HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY 2010

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

PRINCESS DIANA'S BLACK DRESS UP FOR AUCTION

Yahoo News Story Princess Diana, Princess Grace and What's His Name?

LONDON – It was black and strapless, with a sassy sequined flounce at the bodice and a gloriously full, swishy skirt.

The dress was, Lady Diana Spencer thought, so grown-up, just right for her first official engagement after the announcement she was to marry Prince Charles.

But when photographs emerged of the then 19-year-old Diana emerging from a limousine at a March, 1981 charity event — all creamy shoulders and ample decolletage — there was a minor scandal over the revealing cut. According to Elizabeth Emanuel, who designed the ball gown with her husband David, they didn't realize the furor the dress would cause.



"She just looked fantastic. At that time, she was curvy. Not fat in any way, but she had cleavage — we love cleavage. And she looked great in this dress," Emanuel said in an interview Friday. "We in no way expected there to be such a reaction. And I think from that moment on, Diana became a fashion icon."

The dress had been missing for years until David Emanuel recently discovered it in a plastic bag at his home. Along with other garments worn by Diana and designed by the Emanuels, it is to be auctioned off June 8 in a sale that includes the silk chiffon blouse chosen for the Princess of Wales' official engagement portrait by Lord Snowdon, and the calico prototype used to fit her famous ivory wedding gown.

Prince Charles reportedly didn't like the ballgown she wore to the charity event, because he thought black was for people in mourning. Diana thought it was tres chic, and anyway, she had nothing else to wear.

"She was unsophisticated at that point, and when I look at the wedding dress and the black ballgown I can see a young girl's dream of the ultimate party dress or romantic dress," said auctioneer Kerry Taylor, whose eponymous firm is handling the sale. "So there's an innocence about these early pieces.

"Later on she became very svelte, very sophisticated, very elegant," Taylor said. "But here we see just a very beautiful, innocent young girl, and the clothes reflect that."

For the editors of Britain's voracious press, the dress — and the snaps of Diana in it — would kick off a long love affair with the princess.

"Up until that point, they'd seen her as a floppy-haired puppy," said Christopher Wilson, a seasoned observer who has written extensively on the royals. "And that's the moment Fleet Street fell in love with her.

"It all stretches back to that one picture."

Taylor and Elizabeth Emanuel are hopeful the collection will go to a museum — the black dress is expected to fetch between 30,000 and 50,000 pounds ($44,000 to $73,000) and the prototype of the wedding dress between 8,000 and 12,000 pounds ($12,000 to $17,000) — but understand that Diana's legacy means there's a strong chance a private collector may snap up the garments.

Despite the reaction to her ballgown, Diana liked it enough to ask the Emanuels to take it in when it became too large for her, as she was constantly losing weight. In the months leading up to her wedding, Diana's waist dropped from 26 to 24 inches, and the Emanuels decided it would be easier to just make her a new, smaller version of the dress. Elizabeth Emanuel said she doesn't know what happened to the second version.

The collection up for sale includes sketches, notes, invoices — one shows Diana's mother paid 1,000 guineas for the wedding party's dresses, which was the equivalent of 1,050 pounds — and even the handbag that Elizabeth Emanuel carried to the wedding at St. Paul's Cathedral on July 29, 1981. It still has the smelling salts the designer brought along in case her famous client felt faint. (She didn't, Emanuel said, describing Diana as the epitome of calm.)

"Diana was just fantastic. From the moment we first met her, she was just like a regular client. She was lovely, down-to-earth, very sweet, very calm, very friendly. She made a point of meeting everybody in the work room and she was just so easy to get on with," Emanuel said. "We had so much fun."

SNARKY HOUSES AROUND THE WORLD!

CALIFORNIA VS ARIZONA

AZ Vs CA - A Coyote Story
5-23-10


Governor of California is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks dog.

California:

#1. Governor starts to intervene, reflects upon the movie 'Bambi' and then realizes he should stop; the coyote is only doing what is natural.

#2. He calls animal control. Animal control captures coyote and spends $200 testing it for diseases and $500 upon relocating it.

#3. He calls veterinarian. Vet collects dead dog and spends $200 testing it for diseases.

#4. Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for diseases from the coyote and on getting bite wound bandaged.

#5. Running trail gets shut down for 6 months while wildlife services conduct a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is clear of dangerous animals.

#6. Governor spends $50,000 of state funds implementing a "coyote awareness" program for residents of the area.

#7. State legislature spends $2 million investigating how to better handle rabies and how to possibly eradicate the disease.

#8. Governor's security agent is fired for not stopping the attack and for letting the Governor intervene.

