Sunday, June 29, 2008

Picture of the Week 6/29/2008

Hey folks, hope your weekend got off to a good start. As for me, mine has turned out to be quite a sad one. I just learned today that my priest passed away. He served at our parish all through my childhood and gave me my first communion. He was the kindest, sweetest, gentlest man you'd ever want to meet. When you think of what a priest should be, that was what he was like. He was the kind of priest who made it seem like anything could be forgiven. If you told him you had killed your mother, he probably would have said, "don't do it again!"

He had retired quite a while ago, but I would run into him from time to time. The first time was at the local Ladbrokes. I went there once a year to bet on the Kentucky Derby. When he saw me he got this shocked and appalled look on his face and said, "what are you doing here?" Without missing I beat I shot right back, "what are you doing here?" Realizing that I had a point he let out a little chuckle. He also worked at the local food pantry (aka soup kitchen). Every once in a while I would see him at the grocery store when he would stop to pick up food to take to the food pantry for the poor. Usually it was in the parking lot where I would run into him and he would always stop and greet me with an enthusiastic, "Chrissy, how are you?". He was one of only a few people who called me Chrissy. (They are all gone now too). Then he would give me a big hug.

I guess there won't be anymore hugs for me.

God Bless him! He will always go on in my heart. Hopefully, the tears will not.

From a holy man to an angel, enjoy the picture.

screen cap courtesy of Sahira, merci beaucoup!
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Friday, June 27, 2008

lunch time recap

The 360 headlines were once again dominated by politics. I barely got througfh the hour, Clinton and Obama's attempts to pull the wool over supporters' eyes was sickening, but at the same time good for a laugh. I don't think these two are capable of doing what is good for our country, and it scares me how many people in this country have drank the Obama Kool-Aid. Do we REALLY think that Clinton and Obama will work together? I agree with the commentator who said that this " unity" is all just politics as usual.

However, I did enjoy Christiane Amanpour's report from North Korea. It made sitting through all the political shop talk bearable.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

not politics as usual


Of course there were politics on last night's 360 but this timeut the story had an interesting twist. The had a panel on analysing Barack Obama's comments and the comments made by Dr James Dobson. I am NOT a fam of Al Sharpton at all, but I must say that he, Roland Martin and Tony Perkins all had some decent, respectful dialogue last night. Often when the topic is politics and religionand one has three very diverse views on the air together fireworks errupt . But this did not happen on the show last night. Kudos to the men involved for not turing that 360 segment into a screaming match. It was also noted that AC was used as a rhetotical example during this dialogue. I am not sure how Coop felt about having his stake in the hereafter discussed on international television, but he handled it well.


We all know that Don Imus is a bigot.


Gary T is still wearing wader pants in the Midwest.


Erica is back and she tried imitating the models on the " Price is Right" using the new beat 360 t shirts.

Enjoy the screen cap!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Lions and Tigers and Imus O MY

Don Imus needs to keep his trap shut. I am not surprised at his blatently racist comments, but I am disgusted by them.

Ok, enough of the story on the teen pregnancy pact. We get the drift. Some girls in Massachusetts wanted babies and apparently did anything to ensure this fate. Move on with the next scandal, shall we? Please!

More politics, but after all this is an election year and the fat cats at CNN think that this is important. Yes the future of our nation is important, but I do not think we viewers need to know every misstep that McCain and Obama make from here on to the general election.

I am not gonna survive until the convetions. let alone all the way until November. I overdosed on politics back in March.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Picture of the Month, a little late?

Okay, I admit it is not a little late, but a lot late. Due to a severe lack of organization, I never published the Picture of the month poll results for April. So, if you're interested, you can see the winner here: http://andernation.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-06-16T18%3A31%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=7


To see all the entries, click here:http://andernation.blogspot.com/2008/05/april-picture-of-month-poll.html

Plumpynut and live blog

If anyone missed Sunday's 60 Minutes, Coop's piece on Plumpynut ran again. I've seen this piece when it first aired, and it moved me to tears. If anyone has any screen caps from this segment, I'd love to see them. I am horrible at getting screen caps of anything.

I am also glad to see that I am not the only one annoyed by the silly posts on the live blog.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Picture of the Week 6/22/2008

Hey Folks, hope everyone is having a great weekend. It was a fantastic week of AC360. It sure is good to have Anderson back. It's just not the same without him. Sorry, guys. I call em as I see em.

How do you like the new AC website? I have to admit I miss the blue. The most important thing though is having Anderson blog. I miss his blogs. I know we all give up our New Year's resolutions a few days after we make them. But I really wish he would keep his since it affects us. No one else cares if you stick to your diet, get healthy, or organize your house. His resolution though.... well, we like his blogging. Blogging or no... it's good to have him back safe and sound after his travels through Africa.

