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I spent today with a long lost friend. My friend is nothing. I haven't seen nothing for so long. I was a little anxious about seeing nothing again, however, when we met all my doubt subsided and we spent the WHOLE day together. He's off again, when he'll return, I'm not sure. Ahhhhhh....but what a day we had.

Thanks nothing. See you in March.

Love,
Nicole

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a crazy night of robots, misspellings, and booze.........

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2006-08-17T17:43:00.000-04:00

Haley Joel Osment To Be Charged With DUI/Pot Possession - TMZ.com

a 1995 saturn? WTF?

2006-08-17T00:52:00.000-04:00

Dear Oliver Stone,

Dude! WTF? It's 11:17 right now. I woke up at 6 something this morning in Kansas City. I had to leave my girlfriend's house to come back to Des Moines to work at this sweet theater. You see, dear Oliver, it's about a three-hour drive (I don't speed. I don't think it's safe or energy/fuel efficient-so I just don't do it) from there to here. Which is where I STILL am. Here. At work. After 11pm in the pm, my man. I prolly have another 45 minutes before I can leave because your film is playing. It's the only one still going. I mean I'm glad that you made a film because that's why I still have a job. I still have a job, in essence, because of the work you do. I know MOST people don't feel film is work and certainly not art. I do. I think making a film of your caliber is a lot of both-art and work. I commend you for that buddy. But why did you have to make this one?

Oliver! I'm only going to list what is important to me because this is, after all, my letter. Any Given Sunday! Natural Born Killers! The Doors! Wall Street! Platoon! None of these films need my approval or praise. They're brilliant, and we all know it. I only listed these few because they are the ones that affected me not only as a critic of the art of film but also as a human being. Did you know that I saw Natural Born Killers in the very theater I'm working at right now, in 1994? Did you know that that film influenced me to hate the media and seriously think for myself for the first time in my life? Think about that. I'm not kidding Oliver. It really did. I think it did the same for my friends. I don't know how many times I've seen it. Over 100, at least. I used to watch it during finals of my first three semesters at college. It is one of the smartest and finest works of film EVER created. Your film landed me my first job in the "industry," making something like $5 an hour at a local video store called That's Rentertainment. Seriously. That place was EPIC. It changed my life and now, basically, that job lead to this job-which pays my bills and lets me wear sneakers to work and not comb my hair, if I don't feel like it. Sweet! During my interview my future boss asked me about NBK and I was all, "that movie is the voice of my generation (X). It is our first FUCK YOU to the "man" as a whole. No one would argue that." Whatever, I got the job and subsequently got tons of hot pussy---so really thanks for making that movie cuz it actually got me a lot of chicks.

Anyway! Phew.... By the way, I'm still here. Waiting for WTC to end. Why? Why would you do this? To me, to my friends, to my family, to this country. I don't want to see this film. I don't know ANYONE who does. I certainly have no idea, but if my husband/wife/child/grandson/cousin/co-worker/partner/sister/father/etc./ was involved in this horrific attack or worse, actually one of the victims you portray in this "film" I would be appalled. That's not even the right word. I don't think I know a word that would describe what I would feel. I can't even imagine. I have no personal connection with 9/11. Aside from the fact that I was born in North America and have lived here my whole life. Oh, and when you walk around Tribeca there are still cops FUCKING EVERYWHERE and even I, after embarrassingly snapping a couple of pictures just FUCKING STOPPED and stared. I stared at those holes. They aren't even rebuilding yet there are still holes. I don't know if you live near the site or you walk by it everyday and you just don't give a fuck anymore but my point is: Out here-In middle america I don't think we're ready for it. And according to the weekend Box Office report no one else is either. Dude. Oliver Talladega Nights (second week out) and fucking STEP UP beat your movie-even though it opened on Wednesday (by the way, thanks for that. That's just greedy. It messed up every schedule I had. All of us, it fucked up EVERY theater schedule in NORTH AMERICA. That's why people prolly hate you. Don't be such a show off next time. If there is one).

2006-08-13T23:26:00.000-04:00

I love them.

2006-08-09T20:25:00.000-04:00

I like people that go away to college and get fat. That's fucking cool.

2006-07-28T15:33:00.000-04:00

Chess prodigy death plunge mystery

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- A promising young woman British chess player taking part in a chess tournament in the Czech Republic has died after a mystery fall from her hotel room.

Jessie Gilbert, 19, fell Wednesday from the eighth floor of her hotel in the central city of Pardubice amid conflicting reports that she could had been sleepwalking and had suffered from depression.

Her family Friday paid tribute to the "much loved" and "exceptionally talented" teenager.

In a statement, her family said: "She was a titled chess player and had been competing in the Czech Open Chess Championships.