#9. Cost: $75,000 to train new security agent.

#10. PETA protests the coyote relocation and files suit against the state.


Arizona:

#1. Governor shoots coyote and keeps jogging. Governor has spent $0.50 on a .45 ACP hollow point cartridge. Buzzards eat dead coyote.


Any wonder why California is broke????

NEW ARIZONA STATE FLAG

LET'S SEE IF WE GOT THIS RIGHT..

IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR.

IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.

IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.

IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.

IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.

IF YOU CROSS THE U.S. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET


* A JOB,
* A DRIVERS LICENSE,
* SOCIAL SECURITY CARD,
* WELFARE,
* FOOD STAMPS,
* CREDIT CARDS,
* SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,
* FREE EDUCATION,
* FREE HEALTH CARE,
* A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON
* BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE
* RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY'S FLAG WHILE YOU PROTEST THAT YOU DON'T GET ENOUGH RESPECT
* AND, IN MANY INSTANCES, YOU CAN VOTE.

JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE HAD A FIRM GRASP ON THE SITUATION

NEWEST BLOG! THE ZOO CROO

THE ZOO CROO



I get tons of emails with great photos of animals of all types. While I am off work I decided to make a fun blog for animal fans to see. It is therapeutic to work on and relaxing.

My daughter Lesley made me this really nice banner for the Zoo Croo:





Here is the badge for The Zoo Croo



Stop by and visit the Zoo Croo and email me pictures of cool animals and pets to zoocroo@gmail.com.

Thank you!

COOL SNARKY WOMEN

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

WELCOME TO ARIZONA

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane has compared a tough new immigration law in Arizona to those of Nazi Germany.

MacFarlane, whose irreverent animated TV comedies have themselves provoked controversy, said the Arizona law was more shocking than anything he had done on television.

"It's too much. It's kind of a slap in the face, it's not the way to handle it...Nobody but the Nazis ever asked anybody for their papers," MacFarlane told Reuters Television in an interview on Thursday.

"Walking down the street, a cop can come up to you and say 'May I see your papers?' -- I think they should be required to ask that question in German if the law sticks around," he added.

Arizona's law, signed last week, allows police to stop people and ask for proof they are in the United States legally if there is any "reasonable suspicion" to the contrary. Opponents see it as a recipe for racism.

MacFarlane, who is also behind the TV series "American Dad!" and "The Cleveland Show," was the latest celebrity to speak out against the measure.

Colombian singer Shakira met with the mayor of Phoenix on Thursday to help campaign against the law, which she called "unjust and inhuman."

Latin singer Ricky Martin on Thursday told the audience at the Billboard Latin Music Awards in Puerto Rico to "put a stop to discrimination. Put a stop to hate. Put a stop to racism...Long live love, long live peace."

IF WOMEN RULED....

MEN CAN FIX ANYTHING

This is hysterical but too damn true....

MOVING TO MEXICO

Dear President Obama:

I'm planning to move my family and extended family into Mexico for my health, and I would like to ask you to assist me.

We're planning to simply walk across the border from the U.S. Into Mexico, and we'll need your help to make a few arrangements.

We plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws.

I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Calderon, that I'm on my way over?

Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.

2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.

3. Please print all Mexican government forms in English.

4. I want my grandkids to be taught Spanish by English-speaking (bi-lingual) teachers.

5. Tell their schools they need to include classes on American culture and history.

6. I want my grandkids to see the American flag on one of the flag poles at their school.

7. Please plan to feed my grandkids at school for both breakfast and lunch.

8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services.

9. I do plan to get a car and drive in Mexico , but, I don't plan to purchase car insurance, and I probably won't make any special effort to learn local traffic laws.

10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from their president to leave me alone, please be sure that every patrol car has at least one English-speaking officer.

11. I plan to fly the U.S. Flag from my house top, put U S. Flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.

12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, or have any labor or tax laws enforced on any business I may start.

13. Please have the president tell all the Mexican people to be extremely nice and never say critical things about me or my family, or about the strain we might place on their economy.

14. I want to receive free food stamps.

15. Naturally, I'll expect free rent subsidies.

16. I'll need Income tax credits so although I don't pay Mexican Taxes, I'll receive money from the government.

17. Please arrange it so that the Mexican Gov't pays $4,500 to help me buy a new car.

18. Oh yes, I almost forgot, please enroll me free into the Mexican Social Security program so that I'll get a monthly income in retirement.

I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all his people who walk over to the U..S. From Mexico . I am sure that President Calderon won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely..

Thank you so much for your kind help. You're the man!!!