than most of the stuff we see each year. The average theatergoer will be seeing this long after Sweeney has closed due to lack of interest, good reviews or not. Ben, one must give high praise to work which supercedes anything that has ever been done before, and Woman in White is unique in this regard.

15 of 19 found this review helpful
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. . . .
Extraordinary! See It!, November 9, 2005
Reviewer: gioia1
I was fortunate enough to see the show on the first night of previews, and I was blown away. All the leads give fantastic performances, especially Maria Friedman, Angela Christian and Jill Paice. The show has an exciting mystery at the fore, but the show really belongs to Friedman’s character, Marian. You really feel for her and Friedman brings a great sense of humanity and realism to the role. The projection sets take a few minutes to adjust your eyes to, but are used to great effect. Go see this show if you want to see something serious and romantic on Broadway. The score is ambitious, lush, and filled with some great melodies that will fill your head after you’ve left the theater, in a GOOD way. If you liked Phantom, you will love this show.

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. . . .
The future is here, set in the past, November 12, 2005
Reviewer: sprecherl
Saw TLIW two weeks ago in London. A great piece of threater. ALWs music is wonderful, as always. His tendency to give you more music than needed is still there, too. The adaptaion of a Victorian pot-boiler works better than seems possible. But the real star of the show is the virtual sets. For the first few minutes the projected scenery is distracting. After that you don't even notice them. The scenery literally flows. This is the future for many large productions. Go see this show!

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. . . .
Best Musical of 2005, November 22, 2005
Reviewer: cats1939
I loved the musical "The Woman In White". The music was beautiful, the stage setings were spectacular, the performers were superb, especially Maria Friedman. This show is a definite must see. Ignore Brantley's scorching review. He is off the wall.

HB

5 of 8 found this review helpful
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. . . .
almost left!, October 29, 2005
Reviewer: muggydoo
Interesting to say the least. Opening night was very exciting. Lot's of hub-bub, glitz and glitter. Just a shame the 1st half of the show was as boring as a Knicks' game. Many folks left the theater at intermission and I was almost amongst them. Glad we stayed for the 2nd half. Rated the show a 4 or 5 before intermission and finally gave it a 7+. (Generous). Not one of ALW's best. Could be one of his worst My prediction- won't last 12 months if that. Shame because the cast is outstanding.

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. . . .
ALW tight and scaled down, November 24, 2005
Reviewer: ellen1515
ALW doesn't always impress me -- the more grandiose the staging, the less I seem to like it. Evita was the last one I truly enjoyed-- Cats was so mainstream and Phantom so flamboyant. But Woman in White is more like seeing a well-staged play with a decent plot, executed by good performers, and oh yes, the music is better than tolerable! I found the lyrics worth listening to, clever at times--and to disagree mildly with one other reviewer, they were going for comedy a good deal of the time and it works. This show will never be bogged down with the peer pressure I felt when I didn't like Phantom (didn't you just love it??? asked my friends) You are free to enjoy its light comedy and unimportant but enjoyable music. I found the computerized set interesting but also suspect -- once designers get the hang of it, will it become the new alternative to hammers and nails? See the show, it's fun.

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. . . .

The Woman in White
Average Reader Rating: (3.39 stars, 112 votes)
Number of Reviews: 13


Show Reviews By:
Newest | Most Helpful | Highest Rating

andrew lloyd webber, November 10, 2005
Reviewer: gtclooney
So you go in to this play expecting an andrew lloyd webber. Something with a fantastic musical score and a play that grabs your attention and one that you can't wait to see again when you drag all your friends to it. What you get is a play. A play that isn't awful or boring, but it feels like just another play. You don't walk out humming your favorite song or wondering about a character's intentions, you just leave and say "that was nice." Maybe I expected too much, but I would choose to see something else.

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. . . .
Worst musical ever!, November 20, 2005
Reviewer: hogghigh
I'm not the usual Andrew Lloyd Webber basher but this musical is just plain awful. The music is re-hashed Phantom of the Opera. The lyrics are insipid. I can't believe some of the reviews have actually been favorable. I left at intermission as did 50 other people. It's a good thing for them that this is at the Marriott because it's the only crowd they can count on to come consistently. I don't mean to sound harse but this was the worst musical I have ever seen.

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. . . .
I can't recommend this show to anyone, December 5, 2005
Reviewer: rainrainy
I saw Woman in White on Saturday night and disliked it immensely. The music was not at all memorable, the recitative was ridiculous, and the actors had no time (or direction) to develop their characters. The plot was too convoluted for a musical and the staging was too harried to allow for any emotional attachment.

I felt that ALW was repeating himself with several of the songs (although not very successfully), and even Trevor Nunn was repeating much of the staging he used in Oklahoma!

Although people have commented on the staging, I feel it was more of a distraction than an assistant to the plot. Once again, feeling that TN was repeating his staging from Oklahoma, the few set pieces in the virtual world always felt small and insignificant against the bigger sky. That worked on the Plains of America, but not in the dark, often clouded land of England. A friend who saw it in previews also said that the large screens moving back and forth were really distracting from the balcony.

I wouldn't recommend this play to anyone.