Hey Lord Summerisle...Umm, What's Up With The Dress?

     The Wicker Man (the original one) is a good interesting movie. It's not a "horror" movie per se, but an unusual mix of suspense, eeriness, comedy, quirkiness, and mystery. I know it may not necessarily be everyone's cup of tea, but I like it. There where a few "WTF?" moments in there, but this is my favorite:

 
     The purpose of all the villagers in their costumes is explained, but...Lord Summerisle in a purple dress? Do I keep missing something? What was that conversation like behind the scenes? "Okay Christopher, now, let's have you put on a mustard yellow shirt and women's wig, throw on that purple dress over there, and go dance around at the head of the ceremonial procession, okay?" "Hmm, *shrug* sure, why not?" LMAO

Because one picture just isn't enough:









Here is one man who is completely secure in his masculinity. You go man!

Oh My Dog!

     It's been really hot around here lately, we tied a record for number of consecutive days with triple digit temps. My dog, Stitch (so named because of his striking behavioral similarities to the character of the same name in the animated Disney movie "Lilo and Stitch"), enjoys spending some time sitting outside on the (enclosed) front patio when he can. But lately, it's just been way too hot to let him out there during the day. So on Sunday afternoon, when some cloud cover cooled things down just a bit, I thought to let Stitch out for a bit of fresh air. As soon as I let him out, he made a beeline for some old dried leaves that where on the ground near the gate, and proceeded to chomp them down. Stitch is weird, he loves eating leaves, but not just any kind. He prefers the dry crunchy ones that have been on the ground a while, and he won't eat certain types. For instance, he loves the cat's claw leaves, but won't touch the leaves that come off the olive tree. He was really sucking these leaves down. So, thinking he was hungry, I made him come in so I could feed him before letting him back out. But when I checked, his bowl was full of food. I pointed this out to him, but he wasn't interested, and kept insisting he wanted to go back out again. The leaves that he had been eating had come from a plant that grows just outside the patio, I had trimmed it a bit and left the clippings on the patio so I could take them out to the garbage later. I knew he was going to go back over there and start scarfing these leaves down if I let him out again, so I thought I'd just check first to make sure they weren't toxic. The plant in question is called a "lantana", and is very common around here, being very hardy and drought resistant, able to grow in full sun with hardly any water. It's also very invasive and difficult to get rid of, though the flowers are pretty. There used to be some lantana growing inside the patio as well, it had forced itself up through cracks in the cement, and had thrived for years before we finally managed to get rid of it. So Stitch had eaten lantana leaves many times before and I'd never really thought anything of it. Imagine my surprise when I found lantana on the list of plants that are toxic.

     Most of the information I found related to lantana "berries", which are very toxic when green in particular. But the leaves where also mentioned on several sites as being toxic as well. Lantana is said to be hepatotoxic, able to cause liver failure and death in children and animals. The toxic dose for an animal is considered 1% or greater of its body weight, so a medium or large sized dog in particular would have to eat quite a lot of lantana leaves before consuming a toxic dose. Lantana has a pungent smell when touched/rubbed/crushed, usually likened to the smell of stale cat urine (which is pretty accurate IMO), so it's often said that dogs wouldn't be interested in eating them. They also have a lot of little sharp hairs or fine thorns on their stems, and can give you some pretty irritating scratches. So it isn't the type of plant you'd want to dive into, or eat for that matter. Interestingly, I found several other people who say their dogs where attracted to and had eaten lantana leaves without any problems, as well as a few who said their dogs would throw up after eating the leaves.

     I was kind of freaked out that my dog had eaten something listed as being toxic, but on the other hand, he had only eaten about a handful of the leaves before I stopped him, and had eaten them on numerous other occasions in the past and showed no symptoms. Symptoms of lantana poisoning are supposed to include GI upset, photosensitivity, and lethargy. So, I decided to just keep a close eye on him, dispose of all the lantana leaves on the patio, and clip the plant back away from the gate. It's now been more than 4 days, and there's been no change in him, so I think he's in the clear, luckily. So lantana leaves probably aren't harmful in small amounts, but I'll be more careful from now on to keep them off the patio. I figure, why take a chance?

       I love my dog to pieces, he's very sweet, intuitive, and intelligent. But sometimes, he can be a real doofus. When he was a puppy, about 4 or 5 months old, I caught him licking an electrical socket one day. He wasn't hurt, luckily, but I nearly pissed myself when I came into the room and saw that. I grabbed him, stuck him in the car, and made an immediate trip up to the drug store for a package of those childproof plastic electrical socket plug cover things. Of course, I don't think I can blame him too much. After all, my list of "really stupid things I've done" is considerably longer than his.

 Mama's little angel dingbat:
 

The lantana bush growing right outside the patio:

 A closer view of the lantana's flowers:
Those little green balls are the unripe lantana berries, which are supposed to be really toxic, but recent studies appear to show that most cases of ingestion by children result in only very mild symptoms or none at all. Some people do eat the ripe berries though, and claim that they are perfectly safe.
 

Uuuunnggghh...Brains!!

