Barry's take on the Bear in the living room...

On his website and in an important essay...

Dinah gives him a D-minus.
Read it all at Suitably Flip.

Mardi Gras Update: Pour La Joie de Vivre

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez

Long time Dinah Lord readers know that Dinah has gotten herself invited onto a Mardi Gras float. She will be joining the Krewe of Iris in NOLA this Mardi Gras season in supporting the city and letting the good times roll.

Today, I finalized my travel/hotel arrangements and ordered my throws - which was just under the wire. (as usual) The deadline for ordering is October 8.

My Line Commander, Helen, advised that amateurs like my friend Lady G and I aren't able to throw as well as the regulars therefore we only needed 15 gross of throws to toss on the parade route. (You don't want to have any left over at the end of the route!)

Here's my order:
2 dz IRIS theme beads - metallic

6 dz long white pearls 48"

180 dz Assorted Color Beads 48"

2 dz IRIS Broadway beads

2 dz Special - Iris Long Purple & White Ceramic Beads

20 dz long beads - 12 mm green, purple, gold

2 dz feather leis - purple, green, gold.

10dz IRIS footballs

We also need to purchase a safety belt to strap ourselves on to the float.

More on the rules and regulations and THE BALL, later.

To be continued...

IT IS THE TIME...

Just a quick note before going dark for the move - especially since my laptop has well and truly taken a crap on me (this comes to you from the Lord and Master's keyboard) Everytime I open it up a siren sounds for about two minutes then it boots up normally - the keyboard is still wigging out as before, only worse with more keys involved. So it's become a problem to be addressed on the other end and that means being pc-less for at least three weeks - or more.

To make matters more, a-hem, challenging, my busted wing is back in the form of a pinched nerve with accompanying muscle spasms. This has rendered my left arm useless and me moaning and whimpering in pain. Geez. Like I don't need both arms these days.

Oh, and it just started raining....

Anyways, I wish you all well in my absence and will be joining you again from Denver in a few weeks. Best wishes - Dinah.

Busy dways aroundw the Lordw manse

Blogging will be light this week - movers arrive on Mondway and that means DWinah has got her handws full with her dway job.

To further complicate blogging matters, I'm sure you have noticedw that every time I type a 'dw' a w appears. For example: dwhimmi, dwelinquent,dwawa, dwwarf, dwiscipline, etc.

I couldw go on, but you get my dwrift.

Wish me luck on the move, possums andw keep up the goodw fight against the evil jihadww.

Forget Islamophobia, today's the day for triskaidekaphobia

triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\, noun:


A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.

Dinah joins the Krewe of Iris

Today I sent off my application to ride on a Mardi Gras float in the Krewe of Iris.

I'm totally psyched.

Founded in 1917 and named for the Goddess of the Rainbow and Messenger to the Gods, the Krewe of Iris is now New Orleans' sole parading Carnival organization exclusively for women and the largest ladies' club in Carnival history. The Iris tableau ball was the first such event to ever be televised.

The Krewe prides itself on strictly following the traditional customs of full-length Carnival masks and white gloves.

The Captain of the Krewe of Iris throws her own special 10-guage doubloons...unique items of chartreuse and lavender with freshly-minted 10-guage blue and silver aluminum.

The oldest of female krewes and the largest female parading organization in Carnival history, this krewe takes its name from the Greek goddess of rainbows and messenger to the gods. Iris is known for presenting her court with great finery on a series of mini-floats, as well as her former queen and king who ride in convertible automobiles.

The Krewe's motto: “Pour La Joie de Vivre” (“For the Joy of Living”)

On a personal note...

Dinah is doing Denver!

Yep. We finally sold our house. Finally.

We've found a place just south of Denver so I am in the throes of that packing thing.

Blogging might be lighter than usual over the next few days. Or I might be going at it like a gerbil on crack. You know my blog addiction is severe.

Anywho - back at it. The jihad never sleeps.

Just because its my blog and I can

Fishing Geeks snag a freak.

Identical twins in Canada who target behemoth trout and call themselves The Fishing Geeks may be destined for a more complimentary moniker after their most recent milestone — the world-record rainbow.

Adam and Sean Konrad, 26, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, each have line-class records for rainbow trout as recognized by the International Game Fish Association. But Adam was the lucky angler who hooked into their largest rainbow trout the evening of June 5 at nearby Lake Diefenbaker, while Sean was targeting walleye on this reservoir system of the South Saskatchewan River.

