This Is Getting A Bit Weird...

So I'm watching TV on Friday night and I happen to catch the 20/20 episode with Leah Remini. By now the entire world knows that Leah, a once famous member of the Church of Scientology, is a Scientologist no longer. Leah has just written a book entitled, "Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology". In this controversial memoir Remini makes some stunning claims about her former church and it's teachings. Many of those claims have included the most famous Scientologist, Tom Cruise.

I thought this to be an interesting topic that I have little knowledge about, so I  continued to watch. Remini was a child who was brought into Scientology by her mother. So immersed in the church she became, that as a teen she attended the prestigious Sea Org, reserved for Scientology's most dedicated members. Remini claims that her education comprised of only Scientology related subjects, and she was dedicated to working her way successfully up the "Bridge of Scientology" which is much like climbing a ladder.  Remini admits to horrid living conditions while there and remembers getting in trouble for acts she committed with her then "boyfriend" that were prohibited by the church. Regardless of her previous discretion's, Remini continued to practice Scientology for 30 years.

It wasn't until her acting career took off and she became a celebrity when she was invited to the 2006 wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes that she began to question things that were happening in the church. Her most stunning claims:

• As a member of The Sea Org, Remini was required to sigh a billion year contract. Scientologists believe in reincarnation and are required to rejoin the church when they are reborn.
• Remini and her husband were recruited to teach Tom Cruise and his then-girlfriend salsa dancing. During the lesson, Tom was forcibly kissing Katie Holmes to which Remini responded for them to "get a room". She was immediately written up and sent into "succession". (a form of punishment in the church)
• Told by the church to invite her friend Jennifer Lopez and her then husband Marc Anthony to the Cruise wedding, she then realized that the church purposely sat them at different tables and purposely kept them away from each other during the evening. 
• Remini, perplexed about the absence of her friend Shelly Miscavage, the wife of Scientology leader David, at Tom and Katie's wedding, questioned Shelly's whereabouts to which she was immediately written up and disciplined. 

But here's the most perplexing thing, Remini says in her book, " I am an apostate. I have lied, I have cheated, I have been selfish and have been a horrible wife and mother." Remini says those things in her book because she claims she knows how the church deals with people like her. "I wanted to be the first one to say it."

For their part, The Church of Scientology had plenty to say about Remini, all of it not becoming to an organization that calls itself a church. Their entire statement can be found HERE. The language they use to denounce Remini is troubling at best. The Church Of Scientology, calling Remini in a public statement, "self-absorbed, shallow and spoiled", it was Remini who claims to have voluntarily left the church. Scientology refutes that fact in their statement. Of Remini's departure they said,

"Her repeated ethical lapses and callous treatment of others led to an ecclesiastical review which resulted in her being expelled. She now regurgitates the tired myths the Church has repeatedly debunked, circulated by the same tiny clique of expelled former staffers bitter at having lost the positions they enjoyed before their malfeasance and unethical conduct were uncovered. Ms. Remini is now joined at the hip with this collection of deadbeats, admitted liars, self-admitted perjurers, wife beaters and worse."

I'm now beginning to understand why Nicole Kidman never stayed with nor had much contact with her kids after her 2011 divorce to Tom Cruise. I often wondered how a woman could leave her children. Now the picture is becoming clearer and clearer.

Evidently-Nicole was "self-absorbed, shallow and spoiled" too.

Media Junkie

L

I'm slightly obsessive compulsive at times. Like most people, I am attached at the hip to my mobile device and have been chastised by My Guy, My Kids and my mom about tuning out while zoning out on my cell. A self admitted news junkie, after completing my latest update on my operating system I was pleased to find a new "News" ap that I did not have before. After close inspection I have decided that this is the greatest thing ever! A news ap that I can tailor to all my favorite news feeds! Who knew? I certainly didn't and now that I have this beauty at the touch of my finger tip I'm unstoppable. 

