Disco

Rubycon and Disco are going to be in Long Beach on September 22.

Disco has a sound piece in SoundWalk 2007 which is happening in Long Beach CA on September 22 from 5-10pm. The event is free.

My piece is called SecondPlace. Its about the human capacity to change or accept change, and in particular cultural change that comes with immigration. The piece is more from the point of view of a refugee, so its change more of a forced or unexpected nature.

It will be playing in Koo's on Broadway Street near Atlantic Ave.

Rubycon (US immigrant!) is making the trip with me so come say hello. It would be cool to meet fellow VJers.

Find more info at www.soundwalk.org

Fantastic! I know that's not easy and you should be proud!

For those who don't know we in Chicago are boycotting BP gas. No it's not about the cost of gas but the fact that a company that made $22 billion dollars last year can't seem to find the extra cash to protect our fragile lake.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/49...dits03a.article

Thanks for your help

It's like buying beer in an English pub - if you don't push through to the bar then you are not going to get served.

What English pub do you go to?!? That pushing is more American bar than English pub. I found that the English bartender won't serve people who push their way through. Least the ones I know. And even during a football match I have never had to push my way through a even the most crowded of English pub.

I learned to be a lot more patient while I was in England.

This 'holier than thou' thing is one American trait that does annoy me and I reckon it came over with the pilgrims.

One minute it's 'I cannot tell a lie' and the next minute it is 'Baghdad is full of WMD's'

Nuclear

Chemical

Biological

jeez

PS: I agree with TracyTN.

The way I see it, some people in life are not perfect. For every person asking if they can use their foodstamps for nail art there may be 3 that have a genuine need for help.

I'm sure there are people who take advantage of systems put in place to help people who really need help (common knowledge).

There is no way to weed out these people in any effective manner (I don't mean blatant fraud), therefore you have to just kind of figure it in to the equation.

:thumbs:

from me too

But some programs are better then others...

Also...

Programs give to those who don't need it and then can't help the ones who do need help but are juuuuust little above the line. And honest.

Wow this is still going...

Ok going to add this...

I see two type of students on the free lunch program at my school: flashy teenagers and quite teenagers.

The flashy ones have iPods, cell phone, cool gym shoes, and latest pair of jeans. They are the ones who should not be on the program, yet they show off that they are on the program, announcing that they need special treatment because they are poor. Those are the people that the OP sees. And yes when we see people like this we want to cancel the program, hate lazy poor people and all the other negatives.

Then there are the quite ones. The one over there in the corner wearing their cousins hand-me-down Wal-mart jeans, no gadgets, nothing. They are embarrassed that they have to get free lunch and hide the fact that they are. They don't want you to know. They want to fit in and be treated like everyone else. They are the ones who work hard in class, dream of becoming a doctor and buying a house for thier mom. They are ones I work for. They are why we started this program and need this program.

Sure one of the cell phone students may come from a family where someone just lost a job, but again they hide the fact that they are on free lunch.

That's why I say this is complex and we need reform, not cancelation.

I am on the school board of my charter school, so I am quite familiar with school budgets...

Disco, you are mistaken if you think your AV budget is negatively impacted by school lunch programs. That federal money has to be separate from the rest of the budget--it can NOT be used for anything else.

That said, we could certainly have a good debate about how little federal money is actually spent on education (unfunded mandates, anyone?).

Sorry I read slow and don't keep up with fast moving threads.

I've been in on these meeting at the school and my budget got cut becuase of this program. The fees for the lunch they get some from government but for the fees for driver ed and graduation it comes out of the school budget. Other high school in our district do not have the same money crunch we do because we have 900 student on fee lunch. It depends on your state and your district as to where the money comes from. remember I'm talking about a program that covers more than the cost of food.

sorry guys not checking the spelling and grammer because I got to go and wanted that out there.

not reading any more of this because it's growing to fast.

Bye

Sorry meant to say eligible not illegible. I'm a terrible speller.

Ok. I work at a school with a program called "Free Lunch". This program means the parents pay no extra fees: buses, graduation fees, sports, drivers ed...

