No Rockstar Icons From Australia Since Michael Hutchence?

This article might explain why. I got this from Facebook.

Bernard Zuel asks why Australia hasn't produced one strutting god since Michael Hutchence.


The English do them regularly, the Americans do them comfortably but where are the Australian rock stars? The classic rock star, that semi-mythical figure born of bedroom fantasies, fed by music-magazine intensity and crowned in tabloid frenzy.

Bernard Fanning from Powderfinger, you say? Nup. Big-selling but self-effacing and deliberately ordinary. Chris Cheney from the Living End? Workmanlike is not exactly what women like. Shannon Noll? Two words: soul patch. John Butler? You can't be a rock star sitting down. Jimmy Barnes? Too blokey, too matey, too old. Gareth Liddiard from the Drones? Too unknown, too inner-Melbourne.

Michael Hutchence, who knew a thing or two about what it meant to be a rock star, looked at his audience knowingly. ''They fantasise about much more than is really there, don't you think?'' he once said to Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Go's.

Whatever truth lies in that comment is somewhat undercut by the fact that this was said to a beautiful, desired woman who was also, for a time, his lover. Carlisle recounts in a recent biography that Hutchence was not really complaining about the life.

He had, after all, chosen it and built a life around his need to be that creature of tantalising distance, desire and decadence.

As his band-mate Jon Farriss puts it: ''Michael became close to friends who allowed him to be a rock star because that was where he was the most comfortable.

''He couldn't pretend not to be [a rock star], otherwise it would be dysfunctional and it was dysfunctional enough already.''

A rock star is not just a lead singer or a big-selling artist or the prettiest one in the room; that is the practical side of music, the tangible, explicable side. And that's boring.

After five decades of mythologising, we know a rock star is the strutting peacock who doesn't ask for your attention but commands it.

The one with the streak of danger you know you'll never have in you but thrill to at a distance.

A rock star is the projection of blatant adolescent aspirations and only partially hidden adult expectations; and is recognised for it by a wider public who wouldn't buy an album or even know a song.

And, let's not pretend otherwise, a rock star reeks of sex: they have it, they're getting it, you're wanting it. Or at least to stand near it.

On those criteria, Chrissie Amphlett came close, Nick Cave would qualify if he hadn't scared so many people off before the hair started receding, Peter Garrett was never in the hunt and Tex Perkins and Tim Rogers didn't sell enough.

But Michael Hutchence, unquestionably, was a rock star. The most intriguing aspects of Hutchence today, as INXS prepare to release an album next month with a dozen guest vocalists, are why is he one of the very few rock stars created in Australia; and why has there not been another since his death in 1997?

Maybe there's the beginning of an answer in Powderfinger, whose guitarist Darren Middleton says the band belatedly began putting on a ''show'' when they realised audiences ''don't want to see themselves or the guy next door doing it, you want to be taken out of your own existence for an hour-and-a-half''.

Bernard Fanning confesses he avoided any classic rock-star behaviour on stage because

''I've had that great Australian fear that my mates are going to give me shit''.

There's the crux, says John O'Donnell, who signed Silverchair when they were monosyllabic ''long-hairs'', and who later ran the Australian arm of EMI.

''No one wants to be a rock star 'wanker', whereas that is celebrated in other countries,'' O'Donnell says.

''In their different ways, the US and UK promote brilliance and celebrate success but we have to be careful not to 'rise above our station' and turn into a wanker.''

The editor of Australian Rolling Stone, Dan Lander, says Australians prefer their rock performers to be the type ''you would have a beer with at the pub and it would seem like a normal thing to do''. ''We don't admire the prancer and the preener, so, therefore, our musicians don't become that,'' says Lander, who applies the theory to international acts who do well here. ''You look at the bands that we have embraced: Dave Grohl is not really a rock star, he's much more in the Aussie mould of what a musician is. We embrace the ones who fit that Aussie mould of the slightly humble performer than the more extravagant ones. Kings of Leon are another one, or Mumford & Sons.''

Robert Forster, these days seen more often as a music critic but in his prime an often flamboyant, smart and sexy frontman with the Go-Betweens, agrees with Lander that the small population could be a factor here.

''In Australia you get lift-off but it's precarious and can always come down, while rock stardom in the UK and America shoots you into outer space and that's when you start strutting about and you lose your mind, walking 10 miles off the Earth,'' Forster says.

But there's also a cultural barrier. ''In the UK, when they get a shot at the top, they live it large,'' Forster says. ''They suddenly just go, 'Yes!' They become lord of the manor and they love it, while in Australia it seems to be, 'I'm so thankful, I will keep to my roots.' There's something wedged in the Australian mind that I think doesn't allow someone to lift off out of that.''

Forster, not a great fan of Hutchence, nominates Jim Keays of '60s band the Masters Apprentices and Marc Hunter, the frontman of Dragon for two decades, as examples of a home-grown rock stars with danger, sex appeal and front.

''Marc Hunter is the full deal: the strutting rooster, the glint in the eye, reckless, camp and selling a lot of records,'' he says. ''Like Jim Keays, he had that bit of a smirk on the mouth, great clothes, great body, voice. A rock star.

''And the other thing about Marc Hunter is he enjoyed it. You could see that look on his face all the time and that is important.''

Do we have any who might have a chance of being an Australian rock star? Abbe May is a dark horse in some quarters, while O'Donnell says he thinks Silverchair's Daniel Johns is the only artist in the past 10 or 15 years who has ''that same sex and glamour appeal; that Hutchence thing, right down to the superstar girlfriends, wives in his life''.

Forster agrees: ''I wish he'd strut around a little bit more.''

The other name that crops up is Dan Sultan - early in his career but already turning heads, including those of INXS, with whom he's recorded Just Keep Walking for the band's upcoming album.

Farriss says, ''He might turn out to be the real thing,'' while Rolling Stone's Lander enthuses that "I haven't seen him perform but I have heard all the reports of girls standing there mesmerised''.

''It's early days but I'm very impressed with the way he's managed to be on the verge of moving from ABC 702 to Triple J and then taking over the world,'' he says.

The question is, though, does Sultan want it? Does he want it the way Michael Hutchence really wanted it? And will we let him?

My input: There have been a few good songs come out of Australia since Michael passed. One of my favorite recent songs came from a band from Sydney I think it is. The song is called I Want You by Savage Garden, it came out after Michael had already passed away, but it was a good song. I still play it a lot and I have it on my MP3 player. I don't keep crap on my MP3 player!!! I only keep songs that I really, truly LOVE!!! Not saying I am a fan of Savage Garden, but that is a good song! Got great rhythm! But have you seen the guys in the band? Not sure they have what it takes to be a memorable rockstar, and in fact, I think they were only a one-hit wonder.
 
Michael had a lot of sexual appeal, as well as talent for singing. Personally, I think Tim has more sexual appeal than Michael did, but that's just me! LOL! But I'm not saying the appeal wasn't there for Michael! He took a huge chunk of it and took full advantage of it too! It became what he really was. But yes, I think the article is right, he was the last of his kind. Today's artists just don't have it anymore. Maybe it's because most of today's youngsters want to look like rappers and gangsters! Not really like human beings. And yes I make that analogy, because rappers want to look inhuman wearing their pant-tops down to their ankles and flashing their bare butts at the world (were it not for those oversized shirts they wear). My little brother does that, and my oldest sis would too if I'd let her! But I won't! Someone who wears outfits like that has no sexual appeal! I couldn't see myself oogling a guy who wears his pants below his butt! Though I should mention, I wouldn't mind if Timmy did it! hehehe! But he's 50-something now, I don't think that's going to happen!
 
