P. Diddy's Party Penguins

Thanks to Emmy for this daily tidbit of wonderment... I bet P. Diddy is pretty petrified at his penguin performance pissing off the PETA people. Poor Penguins.

Daily Hip-Hop News:
P. Diddy Peeves PETA Over Petrified Penguins
Thursday - February 24, 2005
by Carl Chery

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is upset with Sean "P. Diddy" Combs for recently hosting a South Beach party featuring live penguins as entertainment.

According to PETA, six penguins were put on a Plexiglas platform floating in a pool during the opening of South Beach's Hotel Victor last Friday. Partygoers told the New York Post's Page Six that the penguins grouped together in the corner of the platform in fear of slipping into the pool.

"The penguins were obviously bothered by the crowd and the loud music," an attendee told the Post. "They were all huddled into one corner facing away from everything, trying to get out. Many guests stared in shock, and others started yelling, 'Save the penguins!' It was a sad sight and a terrible idea."

According to PETA spokesman Michael McGraw, the use of penguins during hot weather possibly broke cruelty-to-animals laws.

"Penguins live in very cold climates, so the heat was probably unbearable for them. They're very sensitive to temperatures, so if it was as hot as we've heard, it's a wonder they didn't collapse," McGraw explained. "In any case, they were likely terrified. We are now looking into whether having the penguins there broke any cruelty-to-animals laws. We're asking anyone who was at the party to call us with any information."

Though PETA believes Diddy is responsible for the entertainment, Puff's publicist assured that the mogul was only hosting the fiesta and that the penguins weren't his idea.

"He had nothing to do with planning the party and nothing to do with the hotel," Rob Shuter, Combs' publicist revealed.

Diddy has had run-ins with PETA in the past. In 2001, the organization canceled a protest targeting his Sean John clothing line after Puff swore to remove fur from his collection.

"We sent him flowers and a vegan chocolate champagne bottle," McGraw shared. "And the next day, there was fur all over his runway. We were duped. We later named him to PETA's annual worst-dressed list."

Despite PETA's allegations, the Hotel Victor spokesman contends that the penguins were "warm-weather" species from South Africa "trained specifically for entertainment, expositions and television commercials. At the close of the event, the handlers notified us that the penguins were unaffected by the crowd, weather and the noise. We sincerely apologize if anyone was offended by this display."

Paul Rusesabagina

I just bought tickets for Kira and I to go see Paul Rusesabagina speak next Tuesday night! We went and saw "Hotel Rwanda" a few weeks ago, and I thought it was really good. Well, you know, good and horrifying at the same time. Anyway, I just happened across a website two days ago that mentioned he was going to be in Seattle and found out about the tickets and everything. I'm glad that Kira is going too. Maybe we'll have dinner at a good veggie restaurant around here beforehand.

In other news... TGIF. Yesterday I had a meeting with Jennifer at 1:00 and by 2:00 when we were done, I had hit a major wall. I think part of the reason was that she told me that in the room they are walling off in the back of our office, there will be some desks and Shane, Omari & I will be sharing the space (and maybe Jake). I don't know if it's good or bad, I like having a little privacy, but it's work, so it probably doesn't matter much. For some reason though, I felt drained after thinking about it. The only thing that kind of sucks is that there are these giant whiteboards stuck to the walls and for some reason they apparently can't remove them. Which means unless we are willing to stick tape to stuff, we won't be able to hang anything on the walls where those are. Anyhow, I was so tired for the rest of the day.

I left a little early since I got to work early yesterday but we had to babysit Seamus & Lorelai last night. Both of them were really great. Seamus is adorable. He also got his foot stuck in this child sized plastic shopping cart and was sort of dragging it around which was pretty funny. Also, I was holding him on my lap and he started saying 'buh' and waving his hand like he was saying 'bye'! It was crazy. Brooke said he just started doing it like Wednesday. It's kind of his first communicative gesture/word type thing. Exciting! In the meantime, Lorelai still loves Spongebob Squarepants (which I have now grown quite fond of as well...) and is of course, still super cute.

I was in the U District during my lunch hour and had parked and was paying the meter when a guy on a cell phone stopped behind my car. I heard him say to the person on the other end "I'm standing behind this car right now and the license plate says 'Mulder'. It's kind of freaking me out." Then he looked at it for a few more seconds and walked on.

Best News Story of Tuesday...

