Horatio

I think it should happen. That would be so awesome! I think it might be better to see what area of the country most people live in though (I sense a poll coming up... ) and pick the location based on that (sorry, I don't think my parents would approve a trip to CA to meet people I've never met in person. o.O) I don't think HampsterKing would approve of the idea. LOL. You would never even have the opportunity to ask your parents. LOL lol Probably not. You gotta figure that putting on such an event would cost and awful lot of money. He probably would not want some old guy in his underwear showing up and getting personal access to everyone! LOL Exactly, what better to focus on then the worst possible scenario. But seriously, can we not mention that sort of thing happening? Seriously, that is the real reason for security on the boards. To protect the users. Besides, do you really want to see some old hamster sitting in his fur with his laptop?

Do you know who sent it? Santa Claus Nick's so nice. He's a good friend o' mine.

That's a lot of birthdays to celebrate! LOL haha yup, although he's been dead for most of them. Kind of like Elvis. I bet Elvis never had the numbers of people in real life that show up for his birthday celebrations now.

I think it should happen. That would be so awesome! I think it might be better to see what area of the country most people live in though (I sense a poll coming up... ) and pick the location based on that (sorry, I don't think my parents would approve a trip to CA to meet people I've never met in person. o.O) I don't think HampsterKing would approve of the idea. LOL. You would never even have the opportunity to ask your parents. LOL lol Probably not. You gotta figure that putting on such an event would cost and awful lot of money. He probably would not want some old guy in his underwear showing up and getting personal access to everyone! LOL

No, we're the 9th place band. XD We got second, next to the 1st place band. It was pretty awesome. Oops. So I am guilty of reading what I want to read! The second place in over all music, is great and the first place in individual music is superb!!! You still did fantastic as far as I am concerned!!! As for the bands that change their uniforms every year... I agree with you. Matching instruments? I do not believe I would have ever noticed that the instruments didn't match. Yeah, like the band that had changing uniforms had pirate uniforms, and it was really cool but it made me kinda mad that it was only a one-year thing. Like, always changing these uniforms that cost so much? Our uniforms cost around $800, so we can't really afford to replace them. And we're working towards matching instruments, but currently I don't think we have enough money for it. We're going for quality instruments if they match, the only reason to get matching instruments for us is for quality control so that people don't have cheap intruments that sound bad. $800 each or total? Well, $800 each. Actually, it's more like 400-800 a piece, but it depends on the uniform type/company/etc. The schools that replace their uniforms each year are private or Catholic schools. We're getting new uniforms(we're gonna have a selection committee of about 8 people), but that's because our uniforms are fairly old, made of wool, hard to clean, and expensive to clean. So these new uniforms we're going to be able to take home and clean on our own instead of having them spend $1000 on dry-cleaning. I came up with an idea for your school. When it comes to the dry cleaning, why doesn't your school offer a local dry cleaner a deal. Free advertising announced at the game, if the dry cleaner would do your uniforms at either a reduced rate or free. The exchange would be determined by a couple of factors... how many times they were cleaned in a season, how involved it was to press the uniforms (this is where the cost is) and of course, you have already said how many uniforms there are. My suggestion would be to take a uniform to the local dry cleaner, not a chain, but an individual owner/operator, and then try and work out a deal. If the dry cleaner knew you were going to make an announcement at the game that he was the school dry cleaner, thanking him for his services and/or the company was listed in the book they hand out at the games, I do believe it would save you a bunch of money. Well, we spend about $1000 a year on dry-cleaning, and there's a lot of local places that might take us. I think that is a good deal, but I think we're also getting new uniforms because it gets harder each year to clean them. So eventually it'd probably be better to get new uniforms anyways. Wool is really bad for hot competitions anyways. XD Wool can be very light and a more breathable material than polyester, rayon or the like. Can be, but we have really thick wool. o_o Oh...

That's a lot of birthdays to celebrate! LOL

Start working! LOL

I think it should happen. That would be so awesome! I think it might be better to see what area of the country most people live in though (I sense a poll coming up... ) and pick the location based on that (sorry, I don't think my parents would approve a trip to CA to meet people I've never met in person. o.O) I don't think HampsterKing would approve of the idea. LOL. You would never even have the opportunity to ask your parents. LOL

I think it should happen.