Another thing I noticed from this article, Michael had some ugly girlfriends!!! Besides Helena Christensen, who is a supermodel-type. But really!! Belinda Carlisle?? You've got to be kidding me! The woman has the eyes of an alligator! The shape of the head to match! She's a good singer, but not attractive like Helena was. Kylie Minogue was cute, like a 6-year old girl, but not really a beauty. And my ma once said that if I were to attract Michael, I'd have to look like a supermodel. LOL! Looking at some of his past girlfriends, I often joke that maybe I would have had a chance with Michael too. Once he got to know me. And the grand-daddy of all, Paula Yates. The woman was hiddeous!! If I were standing next to her, she would have made me look like Helena!! That's how ugly she was. I just find it kinda funny! You'd expect someone like Michael, who everybody refers to as a sex-god, to be surrounded by beautiful, sexually-attractive women! But in real life, it was the opposite. But if Michael was one of those types that goes for personality more than looks then more power to him and his kind!! I like that in anyone, man or woman. Not sure Paula had the personality though because she was crazy as shit!!! Anyone who names human children Fifi, Trixibelle, Peaches, or Tigerlily has got to be crazy!! Looking at those names, anyone besides me get the feeling that Paula more wanted cats than kids?? Those are kitty-names. I wonder if she had another child, if she would have named it Fluffy?
 
As for other frontmen for INXS, not sure. My little sis Katrina loves JD, so to her JD is a sex-god. I might see him that way if I were 20 years younger and never knew who Michael was. But JD is not an Australian. He's from Canada. Some people say Canadians are sexy. LOL! Sometimes I wish I had lived in Canada. I could have been one of them. Ma says there, everything is so expensive, people can barely afford to eat! Not sure I'd like that as I love to cook. Jon Stevens was Australian (from New Zealand), but he's ugly! I mean he's U-G-L-Y!! I don't like him, but it's not just because he was ugly. I also heard he's a jackass, who is full of himself. I don't like that kind. I never saw Jon Stevens perform, I don't need to. I just don't like him at all. I'd be telling him to get himself the fuck away from me, and stay out of my view of Tim!! hehe! He has no sexual appeal at all.
 
Katrina is not a big fan of INXS like I am. She likes JD and Jon Farriss but that's about it. She's heard the music, with Michael, and she liked it. But her meat is with Green Day. She likes Billie Armstrong. I told her he has too much make-up to suit my taste! But I do like a few of their songs. Green Day is to me, what INXS is to Katrina, just a minor affliction. But while Katrina finds JD and Jon sexy, I don't see anyone in Green Day that I find sexy. Sorry Katrina.

INXS's Australian Tour

So INXS have decided to go on another tour. Cool! But so far, it seems to only be an Australian tour. Bummer! Has INXS suddenly turned chicken to come to the USA? I hope not. Nah, I don't really believe that. Hopefully they will announce some US tour dates as well. I hope. Not that I am positive I will be able to attend. I mean, I'd like to, but I'm also a very busy person here at home, and very likely the concert (IF they come here) will be in Seattle or Portland. Though I can probably make it to Portland quicker than I can make it to Seattle, a random trip to either of those cities is not really in my schedule. But I might sneak out for a few hours so I can try to make it to the concert. LOL! I mean, I want to get some on film, put it on DVD, and watch it anytime I want. Maybe even offer it to the fans! Those who didn't get a chance to make it or just want to relive the experience. I need a better camera though. Like I said, I would love more than anything to also add an interview with INXS. They could be my first celeb interview since my online interview with Dougal Dixon. He's one of those though that only people who are into science knows. But still, a celebrity in his own right. I'd love INXS to be the next. But I don't know. Though it would make my video quite unique. I can ask, it never hurts to ask! But alas, it may be just a dream. But if I could get it to happen, maybe it would keep the other fans quiet about INXS being for nothing but money. Sad as that may sound, I don't know if it's true. I hope not. In the past it seems that INXS was all for the music, and the fans. But I don't know. Let's see. If I do get to do an interview with INXS, I'd like it to be with all 6 members, including JD. They may only allow big, major companies to interview INXS, like the newspapers or something. How can I explain that I am from a small, friend-based company? LOL! That's why I said this may all be just a dream. But like I also said, it never hurts to ask! I'll keep you all informed on how that goes. But I'm not really expecting it to come out in my favor. hehe!

I personally do not care about which fans will also be attending. I go to these concerts just to see INXS. No one else. But it is always nice when I do make new friends. I remember my concert at the Schnitzer Hall in Portland, I connected with a very sweet young woman. I didn't know her, I don't think I ever got her name. But I remember what she looked like. She had long, blond hair and brown eyes. I never ask anyone's names at these concerts because I know I might never see them again. Concert trolls, I don't give a shit about! That's my new name for people who go to concerts and harass others. Examples would be the delusional mods. They go to concerts, but it is for no other reason than to harass other fans. But that's why it's rare for me to go to a concert and connect with anyone. People are evil. They will be nice to your face, and then shit talk you behind your back. I just ignore them. Of course if I do go to a concert, and happen to come face-to-face with any of the delusional mods again, I have a cute idea! hehehe! I won't mention what it is now, but in the end, I think it'll be funny as heck! It would definitely add some comedy relief to my video. ;) You all will have to wait and see what I'm talking about. But at the very least, maybe it'll keep those dumbasses away from me. Let me go my way, and they can go their's.

Maybe it's a good thing INXS may not be coming here for a while. I need to save some money so I can get that new video camera, and some more battery power. I'd need to find extra batteries! Camcorder batteries are not cheap either! But I don't want to run out of juice mid-way into the concert! That's what I hate most about filming. That's why I never bring my dang digital camera! The darn thing always runs out of juice at the most inopportune moment! I think that's what I want for Christmas, a new video camera, with a good zoom lens. I want to be able to get right up there on stage with INXS, or at least make it seem like I am! I need a new cam and wireless mic. I want to be able to talk into the video and still be heard over the crowd. The wireless mic is going to be the cheapest thing I get. I've seen them on Amazon for only $20. Of course I may have to go with a better model than that if I want it to last me. You can see the kind of film I will be making. An interview with the band will just be extra gravy if I can get it. I don't really like movies that are all concert footage! Though I love INXS and the men in the band dearly, a movie of all concert-footage is dull! I'd like to add a bit of one fan's point of view, and her day before the concert begins. Maybe get some other fans involved if they want to. That's a big maybe though. hehe!

Well, we'll see what happens. If all goes well, it'll be a good video. If all goes the way I'd like it to, it'll be one HELL of a damn great video!!

Lily Not To Attend Patricia's Funeral

I can say I am not at all surprised! I read this morning that T. Lily will not be allowed to attend Patricia Glassop's funeral. And she was Lily's grandma. I feel bad, but knowing Geldof like I have come to over the past years, I am not at all surprised! I had a feeling he would not let her attend the funeral. After all, the big goon would not let her see her father, and that made Michael so upset that he went and did the ultimate stupidest thing he ever could have done. Even though I still believe it was done by accident. Had Michael been in his right mind, I'm sure he would never have pulled such a stunt. I didn't know Michael as an individual, but he did not seem like the kind of person who would do something like that delibrately.

Geldof seems to be sympathetic about the loss to Rhett, Michael's brother. But will not let Lily attend her grandma's funeral because of the press. Which I think is stupid as a shitpile! As usual, Geldof is unloading a lot of bull on Rhett! He let Lily attend his father's funeral this past month, but will not let Lily attend her grandma's funeral this week! Stupid! There would no doubt be just as much media at Geldof's father's funeral as there would be at Patricia's funeral. Is the message getting through yet? I HATE Bob Geldof! I think he sucks. And I don't buy his story! I think there is much more to his story than meets the eye. I will forever believe he is trying to keep Lily from getting to know her real family. I said last week it would be a miracle if Geldof would let Lily attend Patricia's funeral. I said that to my little sis, BTW. She is a partial INXS fan, more of a Green Day fan. Anyway, I think Geldof's reason for not letting Lily attend her grandma's funeral is very petty, and obviously a cover-up of a deeper, darker reason. Someone made a comment on here that Geldof is doing good for Lily and called her grandma a money-grubbing old bitch. I told that person he is being disrespectful. If others think Geldof is doing good by Lily, that's their deal. But I sense more. I won't say I'm never wrong, but I can definitely smell a rat where Geldof is standing. Rhett can believe him all he wants to, but I don't. People in mourning will believe anything. I know.

Now that I have had some time to cool off, I want to focus on some less stressful news. I am allowing a video collection of my vlogs to be released on the UMG Productions website. It's the first in a string of DVDs that will be released by UMG Productions. This one is a collection of my video blogs I made about INXS. I included all of them. It's my first ever DVD to be released. If you enjoyed the videos, you can now see them any time you want on your TV. I'd recommend it because looking back on them now, even I LOL really hard. More details and a buyer link can be found here: http://www.umgproductions.com/2010/09/timmyfans-pillow-talk-inxs-dvd-video.html

What Happened to Animal Planet?

