Why yes, IC -- in The River Wild, with Meryl Streep. (And I didn't even have to look at IMDB.com! :)

Anyhoo, thanks for the SGUH and generous comments (and emails from some of you, which I've yet to read, but will ASAP; gosh, I hate being offline for a week at a time!), and for your patience, etc., with yours truly. No, really -- thanks!


"The 'Burgh", miss sunshine, is Pittsburgh, which is where my parents live and where I just came back from visiting for the past week. Highlights: a visit to Primanti's for a sweet sausage sandwich (and chili, too!), and getting ideas for storage solutions at IKEA. (Yes, my life really is that superficial right now that those were the highlights.)

In Cafe-related news, I'm so sorry to hear your news about your friends, fwmom. That's incredibly sad.

*respectful pause*

As for your question about a bigger-capacity TiVo, fw, I've had similar thoughts recently, since I also just bought the same 40MB version that you have -- but I've decided that I'm going to keep it, and then augment it with a recordable DVD deck in a couple years after a) the electronics industry finally reaches a consensus about the next-generation DVD format, and b) the prices on such devices come down more.

Speaking of electronic devices (oh, no -- not that kind, ajra! Get your mind out of the gutter! ;), my brother's home theater system? Un. F*cking. Believable. Five MartinLogan electro$tatic $peaker$ (!!!!!) -- yup, two of their medium-size towers for surround channels! -- and absolutely primo deluxo electronics for the amp, DVD player, etc. (And a lovely Sony WEGA TV, too.) We watched the extended version of The Two Towers, and for the entire duration, I just could not believe how good it sounded, and how beautiful it looked. And I thought my setup at the Tate Estate was nice. Sheesh!

In still other Cafe-related business, to move or not to move, eh, Doctor Funk? Hard to say -- I can see all kinds of pluses or minuses either way. But I guess what it would come down to for me is that if things didn't work out, I could always move back -- so since you're askin', I'd say go for it, bay-bee! And please do keep us updated -- many of us here (oh, wait -- only me? Okay, then.) are living our dreams vicariously through you! (Also? I cut 'n' pasted what you said about depression, because it was really poignant. So... thanks!)

BTW, I've never seen Footloose, and I don't really have any desire to. (Although I'm not actively avoiding ever seeing it, as is the case with Beaches. :) Speaking of fillums, my fave of this past year -- the tragically undermarketed, underseen, eentsy-teentsy indie Raising Victor Vargas -- made New York Times critic Elvis Mitchell's Top Ten of 2003 list. Woo-hoo! [*insert umpteenth reminder to fellow Cafe patrons to please, please go rent Raising Victor Vargas here*]

*waves to gaia, a fellow Vargas aficianado, in Gay Paree*
*waves to our very own globetrotting rachem, too, just for fun*

Well, I could go on about movies and home entertainment gear and sexual identity crises all day, but for now, it's good to be back, hope to see y'all here in (what I sincerely hope for all of us is a very healthy, happy) 2004, and...

*pulls cord*
*banner unfurls from ceiling that says...*

*´¯`·.¸.· HAPPY NEW YEAR to the CAFÉ MEMENTO! ·.¸.·´¯`*

Weeeeeeeee! A LarryTate post!! Yea!! Welcome back! And I am going straight to Netflix next to not only add Raising Victor Vargas, but make sure I bump it up to the next in line!

Forgot to mention before, MCG, a trip to Paris for your birthday?? Niiiiice!!! Way to go MrMCB!

Also, fwmom your early anniversary present sounds very pretty! Any links to a picture of them? They sound really cool!

Just have to post this picture of the ArtisticNephew, we was working his little heart out decorating cookies to leave out for Santa (he had to do that at our house since his bitch mom didn't bake any!!!). I wish this picture showed the detail in the cookies better, he totally rocks at icing cookies! When I asked him if he was going to be a chef when he was older (we had to make pastry bags out of ziplocs for him so he could properly ice the cookies! He is indeed related to Mrfan, that's for sure!). His answer was:

"No, I am going to be an artist. I will use my artistic techniques when I am chefing though."

