Noah's Wish

Just saw a segment on Countdown on MSNBC and thought I'd let any animal fans know about a way to help the animal victims of Hurricane Katrina. Noah's Wish is a not-for-profit, animal welfare organization, which exists to keep animals alive during disasters. They have recently been doing work in Romania which is currently dealing with a horrible flooding situation.

If you visit the site be aware there are a few "sad" photos. Nothing super scary just some very scared sad looking faces of animals needing help. Just thought I'd warn you. They do accept donations if you are interested in helping them out after visiting their website noahswish.org

Banned airlines lists published

BBC News World Edition reports that "France and Belgium have published separate blacklists of airlines banned from their territory on safety grounds...August 2005 has been marked by a string of major plane disasters. In less then two weeks, three planes have crashed in Greece, Venezuela and Peru - all three of them operated by minor airlines. More than 300 people have lost their lives in the three accidents. " The blacklisted Airlines include:

AIRLINE BLACKLISTS

French list

Air Koryo, North Korea
Air Saint-Thomas, US Virgin Islands
International Air Service, Liberia
Air Mozambique (LAM), including its subsidiary Transairways
Phuket Airlines, Thailand

Belgian list

Africa Lines, Central African Republic
Air Memphis, Egypt
Air Van Airlines, Armenia
Central Air Express, Democratic Republic of Congo
ICTTPW, Libya
International Air Tours Ltd., Nigeria
Johnsons Air Ltd., Ghana
Silverback Cargo Freighters, Rwanda
South Airlines, Ukraine

I have to admit I wasn't planning any trips to Armenia or The Congo this year, but it's good to know which airlines to watch out for when I begin my world tour in the next year or so.

Featured Dog of the Week

Name: Vespa
Age: 8 months
Sex: Female
Breed: Lab mix
Location: Animal Haven/Flushing Shelter

To adopt her please visit the website: www.animalhavenshelter.org.

If you aren't ready to take an animal home just yet, consider Animal Haven's Sponsor A Pet Program.

If you would like to meet some of the pets available for adoption, Animal Haven runs a great program called Pets to the People. They have a very cute van that they take out to selected locations with the pets to meet potential future families. Here is there current schedule:

Pets To The People Schedule:

Saturday ,September 3 , 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.The Shops at The Atlas/Queens

Sunday, September 4 , 11:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.Fetch Bar & GrillThird Avenue between 92 and 93 Street

High Five to Subway Chick

On her way home from a job interview a New York City Subway rider encountered an alleged pervert who she claims was intent on showing her his stuff.

Well she showed him and caught a photo of him in the act with her cell phone. This is the photo she has posted on Flickr.com and it has received lot's of hits. She has filed a complaint and is willing to press charges if the police catch this guy.

Meanwhile his photo is being viewed all over the internet and many are hoping he will be caught.

To see her full story visit flickr.com where she posted the picture and story. You can also read a news item about it on 1010wins.com. This link will bring you information on the law regarding OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC SENSIBILITIES.

fo' shizzle

Since it will be a long time before I have children old enough to translate the current vernacular I was wondering if someone could tell me what Snoop is talking about. He's running around selling cars saying stuff like snizzle, drizzle, fo' Shizzle and I have no CLUE. I have nothing against Snoop, I just can't say much about him because I haven't got the slightest idea what he's talking about. I found this site, Urban Dictionary that is giving some guidance, but it seem these are opinions in some cases and not actual translations.

Kids Are Going Crazy

There is a sense of urgency in the air. Children are running in the streets at a frenzied manic pace. Their mothers have already hauled their butts through the stores buying them new items for the upcoming school year. The Staples guy is dancing on TV reminding people to buy school supplies. Children are getting that nauseating knot in their stomachs, knowing their time is limited and the torture will begin again in a short while. I'm glad it's them and not me.

Stop Means Hit the Gas

Since I'm primarily blogging about life on Long Island, I thought I'd take a moment to bitch about the way people drive around here. Has anyone noticed the fact that almost nobody actually stops at stop signs anymore? The best you can hope for is a "coast thru". Nobody seems to even stop (at a stop sign) when a pregnant pedestrian with a dog is standing at the corner with one foot in the street. You'd think at least the fear of a lawsuit would stop them or slow them down.

