Saturday, October 31, 2009

We all go a little mad sometimes

Annie Wilkes We spent a nice afternoon with my folks today. They took us out to eat at their favorite Chinese buffet, although I'm afraid I didn't eat my money's worth. I was feeling a little oogy this morning, and I joked about piling some Chinese food on top of it. It really was a bad idea, which should have been obvious to me. When I can only eat two crab rangoons, you know I'm off my feed. Feeling better now. Who knew that beer has soothing properties to the stomach? Better than Pepto.

Then we got to see their new house, which is in a place where most of the yard maintenance and all of the snow removal is taken care of by the grounds crew. It was really nice, and I think they'll enjoy it. I know they hate leaving their log house on 16 acres, but it's getting too much for them to care for, and I think we're all happy that they're moving into town rather than staying out in the boonies. I don't think they'll be moving until the log house sells, though, so I hope they can get through this winter okay.

Now we're watching Illinois put the hurt on Michigan (sorry, Miss A!) and waiting for the Notre Dame-Washington State game in about a half an hour. Go Irish!

~~~~~

Psycho Happy Halloweenie, everyone! I trust that you have your list of orgies parties ready, and that you have been working on your mad incantation skillz. This is your time to let your dark light shine, so step to, people, step to! Those babies aren't going to sacrifice themselves, you know!

In honor of this special day, I'm putting a horror movie clip up here. Those of you who have been reading me for a while know that I do love my horror movies, and I thought I'd pay tribute to my favorite of all, "Psycho." ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is the godfather of the modern slasher movie, but "Psycho" still rules my roost as favorite.) I know it's nothing new, and everyone has probably seen this movie several times. But for me, it's still the ultimate subtle creep factor movie. Anthony Perkins, may he rest in peace, was the perfect Norman Bates: shy, bumbling, but sort of sweet and charming...too bad he had some mommy issues. The final scene of him sitting in his jail cell, that look on his face, still sends a chill down my spine, as does his exclamation when he finds Marian's body. "Mother! Oh God, Mother! Blood! Blood!" (And of course, the quote that I used for the title of this entry.)

Although tame by today's standards, I still feel that Hitchcock's subtlety provides the perfect psychological chill, and it's a movie that I can watch over and over. Bernard Herrmann's soundtrack is iconic, as is the infamous shower scene. Her final thud onto the floor of the bathroom, her face planted on the tile and her dead eye looking into the camera...man, that is some good stuff. Well, you know what I mean. I don't want to sound like a total...psycho...here. It's just a great movie, masterfully done. It still gives me a lovely little frisson every time I watch it.

Friday, October 30, 2009

What do you do on a gloomy, rainy day?

Chrissie Hynde Well, if you're me, first you run errands and get soaked while running from the store to the car. Jeez, by the time I got into the car, it was dripping off my hair and my glasses were completely obscured. Oddly enough, by the time I got home, it was only sprinkling. Grrr. Ain't that always the way?

Then in the afternoon, if you're me, you play on Crackbook way too long (if it's so much fun, I don't know how it can be bad), and then you play some Rock Band. Yeah, baby!

In fact, this is me playing Rock Band. Well, okay, it's how I imagine I look playing Rock Band, because Chrissie is one cool rock chick. ("Brass In Pocket" would be a fun song to have on there.) If I were a rock chick for real, I think I would be Chrissie Hynde more than anyone else. She's got attitude, and I've been told that I do, too. Huh? Go figure. I haven't played with Rock Band for a while, so it was fun to try some of the songs on the original game, and to try guitar. I'm starting to get the hang of it, figured out that I need to have it slung a little lower on my hips, and now realize that I would be a better bass player than a guitarist, because it's a more natural motion for me to pull up instead of stroke down. Hahaha. I'm cracking up right now. So I tried some of the easier songs, like "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?", "Roxanne," and "Say It Ain't So" by Weezer. I even hit the whammy, baby! After Ken got home, he played drums while I played guitar, then he took over guitar and I did vocals.

"Mississippi Queen" was a lot of fun, although I'm not a huge fan of that song. I am proud to say that I did excellent on "Wanted Dead Or Alive" (much better on vocals than guitar), and when I sang the lines "I've seen a million faces...and I've rocked them all," I really got into it! Ha! Oh man, this is so much fun! This is a way for the talentless to actually feel like they have some. Talk about an ego stroker. I still need to get a scarf to tie onto the microphone.

It also reinforces my respect and appreciation for real musicians...you know, the ones who don't play musicians on TV. My friends Jim, Deb, and Darren, and Indigo's Paul, are all very talented (I hope I'm not leaving anyone out), and I am always in awe of someone who can play so incredibly. I've got fumbling fingers with freakin' Rock Band...how much harder is it to do it for real? So I'll keep playing, and you guys keep doing it for real. It's your talent that makes real music, and I'm just along for the ride. You make my dreams come true!

