Because It's Funny

King Tut is back in the news these days and proving that you can find anything on the internet, there is this little gem that manages to cross two decades together along with two types of entertainment- stand up comedy a la Steve Martin and children's television.



Anyone else who was an Adam West Batman fan like myself (I had him on my red plastic phone's speed dial as a kid. Robin always got put on hold, unless he conferenced in with Batgirl.) will love this video.

Continuing with the media theme there's this Old Spice commercial.  "Tis brilliant!" I proclaim.  Gone is the stereotypical clean shaven "Dad" type actor and instead replaced by, er, this- on a horse.

Open Your Ears & Minds. It's Your Country at Stake.

Reprinted from DC Metro Moms.  It's part two in my week long social/social media experiment.  Results are forthcoming.

January, 1961 John F. Kennedy asked the following question during his inaugural address, "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country." Forty-nine years later the same question is still being asked. Not by a President this time but by our very own citizens of this great country.


Looking back, I find it interesting to note that Kennedy proposed this during the early sixties. Times were indeed a'chan-gin' and it would give way to less of the "greatest generation's" mindset of service and being bound to our communities but to the "me" generation, the 1970s and 80s, a time full of self-fulfillment, corporate ladder climbing, medical and technological breakthroughs and the end of the Cold War. What followed in the 1990s was more of the same. The new millennium didn't shatter any records in service either. In fact, it is harder today to figure out a way to serve your country than it was thirty years ago, much less almost fifty years ago.

Now we have a new President who has repeatedly asked us to put aside time for community service but that isn't necessarily the service I'm talking about. Looking back again at Kennedy's address you will find the following quote, "So let us begin anew- remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate. Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us." There! Right there! You just read that too. It's a call to the nation that we are still struggling with today. Now, more than ever, we need to unite and stop trying to "win". Winning isn't everything especially when our nation's future is at stake.

The political and media zealots as well as the followers on both sides need to stop and think about the greater good, which is their job anyway, and remember why they were put in office. However, it is our job to do this as well. We need to stop and listen to the other side. Really listen to the non-zealots out there and hear what they believe and want. Turns out, it is usually the same thing just expressed in a different way. We need change to our system and our country. It is divided and broken. It can be fixed but we cannot just leave it up to the politicians to figure it out. We need to ask ourselves what we can do and begin talking calmly to each other even if we think we don't agree. We need to work on solutions ourselves and then petition our politicians to follow suit. We cannot teach our children manners, civic-mindedness and lessons in civility if we are always beating down the other side.


Arguing and filibustering get you nowhere. No one wants to listen to the bully on the playground or the kid who never plays fair. If we can't do that amongst ourselves how will we ever climb out of the messes we are tackling today? Kennedy asked us what we can do for our country and I think it is high time we step up, be willing to admit neither side is completely right or wrong and begin talking. We aren't admitting to weakness we are thinking of the greater good- the future of this country and ourselves.

Republicans, Democrats and a Social Media Experiment

I'm going to conduct a social/social media experiment here and I would love it if you would play along.  Over the next few days I will post the following question on Facebook, blogs and Twitter to name just a few.  Please submit your comments and thoughts here or on those outlets. I'll compile the results and we'll see how successful we are in both the social media and social arenas.

QUESTION:

When you think of the terms 'Republican' and 'Democrat' what words, adjectives and/or phrases jump to mind?

Be honest.  

You will see the results in a few days.  Thanks for helping me out, passing it along and hopefully we will all learn a thing or two when this is complete. 

Got a case of Twitter Twitches?

Yesterday, Day 1 in my 'week of silence' turned out to be better than I thought. The fact that The Comedian, H and I are all down for the count with a horrific phlegm-producing monster that destroys tissues in a nanosecond is probably the reason. When your nose is on fire, dripping like a hose and your whole body feels like it was an extra on Night of the Living Dead, well, being offline isn't too difficult.

I had my moments though.

7 a.m. - I put up my blog post and that was all. I didn't even check my work email. I felt so proud but the feeling was fleeting when I owned up to the fact that I could just as easily grab my phone to check my email. Also? I felt like I had been hit by a maniacal Thomas the Train. So there's that.

8:45 a.m.- Normally I am in the car line at TD's school doing the whole drop-off thing. We have our own "moment of silence" each morning as I read tweets and check my emails. The radio is blaring and I'm already in multi-media mode frenzy. Being sick, excused me from this as H did the depositing of the dictator.

9:30 a.m.- "Isn't Kristen supposed to be on CNN today?" I muse aloud. I should check. On Twitter. Like every five seconds. GAH! I can't! A few seconds later I think, "No one would know..." My precious no social media veneer has a crack in it. If I don't actually tweet then who is to know if I'm still trolling twitter. "BWAHAHAHA!"

10:00 a.m.- Realize I am now compelled to turn the volume on the TV to even numbers just like H. It is no longer fun to tease him with odd number decibels. My life is in shambles. "You people are morons!" H and I yell at a news story on CNN, which is about getting multiple opinions when you try to pawn something. Turns out not everyone is giving you an honest answer. Wow. Just, um, wow. This is news?

12 p.m.- Kristen has come and gone on CNN. I've only used Twitter for good (read: work posts) and not snarky or banal comments about the state of my neighbors lawn. I have not even opened Facebook.

As the day wears on, it does become a bit harder to control my urge to just pick up my phone and tweet away or check out what my third grade arch nemesis is doing on Facebook. I did listen to NPR while making dinner. The sound of whining and coughing had to be drowned out. I was sick of listening to myself after all. Oddly enough, I found the urge to check and play with my phone came in the moments while I was waiting for something to happen. Like the microwave to be done well, microwaving something. I couldn't just be. I had to be doing something. Waiting for twenty seconds with my own thoughts has become difficult. Quite frankly, that is freaky.

Here is what I noticed after only one day. I did in some small way feel like I was missing my friends and how their days were going. However, I also managed to read three quarters of my brand new Marie Clare magazine in one sitting because I wasn't busy watching TV, playing with my phone or my computer all at the same time. Could it be that in another day my brain will slow down a bit and iron itself out into more cohesive thoughts?