"It's not easy...being....greeeeeeeeeen...."

And now some (in her opinion) "sick and twisted thoughts" from our sister....

Could Soylent Green Become Reality?

It is the year 2008. I have recently been watching TV commercials and the news very closely. Up until now, I’ve never heard about soy anything except in vegetarian burgers. Now, I see it all the time ... soy milk ... soy protein bars ... soy margarine ... soy, soy, soy. Oh, soy is so good for you, soy will help with hot flashes, soy will make you healthy. Where was all this talk when we were children? When even our parents were children? I’ve heard it mentioned as a natural food for cows and livestock ... but for people? Nope.

Fast forward to the year 2022 in the greatest film ever made starring Charlton Heston. You know the one. The world’s population is out of control ... people are sleeping in the hallways of tenements with the owner sitting at the top of the landing with a rifle to keep his paying tenants safe in their apartments. To even afford this slight luxury ... or to live in an apartment with “furniture” (live in fun girls) you had to make the big money with a capital M. To make this money you were either part of a corporation or a hired thug. The prestige of this big M gave you the wherewithal to purchase meat, fruit, vegetables and preserves. Mmmm ... yummy!

If you’re one of the little people, you’re living off red, yellow and green wafers supplied by an enigmatic, omnipotent corporation. The name of the wafers were Soylent Red, Yellow and Green. What were they? With the worldwide food shortages we can only assume the following:

Soylent Red might have been made with tomatoes? Sounds logical. You’re trying to feed a multitude of people for as little as possible and who doesn’t like a good tomato? Unless, like now, you’re tomatoes are on the list for salmonella.

Soylent Yellow ... this one is so easy folks. Corn, of course. It might not digest well, just like the real thing, but it has bulk and is filling. Easy to make ... maybe still that little corny aftertaste. Hmmm.

Then there’s Soylent Green. And remember Tuesday is Soylent Green day! What’s that you say? Where could they possibly get anything green? In the movie they give you an idea that Soylent Green is made from plankton from the Ocean and that there’s plenty to go around. Mayor Rick Meehan of Ocean City, MD is now running a commercial that the Ocean will dry up in about a billion years and to book your vacation soon before it happens. Is this a man of vision, or what?

But I digress ... never mind that you find out there are government sanctioned euthanasia stations all over the place. You can spend your final days on this earth taking a drink of something that strangely looks like red kool-aid (sounds familiar doesn’t it?). Then you can listen to music and watch movies of how the world used to look ... and peacefully croak. Now flash back to the part where there’s a riot in the streets and those big trash trucks with shovels come in and break it up. Where do you think those people went? Did you think they hauled them off to jail ... or dropped them off someplace else and let them live out their lives in peace and harmony?

Did no one else see where this was heading? Look at the name of the movie again if you didn’t. Charlton Heston put it best when he screamed, “Soylent Green is people!”

So, my friends, there you have it. SOY! From the prophetic mind of a writer who might just have had a little look see into the future. (Channeling Mr. Rogers) Can you say, “Moo?” I knew that you could.

Carolyn E. Armstrong 6/13/08 copyright

"Up ahead...there's Texaco..."

Not really about Texaco but I couldn't think of any songs about gas. *LOL* This pic ran in the News and Eagle...the owners haven't taken it down...they just change the price for the regular unleaded when it needs to be changed.

"Let's talk about sex, Baby......"

"Sex and the City" actually! *L* We went to see it last night and it was everything it was supposed to be. Which, in a word, is Fabulous. The settings, the fashion, the hair, the shoes, the purses - it was all either fabulous or fabulously awful...which is what "Sex and the City" has ALWAYS been about. *G* I've watched it off and on over the years but always enjoyed it for one reason or another. Now Laura and I are thinking we need to rent each season and watch it through - we enjoyed it that much. And we've also decided that we want to see "Mamma Mia!" when it makes it to Enid. A total "chick flick" and, at least from the previews we saw, looks like it will be a lot of fun. And I want to see "Wall-E" - looks like Pixar could have another "Cars" on their hands and I absolutely LOVED the pop culture references in "Cars". It's Route 66 and Toto-ly retro...what's not to love???? *LOL*

