here we are less than a year (she was three months pregnant in that wedding pic above) later with my first born Stevie... That's Grammy and Nono Bianco (To differentiate him from Nono Monster mentioned earlier in this post). Yea ok my grandfather was a business man in the Tobacco Industry and so that is a Marlboro shirt I am wearing...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The gravy train -- make that the sausage, biscuits and gravy train -- just kept on rolling in most of America last year, with 31 states showing an increase in obesity.
Mississippi continued to lead the way. An estimated 29.5 percent of adults there are considered obese. That is an increase of 1.1 percentage points when compared with last year's report, which is compiled by Trust for America's Health, an advocacy group that promotes increased funding for public health programs.
Meanwhile, Colorado remains the leanest state. About 16.9 percent of its adults are considered obese. That mark was also up slightly from last year's report, but not enough to be considered statistically significant.
The only state that experienced a decrease in the percentage of obese adults last year was Nevada.
"Quick fixes and limited government programs have failed to stem the tide," said Dr. Jeff Levi, executive director of the trust, in explaining the rise.
Health officials warn that the incidence of obesity in a particular state doesn't mean it treats the issue less seriously than others. States have different challenges to contend with when it comes to obesity, said Dr. Janet Collins of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Populations are not equal in terms of experiencing these health problems," Collins said. "Low-income populations tend to experience all the health problems we worry about at greater rates."
Thank you CNN (read the full article here)
(what is that exactly the man pictured above is getting into? A trailer? Who knew!
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Ohhh...and guess who's birthday it is?
Happy 48th Birthday Michael!
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I think this French Kid pretty much illustrates my point. Watch the whole thing.
This clip made me feel better :)
(Persian Hawtness comes before talent I say)
"there's only one Persian MJ baby..."
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off to Rhode Island after work tonight to celebrate my step-father's birthday with my family. My sons are already there with mom. God I hate that 2 hour drive. Hopefully the weather holds up. Tomorrow night they are having some huge barbeque and I was supposed to make a cheescake. Well, I screwed up and the crust burned. It's all a learning experince, less butter next time and never ever try to do 2 (or 4) cakes at once. I tried a piece anyway (well since I obviously wasn't bringing that one down) oh man it was amazing.
Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning
Walt Disney was afraid of mice.
The inventor of the flushing toilet was Thomas Crapper.
The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people do.
During World War II, IBM built the computers the Nazis used
The number of people alive on earth right now is higher
Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of
The Population of the world can live within the state boundaries of Texas.
Plastic lawn flamingos outnumber real flamingos in the U.S.A.
Tourists visiting Iceland should know that
The green stuff on the occasional freak potato chip is chlorophyll.
Napoleon was terrified of cats.
Russia has the most movie theaters in the world.
Happy HNT
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ok so Ian McKellan is pretty much one of the most diverse and talented actors of all time. I re-watched Apt Pupil last night. (I've owned the DVD since like 2000) If you haven't seen it, make sure you do. It is disturbing and creepy but never the less a riveting film. Brad Renfro is a plus. In any case.. I have been working on the blog all night to get the template where I wanted, it's still a work in progress, would love to hear about any quirks.
I don't really like or enjoy watching Will Farrell (or Robin Williams, Jim Carey, Jack Black etc etc etc .. you get the idea) but I laughed my butt off. I was really surprised, even more so because I had no idea Sacha Cohen (Ali G) was in it. He doesn't look so well, I wonder if he is sick or something. I think it was more the supporting cast than Will which did it for me, I know many people will look at the trailer and think the worst, but seriously .. it was hysterical.
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Where is everyone going? The blogging world is losing so many of my favorite people. I guess the time probably comes for everyone to stop eventually, but never the less it's kind of shocking when people you follow every day decide to call it quits. I recently decided rather than give up completely I would just blog when I got the chance instead of making it a routine every single morning as I have in the past. It's working pretty well so far.
