Okay, I give up. I have looked and looked for A) a legitimate version of this song or B) a CD-quality mp3. The closest I came to it was a torrent file that, I was told, was probably no longer any good, as it’s a year old. It’s not on the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack. It’s not on The Two Towers soundtrack. It is not, as far as I can tell, commercially available anywhere.

I want the background music to this video. It’s called “Requiem for a Tower,” and I want the full orchestral version, with choir, and I want the 6:44 (or thereabouts) version. Nothing else will serve. Nothing. I. Want. This. Song.

I cannot find a decent quality version of it for love nor money. This is close to what I want, and legal version, but it’s not available to buy. The three songs available for (pay) download aren’t this music. This is the music that was sent out with the international version of The Two Towers trailer, and nowhere else. It was widely available for download when the film was released, but obviously, those files are long gone.

I would be happy to purchase it legally, but, well, I can’t. It doesn’t exist, except in that trailer, or ripped out of it by people who loved the music when they heard it four years ago.

If anyone out there has a CD-quality version, or just a link to one, I will be eternally grateful. You have no idea how obsessed I get over things. Sometimes it’s music, sometimes it’s a television show, sometimes it’s a movie, once it was a game called Photon (the precursor to Laser Tag, and I even flew to Dallas to play in a tournament at the original Photon site, and yes, that was a bit much, but hey, I was in my twenties). The good thing about my obsessions is that none of them were ever of the drugs or alcohol or gambling type, so the worst that happens is I spend a little money on a DVD or three.

Mind you, a simple Google search isn’t going to do it. I’ve spent the last week searching for this song. The best I can come up with are songs that I need to rip with a program that I don’t possess, but which I’m thinking more and more of getting. Except there’s no guarantee that the videos I’ve found will have decent quality music in them.

So. A plea for help, from an obsessed blogger to her readers, before heading off to bed.

Gracie went to the vet this morning to have her staples removed. I’ll find out in an hour or so whether this means bellyrubs are back.

She is down to a svelte ten pounds, which is probably where she should be, but the rapid weight loss has made her bony in the butt and on the back, so I am doing my best to fatten her up a bit. I bought the special low-fiber cat food at the vet’s while I was there, and to my delight, both she and Tig liked it immediately. No wet food available. I’ll try that later in the week. It isn’t necessary, but I’m going to use it until Gracie puts on a little more weight. She’s at least maintaining. She may actually have lost closer to three pounds. If I’m not mistaken, Gracie, a towel, and the cat carrier weighed 17.2 pounds on the first trip to the vet in October. The three objects were down to 14 pounds today, and the carrier and towel total four pounds. My poor girl. She felt so light when I carried her down the stairs to imprison her in the cat carrier. No wonder she’s been feeling so bad. Imagine how you’d feel if you lost a quarter of your body weight. Oh, wait. I’d feel great! I’d be as skinny now as when I was in my thirties and smoking!

Ahem.

In any case, Miss Gracie has been sleeping at my left most nights now, except when she’s sulking because she’s tired of the meds, or not feeling very well. A few nights ago, Mr. Snoopy the Goon, she slept on my feet for hours, thus proving that I do not, indeed, move much in my sleep. Lucky for her the quilt padded my feet. No toenails sticking into her. And tonight is the last night for ear goop, so she’s going to like evenings and mornings a whole lot more. All I have to give her is half a Predinisone after tonight. Then about a week more and we’re down to half a pill a day. I bought a piller, but it’s not working as well with the half pills as it was with the whole ones. The vet offered to give me liquid, and I said, “And how is it going to be easier to shove liquid down her throat?”

She spends a lot of time sitting in the chair next to me, no matter where I am. But she’s not back to normal yet. She isn’t sunning in the window in the morning, and we’re not having our morning and evening bellyrub sessions. She used to lean into being petted with great enthusiasm; now, unless she initiates it, she flinches away from my hand. The vet told me not to read anything into it, and reminded me that she’s been through a lot these last two months. She has, and I’m starting to wonder if you can sue a vet for malpractice. Because I really, really, really don’t want to pay them for the pain and suffering they put my Sweetness through by making her undergo two operations.

But that’s a story for another time.