   We love zombies in Tucson. Very much. I recently heard about a new thing they have going on at "The Slaughterhouse", which is an "extreme haunted house" type attraction inside what used to be an old meat packing plant. Sounds appropriate, doesn't it? The old Farmer John's meat packing plant shut down in 2001 (opened in 1952 I think), and has been a bit of a Tucson landmark because of the old west themed murals painted on the building and surrounding walls. The building sat abandoned and disused for a time, until it was purchased as the perfect place to make a zombie-themed haunted house type attraction. It really is a great place for it, given it's previous use. Plus, for a long time, "actual" paranormal activity has been known to occur in the building/area. So that adds to the creep factor of the place, and it was plenty creepy before it was "The Slaughterhouse". A lot of the proceeds from "The Slaughterhouse" go to local schools and charities, so you can get your zombie on for a good cause.

So now they have "Apocalypse: A Zombie Kill Experience". It's still new, and it sounds like there are some kinks to work out and improvements to make, but it looks like a hell of a good time.

Gimme a zombie killin' laser gun, I'm in!

Oh, and I can't forget Tucson's annual "Zombie Walk", which takes place every October and benefits the local food bank. I totally want to go this year.

Fireworks Are Made of Hot Stuff

     I was hoping to have some pics of the 4th of July fireworks, but it didn't pan out. We ended up going to the Fireworks show in Marana this time, as it seemed the best option. Last time we went into downtown Tucson to catch the traditional "A mountain" fireworks, but meh, you can't get close enough to A mountain for one thing, they block the area off. The closest area downtown just isn't close enough, and of course, there's all the traffic and trying to find parking to deal with. I did get some pics of the fireworks, but they turned out pretty crappy and blurry. Then after the show was over and we were walking along in the big crowd of people leaving, I had a very close call when I tripped over a big row of tire spikes and fell, very nearly hitting my head and impaling myself on said spikes. I'd like to know who thought it was a good idea to leave all these tire spikes up instead of retracting them into their ground slots that evening as they should have done, knowing there were going to be large crowds of people walking through the area in the dark. These spikes are very difficult to see (especially when walking in the midst of a crowd), they blend in to the color of the black concrete, and the area is very dark. I'm lucky in that I was able to react quickly when I realized I was about to eat pavement, aiming my weight away from the spikes and tucked into a roll as I landed (I learned how to fall as a kid, and luckily still remember that stuff). So I was unhurt except for my dignity (however much I had to begin with) and a little scrape or two, but it could have been pretty bad had I landed on those spikes, and even worse had I been an elderly person or very young child. So, if you happen to own a property that has a parking lot containing tire spikes/shredders, and there is going to be some sort of event in the area after sundown, retract the damn things, or at the very least block them off so that people won't trip over them.

     So anyway, this year we drove up to Marana for the "Star Spangled Spectacular" and had a pretty good vantage point at Silverbell Park, which is right across the wash (Santa Cruise "river") from where they where shooting the fireworks off. I brought along my cheapo digital camera and my Samsung Galaxy player thing (which has a camera on it), but unfortunately, I neglected to check either before leaving. The batteries in the digital cameras where dead, and my Samsung Galaxy didn't have any space left on it. So I didn't end up with any pictures this time. They did put on a good fireworks show though, and the park was a great place to view them. About 10 minutes or so into the show, I saw some smoke and flames that appeared to be coming from the large wash between where the fireworks were being shot off and us in the park. I had noticed some embers from the fireworks that appeared to remain burning hot as they fell down, and wondered about it. Apparently, some of these must have landed in the dry brush down in that wash, causing a fire, which grew quite rapidly. Within a couple minutes, the flames where quite large and you could hear roaring and crackling noises coming from them. There were thick clouds of smoke billowing up, although a slight breeze blew the smoke south along the wash and kept it out of the park area, luckily. While the flames stuck to the wash and didn't endanger any people or structures, it was an eerie site, especially given that a large wildfire just tragically killed 19 firefighters in this state. Of course, with the fireworks show going on, there were plenty of police, paramedics, and firefighters stationed in the area, so they responded quickly and got started putting out the flames. The fireworks paused momentarily, but resumed after a few minutes, and they were able to finish a pretty spectacular show. The grand finale was great. By the end, the fire appeared mostly contained. It was said to have consumed an area about the size of a football field. My hat is off to the Northwest Fire department firefighters, who were quick to put out the blaze and kept everybody safe, as well as all of the firefighters in the Tucson area who spent their 4th of July on duty in the heat. Applause also goes to those who put on the Marana fireworks event free for the public, and who remained calm when things got a bit hairy and still put on a really nice show.

A video clip of the brush fire down in the wash:

A Disturbing Trend

Believe it or not, one cop choose answer C.  And he's not the only one, there has been an alarming increase in the number of dogs killed by police in the USA, the large majority of them where not a real threat to anyone, simply dogs doing what dogs do. This is something I've been following for a while, and it's definitely getting worse, happening more and more often. This should be a serious concern to all dog owners, no matter how law abiding you are or how well trained your dogs may be. Dogs are being shot by police in their own homes and backyards, in public parks/dog parks, and out on the streets. 99% of these shootings are completely unnecessary. Another very recent case in southern California involving a rottweiler has caught a lot of attention thanks to a video of the incident that went viral.