I? About died! It was all I could do not to crack up! Bless his heart! Feel free to browse the other Christmas pictures I posted (mostly of our house and one of Mrfan, who really wasn't scared shitless like he appears to be in the picture!)

Happy New Year, again!

Happy New Year everyone! After being offline while on a trip to Philadelphia for work, it took me forever to catch up!

Six degrees -- Well, I had a barbecue at my house for a musician, Tom Russell, whose song "Heart of a working man" was played by the radio in the car that was pulled underground by the worm in Tremors, so it's me, to Tom, to Tom's publicist/record label, to the music director of Tremors, to Kevin. So that makes me ....... 5 degrees!

So, you think I want to be that transparent in a public forum like this, about stuff that intimate?

You promised you wouldn't tell our love secrets. LT. I'm crushed.

*retires to back room with the Bartender and a bottle of tequila to ring in the new year*

*sneaks into backroom with saltshaker and olive oil*

Happy New Year all!

*goes back into too-little-sleep-induced stupor*

I went to high school with Lisa Ling, who used to be a host on "The View". She has interviewed Mr. Bacon, the waiter, the busboy, and the dance instructor. I once interviewed for a job in television against her, if I want to get really depressed I can think of the path I could have had if I had gotten that job.

Happy New Year to All. I think I'll just watch Clash of the Titans. It's snowing now and the girls and I already did the fireworks show, which was over at 6:30. I think I'm just ready for this year to be over.

My uncle (who's the same age as me) dated Arthur Hiller's daughter all through college. He directed Love Story, which featured Tommy Lee Jones (so new to the business that he was billed as Tom Lee Jones), who was in JFK with Kevin Bacon.

Happy New Year everyone!

ETA: Thanks, Miss CB - you're sweet!

*briefly sticks head out of backroom*

Oh yeah, how could I forget? Miss Chanandeler Bong, your surprise trip to Paris has to be one of the most wonderfullest birthday gifts evah! WOOT! And Happy Belated B-Day to you and Natchou!

*disappears back into backroom*
*pops right back out again*

Oh, and thanks for queuing up Raising Victor Vargas, faninohio! And JuliaMac? I added Melvin Goes to Dinner to my Netflix queue -- thanks for the tip!

*disappears back into backroom*
*pops right back out again*

Also? Love the dazzling 'dos, dazzie (you fabulous freshly minted driver, you!) and goldberry! And big bear SGUH to you, Hunter, just because!

*disappears again into backroom to rejoin New Year's "festivities"*

Ah, memories! Two movies I remember vividly going to the theater and watching from the balcony with my cool Aunt were Love Story and Hello, Dolly!! Both still faves of mine today!

Happy January 1st everyone!

*stumbles out of backroom*
[panting] water, please [/panting]
*reaches into backroom*
*pulls something*
Oops! Wrong something!
*pulls something else*
*banner unfurls*

*´¯`·.¸.· HAPPY NEW YEAR to the CAFÉ MEMENTO! ·.¸.·´¯`*

*returns to backroom with a glass of water, a bucket of ice, and a naughty grin*

Mr. LT if you keep popping in and out of the backroom like that we may just have to ban you. *just kidding dear*.

So here's my official "Happy New Year" to all cafe patrons, their families, friends and even mere aquaintances. I wish you all health, happiness and general goodwill for 2004 and beyond.

I need to go do some laundry and attempt to pack but the SuperProcrastinator in me is keeping my butt firmly planted in the chair...good thing I didn't resolve to quit procrastinating this year.

RE: 6 Degrees-
I saw Burt Reynolds from my office window when he was filming "Cop and a Half" here in Tampa. Burt was in "Striptease" with Demi Moore, who was in "A Few Good Men" with Kevin Bacon.

Or: Way back when I was addicted to "General Hospital" I met Tristan Rogers (Robert Scorpio), who was on "GH" with Demi Moore, etc etc.

A big New Year GUH to all cafe patrons and staff (waiter, you get a tongue bath as well). Have a happy and healthy 2004 !

