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Friday, November 30, 2007
Finished. Sort of.
I have not blogged every day, missing, I think, three days.
On average, the quantity of blogs divided by 30 days, however, exceeds 1 blog a day. A moral completion, then. No potential for Big Prizes, but at least I don't have to worry about the potential tax consequences. Wouldn't want to answer my door some years from now and have to answer questions about my NaBloPoMo prize.
Nest year, if it's still around, I'll plan a little better and have some entries in the bank prior to Thanksgiving week. That, or I'll simply shoot some pics of the feast and stretch out the postings for a few days. Not in keeping with the spirit of the thing, but I need my weesssssst.
Labels: NaBloPoMo
Your Automotive Image
So, what's the car you associate with when you think of your spouse, your best friend, a work colleague? Then, think again, what's the car that you think (or is that, hope) your friends, family, and spouse think of when they ponder your personality? The car may be a motorcycle or a bicycle (thanks WP for pointing that out) for some folks.
My first car, but not my first amour de la voiture, was an"Ol' 55". I bought it for a hundred bucks (yes $100, no decimals) from a friend who decided to bag the material life and join a religious order. I thought that both God and I did o.k. on his decision. He, in turn, had purchased it from an aunt for $25.00. She had driven out to the East Coast from California with her husband. They arrived in Jersey one day, two days later her husband died. Like an Alaskan salmon on its final trip upstream.
The car served me well in my trips from Jersey to college in Montreal. In its day the Chevy was like a Taurus, i.e., a fleet car a lot of the companies had in the 1950's and 1960's. It had a straight 6, a carburetor, some brakes, seats, and that's about it. When you pulled the hood up (which felt like lifting weights; most cars were hunks of good ol' American steel back then) and peeked down into the engine compartment, you could see the street. Working on the car was a dream. Oil changes, rod work, manifold changes. You could sit inside the engine area and work on the spark plugs. Your faithful dog could sit there, right next to you, wagging off tire dust from the frame. Oil changes were clean and easy; gravity was your friend. It was easy, as a kid, to see how a car really worked.
Since the Bel-air I had was from a California telephone company fleet, it did not look like the photo here. The body was the same, but there was no chrome trim. It was a 3 speed manual on the floor; since the bench seats were high, the shifter was a chrome pole, easily 15 inches long. It was on its last life cycle when I became its caretaker. The backseats were completely shot so I ripped them out and replaced the back seat area with a rug and 3 sleeping bags. At one time, I even had two small bean bag chairs in the back. Since it was a 1955 model, there were no seat belts and Jersey laws didn't grandfather them in.
The heater core died when I was in Montreal, so I drove the car with a thick Blanket on my lap, insulated underwear, a scraper (to scrape the ice accumulating on the inside of the car, and a ball peen hammer to hit the starter when it froze up on minus 20 degree Celsius days. It drove through snow and snowbanks like a plow truck. Late model cars that pulled out of side streets when they should not have bounced off of the tank-like steel. Some guy in a Toyota came out of the parking lot of the Royal Vic and hit the massive front fender. Not even a scratch on the Chevy; his entire front end was collapsed. Ski trips were especially enjoyable as the natives had never gone to Tremblant or St. Saveur while buried on the floor of a car in sleeping bags and blankets. I put in a decent sound system and car's interior, about the size of the Academy of Music, had great acoustics. The Dead, Eagles, Miles, and Alice Cooper never sounded better to this mind's ears. For a college kid with minimal cash, it was the perfect match. The biggest kick and one I'd get on a regular basis would be the "Cinquante-cinq! Non?! comment I'd get at a stop light or sign. Truly, it was a washed out reddish color with a non-jazzy body trim, but people still got a kick of seeing the car move, especially when the streets were snow-covered.
Big Red and I lived together in Jersey, Montreal, and North Carolina where I finally parted ways with what had become an oil-eating machine. The fellow I sold it to was a self-employed carpenter. He came by in a beat-up pickup to eye it over. His dog jumped out of the cargo area, sniffed the car up and down, lifted a leg, and splashed a touch of un-holy water on a rear tire.
The fellow looked at me, said "That'll do it", handed over $500 and drove it away.
No, his dog didn't drive his pick-up behind him. Another guy, who I had mistaken for a box of clothes in the front seat, woke up and toodled on behind him.
So, what's your automotive image?
***Note Bene***:
A favorite reader who would rather comment in person (and since I love the tone of her voice, I protest not too loudly) noted that the inclusion of the structure known to some of as paragraphs, would be highly advisable if I really wanted readers (i.e., her) to make it through the end of my postings.
(New paragraph) As I strive to service my small but highly enthusiastic group of readers, I will incorporate such structure or simply keep my entries shorter.
Any other structual/grammatical comments would be appreciated.
Yes, yes, I do realize that my sentences take on Dickensian length and that I use the "/" whenever i am caught on the fence between two words, thus "/"ing for both. I am working on those problems.
Sifting Shiny Plastic
A benefit of the reorganization movement is another "re" word. Rediscovery. My replies to the Asset Displacement (or "mess", as my ELW, prefers to call it; she also prefers the singly syllabic description to my multiple preference) Situation when questioned are of two forms:
1) Yes, this too shall pass.
2) There's gold in them thar hills!
I'll tackle the latter exclamation here. While reorganizing the Asset Displacement Situation, I came upon 2 CD's of unquestionable listening quality. Keepers! (Another word that cause the ELW to shudder). Highly recommended for each and everyone of you who appreciates variety, choice, excellent production, wonderful musical talent, and low cost.
Stay Awake came out in 1988. It was produced by Hal Willner with associate production by Van Dyke Parks and Mark Bingham, a most excellent cast of folks. Mr Willner decided to do an album of music from various Walt Disney animated features with an extremely varied group of musicians. Los Lobos do a version of "I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)". Bonnie Raitt, the heart throb of every American boy back in the '70's and '80's and every geezer in the '90's and double oughts, does a version of "Baby Mine" that rekindles all of those Bonnie Raitt cells in a guy's body. Mr. Tom Waits lends a dim factory sound (sounding and feeling like Eraserhead at times) of "Heigh Ho (The Dwarfs Marching Song)". Bill Frisell noodles his way through a lot of the songs along with Wayne Horvitz. Buster Poindexter cuts it up on a grand scale in "Castle in Spain". All good stuff. All worth giving multiple listenings. Here, hold on a sec. Let me re-cue "Baby Mine".
Another find in the pile, Blues Masters, Volume 4, Harmonica Classics, shares one trait with Stay Awake. Both albums are collections of various composers' songs as performed by a variety of musicians. The comparison ends there. Harmonica Classics was released by Rhino Records as part of their Blues Masters series. As is usual for Rhino, the sound quality is top-notch as are the 18 choices that they went with. The pantheon of blues harp players are here. Enough variety to illustrate the scope of the simple instrument. Enough performers to allow you to make choices of albums specifically with one performer's renditions. Jimmy Reed, James Cotton, Junior Wells, George "Harmonica" Smith, Lazy Lester, Charles Musselwhite, Little Walter, and Howlin' Wolf, among others, do their mouthy thing here.
If you like the blues and/or harmonica playing, this album is a great starting off point. If you have a bunch of blues albums already, at this price, it's still worth getting just to have all of these performers on on album. Personal favorites are George "Harmonica" Smith's "Last Night", Little Walter's "Juke", and Lazy Lester's "Sugar Coated Love". But there's nary a clunker here. The last song, Charlie Musselwhite's moody, muddy, edgy jam of a song (at 11 minute 46 second) "Christo Redemptor", is worth the price of the CD alone, if you happen not to have that song in your collection already.You can crank this baby up, especially when you've got them Asset Displacement Blues.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Playing with One's Internet Self
It's good in that you'd hopefully invite a wider and larger audience for your Grand Poobah postings.