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I had yesterday off from work (and the next two Monday's as well .. using up vacation days before September 1st when they renew) I picked up the kids and went to mom's to do laundry. Jesus I had tons to do (it's been maybe two months), luckily I have way too many clothes and never ran out of something to wear. I hate the situation when you live in a condo or apartment and can't just do laundry whenever you like. I mean the (community) machines downstairs are a royal pain (and kind of gross) and it is equally inconvenient to drive the 20-30 minutes to Mom's or Aunt's to use theirs. When I had my house (last year) this was never a problem, and I had big ass machines too (left over from when I was married, Mom bought us the largest available because we had small children, you could do like 20 towels in one load) .
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Tori Tuesday..
it's been a while since I've participated in this theme day. I'm running late right now (what else is knew) so I am throwing up one of my favorite tracks off Boys For Pele (her third official release). I think it's appropriate for the current time & situation. An amazingly well written masterpiece...
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S1 160
now don't we all feel like jackasses.
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I can't even imagine what these people went through, losing a child so tragically and then being unjustly accused of killing her. Now John Ramsey is alone, Patsy having succumbed to ovarian cancer this past June, I hope to god he is taking some sort of solace in this belated "vindication". My heart goes out to him on so many levels.
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now to deal with this monster....
would you believe she was only 31 in that photo? Evidently the life of la sicilianu back then was rough. She was coming to America to marry her 1st cousin Antonino (her father and his mother were full siblings). What is even more bizarre is that Giuseppa herself was the product of First cousins, which were related to her future husband yet again in another way. Jeesh...and it's a wonder my grandmother came out with two arms and two legs, although she was like 4' 11 and riddled with medical problems her entire life. Plus she was a strega from hell. Opps, never speak ill of the dead. I can envision it, she's so up there (or maybe down there given her sordid past) giving me the Mal'òcchiu (sicilian evil eye curse).
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S1 161
so I finally got around to doing that stupid ridiculous annual car inspection thingy Massachusetts requires it's residents to adhere to. I have been putting it off, as the $29 fee has not been in my budget of late. My old sticker expired in May, and if they pull you over, it's an automatic $50. fine (plus of course you still have to get the damn sticker anyway..) So I needed to use some of my vacation days before September 1st when they renew and yesterday seemed like the perfect opportunity to get it done. I am always terrible about it (like regular oil changes) I remember one time, I actually made it 16 months without going to get my car inspected! I managed to skip a whole year! It's not like I was worried, my car is only a year old and it took the guy 10 minutes to do it, but still. It's an inconvenience because the lines are nearly always long and the wait an hour or more. I went in at 8AM, there were two of us in line, not so bad. If I had to go after work forget it.
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I cleaned like a fiend yesterday (it's about freeking time) and have to say I feel somehow much better today because of it. There is something about a freshly cleaned spotless environment which lends itself to a positive mood (not that I am jumping up and down positive, but it's something for now). I dunno, at least for me that's the case. Now to keep up with it so this doesn't happen again (easier said than done).
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So we saw Pulse Sunday, it was bearable. No, actually it was cheesy as hell, there I said it. Ridiculous storyline, I know it's fantastical Hollywood but still, ghosts taking over the world via the Internet and Cell Phone towers? Don't waste your money, rent it if you insist. The only positive thing I can say is that it was very short and well.. had a very interesting cast like (for example) Ian Somerhalder....
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I don't know what it is lately but (apart from the weekends) I am feeling completely isolated and kind of down. I don't even have the urge to go online (apart from the research I'm doing to pass the time). There seems to be a thousand things on my mind which are all serving to bring me into this sad place. I'm not even blogging daily as I usually do because I'd rather throw in a DVD and drift off somewhere. This summer has passed very quickly (the brisk morning air a clear indication fall will soon arrive) and I can't help but feel I haven't done a damn thing except eat, sleep, go to work and sit in front of this PC. I have hardly even been running since I hurt my leg a couple months ago (maybe it's more like a few months at this point). I need motivation.
