Comic actor Harvey Korman dies at 81

 Brooks tapped Korman’s kinetic comic chops often, including roles in “High Anxiety,” “The History of the World Part I” and “Dracula: Dead and Loving It.”

“I gave him tongue twisters because I knew he was the only one who could wrap his mouth around them,” Brooks said. “Harvey was such a good solid actor that he could have done Shakespearean drama just as well and easily as he did comedy.”

Brooks described Korman as a “dazzling” comic talent.

“You could get rock-solid comedy out of him. He could lift the material. He always made it real, always made it work, always believed in characters he was doing,” he said.

Korman’s other films included two “Pink Panther” moves, “Trail of the Pink Panther” in 1982 and “Curse of the Pink Panther” in 1983; “Gypsy,” “Huckleberry Finn” (as the King), “Herbie Goes Bananas” and “Bud and Lou” (as legendary straight man Bud Abbott to Buddy Hackett’s Lou Costello).

In television, Korman guest-starred in dozens of series including “The Donna Reed Show,” “Dr. Kildare,” “Perry Mason,” “The Wild Wild West,” “The Muppet Show,” “The Love Boat” and “Burke’s Law.”

Korman and “Carol Burnett” co-star Tim Conway continued working together into their 70s, touring the country with their show “Tim Conway and Harvey Korman: Together Again.” They did 120 shows a year, sometimes as many as six or eight in a weekend.

**Man, I loved watching him.  Especially when he would be doing such a funny bit and you could see that he just wanted to lose it….he did that a lot with Tim Conway.  I grew up watching him on the Carol Burnett Show and I throughly enjoyed him in Blazing Saddles and High Anxiety.  He will be greatly missed.

Current Mood: Accomplished

Spent the last two days just getting work done, as of 2 hours ago I was caught up…..for now, never lasts…..lol.  But it game me time to balance our checkbooks and work on getting my messages done.  We are taking off for a few days this weekend to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary, so I won’t be around to do any of that….of course.  We are going to visit the coast, we are about 2hrs from it.  We are looking forward to it, mainly because it is a part of Oregon we have yet to explore.  =)

Broke down and had to have a Dr Pepper, I’ve only been allowing myself 1 soda on the weekend and still staying within calories.  My trainer says to treat myself on the weekends and  try to avoid a lot of sugars.  But I got such a craving….I tried having other things but there was no way, I just had to have one….I’d probably beat someone for one it was so bad…..lol  But the good news is that I still stayed within calories and that was also with taking care of a tombstone pizza craving that I’ve been having for a couple of weeks.

My trainer says that even though I gave in, I still controlled it by making sure I stayed within calories.  =)   Then he worked my butt off today.  Which was good, because I was in a very irritable mood today when I woke up and that work out helped.  If I was just doing my own thing today it would not have been enough.

 Multiracial Americans surge in number, voice

At the same time that the nation’s growing diversity and changing social attitudes are helping to swell the ranks of multiracial Americans at 10 times the rate of the white population, the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama, son of a black man and a white woman, has brought new attention, curiosity and discussion to their experiences.

**This is a very interesting article.

 Lawsuit: ‘Pattern of Discrimination’ at Secret Service

**This is just sad if true and knowing how much more we need to go on race relations, it probably is true.

Former Spokesman Bashes Bush in New Book

**I’m just enjoying this………..grin

Current Mood: Chilling & Patriotic

I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day. But looking at the news of all the tornadoes in the Midwest, it may not of been. And that is not even all the men and women of uniform who are serving and not spending it with their families.

Our day just flew right by us.

We got up and did our gym thing, some how I lost a little more weight over the weekend..which is cool. I think my body is no longer in the starvation mode that the reduction of calories will do when you 1st start it.

We then went to Home Depot, just to get a nozzle and another rose bush……lol…..well it didn’t happen that way. Left with a couple of plants for a flower box I decided I wanted, dirty, the rose bush, a few planters, a cactus, a fan for downstairs and a few other gardening things….blew that budget……..grin Then a quick stop at the store since we were out of meat, not a good thing in this house.

Of course, when we got home we had to take care of some of our gardening. By the time we got done with that it was 1400 and we had left the gym just after 1100….lol No shower, hadn’t started work (good thing it has been slow due to the holiday)…..and we were wiped out. So we laid down for about an hour, didn’t even really sleep, but it felt good to snuggle into our blankets.

