There was a man with a violin at Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.

45 minutes:
The musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.
He collected $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments .....

How many other things are we missing?

So if you ever get a package from XM Labs in Hollywood, Florida you better check your account cause chances are they charged you $139.95.

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/436/RipOff0436683.htm

This site sums it up pretty well. I just filed a claim. The money will be credited back to my account on the 16th, I'm gonna get a new card and I have to fill out some paper work. *Sigh*

EDIT: Some people are saying they can't access the link so copy/paste time:

Leave me a comment and I will give you a letter. Then, write 12 things that you love starting with that letter. Post the list in your journal. Give out letters to those who comment in return.

I was given me the letter G. The list is in no particular order.

1. God
2. guys
3. Groban, Josh
4. Gundam Wing
5. Gradients
6. Green Day
7. Gackt (and Hyde)
8. Gaming
9. Gid
10. Giving
11. Gokusen
12. Graphics

Edit: HOW THE HELL DID I FORGET GERMANY?!

http://bishonenworks.com/cart/main/index.php?mode=catalogue&select=Doujinshi&filter=all

I wants. Mostly her Weiss Kreuz doujinshi. Also her Gundam Wing and Rurouni Kenshin stuff (except The Executioner's Tale O_o). I wants it bad. only $10 each...so tempting...but I need to wait until I have a job again first. *sigh* Anyone wanna get me her gift certificates for my birthday?

EDIT: YAY! Cory bought me Blood Games (Weiss Kruez) and Last Dance Color CD. WOOT! Cory is awesome!

Just finished reading Red Robin #1. It's been a while since I devoured a comic like I did that one. Oh Tim...my poor poor broken boy.

This is terrible and it sickens me. It's copied from another blog. Please spread the word and take action:

If you haven’t heard, a TRAVESTY is occurring right now in Fort Worth, Texas. On June 28th, 2009, the Fort Worth Police raided a local gay bar called the Rainbow Lounge. They arrested several patrons for public intoxication (in a bar?) but it did not stop there. According to witnesses there that night, they seemed to arrest people at random and violently shoved anyone who dared to question why. Worst of all, 5 officers violently beat one man, Chad Gibson, so severely that he remains in the ICU at John Peter Smith Hospital in critical condition. He has a blood clot in his brain and is in a coma. His prognosis is not good. (UPDATE: local news is reporting he has been moved from the ICU today so hurrah!)

Why, you may be asking yourself, is this young man near death at the hands of the very law enforcement officers (there is some confusion and finger-pointing as to whether it was the Fort Worth PD or the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission aka TABC who are responsible) who are supposed to protect him? Surely, he pulled a weapon or resisted arrest, right?

Wrong.

Chad allegedly sexually harassed the officers. This is a claim that is being hotly disputed by every person at the club. They claim – with very good reasoning – that no person of any sexuality or gender is stupid enough to go up to a group of men who are obviously police officers and start flirting much less pursue it so aggressively that it becomes necessary that 5 police men have to beat the “paramour” into a coma with their billy clubs.

I’m sorry, did I say “necessary”? Its NEVER necessary to beat someone that severely for ANY reason. It calls to mind the Rodney King trial, when the man was viciously beaten for resisting arrest by a bunch of racist cops. Even if Chad was superbly sexually aggressive – again, which I doubt and every person there that night protests – there is no situation in which that level of force is necessary. I’m sure most people of both genders and all sexualities have been hit on by someone they were not interested in. I have been hit on many times by sexually aggressive men who have grabbed my tits and ass, tried jamming their tongues down my throat, and generally been aggressive to the point where it could have classified as assault. During these occasions, I have pushed the creeps away and had them thrown out by security. And never once has it even been necessary for security to beat the dudes up in any fashion nor would it have been legal had they done so. In fact, when I have gone to the police on the one occasion where I felt it crossed the line into assault, I was told that my attacker was “just drunk” and I should “feel complimented” that he found me so hot.

But if we take the police’s story as gospel – that this man was so hot to fuck that common sense fled him and he wouldn’t stop groping the officers, why hasn’t he been charged with anything? The officers arrested several patrons for public intoxication (again, IN A BAR????) but didn’t arrest anyone for assault. Even Chad himself was arrested for public intoxication BUT NOT FOR ANYTHING ELSE. There have been no charges filed for assault OR resisting arrest. If he was so uncontrollable that it took 5 police officers to subdue a 160-pound, 26 year-old-man then why wasn’t he charged with anything more than public intoxication? Furthermore, police claim he was so drunk he was vomiting and fell down and hit his head and that is how he was injured. Really? So if he was that drunk and fell over on his own, why are there pictures of police beating him that patrons captured with their cell phones?