CNN, Huff Post, Fox News, Buzz Feed, The New York Times, ESPN and many, many more. All just for me and whenever I want. This doesn't sound like a problem, does it? But it is. The problem is that I find that I am no longer alone with my thoughts as frequently as I should be. If I find myself with a spare moment, I am at my newsfeed scrolling voraciously for anything that sparks my interest. Good for everyday news but bad for the brain which doesn't leave much time to decompress. Yet I can't stop scrolling. Obsessive? Maybe. Or possibly I'm just someone who craves knowledge. 

Take for example yesterday's NFL games. I am competing in a football pool with 19 other people for money. Since the pool has started I have consistently been in the top ten, but yesterday? I really stepped it up. After a 2.5 hour session yesterday morning, researching and carefully making my picks, I submitted my choices a few hours before the deadline. Not feeling very confident, I decided NOT to obsess over the stupid pool and go about my business. I thought a workout would be just the thing to get my mind off football and I began my workout-mobile device in hand. It is my music device after all, so it had to be with me. It wasn't long before the ESPN ap was front and center with the live game day feed right in front of my face. There I was, working out, listening to my playlist, watching 2 games on my phone. Of course that continued for the rest of the day while I had the TV, NFL Red Zone and my IPad and IPhone all live to the games I had chosen. Seriously, I never missed a down on any of the games and My Guy joked that he has created a monster. He just may be right. 

When I'm working it's not an issue, and when I'm chilling out-the TV is my best friend, but you can bet during commercial breaks the phone is in my hand and engaging my attention.  I know how to relax and I know when it's time to put the phone down, but the lure of the information that I may be missing is sometimes too much. Am I hopeless? I'm not sure, but yesterday certainly didn't help me to come to that decision. I went 5-0 on all my football pics and am currently in 3rd place in the pool. Doesn't look like I will be unplugging any time soon. 

WTF?

I'm saddened over yesterday's news of the tragedy in Virginia. Three young people snuffed out because of hatred.

It's unfathomable that a mentally and emotionally disturbed person ONCE AGAIN kills because he/she feels he should, or could. This headline is becoming more and more common in our society. What is this world coming to? This time a young, accomplished duo of journalists and the woman they were interviewing were gunned down. Three lost their lives and the other is fighting for hers. I say three because the shooter killed himself and although it's easy to not care about his life, we must.

Were there warning signs?

Yes, the shooter was fired from jobs multiple times for "disturbing behavior" but how are we to predict he would turn his anger into a deadly tragedy? The Shooter reportedly faxed a 23 page "suicide note" to ABC News two hours after the shooting. In his missive he claimed to be upset over the recent racially charged, deadly church shootings in South Carolina. He said he admired the shooters of Columbine High School and Virginia Tech and called one "my boy right there".

The question we are left with today is how do we prevent this? Can we?

Because a journalist should be able to report from the field without fear, students should be able to learn in a safe environment and church goers should be able to worship in their sacred place without a lock on the door.

And one more deadly shooting headline is one too many.

Spirit Animal

I'm not one to buy into all that Facebook crap about being a super fan of the Brady Bunch and who your Disney princess is. But one night my friend and I were talking about your spirit animal and what that means.

So I googled it and took the quiz.

What did I find out? I found out that I was the Wolf. Sounded reasonable because it tells me that the wolf has a "stealth hunting ability as well as strength and stamina". Family comes first, says the wolf, who forms deep connections with close friends and family members. Also very true. The Wolf is loyal, devoted and passionate which is also me. OK-so I decide to blog about the spirit animal today and I pull up the quiz to read about the Wolf.  

Then what do I do? You guessed it? I freakin took the quiz again.

I got the swan. Huh? I'm not the wolf? I think it's a mistake although the Swan spirit animal has attributes I can relate to. So I Google another, different quiz and I get the Tiger. WTF? Which am I? Now I'm confused as shit because the Tiger also has spirit animal qualities that are totally me. I take it again, because determination is one of my many qualities. This time I get the Wolf. The wolf has 2x going for it.