"Fellow British players in the tournament abandoned matches as a mark of respect. She was much loved and was an exceptionally talented chess player."

Police were continuing to investigate the teenager's death amid reports that she had been taking medication for depression, the UK's Press Association said.

Gilbert had been living with her parents, Ian and Angela, and sister, Samantha, in the village of Woldingham, Surrey. But her parents had recently divorced, sold the house and moved to separate properties, PA said.

While there have been suggestions that the teenager may have been sleep-walking, organizers of the tournament believe she may have committed suicide, PA said.

John Saunders, editor of British Chess Magazine, said he had been approached independently by "a number" of chess players who had spoken of a possible problem with sleep-walking, PA reported.

But Jan Mazuch, director of the Czech Open, said he believed she had jumped from the eighth-floor room.
Room empty

He told PA her 14-year-old room-mate, Amisha Parma, had first realized Miss Gilbert was missing when she woke to find her bed empty in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Police were called and found the body of the teenager in a tree below her hotel window.

Mazuch said: "She wasn't in the room so they started to look for her and they realized she had jumped from the eighth floor."

Gilbert was taking a gap year to play chess while preparing to go to Oxford to University study medicine. She had been working towards becoming a Women's International Master.

Described as one of England's leading women players by the English Chess Federation Friday, she came to prominence at the age of 12 when she won the Women's World Amateur Championship, the youngest player ever to do so, the ECF told PA.

First taking up the game at the age of eight, Gilbert had been involved in coaching younger players at the newly formed Andrew Martin Chess Academy.

After representing England in the European Individual Women's Championships in Turkey in April, she was also part of the national women's team in the chess Olympiads in Turin in May and June of this year.

The ECF said: "Her friendly personality endeared her to all ages in the chess community and she will be much missed."

2006-07-10T11:48:00.000-04:00

Totally NOT my thing, but looks so amazing.

2006-07-02T16:36:00.000-04:00

Question:
How do I know when a surgery for broken clavicle is in order? I broke the clavicle almost 6 mnths ago; xrays show "non union", dr suggests surgery but is leaving it up to me. I am in fitness, though I have improved immensley, I am still not completely healed. The entire shoulder girth feels compromised, push ups are still very painful as are chest presses, etc...more irritating currently is the obnoxious neck pain I am experiencing on the opposite side. This is getting worse, not better. I am 48 yrs old and realize bone healing is more difficult for older people but..I had a bone scan (dexa) 2 yrs ago and have 150% density of a 26 yr old. I am extremely fit and active. I was told I did too much too soon causing the bone to seperate?? Is this possible? Please help me make a decision whether to have surgery or not.

Answer:
The decision on whether to have surgery or not for a clavicle fracture or non union is a difficult one. It is important to recognize that: #1 Surgery is not necessary, as in appendicitis, but rather a choice... and #2 Most clavicle fractures go on to heal using closed treatment (limited immobilization with a sling, or brace, and early range of motion exercises). If you are able to perform activities of daily living comfortably (including sleep, self-care) etc., then the decision depends on how important the other things are to you: chest presses, etc. Only you can decide. As far as the neck pain you are experiencing... there is no question that a clavicle fracture affects the overall posture of your arms. Not just the arm on the side of the fracture, but both arms. The clavicle is the strut that connects your arm to your axial skeleton (spinal column and ribs). When it is fractured, the muscles of your shoulder, back, and chest wall function differently. This can lead to neck and back and shoulder pain (especially at the back of the shoulders). Some patients experience these symptoms more than others, and if you are experiencing these after six months, and serial radiographs show no further improvement (that is, you're heading for a nonunion), then surgery to fix the clavicle fracture may be the right answer for you. Two more comments.... the remark that you did too much too soon is probably not appropriate. One of the tenets of recovery after clavicle fractures is to emphasize early range of motion, lest the shoulder become stiff. Activites of daily living are often encouraged, as soon as patients tolerate these. Lastly, your age and bone density are not as important as the amount of initial displacement (energy of the initial injury) in determining the likelihood of eventual healing.

2006-06-28T19:20:00.000-04:00

i am so fucked.

2006-06-16T14:59:00.000-04:00

Centerville, Ia. - Out in a scrubby field of spotty new grass, 10 vehicles are parked on sod ramps, tilting upward toward a projection of glamor.

Inside the cars are pajama-clad kids, nostalgic parents and a giggling young couple.

Suddenly, a 20-foot version of Matthew McConaughey appears, glowing in color across the lonely, dark rural highway. It's as if a traveler has witnessed a falling star.

This is a drive-in theater, survivor of VHS, DVD, multiplex and a chilly opening night in May.

Behind a window in the concession building, the light splays out from a projector that Phil Radosevich operates in the shadows as if he were rolling out old family memories.