*starts wondering if there is something in the water up north*

Sounds like you had a really great Christmas!!! Teach Ian to ski... I have been thinking about that. I want to see the video. The sleeping bag for cold weather backpacking... tell you what I will take the sleeping bag and you can "see" someone about backpacking in cold weather idea. LOL Doesn't sound like your place will be too quiet. lol I'm actually talking to Ian on IM, kinda. I have pictures from when we taught him how to ice skate. XD Backpacking in cold weather isn't too bad, as long as the temps are above freezing and there's not much snow. There were light flurries when I went backpacking once. It was really cool. *wonders if Jesusfreak has spent too much time out in the cold* I think you need to teach Ian how to surf!!! I probably have. I don't know how to surf. I'd love to try windsurfing though, that looks like fun. Florida is waiting for you!!! LOL

If you want, you could always give some of it away. LOL

... I like Foot Teachers more. D= yeah. If its an abbreviation thing, then it should be all caps. XD take Horatios post there for example. Although Croutons Rhyme On New York, Me Sleepy. ... yeah. Im still tired and nothing makes sense. XD A Cruddy Response Offers Nothing You Moron. *Slap. ROFOCLH!!! You definitely win The Gold Star Award for that interpretation!

Do you know who sent it? Santa Claus

Sounds like you had a really great Christmas!!! Teach Ian to ski... I have been thinking about that. I want to see the video. The sleeping bag for cold weather backpacking... tell you what I will take the sleeping bag and you can "see" someone about backpacking in cold weather idea. LOL Doesn't sound like your place will be too quiet. lol I'm actually talking to Ian on IM, kinda. I have pictures from when we taught him how to ice skate. XD Backpacking in cold weather isn't too bad, as long as the temps are above freezing and there's not much snow. There were light flurries when I went backpacking once. It was really cool. *wonders if Jesusfreak has spent too much time out in the cold* I think you need to teach Ian how to surf!!!

Sounds like you had a really great Christmas!!! Teach Ian to ski... I have been thinking about that. I want to see the video. The sleeping bag for cold weather backpacking... tell you what I will take the sleeping bag and you can "see" someone about backpacking in cold weather idea. LOL Doesn't sound like your place will be too quiet.

Today I received the greatest present. The box arrived on my doorstep last week. In the box were a zillion wrapped presents. There were so many terrific things inside the box that I became more excited with each one I opened. The best part was the card... I just loved the "Horatio" with the flowers on the envelope. What a great day! I am burning this wonderful smelling candle and thinking heartfelt thoughts for the wonderful person who was so thoughtful as to put all this together. I feel sooooooooo special today. I have attached a picture of one of my presents!!! Thank you so very much!!! Merry Christmas to you all!!! Horatio

aww! They are SO CUTE! xD*pokes* Look at the first picture carefully and then look at the second picture. You will see three babies in the second picture and one of them is acting like he is pushing the baby on the right away from the water. What I love are the two little faces side by side drinking water. Lol, your right. Piggy hammy! I love those pics. I will post a picture of Hamlet's Christmas tree. My camera doesn't want to take the picture without lighting everything up. The christmas tree lights aren't showing up. I am going to keep trying.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love Handel's Messiah!!! You tell me when it's over????????? How about when it starts. LOL lol Me too. I like most of Handel's music. I was just listening to The First Noel. Yay Christmas music! Christmas music always makes me feel good!!!

*gasp* How beautiful your tree is. I will place a picture of Hamlet's tree here. She went all out. LOL

OHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love Handel's Messiah!!! You tell me when it's over????????? How about when it starts. LOL

