BLOG.MARLEYSUE.COM

Revealing "The Big Picture," And The Truth

2010-07-25T18:59:00Z

Hello, everybody!

Well, it seems that things are going pretty well with the well in the Gulf of Mexico. The well cap seemed to have held up pretty well enough to be left to its own devices when the oil workers had to evacuate the Gulf when Hurricane Bonnie threatened to blow over the Gulf, but she was downgraded to a tropical storm, so the workers are coming back to the Gulf today. Everything seems to be fine, although the news media did admit that oil and methane was beginning to leak from the ocean floor, but "this is normal" for deep sea oil rigs. Whether or not that's really and truly "normal" all depends on whom you want to believe, the news media or your natural common sense. Now, natural common sense would tell you that when oil and methane leak from somewhere other than an uncapped well, something is seriously wrong. But, since most people tend to look at a glass as half full, they tend to believe what the news media tells them, no matter how erroneously wrong it may be (and, in the case of Fox News, this is quite a great deal).

Speaking of how erroneous Fox News really is, I feel that I must touch bases on that not-so-little news story from the past week, involving the African American member of the Department of Agriculture and the supposedly racist statements she made concerning white farmers she had helped keep their farm twenty four years ago. From what Fox News would like for us to believe (boy, would they!), she didn't want to help these people because they were white. However, what they didn't tell you or even show you was that this was the beginning of a very interesting story she was about to tell concerning the subject matter which states, in a nutshell, that you really shouldn't look at a person's race when they need help, but at their economic situation. The story, in its entirely, was that she was considering not doing everything to her full potential to help these people, but, after carefully looking over their financial situation, she decided that it was not race that made these people eligible for help, but how poor they were, and she decided to do the right thing and help these people save their farm, which she did. Now, that's the story Fox News didn't tell you, and I think I know why. It's because this woman's entire story teaches us all a very valuable lesson in what Jesus Christ would want all of us to do, help each other when we need help, no matter who we are. Something the right wingers at Fox News would never do. How sad that is.

Well, that's all the time we have for this week. Until next week, be well, stay well, and don't forget to help the earthquake survivors!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

Cool Shows For a Hot Summer

2010-07-18T19:06:00Z

Hello, hello, hello!

Well, for the first time in about three months, it seems that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (made possible by a grant from British Petroleum) has finally stopped gushing! Yes! It seems that this new cap is finally working! It seems to be, that is. The pressure could be a little stronger, because the weaker the pressure, the more of a possibility that the well casing could be leaking elsewhere, and that, my friend, would not be a very good sign. And there's also reports that there's oil and gas leaking straight out of cracks in the ocean floor. Again, that would not be a good sign. But, of course, the news media is saying that those reports are false. They are saying that. Let's hope that they're right, for all of our sakes.

Well, we've finally reached the middle part of the summer, and boy, has it been a scorcher! I hope that all of you have your fans and air conditioners in working order, and I hope you all have plenty of citrus juice drinks on hand, along with plenty of watermelon, which is another great refrigerant. Ice cream and yogurt also are good to keep cool with in the summertime, although those of us who watch our figures should use these treats sparingly. Also, in the season of ultra hot weather, we should also look out for our pets. Keep your cats and dogs indoors as much as you can, and never, ever, leave them in a locked car for any amount of time on a hot day. The same could be said for children and older people.

Luckily, this summer, we don't have all that much work to do around the house, but to tell you the truth, it's been way too hot lately to do much of anything other that sitting back with a cool drink and a hot movie, which, thankfully, cable has plenty of. Turner Classic Movies has a lot to offer on a hot summer's weekend, as does Cartoon Network. The latter also have some pretty cool toons to offer as well, such as Chowder, the Total Drama series, and the latest offering, Adventure Time, which is very campy and very fun. And, of course, don't forget the delicious pickings on DVD that your local DVD store and Netflix have to offer as well.

Well, that's all the time we have for this week. Until next week, be well, stay well, and don't forget to help the earthquake survivors!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

When The Long Arm Of The Law Finally Catches Up With Justice

2010-07-11T19:42:00Z

Hello, everybody, hello!

Well, after about two and a half months, finally, some good news from the Gulf of Mexico! Word comes from the news media that a brand new cap is going to be put over the well cap that will finally seal it and prevent more oil from leaking out! True, some oil is going to leak when they took off the existing cap this past weekend, but, from what I've heard, this new cap is supposed to do the job. Let's hope all our prayers are going to be answered and this is finally the solution to all our problems.

In other important news, this past week, the law finally caught up with the infamous "Grim Sleeper," who has been terrorizing the people here in South Los Angeles for some 25 years, and, from what I've been hearing, this person, Lonnie David Franklin, Jr, was just an "average member of the neighborhood." Sure, he was a little, um, shady at times (he was a dealer in what we would say, "hot merchandise," and I don't mean hot in temperature), but nobody, and I mean, nobody, would have even suspected him in the murder of ten people and the attempted murder of one, who managed to survive. This caught everyone on the small, working class block where he lived, right off guard, and shocked and surprised just about everyone there. Well, to paraphrase what Stephanie Miller once said on her radio show, people who live next door to serial killers aren't exactly the brightest bulbs on the marquee. Either the neighbors aren't very aware of what's going on, or the suspects are the best Academy and Emmy Award deserving actors in the universe.

