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I recently saw two musical movies--Pirate Radio and Michael Jackson's This Is It. Pirate Radio has great music from the 60's and 70's and stars Philip Seymour Hoffman who is always interesting to watch. Although most of the music was released before my "prime music listening time", I knew all of the words and wanted to sing-along. The only time I wanted to sing-along in the Michael Jackson film was when they played a Jackson Five song. It's not that Michael's music was bad, it wasn't. However, I believe that MTV is what made Mr. Jackson a star. His dancing is inimitable! This Is It is not a great movie, but watching those moves was worth every penny of my ticket.
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The White House party crashers are old news--two desperate people seeking attention. The interesting thing about this story is why the White House felt the need to protect its social secretary Desiree Rogers? In an effort to find the breakdown in security, Congress summoned Ms. Rogers, along with others including the director of the Secret Service, Mark Sullivan, up to the Hill for questioning. Ms. Rogers declined citing executive privilege. Mr. Sullivan not only showed up but also took all of the blame for the party-crashing incident. Mr. President, the men in the Secret Service are trained to take a bullet for you and Ms. Rogers plans your parties--think about that for a minute. And, remember that transparency you promised us--where is it?
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In case you missed Nicholas Kristof's December 5th column in the New York Times, check out this link Op-Ed Columnist - Cancer From the Kitchen? - NYTimes.com for some information regarding plastic containers in your kitchen and how they affect your health. If you want the short version then you should know: Plastic containers when exposed to heat--microwave, dishwasher, a hot car (think water bottles) break down and dangerous chemicals leach out. Don't put plastic in your microwave or dishwasher and look for the safe(r) plastics numbered (check the bottom of the container) 1,2,4, or 5. Plastics to avoid (unless they are marked BPA-free) are numbers 3,6, and 7. Now you have a good reason to clean-out your kitchen cabinets!
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Looking for a good movie to see this weekend? Up in the Air staring George Clooney is funny and thought provoking. This movie is well written, directed, and acted--I'm seeing all kinds of Academy Award nominations in its future. Mr. Clooney should certainly be nominated and he may even take Oscar home--that is, if the voters don't find Mr. Clooney's role to be too close to the real Mr. Clooney! A little tidbit of trivia from the film: All of the "actors" that play people that are fired by Mr. Clooney are in fact regular people that have recently lost their jobs--talk about a silver lining!