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I’m Not Really in a Nursing Home
June 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our blog's RSS feed. That way, you'll be stuck with us more or less forever. (You know you want more Pajamadeen; how could you not?!!!) Thanks for visiting; come back anytime! As some of you know, my mother’s been in an nursing home assisted-living facility since last October. In a recent call to her to say Hello, she spoke as usual about her frustration at not being allowed to go home, to be cared for there. Although she can afford to be cared for at home, the nursing... [Read the full story]
Entertainment
Michael Jackson Burial at Neverland Ranch?
June 29, 2009 · 3 Comments
Rumors are swirling that pop star Michael Jackson will be buried on Wednesday at Neverland, his now-dilapidated ranch near Santa Barbara, California. Jackson, who died last Thursday, has not lived at the 2,800-acre ranch since before his 2005 acquittal on child molestation charges. Although the ranch was once his private Shangri-la — complete with an amusement park and zoo — Jackson no longer considered the ranch a home after it was searched by 70 police officers after sexual misconduct allegations. Jackson... [Read the full story]
Environment
Cleaner Waters Rewarded with Poisonous Fish
October 5, 2008 · 2 Comments
Wade in the water at your own risk in Tilbury, Essex, in Southern England. Due to lower pollution in the River Thames, environmentalists say that (good news) 60 species of fish have returned to the cleaner waters — and (bad news) the greater weever (Trachinus draco), which has venomous spines lining its dorsal fins and which grows up to 20 inches long, is one of them, having turned up in the Thames for the first time. The less-than-lovely weever lurks in sand and, when stepped on, ejects poison from its spines into... [Read the full story]
Health
I’m Not Really in a Nursing Home
June 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment
As some of you know, my mother’s been in an nursing home assisted-living facility since last October. In a recent call to her to say Hello, she spoke as usual about her frustration at not being allowed to go home, to be cared for there. Although she can afford to be cared for at home, the nursing home assisted-living facility was more “convenient” for other family members. She spent Easter and Mother’s Day alone, despite the fact that one of the relatives who chose the nursing home assisted-living... [Read the full story]
Politics
South Carolina Governor Finally Found
June 24, 2009 · Leave a Comment
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s six-day disappearing act — which included abandoning his four children on Father’s Day and which was satirized on the Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert shows — came to an abrupt end today when Columbia, SC newspaper reporter Gina Smith located the missing governor at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The self-proclaimed “man of faith” was returning from a visit to his lover, Maria, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In a maudlin... [Read the full story]
Road Trips
Thunder over Louisville Fireworks Herald Kentucky Derby
April 14, 2008 · Comments Off
The 19th annual “Thunder over Louisville” fireworks extravaganza on Saturday — the largest fireworks display in North America — kicked off three weeks of festivities leading up the the 134th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 3. The carefully choreographed display, which each year requires a staff of 200 to plan it, opened with music from 2001: A Space Odyssey. A medley of ethnic, classic rock, patriotic and rap music reverberated throughout downtown Louisville and southern Indiana, returning... [Read the full story]
Women’s History Museum in Bardstown, Kentucky
March 18, 2008 · Comments Off
To celebrate Women’s History Month, Pajamadeen recently visited the Women’s Civil War Museum in Bardstown, Kentucky. The only museum in the country that focuses specifically on the role of women during the Civil War, it opened in 1999 in the c. 1840 Wright Talbott House at 310 E. Broadway. While some exhibits depict the roles that women played as factory workers, farmers, homemakers and nurses, others show women in less traditional roles as spies and, most notably, as soldiers in disguise on the battle lines.... [Read the full story]
Christmas on Boggs Run Road
December 30, 2006 · Comments Off
We spent Christmas Eve exploring Boggs Run Rd., in Benwood, WV. Tucked between sharply climbing mountain ridges near Wheeling, West Virginia, it’s an old blue-collar neighborhood, where steelworkers employed by Wheeling’s steel mills once lived. The old general store has been converted into a home. The Benwood Volunteer Fire Department and a church or two are among only a few non-residential structures. Unemployment hovers around 20 percent. Water run-off from the hills occasionally floods and... [Read the full story]
World News
The London Home Michael Jackson Rented for O2 Concerts
June 28, 2009 · Leave a Comment
The “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson, was due to move into Foxbury Manor, a mansion in Kent, by next Wednesday. The home is about 10 miles from London’s O2 arena where he was scheduled to perform through March 2010. According to the Read More →
Americana
Decoration Day, or How Memorial Day Began as a Black Holiday
If we had lived a century ago, we would be celebrating Decoration Day today, instead of Memorial Day. While the patriotic sentiment of honoring the fallen remains the same, the holiday, originally celebrated to honor Union troops who perished in the Civil War, has changed in scope; we now honor all war dead on Memorial Day. As seen in this c. 1907 embossed patriotic postcard, the term “Decoration Day” is used to describe the holiday. Great care has been taken in detailing the post card, which shows an elderly veteran with a cane saluting his fallen comrades,... [Read more]
Sports
Politics
South Carolina Governor Finally Found
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s six-day disappearing act — which included abandoning his four children on Father’s Day and which was satirized on the Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert shows — came to an abrupt end today when Columbia, SC newspaper reporter Gina Smith located the missing governor at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The self-proclaimed “man of faith” was returning from a visit to his lover, Maria, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In a maudlin press conference this afternoon, the 49-year-old governor... [Read more]
Environment
Health News
I’m Not Really in a Nursing Home
As some of you know, my mother’s been in an nursing home assisted-living facility since last October. In a recent call to her to say Hello, she spoke as usual about her frustration at not being allowed to go home, to be cared for there. Although she can afford to be cared for at home, the nursing home assisted-living facility was more “convenient” for other family members. She spent Easter and Mother’s Day alone, despite the fact that one of the relatives who chose the nursing home assisted-living facility lives 10 minutes away. So my mother... [Read more]
Road Trips
World News
The London Home Michael Jackson Rented for O2 Concerts
The “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson, was due to move into Foxbury Manor, a mansion in Kent, by next Wednesday. The home is about 10 miles from London’s O2 arena where he was scheduled to perform through March 2010. According to the Read More →
Animals
Entertainment
Michael Jackson Burial at Neverland Ranch?
Rumors are swirling that pop star Michael Jackson will be buried on Wednesday at Neverland, his now-dilapidated ranch near Santa Barbara, California. Jackson, who died last Thursday, has not lived at the 2,800-acre ranch since before his 2005 acquittal on child molestation charges. Although the ranch was once his private Shangri-la — complete with an amusement park and zoo — Jackson no longer considered the ranch a home after it was searched by 70 police officers after sexual misconduct allegations. Jackson felt the magic of the ranch had been “violated.”... [Read more]
Internet
Business News
Michael Jackson Concert Promoter Takes Big Financial Hit
The night before Michael Jackson died, the “King of Pop” rehearsed at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California in preparation for his ironically named “This is It” comeback concerts in London next month. Staples is owned by concert promoter AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group), which hoped to seal its role as the world’s preeminent concert promoter with Jackson’s sold-out concert series. Scheduled to open on July 13 in London, England, Jackson would have appeared in 50 concerts at AEG’s O2 Arena, through March 2010. It would... [Read more]
Foreign Policy
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