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oh and the dating thing, needless to say I'm not much into that either. I swear I am going to wake up someday old and lonely and ask "Where did all the time go?" Tick-Tock...
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a special thanks to my friend who sent me this hysterical shite..
hm...why am I having the worst time making up my mind? I think we are leaning toward Pulse, but The Descent got very good reviews. I can't remember the last time two excellent horror flics were out at the same time that we actually wanted to see.
It is a marriage record for Gaspare LaLamia to Lauria Manfre, 20 April 1655
feeling a little embarrassed about yesterday's post, almost took it down but decided against it. I can play that clip whenever I want to hear how much of a dork I am when drinking. I'm not going to say much else about it except, here we go again, Day 1 . Let the countdown begin.
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Things have been getting pretty messed up of late, I guess it's something like a snowball rolling down a white winter hill. Ok so that might not have been the best analogy, essentially things weren't so great a couple months ago, and now they are. I started drinking again. Truthfully I am buzzed right now, and soon to be completely blitzed. I had some setbacks, I started back with some "bad habits" and well, enough is enough. I need to stop drinking and have designated tomorrow as the day. Tomorrow I will begin again, much like I did a year ago, when I created my original blog (dryfreelean). I'll start counting down again...like before. I've made an audio post. Click and listen if you get the chance.
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Persian Guy's blitzed Audio Post
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Laters :)
My Ipod Collection (sans the Blue Mini & Shuffle I gave to my sons)
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Laters :)
So.. yeap, I snagged tickets (they weren't comp. like The Damien Rice show) to the September 2nd Staind show at Mohegan Sun. They are local boys here in Western Mass, so it's going to be a seriously amazing show for me. I'm taking my younger son, who is beyond exited. This kid is pretty lucky, because not three weeks later we will be seeing The Hush Sound, Jack's Mannequin and Copeland in Hartford. It just worked out that way, I've introduced him to so many bands, when I hit one he likes, I try and bring him to a show. Staind is one of those bands, Big Time. And as for his older brother....
We are going to NYC in October (I just bought the tickets for his birthday) to see The Drowsy Chaperone on Broadway. He is a big fan of Musicals (he's teaching me much) and had a choice of about 20 current shows to see, he chose this one. It was a hard choice for him because both The Producers and Chicago were on the list (his favorites). I haven't been to a play or musical on Broadway since my own dad took me to see The King & I back when I was very young (my father passed away when I was 15). Yul Brenner was The King, it was close to the end of his life, as a matter of fact he passed away not long after we saw him (he had originally starred in the musical in 1956!). I really can't wait.
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Saw Clerks II today.... it was hysterical. I just got home (it's 11:00 pm) because I had a date sorta, and need to get some sleep but wanted to make this post before bed. Randal was way too funny, and Wanda Sykes (of Crank Yankers fame) was just amazing. Cameos by Ben Affleck (looking incredibly well as always) and Jason Lee (not looking or sounding well at all, I hope he's ok) was a treat. Better than I expected (I mean how can you top Clerks?) but with serious bonus points for Trevor Fehrman... aka Elias. This kid nearly made the film for me. Here is a clip (for those of you unfamiliar he's the long haired guy defending the transformers)
was installed (I got it from mom for my birthday this past June) I am so exited to have that humongous box out of my hallway, and he removed the old model (which worked well enough but was over 10 years old) The poor old guy fell helping me carry it out to his truck, I hope he's ok. I guess he was about 60, and hit the pavement hard. ugh...
Starting in July (ok so I'm a little late), you'll be seeing the cost of your land-line phone service drop a bit, courtesy of the federal government. Since 1898, the US government has collected a 3 percent tax on all long distance phone calls. This shows up on your bill as "federal excise tax," and was enacted to fund the Spanish-American War. Although the war itself ended over a century ago, the tax remained. This week, Congress and the Treasury Department finally caved in to years of pressure from interest groups ranging from consumer advocacy organizations to major corporations, and announced that the tax will end on June 30, 2006. A similar tax on local calls will remain in place for now.