Now it's time for the picture of the week. Enjoy!

screen cap courtesy of Sahira, merci beaucoup
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Win a t shirt!

Yes the flooding goes on unchained in the American midwest. Gary T is still up to his nipples in brackish water and its Presidential politics as usual on CNN. But at least the silly season politics is no longer the lead story on 360. Sadly, it take a natural disaser of this magnitude for the 360 bigwigs to forgo politics as usual on the show. Obama of course shall say that the Republicans will pull the race card in the general election. But is he not doing the same? I agree with the Republican strategist Anderson had on the show( but her name eludes me right now) . Barack Obama is one of the biggest racists in public service!

The story on the pregnant teens in Massachusetts set of a fire storm of comments on the live blog. Go read it for yourself, there is actually a worthwhile discussion on there. I do not live blog, but do peruse the comments every day. Usually it is a bunch of baloney, but every now and again there is a good discussion on the live blog.

Tom Foreman, filling in for Erica, made a good first-time appearence on the live blog. I think he added to and kept the conversation there on-topic and fruitful.

Also, starting Monday there will be more incentive to play along with the " Beat 360" game. Winners shall now recieve a ( very cool) " I beat 360" t-shirt! Of course the color is Cooper-eye blue. My hope is that other folks not just the folks who are ALWAYS on the live blog and get posted, will get an opportunity to win these shirts! One of the reasons why I do not participate in the live blogging is that the same peeps hang out there every night and usually dominate the conversation.

Friday, June 20, 2008

New Fan Site & 360 review

Yessss, Anderson Cooper fans, there is an awesome new fan site up and running. :)

It can be found at http://www.theanderworld.com/. Two of my friends are the webmasters and they have been working hard to make this one of the best new Cooper fan sites on the Internet. Please, if you have time, go check it out. Please leave them feedback.

My verdict? Good work, ladies!

Last night's 360 was one of the best since this political season opened. I am glad to see that it did not TOTALLY focus on politics. The situation in the US heartland is only going to get worse before it gets better. But I appreciate Gary T's reporting from the field( wet as this particular field is right now) Presently I am so sick of Presidential politics that I ALMOST didn't watch 360 last night. In my opinion it is totally unfair to put BOTH candidates' wives under scrutiny. I also liked it when Candy Crawley summed up Obama's reasoning for opting out of using public funds for his campaign. " Duh." Candy is the best , most savvy political reporter that CNN has, and it was fun last night to see her more lighthearted commentary.

The story about the missing feet washing up in Canada is GROSS. Yup, there are some twisted people in this world.

Erica had the night off , and it was fun to see Randi Kaye in the studio with Cooper. I am a big admirer of Randi's work on 360 and glad to see that she is getting some well-deserved face time!She is a hard worker and one of the best correspondents on the 360 team.

Finally, the " Shot" was hilarious. I am glad to see that Gary T has a good sense of humor.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

He is Baaaaack!

It was a great show last night, in spite of all the politics!

Cooper was in Africa when I was away on vacation. Now that we are both back I shall return to my 360 analyses.

Oh gosh, I am so sick of Obamamania! And CNN's Roland Martin has for sure drunk the Kool-Aid. So has Dave Gergen.

My heart goes out to all the folks affected by the flooding. Kudos to reporters Gary and Dan, I hope they stay safe.

When Gary T brought those trophies to that young woman in Iowa, I teared up. There is an example of a reporter going above the call of duty. Dan Simon also had a good " front lines" report.

Randi Kaye's piece last night was excellent, and I am NOT an Obama fan at all. I think Randi is one of CNN's up-and-coming younger journalists. I'd actually like to see CNN useher more often. She does such good work for 360.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

B and W Coop


I dunno if you all have seen this one o yet or not. I hate to sound all fangurly, but the man is just beautiful, both inside and outside. Have any of you all checked out his " Reporters' Notebook" on cnn.com today? Go do so if you have not yet.
He looks so pensive in this photo.
The 360 blog says that the Coop shall be back tonight. Read the " Morning Buzz" entry for today and see for yourself.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Monday Blues

First, I want to thank you for the touching comments you made about your fathers. Some of them brought tears to my eyes. I know it's sometimes hard to talk about this stuff, so I appreciate that you chose to share. Thank you!

We often hear people say to appreciate people or situations while we have them. Sometimes it's hard, some people aren't demonstrative and keep things to themselves. We always think we will spend lots of time with our loved ones and have these special conversations and intimate, special moments. However, if our loved one is quiet and not talkative, or if they are already to the point where they are not interested in this world, those special moments become hard to come by. We try our best and have to just accept that "that's how it is".

