When I get my magazine subscriptions each month, I always head to the beauty features in each first. I love those makeover articles, when they take a harried mom, or a mom stuck in a rut, and transform her. New hair, new clothes, new makeup, perhaps contacts…I need a treatment like that!

You can get almost the same thing by playing at this virtual makeover site I found online via Naples web design. If you’re like me, and get your hair cut the same way every 6 weeks, this is a free and painless way to find out if your site would really look good with a completely new look, or a new color. You can try celebrity looks, or basic designs, and then select from 20+ variations of color for your background, font, and contact form. I went with a light brown, which is pretty far from the natural dark brown the site used to sport, and then threw in some red highlights. I’m actually amazed, because it looks natural! I’ve had web design edits done before, but not in a color like this, and I really like it. And the new design is something I like too, but I’ve been worried about cutting more layers into my site. Looks like I don’t need to worry about it, because it looks GOOD!

I had a really weird situation occur at the Wal-Greens last week.

Whenever I need one hour photo processing, I typically upload my pictures to Wal-Mart. Even though I hate the store, I don’t have any problems with the photo center. However, it was down, so I was forced to use another store, and picked Wal-Greens. I uploaded a few pictures and paid online, and when I got to the store, selected a few other things to buy.

The cashier scanned my photos and they should have rang up at no charge, but they didn’t. I had to explain to her that I paid online, and she called the manager….long story short, he argued with me about how the whole order / pay online thing works and it was obvious he didn’t have a clue. Another customer in line even told him he was wrong!

After going through that for about 10 minutes, he finally decided to ring the item up for $0 and let me pay for the rest of the things I selected. The cashier rang them up, and before I knew it, a receipt was spitting out – without me paying! How did my other items get paid for? Turns out the system had charged them to the card I provided ONLINE, for the photo purchases.

WHAT?

Again, the manager argued with me about that being the correct process…but come ON! If I authorize my card online for $2.35 worth of photos, I shouldn’t be able to add another $20 to that in the store without sliding the card, right?

I ended up calling the 800 # for Wal-Greens, where it was confirmed that what happened was not right. The customer service agent I dealt with said that the system is designed so that I could order photos online, pay for them, and then call a friend anywhere, even across the country, and she could pick them up. That friend should NOT be able to add her purchases onto the tab, which is eactly what happened to me.

My concerns were forwarded to the store manager, and she sent me a coupon for free photo processing. I’ll use it, but I’m never paying online with Wal-Greens again!

Anyway, just wanted to give a shout out to Naples web design for the great job they did!

There has been considerable confusion over the past few hours as to whether the Senate — which passed the National Defense Authorization Act (FY 2012) — included a last-minute “waiver” to protect American citizens from some of the bill’s more outrageous and fascist elements, including the right of the US government to detain citizens — even those on American soil, and not charged with a crime — indefinitely in military prison. This means that peaceful protesters could be rounded up, dishonestly labeled as potential terrorists or “suspicious,” and imprisoned for life without a trial or attorney. This means that federal military personnel would be patrolling our streets, literally signaling the end of our free republic.

The offending section of the NDAA has been compared to the internment camps the US government ran during World War II, except this time around it will be Ron Paul supporters, Tea Party members, and young Occupy Wall Street organizers in the detainment camps.

It doesn’t matter if a last-minute waiver is in the bill; the offending portions are currently worded so vaguely, that any US citizen can be considered a “terrorist” or an aid to terroristic activity. Any US citizen who is inconvenient to the US government can be detained and silenced.

Also, the intent was extremely bad here — Sens. John McCain, Carl Levin, and Lindsey Graham INTENDED for this bill to redefine the US homeland as a “battlefield” (Graham’s words, not mine), allowing the revocation of even our most basic civil rights and access to due process.

When the intent is bad, an intentionally vague section of the NDAA can be interpreted by authorities in the worst possible way. The whole bill must be thrown out, except for key parts to continue military operations and crucial funding of our armed forces.

Let me remind you that this is not a drill. This is not an inflammatory blogger’s post. This actually happened, and with the Senate’s passage of this bill, it is very close to becoming law. The US mainstream media is not covering this AT ALL, as I pointed out in a recent column. The only source for even remotely accurate information right now is on the social networks, especially Twitter — this reminds me of something you’d experience in Iran or Syria, not in America.

