Happy Birthday, Simon

Happy Birthday, Simon
Originally uploaded by candy.

Simon Le Bon is 47 today. He's better looking now than when he was 27. The man still emulates the same sexual charisma as he did back in the 1980s. Good singer, too.

Right now, Duran Duran are together in a studio in San Fransisco working on their next album, to be released next year. In December, they will perform a bunch of concerts in Europe. We're hoping for another US tour by next winter at least.

Tour Dates:
December 9, 2005 Horsens, Denmark
December 11, 2005 Oslo, Norway (Nobel Peace Prize Concert)
December 13, 2005 Antwerp, Belgium
December 14, 2005 Luxembourg
December 16, 2005 Glasgow, Scotland
December 17, 2005 Birmingham, England
December 18, 2005 Manchester, England
December 21, 2005 London, England
December 22, 2005 London, England

The Escape Artist

Rocker In Jail
Originally uploaded by candy.

We never had problems with our oldest, Ethan, getting out of the house unnoticed, but Adam has already done it twice. Today was the final straw. I was upstairs and Adam was downstairs. I thought he was only watching TV, but no... the doorbell rang and it was the neighbor returning my son, who he found in the road in bare feet and pajamas. I couldn't figure out how he got out! Turns out he figured out how to break down the safety gate and open the back door. Boy was I freaked out. Scary. I have gone and bought chain locks for both doors.

Happy Halloween

Halloween Costume
Originally uploaded by candy.

The purple fairy would like to wish everyone a happy, fun and safe halloween!!

A Typical Day of Jury Duty

I got out of it twice over the summer, once because I was going out of town to see Duran Duran (gotta have my priorities LOL) and once because I was having a stressful week, but today I finally served for Jury Service. It was a teacher work day so the boys were not at school - Luckily, it was Yom Kippur, so Jonathan was home. I went in to the Jury assembly room at 8am and sat there until about 11:45, basically reading my book (Hello, He Lied by Lynda Obst) and people watching. (Courthouses are great for people watching.) They played Golden Girls and then a movie, some golf flick with Jim Caviezel.

Finally, 30 of us were called into a courtroom. We came in to hear a lady sobbing inside a small room next to the courtroom door. The trial was a criminal case; an assault charge. The state vs. the defendant, a huge intimidating looking man, who was accused of beating his wife. Presumably, his wife was the sobbing woman. 12 jurors, not me, were called into the juror box. The prosecutor asked them questions to see if they could be fair and impartial.

Then, we broke for lunch. After a break of about and hour and a half, we met the bailiff at the elevators and were led back into the court. The prosecutor asked several more questions of the 12 jurors. One girl was obviously trying to get out of it, I could just tell by her answers (heck, I might have done the same) So, after she assured them that she'd be very biased and unable to be fair, they let her go. They called another juror to replace her, not me. Whew. Then, the defense attourney had his shot. He asked some questions. One of the women on in the box had been through a domestic violence case with her husband. Surprisingly, he didn't ask to excuse her. They chose one last alternate juror and both prosecution and defense agreed they were happy with the jury. We were excused from the courtroom.

We were then led back to the jury assembly room where they were eating popcorn and watching "A Beautiful Mind" - there was a desk area and several laptop users were using the internet (Ironic because jurors are not allowed to talk to anyone, read newspapers or see local news, yet they can use the internet LOL) A couple people were sleeping. After a half hour or so, at about 3:30, we were all excused for the day. A full $12 earned for the 7 1/2 hours of sitting around.

In North Carolina, you only have to serve once every 2 years. I'm home free now :) ... for two years anyway.

Trading In the Gas Guzzlers

When It costs $45 to fill my little Mazda MPV minivan, it's no wonder that people who own SUV's might want something smaller! I am hoping for a resurgence of station wagons. Mazda makes an awesome one coming out this year, the Mazda 5, but with GM in my family, I'd like to see Chevy follow suit.