FANTASTIC FIND - SAM TSUI

If this kid were a stock I would buy him and undoubtedly make a fortune!

His name is Sam Tsui and he is from Blue Bell, Pennsylvania (which is outside of Philadelphia) and is a student at Yale University. I stumbled upon him this weekend while looking for the “Don’t Stop Believing” video from the new Fox series “Glee,” and boy am I glad I did.

He and his collaborator, Kurt Schneider, create these great videos, as well as a web based series, “College Musical.”

The first video is a cover of "Don't Stop Believing," the second is "Before the Storm," originally sung by Miley Cyrus and Nick Jonas (who knew) and the third is a medley of Michael Jackson songs.

There are several more videos on Youtube, including the aforementioned "College Musical" which is up to episode 4.

SO talented!

Hope he doesn't mind that I stole the picture from his Myspace.

SUNDAY MORNING

Last night I had a one year old and his three and a half year old sister in my bed and I didn't get much sleep.

I laid on one side with Christopher in the middle and Noelle on the opposite side of the bed but within minutes she decided she needed to be able to touch me so she slept sideways with her head in the middle of my back - all night long.

That continued until about 4 am when, in a half unconscious state I heard a thud and knew even before the cries started that Christopher had fallen out of bed. Somehow his balled up mass made it's way from being next to me to the other side of the bed - THUMP!

Fortunately his cries did not awaken his sister and I was able to pick him up, lie him on top of me and get him back to sleep. He fell back to sleep - I didn't.

Knowing that sleep would not return until tonight, I got out of bed at 5:15 AM and went into the house to find Fettit sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee from McDonald's and watching a rerun on last night's 10 o'clock news. Fortunately he is always considerate enough to get me one.

Minutes later I returned to my room to check on Christopher who was awakened by the creak of the door. After my attempt to get him back to sleep, I scooped him up in my arms and took him into the house to say good morning to his Papa.

Walking back in the house I heard the shower running. Christopher's early morning greeting to Papa will have to wait.

Papa Fettit gets up early every Sunday. He has three masses today, the first one starting at 7 o'clock. He won't return until 12:30 this afternoon.

Soon it was just me and Christopher - Noelle still slumbering. I tip-toed back into my room to get what I need for the morning - trying not to awaken her. I need her to sleep as long as possible.

I gathered up the high-chair and Christopher and we head out to the patio to enjoy the the cool morning temperatures - the calm before the storm. Today's high is projected to be 110. As summer is relenting in the rest of the country, it hangs on in Arizona. The upside is the mornings as cooler. It is only 86 degrees and not a single cloud in the sky. There will not be many more days of using the pool.

I love these mornings - the stillness and quiet. The only sounds come from a plane flying high above and Christopher's excitement as the dogs run around the yard. The oasis we have created in the city fools me into thinking I am not in the heart of a very large metropolis.

THE FINAL JUDGMENT

The following passage from the Christian bible, Matthew 25, was read at Ted Kennedy’s funeral today by his step daughter and it struck me how few Christians yield to their savior’s words and works, and how they espouse Christian faith but do not follow through with the fellowship towards their neighbor.

I am not a follower of Christianity but I do find the principles of the faith to be rooted in truth, a truth bastardized by its followers who proclaim loudly and who wear their faith like a badge of honor. This passage is one that all Christians, as well as members of other faiths, need to sit up and take to heart.

By not helping your fellow man, you are not helping your Lord or yourself.

You do not condemn the countless trillions of dollars spent on killing innocents on foreign soil, but you do not take care of our closest neighbors.

Sinful!

Matthew 25 - The Final Judgment

31 “But when the Son of Man[d] comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations[e] will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[f] you were doing it to me!’

41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.[g] 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’

45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

All I have to say to this is AMEN!

EDWARD "TEDDY" M. KENNEDY 1932 - 2009

It does not matter if you are democrat or republican, male or female, black, young or old, white or somewhere in between, if you were not born with a silver spoon in your mouth you owe a debt of gratitude to Ted Kennedy.

