Happy Birthday Jody!! Hope you had a great day today, or did the whole week's vacation count as your birthday?? And since she didn't mention it here on Multiply and only on her blog (www.jodymace.com/news), she has an essay in May's O magazine, coming soon to a newstand near you!!
This is from Amber, vote for the cutest cows in all the land  ________________________________________________ Hi Guys, I hope this link works...the kids are excited to get some votes for the Chick-fil-a photo contest. Here is the link to where you can vote. However, the vote is not counted until you receive an email from them and click to confirm. Also, you can only vote one time per email address. If you try to vote more than once from an address then none of the votes from that email address will be counted. We hope to crack into the top 40. The top photo only has 100 votes right now, so I think we can catch him! If you have any friends who can lend a vote, we'd appreciate it. Thanks for your fun support! Amber, Joe, Mike, Mia, & Alana
 1st Annual "PAW-CASSO" Charity Art Auction (click for the web page)
Homeward Trails (pet rescue) is hosting an Art Auction on Saturday, May 13th. They'll be all sorts of art to bid on as well as a silent auction, wine & cheese, hor d'oeuvres, and live guitar.
Exciting Silent Auction Items: Potomac river cruise, private airplane ride, sculputured art, theater tickets, weekend get-aways, Old Towne Pet Resort packages, Spy Museum tickets, and much, much more!
It benefits Homeward Trails (where I got Vixen!) and should also be a fun night. $30/person or $50/couple. You can get the tickets via PayPal through the link or also let me know, I have tickets to sell as well....
Yea for Art and Rescue Dogs!
 #1: Kabob Bazaar
Style: Iranian
At lunch, order at the counter and eat at table. Table service for dinner. A very pleasant atmosphere, you can take visitors here without first explaining away the decor. If you like Moby Dick, you'll like Kabob Bazaar better.
Location: Clarendon (Arlington, VA)
Tasty non-kabob items: Combo platter w/ hummus, tabbouleh, and falafel. Swordfish.
Don't miss: The dome over where you stand in line. You can whisper in one spot, and hear it like a speaker.
#2: Ravi Kabob
Style: Afghan/Paki
Location: Glebe and Pershing (Arlington, VA)
Order at counter, eat at table. Very divey.
Tasty non-kabob items: Chick Peas
Don't miss: Mike speaking the Urdu w/ the guy behind the counter.
#3: Rice & Kabob
Location: Sterling, VA
Style: Afghan
Order at counter, eat at table.
Tasty non-kabob items: chicken rollup w/ curried chicken inside.
Don't miss: Actually good kabobs, wayyy out in the 'burbs.
Dis-honorable mentions: Food Factory (in Ballston) used to be a favorite, but has gone downhill.
To try: Kabob Palace in Crystal City. This one is always highly rated, along with Ravi Kabob, but we haven't tried it out yet.
20-Jan
One Year Ago Today was....
GWB's second inauguration? well, I guess. But to counteract that event was the much more positive event of Vixen Being Adopted. That's right, today is Vixen's One Year Adoption Anniversary!
She's gone from a scrawny rescue dog....to a debatedly pudgy pampered pooch...back to a lean, clean, cuddling machine!
  
 I've had ReplayTV for years now, love it, it revolutionized my life, etc. etc. When my unit broke last year, I went out and bought a new one that same day. The one I have now is the model that automatically skips commercials, basically if you're watching a show that is delayed or recorded, it will just skip over the commercials without you doing anything. This is a very very cool thing. I think they took that out of later models due to lawsuits and such (well, they have it but I think you need to press one button as opposed to none).
I switched back from cable to DirecTV last week. While doing that, I got one DirecTV receiver that is a combo Tivo unit, so now I'm using ReplayTV and also Tivo. After using Tivo now for a few days, here are some thoughts on it.
The interface is great, very intuitive.
I like how based on your own ratings and viewing habits, it records and suggests shows for you, to me that seems like a value-added feature. I like how it "learns" what I like.
I like how you can see what is scheduled to be recorded. ReplayTV doesn't have that feature, I've always wanted it.
One thing that is a major drawback is the lack of a "quick skip". In the ReplayTV (even w/o the automatic commercial skip), you can skip 30 seconds with 1 click, and skip or rewind any number of minutes with only 2 clicks, i.e. click 2 then quick skip and you jump ahead 2 minutes. And there is no limit to that, you can skip 45 minutes or whatever. The Tivo only seems to have the VCR-like forwarding/rewinding. It goes very fast but not nearly as nice as the Quick Skip. (I just did a quick search for Tivo hacks and there is one to enable a 30-second skip; however, I'm not sure it works on my brand of unit, I'll need to check it out!)
Another thing that I am really finding beneficial is the combination unit itself. Because it is both the Receiver as well as the Tivo, a) the picture quality is better (doesn't need to change formats and such), b) no channel change lag time. Also, the unit has 2 inputs from the dish so you're able to watch 1 show and record another (or record 2 shows and watch 1 already-recorded show).
All in all, I think any of these brands (ReplayTV, Tivo, generic cable DVR, or even media center) are (is?) awesome to have, I don't think you could go wrong with any of them. There are more differences with daily functionality as well as the more advanced stuff (wireless, networks, sharing, hacks), but I'm a simple girl. They both do the job and do the job well. I think though my favorite part of having this new unit is that now I can use "Tivo" as a verb, it was always cumbersome (and not really clear to other people) to say "I'm going to ReplayTV The O.C. tonight", now I can "Tivo it!"......
