LOTUS blog

This is an amazing story.  Arnel Pinedo and his band The Zoo are from Quezon City in the Phillipines.   They mostly perform cover songs from Journey, Bryan Adams, Heart and Van Halen, just to name a few.  The Zoo has several videos on YouTube. 

Enter the real Journey.  Several years ago Journey front man Steve Perry parted ways with the band and they have been without a lead singer.  Journey guitarist Neal Schon said:

I was frustrated about not having a singer so I went on YouTube for a couple of days and just sat on it for hours. I was starting to think I was never going to find anybody. But then I found THE ZOO and I watched a bunch of different video clips that they had posted. After watching the videos over and over again, I had to walk away from the computer and let what I heard sink in because it sounded too good to be true. I thought, ‘he can’t be that good.’ But he is that good, he’s the real deal and so tremendously talented. Arnel doesn’t sound synthetic and he’s not emulating anyone. I tried to get a hold of him through YouTube and I finally heard from him that night, but it took some convincing to get him to believe that it really was me and not an imposter.

Of course it took awhile for Arnel to believe that the real Neal Schon was contacting him.  Arnel’s friend said, “What if it really was Neal and he wanted to offer you the chance of a lifetime?”  They eventually connected and Arnel was asked to be the new lead singer for Journey. 

You must watch Arnel Pinedo’s performance of Journey’s “Faithfully.”

Long live the American Dream.

Back when I was a kid, we only had red and white candy canes… and we liked it.  When I was at Target today I was shocked — shocked! — to see the array of candy canes kids have to choose from.   Gobstoppers, Spree, Sweet Tarts, Now and Later, and Jolly Rancher candy canes lined the shelves.  The poor Classic Cane looked so sad sitting by itself.  It simply can’t compete with Gobstoppers’ claims of three flavors and three colors.  Now even candy has to keep up with children’s short attention spans.

(Note to JOTUS: Happy now?)

In a recent interview with Right Wing News, Ann Coulter named your humble LOTUS blog as one of her favorites. 

Are there any blogs or columnists you particularly enjoy reading?

That Ann Coulter is terrific! So controversial! I wonder if she means all those terrible things she says…

Also: Mark Steyn, Pat Buchanan, Phyllis Schlafly, David Limbaugh, Brent Bozell and many others, generally found on Human Events and Townhall.

Blogs: Sweetness & Light, Kausfiles, LOTUS blog, Newsbusters, Little Green Footballs, Ms. Underestimated, The Accidental Harpist — and of course, Right-Wing News — among others.

H/T JOTUS (Joe of the United States)

Watch it here.  The host is NBC News anchor Brian Williams.  Zzzzzzzz….

It was pretty funny though that “Bill Clinton” (Darryl Hammond) dressed up as “Mystery” from VH-1’s The Pick-Up Artist.

Speaking of Obama, I hate to admit it, but his recent appearance on Ellen was kind of cute.   However, not cute enough to get filed under “Cute Boys.”  I take that category very seriously.

Check out today’s crossword in The Washington Post.  Click on the image for a larger view.

(I apologize for my unsteady MS Paint skills.)

Grab  a Bloody Mary (or whatever*) and play the Lauer-Craig Drinking Game on Tuesday morning.   Tomorrow on the Today Show Matt Lauer will interview Senator Larry Craig, presumably about his recent legal troubles, but who knows maybe it’s about the 2008 election.  

Drinking Game Rules

1 Drink if Matt Lauer smiles or smirks while talking about the wide stance

1 Drink if you smile or smirk listening to them discuss the wide stance

1 Drink if Sen. Craig’s wife cries

5 Drinks if Sen. Craig cries

3 Drinks each time he refuses to answer a question because his lawyers advised him not to

1 Drink if he holds his wife’s hand

5 Drinks if he holds Matt Lauer’s hand

2 Drinks if he bashes Mitt Romney

3 Drinks if Sen. Craig uses the word “fabulous”

10 Drinks if he comes out of the closet

*Drinks must be the Larry Craig Special – glass of vodka made with Idaho potatoes garnished with lots of fruits.

