... third world countries!

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has urged families in Venezuela not to mark Halloween, calling it a U.S. custom alien to the South American nation, the BBC reported this weekend.

"Families go and begin to disguise their children as witches. This is contrary to our way," Mr Chavez said during his weekly radio and TV show.

He also said Halloween was a "game of terror."

Chavez is known as a fierce critic of the U.S. government and President Bush personally.

iTunes is currently playing: Ghost Story from the album Brand New Day by Sting.

... but red, white, and blue POP TARTS?? i'm sorry, but that is just too gross.



iTunes is currently playing: America from the album West Side Story- Original Broadway Cast by Chita Rivera & Marilyn Cooper.

During the last year of his life, the late Bob Denver underwent a quadruple heart bypass and suffered from cancer. Yet when asked in a recent interview to describe his best and worst memories, he responded, "I have no worst experiences."

Rest in peace, little buddy.

iTunes is currently playing: Rest For The Weary from the album The Rainy Season by Marc Cohn.

... with the REAL Donna Brazile??

from WashingtonPost.com:

I Will Rebuild With You, Mr. President

[snip]

On Thursday night President Bush spoke to the nation from my city. I am not a Republican. I did not vote for George W. Bush -- in fact, I worked pretty hard against him in 2000 and 2004. But on Thursday night, after watching him speak from the heart, I could not have been prouder of the president and the plan he outlined to empower those who lost everything and to rebuild the Gulf Coast.

[snip]

iTunes is currently playing: A Change Of Heart from the album A Change Of Heart by David Sanborn.

... listen to the sample cuts on "Amy's Answering Machine" Volume 1 & 2 (available individually or as a 2CD set) by Amy Borkowsky. When you stop laughing, you'll probably decide that your mom isn't so bad after all.

iTunes is currently playing: Mother Stands For Comfort from the album Hounds Of Love by Kate Bush.

... and feeling as if you got a bargain! But I do.

Every station in town is at $3.29 except for this one sleazy, independent place. Normally, I wouldn't stop there since they have antique pumps that don't take credit cards (meaning you have to go inside twice -- once to give them your credit card before you pump and then to sign the receipt when you are done) and they devote more space to drug paraphernalia than to junk food. But I hate that these other guys are gouging people just because they can.

I'm also glad that I was filling up my little Scion xA and not the GMC Yukon at the next pump.

iTunes is currently playing: Driving from the album The Language Of Life by Everything But The Girl.

If you have a digital Tracfone (pay-as-you-go cell phone), your friends can leave you voicemail messages. On the Tracfone web site, they tell you how to listen to your messages using your Tracfone. They do not, however, tell you how to retrieve messages from another phone. The reason is simple. They want you to use up your minutes listening to your voicemail from your cell phone so you will buy more Tracfone cards and spend more money.

You can retrieve your messages from any other phone using the same method that other cell phone companies offer. Just dial your Tracfone number. When your voicemail greeting starts to play, punch in * (asterisk/star) followed by your passcode/pin. The greeting stops and in a few seconds you will be told if you have new messages, just as if you had called in on your Tracfone and no minutes are deducted from your balance.

iTunes is currently playing: Lost You In The Canyon from the album Live in Long Branch [legal bootleg] by Marc Cohn.

Imad Hamdi, former head of European security for Liza Minelli and her estranged husband, David Guest, says he has written a book about their marriage called "Liza and Her Diseases" and that "Two major European publishers are bidding on it right now."

While the 27-year-old Hamdi waits for his book to be published, he provides security for Saudi princes, unnamed celebs and other VIPs who, he says, "rely on my discretion."

iTunes is currently playing: Have You Heard from the album Besancon France - July 8, 1991 (bootleg) by Pat Metheny Group.

Teach high school students at the Weavers School in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire [UK].

A secondary school is to allow pupils to swear at teachers - as long as they don't do so more than five times in a lesson. A running tally of how many times the f-word has been used will be kept on the board. If a class goes over the limit, they will be 'spoken' to at the end of the lesson.

iTunes is currently playing: Things We've Handed Down from the album The Rainy Season by Marc Cohn.

... turn him into an iPod!

The [iPod accessories] craze has even spread to clothing -- for infants. One Web site, iPodmybaby.com, sells multicolored baby jumpers with the familiar iPod scroll wheel on the front, for people who want their children to look like life-size music players. The site has made more than 1,000 sales since it launched a couple of weeks ago, according to Dave Schroeder of Reston, who co-founded the business.



iTunes is currently playing: God Bless The Child from the album Ken Burns Jazz Collection: Billie Holiday by Billie Holiday.