Still on the Road & Still Having Fun

2/18 ~ Lets see.  I’m in Riverside at my Aunt’s house.  My Aunt doesn’t have WiFi, so I fixed it.  Sort of.  I went to Walmart and bought a no-contract Broadband card and one of the cards for some time online.  At least I’ll be able to occasionally upload some blog posts while I’m here.  Now, where did I leave off in the last post? Oh yeah! In Palm Springs 2 days ago!

2/16 ~ Once the Holiday Inn moved us to a different room, we had a working WiFi connection and I was able to at least let the family know where we were and what we were up to.  Only I didn’t tell everyone what we had planned.   Mom and I had decided that we both wanted to take a ride on the Palm Springs Tram.   The weather report for the day was kind of iffy.  They were expecting rain in the valley and snow on top of the mountain.  It was still nice when we set out towards the Tram station, though.  This picture shows our view back at the base station shortly after beginning our trip.  The gondolas on the tram rotate as you ride up the cable, so your view constantly changes.  Having the gondolas rotate made it a pleasant ride up the mountain because there was no jockeying for position as people looked for things to take pictures of.  We all got to take pictures of the station at the bottom and we all got to take pictures of the cables, the towers and the mountains..   And the view of the valley below.  It was absolutely spectacular.  This picture of the valley was taken from the patio at the mountain station.  It was quite a bit colder at the top.  When we walked out onto that patio, I hit a patch of ice and skated for a few inches.  I moved over and followed Mom along the wall of the building where it was dry. 





3/16~ Wow.. It’s been a month since I wrote the beginning of this post. Sorry about that, folks!  Things got a bit hectic when we got back home and then I had my granddaughter come from Utah for a weeklong visit.  It was pretty busy while she was here.. Lots of activities and fun..  For now, I’m going to pass up posting pictures and stuff from the rest of the trip.  Just take my word for  it, Mom and I had a wonderful trip.  We saw lots of neat things, did a lot of fun things and had good visits with friends and family in Southern California. 
~
Now for a small “rant” aimed at a certain “anonymous” person who keeps posting comments that I will not allow to be published.  Stop.  Now.  I’m tired of reading your little rants/comments.  I will not publish them, nor will you miraculously change my opinion, so you might as well give up.

I do not hate anyone, Phil Spector included.  Keep up your garbage, and I might come close to “hating” you.  See, the thing is, “hate” is an emotion that you have to work at maintaining.  It's not a healthy emotion.  Plus, you also need to know the person you “hate”.  I don’t know Phil Spector, nor do I know his wife so I don't "hate" them.  Mr "Anonymous", I don’t even “hate” you for what you are doing.  But, today, you must be feeling very proud of yourself.  You managed to start a ruckus that got the Phil Spector Appeal thread closed for the night.  Wow.. What an accomplishment.  Hopefully no one got banned because of your “fun”.  Go ahead and keep posting links to my blog… I really don’t care.  The post you keep sending people to is almost 2 years old and has absolutely no relevance to what is going on today.  Ok.  /Rant off.

Hello there! I'm alive!

I know it's been quite a while since I've written a post here on my blog. I'm not going to give excuses or anything like that. I'm just going to post today... Who knows about tomorrow or the day after.

I will be posting some travel stuff later.. That's for the next post. Plus, this summer I'll try to post some travel stuff too. I'll be driving my Mom and Stepdad to Branson, Missouri. We'll be taking some side trips on the way back there and on the way home, so there will be lots of photos to share.

So, here's my "rant" for today.. lol

How not to "win friends and influence people.
The thing that brought me to the blog today was a confrontation with a "new" poster on the InSessions message boards. Well, maybe "confrontation" isn't the best description of what happened. Here's the background: Back on March 10th an appeal was filed for the Phil Spector case. Phil is still sitting in prison, serving his sentence and hoping the appeal will set him "free".

So, on March 10th, a thread was opened on the InSessions message boards with a link to a pdf of the appeal document. The discussions began and the problems in the thread began early. A lawyer (allegedly) came in and began lecturing the rest of the folks in the thread. Another poster got banned, (a temporary ban, I believe.) and this "lawyer" started posting about how the message boards were (His posts are gone now as he managed to completely piss most everyone off and someone reported him to the moderators, which resulted in him being banned.) The thread has been limping along ever since then, with several attempts to discuss the appeal. A few folks have jumped on the appeal, declaring it to be a success and predicting it will be successful. Others, me included, are waiting for the State's response before jumping down off the fence. I kind of like to hear both sides of an "argument" before I decide which side I'm going to favor.

Anyway, yesterday a "new" poster appeared in the thread. He posted an "introduction" in his first post:

As a preamble, I'm not a lawyer yet but a 3rd year law student. I sit on the law review @ my school and concentrate on evidence. I was appointed to this position after receiving an A in evidence. I also intern under a judge in the commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Ok, I'm good with that. If what the guy says is true, I suppose he's got a right to brag a bit about his accomplishments. The part of his first post that got me is where he stated that the appeal has a "reasonably good chance of having the case remanded for a retrial". He then goes on to state that he fully agrees with the poster (the lawyer who liked to lecture folks) who had been banned a couple days before. Uhm. If this poster is so "new", how'd he manage to read the other guy's posts? They were all removed when he received his "permanent ban"! Ok, so maybe this "new" guy lurked for a few days before typing.... So I'll let that little thing "pass". Now, the part I had trouble with is that this "law student" is predicting the outcome of the appeal before the State even has a chance to file their response. So, I posted back:

This is probably going to come off as a rather snide answer to your post. But... Here goes.

Based on your experience and knowledge of law (Somewhere OTHER than in California.) the appeal will be successful, huh? Are you saying that you don't even need to see or read the state's reply in order to make a judgment like that? I'm sorry, but even I know that you need BOTH sides of an argument before making a decision. And an appeal is essentially an argument over how fair a trial was, right?

As I said in a previous post. We have the defense's filing with their "argument" and now we await the state's response. We have one hand clapping. And right now it's the defense clapping and whining because things didn't go the way they wanted during the trial. I'll wait until the state's response is filed.

Then, this "law student" comes back with a post that "lectures" me about how the Federal Rules of law apply and so on and so on... Hmm.. Sounded very much like that previous poster who got banned. It was kind of comical, but also pretty rude. A few other folks agreed that predicting a successful appeal was a bit premature and they also stated that they would be interested to read the State's response. This "law student" then jumped on one of the other posts and posted this:

You know what this post looks like? Some middle aged insecure man pissed off @ the world because all he could sum up with his brilliant life experience is that he is just a small fish in a big pond. Clearly you feel motivated to lash out verbally against anyone that has substantial education, is young and has either a) surpassed your mediocre life or b) will surpass your mediocre life.

If you read my first post, I directly introduced myself as a law student and NOT a lawyer to indicate that I lack 100% experience in the field. I then briefly explained some credentials so I would not have to cite or tediously prove every little piece of information I presented.

After that post I immediately received a reply from someone who indicated from the get go their response was snide. Why be snide? I introduced myself and who I was and then stated an opinion like everyone else. But for some reason the mere introduction of anyone who is actually educated and/or young resulted in hostile replies. Then this wash-up decides to post again acting like I was the one who was "snide"... or wait, "rude"... Ooooo.. you're pathetic..

Then I made a comment to someone who for no reason ridiculed something I merely mentioned as a credential. So what? I'm proud I nailed an A in that class. It was damn hard. But then again, you wouldn't know hard work or you would have pursued your interest of law instead of typing about it on a forum.

