This short video (clips to the amazing "Armageddon" soundtrack tear-jerker) will renew whatever confusion you ever have had in the importance of depth of real friendship. If ever you feel unimportant or are unsure about a connection to folks that you may have drifted from, this will erase that doubt. Also, allow me to say that this video confirms the undeniable bond between animals and people. (In this case, KITTIES!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btuxO-C2IzE
Mrs. Fitzsimmons 1
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
WEB: I Can Haz Cheezburger?
The website I am directing you to could possibly be the greatest collection of funny cat pictures on the planet, but perhaps it is much more than that. We're talking full on impossible-to-resist-even-if-you-hate-cats hilarity. However, these photographs are not your run of the mill shots with funny captions. Oh no! In fact today there is a hover kitty on the homepage. Which brings me to my first point about the intrinsically wonderful value of the site.
Photography is a skill. Many of the photos on this site required the photographer to know exactly how to adjust his/her f-stop or film speed to capture moments of movement or compensate for poor lighting in a basement. The shots are amazing and although I realize that if you take a blue million pictures one is bound to turn out, you've got to enjoy that millionth pic. The pictures would be cute without the captions, but when you combine great shots with silly captions and people don't laugh, well then, grits ain't groceries. (shout out to Grandma L)
The cats on I Can Haz Cheezburger are given fake accents. Sometimes captions are written in plain English, but often words become letters or jumbles of letters. It's a total gas to see which one of your friends will need a translation! For the most part, though (98%) they are easy to get. But there is an unmistakable personality created for each cat, each one funnier than the last.
Happy browsing!
AmErica
Photography is a skill. Many of the photos on this site required the photographer to know exactly how to adjust his/her f-stop or film speed to capture moments of movement or compensate for poor lighting in a basement. The shots are amazing and although I realize that if you take a blue million pictures one is bound to turn out, you've got to enjoy that millionth pic. The pictures would be cute without the captions, but when you combine great shots with silly captions and people don't laugh, well then, grits ain't groceries. (shout out to Grandma L)
The cats on I Can Haz Cheezburger are given fake accents. Sometimes captions are written in plain English, but often words become letters or jumbles of letters. It's a total gas to see which one of your friends will need a translation! For the most part, though (98%) they are easy to get. But there is an unmistakable personality created for each cat, each one funnier than the last.
Happy browsing!
AmErica
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
YOUTUBE: Fred
For the record, I am almost embarrassed to be posting this for the daily ZONINO...but I can't help it. In a week, I'm sure I will hate it, but for today it is worthy. We're a fickle bunch here...
The character of Fred Figglehorn is a six-year old boy who documents his daily trials of dealing with life as an early elementary-aged kid, except Fred is pretty messed up. His man-voiced mother who seems to always be hung-over, drunk, or not present; the girl of his dreams, Judy, who refuses to give him the time of day; and the kindergarten class bully, Kevin, all make up the supporting characters in these little vignettes of Fred's life.
Apparently extremely popular for some time now, the "Fred Channel" has been one of the most viewed ever in the history of YouTube. The creator, and character of Fred himself, in a teenager from Columbus, Nebraska, named Lucas Cruikshank (thank you Wikipedia!) who evidently has a lot of time on his hands and a good amount of spastic creativity.
Some videos to get you started, if you can handle Fred's voice, randomness, and screeching:
Fred Goes Swimming (the most viewed of all the Fred series)
Fred Gets Detention
Fred's Mom is Missing
Sergio del Limónar
The character of Fred Figglehorn is a six-year old boy who documents his daily trials of dealing with life as an early elementary-aged kid, except Fred is pretty messed up. His man-voiced mother who seems to always be hung-over, drunk, or not present; the girl of his dreams, Judy, who refuses to give him the time of day; and the kindergarten class bully, Kevin, all make up the supporting characters in these little vignettes of Fred's life.
Apparently extremely popular for some time now, the "Fred Channel" has been one of the most viewed ever in the history of YouTube. The creator, and character of Fred himself, in a teenager from Columbus, Nebraska, named Lucas Cruikshank (thank you Wikipedia!) who evidently has a lot of time on his hands and a good amount of spastic creativity.
Some videos to get you started, if you can handle Fred's voice, randomness, and screeching:
Fred Goes Swimming (the most viewed of all the Fred series)
Fred Gets Detention
Fred's Mom is Missing
Sergio del Limónar
Monday, May 4, 2009
BOOK: Sold
Written entirely in prose, Sold, by Patricia McCormick, is the story of a Nepali girl, Lakshmi, who is sold into prostitution in India by here step-father. Although fictional in narrative, the constructs of the book are completely real; according to the endnote, around 12,000 children are sold to become sex slaves in Indian brothels by their extremely poor families, many unwillingly.