So other then a shower and dinner, I’ve just being tying up some work. We are currently watching the classic In Harm’s Way, one of the few WWII movies that I really enjoy. It gives a stripped down unglorified version of the war that so many of movies of that era did. There is divorce, adultery, estranged father-son, rape….. all the taboos that were avoided in the 60s…………….. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Harm’s_Way Definitely one that I will adding to my Ipod.

It won’t be Memorial Day without some articles about the true reason of today, not the bbqs….of course, most of the stories bring me to tears.

Group Salutes Vets by Helping Them Get Benefits

The University of Detroit Mercy Law School has started an organization called Project Salute in which law students and professors give veterans free legal help in navigating the complex federal bureaucracy to get the disability benefits they deserve.

Bush Pays Tribute to Troops on Memorial Day

**He may honestly feel grateful to our military, but everytime he speaks I feel he is a hypocrite…….both him and Cheney did everything they could to avoid serving……there is so much I could vent about, but I don’t feel that it would be right in this posting.

‘I Want to Go Home … Especially on Memorial Day’

On this day, just like any other day, these twenty-somethings who fight for the U.S. Army in Baghdad remembered their friends, their colleagues, the men who they fight, eat and sleep next to.

But it is not a holiday for the more than 150,000 troops stationed in Iraq. Today was just another work day — a day during which the Raider Brigade of the 1st Battalion of the 22nd Infantry Regiment, which is based at 881, did what it does every day: went on a foot patrol.

A family remembers their Medal of Honor recipient

**This tears the heart.

Casino mogul hosts wounded soldiers in Vegas

**This was really neat.

Last known WWI vet gets Memorial Day honors

**I use to work at a Veteran’s Home during college, I remember we had about 20-30 WWI vets left, it has been 12 years and yet the US is down to 1. Kind of hard to believe.

Current Mood: Chilling

I did get some work done, but after taking it lazy today.

We watched the Indy 500, been out of Indiana since sumer of 2004 but not use to being able to watch it while it takes place.  For some stupid reason, the black it out in Indiana and don’t show it until after it has been run, even if it has been sold out….morons.  We aren’t racing fans, but it is the big event, so we watched it.  We really wanted to Patrick  or Castroneves to win it, but it wasn’t meant to be…..didn’t help that Patrick couldn’t get her car up to speed.  It really shows how important the engineering of cars are to winning a race, not just the driving.  I still can’t believe Andretti knocked out a team mate….that was messed up.   Felt horrible for Sarah Fisher.  =(  Wow, Carpentar was like 15-16 laps down and finished in 5th….that was very cool.

Afterwards it was my normal weekly attack on the household cleaning.  We trimmed some of the dead leaves off of our household plants and I worked on the rose bush that we brought.  Since we aren’t planning on staying here, we planted it in a big pot so we can take it with us.  It feels great to have a rose bush again, I use to have about 8-10 of them Indiana.  I hated not having one in Florida, the climate is horrible for them.  Most of the things that we love grow so well here.

There is nothing like being able to step outside and smell the freshness.  I don’t remember having that in Florida.  We really enjoy it.

Started to do some work in the late evening and now I just don’t want to do a thing.  I believe I’ve earned it.  =)  Beside tomorrow is a day with my trainer……can you say ouch……lol For a day that wasn’t very intense, I’m pretty tired….very strange.  =)

2008 May 11 MN Falls 1

2008 May 11 MN Falls 2

2008 May 11 MN Falls 3

2008 May 11 MN Self Portrait 1

2008 May 11 MN Falls 4

2008 May 11 MN Falls 5

2008 May 11 MN Falls 6

Everytime we visit, we have to stop and see the falls.  The power of the falls is just awesome to see and not something that ever gets old.

2008 May 11 MN River 1

2008 May 11 MN River 2

The olympus took some really stunning shots of the river on a calm day
2008 May 11 MN Hill Top 1

2008 May 11 MN Hill Top 2

We took a hike up a big hill not that far from Torn’s folks.

2008 May 11 MN River 3

I really love how the red of the Flag contrasts with the blues of the sky and it’s reflection into the river.

Current Mood: Beautiful Day

I hope everyone had a good Saturday. I had a pretty good one, chilled out, went tanning, went for a walk and enjoyed the weather, spent minimum time on official work, the rest of the time on “work” was stuff for me….like pictures from my walk. =)

Fashioning A Memorial Of Art And Stone

Ray “Bubba” Sorensen was only 19 years old when he first saw the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” and decided that patriotism was at an all-time low.