Those little white Sudafed tablets? Fucking own. Way to ring in the new year with a head cold, but I took one of them half an hour ago and I can breathe clearly through my nose. Right now, I am ::heart::ing that stuff about as much as I ::heart:: the normal things, like ice cream.

One of my dad's friends/acquaintances/whatever walked out of an elevator in "Top Gun" right before Tom Cruise and whoever else walked into it. I guess that still leaves me 4 degrees away, just like the other path.

Here's a site for Bacon-numbering once you get the name of someone who's actually credited on IMDB. They have either some fancy computer program, or a fast-typing Bruin clone, to figure out the degrees for you.

*staggers out of backroom sans apparel but grinning widely*
*dusts off hoary old gag line*

Gosh, I can't believe that I haven't seen y'all since last year!

*throws hoary old gag line back into long-term storage for next time*

Ah yes, dzhim, the Oracle of Bacon -- thanks for the linkage, that makes it easy!

I saw Mena Suvari filming a scene in NYC's Grand Central Station for the movie Loser, which also featured Colleen Camp. Two years later, Colleen Camp appeared in the movie Trapped with Kevin Bacon.

But I'm so much more impressed with the [insert number here] degrees-to-Bacon of peeps like Bruin and mickey, who've actually been captured on celluloid (if not recorded by IMDB.com). That? Is just so cool!

*turns to re-enter backroom, flashing two-part bartender-inspired tattoo spanning buttocks that says "I'll have | another"*
*disappears once again into backroom*

*Reaches the keyboard
100% Sober for the
first and the last time in 2004
takes control of all electricity
flips the switch
all neon signs switch to message
that reads*

*´¯`·.¸.· HAPPY NEW YEAR to the CAFÉ MEMENTO! ·.¸.·´¯`*

*Passes out*

LT and I share 'degrees'....

As a freshman in college, I played in the pit orchestra for a production of Pippin. Sandra Bullock was part of the cast (she was a senior at the time). I met her at the cast party (btw, can you say big hair? I mean, it was the '80's and all but, sheesh, that girl put a dent in the world hairspray supply that night!). Sandra was in Speed 2: Cruise Control with Colleen Camp, who was in Trapped with Kevin Bacon .

Happy New Year!!!!!

OK, I'll play. I worked craft service for Return of the Son of Poor Man's Texas Chainsaw Massacre (or whatever they wound up calling it) with Renee Zellweger. (Yes, indeed, it was I who supplied the GatorAde that fueled Renee's fevered run through the pines.) Renee was in Jerry MaGuire with Tom Cruise, who was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon - plus the waiter.

BTW, I've tried to talk to my brother, Lt. Col. Alamobro USMC Ret., about 24, and he sneers and turns away. Seems he still hasn't forgiven Kief for the dead-on impression he did of the bro in that movie.

And Happy New Year to all Cafe Memento patrons!

MomOfAjra health update - she does not have cancer. She has a condition that, if left untreated/unchecked, may lead to cancer waaayyy down the road. She'll be on medication for the next 6 months; if all goes well, she will avoid the big C. (If not, she'll need to have a hysterectomy.)

ajra, that's great, great news to begin the New Year with.

Loved the story of fannephew. How old is he? His comments remind me a lot of what the youngest Bong would say. And yay for being the cool Aunt, fan. Also, the Mr. looks quite handsome, and not at all like a deer in headlights!

We've got some hard partying Kafe folks in the back room. Don't forget the night clean up crew comes through around 3:00 a.m. Then, feel free to resume whatever it is that you are doing "_~

I love Kevin Bacon in general. And he was so cute inadvertently playing 6 degrees in the "Will and Grace" episode. I have cousins in "the biz", and two are 2 degrees, one is three.
Cousin #1- was in Farmhouse, The with Keith Reddin
Keith Reddin was in Someone Like You... with Colleen Camp
Colleen Camp was in Trapped with Kevin Bacon

His wife - was in Who's Tommy, the Amazing Journey, The with Phil Collins
Phil Collins was in Balto (1995) with Kevin Bacon

Cousin #2 - was in Recess: School's Out with R. Lee Ermey
R. Lee Ermey was in Murder in the First with Kevin Bacon

I have a vacation day tomorrow. Woo Hoo!