 I'm fostering two guinea pigs from a Rescue here (Homeward Trails). If you are interested in giving a loving home to these cute little pigs, contact Linda in the link below! Petfinder ListingThe listing is sometimes pointing to the wrong description, here is the text: Licorice&JellyBean Small&Furry Guinea Pig Size: Small Age: Young Sex: Female I.D: Notes: We are two sweet girls who started off shy, but we are coming out of our shells, and into our own personalities, more and more each day.! Licorice loves to have her belly rubbed and has been known to try and climb over the gate during floor time (by stepping on JellyBean). JellyBean seems like the more timid one, but she can be feisty too! JellyBean sometimes take the lettuce right from Licorice's mouth, when she's being too lazy to make the long walk to the food bowl (Licorice doesn't seem to mind!). They love to snuggle with each other and would love to find their own permanent humans to snuggle with! Please contact Linda at 703-963-7329, or basilotta@aol.com for more information!
 While my sister and I were researching cruises to go on, we ran across this site: Tom and Mary's Cruise ReviewsIt is awesome. Tom and Mary are in their mid-seventies and cruise a lot. Tom writes these reviews and doles out helpful hints about cruising, some useful (give your tips at the beginning of the cruise with the suggested amount and a note that says how you appreciate their service and to consider this as a downpayment on the tip. Then, because they do such an excellent job, you give them a little more at the end), some sort of old-man-y (fold up $2 bills and press into the hands of the servers to make an impression) , but all interesting. They consider each cruise a "honeymoon" and Tom jumps into "Wimpy", his romantic persona when he cruises and each cruise he does something special for Mary (surprise gifts and such). The way he talks about "his Mary" is just the sweetest. Here is just one review, but the whole site is worth checking out, it is very sweet and also informative about cruises!! Brilliance of the Seas Review
Cicadas: They were buzzing around yesterday, divebombing into me, like seagulls at the beach or pigeons in the park.
WWII vets: For the new memorial dedication. I like the women WWII vets, they seem to be extra proud of their service. Warning, generalization: the men just seem sort of old, yup, they're here to visit, doing their thing. The women are beaming, they love saying what division they were in, hoping to catch you unawares, you assuming they are merely wives of vets. They just seem thrilled to be here and so proud, there seems to be a light shining from within them.
Motorcyles: Every memorial weekend, bikers come to DC for a rally. On Friday, they must have been arriving from all over the country, they were as plentiful as cicadas on Rt. 66. Today must have been the actual rally, I was on GW parkway going north and they were all going south. Cars were held up, there must have been thousands. I think if you were a biker it would be a blast to do these events, seems like a great sense of camaraderie.
 Thought it would be fun to post Book Group summaries, esp. for all the ex-book groupers who have moved away!! May Book GroupHost: Nadia Book: Citizen Washington Author: William Martin Date: Wednesday, May 26th 2004 Menu: Whole Foods Extravaganza Salsa, humus Warm spinach w/ raisins and pine nuts Rice dish Turkey Meatloaf w/ BBQ sauce Lebanese pizza squares by Nadia's aunt Apple pie and ice cream Plus Venezuelan chocolates (toronto) from Gwenda Comments on the Book: Mixed reviews. Everyone thought it was an easy read and was interesting enough, although not something we'd pick as a book group recommendation to someone. This book is a historical fiction about George Washington. It is told in narratives by different characters, some real, some fictional. Everyone like the 1st half of the book better. The second half was mainly battle scenes, which were kind of tedious. My (personal) main problem with the book is that I don't think I like historical fiction anymore. I used to love it, but haven't read it in many years. I was just frustrated not knowing what was real, what was based on research, based on rumor/gossip, or just plain made up. Ros had an issue with the point of reference: the author would try to write in the dialect and style of each narrator, but when that person recalled conversations with Washington, he would recall it completely in the Washington's dialect (as opposed to the narrator's). I got annoyed with the different narrators in the 2nd half of the book. Everyone agreed it was interesting to learn more about George Washington and other personalities from the era. It was also cool to read about places we're all familiar with (Mt. Vernon, Belvoir, Gadsby's Tavern, etc.). I think Gwenda enjoyed it the most, but it was no Cheng and Eng! Attendees: Me, Nadia, Kathie, Gwenda, Brooke, Ros, Bernadette Other non-Book Notes: Everyone was in a giddy and talkative mood this evening, fighting for air time, was fun! Got to hear about Gwenda's trip to Venezuela, Brooke's palm reader experience and Jorge's present, Ros's nails, Nail Avenue, baby plans, rumors of layoffs, ideas for next girls trip (new orleans, austin, cruise, caribbean), what else? Next month: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
 A nice restaurant going where Whitey's was? Shameful...
I'm still sad everytime I drive by. The end was near with the advent of the "Stonegrill"......
COMING ATTRACTIONS: Slowly but surely, signs that Whitey's used to exist at 2761 Washington Blvd. in Arlington are disappearing. The staff is cleaning up the floors and exposing brick walls behind wood paneling. "It was me, myself and I" tearing down some of the latter, jokes Dave Pressley, who is poised to be the general manager of the forthcoming Tallula later this summer. Tallula, he explains, is American Indian in origin and refers to "running water" or "continually singing." The restaurant is supported by a cast of veteran restaurateurs: Pete Pflug from the Clarendon Grill and Clarendon Ballroom and Michael and Stephanie Babin and Christi Hart, the owners of Evening Star Cafe in Del Ray and Vermilion in Alexandria. Nathan Anda, who cooked at Equinox in Washington and Market Salamander in Middleburg, will head up the open kitchen. The plan is to serve "comfort food with upscale twists," promises Pressley, who hopes to transform the space into "a date place." Fueling the fun: a bar offering 50 wines by the glass and a cozy room to be called "The Parlor" -- Whitey's old dart room.
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