It's bad in that the high level of expostulation that you thought you'd been at is just another bad case of self-delusion. Don;t hurt yourself falling from your illusory heights.
Just running through the numbers.
2 Blowhards - High School Level
Bullseye Rooster - Elementary School Level
Outer Life - High School Level
Stephenesque (American Fez) - High School Level
About Last Night - College Level (Undergrad)
The Online Photographer - Elementary School Level (Methinks there's something quite wrong about this score)
I'm not too sure as to how the scores reflect the blogs. About Last Night seems right. All of the other sites seem way too low.
Highest score of blogs I go to regularly?
Middle Stage
Genius Level
followed by:
Texas Trifles
Yeee Haw !
Theory of Ice.
Writing about hockey (mainly) in an intense, passionate, and yet intuitive way.
Post-Graduate level.
Yours truly? That would be me at the High School level, throwing erasers at the intense students up front.
Labels: Blogs, NaBloPoMo, Recipes
Located on the northbound side of Route 1 in Chadds Ford, PA, just about 100 yards down from the little gem of a museum, Brandywine River Museum, sits Hank's Place. It's a place beloved by locals and appreciated/ogled at by tourists. Preferential treatment is non-existent. No reservations; if you get there at the wrong time, expect to be waiting 10-30 minutes.
Is the food worth the wait? Well, IMHO, the best breakfasts I've had, not counting the food mounds provided by my aunts in Croatia, in the last few years have been here. Scrambled eggs, on the wet side. Pancakes that resemble and taste more like crepes. Continually filled coffee cups. And, the best hash brown potatoes that your mother hasn't made. My only complaint with Pamela's is that their coffee is on the weak side; as Mr. Waits says, no chance for the coffee to beat up the spoon, as it can barely get its caffeine up.
Hank's food? As far as breakfast is concerned, the eggs are on the dry side, the hash browns, though made from scratch (Big Points here!), taste a tad undercooked. Not enough of that greasy brown crust that my favorite hash browns have. For me at least, great hash browns should stand on their own. A breakfast of simply hash browns and some crusty buttered bread should be enough for putting the appetite beast down and keeping the taste buds happy. But, this place is more about atmosphere than about breakfast. Now for some good eating, come in for lunch or for dinner. Located just down the road from the Mushroom Capital of the World, you'll find much of the menu using what's available from the fungi world. Hank's stuffed peppers and all of their desserts are highly recommended as well.
What's the atmosphere about? On my last trip back from Pittsburgh, a stop for lunch at Hank's made it seem like a convention of deer-hunters. It was hard finding an empty table or stool with all of the camouflaged men, seeking shelter from the rain and from the deer-less woods. Like fisherman's tales, stories of 25 point deer were abundant at each table along with the concomitant woes at how Nature got in the way of a proper shot. As I swiveled in my seat to dive into a mushroom lasagne, a waitress passed a large card to me.
"Here, sign this. It's a birthday card for one of our regulars. He'll be 80 today." She sized me up and then glanced over at the stool next to me.
"He's still working and he's pretty hungry when he gets here. He usually sits right there," indicating the stool next to me, "Be sure to give him some eating room. He tends to get busy with his utensils quickly."
I signed the card and lingered over my meal, hoping to meet this fellow. After about 30 minutes, I opted to leave.
"He's usually punctual. Right on the nose of noon," the waitress said as I was paying to go.
"Hope he'll live through his meal today. He is, after all, 80," she continued, with a bit of a worry tone.
"But, he's still working. So, I'm sure he'll be hungry."
I pushed through the twin doors, smacking my lips in the universal sign of appreciative grub. I'd lucked out on timing; a line was squeezing itself out of the rain and onto the handicapped ramp that led into Hank's. If the 80 yr. old regular was there, I hoped that someone would break the rule and let the guy in early.
It was, after all, his birthday and he was a working guy.
Labels: NaBloPoMo, Reviews, Road Trips
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Mongo Lives!
Birthday Bash Ends Badly (names altered to protect the innocent and shade the guilty)
A birthday celebration ended abruptly when a man stabbed three people early Sunday morning, state police spokesman Sgt. Po Lease Speakman said. None of the injuries was life-threatening, he said. The incident began about 1:40 a.m. when Julip Mongo, 39, of Smyrna, and the three victims returned to a home on Raven's Wood Road in Towns End after celebrating his birthday. One victim, a 28-year-old, helped Mr. Mongo after he fell out of the vehicle in the driveway. Mr. Mongo came into the home "very irate", grabbed a steak knife from the kitchen and threw it into the living room, hitting a 31-year-old Wilmingtoooon woman, causing a scratch, Sgt. Speakman said. When a 33-year-old Wilmingtoooon man tried to calm him, Mr. Mongo got a second knife and stabbed him in his left hand. Mr. Mongo then stabbed the Wilmingtoooon woman (that he'd previously caused to have a scratch) in the chest, leaving a superficial wound. As the Smyrna man (the Good Samaritan from the driveway incident) entered the house, Mr. Mongo swung the knife at him, inflicting wounds to his chest and left shoulder. The Wilmingtoooon woman's mother called 911, and the other victims fled. Troopers could not calm Mr. Mongo down until a K-9 officer arrived and threatened use of the dog, Sgt. Speakman said. At the state police barracks in Odessa, Mr. Mongo tried to dismantle the jail doors and destroy a video camera. Mr.Mongo ("Mongo only pawn... in game of life") was charged with three counts of felony second-degree assault and possession of a weapon during commission of a felony. Bail information was not available Sunday.
Possible police scene, somewhere in the mix.
Bart:I better go check out this Mongo character.
[Bart reaches for his gun]
Jim: Oh no, don't do that.
Bart: Why not?
Jim: If you shoot him, you'll just make him mad.
Labels: Delaware, NaBloPoMo, Personalities
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The Ears Have It
I'll leave the "music as a fashion statement" argument for someone else. It's the sound quality issue that drew me into the article. First let me note one warning that Mr. Tomassini posted before he launched into the somewhat (not thoroughly) lousy sound quality of the iPod/MP3 vehicle. "Any discussion of recording technology has to note one intriguing quirk in the story: Few musicians have been audiophiles. More than the average music-loving amateur, working musicians understand the big gap between recorded music and the real thing. They can listen through the inadequacies of any recording and focus on what they want to hear."
The gist of the article is that convenience is king and that the quantity v. quality battle over sound quality has been won by the quantity side, headed by the iPod/MP3 proponents. Where does that leave the rest of us trilobytes?
Well, for one thing we can proudly say that we are not nuts and that, yes, the sound quality is a step down when you seriously downsize sound-reproducing equipment. So, a Bronx cheer in the general direction of all those iPoders who have given you hell regarding the state of your hearing.
On the other hand, since this shrinking clan of trilobytes is getting ever-smaller, it is best to lay low as it's not politically correct or personally self-protective to tell the iPoders that their perceptive qualities are going downhill. Like all things human, the cycle will come around and someday soon vast arrays of large sound-producing boxes will be in our homes again.