Awesome news, ajra!

I feel so left out. My poor muddled brain can't trace any path from me to Kevin Bacon.

Happy New Year, y'all! Among my resolutions, is one to be more...proactive, I guess is the right word, despite icky corporate connotations. Y'know, be more about living life than just letting it happen. So. I knew DreamLover would be home alone, because, in his words, he doesn't "do the whole New Year's thing." Going out to a party and getting wasted, in other words. So, I show up on his doorstep with a pizza and a bottle of cheap wine, for a more private celebration. Luckily, he was glad to see me and not weirded out.

Question: in the Kevin Bacon game going on here, do you have to actually know someone "in the biz" for your connection to count, or can it be just someone that you have met?

I may not be correct, but we're playing pretty loose and easy with Kevin (!), so play as you will!

OK, well I once met Keanu Reeves (through a friend that was in a theatre class with him). Keanu was in Something's Gotta Give with Jack Nicholson and Jack was in A Few Good Men with Kevin.

Happy New Year everyone.

Yay for ajra's mom's (relatively) clean bill of health! And yay for my comfortable new bed!

*falls fast asleep*

Bonne Annee!!!!!! Bonjour from Paris! Hope everyone had a great New Year! We spent it underneath the Eiffel Tower! Right after midnight we tried to get back to our hotel and ended up running from the riot police and getting tear gassed! And since no one else in my group enjoys champagne I had about half a bottle in my. I was dragging my mom through the mob trying not to fall down and get trampled!

But more on that later! We are off to Notre Dame and the Louvre today.

Au revoir!

Hey, Mystical, you can play: you have a standing KTuesday night date with Kiefer who was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon. :)

Great news, ajra! Here's to a healthy 2004.

Rachem, sounds like you're having a blast, in spite of a little tear gas.

I? Am so tired, in spite of going to bed before 9:30 last night. But made it to work bright and early this morning. Today is the seventh anniversary of my joining this company and my first official work day as a part-time employee. Of course, I work a full eight-hour day today, so I don't know how much it will feel like part-time.

Oh my, rachem!! Glad that while tipsy you are still agile on your feet,hee!

ajra I saw jayne a couple of times in the late 80's here at boxing matches. I think it was here brother that was boxing, but my memory could be wrong on that detail. She still looked beautiful. She has such gorgeous skin and a lovely face.

Thanks for sharing the pic of your nephew fan, how cute was that? And I love your home. It was decorated just right.

My turn to play.... using dzhim's Oracle of Bacon: I went to elementary school with I girl named Shana Rodman, who began filming a movie with Burt Reynolds in the early 80's(she got kicked off the film for doing drugs, she was only about 12 or 13 at the time), Burt Reynolds was in Starting Over with Kevin Bacon.

agra,glad your mom is having this taken care of. My aunt who was to have the gastric bypass, along with other things, week before last had it cancelled. She was already checked into the hospital, my uncle and cousins had taken off work and the Doctor didn't like my aunt's sugar level so he backed out of the surgery. She's really bummed because this is twice in 4 months that he has backed out of the surgery after she was admitted to the hospital. She's not sure when she'll reschedule. The other surgery is she has hernias(sp), notice the plural and she is having a lot of problems with them. I hope she can have it taken care of soon. I'll keep you posted on the EBIV front.

And finally a big WOOT for MCB and Paris~~enjoy your vaction day today, baby woot~~

A couple of months ago I saw Kevin Bacon & his wife Kyra Sedgwick walking down my street & then hail a cab. Does that count?

I woke up New Year's Day with a cold brewing. I'm not pleased with this turn of events.

I second that emotion! Good morning, LT!


OK, Ew! I don't want to play anymore. I don't like him that much.

penny - I knew it. I didn't want to tell you but, sweetie, you can't do anything halfway.

That's sounds way kool...

Yay for ajra's mom. What a great way to start the new year!

big cheesy grin
Like my pretty white teeth? Yay! The second round of the SmileBrite worked! Pretty! Now to suffer through 24 hours with no diet coke! Oh, my. That? Will be the hardest thing in the world.