To answer another questions as to why I'm at this forum and not a "law student" forum is this - I "googled" (yes, another grasshopper term - threatening isn't it wash-ups?) the words "phil spector appeal discussion" and this site popped up. That's it. I enjoy music, especially from your era (one admirable quality from your era) and I enjoy law. Phil Spector is a natural interest. I especially enjoy the album he did with Leonard Cohen.

Excuse me, but I have a paper to continue.

Then about 20 minutes later the "law student" comes back with a reply to one of the other folks on the board with this as the opening line:

hopefully all the insecure wash-ups have resided to their life-long slumber and we can continue this PS appeal discussion. Thanks to some ppl for actually reading my 1st post and defending my reaction to a bunch of well-rounded & obvious life-experienced posters

So. All the folks who disagree with this know-it-all "law student" are now "insecure wash-ups" who are "pissed off at the world". Amazing, isn't it? And hilarious. I'm "pathetic" now because I called the guy "rude"! Ooo! (It sure didn't take the guy long to do his "paper". LOL)

I have to wonder how long this one will last on the message board. He seems pretty good at slinging insults, which doesn't usually go over very well with the moderators on InSessions. I'll sit back and wait for the State's response to the appeal, and then, perhaps, I'll get in the discussion on the merits of both documents.

Other Cases

The Casey Anthony case continues with much drama. Cindy and George "neglected" to pay their house payment for 9 or 10 months and the bank filed foreclosure papers on them. Cindy and George claim that they had no idea that the foreclosure was filed until a reporter asked them about it. Uhm.. Yeah, right. Not very likely. I supposed they had a lot of fun on the cruise and the shopping trips and the visits to tattoo parlors instead of paying all those pesky house payments.

News came out that George had an affair with a younger woman who could be a physical match to the description of "Zanny the nanny" that he and Cindy spouted off about from the get-go. From what's been reported, there are photos and text messages between George and the young woman that proves the affair.

Then we have reports of letters, lots of letters, between Casey and another inmate at the Orange County Jail. None of the letters have been released to the public yet, and the reports are that Casey doesn't actually admit to killing her daughter in them. It will be interesting to see the letters when they are released, if nothing else, just to get a glimpse into the mind of a mother who can kill her child and then lie to everyone around her about where that child is for 31 days.

And now we wait for the next piece of "drama" in the case. And with the Anthony circus, the drama is sure to happen.

The Sandra Cantu case was in the news yesterday as well. It was one year ago today when a happy, skipping Sandra Cantu was captured on surveillance video, just minutes before she disappeared from a Tracy, California mobile home park. What a sad anniversary. Melissa Huckaby remains in jail in connection with Sandra's rape and murder, but it still could be awhile before the case makes it to trial. There is still a gag order on the case, so very little information makes it into the news.

Drew Peterson is also still sitting in jail awaiting his trial for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, and who is also a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacey. Drew's lawyer, Joel Brodsky, is a busy guy apparently. He's hitting the news in the Chicago area with a case between a divorced couple where they are arguing about which religion their child should be exposed to. I feel sorry for the child.

I'm still watching a number of other cases, but nothing much has hit the media about them.. Yet.

Travel!
I don't know if you can really call this "travel", but I went over to San Francisco last week with my trucker friend and his lovely fiance who was here from England for a visit. We had a lot of fun and we took lots of photos... I'll post one here and then later today, maybe I'll add some more to a new post.............. Enjoy the flowers! These beautiful flowers were in one of the many planters on Fisherman's Wharf.

