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...

Holiday wishes to all!

I'd like to wish all the readers of my blog a happy Easter! I found a couple cute LOLCats to share for the day... Enjoy!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I'll have to work on some more posts about the news, crimes and trials I'm following soon. So, be assured, I'm not gone.... I've just been taking a few days off from typing... lol

Home Again! Hurray for Wireless Broadband! LOL

I'm home from my trip to Southern California and I'm so happy to be able to pick up my computer and have the internet available whenever I want it! lol... The trip was fun with the sightseeing and visiting, but I sure missed being able to just open up the laptop and connect whenever I wanted. I'll add a few more photos that were taken on one of the days we went driving around. After leaving Barstow, we headed to Riverside where my Aunt and some of my cousins live. One day while we were there, we took a drive out to Joshua Tree National Monument hoping to see wildflowers and cactus in bloom but were pretty disappointed. There were wildflowers in bloom, but they were rather scattered. I saw some cactus in bloom, but those, too, were very scattered and scarce. Plus, most were out off the road a distance and our driver at that time just drove on by. **sigh** (Our driver that day was my Aunt's hubby... Just love teasing him.. But I sure wish we had stopped a few more times...)

We stopped at one of the official visitors centers in the park and I found one particularly spectacular cactus in bloom in the "gardens" that surrounded the visitor's center building. Gorgeous, isn't it? That was the only one around the center that had such a spectacular display.This image is not edited in any way, either. The colors were just as vivid in person, if not even more. They almost glowed in the sunlight! I love the contrast between the cactus blooms and the red flowers in the back and the bright yellow flowers in the forground.

As I wandered around the outside of the building I did spot one of the many barrel cacti in bloom and got a shot of it. There were a number of barrel cacti in the planters around the building, but only one had flowers open, while the others all had buds that looked like they were ready to open at any moment.

After leaving the visitor's center, we drove through the park looking for other cacti and wildflowers in bloom. When we came across the "Cholla Cactus Garden", my Mom, Aunt and I hollered for a stop so we could look around. This was a huge patch of Cholla cactus (It's pronounced "choy-ya"). Another name for these cacti is "Teddy Bear Cactus". Anyone who runs across these cacti out in the deserts will remember them. Especially if they were unlucky enough to get too near or to brush up against one will remember them for a long, long time. The top or end pieces of them will "jump" off the cacti and stick to whoever the unlucky person was. (And yes, I was one of those unlucky people when I was a kid! LOL) It doesn't take much for the spines on those pieces to penetrate skin and stick tight. Since there is sort of a little "hook" on the ends of the spines, they're quite painful when they are being removed from their victim. Believe me, I stayed well back from the garden when I took my pictures... After heading further south through the desert, we ended up at a casino near the Salton Sea. We played the penny machines for a while and then headed back through Palm Desert and Indio to Riverside. My big regret is that we didn't stop at one of the roadside stands that are common down there. I would have loved to buy some "fresh" dates to bring home. I really wanted to get a date shake too... Oh well. Maybe the next time I head to Southern California.

It was a good trip, but I am very glad to be home sitting in my recliner listening to the rain on my windows... I really do need to finish unpacking and do my laundry... lol, maybe tomorrow.

Sightseeing in Barstow

3/30/09 (Still no internet access.. lol) ~ My Step-dad finally got to meet up with that old childhood friend of his here in Barstow. He had given me 3 names of men that he had grown up with and one of them is still living here in Barstow. (Of the other two, one passed away last year and the other is living in Washington state in the same town as my Great-Aunt. Sequim, Washington. We'll have to try to meet up with that fellow if we make another trip up there.) We met him and his wife for breakfast and they had a great time reminiscing about all the people and places they remembered. After breakfast my Mom, Step-dad and I took off to do some sightseeing in and around Barstow.

First stop after leaving the restaurant was the house that my Step-dad grew up in. My daughter wanted us to take a picture of the house so she could see if it looked like what she remembered. My Mom and Step-dad say that the house is still the same color as it was back then, but that a lot of the trees and shrubs that used to be around the house are gone. The driveway is still sandy and the area where my daughter used to play in the sand still looks like the sand is deep enough for a kid to play in, just as it was when they brought her up here when she was a little girl. I know my brother will be interested in seeing the pictures of the house as well.

After driving around in the city of Barstow checking out different buildings my Step-dad remembered, we headed out towards Calico Ghost town in the hills north of town. Back when I was a kid, we used to go camping in the canyon next to the ghost town. So, we headed out there and found the entrance to the canyon and drove back in there until my Mom and I spotted a familiar area. Of course, I had to take a couple pictures to send to my brothers. The one to the left shows part of that area of the canyon where we think we used to camp. I can remember my brothers and I exploring all the mine shafts and tunnels in the hills around this canyon. Oh, what memories.. lol...

We drove up in the canyon where the ghost town is but my Step-dad didn't want to get out and walk around the town, so we just talked our way past the gate so we could get into the paved area below the ghost town so I could take one picture. **sigh** We also tried to visit the Route 66 museum and the Railroad museum at the old Barstow train depot since we were nearby, but they were both closed. They're only open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and of course, we were there on Monday. So we wandered through the Chamber of Commerce section of the depot and looked at all the old photos and read some of the information about the depot. Then we wandered down the length of the building peering into windows, admiring the architecture. Apparently it's one of the last (and best preserved) of the Fred Harvey Houses left in the country. They've done a beautiful job of keeping the building up. Dummy me, I didn't take any pictures of it.