The final tally after the 20-minute tussle to get the bruiser 'bow to shore: 43.6 pounds, 38.75 inch in length and a girth of 34 inches. Should the numbers stand, Adam Konrad will hold the all-tackle world record for rainbow trout, eclipsing the 42-pound, 2-ounce standard that was set by a boy, David White, in June 1970 on Alaska's Bell Island.

"I call it a freak of nature, but that's what we were looking for," Konrad told

Dinah's darkness...

Sorry to have gone MIA so suddenly, possums. A family emergency requiring a trip to the farm arose rather suddenly and as many of my long time readers know, blogging is difficult from there.

It was good to be away for a few days, nice to be in a place where people not only talk about the price of gas, they also dither over the price of corn. Where they worry about it raining on their hayfields, not their parade and life generally runs at a different pace. Whenever I return to the East Coast, I find I am driving too courteously and I am waaay too courteous at the checkout line.

It is a place where the concept of Islamic terror seems far away. No one there was talking about the JFK plot or the missing soldiers or the war. Must be nice to be able to put your blue state blinders on and just live your life, no? You can see where people of that mindset would be buying John Edwards disgraceful bumper sticker schtick.

Well, I'm not buying it.

Back at it.

D

The poppy and Memorial Day observance

"In Flanders Fields"

John MacCrae - 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

About Flanders Fields and Lt. Col John MacCrae:

In May, 1915, on the day following the death of fellow soldier Lt Alexis Helmer of Ottawa, John McCrae wrote his now famous work, an expression of his anguish over the loss of his friend and a reflection of his surroundings, wild poppies growing amid simple wooden crosses marking makeshift graves. These 15 lines, written in 20 minutes, captured an exact description of the sights and sounds of the area around him.

That same year, fellow poet Moina Michael was so moved by this verse she replied with her own poem and the tradition of wearing poppies to honor our veterans was begun. From Memorial Day History :

"...She (Moina)then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms.Michael and when she returned to France, made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children's League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans' organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their "Buddy" Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it ."

Hope you've enjoyed this little bit of Memorial Day trivia and are having a good Memorial Day weekend.

May God bless our troops.

To the Girls of Britain and Ireland

and for the queen in all of us.

The tiara:

The 'Girls of Great Britain and Ireland' tiara was given to the future Queen Mary of England as a wedding present in 1893. The diamond tiara was purchased from Garrard, the London jeweller, by a committee organised by Lady Eve Greville. In 1947, Mary gave the tiara to her granddaughter, the future Queen Elizabeth II, as a wedding present.

The tiara was described by Leslie Field as "a diamond festoon-and-scroll design surmounted by nine large oriental pearls on diamond spikes and set on a bandeau base of alternate round and lozenge collets between two plain bands of diamonds." (The pearls were changed to diamonds in the 1920's) Not surprisingly, the stunning Garrard tiara was also one of Princess May’s favorite wedding gifts.

The necklace and earrings:

The King George VI, Festoon necklace, was given to Princess Elizabeth in 1947 as a wedding gift from her parents. King George VI, the present queen's father had inherited 239 loose diamonds and decided to have a necklace made. Out of the 239, 105 were used to create this lovely 3 row festoon necklace with triangle motifs on either side.

And the earrings? I don't think she was wearing this pair. I guess she thought that they might be a bit much. They look divine, don't they? Their design contains every diamond cut known to man and :

They are known as the Greville Chandeliers. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother had inherited them from a good friend, the Hon. Mrs. Ronnie Greville in 1942. The Queen then gave them to her daughter, the then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947 as a wedding present. The princess could not wear them until she had her ears pierced, and when she did so, women everywhere flocked to their doctors and the jewellers to have their ears pierced as well.

Can't get an id on the diamond bracelet she's wearing. It appears to be a lovely bauble, though.

God save the Queen.

Tip of the tiara to STARWISE, FReeper extraordinaire. Thank you, dahlink. Your post got me dreaming.

Phew.

Be it ever so humble. There's no place like home, is there? And may I add that it is good to be back fighting the Islamic jihad with you. Now I'm off to see what I've missed.

(And about that prom dress? Mission accomplished.)

Cheers.

Dinah

Robo chick

A robot chick (R), Yume Hiyoko (Dream Chick), is placed next to a stuffed chick at a photo opportunity in Tokyo April 5, 2007. The electronic robot chick, launched by Sega Toys, fits in the palm, can make sounds and move its wings at the touch of human hands. The price of the toy is 2,310 Yen and it will be available in domestic the market from April.