I've taken to being an irate crazy person and gesticulating at drivers who do not stop when I"m already crossing. One old crone just shrugged her shoulders as I pointed at the stop sign to her. It took all my strength not to flip her the bird. Instead I hit my head with my hand indicating my shock, disgust and dismay. I really wish the police could pull some obnoxious drivers out of their cars and slap them around a little. That would be much more effective that a ticket.

I think the population is becoming largely medicated and therefore the driving skills are dropping off. Half of Nassau County is in a Zanax or Paxil induced fog. They may be happy but they cannot drive for $hit.

Lord of the Gasbags starring Michael Flatulence

It seems New Yorkers and those in the Tri-State area can look forward to yet another self agrandizing, foot stomping good time provided by none other than Michael Flatley, founding member of Riverdance.

If you have the stomach for it you can visit http://www.michaelflatley.com/specialfeature.cfm to see a preview of his latest production number called Celtic Tiger. The preview gives us a nice sample of what we can look forward to, including, general hammy behavior, star spangled breasts, and many moments further confirming what a total gas bag Flatley is.

Flatley has commented that you can look forward to great costumes this time around. In the preview you see him featured in a Tuxedo, a Zoot Suit, a Pilots Uniform and some sort of Bronze Amor. The women of course appear in flesh colored outfits to trick us in to thinking they might be nude. On other occasions they rip off what appears to be Irish peasants outfits revealing sparkly red white and blue bras beneath.

After himself, Flatley like to incorporate lots of raunch and innuendo into his shows. Many years ago I read an interview with him where he stated that dance numbers give him such a "feeling" that after each show he must dunk his head in a bucket of ice water and quickly proceed to have sex. Otherwise he might... explode?? Who knows.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Riverdance, I really like Celtic Music and Dancing, but Flatley? Blech!! It's probably time he gracefully retired from being the main attraction and start producing or teaching from the sidelines. I'm pretty turned off by his smug smiles and general pastiness. I may be in the minority though because it seems his upcoming show is already sold out. I hope they pass out air sickness bags prior to the curtain going up.

Another fine pet waiting for a home

Name: Norman
Age: 15 months
Sex: MaleBreed: Lab/Pit mix
Location: Flushing

Norman is a good boy, who has lots of energy, loves to play & give & get lots of kisses. He was given up by his guardian and now needs a loving forever home. Please come by and meet Norman, he is a ball of love who would love to leave the shelter and enter your home!

To adopt him please visit their website: www.animalhavenshelter.org.

Diaper Cakes

Many will certainly have never heard of this concept, however some who are experienced in the world of baby showers may have heard of this "fun" new concept.

The first time many people learn about this item is when a baby shower is being planned. A baby shower is a party thrown to celebrate the upcoming upheaval of the life of the parents-to-be. It is typical to bring gifts to the event to help the parents get prepared. They usually bring things like, blankets, strollers, and vomit rags.

A new trend is to either buy or create a "diaper cake". This is a faux cake constructed of (unused) diapers and decorated with cutesy bits and pieces. Now it is my belief that there is a fine line between cute and crass. I just don't understand why you would want to construct a model of a cake (normally an edible item) out of diapers which are used to collect human waste matter. I mean, YUCK! Why don't people just finish off the event by serving punch in the toilet bowl and using rectal thermometers to stir the drinks?

Devin needs a home

I know, you're probably sick of the dog posts, but look at this! Yet another major sweetie is in need of a home. If you or a friend is looking for a pet, please keep Animal Haven in your thoughts.


Name: Devin
Age: 6 months
Sex: Female
Breed: Labrador Retriever mix
Location: Flushing branch

To adopt her please visit their website: www.animalhavenshelter.org.

Crib Shopping On Long Island

There comes a time when all good Long Island chicks grow up and get knocked up. So I find myself searching for bedding and all the accessories that come with a baby. I thought it might be useful to let readers in on my good crib experience.

