Trick or Treating!
The swamp garden was out about 30 miles away in the middle of nowhere....we got there about 8pm. We left home about 7:25. The ride was so dark it was creepy. I knew how to get there but it seemed very strange. There was noone on the road but us. You would think that if there was a party going on there would be other cars heading the same way. There were none. There was no lights for about 10 miles. This is a state run, historical, swamp park. dirty Fila began to get nervous. I was even nervous. I just knew I had taken a wrong turn and had entered the swamp park twilight zone. dirty Fila even asked if I had enough gas she was so scared.
Finally we made it and no wonder there were no cars on the road. They were all at the swamp park. The lot was jammed. It only opened at 7:30 so we had made goot time I thought. Boy was I wrong. We got out tickets and immediately made out way to the haunted swamp ride. It was the main attraction. We had an hour wait in line. And by the tinme we had been standing there for 15 minutes there were about 60 other people lined up behind us.
The boat we got into held 4 and the boat guide. We were very low to the water and it was eerie. we pushed off and the swamp is just what it is...a swamp full of alligators. The rule as we got into the boat was no arms or legs over the side or even outstretched over the water. Gators can jump! So off we went into the total darkness into the gator laden swamps in a row boat powered by 1 man rowing. He told ghost swamp tales and some of the trees did have tiki torches attached so that we could see a few things.. they had skeletons hung on some trees and skulls around as well. We were deep in the woods so of course there were a few other employees near the banks firing up chain saws like Jason was coming. It was creepy.
There were even a few scuba divers in the swamps as well. When they would jump up out of the water right next to the boat that was terrifying....and to me just a little unsafe. The couple behind us jumped and almost capsized us into the swamp. The guide had to jerk his body to the other side to keep us afloat. dirty Fila and I were in the very front, very low to the water so there was nothing we could do accept hold on and try to keep very still and in the center of that row boat.
The water was like glass and very still. Swamps are very still, I did not realize. The water does not seem to move and was only disturbed when the oar was put in the water. The moon was full. I asked about the divers and the gators....how was that safe for them. The guide said that the gators pretty much stay off the path where the boats travel so the divers were safe. He said they had been doing the haunted swamp ride for the last 8 years and so far no diver has ever been attacked. The divers just stay in the same path of the boat and they are fine. Man...I would not be doing that.
One other freaky thing happened. There was a boat about 10 minutes ahead of us that we somehow caught up with. That boat driver ran into us because his boat was out of control. Luckily it was not a hard impact. It was his first time out and he was having trouble steering. A fish jumped into the boat and a woman in the middle began to scream and freak out about the fish. The fish was flopping around and she was freaked. Fish are harmless. I would be worreid about a snake in the boat..we were in the swamps you know. But not a fish. I saw her legs go out over the water.
The rule is no legs or arms outstretched over the water and there she was doing that because a fish jumped into the boat. I saw people in front of her reaching around trying to get the fish. Finally someone did and put it back in the water. Man I was ready to get back to shore after that but we had about 15 minutes to go.
I said a prayer that we would get out of this very small rowboat and out of that swamp safely. We finally did. dirty Fila did not want to walk the haunted trails after that. She said that she had had enought of the spooky woods on the drive up. She did not want to go into the woods to be chased around by Jason and Freddy. I wanted to go but she did not, so we passed. We then went over to the big screen the had set up by the butterfly house and watched classic episodes of the Twilight Zone. Episodes from the 1960's. It was good. They were good. Eerie. There was also a scavenger hunt and a story teller.
You would think the fun was over, but no it was not. We left about 11pm and had that long spooky ride back to civilization. On the way back I got lost and we had to retrace out path 2 times. dirty Fila got scared and becan to cry that we would never get out that swamp. I told her that I would get her home safe and finally once I got back to the main road and told her things looked familiar, her crying stopped. She said she may not want to go back there. At this point, I am not sure I would either.
Ponder this: A mother and daughter thought they were out for a night of halloween fun at a local state swamp park. Little did they know that the swamp is a place where innocent souls can get lost. Instead of the swamp, mother and daughter had entered the twilight zone!
What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~
The Slobbering on the Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld is awesome. A man of stark cotrasts, he would look like he had just stepped out of an 18th-century painting if it weren't for his tight, skinny jeans or the digital camera he carries. His signature heavily powdered white ponytail coexists with his huge, dark shades, which curve aerodynamically around his face (even though, he confides, he doesn't need glasses). This is a man who adores Björk, Jenny Holzer, and Hedi Slimane suits, and often quotes Lady Mendl. Droog fixtures and Ingo Maurer hologram lights share space with his childhood Louis XVI and Biedermeier in his homes. For Lagerfeld, it is obviously all about the mix. without the spice of the low the high bores him. But this fashion guru's most extraordinary quality is his superhero-octane energy.Manolo says, this, this is not the journalism! This is nothing more than the slobbering on the shoes of the evil Lagerfeld.
