Can't sleep

Bored

                                                                                   +
                                                                                   =
Karl Gimbel + Arnold Schwarzenegger = Karnold Schwarzegimbel

Bike

I buy bike.  I ride bike.  My butt hurts.  It is a single speed.  I enjoy the simplicity.

The News On the Street

So Edward is officially going to speak Arabic. He's totally excited! (Me too of course). It seems like I'll be able to move up to Monterey pretty soon, thank goodness! He's got an address in the barracks for now:

SPC Gimbel, Edward R
431 Rifle Range Road
Monterey, CA 93944

I'm mailing him his cell phone... so he'll be able to receive calls if you wanted to talk.

I just wanted to thank all you guys for being supportive. Thanks for being encouraging and thanks for the letters and packages that you guys have sent Edward. We love you guys very much.

~Meridth

Another picture of Soldier Rusty

Here we are, on the field, after happily discovering each other.

Edward Russell graduates from Basic Training

I got the opportunity to attend Edward's graduation from basic training at Fort Jackson, South CarolinaIt was wonderful to see  him, and we talked and talked and talked about all the aspects of his last ten weeks.  A BIG thank you to Margie and Brandon for facilitating the trip.  When I found tickets to Columbia, it was around $1200, but to fly to Raleigh was only $350.  Margie let me use her Saab (which was great fun to drive by the way), and I got to surprise the living daylights out of Rusty.  He said to himself, "Gee, that lady really looks like Mom.  Wait.... that lady IS Mom!"  I know he would have preferred to see Meridth, but I was still good enough.

Anyway, he is now in Monterey, California.  He will send his address (probably through Meridth), and let us know of his circumstances.  We can all be so proud of him.  It was an incredibly difficult time, and he got through it with his dignity and his integrity intact.

I'll try to post more pictures.  This internet connection stinks!

The Orphan Works Bill

I really appreciate that this family is into politics. It makes for interesting conversation and it's nice to know that some people in the United States read the paper. Anyway...I have to post what I posted on my art blog because it really is a frightening bill for the future of artist entrepreneurs. Anyway here goes...

"Orphan Works" bill. What is that you ask? Well, Not only is the bill, which has been squashed to an extent, and just festering around, in the House Judiciary committee, being open for discussion, BUT, ANOTHER version of the bill is being introduced in the Senate! It basically allows people, who want/find and "creative work", whether it is visual art, music, entertainment recordings of sorts, writings, etc. - a creation by someone that's created it by them and them alone- to be allowed to use it, even for profit, IF they do a "reasonable" search for the owner of the work. Now, the word "reasonable" is in question, because these said infringers could "say" that they did a search, but in reality, not life a finger to find the owner. Alot of photogrophers are up in arms about this, artists of all kinds, illustrators, etc. Even if you own the rights to a dvd or vcr tape, or script, or manuscript- this affects all of you. And the fees AND penalties that the infringer would pay the owner, is pitance, and rediculous, compared to what they are capable of receiving now. Artists would not be able to afford the intellectual property lawyer's fees to recoup awards from the infringers, because of these bills!

My hope here tonight, is to ask you who reads this, to please protest the "Orphan Works" bill, not only up for talk in the Judiciary committee in the House of Reps in Congress ( click here and look for Orphan Works bill) BUT, it's being introduced in the Senate! How the bill just got slid in, into Senate, without House approval, is beyond me.

None the less, go here and can listen to an interview with Brad Holland (famous artist and proponent for Artist's rights) about how dangerous this bill is to artist, plus go to here to see whatthe bill entails.

It's frightening, this bill, or shall I say, THESE BILLS. Basically, it's the "free use" society, if you will, you know the types, the ones that feel if it's out in the public, it's public domain so why pay for it, wanting this bill to go through. It's a lot of publishers and stock image places, like Getty Images, wanting this bill to go through. Also a lot of museums and libraries wanting this to go through.

The IPA (Illustrators Partnership Assoc.) has a lobbyist working against it for artists.

