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<!--Generated by Squarespace Site Server v4.1.2 (http://www.squarespace.com/) on Mon, 12 May 2008 07:07:58 GMT--><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><title>JazzzyTina.com</title><subtitle>JazzzyTina.com</subtitle><id>http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/</id><link rel="alternate" type="application/xhtml+xml" href="http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/"/><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/atom.xml"/><updated>2008-05-09T01:51:01Z</updated><generator uri="http://www.squarespace.com/" version="Squarespace Site Server v4.1.2 (http://www.squarespace.com/)">Squarespace</generator><entry><title>Peer Pressure Nostalgia Part II</title><category>Music</category><id>http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/peer-pressure-nostalgia-part-ii.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/peer-pressure-nostalgia-part-ii.html"/><author><name>Tina</name></author><published>2008-05-09T01:47:31Z</published><updated>2008-05-09T01:47:31Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[Why do we never get an answer when we're knocking at the door?]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Elected</title><category>Music</category><category>Powerful Words</category><category>Politics</category><category>2008 Presidential Election</category><id>http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/elected.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/elected.html"/><author><name>Tina</name></author><published>2008-05-08T13:54:55Z</published><updated>2008-05-08T13:54:55Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[A vote for Alice Cooper is a vote well-voted.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>The Waiting and The Reading</title><category>Book Review</category><category>Business</category><category>Budd Wilkins</category><category>2008</category><category>Motivation</category><category>Success</category><category>Misplaced Priorities</category><id>http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/the-waiting-and-the-reading.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/the-waiting-and-the-reading.html"/><author><name>Tina</name></author><published>2008-04-18T15:52:54Z</published><updated>2008-04-18T15:52:54Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[Looking for work and reading as many books as I can simultaneously is a surefire way to stay out of trouble.  Not that I'm ever in trouble, except , of course, with Budd.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Best Burger in Greensboro (As Well As Other Delectables)</title><category>Restaurant Reviews</category><id>http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/best-burger-in-greensboro-as-well-as-other-delectables.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/best-burger-in-greensboro-as-well-as-other-delectables.html"/><author><name>Tina</name></author><published>2008-04-14T18:45:00Z</published><updated>2008-04-14T18:45:00Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[Would you believe the best burger in Greensboro is at a coffeehouse?  I didn't, until I tried it at Panizzo.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Book Review: The Colorful Apocalypse by Greg Bottoms</title><category>Book Review</category><category>Art</category><id>http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/book-review-the-colorful-apocalypse-by-greg-bottoms.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/book-review-the-colorful-apocalypse-by-greg-bottoms.html"/><author><name>Tina</name></author><published>2008-04-11T02:31:27Z</published><updated>2008-04-11T02:31:27Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[Learning About The Gray Area Between Madness and Christian Ecstasy

Another book I took to the beach was The Colorful Apocalypse: Journeys in Outsider Art by Greg Bottoms.  It was so good I read it in one day.  I expected this book to be a little more like Colin Rhodes' book, which I purchased at the same time for Budd; one with artist bios and pictures.  The Colorful Apocalypse was quite different - not a picture in sight except for the cover art, by William Thomas Thompson and Norbert Kox.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Kansas Jayhawks - 2008 National Champions</title><category>Sports</category><id>http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/kansas-jayhawks-2008-national-champions.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/kansas-jayhawks-2008-national-champions.html"/><author><name>Tina</name></author><published>2008-04-08T03:48:33Z</published><updated>2008-04-08T03:48:33Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[The Team Who Most Deserved to Win Won

Congratulations to Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks for their stunning performance tonight against the Memphis Tigers, winning in an overtime thriller.  Kansas has once again proved to the nation that they are a powerhouse college basketball team, coached by a real pro.  Even though I'm a tried and true Tarheel fan, I have to be happy for KU - it's been a while since they claimed the national title, and it's nice to see a talented, well-coached team cut down those nets in San Antonio.  I know they are going crazy in Lawrence, and I'm celebrating with them.  Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk! going crazy in Lawrence, and I'm celebrating with them.&nbsp; Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk!&nbsp;</p>]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Go Jayhawks</title><category>Sports</category><id>http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/go-jayhawks.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/go-jayhawks.html"/><author><name>Tina</name></author><published>2008-04-06T16:01:05Z</published><updated>2008-04-06T16:01:05Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[Lifelong Carolina Fan Cheers On Victors

I've been a Carolina superfan since childhood.  No one in my family ever went to Carolina, but my ancestors gave a significant portion of the land upon which UNC was built.  So my family, we're all Carolina Blue.  I call myself a "superfan" because I'm also a superstitious fan.  If I think there's a jinx present, I won't watch games with said jinx in the room.  I maintain the same patterns from game to game (have to order pizza, wear the same clothing, wear the Carolina button).  I know there are many others out there like me, whether they are Carolina fans or fans of other teams.

Last night's jinx was Carolina.  They were simply outplayed by a team who wanted it more.  I was proud of my team for playing with the sportsmanship and dignity that I believe the Carolina program has almost always had.  But I'm happy for KU.  And, I want the departure of Roy Williams to be out of their system.  It's been five years.  Roy came home.  He built a great program at KU which continues, as evidenced last night, under a great coach, Bill Self.  I want the KU faithful to let him go and let him be ours now.  Be proud of your own fine coach.  Maybe Roy Williams and Bill Self can work out a deal where each one coaches the other team for a year.  I wouldn't mind that.  Self is a first-rate coach, and I'm sure he'd do a fine job at Carolina.