Labels: Educational, Effluvia, Idiosyncracies, NaBloPoMo
Monday, November 26, 2007
Road Tuning
1) Joe Henry's new release,Civilians, reviewed quite favorably by Mr. Whisky Prajer here, is an album to play when you get to that moody deep thought part of the trip. Long straightaways, distant horizons, foreboding weather conditions. I don't know about you folks, but necessary (although completely irrelevant) life-decision pondering of the past/current/future variety usually comes on about 2 hours into any major travel. Mr. Henry's newest album assists one into getting to that stage, earlier if you wish it. He's done quite a bit of pondering and deciding on his own so you can use his experiential jet stream to draft along.
FWIW, I'm with Whisky Prajer's opinion that Civilians is a strong candidate for one of the top albums of 2007. Having Mr. Bill Frissell along for the ride on this album certainly makes that proposal stronger.
2) Alligator Records 35 X 35 Collection, came out early last year. 2 CD's of Alligator Records talented performers doing 35 songs in honor of 35 years of the label's existence. The producer of the album is WXPN's own Jonny Meister, the maestro of the station's blues programming and one of the country's top Blues dj's. Selections include a scorching harmonica solo from the late William Clarke in his "Lollipop Mama", Koko Taylor doing "I Got What It Takes", the Holmes Brothers on their wonderful "Speaking In Tongues", and "In The Wee Wee Hours" as done by Professor Longhair The only clunker of the bunch may be Dave Hole's "Short Fuse Blues".
3) Blind Pig's 25th Anniversary Collection, released in 2001, also has 35 tracks, on 2 music CD's and a Video CD. As I was driving I could not enjoy the video CD and waited until coming home to take that in. High energy tracks, excellent production, fine stable of artists. A good point on this CD collection was the performance of some of the artists on multiple tracks. Especially strong are George "Harmonica" Smith's "Last Chance", Snooky Pryor's "Work With Me Annie", the Gospel Hummingbirds' "That Same Thing", one of my favorite blues performers, Magic Slim and the Teardrops, with his song, "Wake Me Up Early", and the sassy E. C. Scott's "What A Good Feeling"
4) Herlin Riley's Cream of the Crescent, released in Sept. of 2005 is solid, from the first song,"Bird Life" , to the last, "Trombone Joe". Giving him a hand is an all-star cast featuring Victor Goines on saxes, Wynton Marsalis, not too shabby on the trumpet, one of my favorite jazzmen, Wycliffe Gordon, on the clown prince of jazz instruments, the trombone, Mr. Herlin Riley on the funky drums, Reginald Veal keeping it together on the bass, and Eric Lewis, on piano. One of the best jazz albums of the last couple of years. All ranges of speed and mood, necessary components of musical accompaniment on a long trip.
Labels: NaBloPoMo, Recording Reviews, Road Trips
Sunday, November 25, 2007
T-Day Revisted
The original menu was pretty much completed.
All of the other components of the meal turned out well. The following were new additions that turned out edible and pleasing to the guests.
1) Corn soup concoction with reduced red pepper sauce.
Wow! A major surprise. The creamed corn soup was a solid base for the swirled in roasted red pepper sauce. We shall be having this again and certainly before next Thanksgiving.
2) The Bird. Couldn't just get breast this year. Sorry, folks! We'll have to deal with dark meat and drums. It'll be a 12-14 lb.-er from an Amish farm in Lancaster, complete with beard and straw hat.
We have not had a full bird in eons. Each year we simply got a huge turkey breast and left the folks with dark meat preferences in the, uhhmmm, dark. This year, due to poor calendar reading/interpreting skills of yours truly, turkey breast was not to be had at the usual preferred places. So, the whole bird, sans head, was ordered instead. All went well with the brining. The cooking the 12 lb.-er took only 3 hours. There was a lot of calamity about the latter as whole bird afficciandoes were protesting, in full lung capacity manner, as to both the temperature (400 deg. F) and the time (1 hr breast down, 1 hr 20 min breast up, 30 minutes post-oven de-shock activity) that I was implementing. All turned out well (I raise on turkey leg up to the gods of Heat and Time) and the cooking methodology made for interesting dinner-time banter between all the Me-Thinks-Me-A-Cooks.
6) Some kind of Stuffing.
First time in a long time, again. Went with a pork sausage, celery, day old Portuguese-bread-to-crouton transformation concoction. Pan-fried sausage was well-drained of the fat. Chicken stock was used as replacement liquid. The Portu-croutons, finely toasted in the oven after a sprinkling of rosemary-infused grapeseed oil, sopped up a good quart of the chicken stock. Stuffing was juicy but not squishy and the sausage? Well, I'm not asking what the Amish put into the meaty loaf, but I'm counting on their wholesome ways that the special spices are of nature's own.
Some notes to self and calls for HELP! (now out on DVD)
4) Mashed Potatoes - Plain
5) Mashed Potatoes - Garlic
I used a mix of Russet and red potatoes with goat's milk used for the Plain and cream cheese softened with 1/2 stick of warm butter and lightly browned 3 finely chopped cloves of garlic and some chopped rosemary (a MISTAKE!). Dash of salt, of course. Both tasted fine when very warm, but taste dropped off in direct relationship to the potatoes' heat. Sticking the pots in a warm oven didn't help; a bit of dryness set in. Next year's plan. Hold off mashing/smashing until 1st two courses are finished. Let folks at the table languish in bread, butter, and a finely filled glass of wine while I'm in the kitchen draining boiled potatoes and mashing the devil out of them.
10) Pecan Pie (done the egg custard, not the Karo Syrup, way)
Oh, what gods of baking had I offended? When compared to the same recipe, same pie from last year, this year's version was not within forking distance. Luckily, I was able to hide the pie so that no guest asked for its promised appearance. Besides, my daughter's pumpkin pies were in high demand.
Note to idiot self: When making a pie crust, don't be cute with the salt and use coarse sea salt. It's a bit odd to be eating a pie crust and bite into a small chunk of dried ocean water.
Labels: NaBloPoMo, Recipes, Reviews
Friday, November 23, 2007
Having missed not one but two postings this week, I'm out of the daily blog posting thing. I'll shoot for averaging one a day, technically out of the month pactr thing but, self-delusionally, still in the spirit of the thing.
Or, so I'm saying to myself. Maybe post a couple of pics with insightful (or not) caption and call it a post.
My hat's off to Whisky Prajer for consistently and daily posting long entries, eschewing the camera and the 2 sentence paragraphs.
Labels: NaBloPoMo
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
A Sage Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Rules Revised (New Yorker 12/01/2003)
By Bruce McCall (famous Canadian gone south)
(as typed painstakingly by yours truly)
Post this document within ten feet of all liquor cabinets, TV sets, sofas, and any distant relations who are still sitting or standing upright.
Article XII of the 1663 Jamestown Convention has been amended as of this date to include the following:
1) Thanksgiving-dinner guests are no longer required to play Scrabble, Go Fish, or Monoploy with children under the age of ten. Withholding of liquor is coercion.
2) A shaker of Martinis no longer has official standing as Thanksgiving breakfast. Early risers: the Thanksgiving Day cocktail hour now begins only after you have arrived at the venue and parked your car, and never before sunrise.
3) You cannot decline the Kansas Riesling served with dinner out of professional adherence to the claim that "the official Thanksgiving mascot is the 101-proof Wild Turkey." This is apocryphal.
4) The mandatory minimum number of guests related by blood to the host/hostess is increased to sixteen. Seating them on the sun porch, in the attic, or in the basement for the Thanksgiving meal is no longer permissible, nor is the requirement that they wear bags over their heads and/or name tags. Asking how they're doing remains optional.
5) In-laws must now be accorded full human status. Their chairs must face the dinner table, and they must be offered a choice of dark or white meat.
6) Native American guests must no be offered bourbon, Scotch, gin, or other alcoholic beverages by name. They must not be described as "heap strong firewater".