Since he first stepped foot on the Senate floor in November 1962 he fought tirelessly to give a voice to those who were not heard. A dedicated supporter of the middle and under class, his causes were American causes – education and head start, health care, voter’s rights, equality for women, ethnic minorities and the disabled, worker’s rights, (including a fair minimum wage), and the environment and nuclear proliferation.

Thank you Teddy

THOMAS CHAPPELL ISN'T KINDEY-ING AROUND

Yesterday on my way to work I was listening to the radio and the man mentioned in the following article was being interviewed by two local morning personalities. He must be something else to give a virtual stranger one of his kidney’s. It is nice to know there are still good people in the world. I doubt that I would be so generous. The story is from the AP:

PHOENIX (Aug. 24) - Rita Van Loenen had no idea that a trip in Thomas Chappell's taxi cab could end up being the ride that saves her life.

"There are better odds of getting struck by lightning," Van Loenen said. "A random taxi driver offering to give me his kidney and all these pieces match. There has to be something behind this. How can this be?"

Rita Van Loenen was shocked that her taxi driver, Thomas Chappell, offered to donate his kidney to her -- and that he was a perfect match.

Chappell, who has been driving Van Loenen to dialysis appointments, shocked the Gilbert, Ariz. woman a month ago by offering to donate his kidney. But even more shocking to her was that doctors found they had the same blood type, that they were compatible.

"He calls me all excited. If we were a closer match, we would've been siblings. I was ready to fall off the floor," Van Loenen said.

The Phoenix taxi driver said he was a man of faith and that a higher power wanted him to step in.

"By then, me and the good Lord already had a talk. He said 'Tom, you go give her one. It will work," Chappell said.

Last year, Van Loenen, an instructor in special education methods, began feeling ill and experiencing water retention in her legs. She went to see a doctor and was diagnosed with kidney disease. With kidney failure setting in, friends and family were tested but there was no match.

In February, she received her cousin's kidney but that transplant failed. One day, Van Loenen, 63, found herself telling Chappell, 56, about how her son was now going to get tested. Chappell decided to add his name to the list.

"I said 'Rita, your son's a whole lot younger than me. He's got a lot more years. I'm gonna go down and go through the process and see if it will work.' I don't think she really believed I was going to."

The gesture evoked tears of gratitude from Loenen but she was still skeptical.
"A little bit in my heart I didn't believe it. He said 'give me the number' and I have transplant number at Mayo (Clinic in Scottsdale) memorized."

The two first met more than three months ago. It wasn't an auspicious beginning.
Chappell was half an hour late picking Van Loenen up for a dialysis appointment.
"When I got there she was not happy," Chappell said. "And I can understand it now. She's sick and all these things she goes through ... The next day, it just so happens I got her again."

Since then he has — and he insists it is by happenstance — been her taxi driver three to four times a month. For the last month, Chappell has started undergoing the arduous process of donor screening, undergoing numerous tests and exams. But none of it has brought second thoughts.

"This has put a whole new kind of lift in my boots. I never knew what it felt like to give somebody life and that's what I'm doing," Chappell said.

Van Loenen said Chappell never asked for any compensation. She still can't quite believe his level of commitment.

"I've never known anybody so enthusiastic to get a body part removed," Van Loenen said.

After the transplant, which hasn't been scheduled yet, Chappell will need to tread carefully. He will have to rest between four and six weeks but his work has promised to cover his lost wages.

"I've had drivers do some pretty incredibly amazing things for no charge. But this is just over the top," said Jim Hickey, national sales and marketing director for the company that owns VIP Taxi. "We're just so proud of him."

Van Loenen said that, thanks to Chappell, she can actually make plans for the future.

"Whenever I tell my friends or my family, they just find it so incredible," Van Loenen said. "They do call him an angel. My friend says there's angels everywhere. That's the right way to capture it."

HERE'S TO LIFE

"Love is The Answer", the new jazz flavored, Diana Krall produced CD by America's First Voice, Barbra Streisand, is scheduled for release September 29, 2009 and Parade magazine, the circular that comes in most Sunday newspapers - as well as online, is the first to debut a full length cut - "Here's To Life."

Click on the link below to read the interview and to hear Barbra's beautiful and haunting version of:

Here's to Life.

