Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend!

The weekends have just been flying by! I suppose that's just what happens when you start working, even if you don't have hectic social schedules. Paradoxically, time spent relaxing moves at a faster pace. Another thing that happens when you start working...you start spending more money! My resolve to save half of my salary has been worn down. The past two weekends Daniel and I have gone, with the rest of Gaithersburg, to that very special type of consumerist heaven that could only be borne in America: Target. Groceries, DVD's, diapers, electronics, cosmetics, and pretty much anything else, all housed in one large echoing, vacuous space. Last weekend I was overwhelmed by it all, but today I decided to focus on a few things and was much more successful.

One thing that always gets me a little excited is when high-end designers decide to produce a line of clothing for the masses and sell their specific looks at much lower prices. It can, however, go dreadfully sour. Case in point: Vera Wang for Kohls. In 2007 I was disappointed when I found that the season's baggy shirts and fitted leggings were so poorly constructed that l looked like a bag lady. Her usually pretty shirts and dressed adorned with feminine bows and jewels looked cheap. I think since the fit and aesthetic of her designs rely heavily on quality fabrics they just didn't work when made en mass with cheaper materials. Even considering the "bargain," the clothes didn't seem worth the price.

This is not the case with Zac Posen's new line for Target. They didn't have everything shown in the link, but overall I was quite impressed. I got a cute dress that I really didn't need but just couldn't pass up.

I didn't try this one on, but if you have somewhere fancy to go, the fabric and cut of this dress look rich and glamorous in person. (It looks more gold than flowery.)

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Wikus Van de Merwe

This is by far the funniest things I have seen in a long time. The guy, "Wikus Van de Merwe", was the main character in Peter Jackson's District 9. What is amazing is that he is actually an English South African and sounds nothing like this in reality. He captures his Afrikaans character so well--the likable but self-satisfied Afrikaans bureaucrat. I think he should have been nominated for an Oscar for his role in District 9, but it may be something that only those familiar with the subtleties of "this type" of South African would appreciate.

Anyway, this sketch was an introduction for the South African Music Awards. He tries to find Charlize Theron to present the award with him. My family knew an interesting story behind her discovery. Here it is:
She started out as a model and was trying to cash a check in in a bank in Hollywood. When the teller wouldn't cash her check she made a huge scene and threw such a fit that the Hollywood producer standing next to her in line took notice of her theatrical skills (and probably her long, stunning gams as well.). "Wikus Van de Merwe" tries to go to that same bank in this sketch.

Funny Skit

this and that

Last week I went to my first two water aerobics classes of the Spring. In the winter water aerobics is a miserable experience, coming out all wet and cold with your muscles aching for the rest of the day. In the summer, however, it relieves my allergies to swim. I plop my sore body into the soothing water; happily looking around at the funny old ladies with shower caps over the hair, I try to ignore the hearty swimming coaches yelling at poor, awkward adolescents in the swimming lanes, and delight in the ease with which my body moves in the water.

I have temporarily lost daniel to Little Big Planet. Leaving me to wax poetic. Frodo keeps on making vicious attacks on Sam over a tiny piece of rawhide and small spaces of territory on their daybed. I desparately need to find a new book to read. I am bored and sore but don't want to go back to work tomorrow.

I hope that the two weeks of testing ahead go quickly but will find relaxation in my evening sessions at the pool.

Precious

The movie I rented last night was "Precious." You know the story: Obese, illiterate teen, repeatedly raped by her father, abused by her mother. Kids are products of their environments and their environments offer no hope

I can handle heavy movies but I was disappointed by this one. The movie claimed to be an unrelenting portrait of the lives of the impoverished and abused, however, I found many aspects of her story unrealistic. Pregnant with her second child by her father, the principal puts her into an alternative school where she receives a stipend; camaraderie in her small class of about eight students who don't judge her; and the undivided attention of a teacher who takes interest in her. Is this reality for the thousands of inner city students who need it? Unfortunately not.

Moreover, Precious, the girl, shows no initiative and has no personality. Granted she's had it beaten out of her, but often the students who rise above their circumstances are those who can see past them and strive for something greater. Precious never shows any initiative and when she is seen stealing in the movie, it is hard to see her as any better than her mother who has been stealing from the welfare system for years.