Here is one of my favorite Pretenders songs, "Message of Love." Hard to believe that 50% of the people in this video are dead: Pete Farndon (bassist) and James Honeyman-Scott (guitarist). But Chrissie is still going strong.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Oooo, very scary!

Drunk pumpkin On Facebook today, via a group I joined (Separation of Church and State) and Milwaukee Dan #2, I saw a story about an article written on the CBN network website. Still with me?

It concerned the evils of Halloween, and it tickled me to no end. I don't know who the author, Kimberly Daniels, is or what credentials she has, but damn, this was funny. A few choice snippets....

It [Halloween] is dedicated to darkness and is an accursed season. During Halloween, time-released curses are always loosed. A time-released curse is a period that has been set aside to release demonic activity and to ensnare souls in great measure.

Time-released curses? Who knew that Satan is a pharmacist? I sure didn't. And a time-released curse is a period? Yeah, I’ve encountered some periods that were full of demonic activity and ensnared souls. Just sayin’.

During this period demons are assigned against those who participate in the rituals and festivities. These demons are automatically drawn to the fetishes that open doors for them to come into the lives of human beings. For example, most of the candy sold during this season has been dedicated and prayed over by witches.

Here we learn that being a demon is not all fun and games. It sounds like serious business to me, with specific assignments and people to torment and possess. I hope they're unionized, because I see the potential for abuse at the hands of the Dark Overlord. The last thing you want when you're a demon trying to put human organs on the table for your demon woman and little demon babies is low wages for tough work. Where is Demon Norma Rae when you need her?

We also learn that Halloween candy has been prayed over by witches. I hope they're unionized, too, because they've gotta be working their scrawny green asses off this time of year. I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a lot of Halloween candy in the stores right now, and that's a hell of a lot--oops, a pun!--of prayin' to do.

Pumpkin territorialI do not buy candy during the Halloween season. Curses are sent through the tricks and treats of the innocent whether they get it by going door to door or by purchasing it from the local grocery store. The demons cannot tell the difference.

Yes, again that terrible, witch-tainted candy. Be careful, because your bag of Hershey's Miniatures may already be infested! In fact, as soon as you brought it into your house, I bet the demons descended upon it like flies on that bloated raccoon carcass I keep seeing on the road. This is nothing to mess around with, and if you pass out those Hershey's Miniatures, you are infesting your entire neighborhood with demons! There is nothing you can do except eat that entire bag yourself. It is the right thing to do. Save the children; eat the chocolate. You can have those demons cast out tomorrow, when you're dealing with the shame and guilt of eating an entire fucking bag of chocolate.

Mother earth is highly celebrated during the fall demonic harvest. Witches praise mother earth by bringing her fruits, nuts and herbs. Demons are loosed during these acts of worship. When nice church folk lay out their pumpkins on the church lawn, fill their baskets with nuts and herbs, and fire up their bonfires, the demons get busy.

That's right folks, when you put pumpkins in your yard, demons get busy! They're treating your yard like the pick-up bar that you used to frequent when you were in your twenties. Those boy demons are buying girl demons drinks and trying desperately to get them drunk enough to put out, then they're gettin' busy right there in your pumpkin-laden yard! And don't even get me started on bonfires. Everyone knows that bonfires are a taste of the Fires of Hell™, and that S'mores contain more of that demon-infested chocolate.

Pumpkin baby-eatingHalloween is much more than a holiday filled with fun and tricks or treats. It is a time for the gathering of evil that masquerades behind the fictitious characters of Dracula, werewolves, mummies and witches on brooms. The truth is that these demons that have been presented as scary cartoons actually exist. I have prayed for witches who are addicted to drinking blood and howling at the moon.

What about zombies and aliens? Those are pretty important in the realm of monsters, and I have to wonder if they're okay since they weren't mentioned in the article. Are they not as bad as the other monsters mentioned? I'm not so sure...brain eating and anal probes sound pretty serious to me. Hey, I bet that's what those demons gettin' busy in your front yard are doing even as we speak!

The author was kind enough to include a list of "secret, wicked, cruel activities that go on behind the scenes."

  • Sex with demons
  • Orgies between animals and humans
  • Animal and human sacrifices
  • Sacrificing babies to shed innocent blood
  • Rape and molestation of adults, children and babies
  • Revel nights
  • Conjuring of demons and casting of spells
  • Release of "time-released" curses against the innocent and the ignorant

If you find yourself engaging in any of the above acts, you may want to consider that you have a problem, and may very well be infested by demons. (That's what happens when you have sex with them.) Reject Halloween! Reject it! If any little demon-infested kiddies squirm their way up to your front door, yank the door open and shout, "Get off my lawn, Satan's spawn!" Not only will they be impressed by your poetic skills, they will scatter like the evil, brimstone-infused vermin they are. That'll show 'em.