You can’t have it both ways, TABC. Either he was a sex-crazed maniac, so driven to fuck that he grabbed the crotch of a man who was obviously a police officer in such a manner than indicated rape was imminent and needed the full force of 5 officers to subdue him or he was a sloppy drunk who was projectile vomiting and so inebriated that he fell to the ground with such force that he put himself into what may be an irreversible coma if not an early grave. Pick one.

EVEN IF he really was flirting with danger in the literal sense, EVEN IF he was so drunk that he grabbed the crotch of a police officer, these men are TRAINED in how to subdue criminals. There is no reason – NONE – that calls for violence this severe. If I beat any of the men who grabbed my tits or my ass or in between my legs into a coma, I’d be in jail.

The chief of police, Jeff Halstead, has issued a helpful statement that boils down to “them faggots deserved it!” He said “You’re touched and advanced in certain ways by people inside the bar, that’s offensive. I’m happy with the restraint used when they were contacted like that.”

Restraint? What restraint? You’re happy that a guy allegedly grabbed an officers crotch and was beaten by FIVE MEN and now may die? You’re happy with this turn of events? Shame on you, Jeff Halstead! Shame!

This raid occurred on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. For those of you who are not familiar, the Stonewall Riots are the birth of the gay rights movement in America. In 1969, New York police raided the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. The locked the patrons in, lined them up, and began checking their identification. Any transgendered individuals (men dressed as women, primarily) were taken into a bathroom by a female police officer and their gender was checked (aka, they looked in their underwear to see what was down there). Any men wearing women’s clothing were arrested. Women were required to wear three pieces of feminine clothing, and would be arrested if found not wearing them. But the people in the Stonewall Inn refused to show their ID, to leave with officers, to be treated this way. The police responded by putting all the transvestites in the back room of the bar. Then they began inappropriately touching the lesbians as they frisked them. They kicked out everyone not being arrested – often forcefully – and a crowd began to grow outside. After a lesbian was dragged outside and beaten for complaining her handcuffs were too tight, she screamed “why won’t you guys do something?!” And the people outside of Stonewall that night did. They rioted. They rioted that night and several nights after and this was the violent, bloody, angry birth of the Gay Civil Rights movement. And good for all of them, too! I am all for non-violent protest but this was a defining moment in our history, where the GLBT community stood up and said “NO MORE!” If it wasn’t for them, we’d live in a very different and possibly much darker world.


And on the anniversary of this night, this awful raid in Fort Worth occurred. We have come far but not far enough.

George Armstrong might be recalling something more akin to the Kent State shootings. He says he flashed a peace sign at officers and was tackled to the floor with his arms twisted behind his back. “He was yelling at me to stop resisting arrest, but I wasn’t doing anything. It was horrible. I really thought he had broken my shoulder. I’ve never been so embarrassed and humiliated. I didn’t do anything to him.” He saw other patrons who were arrested harmed as well. When he went to the hospital upon being released from jail, xrays showed his shoulder and back were severely bruised and strained and his arm is in a sling.

And why were the police raiding a bar that had been open less than two weeks???? Targeting the GLBT community perhaps???

I don’t think I need to stress anymore how unacceptable and wrong these actions by the Fort Worth Police are. What I do want to stress is what you can do about them. PLEASE take at least one of the following actions and help truly bring about change and equality.

I urge you all to write or call the following people. Please feel free to copy and paste this block of email addresses to bulk mail everyone. fwpdweb@fortworthpd.com, Joel.Burns@fortworthgov.org, District3@fortworthgov.org, District4@fortworthgov.org, District5@fortworthgov.org, District6@fortworthgov.org, District7@fortworthgov.org, mike.moncrief@fortworthgov.org, opr@tabc.state.tx.us

The Fort Worth Police Department’s email address is fwpdweb@fortworthpd.com and the number for FWPD’s internal affairs office is 817.392.4270. That’s the number to call to report officer misconduct. Let the TABC know you are not happy with the fact that Chad was so brutally treated while in their custody. To file a complaint email: opr@tabc.state.tx.us or call: 512-206-3405. Joel Burns is the openly gay member of the Fort Worth city council and he’s been all over this. You can reach him at his email is Joel.Burns@fortworthgov.org. Burns, however, has taken action on this and has called for an investigation and is doing everything an openly-gay elected official is supposed to do in a circumstance like this. If you’re itching to send an outraged emails, I’d urge you to send emails to the six Fort Worth councilmembers who haven’t joined with Burns and two of his colleagues in calling for a full and independent investigation into the appalling raid on the Rainbow Lounge.