I hate to say this, but the Animal Planet channel is really beginning to suck lately! It used to have an ample variety of shows I used to love to watch at night. Some I remember is "I'm Alive" and "The Haunted" and there was another about survival that I haven't seen in so long I cannot even remember the name. But they all had animal-related survival stories. I even miss Animal Cops. That doesn't even come on anymore! Nowadays all I ever see on Animal Planet is Pit Boss, River Monsters, and Whale Wars. Except on Wednesday night, when they show Monsters Inside Me, and Untamed and Uncut but even that is in between the other shows I mentioned. And they don't just run those shows once, they run them every hour, one right after another. You would think they would use some of those hours to run something with a little more variety! I like Untamed and Uncut, but I usually switch it off if they show something with any kind of panthers on it. Panthers bore me to death! Even watching a few minutes of them bores me. I just can't stand them! They don't even scare me. I would have a certain amount of respect for them, but they don't scare me. I have an amount of respect for all wild animals, simply because they are wild and don't know how to behave around people. But I don't feel fear around any panthers. I feel more like disgusted. That's why I don't like watching them. And every damn camera person always focuses the camera on the panthers' butt! I remember one time I saw a video on YouTube, and it was about a lion. In the opening frame, I swear the lion's butt was right in the cameraman's face, and he posted it. I saw that and it was like "EWWWW!! I don't want to see some lion's ass-hole!!!" One stupid-ass jerk thought that I was acting like a perv just because that was all I could see, saying "Maybe you'd like to look at a sheep's ass you perv!" As if I wanted to see that frame!! LOL! I said to him if he had any idea how I could not have seen that as it was the only frame mostly visible throughout the whole movie! To let me know. I tuned into that video hoping to see a lion destroyed. Yeah, I know it's sadistic! But it's OK to be sadistic about lions and other panthers. Afterall, people like watching them destroy other animals and people. So, I like watching videos of panthers being defeated. It's like lying to a burglar, saying you don't have a gun when you really do. It's acceptable only under certain conditions.

There are 3 animals panthers should never mess with: rhinos, warthogs and crocodiles. Rhinos always win against any kind of panther. Even tigers have been killed by rhinos. More often than rhinos have been killed by tigers. I've seen lions succeed against warthogs, but less often than warthogs have killed lions and leopards. I've never seen a leopard succeed in a battle between it and a warthog! Crocodiles, I've seen some panthers beat them, but usually only if the crocodile is smaller, or of equal size. I've never known any panther to come up against a 18-20 foot long crocodile and win. Won't happen! Maybe a whole pack of lions might one day, but it hasn't happened so far. There is a video of a tiger defeating a 14-foot crocodile (a measurement that I believe to be totally exaggerated), the croc put up a good battle, but it lost. Someone pointed that video out to me, and I saw it, and I noticed the size of the crocodile, and the size of the tiger. I commented "If that is a 14-foot crocodile then that is a 14-foot tiger!" because to me, they both looked the same size. The only place though where you might have a chance to see a 14-foot long tiger is a place too cold for crocodiles!! Only Siberian tigers even come close to that big! So I think the size of that crocodile was somewhat exaggerated. Could have been a good 10-footer. One thing I noticed over the years, wildlife cinemetographers always want to make panthers out to be bigger and better than they really are. I once saw on YouTube, someone said they have a friend who is a professional wildlife cinematographer, and that person has a video of a cougar being killed by wolves. But he won't sell it or show it on YouTube because he "loves" cougars and doesn't want anyone to see them destroyed. That got me thinking, how many other videos could there be out there that have been cut-off from public view that shows panthers of one kind or another being destroyed by other animals? Could be LOTS!! Panthers are unfortunately WAY overrated and probably the most embellished animals on the planet.

Yes, I admit, panthers are powerful animals. They have to be. They don't have the benefit of numbers to bring down large prey. So like say one tiger has the strength of maybe 5 wolves. Tigers are the largest of the panthers. There have been reports though of tigers being killed by the Asian wild dogs, also known as dholes. A lot of people will say this is an amplified report. Some have even said that it's based on nothing more than legend. Even the most reliable book I have, Walker's Mammals of the World, says that there have been reports of tigers being killed by dholes, but that none of the claims have ever been reliably observed (by western scientists) and reported. However, legends are not there because someone pulled them out of the sky! They had to come from somewhere. Most legends are based on fact, not fiction. Whether they are old claims or not is irrelevant. The fact that the claims exist at all is impressive!! I'd love to see a pack of dholes treeing, or even killing, a tiger! However, western scientists have seen evidence that tigers have eaten dholes. Probably young, bachelor, or simply lone, individuals. I'm sure a tiger would not confront a whole pack of barking dholes. Some people say because dholes only hunt in packs that what they do is not at all impressive. Yet people are fascinated, calling lions the "king of beasts" (which I still think is a laugh!), and lions hunt in packs too. And males do none of the hunting in a pack. It's usually only the females who hunt. The only time a male hunts is when he is in a bachelor group, then he has no choice. The thing is with a pack of dholes, they become one. When they hunt, they are no longer just individuals, they become one big, powerful animal. A single dhole may not be able to bring down a tiger--dholes, BTW, are smaller, but more powerful than wolves. Maybe not even 2 or 3 dholes. But imagine a pack of 10, 15, even 20 dholes, and the tiger has one hell of a problem on it's paws!!! They all become one, like a swarm of bees or ants. Look at groups of army ants! A whole swarm could kill and tear apart a 400-pound anaconda! But a single individual cannot. That's because in a swarm, they all become one, big, formiddible opponent.

I'll tell you all, for real entertainment, watch TruTV! They have some of the best reality shows I've ever seen! I love Operation Repo! Good show! Lyndah seems to be losing weight! Matt is like a pit bull! Even he calls himself that. I was watching Hardcore Pawn last night, Les wanted to buy his family guns. They went into a gun shop. Apparently Les tried to ask for a deal on some holsters, and that clerk at the gun store just went ballistic!!!! That was no joke! No acting! I could tell by the camera angle. And in my research for last night's show, apparently some Detroit residents have been into that gun store before, and said that dude really is a ticking time bomb! Why he's working in a gun store I will never know! People with as quick a temper as he seemed to have should never be allowed near a gun!! But at the same time, Les has no business treating a retail shop like his pawn shop! I've pawned some things in the past. One of the things I HATE when it comes to pawning (which is why I don't do it very often) is the clerk will look at your item, in good condition, and it is what you say it is, they tell you, "I think I can give you $50 for this." Then they turn around and 5 minutes later tell you "I'm sorry, I can only give you $10 for this." I'm like "GEEZ!!! You said $50 before dude!! If I'd have known you were going to change your mind like that I wouldn't have waited!" Oh and my all-time favorite: You take your item in and say you'd like to sell that item. The first damn thing the pawn shop clerk asks you is "How much do you want for this?" I'm thinking "Dude, you should know better than me what it's worth! You've been in this business longer than I have!" I hate when they ask you that, and you give them a price and then they say "I don't think it's worth that." I'm like, "Then why the Hell did you ask me?!"

You can tell, I don't do much pawning! LOL! I think I've only done it maybe 5 times in my whole life. Then only when I am VERY desperate!! Worthless items, I'd rather get my fill of, then perhaps donate them to this thrift store in town that does so much good for so many people. Good items I like to keep. If I have an item that is good, but I don't need anymore, I'd rather wait until I have a big enough collection and have a yard sale. Yard sales are not like pawn shops. The customer fanagles with the price and so can I, and both of us go away happy.