Happy Birthday to Me

As of yesterday, I'm another year older, another year fartier. Although I am quite lucky to still be here really, so I should be grateful. I went out for a birthday dinner last night with my mother, we went to the Outback Steakhouse just down the road since we had a gift card for them. We both enjoyed our dinners. I had the sirloin steak and grilled shrimp, my mother ordered the tilapia. The steak was nicely medium rare and delicious, the shrimp where pretty good, though perhaps had a bit too much seasoning on them. There where only, like, 4 shrimp, so I would have liked a few more, but probably wouldn't have been able to eat them all anyway. I actually managed to eat the entire 8 oz steak, along with about half of the garlic mashed potatoes (which where also delicious), and the shrimp. By the end, we where both totally, completely full. It's now been about 11 hours since, and I'm still full!  It's funny, every time we go out to eat, we always have a peek at the desert menu and talk about how maybe we'll have room for desert this time, but it never happens. We always end up so full, we might as well be Mr. Creosote from "Monty Python's the Meaning of Life". You know, that enormously huge fat guy who goes into the restaurant and eats everything on the menu while projectile vomiting, then explodes after John Cleese (the waiter) forces an after-dinner mint on him. These restaurants need a table to car wheelchair/wheelbarrow/stretcher service for those who've overeaten and are about to explode.

The Return of Frankenstein?

I had my regular appointment with my pain management doc yesterday. So I was sitting in the waiting room, reading a magazine, I think it was a "Time", but it was a really thin magazine. Maybe magazines are shrinking the way cereal boxes are? Anyway, there was this article about different languages around the world that are dead/dying, and this psychologist is quoted in the article saying something or other about the disappearing languages (can't remember). But what I found of particular interest was the name of this quoted psychologist. Her name was, I kid you not, Dr. Frankenstein. No really! I did a bit of a double take, rereading the name multiple times, thinking I must have misread or imagined the name or something, but that was exactly the way it was spelled, Frankenstein. So, it appears Dr. Frankenstein is alive and well. This doctor was female though, maybe Frankenstein is masquerading as a women? Could he now be Victoria Frankenstein? Vicki?

Hmmm. I'm having a hard time picturing that. You're all man Victor.

Random Weird Quote of the Day

I was at the grocery store a little while ago to grab a couple things, and I'm at the automatic checkout machine paying for the groceries when I overhear this:

"Are those elephants' butts?"

I have no idea.

Paranormal Activity Yawn

Watched Paranormal Activity 4, got it from Netflix. It wasn't any better or worse than the first 3, just more of the same. The problem with this franchise is that, after the first movie, they where too predictable. All 4 contain the same general stuff, and they all pretty much end the same way. I also think they should have gone a different direction than the old "evil demon" thing. Early on in PA 1, they start in on the whole "It's a demon!" line, at which point it becomes too predictable. I would have kept the nature of the entity a secret, made it really weird and unpredictable. I'd have it do some really bizarre, freaky, unexpected stuff. Because in my opinion, the unknown is a lot scarier than the known.

And why was "Toby" so small in this one? I always got the impression that this demon was quite tall, but in PA 4, he appeared to be like child sized. Maybe demons shrink with age the way people do? I don't know, but I do hope we've seen the last of the PA sequels. They're cheap and easy to make, but enough is enough.

I did go see "The Croods" at the discount theater the other day though, and it was quite good! I wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised by the movie. It was cute, funny, and had some interesting fantastical flora and fauna. It was the sort of movie both kids and adults can enjoy.

Trader Joes has the most delicious mango lemonade! I tried a sample today and loved it so much I ended up grabbing a bottle of the stuff. When you take a sip, you get this really nice sweet mango flavor that is followed by a pleasant lemony taste at the end. It's just a yummy, refreshing, unique lemonade.

A Rude Awakening For Dogs

Okay, time for a giggle.


The joys of owning a dog #397: Seeing your dog fart itself awake.

Okay, I'll confess, I've done the same thing before. A bit scary, I thought someone had broken in.

Of Wolves and Idiots

Ugh. If the government has its way, wolves are about to loose all federal protections. Article. I've been following this for a while now. It's yet another good example of why stupid people should not be allowed in positions of authority. I know a lot of people don't care, but I've always loved wolves and been sickened by their virtual eradication from this country. So, only very recently have they been able to reintroduce a small number of wolves into a tiny portion of what used to be their natural habitat, and even that was rigorously opposed. Now, all the ranchers, hunters, etc. have been moaning, bitching, and leaning on the right people, so that tiny bit of progress at beginning to bring a more natural sized wolf population back into the USA is about to go up in smoke. Wolf hunting has already been legal in several states as it is, with 1,000s being killed for sport (or what they call management, though these wolf populations are so small already there isn't actually any need to "thin their numbers"). So it's just a thinly veiled excuse for "I want to kill it!". Aren't humans great? "I don't like it! It looks dangerous, and it might mess with my stuff! Let's kill it, kill them all!" Wolves where roaming here long before us. This was and still should be, their natural habitat. There is no reason we can't coexist with wildlife. I really don't get how anyone can look at such a beautiful animal and kill it, unless they're sick in the head. I'm afraid if things don't change, wolves (along with lots of other wild animals) are only going to be found in museums and history books.