And now for my ironically funny movie story from last night. Okay, so we went to the movies courtesy of Tim Webb (used to be the Willow Plant Manager for Advance) - he gave me the movie tickets in return for some research that I did for him last year. Side note: he gave me 6 tickets and we don't actually GO to the movies very often, as you can tell. Anyways, so we're at the movies on free tickets. "Sex" is playing in the smallest theater at Oakwood Mall - not surprising, it's not a new release and this IS Enid, America - there were a total of 14 people in the room. When we get there the theater is a bit messy...not totally trashed, just some drink cups in the holders, pop corn tub on the floor, some pop corn scattered around...like I said, messy but not trashed. Apparently they had forgotten to come in after the last showing and clean things up - so the Asst. Manager comes in, apologizes for the mess, and gives everyone there a ticket for a free movie - any movie, any time. There were only 7 of us in there at that time and we thought that was pretty cool and thanked him for the consideration. So we watch the previews and then the movie starts. It immediately goes 'off-frame' - you can see a wide black strip, everyone's heads, and it cuts them off right below the neck. There are 14 of us in the theater by now - one other lady and I go to tell the management that the film is off. They stop the film...get it reframed...and we're off again. Suddenly the dialog becomes very garbled and the frame jumps again. The other lady stands up and tells me, "I've got this one" and goes outside again. She comes back in as the film stops and the movie trivia screens pop back up again and says to the assemblage, "This is my fault everyone, I went and told them about the sound. I can't understand it through the garble." Everyone thanks her and we sit and read movie trivia for a few minutes. Next the Manager comes in, apologizes for the inconvenience, says they are resetting the projector and it will just be a minute. In the meantime he comes around and hands everyone a ticket for a free movie - any movie, any time - to make up for our screening problems. We all thanked him for the consideration. After he leaves the older lady sitting in the row in front of us looks at us and the people a couple seats down on our row (the original 7 from the first ticket give-away) and says, "Gee, I wonder what we can do to the movie next...this is getting profitable!" Her husband said, "Well....they just made bringing you to this movie worth it!" The people who came in later looked puzzled but we 'originals' roared. And the movie started back up and ran much better, although they never completely got the sound corrected - no indecipherable garble but a bit of static once in a great while, and a good time was had by all. So there you have it.....went to the movies for free...and got 2 free movies out of the trip! As they say....only in America! *ROTFL*

"And Windy has stormy eyes..."

And we've gotten both lately. I know this is Oklahoma - where the wind comes sweeping down the Plains - but give it a rest! It feels like we have 2 or 3 days of WIND...not wind, mind you...but WIND and then 2 days of storms. The winds are generally around 20-30 miles an hour, sometimes stronger, and when it rains, it RAINS. The other day we got about 4-5 inches in a 12 hour period. And that was just the latest in a long line we've had so far. The trees are bent in the wind's direction and the grass is pretty battered down. The farmers are crying...I know, farmers always cry about something...but this time they have reason. At least the wheat farmers do. They might get one or two good days to harvest then they have to wait another one or two to let everything dry out again. You walk outside and don't dare open your mouth most times because all you'll end up with is a mouthful of grit and dirt. Everything is dusty both inside and out - the house, the office, the people. Even the OK natives are saying they've had enough for now.

Okay...I'll stop whining and complaining now. *L* But speaking of OK natives...there was a piece on the radio the other day about how a transplanted Oklahoman knows they've really become a true Oklahoman and I'm rather proud to say that I've made it. *LOL* I can't recall everything they listed but I've definitely been within a mile of a big tornado (had two F5s pass closer than a mile on both sides of me when I lived in OKC), I've taken shelter in a small windowless room during a storm (different tornado), I've been a good Samaritan (stayed with a lady I worked with while waiting for her son when her car died), and I know by habit which station to turn to as soon as I hear the weather radio go off. I also know not to panic every Wednesday at noon when they test the sirens. Oh, and I've chosen a in-state college football team to root for....GO POKES!! *L* I reckon that makes me an Okie good enough.

It doesn't mean that I don't miss the water though. We have plenty of lakes and such but there's nothing like the ocean...and there never will be. And of course, I don't mean that big thing out west that has no personality. I'm talking about the grand old lady Atlantic. Now THERE'S personality and character! The storms out here can be awesome but still don't beat a good hearty Nor'Easter blowing in. Out here the storms eat wooden houses....back East they chew concrete and spit it back out! *G* And I guess that's enough waxing nostalgic about my ocean. *sigh*

Sadly, we lost two fish within a day of each other recently. One of our fruited tetras and one of our Sunburst wags passed away. I hope there isn't something going on in the tank. We have very nice fish at the moment and I'd like to keep them that way. It still leaves us with 3 fruities, 2 Sunbursts, 2 chefs, Deamon the angelfish, a few guppies, all 6 of the Glowfish, and Al...who is huge and sassy as ever. Richard swears Al is a girl because every time we clean the tank, Al redecorates. Doesn't matter where we put the plants and rocks, Al moves them to where ever he wants them to be. And for a big old carpy looking thing he sure is cute when he tucks himself across the bubble curtain stone and gets his spa treatment. *L* He's quite spoiled and quite happy to stay that way.

Another not-so-happy thing - I think our rose bushes have aphids. Looks like a piranha went chewing on their leaves, the poor things. The yellow bush is leafless at the moment and the pink/white bush is fairly chewed up too. We put some stuff on them to take care of the bugs, any diseases, and to feed them. Just waiting to see if it works. Most of the other plants are doing well. Ruby seems to be dropping some of her leaves but I fertilized her the other day as well and I'll see how she does with it. We can't really plant anything else at the moment - anything small or young will get drowned before it can take hold right now. The tomatoes seem to be loving the storm-heat cycle though.

Well...I think my head is empty for the moment so I'll hush for now. Back again soon if I don't blow away or float away. *LOL*