"The tax was defended by the Internal Revenue Service as recently as 2005, even though litigation has repeatedly determined the tax to be illegal."
read the full article here...
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I guess the tax was targeted at those affluent individuals who actually had a phone in 1898, they were primitive to be sure, like this 1896 Wilhelm Candlestick model.
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Makes you wonder, how many other ridiculous taxes are we paying because nobody has noticed (well nobody from the paying population, you can rest assured the IRS isn't going to bring these to our attention).
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The heat let up finally, it's in the high 60's/low 70's today with zero humidity and a comfortable breeze. Hopefully it stays this way at least through the weekend, not that I have any plans (other than spending time with my sons and possibly hitting a movie tomorrow).
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I Found out yesterday my son and I are going to a potentially amazing show September 27th at the Webster in Hartford, CT. Four bands, three of which we both love.
2. Copeland
I can't wait to see The Hush Sound again, I love those guys, and Jack's Mannequin is fast becoming one of my favorite groups as well. I called my son yesterday and he's really exited, his brother refuses to go, I wish he would reconsider, but I don't think he will. He is pretty stubborn. We will have our time together soon, I'm taking him to see a Broadway show for his birthday in October (he's a mega big fan of Musicals, I have much to learn from him .. I mean I had never even heard of Rent before some blogger friends started reviewing the film version).
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CRANK CALL FRIDAY
this one is NOT work safe, but incredibly funny. An unsuspecting man calls Frank Rizzo (Jerky Boys) after reading an add which offers placement in a major TV Game show. Frank is in rare form, have a listen it's hysterical..
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Have a great weekend everybody :)
January
Yesterday
This pathetic hypocritical motherfucker (yea this is the first time I've ever used that word here, and as you would imagine it's not so common in my vocabulary). I just can't believe this guy, no really I can't. Some will say he was messed up at a young age by his incredibly dillusional father Hutton (who is clearly an anti-Semite and all around despicable person), and that he's been battling internal demons his entire adult life by "self medicating" himself with alcohol. I've been there, I've battled alcoholism, I have said things I regret, NONE however were things I secretly didn't feel and mean, I was just "empowered by the glass" to let them all out.
and so he expects us to buy this load of crap:
"There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of anti-Semitic remark," Gibson said in a statement issued by his publicist. "I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI charge." (Watch a new apology from Gibson -- 1:30)
In the statement, Gibson said, "Please know from my heart that I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot." (Read the full statement.)
Thanks CNN (read one of the articles here)
Let's not even go into the Homophobia thing, it just seems like overkill, but no wait, he saved face on that one somehow.
Ok so I went there, and as I need to be fair, this is an interesting response to Mel's alcohol induced tirades...
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I don't know why everyone is in an uproar. You can't tell me the majority of the powerful in Hollywood aren't disparaging sexes or races behind closed doors or over drinks. They just haven't gotten caught. He's an alcoholic, he said terrible things, he needs serious help. He'll definitely change his ways if everyone turns his back on them - that's definitely the best example to set. Hollywood is a bunch of hypocrites that will enable "stars" to do bad things until they get caught out in the open. And then they act like they never met or liked you. Very few people in Hollywood have a right to be self-righteous.
Posted by: LSU98 08/1/2006 11:24 AM (Here is the full page)
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That's enough for now, my drink is getting warm. :)
Ok so in the past WBW has usually been photos & stories of my ancestors, but of late I have felt like making it more about my own past. The first two pics are from a trip my girlfriend (and subsequent wife) took to Newport, Rhode Island just after Senior Prom. I have always loved Newport, because two of the homes on display were built by Gram's distant cousins (see this post, scroll down to Gloria) Needless to say we were both 18 (being three weeks apart in age), wait we were 17, we didn't turn 18 until after graduation. The third was when we both worked at Riverside Park (Now Six Flags New England). You can just about make out my uniform collar. We were probably 19 or 20 then. How fast the time does fly...it seriously feels like yesterday...
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