One last picture for this entry, and that is of a motel we spotted across the street from the building that used to be the Barstow Garage (It's now a church!) back when my Step-dad's father owned it. The Route 66 Motel... The old cars parked in the courtyard was what drew our attention. My Step-dad went inside the Barstow Garage/church and wandered around while my Mom and I wandered up and down the sidewalk outside looking at the cars across the street. Mom and I even spotted an old Nash Rambler that looked sort of like the one she had when I was a kid.

Update (4/4/09) I'm sitting with my cousin in a Starbucks in Riverside so I can get a connection to the net... This trip has been fun, but trying to get online has been frustrating to say the least! I think I will probably just upload any addition blogs articles and photos when I get home. We're scheduled to leave early Monday morning to head back north... So, Tuesday will be "upload" day... lol...

Man Bellies and Hairy Backs...

Hey Sis and readers.



Last year I posted about a Car wash we did for Kacie's Ride for Hope. See First annual Man-bellies and Hairy-backs Carwash? I've been asking Pat to post some of the pictures. As I've told friends and family about it, everyone enjoyed the story and wished they could have seen it. Finally, as we are starting to meet and plan this years run I reminded Pat about the want for pictures. So here they are, on the website for the run: http://www.kaciesrideforhope.com/





Look on the right side of the page and click on the Man Bellies and Hairy Backs Carwash to see the pictures. There were a lot more pics taken but these will give you a good idea of how much fun we had that day. We have decided to do it twice this year, more often might loose it's uniqueness. Pat said he will post the date and location on the site.





I'm looking forward to helping again to benefit "Kacie's Ride" and the "Center for Violence Free Relationships" it supports. The bonus for me is the fun I'll have and memories I'll gain. I , no we all, need to remember to use LOTS more sunscreen this year! Last year we were having so much fun we didn't think about re-screening. It was intense for a couple days. But every time the burn hurt, I'd just grin and remember the good time we had.




Hope some of you readers will be close enough to come to the carwash and enjoy the show!



Untill next post, God Bless, have fun and share it.

Chaplainlimeygene.

We Arrived in Barstow and I hope we don't blow away!

We're staying at a Marine base near Barstow. Would you believe that the only way I can get Internet access here is to go find the library? And of course, since it's Sunday, the library is closed. So, I'm going to go ahead and write this up and try uploading tomorrow if I can find a WiFi hotspot. Maybe I can pull into one of the truck stops near town and catch their hotspot long enough to upload this post and see what is going on.

The weather in Death Valley this morning was really nice. There were some high thin clouds and it was cool, but not enough to have to wear a jacket. After breakfast, we came out of the restaurant in time to see a motorcycle club lining up for their run through Death Valley today. There were at least 24 or 25 bikes. Some of the bikes were absolutely gorgeous and I know my brother would have drooled all over them. I spoke to one of the women with the group and found out that they are with a club in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada. The whole time we were there in Death Valley, we saw dozens and dozens of motorcycles of all kinds. From dirt bikes to choppers, from full dressers to stripped down off road bikes, you name it, they were all over the valley. But then the weather this weekend was perfect for enjoying a ride....

We decided to visit one more place in Death Valley before heading down the highway. The place is called Dante's View. And oh what a view you get from there! It's about a 13 mile drive off the highway on a semi-narrow 2 lane paved road and you go from about 1500 feet above sea level to about 5600 feet with the really "stiff" climb in the last mile of the drive. Once you get up to the view point, they've leveled off an area that gives you a 360 degree view. Part of the view is of the valley floor below and the Panamint mountains on the other side. Check out these pictures:

	This one looks North towards the area where Furnace Creek is. The air is kind of hazy because there was a bit of a breeze kicking up some of the alkali dust.
	This is looking across the valley towards Telescope Peak. (That's the one with the snow on top of it.) Down below, invisible behind the bushes and hills is Badwater, the lowest point in the United States.
	And this one is looking towards the South end of the valley.

Once we left Death Valley it was a fairly uneventful drive across the desert until we got to Baker, California. Then it got windy and we got on I15 and joined all the traffic heading towards the LA area. I'm guessing that a lot of them had been in Vegas and were heading home... Speed up, slow down, speed up, put the brakes on and come to a stop. Why? Well, someone was on the side of the road changing a tire and there was a Highway Patrol car sitting behind them. **sigh** Oh yeah... About half-way to Baker, my cell phone suddenly started beeping... And beeping... All the text and voice messages that had come in while we were out of cell range in Death Valley caught up to me. lol

Once we got closer to Barstow, we took a shortcut south and got on I40. Much better! No traffic! LOL! So now we're all settled in to a little 2 bedroom guest unit here on the Marine Base. We've had our dinner and my Mom and Stepdad are watching TV. The wind is howling outside. The closer we got to Barstow, the stronger the wind was blowing. I sure hope it calms down some tomorrow! Hmm... I think I'll go watch TV and snooze a while... lol

Update:
The library on the Marine base has internet access, but only if you use their computers. So we found a truckstop that has a WiFi hotspot, so I'm uploading yesterday's blog entry... Who knows when I'll get back on the net.... LOL... By the way, the wind isn't trying to blow us away today! Hurray!

Death Valley ~ Day 2

Today's travels in Death Valley took us to quite a few places... This morning, we started by driving north to Salt Creek so we could see some of the pupfish that live in that salty creek. Check the picture out... See the white stuff on the hills and on the ground? It's essentially salts that coat everything.

The stream is apparently very salty , so very few things live in it. The pupfish though, have adapted to the salty and arid conditions of Death Valley. There is a boardwalk that circles out around the area where the creek runs above ground, and in several areas, we could see the pupfish swimming around. This is spring and that means it's spawning season so it was pretty interesting to watch how territorial the little fish were. (They're about the size of minnows!) The males stake a "claim" to a section of the stream and then chase all other males out of that area while welcoming the females in... From what we read on the information signs posted around the area, the pupfish thrive when there is water in the creekbed. Everything is hurried though. They have to grow, mate and spawn while the water is present. Once the water dries up, the tiny little fish bury themselves in the sand and go dormant until the next rain storm fills the creekbed with water again.

Next stop was the Harmony Borax Works which is just north of Furnace Creek. Back around the turn of the century (and earlier) they used to scrape the "raw" borax off the salt flats that you see in the distance behind the wagons in this picture and then process the stuff into borax in the processing "plant" that was up on the hill sort of behind where I was standing when I took this picture. Those wagons are what the 20 mule teams hauled the borax in... Something like 36 tons worth of borax and water (1,200 gallons of drinking water!). Back then it took 20 mules to move the 36 tons.. Today one semi truck can move 40 tons.. What a comparison, huh? We visited the Borax Museum that is on the grounds of the Furnace Creek Ranch after leaving the site of the Harmony Borax Works. Then off to lunch at the ranch...

After lunch, we headed south and then followed a graded dirt road a ways down to the Devil's Golf Course. Mom and I got out to take some pictures while my Stepdad sat in the van (with both back doors open so the breeze could blow through.). Mom and I walked out onto the "golf course" a little ways so I could show her how hard those bumps of salt and dirt were. The peak you see in the background is Telegraph Peak. It's the highest peak in the Panamint mountain range at a bit over 11,000 feet. By contrast, Furnace Creek is at about 190 feet below sea level and Scotty's Castle is at about 3,000 feet above sea level!

Next stop was Badwater. The lowest point in the United States. It's 282 feet below sea level! When (and if!) you hear the weather man tell you how hot is was in Death Valley, they got the temperature from the weather station next to the cliffs here at Badwater. If I remember right, one of the signboards here said that the record high temperature was 137 degrees! Luckily, today it was in the mid-eighties with a light breeze blowing. lol... There is a pool of water at Badwater that is so salty it is undrinkable. The story goes that one of the early miners tried to get his mule to take a drink from the pool, but naturally the mule wasn't cooperating. So the miner tasted the water and proclaimed it "bad".. Hence the name Badwater and it stuck...

On our way back towards Furnace Creek, we decided to take a detour on the "Artist Drive".... It's a narrow one-way road that winds up through a number of canyons that takes you past incredibly colored hill/mountain sides... Reds, greens, purples, golds and browns all swirl around on some of the hillsides. Almost like huge buckets of paint got splashed all over the hills. It's well worth the time to take that detour.. And the plus is that the whole route was paved! (I'm already catching heck from my stepdad for getting his car all dirty and dusty from some of the dirt roads we've traveled.. lol)

Last picture for today is one of a rock that we spotted alongside the road on our way back. I haveno clue what kind of rock it is nor why it's shaped so strangely. the thing stands there well over 6 feet tall. The base of it looks almost melted. The top of it has roundish depressions in it. (I don't know if you can really tell from the pictures I took.. lol) The rock stands about 20 or 30 feet off the road and there are no signs or anything around that tells what it is and why it's there. It almost looks like some really strange modern art sculpture, but after getting up there next to the thing, I'm sure it's natural. A lot of the other rocks on the slope around it have a similar texture and some of them even have the roundish depressions in them. If anyone spots this entry on my blog and knows what the heck the thing is, please leave a comment! LOL, Mom and I are curious about it!! Hmm.. Maybe we'll have to stop by the Visitor's Center and ask a ranger before we head out of the valley tomorrow morning....
Oh yeah.. Tomorrow we're headed for the Barstow, California area.... I'll try to take some more cool pictures to share on our way down there....



P.S. Tomorrow sometime we'll actually get to use our cell phones again! I am sure I'm going to have a bunch of messages from my trucker friend... lol

Death Valley ~ Day 1

Ok, I'm back with a continuation of yesterday's story of our travels. I left off last night with the picture of the sign at the entrance to death valley. (And the picture of the coyote! LOL) After heading down the road from the sign, we came across an area that had a lot of wildflowers in bloom and of course we had to stop and take a look. There were lots of purple, yellow and white flowers blooming on both sides of the road. I looked at one of the wildflower books in the Visitor's Center, but I couldn't really identify what kind of flowers they are. They sure were pretty to look at as we drove down the highway. We got a few glimpses of the dunes and salt flats on the floor of the valley. The speed limit along here was 45mph, so I had plenty of chances to admire the scenery!

Next stop was Scotty's Castle in the north end of the valley. I took the tour of the inside of the house and was bowled over by the beauty of the place. The docent that was conducting the tour was great. She gave us lots of stories of Death Valley Scotty and the Johnsons (Who really owned the "castle".) Before taking the tour, we (I should say Mom and I, because my stepdad found a shady spot and stayed put for the most part.. lol) wandered around some of the other buildings and followed one of the "waterways" that runs between the Castle and the Stables. We ended up spending most of the afternoon there wandering around and exploring. As the afternoon wore on, we figured we'd better head down to Furnace Creek and get checked into our room. About halfway between the castle and the cutoff that we had come into the valley is where we spotted that coyote. As we crested a little hill and spotted a car sitting still in the opposing lane. Then we spotted a "critter" in the middle of the road behind them. It looked as though someone had dumped a bunch of chips or something all over the road, perhaps thinking the coyote would eat the stuff. Doh.. Coyotes are meat eaters, I don't think they like chips that much. I took the one shot from back near where the other car was and then started driving slowly towards the coyote. He didn't want to move out of the way and I was starting to wonder if maybe I should honk the horn. He finally moved when we were about 6 or 7 feet from him. We drove past, then it dawned on me that I should have zoomed in and gotten a closeup of him! lol... So, I stopped again and stepped out of the car. He was about 20 yards or so behind us, but when I stopped, he started walking towards us. Step by step, slowly, never taking his eyes off me. I zoomed the camera in and snapped off one shot and watched him approach closer. Then, when he was about 10 feet or so behind the car, I snapped another shot and climbed back into the drivers seat. He slowly walked along side the car, looked mournfully up at the window where I was, walked out in front of the van, stared at it, then moved back onto the yellow line... And we moved off down towards Furnace Creek and the Ranch where we are staying.

More later tonight, my Stepdad has decided we are going to dinner...... Now. LOL

We're back!

Now, on with the story... After checking in at the Furnace Creek Ranch and then getting some dinner, we headed over to the Death Valley Visitor Center. They had a program scheduled that sounded interesting. "Heroes, Hermits and Villians" was the title of the program and the description says: "A variety of fascinating characters lived in and around Death Valley and helped create an iconic image of the West." It was a pretty interesting program all about some of the early pioneers, miners and characters that lived and worked in this place.

We Made it to Death Valley!

We left my folk's house yesterday morning about 7am, give or take a few minutes and headed east into the mountains. There was still quite a bit of snow on the ground up in the pass, but the roads were good. I got messages from my trucker friend letting us know what the weather was up on Donner Pass. Threatening clouds and a drizzle or two. No snow!

We stopped for breakfast at a little cafe in downtown Truckee. Food was pretty good and their bakery stuff looked yummy. My stepdad bought 2 Apple crisps and presented them to Mom and I. Since we were pretty full from breakfast, we carefully placed them in the car so we wouldn't lose them.. lol.. The weather there in Truckee was pretty good. We could see the threatening clouds that my trucker friend warned us about, but we didn't get any of the drizzles until we got closer to Reno. We stayed on I80 until we got to Fernley and then headed south on Highway 95. The drive down to Tonopah wasn't bad, if you don't count the wind we had to fight almost all the way there. We pulled into Tonopah about 3:30 or so and decided to stay for the night instead of heading down closer to Death Valley. There are a lot more choices of places to stay in Tonopah than there are down in Beatty or one of the other small towns along the highway. Tonopah is in the high desert. 6000 feet above sea level! The wind was still blowing hard last night, but this morning, it had calmed down. So, after having a lovely breakfast at the Tonopah Station, off we went.... Southbound on Highway 95. By the way, those apple crisps that my step-dad bought in Truckee yesterday morning made a lovely snack last night..

This is one of the views out the windshield as we headed south.. Long straight road, desert, mountains and blue skies...

Our original plan was to drive down 95 to Scotty's Junction and then head west into Death Valley. One of the concerns my stepdad had was buying fuel here in Death Valley, so we planned on fueling up before heading west. Well, when we got to Scotty's Junction our plans changed. Scotty's Junction consists of a turn-off towards Death Valley, an abandoned building that looked like it might have once been a store/gas station and a brothel off the road to one side... Plan change! lol, We headed further down to Beatty and fueled up there and headed west into Death Valley.

Here's the first indication that we've reached the park... One lonely sign and nothing else for miles.. lol.. Scotty's Castle was the first stop here in the Valley (Fabulous place!), then we headed to Furnace Creek and got a room at the Furnace Creek Ranch...

I've got a lot more photos to share, but It's late, I'm tired and I'll have to do some more writing tomorrow when I get a chance.. But I'll leave you with a "teaser" and I'll tell the story of the encounter and the picture when I get back online... Yes, it's a coyote and yes, he's walking straight towards me on the road between Scotty's Castle and Furnace Creek. And yes.. I was out of the car... lol

More tomorrow... I hope! After all, it's now after 10pm and I just know my stepdad is going to be up and ready to go with the sun in the morning... LOL

Saturday Morning:

I forgot to mention in the post above that if any of my family are trying to get a hold of me on my cell phone, I'm sorry... My cell phone has NO signal here in Death Valley... lol.. The ranger we listened to last night told us that there are only about 3 or 4 spots in the valley where you can use a cell phone and none of them are here in Furnace Creek...

Something Different ~ Extreme Sheep LED Art?

I stumbled upon this video while surfing around the internet using the Stumbleupon tool and I just had to share this video that the tool took me to... What I want to know is how they managed to come up with the idea of putting LED lights on sheep and then herding them around! lol...

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".....

Update on the Highway 166 Accident & Yesterday's Rant

The investigators have released name of the truck driver who died in that horrible accident Friday night. The driver was identified as 27-year-old Ricardo Zamora of Bakersfield.Mr. Zamora died when his rig caught on fire. The authorities had to use dental records to identify the poor man. My condolences go out to his family and friends.

And the "impatient" idiot of a man who caused the tragedy passed away yesterday. A CHP spokesman says 41-year-old Wayne Delangie of Santa Maria passed away at Cottage Hospital in Santa Maria Sunday night. Delangie's family says he is an organ donor and that his body is being kept on life support until the organ donation process is complete.

So now there are two families who've lost someone due to the impatience of one man. One man who just had to get in front of a couple of trucks. One man who was in such a hurry to get where he was going that he did something incredibly stupid. He tried to pass those trucks on a right-hand curve with a double yellow line. He failed. Spectacularly. Tragically.

If any of my readers out there get out on the highway and end up behind a truck that is going slower than you, please don't get impatient and pass unsafely. I don't care how big of a hurry you think you are, wait for a safe area to pass. A passing lane. A long straight stretch of road with no oncoming traffic. Trucks go slower than cars by law. Especially here in California. The maximum a truck is allowed is 55 miles per hour. Even on the highways where cars are allowed to go faster, those trucks are not allowed to go faster than 55.

Be safe out there folks. I don't want to have to read more reports of tragic accidents caused by impatient drivers.

Source: KSBY Channel 6

Another Rant about "Impatient Drivers"

Last year in May I posted a rant about impatient drivers (Look here for the post.) and this morning, I'm going to do it again. Yesterday morning, I read about a bad accident on highway 166 down near San Luis Obispo/Santa Maria involving two big rigs (according to the original article) that happened Friday evening. There weren't many details yesterday, but this morning the San Luis Obispo newspaper has another article on their web site about the accident which gives a lot more details. Another article on the KSBY Channel 6 web site gives even more. The accident was caused by an impatient driver trying to pass a couple of trucks.

According to the articles, a man from Santa Maria (who's identity hasn't been disclosed) in a F-150 pickup crossed a double yellow line and attempted to pass two big rigs. When he pulled out into the opposing (westbound) lane, he sideswiped a Honda being driven by a woman from Bakersfield, then sideswiped another pickup truck (A Chevy) driven by a man from Bakersfield. He then hit another big rig head on. That rig went on into the eastbound lane and crashed into another big rig, causing it to roll over. Then both rigs caught on fire. The pickup then hit another eastbound big rig, then sideswiped another westbound car (A Saturn) driven by another woman from Bakersfield.

The driver of the rig that was hit head on died, either in the initial crash or in the fire. That driver could not be identified yet. The driver of the rig that rolled over luckily only suffered minor injuries. The woman in the Honda also suffered minor injuries and the man in the other pickup, the man in the 3rd big rig and the woman in the Saturn were truly lucky, they weren't injured at all. The impatient man is in the hospital with "major" injuries. The accident scene covered over 2,000 feet of the highway and the wreckage, cleanup and investigation had the highway closed for nearly a full day.

One idiot who thought he was going to get where he was going just a little sooner by passing a couple trucks on a curve with double yellow lines didn't get where he was going that night. He got a trip to the hospital and probably will have a long convalescence from his injuries. He killed a man. He injured two other people. He wrecked 7 vehicles, including his own. (I think the photo to the left is the F150, or what's left of it.) His impatience and stupidity closed a highway for a day, causing other drivers to take long detours in order to get from one side of the coastal range to the other.

Amazingly, or maybe it's not that amazing, the first comment below the article in the San Luis Obispo paper blames the trucks for the accidents.

"croberts wrote on 03/07/2009 08:31:05 PM:

To repeat: As a regular 'user' of 166 I can say without hesitation that 166 is unsafe due to overuse by large truck/trailer combos. This should NOT be allowed as a 'truck-route', used by commercial and semi-tractor trailer rigs looking for the sort-cut to I-5/99. The combination of hills, curves, one-lane each way, bad passing areas, motor-homes, pickups towing trailers, U-Hauls, and autos driven by the unskilled and impatient result in deadly accidents. Add to the mix an obvious lack of law enforcement. (Never seen a Chippy)."

As I look at a Google map showing the highway this accident happened on, I see that Highway 166 isn't a "shortcut". I see that it is the most direct route between Santa Maria and Bakersfield. Perhaps this guy who wrote this comment is one of those guys who do stupid things to get around trucks? Blame it all on the trucks... Sheesh!

View Larger Map

Sources:
San Luis Obispo Tribune
KSBY Channel 6 (Also has a video and more photos)
Original article about the crash; San Luis Obispo Tribune

Google Searches = Detective Work? Fun!

The end of this month, I'll be driving my Mom and Step-dad down to Southern California. We'll be spending a couple days in Death Valley, then heading for Barstow, the city my Step-dad grew up and then we'll go to Riverside to visit with family. My Step-dad expressed a wish to get in touch with some of the fellows he grew up with, so one evening last week I badgered him into giving me some names so I could try to find any information about them. He gave me three names. George H., Rex D. and Alfred W. (For privacy's sake, I'm not going to publish the men's full names.)

So, when I got home I started doing some Google searches on the three names. Naturally, the searches produced thousands of "hits" for the names. So I started narrowing the search parameters a bit by including the name of the city with the men's names. I got one good solid "hit" on one of the names! Rex D. had been one of the "pioneers" of the Fire Department in that city (back when it wasn't even a real city!) and his name appeared on the history page on the Fire Department's web page. I saved the page to a word document with Rex D.'s name highlighted and emailed it to my Step-dad so that he could read it. The other two men's names still brought up too many entries. So, I thought about trying to find the web site for the high school that my Step-dad and his buddies attended. Unfortunately, I found one of the names on a memorial page, George H.. He passed away in May of last year.

So, one down and two to go. I looked up the phone number for the Fire Department and gave them a call. I explained to the woman who answered my phone what I was trying to do. I wanted to get in contact with Rex D. and was hoping that someone there at the Fire Department would know him. I left my name and phone number with her so she could ask around and pass the information along that my Step-dad was going to be in town and would very much like to get in touch.

Days passed and I didn't hear anything from Rex D. and I started thinking about it. This man wouldn't know who the heck I am! Why didn't I leave my Step-dad's number? lol.. One of those "Doh!" moments, I guess. So, I called the Fire Department again on Tuesday and spoke to the same woman. I gave her my Step-dad's phone number to add to the message to Rex D., if and when someone could contact him. Yesterday, my Step-dad got a phone call from Rex! We'll be meeting up with him once we get there... My Step-dad is really happy that he'll be able to reminisce with his childhood friend.

Rex also gave us some information about the third fellow, Alfred W. He apparently is living in North West Washington... Oddly enough, he lives in the same town as my great-aunt! Last night, I did a little more googling and came up with a phone number for Alfred. My Step-dad has the number now. I'm not sure what he's going to do with it... Perhaps wait until he meets up with Rex.

When we get together with Rex, I'm going to ask him and my Step-dad if they were involved in an incident that I stumbled upon while searching for information on the three men's names.. It seems that out in the Southern California desert there are a number of extinct volcanoes. Apparently one of them, the Pisgah Crater, is fairly near Barstow. The story is that the kids from the high school spent months hauling trash and burnable stuff out to the crater. Tires, old lumber, creosoted railroad ties and lots of other stuff. Then after building a huge mound of stuff, they lit the pile of junk on fire. Apparently the smoke column rising from the crater alarmed enough people that they shut down the highway (Highway 66) that runs near the crater, stopped the trains from coming past the crater and even evacuated the town! The hoax was exposed when the Los Angeles Times hired a pilot and plane to take a reporter and a photographer out to fly around the crater and the burning pile of junk was discovered. Hmm.. Maybe I'll print out that story and slide it across the table to my Step-dad and his childhood chum and see what their reactions are. lol...

It was fun tracking down my Step-dad's childhood buddies. And what made it best was the fact that I had located them and that we'll be meeting up with one of them in a few weeks. I'll be taking this laptop with me on the trip and I'll try to post some photos and travel stuff whenever I can get an Internet connection. This trip (and others like it in the future) is one of the big reasons I bought the laptop. I won't be so completely out of touch while traveling like I was when we've done the other excursions we've taken. Plus, I've loaded some of my Step-dad's favorite games on here and my Mom and I can leave him with the games and go window shopping or whatever... lol

Dumb Robber?

I was surfing around the web this afternoon looking for items of interest that I could post on the California Fire News blog when I came across this article:

SoCal Robbery Suspect Caught Trying to Become Policeman

KTLA News

February 28, 2009

CHULA VISTA -- A robbery suspect was arrested when he showed up to take an test to become a police officer.

Police say 40-year-old Romeo Montillano was arrested and booked into San Diego County jail. Montillano was being sought by police in connection with a December robbery at a Chula Vista Kmart where a man took a TV and other items, then beat up store employees who confronted him.

A short time later, investigators learned Montillano had signed up to take the February police officer's examination.

Police contacted Montillano, and the suspect promised to show up to take the test.

When the suspect showed up on test day, he was arrested for investigation of robbery and other crimes.

Police say that as Montillano was being arrested, he asked whether he could still take the police exam or reapply at some later date. They told him no.

Ok, I'm laughing. This guy wanted to be a cop, but he's on the run for stealing a bunch of stuff and beating up people in the store he was stealing from.... Uhm... DUMB! I guess this is one of those times when you ask "What was he thinking?" and then you answer your self by saying "He wasn't thinking!!!". Too stupid!! The guy deserves to go to jail just for being dumb! LOL

So, since the news in this post gave me a giggle, I will add a picture that might give you folks a giggle... (Gotta love the LOLcats!)

more animals

Truckers Can Be Heroes Too

I know lots of folks look at trucks on the highway as just an obstacle in their way. They are wrong, though... If it weren't for trucks and the people who drive them, there wouldn't be much of anything to call your own.... Because if you have something, more than likely it got to you in the back of a truck.

Anyway, in the news here the last couple of days there has been a story of a trucker that a lot of folks are calling a hero. There is a truckstop near the town of Ripon, California and on Thursday night, one of the trucks in the lot caught on fire. Well, not the whole truck, just the trailer. The trucker didn't just jump out of his truck and run away. He put the truck in gear and drove it out of the parking lot and down a nearby street to an area where it was isolated and the fire was unable to spread.

The Ripon Police Department was dispatched along with the fire department. The first patrol car on the scene had his dash-cam going when he arrived and the video has been on the news this morning. I "grabbed" it and put it on YouTube this morning so I could share it here:

The Modesto Bee has a number of still photos of the aftermath of the truck fire. What a mess, huh? From the angles of the photos, it looks as though only the trailer burned, not the tractor. Lucky for the driver, I would imagine, because that means that all his belongings in the truck are still there.

I also posted the Modesto Bee article on the California Fire News blog this morning.

In my opinion, that trucker is a hero. By staying with his truck and driving it out of the truckstop he prevented a disaster. At night, truckstop parking areas are usually full of trucks parked close together. If that trucker hadn't moved, who knows how many trucks would have burned and who knows what kind of loads would have been destroyed. The hero's name is Randal Jack, and I salute him for keeping his head when he looked out his mirrors and saw the flames.

This Post is a Test...

I've been having trouble accessing my blog since Wednesday night.. Or any blog that is on blogspot.com, for that matter. So, I'm playing around with Windows Live Writer which came with my new laptop... We'll see if this will get published, or if I'm blocked completely...

BTW, I have contacted my ISP about the problem getting to blogspot and they're checking into it.. Blogspot is the only site I'm having trouble with at the moment... **sigh**

UPDATE (2/26/09 midday)

Well, blogspot/blogger isn't the only site I can't reach. I just found out that I can't get into Gmail either. I reported it to my ISP and the tech said that it's all been forwarded to the "domain" guy. So we're waiting now to hear something back from that guy....... Frustrating... **double sigh**

ANOTHER UPDATE (2/26/09 evening)

Still can't log into blogger or gmail............. **sigh**

more animals

UPDATE AGAIN (2/27/09)

Well, this morning I can get into gmail and blogger........ Lets see if this thing will publish a post now.............

~~~

It worked! Hurray!!

Casey Anthony's Diary ... Wow... Just Wow

There was another document release in the Caylee Anthony case and among the documents and photos that were released is a page from a diary that Casey Anthony kept. The entry in the diary is dated June 21st, which is just days after Caylee was last seen by anyone other than her mother, Casey.

Casey wrote on the left hand page "Everyday Is A Brand New Beginning" and "Carpe Diem - Seize The Day". Any speculation out there as to what she meant by those?

The diary entry itself is disturbing, to say the least. (See image. I've enlarged it and lightened it so that it is more readable.) Here is the text of the entry:

-- I have no regrets, just a bit worried. I just want for everything to work out okay. I completely trust my own judgement & know that I made the right decision. I just hope that the end justifies the means. I just want to know what the future will hold for me. I guess I will soon see

-- This is the happiest that I have been in a very long time. I hope that my happiness will continue to grow

-- I've made new friends that I really like. I've surrounded myself with good people -- I am finally happy. Let's just hope that it doesn't change.

I have to wonder how many other diary entries there are in that book that were written between June 15th and July 16th. How can the defense explain this away? Casey states in her own words that she has no regrets and wants everything to work out okay. She feels no regrets for the disapearance of her little girl? No regrets for the death of her little girl? She's the happiest she's been in a long time? Really? You've "lost" your child and you're happy, Casey? Why? I just might tune in to Nancy Grace or Greta tonight to see if they have some kind of expert that can explain this diary entry.

The documents were released to the defense this past Friday, then over the weekend there were reports of Casey's attorney, Jose Baez, checking himself into a hospital for stomach problems. Perhaps the stomach problems stemmed from Jose reading through all of the documents and photos that were released this time. The defense released this statement this morning: “The State’s forensic report on duct tape, plastic bags and other items is a one-sided law enforcement-generated report and is biased and speculative. It uses ‘junk science,’ the kind of flawed comparative analysis that the two-year study by National Academy of Sciences released today.” It's interesting that the only thing I've seen from the defense is this one statement that criticizes the forensic testing on the duct tape, plastic bags and "other items". I wonder what they will have to say about Casey's own words.....

I'll be honest, I haven't even started reading the documents themselves. The only thing I've looked at so far are the photos that were included this time. Go check out the photos for yourself on the Olando Sentinal website. They're pretty interesting. (Another media link, WFTV9, has more photos for viewing.)

Off I go now to peruse the pdf's of the rest of the documents. Here's some links for them:
http://www.wftv.com/_blank/18740657/detail.html (18 pages)
http://www.wftv.com/_blank/18740700/detail.html (201 pages)
http://www.wftv.com/_blank/18740668/detail.html (122 pages)
http://www.wftv.com/_blank/18740657/detail.html (75 pages)

Photo Update

Thanks to an anonymous poster/commenter and CNN Prime News, I learned that the image I used above wasn't a "complete" photo. It's apparently been cropped to show more of the book and less of the background. When the cropping happened, they chopped off the upper corner of the book where there is an "03" written.
So, I went hunting and found a more "complete" image of the book. And, yes, there is an "03" in the upper left hand corner of the book. So, was this written in June of 2003? I've also seen some mention by posters on a couple message boards that it looks as though there were pages removed from the book. I can't see it, but apparently some folks do.

If this was written in 2003, what was going on in June of that year? What "decision" did she make in 2003? And why did the investigators photograph that page?

Snow in the Mountains Means a Bad Day for Truckers

Well, Northern California is getting snow in the mountains this weekend. I've talked to my trucker friend a few times this weekend and he's not a "happy camper". If you take a look at the image to the left (A screenshot of the CalTrans Traveler Information page), you'll see that they are saying that I80 Westbound is closed to trucks. Well, that doesn't mean my friend can sit back and wait it out. For the simple reason that he's hauling the U.S. Mail, which means he doesn't stop, even if they block all the other trucks. He has to put chains on and run it anyway, he has to deal with the folks in cars, SUV's and pickups doing stupid things on the highway in front of him. For instance, this morning he had a guy in a SUV pass him and then suddenly change lanes and slow down right in front of my friend's truck. It's a good thing my friend was going slow (due to having max chains on his truck) because he was able to slow fast enough to not hit the idiot in the SUV.

Anyway, it's been a few hours since I heard anything from my trucker friend, so I figured I'd check out the traffic cams up on the hill. It looks nasty up there. I started from the Nevada end and worked my way "down the hill" with the cams. Take a look at the screenshot to the left. That is at the Truckee Scales. Normally, you can see the hills in the distance. Not today! Too much snow falling. The wind is blowing pretty good up there too, when you watch this camera, it really sways with the movement of the pole that the camera is on.

The next camera in line isn't working this afternoon. It's at the Ag Station on the Westbound side of the highway. Thats where you have to stop and tell them where you're coming from and what kind of agricultural products you're carrying when you're coming into California.

After you pass the Ag Station, you get into the city of Truckee. So the next camera is at the junction of I80 and Highway 89 which is in Truckee. Lots of snow, huh? If you're watching the camera live, you can really see the snow blowing past the lens of the camera!