Pottery barn loves to kill rain forests by sending me endless catalogs which I read but never order from. I don't hesitate to steal my ideas from them though. The two photos above show a Ragazzi crib on the top and a PB crib on the bottom. They are both very similar in style. As expected the Pottery Barn one is more expensive. I checked out the PB crib in their store and it was nice, but somehow not as grand as I expected for $699. (plus shipping)

I then went shopping at Behr's located at 1220 Hicksville Rd, Rte. 107, Seaford, NY. They have a sea of cribs to wade through and it took me 3 trips to narrow it down the to a crib I liked. Which just happens to look like the PB one I liked. It costs only $579 compared to $699 and it is much more solid. All of its fittings and metal are concealed to give a smooth appearance. The PB crib has plastic strips on the drop rail which cheapens the whole look.

Behr's sales people were great. They do not hover or try to aggressively sell you a crib. When you ask for help they are very nice, answer all the questions and don't make you feel like a fool for being clueless about what to actually do with a crib. I was very impressed with the whole experience. Good shopping experiences are becoming more and more rare around here.

You Know You're From Long Island When...

You Know You're From Long Island When...

You know someone who went to Chaminade. Jones Beach Theater is the best place in the world to see a concert. CASE CLOSED! Is it just me, or is every girl from Rockville Centre a bitch? Billy Joel said it best, "Either you date a rich girl from the North Shore, or a cool girl from the South Shore." What's the big deal about the Hamptons? If you're not from Long Island or NYC, you're not really from New York. You don't go to Manhattan, you go to "the City" You know the Belt Parkway sucks! You never, ever want to "change at Jamaica..." You never realize you have an accent until you leave. You know where at least one strip club is. You can name at least three bands that came from Long Island. You curse. A lot. Is Huntington really that cool? You've been to Utopia at least once. The goddamn geese are everywhere! If your parents didn't, your grandparents lived in the city. At some point in your life you or someone you know has owned an animal that came from North Shore Animal League. You actually remember when you felt safe swimming at Bar Beach and Hempstead Harbor. Commack movie theatre scares you You walk around the mall aimlessly. You drive around your town with your friends, and that's the most exciting part of your evening. On the weekend, your evening consists of seeing a movie, going bowling, or playing pool. When you walk in the city and you see two men holding hands...it becomes normal to you. No word ends in an ER, just an AH. You feel like you know Howard Stern. You live in the shadow of the greatest city in the world, but you never go there. When you're away from Long Island, you love it and when you're there, you don't. You know that the beach sucks during the day and is the most magical place in the world at night You know the exact point at which Queens turns into Nassau simply on intuition. You're still waiting for a bridge to Connecticut. You've tried to use your father's monthly ticket to ride the LIRR. It worked. No matter what you do, you end up at the diner. Your distant future might involve the state of Florida. High school sports aren't that important. You've never been to Times Square on New Year's Eve. You've tried to find the Amityville Horror house. Each one of your diverse friends mercilessly makes fun of his own background. You love that salty smell of the ocean. No, you don't want mustard on that burger! The most exciting day of your summer is when all tickets to every Jones Beach show go on sale. You know White Castle is terrible for you and the food sucks. But, you periodically "Get the Crave" You want the Yankees to stay in the Bronx, but would probably go to more games if they moved to Manhattan. You can order a pizza pie and a soda and people will understand. You felt slighted when Snapple sold out. You don't associate Fire Island with gay men. You wanted Hooters to open simply to piss off "decency" groups. You watched a game show and wondered, "why are these people so happy that they won a trip to New York?" You like The Brothers McMullen. When you hear Billy Joel's "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" you try to figure out what places on Long Island he's talking about. You know that parts of the Godfather were filmed on LI. You always liked Billy Joel, but as soon as you leave, you love Billy Joel. At some point in your life, you've gone clamming. You've been to the Tanger Outlets and came home with nothing to show for it. You have or someone you know has fallen asleep on the LIRR and ended up in one of these three places; Babylon, Port Washington or Hicksville. You have been to Mulcahay's on Thanksgiving Eve, the largest ladies night event of every year. You've missed that "Drunk Train", the 2:42 out of Penn and had the dreaded wait until 5:30. You think Islip MacArthur airport is cute and you enjoy watching it grow up. Your parents took you to Nathans or Carvel You hate the radio commercials for the Dublin Pub Public beach? What's that? You can correctly pronouce places like Happauge, Commack, Islip, Islandia, Massapequa. You know the location of 6 malls and a dozen McDonalds and 36 7-11's. You grew up thinking Chinese food was a basic food group. You're used to driving down the street in December and seeing more light-up menorahs than you can shake a latka at. In fact, even your non-Jewish friends know what Matzoh is. And you've never driven more than 10 miles without seeing a temple. Oh, your parents are from Brooklyn? So are mine! Yes, admit it, you've cruised the Pike. You can remember making up rules for ?Shotgun? calls in high school. Your elementary school promoted dodge ball as the top gym activity. You were upset when all the Roy Rogers turned into Wendy?s. You consider nachos and cheese at the Coliseum to be a suitable dinner date. You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Long Island.