I don't know about you guys, but I dread Mondays. Today was twice as bad, coming after a bad night. I had a horrible dream and although I often have them, this one not only scared me but my mom as well. She woke me up and asked what was wrong because I was moaning and yelling out in my sleep. Someone was trying to grab me or something and I was trying to get away or something. It was really strange and scary. As luck would have it, it had to come on a day that I had to get up because we had an appointment to get to. Hopefully, Anderson will be on and chase away these blues. He is usually very successful at chasing away my inner demons.

Now on to AC360, they've been advertising tonight's show quite a bit so I hope we get a little more than 30 seconds of Anderson. Although I appreciate whatever we get. Unfortunately, no more blogging so far. I wish he would blog more, especially when he's away.

Here's a glimpse of tonight's program: http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Picture of the Week 6/15/2008

Happy Father's Day! I wonder if it is a bittersweet time for Anderson, missing his dad and all those father/son moments children are entitled to. Perhaps it is no big deal to him as he was so young and didn't have all that many days to celebrate his dad. I know Anderson would make a great daddy and hopefully one day he will have the opportunity. I know there surely are a few out there who would be honored to make it a reality.

For me, I am conflicted about the day. When my dad was here, Mom always suggested what to get him for a gift. I'm not sure if she was afraid I would forget or ignore the day, or if she was just being helpful. Either way, we had a cake and gifts and celebrated the day. Now I would rather ignore the day but the retail industry doesn't let up on the reminders. I knew Father's Day was soon but I didn't know exactly when. I was fine with that. However, the death of Tim Russert took care of that blissful ignorance. Time after time, they mention how he was taken just a few days before Father's Day and how much more tragic that makes his passing. I didn't watch his program all the time, but I happened to catch the one where he was talking about his book "Big Russ". Tom Brokaw was on and more or less interviewing him. It was a well done and riveting program as he talked about his father and the father/son relationship. It's nice when someone that so loves being a parent gets the opportunity. I sometimes wonder why God lets so many of us who truly want to be parents and would cherish their babies endlessly, are denied the chance. Hopefully, that will change.

It's an odd thing, our relationship with our parents. No matter how good or bad, close or distant, demonstrative or not,we miss our parents when they are gone. Even if we aren't sure if we were loved, or how deeply, we still miss what should have been, what we wanted the relationship to be. It's just a fact of life, our parents are supposed to be there. It is the way it's supposed to be.

Wherever Anderson is, I hope the day isn't too painful for him and that he remembers the good times he was able to share with his Dad. I hope he remembers the love he was given and the sweet memories and that these feel his heart and bring him some comfort. I'm sure his dad is looking down and watching over him.

photo taken by Jeff Hutchens, AC360blog
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Saturday, June 14, 2008

just to clear things up a bit

I think Soledad Obrien is the best sub for when AC is not on the show. She is personable, intelligent and knows whats she is doing. I think that she has a bright future ahead of her, and enjoy her exit polling coverage on the primary nights. I also like it when John King fills in for Anderson.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Anderson Blogs From Cameroon

I thought I'd blog in jungle green today in honor of Anderson's trek into the forest with epidemiologist Nathan Wolfe. He didn't include anything personal in today's blog, unfortunately. I don't blame him after all the judgemental comments after his last blog. To read the entire blog and find out what he's up to, click on the link: http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/12/andersons-view-investigating-disease-deep-in-the-jungle/

image by Jeff Hutchens,AC360 blog
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I know it's late, but here is the picture of the week. It comes from the slideshow posted on the AC360 blog. Usually I don't care for black & white pictures, but these are extraordinary. Enjoy!

image by Jeff Hutchens, Dispatches from Rwanda
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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Campbell Brown

IMHO Campbell Brown is a horrible substitute anchor for AC!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Hillary Clinton

So far today there is no blog from Anderson. Maybe all the critical remarks about his taking Ambien turned him off and he's giving up on blogging. Why spend time blogging if people are just going to judge you and criticize you? Of course, it punishes those of us who like reading about his experiences, thoughts, and what he's up to. It's especially nice to hear that he arrived at his destination safely and that he's okay. I'm glad they are doing a second Planet in Peril. I enjoyed the first one immensely and bought the DVD so I can watch it anytime I want. I'm also curious to know how they know which gorilla is the head of the clan and why his predecessor was replaced. I guess even in the animal world there is no job security and the one on top gets knocked off their pedestal eventually.

