Santa?

Part Time / Seasonal Help Needed

Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and he needs your help!

Cherry Hill Photo Enterprises, Inc. runs the Santa Photo Set in local malls across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Looking for someone to play Santa Claus in a local mall in Merrillville, IN. Must enjoy working with children. No prior experience is required, but helpful. We train all employees.

Looking for a Natural Bearded Santa, with a beard length of 4 to 6 inches. Or a costume Santa (we will provide the beard ) and costume.

....

 

I could be mistaken, but this seems to me to be asking for trouble.  I think that these places need to bite the bullet and require all Santa's and helpers and elves to pay for state and federal limited criminal history background check before application and hiring.  The cost is around $35, which could be added as a signon bonus upon hiring.  Also ... natural beard of that length.  Let's see ... Grandpas, weird uncles and motorcylists.  That's it!  I think they really need to rethink that one.

tenth time works

Okay ... blogspot is pokey and glitchy and poor today. Is it just me or did the hamsters leave the wheel?

exercise

Anti-American Muqtada's al-Sadr Shiite militia briedly seized control of a southern Iraqi town. The Iraqi military and milia came and negotiated a withdrawl. This probably was a test to see where the Americans are strong and weak and how loyal the Iraqi police are to them and to Iraqi and its many groups. If they wanted to kill, groups have shown great willingness to kill and die to meet their objectives. Here, it appears that it was a mere exercise, in that there weren't hundreds slaughtered or killed execution style to make a point. I believe this is a new, safer strategy for the groups, saving their strength and numbers to do a walkthrough before the seige.

The Kurds are the people who should worry now, for they are a feared, yet more successful group without allies in the region. If the same tactic were used in the north, I would see it as a direct training exercise to find where the "walls are thinnest".

Matador

I watched it. It had some interesting bits to it. Once was enough. There were a few things they attempted to introduce, but the movie never redressed them. Oh, well. I wouldn't rank it high. I liked much of the soundtrack.

2006, a remarkable year

While John Karr, much like a habitual drunk driver, walks away unscathed, his actions brought results this year. I think, although he certainly wasn't the cause, he really showed how vulnerable people and society are and that the laws does not protect people, especially children. I think the penalty phase should run about like: you have two options and two options only. You may either enter the crematorium kiln alive or you may enter it dead. Either way it doesn't make any difference to me, but to you, I think already dead might be "more pleasant".

2006 might very well mark a year where America, for a short while, stands up and addresses the injustices here and the law's inability to correctly handle molesters. Note the number of prior arrests and convictions of those in the ring. Should those persons re-enter society? Are they more capable of handling their impulses? Statistics, while they don't lie they can be deceiving. Stats here, undoubtedly would show that less than 5% of those caught, ever stop. Okay, so ... they are dumped back into society for what purpose?

American should make this a banner year for convictions and retaining molesters and rapists. 2006 should be a proud year, not with loss, but with improvement. I hope, after the decades of watching these crimes, many of which are never reported and some are not adequately investigated that society wearies so much of it that it takes a bolder stance on molesters and rapists. Make 2006 a year with better, stronger, more effictient law protecting soceity from predators.

To Madonna

far from immaculate, far from Guadalupe/Madonna/Mary mother of Christ, it is admirable that you should take it upon yourself to adopt and raise a child. I would like to intercede here and mention, while you have the money, and maybe the time, you lack any possible ability to raise a child as a person. For this reason, I respectfully request that you find another worthy parent or couple capable of raising him, while similtaneously helping the financially with the inital costs of raising the child.

A person who puts herself on a cross, as though a martyr during her concert, while including live sex acts or pantomined sex is really, not ready to be a parent. Verified orgies and partner swapping with multiple people known and unknown within the house, really is akin to trailer genetics. Do not, and I mean this sincerely, do not, attempt to raise a child as you are too selfish, too self-invovlved and too ignorant to raise one.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Mexico refuses foreign corn

It's okay for the people to leave the country strife with overpopulation and financial difficulties, but it isn't okay to plant hardier genetically modified corn. Corn, a general staple doesn't get in? Are they sure they support this fool who is the President? Why would you block a potentially healthier and hardier plant in favor of native species exclusively? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. If you didn't need the food, which they do, and if there were climate issues and pollution issues, which there are, perhaps then I could see not using the food.