Volcano pic

Aerial view taken, near Saint-Philippe in La Reunion island, of lava coming from the Piton de la Fournaise volcano burning vegetation and pouring into the Indian Ocean island.

Photo: Richard Bouhet/AFP/Getty Images

I've always had a thing for volcanoes.

Steel work starts for Freedom Tower beams

This is exciting to me because the World Trade Center and I go way back. Wall Street was my stomping grounds during the go-go 80's and I knew WTC well. By 2001 the firm I worked for, Salomon Brothers, had been acquired by Citigroup and was located at 7 WTC. It was the third building to go on 9/11/01.

December of 2001: It was a cold, blustery, pretty day and the sun was shining brightly. It was a great day to be an American. I had business in the city and when you take the train into the city, there's a point where you come around this curve and the panorama of the Manhattan skyline is before you in all it's glory. It looked so empty without the Twin Towers. It was like a kick in the gut. A feeling that intensified on the way downtown in a cab driven by a guy named Achmed who dropped me off as close as he could to 'the site', as it was now being called. The thing you noticed first was the acrid smell - a brassy smell that hung heavy in the air. The next thing you noticed was the dust, the powder fine microparticles of some mysterious, ash gray composition that covered each and every thing and carpeted the sidewalks. Finally you noticed the hushed demeanor of everyone around you. People were reverent, and when I say people I mean people of each and every stripe. It was like a pilgrimage and the mood of the people was in sharp contradiction to the sounds of hydraulic power tools, cranes and construction that emanated from 'the site' itself. I watched a crane pick up a steel beam that had been twisted and mangled to look like someone had bent it like a paper clip. The crane lowered the beam onto one of the long line of flatbed 18 wheelers that had snarled traffic on the narrow bumpy downtown streets. Traffic was so gnarly the 18-wheeler and I made about the same pace around Manhattan's tip. I followed the truck with it's single steel beam load all the way around Manhattan to the docks over by 55 Water Street. Another crane was situated there. The truck pulled up and the crane lifted the beam off the flatbed, swinging it gracefully onto a barge tethered at the dock. A tugboat guided the barge away from the dock and out into the East River, final destination Fresh Kills, Staten Island.

I'll never forget it.

Steel work starts for Freedom Tower beams
(snippets)
Inside a cool and barren building comprised of concrete and steel, workers Friday were assembling pieces of American pride.

Banker Steel of Lynchburg is fabricating massive steel columns that will prop up New York City’s new Freedom Tower, which will stand at the site where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood.

(This is a great story and one that you probably won't be reading in the MSM.)

“My little brother has just returned from Iraq,” said Richard Plant, the operations manager at the plant. “I was behind that. This is just rebuilding something that someone took away from us.”

(Like me, Banker Steel has a history with the original Twin Towers.)

"Banker Steel’s predecessor, Montague-Betts, fabricated some of the steel for the original twin towers in Lynchburg."

“It’s kind of interesting that it has come home to us,” Campbell said. “I think this shows the American spirit. We’ve picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off and got right back to business as quick as we could.”

This is no small undertaking When the work is completed, the columns will weigh about 1,500 pounds per foot.

The sentimental value may carry even more weight. (I agree)

“We want to do a good job to bring something back to the people of New York,” Campbell said. “This is a good thing we’re doing.”

Over the next month, the company will put together 14 columns, the first set for delivery to New York by Dec. 18. “They will have a celebration in New York on Dec. 18 and the first column will be set,” Banker said.

Before the columns are shipped, some of them will be taken to City Stadium on Dec. 8 and 9, where the public will be allowed to sign them or write messages of encouragement to the citizens of New York.

The columns will be painted and decals, including American flags, will be applied before they are signed. “We’ve had communities from all over call and ask to participate in the signing of the beams,” Banker said...“They wanted to have the beams come to their community,” Banker said. His plan is to have the beams touch as many people as possible.

“Three columns will go out,” he said. “They’ll go on different routes so a lot of people can participate

That Linda Hamilton vibe

Reading the news and it sure feels bad

Had to take another blogging break because I've been getting my Linda-Hamilton-in-The-Terminator-vibe again and you, my faithful readers know how much that always spooks me out. There was nothing that I could actually point to that brought it on. It just seemed to come over me like a wave, everytime I would sit down at the keyboard and start sifting through the news of the day, looking for something to write something about. What could it have been?

Maybe it was that thing about Iran trying to get in on Al Qaeda's act...

Maybe it was the last speech made by that Iranian pipsqueak...

Maybe it was reading this about the Iranians stockpiling wheat...

Maybe it was Tony Blair going all wobbly...

Maybe it was the continued wobbliness of the State Dept....

Maybe it was the deal about the Iranians playing currency games...

Maybe it was reading Walid Phares saying that Hezbollah was starting their latest offensive...

Maybe it was Fatah and Hamas latest statement about spreading their own particular brand of terror to America...

Maybe it was the Argentineans ratcheting up their security after getting into a beef with the Iranians...

Maybe it was the Brits revealing increased AQ jihadi chatter about nukes.

Whatever it was, it really got me going. Maybe I need to watch the movie again.

Coming Up For Air

Ardyn Halter: Coming Up For Air















Greetings.

Dinah here.

Coming up for air in the endless, swirling whirlpool that seems to be my life these days.

When will it end, dear readers?

I'm almost afraid to ask.

The good news: my best friend is being discharged from the hospital today.

The bad news: it's because they can do nothing more for her there. Needless to say it has sucked all of the air out of my room and I am struggling under the weight of all the sadness.

I hope to be able to be back in the blogging saddle soon.

Until then, keep fighting the good fight and know that I love ya.

Oy! Do I even have to tell you my life has been crazier than a shit house rat's?

Fugue State: R.H Menzel












Pardon the vulgarity, dear readers. It's been somewhat trying here in Lord-ville.

Once again, Dinah's been MIA from the blogosphere, being all caught up in the fugue state that is her life. Hope this finds you all well in your own personal orbit.

It is a kinda crazy world out there, isn't it?

Hate to be like a broken record, but I must say that you know you have a crazy existence if you feel great joy being back at the keyboard fighting the Islamic menace one keystroke at a time instead of dealing with real life. But there you are.

Remember this? It wasn't that long ago.

Spoke to my dear Lebanese friend J**** today. His family in Lebanon is safe and sound. I continue to pray for a free and peaceful Lebanon. Speaking of Lebanon, did you see the Lebanese Prime Minister today? What a basket case. Like night and day from his previous statements. It looks to me like Syria or somebody got to him. Poor thing. I hope Condi or somebody offers the Lebanese Air Force some help. Why not? If Iran and Syria feel they can arm Hezbollah why can't we help out the fledgling democracy in Lebanon. Their air force is kind of limp and could use a hand.

Where do I start? Israel, Iran, Korea?


Oh heck. Let's go back in time for a bit. Hearing about the capture of the Israeli soldiers makes me take a trip in Dinah's personal wayback machine, back to the bad, old days of Jimmah Carter and to the Iranian hostage crisis. Makes me want to smack Jimmah down. Him and those lousy Mullahs. Talk about faulty intelligence.

I date myself when I tell you that I attended the ticker tape parade down Broadway in NYC when those hostages returned to the US.

My friend, Peggy, and I slipped away from our work at a Wall Street firm and headed up Broadway to cheer their return.

No need to remind you that it was a different world back then. Office windows still opened and there was no such thing as a paperless office.

People in the office buildings lining the streets tossed shredded (and whole) computer print outs, data punch cards and chad confetti out the windows with wild abandon. We waded up the street in paper up to our hips.

There were a lot of trees killed that day.

How happy we were to get the hostages home. Hope our friends in Israel will soon feel the same joy when their captured soldiers are returned.

God bless Israel.

Speaking of Israel if you haven't seen this yet over at Atlas Shrugs - enjoy.


Regarding Korea: With all the activity in the ME, I have a feeling that Kim Jong Il if feeling pretty ronery tonight. Look for him to pull some kind of stunt, don't you think?

Cheers - Dinah

Zarqawi's Theme - Girls Gone Wild in Baghdad - Rock The Casbah

Let's celebrate our success!
To our troops!
Cheers - Dinah

Zarqawi's Theme. It's a blast!

Girls Gone Wild: Baghdad. (Tip of the chapeau to Giant Ketchup)

Rock the Casbah, baby.

Blogger sux

in case you haven't noticed that yet or anything.

I have been unable to post for the past two days and before that I could post, but could not post images and as you know, Dinah likes to use the images in her blog.

Today I find I'm able to post but still can't post images.

Bloggers response to the plight of those affected has been less than impressive.

Does anyone know another good hosting service?

I'm totally over the Blogger scene.