The Manolo, he is sorry to be so crude, but this article, it gives the Manolo the headache.
Manolo is feeling faint. He must go lay down now.
Shoes for the Prostitues? NO!
Manolo says to this person, you do not understand the Manolo's sensibilty, you do not understand the shoes!
The Manolo, he does not recommend the shoes for the prostitutes, he recommends the shoes that are merely super fantastic! For the Manolo, he only suggests that you wear the shoes that are on the line between the classic and the trashy.
That, says the Manolo, is where the fashion, it lies.
It is a little vampy, a little campy, the look of the siren, but restrained, with the classic line.
This, says the Manolo, it is very difficult to achieve, which is why the Manolo, he spends the many, many hours looking at the shoes, thinking about the shoes, obsessing about the shoes.
This person, who makes these comments, they can go to the hell!
Manolo says, see, this is what the Manolo likes
Manolo says, this shoe fits the Manolo's description of super fantastic. It has the classic line, but the color, it is purple, and the material, it is the faux cocodrilo.
See! The Fashion, but not The Trashion!
2004 Internet Haunted House!!!
The site is McCullochs Haunted House. Please go there and enter if you dare. From the past years that I have done it, you enter and there are lots of doors to go in. There are gems and things you collect along the way. The house is multi leveled and you have to go in the attic, the rooms, the basement, the yard, the tunnels under the house, the cemetary on the grounds and much more. Each time you make the wrong choice you die and get sent to the graveyard.
Like the living dead, you get right back up and go right back in...of course remembering not to do what you just did again. It is addictive and it is a lot of fun. I plan to go in later tonight when I have more time. Please check it out. It is great! My nephew and I usually do it together. We both enter the house and talk to each other on AOL as we go thru. It has become a halloween tradition with he and I and I can "help" him as he goes along. When you actually complete the entire house, you will have collected all the gems and other things like codes and you will solve the mystery.....you see, it is just not go in and walk around. There is an entire story line going on with that house as well.
Happy Haunting! See you in the internet haunted house!!!!
~~Aileen Mehle~~
Manas
Manolo says, someone has told the Manolo that these shoes, they are "hot"!
Maybe, says Manolo, if you are also liking to wear the denim jumpers.
Crazy Italianos
Sole mates no more: an Italian entrepreneur has created a line of 'single' shoes aiming to break down one of the last bastions of coupledom, matching shoes.Manolo says, oooooh, look at the free spirit! You are so "cutting edge" with the disdain for the tradition.
"Breaking up the couple, addicted to freedom" is the slogan for Add's shoes, currently available in Milan, Turin and Rome. The flat, round-toed shoes come in five colors and two models -- no coupling allowed, they are only sold in odd numbers. Buy two of your color choice and get a third shoe free. Or you can buy just one, or up to five at a time.
Creator Simone Cassola, 38, himself "nearly single" (and sporting a pair of matching leather shoes) told zoomata he came up with the idea while window shopping.
"Why not break things up a bit? The same models look good in different colors on display, there's no reason people shouldn't wear them that way," said Cassola, a former accountant and manager in Italy and South America, now based in Milan. "Pairs, matching pairs are really boring."
Ha!
Manolo says, you are a foolish man who is wasting his money on a foolish idea.
Yes, the Manolo, he is a traditionalist in the matter of the shoes, a traditionalist with the style!
Mayte!
Manolo says, one of the Manolo's many friends has sent the Manolo this picture of Mayte Garcia, the Price's former Princess.
Manolo says, as you can see, everyone loves the shoes!
Hasslehoff!
Manolo says, in the dark days of the past, when the Manolo was very poor, and only starting to be super fantastic, the young Manolo, struck by the stars of the Hollywood, liked to dream that someday he would be like the David Hasselhoff.
No! Not the David Hasselhoff of the Baywatching, but the young David Hasslehoff of the Knight Riding.
Someday, the Manolo dreamt, Manolo will have his own super fantastic Trans Am, one that will help the Manolo to design the most super fantastic beautiful shoes.
Now, the famous and powerful Manolo, he designs the shoes for the many famous people, inlcuding the David Hasselhoff!
And one of the most favorite of the Manolo's many super fantastic posesiones is a signed-by-the-Hasselhoff copy of "Looking for the Freedom"
Arrrrrggghhhhh!
D & G Classic
The Hats
Manolo says, it is no secret that the Manolo, he is thinning on top.
So, sometimes, especially when the sun it is hot, Manolo must wear the hat. But Manolo only buys his hats from the James Lock & Co. in London, hatter to the royals and the stars.
Peoples Are Talking
In the New York, in the Florida, in the Washington, D.C., in the Chicago, even in the Tel Aviv, they are talking about the Manolo.
