Morning Musume is going to cover "Pepper Keibu"?! This is going to be fun. How do I know? Simple:

• As we already know from "Morning Musume no Hyokkori Hyoutan-jima," the b-side to "Egao YES Nude," Berryz' "Dschingus Khan," W's early work, "LALALA Shiawase no Uta," and just about every concert performance and episode of "Berikyuu!"/"Uta Doki!" (even if some of the listed may or may not count as "covers" per se), H!P can do covers and they can do them good. How will Morning Musume are out with their second cover single? I see good fortune in the stars (speaking of stars, given its (the song's) significance, don't you dare bellyache about Takitty getting 70% of the lines (50% of that that 70% slice of the pie had better be shared with (if not, given to) Niigaki-san. If not, expect Gaki fans to riot and revolt).
• I may not have heard the original Pink Lady version but I fell in love with the song through GO!GO!7188's version. Those who have heard it know how kickin' awesome it is! I need not explain further.

ペッパー警部

GO!GO!7188

One other hope: Great costumes and a stellar PV. (Wait a minute! That's two! Meh, being a H!P fan takes a lot of patience and wishful thinking. Before I fall out of love with H!P for good, what are some good idol groups and other J-music artists? Been getting somewhat interested in AKB48 and I'm starting to like Shiina Ringo's work after having a taste. So, if you have any recommended J-idol/rock/indie acts, give me a shout out. Darnit, Kat! Stay focused!).

Back to our topic: I see good things on the horizon for Momusu's 37th. Go Musume! Kick butt! For the sake of a first impression, I've decided to withhold reading all blog posts related to this event (though I do admit I read Nakane's color-coded lyrics (those who read it know how... I won't spoil it for those who don't know) and Arashi's post but hopefully, I'll forget all of that by the time I post this).

In other news, Morning Musume's releasing a cover album of 70's song this November. (Why does this remind me of W's first album? Meh, it's not important). Supervised by Hiroshi Itsuki (whou would also appear on the album apparently, according to IW),

- Magi-Kat
<3

P.S. If you can figure out what the title of this post refers to, I'll give you a strawberry from the "strawberry fields" for "baby, you're a rich man"!

(BTW what's a good place to host a blog besides Vox?)

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"The Police Were Itching For A Fight" - DNC Protesters

You may have heard that pepper spray was used on the first official night of the DNC, or that some protesters got arrested. The UpTake's Eli Linch went on a mission today to find out what happened and get the protester's side of the story. Are the charges levied on those arrested accurate? When did the tear gas come into the picture? Check out this side of the story.

Greg Spagnuolo – spokesperson and co-founder of the Recreate 68 Allaince says the police were getting out of hand and acting in a criminal nature

Protesters say they were blockaded. Police had been harassing people throughout the day in the park even though the people had a permit to be there.. The police drove them out of the park and then blocked them in an area where they pepper sprayed people and shoved people with their batons

Police report said the people who were arrested were throwing rocks at the police, obstruction and disobeying lawful orders. Several people told us they didn’t see anybody throw rocks at the police. There were no orders given by police. The minute protesters went into the streets they were hit with pepper spray and pepper bullets.

Another organizer told us “We have a permit for this park. So to me it’s the cops who disobeyed a lawful order to leave us the hell alone with our permit.

“They make these things up when they attack people so they can try and make charges stick, so they don’t wind up looking like the aggressor, which is what they were.”

Spagnulo says “It’s a shame that this had to happen. Everyone was acting non-violently. The police were itching for a fight since about 6 o’clock on. They were pushing people in the park shoving people around acting like a bunch of bullies and it didn’t need to happen this way. I don’t know who made the tactical call from the police department, but it was a piss-poor call because now everybody is all tense and motivated for more confrontation and that’s something we didn’t want and its something that the police are bringing down ...

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Show us your favorite salty snack.

well... this will be a boring one, because i don't like salt. and i'm not the "snacker type".
i eat chips with dip from time to time (usually at clan get-togethers with the super six), but i won't consume very much. and if they're too salty i won't touch them.
i'm trying to think of something naturally salty that i really enjoy, but cannot think of anything. hmmm.

now pepper... i looooove pepper. black pepper. i put it on everything.

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Share a song from your favorite band.

Well, I have a problem with the concept of "favorite"  I don't have just one favorite.  But, what I will do is combine this with the Lyric of the Day and take the concept of "band" (instead of individual who plays with a revolving set of people) and give you one of the bands I'm listening to a lot at the moment.

Butthole Surfers - Pepper

I don't mind the sun sometimes
The images it shows.
I can taste you on my lips
And smell you in my clothes.
Cinnamon and sugary
And softly spoken lies
You never know just how to look
Through other people's eyes.
- Butthole Surfers, "Pepper"

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clipped from www.wtopnews.com WASHINGTON (AP) - The salmonella strain linked to a nationwide outbreak has been found in irrigation water and a serrano pepper at a Mexican farm, federal health officials said Wednesday. Dr. David Acheson, the Food and Drug Administration's food safety chief, called the finding a key breakthrough in the case, as did another health official. "We have a smoking gun, it appears," said Dr. Lonnie King, who directs the center for foodborne illnesses at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Acheson said the farm is in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Previously, the FDA had traced a contaminated jalapeno pepper to a farm in another part of Mexico. The outbreak has sickened more than 1,300 people since April.

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Pups

Pep

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So, tonight was one of my first times using a gas stove top, and the pan caught on fire! Seriously! The flame was so high, it was scary! Luckily I was totally okay, except sort of scared and embarrassed.

But then once the fire alarm shut off and I was feeling less shaky about the whole thing, I went at it again and here's what I made:

Stir fry Tofu and Veggies with Avocado

Ingredients:
Favorite teriyaki or other stir fry sauce (I use Seven Paths Sesame Ginger Sir Fry Sauce, which I add ginger, cumin, and black pepper to)
Tofu (I used 1/3 of a firm tofu block)
Carrots thinly sliced
Green peppers chopped into pieces (I chopped them about an 1- 1 1/2 in wide)
1 avocado scooped out and sliced into bite-sized pieces

Drain the tofu for a half hour or more, while the tofu is draining chop the veggies and the avocado (is avocado a veggie or a fruit?). Put a pot with some water on the stove top and wait for it to start boiling, then put the veggies in the water till they soften. When the tofu is drained to satisfaction, chop it into semi-thin (just thick enough not to fall apart) rectangles, more like thin, small  slaps than cubes. Put the tofu in a bowl with the sauce, making sure that each block is coated, and let it sit and marinate for a half hour to an hour.

When the tofu is ready (the veggies should definitely be softened enough by now, by the way), heat oil in a pan on the stovetop (now if you're me and working with a gas oven, you should be extra-careful to not burn your face off at this juncture) and put the tofu in the pan, and cook till lightly browned. Then put the veggies (with either more marinade, or other spices) in with the tofu. Cook till tofu is as brown as you want it to be. Drain the oily-ness on paper towels, and add the avocado slices!

Delicious!

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Because I just sent about two ounces of ground black pepper wafting across my kitchen when I was trying to remove the little plug at the base of my pepper shaker to empty out the pepper so I could wash the shaker. Damned little plug WOULD NOT GIVE IT UP, so I yanked.

No sneezing, thank God. But I only wiped up the spill. I didn’t toss any over a shoulder or make any wishes or weave my hands in the air to form any signs to ward off a pox or the like.

And if I need to do that, I need to know pronto!

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