Even if you have, say, photos of your kids, or your vacations, online, well, guess what? Some entity, because they didn't take the time (or just plain didn't want to cut you in on profits) could take YOUR family photos and use them on their products, without asking you or paying you!

Another thing I found out, was that in the Senate's version of the bill. you'd have to register with approved copyright office registries (yes registrieS, plural- apparently the copyright office is outsourcing or going private or something, I still am confused how this can happen, but...) SO, you'd have to not only register with one company, your copyright, but other copyright registries! It already costs $45 per copyright registration, THROUGH the copyright office at www.copyright.gov

Now, you may ask, how does this affect anyone outside of the US? I'll show you. See, the US, and the UK signed this bit of international legislation at the "Berns Convention of 1976" and any country that signed it, would have to use it as law. Basically, it states that once a creation is made, REGARDLESS if it is officially copyrighted, or not, the law says that once created, it is COPYRIGHTED. Period. No markings needed, no copyright fee to pay, etc.

How these bills are allowed, and then making an end run around the "Berns Convention of 1976" is beyond me. I know that alot of big business corps are pushing for at least one of these bills to get through. Surprisingly, some publishers, who are said to be pushing it through, some of them are on OUR side, helping us.

How it affects non-US citizens, to my UK friends, my musician friends- I say to you, contact your lawyer, your entertainment lawyer, and get them to look this over, these bills, because...

Say you're a non- native of the US, yet, you have say, a cd or album released here in the US, under a separate record label, specifically for your US releases, THESE bills affect you! These bills affect your copyright issues here in the US.

So, PLEASE, make some contacts, whether emails, faxes or snail mail, to the appropriate parties in congress, namely to the Senate, and the House Judiciary committee.

If your lazy, like me, and need a quick form letter to send to your Senator or Congressman/woman click here and fill it out.


We are talking about the livelihoods of a lot of freaking poor artists here... and maybe some cute old scrapbook ladies too. If you care about the future of creative works... don't put off writing your Senator or Rep.

Thanks guys for the support!

Edward's Graduation

So unfortunately Edward and I have decided that I wont be coming out to his graduation. The flight will be about $1000, let alone hotel and car rental costs, only for a total of 16 hours with Edward. I think Edward and I can survive being without each other for a week or a month (whichever the military decides it is). Anywho... just thought I should keep you all updated.

5 Years of Marital Bliss

It's Edward's and my anniversary today. Hooray for being married to someone you really like.

ps. I just got the most beautiful floral arrangement from Edward... just thought you all might like to see (I just about cried when I saw them)

Are the Rumors True?

I just heard from an old high school friend (Angie Meyer) that Bill Clinton will be in Decatur, Indiana today? Is that true? How crazy is that! Claudia and Ed, will you be attending this event? I sure hope so!!!

Update-erific

Hi guys! Just to keep you guys posted... I've been a busy bee. I officially have a website up. It's been taking me forever and I'm happy it exhists... but I still have a lot more to go on it. I chose Octopus Ink Illustration as my business identity because nobody can remember how to spell either of my names for beans... so I decided to go aquatic. Really it's just a play on the medium I mostly paint in, which is watercolor.

Anyway, so that's that... and I recently started an Edward and Me blog if you guys are interested. We'll see were things go :)

Love you all and hope things are well,

Meridth

Happy Birthday Stacey!!!

Mom and Dad have been trying desperately all day to post a happy birthday wish to our dear Stacey Martin Phipps! Today is her birthday!! Although there are only a few hours left in the day, we all hope you enjoy them tremendously!



How did you celebrate your birthday Stacey? Did David take you out for a nice meal or did you enjoy a nice evening at home? Did you celebrate with friends or family? Did you eat some delicious cake? Did Kyle sing you happy birthday? We hope that whatever you did, it was something you wanted to do and something that made you happy! We were all thinking of you on this special day!!!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACEY!!!

Cleveland here we Come!

It looks like we will be moving to Cleveland in May. Plan your visit now to The Cleve'.