7) When you are handed a family scrapbook or photo album, you must keep such article in your possession for at least a hundred and twenty seconds (or 120 silent repetitions of"Thanksgiving stuffing") before passing it on to the next person. You may not ask if your hundred and twenty seconds are up.
8) Precocious children under 12 years of age may now be fitted with muzzles by a non-parent after the first hour.
9) Reminiscences that touch upon parental favoritism, unpaid personal loans, and arrests of blood relations' children are discouraged.
10) You are entitled to ten naps per twelve-hour Thanksgiving Day period. Moments after 4 P.M., when time itself seems to have stopped, do not count as naps. Do not commence a nap when a blood relation older than you is addressing you directly.
11) You will be videotaped by your most moronic relation. Failing to cooperate by smiling/making funny faces/rushing the lens carries the penalty of spending next Thanksgiving at this relation's house. Keep in mind that whatever your cooperation level is, there is always a possibility your potentially embarrassing behaviour may end up with 15,798 view on YouTube.
12) Vacating the premises before Thanksgiving dinner is served in order to "get a breath of fresh air", "check the pressure in the tires", or "watch shooting stars" will now be considered a desertion of familial responsibilities, punishable by talking college football with an in-law for thirty minutes without the aid of an alcoholic beverage.
13) The host/hostess cannot depart the house, for any reason, until one hour after the last guest has left, been expelled, or vanished. (Check corners, crawl spaces, and under the dinner table before lights-out.)
Happy Thanksgiving!!*
*"Happy Thanksgiving!!" is meant only as an encouraging phrase and will not be necessarily insure a result like on depicted in the Norman Rockwell painting.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Warhol in November
At the Warhol Museum, I was allowed to photograph this, the outside of the souvenir shoppe. This and this were surreptitiously taken or my finger just happened to cross over the shoot button of the camera. Oops! In addition to selections of Mr. Warhol's artwork, there was a small exhibition of some Warhol-like as well as an exhibition of Australian artists that were influenced by Mr. Warhol. Titled "Andy & Oz", the exhibit includes artwork by Richard Larter, Martin Sharp, Tim Horn, Tracey Moffat, Robert Rooney, and, my favorite, Fiona Hall. Her Paradisus terrestris series is based off of sardine cans as the raw material, polished off to a high gloss, with the can serving both as "serving" piece and actual sculpture as she has peeled away the can into plants, trees, hands, hearts. The pieces are exquisitely small with intricate detail work. The key is left in place, just so you don't forget from whence this art came from.
The show's at the Warhol Museum until December 30th.
Labels: NaBloPoMo, Pittsburgh
Sunday, November 18, 2007
T-Day, minus 96 Hours
Dear ......,
As I seem to be the stand-in for the Master of Space & Time, I'll provide the following info as regards the events of the day for Thursday, Novenber the 22nd.
6:00 am until 12:01 pm: Much mayhem, activity, gnashing of teeth, mashing of potatoes, de-brining of Bird, and coaxing of bread all thrown in with last minute recriminations of menu choices, unpredictable and uncontrollable weather conditions, and general immature repartee as regards control of limited kitchen space by outsized personality types.
12:02 pm until 3:30 pm. : General calming of nerves and the emergence of social niceties will abound as fam & friends come to share the food and bare the truths of social gatherings. This would be the Window of Arrival for all company. Arrive early in the time span and you'll witness apparitions of a meal and mayhem of food prep. Arrive late in the temporal opening and you'll spy rosaries being fingered and candles being lit. I leave it up to you as to what you'd want to see. Your effervescent personality and calming tone is most welcome at any time, (insert guest name here)!
3:30 pm until 4:00 pm. : De-construction of Bird begins, depending on controllable oven temperature conditions. Worry-sweat rivulets start etching Grand Canyon-esque patterns in facial facade as "Is everything hot?" panic rises in cook. Be careful! He'll be sticking thermometers into anything not moving, so stay clear or he may stick you in the oven to finish the process. Food-poisoning release notices will be handed out at this time; next-door neighbour is a registered notary and she'll be providing seal and signature for a slice of the pecan pie.
4:00 pm until gout sets in. : Feasting, merriment, promises of fasting the next day, more feasting. The pies come out of the kitchen to the dining area. Sleeping is allowed wherever a guest finds comfort and a pillow to doze off. Hot compresses will be provided to all who request them.
Speaking of which. Tentatively:
1) Corn soup concoction with reduced red pepper sauce.
2) The Bird. Couldn't just get breast this year. Sorry, folks! We'll have to deal with dark meat and drums. It'll be a 12-14 lb.er from an Amish farm in Lancaster, complete with beard and straw hat
3) Mushrooms Berkley, that witch's brew of dark and boiling mystery.
4) Mashed Potatoes - Plain
5) Mashed Potatoes - Garlic
6) Some kind of Stuffing. Haven't finalized this as I hadn't planned on it until #2 happened.
7) Fried Chicken. Hey! The daughter's home and whatever she wants, she'll be getting.
8) The Ever-Loving Wife's delectably tart and fiery red cranberry homemade sauce.
9) The ELW's homemade bread, of which, IMHO, there is never enough loaves of.
10) Pecan Pie (done the egg custard, not the Karo Syrup, way)
11) The daughter's homemade Pumpkin Pie.
12) Double Vanilla ice cream to deposit on #11 & #12.
Wines of various colors and countries of origin. We'll start out, of course, with a stampulj of palette clearing homemade rakija. I'm sure there'll be a salad tucked in there somewhere for token nutritional purposes. A notice that there will be no one asking you if you want some personally ground black pepper. It'll be a DIY type of seasoning thing. But be carefully how you season! The cook will be personally insulted if you do anything more than a simple shake. Remember! He is armed with thermometers and is inclined to be using them.
Things will end with sherry, 12 Yr single malt, or port, if Remembrances of Things Past need some oiling.
Hope this helps,
As is usual, thoughts of the great gatherings in the past are fueling the worries of the gatherings to be. Good worries, though! This crowd is, if anything, forgiving of the foibles of humans and holidays and quite interested in garnering memorable stories, regardless of the levels of embarrassment. And aren't memories the most pleasurable gifts; so portable and so easy to roll out.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Holiday Customs
Well, holidays specifically in the colder months so that we are forced to open up windows, turn off the heat, and engage cross-fannage ( a technical term/practice used by most professional painters ) to hurry along the drying phase of paint. If it's a complicated scenario, all the better. What would a stressless holiday feel like? Inhuman, I believe.
So, this is what I've been doing most of the last 2 days as evidenced by the short postings. Men, if you hear the word "effect" or "glazing" or "faux", fake hearing loss and quickly scuttle away like a crab waving one arm in front of your face as protection from any possible comprehension. I've been in the process of a two-glaze faux effect paint job in one of our rooms. These glazes are incapable of drying. A full 24 hours and the paint is still moist! We may have to give folks lab coats on Thursday to protect their clothing.
Luckily, there is barely any paint smell.
Just wetness. Swampy thick wetness. I don't think this was the effect we were after.
Can't wait to hear the announcement of which room gets a brushing this Christmas. I may just use magic markers.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Identity Crisis, of the Self-Invented Sort
My purpose, aside from providing unintended giggles to the Hrvati? Practice makes perfect, or in my case, ameliorates an embarrassing situation. So, this blog, My Hrvatski Really Stinks, is now open on the major Croatian blog site, the teeny tiny country's version of Blogger. We shall see how this goes. If nothing else, I'm sure my posting there, if they do attract flies to my 3 day fish entries, will produce fine examples of the Croatian Art of Cursing.