Almost time for Gracie’s evening pill. I will cross my firngers for bellyrubs tonight.

What’s John Conyers after?

Where should the Jewish community focus its charitable efforts?

And let’s not forget Zachary Baumel!

Crossing the Rubicon3 has crossed into her third incarnation and hosted Haveil Havalim #94 today where you can to find out answers to the questions above and a lot more. She did a great job and it’s well worth your while to check it out. Besides you have an extra off day this week, so when you’re not eating turkey or watching football, check out some more of the best of the J-Blogosphere.

UPCOMING EDITIONS:

#95 - Nov 26, 2006 - Smooth Stone gives it a shot for the first time. e-mail at one_smoothstone at yahoo dot com.

Oh, look. The AP noticed that kassam rockets land on Israel almost daily, and this time, they didn’t use “crude” or “homemade” in their description.

The rescue services said in a statement that one person was wounded by shrapnel and taken to the hospital. Hamas a militant group that controls the Palestinian government claimed responsibility for the attack.

Palestinian militants often fire rockets at Israeli towns and villages that border the Gaza Strip. Last week, a woman was killed and several people were wounded, at least one seriously, in the barrages.

Actually, two were seriously wounded, but the AP hasn’t picked up on the second wounding yet.

Gee, ya think?

Bogor - Police were probing unconfirmed reports that a suicide bomber was planning an attack during United States President George Bush’s visit to Indonesia, where thousands rallied against American foreign policy in the Middle East and the Iraq war.

But wait, there’s more:

Hundreds of anti-Bush students also tried to seal off McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Dunkin’ Donut restaurants in two cities in the world’s most populous Muslim nation, at times clashing with police.

Yes, evil globalization corporations! It’s your fault wars happen! Remember that, readers, next time you chow down on a Big Mac. You’re contributing to—well, something.

Is it my imagination, or does the AP think Americans should watch Al Jazeera?

Al Jazeera in English—But Good Luck Finding It
Nov. 19, 2006 — Al Jazeera, the Arab world’s leading broadcast network, launched its English-language channel this week with a slick and polished 24-hour newscast.

But while the world was watching, American viewers — one of the channel’s main targets — were not. None of the major American cable or satellite providers chose to carry the signal.

But they’re hopeful we can get Jihad-TV right in our own living rooms!

The absence of Al Jazeera English in the U.S. could have more to do with economics than ideology.

“Cable is a regulated industry,” said Tom Rosenstiel of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. “The government has not taken any steps to bar [Al Jazeera]. The marketplace for the moment is doing the talking. And the marketplace isn’t much interested.”

The cable company Comcast said in a written statement that it had “some preliminary discussions with Al Jazeera that did not resolve in any agreement.”

Comcast is my cable and internet provider. Time to tell them I’ll switch to satellite and DSL if they carry Al Jazeera.

Israel aborted planned air attacks on the homes of two militants Sunday after hundreds of Palestinians formed a human shield around the buildings in the Gaza Strip.

This news run over the mass media like brush fire. Most of the bloggers have already picked it up as well. And the reaction to this new military maneuver on both sides is predictable, too:

“This is a great stance by our people,” said Nizar Ryan, a spokesman from the Islamic militant group Hamas, which won control of the Palestinian government in parliamentary elections this year. “Women and men will break the power of F16 planes.”

Israel’s army deplored “the cynical exploitation by the terrorists of uninvolved people as human shields.”

And you know what: both sides are right. Women and men (especially women) will stop F16 in many cases. And the use of innocents as human shields is being raised by Hamas and their ilk to new heights of revolting cynicism, as it was already done with suicide bombers. Hamas consistently proves that there is no limit to perversion of morality.

And who is it that calls for protection?

The first human shield gathered just before midnight local time after Mohammedweil Baroud, a leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, was ordered to leave his home in the northern town of Beit Lahiya. Baroud, who coordinates rocket attacks on Israel, ran to a nearby mosque to summon aid.

Of course, it figures: the man who is directing the bombarding of civilians of Sderot is calling for protection of his own fellow civilians.

Now look who is celebrating:

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas joined the protest on the roof at Baroud’s home, which was adorned with black and green flags for the Popular Resistance Committees and Hamas groups.