Ish & MCB,thanks for the compliments on the house, nephewfan and Mrfan. He's no Kiefer, but I'll keep him! nephewfan is 9 years old. He so kills me! That kid has the best sense of humor!

Woo to the hoo on the news about Momofajra! Awesome and happy new year to you all!!!!

Teargassed? Man, rachem, your family knows how to Par. Tay. girl!! Glad you all are enjoying the trip! Be safe!

You go, MysitcalGirl! Glad DL was up (!) for the pizza and cheap wine!

Ish, sorry to hear that your Aunt's surgery was cancelled again. Bummer. Hope things work out soon.

Hey, rara, wasn't it your roommate that was getting the bypass surgery done as well? How did it go?

ETA: Anyone watching Line of Fire? Bride is a total porch monkey horn dog slut in this show! Weeeeeeeeeeeee! She kicks ass too!

Way to go, Mystical! That took some guts. I glad he was up for it too. Meanwhile, when are we going to get a GabeBabe update? Teething? Walking? Raising Hell?

MysteryDate will be back in town tonight, which means I should be cooking that dinner tomorrow night. Christmas Eve, Ash showed the recipe to my mom, then both of them joked that I was probably cooking that strange combination of flavors to get out of cooking for him ever again. Mom's boyfriend, however, thought the recipe sounded interesting and wondered what type of wine one would drink with it. Mom suggested I make something more common, like Beef Burgundy; Boyfriend favors variety and adventure. (I know she's not looking for a husband, but he won my vote in the Who Should Be Ajra's New Daddy? competition.)

*plants "good morning" peck on ajra's cheek*
*shakes hand of MomOfAjra's surprisingly acceptable boyfriend*
*shields eyes from glare off of fan's teeth*
*hands festive, albeit curiously phallic-shaped "happy work anniversary/congrats on going part-time" balloon to penny*
*sends healthy SEBIV to iME and AuntOfIsh*
*bursts into applause over news of rachem's wild tear-gassed, bubbly-fueled romp across Gay Paree*
*invites just-rolled-out-of-bed bartender over to new Tate Estate to meet hunky new next-door neighbor WelcomeMatt*
*lobbies hard to be creamy white center of double-Matt manwich*
[remainder of this post CENSORED due to NC-17 rating]

Happy Belated New Year's, everyone!!!!! (((Cafe)))

Oh, can I join in the 6 Degrees madness? I LOVE this game to no avail, me and my best friend in high school used to play it on the bus coming home from school (luckily for us, it was a long bus ride).

I wrote and directed a play starring my friend Dwight Armstrong.
Dwight had a tiny role in Dude, Where's My Car? starring Jennifer Garner.
Jennifer Garner was in Catch Me If You Can with Christopher Walken.
Christopher Walken was in At Close Range with Sean Penn.
Sean Penn was in Mystic River with Kevin Bacon.

Woot! 5 degrees there! Which is about how cold it is over here (not really, it's more in the high 40's, but still... really cold).

*tippie-toes into Kafe*
*takes good look around empty, familiar space*
*heaves sigh of relief that things don't look too different*
*heaves second sigh of relief that she's home!*

Well, home at least to the Kafé! I've missed you guys! It's taken me a couple of days to catch up, so I'll just pick up from here. Know that I've been wooting and sebiving and sguhing everyone concerned as I've been reading the posts, but here's one that I must give in person:

(((((((((((HunterSweetheart)))))))))))). I don't find your posts boring or offensive or anything of the sort. Please know that we're here for you.

So we got back to this lovely 70-80 degree weather yesterday, and are, at least temporarily, glad we're missing the storms out west. Some highlights of our trip:

* Oohing and aahing at fireworks display over Central Park at midnight on New Year's Day (thanks for the rec from long ago, iME!)
* Joining the standing ovation for Bernadette Peters in Gypsy
* Having front grand tier seats at the Met
* Cooking the perfect turkey, crispy on the outside and juicily tender on the inside, thanks to Alton Brown's Bon Appetit recipe and a probe thermometer
* getting my first PDA -- a Palm!
* Bonding with my parents, especially my Daddy, seemingly for the first time, such that I was in tears (again for the first time) when we said goodbye. My wonderful Mr C has really embraced my parents and made himself truly a part of our family, and I love him so much for that. I think some of the bonding has come from my parents -- especially my dad, against whom I warred for years -- mellowing due to age, and myself recognizing -- perhaps for the first time again -- that they're aging. And that makes me sad. I sometimes cringed at some of the money we spent on my parents on this trip, but reminded myself that we may not have that many of these moments together again, so the special meals, the shows, the nice hotel rooms -- all these weren't wasted at all.