The Housewives, the naughty girls, the transgendered girls, and the wise women, they are talking about the Manolo!
The tech people and the media people, they are talking about the Manolo!
They are even talking about the Manolo in the Swedish, in the Greeek, and in the Korean!
Everybody is talking about the Manolo!
It makes the Manolo so happy to know that so many people like to visit Manolo's blog!
What was the Miuccia Thinking?
More of The Steve Madden's Shoes
Manolo says, yes they are probably made in the China, not in Italia, but, sometimes a girl must do, what a girl must do to look good.
Happy Halloweeeeeeeeen!!
There are many more but those are a few of my all time favorites.
What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~
¡Ay Chiquitita!
Dr. Thompson on Bush
Dr. Hunter Thompson on President Bush
What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~
Flaming Pumpkins
What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~
The Steve Madden Shoes
Manolo says to these people, the beautiful shoes, with the beautiful workmanship, and the beautiful styles, they are worth every one of the pennies that the super fantastic girl would spend on them.
These are not just the shoes, they are the works of the art for the feet.
But, the Manolo, he knows what it is like to be poor, so poor that the person has to make his own beautiful shoes from the supermarket carrier bags.
So the Manolo will tell you what he would wear if he were the super fantastic girl on the budget.
If the Monolo were the poor girl, the young poor girl, who wanted to look super fantastic, the Manolo would occasionally wear the Steve Madden's shoes.
Yes, the Steve Madden, he is in the jail now, but his shoes, they are not bad for the moneys.
Like this one:
Or, this one.
Or this one.
These are all fine for the wearing to the office, or on the date with the messenger boy, no?
However, Manolo also says, of course, that if you can wait, you should save your moneys and buy only the most super fantastic shoes.
Lagerfeld, the Punk!
Spurred in part by the return to the news of the Ramones — three of whose members have died in the last three years, prompting tributes in print and on concert stages — punk's influence is resurgent. Its wayward sensibility filtered into Karl Lagerfeld's black-and-white collection for the department store H&M, to be available in November. The collection includes black pegged pants with rows of safety pins running down the seams and white T-shirts emblazoned with Mr. Lagerfeld's image.The Manolo he bets that El Diablo is not using this picture for his little t-shirts.
Manolo says, the name "Lagerfeld", does it not sound like the name of a James Bond super (not so fantastic) villian?
Converse All Stars?
Pictures of the Shoes!
Maybe, like the Manolo when he was young and poor, you do not have much of the money for the designer shoes.
Maybe, because you are young and poor, like the Manolo was, you like to just stare at the pictures of the shoes taken from the magazines and play with the pieces of the leather, making the tiny shoes for the mices in your dirty, unheated apartment.
If so, you must buy this calendar!
And this book!
Manolo likes! They are full of pictures!
You Must Link The Manolo!
To those of you who have not yet put the Manolo at the top of your blog-rolls, Manolo says, Shame on you. Manolo offers the finest shoe blog in the world!
You must link the Manolo!
Fergie in The Jimmy Choos
News that controversial British royal Sarah Ferguson is to pose nude for a charity book was greeted perhaps ungenerously by one British newspaper, as it launched a campaign urging her to stay clothed.Jimmy Choo?!?
A readers’ petition — entitled “Keep ‘em on, Fergie” — was the Sun’s swift response to the decision by Ferguson, the former daughter-in-law of Queen Elizabeth whose official title is the Duchess of York.
According to the duchess’s spokeswoman, she will appear nude but for some Cartier jewels and a pair of Jimmy Choo designer shoes for a charity book being produced to help an AIDS charity.
Manolo asks, what is wrong with the Manolo's shoes? Is the Manolo not good enough for this (formerly) fat cow?
Pttoey. Manolo spits!
Drink This: Victim of Voter Registration Fraud
Drink this was victim of voter registration fraud. From her blog she indicates that she was registered as a Democrat at an address that she does not live at and her signature was even forged. Read about it at her blog.
That is just as bad as this:
MAN GIVEN CRACK COCAINE TO REGISTER VOTERS ARRESTED IN OHIO
October 18, 2004
The Defiance County Sheriff's Office arrested Chad Staton, age 22, of Stratton Ave., Defiance, on a charge of False Registration, in Violation of Section 3599.11 of the Ohio Revised Code, a felony of the fifth degree.
The Sheriffs Office alleges that Staton filled out over 100 voter registration forms that were fictitious. Staton was to be paid for each registration form that he could get citizens to fill out. However, Staton himself filled out the registrations and returned them to the woman who hired him from Toledo, Ohio. Deputies allege that Staton was paid crack cocaine for the falsified registrations.
