LorieByrd.com

The Perfect Summer Sandwich

I had my favorite summer sandwich a couple of weeks ago and meant to link to my post from last year then, but neglected to do it.  Here is the "recipe."

Shattered Glass

A couple of weeks ago I watched the 2003 film Shattered Glass for the first time on IFC.  IFC is the Independent Film Channel (otherwise known to me as that channel that shows Boys Don't Cry all the time).  Well, they may become known as the channel that shows Shattered Glass all the time because since I saw it I have noticed that it has been on several times. I have not posted about it though, because I always notice that it is showing about half way through the movie.  I decided to pull up the IFC website to see if it would be showing again anytime soon and it is going to be on again tonight! 

If you have not seen it, try to catch it.  It is an excellent film based on the true story of New Republic writer, Stephen Glass.  In addition to the very interesting story of how Glass was able to fool the magazine into running stories he almost completely made up, there is a very favorable potrayal of one of my heroes, Michael Kelly.  The writing and acting is very good and I highly recommend the movie.  Here is a site I found with a really good archive of links to stories about the work of Stephen Glass.

Blast from the Past

I did not become a big fan of country music until I was in college.  I used to watch Hee Haw every week growing up though.  I don't think it was by choice, but I do remember enjoying it, even though it was corny.  My mom loved Junior Samples.  CMT has a Hee Haw marathon on tonight.  They are showing episodes from various decades.  The one on now has not only Buck Owens who passed away recently, but also Conway Twitty (who died a while ago), John Anderson and Jerry Clower.  I remember in college a friend of mine said he was a huge Conway Twitty fan. Actually he said he was "the heat."  I thought he was joking, but then he pulled out a Conway Twitty tape and quickly convinced me otherwise.  I was skeptical, but eventually I became a fan, too.  It is futile to resist such songs as "Tight Fittin' Jeans,"  "Hello Darlin" and "I'd Love To Lay You Down."

White House Will Host American Idol Finalists

First he makes a trip to Graceland, home of the original American idol, now President Bush will host the American Idol finalists for a White House visit.

The White House announced Friday that Bush will host the Alabama crooner and other finalists from the hugely popular Fox television show in the Oval Office on Friday, when they are scheduled to appear in Washington for a live performance. The pop singers will visit Bush on the same day the president hosts British Prime Minister Tony Blair for a meeting on fighting in the Middle East, the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, the effort to stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb and the genocide in Darfur. Hicks won the singing competition that has become television's top-rated show and a pop-culture phenomenon after viewers cast more than 63 million votes for him in the May season finale -- 4 million more votes than Bush tallied in the 2004 election. Of course, a viewer can cast more than one ballot on "American Idol." Hicks also has a personal connection to the White House. His 9th-grade English teacher at Hoover High School in Birmingham is Laura Bush's press secretary, Susan Whitson.

You have to be pretty versatile to be President. From Tony Blair, the Middle East and Darfur, to Taylor Hicks and Kellie Pickler. Did you all catch that little reference to the election, too? I kept hearing that during the American Idol season, the comparison to the presidential vote, and thought it was stupid then. My six year old could call in and vote for an AI finalist. If she was sneaky and I didn't catch her, she could vote for them dozens of times.

I was excited about this season of American Idol because there were three NC finalists this time. Past finalists, Clay Aiken and Fantasia Barrino, both of NC, finished in second and first places in previous seasons. This time, though, none of the NC three, Bucky Covginton, Kellie PIckler or my favorite, Chris Daughtry, made it to the season finale.  They made it to the White House though.

Update:  Wizbang Pop has pictures!  See my comments there for my questions about Kellie Pickler's look. 

This is cross-posted at Wizbang.

My Kids Will Have A Fit For One of These

A British version of Monopoly uses a debit card instead of cash.  My kids love board games, and Monopoly is one of the ones they love to play.  The money always gets all crumpled up and is hard to store neatly so I won't be complaining.  As for money counting skills, most kids know all that by the time they are playing Monopoly anyway so I will buy one.  After they come down a bit in price, that is.

Political Blogging

Here is a list of my latest posts at Wizbang Politics.

July 26, 2006  What the Opposition is up to
July 26, 2006  Q & A With Blackwell
July 26, 2006  Istook Will Face Henry In OK
July 24, 2006  The Senate
July 23, 2006  Warner Gets A Pass On Lieberman Support
July 23, 2006  Pelosi Is Not Loved By All
July 21, 2006  The President and the NAACP

This Sounds Like Fun

Simon Cowell has come up with another show idea that sounds like fun to me.  It is Celebrity Duets and the way it works is that celebrities not known for their singing team up with singers like Smokey Robinson, Randy Travis, Michael Bolton, Dionne Warwick, Brian McKnight, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Aaron Neville, Clint Black, Kenny Loggins  and Macy Gray and compete to win money for their favorite charities.  It sounds like a singing version of Dancing With The Stars.  With so many great singers on the roster, it should be a hit. 

Michael Bolton's wife to be (or are they already married?) Nicolette Sheridan, performs a duet with him on his new album.  I am not a Michael Bolton fan, so I have not heard it, but one really successful "celebrity duet" in the country world was Clint Black and his wife, Lisa Hartman.  They had a huge hit love song on the charts a few years back "When I Said I Do."  If these celebrities perform like that, then they may even end up with an album. (That's a CD for the youngsters reading this.)

Today

Today I had a party for my daughter's sixth birthday, then immediately left there to travel to a funeral home to pay my respects to a dear family friend who passed away after a long illness.  I will have much more on that later.  Right now I am too tired to think, much less write. 

Noodling

My husband who is from Oklahoma knew what "noodling" was, but this was the first I had heard of it.  Don't miss the amazing picture.

Update:  The original post disappeared, but the Library Lady found another one depicting "noodling."

Update II:  I got the original post worked out.  Follow the link for the explanation.

Back From The Beach

Sorry for the light blogging.  I have posted at Wizbang and will be posting some stuff here later today. 

The beach was fun, but really hot.  That is pretty much a given for July in N.C., but it was really, really hot.  And humid.  Okay, that is a given for July in N.C., too.  We had fun despite the heat.  Blogging will resume later today.