You mean the one which could be summarised in four words; ? (No Animal Farm reference there).I don't quite know what to make of Chavez at times. Sometimes, he seems quite logical. Other times, he seems like a complete nutter who should be taken away and gently talked to. I mean, his comments regarding the US' attitude towards South and Central American countries is spot on, I agree with him to some extent, but then when you analyse what he has been doing to his own country, it is quite atrocious. The working classes may have hugely benefited from his rule, but at the huge disadvantage of the middle classes (upper class shall not be mentioned as they are fools), with no discerning between what is good for Venezula's economy and what isn't, so long as it is socialist, makes fun of those Capatalist pig dogs over in the US and benefits the working class. TGHL's current pet hate is the WTO. World Bank almost, but for now it can be left alone. Why the WTO? The insistance on applying the Free Trade principle to EVERY country in the world, regardless of what economic effects it might have. Free trade does not help anyone except the rich Western countries which already have 80% of the wealth despite having 20% of the population. Fair Trade is a much more interesting initative I am interested in, but what must come first is a huge overhaul of CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) in the EU and the cancelling of subsidies to Western farmers. That means; Beating France over the head with a stick until it gives way Upsetting a lot of farmers But, the huge benefits for 3rd world farmers would much outweigh the downsides for the 1st world. For those not up to date with the current subsidy situation, allow me to elaborate. Western governments give subsidies to farmers to help them grow their crops, stay in business etc. Now, because of the heavily subisidised food crops that these farmers grow, it means that they can afford to sell them at a much reduced price. The upshot of this is that a 3rd world farmer who sells his crop with little profit margin, will be passed over by his own people in favour of the much cheaper 1st world farmer's goods, who, thanks to the subsidies, will be making much more of a profit than Mr.3rd-world-Farmer. Now consider how much of the population of your average 3rd world country is made up by farmers. Easily over 70%. This means that while the 1st world economy is good, farmers are fat and happy, etc etc. The 3rd world economy is dead because nobody is earning anything and people are starving. Policy of subsidies = Rubbish. What other world gripes do I have? The lack of any green initative here in Britain, the European Comission being incompotent and corrupt at the same time, the fact that the US administration just ignored everything said by the Iraq study group, the wonderful if unable to sway the US Kofi Annan is stepping down, Bush can't think of an XMas (note that he can't be bothered to put Christmas) message, so his dog Barney is doing it instead, Fiji has gone from being a likable Commonwealth state to a fascist supressing place (see latest story on Fiji coup on BBC. Bad news for anti-coup peeps) and Thatcher isn't dead yet. I always love reading your posts. Your views are quite informed and very interesting. The Iraq study group did not go far enough, in my opinion, I believe it is far worse than anyone can imagine and the American people need to be aware of what is going on. Remember, there are those people who believe if you ignore it, it will go away. Interesting view on farming in the USA. Sadly, small farms are being turned into housing developments. Small farms cannot make it and the subsidies do not help. Farmers work seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day and they definitely are not rich. The subsidies are not as terrific as you think. Fiji... most people don't know anything about it. There are some people in the USA who think that New Mexico requires a visa to travel there. Seriously!!! I watch the BBC news and read the Economist, great sources of information. As for Fiji, I don't know what to think. This is not good. Pinochet... you have been very quiet on his death. Any thoughts? How about Cuba and old Fidel and his brother? You flatter me Horatio, but what I love is reading your superb responses. The Iraq study group was viewed by the media and public over here as being a step forward, but still far too conservative. I do think I am getting to the root of the problem though. It is... The British Empire. The actions of the 1920's government in the division of post-war Ottoman Empire were ridiculous. The Kurds were given no homeland and split up between 4 countries, but while some of the other countries seem to have worked out quite well, they was a huge failing by the government in the creation of Iraq. Iraq forced together 3 different sectarian groups and it was never going to work without an iron fist to suppress the sectarian violence. Here is an idea; Divide Iraq so that each sect can have their own little country and hopefully that will mean we can finally having the beginnings of the reformation of Kurdistan, which is what I want eventually. The subsidy issue is mostly a European problem in terms of food, although one of the reports I read about the impact of subisdies said that it was the US who were responsible for the failure of cotton industries in the 3rd world and when you consider how versatile a plant cotton is and how lucrative the cotton trade is, it appears that all 1st world countries are responsible for suffocating Africa's (excluding South Africa) growth. Well, the