A "Wow" Photo

Every once in a while you happen across a photo that makes you say "Wow!"... This afternoon, I found one of those. The Wallstreet Journal has a "Pictures of the Day" in their Photo Journal. I've had the pictures of the day in my Google reader for a while now, but this shot of a Sunrise at the Rams Island Light near Portland, Maine made me stop and admire the color and the composition of the shot. Kudos to Robert F. Bukaty from the Associated Press for a gorgeous photo.

~~~~~~

I've been avoiding posting on the blog for a bit now. One of the reasons is that there is really nothing "new" with most of the cases I've been watching.

Phil Spector is adjusting to life in the prison he's been assigned to (Corcoran) and his wife has been amazingly silent for the last couple weeks, so there is nothing new there. Especially since any kind of news about the two civil cases just doesn't make it into the main stream media. I keep searching though.. I'm really curious as to how the suit Spector brought against Robert Shapiro will turn out since Phil doesn't want to answer any questions in a deposition.. He just wants Shapiro to simply hand over the money..

Casey Anthony is still in jail waiting for the murder trial, which has been postponed with no definite start date thanks to Casey's new lawyer, Dr. Andrea Lyon. Apparently her teaching schedule is in conflict with the trial date that was orignially scheduled. So, the murder trial is postponed until sometime next year and there will be a status hearing in January. Meanwhile, the prosecution wants to push ahead on the financial fraud charges stemming from Casey's theft of Amy Huizenga's money and checks. During a meeting with all the attornies invovled in the murder trial, the judge requested something in writing from Amy invoking her right to a speedy trial. It'll be interesting to see how Jose Baez will try to squirm out of that..

I'm also watching for news about the murderer of Brianna Denison, James Biela. He's tried twice now to have all the charges against him split into separate cases instead of trying them all in one trial. He's failed at both attempts to have the cases split with the latest attempt having been denied in June. No word yet about when the trial will happen up in Reno.

There are a few other cases that I look for information on, but it's hard to find anything about. I'm not going to list them out until I find some kind of update. The problem right now with watching the news (Both print and televised) is that the majority of what we're seeing is all about Michael Jackson. Apparently we are supposed to hear all the rumors about him, his children, his ex-wives, drugs, illnesses, etc, etc, etc... I'm sorry, but I am tired of hearing all about this stuff. I've enjoyed his music, but I've never been a fan of the man. (shrugging my shoulders)

And so, to close, here's an LOL Cat that I shared on facebook last night:


see more Lolcats and funny pictures
Yep, I do feel like I'm in a rut... lol.. How about you?

"Top Cat" LOL! (And a gripe at the end.. *sigh*)

Can you imagine walking down the street and seeing this fellow with his pal? I'm sure the regular readers of my blog know I like cats, and I think I've mentioned a while back that I have 2 cats here that "own" me. But my cats have never tried riding around on my head! LOL


I guess I'll continue the feline funnies by adding an LOL Cat...

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I'm still watching the news, both on TV and online. I just haven't found a lot to write about lately. The Casey Anthony case is progressing, both for the murder trial and for the fraud case. Apparently the prosecutors are going to try to push the fraud case ahead of the murder case. The defense for the murder case is saying they won't be ready until some time next year, so why not push the fraud case ahead.. The motions have been filed, so we'll have to wait and see what the judge says. And we'll probably have to listen to Baez whine about how unfair it is for Casey to have to face up to her theft of money from her friend and her grandparents before she has to face the music for Caylee's death.

Someone recently asked about the case against a local man that I posted about months ago, and I've done some looking around and have found absolutely nothing online about the case that is recent. The man I am talking about is Rex Archer. When I went for that drive on Sunday with my Mom and Stepdad on Father's Day, we talked about Rex and the lack of news about the case against him. (Rex Archer was accused and arrested for sexual abuse on two girls. ) There were two postponements of hearings and then suddenly there was no news at all about the case. My folks and I are thinking that Rex has pulled some strings in Yuba County.. After all, he is one of the "good old boys" over there. I'll keep trying to find out what has happened with the case.

Now, about a case that is done with. Sort of. Phil Spector. Apparently there are a few people trolling the net who object to anything being posted that is the least bit unfavorable towards thier idol, Phil Spector. They've decided my blog is a good place to play again. (Similar childishness happened back when I posted the photo of Rachelle Spector playing with a gun during the second trial for Phil.) So, since the children have decided they want to use my blog for their games, I am putting the comment moderation back into effect. If they want to post about how much they love Phil and Rachelle Spector and spread their hate for everyone that doesn't love them, I suggest they start their own blog or message board. I guess they haven't noticed that Phil Spector is only a very minor part of my blog. As the civil cases that Phil Spector is involved in advance, there may be other posts about him on here. If Rachelle Spector does any outrageous things again, there may be other posts about her. The fans of Mr. Spector and his wife need to grow up and realize that their games aren't going to change anyone's minds about his guilt or anything else. Give it a rest, kids... I'm not going to change my mind about Phil Spector. He has been found guilty of murdering Lana Clarkson. And rightly so. He has been sentenced to prison, most likely for the rest of his life. Again, rightly so. If his "fans" don't want to behave themselves in the comments here, the comments won't see the light of day. Period.

After all, this is my blog and since it is my blog, I can post my opinion whenever I want, no matter how popular or unpopular it is. (And I don't have to put up with abuse from people who oppose my views... lol)

My apologies to my regular readers and commenters. Hopefully the children will go find another place to play soon.

The Faces of Phil Spector (Mugshots!)

Phil Spector's mugshot back in February of 2003

Phil Spector's Mugshot (with wig) from the Los Angeles County Jail after his conviction in April 2009

Phil Spector (sans wig) at North Kern State Prison, June 2009

Well, Phil's mugshot finally hit The Smoking Gun and TMZ websites today. What can I say? Uhm... Nothing. His mugshots kind of speak for themselves! There will be more mugshots of Phil in the future. The next one will most likely be the one they take when he is moved from North Kern to whatever facility they decide will be his "permanent" home.

I have to wonder if (now that his newest mugshot has hit the internet) we get to hear another media blitz from Rachelle? Or maybe she'll stay quiet this time? From what I've read, her last few interviews weren't believed by very many people... After all, who wants to hear about her sex life with Phil? I sure don't!

Here's another comparison for you... Take a look at these two photos. Compare the two women. Which one looks "older"? Lana or Rachelle?

Update (3/16/2011):

Please note that this blog post was written nearly 2 years ago.  The blog post was originally written in response to a discussion on the InSession Message board that no longer exists in cyberspace.  There was no hate involved in writing the post, which is more than I can say for the so called "anonymous" comments that are continually being submitted on this and on other  Phil Spector blog posts.  The blog is still on "moderation" and will continue to be for as long as I can foresee because I don't want the "hate" campaign in the comments on this nor any other post on my blog.  Those nasty little notes will NOT see the light of day on this blog.

Phil Spector ~ 19 years to Life

Phil Spector now has a minimum of 19 years to contemplate what happened between himself and Lana Clarkson on February 3rd, 2003. Judge Fidler handed down the mandatory 15 years to life for the Murder 2 conviction and then gave Phil an additional 4 years for the use of a gun in the commission of the crime. He could have chosen 3, 4 or 10 years for the gun enhancement, but went along with the prosecution's recommendation. I am not going to detail out what happened during the brief hearing yesterday because it's been written up thoroughly and much better than I could on other sites. For instance, check out Sprocket's Trials & Tribulations. She was there in the courtroom and was blogging in real time, giving her readers a moment by moment description of what happened in the courtroom. Go here and scroll down to the bottom of the post, then read back up towards the top.

If you want to see his face as Judge Fidler pronounces the sentence, here's a video for you:

Note that at the end of the hearing when everyone stands as the judge exits, Phil stays seated until a bailiff directs him to stand and leave the room. Phil never looked over his shoulder at his trial bride, his son nor his supporters who showed up. He also seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes open for what was going on. Speculation is that he was under pain medications still since he'd had a surgery on Wednesday to remove polyps from his throat. One has to wonder how many surgeries he's had for those polyps in the last year or so. There were two delays in the trial due to medical treatment on his throat, and now it's reported that he was at UCLA having the surgery just this week! Interesting, huh?

Phil's attorney, Doron Weinberg practically begged for Judge Fidler to order Phil's transfer into State custody as soon as possible and to have his medical records travel with him. The Judge refused to put an "order" on the record and stated that he was sure that the Sheriff would be giving Phil over to the State without much delay. Later, I found an article by Harriet Ryan in the LA Times where Weinberg "explained" why they wanted the transfer hurried up.

Spector's lawyer said his client was focused on his appeal and eager to get through with the sentencing so he could move to a prison facility nicer than the jail where he has been held since the conviction.

"Nicer"? He thinks a prison facility is going to be "nicer" than jail? Ok... I'll be interested to see which facility Phil's going to be staying in for the next 20 or so years. Not that it's likely that he will be paroled at the end of his "19 years" because parole boards usually expect a prisoner to face up to what they've done and show some remorse. Does anyone think Phil Spector is going to ever admit to what he did that morning back in February of 2003?

Rest in peace, Lana. Your murderer is now beginning his penance for the crime he committed.

Something Different; Yuba Dam