“People think Memorial Day is just a three-day weekend,” said Sorensen. “I decided to go out there and paint the rock to say ‘thank you’ to the soldiers for their freedom and flag-raising.”

Three years ago, a group of veterans on their way to the Vietnam Wall Memorial dropped by the site in Adair County and asked to sprinkle ashes there.

Sorensen offered to incorporate them into the paint so that they wouldn’t blow away. Everything happened so quickly that he never even got the names of the eight veterans whose ashes now reside underneath his 2005 painting of a helicopter.

**I love the fact something that was made by one person, not by someone giving lip service. That is inspiring.

Trapped By Reggie

Torn saw how Reggie was sleeping and just had to get a picture. Of course, now that he was out of bed Alexis felt that it was time for me to get up….grin

Little Flower

Little Blue Birdie

Orchid

Little Yellow Flower

Colorful

I love how colorful and green it is around here.

Purple Flowers

Dog Sign

I just had to get a picture of this….grin

2008 May 24 Clouds 1

2008 May 24 Clouds 2

2008 May 24 Clouds 3

2008 May 24 Clouds 4

2008 May 24 Clouds 5

We had a storm moving in today and it hit tonight, but until it did it made for some beautiful pictures. I’ve always loved the sky, it is always changing and gives striking contrasts with the blues and whites.

I started that day being woken at 5am because Reggie was begging my husband to feed him……..lol Now there is no way this cat is starving, they probably just emptied the bowl a few hours before and probably wasn’t even hungry. But he can’t handle an empty bowl. Took us a bit to fall back to sleep and then it wasn’t very good. Surprisingly I felt better then I should when we got to the gym.

For the gym, it started out good….by making my goal of losing a pound. We are going to try to do 2 pounds a week, which is the safe amount. I can’t wait until I get to where I want, then I can go back to the normal 1800-2000 calories a day instead of the 1500 area that I’m doing now…. Anyway, got a hard work out, left dripping in sweat and feeling icky because of that.

But as I leaving the locker room a woman stopped me to tell me that her and one of the other trainers can see the difference since I started. I’m like wow and thank you. She knows how if you look at yourself everyday you don’t see it and it doesn’t help that the scales never really reflect it, so she just wanted me to know that it was noticed. That was so cool! It is true, I can’t see it, I just see my jiggly butt and thighs, but I do know that my husband notices and so does my trainer. So I know I’m getting somewhere, just can’t see it.

Today I got my work email pretty caught up….which took forever. I have some work related things that I want/need to do tomorrow. Then any other work will be for us.

By the time we stopped for dinner, we spent the rest of the evening with having a “movie” night, which is watching whatever we have dvr’ed, most of the time. Now I’m just doing up this post and then heading to bed.

Mom Allegedly Harasses Daughter’s Friend

An Indiana mother is facing criminal charges after allegedly helping her 15-year-old daughter scatter baby diapers scrawled with vulgar slogans on a classmate’s lawn.

Julie Phillips, 50, allegedly helped purchase the diapers at a local CVS pharmacy for her daughter, 15, and her daughter’s friend, according to a Bloomington, Ind., police report obtained by ABCNEWS.com.

**How screwed up is these? You are 50yrs old?!? What the hell are you doing and what the hell are you teaching your kids? Some people should never have kids…..and she is a prime example of why.

Anchor Spun From Job for O’Reilly Protest

Nolan said his protest began when he heard that the New England chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences was going to present its Governor’s Award to O’Reilly, a graduate of Boston University who spent part of his early career in Boston. He has since gone on to national prominence with his show “The O’Reilly Factor,” which draws millions of viewers nightly as the highest rated cable news shows — on top of O’Reilly’s radio and book success.

“I just thought it was appalling,” Nolan told ABC News. “It had nothing to do with his political beliefs. He’s entitled to his opinions. But to give the highest honor that this organization that I belong to can bestow strikes me as something that shocks the conscience.”

Nolan said he objects to the commentator’s bullying style, claiming that O’Reilly frequently bends the facts in order to get across what he described as venomous opinions. It’s not the type of journalism that should be recognized in the profession for excellence, he said.

…….”I’m interested in telling everyone in the country to stand up and say something is wrong when something is wrong,” he said. “We’ve been through an awful dark time in our history where there are a lot of people telling you to sit down and shut up. From Dick Cheney to Bill O’Reilly, I’m done with bullies.”