And finally, I hope all of you had a very good Forth of July last week. I know we did. We had enough barbecue and stir-fried vegetables and potato salad and watermelon fruit salad to feed the entire block, even though all our family and friends managed to eat it all up. Afterwards, we all went down to Hawthorne Park to view the fireworks being set off, although I had to leave Bootsie at home. After all, fireworks and pets don't mix. But, anyway, we all had a very good time last Sunday.

Well, that's all for this week. Until next week, be well, stay well, and don't forget to help the survivors of the earthquakes!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

Stars, Stripes,--and Oil?

2010-07-02T19:43:00Z

Hello, hello, hello!

I'm blogging a couple of days earlier this week, because this Sunday is the Forth of July, and my family and I are going to be very busy this weekend preparing for it! I'm juggling things on a very tight schedule even as I blog. There's last-minute shopping to do (all the stores are packed, even now!), a menu to prepare, and all those other things to do. But fortunately, I do have a little time to spend on my weekly blog, two days earlier, of course.

We've found out a lot about the Gulf Oil cataclysm (now going into its third month), over the past week or two, and, unfortunately, none of it is good. First of all, this stuff is poisonous, because it's coming straight out of the center of the earth and not being refined, like it would be if it's shipped to the mainland refineries, and a lot more stuff is coming out of the center of the earth right along with it: methane gas (which first caused this tragedy when it ignited underwater on April 20), benzine, and a couple of other things I can't pronounce very well, and I'm sure many of you can't either. Well, anyway, many of the workers are getting very sick while cleaning this stuff up from the Gulf, and along the shores and beaches that line it. And here's the worst part: this poisonous raw oil is causing "dead zones" in the Gulf of Mexico, meaning that there's no life-giving oxygen in these pools of water that not only the oil has invaded, but the dispersant that BP has used to thin it out, and you know what that means: water that has no oxygen, can't sustain any life at all. No marine plant life, and no marine sea life. The fish and other marine animals are all dying from this. Looks like the people who's cleaning this stuff up will soon be buying the farm as well. So who's next? The people who live way inside the mainland, mainly, the rest of us? All of this have gotten way too spooky, folks! And it isn't even a freaking movie in a theater or on TV! It's freaking real! I mean, Universal Pictures couldn't have thought of a more scary, a more diabolical, and a more life threatening worldwide scenario! Stephen King could take footnotes from this real-life horror show! Everything I watch the TV news and see all that oil coming out from the bottom of the sea, I wonder when this real-life nightmare is going to end.

Well, that's all for this week. Until next time, be well, stay well, don't for get the survivors of the earthquakes, and Happy July 4!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

Another Jackson Family? Don't Count On It!

2010-06-27T19:02:00Z

Helllooo, everybody!

Well, we've come to the first anniversary of Michael Jackson's death, and the question that's been on a lot of my friends' and relatives' minds is, "Will there ever be another Jackson-type musical dynasty?" Well, I'm here to tell you that the answer to that question is, sadly, no. There will never be another musical dynasty quite like the Jackson family, and not only because they were one of a kind, which they were. Here are three reasons why there will never be "another" Jackson family.

Number one: The African American middle class that made the Jackson family rich, no longer exists. Sad, but true, but back in the 1970's, many middle class African American kids had much more disposable income than we do now. That's because their parents had those good union factory jobs that paid for many of the things those kid enjoyed, including the albums and 45 singles they bought. True, the Jacksons have many different fans from all over the world, but back in the 1970's, it was the African American middle class, who listened mainly to rhythm and blues, who made them, and sadly, that middle class of average workers with high school diplomas, and maybe a community college Associates degree, who had good union jobs in the inner cities factories of this country, no longer exist.

Number two: The music industry itself has changed in the past forty years. Back in the day, the record companies used to make the majority of their dough by packing recording artists' albums with a lot of "turkey corn" (novelty songs, or songs that would never make it onto the Billboard Top 10), and maybe a couple of songs that are really worth a person's while. This particular practice made it possible for the record companies to get rid of a lot of songs that they wouldn't normally be able to any other way, and sell millions of albums in the process. Not any more. Thanks to the IPod and MV3 player, listeners can pick and choose what they want to listen to. And that, I suspect, is the real reason why CD sales have slumped over the past decade, because people don't have to buy a whole album of "corn" just to get a couple of gold nuggets anymore.

Number three, and the most obvious reason: in order to make the kind of dough now that the Jacksons made back in the day, you have to go to college and get at least a Bachelor's Degree. A community college Associates won't cut it. The only thing an Associates is good for is to transfer to a university that's at least at a state level. True, there are a lot of celebs out there with various educational levels, but if you really noticed, the ones who are really successful, and whose wealth is out there in the stratosphere, are the ones with the college degrees that are a Bachelors or higher. And we all know how increasingly hard it is for the average American to get a community college degree, let alone a university degree.

So there you have it. The three reasons why there will never be another family like the Jacksons. And that's also all the time we have. Until next time, be well, stay well, and don't forget to help the earthquake survivors!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

Time To Let Dad Have His Day

2010-06-18T19:28:00Z

Hi, everybody!

Yeah, I know I usually blog on Sundays, but I'm blogging today because I'm going to be very busy this coming weekend. I have a cake I have to make tomorrow and a major dinner I have to help prepare Sunday, and today is the only time I have to blog.