Get Your Own "You Know You're From" Meme Here



More cool things for your blog at
Blogthings

Why do I bother trying to be nice?

This happens almost every time I go out to shop anywhere. Now, I spent the majority of my working life, working with the public so I know first hand that the public can and often does stink. However, having been "behind the counter", I always try to be nice to the cashiers, sales people and waiters of the world. It seems as of late my civil gestures and use of good manners results in nothing but grunts and mystified blank looks.

For example, yesterday I went grocery shopping at Shoprite located at 1054 Old Country Road, Plainview, and encountered a robotic human male functioning as a cashier. As I finished placing my goods on the conveyer belt I approached the "gentleman" and greeted him by saying, "Hi, how are you today?". This lifeless being replied by saying in a monotone voice, "Shoprite Card". For some reason this day in particular I was not in the mood to be dismissed in this way and lectured the robot on what it means to be civilized and polite. He responded by saying nothing (and spitting on my bread in a very human fashion). I had made an attempt to be friendly and pleasant yet he was only able to respond in the way he has been programmed to by the big dogs at Shoprite who are intent on profiling their customers. Why is is suddenly "okay" to be so rude?

I wish I didn't hate those self check out things so much as I find the level of humanity coming from those machines to be much easier to deal with.

Another Sweetie needs a home

Animal Haven has just listed this dog:

"Age: 15 months Sex: MaleBreed: Lab/Pit mixLocation: FlushingNorman is a good boy, who has lots of energy, loves to play & give & get lots of kisses. He was given up by his guardian and now needs a loving forever home. Please come by and meet Norman, he is a ball of love who would love to leave the shelter and enter your home!" To adopt him please visit their website: www.animalhavenshelter.org.

Free Concert at Jones Beach (sort of)

I normally would not go to a concert this way, but at the advice of my OB/GYN I stayed out of Jones Beach Theatre last night while Duran Duran was performing. I never got to see the original band all together back in the 80's because I was too young to be allowed to go to concerts back then. My husband and I were excited to see they were in town and planned to attend. We even checked out good seats with our Amex Gold card and we could have sat in the 10th row for $75 each.

I'm currently 6 months pregnant and I worried that the loud sound might be too much on the babies developing ears. I know my ears ring for days after a concert so I called my doctors office. They asked what kind of concert I'd be seeing and where the seats were and they recommended we avoid it.

Darn!! So what are loyal fans to do but hang out in the parking lot at Jones beach for free? We packed a picnic of sorts with Gatorade, beer (for my husband) and chicken sandwiches. We found that just beside the theatre is a nice little stretch of beach to sit on. While the sign says the beach closes at sunset, nobody came to shoo us away or the other music fans sitting there. It wasn't a large crowd but most of the people doing the same thing seemed to have kids with them. We actually had a lot of fun even though we felt it was a bit cheeky to eaves drop on the concert in this way.

Towards the end we decided to head home, and while the show was definitely not over we noticed lots of people leaving the show. I'm sure it was not because they weren't enjoying the concert. The smiling attendees leaving all had sleeping toddlers in their arms and in strollers. Amazing. How times have changed. I'm sure Simon le Bon wishes it were still the old days when fans were tossing bras on stage. Now-a-days the fans are looking for somewhere to toss the diaper they just changed at their seat.