Hollywood Caricatures

I've been studying many things this week, but one thing my supervisor is urging me to do finally is finish this story! She doesn't yet know about me having done the horse book and putting it on the site. Well, she didn't until last night. Then she got a little angry and said she wants this story done. The thing that has been stopping me from finishing the story is doing the images of celebrities from the 20s, 30s and 40s. They are not easy to do at all! Not as easy as the old cartoonists make it look! So I had to watch a few cartoons that depict caricaturized celebs, and look on the internet for some drawings and examples and see how other people have done it. I used to be so into the old movie stars from the 20s to 40s! You would think I'd know how to draw them caricaturized! But I don't. I never really practiced that. Well! I can't really say I never practiced it, but before I had some help. So I had to bite the bullet and tell myself that this needs to be done and it's now or never! And if it didn't work out, I was going to put the bullet back into the gun and shoot myself!! I might as well to! Because if I don't get this story done and on the site soon, my supervisor is going to kill me anyway!! LOL! Just kidding there.

Over the years, UMG Productions has been depicting many different celebs in our stories. The first was the Marx Brothers, actually depicted on the cover page of Caroline Falls in Love. That story was created very early in 1984. It's a good story, but I like Caroline, the Sequel that came out a month later. It's funnier! But there are no celebs in that story. From there, we just went on and on with other public figures, including very briefly Lorne Greene, and for one story, Roxette. In 1986, a story was written by Katrina O'hara that included the comedian Ray Walston and the very handsome Bill Bixby. She too loved My Favorite Martian because she had the same last name as the main characters. Funny how people feel that way! Every kid named Ariel loves The Little Mermaid, I had a friend named Veronica and she LOVED the Archies because of Veronica. And Ms. O'hara from our original group loved My Favorite Martian because she had the last name O'hara. I asked Trisha, my supervisor, if she still has a copy of Ms. O'hara's story with Ray Walston and Bill Bixby, she said she'd look, and I know what that means! She'll look when she gets the time to, which may be as soon as Easter, 2012! If I remember it was a funny story about a circus, and Tony the lemur from the story The Discouraged Lemur. Katrina O'hara never finished that story, but she left what she finished with me, and I completed it. I gave it to Trisha when we moved from Toutle. There were other celebs in that circus, but I mostly remember Ray Walston and Bill Bixby.

Also, we've done stories with INXS, with Michael Hutchence, The 3 Stooges, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, countless other celebs from the early days, I even did a story that depicted Bob Hope. I still have his signed pic that he exchanged with me when I was a teenager! It ain't going NOwhere!! I'm keeping that as a momento from when we did a picture exchange. I kinda miss him now that he is gone. That was a real sad day. He told me I look cute in my pic! hehe! Unfortunately that I cannot prove now because his letter was kept in a box in our old family room in Lakewood, and everything in that box was destroyed when we had a flood. I not only lost that letter from him, I lost a lot of my original drawings of Metazoic mammals, and Anna lost a lot of historic Mount St. Helens articles. Those you cannot get anymore! I still have my autographed pic from Bob Hope though, I kept that away in a photo album. Some day I am thinking of having it framed and put up. Anyway, we've even done some stories that have characters who are not so good, like Bin Ladin. hehe! And we treated him like the 1940s cartoons treated Hitler. LOL! We clobbered him!! Well, actually Katrina and Elmer clobbered him. That was from 2003. We've even done a story with people who have been gone for longer than the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Like Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach. The problem with doing caricatures of those people is all we have to go by are paintings and statues. Not always easy!

Some people would argue that this is all fan-art and is bordering on delusional. I have to laugh at that statement!! Because it is FUNNY!!!! If that is so, then a lot of the cartoonists from the 30s and 40s were delusional. That was the "in" thing back then, cartoons with caricatures. I personally do it because it's actually fun. I'm not the best caricature artist on the planet (that's for sure!!) but the more I do it the better I will get. I'm not into adding copious amounts of detail, like the cartoonists do today. I'm not interested in making these guys look scary, like most people seem to enjoy today. I just want to make these caricatures look at least somewhat like the people they are supposed to look like. There is really no right or wrong way to do caricatures, but the best way is to emphasize peoples' most exaggerated features. Like Bing Crosby was famous for his big, blue eyes. His eyes were also very droopy, kinda like those of a hound dog. So most of the time when you see a caricature of him, his eyes are the most indelible features on him. Same with W.C. Fields, and his big, red nose. He was one of the hardest caricatures I've had to do for this story! It was actually quite tough finding a drawing of him because most of the time, when other cartoonists did him, they did him up as a pig! Not a person. But I found a few I could use as a guide, and that was all I needed. I'm still working on this story, in between working on the logos for our company. My partner was not too keen on the ones I did for him last time. He liked them, but he said a logo is supposed to have a transparent background. So I said OK. So that is what I am doing.

In my research, I found another blog of a cartoon fanatic. He stated how the celebs of yesteryear seem to be more caricaturized than the celebs of today. People had more fun doing them back then, and did them more often. You hardly see today's celebs being caricaturized at all, except for a few jabs at Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. I told him I could answer his question why. Because today's celebrities don't have any character. In the 20s and 30s, you had mostly Jewish celebs, and nobody has more in the way of facial features than the old Jewish race!! Not so much now, but then, they were probably more "pure". They had big eyes, big noses, funny hairlines and hair styles, ya know, the works! Plus, today's celebs are not funny! More people are into being dramatic than funny. So, it's not so much fun doing caricatures of today's celebs. Nor cartoons or anything.

Good Changes On The Way

Well, I am going to get into a new business. And I cannot wait! Already we seem to be doing pretty good, and we just started this month. Remember the guy I hired to do my Metazoic site? Well, he wants to go into business for himself, and he wants me to become a partner. I'm still learning how to do my part. I think first I should try to acquire my own CorelDraw or Photoshop program. The trouble is now you can only get those online, and they cost a fortune!! Hopefully we will get more and more jobs, some high-paying, and when that happens then I can get those programs. Then I can really work on these and get good! I knew my instincts about this guy were right on! He's got good vision! Right now, he's just trying to build a suitable clientelle. The toughest part is getting our proverbial foot in the door. We have to attract the clients to us and do everything we can to keep them attracted to us. Then they hire us, and then we're in business.

I told my ma about this last week, and she was afraid it was a scam. But when I told her I got paid for my first job yesterday, she was excited!! Right now, I am just in the learning process. He's showing me how to deal with clients and what to say. He told me the reason he is doing this is simply because he wants to go in business for himself, and he's helping me and I am helping him. Believe me when I say I could really use the help! I don't really want to move from Ocean Shores. Though sometimes I do look forward to moving to Montana, I do not in any way want it to be a permanent deal! I told this partner of mine I want to make enough to someday buy myself a house, land, and move back here and live here forever. Anna can stay in Montana if she wants to, but I want to stay here. I love it here. It only gets hot one or two days a year, lots of animals, I have the ocean right outside my door, and I love the nautical theme I have in the house! I'd miss all that if we moved to Montana. My lighthouses, captain figures, seals and gulls, sea shells, and all that good stuff would not really go over in Billings. It'd just make me homesick for this place. I don't belong there, I belong here. Only I want to have my own place. I told my partner that is my goal. He told me that once our clientelle builds up, and we rake in some excellent ratings, we'll be making literally thousands a week! It could mean a big change for me.

I told this guy I was so lucky to have him in my life! Just thinking about what he's told me is making me feel good! I mean, why shouldn't we succeed? He's great at programming, and I'm good at designing. I just have to work on it to get better. I want to be able to turn out professional-looking templates and logos and stuff. I've been working on it. Well, my prayers go to GOD that this works out. So far, we seem to be doing very well!

Night 1 of Hell's Kitchen

I'm glad that Chef Ramsay is back for another season this year. LOL! He does so much cussing, he reminds me of Katrina! If you didn't know Katrina like I do, she loves to cuss! She doesn't do it in front of her kids, thank GOD! But she loves to cuss a lot! Sometimes it's funny to hear her because every other word out of her mouth is "fuck". But anyway, tonight's season premier of Hell's Kitchen was a good one! One of the best I've ever seen! I even like the opening better. It's set up like the story of Gulliver's Travels. Only Chef Ramsay is Gulliver. Anyway, it's funny! Looking at some of the contestants tonight, this is my take of them:

Boris and Raj are both something of smart-asses! Boris was the one who was mocking Chef Ramsay, and it was one of those moments that leaves you holding your breath and hanging on to the edge of your seat!! Chef was PISSED!!! I thought for sure he was going to kick Boris out of there! Raj is like an overgrown child who likes to fool around. I don't think he's going to last long. There is another guy named Vinnie who was playing the Matre 'd tonight and he took it upon himself to tell the guests that there will be no servings of side dishes tonight. Chef asked him what gives him the right. I think Vinnie was just not thinking! He's also very combative. He was ready during the introductory dish preparation to tell Chef to F*** off if he didn't like his signature dish! UGH!! Bad news!!! Chef may be straightforward and he may cuss a lot, but he knows his business! Don't screw with Chef Ramsay!!! I wouldn't!