But just because I'm blogging a couple of days earlier doesn't mean that there's nothing to talk about, like the latest on the Gulf oil disaster, for one. Now, I hope you all are prepared for this one, and I, for one, hope to the Almighty that this is not true, but, from what I've been hearing from the various parts of the news media, it's beginning to look like that oil well in the bottom of the gulf, is beginning to show signs that it's failing. Now, I hope that all this speculation is false and many people don't have their facts straight, but that's the ongoing news that's coming from the media. Now, if you're a dyed-in-the-wool optimist like I am, you tend to take everything negative that you hear with a grain of salt (iodized, of course, because it's a necessary nutrient), then you all are, like I am, hoping that this "worst case scenario" doesn't happen to be true, because if it is, then it really will be "game over" for dear old Planet Earth, and for all of her inhabitants as well, all creatures great and small. So, all we have to do is keep our eyes and ears glued to the news, and hope for, and pray for, the best, and be prepared for the worse, whatever that may be.

Well, in much happier news, Father's Day is coming up this Sunday! Yes! In just a couple of days, dear old Dad will finally have his day! And, if you all are like me and my family, I know you have something extra special for that special man in your life. Whether it's buying him a lottery ticket hoping that's it's the winning one (which I know the vast majority of you are doing this weekend!) to treating him to his favorite meal either at home or at his favorite restaurant, everyone who has a very special dad in their life knows exactly how to treat him right, mainly because, you know, he treats them right. So hears to you, Dad, and to all that you do for us, let's hope that this coming Sunday will be a very special day for you (and that we all get a raise in our allowance!).

Well, that's all for this week. Until next time, be well, stay well, and remember to help the earthquake victims!

Sincerely,

Marely Sue

So Long, Annie, It's Been Good To Know Ya!

2010-06-13T19:27:00Z

Hello, everybody!

Gulf Oil Catastrophe, Week 9 (just about): Well, the oil cap is doing its job of syphoning oil from the broken well, but now comes word that the oil leak is much worse than everyone seems to have thought. It seems that there's more oil that leaked out into the bottom of the gulf than even BP had even known about (or, maybe they knew about it all along, but just didn't tell anybody). And to make matters even worse, the number of animal casualties as a result of this catastrophe appears to be rising, with more dead dolphins and sea turtles washing up along the shores of the gulf coast and the number of oil-covered birds rising every single day. I've seen picture of oil-slick pelicans, and, believe me, it just sickens my stomach, as, I'm sure, it must sicken yours. And, I've also heard that, as the temperature rises in Louisiana, the heat is literally cooking some of the birds covered in oil! (I'm sure that's one Louisiana meal you don't want to consume!) Putting all this unappetizing circumstances aside, no is quite certain when all this madness is going to end, if, heaven forbids, it's ever going to end at all, for, even if they do successfully cap the undersea oil well, the ecological complications the consequential oil leak has caused can go on for years to come, with the fragile ecosystems along the southern coasts of the United States drastically changed forever. Either way, it doesn't sound too good for the citizens of the southern part of the United States.

It also doesn't look to good for the future of the newspaper in the United States as well. As if you didn't hear by now, the long running comic strip, Little Orphan Annie, ends its more than eighty-five year run today. Once appearing in more than one hundred newspapers in America and now appearing in less than twenty, the people who drew it finally decided that, after today, the sun will not come out tomorrow for Annie, Daddy Warbucks, and dear old lovable dog, Sandy. This, however, fares even worse for the newspapers that once carried her, since more and more newspapers all over the country have now, literally and figuratively, folded. But don't worry, it seems that Annie and the newspaper will soon have a chance to live on, thanks to the Internet, through online newspapers. So, maybe for Annie and the newspapers that once carried her, the sun will come out tomorrow after all.

Well, that's all for today. Until next time, be well, stay well, and don't forget to help the earthquake survivors!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

Take a Vacation In The Pages Of A Book

2010-06-06T19:58:00Z

I'd like to say "hello" to all my friends out there.

Well, since we were last together, BP had, finally, capped the well! Yes! The well is capped! But that doesn't mean that all is fine and dandy. Oil is still leaking out, and, from what I've been hearing, it won't be until August, another two months, before they're able to drill an alternative well to try and slow the flow. But at least, with the capping of this one, it's a start.

In much happier news, June is finally here! And we all know what that means! That's right! Summer vacation is also finally here! I, for one, still have one more week of school left, this upcoming one, and after Friday, it will be my time at last! I can finally catch up with all the things I've been wanting to do lately, like, oh, sleeping in late, and playing Beatles Rock Band, and watching Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies and Centric all day, and studying Hooked on Phonics, and visiting the library, and doing light gardening outside (Wait a minute! Am I channeling my mother here?) Well, you get my point. The next three or so months will be spent doing, well, whatever.

Of course, going to the library is never a bad idea, even during the school months. The library opens the door to a whole different world for young people, and can literally take them to different places, from magical lands like Oz, Wonderland, and Narnia, to real places where history was made, like the Island of Krakatoa (scene of the loudest volcanic explosion ever) and Mount Everest, where, recently, a teenager became the youngest person ever to scale it. You can even go there and check out the lives of famous people as well, like Anne Frank, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, or even the Beatles! Hey, maybe I'll take my mom's advice and visit the local library more often this summer. Speaking of which, here's my personal challenge to all of you young people out there: put down the video game and the remote control, and pick up a book this summer. You can read one to two books a month, so that would be about six books you could tackle this upcoming summer. And that's a thrill that can rival even Grand Theft Auto!