**Now this is someone I wouldn’t mind watching. He actually stands up for what journalism is suppose to be. O’Reilly isn’t a journalist…he is a political, bullying, pundit hack job….he is a thug. I even sent a note to CNN to hire him and get rid of that shit they call shows, Nancy Grace and Glenn Beck….nothing but hack jobs and spinners. Just read Grace’s wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Grace It is not exactly something to be proud of…Allegations of prosecutorial misconduct And they gave this woman a show?!?wtf?!

Tillamook dairy farmer claims ‘good ‘ol boy’s club’ is forcing him out of business

**This is has me upset. We like that fact that this is local cheese and it is good. But now we will no be longer buying their products due to their treatment of women and the folks that stand up for them. I planned on leaving a message on their site, but Torn tried it and it went to an error page. I’m going to have to research it, maybe even do it by snail mail.

Current Mood: Accomplished

Well, I’m getting closer to having most things caught up.  So happy about that.  I have the weekend to get some of done, but I can do it more at my pace.

Regardless, tomorrow night is movie night.  I’m finding that Fridays seem to be the best for them.  Things slow down on work and I can chill….but maybe I just get the “screw it” attitude after a week of work………grin

At the gym, I just go the treadmill in.  But I did beat my old best, so that was good.  Wondering how hard I’m going to get worked tomorrow.  I try not to pay attention to what he does when he sets the weights, because I’m afraid I’ll mentally mess myself up for it, but I do know that he is increasing them…..I can feel it.

I did a small goof on my diet today, I’m still within calories, but had a big dinner.  He wants me to eat about 200 calories every 2 hours, but I was so hungry that I picked up some KFC.

Here is my news flash of the day :

Texas Seizure of Polygamist Sect Kids Thrown Out

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin said the state failed to show the youngsters were in any immediate danger, the only grounds in Texas law for taking children from their parents without court action.

**Now who the hell did not see this coming?  I fully disagree with the them forcing young girls into marriage, there is no doubt in my mind that it has and will happen with this cult.  But the way they went in a seize those children without proof to begin with…..you knew it that was going to be overturned.

McCain Rejects Pastor’s Endorsement 

Republican John McCain on Thursday rejected endorsements from two influential but controversial televangelists, saying there is no place for their incendiary criticisms of other faiths.

**About damn time.  But can someone tell where the hell is the uproar over the fact that he accept their endorsements before this came to light?  They sure are giving Obama crap about his former pastor, for a sermon he wasn’t even there for…..the media is so full of hypocrites, doesn’t help that many white middle class are racist and afraid of the “brown” man….so of course, Obama is going to crap while the white candidate won’t…..sad

Honors Bittersweet For Army Specialist 

To us, Corriveau and the rest of the soldiers honored Thursday, two of them posthumously so that their families received the medals, are heroes.

“No. I did my job,” he said.

**Now for all of those who seemed to think that those old war movies show it like it is…..this is what it is really like for those who survive while their buddies don’t.

Senate Defeats Bush on Iraq War Spending 

In a stunning vote that illustrated President Bush’s diminished standing, the Senate on Thursday ignored his veto threat and added tens of billions of dollars for veterans and the unemployed to his Iraq war spending bill.

**I am one that hates all the unnecessary pork that our representatives add, but this is something that is so needed and smart.  I’m loving the fact that they finally ignored his veto threat.

 Dang!  My trainer really worked my ass today.  It wasn’t until this evening that I could go up and down our stairs without wanting to call it quits……..lol

I spent the today playing catch up on all the things I neglected while trying to figure out where I screwed up on my accounting.  I also was able to attack my part of the office, so it is not as cluttered.

So tomorrow I will get all the business accounts updated and our own and take care of some bills.

We did order a printer just for photos and it got delivered today.  We have been wanting one for a few years.  Now I can print out really good photo quality pictures…..I’m excited about it.  =)  Printed out a great print of Reggie outside.  Now I just need to find a frame for it.

But what I’m really looking forward to is being able to print out a good quality picture when I send out Xmas cards for members who want them.

I actually remember some of the things that I wanted to post about tonight…that doesn’t always happens……..grin   Of course, it is political in nature.

McCain adviser resigns, doesn’t want to work against Obama

Mark McKinnon says he’s staying true to a vow he made months ago not to campaign against Obama. At the time, McKinnon said the election of Obama “would send a great message to the country and the world.” Although McKinnon says he disagrees with Obama on issues like Iraq and he thinks McCain would make the best president, he still doesn’t want to work against the likely Democratic nominee.