In fact, this whole bunch seems to be full of very combative people, even among the girls. There is this one girl named Sabrina who is a little snarky bitch. LOL! Leave it to someone named Sabrina to be like that! hehe! I knew a Sabrina when I was in 6th grade and Jr. High school. She was a grade behind me. She was also a weird-ass chick. I mean, weird as in strange! Not weird as in a good thing. She was also always so negative. I never saw her laugh or smile not even with her friends. She always had this angry look on her face. I don't know if she was incapable of smiling, or if she had a lot of problems in her life, or what. But I can honestly tell you all, I knew about that girl for 3 years and never once in any of that time did I ever see a smile on her face. Not even for a split second. I cannot say I knew her, as we were never really friends. Though we did speak a few times. But she was just always so negative about everything. I don't know how it was she had any friends at all.

One person among the contestants gave everyone a scare. Antonia fell mysteriously ill. She passed out on the floor, complaining of a headache. The paramedics were called in and took her away. When they took her she did not look so well! She was sweating and shaking. I wonder what was wrong with her, and hope she will be OK! No one mentioned what happened. It could have been anything. But one thing that was mentioned was that she is no longer in Hell's Kitchen. There seems to be one of those each season that is forced to leave due to some ailment. But this is one of the scariest ones yet! I kinda wonder if this is a put-on by the show to bump up their ratings? Perhaps. But I cannot be sure. We shall see what happens. But I tell you I've never seen a more combative bunch of people on this show in my life!! We'll see who wins. I've got my sights on who I believe will be eliminated! Surely Raj, Boris and Sabrina will not make it to the finals! Not if they keep up their attitudes. But I dunno. They may be kept on just to keep the ratings and views up.

RIP Patricia Glassop

Well, a lot of my Hutch-fan buddies on Facebook seem to be saddened today. Michael's ma, Patricia Glassop, passed away yesterday. So now, the only one remaining from Michael's original family is his brother Rhett. I feel worse for Lily, she never even got to see Patricia. Well, she can thank ol' frogeyes Geldof for that! Humanitarian indeed! He's no humanitarian. He's a heartless, selfish bastard with no life, and lost a lot of respect from people because he wanted Lily all to himself, so she wouldn't remember her original family. He's not even in any way related to Lily! Some of my friends want to forgive him for that, I say more power to them! They are great people. But I don't like Bob Geldof. I never did. So I see no reason to start now. I personally think he kept Lily from her family deliberately, just to be spiteful. I don't believe that keeping her from her family was in any way for her own good! Ask any child psychologist. My parents never kept me from my grandparents, and I was grateful for having got to know them. The last of my grandparents died off when my grandma passed in 2001. I still miss her a lot. I still think about her, but I also remember all the fun I used to have with her. Lily will never have those kinds of memories about her grandma. Thus I feel bad for her.

None of that would ever have happened if Michael was still around. For her sake, I wish he was. But the first thing I would do if I saw him come back to life is slap him silly! For even considering leaving his little girl like that to be taken into the clutches of that goon Bob Geldof!! And Paula was a lost cause! I knew damn well she was going to kill herself. She was just crazy enough to do it! Well, there is one consolation to all this. At least Patricia is now back with Michael and his father. They are one big happy family again up in Heaven. No matter what anyone else says, yes I believe Michael is in Heaven now. Though we here feel bad because they are all gone, we should be happy for her, as I'm sure she missed Michael while she was here, and now they are together again. Rhett is still here though, and best I can remember, he hasn't seen Lily either since Geldof took over her care.

Paula was one weird-ass chick! It kinda bothers me that people like her are even capable of breeding! And there are so many sane people who cannot have children. She was lucky she even had a baby with Michael. And the world is lucky that Lily looks more like her father than like Paula. The troubling thought is that Lily could have children that look like Paula. Of all the people in Michael's life who are now deceased, I'm sure Paula is the only one who is not up in Heaven. And to think she died so she could be with Michael again. She didn't think of the fact that killing yourself does not send you to Heaven. Unless, as in Michael's case it was an accident. And yes, I will forever believe Michael's apparent hanging was an accident on his part!! But Paula intentionally overdosed on drugs. Shoot! I hate to sound preachy! LOL!! But this is what I heard. GOD is the only one who should decide when you die. No one else! Not even yourself. I know when my Groucho died, I contemplated suicide, but I never did it!! Thanks mostly to my family and friends. And to Vegas for giving me renewed hope. Even though my original plans for him didn't work out. He still is a fine friend. Paula should have thought about her children. Especially Lily, who was the youngest. In other peoples' logic, Paula had a bigger reason to live than I did because those were her children! She carried them for 9 months. She should have been able to connect with them, and go on living for them. I didn't carry Vegas for 9 months, yet I stuck it out for him. Vegas was my will to live. Even though psychologically, it took me a long time to recover from losing Groucho! Paula should have seen Lily as an incentive to live on. She could have raised her, and taught her about her father, which I heard in Geldof's house is not even allowed to be mentioned. And if Paula had still been around, maybe Patricia could have seen Lily at least one more time before she passed.

Well, in other news, I did hear back from PayLoadz. Gosh! They're a rather new company and they are more reliable than RealPlayer! That's awesome! So I got my horse book on the site.

Well I Like This!! >:(

Bummer! And criminy sakes! I worked so hard on this horse book all year long, especially this last week, working on the index pages, and now PayLoadz is the one that is malfunctioning!!! It would not let me upload and I was pissed because of it. So I contacted them and asked what gives. They told me it was some kind of technical problem that should be resolved soon. They said they will contact me as soon as it gets resolved. Don't hold your breath for that contact! RealNetworks said the same thing to me about my RealPlayer converter 2 months ago, and I am still waiting. Makes me mad!! Believe me, I HATE working on the index pages!!! It takes forever! That's the one thing in this life I can be sure of that I hate more than anything!!! I managed to complete it, but it took me 4 days to. I have the paperback up, but I cannot complete the post until I can get both options available. As it is, the book is going to wind up costing $110 in paperback form. Well, it costs me $75 to print a copy, and it's in full color. It's not going to have an ISBN#, because it's just a simple book that I wrote as a hobby. I'm not going to register it nationally. I didn't even have my supervisor's approval on this book. It's not like an assignment she gave me to work on. I just did it because I love horses and I wanted to complete this book.

For the past 4 days, that has been my primary interest. Just getting the book finished. Though I hate more than anything working on the index pages, I knew it had to be done. In a book as big as this one, it is my duty. I had to do the same with the dog book too. And the dog book is bigger! More than 500 pages! This horse book is just slightly more than 300 pages. I'm actually quite proud of this work, it's the first horse book I've ever done in my life! I have written books constantly about dogs, and mammals in general, and I am even still hard at work on the bird books. But I have never written a book about horse breeds! I'll never complete all these books! Though I'd love to. I may need to recruit some help. Especially about the bird books. Those books take special knowledge to write, and I'd like it a lot if someone with at least as much knowledge as me helped to write them. It's going to be a big book!! So big, I may have no choice but to put the book in volumes. So far, all I have it in is passerines and non-passerines. I may have to divide up the passerines section alone! This is going to be a big book!!! To say the very least. I've been working on these books since 1988. Well, that was when I officially started, and been working on and off with them since then. As for the horse book, I will try to have it on the site whenever PayLoadz can get it's technical problems fixed.