You want to know about the good and bad of free lunch talk to the treasurer at my school around registration time. In my state anyone below a certain line can get Free Lunch. The problem is they only check 1% of the applicants. So yes lots of people sign-up who are not illegible. But she can't stop them.

What's interesting is she will be the first person in line to defend the program. She believes there are people this program helps. What she complains about is the mother with freshly manicured nails, child standing by listening to an iPod, signs-up for free lunch.

I hate the ones who cheat like this because they are stealing from everyone else. I work in the AV department and now I can't buy new software and equipment because I have no budget. All of it goes to "free lunch".

I want to help the young people who need it. The one caught in the middle. But when little Tommy is talking on his cell phone as he walks out of the cafe with his "free lunch" it angers me and my students.

Don't fight to eliminated this program. Fight to get it better regulated.

welcome home maven

David Ives said it best

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsH9hs9rbKo...ted&search=

I just looked at the picture of you in the car.....I did see you at the embassy!!

Wierd!! Yeah, I was there early, at about 8:45am. Looking sleepy, probably!

I got there about 10 minutes before that......thought i'd sneak in early lol I was number 5015! Anyway.....congrats to you and Disco!

Thank you so much. Congrats to you two as well.

Rubycon and I just spoke on the phone. This is him now

Rubycon just called. He has been APPROVED. i'm so happy right now and glad this part is over. I'm going to leave the offical red approval mark on the interveiw thread to him.

Rubycon pack you bags, get your hat....

and get over here so we can start a new life together.

I'm so proud of you and I love you.

Thanks every body. Good Luck JandC! Rubycon, you be fine. You have everything!

Clearly I have some sort of British man fetish!

Me too

Mmmmmm British men

Has anyone else tryed this on a Mac in Safari. I place the pin, click it to add my name, click the blue x box. Then I hit save. Nothing. Sorry too fustrating

Sorry still nothing. Do you click on save when your done? Does it take you to another screen? Because nothing happens when I hit the save.

Has anyone else tryed this on a Mac in Safari. I place the pin, click it to add my name, click the blue x box. Then I hit save. Nothing. Sorry too fustrating

sorry wrong thread going back and forth between two windows. Can a mod save confusion and delete my post from here.

Has anyone else tryed this on a Mac in Safari. I place the pin, click it to add my name, click the blue x box. Then I hit save. Nothing. Sorry too fustrating

I think it shows how much we believe anyone with a microphone in their hand. I loved the boy who finally questions him. only idiots and children know the Emperors has no clothes

Hi all. Thought I'd add my husband to the list, since I check here regularly to see how the dates for interviews are coming along. The embassy received our packet 3 on the 18th of July, and I'm impatiently waiting for our interview date. From reading these posts, I'm under the impression we should have included the "checklist" page which has the instructions for immigrant visa applicants on it. Surely it isn't necessary to include a ticked checklist??

Good luck to everyone!

Natalie

Will add him to the list.

Yes, the 'checklist' tells the consulate you are ready for an interview. The ticks on the boxes indicate that you have gathered all the necessary documents. I would send it in pronto.

Yes its necessary to send in the checklist .... i had sent in my documents in on 14th june and the checklist in on the 1st of july ...and whenever i called DOS they would always say " your Packet 4 could take anything between 4-8 weeks from the time u sent ur checklist" .... so better hurry

Yes Rubycon and I waited forever because we did not want to send in the checklist until he got his police report. He sent the form in early like end of April. Waited 39 days for the police report so he didnot send the checklist in until June 1. It was aweful watching everyone else get interview days before us and you can see on the list how far behind we fell. (in fact our dates are wrong 5/9 was medical not P4). No one will do anything for your case until you turn in the checklist.

Some people from work were shocked when I told them I didn't know what a chimichanga was. I told them it was becuase I was colombian, not mexican. I honestly don't think they understood what I meant by that and they still think of me as mexican.

I am Mexican but never heard about Chimichangas before I came to the US

Chimichangas were invented in New Mexico or Arizona depending on who you believe (as opposed to Old Mexico ), so its hardly surprising that you've never heard of them!

Texmex and Chop Suey! Can't get more American than that

Thanks so much for the lovely message. It made me feel really good. Good luck on your new life.

My feet are cold

We finally got our interview. But not until Aug 10. So far away.