Any packing and moving tips from those of you who have done a big move? Once I finish my masters project, I'm planning on starting the packing process. I need to do some major edits and reductions of our stuff. It is amazing to think that Richard and I moved to LA three years ago with three car loads of stuff and that was it! Here are just a few things in our garage that we will be either donating or getting rid of:
1. A broken picnic basket
2. Material to build 2 liter bottle rockets (for Richard's Boy Scouts)
3. lots and lots and lots of tote bags. I don't know why I have so many totes, but I do.
4. A few strange Christmas decorations that Richard will insist that I throw away, but that I sort of love. This includes a "Thai Santa"
5. Potting soil

This is just the coo-coo crazy stuff that is in our garage! I haven't even started to look in the deep, dark crevices of the closets in my apartment! Seriously, any tips or ideas about moving would be greatly appreciated!

We are still trying to figure out the logistics of the move and everything, but we will keep you all posted!

MREs, Candy and the Black Market

Let's talk about MREs. For the uninitiated, MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) are precooked prepackaged (in some cases, pre-chewed and digested) meals the army uses when they are in the field. You can buy them at Army Surplus stores if you'd like an example. They come in a heavy plastic brown bag and break down further into maybe 5-7 pouches, each a processed food item.Your typical MRE might have say... Italian Chicken with shell pasta. In addition to your entree, you get a small pouch of trail mix, an envelope of powdered electrolyte drink, a pouch containing a palm sized piece of wheat snack bread, a pouch of fortified cheese spread (with bacon) and a fig bar. Ideally, the MRE contains 100-1300 calories to sustain soldiers in the field who are burning more calories, but with so many pouches of snackish foods the Basic training soldier typically turns quickly to economics and trade.


Allow me to back up a moment: In basic training one isn't given a lot of time or a lot of choice concerning food. Granted in the chow hall soldiers can select from as any as 5 entrees and side choices, not to mention an alright salad bar. However one typically has a mere 7 minutes to wolf down their food. This tension, combined with a logical lack of any and all junk food and a blanket ban on any food outside the chow hall (i.e. no between meal snacks) makes the typical BCT soldier somewhat edgy about his/her food.

Back to MREs. Soldiers can get pretty picky about MREs even though we're not allowed to choose our own. It's a lottery with the lucky winning the popular choices (Beef Ravioli because it has stellar side items) and losers taking what's left (Tuna on pita bread because it's measly.) On top of that, and again, although it's ostensibly prohibited, there is a lively market for trading sides. Fortified peanut butter often trades slightly higher than it's counterpart cheese spreads (in plain, bacon or jalapeño) and Hooah Bars (like an Army Powerbar) run much higher than carrot pound cake but are roughly equal to mint chocolate brownies, which are pretty rare. The trading of entree items happens more rarely but it's not unheard of. Some soldiers go so far as to trade their entrees away for a pair of wheat snack breads and a fortified peanut butter, but this is rare as it will likely leave the trader somewhat hungary.

Now rarely but occasionally a package of M&Ms or Skittles will be inside a MRE. Some platoons are allowed to eat theirs in spite of aforementioned ban on junk food. In our platoon, however, we are not allowed. Sadly only the naive (like myself) ever really turn candy over to the drill sergeants. Part of the Gimbel tendency to rabidly avoid trouble, I suppose. Most soldiers who find candy secret it away under their body armor, into their briefs or, if they are foolish, into their pockets. Pockets are for the foolish because of the random contraband shakedowns that happen on occasion.

Yes many like to eat the candy but there is also a vigorous black market for goods of this nature. I have heard, for example, that a Snickers bar will go for about $8 and soda runs for about a dollar an ounce. Getting it is the tricky part because you have to know a private with PX privileges.

Anyway, all this explains why you guys have to curb the impulse I know you're all feeling to send me care packages fulll of crispy snack crackers, chewy cookies or scrummy fudge. Fight the impulse! Your letters will have to suffice. As soon as I get home you can bet that I'm gonna whip up a batch of fudgy brownies with walnuts first thing. Yum!

~Rusty

Something Cool from LA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3aAVctDK8U

You have to watch this video. It is so cool! Josh and Charlotte are our great friends here in LA. We will miss living in LA so much because of all our amazing friends!!!