The best CNN has done, for example, is to mention there’s been some “controversy” about new “detainee rights” outlined in the National Defense Authorization Act.

The network neglects to tell its readers and viewers that “detainee” now means American citizen. This is chilling. Americans now have the same rights as random enemy combatants in Afghanistan. Your government is now treating you as it’d treat a member of the Taliban. Congress has committed treason against the American people.

Up until now, no matter how much (or how little) wealth you had… no matter how much or little education and influence you had… every American was at least guaranteed a freedom from fear: your government could not come in the middle of the night with military non-police forces, without charge, and take you away.

If the National Defense Authorization Act clears the House and is not vetoed by President Obama, that will no longer be true. None of us will be safe. And you won’t be given access to a trial or a lawyer.

The media is not telling the public about this bill, which means you have to, before your right to speak out disappears. Tell everyone. This cannot be allowed to stand. This is still the United States of America. And any senator who voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act in its current form should be forced to resign from public office immediately. They’ve crafted a bill that turns America’s military against its own people and suspends habeas corpus.

Whereas most naysayers bemoan some flawed authenticity, I’m 100% on board: I completely buy that Adam Young twinkles away on his SPD in a Minnesotan bedroom, yearning for a thousand hugs from a thousand lightning bugs between juice time and extended 4Him listening breaks, the same way I completely buy that some nothin’ muffin student and her day trader boyfriend living in a nouveau riche San Diegan tract house decorated with guitars they probably don’t even know how to play would be made all pitiful and bitchy by the presence of a ghost.

My distaste isn’t rooted in image. The problem is that none of these people are the type I would want to spend any prolonged period of time with. In Micah and Katie’s case, that’s about an hour and a half. In Owl City’s case, that’s about three minutes.

And your haircut game is fucked up.

What’s it called when someone’s from one coast, but the other guy’s from the middle of the country? Not bi-coastal… whatever. am.fm.pm’s dear friends the White Panda rep LA and Chicago. They also rep a little track this morning bound to make even the most twee amongst us quit chasing fireflies in favor of Chevys with butterfly doors.

Ugh, writing that made me remember he pronounces it “Mee-kah”. (WE BACK.)

Midlake – The Trials of Van Occupanther (.zip)

Denton, Texas quintet Midlake originally banded together with the intention of starting a jazz/funk outfit at the University of North Texas, and two full releases later could not have made a more interesting genre switch. For their proper LPs, the band has drawn on strong psychedelic rock influences to smashing results: This is lush, 70′s California cocaine music in the vein of Fleetwod Mac and If Only I Could Remember My Name era David Crosby, and an ace soundtrack to the changing of seasons. The group was featured on the final track from the most recent Chemical Brothers release We Are The Night, contributing to the phenomenally depressing “The Pills Won’t Help You Now”

The Chemical Brothers feat. Midlake “The Pills Won’t Help You Now”

In 2006, GYBO favorite and co-conspirator in Dean Grey’s American Edit team9 produced a year end mashup compilation for music blog Stereogum. From team9/Stereogum’s MySplice ’06, check out Van Occupanther’s opening track “Roscoe” spun with Jimi Hendrix’s “Gypsy Eyes”

team9 “Roscoe Eyes” (Midlake vs. Jimi Hendrix)

The Beach Boys “Disney Girls (1957)”

Mama Cass Elliot “Disney Girls (1957)”

We’re not quite sure how either, but the other day, this dude at the office brought in a bag of Tootsie Pops, and we were taken aback by the sight of a green wrapper in the sack. A bright, neon green with forest green text. Upon further inspection, this pop was revealed to be a Lemon Lime Tootsie Pop. Upset, we couldn’t believe that in all out years of consuming candy, we’d never seen a Lemon Lime Tootsie Pop. Thankfully, the flavor addition is reasonably new, and we’re not crazy. And here’s the rub: it kinda works. Let us explain.