Councilmember W.B. “Zim” Zimmerman
817-392-8803
District3@fortworthgov.org

Councilmember Danny Scarth
817-392-8804
District4@fortworthgov.org

Councilmember Frank Moss
817-392-8805
District5@fortworthgov.org

Councilmember Jungus Jordan
817-392-8806
District6@fortworthgov.org

Councilmember Carter Burdette
817-392-8807
District7@fortworthgov.org

And send an email to the mayor, Mike Moncreif, who has yet to make a statement:

Mayor Mike Moncrief
817-392-6118
mike.moncrief@fortworthgov.org

Tell them the whole country is shocked and outraged and that you’re appalled by their failure to join their colleagues Joel Burns, Sal Espino, and Kathleen Hicks in calling for an investigation into the raid on the Rainbow Lounge and the assault on Chad Gibson.

I got the above contact info from the Slog who has been doing great coverage on this story so thank you to them for that info. I would further encourage you to email State Senator Wendy Davis who is calling for an external investigation into this matter.

Below is the letter I emailed to all of the above persons. If you are lacking something to write, please feel free to use what I wrote.

I am shocked and appalled at the events that happened recently in Fort Worth at the Rainbow Lounge. A man is near-death after police beat him for allegedly groping one of the officers. There is no reason to EVER use that amount of force on a non-threatening subject. Even if Chad did make sexual advances on an officer, which I do not believe he did, that is NO reason to have 5 officers beat him until he is near death. Surely, if such conduct were legal, it would be acceptable for every woman hit on by perverts at the local watering hole to grab the nearest bear bottle and group of her girlfriends and beat the guy who squeezed her breasts into a coma.

This action by the Fort Worth police force is indefensible, untenable, and disgusting. These men should be removed from the force, prosecuted, and condemned by every level of government and police in the state. There is a public outcry across the country that will only get stronger with each passing day. The remarks of Jeff Halstead, Fort Worth’s Chief of Police, should likewise be decried. Like every bigot trying to cover up an act of hatred, he is trying to blame the victims and has essentially told the world “them fags deserved it”.

This should not stand. This is AMERICA; land of the free, home of the brave, the country where the pursuit of happiness is a cherished right. We have struggled for decades to come beyond the age-old bonds of bigotry. From Suffrage to Martin Luther King to the Stonewall Riots (which, ironically, fell upon the same day as this awful travesty in Fort Worth 40 years ago), Americans have been taking strides against these very acts of hatred and bigotry that have been perpetrated by the Fort Worth Police Force. We have farther to go and this is where you can help us take a stride in the right direction. Decry these actions. Use every ounce of the weight you have in Texas to stand AGAINST these hateful crimes. Even though they were committed by police officers – especially because they were committed by police officers – these actions are wrong. Furthermore, these officers wouldn’t have reacted that way where they in a straight bar and approached by a woman. These actions were spurred by hate, fear, and intolerance and so should these actions be spurned by those who stand against these horrors.

Please do the right thing and come out against these actions and truly discipline the officers involved. This is your moment to show that you will not stand for intolerance. Like the brutal beating of Rodney King, like the Stonewall Riots, like the Kent State shootings, this is something that is going to be remembered in the history books as a crucial moment in the ongoing struggle for civil rights and equality. How do you want to be remembered by the history books? Please look beyond the moment – the political climate in your area – and know that the spotlight of history is illuminating your face. Do the right thing. Do it for Chad, who may die for nothing more than making a pass at a cute guy (if that is indeed what he did). Do it for history so that your name will be lauded as a champion of equal rights when a champion was needed most. Do it for your children and mine, for every future citizen of America so that they may grow up in a world that is a little more free from hate. Do it because it is the right thing to do.