Tom Jones said it

No one, no one, no one ever -- is to blame. Foley tries to squirm out of reprisal and justice by accusing priest, who then denies "sex", but claims memory lapses due to tranquilizers. So, let me get this straight. The tranquilizers disabled the priest from making decisions, leading him to molest Foley, who in turn, under Helsinki Syndrome (victim duplicating crime upon another) sought to engage in sex with minors. Oh, so the tranquilizers are to blame rather than the people involved, the so-called adults, who should take responsibility for their actions. I see. I also, disagree. They did it. They knew it was wrong.

job search engines that work

but, piggy-back on others, such as yahoo hotjobs ....

Job Bank USA, which is also your state if you select it, JobBank[your state].
Thingamajobs also works pretty well.

I have found that most of the postings on these places are more for professionals, in that experience and degrees are required. A few others I have used are not as picky, such as regional help wanted, Career Builder, Monster Jobs.

I also have found that these sites are all glitchy in their own way. What irks me most is that a site can show a job, the link leads you to another site, which then has a link to the compnay itself, through which you apply. What a waste of my time! Moreover, there are postings that lead you to employment agents that take 25-50% of what you could be paid, leaving you with substandard pay and little/no benefits. A good example of this would be Man Power, which could be dubbed as ManEater or Abuseof Power. I worked for a short time, for Kelly Services and if any employer is smart they won't use them. While I was there, they were the least efficient place I'd seen. They paid me for at least 10 hours of sitting doing nothing, but waiting. I wasn't the only one and I wasn't the one who waited the longest. I know what they paid me and I know they take a chunk. I would highly recommend that companies stay away from them, since they are very wasteful.

Dark Water

Spells deep trouble for those wanting a good movie. It borrowed ideas from Ring, Grudge, and a couple others. While the acting wasn't terrible, the dialogue was. I liken it to an orca movie, with enough red herrings to keep most orca well fed. I think, perhaps I am wrong, it was a Lifetime (for women) movie that actually hit the theaters, in the way that it victimized a woman, then her child, then an unknown child, matched with paranoia both founded and unfounded. It would strike a win or "liked it" category with women who watch Lifetime channel movies. I, surprisingly, didn't like it. I like Jennifer Connely, but it wasn't a good movie.

Scholastic video

Tikki Tikki Tembo, a long since seen bit, was refreshing. I remember the old film strip version I saw in class so many decades ago. It is still interesting. I saw for the first time, Penguin Cinderella. It was odd, surely, but not unwatchable.

edutainment

Human Body for Children: All About Bones & Muscles , Schlessinger Science Library. This is fairly informative with vidoe and graphics. It is posted as being appropriate for K-4, an assessment with which I agree. It would be a neat addition to an educators handbag for science introduction the human body. There are others in the series, I have watched only this one.

lunkheads

Okay, that's just stupid! Democrats are lobbying to remove voter ID requirement for voting. How in the heck is this a burden? If you don't drive, you can get a state ID. I believe often, you can present your ss card which bears your signature, matching that of your voter registration card. So ... this attempt to remove the ID requirement is all bad. How many people has it really excluded? I actually think that the whole voting should be by fingerprint only. That way there is one voter, one vote. If you're a con, then you don't vote. It's that simple. It removes the ID process by requiring you to have fingerprint on file. Generally, those worried about that are those who are more likely to commit crime.

graduating to slap in the head

Prayer available during school time -- unconstitional? She even mentioned that it was OPTIONAL. Hey, flake, get the [blank] out of Dodge! So, you don't want your child attending, okay, so s/he doesn't have to attend. Instead, they have more time to read, complete work, or what have you. That's a bad thing? Go away. Go far away, flake!

Ass sets

I got a call back from a company in Indy. I had to do some number crunching to see how much weekly rates are for hotels there. I weighed that against the projected payrate. I could only get the weekly rate from one hotel. Most other hotels are so full of illogic, that I couldn't get a weekly rate. When a hotel's online serice notes that more than one month rate cannot be calculated and I did it twice 30 days and 28 days. How is that not a month? Anyway, so far, the payrate minus the weekly rate that may or may not stay static, isn't so good. It far exceeds an apartment which might be more inclined if I were to have a paystub showing that I'm working there, ya know?

I just got soured on online hotel reservations that tout weekly rates, when you can't get them to disclose the rates. Pains in the ass!

Really worth reading

Dose of Sanity, a psychiatrist sums up his approach to assessment, partially based on an examination of a 24-hour day. Since medical/psychological help is sought, then clearly something is amiss or aberant, at least from the patient's POV. Here, the larger part of the book is explaining the errors of psychiatry, when not approached from a medical basis, including is the over-prescription of America and the pop self-help gee-whizes who sell an idea, regardless whether it helps people or not.

