A Black Hole of Happiness

[Sparklehorse]

Originally posted by Not Bob
They probably don't really care about keeping Paris or Winona or Nicole or Phil Spector or Bob Ney alive. It's all about the prison desiring to maintain control and keeping the guards safe[r]. That's the same reason why the wardens and correctional officers organizations tend to get annoyed when politicians start to whine about prisoners getting "privileges" like watching TV and lifting weights.

But, sebby, I think that your analysis of whether you or I would get the same sentence as Paris did for doing what she did is really off -- perhaps not for the Keystone State, but definitely for around here. Thanks to the efforts of MADD, she would have done at least 30 days for the initial DUI around my neck of the woods, and driving on a DUI suspended licence is another stint of time, pretty much guarranteed.

As an aside, I feel bad for her. Granted, I think that she needs to be accountable, and I have no issue with her getting 45 days for what she did. But it just seems like the very people in the tabloid media who made her what she is are taking an unseemly delight in seeing her suffer, and it just strikes me as more than a little bit cruel.

I don't feel very sorry for her, at least no more that I feel sorry for anyone who has to go to jail. She has been working on being famous for nothing for years. I remember seeing article about her and her sister in Vanity Fair (I googled and it appears to have been in September 2000 when they ran something about "It girls"). At the time, I couldn't understand why anyone would possibly care about her since she had no discernible talents. She seemed to be famous for using her name to get herself in print and in front of cameras. She also seems to have made a great deal of money doing this for at least the last 7 years. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

ETA: Well, I can't find a link to the original article but I did find an excerpt which included this little gem.

"Well, just because you're a celebrity doesn't mean you shouldn't get in trouble if you do something," Paris says.

Link

[LessinSF]

Originally posted by Not Bob
But, sebby, I think that your analysis of whether you or I would get the same sentence as Paris did for doing what she did is really off -- perhaps not for the Keystone State, but definitely for around here. Thanks to the efforts of MADD, she would have done at least 30 days for the initial DUI around my neck of the woods, and driving on a DUI suspended licence is another stint of time, pretty much guarranteed.

As an aside, I feel bad for her. Granted, I think that she needs to be accountable, and I have no issue with her getting 45 days for what she did. But it just seems like the very people in the tabloid media who made her what she is are taking an unseemly delight in seeing her suffer, and it just strikes me as more than a little bit cruel.

I watched about 20 minutes of the Sheriff's press conference and came out agreeing with him - he's never seen someone similarly situated getting the "no alternative release" order for this offense. Plus, he is under Federal supervision for overcrowding, so the county has created a population valve - if your crime was non-violent, you serve 10% inside, and are released to another form of detention (i.e. house) to instead kennel people who had $200 crack on them for 10 years.

He claimed to be reviewing 52 similar cases, and expected that most, if not all, would have spent 0 time in jail, or, at least, would have been released to an alternative (home detention) for the duration of their time after having spent 10% of the sentence inside. I am betting he is right.

That doesn't mean a judge cannot dictate to the Sheriff that such normalities should not be applied in an individual case, but, as the Sheriff said, the judge's order to the contrary likely demonstrated that she is being treated differently from the day-to-day, driving-on-a-suspended-license, defendant because the judge went out of the way to enter an order that prohibited the usual penalties.

As to the argument that her multiple offenses and subsequent behavior, warranted stricter treatment, I agree that that may have differentiated her from a standard "driving on a suspended" violator.

But, how much of that was properly proved and before this judge? He could only consider the evidence of the particular offence in front of him (and prior convictions) , and I do not know whether the other alleged violations were combined before this judge, or were being separately prosecuted.) Further, did the DA charge a probation violation, and, again, is evidence regarding other, uncharged, violations of her suspension admissible.

As for her ridiculous excuse(s), whose aren't?

Finally, talking to a friend of mine who does DUI defense, her take was "Normally, they write you up for the driving on a suspended violation, let you find your own way home, and impound your car. The car release fee is a couple hundred dollars, plus daily fees, and you cannot pick it up without a valid license, which these people don't have, but they don't arrest you. And, for each Paris' traffic stops, they never (to my knowledge), impounded her Bentley, which, if you really wanted to fuck with Paris, is what you would do because then the cops have a legal basis to "inventory" the car - "Five baggies w/ pills and powders, sent to lab for analysis."