Move Over LOLcats, Here Comes Dracula!

Oh no! Someone has unleashed a sleep deprived Barguestspirit on the unsuspecting public! Everybody lock up your image editing software!

You've seen the LOLcats, with their stupidly cute and funny antics, but here's something even better...LOLDrac!






Oh good lord, someone stop me!

I B Speekin Gooder Eenglish

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?

The Grammar Nazi in me is proud.

Dirty Silverware

I have a thing when it comes to food, any surfaces used to prepare food, and any dishes or utensils used to serve or eat food. Call me obsessive compulsive, but anything that will come in contact with food or drink has to be clean. I cannot abide dirty dishes or utensils. If it's going to go in my mouth, I want to inspect it. That may be a bit silly, considering how filthy mouths are, mine in particular. But still, I've had one too many incidents in the past of finding something gross on food I've been eating, or the dish/utensil I've been using to eat/drink with. I'm very thorough when doing dishes (no dishwasher). I automatically inspect dishes and silverware when pulling them out to use, even in my own home when I've been the one to wash them. I do the same in restaurants, and when eating at someone else's home (though I'm more surreptitious about it). It's an automatic habit. If something doesn't pass my inspection, I don't use it. Maybe it's a good thing food preparation areas tend to be hidden from view in restaurants. I might never eat out again if I saw too much. :P

GI. Joe and the Detachable Penis

Went to see "GI. Joe: Retaliation" last night. I always enjoy Bruce Willis in a movie, and this was no exception. Is it the movie of the year? No. Was it an entertaining couple of hours? Yes. What I expected was what I got. An entertaining movie full of explosions, big weapons, cool fight scenes, and Bruce Willis. It was a fun movie, well worth the $1.50 admission at the discount theater.

Later on, I decided to run up to the grocery store and grab a carton of Dreyer's ice cream (mint cookie crunch-delicious) before they went off sale. While driving to the store, this song suddenly pops into my head- "Detachable Penis" by King Missle. I have no idea why this particular song would suddenly intrude into my thoughts. I mean, I haven't heard the song in years (though it was quite popular back in the 90s), nor was this song or anything like it playing on the car radio (An old Beatles song was playing, though I can't even remember what it was, I could barely hear it over "Detachable Penis" playing in my head). To the best of my knowledge, I hadn't been thinking about detachable things or penises. When I got home from the store, it was still driving me nuts, so I had to go find "Detachable Penis" and listen to it.

Where on earth did that come from? Maybe the government is testing a secret weapon? Maybe aliens where experimenting on me? Or maybe I'm just really really weird.

For reference, here's the song in question:

Peter Cushing Can Fly!

I made my first animated gif yesterday, so here's a taste of Peter Cushing, as Van Helsing in "Horror of Dracula", being all awesome and stuff. You go dude!



Dracula's all "Umm...WTF? What is he do-Oh Shit!"

Mood: Content

For They Are Jolly Good Fellows, And Nobody Can Deny!

The 26th and 27th of May happen to be the birthdays of two legends. I am, of course, speaking of two of film's greatest stars, not to mention the dapperest of British gentlemen; Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Unless you've spent your life living under a rock or happen to be Amish or something, you're pretty much guaranteed to have seen something they are in.

   Peter Cushing is, sadly, no longer with us. But there is no doubt he will continue to touch millions around the world. He is known as "The gentleman of horror", and that's perhaps the best way to succinctly describe him-a real gentleman. They don't make em' like this anymore folks.


   Peter Cushing came into my life when I was 11. I remember watching the first Star Wars movie, and thinking that Darth Vader was really cool and all, but so was that skinny old guy in the military uniform.


    I thought his part should have been bigger, he didn't get enough screen time in my opinion. This Moff Tarkin guy was so good at being evil, but there was always this "gentlemanliness" that was present as well. I recall thinking I'd like to see if that actor was in anything else. Little did I know at the time, Peter Cushing's acting career had spanned decades. A couple years later, when I was 13 or so, I saw him in an old Hammer Horror movie, along with his pal Christopher Lee, and this was the start of my love for these two brilliant men and the movies they where in.

   Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee may not have been the most popular crushes for teenage girls in the 90s, but (as usual) I didn't care what was popular. I loved tracking down VHSs of the movies they where in, and had managed to buy or rent a good many. I especially liked the old Hammer Horror films they where in, the Frankenstein and Dracula series' being my favorites. These films where already quite old when I saw them, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. By the standards then and now, these old horror movies where fairly tame, sometimes a bit cheesy, but I think that's part of their charm really. They aren't filled with the over the top, in-your-face violence & gore that is more common in horror movies from the last couple decades. Even when the movie itself isn't very good, it's still enjoyable to watch Peter Cushing and/or Christopher Lee do their stuff.

   The roles Peter Cushing is best known for, (aside from Moff Tarkin in Star Wars) would probably be Baron Frankenstein and Professor Van Helsing. No one can even come close to how he portrayed these parts. Peter Cushing was in 6 Hammer Frankenstein films, and 5 of the Hammer Dracula films. He was also in a good many more (well over 100) movies, horror and otherwise.