I'll leave you with some humor today.. But first I'll tell you how I found it. I was reading a newspaper article in the local paper's website that talks about a problem that is going on with one of the old cemeteries in the area. Apparently there is a huge conflict going on between the powers that be in the city of Marysville and the volunteers that are trying to restore the old cemetery. The whole story is a mess and it comes down to the city locking the volunteers out of the cemetery after the city workers destroyed some of the volunteers work while they "mowed the lawns". One of the comments below the article mentioned an old poem called "Yuba Dam" and I got curious. Good old Google found the poem for me among the books that Google has digitized. The book is "Poems" By Charles James which was printed in 1903. (By the way, the city of Marysville is in Yuba County.. Hence the reference to "Yuba Dam".. lol)

YUBA DAM

The sun was shimmering all the West,
And gilding all the yellow main,
And casting shadows from the crest
Of gilded mountains to the plain,
As laboring up a water course
A traveler pricked his weary horse;
When all at once upon his sight
Burst a fair village, clean and bright.

He asked a miner whom he met,
If he could give its name: "You bet!"
Pray do, my friend and do not sham."
The miner answered, "Yuba Dam."

"Kind. gentle friend, do not abuse
My ignorance; I cry a truce
To thy bold wit; come tell me true,
I would not ask it if I knew,
But I, dear sir a stranger am."
Quick roared the miner, "Yuba Dam!"

Disheartened, on the stranger pressed,
And overtook a mincing dame,
With flaxen hair and silken vest,
And begged of her the village's name.
She oped her sweet lips like a clam
And simpered gently, "Yuba Dam."

On tore the stranger, nearly wild,
And came upon an artless child;
She had a satchel on her arm,
While o'er her face stole many a charm.
"Where have you been?" the stranger said;
The maid uplifted quick her head
And answered with the ready truth
And open frankness of her youth
"At school." "Who keeps it?" "Uncle Sam."
"What is this place, sweet?" "Yuba Dam."

"Alas!" he screamed, in frantic grief,
"Will no one come to my relief?
Will no one tell me where I am?"
The school boys shouted "Yuba Dam!"
And on the bridge, as he did slam
The planks re echoed, "Yuba Dam."

"Perdition seize the place!" he cried,
As through the streets he swiftly hied.
Yet ere he went to bed that night,
From something told him by a wight,
He found that he himself had shammed,
And that the Yuba had been dammed.

Hmm.. I suppose you'd have to know a bit about this area in order to understand how the Yuba was "dammed"... lol..

This 'n That

I'm still around, still watching the news on the net and on TV. Yes, I'm still keeping track of what is going on with the cases I've posted about in the past. My brain is having trouble coming up with posts for the blog though. The story behind that is that I got fed up with the new tax hikes the federal and state governments put on cigarettes and have decided to quit smoking. Instead of buying a carton of cigarettes this last time, I bought the patches. (Dummy me, I found out after buying them that I could have gotten them for free if I had signed up for a class at a local hospital! LOL) I started using the patches when I had gotten down to the last pack of cigarettes in the last carton I bought. I managed to make that pack last for 4 days and now I'm on day 2 of having no cigarettes at all. Ugh. I still would love to have a smoke! lol...

So, anyway today's post (which is probably going to be all over the place.) is going to start off with one of the LOL Cats that I thought were really cute yesterday.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Now for the rest of the "news"....

I've been adding a few posts to the other blog I post on, California Fire News. The posts have been mostly earthquake reports that measure over 3.0, but occasionally I find another item of interest. As for the earthquakes, one yesterday was a 4.4 on the Richter scale and it was centered near Malibu. There have been a number of small quakes in the Los Angeles area in the last week or so Hopefully this isn't a buildup to a bigger one.

As for the cases I am watching, a couple of them have been really hard to get news about them because of gag orders that the judges in the individual cases have ordered.

Sandra Cantu (victim) and Melissa Huckaby (accused murderer)
The Sandra Cantu case is one of those that have virtually disappeared from the local and national news broadcasts. The latest hearing for Melissa Huckaby was a very brief one with the defense postponing a plea from the accused and the judge, Linda Lofthus, ordering that the autopsy findings be sealed to "prevent public outrage", plus she ordered a gag order on everyone involved in the case. The next hearing will be May 22nd in the San Joaquin County Superior Court in Stockton. There have been a couple articles recently though. These articles are about the reward that had been offered when poor little Sandra disappeared.

Apparently there is a psychic in the Los Angeles area who thinks she deserves to get some of the reward money even though her "vision" wasn't exactly accurate and the investigators used none of the information provided by any psychics when they were searching for the child. This woman said she predicted the little girl would be found in a "barranca (A Spanish word for canyon or ravine.) and that she was killed in a church, and the killer was someone in the trailer park the little girl called home. Ok, she managed to get 2 out of 3, supposedly. But, since the Tracy police didn't use psychic predictions during the investigation, how much actual "good" did this woman do? I'd say "none".

The other article I found this morning is about the man who did do something to help the Tracy police find Sandra. This guy is the man who found that suitcase floating in that pond on the dairy. The original news reports that came out when Sandra's body was found in that suitcase said that the farm hand(s) who found it had refused the reward. Back then, the reporters said that the cops would be talking to the men. And apparently they did. The man who is receiving the reward money is Jose Luis Franco, and he'll be the recipient of a little more than $20,000. He says he'll be putting the money into a trust account to pay for the education of his four children. He's hoping that they will be able to go to college. Good for him! And good for his family!

The Public Information Officer with the Tracy Police Department, Sgt. Tony Sheneman says that the reward will be going only to Mr. Franco. Not to the supposed psychics who are trying to claim part of that reward. (Can you tell that I don't believe in a lot of the supposed psychics who claim they "solve murders"?)

Sources:
The Tracy Press (hearing and gag orders)
The Mercury News (psychic claim)
The Tracy Press (reward money awarded)

Maria Lauterbach (victim) and Cesar Laurean (accused murderer)
Now that Cesar Laurean has been extradited from Mexico and brought back to North Carolina, he's had his first hearing and an Onslow County judge issued a gag order in the case. The order states that to ensure Laurean's right to a fair trial, prosecutors, law enforcement officials and Laurean's defense attorney are not to release any information to the news media or the public that would "have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter." (Click here to read the gag order.) So, we'll get very little, if any, information about the case before it comes to trial. Whenever that will be. A date has not been set yet.

Sources:
jdnews.com
Investigation Discovery, The Criminal Report Daily (A very good overview of the case.)

Stacy Peterson (missing/murdered) and Drew Peterson (primary suspect)
Drew Peterson has been making himself seen and heard again. He was on a local morning show there in Chicago and he had the nerve to take his two teenage sons with him and put them on camera to defend their father. I suppose he thought this would be a "good move" to defend himself from the wrongful death suit that has been filed by the family of Kathleen Savio, Drew's 3rd wife who was found dead in her bathtub during a contentious divorce. As far as I'm concerned, he is exploiting those boys. They should not have been on TV defending Drew.

More news about Drew is that the authorities have not given up on searching for Stacy. The divers were out in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal again searching the other day. The searchers weren't commenting on what they were looking for nor on what they found, but they're out there... And from all the sources I've read so far, the searching has to do with the Stacy Peterson case. Plus, apparently Drew was on a talk-radio show this past week and Stacy's sister, Cassandra Cales called in and "lit into Drew". Interesting conversation... lol

Sources:
ABC 7 Chicago
The Herald News
Chicago Sun-Times (Be sure to check out the recording of the radio show and Cassandra's call.)

Caylee Anthony (victim) and Casey Anthony (accused murderer and mom of victim)
The Orlando authorities released a bunch of new documents about the case against Casey Anthony this week. Some of them are fascinating to read and have generated quite a few comments on the InSession message boards. I'm still trying to read through them, so I'll reserve any comment from me for now.. lol

George and Cindy Anthony are still trying desperately to defend their daughter, but the attorneys for Zenaida Gonzalez are asking a judge to force George and Cindy Anthony to respond to certain questions they would not answer during recent depositions. It should be interesting to see if the judge can force those two to behave themselves during a deposition. I've never seen behavior like theirs in a deposition! But then, I haven't been in that many of them.. lol..

Then we have Jose Baez giving an interview to an Orlando TV station where he says that Casey had "very compelling reasons" for her actions when referring to her partying for the 31 days that her child was missing before Cindy Anthony reported her missing. Uhm.. Yeah, right. Baez actually has the nerve to compare Casey's case to Cynthia Sommer's case. (And I'm not even going to link anything to that! Go google!) The "ugly coping" thing that Baez is trying to put out isn't going to work unless he puts Casey on the stand, in my opinion. And how many people think the guy would actually do that?

Sources:
WFTV (List of links to documents)
Orlando Sentinel (also about the documents released)
WESH (Article about the motion to compel the Anthony's to answer questions)
WESH (Article about Jose Baez interview)

Lana Clarkson (victim) and Phil Spector (convicted murderer)
The sentencing hearing for Phil will be on the 29th of this month. The only thing that I've heard since his conviction is that Rachelle and the rest of the "Phil is innocent" groupies are trying to circulate a petition to make the powers that be let him go free. Uhhh... Rachelle, do you really think that a petition is going to let your "dear hubby" out of prison? If so, I think you should sit down and think some more. I don't think it's going to happen.. Phil was convicted of 2nd degree murder and there's the added use of a gun that will extend his sentence. Rachelle, just keep up your comedy act.. You might need it one of these days to earn a living for yourself instead of living off Phil's royalties. Those just might be going to the Clarkson family when they win the wrongful death suit.