Well, last night I got something of a brain storm. I hadn't done a video recently, because I think I just ran out of ideas. So I figured just to keep my channel active with newer videos, I will just do videos about things that I know. My newest video is about chihuahuas. I used Vegas and Odessa as visual aids. I wish I could have done a segment about the different colors in chihuahuas, but Odessa is a red and Vegas is a red parti-color, so not much to really talk about in chihuahua colors, except red! Perhaps I could put up the link to my chihuahua colors site in the description. I think that would work! That's actually my most popular page. I get literally tons of viewers to that page on a daily basis. It's the last website that focuses on all the colors in chihuahuas that is still standing today. Most other people have taken theirs down because it is so controversial talking about chihuahua colors. Especially when you add merle to your page. Breeders are still trying to eradicate merle chihuahuas from the standard. The reason my page is still up is because I don't care what others say about me. They can slam me all they want for having merle chihuahuas on my page. My chihuahua-colors page is simply to illustrate all the different colors in the breed. Nothing more.

Well, at least the horse book is DONE!!! The only thing now is I have to be able to get it on PayLoadz so I can offer it as a download. The download will be a lot less than the paperback, it always is! With the paperback version, we have to pay the printing fees, that is inescapable. That's why they usually cost more than the download version. I just feel so bad that for the last 4 days, I've been thinking of nothing (I mean NOTHING) but getting this book finished! My mind has been a complete blank for everything except that! And now I cannot even upload the e-book to the site!! That's a big bummer and a waste of my week!!!!!!

I've Had It!!!

OMG, have I had enough! I'm through watching Onision for good! LOL! Lately I've been having more fun watching people attack him in videos than watching his videos themselves. He's always putting meat-eaters and omnivores in the same class as rapists, murderers and child abusers. I am so through with him. Then he turns around and says if you eat meat, you can be his friend. UGH!!! He calls meat-eaters murderers, and then turns around in the next breath and says they can be his friends. Someone needs to define to him what a "murderer" is. To murder is to kill a creature of the same species (or at least the same zoological family) for reasons other than consumption. Cannibalism is to consume a creature of the same species. Onision also compares meat-eaters to cannibals. And just because I am fat, and people would tease that I would "eat someone", does not mean it is so! I personally think cannibalism is disgusting! If I were to go out, and shoot another person, and that person dies, that would make me a murderer. If I were to go out and kill a chimpanzee, just for the fun of it, and chimpanzees are in the same zoological family as humans (Hominidae), that also would make me a murderer. I feel so anyway. Killing a cow, a pig, or a chicken for meat does not make me feel like a murderer. It just means that I am of a species that is higher up in the food chain than those animals. And this is the problem with people who are vegetarians for the sole purpose of wanting to spare the lives of "innocent animals", they don't understand that.

Now, everyone knows by now I can't stand show breeders. But, I don't put them in the same class as animal abusers. Racists, yes! Animal abusers, no. Why racists? Because their logic is the same. You ask a show breeder who their friends are and they will not tell you any names outside of the show ring. Because to them, or at least the majority of them, anybody else is inferior. Just like to white supremacists, African-Americans are inferior. Nevermind that an African-American person can be a good person! I have literally TONS of African-American friends, and I've even dated some before. The first man I was going to marry was indeed African-American, and he treated me a lot better than many white guys have in the past!! The same knowledge that makes me hate show breeders so much, also makes me understand them. I know what they do is not easy, I've been there before. I know they do it to improve their breeds. I know what they accomplish, they accomplish because of literally years of hard work, studying and determination. I understand all that. And I also understand when a show breeder is in the ring with their dog or cat, how nerve-wrecking it is. But even knowing all that, very few show breeders have actually earned my respect, and they are only the ones who treat everyone around them, even outsiders, with respect. I can totally respect someone who can work as hard as I have seen breeders work, and does so well at it, and is still a good human being. I cannot respect someone who works so hard, and is good at what he does, yet is pompous, arrogant, thinks their shit doesn't stink, treats everyone around them, who doesn't think their way, like crap. I cannot respect someone like that.

I remember one completely arrogant show breeder like that, all the other show breeders loved him, even the newbies. Said he was a great guy. Well, I didn't see that "great guy", and usually if I don't see it, it doesn't exist. I remember he blew up and got all bent out of shape because I told him that many American-bred chihuahuas resemble the Taco Bell dog. At first, I thought he misunderstood what I said, or maybe I worded it wrong, so I tried to clarify for him--strictly for my own peace of mind. Yet even after that, he still continued to attack me because he said I filled out a questionnaire that he claimed I had no business filling out. I filled out that groups' walk of fame. I thought it was a simple friend-to-friend survey being passed around the group so I filled it out. Like I used to get on my MySpace messages. No one ever told me that those were meant for one chosen person a week. Back then, I never knew that show breeders had no friends. But I know different now! LOL! Anyway, I told everyone he attacked me like a madman, and he did!! There was no other way to describe his behavior. And I am not going to sweeten anything just because he is a show breeder and has a lot of champions to his name!! No WAY!!! Besides, I've seen one of his dogs, apparently his "best", and yes it does look like the Taco Bell dog!! He gave it to another show breeder I used to live down the road from in Olympia. So I know with that comment, I struck a highly-sensitive chord with him. So what?!?!?! Meaning no disrespect to the breeder in Olympia, but he stuck her with a dog that is not show-quality. It's good pet quality, but not show. If Odessa could not make it in the ring, I don't know how this breeder finished that dog to it's championship. Odessa is better quality.

Now, I am not saying that backyard breeders and puppymillers are better people than show breeders. But I've seen good people get slammed by show breeders. Some are simply starting out, or started out the wrong way, and tried to do better. I was among those. When I started out, I didn't know anything about going to dog shows, I'd never attended one. My family was not fond of animals, so I never had any, aside from a few mixed breed dogs, cats, and a papillon that came with no registration, and was what I later learned is a mis-mark. I saw some dog and cat shows on TV, but thought nothing about them being important to breeding animals. I didn't learn all that when I was younger. So, when I started, I got 2 chihuahuas and they bred. I went around the internet to announce the upcoming litter and in one place, I got a lot of praises. In another, I got a lot of bilge. Guess which one was which. LOL! Yep, I got the bilge from the show breeders!! I had no idea that was going to happen. I wasn't used to that. I was used to INXS fans in chatrooms. Back then, INXS fans were friendly, and treated everyone else like equals. No matter what you thought. I remember I was well-loved in that chatroom! But that was back before I got slaughtered by the internet! hehehe! Going into those show breeder forums, I think has turned me into a monster!

Out For Masterchef, Back In For Hell's Kitchen

I've rather enjoyed Masterchef, I keep thinking I should enter that show, I think I am a great cook! I can make some things very well. I recently made a potato-leek soup that was out of this world! Not restaurant quality, but that will come with practice. The more I make it, the better it should come out. I was in hopes Whitney would win! At one point in the show, she was up against the two men with the biggest damn egos I've ever seen! All seemed to be good cooks, but I was so hoping Whitney would win. That one judge Joe Bastianich is a tough guy! He doesn't give anyone any early indications that he likes or dislikes their dish. I still remember the one time he threw out Slim's dish saying he's not going to try it at all. He told her flat out it was crap and he doesn't put crap in his mouth! I still remember the episode where the contestants were asked to make a chocolate souffle! UGH!! They said that is one of the toughest dishes to make in the world. And I know! Though I have never had a problem making souffle, I know how hard it is. But my family says my chocolate souffle is out of this world! Smooth, creamy texture. Rises perfectly. Rich, chocolatey taste. And I always add a chocolate truffle in the center of the dessert, just to give it that extra creaminess in the inside.

I remember when I was younger, I wanted to run my own restaurant. I should keep practicing. But so far the only thing that I can make is American cuisine. Though I'd like to at least try to try out for Masterchef. Though I don't think as of now my cooking is good enough to make it past the first trial. I'd probably be told the first day "Your cooking isn't good enough. Sorry. You don't deserve that apron." Then I would be like "OK, thanks anyways for letting me try out!" hehehe! That's all I really want. I'd be honored to have someone like Chef Ramsay tell me my cooking is no good. Might enlighten me to do better.

Now, I don't know how Whitney did it last night, but she managed to cook a chicken breast completely in only 7 minutes!! I know all the tricks of the trade, and I cannot even do that!!! It's a nearly impossible task, but I am glad she did it! She proved it can be done. Maybe it was luck? Maybe GOD was guiding her? Maybe friends were guiding her? Family? Or maybe the chicken breast was just small enough to pull that nearly impossible task off? Who knows what did it, but she did it!! I was actually rooting for her all the way. She's only 22, and even Chef Ramsay said that she packed more knowledge in 22 years than a lot of cooks 3 times her age! And she never even attended a cooking class. That's awesome! She's on her way up, IMO, and that is why I was rooting for her throughout the whole series.