~~~~~

Note: The title of today's entry comes from SCTV's Count Floyd. He was always verrrry scarrrrry!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Alaskan Jeopardy

Palin Jeopardy Good grief, what a train wreck.

Over on Facebook, I posted a story about Levi Johnston's interview on some news show. The video itself isn't important. It was the usual stuff from this pretty but not-so-articulate kid, dishing some dirt about Sarah Palin and implying that there is much more to dish (things that she did as Governor) that he won't be divulging. His coming spread, so to speak, in Playgirl was also mentioned.

I think most of us feel a little disgust at being subjected to the airing of this family's dirty laundry. Diapers and all. It's just unseemly, don't you think? However, considering my long and historied dislike of Sarah Palin, I have to admit that I'm getting more than a little glee out of all of this. It's just so...trashy.

It's also sort of seedy and sleazy. It makes me feel a little dirty for even paying attention to this story, much as I would if I were obsessed with Jon and Kate. However, Jon and Kate are nothing more than idiotic reality TV stars; Palin seems to be interested in maintaining some sort of political presence in this country, no matter how unwarranted that is and how unqualified she is, and if Levi's gossip girl mentality helps to take her down, I say more power to him. This woman should never have a place in national politics, and whatever it takes to keep her out of that arena is fine with me.

So young Levi, you just keep talking. I realize that you are merely cashing in on your Warholian moment, and I really can't hate on you for that. You dropped out of school—have you gone back yet?—because you were going to marry your preggers girlfriend, but we all know how that worked out. I fully recognize that you are pimping yourself for a little bit of cash and a little bit of fame, and I'm thinking that any kid in your situation would do the same. You may not realize it, but you have a broader mission here, and that is to ensure that your dangerous almost-mother-in-law never sees the light of day when it comes to national politics. I know you can do it, kiddo, so you just keep on keepin' on. Make your buck and save your country while you're at it.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A musical interlude

Blondie It appears that I shot my wad yesterday with the long entry about vaccine production, and I'm a little tapped out today. I hope you'll join me in watching one of my favorite Blondie songs, "(I'm Always Touched By Your Presence) Dear," from their album "Plastic Letters." I think it's a beautiful song, with wonderful lyrics. The line "levitating lovers in the secret stratosphere" is one that I've always loved.

Blondie is considered a punk/New Wave band, and I think a lot of people make the mistake of thinking that such bands were all like the Sex Pistols, loud, crude, and sort of insane. While I definitely enjoy such bands, many of the artists from that era and genre had true talent and musical skill. Deborah Harry could tear it up as well as the rest of them, but this song is…well, I think it’s lovely.

Note Clem Burke's mad skillz as drummer...Cousin Shane and I have always thought he was under-appreciated. Enjoy!

(I'm Always Touched By Your Presence) Dear

Was it destiny?
I don't know yet.
Was it just by chance?
Could this be Kismet?

Something in my consciousness told me you'd appear,
now I'm always touched by your presence, dear.

When we play at cards you use an extra sense.
(It's really not cheating)
You can read my hand, I've got no defense.
When you sent your messages whispered loud and clear,
I am always touched by your presence, dear.

Floating pass the evidence of possibilities.
We could navigate together, psychic frequencies.
Coming into contact with outer entities.
We could entertain each one with our theosophies.

