Today is the first day of a smoking ban in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties, here in Minnesota. For those of you who don't live here, that's Minneapolis and St. Paul respectively and their surrounding burbs. This means no smoking anywhere in bars or restaurants in the Twin Cities.

I am plenty pissed off about this development. I hope the various legal challenges to the law work out. This being Minnesota, however, I'm not holding my breath. (Ha, ha! Get it?) But I'm not going to bother getting worked up. If bars and restaurants don't want my money, that's just fine with me. I have no problems with staying at home. It's better for my bank balance anyway.

But you should go read Dementee anyway. Because it's good fun, and it's similar to what I would write had I not just had a large lunch and felt a nap was called for.

Posted by: Kathy at 01:58 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Don't ever, ever piss off Jeff Goldstein.

Posted by: Kathy at 10:44 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Ok. Blogging is officially not cool anymore.

Why is blogging not cool anymore? you ask.

Well, I'll tell ya. David Duchovny has a freakin' blog.

Now, before you X-Files fans descend upon me like Well Manicured Man descends on Bond Street, realize that I like David just fine. I am actually, despite my general loathing of most things science fiction, a fan of the show. Can't wait for the next movie because I really want to know if Scully's baby was Mulder's (because I'm pretty damn sure that wasn't an immaculate conception.). I think he's actually quite underappreciated as an actor. I actually want to see this film he's directed.

I just don't want to read yet another blog set up by someone to sell something. And that's the only purpose of this blog. If he wanted to get into some existential discussion about the price of rice, no hassles. This is a blog that is set up to SELL SOMETHING! Which, to my mind, is annoying and means blogging has jumped the shark.

{Hat tip: Sadie}

Posted by: Kathy at 05:32 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 I think the baby was Skinner's...but the Lad says that Scully had sexual tension with everyone. Men.

Posted by: Sadie at March 29, 2005 05:53 PM (2xn/2)

2 Hey, I really like the way Sadie thinks! [whispers Skinner/Scully, House/Cameron] despite my general loathing of most things science fiction And you like my blog? Wow, now I do believe that's a compliment SF Geekette

Posted by: Ith at March 29, 2005 06:32 PM (YUR+k)

3 Ith---again, no, no, no on the Cameron/House business. That's just...disturbing. Although, I did enjoy her attempt to grow a backbone this evening. Still didn't do anything for me, though. Skinner and Scully is just about as bad as House and Cameron. {Shudders at the wrongness of it all}

Posted by: Kathy at March 29, 2005 09:37 PM (Tosbv)

4 And Scully wasn't making out with Skinner right after the baby was born. Just sayin'.

Posted by: Kathy at March 29, 2005 09:39 PM (Tosbv)

5 Heh heh.

Posted by: sadie at March 29, 2005 10:36 PM (2xn/2)

6 I just had to give you the hat doff for the "well manicured man decending on Bond Street" line. Bravo.

Posted by: The Maximum Leader at March 30, 2005 08:07 AM (jiSuM)

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Oh, bleh.

Of course, I'll have to see it. Because I'm a Bond nut that way. But Orlando Bloom? I repeat: bleh.

I still do not get what it is people think is so attractive about him. He's a pup, for chrissakes. And a skinny, weak-mustachioed one, to boot!

Get some facial hair that doesn't look so freakin' scabby, young man, and then perhaps we can talk.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:05 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 According to the article, he's supposed to be a pup, so it could work. Plus, he'll have a few more years on him. My sister has his 2005 calendar, and there's one photo of him in a tux. It's quite nice despite him being a youngling

Posted by: Ith at March 28, 2005 11:16 PM (iu6/Z)

2 There are elf lovers and man lovers. I'll take the man, (Viggo), tyvm. (Even if we'd never get on politically, I can put him over there in the corner and feast my eyes on him.)

Posted by: Sandy at March 29, 2005 05:29 PM (S01DI)

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But why on earth should I take lessons on how to be a good little environmentalist from an actress? Let alone one who, as a part of her new MTV show, travels to "environmentally sensitive spots" around the world and then freakin' repels down a waterfall or goes sand boarding in the desert. Both of which are activities a LOGICAL person would assume would harm the environment more than helping it.

For the love of God.

If you're such an evironmentalist, Cameron, one would suppose a check to the Nature Conservancy or Greenpeace even would do more good than you traveling around with a camera crew, littering up the "evironmentally sensitive spots" of the world while creating "awareness."