The blog site will be improved/changed as time goes on. I've blown the dust off of my Croatian-English/English-Croatian dictionaries, so the words used there will be accurate. However, for those hoping to learn anything from that site, I say, 'Speak not as I write". My grammar is, well, primitive. There are more than enough conjugations in the language to have 2 or 3 languages, so my "take" on them is haphazard, at best.
Labels: Blogs, NaBloPoMo, Personalities
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Different Take on Reviews
"The truest and wisest words ever written about reviewing were spoken by Sarah Vowell in her book Take the Cannoli. Asked by a magazine to review a Tom Waits album, she concludes that she "quite likes the ballads," and writes that down; now all she needs is another wight-hundred-odd words restating this one blinding aperçu." While he may believe this statement to be true, Mr. Hornby can't help himself. He may say that he "quite likes the book", but he easily goes on and writes an additional 2-3 pages about one of the books he's read and ties in, quite cleverly, the other books he has listed in each column entry. While he has written five novels, all of which I strongly recommend, it is his collection of short pieces, 31 songs, Polysyllabic Spree, Housekeeping vs. the Dirt that I've enjoyed the most. Short intense bursts of his writing are boosts for the day; little insights, like Greek worry beads, to roll around in your mind while slogging through the drudgery of the day. 31 Songs is basically an essential for anyone who too deeply loves a song; it quenches the overly intense soul and calms one's self-doubts about loving music, specifically R & R, too much.
In the current version of The Believer, Mr. Hornby
The Pigman—Paul Zindel
The Bethlehem Murders—Matt Rees
The Dud Avocado—Elaine Dundy
Singled Out—Virginia Nicholson
Holes—Louis Sachar
The Fall-Out: How a Guilty Liberal Lost His Innocence—Andrew Anthony
A Disorder Peculiar to the Country—Ken Kalfus
Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees: A Life of Contemporary Artist Robert Irwin —Lawrence Weschler (unfinished)
Bridge of Sighs—Richard Russo (unfinished)
Damn him! I've read or am planning to read quite a few of these books. What's he got to say about them? I....must....find...out. Only problem is when you go to the site, there's a teaser of 4 paragraphs followed by a SUBSCRIBE button. The annual subscription is $45. Not too bad...but... Checked the local library and their reply was (I kid you not), "We don't subscribe to any religious magazines due to their innate controversial potential." "innate controversial potential"??? What low level civil service plunker comes up with this stuff? Perhaps a subscription from a family member still caring about my mental state for the holidays would be a pointed suggestion here?
A tip of the hat to Whisky Prajer for saying, "Yes, go ahead. It's just as good as Spree."
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
The Sulk of the Spinkster
Reading to my kids, especially when they were still in awe of the mighty deeds and abilities of their parents, was a very enjoyable pastime. Aside from having the kids curl up in one's arms with the freshness of a bath and the heat generated by the furnaces their compact bodies providing warmth for all three of us as we endured the cold of Brave Irene's world, the reading experience opened up new vistas and new authors to Dad, the reader. (n.b.: This last sentence is in the Word Shoppe undergoing extensive bodywork and replacement of hanging/clinging phrases and draining of the verborrhea. It will shortly be replaced with a snappy and energetic sentence or sentences. Even C. Dickens rolled in his grave when he took a gander at that pile of words. Thanks for your patience.)
Among the children's books authors that I particularly latched onto then and still read to myself now are William Steig, Arnold Lobel, and Russell Hoban.
What brought up this topic? Well, the Jewish Museum in NYC is holding an exhibition of William Steig's work from November 4th through March 16, 2008. For those not able to make it to the Big City for the exhibit this book seems to be an excellent 2nd place prize. Go here and click on Meryl Streep reading my favorite of all his books, Spinky Sulks.
"You were positively right, Spinky. Philadelphia is the capital of Belgium." Yeah!
Perfect match of image and word.
"What a family! First, they ruin his life. Then, they expect him to watch a parade."
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
"Tata?", they ask," Don't you always tell us to never hitchhike and to never pick up a hitchhiker?"
"Yes....", I reply in shame and gloom.
As I drive to the holiday rendezvous with the kids, now there and soon back, I can't help but notice that a lot of other parents have been force-feeding this NO! to hitchhiking warning to their kids. You just don't see 15-25 year olds hitching any more. I understand, really; I mean I have no regrets in hammering this point in to my kids. But it's a change in transportation behaviour that's regrettable. I still remember certain rides and drivers with a smile and a sigh. Just some solo driver looking for a traveling companion to talk to while racing through the lonely miles ahead.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Pre-Thanksgiving Music
The Canadian Thanksgiving, the second Monday in October always seemed to me the more logical time of year for celebration of Harvest. I mean, who the heck is harvesting in November in the States? And what is it with the 4th Thursday or the 3rd Monday or the 2nd Monday in Canada? It's a bit like Easter, which wanders from March to April and back again. I remember, painfully, the questions I posed to nuns in successive grade of grammar school (I was a slow learner) inquiring as to why the rising of the Lord happened on different Fridays each year. A light swish of the switch along with a nunnism such as "Bold as brass and twice as brazen" was the annual response to my annual inquiry. Adults holding to their sanity by mumbling in rote was my experience as a school kid. The same behaviour applied to inquiries of the moveable feast of Thanksgiving. As a kid, you needed definity. December 25th. July 4th. Your birthday (except, of course, if you were cursedly born on Feb 29th; your life of frustration and delayed celebration was set early into motion). This moving holiday or Holy Day gave no concreteness to the happening. Kids frustrated with this non-definity grew up and became TV programmers reaking their revenge on the rest of us by continually moving your favorite tv shows around, week in week out. Sister Mary Aloyisous Ignatious!?? I smote thee with my own switch!
But back on topic.
Anyone out there with musical suggestions for the Sunday before Thanksgiving? No Christmas music, for sure. Definitely Mr. Wainwright's Thanksgiving. Loudon's always good for a sardonic chuckle.
And, yes, I will be playing some of that "Jesus" stuff, regardless of the personal punishment I may endure.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Pittsburgh in November
Labels: NaBloPoMo, Pittsburgh, Trips
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Ice Flows
Will the darkest hour write a blank check on your soul?" - One Good Year by Slaid Cleaves
Self-searching can take a nasty turn or an illustrative one depending on your mind bend at the time. I recently saw the 2005 movie L'Iceberg on a Netflix rental recently, where illustration, in its many interpretations, was the direction taken.
On an excuse of a sailboat dubbed Le Titanique, the somewhat confused Fiona (played by Fiona Gordon) along with the reticent (to the point of dumbness)sailor and owner of the charmed boat, René (played by Philippe Martz) and the stowaway/Fiona's husband, Julien (played by Dominique Abel) set sail for points known to be besotted with icebergs. How they get to this stage of their lives is not worth revealling; just your usual suburbia unhinging, only done from a Belgian perspective. The movie is slow in unwinding, something like watching a performance piece wondering what the point's about but enjoying the images along the way. Remember back in high school being shoved out the front door on a blind date with a person in possession of a "great personality"? Ever wonder what happened to these "great personality" folks? Well, they all seem to have congregated as the cast of this movie. I'm serious about the implications of that phrase. There are characters out the wazoo in this film. If you're not attracted by the story, then come to see the cast. One would think that in a film's cast numbering in the 20's, there would be at least one attractive looking person. But, true to "great personality", there are none. I'm not sure if this says something about Belgium or the directors' choices. The film, while holding together in most spots, seems more of a series of vignettes. I promise you'll be rewinding to catch certain scenes over again (Facial stretching to the point of Munch scene, "Don't Jump scene, various seaside shop scenes). What the story does is demonstrate that water to ice and ice to water is simply a matter of latitude. All ends happily without saccharine poisoning resulting.