Best-Dressed Homeless in the World...

Tue Feb 22, 9:00 AM

SEOUL (Reuters) - Some South Korean homeless are dressing in style after the government gave away thousands of fake designer garments confiscated by customs agents.

The Korea Customs Service distributed more than 3,500 fake pieces in the southern city of Pusan this month with the permission of the fashion houses whose designs had been pirated.

A customs official declined to name the designers whose ripped-off creations are now being worn by the homeless but said both they and the state prosecutors had approved giving away the jackets, blouses, shirts and pants.

"We hope this will be of some help to the poor who need practical assistance in such hard times," the official said.

Customs agents removed the labels from the clothes before giving them to a welfare agency for distribution.

South Korea (news - web sites) has a vibrant illegal market in pirated designer clothing and customs officials said there would be more handouts.

"We will continue to look for useful ways to pass along the clothes -- it saves us the cost of destroying what we have confiscated," the Customs Service said in a statement.

One homeless man, who asked not to be identified, said he appreciated the fancy threads.

"I don't care about the quality of the clothes, but these designs are quite trendy," the recipient said.

I Heart Comic Book Movies

I went and saw "Constantine" with Brooke yesterday. I thought it was really good. There were a few things that I felt could have had a little more explanation, but that also makes me want to go and check out the graphic novel, so maybe it's good. I enjoyed the casting of Shia LeBeouf (way to escape Disney & start a career for yourself), Djimon Hounsou & Gavin Rossdale. Sweet! I did not, however, enjoy the casting of Pruitt Taylor Vince as he creeps me out a lot.

I'm also looking forward to "Batman Begins"(June) & "Sin City"(April). "Sin City" looks weird and interesting. Also, UltraViolet w/Milla Jovovich (no release date listed) sounds cool as do Mirrormask (Neil Gaiman) and Fantastic Four (July).

Hey, what the heck?! I just read that they are making a Jurassic Park IV due out in 2006! It also says they are "in talks" with Keira Knightly, but I don't know if I believe that. In any case, I'm sure I'll go see it. I am a sucker for the dinosaurs.

Lance Armstrong is a Machine

Randomly... I was listening to the radio this morning when they mentioned that in the next Tour De France, Lance Armstrong will be going for his SEVENTH straight win. That guy is a machine.

Music is from the street, designed to make you move your feet

Brooke is getting the Duran Duran tickets on Friday! We got a couple of people from book club to come too, it should be a lot of fun.

AND, Maroon 5 tickets for the show in Everett are FINALLY going on sale this Saturday! Yay! I'm excited.

There is Hope

Maybe there is hope for the world yet... My favorite news story of the day.

Woman to be governor in Afghanistan

Feb. 16, 05

President Hamid Karzai is preparing to appoint Afghanistan (news - web sites)'s first female provincial governor, in another step toward reviving women's rights that had been trampled by the hard-line Taliban government.

An all-female short list including former Women's minister Habiba Sarobi has been drawn up for the governorship of central Bamiyan province, presidential spokesman Jawed Ludin said. No decision has been made, he said.

"One of those ladies will be the governor of Bamiyan," Ludin said at a news conference. "If a woman is able to do the job, the law says we can appoint her."

Sarobi said she had discussed the position with Karzai after rejecting his suggestion that she become an Afghan ambassador abroad. "I want to be inside the country at the service of my people," she said.

Millions of women and girls have returned to work and school since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. Equality before the law is embedded in a new constitution, and some women have abandoned the head-to-toe public veiling that was mandatory under the tough Islamist regime. Seats are also reserved for women in the two-chamber parliament to be installed by elections this year.

Conservative custom still confines most rural women to the home. Health services aimed at alleviating high levels of maternal and infant mortality are being extended only slowly. Karzai has named three women to his nearly 30-strong Cabinet.

Sarobi said she had a good chance of gaining acceptance in Bamiyan province. It is inhabited almost exclusively by fellow ethnic Hazaras where women have traditionally been freer to work and gain education. "It wouldn't be possible for me to be governor of provinces in the south, southeast or southwest," she said.

SWEET!

Yes, that's right. Mulder mobile. I drive it every day.

What a weekend!

What a weekend. Fun, Family, the ER.... Friday night we just hung out at home and vegged - watched some TV etc. Nothing big, but it was nice to relax!