   Peter Cushing, where he still alive, would have turned 100 years old last Sunday. He died in 1994, at the age of 81, which is still a respectable age to reach. Christopher Lee has been quoted as saying that Peter died because he was too good for the world. I would agree with that. There will never be another Peter Cushing, he simply can't be replicated or replaced. The world lost something special that August day in 1994. Luckily, Peter Cushing can still be remembered and enjoyed through his films, words, and other little bits he left behind.



   My introduction to Christopher Lee came when I watched him play the title role in one of Hammer's Dracula movies. Prior to this, I had never thought of vampires being handsome or sexy. But this was what Christopher Lee brought to the role of Dracula, and vampires would never be the same. This was back when vampires used to be bad-ass. (Yes, I'm lookin' at you modern day sparkly sissypires) Christopher Lee's Dracula was menacing, yet gentlemanly. He could quickly go from being courteous and polite, to animalistic and blood thirsty. Hammer tended to inject some sex into their films (often called "Sexploitation"). While the earlier books and films on vampires would hint at sex, Hammer's Dracula oozed it. The first film in Hammer's Dracula series, "The Horror of Dracula" came out in 1958, and was quite shocking and risque for the times. Lee's Dracula was lean, mean, and sensual. The women who are his "victims" don't seem to mind having him bite their necks and drink their blood. In fact, they quite clearly enjoy it. They wait for him with bosoms heaving in anticipation, exposing their necks, then closing their eyes and sighing in ecstasy when he goes in for a drink. Nor does Lee's Dracula tend to just rush in and bite like an overeager teenage boy, but engages in a bit of foreplay first, caressing and nuzzling his "victim" before taking a bite of their necks. As a 13 year old girl, I'd never had a movie give me that "special tingly feeling", but I'll admit to being very jealous of some of the women in these Dracula films. Now, as a grown women in her 30s, I still find myself tingly and jealous whenever I watch one of these movies. While Bela Lugosi is probably the most well known Dracula for many, Christopher Lee was the definitive Dracula in my opinion. The role might not have been his favorite, and he rarely got enough screen time or lines in these films, but I still think Hammer's Dracula series remains the better out of all the Dracula films out there. Not to bash Bela Lugosi or Gary Oldman, but Christopher Lee was and always will be the king of vampires.



   Most young people now days know Sir (he was knighted, of course) Christopher Lee for his most recent popular roles as Saruman in Lord of the Rings, or Count Dooku in the newer Star Wars movies, but he's actually been in hundreds or movies, TV shows, and plays. He has a very deep, distinctive voice that is easily recognized, and has quite a singing voice. At the age of 91 now, he's also the oldest person to have recorded a heavy metal album (make that 2 heay metal albums, just released the second- http://www.myspace.com/charlemagnemusical). How fucking cool is that? Okay, I could sit here all day and type all kinds of cool factoids about Christopher Lee, but it'd take forever, so if you don't know much about Christopher Lee beyond things you've seen him in recently, go do some googling and you'll get a better idea of how awesome he is.

   So, there was my little birthday tribute to two kick-ass gentlemen. One is sadly missed, the other still going strong. If you where unfamiliar with who either of these two gents are, I hope I've encouraged you to seek out more info on them, and that they can enrich your life as much as they did mine.


Peter Cushing, where ever you are now (most assuredly somewhere really awesome), you are missed, but Happy Birthday!
Christopher Lee, please continue to kick ass. You know those "most interesting man in the world" beer commercials? They should be talking about you. Happy Birthday!

Mood: Happy
Music: Journey-Don't Stop Believin'

Blowin' Vapor

Oh yeah!! Go me! Go me! Yep, I've been cigarette free for more than a year and a half, thanks to electronic cigarettes.

 My journey: Smoking, it's surprising benefit, and how I discovered vaping.

The Petz Kama Sutra

I made this years ago (because my mind spends a lot of time in the gutter) and posted it on my Livejournal. I've reposted it there, and am sticking it here too. Because I'm doitee.

For the uninitiated:
Petz is an interactive virtual pet simulation program for the PC. The first Petz programs, Dogz and Catz, where put out by P.F. Magic in 1997. Dogz 2 and Catz 2 soon followed, then 3 and 4. Another company, Ubisoft, took the Petz brand over and released Dogz 5 and Catz 5 in 2002. This was the last old-school style Petz game. Ubisoft has since put out lots more games with the "Petz" brand name on them for various different platforms, but they aren't anything like the original 5 Petz versions. These games revolve around adopting pets from many different breeds of dog or cat, each breed having it's own unique looks and personalities. The code behind all this is simple, but brilliant. Each breed has a basic set of personality traits, but individual pets themselves can have their own behaviors and quirks. I've been a Petz player ever since 1998, when I found a copy of Dogz 2 in a computer store that was going out of business in California. It's just a cute, fun, addictive little program. A large online community sprang up around petz soon after the first games came out, and it's still around today. The original Petz games offer many different ways to interact and enjoy them aside from simply playing with the petz, including "hexing" or hacking the game's files to change how things in the game look/run, the appearance of the petz themselves, and create new breeds. In Petz 3, 4, and 5, the petz can be bred, allowing for a pretty much unlimited number of possibilities. Haven't you ever wanted to see what would happen if you bred a great dane with a chihuahua? Well, now you can on your computer...but it's not always pretty.