Stay awake at night and count your R.E.M.'s
when you're talking with your super friends.
Levitating lovers in the secret stratosphere.
I am still in touch with your presence, dear.
I am still in touch with your presence, dear.
I am still in touch with your presence, dear, dear, dear, dear, dear.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Fasten your seatbelts

Walorski It's going to be a bumpy ride entry. And a long one.

Last evening, my buddy Milwaukee Dan #1 sent me the link to the Facebook page of one of our state government representatives, Jackie Walorski, asking me to check out her most recent update and the comments she's received.

I have to ask...do you folks enjoy getting me riled up? Do you like it when I Hulk out? Dan seemed to get a kick out of my initial reaction to what he sent, saying that he knew it would get me riled up. I could be wrong, but I think there might have been a tone of sadistic glee in there somewhere! Hmph. (Seriously, thank you for sending that to me, Dan. You knew very well that I would run with it!)

I have written about Jackie Walorski in the past, and just so you know, I am going to tag the hell out of her in this post, because I would love it if people found this entry when searching for her. Word on the street (ha) is that she'll be running—excuse, me, attempting to run—against my Congressman, Joe Donnelly. Yeah, good luck with that! Even my Mom and Dad, staunch Republicans, voted for Congressman Donnelly (a Democrat), so you're going down in flames, Walorski. I wrote about Walorski's efforts to close Indiana's Planned Parenthood clinics. I wrote about my letter to Walorski concerning those efforts, and her subsequent non-response. I also wrote about my letter to my representative concerning Walorski's misguided and evil efforts, and finding out that Walorski had lied about forwarding my email to my representative. You don't have to follow all the links, but to get a sense of what she was trying to do, how I felt about it, and how I felt about her lying ways, you might want to.

The most recent status update on her Facebook page said this:

Jackie Walorski: Is it not interesting that the "government" is "running out" of H1N1 vaccine..there is already a "shortage" and yet the President has declared a National Emergency and there's not enough vaccine....THAT is government health care..good luck holding them accountable.

Well, those of you who know me can probably imagine how I reacted to that. Those of you who are friends on Facebook know, and I can assure you that I was holding back.

First of all, her fatuous use of "is it not interesting" makes me want to hurl. I can almost see her arching an eyebrow under that god-awful female mullet she sports as she purses her lips like Dana Carvey as the Church Lady yelling, "Could it be...SATAN?!"

Secondly, I love how she puts the word government in quotes. Is she implying that this is not a true government? Is she trying to say that this is bogus leadership? Hey. News for you, Walorski. This is MY government you're talking about, and although you might not like it, it is also your government. This is the government that was elected by the people, and if you don't like it, if you somehow think it is a sham or a farce, and if you think it's amusing to put quotations around it, I say that you are disrespecting the people of your district and your state and your country. The people have spoken, Walorski, and I find your condescension incredibly offensive. If you are trying to get others to feel the same way, it is nothing less than seditious.

Thirdly, she overuses quotation marks...period. (Haha) I can picture Chris Farley in my mind placing finger quotes around "running out" and "shortage." These also seem to be sarcastic jibes against the Obama administration. There is nothing funny about it, Walorski. There is a shortage at the moment, and the initial doses have run out, and people are getting very ill. What you seem to be utterly incapable of comprehending is why and how this has happened...or perhaps you're capable of understanding it but just don't give enough of a fuck to try to do a little research before you irresponsibly accuse our government of not responding properly to this outbreak.

Influenza virus2 If you had bothered to do a little research, you would have found out the difficulties and tedious processes involved in producing influenza vaccines. These vaccines are produced in chicken eggs, and it is not a quick or easy process. Fertilized eggs arrive at the vaccine plant, and the virus is injected into them and incubated for several days. Then the eggshells are cracked, the fluid containing the virus is extracted, the virus is inactivated and the material is purified. In the best case scenario, this takes six months, but when there is an epidemic, this crude egg technology is incapable of churning out mass quantities of vaccine in a short time. There are companies that are developing vaccines that can be produced by recombinant technology, which will significantly shorten the time of production, but they are not up and running yet. For now, this tedious egg technology is what we've got.

As with any manufacturing venture, there are often delays. One of the delays in this case has been the H1N1 virus itself. The strain has been found to be a slow grower in the chicken eggs, slower than the seasonal flu strain. We used to joke in the lab about people calling up and wanting culture results STAT! Microorganisms will only grow so fast, and there is no magic bullet that will make them grow faster.