~~~~~~~~~~

I think I'll stop for now... Have I given you enough links and stuff to follow? lol... I think I'll go find some carrot sticks to munch on to take my mind off wanting a cigarette.............

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Phil Spector ~ Guilty of Murder 2

Yesterday the second Phil Spector murder trial finally ended. After more than 6 long years and 2 trials, Phil Spector was on the spot. The jury buzzed 3 times a few minutes before noon which was the signal for a verdict. He had been accused of murdering actress Lana Clarkson in the early morning hours of February 3, 2003 by a gunshot in the mouth as she sat in the foyer of Spector's "castle" in Alhambra, CA. The first trial ended in a mistrial due to the foreman of the jury not being willing to deliberate.

I watched most of the first trial and as luck would have it, I was out of town, traveling with my Mom and Stepdad, when it went to the jury and when the mistrial was declared. For the retrial, I followed the trial on Sprocket's Trials and Tribulations blog (Thank you Sprocket!) and on the InSessions message boards. It was frustrating not to be able to watch the testimony and presentation of the evidence this time, but we all made it through. And again, when the case went to the jury, I left on another trip with my Mom and Stepdad. Only this time, I came home before the jury finished deliberating. So yesterday I was able to sit here in my chair and read when Sprocket posted the "Buzz buzz buzz" when it happened. She posted the message that a verdict had been reached a few minutes before noon and then posted that it would be 1:30pm or 2pm before the verdict would be read. Those 2 hours between the buzz, buzz, buzz and the actual reading of the verdict seemed to take forever. Then, it came... Guilty of Murder in the second degree and guilty of the added "use of a gun". The minimum sentencing Phil will recieve, if I've read the right things, is 18 years to life. Now we wait until May 29th for the sentencing hearing to see what the judge will hand down. I wonder if the main stream media will show up in time to get a camera inside that courtroom this time. Yesterday, they had a camera in the courtroom, but they couldn't get the live feed working before the verdict was read. Disappointing, yes. But, at least there are videos available on the net where the reading of the verdict and Phil's reaction (or non-reaction!) can be seen. In my opinion, Phil's attorney, Mr. Weinberg, had more of a reaction than Phil did.

My thoughts went out to Lana's family and friends, hoping that this verdict would finally bring them some peace. I'm sure it doesn't bring "closure", whatever that is, but it has to give them some peace of mind knowing that Phil will be going to prison to pay for what he did. My thoughts also went out to the sons and daughter of Phil Spector. Two of whom had been posting on the InSessions boards for the last few years, Gary and Louis. I have a lot of respect for those two young men for their patient and reasonable postings on the message boards. I also have a "job" to do for Gary, now. He's a fan of the SR71 Blackbird as am I. Somewhere among all the boxes that have been packed up and moved around for the last 15 to 20 years I have some photos of that beautiful plane and I've promised Gary I would try to find them, scan them and email them to him.

Anyway, back to Phil Spector. The years of Phil's "freedom" over the last 6 years haven't been kind to Phil. He didn't look that great in the first mugshot, taken the day of the murder, with the wet hair, evil stare and the quality of the photo. Now we have a new mugshot of him, taken yesterday after he was led out of the courtroom and off to the jail where he will wait for his sentencing hearing. His attorney, Mr. Weinberg argued fiercely for the court to allow Phil to remain free on bond while he waits for the sentencing. The prosecutor, Alan Jackson, argued that Phil was a dangerous man and need to wait it out in jail. He cited the other incidents after Lana was murdered, where Phil threatened people with a gun or threatened to get a gun and shoot them. Judge Fidler agreed with the prosecutors. Phil had had enough freedom in the 6 years since Lana was murdered. The new mugshot is even more spooky looking than the first one. The wide-eyed stare completely creeps me out! When the verdict was read, Phil looked like he was heavily medicated, and he looks medicated in this mugshot as well. There will be another mugshot of him after the sentencing and he is taken to one of the California Corrections Intake units and I hope that TMZ or The Smoking Gun manages to get a hold of it so we can see what changes a jail cell and fewer self-medicating drugs makes in the man.

So the next date to watch for will be the sentencing hearing for Phil, which is scheduled for May 29th at 11:00am if Phil and his attorney don't request a hearing sooner. I'm sure we'll hear from Lana's mother during the impact statements, and perhaps from her sister. But will we hear anything from anyone on Phil's side? His "wife", Rachelle? His sons? His daughter?

I've got my calendar marked. Do you?

12:00pm Curiosity
I just looked at my stat counter and I'm stunned by how many people/readers are coming in looking at the photo of Rachelle Spector with a gun in a post that I did months ago. Odd.. I hadn't done that many posts about Phil Spector, but for some reason that one with the photo of Rachelle seems to be generating a lot of interest yesterday and today... Hmm...

Stuff in the News ~ Local and Otherwise

I know I haven't been blogging a whole lot lately... But it's hard to keep blogging about the same things all the time without constantly repeating myself. Casey Anthony is still in jail awaiting trial for murdering her daughter, Caylee in Orlando, Florida. Phil Spector is still on trial (retrial) for murdering Lana Clarkson in Los Angeles, California. Drew Peterson is still out and about shopping for a new wife while his 4th wife, Stacy Peterson is still missing and presumed dead. So, this morning, I'll do some minor updates and opinions on the above cases before moving on to some other things that have been in the local papers.

Casey Anthony; It's her birthday today. I'll bet she's really feeling the loss of her freedom today having to "celebrate" her birthday alone behind bars. On her menu for the day was a nice breakfast of a cup of oatmeal, gravy and potatoes and and a lovely dinner of smoked sausage, rice and mixed vegetable. Oh yeah, she might have either a cookie or a small piece of cake since that is what is already on the menu at the Orange County Jail. No partying at the Fusion Lounge or getting drunk with friends for her birthday this year. From what most of the news sources are saying, her family aren't even scheduled to visit her today. There are lots of rumors around the web about the "missing" pages of Casey's diary having been "found", including Nancy Grace mentioning it on her show last night. I haven't seen anything substantial in the way of confirmation of the existence of the missing pages yet. I'd love to see them and see if they, in any way, resemble the diary page that I posted about before.

Phil Spector; The main stream media still only occasionally report anything about the retrial. But, both the prosecution and the defense have rested and the closing arguments are scheduled for next week. This week, they are reportedly finalizing the jury instructions and going through the evidence, deciding what can go into the jury room and what can't. It's kind of ironic that the case will go to the jury next week. When the first trial got to the closings and the jury got the case, I was away from my computer for a month, driving my Mom and Stepdad up to the Seattle area and then back south visiting friends and family. This time, we have closings coming up and I'm going to be leaving on another trip, this time driving my Mom and Stepdad to Southern California. At least this time I will have a computer with me so I can keep checking in with news sites and blogs to see if a verdict has been reached. I hope that there will be cameras in the courtroom for the verdict!

Drew Peterson; He's been in the news again recently because his step-brother, Tom Morphey, has been speaking out about the day that Stacey disappeared. Tom Morphey says that Drew asked him "How much do you love me? Enough to kill for me?" Morphey is also talking about renting a storage locker for Drew and talkng more about helping Drew move that blue barrel from the bedroom of the Peterson home down to the back of Drew's SUV. Of course Drew is denying everything that Mr. Morphey is saying. Oh yeah... And Drew is planning a wedding for his 5th marriage. Ugh.. That woman is out of her mind!