So, anyway, this petz program I talked about has a camera function on it that allows you to take snapshots of your petz in the game. This leads to some hilarious in-game photography. For your perverted viewing pleasure, I present "The Petz Kama Sutra." Those with very delicate sensibilities, who are easily offended by sex talk should avoid.


Kinda naughty PG-13ish stuff under the jump.

Best Buy and Burgers

    I've been telling myself for a while now that I should make a more concerted effort to get more exercise and work at being a little fitter. Of course, it's oh so easy to tell myself these things, but quite another matter to actually do them isn't it? Chronic illnesses and pain make things like exercise quite challenging. It is often said that exercise can improve the symptoms of a lot of illnesses and reduce pain, but in my case, physical activity tends to aggravate my pain, sometimes making it skyrocket. I can often mitigate this by increasing the dosage of my usual pain medicines, and keeping rescue doses with me in case I need them. So while increased physical activity can cause me more pain than usual, getting into better shape will improve my overall health and increase my stamina. It's a bit of a catch 22. I'm a little more sensitive to temperatures, and can end up uncomfortably hot or cold easily. Since Tucson is hot most of the year, I stay inside out of the sun and heat during the day whenever possible. The only exercise I've been getting is when I take my dog, Stitch, out for walks. Of course, I have a Nintendo Wii, but I don't have Wii fit or the balance board thing. I've always wanted to get them, but they're a bit pricey. My mother has been wanting to exercise and get in better shape too, as she's been struggling with some menopausal weight gain. So, we've both decided to join a local gym. There is a Chuze Fitness nearby, and we've heard a lot of good things about them from people who belong. Chuze has a new member special thing, $20 a month for a premium membership. This gives you access to all equipment, classes, tanning beds, hydro massage, personal training, and guest privileges for bringing a friend. There's a $9 start up fee, and a $40 annual fee that you don't have to pay until you've been a member for 90 days. I thought that was a really good deal. I won't be using the tanning beds, but the hydro massage thing is awesome. They also have a cheaper membership, for $10 a month, but you have to pay extra for fitness classes and hydro massage if you want to use them. So, I got the premium membership (those hydro massage beds where calling to me), and my mother got the basic membership. It's a really nice, no-nonsense gym. Their motto is "Less Attitude, More Fitness". You see people of all ages, shapes, and sizes working out there, the staff are all very friendly, and there's none of that macho bullshit I've seen in other gyms. All in all, I'm happy with the place, and hopefully it will make for a healthier Barguestspirit somewhere down the road.

   Anyway, my mother has been wanting an MP3 player she can take to the gym. I got a Samsung Galaxy Player 3.6 as a birthday gift last year, and I'm quite happy with it, so I went with my Mom to Best Buy last night to help her pick something out. To my surprise, Best Buy's MP3 player section has really been cut down, they hardly had anything except for the ever present Ipods and a couple other brands. They don't even carry the Samsung Galaxy Players anymore. They seem to be trying to get everybody to just buy a phone instead. Neither of us want a smartphone, just something to play music on and use games and apps. I have a bit of a hatred of cell phones really, I know they can be very useful, but they're quickly taking over the planet. And don't get me started on texting, ugh.

     My mom wanted something that had WiFi and apps and stuff, but the only one we could find like that was the Ipod Touch, which was quite expensive. After searching around some more, I did find something called "Trio", which is basically like a small tablet. It's slightly larger than my Samsung Galaxy Player, but it has everything my mom wanted. It's only 4 GB, but that's fine for her to start out with, and she can always buy an SD card when she wants more space. I also found an arm strap holder for my Samsung Galaxy player, and one of those Zagg Invisible Shields, which they had been out of last time. So we got our stuff, and because we where both a bit peckish by now, decided to stop for something to eat. We have a Culver's here, which opened up a while back. I guess Culver's is more of an eastern thing, but they're pretty good, especially their frozen custard. And what better way to celebrate the joining of a gym than by gorging on fast food? We both got burgers, and a large french fry to split between us. I got a root beer float, my mom got an old fashioned soda, which is really delicious, by the way. We like to eat out on the patio, which faces the street. As we where sitting there eating, some guy driving by in his car yells "Culver's Sucks!!" out the window at us. Probably a disgruntled ex-employee, because who else would go to the bother and waste of energy to announce that a fast food joint sucks to a group of dining customers? Quite silly really. I mean, wouldn't it be better to moon the manager of the place or something? Go figure, some people have no sense.

Curse You Netflix!

 Gah! I hate it when a bunch of stuff I like to watch gets taken off Netflix. It's usually the fault of the content owners asking for insane, ridiculous amounts of money though. Everything owned by Viacom is gone from Netflix, so no more Spongebob. *sob* For fans of the good old 90s Nickelodeon cartoons, this is pretty upsetting. South Park is also going to be taken off at the end of the month, total bummer. I've heard Netflix wants to focus on "exclusive content", which is a huge mistake really. As a Netflix customer, I want to be able to watch the things I like, I really don't give a crap if they are available elsewhere. Whatever streaming service offers the largest amount of content I enjoy watching for the lowest price is going to be the one that gets my money. Let's hope Netflix gets a clue and turns itself around, otherwise they won't last.