P.S. I loved the way the Sheriff blamed Paris, her doctors, her handlers, and her lawyers for (en masse) failing to tell his intake staff that she was on some sort of anti-depressant, anti-anxiety, or other head-drug. Because I have no doubt she was taking a cocktail of legal prescribed, and illegal unprescribed, drugs which she did not want to disclose upon intake. And, surprise, detox is a bitch. That said, once the Sheriff figured out she lied that she needed _____ to cope and not commit suicide, she didn't need home release to resolve that - she just needed a spoon, lighter, rubber hose, and needle.

And a third eye. In the back of my head . . . because that would be cool. And a bionic liver.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
Cast iron is not nearly as much fun to cook with until it's been used regularly for years.* I have one, but am kind of waiting for my parents to kick off so I can take theirs over. I don't cook frequently enough. Theirs is a little smaller than 12" but is smooth as silk.

*In fact, I think newish cast iron is on the pain-in-the-ass side, comparatively speaking, especially w/r/t cleanup.

Preheat an oven to 450. Take the new skillet and rub with cooking oil (soybean or corn oil). Place the skillet uoside in the hot oven with a sheet pan on the lower rack to catch any drips. Leave the oven on for 30 minutes, then when the skillet cools, wipe it out with a soft cloth.

Once it's seasoned, any food sticking should be cleaned out by scrubbing the skillet with kosher salt and paper towels.

[taxwonk]

I remember when "Brick" came out (I think at Sundance) it got a lot of good buzz. After catching it on cable last night, I know why. If Dashiell Hammett were in high school in the 21st Century, this is the movie he'd script.

It's the sort of noir you don't have to be Fringey to love.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by taxwonk
Preheat an oven to 450. Take the new skillet and rub with cooking oil (soybean or corn oil). Place the skillet uoside in the hot oven with a sheet pan on the lower rack to catch any drips. Leave the oven on for 30 minutes, then when the skillet cools, wipe it out with a soft cloth.

Once it's seasoned, any food sticking should be cleaned out by scrubbing the skillet with kosher salt and paper towels.

Jesus, Wanker, fuck off. I'm not an idiot. The pans behave completely differently if you cook with them regularly versus just every once in a while.

[Fugee]

I was at a booksale today benefitting a local police department and saw a book that is full of the most disgusting recipes I've ever read. (It's called "The Worst Cookbook in America," so what else did I expect?) Naturally I had to buy it.

This recipe would be impossible for Fringey's friend to ruin. It would be inedible no matter what he did to it:

Hamburger Jell-O

1 pound ground hamburger
1 cup frozen vegetables
1 box Jell-O (must be strawberry)

Prepare Jell-O mix per instructions and set aside. Brown hamburger and drain grease. Steam vegetables until well done and drain. Place hamburger on the bottom of a ring mold and add a layer of vegetables. Gently pour Jell-O mix over meat and vegetables and put in the refrigerator until hard. Serve in small squares with parsley.

[NotFromHere]

Originally posted by Fugee
I was at a booksale today benefitting a local police department and saw a book that is full of the most disgusting recipes I've ever read. (It's called "The Worst Cookbook in America," so what else did I expect?) Naturally I had to buy it.

This recipe would be impossible for Fringey's friend to ruin. It would be inedible no matter what he did to it:

Hamburger Jell-O

1 pound ground hamburger
1 cup frozen vegetables
1 box Jell-O (must be strawberry)

Prepare Jell-O mix per instructions and set aside. Brown hamburger and drain grease. Steam vegetables until well done and drain. Place hamburger on the bottom of a ring mold and add a layer of vegetables. Gently pour Jell-O mix over meat and vegetables and put in the refrigerator until hard. Serve in small squares with parsley.

Jesus. How stoned would you have to be to even think of making something like that? Strawberry jello and hamburger? And the frozen vegetables - nice touch.

[Fugee]

Originally posted by NotFromHere
Jesus. How stoned would you have to be to even think of making something like that? Strawberry jello and hamburger? And the frozen vegetables - nice touch.

That is not even the most disgusting recipe in the book. Peanut Butter & Jelly Swordfish Timbale anyone? Tropical mashed potatoes**?