Local News

One of the local stories that the area news media are making a "big deal' out of is the closure of a run-down trailer park in the county to the east of me, Yuba County. Apparently the owners of the park gave up on fixing all the problems in the park quite a while back, let it go into foreclosure, then went into bankruptcy over a year ago. The people still living in the park stopped paying rent a year ago, but stayed put. In other words, they've been living there for free for a year, only having to pay for their utilities. So when the county shut the place down yesterday the 11 or 12 families still living there began crying about how they have no place to live now and no way to move to another place. I understand about being "broke" and having a hard time getting into a new place to live, but for crying out loud, these people have been living there rent free for a year! I guess none of them thought about putting some of their rent money aside for the time that they would have to either start paying rent again or have to move into another home. So now, the tax payers get to foot the bill for these people who thought they could live there for free forever. The county is paying for hotel rooms for these people! The videos I've seen on TV and on websites show a really rundown trailer park, the common buildings are dilapidated, vandalized and dangerous looking, and the individual trailer lots look almost as bad. The county is planning on leveling the place. It needs it.

~

Another story in yesterday's local paper had me scratching my head and wondering "What the heck??". A man in the town of Arbuckle had a nasty habit of standing in his front window exposing and fondling himself every Wednesday for the last several weeks. The sheriff's department received quite a few complaints from neighbors but had never gotten proof of what the guy was doing. Finally, the sheriff's department stationed an undercover officer near the man's house yesterday. And yep, it was Wednesday. And yep, the officer saw the guy do his "thing" in front of his window. And yep, the guy is under arrest. No one has figured out why the guy only did his thing on Wednesdays. And the guy, Andrew Sweet, isn't answering any questions from the authorities... Weird!

"Otherwise"

In the South Pacific, a new island is being born near Tonga. Tonga is part of the ''ring of fire,” an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones in the Pacific. The Associated Press has a spectacular raw video of the eruption. Check it out:

I don't know about the rest of you, but volcanos fascinate me. They are spectacular and tangible proof to me that our Earth is still "alive".....

Oh Dear.... I have been Banned....

This morning, I logged on to the InSessions message boards and found out that I had been banned from the boards. Granted, it's a temporary ban until 1/11/09, but still.... The reason for the ban is that I put a link on the Phil Spector trial board to a blog called "Los Angeles Trials" that is written by someone calling themselves "Joe Friday". Mr. Joe Friday (whoever the heck he/she is) has an "Adult Content" warning at the front of their blog and that is what got me banned from InSessions. I emailed Coldwater asking about the ban, and also assuring her that there is no porn or anything on the blog. She emailed me back with the explanation that the ban was because of that stupid warning that the blogger put on their blog. **sigh**

So, this is to Mr. Joe Friday;
You lost a reader, dude. Yes, I wanted information about Phil Spector's trial. And yes, I "shared" your blog link with others on the forum, but because of you and your stupid warning, I am unable to post on the boards that I've been on for the last 2 or 3 years. That link up above is the last link I'm going to post to your blog. I think I will stick to Sprocket's blog for information on the Phil Spector trial from now on.

Yep, I'm pissed at the blogger... And I guess I'm a bit peeved at myself for not thinking about that stupid warning on the blog before I posted the link to it on InSessions. I'll wait out the ban. I'm not going to create a new identity on there, I kind of like the one I've had (Anakerie). So, I get 3 days of just reading at InSessions. No questions. No answers. No comment. If any other InSessions people see this, take my banning as a warning. DO NOT POST LINKS TO THAT BLOG!

UPDATE
Apparently Joe Friday has removed the warning on the front end of his blog, according to the comment below. I don't know, I haven't gone to look and I don't know if it would even show for me since I had clicked ok on it before. Do those things leave a cookie on your computer? **shrug** Anyway, I sent a note to Coldwater, the moderator for the InSession boards to let her know that the warning is supposed to be gone now so that no one else will get banned like I did. I'll let you all know if I hear back from her again. (I wish there was some way to find out who reported my post to Coldwater... lol)

Rachelle Spector with a Gun?

Well, I got a message this morning that TMZ doesn't want to publish the photo of Rachelle posing with a gun. Speculation is that they are afraid that it was photoshopped or something. And, in another message I received the photo itself! The sender wants to remain anonymous, and I will honor that. Besides, how would I know who it was anyway? Email addresses, especially web emails, can be pretty much untraceable, especially by a non-expert like myself. lol.. Besides, I am sure that I'm not the only one in possession of this lovely little cameo of Mrs. Spector besides my anonymous sender. Shame on TMZ for not having the courage to post the photo. The post with Phil's hairdo that I wrote about yesterday is well on it's way to being one of the most commented on TMZ.com according to the little box over on the right hand side of their page. 152 comments the last time I looked, and it's in 2nd place. (The first place article has 154 comments, so I expect the Phil's "do" article to take over first place sometime today.)

So, here's the picture that was sent to me. The only thing I've done to it for posting is to increase the size of it. But, I have done a little manipulation of it (without saving, of course) to enhance the background stuff so I could look at what's behind Rachelle and her gun. It looks to me like it was taken in some sort of sporting goods store. There is a fellow in the upper left hand corner who looks like a salesperson (he's got what looks like a name tag on his chest). Then there are shelves (?) with merchandise displayed on the right of Rachelle. Then there is that bar thing that she is resting her left hand on. Not being a sporting goods type person myself, I have no clue what the thing is. I also have no clue what kind of gun she's posing with. Is it a real gun or a paintball gun or what?

Even if it isn't a real gun, I think Rachelle is showing her disreguard for her "loving hubby" by showing off with a gun while he is on trial for the murder of Lana Clarkson. A murder committed with a gun! Are there any folks reading my blog that can tell if a picture has been "photo-shopped"? The thing looks pretty authentic to me, but then I'm not an expert. lol..

Rachelle has changed her MySpace picture again today. It's now a picture of a little black dog. And she's removed the comment that was moaning about the "next 3 weeks". I guess she thinks that will fix everything, huh?

I called TMZ this morning to ask about whether or not they were going to post the gun picture. The fellow I spoke to told me that it was "still under consideration". I told him that I was a blogger and that someone had sent me the picture but that I was waiting until they posted it before I put a post up about it. He told me to go ahead and post, since the "powers that be" for TMZ hadn't made a decision yet. And he said "They snooze, they lose".. lol..

So, here are the pics, both the gun picture and Rachelle's current MySpace pic. I'll be back later with an update if I learn anything new about Rachelle's latest airhead stunts.

Update... Just a little one...

I posted another comment on the TMZ website and it was removed a few minutes later.. lol.. I have no clue why they removed it.. Here's what I said:

I'm the one who posted the picture of Rachelle with the gun on my blog.... The pic was sent to me with a request to keep the sender's name out of it. As I posted in my blog, I intend to keep the sender's name out of it. I did call TMZ before I finally decided to post the pic along with a few comments of my own... The fellow I talked to told me that the picture of Rachelle was "still under consideration" for posting here. I told him that I was waiting to see what they were going to do before I posted it on my blog... He told me to "go for it" and post the pic... So... I did! It's there, on my blog, in all it's glory...

Rachelle, if you're reading here, you did an incredibly dumb thing by posting that where anyone could see it... Don't you KNOW by now that nothing on MySpace is truly private? I think maybe you should go crawling on your hands and knees to beg forgiveness from your meal ticket, Phil...