Defiance Deputies along with Toledo Police Department detectives conducted a search warrant of a residence on Woodland in Toledo, believed to be the home of the woman who hired Staton to solicit voter registration. Officers confiscated drug paraphernalia along with voter registration forms from the home. The occupant of the home, Georgianne Pitts, age 41, advised law enforcement, along with Ohio B.C.I.&I., that she had been recruited by Thaddeus J. Jackson, II, of Cleveland, to obtain voter registrations. Pitts admitted to paying Staton crack cocaine for the registrations in lieu of money.
A business card provided by Pitts indicated that Jackson is the Assistant NVF Ohio Director of the NAACP National Voter Fund.
The initial complaint received by the Sheriff's Office came from the Defiance County Board of Elections. The Board had received the 100 plus registration forms from the Cuyahoga Board of Elections that had been submitted to the Cuyahoga Board by the NAACP National Voter Fund.
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Aquatalia for the Poncho.
Manolo says, Manolo does not like the poncho. Everywere you see the poncho, the poncho here, the poncho there.
Manolo says, the poncho is not a fashion! The poncho, it is a blanket for the cold weather!
But, if you must wear the poncho when it is cold, Manolo says you could do worse than these boots.
The Shoes for The Man
Manolo says, Manolo does not usually concern himself with the shoes for the man, except for when Manolo is buying his own super-fantastic shoes. Then, when Manolo wants the traditional shoe he goes to the John Lobb, in London, to have his shoes made for him.
But, when he wants the more fashionable and sporty shoe, Manolo picks the handmade shoes from Jeffrey-West.
When Manolo feels like the pimp, Manolo chooses the mens shoes from the Tanino Crisci.
And, sometimes, especially when Manolo thinks too much about the Lagerfeld, Manolo puts on a pair of these.
Lehman: Bin Laden's Location Pinpointed
Bin Laden is living in South Waziristan in the Baluchistan Mountains of the Baluchistan Region, Lehman told the San Bernadino Sun, after delivering a keynote speech on terrorism at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif.
"There is an American presence in the area, but we can't just send in troops," he told the Sun. "If we did, we could have another Vietnam, and the United States cannot afford that right now."
Lehman said that because Pakistan's Baluchistan Region is "filled with Taliban and al-Qaida members" who do not recognize the legitimacy of President Musharraf, the U.S. military is holding back.
"Look," he explained, "Musharraf already has had three assassination attempts on his life. He is trying to comply, but he is surrounded by people who do not agree with him. This is not like Afghanistan, where there was no compliance, and we had to go in."
"We'll get [bin Laden] eventually," he added. "Just not now."
Contacted by the Sun, Department of Defense spokeswoman Capt. Ronnie Merritt declined to comment on Lehman's remarks, except to say that he normally didn't speak about these issues, and she was surprised he had.
Lehman served on the Sept. 11 Commission investigating bin Laden's attacks on the U.S.
What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~
Wannabe Boots
Well she just got back from a few days off and she got a new pair of boot when she was away. You would think the boots were made from gold. They look like a nice pair of boots but it must be the only pair of expensive boots she has ever had. She has worn them everyday this week and has pointed them out to all who comes into close proximity to her feet. I refuse to enter that conversation or even look hard at her boots. The only thing I can tell is that they are very pointy toed kind of like these. I heard someone at the copier tell her that her shoes were sexy and boy has she had a run with that.
Now she thinks she is sexy and has mentioned or asked others if they like her sexy boots. All day long when she is at the copier I hear the faint words of "sexy boots" coming from her mouth. Please! Deliver me from boot madness!!!
The only thing is that she shops at places like Dress Barn and Catos...not the best of the best when it comes to name brand shopping for our office environment. She always looks neat and clean, but those boots far outclass her clothing. Let me just say for those who shop at Dress Barn and Catos...nothing wrong with those stores. The contrast of this pair of shoes is like sack dress is to Jimmy Choo. She is wearing sack dresses with Jimmy Choo shoes.
Depending on what you wear, you cannot tell a pair of $10 boots from Walmart to a $300 pair of designer boots...like with a pants suit or a long skirt. But hip clothes or fad clothes on jeans casual Friday with dress boots just do not go! Can we say no fashion sense. And from one who knows it all and talks loud. People in my place of work are very PC....we have to be or you will be in big trouble. Noone says anything and I would not either. My shoes just look, listen and look/walk away quickly! In this case, those wannabe boots will forever be that. Wannabes!
What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~
The Goat Ropers
Manolo says, the cowboy friend of the Manolo (yes, Manolo has the cowboy friend, from Texas. Does not everyone?) the cowboy friend calls these boots "The Goat Ropers", because they are used by the cowboys to rope the goats.
Ahh, but says Manolo, are the cowboys from Tejas who are roping the goats wearing the Isacc Mizrahi goat ropers? Manolo thinks not.