I can't wait to listen to the CD in it's entirety - over and over again.

Barbra is also performing songs from "Love is the Answer" for 100 lucky "PEOPLE" at the Village Vanguard in New York City. For more information and a chance to enter the contest go to Barbra Streisand.Com.

EVERYONE IS ENTITLED TO MY OPINION

I recently read an article in Vanity Fair about Denise Hale, a San Francisco socialite, whose friends bought her a t-shirt with the saying printed on it, "Everyone is Entitled to My Opinion," and I found it so appropriate for how I feel.

Uninitiated, I will gladly give my opinion on any range of subjects and expect my audience to agree with me because the way I feel is the way I think every free thinking, open minded, educated person should feel.

It is also appropriate because that is what is at the core of this blog. I give you how I feel - what makes me happy, what makes me sad, and what simply pisses me off. I believe in fairness, equability and reciprocity, both for the good and the bad, I guess.

Those who come here know that if I am ranting about something, or something upsets me, I am going to be vocal and it is understood that "Everyone is Entitled to My Opinion."

There is one subject I have yet to be as vocal online about as I am in person, and maybe one of these days I will offend the entire world by letting everyone in on my feelings about this subject, but as far as most social issues (and politics) I think that anyone who doesn't think like me was raised wrong. I know... but I can't help it and I admit it - "Everyone is Entitled to My Opinion."

People are mean to each other and although I can be a little harsh, and often definitely doctoral, my beliefs are quite simple and I just believe everyone needs to treat each other fairly, without cynicism, free of prejudice and preconceived misconceptions, and to let everyone live their life freely and honestly.

I have always said as long as no one is getting harmed, leave em the fuck alone - so ya see "Everyone is Entitled to My Opinion."

ASPIRIN SHOWN TO HELP COLON CANCER

There is potential good news for those of us who have been diagnosed with colon cancer - something as simple as aspirin could be beneficial. Watch the report from CBS News below.

I also recently read that Tagamet (also known as Cimetidine) shows promise with some forms of cancer; however, one reason we do not hear much about these cheap alternatives (and they are not recommended by doctors) is that there isn't money in it for them like there is with chemotherapy.

Medicine has little to do with helping the sick, it is about money - financial gain for the drug companies and many, not all, but many doctors. I have been fortunate. Not a single doctor that I have been working with for the past year, or nearly a year, has ever pushed chemotherapy, or any other unnecessary treatment, on me.

With my father's diagnosis last year with stage four colon cancer and then my own diagnosis four months later with stage two, I have done a fair share of reading about potential cancer cures and it appears to me that when there is possible good news coming from an area not dominated by money and the pharmaceutical companies, they are downplayed and not given much credence.

Medicine is not about helping the sick, it is about money - financial gain for the drug companies and many, not all, but many doctors. I think I was fortunate that not a single doctor that I have been working with for the past year, or nearly a year, has ever pushed chemotherapy on me.

Oh... and one more thing... Our president and congress are working on healthcare reform and I am sick of all the nay-saying whiners. We need affordable healthcare for all. Even with health insurance my surgery cost me several thousand dollars. Americans shouldn't have to make a choice between surgery or food. This is a no brainer (you bunch of selfish, self centered asshole teabaggers and birthers)!

Anyway... I have gotten way off subject... Watch the video about the potential positive effects of aspirin on colon cancer and if you want to read more on Tagamet and cancer... google it.


Watch CBS Videos Online

I WAS KICKED OUT OF THE ROSIE O/CINDY LAUPER CONCERT

STAY TUNED!

I am in the process of writing about my experience of getting ejected from the Girls Night Out Concert at the House of Blues in Atlantic featuring Rosie O'Donnell and Cindy Lauper.

Check back this weekend for the complete story!

ROSIE DUMPS ON TRUMP

This past Friday I was in Atlantic City with friends seeing our "stranger-friend" Rosie O'Donnell, along with Cindy Lauper, at the House of Blues. Before getting kicked out I was able to record all of Ro's set. This is a something I put together from Ro's comments on Donald Trump. GO RO!