I added a link at the bottom to my blog... Maybe that's why they removed the comment? LOL.. Oh well...

Phil Spector "Do"

TMZ.com has posted a photo of Phil Spector that shows off his "new hair-do" and the comment section for the post is a must read if you're at all interested in what happens to the "Wall of Sound" man. Aside from the photo of Phil, the comment section is full of people making remarks about how they thought he looked like Barry Manilow, among other people. Personally, if I were Barry Manilow, I'd be horrified that people think I looked like Phil Spector! Spector is on trial again for the murder of Lana Clarkson after having a hung jury on the first go-around last year.

The other things noteworthy in the comments section are quite a few mentions of Phil's "wife", Rachelle and a photo that she had posted on her MySpace page a few days ago. I haven't seen the picture yet, but I'm hoping that TMZ will publish it so the world can see what an airhead she is. Would you believe she actually posted a picture of herself posing with a gun in her hand? Her husband is on trial for murder. He's been known to wave guns in people's faces many times over the years and after Lana Clarkson was shot and killed in his home, or "castle", why on earth would his wife post a photo of herself waving a gun around? I have a question. Maybe someone can answer it. We know from the first trial that all of Phil's guns were taken away by the police and I would guess that it would be a term of his bail that he have no guns in his home while he is out on bail. If he happens to have "acquired" another gun and has it in his home, or even if his "wife" Rachelle has a gun in that home, would that violate the terms of his bail?

Now, another little thing occurred to me after trying to look at her MySpace page. (It's been set to private, so the only thing you can see is her picture of the day and a comment.) No, in the picture I'm seeing today, she's not holding a gun, but the comment she has up today is odd.

"Rock N Rosh is dreading this next three weeks...pure live torture!"

I'm trying to figure out what is so horrible about the next 3 weeks. Is she dreading sitting in the courtroom behind her "dear hubby"? Or is she thinking that this retrial is only going to last for three more weeks? There has been a lot of conjecture about the marriage between Phil and Rachelle Spector. Things like most everyone is guessing that the "marriage" is a "job" for Rachelle. All spelled out in a contract that she gets all kinds of money, cars, jewelry, clothes and the like just for pretending that she "loves" Phil so that he looks "good" in the eyes of the jury. Perhaps her "contract" only has 3 more weeks left? She won't be getting more money from Phil? Who knows...

Another thought occurred to me earlier today and I posted it in the comments on the TMZ site. Maybe Rachelle wants out of that contract. She posted that picture of her posing with that gun and she's hoping that someone in authority will have seen it and Phil will go to jail and then she won't have to play "dear wife" sitting there in that courtroom. I wonder if there is an "escape clause" in that supposed contract saying that she doesn't have to play at being a wife if he goes to jail, maybe with a nice bonus at the end of the contract. I know, it's just my imagination running wild, but with the Spector case, who knows.

Go check out the comments at TMZ and we can all hope that someone will post that picture of Rachelle with a gun somewhere so that the world can see. Maybe if enough people post saying they are interested in seeing that picture of Rachelle with a gun, they'll do it! Go read and POST!

If you want to see what has been happening in the courtroom during this retrial, go to Trials and Tribulations. Sprocket has been attending the trial every day and then posts her observations.

Speaking of Sprocket, Steven Mikulan at LA Weekly did a really nice write-up about what Sprocket has been doing. "Spector Retrial Has It's Diarist" Way to go Sprocket! At this point, you're the only one that has been faithfully following and writing about the retrial and someone has recognized it and published it!

10,000 Visits? Wow!

Sometime in the last couple of days, this little blog hit a milestone. 10,000 visitors and more than 15,000 page views. That amazes me, especially since I haven't been posting as regularly as I should. I've still been following news stories;

• The circus surrounding the Anthony family and the missing child, Caylee.
  
• The Phil Spector trial, part deux.
  
• Stacy Peterson is still missing and her husband, Drew, is still the suspect in her disappearance. (I'm not going to post much about this one until Drew's firearms charges go to trial... Nothing new there at all... Darn it.)
  
• Josef Fritzl, the man who kept his daughter imprisoned in the basement dungeon for so many years. (He's been found competent to stand trial... He's been charged with rape, incest, false imprisonment and slavery in addition to murder.) The trial is expected to begin in March of 2009.
  
• The fires in California and elsewhere.
• And many others........

I just haven't posted about what I've read and heard about the cases lately. I guess I'll post a bit today.

Caylee Anthony
The Anthony family circus continues on and on, and Caylee is still out there somewhere. The grandparents are still insisting that Caylee is not dead and are busy defending their daughter, Casey, and promoting themselves and Kidfinders. Kidfinders seems to have a lot of people questioning their legitimacy. I'm still trying to figure out what they've done to help find Caylee other than loan George that rolling billboard around town with Caylee's picture on it. Big deal, especially since the phone number on that rolling billboard has been reported to be out of service. If someone actually saw Caylee and tried to report it by calling the number on that billboard, they'd reach a disconnected number. Kidfinders is also doing some fund raising this weekend, with George and Cindy as the star guests at a "meet and greet" thing, and they're saying that they need funds to continue the search for Caylee. One article I read on the Orlando Channel 13 website says;

Kid Finders officials said they are always in need of both money and volunteers. The group has found itself short of donations, and have had to scale back its efforts in the its search for Caylee.

Uhm. When have they done any searching? And their website also says that they have a "search and rescue" unit now, with all kinds of "new equipment" for searching. A boat with side-scan sonar. ATV's and other stuff. But they need money. So, George and Cindy are out there begging for donations for this organization. I've never read about any searches organized by Kidfinders and if any have been done, I'd love to know what kind of searches they are conducting. Anyone out there have a clue?

And Cindy has announced that she plans on writing a book. Big surprise, right?

Cindy Anthony also said she hopes writing a book would guide people in similar situations through what she has been through as she searches for her granddaughter.

"Two years down the road, once Caylee's back home safe, and her life's back to normal, and our life's back to normal, if I can help someone in any way, and jot everything down, that I've learned, you know, that's where it is," Cindy Anthony said.

I can't imagine what kind of stuff Cindy would put in a book about her ordeal.

• Would she advise those parents to report the child missing but not give any information that would help give a direction to look in? (What was the child wearing, description of who she was with?)
  
• Would she advise others to stand up at a vigil for the missing child and scream at people to "get off their asses" and go find the child? (Where do you suggest we look, Cindy???)
  
• Would she advise them to constantly change her stories? (Smell of dead body in the car, pizza, pizza with maggots, no smell?)
  
• Would she advise them to constantly berate the investigators who are actually looking for the child?
  
• Would she advise them to bash a volunteer search organization (Texas EquuSearch) because they were looking for a "dead Caylee"?

The cast of characters in the Anthony Family Circus keeps changing too. We've got Casey's lawyer, Jose Baez, who's going to have to hire another attorney because he's not qualified to try a capitol crime case. We've got Cindy and George's lawyer, Mark Nejame, who is "advising" George and Cindy but can't keep Cindy from shooting her mouth off whenever a camera gets pointed towards her. Leonard Padilla, the California bounty hunter who bailed Casey out of jail and is now making the news with his divers doing searches at Jay Blanchard Park. We've got the TES people badmouthing Padilla, and Padilla's people badmouthing TES. Cindy and George's publicist, Larry Garrison has been fired and there are accusations going back and forth about what money has been paid to who for TV appearances and the like. The publicist for Jose Baez, Todd Black, who avoids the camera and even manages to avoid having any infomation about himself on the internet. (Odd, huh?)