Fiji coup is an issue, but not a clear cut one. The military coup was uncalled for, especially when you consider that there had been no suppressive government and that the economy was growing after the previous coup in 2000. The issue behind it seems to have been the ousted PM offering amnesty to the thwarted coup of 2000 which might have inflamed the growing racial rift in Fiji. What makes the coup worse in my eyes is the statement that "the new government will not tolerate critics of the regime." Totalitarian state = BAD. Thailand ironically after its coup has gotten better by all accounts, something which I didn't expect given the military coup, but actually the general in charge of the coup seems democratically inclined and promises elections in October 2007. He is also regaled as being incorruptible. Certainly given the corruption and ineptitude of the previous Prime Minister it may well be a good event for Thailand. I believe the above cartoon sums up my opinion of Pinochet and Thatcher's support of him. Just in case you missed the theme about Pinochet; I detest the man. As to Mr.Castro; He appears to be on his last legs, death seems to be approaching quick sharp. As to his nice little reign, it is a two sided coin. On one side, you have the complete and utter lack of democracy and the oppressive regime. On the other you have the excellent medical care facilities and 98% literacy rate. And end to the US blockade would be nice... I really am in two minds about Castro. Whatever you do, don't mention to Toto that I have a couple of Che Guevera t-shirts... What you failed to mention with your idea of spliting up Iraq is that Turkey has no desire to see the Kurds with their own country. So, I don't think Turkey would appreciate your plans. As for cotton... this crop is extremely hard on the soil taking out all the nutrients. You cannot rotate crops with say, corn or beans, and expect to have a great crop. The cotton is strips the soil of everything. Then you have to consider companies such as Patagonia, who make clothes out of recycled plastic bottles.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! How fantastic! Your band did great. That must have been tough being beaten by a 9th place band in overall music, but you still came in second!!! A first in individual music is a great achievement! Yeah to you all!!! No, we're the 9th place band. XD We got second, next to the 1st place band. It was pretty awesome. Oops. So I am guilty of reading what I want to read! The second place in over all music, is great and the first place in individual music is superb!!! You still did fantastic as far as I am concerned!!! As for the bands that change their uniforms every year... I agree with you. Matching instruments? I do not believe I would have ever noticed that the instruments didn't match. Yeah, like the band that had changing uniforms had pirate uniforms, and it was really cool but it made me kinda mad that it was only a one-year thing. Like, always changing these uniforms that cost so much? Our uniforms cost around $800, so we can't really afford to replace them. And we're working towards matching instruments, but currently I don't think we have enough money for it. We're going for quality instruments if they match, the only reason to get matching instruments for us is for quality control so that people don't have cheap intruments that sound bad. $800 each or total? Well, $800 each. Actually, it's more like 400-800 a piece, but it depends on the uniform type/company/etc. The schools that replace their uniforms each year are private or Catholic schools. We're getting new uniforms(we're gonna have a selection committee of about 8 people), but that's because our uniforms are fairly old, made of wool, hard to clean, and expensive to clean. So these new uniforms we're going to be able to take home and clean on our own instead of having them spend $1000 on dry-cleaning. I came up with an idea for your school. When it comes to the dry cleaning, why doesn't your school offer a local dry cleaner a deal. Free advertising announced at the game, if the dry cleaner would do your uniforms at either a reduced rate or free. The exchange would be determined by a couple of factors... how many times they were cleaned in a season, how involved it was to press the uniforms (this is where the cost is) and of course, you have already said how many uniforms there are. My suggestion would be to take a uniform to the local dry cleaner, not a chain, but an individual owner/operator, and then try and work out a deal. If the dry cleaner knew you were going to make an announcement at the game that he was the school dry cleaner, thanking him for his services and/or the company was listed in the book they hand out at the games, I do believe it would save you a bunch of money. Well, we spend about $1000 a year on dry-cleaning, and there's a lot of local places that might take us. I think that is a good deal, but I think we're also getting new uniforms because it gets harder each year to clean them. So eventually it'd probably be better to get new uniforms anyways. Wool is really bad for hot competitions anyways. XD Wool can be very light and a more breathable material than polyester, rayon or the like.

aww! They are SO CUTE! xD*pokes* Look at the first picture carefully and then look at the second picture. You will see three babies in the second picture and one of them is acting like he is pushing the baby on the right away from the water. What I love are the two little faces side by side drinking water.

*wonders where everyone is, so goes off to play with baby hammies*