Saturday I had stained glass class. This week we learned about foiling. Unfortunately, I can't do much of that since the grinder Brooke & I bought online has not come yet, so we have not been able to grind any more of our pieces. Hopefully it will arrive soon. After I got home, Justin took me to Friedlanders for a Valentine surprise! Yay jewelry! I got a pair of sapphire stud earrings and a gold ring that has a flower made out of sapphires with a diamond center. The only sad part about it is that it has be resized. That's the downside of buying a ring - you're so excited about it, but then you can't keep it! I should have it by the weekend though. Then Mom came down and we went & ate at the Rock Bottom and went and saw "Hitch", which was funnier than I expected. Now I don't dislike Eva Mendes as much as I used to.

Sunday was a big bundle of excitement... okay, not really. I got up and Mom was having trouble breathing. Asthma runs on and off in our family, and she just got over a respiratory infection type illness, so it's been bad for the last few weeks. So we took a nice Sunday jaunt over to the ER. Luckily, I found a group health place near my house, so she only had to pay $23 for the WHOLE THING, including the perscriptions they gave her! How great is that? They were very nice, and assured us that it was good we came in. The whole thing only took about 2 hours, which was also nice. Anyhow, all seems well now. I've never had asthma, but I can imagine how freaky it must be if you feel like you really can't breathe.

Sunday afternoon we went & saw "The Aviator". It was better than I expected, I did not hate Leonardo DiCaprio in it. Also, I didn't know much about Howard Hughes, but he was really kind of crazy. Then we went to Brooke & Dave's and watched part of the Grammys. It was sort of boring. Oh well.

Then this morning I had to go get a filling at the dentist. My mouth just stopped being numb, but now it kind of hurts. Apparently the normal amount of anesthesia is not enough for me, so they had to give me 3 ADDITIONAL shots of it. I freaking hate needles. I have another appointment next month for the other ones I need, so I'm really looking forward to that. This time I was smart and made the appointment at the end of the day so I don't have to come to work and try to answer the phone with a swollen tongue.

TGIF Baby!

Seriously. I'm out early today because I have a doctor apt @ 3. It shouldn't take more than an hour, so that means that I'll have an extra hour of weekend! Isn't that exciting? I'm looking forward to stained glass class tomorrow, we're going to learn how to wrap the foil and maybe how to solder. Yay!

My mom is coming down to visit this weekend, so that should be fun too. The other good news this week is that Melinda is moving back to Washington! She took a job at Microsoft, and I am really excited that she's coming back and I think that Eldan will be a great addition to our fun times & hanging out. I feel a little old saying it, but it's nice to have more "couple friends".

And on another really awesome note, this week I was driving to work when I suddenly realized it was completely light out! No more getting up in the dark and leaving work in the dark! Sweet.

The Safest Corner in Seattle

Last night Brooke & I decided to brave Pioneer Square on Mardi Gras to see Royal Crown Review at the Fenix Underground. We were a little apprehensive until we actually got there and saw the most police I have ever seen in one place at one time. There were cop cars everywhere, cops on bikes, cops in a paddy wagon, cops on horses, cops on motorcycles. Clumps of 5 cops, clumps of 10 cops standing on the street corners & sidewalks. Even a couple of cops wearing beads. I thought maybe we should go to a different part of the city and commit some kind of crime because who would stop us? But we decided to forego a life of crime & just go to the show.

I'd never been to the Fenix before, it was pretty nice. I like that they have a lower dance floor and also have an upstairs with a balcony that you can watch from if you don't want to be right in the middle of the madness. We got there around 10 and the opening band was just starting. They were actually one of the better openers I've seen - I was entertained instead of standing there thinking 'just get off the stage and let the next people on'. Royal Crown Review didn't start until about 11:45 but it was worth the tiredness today. Swing shows are so much fun, and really ! Brooke told me last night that Southern Culture on the Skids is coming back, that will be a fun show if we get to go again.

PS: On another slightly bizarre note, in the last 15 minutes, the Fedex guy and the UPS guy both commented on my new hair color and the UPS guy also commented on my 'cute glasses'. Funny.

La la la Music!

Yesterday I was listening to a new mix CD that I made and a song came on from the new Duran Duran CD and I decided I want to go see them. They're coming to the Everett Events Center on March 9 and Brooke and I are going to go. I think it will be a good concert.

Maroon 5 is also supposed to be coming there on April 30, but I haven't been able to find it on their website (EEC) or find the tickets on sale anywhere I need to find out what's up with that. I would be really bummed if I missed out on them AGAIN.