Whatever reason you do it for, please come out against these actions and please do it soon. Your country needs you to do the right thing. This is something that is bigger than yourself, myself, the Fort Worth Police Force, the patrons of the Rainbow Lounge, and the actions of that night. This is a moment to step out into the sunlight of acceptance and out of the darkness of hatred, the quagmire of fear. This is a moment to advance the entire human race.

Please, take that step. Please, take a stand against hate. The country is waiting, we are listening, and we need you.

There is a Facebook group that has been created to keep people in the know about this terrible event which has a lot of great ideas and info. And, of course, the HRC is the nation’s largest GLBT rights organization and I’d encourage you all to join in the fight there!

PLEASE do not be silent on this issue! The GLBT community, not just in Fort Worth but across the world, needs your voice desperately. An email or a phone call can make a world of difference. Telling your friends and your family about this travesty and getting them to call or email makes a world of difference. PLEASE DO NOT BE SILENT! Every person – gay or straight, black or white, man or woman – whatever it is that separates us should also unite us. We all deserve equality and this is a moment where YOU can make a real change. Please contact the people above and express your outrage. Please tell everyone you know about this horrible transgression and urge them to act too. Equality and freedom are won by fighting a long uphill battle. Please join me in that fight. You are urgently needed.

They say that time changes things but you actually have to change them yourself. – Andy Warhol

I'm going through TV shows I used to love. Man, the nostalgia...did you guys watch any of these?

( Saturday Morning Cartoons + Others )

I've always been a sci-fi/comic girl

ONTD > Perez

I really want him to go away.

I've been backing up my journal manually so I can go through and read my old posts and I stumbled across this meme I did back in 2007. Here it is updated!

( shuffle )

That's me. I just found wordpress and I want to join. Nevermind that I already have a livejournal, myspace, facebook, twitter and blogspot. Granted, I never use my facebook and pretty much only use my blogspot to leave comments. I'm actually thinking of deleting facebook cause I really do hate it.

EDIT: Apparently I have a buzznet too.

OMG! AHAHAHAHAHA! Oh Aaron Carter, why so serious?

stealthydeath (1:40:19 PM): did you ever activate your bus pass?
thedeadlymoose (1:41:03 PM): not yet, no
thedeadlymoose (1:41:04 PM): lol
stealthydeath (1:41:15 PM): lol, you're so funny with stuff like that
thedeadlymoose (1:41:22 PM): I'm hoarding it!
stealthydeath (1:41:34 PM): lol I know
stealthydeath (1:41:51 PM): 'no no! I'll just wait...and wait...and wait...o_o'
stealthydeath (1:42:02 PM): have you ever used my coffee bean gift card? XD
thedeadlymoose (1:42:03 PM): hahahahahaha
thedeadlymoose (1:42:04 PM): no!
thedeadlymoose (1:42:11 PM): I have not!
thedeadlymoose (1:42:12 PM): XD
stealthydeath (1:42:19 PM): lol see?
stealthydeath (1:42:34 PM): do you even know where it is?
thedeadlymoose (1:42:41 PM): maybe?
stealthydeath (1:42:45 PM): oh jake
thedeadlymoose (1:42:50 PM): hahaha
stealthydeath (1:42:53 PM): find it so we can go get coffee tomorrow
thedeadlymoose (1:42:55 PM): okay, okay, I do know where it is
thedeadlymoose (1:42:56 PM): HAHA
thedeadlymoose (1:43:06 PM): BUT JESSIE WHAT IF THERE IS A FAMINE
thedeadlymoose (1:43:10 PM): AND A BLIZZARD
stealthydeath (1:43:21 PM): A FAMINE BLIZZARD!
stealthydeath (1:43:27 PM): IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
thedeadlymoose (1:43:30 PM): I KNOW!
stealthydeath (1:43:41 PM): IT COULD HAPPEN! GLOBAL WARMING
thedeadlymoose (1:44:09 PM): SEE JESSIE
thedeadlymoose (1:44:14 PM): AND THEN WHERE WOULD WE BE
stealthydeath (1:44:25 PM): NOT DRINKING CHAI THAT'S FOR SURE!
thedeadlymoose (1:44:25 PM): WITHOUT MY COFFEE BEAN GIFT CARD AND BUS PASS
thedeadlymoose (1:44:31 PM): hahahahahahahahahaha
thedeadlymoose (1:44:41 PM): I should put that in my profile XD
stealthydeath (1:44:45 PM): LOL
stealthydeath (1:44:50 PM): I was thinking of posting it on lj
thedeadlymoose (1:44:54 PM): bwah
thedeadlymoose (1:45:26 PM): we're such narcissists
stealthydeath (1:45:33 PM): lol no, we're fucking hilarious
thedeadlymoose (1:45:34 PM): "oh this is so funny, let's post it on LJ"
thedeadlymoose (1:45:39 PM): HAHAHAHA
thedeadlymoose (1:45:48 PM): Y'know what, I prefer that way of looking at it!