On a totally unrelated note:

You Are a Lava Lamp

You are dreamy, relaxed, and contemplative. You like to get lost inside your own head. You never know where your thoughts will take you, and you consider reflection to be a wild ride. You're happy to sit and be alone for long periods of time. You only do well with others who are like minded. You appreciate other peaceful, creative types. Great things can come when great minds get together.

Are You a Lava Lamp or a Disco Ball?

Blogthings: If Quizzes Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Take Quizzes

Current Mood: Disappointed       

Bad Faith Prescription Policies

What follows is a very long rant. You've been warned.
So, I filled my prescription for my usual pain medication the other day. The DEA's recent "crack down on drug abuse and diversion" has been causing no end of trouble lately for a lot of people. The DEA says they're targeting prescription drug abusers, but in reality, the majority of people being who are being affected are people with severe chronic intractable pain, like me. Those of us who suffer with severe intractable pain have typically been in horrendous pain for a long time (more than 17 years now in my case), we've been through countless doctors, procedures, medications, alternative therapies, etc. I am incredibly lucky in that I found a wonderful doctor after years of agony. He specializes in pain management, with the main focus being on the patient's quality of life. It seems ridiculous to have to state the obvious, but stupid people abound, so I have to: None of us enjoy being in pain all the time, would you? We don't particularly enjoy being poked, prodded, cut open, feeling weak and useless, and answering medical providers' endless questions about things we'd rather just forget. We don't enjoy having to take medications, whether they be narcotic or not. We're not strung out drug seekers, looking for a high. So why do so many people think these things? I mean, really.

I've been on the same medicine from the same doctor for about 12 years now. It's a schedule 2 drug, with lots of restrictions regarding it's dispensation. Some of these rules make sense, some do not. There is a stigma attached to my main pain medicine, which happens to be Methadone. A lot of people associate Methadone with heroine addicts, but actually, Methadone is first and foremost a pain medication. It happens to be an effective treatment for heroine addiction, as it's a long acting, slow release medicine that maintains a relatively constant level in the body, and doesn't produce a "high". In my case, it's been the most effective medicine for my pain, it does a good job of keeping it at a bearable level throughout the day, and it does it without the side effects other medicines tend to have. It's also pretty inexpensive, which is a really good thing without insurance. The stigma attached to Methadone is really unfounded, and is perpetuated through ignorance. I quickly learned to keep the fact that I take this medicine quiet, and will only tell people I trust, and then only on a "need to know" basis. I can talk about it here because, well, nobody will read this stuff anyway.

I haven't had all that much trouble at pharmacies until fairly recently. First, I used to fill my scripts at Walgreens, as they where nearby and convenient. Walgreens stores are very much like cockroaches around here, there's lots of them everywhere, and if you see one, there's always another nearby. When I moved, I started going to a nearby CVS. One day, the CVS didn't have enough to fill my prescription, so I ended up taking it to the pharmacy at the Frys grocery store. The prices on the medications ended up being a lot less, so of course, I switched to Frys. I filled my prescriptions at this one Frys for a couple years. One night, I go to pick up my meds, and am told that they can't fill my Methadone because the head pharmacist has made a ruling that he wants to personally call the doctor for all controlled prescriptions. Only, the head pharmacist isn't in, won't be in for a couple more days. Of course, they didn't bother to tell me this when I dropped off the script, nor did they bother to call me and let me know they weren't going to be able to fill it tonight. Since I had been going to the same pharmacy, filling the same prescription from the same doctor for the same amount, I was rather irritated. I went and got the prescription back and took it up the street to another Frys pharmacy. They filled it without incident. I told my pain doctor about this, he said that wasn't the first issue he'd had with this pharmacist, that he'd given other patients a rough time, that he just didn't like the doctor or approve of him. Apparently, my doctor had even offered to meet up with this pharmacist somewhere for lunch or something, to talk to him and educate him a little on pain and pain management. Apparently, the pharmacist ignored him. So I just wrote him off as being a dickhole and took my scripts to the Frys pharmacy a little further away.

I used the second Frys pharmacy for a few more years. There was one incident where around 1/3 or the pills where missing from the bottle when I picked it up. I reported it to my pain doctor and the head pharmacist, a report was written up and the missing pills where replaced without trouble. I was very shocked and disturbed by the incident as nothing like that had ever happened to me. I had never had trouble at this pharmacy before, and the staff had always been courteous to me. After that, I was careful to check my prescriptions when picking them up. Almost a year went by with no further trouble. Then one day I go to drop off my prescription, and they tell me they can't fill it. They say they can't fill any controlled prescriptions from my doctor. They said the DEA wouldn't allow them to. I suspected they where lying about that, but checked anyway, and of course if was a bunch of bullshit. I was furious to say the least. Frys pharmacy management had decided for whatever fucked up reason to blacklist a bunch of doctors, my doctor included. I called my doctor, he told me to take my script to the nearby Walgreens, so I did. The pharmacist there filled it like normal, though I did have to pay around 15 dollars more. That may not sound like much, but that's a lot of money for me. Not only had I been forced to go to a strange pharmacy, again, but now I had to pay more for the same fucking prescription? Ugh! I will say that the pharmacist at this particular Walgreens (I think he's the head pharmacist), is a nice guy who seems to have a good head on his shoulders and a sense of humor.