There were some tough moments, family-related; a continuation of some strains from the summer; it looks like things won't be resolved for a while. Sometimes I guess you have to let a strained close relationship stand the way it is until perhaps circumstances change, or something. Suffice to say what needs to be said has been said and there's not much I can do, at least from what I can tell, although it troubles me greatly from time to time.

Anyway, I've got Mr C all to myself for the next two weeks and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it, since I've had to focus on family (this was the first time my immediate family's spent Christmas together in four years) for the last two. It's taken me two days to begin regaining a semblance of normal life; I think things will be back to normal by tomorrow, which will be great. And so, I'm baaaaaaack!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Mine is starting off with a karmic play of Good News/Bad News :-) / :-(
We decided to install Direct TV. The picture is beautiful (that's the good news), but I haven't been able to program the channels on the VCR (sigh...the bad news). If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd be ever so grateful. (/Scarlett O'Hara voice)

Cherubino! Gosh, I was just thinking it had been such a long time since we had seen you! Sounds like the holidays were somewhat better than you anticipated! That is always a good thing! Glad you have fun! Enjoy the next two weeks with MrC, may they be the longest two weeks ever!

Word of warning...power whitening of the teeth will hurt like a mother fu..beeep..er, for about 9 long hours! Not. enough. advil. in. the. world. Eep! Thankfully sleep finally came, and today? Totally worth it all!

Guess I should stop being a slug and get to work on straightening this place up! Ugh. Any helpers out there?

**crickets**

Damn ! How am I supposed to live vicariously through other peoples sex lives if I don't get to hear the details?


Cherubino, Welcome back- you have e-mail.

Allgeetoo, Welcome- I don't recall seeing you at the cafe before. Can't help you with the directTV, I'm still on cable.

fan, I hope your mouth feels better. I had no idea that procedure was painful.

For the fifth year in a row, I've managed to survive Christmas with my reward being a raging case of the yucks. I have gotten a minimum of 10 hours sleep a night since December 24, and last night I went to bed at 6 p.m., and got up at 8 this morning. Thank Bob for Advil Liquid Gels.

Six degrees: I've met her at a fund-raiser or two, and you can't swing a cat in this town without hitting someone who was "good friends" with Courtney Cox (also, her part-time job in high school was in the building where my store is now). "CeCe" was in Scream II with Luke Wilson, who was in My Dog Skip with Kevin Bacon.

I'm so glad to Cherub had a great time. Now, has anyone seen MarchGirl lately?

I would type more, but I have to rest now. How sad is this?

Feel better SEBIV, JuliaMac

Haven't seen Marchgirl- was thinking about her myself.

Feel better, JuliaMac. That sucks snake scrotum. Mr C himself is coming down with the fever and whatnot, sigh.

Got your mail, amelia -- will write back soon!

Yay for Cher's great vacation. And wishes for a great two weeks with Mr. C.

I definitely feel your pain, fan. Teeth whitening just about made me cry from the horrible, horrible pain.

I do actually link to Kevin Bacon a bit myself: my parents' best friend is the half brother of writer/producer Barbara Hall who wrote/produced Moonlighting with Bruce Willis who was in Striking Distance with Sarah Jessica Parker who was in Footloose with Kevin Bacon.

Oh! I just thought of a "degree" thingy for myself! I was totally feeling left out too! Ok, it might be a stretch, but here goes:

I am friends with a girl who went to a couple of college classes (can't remember if it was College of Mount St. Joseph or Xavier University) with George Clooney and he starred in Ocean's Eleven with SWWBN (hope that's right) who starred in Flatliner's with the waiter and Kevin Bacon!