**Now this is unheard of, someone actually doing what they feel is best for the country, not their party and honoring his word.  This is so rare in the political scene and it is so refreshing that there are people like him still around.

Commentary: Make wearing a flag pin the 28th Amendment 

Let me tell you something: When I’m on the golf course and I slip my wedding ring into my golf bag, the Rev. Jacquie Hood Martin is still my wife. When we shoot hoops and I remove my Texas A&M University ring from my right hand, I still love my school. The fact that I can no longer wear my 1987 class ring from Houston’s Jack Yates High School doesn’t mean I don’t cherish the crimson and gold. And I may not be able to fit into the shirt I pledged in, but I will be a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. until the day I die.

I am an unapologetic Christian, but you won’t see a cross dangling from my neck or a James Avery charm bracelet on my wrist. Why? Because my love of Jesus Christ is in my heart.

This debate is useless, tiresome and distracting. Why? Because if there are members of Congress who wear a flag lapel pin but refuse to shore up our borders, don’t do enough to stop the flow of drugs into our neighborhoods, or don’t help to eradicate the gaps between the haves and have nots, then are they truly fighting for the concerns of Americans, or playing on the emotions of people by what’s on their lapel?

**After all these years of dealing and hearing from extreme right-winger who don’t practice what they preach and distorts the issues , he reminds me that not all conservatives have brought in the nut job messages that the GOP has been using over the last 16yrs.  He is dead one concerning this mindless issue.

Federal Court Rules Against Military Gays Policy

The military cannot automatically discharge people because they’re gay, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in the case of a decorated flight nurse who sued the Air Force over her dismissal.

**WOW!  It is about time that the court system has put the burden of proof on the military concerning this.  I want to hope, but don’t want to hope too much that this may be the being of the end of that policy.

Sen. Kennedy doing ‘Remarkably’ Well, is Released From Hospital

America is all too familiar with Kennedy family heartache, from the assassinations of Ted’s brothers President Kennedy and Sen. Robert Kennedy, to the plane crash that killed President Kennedy’s son, John Jr. Now the Kennedys — and especially their patriarch for 40 years — face even more misfortune.

“It is unbelievable to go through life, dealing with everything he had to deal with, and then to have something like this happen,” said Frank Pezzanno, owner of Boston’s Ristorante Saraceno, where Kennedy and his wife, Vicki, are frequent customers.

**Now don’t get me wrong, we are sadden by the news of him having brain cancer.  It is horrible.  And it is at the time that maybe he can do the most good and helping to get this country back on track after we elect a Democratic President.  But he is in his late 70s, unlike his brothers and nephew and he has had a full life, it is not like he is 40-50.  It is tragic for anyone, no matter what the age, but it should not be framed in the overall “Kennedy” curse.

Current Mood: Accomplished

Wow….I’ve been off on my 2 reports, it has been driving me absolutely nuts…..but I FOUND IT!!!  I’m so relieved.  I knew it would be something simple and it was, I forgot to enter it on the other report.  Now when I get to work tomorrow, I can actually work on something else without freaking.

I did get my nails done, wasn’t planning on it until tomorrow put when I was putting clothes away I totally lost one…..so I was decided for me.  It was time to remove my old ones and get new, so now my fingers are tender.  But I am happy that I believe that I finally found a saloon that likes doing design and are good on their quality of work.

During the night you can feel the temperature drop outside and woke up to rain, the Portland thing.  =)  I don’t mind too much, because it makes the area so green with growth and it smells so good.

In fact on the drive back from the saloon, I look at all the trees and scenery and I am very happy that we moved here.  It is one of the only moves that I have felt that it was the right thing to do.   Now we just got to get closer into Portland….I want to be able to take a 15 min drive to down town to walk and browse the bookstore and shop at a farmers market.

I am very happy with what I did at the gym today.  Last Thursday I could barely do 20 mins on the treadmill and any other exercise, but today I even made my goal and more!  I got my 2.28 mile in 30min, the most I ever got was 2.24 at 30:04, but after last week I was so stressing on what I would be able to do.  I just really, really hope that I can improve on it this Thursday when I do cardo.  I meet my trainer MWF, so treadmill days are Tues & Thurs.

Well, I’m totally exhausted over stressing the miscalculation so I’m heading to bed.