The directors Fiona Gordon and Dominique Abel (also principal stars) of the movie are also active actors in the movie, relying more on the physical than the verbal. Both of them collaborated in writing L'Iceberg with Bruno Romy.
The movie is low on schmaltz, short on dialogue (which may appeal to those folks who want to watch a foreign film but can't stand reading the subtitles), high on inventiveness and minimal stagings, and packed with images that wll stick with you. Highly recommended for the patiently curious. I'd recommend this for family viewing as well except there is some frontal nudity all done within the plot and with no sexual connotations at all. In fact, these scenes are both endearing and funny.
(An Aside: What's this about? When you do a Google search for the Images category for the phrase "Great Personality", why are the majority of images either horses or dogs? Just wonderin')
Friday, November 09, 2007
Too Much Jesus
The music I played tended to the same mix of jazz, blues, and R & R. Nothing out of the ordinary was in the style mix, except for the artists filling the play list that morning. I tend to start out the show at 9:00 am with a jazz set or two, usually tending toward various musicians' cover versions of old spirituals or languorous meanderings of Broadway show tunes, specifically ones in the down low. That morning's set list began with Dick Wellstood's rendition of Caravan and also included Art Blakey's version of the Ellington/Tizol composition. Even though the university's radio station is located in the deep bowels of one of the student centers, the effect of the weather that morning still carried through. It was a mellow morning deserving of mellow pensive melodies.
Most times that I do the show, phone calls to the station are of the inquiry type.
"What was the name of that tune you played at 10:00?"
"Was that Diane Washington singing that sassy song?"
"Hey, do you know what yesterday's U of D football game was?"
Occasionally, there are compliments voiced on the musical jag taken that morning. Sometimes there is reminiscing by a caller who heard a song played that they hadn't heard on the airwaves in decades, the down-memory-lane services we provide on the all-volunteer all-the-time radio station.
Rarely does anyone call in with complaints because it seems getting one's bile up on Sunday is just not on most folks' Things to Do list. I always figured that Sunday morning, regardless of the weather, is a sit and read and sip coffee type of day for most of the station's listeners. Girding for the beginning of the week, a last respite before the endless Hear Ye! Hear ye! of tasks unfolds. So, it was with surprise and a total lack of words on my part that I fielded a call that morning that began with the exclamative "What the hell? Is this a religious program? I could turn to Elkton's (Maryland) stations for that?"
Now, stretching that "religious" adjective to its breaking point, I could understand how he may have thought I'd gone into a conversion mode. The only problem was that the song that finally got on his last God-aversive nerve was Jesus Shaves from the new Roches album, Moonswept.
"What is it with all this Jesus crap?", he protested. (n.b.: this conversation is not invented)
"Jesus crap?". Hmmm, what was he referring to?
"Do you mean that last song, "Jesus Shaves"?", this inquiring mind wanting to know, uhmm, inquired.
"Yeah, that was the capper. "Jesus Saves"!", he self-satisfyingly stated.
"No, that's "Shaves", not "Saves". Did you listen to the words? It's about a guy trying to get his life going and…", I said, adding information to a field in need of some seeding.
"Not "Jesus Saves"?!!?? Well, how about those other ones? They sounded awfully religious.", he blurted, in a voice that was both ticked off and weakening due to facts being presented..
"Do you mean that previous song? The one by Loudon Wainwright III about the South?", I asked..
"Yeah, that's the one! That's the one that got me started!", he exclaimed, reinvigorated by the malice of notes.
"But, you know Loudon, right? I mean, in the Gods of Music categories, he's the God of Sarcasm, the loveable bastard of relationship exposition. That song's not about religion, it's about……", I posited.
Silence on the other end and then loud tapping of fingers on a hard surface. Ba ra bum. Ba ra bum. Ba ra bum.
"Look", he came around to, "All I know is what my ears are telling me and what they told me was that you're playing religious music. What if I was Jewish? I wouldn't like to hear this Christian stuff if I was Jewish!". So said the non-Jewish what-if-I-was-a-Jew caller.
What could one say? I was lost. He was going down a nasty road throwing whatever rocks he came up along his way because his destination was getting ever blurrier. I grabbed for the playlist and started listing off the songs I'd already played, asking if they constituted some framework for a religious takeover of the Sunday morning show.
"Well, I heard only those two songs. I hadn't been listening to the station but for only 15 minutes. It just seemed too religious…"
I will admit that I have more than a passing love for most albums by The Campbell Brothers, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Aretha Franklin's spirituals, and even Gregorian chants cd's and, once-twice a year, a shot of Handel's Messiah. But to say I play religious music would be seriously misunderstanding what music is all about. For a moment there, I started empathizing with those folks who play the heavy metal that drives people off the deep edge (tongue in cheek here, folks). I wrapped an obtuse apology around a harangue on possibly seeking guidance from someone better equipped to handle his anger, say a minister, rabbi, priest, or psychologist and quietly hung up the phone. I then checked and double-checked that the door to the station was securely locked.
This was all a bit too much, jeeeeeeeez!
Oh, and as far as future shows, yeah, I'll still be playing that Jesus, uhmm, stuff. Whatever the inspiration for that music is, the music is fabulous.
Labels: NaBloPoMo, People, WVUD 91.3
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Bhangra in the 'Burgh November, 2007
Rutgers University Bhangra Dance Group.
I emphasized the something because nothing short of seeing a live performance of a bhangra competition does it justice. It is a monstrously loud event even when dancers aren;t on stage. In a proper venue, as Bhangra in the 'Burgh was held at, the full dynamics of what these events are like can be appreciated. In the Soldiers & Sailors Museum & Memorial, a great-looking and well-maintained hall located within sight of the Cathedral of Learning and Pitt U., there is a wraparound balcony 15 rows deep hanging on both sides and rear of the building. While the audience sat on the first floor, all of the bhangra dance groups sat upstairs staring at the opposition on the other side of the balcony or sometimes just a few rows down. There was much baiting and razzing happening between the groups and their highly vocal and highly mobile supporters. Sometimes, if everyone in the balcony were moving, the only way you could tell a supporter from a dancer was that the latter had a costume. And what costumes (sorry no pictures by yours truly, only links)! The layout of the costumes made dressing up a long state of affairs. Variance between groups was extreme, although all of the participants followed the basics of the costume. The dancers all wore their turlas like fans spread from ear to ear, while the musicians (usually a drummer) wore his on one side of his head, front to back.
The Rutgers Bhangra Dance Group (but Guys only were performing this time around) ended up winning the competition and justifiably so. They were the only group to have live musicians (2 instrumentalists and 2 highly energized singers) play the music the dancers performed to. All of the other groups, while quite capable, danced to pre-recorded music which sometimes resulted in humorous lip-synching. I know I missed a lot of the subtleties. Bhangra struck me a lot like ballroom dancing or folk dancing. There's a basic formula to the choreography and there are certain movements and body posture one must carry through the 7-8 minute performance. How the three judges came up with scores was a mystery to most of us in the audience as no rules or standards were announced as part of the proceedings.