Well, that's all for this week. Until next time, be well, stay well, and don't forget to help the earthquake survivors!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

Thank You All, So Much

2010-05-30T19:39:00Z

Hello, everybody!

Well, I'm sure you all have heard by now that Betrayers of the Population's (oops! My bad!), I mean, British Petroleum's, latest attempt to put a stop to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has drastically failed. The "top kill" ending up not even attempting to kill the gushing oil leak at the bottom of the Gulf, and now, they're looking for other options, but, if you ask me, I really think that all their options have pretty much run out. And time is running out for all of the sea animals in the Gulf as well. I looked at a picture in the front page section of The Los Angeles Times this morning and I saw a dead dolphin lying in the water, being towed behind a marine biologist boat. So the killed Flipper (the bastards!), and it all looks like it's going to go downhill from here on in, and pretty fast, if you ask me. So a way of life that the Gulf shore people have known for centuries, as well as a way of life the rest of us would know through low prices and non scarcity of supplies, will soon and tragically come to an end. Thank you, BP, so much.

And I would also like to say a brief "thank you" to three of the most talented people this world has ever known, who have all recently taken their final bows on this earthly stage. First of all, I'd like to say thank you to the lovely Leena Horne, a rare beauty on the inside as well as out, who entertained a multitude of generations while contributing to the civil rights movement in her own elegant way. I'd also would like to say kudos to Gary Coleman, who continues to entertain millions around the world through reruns of the classic sitcom Different Strokes, through many syndicated outlets, including TV Land, and who, along with his cast members Todd Bridges, Dana Plato, Conrad Bain, and Charlotte Rae, taught many, many people that, no matter who you are, people are really the same wherever you go. And finally, a final shout out to the one and only Dennis Hopper, one of the original Easy Riders, who put up a valiant battle with cancer in later years. Whether he was on screen or in real life, he taught us all that you can be a rebel and a bit of a cup up at the very same time. All three of these very talented thespians have made their mark on the world's stage, and in the hearts and minds of people all over the world. Thank you all, so very much.

Well, that's all for this week. Until next time, be well, stay well, and don't forget to help the survivors on the earthquakes!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

Worst Movie Ever?

2010-05-23T19:02:00Z

Hi, hi, hi!

Ocean cataclysm, week five: Well, they put that mile-long pipe down in the oil-filled hole in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, and it seems to be working, but, unfortunately for the rest of us, the oil is still leaking out, and from what I've been hearing, the leak is a lot worse than many of us thought it was. And now, BP (which now seems to stand for Betraying the Population rather than for British Petroleum) is spraying some kind of toxic substance across the Gulf of Mexico, they say it's to help break down the oil that's coming to the surface, but if you ask me, I say that the cure is much worse than the illness. I've also been hearing that the oil coming out of the bottom of the ocean is just as toxic as the stuff they're spraying on the surface of the ocean. So, if you ask me, and even if you didn't, it's beginning to look like it's the end of the line for the ocean species of the Gulf region of this country, as well as the rest of us, because what affects the ocean life, will eventually affect the rest of us on top of dry land as well.

Oh well, in much happier news, the end of another school year is almost upon us! And that means, summer vacation's almost here! Yes! It will soon be time for all us kids (and our teachers) to take a much-needed break, and try to forget about all that's been going on in the world this year, with the oil rig exploding and sinking and consequent oil well rupture, with all the airplane crashes (the latest being this past weekend in India, with about 160 or so dead), with the earthquakes and the volcanoes, and, the unkindest cut of all, the end of the TV show Lost tonight (I, for one, will sorely miss this weekly combination of Giligan's Island and Twilight Zone). Another thing you can check out this summer, and only if you're really into this sort of thing, is the 1989 movie Troll 2, which many people have actually called the worst movie ever made (up until Troll 2, Plan 9 From Outer Space was named the worst movie ever made, which, if you think about it, should tell you something about Troll 2 right then and there). There's even a documentary about it, called, quite naturally, Best Worst Movie, which is quite funny (the documentary as well as the campy thriller it's about). OK, so it's not exactly Gone with the Wind, and there's much more interesting things to do with an hour and a half of your life, unless, of course, it's raining very hard outside or your car broke down and you can't go anywhere, but if in the event that either one of those things happen, Troll 2 is a good movie to watch, while you're doing something else. So if you have to catch up on your ironing, or if you want to finally try making that homemade cake from scratch, than this is the perfect movie to pop into your DVD player, of course, when your car is on the blink, and it's raining cats and dogs outside.

Well, that's all for this week. Until next time, be well, stay well, and don't forget to help the earthquake survivors!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

Brother, Can You Save A Bakery?

2010-05-16T18:24:00Z

Hello to all my friends in Bloggingland!