I am glad I'm not up there in that mess. I'm sitting here in the comfort of my living room, listening to the rain and wind outside. I feel sorry for the truckers that have to travel in that stuff up on the mountains during storms like the one we're having today! I'm also very thankful that when I drove trucks way back when, I drove for a company that had a "no chain" policy for the cross-country drivers. We carried the chains, but the company wanted us to find a spot to wait out the chain controls rather than put them on and run. My partner and I spent a lot of time in truckstops waiting for weather conditions to improve back then.

The next view is a bit further west at Kingvale. The traffic on the lower section of the road is going westbound. You can barely see the upper/Eastbound side through the snow flying. Although, if you look close right next to the "E" in Kingvale, you'll see the taillights of a car headed east. I was almost tempted to give my trucker friend a call to see where he was when I saw that white truck headed west. I decided not to distract him though, so I have no clue where he is on the hill.

Are you glad that you are sitting in the warmth of your home looking at these pictures on your computer instead of having to drive in that lovely white stuff? lol..

Ok, the next camera is the one at Whitmore Grade. This one puzzled me for a long time because I couldn't quite figure out where the camera was. In a previous post on this blog, I posted a map or two trying to show where it is. I wish Caltrans had a camera on the Eastbound side as well, but I'm guessing that this location is where a camera is needed since I've seen a number of spinouts and such when I'm watching it.

Anyway, you can see all the traffic trying to make it back down into the Sacramento Valley. And all the snow blowing around. No spinouts yet, but I'm sure there will be one or two before the day is over.

This is the last screenshot for today. It's at Crystal Springs and I added it in because of the fellow at the back of the truck over there on the left. I watched the poor guy putting the chains on the wheels of his truck. And watched a few idiots in cars that seemed to try to get as close to him as they could. Dummies...

One of the things that struck me as I watched the cameras today was that I saw very few plows or sand trucks running. My trucker friend's favorite rant about Caltrans is the lack of plows running down the road. He says that he sees more plows and sand trucks sitting alongside the road than he sees on the highway itself. What the heck are those guys doing? Napping?

New Florida Amber Alert Issued

Another child is missing in Florida.

Earlier this week, I didn't think I would watch the memorial service for Caylee Anthony. But, this morning I watched it on CNN and during one of the short breaks in the coverage of the service, the news announcer mentioned yet another missing child. The family of this little girl didn't wait for 31 days before telling anyone that the child was missing. (More about the service later...)

An Amber Alert was issued early this morning for Haleigh Cummings, who lives with her father and his girlfriend in Satsuma, Florida which is in Putnam County. Haleigh was last seen sleeping in her bedroom while her father was at work and his girlfriend slept in the next room. Apparently the girlfriend was awakened by a loud noise around 3:30 am and went to check on little Haleigh when she discovered the girl was missing. The woman told police that the door to the home was not locked at the time, according to Sgt. Jason Nettles of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department.

Authorities are concerned because at least 25 registered sex offenders live near the missing girl's home in Satsuma, Fla.

Haleigh is 3 feet tall with blond hair and brown eyes. Anyone having information is asked to call 1-888-FL MISSING.

Source
Code Amber


Now, for the service. As I said, I wasn't sure that I wanted to watch the service when it was first announced. I don't know why I changed my mind this morning. I have to admit, Cindy planned a moving and dignified memorial for her granddaughter. Lee, George and then Cindy stood up and spoke to the people who gathered in the church for the service. Thankfully, there were no disruptions during the memorial.

Lee's speach was puzzling to me. He didn't mention Caylee by name. He referred to her as "C M A". Yes, those are Caylee's initials, but they are also his sister's initials. What was the "promise" that he spoke about? A lot of posters on the message boards I'm reading believe it was a promise made to his sister, who is in jail accused of murdering Caylee, not a promise made to the child who is gone.

George and Cindy both spoke of Caylee. They spoke about their love for her, they spoke about the things she used to do and what love and life she brought into their lives. They also spoke about Casey. George asked people to write to Casey. I'm sorry, George, but I'm not going to write to your daughter.

Cindy commented on all the bracelets and pins that she was wearing in Caylee's honor. George spoke of a locket he was wearing with Caylee's name on it. The Caylee pins were obvious on both George and Cindy, but oddly enough, Lee did not wear a Caylee pin. He only had a shamrock pin on his chest. Why? The shamrock thing was a "Casey thing" since her birthday is so close to St. Patrick's day. I suppose that is another little indication that Lee is thinking more of his sister than of his murdered niece.

From what has been announced by newscasters, Casey elected not to watch the memorial service for her daughter. Instead, she met with her lawyer, Jose Baez. Yesterday, Mr. Baez read a "statement" about the service:
"This is a statement by my client and she's authorized me to a make a statement to the public with regards to tomorrow's memorial.

I miss Caylee every day and every minute of every day. I can't be there for Caylee's funeral, but some day I want to go and visit her grave and tell her how much I miss her.

I allowed my parents to be in charge for the funeral for Caylee. I told them I wanted her buried in a casket and I wanted there to be a gravestone so I could go and visit her. I asked them if there could only be a private funeral for just the family.

I know they cremated her. I still don't want a public event with cameras and everybody around for Caylee's service, but I can't stop my parents from doing what they want. I truly hope that it will help them."

Casey's statement uses the word "I" fourteen times and she only mentioned Caylee's name four times. It gives you a hint of what is in Casey's head. It seems that she wants all this to be about her and not about her daughter.

I am guessing that this memorial service for Caylee is going to be analyzed to death by news casters, commentators, bloggers and posters on message boards for days to come. I am glad I watched it this morning for myself. But, I am not going to analyze it to death. It is over, the child is gone and the family members need to heal as much as they can as they wait for the trial to come. Rest in Peace, Caylee.

Now, bring on the trial and show us the evidence. The world wants to know what happened to that beautiful little girl.

Anyone have a kitty THIS hungry? lol

I found this video on the LOLCats website this morning and it's a great one for a laugh... Couldn't resist posting it here... lol


I've had cats off and on for most of my adult life and I have never had one that fought me like this for their food! LOL! Too funny...