The whole thing is such a confusing mess and meanwhile, Caylee is still missing.

Phil Spector
The retrial of Phil Spector for the murder of Lana Clarkson back in 2003 is ongoing, but trying to find any information about the trial this time is limited to an occasion blurb in one of the newspapers or following on blogs. I've been following it on Sprocket's Trials and Tribulations blog because she's been attending the trial every day and has a talent for writing so that you almost feel you are there with her. Her observations of what goes on in the courtroom are excellent.

Poor Phil, though. (Said tongue in cheek.. lol) Last year during the first trial, he hit the headlines quite regularly and was on TV (CourtTV) almost every day. This year, I guess the news media has decided that Phil isn't a big enough celebrity to warrant regular coverage of his trial. And Phil thought he was more important than just about everyone else, including O.J. Hah! OJ's trial in Las Vegas got gavel to gavel coverage just like the murder trial way back when. Phil got gavel to gavel last year but this year has been relegated to the back page news. No headlines, no TV news spots, nothing. From what I hear, his defense is still planning on pounding on the "has-been" status of Lana Clarkson prompting her to commit suicide in Phil's home. In my opinion, Phil Spector is much more of a "has-been" than Lana Clarkson. Lana was recovering from major injuries to her wrists and had been out of action for over a year when she was murdered. She was just getting back into the swing of things, a new job at the House of Blues, a photo shoot scheduled, etc. What was Phil doing? Nothing besides sitting in that "castle" of his collecting the royalties from the past. Nothing new. Phil was sitting in that castle imagining that he was a bigger star than anyone. Bah... He is a has-been that played with guns once too often. "I think I shot someone" says it all.

The Fires
I've mentioned before that I also post on the California Fire News blog. I spend quite a bit of time searching for information on what is going on, but I haven't been fast enough lately to find information to post anything before Bob, the blog owner, posts it. The fires burning in Southern California right now are devastating to thousands of people. Many homes burned and many more are in danger of being destroyed. As the photo here (Courtesy of the L.A. Times) shows, it's pretty horrific.

Fire season may be "over" for most of Northern California, but Southern California is by no means out of danger. The Santa Ana winds will continue to blow off and on for another month or so and with the winds comes the fire danger. All it takes during one of the wind storms is for one power line to get blown down or one idiot with a penchant for flames to start a disaster. The fires that are burning right now are all under investigation, they have no idea yet what started them... Yet. The first priority is getting the fires under control and saving lives and as much property as they can. I grew up in Southern California and still have a lot of family living down there. I spent many years as the wife of a firefighter and I know the hardships that those heroes on the firelines and their families have to face.

Go check out the California Fire News blog... Look at what has been posted there. Scary times for Southern California right now... Very scary. If you're from down there, my heart goes out to you... I remember the feelings very well.

One quick note about the California Fire News blog... The stat counter for the blog is near 1 million visits! Congratulations to Bob Blogger for having such a fantastic and informative blog!

Other Stuff
I got to do something fun this past week... My trucker friend gave me a call on Monday and told me to pack a bag, grab a coat and get my butt down to his place in Sacramento. He was on his days off and didn't want to spend it sitting around his place by himself, so he invited me to go with him up to Reno for a couple of days... Actually we didn't stay in Reno, we stayed in Sparks at John Ascuaga's Nugget hotel and casino.

By the time I got down to his place, it was late afternoon so we grabbed some burgers and hit the highway. The trip up to Reno/Sparks from Sacramento takes about 2-1/2 to 3 hours so it was dark by the time we arrived at the hotel. We got a snack at one of the restaurants and then wandered around looking at the slots and the tables. We mainly just wandered all over the hotel that evening. No gambling or anything, just exploring to see what had changed since the last time there a few years ago. A few places were different; Trader Dick's restaurant and bar is bigger, a couple smaller eateries had changed and a couple more were added. The showroom was closed, so we couldn't take in a show but that was OK.. That wasn't what we had come up there for. We explored the gift shop (and bought nothing! LOL) and the floor where the pool and spa is.

The next day, we wandered around the neighboring places after breakfast. We had breakfast at The Silver Club and I wouldn't recommend it. The service was slow, the food was marginal. Actually, my breakfast was icky. I had biscuits and gravy and the gravy tasted like glue with some tasteless lumps in it.. UGH! My trucker friend decided he was going to get a massage at the spa at the Nugget, so we went up so he could make a reservation. Then we went back downstairs to the casino. He headed for the craps table and I headed for the penny slots. I found a pretty good machine on my 3rd try. It actually let me win! I started off with a $20 and by the time I quit playing, I had over $70! My trucker friend didn't do so well on the craps table, but he said he had fun anyway. After lunch at Rosie's Cafe at the Nugget, my trucker friend went upstairs for his massage while I wandered around some more.. Checking the machines and people watching. Later we went wandering again, the craps table at the Nugget had upped the ante on the craps table so we headed back over to the Silver Club to see if anyone was playing there... Nope.. Never saw anyone playing craps at all! We spotted a theater a block or so away and thought we'd see if there was a movie playing that we'd want to see. The theater was "different". You know how you go to a theater and there are posters up for all the movies they are showing? This one had none. No posters. Just a list above the ticket booth, no information or anything except for the times the movies are being shown! We didn't see anything we wanted to see, so we headed back to the Nugget. After all the walking, my friend's massage and everything, we decided that we'd spend the evening upstairs relaxing and order dinner from room service. The last day, we stayed away from the Silver Club. Checkout time was 11am so we had breakfast semi-early and my trucker friend went and got another massage while I went downstairs to see if that penny machine would pay me some more money. It didn't.. lol, I blew $20 on it. After he came down from his massage we checked out and hit the highway for home.

As we came down the "hill", I kept a look-out for the CalTrans cameras to see if I had spotted them right on the maps that I did last winter. I guess I somehow managed to get most of the camera locations right, but I had imagined them on different sides of the road.. lol..

LOL, I just told my trucker friend that I was writing about the trip up to Reno and he sent me a "review". Here's what my trucker friend just sent me on Yahoo:

J. A. Nugget would review at 3 stars. service and friendliness of staff was acceptable and in some cases was exceptional. Entertainment was lacking in availability. Food service was above average though not exceptional on quality. Cash advances and items purchases were excessive and seemed abit greedy by management in trying to increase higher revenue by gouging guests and visitors. Rooms were above average and comfortable, though tv/internet options were high priced.

And here's his "review" of the Silver Club:

Silver Club food sucked dead ass, service was about the same. The place was damn near dead and most of the game tables were closed both day and evening. Very poor review on entertainment, service, and overall experience. Out of 4 stars would rank it 1/2 star for at least being open.

Can you tell he didn't like the Silver Club?

Anyway, we made it back to Sacramento and parted ways. Him into his place and me back into my Blazer and back up the road to my place (trying to beat the rush hour traffic, which I did!). I'm so glad he invited me along for his mini-vacation. It was nice to get out of the house for a couple days. And, no, I didn't take any pictures because I left the camera at home this time. On purpose. I knew we wouldn't be spending a lot of time in the rooms, and I didn't want to leave the camera laying around in a hotel room, nor did I want to carry it around the casino! lol..

And to close this post, I'll add another LOLCat... hehe


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