A National Book Award Finalist in 2006, the book follows Lakshmi, a "hill girl" from Nepal. It begins as she cheerily goes about her daily life dreaming of one day saving enough money to buy her mother a tin roof for their house, a sign of prosperity in her village, to her voyage to a strange new city aboard busses and amongst tall buildings after her step-father tells her she is going to work as a maid for a rich family far away from her home.
Although I had mixed feelings about the story being told in prose-form, I can not imagine hearing Lakshmi's tale any other way. Some "chapters," only a few lines long, are more powerful in this medium.
While it is not a subject matter many of us would like to think about, an awareness of the atrocities that affect the world's children is necessary for our society. Check out this book and then pass it on; the lexile is not difficult, it is easy to start and stop, and its impossible to forget.
Sergio del Limónar
A National Book Award Finalist in 2006, the book follows Lakshmi, a "hill girl" from Nepal. It begins as she cheerily goes about her daily life dreaming of one day saving enough money to buy her mother a tin roof for their house, a sign of prosperity in her village, to her voyage to a strange new city aboard busses and amongst tall buildings after her step-father tells her she is going to work as a maid for a rich family far away from her home.
Although I had mixed feelings about the story being told in prose-form, I can not imagine hearing Lakshmi's tale any other way. Some "chapters," only a few lines long, are more powerful in this medium.
While it is not a subject matter many of us would like to think about, an awareness of the atrocities that affect the world's children is necessary for our society. Check out this book and then pass it on; the lexile is not difficult, it is easy to start and stop, and its impossible to forget.
Sergio del Limónar
Sunday, May 3, 2009
WEB: Overheard In New York
This website is a great time filler at work, and when you procrastinate as much as I do, there's a lot of time to be filled! It's called Overheard in New York and it's made up entirely of submissions from randoms on the street (or wherever) who, as the site name suggests, overheard something in New York City. Not just your everyday, run of the mill conversations, but really ridiculous exchanges everywhere from Broadway to Barnes & Noble, Columbia University to Central Park.
There are other tabs to the site (Overheard at the Beach, Overheard in the Office, etc) but the NYC rendition is by far my favorite. I haven't submitted anything to it yet, but have been a loyal follower since my intern days at Fox News. You can't make this stuff up...check it out!
Mrs. Fitz 2
There are other tabs to the site (Overheard at the Beach, Overheard in the Office, etc) but the NYC rendition is by far my favorite. I haven't submitted anything to it yet, but have been a loyal follower since my intern days at Fox News. You can't make this stuff up...check it out!
Mrs. Fitz 2
Saturday, May 2, 2009
MOVIE: Milk
Sean Penn deserved every bit of his Oscar for this performance. The movie was heartwrenching and informative and raw. It's funny (not haha) that it was only 30 years ago when they were fighting Proposition 6 (trying to get gays and those supporting gays out of teaching jobs etc) and here we are, decades later, no better off as we try to undo the last 8 months of legalized gay marriage in California. Definitely a movie that makes you think and consider what you stand for and what the world we live in stands for. SEE IT!
Mrs. Fitz 1
Mrs. Fitz 1
Friday, May 1, 2009
RECIPE: Coconut Banana Bread
Give your boring old banana bread an amazing kick! My friend Sarah, AKA "Betty Crocker," made this version of the delicious treat and passed on the recipe to me so I'm not sure of it's exact origins. My oven sucks and even with the uneven cooking and forgetting to evenly mix in the baking soda, it still turned out tasting pretty good! Well, the middle did anyway. I'm sure you'll have better luck. (Remember, even if it burns and you completely ruin it, there's always the rest of the bottle of rum...)
INGREDIENTS
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. mashed banana (2 or 3 bananas)
1/4 c. plain yogurt
3 tb. dark rum
1/2 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. coconut
WHAT TO DO
Beat the sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time - I beat the batter for about a minute after adding each. Add the banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla. Then add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the coconut. Bake in greased bread pan at 350 for one hour, más o menos. Cool on a wire rack.
For the glaze, mix 1/2 c. powdered sugar, 1 tb. coconut and 1 1/2 tb. lime juice.
Sergio del Limónar
INGREDIENTS
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. mashed banana (2 or 3 bananas)
1/4 c. plain yogurt
3 tb. dark rum
1/2 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. coconut
WHAT TO DO
Beat the sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time - I beat the batter for about a minute after adding each. Add the banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla. Then add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the coconut. Bake in greased bread pan at 350 for one hour, más o menos. Cool on a wire rack.
For the glaze, mix 1/2 c. powdered sugar, 1 tb. coconut and 1 1/2 tb. lime juice.
Sergio del Limónar
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