Now, I cannot wait till Hell's Kitchen comes on next week. That's another one of my favorite series. And this year, strangely, again it looks like a bunch of rebels! LOL! I still remember that one jerk that was on Hell's Kitchen a couple of seasons ago. When Chef Ramsay was telling him what a bad job he did that night, he threw off his coat and angrily approached Chef Ramsay and yelled at him, saying "I'm not gonna be your bitch!" Almost everyone in that episode was a rebel of some kind! LOL! Too funny! Thankfully that jerk was eliminated that instant. Looked like guards had to be called in to escort that guy out. He deserved to be thrown out! If you're not going to listen to a person who has had more years of experience like Chef Ramsay, you don't deserve anything good happening to you. Chef is good at insults, but that's what gets him such high ratings. People love that for some reason. But at least he knows his business! He doesn't just sit back on his butt and make his success, he does what he does with passion and has perfected it with hard work! I admire him for that. Well, last time Holli won. Let's see who it will be this year, a man? Or a woman?

Ridiculous!!

I get so annoyed by pet fees on apartments. A one-time fee I can tolerate, but when the company that owns the property starts charging people a monthly fee for keeping a pet, that's ridiculous!! Especially when the pets are tiny, harmless and legal in all states. I mean, it's not like I have rottweilers or something to that effect. Not that I condone banning some breeds. But all I have are chihuahuas and a papillon. How much damage could they possibly do?

Last night, Anna found a rental home in Missoula. It is perfect!! It's roomy, priced just right, great location, and we would be allowed to have all our pets. Plus it has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Just what I need! There is one problem though. They would charge us $75 extra a month just to keep our pets. That's per MONTH!! I cannot afford that, and I refuse to pay it! I told Anna to forget about that. I have monthly pet food and veterinary bills to pay each month, I'm not going to pay a rental agency an extra $75 a month just to keep my dogs in the family. Not unless they are going to pay for my dogs' food and vet care! And to think there are people out there with children, who do much more damage to the property than my dogs would ever do, and they get to keep their kids with no security deposit at all! I've seen it happen. Kids mess up everything! I once saw a gang of 10-year olds go to the complex dumping site at an apartment building, grab the garbage and carelessly spread it all around the playground. My dogs don't even bark that much and I still get fined. While the parents of those rotten kids get off scott-free!

What a shame, if it wasn't for the extra $75 I'd have to pay per month, I would take that house in a heartbeat!! I loved it, but I have to say no. It's OK. I know there will be others. I just don't want to go through that agency. I'll find another one. One that is more fair. We're not even ready to move yet. It's going to be a while. Certainly not this year!

Put On Your "Big Girl" Panties!!

Hehehe! Funny! But oh, so true! Am I the fricken only person on the planet that hates the Doors? LOL! Besides Anna. I can't stand the Doors. I never did like them. Though I didn't exactly like Anna bringing me up in a thread I hadn't even commented on yet. She gave her opinion about the Doors to a friend, someone told her to ignore something she didn't like, then Anna turns it around on me! I don't even know the person that told her to ignore the stupid video!! Anna was making me look bad in front of this friend, who posted the video! Like I was pushing her to comment on a video she doesn't like! Not to mention she was acting like a high school kid, instead of a college graduate going to a university! And this friend knows that she is, too!! Anna and I are mutual friends with this person. Thank GOD she is understanding. But I know Anna must have mentioned that to her at some time. But when this friend said I was not a good partner, that kinda made me get angry at Anna! I was like "Oh my GOD! My friends are going to think I'm pushing Anna!" This friend also has a lot of mutual friends with me, and I'm afraid my friends will see that and think the same thing.
I don't care what anyone says I don't think Jim Morrison looks the least bit like Michael Hutchence!! Michael is much more handsome. And Tim is more handsome than both of them combined. Though look who I am talking about. Jim Morrison had a face that looks like a lion's butthole (which is ugly as f**k), Michael is the only good-looking one out of the two. Tim is more handsome than Michael in my book. I remember a long time ago, I used to envy people who have met Michael, but those days are over. LONG over! I kissed Michael, but it was not a formal meeting. He probably didn't even know I kissed him! But I have met Tim, and I like him a lot! But compared to Michael and Tim, Jim Morrison is a clown!! An ugly, wrinkled old bag! He doesn't even have any compensating qualities. Michael at least could sing! And Tim is a damn fine guitarist! But Morrison's voice SUCKED!!!!! I've heard the Doors before. I heard better singing come from a wounded chimpanzee!!

Seems other INXS fans think there are a lot of bands I should like too, just because they do. The Doors is one of them. So is U2 and Duran Duran. I don't dislike U2, but I don't really consider myself a huge fan either. I like a couple of their songs, and that is about it. This is how I classify myself as a fan of any band:

• If I like 8 - 10 songs (or more) of any group/artist, I consider myself a HUGE fan!!! INXS is one of few that holds this title.
• If I like 5 - 7 songs of any band/artist, I am a fan.
• If I like 4 - 5 songs of any band/artist, I consider myself a minor fan.
• If I only like 1 - 3 songs, I can say I "like" the artist/group, but I don't consider myself a fan at all.
• If I don't like any of their songs (as I feel about The Doors), they SUCK!!! And are not worth my time.

That's just how I classify my fanhood. Other people may only like one or two songs of a certain artist or group, and still consider themselves a huge fan. Very few bands or artists I can honestly say I am a HUGE fan of, but INXS is among those. So is Roxette, Richard Marx, and Tom Petty. Pretty much in that order. INXS has a huge advantage too. The men are all so good-looking. While I look at my Roxette, and Richard Marx videos and see how handsome Per Gessle and Richard Marx are, INXS are a group of much better-looking guys. Tom Petty, he may not be that handsome, but he is a damn good singer in my book!!!! His voice won me over more than his looks. As for more modern bands, I like the Lovehammers! Like I said in an earlier post, Marty Casey won my affection with Wish You Were Here on Rockstar: INXS. If INXS ever do go out of business, I have the Lovehammers to fall back on! And I think Dino is cute anyway. hehe! I have a big thing for guitarists. What can I say?

Well, I Did It Again!

At least about once a year, I take out my old Rockstar: INXS DVDs and I remind myself of the best summer I ever had in my life. I remember when the show was about to end, and Brooke Burke would say "the voting polls are open, you can now vote for your favorite rocker!" And I would immediately get up and go to my computer, turn on the internet and vote for the one rocker whose performance I enjoyed that night before I forgot who it was that did what. I was not like everyone else. Other people voted for whoever looked sexiest to them, or who they simply favored. I had a favorite, Ty Taylor. I would have loved to have seen him win. He had the sexual appeal and all! However, I can remember a couple of times I did not vote for him, simply because I did not like his performance that night. It wouldn't be fair of me to vote for him if I did not like his performance, simply because I thought he looked good. He did falter a few times, and Timmy eliminated him after him being in the bottom 3 about 3 times. He felt that was enough.

One performance still gets to me today. It was Marty Casey singing "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd. I don't normally like Pink Floyd. I never even heard the original version of that song, and frankly I don't care to. I don't need to! I think Marty's performance overpowers that song! It was awesome! I know I voted that week for that song. Afterwords I couldn't get that song out of my head! Then when my Groucho died, that song made me think of her. Now, it still makes me think of her every time I hear that song! Reminds me of how much I miss her. I say now if I were ever going to have a funeral for Groucho, that would have been the song I played at it.

