emmascully

I'm thinking of getting this http://www.guitarcenter.com/Casio-CDP-100-88-Note-Weighted-Hammer-Action-Digital-Piano-103871034-i1168551.gc because I've been wanting to try and remember my piano lessons from high school. I used to be able to read music and play songs of moderate difficulty and I've forgotten it all. I even forgot most chords. :(

My necessary features: under $500, 88 normally-sized weighted keys, sustain pedal, relatively portable. Is this a good buy? I don't need something super fancy, I just want to practice. I'd like it to feel and sound as much like a real piano as possible.

Also, any other accessories I should get with it?

thanks!

yes, yes i do.

"She is in the place where all cats go. A subdivision of heaven called Whiskerville, where the rivers flow with milk, and the trees are filled with tuna... it is our curse as human beings to outlive our beloved feline friends. We must say goodbye, feel sad, and finally, get another kitty - a different kitty to love and pet and clean up after. It is the Cycle of Kitties. " - Mitch Hedberg, Home Movies

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/16/60minutes/main4607893.shtml

this was so great... good serious thoughtful discussion about the issues, of course, but i was mostly impressed with just how cool and normal they are. clearly they love each other, they can tease each other just a little bit the whole time holding hands. its so cute. by the end of the interview i had a HUGE smile on my face. i am so excited for january 20th.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/repo/


shit this looks awesome.

congrats to the guys for getting on the gossip girl soundtrack (http://www.omfgg.com) with the most adorable song to ever be created, "Breakfast in NYC." i have a sneaking suspicion that future shows will be attended by our usual crowd and then 50 or so screaming college girls with giant purses. i dunno, i could be wrong. regardless, *ka-ching*!!!!

oh, and can someone tell the OMFGG people they need some help from yours truly to design their brightcove players? UGH.

i completely agree with obama, that in a campaign people's families should be OFF LIMITS. He is right to state this so clearly and forcefully, he looked both tough and compassionate in one swiftly-spoken sentence. good for him.

I also believe that it's totally unfair to say that Palin may be "neglecting" her family responsibilities for her job. modern women do juggle a lot of responsibilities, its true, but modern men are more involved and some even stay at home while their wives work. it is not the 50s, couples share the responsibility, and no one should ever question a mother's devotion to her family. that's just fucked up.

i do, however, believe the media is TOTALLY RIGHT to make a stink of the fact that Palin supports abstinence-only sex education. Families should be off-limits in politics and in government, but when you start trying to enforce your own "family values" on others, you make it a public issue. its a proven fact that kids brought up under this myopic view of sex are more likely to have unprotected sex and have unwanted babies, and those brought up with a full, healthy knowledge and respect of the complexities of sex are more likely to handle it more responsibly. let this be a testament to the fact that if a woman as "tough" as Palin can't impart the wisdom of good decision-making to her teenager, that the teaching method itself is flawed.

MSNBC has some of the strongest characters and biggest egos in cable news, and normally they are kept mostly separate by letting them host their own shows sometimes 12 hours apart. But as election season continues, these egos are forced to share more and more air time like unwieldy children sharing a bedroom. Things are bound to get a little crazy. I love it.






"Jesus Joe, why don't you get a shovel?"

i made the mistake of watching "john hagee today:" this morning's episode titled "Vote the Bible, Part 1." You probably remember him as the right-wing loon who said god sent katrina and made some news when he endorsed mccain. I just finished a book written by Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi where he joins Hagee's church in Texas (puking up his demons in the process), and I suppose when I saw Hagee's name on the tv guide my curiosity got the better of me. Oh man, i have new respect for matt, sitting in that church week after week, biting his tongue to keep from screaming out in frustration.

okay. so let me enlighten you a bit. Hagee opens, "in this coming election, the future of the USA is hanging in the balance... it is not dramatic to say america is definitely at the crossroads... the answer is, vote the bible's position on political issues, then america can regain its balance... god is very very clear on his positions... very clear about abortion, very clear about defense of isreal, very clear about immigration issues... if all 50 million bible-believing christians go to the polls and vote the bible, we will never have a pro-abortion candidate as a senator, a congressman, and never in the white house." (thunderous applause)

anyway, imagine 30 minutes of that. i've sat through a lot of church sermons in my lifetime, and always found something meaningful to get out of even the preachiest of them, but this man did nothing but speak in lies and extremes. every sentence was designed to make his congregation of tens of thousands very afraid of turning america over to the "secular progressives, secular humanists" and that god will be ashamed of his people if they don't do his work on earth. meanwhile, i'm scared shitless of these cogs voting en masse and electing another numbnut like George Bush. maybe reasonable people will have the slight edge this election, but what about the next? and the next? these people are PROCREATING! soon their army will not be out-voted. frightening.

