Never thought I'd say this, but

my GOD, Nikki Sixx is correct! Spot on, person who has OD'd more times than I'd like to think about...

“There’s things that I see where I go, ‘Rock Star energy drink? Give me a fucking break,’” Sixx says. “There’s no rock stars involved in this. There’s a lot of shit out there where people are calling it ‘rock.’ I went into Barnes & Noble the other day, and there’s a huge display that says ‘rock & roll,’ and it had a big thing of Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers. I went, ‘What the fuck is this?’ People are believing that shit that is not rock & roll, is not the rock lifestyle, is rock.”

Side note- am completely appalled that he's three years younger than my MOM.

"Where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola"

Went to a local watering hole with the parentals tonight. Had some drinkies and a lovely whole-wheat crust pizza. Supreme, darlings.

A large and rowdy crowd entered the bar, and proceeded to raise the volume level by several notches. A couple began to noisily make out.

Dad looks over and comments, "That guy has his hand down that girl's pants."

I look over. "Dad, that ain't a guy."

My parents looked nonplussed, then slightly wigged out, then cool with it.

I was proud of them. As you are.

Holy moly

I-45 in Houston

Okay, this is actually kind of awesome.

In Surfside Beach, Texas, the entire town evacuated due to Hurricane Ike. Except for one codger.

They found him today.

Drunk off his ass.

In Surfside Beach, retired carpenter and former Marine Ray Wilkinson became something of a celebrity for a day: He was the lone resident in the town of 805 to defy the order to leave. Authorities found him Saturday morning, drunk.

"I consider myself to be stupid," Wilkinson, 67, said through a thick, tobacco-stained beard. "I'm just tired of running from these things. If it's going to get you, it's going to get you."

He added: "I didn't say I had all my marbles, OK?"

Mr. Wilkinson, my hat is off to your crazy self.

"Not A Through Street"

It rained 7 inches here overnight, resulting in flash flooding like we've never seen...

Heck yes she's cool

Miz Emmylou.

Fantastically talented, down to earth and amazingly gorgeous.

In a career as a singer and songwriter that spans 40 years, she has recorded more than 25 albums and has lent her talents to countless fellow artists' recordings. In recognition of her remarkable career, Harris was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in April.

But she's humble about her contribution.

"I've always seen myself as a a relentless song-finder, a singer of other people's work whom I admire greatly, and an occasional songwriter," she says.

And may I say, how the fuck was she not in the Country Music Hall Of Fame before this year? HOW?

HOT DAMN!

NEW GIRLS ALOUD SINGLE! NEXT MONTH!

*runs about with hair on fire*

Not good

As I've mentioned before, I lived in Houston, Texas for four years before returning to my hometown and assuming a glamorous lifestyle.

Long story short- loved the kids I taught, couldn't stand the weather

So, the news that Ike is about to hit the Houston/Galveston area makes me ill. For you see, I taught in a very, very impoverished section of the city, and with the projected storm surge- it ain't fixin' to be pretty.

Hopefully, my old school is far enough inland that the surge won't be as bad. But still, I'm worried. My kids would be in the exact situation as those poor souls affected by Katrina- they want to get out, but lack the resources. And then, where to go?

It's what really pissed me off about comparisons between Katrina and the devastating flooding we experienced in Iowa this summer. We had the resources- nearly everyone evacuated had access to vehicles (trucks, semis, ATVs, etc) and for God's sake, only had to relocate at most 5 miles away. We weren't trying escape 100+ MPH winds through a metropolitan area. Not a fair comparison. Totally different scenarios.

I'm praying this concern is for naught, but it appears at the moment to be a very bad scenario for Galveston, truly a gracious and historic city.

And the wind is just beginning to blow...