Tonight Brooke and I are going to try and brave Pioneer Square Mardi Gras to go to the Fenix Underground & see Royal Crown Review. Hopefully it won't be so bad that we can't deal, but I think there will be a lot of drunken people acting like idiots. We'll see. It will be an adventure.

On another musical note (ha ha) the new Gwen Stefani CD just keeps growing and growing on me. I was listening to the song she did with Andre 3000, Long Way to Go, and it's really got a good beat and stuff. The CD is just so varied in the sound of the songs etc. It's definitely bizarre, but I guess that makes it even better. Anyhow, if you have an inkling of like for Gwen and don't have the CD yet, you should get it. Then when you listen to Bubble Pop Electric and really like it, you too can feel weird about liking a really upbeat song about doing it in the backseat.

Hallelujah

The new person who's replacing me at work started this morning! He is very friendly. I think he'll do well with Jennifer, they seem like they'll work well together. I've been training with him. It's funny, because in a way it's harder with a new person than it was when it was just me juggling 2 jobs because now I have to train him & explain everything. I don't really like training one on one. I find it a little bit tedious. Oh well. So hopefully by the end of the week he'll be all set to take things over. I'll still be around to answer questions, so it shouldn't be too bad.

On another note, I feel GOOD today! Not just because I am soooooo glad that I'm not sick anymore, but I have been eating better and Brooke and I have decided on set times we'll go to the gym every week so it just becomes routine. I feel happy and energized about it all.

What the hell???

Okay, what the hell? I mean, really, in a world where people are worried about bad kids and you hardly EVER see kids with great manners who hold doors open for you or BAKE COOKIES FOR THEIR NEIGHBORS. What kind of person sues some poor teenagers who I am thinking probably don't have $900 and now owe their parents big time for being friendly? And what kind of judge says, okay, well, they were out at 10:30 with their cookies so they should pay?? Man. RIDICULOUS!

Colorado Teens Fined for Giving Cookies to Neighbor

Fri Feb 4,10:49 PM ET

DURANGO, Colo. (Reuters) - A Colorado judge ordered two teen-age girls to pay about $900 for the distress a neighbor said they caused by giving her home-made cookies adorned with paper hearts.

The pair were ordered to pay $871.70 plus $39 in court costs after neighbor Wanita Renea Young, 49, filed a lawsuit complaining that the unsolicited cookies, left at her house after the girls knocked on her door, had triggered an anxiety attack that sent her to the hospital the next day.

Taylor Ostergaard, then 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitte, 18, paid the judgment on Thursday after a small claims court ruling by La Plata County Court Judge Doug Walker, a court clerk said on Friday.

The girls baked cookies as a surprise for several of their rural Colorado neighbors on July 31 and dropped off small batches on their porches, accompanied by red or pink paper hearts and the message: "Have a great night."

The Denver Post newspaper reported on Friday that the girls had decided to stay home and bake the cookies rather than go to a dance where there might be cursing and drinking.

It reported that six neighbors wrote letters entered as evidence in the case thanking the girls for the cookies.

But Young said she was frightened because the two had knocked on her door at about 10:30 p.m. and run off after leaving the cookies.

She went to a hospital emergency room the next day, fearing that she had suffered a heart attack, court records said.

The judge awarded Young her medical costs, but did not award punitive damages. He said he did not think the girls had acted maliciously but that 10:30 was fairly late at night for them to be out.

You give me fever

Oh wait, no, that wasn't you. That was an ACTUAL fever. I didn't feel very well yesterday morning and by the end of the day was feeling weird & achy. Well, by the time I got home my temperature was up and I ended up shivering on the couch with a 100.1 fever and trying to sleep while I was trying to decide whether I was hot or cold. I felt better today, but still had a temperature this morning and felt nauseous. I didn't go to work, which I felt bad about considering that means someone else had to cover the front desk all day, but going in wasn't really an option. I'm feeling better now, although something still doesn't feel right. Hopefully by morning I'll be back to normal.

I'm a little stressed out because I feel like I have lots to do - I need to work on my stained glass project before class on Saturday and finish my book club book before book club this Sunday! Wish me luck I'm looking forward to relaxing in between those two events. It sucks having a day off when you're sick because it's really not relaxing at all. I'd rather be at work all day than feel like crap.