One thing I can never really remember doing was voting for JD Fortune. I don't think I ever did! Everyone else did though. But I never remember voting for him. I think the reason was always because he never did a song I liked. I can't stand Elvis Presley! He did a couple of Rolling Stones songs I liked. But that is the extent of it. I think it was always his song selection that threw me off every week. The couple of songs he did perform that I enjoyed, there was always another rocker that night who I thought did their song even better. Sorry JD! I remember there were always people who voted for him for reasons other than performance. A lot of people voted for him simply because he looked good. Some wanted everyone to vote for him because they felt sorry for him being homeless and all. Then the Canadians would say they wanted JD to win just because he is Canadian. Frankly, I think that's kinda dumb! Nothing personal against the Canadians who said that, but I felt that was not an honest way to vote. I didn't really care how other people voted, but my rule stood firm that no matter which rocker I liked personally, they were not going to get my vote unless I loved their performance! A lot of people would tell everyone to vote for JD for whatever reason, but I never did, because his performances were less than impressive to me.

However, I did notice that when he took the stage on the Switched On Tour, he did GREAT!!!! He actually did much better than he did on Rockstar: INXS. I figured INXS must have whipped him into shape!! However as I understand it, he didn't do too well on his solo album. I guess he is really not much without INXS.

Well anyway that was the best summer of my life! I'm always a little sad when the series ends because that summer is now over. But I still have the memories. I have the memories of voting, the memories of the great classic songs that were brought back to life by the rockers, of seeing Tim and the rest of the remaining guys of INXS once again on the TV screen, and also of the time I actually attended a taping of Rockstar: INXS! Though I was in LA for a week, I even remember how much I missed my Groucho! And how I could not wait to get back home to her. However, while I was there, Groucho was off on a breeding job with a stud male whose pups I wanted her to have so bad!! He had an awesome pedigree, but he seemed to not know how to be a stud!! Groucho never got pregnant that time around.

The following summer, there was another Rockstar series with a new band that called it's self Supernova. I never got involved in that series! Not even once. I would have if this one guy named Robert had got involved, but apparently he didn't. I owed it to him, he did a favor for me, and so I told him if he made it into Rockstar: Supernova, I would do my part to keep him out of the bottom 3 if I could. But he didn't, so that was one reason I didn't get involved. Another reason was because at the time that series came on, I had just lost my Groucho, and I lost all interest in everything after I lost her. I barely had the energy left to love Vegas when he came along. It took a lot of therapy to get over Groucho enough to begin loving Vegas! But I managed, and now Vegas and I are as inseparable as Groucho and I was. But I still would have given everything I had if Groucho would have made it. I would have even given up the memories of Rockstar: INXS if I thought it would bring my Groucho back again. Not that I blame the show for that!! I just want her back.

Well, in 2007 I wrote a story about losing Groucho, and that helped some in getting over her. Also last year I got Minnie, my papillon. She's also helped quite a bit in filling the void. I still miss her like everything! And hearing Marty Casey singing Wish You Were Here on Rockstar: INXS sometimes brings back painful memories about her. But for the most part, I think I'm all ready to go on. I think Groucho herself would have wanted it that way. Besides, I know I will see her in Heaven. She was a good girl! Everybody who met her loved her. I remember when she went into her first heat cycle, I gave her to some friends to keep so Spunky would not get to her. This friend loved Groucho so much, complimented on how she loved to cuddle with her at night, she said she was going to bawl like a baby when she had to give Groucho back to me. I told her she could always come and visit her at my place. I never told her when Groucho died. She moved away and we lost touch before that happened. One of the reasons I decided to move here in 2007 was to get away from the tragedy. I think it partly worked. But I still felt like I left something behind back in Olympia.

Well, in other news, I am still at work on the book about horses. I finished the dog book, and now I am finishing my book about horses. I think I covered all the horse breeds known in the World. The book is in color too, so it's going to be good in that aspect. The reason I am writing this book is complicated. I remember in 3rd grade there was this girl who I sometimes liked and sometimes didn't like. Her name was Kammy. In our classroom there was a book about horses of the World and Kammy loved that book so much she would keep it with her constantly. Well I loved that book too, and one day I decided to take it away from her to get even with her for something she did to me once. I took the book home, kept it, and every day I would laugh when I saw Kammy looking for that book and unable to find it. Well, I eventually forgot I had it at home, and never returned it to the classroom. I know, that was mean of me!! So in a way I am kinda writing this book, not for Kammy, but for my 3rd grade teacher who also missed that book. I don't remember what happened to it! I think ma threw it away. Not sure! It was a small, paperback book, almost like those scholastic books we used to get, only a little thicker, and it was about the horses of the World, and had color photos of each breed.

Well, that was long ago, I'm doing an up to date version of Horses of the World. Hopefully I can pull it off. I am almost done. And once it is done, I can put it up on the UMG Productions site. So, now I have done dogs, now horses. What's next? Mammals of the World, which I am also still working on. Maybe cats down the road. I'll tell you when I was 5 years old, I never thought I would live to see the day that cats would be more popular than horses!! When I was a kid, if you liked cats, you were considered a wussy! Now, it seems everyone likes cats. I keep thinking where the heck were all these cat-lovers when I was 5 years old?? I was so hard-pressed to find a cat lover back then. Now, I think too many people are obsessed with cats. They are the most common victims of hoarders. I may work on a cat breeds book, if I feel like it. There are some interesting breeds out there. My most favorites are siamese! My least favorites are tabbies. Though tabbies can have calico babies. I just think tabbies are ugly. With the exception of maybe the cream tabbies. Cream is a pretty color on most animals.

I'm The Wanderer!

To quote a song by Donna Summer from the 80s. LOL! It's a good song! But yesterday we went to Portland again. It's the second time we've been there this month. I actually like going to Portland sometimes. It's fun. I like going there to shop because we don't have to pay tax when we go there. So I usually go there to purchase items that cost a lot. Like this new set of cookware I just got. I highly recommend it if you love to cook as I do. It's called All-Clad, and it is all American!! It's some of the best you can get out there! Major chefs on TV use this stuff. I said if it's good enough for them, then it's good enough for me!! So I bought a set. I love it!! It's made to last a lifetime.

Oh yes. On the way down there, I was reminded of what time of year this is. It's time for the annual Puyallup Fair. I saw those big yellow trucks, with the red writing on the side that said "Funtastic Rides" and every time I saw those, I said "The weirdos and the wackos are coming to town!" Thank GOD I don't live there!! And the weirdest and wackiest of all, Tracy Burbank! She's going to be there too. I remember I worked for that bozo back in 1994, and I hated every second of that job! And I hated Tracy too. I was just out of high school. Tracy was like a little spoiled brat. She was typical of someone who has had everything handed to her all of her life. Bet she never had many friends, aside from other wierdos and wackos like her. She was probably like those rich kids you see on those TV shows, who prance around the schoolyard like their shit doesn't stink, harassing other kids to the point where you just want to slap them!! I know for sure I wanted so badly to slap Tracy the last time I saw her! I would have but I was brought up first of all to respect my elders, no matter how immature they are! Second, I knew I could get arrested for that. You can't strike anyone these days, even though people like that deserve it. Sometimes I wonder what is a person supposed to do? Tracy needed a lesson. The police won't do anything about her, the company won't do anything about her, she obviously didn't know how to correct herself. She needed a smack. And she was that way with everyone! Not just me. Even some of her co-workers. Except the ones who were just like her and also needed a smack across the face.

If I ever go to the fair, I'd go just to see the animals. Like the horses and bunny rabbits. Maybe some of the more exotic breeds of chickens. But I don't get on the rides or buy any of the food. I'll bring my own from home. I'm not putting money in Tracy's pocket anymore. Besides, the weirdest people go to those fairs. Like I said, it brings out the fruit and nuts of society. That's why I stay away from the fairs, carnivals and circuses. But I love to travel. Today, my ma has asked me to come with her while she rides up to Sequim. I don't know if she realizes how far away that is! It's more than 250 miles away! But I will go with her, she needs the company. Besides I think it'll be fun. It's always sunny in Sequim. I wish Anna could come too, but someone has to stay here and watch the dogs. But ma is going there for business, not pleasure. She needs someone to come with her though and keep her focused. I told her I would go with her. I'm more fun on these trips than Anna. Anna tends to fall asleep. One time I went to Portland with just me, the dogs, my MP3 player, and my favorite Timmy pics. hehe! That was FUN! I spent the day there. It was more fun because Anna was not with me. I don't mean to sound mean or anything, but she falls asleep. Then the sound of her snoring makes me want to fall asleep, and I cannot because I am driving!! Anna's a lovely person, but she gets tired too easily.