Random ten

1. Henrietta- The Fratellis
2. The World'll Be OK- Teenage Fanclub
3. Number 1- Goldfrapp
4. I Don't Feel Like Dancin'- Scissor Sisters
5. Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours- Stevie Wonder
6. Ant Music- Adam & The Ants
7. Acid Tongue- Jenny Lewis
8. I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock n' Roll)- Nick Lowe
9. Just A Friend- Biz Markie
10. Losing My Religion- Nina Perrson

Bonus-
11. Southern Cross- Crosby, Stills & Nash
12. Sexx Laws- Beck

Exactly

The Fug Girls recently said

DUDE. We GET IT, Katy Perry. You're WHIMSICAL. You KISSED A GIRL! You think your ex is "so gay" because he has a scarf from H&M or something, according to the lyrics of your other single, all of which indicates a kind of very shallow take on sexual politics. You are coy!And twee! You probably have a lollipop in your bag right now! You always dress like the girl on the side of some hot WWII-era fighter pilot's plane. WE KNOW.

As always, they hit the nail on the head.



Katy Perry in this week's NME.

Hahahahahaha

Things that amuse me

Political division...

1. Just listened to my cement-truck driver father fanboy over Rachel Maddow for a good three minutes. "She's a full-fledged liberal and a smartass. Good combination."

2. Had my iPod on shuffle yesterday at work. One of my co-workers (who is very conservative) was absolutely boogeying to 'Imperial Bodybags' by the Manics.

I had a hard time not giggling.

Adorable

Adele at the Mercury Prize ceremony tonight. Girlfriend has the BEST hair.

DO NOT WANT. DO NOT WANT.

Oh my dear sweet lord, am watching 'Fashion Rocks.' Justin Trousersnake is covering Marvin Gaye's 'Got To Give It Up.'

DO. NOT. WANT.

Jesus H. Christ on a cracker, IS THAT KID ROCK DOING 'I'M LOSING YOU?'

GIVE ME TROUSERSNAKE BACK.

MY EARS. MY EYES.

Oh thank GOD, Mary J is representing.

Ah, God has listened. No more Kid Rock, just Trousersnake and Mrs. Shawn Carter singing 'Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing.' It's actually pretty good.

I need a nap.

November 14th

is going to be like my birthday and Christmas at the same time.

New trailer for the 'Quantum Of Solace.'

Mmmm, Craigalicious.

OOO!

Magazine to reunite!

In 2006, Paul Morley wrote in the Observer that Devoto "... was the man who changed Manchester". When Devoto invited the Sex Pistols to play in the city, it was "before the rest of the country had caught up with the idea that there was any such thing as a Sex Pistol. In the audience for the shows were Mark E Smith, Ian Curtis, Morrissey and Devoto himself".

Several things

1. Don't walk away Uncross your legs, Renee. For Chrissake, Anna Wintour does. A-DUB.

2. Lay off the Botox.

3. Sandwiches. Lots of them. With full-fat cheese and dressings.

Small town living

Was thinking today- between myself, the parentals and our friends, we have keys to the following places in our community:

-the tavern
-one of the gas stations
-both banks!
-the childcare center
-one of the restaurants
-several churches
-one of the salons
-the hardware store
-the flower shop (duh)

We. Could. Rule. The. World.

Oh, forgot one...

-the funeral home

Rule the underworld as well...

Mmmmm

It's been cold and rainy here all day, so of course when I got home from work, I felt the urge to cook. Does anyone else have that?

Anyway, have a pork roast (locally raised) going in the el Crocko Potto with fresh garlic, onions, carrots and potatoes. Coated the bottom of the pot with extra virgin olive oil, and seasoned with lemon pepper and parsley flakes. Added a thing of chicken stock as well.

Smells delish already.

Random-

It's amusing, coming back as an adult to live in the place where you grew up. We were talking at work today about the parties put on by our local fire department. (My dad was the assistant fire chief for years, and my beloved co-worker Patti's husband was on the department as well).

Color me oblivious, but when Mom and Patti were talking about the wild times at the fire department Christmas parties, I was like, "What's all this now? There was booze? HARUMPH! HARUMPH! HARUMPH!"

And then it slowly came back to me-

-the firefighter's children were never allowed to get our own cans of pop from the (free) machine at the station. Why? One of the selections contained CANS OF BEER.

-We were never allowed to drink from the glasses of "orange juice" that nearly every adult carried at these functions. Why? EVERCLEAR.

Irritated that I never caught on to the secret drunkfest, I called my girl, Traci, (whose father was the long-time fire chief) to ask if I was just dense, or did she know this as well...

Well, I'm glad I brightened her day.

"HAHAHAHAHA! YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT? HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Sometimes, I'm dumber than a sack of hammers.

