Have you ever had an extended weekend and it passes you by really fast because you don’t have a lot on your plate? I’m on the threshold of that weekend.

I had hopes of going out Friday night, however, hitting the 3 month mark in the smoking cessation has me craving a cigarette *really* bad and I fear falling off the wagon by being around people who smoke or places where there’s temptation. Staying smoke free is more important than going out for the first time in over a year.

Perhaps the change in my eating habits has psychologically triggered the feelings of the first few days I had experienced when I put out my last smoke. I’ve no clue- I’ve hit a rough spot, but I remain eating the greens and changed out the chicken for salmon and lettuce for spinach this week.

Jonathon’s tired, the weather is a-typical Pacific NW autumn and I just read a news article where an 8 year old boy killed his father and his fatehrs friend in Arizona. Palin in back home in AK where there seems to be an economic crisis going on and I feel like shoving baby carrots in my mouth to pacify my want for sweets! ARGH!!!!!!!

While looking up information on Spider-Man Web of Shadows, seeing that the PS2 version (like most) SUCKS and how I need to get it on PS3… and I NEED a PS3 REALLY BAD… I saw that Tomb Raider Underworld comes out on November 18th!!!!!! OMGGGGGGGGGGG Jonathon’s birthday is November 27th and sadly he doesn’t want the TR game *sob*

I may wait to get it for if/when I ever geet the next generation in consoles, but it doesn’t stop my longing to have it. *BIG SOB*

Things have been quiet in the Joss-Whed-verse for awhile now and for those who have been following him (more like skulking, stalking, pretending to be trees on his estate) then you’ve heard the talk of his latest project: Dollhouse!

Well… oh ye Jossey-Whedon-verse fans, I came across this on ‘Aint it Cool News’ and my Whedo-uverse passion has been lit again.

On the list: Eliza Dushku as Echo (Faith from BTVS)
Amy Acker (Fred from Angel) … and other people

January feels far far away

I guess I’ll have to engross myself in Heroes and possibly a life to bide my time until the new show airs.

Here’s the interview that I stumbled across

Welcome (back) to the Dollhouse.

A New Pilot? A New Hope? A Prequel? A Nyquil? What’s the skinny on DOLLHOUSE and why doesn’t this link to anything?

Hi guys. Well, it’s been an eventful week. While all of you have been enjoying (and in some cases, suddenly NOT enjoying) our adorable little musical romp “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” (exclusively available on iTunes!) (And I lied about some people not enjoying it!) I’ve been busying myself with a little something I like to call DOLLHOUSE. Finishing a new episode. Finishing a new… here’s the headline… FIRST episode.

What’s that, you say? A second first? How can such a thing be? Does it defy the laws of all physics? Well, I sat down with Rutherford D. Actualperson to do a quick Q&A and give you all the skinny on the progress of my new series (Available on iTunes at some point one would assume!)

Rutherford D. Actualperson: Joss. You are a legend in the industry, and your forehead is a normal size proportionate to your face. Tell me about the idea behind doing a new first episode. Didn’t you already shoot one?

Joss: Yes, Ruhthie, I did. And it was grand, simply grand.

R.D.A: Then why shoot another? Also, your teeth are whitish.

Joss: I said it was grand, I didn’t say it was comprehensible. I showed some scenes to David Lynch and he’s all, “whuh?” Bad sign. But I kid.

The fact is, I’m very proud of the ep we shot and the series is making me crazy with the excitement. But I tend to come at things sideways, and there were a few clarity issues for some viewers. There were also some slight issues with tone – I was in a dark, noir kind of place (where, as many of you know, I make my home), and didn’t bring the visceral pop the network had expected from the script. The network was cool about it, but not sure how to come out of the gate with the ep.

R.D.A.: So they made you do another. It’s Firefly all over again! Run! For the love of God, HE’S CALLING FROM THE HOUSE!!!

Joss: Wow. Good panic.

R.D.A.: I try. But I am genuinely concerned. Also your smooth skin and elegant hands are making me bi-curious.

Joss: Well, the idea to do a new first episode wasn’t the network’s. It was mine. I understood their consternation, and saw the gap between my style and their expectations, and I suggested I shoot a new ep and make the one I’d shot the second. It isn’t going to be buried, like the pilot of Firefly. It’s simply coming after another, slightly cleaner ep. And because unlike Firefly, it isn’t a two hour epic which introduces everyone to each other, the onus isn’t on the new ep to explain a million things.