Gag.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:54 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Last night I'm whipping through Conde Nast Traveler again, and I come across an article titled: A Nonstop, Unapologetically High-Calorie Foodie's Tour de France. So, of course, being a foodie, I'm automatically obliged to read the damn thing. (Of course, it's not online yet, but you'll just have to take my word for it. You trust me, right? Ok. Good.)

The premise behind this article is that Traveler sent the author and a friend on a twenty-some-odd-day tour of France's finest restaurants at the same time the actual Tour was occurring last summer. "Nice work if you can get it," you're undoubtedly saying. I thought the same thing as I settled in to read. But I was very, very wrong. After I finished the article, I thought two weeks, being forced to eat slops in a Turkish prison would be a more pleasant and interesting experience.

If you're interested in how I came to this conclusion, read on after the jump. more...

Posted by: Kathy at 01:04 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 I'm with you. Gorging yourself on fine food misses the point. And misses it by a wide margin. On the other hand, I wouldn't turn down a chance to be a judge on American Iron Chef, and that comes awfully close to the "gorge" point. But at least it doesn't do so 20 days in a row.

Posted by: Doug at March 23, 2005 01:46 PM (2tOpJ)

2 Sounds like the gourmet version of "Supersize It".

Posted by: Ith at March 23, 2005 03:00 PM (wojEv)

3 Duh, that would be "Supersize Me" not "It".

Posted by: Ith at March 23, 2005 03:04 PM (wojEv)

4 "a small, deserted, gem of a brassiere" Fabulous But might you possibly have meant "brasserie"?

Posted by: Adrianne Truett at March 23, 2005 07:34 PM (sCxDi)

5 I had a comment about that SAME misspelling over at the butcher's shop, too. Changed to please you, m'dear. Obviously, I'm not even remotely fluent in French.

Posted by: Kathy at March 23, 2005 09:13 PM (Tosbv)

6 Actually, I enjoy French food, but, because of financial reasons, it's been regular-guy French food. (Yes, one can argue whether there are regular guys in France, but bear with me). Local delis carry a very nice array of prepared foods that are hot and ready to eat, and a lot of them are conveniently situated near subway stops. Small restaurants, owned by "grandma" serve a small number of guests whatever "grandma" felt like making that day, and the food is fresh and delicious. Usually they post the menu on a blackboard by the door so you have an idea of what it is you'll be getting (I also highly recommend the Berlitz European Menu reader if you don't want to order horse or calves' brains by accident). I say "grandma" because they appear to be owned (or at least fronted) by an older woman that the regulars know by name. And, as you mentioned, you can get a nice steak and salad at the local brasserie, along with a nice glass of excellent house wine. Or the cold-cut plate, which is perfect for lunch. Indeed, you can eat very well in France and not set foot on a 4-star restaurant at all.

Posted by: Fausta at March 26, 2005 08:31 AM (G3tVf)

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It get's tiresome repeating onself, but one feels obliged to do it when someone's being an idiot.

ROME (Reuters) - A top Catholic cardinal has blasted "The Da Vinci Code" as a "gross and absurd" distortion of history and said Catholic bookstores should take the bestseller off their shelves because it is full of "cheap lies."

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, in an interview with the Milan newspaper Il Giornale, became the highest ranking Italian Churchman to speak out against the book, an international blockbuster that has sold millions of copies.

"(It) aims to discredit the Church and its history through gross and absurd manipulations," Bertone, the archbishop of the northern Italian city of Genoa and a close friend of Pope John Paul told the paper in its Monday edition. {...}

Let me repeat this for the umpteenth time: The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction. It is not meant to be taken for fact. If you believe it portrays Christiantity poorly, well, that's your right, but to actively campaign against a work of fiction? That's just silly. And it makes you look silly, too.

Dan Brown played with the facts to create fiction. He asked what if? and went from there. He created an international bestseller that, two years after publication, the dear Cardinal claims is a threat to the Church.

Well, perhaps, dear red-beanied one, you should have gotten on the ball sooner, if it's such a threat.

Far be it from me, a practicing Catholic, to suggest that the lesson the Church should be taking from this book is that there are many people who find its message regarding femininity appealing. That maybe there should be more to being a woman in the Church than just following in the chaste footsteps of the Virgin Mary. Not that the Virgin isn't a good role model, it's just that, in this day and age, traipsing after the males and adoring them gets to be a wee bit boring.

But, again, what would I know? It's not like I have a say in it.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:25 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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...You really should think about doing more pictures. No, no, no dahling, the fact that we need new shag carpeting at the Kabbalah center doesn't have a thing to do with your talent. We're all about helping you to reach your potential, and we think that you are the best actress ever...

Posted by: Kathy at 02:08 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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