There we are, when we were young.

Reversing decades of drive-in closings, Radosevich and his sister, Nina Finch, built a new one, the Sunshine Mine Drive-In two miles west of Centerville. It just opened its first full season after a brief test run last summer.

One by one, drive-ins across the country closed over the last four decades, dwindling from a peak of 4,063 in 1958 to a low of 401 in 2003.

Drive-in theaters are no longer dying, or at least the bleeding has stopped.

This year, for the first time since 1958, there are more drive-in theaters than the year before - 407 in the United States, according to the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association.

A trip across the rural countryside often meant zooming past a weeded-over field with lonely metal poles that once held speakers crackling great adventures to listeners clinging to a window.

Rising land values played a part of drive-in's demise, said the president of the association, Walt Effinger. The resurgence is driven by nostalgia and families who need an economical night out.

Although 25 drive-in theaters in Iowa have closed over the decades, according to drive-ins.com, three have survived: Valle Drive-in in Newton, the 61 Drive-In in Maquoketa and the Council Bluffs Drive-In. The Sunshine Mine represents a small comeback in Iowa and one of 10 new or reopened drive-in theaters in the country in the past year.

Radosevich's and Finch's kids work here. Their parents, Doris, 84, and Lewis, 83, take tickets in a small entrance shed when they are able.

The family did it all. A pond was drained and field dirt moved to make ramps on ground that once was a little community called Sunshine, a group of homes around a coal mine. The mine is long capped, and only a large hill of shale remains.

Family members took apart an old theater screen in Missouri, piece by piece, and moved it here.

They built the concession stand, and Radosevich did the wiring and the plumbing. He even constructed his own transmitter to relay the movie sound to car radios.

They pop the corn, grill the $2 hamburgers and wind the film on reels.

"I met my husband at the drive-in," Finch says. "We've got our heartstrings here."

Both Finch and Radosevich are die-hard baby boomers who worked in the old drive-in near Centerville before it closed in the 1980s.

Radosevich said video killed it. Then the two began operating the old Majestic Theatre on the downtown square until a multiscreen complex knocked them out of business.

A couple of years ago, Radosevich had this crazy drive-in idea.

He was working in a rock quarry. Finch was helping people with their tax forms.

But movies have always been a family passion. So he bought the mostly unusable land off Iowa Highway 2, a piece of the region's coal-mining past, and planned for its future.

"I wanted to do this for the people of Centerville," he said. "They need something to do, and you don't have to be rich to do it."

For a $6 ticket (free for kids age 12 and younger), one can take in a double feature for the price of a run through the fast-food window, if you bring your own popcorn and Kool-Aid.

On opening night, Lucrecia Kimm, 30, of Centerville had a Suburban stuffed with her six kids, ages 13, 12, 11, 8, 6 and 4.

"It's hard to find stuff to do with the kids that isn't expensive," she said.

Part of the industry's revival has relied on families, so most are showing films rated G, PG, or PG-13.

In the 1950s heyday, families were the primary customer, said Jim Mertz, who has owned the Valle Drive-In in Newton since 1976.

Teens took over in the 1970s and 1980s before drive-ins returned to their family niche.

It's a tough enterprise for owners, Mertz said. First-run films are expensive, and film companies often demand a longer showing than the traditional one-week drive-in theater run.

In Iowa, the warm season lasts about as long as a double feature. Most drive-ins operate every day of the week, but only from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Yet the appeal remains. People travel for miles around to remember their past, eagerly waiting for the movie while the brilliant sunset sinks behind the screen.

Jeff and Susan Swan of Albia were the first to arrive at the Sunshine Mine Drive-In well before light faded, hauling their teenage children Cody, 13, and McKenzie, 15.

"It's been a good 20 years since I've been to a drive-in," said Jeff, a 1982 high school graduate.

"It was part of our growing up. When we got older, I'd hook up with buddies with a cooler of beer."

At first the couple was confused. They didn't see any speakers on poles. It's a new age, with sound now picked up on FM radio.

The kids looked slightly amused at the drive-in theater concept.

"High school kids don't remember it," Finch said. "I had one ask me when we were going to open the drive-through.

"I said, 'No it's drive-in.' "

Finch could still remember putting on her pajamas and piling into the back seat of her parents' car. Now her children, granddaughter and others in Centerville can have the same experience.

Just down the row, a family sat in a pick-up bed eating pizza on lawn chairs.

All was right with the world.

"There's just something about the big screen and something about it being outside," Radosevich said. "The kids can bring a pillow. You can sneak beer in. One guy even said I was going to be contributing to the next baby boom around here.

"But where else can a teenager make out for five straight hours?"