The fact is, Fox ordered the series before we shot a frame and then, after the strike, I had literally two months to write and prep the whole thing. Which means simply that the network has to figure out what they might want to tweak AFTER it was shot, unlike a pilot. Buffy didn’t make the fall sched, Angel got shut down when they saw the second ep outline… it’s birth pangs. The network truly gets the premise (this is a whole new crew, as you know), loves the cast, is excited about the show – but they’re also specific about how they want to bring people to the show and I not only respect that, I kinda have to slap my forehead that I didn’t tailor my tone and structure to the network’s needs, since that’s something I pride myself on.

R.D.A.: You’re not just being the good soldier?

Joss: We both know from years of experience that I’m a crap soldier, though I am an accomplished fan-dancer. No, this is a very cold look at what’s going on, and it’s not an Us vs Them. The truth is, I’m in love with this world, and I don’t care how people get into it. I have a million things to say about (and through) all of these characters, and I don’t mind which ones I say first. I think I just turned in a pretty cool pilot script. [Editor’s note: that means someone TOLD him THEY thought it was cool. He has no judgement of his own. This is sad, but on the plus side, it was probably one of his writers, who actually ARE cool. So rest easy.]

R.D.A.: So what does this mean for production?

Joss: We’ve pushed an extra few days so I can prep this bitch within an inch of its life, i.e., read it once more.

R.D.A.: But how will this affect the foundation of the very turning of our precious earth, and by that I mean Comiccon?

Joss: Yeah. Unfortunately, we won’t have a new teaser to show, since we’ll start shooting after the con. People will have to settle for chatting with Eliza and Tahmoh. But they’re likeable folk. (Sadly, Tahmoh only speaks Canadian, though he has a lovely translator at his side, like Isabella Rosselini in “White Nights”.) We’ll still rock the panel, but showing clips is kind of a tradition, so my emoticon doth frown.

R.D.A.: And the first first episode?

Joss: I’ll reshoot a few scenes, but it’ll basically air as is. When I was given seven episodes, I referred to them as “the Seven Pilots”, ‘cause you always have to lay out the premise one way or another in those early eps. So instead of Grumpy, this particular episode will be Sneezy. (Seriously. Eliza fights POLLEN! Sooo sexy.)

R.D.A.: So Eliza’s still a different character every week?

Joss: Often several.

R.D.A: And in the Dollhouse, the amazing-looking facility where all the beautiful people whose memories have been wiped live in a state of unselfconscious innocence, the showers are co-ed? [Editor’s note: the showers are co-ed?]

Joss: The showers are co-ed. [Editor’s note: HOT damn.]

R.D.A.: So nothing of substance has been changed. Shower-wise.

Joss: You are a sad, lonely actual man, Actualman.

R.D.A.: So true, so true. Thank you for talking/fan-dancing to me. Anything else you’d like to add?

Joss: Available exclusively on iTunes! Oh. About Dollhouse? Only that it’s going to be a funhouse ride of excitement, fear, existential angst and co-ed showers. That I love it. Love the writers, love the cast, and already blissfully live in the strange, compelling world of the removable self. Hmm. When I pitched it to Eliza, she said “My God, it’s my life!” But after that sentence, I think maybe it’s mine.

R.D.A.: I guess we’ll have to wait till January to see what you’ve cooked up.

Joss: And I’ll probably keep cooking till the moment I serve.

R.D.A.: Would you hold me?

Joss: Yes, Ruhthie. Yes I will.

[Editor’s note in Strongbad’s voice: IT’S OVER!]

The first thing I saw was that the ticketed trucker had been driving for twenty years and is a permanent resident of the US. My eyes lit up when I read it and the following thoughts started to race through my head:

“I wonder if I can do citizen’s arrests in forums and online!”
“Woo hoo! No more annoying slang!”
“Texas is going to be behind bars, and not the kind with stools and beer mugs!”
“I wonder if this applies to pig Latin.”

My hopes of a proper speaking world were diminished when I read further because this will only be applied to truck drivers who do not have English as their native tongue. Damn it. First of all I’m impressed with anyone who’s bilingual, trilingual et al and I don’t mean those who can speak Klingon. I understand that if you’re in a country where the primary language is not your native tongue, you must learn how to communicate properly. Sadly, when I visited Puerto Vallara I must have seemed like a doe eyed idiot when all I could manage to ask was “How much?” and “Where’s the bathroom please?”. I’m pretty sure the locals were saying behind my back, “If you’re going to be in this country, learn to speak the language you damned Gringo.”