Appledore, Devon, England

Appledore, Devon, England, originally uploaded by saxonfenken.

Cool!

Kaiser Chiefs, Snow Patrol and Adele will play gigs in their living rooms later this month as part of the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Tour.

Razorlight will also take part in the tour, playing from their rehearsal room, while Girls Aloud are set to perform in BBC Radio 1 DJ Jo
Whiley's house.

The gigs, which will see the bands perform stripped-down versions of their songs along with covers, were announced on Whiley's radio show this morning.

For the record, Adele is welcome in my living room any time, being made of awesome and all. Seriously, she just seems like a fun person- girlfriend gives HILARIOUS interviews.

Also, I hope Jo's living room is spacious, because Nadine needs room to toss her hair around and for Miz Harding and Kimba to holler "PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" Okay, Sarah and Kim don't need room to do that, but still. They're sooooo going to say that. They ALWAYS say that.

Yeek

My poor Noel. That looks like it really freaking hurt!

And way to throw a punch after the security (actually) did their jobs, Our Kid.

Yet that seems to have been what happened at the V festival in Toronto last night, when a stage-invader knocked him over. As the video above shows (from 1:30 onwards), the fan came running from the opposite side of the stage to Gallagher during Morning Glory, sneaking behind singer Liam Gallagher before pushing Noel to the ground.

The concert had to be stopped, although the band – who often refuse to play on after such incidents – returned to play a further six songs. According to Oasisnet.com, Noel was admitted to hospital after the show to be examined for a suspected fractured rib and ligament damage.

I wanna go

We opt for the lounge and sink into one of the sofas, which are arranged in sociable clusters around the room. Mini, the resident lurcher, dozes by the fire and a couple of Siamese cats pad in to see who the newcomers are. First impressions are that a lot of thought has gone into making the Whitehouse feel like our house for the weekend ather than a hotel. Over tea Tamara explains how she met business partners Matt and Ally as a mature student at university in 2002 and he Whitehouse is the final realisation of their dream to create a hotel ased on the things that they all enjoy – big beds, big baths and unhurried simple food.

The location- idyllic


The beds- huge


The linens- posh


The food- lush&local


Yup, wanna go.

VMA's

general commentary as it occurs AKA liveblogging


-Brit Brit looks GOOD

-Little Miss Sunshine's gone all Thunderdome.

-Oh My God, Russell's entrance song is 'Rock and Roll Star' by Oasis.

-He's endorsing Obama. Nice...

-Calls Bush a "Retarded Cowboy." Oh dear, the wingers are going to freak. Nothing new then.

- He WENT THERE with the Jonas Brothers virginity rings. God Bless you, Russ.

-Katy Perry is attempting to sing 'Like A Virgin.' KEEP AWAY FROM THE JONAS BROTHERS! ...who are, in my opinion, the Osmond Brothers Version 2.0... and now they're performing. Oh God, make it stop.

-LiLo looks good. Shame about the tuxedo shirt/halter top hybrid

-The Pussycat Dolls SHOULD win the award for best dancing in a video. They're dancers, hello?

-Somebody needs to pull Lil' Wayne's pants up so we don't see, er, Lil'er Wayne.

-I can't decide who Hayley from Paramore wants to be more- Debbie Harry or Shirley Manson

-Slash and Shia LeBeouf are presenting 'Best Rock Video' together. The mind boggles.

-Pink's hair is adorable, as is her dress. Don't quite get the set performance thing, though.

-The Ting Tings. Ahhhhh, bless. Katie looks cute.

-What the sam hell is going on with Pete Wentz's collar?

-Ah Christ, Jordin Sparks is going on about the damned promise rings. John Legend, for some reason, looks uncomfortable/uninterested. "Not everyone wants to be a slut." Seriously, STFU Jordin.

-The cast of 'High School Musical' is on soon. Right, that's it. I'm too old for this shit.

I think this would go under

"hot mess."

What was Solange thinking?

"Hmmm, what do I want to wear to Fashion Rocks? Ah, that dress looks good with the 50 things going on with the skirt, but you know what would really make the outfit? A jacket made out of chicken feathers with a 1970's beaded curtain hanging off of it!"