Additional problems have been bottlenecks at the plants where the virus is loaded into syringes or vials, as well as development of the tests and reagents used for quality control on the vaccines before they are released for use. Then, of course, there is the problem of plants also manufacturing vaccine for the seasonal flu, essentially doubling their workload.

Flu vaccine Here's a brief timeline of how an influenza vaccine is produced.

  1. Identification of the new strain. World surveillance data is collected, analyzed, and submitted to the WHO. If a new strain is found, this is considered to be a possible cause of pandemic.
  2. Preparation of the vaccine strain. The virus is adapted for use in manufacturing vaccine by combining it with a standard lab strain, allowing the two to grow together. This hybrid contains the "innards" of the lab strain and the exterior parts of the pandemic virus, which will trigger the immune response desired. This makes the virus less dangerous to work with and easier to grow in eggs.
  3. Verification of the vaccine strain. The hybrid virus is then tested to see if it makes the correct outer proteins, is safe, and will grow in eggs. It then moves on to vaccine manufacturers.
  4. Preparation of reagents to test the vaccine. WHO produces standardized reagents that are given to all vaccine manufacturers. In tests using these reagents, they will be able to measure how much virus they are producing, and that they are packaging the correct dose of vaccine.
  5. Optimization of virus growth conditions. The vaccine manufacturer tests different growth conditions in eggs using the hybrid virus from the WHO laboratories in order to find the conditions that will produce the best yield.
  6. Vaccine bulk manufacture. This is the step that I mentioned above, the actual growing of the virus in millions of eggs, its harvest, processing, and purification. The resulting antigen is the active ingredient in the vaccine. Limiting factors here are the facilities themselves (you can only start and process so many batches at once), how many eggs can be obtained, and the number of virus particles per egg.
  7. Quality control. Each batch of antigen is tested using the reagents supplied by the WHO.
  8. Vaccine filling and release. The batch of vaccine is diluted to the desired concentration of antigen, packaged into vials or syringes, and labeled. Some of these are then tested for sterility, the appropriate protein concentration, and safety in animals.
  9. Clinical studies. In certain countries, each new influenza vaccine has to be tested in a few people to show that it works the way it is supposed to.
  10. Regulatory approval. Each country's regulatory agency has its own rules for testing before the vaccine is released for use. If the agency requires clinical trials, this can add to the time of regulatory approval.

Influenza virus As you can see, it is neither a simple nor a short process. You don't just throw a bunch of shit together in an Erlenmeyer flask and make vaccine. It is a lengthy process with many oversights and checks along the way, and it is subject to delays based on everything from how many eggs the vaccine manufacturer can get from Farmer John to whether or not the virus is cooperative and grows well in chicken eggs. Even just identifying the new strain can be a process, recognizing that it could be a new pandemic virus. The seasonal vaccine is always formed from three strains, usually two Influenza A's and one Influenza B. Deciding which strains are going to be more prevalent or more lethal is usually a very educated guess; they can do their best to check epidemiological patterns and the way the virus behaves in patients, but sometimes a strain isn't included and ends up being tougher than originally thought. In that case, you can't go back and remake the vaccine, because of the long process I just described. By the time you did so, it would probably have mutated, anyway. Viruses mutate rapidly, which is the very reason why a new shot is needed each year. The viruses change so rapidly from year to year that the body's immune system does not recognize the new invader as the same virus, and an immune response isn't generated.

Now, having said all that, yes, I have a background in this area, but I didn't rattle all this off the top of my head. I did a few minutes of research using the WHO site and the CDC site, and then put this together for you all. I would love to ask Walorski why she couldn't do a little research and educate herself about how vaccines are produced, and why it takes so long, before she spewed some idiotic conspiracy theory about how the "government" is "running out" of vaccine, as if it were a planned thing. This is fear-mongering based on ignorance, and for her to try to blame the vaccine delay on the Obama administration is simply complete and utter idiocy and irresponsibility.