Poor English Can Cost Truck Drivers
Federal officials seek to tighten law requiring clear communication.

By JAY REEVES
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: Friday, July 18, 2008 at 6:10 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, July 18, 2008 at 7:33 a.m.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. | Manuel Castillo was driving a truck through Alabama hauling onions and left with a $500 ticket for something he didn’t think he was doing: speaking English poorly.

GARY KAZANJIAN | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRUCK DRIVER MANUEL CASTILLO stands near the truck he was driving when he was ticketed while driving through Alabama for speaking English poorly.
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Castillo, 50, who was stopped on his way back to California, said he knows federal law requires him to be able to converse in English with an officer but he thought his language skills were good enough to avoid a ticket.

Still, Castillo said he plans to pay the maximum fine of $500 rather than return to Alabama to fight the ticket.

“It just doesn’t seem fair to be ticketed if I wasn’t doing anything dangerous on the road,” he said.

Federal law requires that anyone with a commercial driver license speak English well enough to talk with police. Authorities last year issued 25,230 tickets nationwide for violations. Now the federal government is trying to tighten the English requirement, saying the change is needed for safety reasons.

Most states let truckers and bus drivers take at least part of their license tests in languages other than English. But the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has proposed rules requiring anyone applying for a commercial driver license to speak English during their road test and vehicle inspection. The agency wants to change its rules to eliminate the use of interpreters, and congressional approval isn’t required.

Drivers could still take written tests in other languages in states where that is allowed, and they wouldn’t have to be completely fluent during the road test, said Bill Quade, an associate administrator with the agency. “Our requirement is that drivers understand English well enough to respond to a roadside officer and to be able to converse,” said Quade, who heads enforcement. Drivers need to be able to communicate with authorities about their loads and their vehicles, he said.

A handful of states and organizations supports the change, and no one opposed the new rule in comments submitted to the agency.

The rule change, which Quade said would likely take effect next year, could particularly affect the nation’s fast-growing Spanish-speaking population.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated last year that more than 17 percent of the nation’s 3.4 million truck drivers were Hispanic, as were more than 11 percent of its 578,000 bus drivers.

It’s unknown how many speak both Spanish and English.

The issue of English-speaking drivers also could become larger if the Bush administration succeeds with efforts to make it easier for trucks to enter the United States from Mexico. Trucks already are allowed to enter border areas under a pilot program.

An Alabama state trooper thought Castillo couldn’t speak English well enough to drive an 18-wheeler when he was headed back to California from picking up onions in Glennville, Ga. A driver for 20 years, Castillo was stopped in west Alabama for a routine inspection.

Castillo, who says he speaks English at roughly a third-grade level, said he understood when the trooper asked him where he was heading and to see his commercial driver license and registration. He said he responded in English, though he has an accent.

Castillo wasn’t speeding, and the inspection and computer check turned up no offenses, so he was surprised to get a ticket for being a “non-English speaking driver.”

“I had heard that Congress had passed that law, so I knew people were getting tickets,” he said in an interview in Spanish. “But it didn’t seem fair to me because I was communicating fine with him. I don’t know a lot of things, but when it comes to my work I understand everything people say to me.”

Castillo, a permanent U.S. resident who lives near Fresno, said he took his California license test in Spanish because it’s the language he’s most comfortable speaking.

Jan Mendoza of the California Department of Motor Vehicles said the state gives the written test in both English and Spanish, but the roadside portion of the exam is in English only because of the federal rule.

Limiting the road portion of the CDL test to English-only conversation would help eliminate drivers who don’t speak English well enough to talk to an officer on the roadside, Quade said. He sees no conflict in continuing to let applicants take the written test in languages other than English.

“The level of English proficiency we are looking for at the roadside is basic. The (written) CDL is a whole different level. There’s multiple choice, fairly in-depth quarters that require more of an understanding of the English language.”

English-only testing for commercial licenses is limited to just seven states, according to the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which tracks the issue. Those include Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming and Missouri, which recently passed the rule, according to the group.

The OOIDA supports the English-language rules for commercial drivers, as does the American Trucking Association, said spokesman Clayton Boyce.

Transylvanian Concubine – Interview with the Vampire

AND: Lara Croft to Buffy the Musical

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=t9_0kIJjkMo[/youtube]

Here are some photos of Lara visiting Broadway, Central Park, Tiffany’s, buying gum from a vendor and trying to get a job at the Stardust.

Current Mood: UPSET!!!

Next Blog: A night of season premieres and Blades of Glory!

“I take it she got you AFTER she learned about EBay.”