Not to get all Chuck Klosterman about it, but that ubiquitous “I’ve never made it with out biting, ask Mr. Owl” Tootsie Pop commercial did something to us as a kid. We are currently incapable of biting through a Tootsie Pop at first pass for fear of falling into cliche. Before biting, which, let’s face it, is a necessity as licking all the way down to the chocolate center is a several hour commitment, one must reach the Tootsie interior organically. We prefer to lick a small spot on the underside of the pop’s sphere, slowing whittling down to the chocolate taffy within. Once that initial deflowering has taken place, we can then bite. This process is the only true way to gauge the deliciousness of the Tootsie Pop properly, as biting and chewing provides only a fantastic, euphoric rush of sugar so stimulating that during which a person wouldn’t be so hard pressed to admit their own cousin is rather attractive. Lemon Lime Tootsie Pops, against all logic, work quite well in this sense, their Sprite-like sweetness optimistically yielding to the unique Tootsie Chocolate within. Think of it as reverse Chocolate Orange, though infinitely more successful in that Tootsie is far more generous a chocolate companion than traditional milk or dark chocolate. It’s going to be a good Halloween, and we’re well aware of the odd subconscious coincidence between having tried these this week and our post just before this with a song featuring the line “and I’ll fill your hands with kisses and a Tootsie Roll.”

As flawed as the original Tru3 Magic release was, track by track, the disk showed serious promise. (And to all you naysayers, admit it: it was leagues better than The New Danger, and we’re plenty aware that nothing will ever top Blackstar, okay?) We really dug “Crime & Medicine”, essentially a cover of GZA’s “Liquid Swords” right down to the flow, and the Grammy-nominated “Undeniable”, which features nods to MF Doom project King Geedorah’s “Anti-Matter”. So, uh, there’s no real news here, but what the hell happened to this album?

MC Chris “Wiid”

A solid track, and independent of how awesome it is to refer to grass as both “Danger Girl” and “Gen 13″, we’re particularly fond of the line “Say no to cutting up lines, that’s 1.21 Gigawatt Jive”. Okay, so, fun song. You’ve got that? Now listen to Three 6 Mafia’s ghetto-classic 2005 release “Stay Fly”

36 Mafia “Stay Fly”

Sure, Chris is a comedian, so it’s no doubt a tongue in cheek gag, but we couldn’t help but giggle a little upon discovery. Interesting sidenote, MC’s album Dungeon Master of Ceremonies on which “Wiid” appeared, banked solidly in the top 10 hip hop albums on iTunes the week of it’s release. (And really, who are we kidding- both of these tracks are awesome.)

On the LP’s more narrative nature, Rock has waxed “(I) Turned 30. Moved from New York to San Francisco. Stopped smoking cigarettes. A bunch of stuff happened and it influenced the writing. The writing on this album is more reflective, for lack of a better word. I didn’t want to do any braggadocio, no first person stuff, and get more into stories. Vivid descriptions of a snapshot of a moment in high school, first job, etc. and how all those snapshots add to who I am now at 30 years old.” He continues, of the album’s chilling opening track, “‘Catacumb Kids’ was kind of the key record that sparked it for None Shall Pass in terms of it being a snapshot of an era without resorting to the cliche ‘back in the day’ stuff.”

Featuring The Mountain Goat’s John Darnielle on the standout “Coffee”, give the album a listen. (Oh, and this copy isn’t all watermarked by the Def Jux people either. Thweet.)

Aesop Rock – None Shall Pass (.zip)

And, in case anybody has missed the torrential blog coverage that mashup collective The Hood Internet has received these past couple of months, they’re assuredly quite dope. (Wow, our very own CMJ showcase? Thanks, Girl Talk!)

Insert John Stewart saying “Whaaaaaat?” in that joke-kvetching Jew voice here.

Clearly, moving the apostrophe that would normally appear at the front of “mo” when describing a homosexual to the back end of the “mo” indicates that the titular “Big ‘Mo” is in fact short for Moorestown, North Carolina, Earnhardt’s hometown and not, as one would assume, Anderson Cooper. If there’s one thing NASCAR audiences love, it’s grammatical subtlety. As for the bar itself, it’s not bad. Produced by the R.M. Palmer company (the folks that make those “Bunny Money” Easter coins), the chocolate offers a dense, smooth finish which, when matched with it’s caramel interior, has a sublimely waxy, throat-coating quality that just begs to make a boy drink milk from a washed Welch’s Dinosaur Jelly Cup in his cushion fort. God help us, we’re totally gay for Big Mo’.