rant over. thanks for listening.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/17209686/detail.html

so, this is interesting. I'm torn. as any good east coast liberal, I recognize that the tax on income is the most fair way for the state to make the money it needs to provide us with the services we are accustomed to. sales tax, which is usually higher in states without income tax, puts more of the burden on the poor who need to spend a disproportionate amount of their income as compared to the rich. and with this state so deeply in debt already, can we really siphon more money out of the system without noticeable consequences? i think, particularly in a state where the roads and bridges are crumbling, its hard for taxpayers to feel like our money is being well-spent.

selfishly though, I'm frugal (ok ok I'm a cheapass) and I like to make and save money rather than spend it, so more sales tax and less income tax favors my lifestyle. plus, in tax season, its damn frustrating to think you're done with your taxes (as I would be if I were still in florida) only to realize, shit, i still have 5 more forms to fill out to cough up another 2 grand. particularly because i'm getting kicked out of my health insurance plan for making too much, i'd really like that money to help offset the cost of state-mandated regularly(overly)-priced premiums.

actually, that brings up another interesting issue. if MA residents don't have to pay income tax, what will they use to penalize those without health insurance? fines maybe? but how would it even be policed if there's no tax forms to fill out? random checks on the sidewalk? "excuse me maam, may I see your proof of insurance?" but i digress.

so, the question is... state-funded programs for the hope of a better society, or "live free or die?"

I say, fuck it and bring on the casinos, bitches! "Massachusetts: the only place where you can gamble AND be gay!" shit, i better trademark that now.

http://www.smallgovernmentact.org

last night when i went to go to see Pineapple Express (so cute btw) i discovered that my car had been hit. three long white scratches along the driver's side and a dent near the rear wheel well. then, when i got back home, i noticed the car behind me had their driver's side headlight smashed, and the glass from it was all over the pavement. so, clearly this happened right outside my window!

today i noticed my building manager, Brian, and the owner of the other car outside chatting, so i put on pants and went out to see what was going on. then, to my amazement, a guy from upstairs came down and said he saw the whole thing. it was the truck of the guy who's been working on our floors! he banged into all our cars like a complete moron and didn't so much as leave a note. anyway, now brian is going to "take care of it" he says, hopefully this involves a big chunk of money and an ass-kicking.

* UPDATE   i talked to the hit-and-runner.  he said a guy he works with, a "student," left the truck in neutral and it rolled into our cars. nice.  i asked, "why didn't you leave a note or something?"  he said, "I didn't know what to do! i waited for 2 hours and no one was there, i didn't know what to do."  sure.  oh well, hes coming to give his insurance info and such so now vedah's gonna get some lovin.  i'm so glad the guy from #4 saw it happen!


 

for the last couple days i've been having a HUGE problem with my cell phone. I get text messages 10 minutes, 30 minutes, sometimes a full hour after they were sent. because of this i've left a couple friends in the lurch, which i feel horribly about.

anyway, if you want to reach me, until further notice, CALL ME! that way you will know if it's getting through. I know its pretty annoying but otherwise you may never see me again :(

http://www.nbcolympics.com/blogs/blog=beachvolleyballblog/postid=206585.html

HA! IN UR FACE, BIG BULLIES! ;)

This fan video is pretty damn amazing. Inspiration for our next x-files marathon maybe? ;)

another new series to be excited for: http://www.fox.com/fringe/

set in BOSTON!! (but not filmed here. whatever.)

"The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25837562#25835684

over 200,000 people came to see him speak. amazing!

OMG YAY!

http://video.scifi.com/player/?id=277985

have you guys seen the cover of the new yorker? it's a satirical cartoon depicting obama as a muslim, fist-bumping a militant afro-haired michelle who's toting an ak47, with an american flag burning under a portrait of bin laden. SCARY! THE OBAMAs CAN'T BE TRUSTED!!! the cartoon has been talked about all day today, many people thinking it went too far (including the obama campaign) or even going so far to call it "revolting."

usually my mom and i agree on matters of politics... but this is a rare occasion where we differ. she's a smart woman but even she doesn't quite "get it," and thinks there was some mean intent behind it. she also thinks they went too far because too many people out there (almost 30% in one poll) think obama actually is muslim, and this image will be used literally by people against him.

i agree it will probably be used against him, but i think that 1) if artists took into account whether people would "get it" they'd never take any risks or create anything thought-provoking and 2) we need to shine a bright-ass light on the absurdity of the accusations against obama's character, and maybe something extreme like this will do it.

and, on a similar topic, take a look at banner ads on the bostonherald.com, which direct to this donation page. WTF McCain!? it's no wonder ignorant people are dubious of obama's character, when images of him side-by-side with bin laden (EDIT: energetic typing error here, meant ahmadinejad. thanks judi for spelling his name out for me!) are splattered all over their news!!!! if john mccain himself is putting this crap out there, we could be looking at another GOP campaign based on fear. i guess its been working for them, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

anyway, what do you think?

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07012008/news/nationalnews/dont_you_toy_with_us__117947.htm

DEVO are kinda jerks.

p.s.  CUTE TOY!!!   too bad about the american idol logo.