This is not a self-help book. It is a book detailing an approach by neuropsychiatry which might replace the norm. That author hopes that many people aggrivated with typical pill-prescribing docs who treat their patients with insane and inane treatments, including those in his own field, drop that which doesn't help and move on to real medicine, based on blood tests, medical workups and asking questions, rather than a script after 45 minutes.

It was enlightening and worth reading. It's short, 235 medium sized font and set so just about any layperson could read it.

Quick books, quick review

Shel Siverstein, Runny Babbit, not very good work. The recurring theme of letter transpostion was clever for two poems, but not a book. Hmpht!

Jack Prelustsky, poet, A Pizza the Size of the Sun, fanciful, whimsical, fun. Coupled with James Stevenson (greyscale) illustration make for a good book of poems. Adults might also find many of the poems quirky and cute as well.

English Freshly Squeezed by Carol Diggory Shields is interesting. While not every page is gorgeously crafted, it does use each topic in each poem. One topic, exclamation marks, using them the ends of each sentence, crafted in such a way that they are not wasted or added only for color. If a school or class wanted to demonstrate grammar and poetry, this is it! A+ material for introducing grammar with clever, helpful, fun poems.

Howl's Moving Castle

director

Miyazaki borrowed some ideas from his earlier works to put together another tale of where love conquers all, a girl protagonist, and magic. The musical score is very similar to Spirited Away, but not disenchanting. Here, he addresses shallowness, greed and eny. There has been something about his work -- something, but here in the post WWII, mixed with Hong Kong feel -- VonTrap sandwiched there too, is American Girl series, the dolls, coupled with other sales items like movies. I'll have to see if there is much on him. He seems to be writing for a daughter who never ages.

It has rewatchability and has no strong adult content. The war in the backdrop plays a role in character coloring and a theme of pointlessness of war. In the end [SPOILER -- the war is called off, for a boy's heart cannot be won by a jealous queen]

I think, if I had a little girl, she would very much like this movie. The English version I saw had some voices, which seemed to me like Billy Crystal. I can only hope that Wikipedia is correct here for the voices:

Character	Japanese version	English version
Howl	Takuya Kimura	Christian Bale
Grandma Sophie	Chieko Baisho	Jean Simmons
Calcifer	Tatsuya Gashuin	Billy Crystal
Young Sophie	Chieko Baisho	Emily Mortimer
Witch of the Waste	Akihiro Miwa	Lauren Bacall
Markl	Ryunosuke Kamiki	Josh Hutcherson
Madame Suliman	Haruko Kato	Blythe Danner
Prince Turnip	Yo Oizumi	Crispin Freeman
Lettie		Jena Malone
Suliman's Servant	Mitsunori Isaki
Heen (Dog)	Daijiro Harada	--same as JP--

Still, I would rate Spirited Away, for sheer re-watchability as my favorite of his work. Since ... Moving Castle is based on a book, I will have to get that some time.

I think another recurring element in his work is smoke and clouds. Perhaps difficult for some to master, but he seems to have a team that realistically renders these ambiguous gases and makes them live. The film incorportates, as do all his films, different styles of motion, stills, animation. Some of the humor is very subtle and some visual humor is, well worth watching and can't be written as funny.

After some further reading, he directed (English name: Lupin IIII) I have never seen all of this, but some of it was included in an '80s laser disc arcade game. Lupin has many sequels and some TV episodes. From what I saw of it, it was definately the forerunner for physical comedy and slapstick found later in Poke'mon and other cartoons.

I was already thinking about seeing Howl's Moving Castle, when MR mentioned that I should watch it then bitch about it.

Ken Lay

returns from the dead, having faked his own death after the verdict of his guilt, in light of the verdict being tossed out by the judge. Now, having lots of time and money, Ken hopes to enjoy the unembalmning, but sees no need for further botox injections, as the embalming fluid has made him, "fresher" looking. Okay, none of that is true or nice to write, but hey ... there is no way he was innocent of all charges there. I guess, it makes a small bit of good news to his family, of little confort to those who lost because of the illegal trading.

Blade of the IRS

Wesley Snipes tried to not pay taxes, then claim he needed taxes back. What wild ideas! I think all of that heavy martial arts moves he learned might be useful in prison, if he goes. Filing for tax refund of $12 million, can't come without a penalty. Vampire Blade and investigator at 1900 Pennsylvania Ave may have some interesting dodging and figures to fight, by his own making.