**I suspect my horror at mixing crushed pineapple, coconut, chocolate chips & a bananas into mashed potatoes is no greater than that of a Japanese war bride in my Scandinavian home community when she first saw Glorified Rice (rice with pineapple, fruit cocktail, cool whip & mini marshmallows) or any of the other sweetened rice dishes found at any church pot luck).

[LessinSF]

Originally posted by Fugee
That is not even the most disgusting recipe in the book. [blah, blah, blah]

Isn't there a "To fuck or to Cook?" thread? Unless you want talk Spagettios - cold, spooned out of the can, that's allowed.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Not Bob
They probably don't really care about keeping Paris or Winona or Nicole or Phil Spector or Bob Ney alive. It's all about the prison desiring to maintain control and keeping the guards safe[r]. That's the same reason why the wardens and correctional officers organizations tend to get annoyed when politicians start to whine about prisoners getting "privileges" like watching TV and lifting weights.

But, sebby, I think that your analysis of whether you or I would get the same sentence as Paris did for doing what she did is really off -- perhaps not for the Keystone State, but definitely for around here. Thanks to the efforts of MADD, she would have done at least 30 days for the initial DUI around my neck of the woods, and driving on a DUI suspended licence is another stint of time, pretty much guarranteed.

As an aside, I feel bad for her. Granted, I think that she needs to be accountable, and I have no issue with her getting 45 days for what she did. But it just seems like the very people in the tabloid media who made her what she is are taking an unseemly delight in seeing her suffer, and it just strikes me as more than a little bit cruel.

YMMV. I know a good number of people with double DUIs. Maybe it is a PA thing, but they haven't done any time.

I have never heard of anyone doing 30 days for an initial DUI. But this is all pointless because She Did Not Plead To A DUI. The plea was to reckless driving. I have been cited for reckless driving (donuts in an icy parking lot with 8 people in the truck and a guy on the roof...). The guy wrote me a ticket, hit me with a $100 fine and sent me on my way. It is not a serious thing. My insurance barely even jumped. But then, YMMV.

I disagree on the jail not being concerned about a high profile prisoner's well being. They're scared silly of getting sued if anything happens to her. To the sheriff, having Paris is a major fucking headache. The judge is kind of reckless and selfish in that regard. He's not balancing the "teaching a lesson to Paris" element against the sheriff's need to do his already difficult job.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Sparklehorse
I don't feel very sorry for her, at least no more that I feel sorry for anyone who has to go to jail. She has been working on being famous for nothing for years. I remember seeing article about her and her sister in Vanity Fair (I googled and it appears to have been in September 2000 when they ran something about "It girls"). At the time, I couldn't understand why anyone would possibly care about her since she had no discernible talents. She seemed to be famous for using her name to get herself in print and in front of cameras. She also seems to have made a great deal of money doing this for at least the last 7 years. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

ETA: Well, I can't find a link to the original article but I did find an excerpt which included this little gem.

Link

The sad fact is this event makes her more famous than ever before. And it humanizes her in a strange way, which will give puddle-deep emotional depth, which is more than enough to vault her into dozens of talk show appearances discussing her trauma.

This judge probably thinks he's teaching her a lesson. He's creating an even worse monster. Her PR guy is no doubt figuring out how to play this into a "Poor Paris" segment on Oprah.

[pony_trekker]

Originally posted by NotFromHere
Jesus. How stoned would you have to be to even think of making something like that? Strawberry jello and hamburger? And the frozen vegetables - nice touch.

Wonder if it has my favorite:

Spaghetti with skittles.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Fugee
That is not even the most disgusting recipe in the book. Peanut Butter & Jelly Swordfish Timbale anyone? Tropical mashed potatoes**?

**I suspect my horror at mixing crushed pineapple, coconut, chocolate chips & a bananas into mashed potatoes is no greater than that of a Japanese war bride in my Scandinavian home community when she first saw Glorified Rice (rice with pineapple, fruit cocktail, cool whip & mini marshmallows) or any of the other sweetened rice dishes found at any church pot luck).

I'm pretty sure you go straight to hell if you make either one of those, where you are forced to spend an eternity eating nothing else.

[Shape Shifter]

I just saw a hispanic guy on the subway with a red and black flag draped over his shoulders that said "Ponce" in big, gold letters.

Is the Gay Pride Parade today?

[pony_trekker]

I am so glad I had zero time invested in that shit.

I hope someone hunts David Chase down.