Ignorance Map It is exactly this sort of willful ignorance and intellectual incuriosity that makes me want to blow my stack when I see comments like Walorski's on her Facebook page. She, Palin (She Who Hates Fruit Flies, and no, Dan, I will never let that go), and Bachmann are cut from the same cloth. It's not just that they don't know this stuff before they speak on it...they don't know and they don't want to learn. For me, such types are the truly dangerous ones out there. Decisions are made and policies are formulated using their limited intellectual capacity for understanding and their personal feelings about a subject rather than any sort of rational, well-thought-out or well-researched process. This attitude of "I'm a dumbass and I like it that way!" continues to boggle my mind. Well, I suppose that as long as there are enough people out there who believe the nonsense these types spout, they'll keep hanging around, so I'd better get used to it. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

Like I keep saying: Smart is the new sexy.

One final thing, from the Timing Is Everything File. Just as I was finishing this up, the phone rang. It was an unknown name and number, but I went ahead and answered it. They asked for Ken, and when I said he wasn't here and asked if I could take a message, they asked if I was Ms. R., and I said yes. She went on to say that she was calling from the...guess who? The Republican National Committee. I think I actually laughed out loud. I said, "Sorry, but we don't support the Republican Party anymore." After a brief pause, she asked, "Can I ask why?" I laughed again. "There are too many reasons to go into. Please take us off of your list. Thank you." [click]

The moral of this story? Don't mess with Beth when she's in the middle of a rant. You might have to deal with Feisty Beth.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Is it just me?

Adam Lambert Or is it hot in here?

Yesterday, we got a copy of Details magazine in the mail, a men's magazine kind of like Maxim, I guess. (Do they even publish Maxim anymore? I don't think they do.) Ken hadn't subscribed to it, but it's published by Conde Nast, and they recently stopped publishing several magazines, so maybe this is a substitution for a travel magazine we were getting. Either way, Ken kind of glanced at it and handed it to me to put into recycling.

Adam Lambert is on the cover, and you all might remember that we really liked Adam from "American Idol" (yes, we watch—don’t you judge me), and liked him from the very beginning, even the auditions. I still think he got robbed, although obviously he's going to do just fine for himself. The guy has a voice that sends shivers down my spine, and I don't say that often. Fellow blogger Howard recently put up Adam's video for the song from "2012," and although it's not really my style, I love his voice and I think the song will do well.

He came out after the competition, although it was pretty obvious long before that he was either gay or bisexual. (The pictures of him kissing a boy were a strong clue. Hey, just call me Sherlock.) There was much speculation of whether his sexuality was an issue in his loss on AI, were people not ready to accept a gay American Idol, blah di blah blah. I really don't think it had much to do with that. The guy was just too much for the people who like things sort of low key, just nice family-friendly pop music. The guy has a monster voice and is flamboyant and has definite sex appeal. If you're a parent watching AI with your 13-year-old daughter, do you want her to imagine going out on a date to the movies with boy-next-door Kris, or do you want her having dark fantasies about Adam doing naughty things to her in the back of his smokin' hot car? Haha! I exaggerate to make a point, but Adam definitely has a sort of raw, dangerous sexuality that was probably a little intimidating for some folks.

Adam Lambert2 I applaud him for being honest about his sexuality, and if you're in music and have sex appeal and charisma, you're a fool if you don't use it. As the Dandy Warhols say, "You ain't got the music if you ain't got the muscle!" When asked about it, he has said that he likes women, they're pretty, and he likes kissing them...he just doesn't sleep with them. We're such prudes in this country, and I find it refreshing to hear someone say, "Yeah, this is me, I like this." Gone are the days when Hollywood stars had to hide their homosexuality, even entering into bogus marriages arranged by their studios. It seems a little barbaric now, don't you think?

Anyhoo, back to the magazine. I started glancing through it and looked at the story on Adam. There was also a photo shoot involved, and I think my initial comment may have been something like "Holy shit!" There are pictures of him with a nude woman, with artful hand placement. (See all the pictures here.) This was pretty much the conversation at Nutwood:

Me: [holding magazine up to show Ken] Look at this!
Ken: [nodding]
Me: [looking at the next picture, a two-page spread] Oh my God! Look at this!
Ken: [laughing]
Me: These are HOT!
Ken: Do you want me to get a subscription to Playgirl for you?
Me: [laughing] No.
Ken: PlayBOY?
Me: [laughing] No! But man...these are HOT!

I haven't read the article yet, haha.

I say hey, good for you, Adam. If you've got it, flaunt it. Because man...these pictures are HOT!