What required no explanation was the immediate level of energy that was attained once each of the 10 groups hit the stage for their performance. Each entrance was preceded by a amateurish, cheesy, video of the group and I mean this in the most complimentary way possible. It was great seeing the wavery filming, the loud-then-soft music introducing each member, and then the abrupt ending of the video followed by a tense 10-15 second darkened stage that abruptly exploded into light, sound, movement, and intense smiling. The supporters of each group stood as they performed, dancing and singing in unison with the folks on stage. Sometimes it was difficult keeping your eyes forward because the compadres in the side balconies were putting on a performance as well. And when audience members on the main floor got into the act, it was obvious how infectious the music and dancing of bhangra can be.
IMHO, however, bhangra can only be experienced live. TV/Videos, no matter the size of the screen, can carry all of the sights and sounds of the happening. It is like a revival of sorts, of the casting out of bad spirits or feelings. Confining this explosion within the structure of the movements serves to provide a common thrust for the dancers and for the audience. One looks up toward the ceiling and detects bad mojo floating away. You look around and everyone is smiling and shouting in tongues. Ah yes, the type of exhaustion that only comes with the expunging of ills.
Labels: NaBloPoMo, Pittsburgh
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Look....and....Look Again
Pointing out #1:
You've all heard/read/dreaded the anme Scott Boras. The New Yorker piece, NYT, blah, blah. Well, here quite succintly, Tim Souers at Cubby Blue, has illustrated for us a simple way of remembering Mr. Boras.
Pointing out #2: A YouTubization of the way past clever Jessica Hagy at Indexed.
Labels: Blogs
From this article, "While some of Chihuly's work is undeniably gorgeous (especially when presented in expertly lit photographs), his detractors call it mere decoration that attracts the eyes without engaging the mind.
Chihuly's work is as vacuous as it is popular, they say, comparable to the work of another successful Seattleite, Kenny G. "It's craft, not art," is a common refrain.
"It's bullshit art," says Art Garcia, a Seattle painter. "If you've seen one you've seen 'em all."
Sour grapes? Not for this observer of art to say. Was the exhibit repetitive at the Phipps? Yes, at times it was. For me, at least, the setting made the art and the art made the setting. I've seen Mr. Chihuly's work at some art museums and found them, after a while, boring. However, in the horticultural setting of the Phipps, the work looked stunning and both natural and unnatural, depending on the placement of the glass pieces. I certainly would not go as far as to compare Mr. Chihuly with Mr. G., Kenny. That is too cruel, even for an Eastern Seaboard ex-New Jerseyite.
(Thanks to That One Blog for the "Kinkade" picture)
I'd blogged about a visit there back in September. Here's a Flickr set of photos from the exhibit.
Find any excuse to get to Pittsburgh to enjoy the city and catch the Phipps/Chihuly exhibit. You may end up coming home and re-arranging all those different colored beer bottles strewn in your backyard to a Thomas Kinkade version of a Chihuly garden.
Labels: NaBloPoMo, Pittsburgh
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
We've been to Lidia's in Pittsburgh a few times, usually for their excellent and reasonably priced (now $22) Sunday brunch. Lidia Bastianich, PBS Cooking show host and owner of multiple restaurants in NYC, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh comes from, as some of you already know, from a part of the world that has been run over, ruled, conquered, re-ruled multiple times. She was born in the port city of Pula in Istria, which is now part of Croatia. She describes herself as Italian-American, even though Italian and Croatian were spoken in the area she was born and raised in.
I am hurt that she minimizes her Croatian side but all is forgiven when one tastes her food. The $22 per person brunch is one of the cheapest thrills one can experience. The 3 courses, antipasti, choice of 7-9 entrees, and a dessert menu along with home-made breads, coffee, a mimosa or Bloody Mary leaves one ready for a nice long nap in the warmth of the sunny riverside nearby.
The entrees change each time although the Three Pasta choice is always available. The Three Pastas, unlike the Three Tenors, is an experience worth repeating with each visit. Three different pasta-based dishes are served to you, with unlimited servings (One of each is more than enough for the sane human). The three pasta offerings are alternated every weekend. We've yet to go there and see a repeat choice. I've had the three pasta entree twice and it is to die for. Homemade pasta and gnocchi, coated with sauces of sauteed duck, or rabbit, or beef, or cheese, or Putanesca sauce, or....well, you get the idea.
I held out this time around because the winter menu was in place, which meant..
Sarma. Barbarians call this dish stuffed cabbage. Sarma is to stuffed cabbage as filet mignon is to frozen hamburger. It is one of those simple dishes that take forever to prepare, if one is conscientious of the sanctity of sour cabbage and its need for time. In the highly competent hands of the chefs at Lidia's, the sarma, with a side-dish of garlic mash potatoes, was a palette pleaser of long-term taste memories. The sweetness of the meats (Pork, lamb, Beef), the juicy sourness of the cabbage, the bite of the garlic potatoes all combined on a tremulously clamped fork as it slowly traveled into my sense and memory-ridden mouth. It was like swallowing a bit of Croatia with each bite. The sarma transcended mere food, a soul meal if there ever was one.
Labels: NaBloPoMo, Pittsburgh, Reviews
Monday, November 05, 2007
Where are the Pix?
Taking a posting muligan here.
Three Rivers, Duquesne Incline, and a personal touch will be coming your way as soon as the items get loaded onto Flickr. Like, tomorrow.
Labels: NaBloPoMo, Pittsburgh, Trips
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Fly, Iggles, Fly on the road to...
But for tonight, some sad news for most Philly sports fans.
The Igglez are going down tonight in a big way. 21-7 at halftime? QB McNabb playing like a rookie? Terrell Owens just scoring in the first minutes of the second half on a 45 TD pass to make it 28-7? It will be a long and brutal night....
...and a joyfully miserable mourning tomorrow on Philly sports talk radio. Misery is not woven into a better-fitting garment of malaise than in the city of Brotherly Love.
And that's why I love the Igglez. There is no team in Philly that causes as much heartburn, heartbreak, and (I'm sure but w/o stats on this one) heart attack as the Birds. They are going through the beginning of the worst of times, a temporal period that tends to span decades in the City by the 'Ware.
Philly fans use the baseball, hockey, and basketball seasons to tune up or keep their lungs healthy and capable of expelling choice verbiage at ear-deafening volumes. The ever-loving wife, on a trip North recently, had the good fortune to be sitting across from a dapper ex-Long Islander now living in Philly. A long time and current fan of the other NY baseball team, he shook his head as he explained his view of the Philly fan.
"You know, it's not that the Philly fan wants your team to lose. That would be understandable. What the Philly fan wants you to know is that not only will your team lose but that your team sucks. In fact," he twisted his tie off and continued, "the Philly fan wants to be sure that you know that you, as a human being, also suck."
He looked up at my wife, shaking his head," I've been here (in Philadelphia) for 15 years and I still don't understand the vitriol." (note here: My wife, not an Igglez fan, understood that last word; I won't vouch the same for your avg Igglez fan).
It's now 35-10, the 'Boys. While I too can't stand the Dallas team, this (soon-to-be) embarrassing defeat will mean a lot of crocheting of the misery afghans. If you are one who is interested in public displays of pain for all of the wrong and inane reasons, life is good.
Later, but not too later, da Boys are up 38-10. I would strongly suggest that if you own a Cowboys baseball cap not to wear it tomorrow, unless the check for your life insurance premium has been cashed.