Becky Wray, 35, and Tammy Johnson, 36, of Centerville needed no reminders as they gathered blankets out of the van for the kids.

"Have you ever seen 'American Graffiti?' " Wray said with a smile.

Tonight's film, "Failure to Launch," was a few minutes into its setup. The pink sky had turned dark and couples of a new era could contemplate the fogged-window privacy of the drive-in.

Danielle Wagner, 23, of Ottumwa and boyfriend Jon Bettis, 26, of Albia were giggling.

Bettis said he warned her the night would be a surprise. All his life, he had heard his father wax nostalgic about drive-in theaters.

He pulled into this field and Wagner broke out laughing as she looked up at the big screen, as if they were headed for an old-fashioned romantic row on the pond.

"Now, I can tell my dad I've gone to a drive-in," he said.

Another generation can pull their seats back, talk loud, fall asleep for a spell, eat a burger or kiss, with nary a complaint from other movie watchers.

A satisfied extended family is inside the concession stand here in Centerville, glad to watch it all unfold, hoping they can at least break even on a big, big screen showing moving pictures just across from a cornfield on a newly glowing highway.
test

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2006-06-09T00:34:00.000-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=0D1F7A023AA70759

2006-06-09T00:16:00.000-04:00

Urbana, Banana

2006-06-09T00:11:00.000-04:00

Windy City

2006-06-09T00:06:00.000-04:00

Mil-Waukee

2006-06-08T22:00:00.000-04:00

Twin Cities

2006-06-08T21:49:00.000-04:00

duh moines

2006-05-31T11:44:00.000-04:00

Dear Michelle Rodriguez,

Hey! What's up? I'm just sitting here at work. I've sorta done everything I can do today, so I thought I'd write you a quick note. First, let me explain why I can't stop thinking about you lately. I rented the first two discs of season one of the "hit" television show LOST. Michelle, I don't really watch television I don't really like it. There are about 5 or 6 television shows i've watched on DVD, but the only way I can possibly stomach them is if they are void of commercials. I can't stand those fucking things. Anyway! I rented that overrated, trite, completely predictable, and worthless show just because you were in it. I watched 5 or 6 episodes. I lost sleep, just waiting for you. You never came. I am now dumber for spending like 6 hours of my pathetic life melting (it was a hot weekend, Michelle) in front of my lap top, with a grey cat shedding all over my face. I admit it is not your fault that it was hot, or that my life is pathetic and my cat sheds. I'm not that presumptuous.

There is something else I want to tell you, Michelle. I am going on a trip with my friends in a couple of days. We are so excited, as we are touring the MidWest. I wish you could come. Then again, maybe not. I guess my point is this: Your behavior seems unusually erratic these days. I mean, dude you got a D.U.I. That sucks. It's a little irresponsible, but I'm not writing to judge. We've all made mistakes. Serve your time. You said you were going to move to France, because you had to go to jail? What does that even mean, Michelle? Serve your time, for real. Face the consequences of your actions. You are 27, it's time to grow up.

Last night I started watching Blue Crush. I love that movie so much. I paid $8 to see it in the theater. It was a stupid, feel-good, chick-flick show-but so what? Here is a tip: Don't forget your Girlfight days. I mean that was your birth. That was the beginning of your history. You made it this far because of that film, because of what you accomplished in it. Revisit that place within yourself. Stop fucking around with this new trash. I mean, a sistah's gotta make a buck, and don't I know it. Do a Blue Crush, your allowed. In order for this to work out between us, I need a little compromise. I need you to act in some good shit. some real shit. you know? I'm asking. As a fan. As a friend, Michelle. Please?

"Go Do The Right Thing"
-Dr. Laura

Sincerely,
Nikki

2006-05-25T12:51:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to US!

UPCOMING SHOWS:US SUMMER TOUR!!!!! FUUUUUUUCK YEEEEEAAAAH!Fri-Jun-02 Omaha, NE Sokol UndergroundSat-Jun-03 Des Moines, IA Vaudville MewsSun-Jun-04 Minneapolis, MN Triple RockMon-Jun-05 Milwaukee, WI Pabst TheatreTue-Jun-06 Chicago, ILAbbey PubWed-Jun-07 Urbana, IL Canopy Club

2006-05-25T12:48:00.000-04:00

amen.

2006-05-22T16:09:00.000-04:00

2006-05-20T13:58:00.001-04:00

2006-05-20T13:58:00.000-04:00

2006-05-20T13:51:00.000-04:00

2006-05-11T15:37:00.000-04:00

can you spot the tear? that's real.

2006-05-11T15:34:00.000-04:00

great news!!! I took this picture of my newly broken collarbone with my camera! It's fixed, trick. I hate sony.

2006-05-03T07:58:00.001-04:00

God spead. My sony is broken in CT.