And I will be pulling hard Monday night for KU to win it all.  They definitely deserve it.  They made the #1 team in the country look like a junior varsity high school team.   But, no matter what happens, season after season, I'm a Tar Heel born, I'm a Tar Heel bred, and when I die, I'll be a Tar Heel dead.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Who Is Proofreading (or Typing) Over There at N&amp;R?</title><category>Language</category><id>http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/who-is-proofreading-or-typing-over-there-at-nr.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/who-is-proofreading-or-typing-over-there-at-nr.html"/><author><name>Tina</name></author><published>2008-04-06T15:37:17Z</published><updated>2008-04-06T15:37:17Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[It's "Losing", Not "Loosing"

Okay, this is truly a pet peeve of mine.  In reading today's online article in the News & Record, I notice the caption under a photograph of Tyler Hansbrough.  Here it is, cut and pasted:  North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough talks to reporters after loosing to Kansas.

You "lose" a game.  Your shoelace is "loose".  "Loosing" is the verb form of "loose", which is very rarely used.  "I'm losing my mind."  "They were losing at the half."

Found another mistake in another article about a woman's purse being snatched.  "He was last seen driving a 1990s model teal green Buice LeSabre sedan. "  Buice?  I've never heard of that automobile brand. 

N&R just ran an editorial entitled "Our County's Children Need To Learn To Read Well".  I know we all make typographical errors.  And I'm really not trying to deliberately criticize N&R, a paper that I read daily and frequently enjoy.  I'm just saying, for the kids' sake, learn the difference between "loosing" and "losing," and print it correctly.  That's elementary school grammar, just like the usage of "too", "two" and "to".]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Book Review: White Noise by Don DeLillo</title><category>Book Review</category><id>http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/book-review-white-noise-by-don-delillo.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/book-review-white-noise-by-don-delillo.html"/><author><name>Tina</name></author><published>2008-04-03T21:14:35Z</published><updated>2008-04-03T21:14:35Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[National Book Award Winner is a Winner With Me

Trolling through Budd's staggering collection of books for something to read at the beach, I stumbled across White Noise, a 1985 novel by Don DeLillo.  Naturally, not being as literate as Budd, I had never heard of DeLillo; I now know that he's a great writer and has a new book out, Falling Man.

White Noise is a tale about a family, an airborne toxic event, the fear of death, and what lengths people will go to in order to hide their phobias from their loved ones.  It's also very, very funny.  Jack Gladney, professor of Hitler studies at a Midwestern college is on his fifth marriage to his fourth wife (he married one wife twice), Babette.  They live with their own children and some from numerous previous marriages, including infant Wilder, preteens Steffie and Denise, and 14-year-old Heinrich, a sullen conspiracy-theorist type.  Throughout the first section of the book, in the backdrop of their daily lives lives another set of characters: the voices of television and radio.  " 'Void where prohibited', said the radio."  Jack's ex-wives appear in hilarious anecdotes, along with other children who live apart from him.  His life with Babette includes debating who gets to die first and her reading erotica to him in bed.  Jack and Babette's daughter, Denise, soon discover that Babette is taking some sort of mysterious pill, one which can't be identified through the PDR or Babette's doctor.

The second section of the book involves the Airborne Toxic Event, which is a railroad car accident resulting in the emission of a gaseous cloud.  The town is evacuated; symptoms of exposure include deja vu, and Jack's obsessive fear of death is introduced. These may seem like frightening and dark themes, but DeLillo delivers his dialogue with great levity; I had to read some of the passages out loud to Budd because they were just so damn funny.

After the airborne toxic event, things seem to return to a somewhat normal state for the Gladney family, except we discover that the mysterious pill Babette is taking is an experimental drug to cure her death phobia.  She goes to great lengths to obtain the drug, which ultimately does not have the efficacy she had hoped for, but she arouses a curiosity in Jack to try the drug for himself, all the while trying desperately to dissuade him from that action.

What makes this book really worthwhile in my opinion is the dialogue between characters, particularly the children.  Most of their dialogue consists of a constant barrage of questions, answering questions with questions, revealing their insight and intelligence, showing us that they are fully aware of their parents' limitations.  Another aspect that I found quite interesting is DeLillo's suggestions about American consumerism and its use by people as a way to ward off death.  

I'm not one to give away a whole lot in reviews of books in terms of plot - I think most people can find synopses of the book all over the Internet; I know I did.  I can just tell you that if you want a first-rate read (that's also a quick read) that offers quirkiness, deadpan black humor, fascinating characters and a very thought-provoking ending, White Noise is a good choice.  I'm not surprised that it is highly acclaimed and won the National Book Award.  I'm looking forward to reading more by DeLillo.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Nantucket - On Tour!</title><category>Music</category><id>http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/nantucket-on-tour.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://BloggingPoet.squarespace.com/jazzzytinacom/nantucket-on-tour.html"/><author><name>Tina</name></author><published>2008-04-02T13:39:34Z</published><updated>2008-04-02T13:39:34Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[It's a Long Way To the Top (if you wanna rock 'n roll)

Since Danny brought up Nantucket a few posts back, and we all chimed in with our individual memories of that band, I was pleasantly surprised to find a newspaper at the beach proclaiming, on the front page, that Nantucket is now touring again, making the North Carolina festival circuit!  They were a sellout at last year's Fayetteville Dogwood Festival.  We all wondered through our comments what had happened to this band, and now we know. Here's their "unofficial" fan site, where you can actually book the band.  Looks like they are going to be at Everybody's Day in Thomasville this fall.  Sounds like a Blogsboro road trip!]]></summary></entry></feed>