Now my friend stops by and takes the quiz after I tell him about the mix up. What happens? He gets the Owl. I tell him to take the other quiz to see if it's all a scam, and he gets the Owl again. Now I'm pissed! I make him take it one more time and BAM...he gets the Owl. 3x he's the Owl and he wins the consistency quota.

So I decide to take it again...Bad decision because now I get the Owl! It must be wrong so I walk away from it for an hour or so...Then I take it again...and I get the Owl AGAIN. Now I've decided that it's all a scam and what the hell do I care about a stupid animal quiz?

Bottom line? I'm the Wolf with Owl tendencies since I got them both 3X.      
OK? So now we can all go back to our regularly scheduled lives.
Aren't you glad I figured that out?                                                                                                                                            

"Wake Up Baby! Your Life Is Calling!"

So by now if you've been following The Daily Dandy for a bit you undoubtedly know that I am an extreme helicopter mom... Yes...that is me in the cartoon above.

I'm on my way to bring my baby to the rest of his life.

Have a great weekend bloggers....and try to hold on for just a bit longer if you can.
xoxo

Thru Rose Colored Glasses

It has come to my attention recently, or should I say every day for the past 6 months, that I cannot see a GARD DARN thing. It's awful, really to loose your eyesight, and I have a new found appreciation for eye sight, eye doctors, glasses, readers and everything having to do with seeing the world in front of me more clearly. I used to brag about my eyesight...

In my younger days I never needed an-eye sight-thing! Today I'm at the mercy of my specs. At first it was kinda fun. Things started to get a bit blurry so I would pick up a pair of "cheaters" in 1.0 strength and fool around with the fun "fashion accessory" aspect of actually wearing glasses. Soon enough, I needed something a bit stronger. 1.25 was my number for a couple of years. But now?? I am a steady 1.75 and now I've taken to wearing my prescription glasses all day. The longer I wear them the more I need them. What's next for me? 

The dreaded old lady glasses lanyard??

Oh the FASHION HORROR! 

The doctor tells me I am farsighted, with is funny because I can far away just fine. I can't read a thing in front of my face. Not a fricken thing. Seriously, my kids try to hide any text messages or postings that they do on their cell phones when they are near me and I have to laugh. I told them that there is no need to fret. There is no way in HELL I can see what they are doing because I CANT SEE!

The one on the right is how I need to see my text messages.

I guess I shouldn't really complain. I don't need my glasses to drive or to watch TV (unless I am on a Jet Blue flight watching a Real Housewives Marathon on Bravo-which I've recently discovered is much clearer with my prescription specs) I can see an Eagle pooping at the top of a tree miles away but damn if I can see the lady bug that landed on my knee clearly. This has also become a social media problem. While leisurely scanning my FB, Instagram or Twitter accounts, I may see something I want to post a comment on. Lo and behold, 75% of my comments made without my glasses contain spelling errors or a typo. This is unacceptable to the journalist inside me, yet it happens more than I would like. I liken it to commenting on social media while under the influence of alcohol.   

I think it may be time for contacts? Really? But I don't need them for far away, so they may not be an option. And forget Lasik surgery. That's for people who can't see my friend the Eagle up in the tree. I feel like I'm running out of options. Am I really going to be a slave to my glasses from here on out? 

If that's the case and I have to wear glasses for the rest of my life, I'm making sure I'm seeing everything through rose colored lenses. 

Insert Foot In Mouth...

Seriously? When are the cavemen of sports going to realize that women sports reporters are here to stay? And when will they realize that they have a responsibility to not spew hate and death threats directed towards ANYONE, much less Erin Andrews when they are on-air?

The latest controversy surrounding Erin Andrews of Fox Sports News happened just the other day in my very own city. WEEI's morning program "Dennis and Callahan" co -host Kirk Minihane inserted his foot right into his mouth alright. Long story short, when in studio, on-air discussing Erin Andrew's interview with pitcher Adam Wainwright about his "about face" admission to throwing an easy pitch to hit to Derek Jeter at bat during the All Star game, Minihane unleashed a most inappropriate tirade concerning Andrews line of questioning. Andrews apparently said when ending the interview, "Don't you just love social media?"

Does it bear repeating here? YES it does so it serves as a lesson to all radio/TV host/journalists that you just can't take your hate that far without consequence. His remarks are as follows:

"I hate her! What a gutless bitch! Go away. Drop dead. I mean, seriously what the hell is wrong with her? First of all, follow-up. Second of all, the guy admitted he did it. He admitted he told reporters he threw a couple of pipe bombs. How is that social media’s fault? I hate her. Don’t you love social media? Yeah…social media is — shut up. shut up. i’m sure she’s a nice person, but she’s…she’s probably a bitch. I hate her."

He immediately remarked ,"I'm gonna get in trouble for this." And he was right!

Minihane, last night, issued an apology on WEEI's  website:

"This morning on the radio I used a series of words to describe Erin Andrews' work at the All-Star Game. My choice of words was wrong; I was wrong to have used them. To all whom I offended -- particularly Ms. Andrews -- I apologize. There is no place for what was said. It was immature and completely uncalled for. I am often critical of media members and their work and recognize here that I've made the kind of mistake I would call out if it was done by another sportscaster or writer. Again, to all involved, I'm very sorry."

Ya think?

I am so tired of this "men are superior" mentality in sports broadcasting and I'm sure I'm not alone in this thinking. As for Erin Andrews? No matter what she looks like, she has worked hard to get where she is and to stay where she is, regardless of what a small minded sports personality in Boston thinks. There are a million pretty faces that are all trying to do the same thing that Erin Andrews is doing, has done, and continues to keep doing. She has earned her stay. When does she get the respect that is allotted to any other sports reporter of her stature?

Blonde, brunette, white, black, yellow or green...I don't care who SHE is. She's got a job to do and if she wasn't good at what she does she wouldn't be there. Period. Fox Sports thinks so too. They issued the following statement about the  controversy:

 “Comments such as these are inappropriate and inexcusable. It is unfortunate that one of the best sports talk radio stations in the country would allow and condone such low-class behavior from one of their on-air personalities.”

I stand behind Erin Andrews regardless of what I may think of her personally. Good, bad or indifferent it's time to end the superiority complex that some men have about women sports reporters. Period.

I'm curious how Minihane's shoes are tasting right about now. Pretty sour is my bet.

I'm Not Sure About this One....

Have you seen this one? I'm not sure if it's supposed to be funny or sexy? Or both?

Yes, there is some serious eye candy here, but the guy with the *ahem* belly? He's kinda sexy too..am I right? The little wink? But he's not the typical Hefty hunk, yet he's the one I remember the most.

So here's my question:
Are they making a joke of the errr, ummm chubby guy?

Because honestly. he's the one, in my opinion, that makes the biggest impact here. Because he's adorable..yet he's not in "beefed up", man cake shape, yet he's the most impressionable and memorable. I'm still stuck on the fact that the point of the ad is to single this guy out but are they mocking him?  Is this their intention?

I don't know about you but I think that this guy could have a "Flo from Progressive" kind of career.
Amiright?

Save The Drama For Your Mama

So I had some people around me recently that got into an all and out, "I hate that beeyotch" and "She's just a bit*ch!". Drama....

I have been left to choose my words carefully to each of them and be very deliberate about not getting involved. The thing is, I happen to love both of these people and I just happen to be in the unfortunate position of being the common denominator between them. So #1 is pissed at #2 and #2 is pissed at #1 and I'm smack dab in the center of this sh*t storm. Both of them have tried to talk to me on separate occasions about the other one, at which time I have had to ask them to not involve me. And when they continue, I am left to distract myself with my mobile device or Facebook (that's what it's for, right?).

I have my opinions on the issue, but I'm not going to share them with either of them. So get this...the fact that I won't comment on the issue is causing them to throw shade at me??? WTF? I have nothing to do with the issue! It is completely between them and I have nothing to do with it and somehow I've found myself caught in the cross hairs.

Don't make me go all Theresa on you're asses!  And figure the sh*it out and leave me out of it.

I've Just About Had It....