Thanks, amelia & kschica! I was about to cry myself at some point last night. Thank goodness it finally stopped and all is fine now! And? Bring. On. The. Diet. Coke. Please! I am having major withdrawls!

Greetings all my little sweet potatoes of lub!

Back from vaca and spent the past two nights trying to catch up on all the BBs. All I can say is JUST. STOP. TYPING. PEOPLE. (for at least 5 minutes - crimoninny!)

Hunter baby ((((many sguh!)))) Having petted the kitty (thanks Dr. Funk!) over the course of my 40+ years, I empathize. And I do agree that it will get better. It may not be the clouds parting and angels descending, but it does happen. At one point I kept something of a gratitude journal, but it was more along the lines of "5 good things that happened to me today". Some days it might have only consisted of "a hot shower", "petting my (real-life) kitty", "not having a run in my pantyhose", "finding a dried up french fry between my car seat and console" (I had some black black days girlio!). And since you mentioned your faith, may I add (all agnostics and atheists can skip to the next paragraph) God has NOT abandoned you. There were many many times where I thought I was too far gone for Him to hear me. But He did. And all I can offer at this point is the confidence that you will look back on this days and recognize how He was with you the entire time.

LT? You are a PA child too? Get the fuck outta here [/AxelFoleyvoice]I just came back from the Hazleton/Bloomsburg/State College New Year's Rocking Tour (aka - "You can't hit a moving target"). Paid homage to the coal slag heaps, Berrigans subs, and JoPa's statue at Beaver Stadium.

I have 3 degrees of KB - My friend Karen and her husband rode down an elevator with KB in Boston. Of course, she is a total fan so she kept looking at him out of the corner of her eye. Finally she couldn't stand it any longer and asked him. Seems he was in town playing with his band.

Fan? I do a little dream interpretation (hey, I'm fun at parties) Tornadoes are a violent storms and may represent violent emotional storms in your dreams. If you have reoccurring tornado dreams consider the emotional changes in your life and also the amount of anger and rage that you may be currently experiencing. Tornadoes could also represent disruptions and upsets in you immediate environment and specific or current issues that may be overwhelming.

And a vaca highlight? Singing a duet with my sister to Prince's "Let's Go Crazy". Price of CD? - 11.99. Totally embarrassing my 15 year old niece in the music store? - Priceless.

In homage to the 80's theatrical musical (Footloose/Xanadu/etc.) I bring you
the opening to PURPLE RAIN !
Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today
2 get through this thing called life

ETA-bought me some punctuation!

Thank you for the greeting amelia41! My greed for more, MORE channels is what got me into this pickle. This is only my second post at the Cafe, although I've lurked for quite some time and have posted on the epi threads. But it wasn't hard to figure out where to seek help - some of the smartest folks in the world are TWoPpers! If there's a solution, a TWoPper will find it :-)

Just cracked open a bag of Creme Savers, and I was wondering - has anyone done any research into whether the flavor is divided along with the color swirls (i.e. does the orange part taste orangey and the white part creamy) or is it all just one unified flavor and the color swirls are merely for aesthetic purposes? The cynic inside me says it's probably the latter, but the tongue inside me really can't tell.

Love my DirecTV. After fighting with the Cable Co for years, we have been ever so happy with it. The dreaded "storm effect" rarely lasts more than a couple of minutes, where my cable would go out when it stormed, and I'd have to wait until the repairman could get out. We finally switched after they gave us an appointment two weeks after the digital channels went out, then they missed the appointment and couldn't reschedule for another two weeks. We told them to cancel and went to Radio Shack Hi Micky! and got the satellite stuff. The tech was out the next day and we've had no problems since. Ever.

Except for the VCR thing. The only way we can record stuff is to set the VCR timer, put it on Channel 3, and hope that we remember to leave the satellite box on the right channel. Fortunately, we have two boxes and two VCRs, so we can set the one in the basement and not mess up our TV watching upstairs. Never have figured out any other way to do it.