Tonight on AC360
Where to now?
Photobucket - Video and Image HostingFor more than a year Chelsea Clinton's been

on the campaign trail stumping for her mom. But now that Hillary's
out of the race, what's next for the former first daughter? ... More politics?
I am confused. Why do people, the media, have this impression that since Hillary Clinton isn't the nominee, her whole family is now floundering and looking for a purpose in life. Chelsea was employed before her mom began her campaign and i'm sure she has gone back to it. It seems logical that she either saved up vacation time or took a leave of absence to join the campaign. As for President Clinton, he has his foundation. This man doesn't need anyone to give him a purpose. Here is a private citizen who holds world summits and world leaders attend and become involved in the various causes the summit addresses. Hhe holds a summit every year and over the years, attendees have included such world leaders and distinguished guests such as, Tony Blair, then Prime Minister of Britain, al Gore, Kofi Annan, His Majesty King Abdullah of Jordon, Mayor Bloomberg, First Lady Laura Bush, among others. Bill Clinton does not need Hillary to be the presidential nominee to be important, respected for his accomplisments, or to be involved. He does perfectly fine all on his own. For more on Clinton's foundation, follow the link: http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=1399&srcid=-2

Monday, June 09, 2008

PIP 2

I guess it is in production. Since our" boo" was absent on Friday I am glad to know that he is working and not sick.

I missed the PIP preview. Was it good?

April Picture of the Month Poll Results

Here is the winner of the April Picture of the Month Poll. Sorry to be so late! Enjoy!

April 13 photo from Outside Magazine,
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Anderson in Rwanda

According to the 360 blog, Anderson is in Rwanda. It is a sneak peak of the second installment of the Planet in Peril documentary series.
Anderson blogged about hiking to see a group of mountain gorillas that have never been seen by tourists. He wrote that about half of the silverbacks are routinely visited by tourists, whereas the other half are only studied by scientists. It's great to have Anderson blogging again. It's an interesting read, follow the link: http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/09/andersons-view-gnawing-on-ambien/

Friday, June 06, 2008

No Anderson tonight

I've been cranky and whiney all week, but with Anderson absent 360 tonight, I'm even worse. So I will spare you my foul mood and go straight to a yummy picture of our "boo". I also converted it into a puzzle. Enjoy!
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Here is the link for the puzzle: http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/E113A955BFE?m=D025092D44.71181A2&z=6

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Hillary is out: Its official

It is official. Hillary Clinton's camp says she will concede this week. Now I do not support her at all but I sure as anything do not support Obama. But at last this long primary season is OVER! I know I am voting for McCain regardless, and I hope that the rest of the contry comes to its senses regarding Obama.

In a perverted sort of way, I am enjoying " Operation Chaos" .

Yes, I know I am among the minority when it comes to AC viewers. I am decidedly more conservative than most viewers, and I sure as heck am not gonna back down. I have been bullied on Myspace from other Cooper-related groups and am happy to ( as of tonight) not been cyberbullied here.

It pisses me off( sorry for the language) when folks say that Coop is partial to any one party or candidate on his show. I've been a viewer and a fan of his since his days at Channel One, and he makes a point NOT to disclose his views on politics when he is working. Last week he even blogged about this very topic, apparently someone used his name in connection with a candidate for McCain's VP slot. Anyone who knows AC's work knows of his professionalism.

Tonight on 360 we will get another hour full of politics. Ugh. But now that Hillary concedes hopefully the 360 staff will get off of the Presidential politics' bandwagon. I am hopeing that we shall hear some more from Erica about Coop's birthday yeaterday. Dave Gergen mentioned it last night on the program, and Coop seemed embarassed. He has said in the past that he really does not like to make a big deal about his birthday.

Its Obama


Well, Anderson was on the CNN political coverage last night, so I watched it. But I cannot say that I am happy with the results of Obama .I think that the " cult of personality" is what brought Obama to the nomination. Although I am NOT A HRC fan, I feel strongly that Obama's political campaign is all rhetoric and no substance. But I do agree with Jeff Toobin, HRC needs to bow out. For better or worse the race for the Dems is over. I thought that Obama's speech was all about style and no substance.


Will he pick HRC as his running mate? Will a " dream ticket" help the Dems in their bid for the White House? John Roberts was at the famous " magic wall" showing viewers what an alleged dream ticket might do for the Dems.
There has been talk of HRC taking this nomination fight all the way to the convention. I hope not, as I know I am not the only American who is sick and tired of endless politics on 360 and other cable news shows.


By the way, our AC clearly does not know what it means to be someone's " boo"! Did you all catch the giggles from the pundit table last night! It was worth watching just to hear that famous giggle and see that smile that Cooper graces viewers with every now and again.

And speaking of Cooper smile, I posted yet another pic of AC and some lucky muppets! Isn't this adorable?

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Cooper and Elmo


Yup, you read that correctly. Here is a pic with Cooper and Elmo, the furry guy from " Sesame Street".


I watched a bit of last night's 360 when I was waiting for my plane. Politics , politics and more politics. Thank goodness tonight is the last primary. Anderson, along with other CNN political personel, shall be on tonight analyzing all the angles of this last race. Will Hillary exit gracefully? My guess is no. What is McCain's strategy for clobbering Obama in November? Stay tuned and find out.


By the way....HAPPY 41st Birthday Anderson.
EDIT by Rita:
I think this should be the pictures of the week, so it is :)