In the end Precious is given some devastating news that reinforces a truth for girls like her: there is no redemption and no light at the end of the tunnel and none of it was her fault. She only wins by knowing that she has learned to read and is making an attempt to edumacate eh, I mean educate herself. But here again Precious, the movie, fell short. The teachers and social workers who helped her were fair skinned caricatures. "Come on Precious. You can do it. What is this word?" Says her hip lesbian teacher in a two minute scene that magically transforms her reading skills from a second to seventh grade level. The rest of the classroom scenes consisted of students swearing and reading poorly written journal entries about their lives. Any teacher knows that this is not the way to teach students to read.

My rating: 2 Stars.

The Face of the Democratice Party

Ahhh. It seems they may need a new face to represent them. Perhaps one that isn't being eaten by botulinum toxins. How about...



That's a bit better. The reason I bring up your favorite political party is to mention that Michelle Obama has made childhood obesity one of the causes she will be working for this year. The number of obese children in the country is rising at grotesquely rapid rate. This epidemic is going to lead to a plethora of health problems for people, which will ultimately result in more medical bills, higher health insurance costs, and most importantly, lives lost.

With the passage of the new health insurance bill, being a Democrat is now considered a pre-existing condition. Ha. Since I brought up this hot button topic, here is good, concise summary of the bill that has most people baffled. I wish Barry-O luck getting elected again, but we actually won't see much of a change for a few years. Here, from the Capitalist Bible known as the Wallstreet Journal, are the main points of the bill.

2010
Coverage
■Subsidies begin for small businesses to provide coverage to employees.
■Insurance companies barred from denying coverage to children with pre-existing illness.
■Children permitted to stay on their parents' insurance policies until their 26th birthday.

2011
Coverage
■Set up long-term care program under which people pay premiums into system for at least five years and become eligible for support payments if they need assistance in daily living.
Taxes and fees
■Drug makers face annual fee of $2.5 billion (rises in subsequent years).

2013
Taxes and fees
■New Medicare taxes on individuals earning more than $200,000 a year and couples filing jointly earning more than $250,000 a year.
■Tax on wages rises to 2.35% from 1.45%.
■New 3.8% tax on unearned income such as dividends and interest.
■Excise tax of 2.3% imposed on sale of medical devices.
Cost control
■Medicare pilot program begins to test bundled payments for care, in a bid to pay for quality rather than quantity of services.

2014
Coverage
■Create exchanges where people without employer coverage, as well as small businesses, can shop for health coverage. Insurance companies barred from denying coverage to anyone with pre-existing illness.
■Requirement begins for most people to have health insurance. Subsidies begin for lower and middle-income people. People at 133% of federal poverty level pay maximum of 3% of income for coverage. People at 400% of poverty level pay up to 9.5% of income. (Poverty level currently is about $22,000 for a family of four.)
■Medicaid, the federal-state program for the poor, expands to all Americans with income up to 133% of federal poverty level.
■Subsidies for small businesses to provide coverage increase. Businesses with 10 or fewer employees and average annual wages of less than $25,000 receive tax credit of up to 50% of employer's contribution. Tax credits phase out for larger businesses.
Taxes and fees
■Employers with more than 50 employees that don't provide affordable coverage must pay a fine if employees receive tax credits to buy insurance. Fine is up to $3,000 per employee, excluding first 30 employees.
■Insurance industry must pay annual fee of $8 billion (rises in subsequent years).
Cost control
■Independent Medicare board must begin to submit recommendations to curb Medicare spending, if costs are rising faster than inflation.

2016
Taxes and fees
■Penalty for those who don't carry coverage rises to 2.5% of taxable income or $695, whichever is greater.

2017
Coverage
■Businesses with more than 100 employees can buy coverage on insurance exchanges, if state permits it.

2018
Taxes and fees
■Excise tax of 40% imposed on health plans valued at more than $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage.
—Sources: House bill; Kaiser Family Foundation
Corrections & Amplifications

The House health legislation imposes a 2.3% excise tax on the sale of medical devices. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the tax was 2.9%, the figure before a last-minute change to the legislation.

Benjamin Zander on music and passion

Thank goodness for guys like this. "Awaken Possibility in other people!"
Benjamin Zander on music and passion Video on TED.com

Who the hell is she?

I'm not sure of the identity of Jaci Stephen. I've never met her. She's just some English chick who wrote this column and blog on her enchantment with Los Angeles. I suppose if you keep on the straight and narrow path, LA is alright. A diverse city with lots of neat shops, restaurants, beaches, movies etc., LA has a lot to offer in the way of leisure activities. Just take a GPS unit, drive carefully, and find a few wholesome friends.