Ouch ouch ouch! I got the "Guitar for Dummies" book for Christmas, and picked up my old 6-string for the first time in a year. Now I can't type any more. Must go put stinging fingertips on ice! Razzin frazzin calluses. Why have you forsaken me?

*smiles at and waves to sweet, supacool Hunter*
*looks around, sees new and blast-from-the-recent-past faces*
*pulls cord #1*
*banner unfurls from ceiling that says…*

*´¯`·.¸.· WELCOME to the CAFÉ MEMENTO, Allgeetoo! ·.¸.·´¯`*

I just got hooked up with DirecTV myself about a month ago, Allgee (and? ah... loveitahloveitahloveitahloveitahloveit!), but I got the TiVo version so I wouldn’t have to deal with recording on a VCR anymore. So sorry, I don’t think I can be of any help...

*pulls cord #2*
*banner unfurls from ceiling that says…*

*´¯`·.¸.· WELCOME BACK to the CAFÉ MEMENTO, Cherubino and JuliaMac! ·.¸.·´¯`*

Hope you have a fantabulous time with MrC o’er the next two weeks, Cherub, and hope you’re back to 100% really soon, JM!


Did anyone else here actually see Striking Distance? Holy cheeseball, Batman -- what a flaming piece of crap. (Thank goodness I saw it on cable, instead of paying to see it in a theater.) It's one of those movies that's so bad, it's actually quite a hoot as an unintentional comedy. And to think it was shot in the ‘Burgh, where I’m from…

Yup, Cattycorner, I’m from the Keystone State -- my family moved there from the Midwest when I was 11, and my parents still live there. And while I didn’t go to school at PSU, I do love the bee-yoo-tee-full (and hip!) State College area.


I don’t know what’s sadder, Amelia -- that the only sex life I have is the pretend one I have with the bartender, or that you’re trying to live vicariously through it! ;-)

So by the time I got to the box office this morning that was selling advance tickets to individual screenings of this year's Sundance films (yup, it's that time again!), they'd already run out of their special locals-only allotment. (Apparently, people camp out overnight to get a good place in the line. Did I? No effing way -- not with a low temperature of around 20 degrees [Fahrenheit] last night!) So I'll have to wait till they go on sale to everybody, nationwide, this Tuesday -- which should be fine, actually. I mean, even if I'd gotten in line in the middle of the night, my chances of getting into any of the hot-ticket screenings where some of the filmmakers may appear for a Q-and-A session afterwards would've been pretty low, since most of the seats in those screenings are already taken by people with comprehensive pa$$e$.

Instead, I'll do what I did last year -- go to mostly Salt Lake City-based screenings, which show almost everything I'm interested in seeing anyway (and are easier to drive to after work on weeknights than the half-hour [in perfect, dry weather, that is] drive to Park City [and let's not get into the matter of finding parking in Park City during the festival, shall we?]), and try to get tickets to as many of the encore screenings in Park City on the festival's last day, when they have one showing of each of the award-winners in various categories. You don't know what movie you'll end up seeing when you buy such tickets, of course, since the awards are decided on during the festival's closing days (and it's because you don't know for sure what the movie will be that there are usually tickets to these screenings available!), but a) you know that whatever you'll be seeing will almost certainly be worth checking out, and b) it's quite possible you'll be seeing stuff that you weren't able to get a ticket to otherwise, since they're usually films that generate a lot of buzz and sell out quickly. (Last year, which was my first year at Sundance, I saw the following four award winners that way on the last day: thirteen [Dramatic Directing Award], Capturing the Friedmans [Documentary Grand Prize], My Flesh and Blood [Documentary Audience Award], and The Station Agent [Dramatic Audience Award].)

So, yay, Sundance is soon! It's by far my favorite thing about living in Utah. (In fact, it may be the only thing I genuinely like about living in Utah.)

*resumes residual unpacking*

Woot for the impending arrival of Sundance!! And for "residual" unpacking -- which can only mean that LT is closer to being all unpacked!

Welcome, allgeetoo!

For a relaxing time which will put a smile on your face, go see Calendar Girls. It's no huge award-winner (although the acting certainly was top-notch), but it's good fun.