So, the Pat Robertson thing. At first, I didn't believe it, thinking the media mis-quoted him or something. Then, I heard it from his own mouth:

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it,'' he said. "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability.''

Gosh. I'm almost speechless. What can I say?

Oh, except maybe that he's a Man of The Cloth and all and isn't murder a Mortal Sin and you could burn in hell and all and maybe he shouldn't be making Terroristic Statements, blah blah blah.

I'm aghast I tell ya. . . just aghast ! Yes, yes, about that Pat Robertson thing, but more on that later.

Today, I went on a tour of Citizens Bank Park, where the Phillies play. I took a moment to ask our tour guide, Mark from the Front Office, what became of the "Stargell Star" from The Vet - which marked the longest home run ever hit there (by none other than Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates).

"It got lost in the move," he said. Lost! Lost? "Hey, he didn't even play for the Phillies," said Mark, "he played for the Pirates."

Duh! And only was one of the greatest hitters in the game ever! Ah, the Lumber Company.

Well, I'm off to the local Verizon Wireless store to try to buy a new cell phone for The Gal. Why? You ask. Let's just say that . . . cell phones, 7-year olds, and a creek don't play well together.

While I'm not a big fan of the pre-season, I thought I'd catch a few moments of The Game (if you have to ask, you must not know me very well) last night.

However, 4 hours after we arrived at the lovely Mt. Airy home of our local lesbian poker party hosts, we were still quite into the big Texas Hold'Em game. While neither The Gal nor I "won," a good time was had by all.

They even had a small TV on in the kitchen - tuned to OLN (?!) - and I never thought to change the channel. See, what's a game without T.O. ? And, what the heck is T.O. up to? Has he no shame? Yo, T.O.! Get rid of Drew-boy already (who, by the way, was an "answer" in my recent Quizzo outing and, yes, my team got it right!).

I might just have to root for Duce & Co. this year!

Went to the ballgame last night. Here's what I love about Gay Day at the Phillies:

• The women are really into the game. Most of the lesbians I sat near last night were actually keeping scorecards - and here I thought that I was the only girl who grew up knowing how to score a baseball game!



• The men are really into the game. For the 2nd year in a row, I had the pleasure of sitting next to an educated and entertaining gay man (different guy each year!) who both knew about baseball and the Phils and could joke about it all. This year's guy even had the game on his portable radio! [I shoulda got his # so I could invite myself to his behind-the-3rd-base-dugout season tix seats!]



• For those who are more into socializing, smoking and people-watching, the 200 level's wide open concourse is the perfect spot! While Camden Yards will always be my fave ballpark, The Cit really got the concourse area down good! Ran into all kinds of folks, many of whom I knew, others of whom I just met that night (and recruited for my Quizzo team!).

Yet another post in the "here's how us LGBT parents are pretty much the same as every other parent in the world" category:

Today is The Banana's birthday. What do we do? Whatever she wants. She wrote it all down on one of her t-shirts (using washable markers, of course).

The List included things like going to the new cafe by our house for coffee (us) and chocolate crepes (her). Meg, the wonderful owner of the High Point Cafe - on Carpenter Street at Greene in West Mt. Airy... be there! - even sang to her, unexpectedly.

Other list items: go to the book store to buy some books - Early Reader books for her to read to us and Chapter Books for us to read to her; go to the toy store to buy Clue Jr. and a travel Sorry game; buy pet food for her hamster, Hammie (it's HIS birthday too!); go to the pool; watch a DVD; and have a friend sleep-over.

Pretty much just like any other weekend!

Finally saw "March of the Penguins".

It was, indeed, funny and sad and educational and informative and beautifully filmed; basically, everything everyone's saying about it.

What I find most interesting, though : The Buzz about the film. And how people react to The Buzz. Had this been a regular program showing on OLN or the National Geographic Channel, I doubt anyone would even know it's airing. But, put it in a movie theatre and people flock to see it!

Go figure.

So much going on in the world - legislators voting for pay raises for themselves, more casualties in Iraq, the anniversary of the A-bomb, the space shuttle returning to earth. . .

. . . and, what does my little newsrag report this morning? That Rosie O'Donnell will join Harvey Fierstein on Broadway as Goldie to his Tevye in "Fiddler On The Roof."

That is such a scary thought!

It's the little things in life, 'eh?

Sittin' on the front porch on a cool summer morning, waiting for the camp bus with The Banana, playing Go Fish using our new 'Charlie and The Chocolate Factory ('got any "golden tickets" ?) playing cards.'

What could be better than this?

Intelligent Design. Just what marketing company came up with that moniker, I wonder? I may have to write to the NY Times' linguist guy.

Bushie has this to say about it : "I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought."

Hmmm. And yet, regarding sex education, his administration promotes an 'abstinence-only' approach; while the CDC estimates that 19 million STD infections occur annually, almost half of them among youth ages 15 to 24.

Go figure.

Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me. . .

So, my boss sez to me this a.m., for my birthday, she'll buy me 2 CDs - my choice. Hmmm, I say, where to begin. Tegan & Sara? Green Day? Team Dresch? The "Love Actually" soundtrack?

While I ponder this Very Important Question, I decide to listen to a little Amy Ray. There are some "bonus tracks" on her new web site, including a very awesome cover of Tom Petty's "Refugee". . . a song which, interestingly enough, Melissa Etheridge has also recently covered, however her version is kind of mild-mannered; while Amy's ROCKS and her vocals beat ME's any day!

While on the subject of music, I know of Melissa's version of "Refugee" because WXPN seems to have it on their Playlist these days. 'XPN - as they've taken to labeling themselves these days - seems to have taken a more mainstream approach to music programming these days.

Maybe it's just me, but I've been tracking what they play lately and, besides my hearing the same songs and/or same artists day in and day out - granted, some I wouldn't otherwise hear like String Cheese Incident or Erin McKeown - I've heard songs by, among others, Beck, REM, Maroon 5, Coldplay, White Stripes, Dave Matthews Band, Eric Clapton, and Sheryl Crow. Like I can't hear them played anywhere else on my dial ?!

And then, there's the 'oldies but goodies (?)' they've been playing -- I heard an old Tears For Fears song the other day and, I kid you not, "The Future's So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades)" by Timbuk3.

This is why I want XM radio!

So, Congress is barely out of session for summer break when Bushie goes and - does what ? - appoints John Bolton to be the new ambassador to the U.N. !

You know, "right-wing extremist" John Bolton - whose appointment many legislators had been fighting to block for the last 4 months !

So much for "multilateralism."