Special thanks to Dave for his fabulous rules for the game.

This is insane.

New York’s iconic Empire State Building is to be lit up green from Friday in honor of the Muslim Holiday of Eid, the biggest festival in the Muslim calendar marking the end of Ramadan, officials said. “This is the first time that the Empire State Building will be illuminated for Eid, and the lighting will become an annual event in the same tradition of the yearly lightings for Christmas and Hannukah,” according to a statement.Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month, is expected to be celebrated in New York from Friday, depending on when the new moon is sighted, and the city’s tallest skyscraper will remain green until Sunday.

Built in the early 1930s, the 443-meter-tall (1,454-feet-tall) Empire State Building was first lit up with colored lighting in 1976, when red, white and blue lights were used to mark the American Bicentennial.

An estimated seven million Muslims live in the United States.

Liberals are always willing to give a mile on the First Amendment (among others), but when it comes to the 2nd Amendment, they side with the central government and not the citizen.  GWU Professor Jonathan Turley recently wrote in USA Today that “The NRA might be right after all”:

The D.C. law effectively bars the ownership of handguns for most citizens and places restrictions on other firearms. The District’s decision to file these appeals after losing in the D.C. appellate court was driven more by political than legal priorities. By taking the appeal, D.C. politicians have put gun-control laws across the country at risk with a court more likely to uphold the rulings than to reverse them. It has also put the rest of us in the uncomfortable position of giving the right to gun ownership the same fair reading as more favored rights of free press or free speech.

…

Considering the Framers and their own traditions of hunting and self-defense, it is clear that they would have viewed such ownership as an individual right — consistent with the plain meaning of the amendment.

None of this is easy for someone raised to believe that the Second Amendment was the dividing line between the enlightenment and the dark ages of American culture. Yet, it is time to honestly reconsider this amendment and admit that … here’s the really hard part … the NRA may have been right. This does not mean that Charlton Heston is the new Rosa Parks or that no restrictions can be placed on gun ownership. But it does appear that gun ownership was made a protected right by the Framers and, while we might not celebrate it, it is time that we recognize it.

I just stumbled upon this collection of crazy quotes from animal rights activists.  Even BOTUS thinks they go to far.

“We feel that animals have the same rights as retarded children.”
       -Alex Pacheco, Director, PETA, New York Times, January 14, 1989.

“The life of an ant and that of my child should be granted equal consideration.”
     -Michael W. Fox, Vice President, The Human Society of the United States, The Inhumane Society, New York, 1990.

“Six million Jews died in concentration camps, but six billion broiler chickens will die this year in slaughter houses.”
       -Ingrid Newkirk, President, PETA, The Washington Post, November 13, 1983.

“Arson, property destruction, burglary and theft are ‘acceptable crimes’ when used for the animal cause.”
       -Alex Pacheco, Director, PETA

By the way, this is a good time to remind people that “anti-animal cruelty” groups are different from the “animal rights” groups listed here.  Anti-animal cruelty groups deserve your support.  Oh, and Michael Vick should burn in hell.

From Vanity Fair:

Regrettably, some Americans are simply not aware of how large an asshole footprint they leave on the planet. Here, Vanity Fair offers a questionnaire that will help such individuals determine the size and breadth of their footprint.

Some sample questions:

Do you leave vitriolic comments in the “Comments” sections of blogs and Web sites, even if you’re commenting on something innocuous, such as an old Linkin Park video?

When leaving such comments, do you use such rote Internet pejoratives as “asshat,” “douchebag,” and “‘tard”?

Does it take more than two words to describe what you do for a living?

Do you refer to having young children as “doing the parent thing”?

When your companion gets up to use the facilities at a restaurant, are you incapable of passing even the smallest blip of solitary time without theatrically scrolling or tapping on your BlackBerry, Tr?o, or iPhone?

Reducing your Asshole Footprint:

Stop gelling, mussing, and spiking your hair. You should part it, and that’s that.

Do not ever order a Cosmopolitan again.

Go two entire, consecutive days without using a wireless electronic communication device.