Stuff you LOVE, baby

[ZeaLitY]

Wow, so these were sort of pre-op questionnaire interviews or counseling sessions? How did this fit into the whole abortion process? Like, did these women call a hotline and get you on the other end, or were they assigned to you by a specific clinic/other organization?

And where does the financial assistance come from? Some kind of foundation set up to help working class women access the same reproductive rights as more well-to-do women?

They go to the clinic to schedule their appointment/have an ultrasound to determine how many weeks it is, so the correct procedure can be picked and the cost can be established. While there, they're told to call the NAF and the state equal access fund. They call us, then we ask a few questions to see if they're eligible. They really just leave a message, and then volunteers work in shifts to respond to the messages.

Yeah, it's kind of a fundraiser. Some equal access funds have generous donors. This one does some great fundraising and also has some business links, like cards at certain grocery store that apply 1% of purchases as a donation. I think there are definitely some donors who are more generous than others, though. The NAF (the National Abortion Federation) is positively swamped with calls, though. They maintain a call system where you pretty much have to get through to a live person to get funding; trying to track down every caller would probably bankrupt them in money and in manhours.

[Lord J Esq]

The bagpipe is an awesome and underloved instrument. Aside from funerals and military demonstrations, I've only heard it in heavy metal bands. I'd love to hear bagpipes in more mainstream music, or in an orchestra. Tell us about this glorious project!

I am codifying my philosophy. I spent a few hours writing articles, studying my existing written work, and setting up a website.

Incidentally, I imagine you could actually listen to a kind of "bagpipe radio," or something like it, on Internet Radio websites like last.fm.

Taken by Loch Ness by my dad. 

So friggin' awesome. It'll be a while before I am as well-traveled, but at least it begins this year!

@Saj: You've never met them either, so I guess we are both at an impasse as to what they are thinking.  Let's leave it at that.

Despite Z's tone, you're on pretty tenuous ground. Better save it for the Abortion thread rather than making clips here.

[GenesisOne]

Despite Z's tone, you're on pretty tenuous ground. Better save it for the Abortion thread rather than making clips here.

Will do, J.

[ZaichikArky]

Wooo missed the abortion fight. I think that it's called pro-CHOICE for a reason. Women have the right to CHOSE abortion if they want it. No one should feel pressured to have one, nor should they feel pressured to give birth if they don't want it. There are plenty of options in the case of an unwanted pregnancy and the role of an abortion clinic and its volunteers is never to push abortion, but to give women all the choices and help them decide what is best to do under their circumstances. I also find it disgusting when others act all high and mighty about what they think women should do with their bodies when they've never had to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. Sure you can say anything you want, but  the pro-lifers aren't the ones dealing with a parasite in their bodies that demands a great deal from them.


Anyway...

I love Severus Snape. I'm over halfway through the last Harry Potter book and... *highlight to read spoilers*



I went and read later parts of the book because I really wanted to know how he dies and I'm so sad about it! Reading his last words, needing to look into Harry's eyes really brought me to tears. And then reading the end where Harry names one of his kids after Severus and says that he is named after the one of the bravest men he knew was really touching. Snape was such a complicating character with a lot of depth, learning about how much he loved Harry's mom made his final moments really bittersweet. It SUCKS to have your favorite character killed off and I really don't know if I can stand to see the movie version because reading it was hard enough. Alan Rickman does such a superb job playing Snape too. [/beige]

[Shee]

I lost all respect for bagpipes after finding out that the bagpipes Horner used for the Braveheart soundtrack(which is still awesome, btw) are in fact Irish.  What?  Laaaaaaame.

[Lord J Esq]

Scottish highland warpipes are a feat to combine with a symphony orchestra--or, indeed, to play indoors at all--the uileann pipes are softer and more melodic. 'Twas a legitimate artistic choice, and you'll notice in the soundtrack that there are highland bagpipes as well, used with drums in certain high-energy parts of the score.

And yes, the Braveheart soundtrack is friggin' sweet. The only problem with it is that Horner is a relentless self-plagiarist. Most of the music in the score is a repetition of a very small number of original musical ideas rather than a full-figured survey of many musical ideas which derive from the main themes and motifs. It's a common abuse in Hollywood; it allows the composer to write a lot of music quickly by, essentially, copy-pasting.

[Lakonthegreat]

I'm guessing this was a bad day to make my glorious announcement. =/

Dude, J, I'm totally excited about your bagpipe thing. I love the instrument myself, and I feel it's very underappreciated for the difficultyit presents to learn and play successfully.

Also, as a father-to-be, I have to say that if someone called up to offer my fiancee information about abortion, I'd be pissed too, in defense of the boyfriends. If we had talked about it beforehand, that would be a different story.

Also, on a much lighter note, my wife-to-be and I have recently paid our security deposit on a 3-bedroom 2-bath rental property equidistant from both our families, which is exactly what we wanted!

[Sajainta]

I lost all respect for bagpipes after finding out that the bagpipes Horner used for the Braveheart soundtrack(which is still awesome, btw) are in fact Irish.  What?  Laaaaaaame.

People in Scotland don't like Braveheart.  Why?

American movie filmed in Ireland with an Australian lead.

There's nothing Scottish about it!

[Mr Bekkler]

I lost all respect for bagpipes after finding out that the bagpipes Horner used for the Braveheart soundtrack(which is still awesome, btw) are in fact Irish.  What?  Laaaaaaame.

People in Scotland don't like Braveheart.  Why?

American movie filmed in Ireland with an Australian lead.

There's nothing Scottish about it!

And really it was a bunch of naked yelling men, the blue paint and clothes and writing were all very much made-up. Kinda like most movies. That doesn't make it right though.






Something I love?

My band is about to sign a recording contract. This. Is. BIG.

[Uboa]

Holy smoke!  That's great!

[FaustWolf]

COMPENDIUMITES WILL RULE THE WORLDS. All of them.

[Sajainta]

THAT IS SO AWESOME. 

[KebreI]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Car1aZT-XMA

Just found a replica of his shirt for sale, YAY!!

[skylark]

I love my ne 80 gig, backwards compatible, freshly refurbished PS3. I am a very happy person right now.

[Thought]

There is a particular joy I get about once a year (usually) that is rather odd but nice nonetheless.

I have bad eyesight. Weak eyes, as they might have been called in ages past. Thus, I wear glasses. However, my eyes continue to degrade, so I continue to need newer prescriptions. I probably need a new pair of glasses every 9ish months, but with insurance, I get one every year (or less, if I don't happen to have eye insurance). This disconnect means that I start noticing that my eyesight is bad for a significant period of time before I get new glasses.

The time has come for me to schedule an appointment with my eye-doc (alas, "optometrist," you are a quarter-word where a nickel-phrase suffices!). While I dislike that my eyes suck, I find myself actually looking forward to those sweet hours after I get a new pair of glasses. I am always amazed at how crisp and clear the world can be. I recognize that my eyesight without the new glasses is poor, but each and every time having my sight restored to perfect makes me smile uncontrollably.

Of course this doesn't last long. A few hours, and then for the next week or so I'll randomly be happy about it, but over time it gets to be the norm and I stop thinking about it.

Thus it is actually sort of nice to have bad eyesight, if only for the wonderful joy of having my eyesight restored. If I always had 20/20, then I would be barred from this pleasure.

Also, David Tennant. Sorry Matt Smith. I really like your capabilities as a sweet, caring Doctor, but you have yet to do anything that seems to qualify as being "like fire and ice and rage... like the night, and the storm in the heart of the sun... ancient and forever."