Ocean cataclysm, week four. Well, the oil coming out of the hole in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is still flowing like a dark guiser of goo almost one month after the big oil rig explosion and sinking, and nobody seems to know what to do about it. They sent down a top hat version of the larger dome this past week, and from what I heard, that didn't work either (They were, putting on the top hat, trying to be a stop cap, but it didn't work! Heh heh. Sorry, Fred Astaire.). So now, they're trying to send this mile long tube down to the oil well and try to contain some of the leaking oil and syphon it to a ship at the gulf's surface. Yeah. Good luck with that. If this works, about 80% of the oil will be syphoned to the surface. If it doesn't...well, we'll try not to think about that possibility now, will we?

Meanwhile, in other news in this country, in my neck of the woods, the city of Los Angeles, one of the greatest programs to help at risk kids in my city was dealt a major setback this week. The Homeboys Bakery, whose headquarters are in Downtown Los Angeles and whose main mission for the past 20 years was helping at risk youth get a second chance at life by getting a chance to finish their high school educations and receive job training by making breads, pies, and other pastries in their very own bakery, had to lay off about 300 of their employees, most of which this bakery was the very first real job they ever had. This endeavors, created by the noble Father Gregory Boyle to get many kids off the streets and into a normal life, eventually grew to include a store, bakery, and the Homegirl Cafe. Now, I kind have a problem with this project going under, especially in one takes into consideration that the Homeboy Bakery is just a hop, skip, and a jump from the entertainment capital of the entire universe, Hollywood, Ca. Now, you know as well as I do that the entertainment industry spares no expense advertising its movies, TV series, and albums on the billboards that towers over these young people's neighborhoods and on the side of the buses that drive trough their streets, but they couldn't donate one red penny to keep this humble bakery in business? Come on, people! You rallied to save the Hollywood sign a couple of weeks back! And you would do anything for the poor little animals in your community! Now is the time to step up to the plate and really make a difference in the community! now is the time to help your fans, when they realy need your help! After all, your fans were always there when you needed them!

Well, that's all the time we have for today. Until next time, be well, stay well, and don't forget to help the earthquake survivors!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

Undersea Peril: The Story Continues

2010-05-09T19:04:00Z

Hello, everybody, and happy Mother's Day to all that applies!

First, a word about the latest attempt to fix the world wide catastrophe that seemingly has no remedy (no quick one, at least). It seems that British Petroleum is trying to fix what George Bush started by not seeing that off shore oil riggs are safely capped (in case something like this should ever happen), and what seemingly Mother Nature finished with that undersea methane gas leak, by trying to cap the undersea oil well with some kind of gigantic metallic dome, which BP had hoped would be successful. Well, it turns out that this would have been a very good idea, if ice hadn't had covered the dome on its way down to the overflowing well, some good five thousand feet below the ocean's surface (it turns out that the bottom of the ocean is a very cold place after all). Now, the "brains" at BP are going to have to find another way to fix this ecological cataclysm, and think of it soon. After all, all that oil is beginning to wash up on shore along the gulf coast, and the marine animal and plant life is already to feel its impact, unfortunately for them, and for us as well, because whatever affects the undersea world, will eventually affect the rest of us as well.

Now, I sure hope all you moms out there are having a very happy day today, and I sure hope all of you out there are doing something extra special for your moms. I, for one, baked my mom a cake yesterday. From scratch no doubt! It's a variation of the classic Gold Layer Cake with Chocolate Icing, which, I'm sure, is a favorite of just about everybody's. I made mine into a sheet cake instead of layers, mainly because I just can never get the layer pans filled just right. One pan is either too full of batter or not full enough. This way, with a single oblong sheet pan, you can never get it wrong. All you have to do is dump the whole thing in and put it in the oven, then ice it when you take it out and cool it. Today's dinner will be equally as simple. All I have to do is wash a whole chicken, season it up good, put it in a pan and put it in the oven for about an hour and a half, then open up a can of mixed vegetables and cook a box of Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice. Nothing could be more simple than that. Of course, taking Mom out to dinner would be the simplest of all, but I would think that making dinner for her at home would be the best, and most inexpensive.

Well, that's about it for this week. Until next time, be well, stay well, and don't forget to help the earthquake survivors!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

Happy Birthday, Your Ocean's In Trouble

2010-05-02T19:21:00Z

A blessed Sunday to one and all!

Well, my birthday party went off without a hitch yesterday! We had it at the local pizza fun center, and everything went swell! My band and I even played at my party, now how cool is that?! And my birthday cake was a dream, a pure lemon supreme. It was a lemon cake with lemon icing and lemon filling, which was served with lemon-lime ice cream. I'd got a lot of gift cards as presents, as I said I would last week: gift cards from Best Buy, Forever 21, Target, Red Robin (yum!), JC Penney, Old Navy, and even one from Pet Smart, since they all know I have a pet Yorkie and all. But I did get a couple of "actual" gifts: a new backpack and a Spongebob pencil case (both school related, wouldn't you know?). Yeah, I'd have to say that yesterday's party was a great success.

I feel that I should touch on two recent items that have been in the news for about a couple of weeks now. The first is that ill-conceived anti immigration law that was recently signed into law by the very narrow-minded governor of Arizona. Now, from what I understand, this law would only affect those who don't have, say, light skin, blonde or red hair, or blue or green colored eyes. Because you know as well as I do that there's a lot of European immigrants who are here illegally, but this law would only touch those who only look like they come from south of our boarders. Kind of reminds you of the kind of things that went on in Germany and, later on, the rest of Europe starting about eighty years ago, to anyone who didn't have, say, light skin, blonde or red hair, or blue or green eyes, doesn't it?