So I've been taking my scripts to this Walgreens every since. Shortly after I began going there, however, the DEA started forcing pharmacies to call and confirm any and all controlled prescriptions with the doctor who wrote them. Each and every time I fill my Methadone, they have to call my doctor, and do a buttload of extra paperwork. I can't imagine how irritating this is for my doctor, he must get over 50 calls a day. Luckily for his patients, he's always available, day or night, and if he doesn't answer his phone personally, he calls back quickly. If it where most other doctors, those prescriptions may not be filled for days. I can understand having the pharmacist call to confirm with brand new prescriptions for controlled substances, or when there is a big change in dosage, or if the person trying to fill it is obviously suspicious, but this is just plain ridiculous. It's an enormous waste of time, and only burdens doctors, patients with legitimate prescriptions, and the pharmacy staff who fill them.

Another annoyance, this one Walgreens doesn't always have enough to fill my prescription, so I sometimes have to go find another Walgreens that does. The other day, I went to fill my Methadone, but they didn't have enough, so I asked the tech "what about the Walgreens down the street?". She hesitated and said she didn't think they'd fill it there. I asked her why. She said "they're really picky". Picky. What the hell is there to be picky about!? I'm a decent person with a legitimate prescription from a doctor who specializes in pain management. I've been filling the same damn prescription at regular intervals for many years. They can look up my prescription record in seconds to confirm this. My doctor even writes the fricken diagnosis codes on the scripts for crying out loud! UGH! So, I ask the tech to call another Walgreens to make sure they have enough and will fill it, which she does, and tells me they can fill it. So I go over there and drop the script off. As I'm waiting in line, I happen to overhear a rather disturbing conversation. There's someone at the pharmacy drive-through window who has a question. Apparently, the pharmacy won't fill this person's controlled prescription. They've instituted a new "Good Faith Dispensing Policy". This "policy" is nothing but senseless trash, designed to allow pharmacy staff to deny anyone their medications for any reason. What all goes into the decision making process? They can't won't tell you. They don't even have to tell you why they're denying you your prescription. It's all arbitrary, based on the personal tastes and beliefs of the individual pharmacists. Maybe they don't like that shirt you wore in there. Maybe you're a Mexican. Maybe they don't think you look or act like you're in pain. Maybe they've never heard of the doctor who wrote the prescription. Maybe they just plain don't like your doctor. Maybe they don't believe in the existence of chronic illness. Maybe they think all opioid medications are evil and nobody should be able to use them. Maybe they saw you buying something they didn't like last time you where here. Maybe, maybe, maybe. The point is, there are no checks and balances, no appeals process. The pharmacist is judge, jury, and executioner. This pharmacist power grabbing has been getting worse and worse. They claim they are supposed to be part of your healthcare team too, but in no way should they be allowed to override the doctor's decisions. They don't have the medical training, nor all the information on each and every patient to be doing this. It's like if I gave them this equation: 16_ X ___ = ? And they firmly claim the answer to be 351 when they are clearly missing more than half the equation. It's ridiculous, it's dangerous, and just downright crazy. They call it "good faith", clearly the only "good faith" is in themselves to make all the decisions, not in the medical doctors or patients.

Anyway, I stood there and listened as the pharmacist told the person at the drive-through window that they weren't going to fill their prescription. When the person asked why, the pharmacist goes on to spout a bunch of baloney about how they check each controlled prescription against a list of criteria, (but he can't reveal what all is on this list of course), and this particular prescription didn't measure up. I could feel my blood boiling as I stood there and listened. While I couldn't see the person in the car well, I certainly never got any weird or suspicious vibes from them, they where most likely just someone like me with a painful medical condition just trying to get their usual medicine. Well, after that, I'm thinking they're going to tell me they won't fill my script either. But, lo and behold, they took it and filled it, and I was able to come pick it up later. While they didn't give me any trouble this time, I fear it's only a matter of time before this "good faith dispensing" policy causes me grief. I'm lucky, there are more pharmacies than you could shake a stick at around here, so if I am denied my pain medication at some point, it shouldn't be all that hard to find a pharmacy that will fill it. But not everyone lives amongst a buttload of pharmacies, what about them? I shudder to think.

I don't normally approve of lawsuits, but pharmacists who deny people in pain their medicine are certainly heading for a good suing, and that may be the only way to get through to these cruel morons. I only hope it happens sooner rather than later.

Hmm, Fresh Meat

Sooo, brand new blog. I did a little blogging in the past with Livejournal, and recently decided to revive it and give it another go. The problem is, as much as I like Livejournal, it does seem to be dying, which is unfortunate, as it has some neat features that I have yet to see on other blogging sites. It seems Blogspot and Tumblr have been gaining in popularity lately. So, I'm while I think I will continue using Livejournal, I've decided to give Blogspot and Tumblr a try as well. This is mainly just a place for me to blab about stuff, bitch and moan when I need to vent, and maybe make contact with others who share my interests. I don't know, we'll see. :)