When grown, virile, rugged, manly men cry, it just breaks my heart ...

"The young players were very distraught after the game but they will be better for it... Our fans expect trophies but the fact is we all share in the glory and we all share the disappointments... We played quite well and had plenty of chances but it's about putting the ball in the back of the net and we didn't quite manage it... It's small consolation to say we were the better team, created all the chances and dominated. I am sure the Arsenal players won't be too bothered about that. They've got the winners' medals and cup. We haven't."
-- Roy Keane
"Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid, one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory."
-- Douglas MacArthur

The Prince Consort and I have finally come out of mourning for Manchester United's loss at the FA cup.

Only 70-something days till the start of the Premiership. Woo Hoo...

Posting will recommence...

Stay cool and safe!

CBS, Nobody Cancels God! And ABC and NBC, You Too Can Kiss My Royal Ass ...

"When television is good, nothing is better. When it's bad, nothing is worse."
-- Newton N. Minow
"We forget cruelty and past betrayal, heedless of where the next bright bolt may fall."
-- Robert Graves
"Whoever no longer finds greatness in God no longer finds it anywhere ..."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
"You say that you are my judge; I do not know if you are; but take good heed not to judge me ill, because you would put yourself in great peril."
-- Joan Of Arc

So, what do the following (in no particular order) have in common?

Nothing Sacred
Relativity
Blind Justice
Gideon's Crossing
Sports Night
Freaks and Geeks
Police Squad
American Dreams
Ed
Davis Rules
Brooklyn Bridge
Homefront
Equal Justice
Bridget Loves Bernie
John Doe
Reasonable Doubt
Pretender
Life with Bonnie
Father of the Pride
Bosom Buddies
Forever Knight
Once and Again
Sisters
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
Touching Evil
Class of 96'
The Handler
Now and Again
Pinky and the Brain
Vanishing Son

These were EXCELLENT shows that I was hopelessly devoted to before those television executive bastards cancelled them. Why do I bother to watch network T.V.? I go back every year and give other shows a chance even when that same network had previously cancelled something that they pulled me into. They made me care... Many were cancelled after cliffhangers. I hate them for it. How can they do this? There should be a regulation that a show must be told of cancellation early on, so that they can wrap up the story line. This is so above the top wrong. I am so sick of it. I really hate them for it.

Networks couldn't careless what the critics say ... what the quality of the show is... No. All they care is about demographics. There is no sense of art or intellectual stimulation demanded. Now a days, reality rules and only the 20 somethings matter.

Today, at the unveiling of the new CBS schedule to 200 ad buyers, Les Moonves, head of CBS, who will henceforth be know as the Valet of Satan, pompously patronized viewers of the critically acclaimed show Joan of Arcadia and insulted anyone who is not in the 18-49 year old demographic. When talking about the new shows that are replacing the old, it went something like this:

Beginning this fall, those shows will be replaced by "Threshold," a sci-fi thriller, and "The Ghost Whisperer," a supernatural drama starring former teen queen Jennifer Love Hewitt as a woman who communicates with the spirit world.

"I think talking to ghosts will skew younger than talking to God," Moonves said at a breakfast news conference with reporters Wednesday.

Oh Valet, God hears you and may he painfully bring down his wrath on your head. I hope you rot in Hell.

Later at the breakfast, when talking about the demographics, it went something like this:

As its rival networks have done all week, CBS pulled out all the stops Wednesday, featuring Moonves himself in a film spoof of the Oscar-winning "Million Dollar Baby."

Moonves, whose image was superimposed in scenes from the actual movie, at one point beseeched Clint Eastwood, who played the gritty boxing coach: "I want you to train me to be the 18-to-49 champ."

In the film clip's climax, Moonves entered a ring before a prize fight. As he shadowboxed, a group of gray-haired female fans cheering him at ringside morphed suddenly into attractive 20-somethings. Gloated Moonves: "Look who's the champ now."

Unbelievable. Disgusting. What a prick... I am highly offended. I am not a demographic, I am a free woman. Don't try to pigeon hole me thinking you know what I would watch or like. They said that the demographic for Joan of Arcadia was 59. I'm not 59. Neither are the Prince Consort or my Ladies-in-Waiting Countess Cigarhead, Marquessa of McDonalds, or the Duchess of Druids. Try to tell the Flame of Cheshire she is 59... I dare you... Are the pollsters waiting outside of Nursing Homes to get these figures? Cripes...

The Devil just showed up to fight with Joan. Her mother just started dreaming of God... What the Hell am I supposed to do now? What was supposed to happen??? Check out all the damn awards the show was nominated for and won! CBS you SUCK...

Oh... and ABC, screw you for canceling Blind Justice... and NBC, you lame ass network... You keep The Office, an abomination of the original, because the rich watch it and then go ahead and cancel another critically acclaimed show, American Dreams? I hope the ever young and filthy rich Dick Clark bitch slaps you hard! Another cliffhanger... Meg took off to Canada with that LOSER... and this is how you leave it?

Networks do horrible in marketing their shows and then they switch the time slots so often that it is like a scavenger hunt just trying to find them. Networks need to give shows a chance.

Here are some shows that were almost cancelled, but were given time to build and audience:

Dick Van Dyke
Hill Street Blues
Seinfeld
M*A*S*H*
Cheers
All in the Family
Happy Days
Hee Haw
Touched By An Angel

Sales of TV shows on DVD are going through the roof. Don't they get why that is? Cause the majority of shows they are keeping on SUCK...

At some point, I hope that people will realize how we are continually getting screwed. The networks don't care about us. All they want is our money. They have no interest in offering educational shows to our children or quality family shows to us. They just keep on pissing on us and telling us it's raining. Well, I am gonna get me an umbrella and may their ad revenues plummet so they don't even have a pot to piss in... (I bet this will be the Dowager Queen's favorite section. She loves when I show my classy side!)

Please feel free to mention in the comment section your favorite shows that were cancelled and if you know of any further shows that were almost cancelled, but ended up being huge. I would love to know.

Stay cool and safe!

Another One Bites the Dust...

"Democracy shows not only its power in reforming governments, but in regenerating a race of men—and this is the greatest blessing of free governments."
-- Andrew Jackson
"Universal suffrage is the only guarantee against despotism."
-- May Wright Sewall

Yup, once again, I guess our spreading freedom and democracy in the Middle East is just a pipe dream.

Baby steps, people... baby steps.

Stay cool and safe!

Did they learn nothing from Dan Rather and CBS?

"Facts … have long since upstaged fiction, and the novelistic imagination now contents itself with documenting incidents it wouldn’t have the temerity to invent."
-- Peter Conrad

This is the kind of thing that happens when one doesn't check their facts. Shamefully, needless. I am sure they were just salivating with glee over this unsubstantiated fodder.

How the hell do we recover from this? Disgustingly uncalled for...

Stay cool and safe!

Free At Last, Thank God Almighty, Free At Last... Well, Almost

"If you have wine today, get drunk today; worry about tomorrow’s worries tomorrow."
-- Chinese proverb
"I like to drink wine more than I used to. Anyway, I’m drinking more."
-- Vito Corleone
"Wine that maketh glad the heart of man."
-- Psalms 104:15

Some very important legistlation has been overturned today. I think one of the MOST important ever. The Supreme Court today struck down laws in Michigan and New York that bar sale of out-of-state wine to their citizens. This means that an additional 24 states will need to revise their laws to reflect his change. WooHoo! These are the kind of civil rights we should be concentrating on!

To read more about the fantastic news, check out the following link.

I love wine, winey, wine, wine... Here it goes down, down into my belly...

Stay cool and safe... and don't drink and drive!

Beantown, My Favorite City...

"Parents lend children their experience and a vicarious memory; children endow their parents with a vicarious immortality."
-- George Santayana
" May the Man of Galilee his healing send."
-- Anonymous

Today I went to Boston, not for pleasure, but for a doctor's appointment. It made me think about how much I absolutely love the city. I think it may be in the blood. The Dowager Queen and the dearly departed Old Fox were born and bred there and, since I was little, it seemed like a fun, magical place.

As I have discussed before, I was born with some health issues, and Boston also represents salvation and life to me. It is the place where Godlike doctors made it so I didn't end up on a cold slab. My fondest memories, strangely, are those involving going to the hospital with the the Royal Couple. We would get in the car and, since back then we didn't need "no stinkin'" seatbelts, I would fall asleep in the backseat spread out like in my bed during the long travel down the Pike. My father would usually wake me up with excitement in his voice saying, "We are coming up on Star Market!" This meant we were officially in Boston. There is a Star Market on the Pike that was actually built to straddle it like a bridge. I would immediately sit up, wide eyed staring at the impressive John Hancock Building (the new one) and the Prudential building. The Old Fox would then toot the horn, heralding our entrance... it was adventure at its best!

Our hospital trips were always positive and presented to me as not a big deal. Just something that had to be done. Part of life and my quest to be healthy like any normal kid. Not that they treated me differently. As the Old Fox's dad used to say "everybody gets the same, rotten treatment" and our family lived by this credo.

Of course, this didn't make me very sympathetic to the other patients that would be screaming when the parents went back to their hotel rooms. I was like, "cripes, shut the hell up, they'll be back tomorrow" ... of course being 9, it was actually probably, "what a baby, just be quiet, they'll be back tomorrow". I couldn't understand the other kid's reactions. Being in the hospital for treatment was just part of the deal we were born with. Why didn't they get that?

To this day I love going to this hospital. It is like Mecca for me. I don't know if it is because whenever I am there I am the center of attention or if it is just that I know it was a place of healing and continued life. Anyhoo, the parentos always made the appointments and hospital stays seem fun, especially the Old Fox. Man, do I miss him... I remember one time that I was checked in and there was a gift waiting for me. It was a little bird cage that turned on and made a bird tweet sound. He had this idea that he would put the cage out of view and I would "lip-sync" the bird sound when people went by. Our game was to count how many people did double takes or stopped completely staring agog at my fabulous ornithological abilities.