The second thing is the terrible environmental tragedy that's going on in the Gulf of Mexico, when that oil rig exploded and sank into the ocean, taking the remains of 11 crew members with it and uncapping its undersea oil well in the process. No one can cap that oil well, from what I hear, and the oil slick is so widespread, it reached the shores of Louisiana late Friday night. I talked to one of my relatives who still lives in New Orleans, and they say that the news there is not good: They say that this latest "bad thing" to happen to the Gulf Coast could kill off their seafood supply and do irrepatriable harm for decades to come. So, if you ask me, it looks like not only America, but the rest of the world, is in for a bumpy ride because of this.

Well, that's all for this week. Until next time, be well, stay well, and don't forget the earthquake survivors!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

They Say It's My Birthday!

2010-04-25T19:35:00Z

I'd like to say hello to all my friends out there.

So, what to write about this week? The days go by so fast it makes your head swim that it's Blogging Day again so soon.That volcano in Iceland is still blowing its stack, but not as much, and some of the airlines have their planes back in the air, so that's a good sign. Rocker Bret Michaels is in the hospital with a brain hemorrhage, but I hear he's doing better, so thank goodness for that. I also hear that he has diabetes, so you have to be very careful with things like that.

Someone has a birthday coming up this week. Wonder who it is? Oh, come on, guess! Can't guess? Well, I'll tell you. It's ME! I'm having a birthday this coming Saturday! How old will I be? Well, I'll be twelve, of course, just as I was last year, just as I was the year before that, just as I was the year before that (That's the thing about being a fictional character. You never get old!). So, what will I be doing this coming Saturday? Well, the usual stuff. Hanging out with my family and friends, eating pizza, fried chicken, buffalo wings, and tater tots, along with cake and ice cream, of course, and unwrapping presents, which, lately, turns out to be gift cards.

There's a lot of reasons why gift cards are a neat gift to get. First of all, you don't have to worry about it being the wrong size, or color. Second, since it's essentially free money, you can spend it any which way you like. For instance, if you get a gift card for a shoe store, you can buy the shoes that you want, or if you get a gift card for an electronics store, you can buy the MV3 player or cell phone of your choice. Or, if you get a gift card for a general purpose store like Target or Kmart, well, the sky's the limit there! You are only limited by how much your card is worth. Of course, if a gift that was already bought is given, that's fine, too. Free stuff is never turned down at my house. So, what would I really want for my birthday? Why, a winning lottery ticket, of course! Then I wouldn't have to worry about affording college later on. But if that gift isn't possible (if it ever is), I'd settle for the whole "Bugs Bunny" collection on Blue Ray disc.

Well, that's all for this week. Until next time, be well, stay well, and don't forget to help the earthquake victims!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

A Few Words About Volcanoes

2010-04-18T19:53:28Z

I'd like to say hello to one and all!

Isn't that something about that volcano in Iceland? That volcano which name is sooo long and have sooo many consonants in it, you can't even pronounce it, so you have to call it "that volcano in Iceland?" It turns out that "that volcano" has grounded virtually every plane in Europe, because the microscopic rock and glass particles in the smoke's ash have very sharp microscopic points that could get into the airliner's engines and really tear the engines up and do very major damage while they're up in the air! (I hope that cloud doesn't find its way to America!) Matter of fact, things got so bad President Obama had to cancel his plans to go to Poland to attend the Polish president's and his wife's funerals because of the volcanic ash cloud, and so did many other dignitaries.

Okay, since the conversation's has already been started, let's talk about volcanoes. They can be, and are, very destructive. Take Tambora, for example. When it literally blew its stack back in 1815, its ash cloud was so intense that it literally covered the whole world, and eventually led to the following "year without a summer," because the sun never shown, it rained and snowed constantly, and the crops never grew and millions around the world starved to death because of it. Then, there's the "mighty Krakatoa," most famous for producing the loudest sound ever recorded when the whole island blew up in 1883 (Rumor has it that it was heard almost 3000 miles away, on an island off the coast of Africa!), and causing a tsunami that, up until the ultimate disaster in 2004, caused the biggest loss of life from a tsunami ever, close to 30,000 people. Mt. St. Helens, our own volcano up in Washington state, has a 30th anniversary commemoration of its eruption next month. More about that volcano when its anniversary comes.

So, will "that volcano in Iceland" be as destructive as the aforementioned volcanoes? Who really knows for sure? What we do know is the ash cloud that's coming out of it is getting worse, and generally, when a volcano continues to spout out ash and lava, an even bigger eruption usually is on the way. So, we all will just have to wait and see what happens.

Well, that's all for this week. Until next time, be well, stay well, and don't forget to help the earthquake victims!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

And That Was The Week Of Woe

2010-04-11T19:31:00Z

Hidey hi to one and all!

Well, Easter's over, so that means Spring Break's over, so everyone has to go back to school, including yours truly (and I was just getting used to not having to battle algebra on a week-daily basis!). And it looks like Tiger Woods' scandal is over as well, 'cause he just went back to work, too. I hope he does as well as he did before all this crap happened.

I'm sure you've all have heard about the big tragedy that happened in West Virginia last week. All those miners lost in that explosion! Something has to be done to make their occupations safer, people! A lot of my friends have said that they should just stop digging for coal all together, that it's an energy source that's way past its time, it being a dirty source of energy that strips the land and which its waste products end up polluting the environment, and I, for one, have to agree with them. However, a lot of people also say that this is the only work that many of these people can get, and that their families have been working in the mines for many generations. So caring about the environment versus keeping people's jobs. What to do, what to do, what to do?

And, of course, we have to touch bases with the other tragedy which happened just this past weekend: the President of Poland and his wife losing their lives in that terrible plane crash in Russia, along with ninety six other people. I don't know about you, but I'm beginning to believe that this world is being given a heaping helping of woe that no city, or country, is able to escape. If it's not earthquakes like the one that hit the California/Mexico boarder last week, it's mine disasters, airplane crashes, and, of course, the economy, which is hitting all of us in the bread basket. If, like me, a lot of you are watching much less of the cable news networks and much more of HBO, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, Current, and the like, I can't and don't blame you. I only read the newspaper for the comics, calendar, and image sections, and the only reason why I read the headlines and business sections is because our teacher gives us current events homework every Thursday night that we have to write a report about. It's not very pleasant to have to write weekly reports on terrible situations.

Oh, well. That's it for this week. Until next week, be well, stay well, and don't forget to help the earthquake survivors!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

Easter Vs. Christmas: the Age-Old Debate

2010-04-04T18:55:00Z

Happy Easter everybody!

Well, I've just came back from Sunday mass. The church, as you well know, was packed. Services were beautiful and lively and everyone was in their Easter Sunday best. Since I have a little time before the great Easter Egg Hunt and Picnic at the local park here in Hawthorne, I thought I'd spend it on my blog a little bit.

Easter is a very major holiday, right up there with Christmas. However, it doesn't quite have the commercial punch that Christmas has, perhaps because Christmas has that whole "year end clearance sale" tie in, while Easter has the "spring clearance sale" thing, which is highly profitable but, of course, doesn't have the commercial punch that Christmas has. The Easter Bunny also has perennially been playing second fiddle to Santa Claus' bass guitar. After all, Santa travels around the world leaving gifts in Christmas stockings and under Christmas trees, while the Easter Bunny travels around the world hiding colored boiled eggs and filling baskets with candy and stuffed animals. And when was the last time you've ever seen a Rankin/Bass Easter special? I think it was sometime before the turn of this century if I recall (there only were three, compared to about the dozen Rankin/Bass Christmas specials).

Well, anyway, so much for tooting the Bunny's horn and banging his drum (oh, did I say that? Sorry! Wrong Bunny!). I know that Spring Break will soon be coming to an end, and that we all will have to go back to class again. At least the McCartney concerts this past week at the Hollywood Bowl was great. Now that was really something to write home about! I'll probably spend the rest of the break cleaning the files on my computer and getting everything on my computer in order. I'd like to get my computer in order by the time summer vacation comes. As fast as this year is going by, it'll be here before you know it. And I'll be darned happy when it does come. I'm tired of doing homework four nights a week.

Well, that's it for this week. Until next week, be well, stay well. and don't forget to help the earthquake survivors!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

Everybody loves a Scandal

2010-03-28T19:05:00Z

Hello, everybody!

Well, we did it! We finally have national health care in this country! True, it may not be the best health care plan in the world, but at least it's a step in the right direction! I mean, at least we've got a foot in the door, and now that we've got the door open, we can slowly modify it to the point that it can be something everybody can be satisfied with. Who knows, because of this plan, maybe we can modify it enough so that we can get that single payer/Medicare for everyone plan after all! All we've got to do is hope! Hope and keep congress' feet to the fire!

I'm sure you've all heard by now about Tiger Woods, and how he's finally coming back after this big scandal, which seems to have cooled down somewhat over the past few months. He's going to play in the Masters soon, and it seems that he and Illin are trying to patch things up. I sure hope they can, because the sooner things get back to normal for Tiger and his family, the better it would be for all of us (well, maybe not for the news media, which seems to feed on this kind of crap like vultures on rotting dead things).

And speaking of scandals, have you heard about what happened to the marriage of this years' Best Actress Oscar Winner? I'm sure you have, since it broke just days after the Oscar ceremony! And, if you've seen the chick that Jesse James has cheated on Sandra Bullock with, you could understand why Sandra's so upset! Now, having your husband cheat on you is bad enough, but having him cheat on you with someone who is sooo beneath you is a double decker shame! Remember that classic song about Lydia the Tattooed Lady? Well this chick's name isn't Lydia (I think it's Bombshell or something like that), and, from what I've heard, she's definitely no lady! Now, as you all know, Sandra Bullock is a first class actress, and has been for many years, and it seems to me that her husband has been cheating on her with someone who's a, well, different kind of entertainer, the Robert L. Ripley or the P.T. Barnum kind (and throw in a little Minsky's maybe?). Well, let's hope that Sandra gets over this soon, and as for Bombshell, her fifteen minutes of fame are just about up. To my estimation, she has about, seven and a half minutes left. Hope she doesn't spend them all in one place.

Well, that's all for this week. Since this is Spring Break Week, I'll be kicking back this coming week, but I'll be kind busy getting ready for Sir Paul McCartney's concert at the Hollywood Bowl this Wednesday! Yeah, baby! I've manage to score some tickets! So, until next time, be well, stay well, don't forget to help the earthquake victims, and Happy Easter and Happy Passover!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

National Health Care and The Domino Effect

2010-03-21T18:33:00Z

Hello, everybody!