The only question that remains: what exactly is there to celebrate? It should be clear to Haniyeh that when all other means to protect the civilian population of Israel from Qassams fail, IDF will have to go in. The number of casualties will grow dramatically, including the civilian ones.

On the other hand, this is what the current Palestinian PM wishes for - to enable him to decry the inhuman atrocities committed by IDF. And to run to UN, where his Muslim brethren will do their usual best to pass any resolution he desires, practically unopposed.

And so the wheel turns…

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

Take a look at these two leads:

First:

MUMBAI (Nov 20, 2006): Dozens of Indians who profess Jewish ancestry were headed for Israel today, the first such group to migrate after rabbinical leaders accepted them as descendants of one of the lost Biblical tribes of Israel.

The emigrants are members of the “Bnei Menashe” community in India’s remote northeastern states of Mizoram and Manipur, who trace their lineage to one of the 10 “lost tribes” of Israel exiled by an Assyrian empire 27 centuries ago.

Last year, rabbinical leaders converted them to Judaism and agreed to bring them back to Israel.

There are some 800 Menashe in Israel, most in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and 7,000 more in Mizoram and Manipur hoping for their chance to join them.

Second:

MUMBAI, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Dozens of Indians who profess Jewish ancestry were headed for Israel on Monday, the first such group to migrate after rabbinical leaders accepted them as descendants of one of the lost Biblical tribes of Israel.

The emigrants are members of the “Bnei Menashe” community in India’s remote northeastern states of Mizoram and Manipur, who trace their lineage to one of the 10 “lost tribes” of Israel exiled by an Assyrian empire 27 centuries ago.

Last year, rabbinical leaders converted them to Judaism and agreed to bring them back to Israel.

There are some 800 Menashe in Israel, most in the West Bank, and 7,000 more in Mizoram and Manipur hoping for their chance to join them.

What’s the difference? In the first Reuters release, this sentence was included:

There are some 800 Menashe in Israel, most in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and 7,000 more in Mizoram and Manipur hoping for their chance to join them.

There are no Jews in the Gaza Strip, and have not been for over a year. But the Reuters bias runs so deep, and its reporters are so anti-Israel, that they have yet to comprehend a simple fact: There. Are. No. Jews. In. The. Gaza. Strip.

The second article ran with a correction:

(Removes reference to Gaza Strip in fourth paragraph)

But the damage, of course, was already done.

By the way, the entire article is one disparaging comment after another, disguised as journalism, disputing that the B’nei Menashe are Jews at all. Because after all, Reuters knows better than Israeli rabbis. It’s not like it’s their job to determine who’s a Jew or anything like that.

Oh, wait. Yes it is.

I have received the following comment to the post My genocide vs. your genocide on Meryl’s place.

And as someone of Armenian descent, I should note the man who protested the massacres the most was Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, an American Jew.

I have looked up Henry Morgenthau, and here is the story for you:

Henry Morgenthau (1856-1946) was United States ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during the Armenian Genocide. A naturalized American from a German Jewish family, Morgenthau was a successful lawyer active in Democratic Party politics. With the election of President Woodrow Wilson, he was appointed United States Ambassador to the Sublime Porte in 1913.

…

The accumulating evidence also led Morgenthau to cable the Department of State on July 16, 1915, with his own dispatch that “a campaign of race extermination is in progress.” Drained by his failure to avert this disaster, Morgenthau returned to the United States in 1916 and for the remainder of the war years he dedicated himself to raising funds for the surviving Armenians. In 1918 he published Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story, a memoir of his years in Turkey, in which he stressed the German influence and role in the Ottoman Empire. He titled the chapter on the Armenians, “The Murder of a Nation.” He described the deportations and the atrocities as a “cold-blooded, calculating state policy.” He avowed at the time: “I am confident that the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this.”

Notice the last sentence. Ambassador Morgenthau may have been right at the time, but he couldn’t know what was in wait for Jews, for Romanies, for Russians, for Chinese, for Cambodians, for Afghans, for…

And come to think of it, both Ambassador Morgenthau and I are wrong. The enlightened monarch of Belgium, King Leopold II, has shown the way in Congo quite a few years earlier.

And the world consistently didn’t give a rat’s ass…

Hat tip to Colin for the comment.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews