king of pop...

So despite the many other news-worthy things going on in the world everyone has decided to focus on Michael Jackson's death. I will be no different. What a surprise...

So of my most fond memories from growing up are from watching MTV with my little brother. Since our mom was always at work TV was our babysitter. I remember being so excited every time MJ had a new music video because they were always so epic. Of course, "Bad" and "Thriller" were amazing, but one not with less acclaim is "Remember The Time." It had some sort of Egyptian setting with tons of celebs.



While he's had tons of #1 hits, I recognize him more as an entertainer than a musician. As a child who loved to dance he inspired me. I probably tried to teach myself the moves in the dance scene starting at around 7 minutes.

And I have to say when I deejay if I'm feeling really desperate I know who to play.

blood phones...

Talk about totally bumming me out. Have you ever seen that movie Blood Diamond? Yuck, as in I'll never wear a diamond again (because I had so many before). Well, now I guess I have to get rid of my cell phone. Since my family, who live across the country, would probably be upset about me being phone-less, I did my part by texting this number/word.

health care...

I've spent the last week trying to take care of my very sick boyfriend. He had a high fever, terrible chills and an awful cough. We've concluded that he has bronchitis, but since he doesn't have health insurance, like many of my friends and myself, he can't go to the doctor to find out if it's something worse. It's frustrating to know that the only time we would take him to the doctor would be if he got way worse and then we'd have to take him to the ER. Like so many people, we'd rather chance him not getting worse so that we don't have to spend the money to figure out what's wrong.

Earlier this week the American Medical Association (AMA) announced that it did not support the president's national health care plan. No matter that the AMA represents merely a third of doctors and half of those are retired. President Obama spoke at their annual convention in Chicago urging them to reconsider. The problem is sometimes the president can't make everyone happy and I think the time has come when he needs to stop being nice.

Bill Mahr said it best in this segment:

Idiot...

When will the crazy lady understand she's only making it worse. Sarah Palin responded to some jokes made by David Letterman with a statement about how they were "pretty pathetic" and "disgusting." Letterman, of course, responded by explaining himself in an eight-minute statement, that included a repeat of most of the jokes. They were just as funny the second time as they were the first. Go away Sarah Palin...

peaches...

So last night I finally got to see Peaches. I had heard back in the day she was kind of boring, but this is most definitely not the case now. She's one of the few musician that has gotten better with fame, especially live. She had at least 5 costume changes and each one was as amazing as the previous. One of my favorite parts was seeing her not only crowd-surf, but also crowd-walk. Her energy was great and her voice sounded even stronger than on record.

I also liked that she worked in her bandmates, so it wasn't just Peaches and then some random people in the background. The badass guitar player had a solo that would make Van Halen jealous and the keyboard player did his best impression of Iggy Pop for the duet "Kick It." She also worked the crowd in by marrying three gay couples, a big middle finger to the California Supreme Court's recent decision to uphold Prop 8.

She played the classic old stuff like "Operate" and "Fuck The Pain Away," but her new stuff was the real highlight of the night. Her new album is much better than her last two, both disappointing record to many. "I Feel Cream" features production from Digitalism, Drums of Death and Soulwax, as well as Peaches herself. Here's the video for her newest single "Lose You," produced by Simian Mobile Disco.

baking...

I've decided to try my hand at baking this summer. So, I went over to Borders and checked out the new Martha Stewart cupcake book. Most of those cupcakes were a little too pro for me, but I found a recipe for peanut butter cookie cupcakes and thought I could handle it. The recipe was pretty simple and the end result was a bit rich, but really good. Kinda like a peanut butter cookie on top of a muffin.

something to do with your $$...

Today I spent most of my afternoon waiting in a Planned Parenthood office. Thankfully, I really have nothing else to do with myself these days and since my visit was free I wasn't about to complain. The reason for my visit was a refill in my bc, but as I looked around I realized how important this company is.

I saw many different types of people with many different backgrounds. Most came alone, but the younger ones had friends (who would NOT shut up). Some looked nervous, others, like me, were obviously veterans and there for a routine visit. The TV was turned up way too loud on some kind of MTV-soap opera show and I had wished that, like so many others, I had brought my ipod instead of the newspaper.

After two hours, I was finally called back. Most everyone is so pleasant there and they make you feel comfortable. After taking my blood pressure and talking to me about abusive relationships (something they apparently have to do to everyone now), I was asked to take a pregnancy test. I knew it would come out negative and was a little annoyed at having to do this, especially when I didn't need to pee. As I turned the corner to the restroom I saw a young girl bawling her eyes out. I was no longer bothered by the small task of peeing in a cup.

So many women (and girls) have been helped by Planned Parenthood and I feel happy to be able to take advantage of the company. Normally, I donate a little money each visit, but this year I had none. So if you have any spare cash (I know most of us don't) please take the time to donate to Planned Parenthood.

Two American heroes...

Over the weekend between work and sleep I read about a couple people who I think deserve to called heroes, one's recent struggles an inspirational story, the other's, no less inspirational, has ended in tragedy.

First, freelance journalist Roxana Saberi. She was in Iran working on a book that would give Iran a more favorable view of the much-criticized nation. She was arrested in January because the Iranian government claimed she had classified documents (which she says was not true) and forced to admit to being an American spy. She later recanted this admission, but was still found guilty of espionage.



Second, Dr. George Tiller. He was a doctor who performed abortions in all trimesters. He survived a previous assassination attempt in the 80s, but instead of giving up he kept on with what he knew was right. Today's Democracy Now had a great hour of coverage on his life and why he did what he did. A quote from his family sums up what a great man he was:

"George dedicated his life to providing women with high-quality health care despite frequent threats and violence. We ask that he be remembered as a good husband, father and grandfather and a dedicated servant on behalf of the rights of women everywhere."