Charlene loves Animorphs. Hah!

- getting my steampunk costume figured out. I have a nice top and Katie is gonna make me a circle skirt. I gotta get some shoes and accessories. My character is a flying ship engineer so I'll also need goggles and some tools. Also gonna try and get a leather half apron.

- sent out some resumes today. I always get really nervous when I do that.

- gotta drive charlie to an audition tomorrow...well, today now.

- wrote a letter to Dean for his recovery program. Whew that was hard.

All I ever wanna do is help my friends, but it sucks when I can't.

Charlie's at the scene at the end

The first official part of my steam punk costume for the labyrinth ball : http://www.clockworkcouture.com/?q=node/212

And this coat because it's damn goregous: http://www.fanplusfriend.com/servlet/the-439/Elegant-Goth-Gothic-Metal/Detail

not for my costume though. Jen says it looks like Aya Fujimiya's (Weiss Kreuz) coat and I have to agree.

Yay pretty things!

I'm so fucking irritated. I'm awake. I'm still fucking awake. I didn't sleep last night. This night. Whatever. I don't know what's up with the dogs but they kept prancing in and out of my room. Every time I'd start to drift off one of 'em would jump of my bed and then walk around and then jump back on. Every time. Finally at 5:45 AM I started getting so irritated it started keeping me awake. And then I started thinking that at 8ish mom would be getting up and I'd hear that and then Charlie would be would up and I'd definitely fucking hear THAT and so what's the point of going back to sleep and I cancelled a meeting with Opal and Jake today cause I'm fucking tired and I want to sleep!

And it's not like I've slept much since friday. And it's not like my weekend hasn't been stressful as fuck and it's not like I don't have my period or anything. And sunday night I didn't get home until 4 AM and at 9 I got woken up by some dude ringing our doorbell and at 10 I got woken up by charlene and then again at 11 and just fuck man. I'm so fucking IRRITATED! LET ME USE THE WORD FUCK SOME MORE

Okay, this post has been building for a long time and it just got sparked into life over a little myspace drama I had.

1. The argument "Someone put a lot of work into it" is not a valid argument. Twilight still sucks. I can give a huge list of reasons as to why it sucks. It's not for a lack of effort, that's for sure. I know how much work it takes to create something shitty. So don't tell me I can't say something sucks because people put work into it. Give me actual counter arguments.

2. Stop being entitled. I'm getting so sick of entitled fans. It's not the shows/movies job to film your fan fiction. The creators have their vision, it may not match yours, deal. But the worst entitled fans are found in bandom. Mainly the MCR bandom, but AFI has its good share. Who the hell are you to tell them how to write their music? They'll write what they want. If you don't like it, don't buy it. But worst of all is all the bitching when they don't come out after concerts or during events or whatever. It's always immediately "oh they've changed. they don't care anymore." It's not their JOB to come out and say hi to us. It's their job to do the event, concert, interview, promotion, whatever, but coming out and hanging with us? that's a bonus. A bonus a lot of big name bands no longer have time for or can do cause the fans tends to be douchebags. I wouldn't wanna go out and have people scream in my face and then tell me that my new stuff is okay but my old stuff was much better. Just shut up and show the bands some respect. They're PEOPLE not your personal entertainers.

3. If you were in fandom but no longer like it...don't stay! There's nothing worse than a bitter fan that always posts "WOW that episode sucked AGAIN!" If you're saying that all season...maybe you should move on. I don't like the Killers new stuff and I don't listen to it. Yes I complain about them to my friends but I don't join the Killers message board and go "OMG THEY SUCK! I WISH THEY WERE OLD SKOOL LIKE THEY USED TO BE!" Same with Heroes. Didn't like what I saw of Season 3...so I stopped watching.

4. Shitty fan fiction gets the most comments praising it. i.e. : Twilight.

okay...that was an uncalled for dig...but it was funny =D

THE END