I hope your St. Paddy's Day was a success, as mine was, although it almost wasn't! On St. Patrick's morning, just before going to school, I looked in our kitchen cabinet and found out that we were out of canned corned beef! Lucky for me, there's a supermarket not too far from where I go to school, so my brother and I went there before going home to get some, along with a few other things that we needed. Our Working Mother's Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner went off without a hitch, and my folks were never the wiser, thank goodness!

So, today's the big day, isn't it? It's the day we as Americans have all been waiting for! That's right! Today is the day Congress finally votes on the Health Care Bill, and the day we find out whether we all get our national health care, or (heavens forbid!) not. I, for one, hope we all get it! Come on, people! The rest of the world each have their own national health plan, and it's time that we have ours as well! Don't you even think that the rest of the world is looking at us and marveling at how selfish and uncaring we are as a country that we don't even think enough about each other to see that we all have decent and adequate health care for everyone! As a matter of fact, I think that we should have gotten national health care a long time ago! If we had it, say, about thirty or forty years ago, this country wouldn't have been in the very messed up state that it's in today!

Think about it. If we had health care back then, the factories wouldn't have shut down, because the health care premium expenses wouldn't have nearly bankrupted the companies that owned the factories, resulting in their moving to states that don't even believe in unions, let alone workers having health care plans, and which, ultimately, ended up moving to countries that pay their workers pennies on the dollar a day for the same thing that even non-union workers were doing for up to 20 dollars an hour! And, if the factories wouldn't have shut down, the stores and the malls wouldn't have started closing, because nobody had the money to shop there anymore, because nobody had any descent, middle-class factory jobs that paid them a descent wage. And, if the stores wouldn't have closed down, the hospitals wouldn't have shut down, because the people with no jobs and, therefore, no health care plans, wouldn't have gone to the emergency rooms instead of their own private doctors and overwhelmed the system with people who couldn't pay for their emergency room stays. And, if the hospitals wouldn't have shut down, the schools wouldn't have shut down, because the kids and young adults wouldn't have thought that, since they're no meaningful jobs around anymore, "why should I waste my time leaning something to get a good paying job?" See the domino effect here, people? If he had national health care, the factories would still be open, the stores would still be open, the hospitals would still be open, and the schools would still be open. Think about it.

Well, that's all the time we have for this week. Until next time, be well, stay well, and don't forget to give to the earthquake victims!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue

Two Great Versions of One Great Dish!

2010-03-14T18:27:00Z

Hi-dee-hi-dee-hi-dee----hi!

So, this coming Wednsday is St. Patrick's Day! The high holy day of everything Irish, and everything green! And, since I, myself, am of Irish heritage, on behalf of my great, great grandfather Harland Harley, I'd like to say, Happy St. Patrick's Day to one and all! And, since I know that many of you were also born on St. Patrick's Day as well, I'd also like to say, Happy Birthday as well!

Of course, you all know, one of the big mainstay staples of St. Patrick's Day is corned beef and cabbage, and to prove to you all that there's no wrong way to fix this dish, I will present to you two different, but equally delicious, way to prepare this Celtic stable. The first way is the way my great-great grandmother Mary used to fix it for my great, great grendfather, many years ago, and the way many people in the south, and many African Americans living in California, fix it today. It's barbequed brisket and cole slaw. First, you take a corned beef brisket, rub it good with a barbeque rub (which is actually a mixure of spices like granulated onion, granulated galic, ginger, black pepper, oregano, and thyme), let it set in the refrigerator overnight so that the spices can meld together, then put it on the barbeque grill and let it slow cook, on both sides, until it's done. Barbeque sauce is an option, since the rub acts as the perfect seasoning. Cole slaw is fixed the traditional way, of course, with shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, and either mayo, Miracle Whip, or ranch dressing, all mixed together. Serve with the traditional barbeque side dish, potato salad, and you have yourself some good eating!

The second way to make corned beef and cabbage is the way my mom always makes it this time of year, and the way that I make it as well. Yes, folks! It's so easy, a 12-year-old can make it! And it only takes about a half an hour. I call it "The Working Mom's Corned Beef and Cabbage," because nowdays, a lot of mothers work, whether it's outside the home or on the Internet at home. Today's moms work, and they don't have time to do much cooking, so that's why this recipe is soooo easy. First you take a medium sized cabbage, shred it with your hands, and fry it on top of the stove in a wok in just a little (about 1/2 cup) canola oil for about five minutes, then remove from heat and put on a large platter. Then, you take a can of corned beef (which looks like a can of Spam, only it's kind of narrow on the top and wide at the bottom), rinse it good, slice it into 1/2 inch strips, and sautee it in the wok in about 1/2 cup canola oil for about five to ten minutes, because it's already cooked. Then, remove from heat and put next to the fried cabbage on the platter. Serve with french fries that were baking in the oven during this process and a small side dish of cut-up boiled carrots. I always make sure that this dish is always ready by the time my folks get home from work (my mom is very strict about that).

Well, that's all the time we have for this week. Until next time, be well, stay well, and don't forget to donate to the earthquake victims!

Sincerely,

Marley Sue