Another time, there was a visiting German doctor who was checking in on me before one of my surgeries and the Old Fox asked in a very serious, sorrowful tone, "Will she be able to play the piano after the surgery?", wherein the doctor said "Certainly!" ... (you know what is coming next) and dear ole' dad said "Well she couldn't before!" We were roaring and the doctor just looked at us mystified, not understanding the joke. Priceless...

It is only as an adult did I come to the realization how scared the parentos must have been. They were the ones who heard the risks ... the doom and gloom that could possibly be ... the times in the waiting room waiting to hear that your kid's heart restarted after being on by pass for six hours ... the waiting must of been nerve racking and fearfully unbearable. Not once did they ever let me know. Pretty cool...

Anyhoo... it just made me think of one of the many reasons that the Dowager Queen and the Old Fox were tops!

Stay coool and safe!

I can't do any better than this...

I was trying to come up with something clever for a post today, but nothing is really in the forefront of my mind. Just can't get motivated... I thought I might discuss how our awesome military took out about 100 insurgents along the Syrian border in a planned attack that will hopefully derail a nice gig that those hellbound terrorist had in smuggling in foreign dickfaces to screw with Iraq's steps toward democracy. But then I came across this post by Chrenkoff and loved it... It is a must read... The pictures are priceless!

Stay cool and safe!

José and the Pussy Cats aren't in Treble!

"We have top players and, sorry if I'm arrogant, we have a top manager."
-- José Mourinho, Chelsea Manager
Scouser (skaus-sir): Brit. Inf. ~n. a person who comes from Liverpool.

"For my enemy is dead, a man divine as myself is dead, I look where he lies white-faced and still in the coffin..."
-- Walt Whitman

This will probably be the only time I rooted for the Scousers. You see, the Scousers that I refer are the Liverpool Football Club. They are Manchester United's sworn enemy and, since Man Utd have pledged their troth to me, they are now my enemy...

Alright... here comes the admission... Man Utd had one sucky year... I could say that injuries are the cause, but I won't use that excuse. They just sucked. They will be lucky to win the FA cup and to make it into second place (quite iffy). The glory that is still Man Utd is the fact that they are the only English Premier League Football team to win the Treble, which consisted of the FA Cup, the Premiership, and the Champions League in 1999. To win all the major silverware, a Quadruple, would consist of the FA Cup, Carling Cup, Premiership, and the Champions League. WE WANT NO ONE TO MATCH US OR EXCEED US.

With this in mind, today was an excellent day for Man Utd! You ask why? The Scousers BEAT Chelskea 1-0 in the Champions League Semi-Final! Woo Hoo!!! This means that José and the Pussy Cats are out of any chance in getting a treble! They also won the Carling Cup and the Premiership, so they really had a great shot at it. *PHEW* José Mourinho is one cocky bastard. If he could just shut his pie hole, it would be much better. I'd rather not hear crap from that pretty face.

I will give them props for winning the Premiership, the first time in 50 years! Congratulations to Steven Cohen on their Premiership win and congratulation to Nick Geber on Liverpool's advance in the Champions League. Liverpool with play either AC Milan or PSV Eindhoven for the Cup. If PSV wins, I will root against the Scousers. As you might know, PSV is Ruud Van Nistelrooy's former team in Holland and the current team of a GREAT American striker, DaMarcus "Ain't No Pansy Ass Landon Donovan" Beasley. If AC Milan wins, I will hope for a Liverpool win. AC Milan is just too creepy for me...

Anyhoo! It was a good day for the Man U Psyche!

Stay cool and safe!

Afghan Chicks Bending It Like Beckham! WooHoo!

"There are those, I know, who will reply that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is. It is the American Dream."
-- Archibald MacLeish

I came across a nice feel good article. Kabul Selected is going to be the first female Afghan football team to play internationally. Here is an excerpt:

They practice on concrete rather than on grass, and their kit is far from uniform, but Afghanistan's premier women’s football team is looking forward to making history this summer when it plays its first international match...

The team has been playing in organised leagues for a little more than a year. When they began, most training took place behind closed doors. While they still lack the amenities available to male players, the best players from the capital's 12 girls' teams have moved into the open.

Ranging in age from 12 to 18, they train on the concrete apron next to the grass field at Kabul Athletic Stadium, where the Taleban once conducted public executions. The grass is usually reserved for male teams, so the women make do with a practice area smaller than a regulation pitch.

(Crown tip to Lt. Smash.)

Women getting more rights and opportunities in Afghanistan? Yeah, it just sucks that we went there huh? :-P

Baby steps...People, baby steps... that grassy pitch will be theirs someday!

Stay cool and safe!

He invented Rap Too?

Image courtesy of The Nation

I don't particularly like Al, but this cover really cracked me up. I love the tattoo. *SNICKER*

Stay cool and safe!