"Due to social anxiety and inclement weather conditions, outside is closed until further notice."-

Nick.@SocialExtortion

Snow Noooo!

'

I have to laugh....

Born and raised here in New England, I have seen my fair share of snow storms. In fact, I have seen lots of them. From the great Blizzard of 78 to last year's record breaking Blizzard, this is the time of year that dumps lots of nasty snow in our region. So why does it always surprise us when snow is in the forecast?

Hearty New Englanders, you'd think we would be conditioned for all of this. So when they forecast 6-10" of snow yesterday, we were ready. The weather people had warned of a January Nor'Easter with high accumulations. The snow was predicted to start late in the afternoon and go heavy into the wee hours of the night. Another nasty evening commute with a tough morning one to follow. There was even a blizzard warning in effect for the southern part of the state with high winds and 18-24" predicted. 

So it began about 4pm and as promised, the evening commute was not particularly pleasant. As the snow continued I watched as a measly inch to two piled up on top of last Saturday's surprise 4" already on the ground. The snow continued throughout the evening but every time I looked outside I saw nothing much amounting. Nothing much for a native to these parts. When I woke this morning I found the same story. In total we got about 4" which by now totals up to a "dusting" . It was not what the forecasters had warned/promised. Yet again....

This is the second time this month we had had a storm that didn't live up to the hype. 

Oh yes-the southern part of the state got smacked. Some towns reported getting 18"and word has it it was still snowing and blowing at 8am this morning, but here closer to the city? A whole lotta nothing. 

It makes me laugh. Why all the hype? I guess it's better to be over on the snow predictions than under if that's what you do for a living, but around here it's like get it right or go home!! For goodness sake, this place was in a complete tizzy about 2pm yesterday. I'm sure all the show shovels and ice melt were sold out, which is a usual occurrence when big snow is predicted, but this morning we probably feel like idiots who got duped by a cheesy door to door salesman. With all the Doppler radar aps out there for our tablet devices, becoming a weather watcher has become a seasonal pastime. How did we not see it?

It's a simple case of the boy who cried wolf. I'm not buying it next time. Unless there is a state of emergency declared and a driving ban or "shelter in place" order issued, I'm not going to panic. 

After all, what another 6-10" inches to a native New Englander?

WTF?

Like my dear departed grandma used to say, "Jesus, Mary and Joseph and all of the apostles"......

Never one to discusss politics in mixed company, today I'm not really discussing politics, rather complaining about it. This new mess that the US government is engrossed in is just that; a fricken HOLY mess. I'm totally disgusted and I feel like the baby boys who call themselves the decision makers in Washington are acting like a group of spoiled brats who are taking their toys and going home. So where does that leave us? 

I'm so concerned that yesterday I decided to watch, "Meet the Press" so I could learn something tangible to better understand how this debacle will affect my life, our economy and my business. I learned something alright, but it was of no help to me. What I learned is that the Republicans hate the Democrats, the Democrats hate the Republicans, everybody hates the President and the Tea Party hates everyone. Does any of this bullshit political posturing help anyone? Give anyone fiscal confidence? No. It serves to make investors jittery and our stock market loose points. It's bad for all of us and they know it. 

It's like the ultimate gamble and these idiots are playing a game of political "chicken" on this issue, while forsaking the outcome. For Christssake??? Where are the leaders of yester year, who threaten but then break political bread together and hammer it out. Where's good old Teddy Kennedy when you need him? I'm sure he's posturing like a madman up in heaven as we speak. 

For the love of God and all that is HOLY....get your shit together Washington! TODAY! before you ruin all the economic ground we have gained. 

WTF Friday?

  

It's Friday bloggers and I'm feeling sort of funky...

Like this lady at Wally World here. WTF is that? Really? Girlfriend, I gotta tell you that those flesh colored yoga pants are doing you no justice. A darker solid would be much more conducive to your figure and actually be slimming. Poor thing. She probably has no idea what this get up looks like from behind. I call that "naked nonsense".

Happy Friday bloggers and seriously? Try to consider what you look like both coming and going this weekend.