Labels: NaBloPoMo, Philly, The Sporting Thing
Saturday, November 03, 2007
NYC - A Limited Tour (Part 2)
The showers let up as we drove further south and east on the island to the United Nations building. Do you want to get depressed about the state of the world today? Easy enough. Simply go to 1st Avenue between 42nd and 48th streets. You'll see a building of world importance in a state of misery. Allegedly, massive renovations are in store. Shortly. But right now? Well, maybe it was the gray day, but in this visitor's opinion, the entire UN "Campoos" reminded me of old Stalinist architecture/landscaping. It wasn't like this 20-30 years ago. There was an energy to the place, a positive vibe that made world problem solving a possibility (Yeah, yeah, let's all break out in "Kumbaya"). Now though, police and construction yellow tape all around. Trees in need of pruning, grass in need of cutting (and color), safety and security entrance facilities in need of a new non-Stalag look, and cleaning crews on the inside in need of hiring. There's a feel of walking in the huge foyer as if one is in a dying Howard Johnson's, the colors and the verve leaching through the leaky window panes.
After the driving, the walking, the viewing we ended up eating at this fine place, close to the UN. No preplanning on our parts; simply noting the Zagat sticker and perusing the menu posted outside. Our first choice, Saju, unfortunately did not open until past 6:00 PM and we were too famished to wait another 2 hours.
Fabio, as in the Fabio of Fabio Piccolo Fiore, is the chef and owner (partial owner as it turns out). An appealing gentleman of Sicilian descent who came to the States from Rome 15 years ago to make his mark, he stands a solid 6 ft. of smile, charm, and quick tongue. How much truth lay unsifted in the wordy mound he shoveled our way is not important. His performance was a short stage show he threw in along with the excellent meals he served up. Fabio's need for a promotional firm to represent him was obviously nil. Why pay out money for a natural talent he could display as a solo act?
Things were a little slow with customer traffic as it barely 5 PM, so Mr. Fabio felt customer relations were in need of coddling. Having three women at a table and only one guy looked like good odds to him as well. However, I can safely say that not even free desserts brought by the chef himself were enough to convince the women of his innocent intentions.
The early evening ended with my cousin and her daughter heading off to a Broadway show and us wasting a good 45 minutes trying to get out of the city through the Holland Tunnel. Well, all can't be pleasure when visiting the Big City especially if you're planning on leaving with money still in your pocket.
Friday, November 02, 2007
"I Got a Lot to Say!"
Bettye LaVette's collaboration with the Drive By Truckers is a gem, possibly my favorite recording issued this year. Opening up with Eddie Hinton's "I Still Want to be Your Baby (Take Me Like I Am)", she belts out:
"I've been this way too long to change now.
You're going to have to take me like I am,
but you know I'm still your baby."
She follows that with "Choices", wherein,
"I've had choices since the day I was born.
There were voices that told me right form wrong.
If I only listened, I wouldn't be here today
living with the choices I made."
The divine Ms. LaVette takes on Frankie Miller's "Jealousy" and Elton Johns' "Talking Old Soldiers" and does the same thing to them that she did in her 2005 Anti Records album, I've Got my Own Hell to Raise. She makes the songs her own.
Her two recent albums strike me the same way as when Charles Walker released Number by Heart back in 2003. Like Walker, Ms. LaVette was recording back in the late '50's and early '60's and then slipped away. In "Before the Money Came (The Battle of Bettye LaVette)", a song on The Scene of the Crime, she goes through the history of her rise, fall, and return. The lost years only improved the bite. Her renditions of the songs are are brittle emotional outpourings, with the weight of the lost 40 or so years riding heavy with the might-have-beens. I thought I've heard these songs before, but Ms. LaVette demonstrates otherwise. Her stylings bear repeating. The Drive By Truckers provide an excellent background for her vocal escapades. They're out front in spots of some songs but generally they sit back and provide the strong base for her exposition.
As with other Anti cd's, such as Joe Henry's Civilians, Galactic's From the Corner to the Block, Rogue's Gallery compilation, DeVotchKa's How It Ends, and Mavis Staples' We'll Never Turn Back, the production and crystal clear recording is excellent. One would be tempted to buy an Anti CD without having heard it before strictly based on the care and expertise they take with their artists.
If you haven't heard Bettye LaVette's recent recordings, I strongly encourage a purchase of either one. If you're a Drive By Trucker fan, The Scene of the Crime will be an ear-opener. I hope this collaboration was not the last.
Addendum: Philly Inq's Nick Cristiano reviews Bettye LaVette and pronounces that the "never-say-die soul diva is back with another jewel in The Scene of the Crime".
So, what are you waiting for? Time to use those Amazon.com coupons!
Labels: NaBloPoMo, Recording Reviews


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Category Archives: News bits
News bits: DART Police working to decrease drug sales, panhandling downtown
DART Police, Dallas Police and the Downtown Dallas Safety Patrol are working to reduce panhandling and drug sales in Downtown Dallas. DART Police Chief James Spiller, Downtown Dallas Inc. CEO John Crawford and Dallas Police Department Assistant Chief Gary Tittle … Continue reading
News bits: DART Board called 'smart' for adopting policy changes
A smart move by #DART. @dartmedia https://t.co/R38xtrGDQb pic.twitter.com/7tJpKJPcAk — Mike Drago (@MikeDrago) December 9, 2015 Tuesday, the DART Board adopted policy changes easing the requirement for new cities to contract DART's services. The 8-5 vote allows new cities to contract … Continue reading
News bits: Dallas Streetcar's 'praying mantis' arm keeps the vehicle rolling
Dallas' various public transportation vehicles have drawn a lot of comparisons in the past, but mechanical praying mantis is definitely a new one. KERA, the local public radio station and website, highlights the Dallas Streetcar in a new story posted … Continue reading
News bits: Belo Foundation pledges $30 million for parks near DART in downtown Dallas
Belo Foundation has announced a $30 million contribution to aide in the completion of the downtown Dallas parks plan. That plan includes the construction of four new parks in downtown accounting for 17 new acres of green space. Three of … Continue reading
Video: In car-centric Texas, cities reap economic boon from light rail
PBS NewsHour Weekend visited the Dallas area recently to take a look at how DART operates in car-centric Dallas and how development is sprouting around the rail lines. Thanks to PBS NewsHour Weekend for the coverage and thanks to workers … Continue reading
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News bits: Busy summer for development near DART Rail
It has been a busy summer for development in and around DART Rail in North Texas. Check out some of the stories of new property and new businesses that you can expect to see on your commute soon. A new … Continue reading
News bits: Congress passes three-month transportation bill extension
Lawmakers in Washington are beginning their August break, but not before taking care of some last-minute patchwork on an extension to the transportation bill that ensures money continues to flow to highway and transit agencies. From the Associated Press: Lawmakers … Continue reading
News bits: Pope Francis talks importance of public transportation
Pope Francis, the Pope of the Catholic Church, last month released a 192-page paper discussing climate change and other environmental issue. One passage in the paper is notable to DART and its passengers: The quality of life in cities has … Continue reading
News bits: 'DART hopping' to kid-friendly stations
What are your favorite kid-friendly DART stations? Dan Koller, writing for Texas Highways magazine, sought out the best places to take kids along the DART Rail for a magical time. In his write-up you'll find the usual suspects like Dallas … Continue reading
News bits: DISD graduate shares his DART travel tips
Blaine Finstein just graduated from Dallas ISD's School for the Talented and Gifted. And despite being a teenager, his DART travel experience could rival most public transit commuters. In a recent Dallas Morning News Student Voices column, Finstein shares his … Continue reading

subset: commoncrawl


text:
WBEZ News
If teachers strike, 50,000 kids will still be in school
The Chicago Teachers Union and the school district have an agreement on the longer school day, but the two sides still say they are "far apart" on issues like wages and benefits. And the union has said a strike is not off the table.
If there were a strike, it would take place in a whole new context, one that has national eyes focused on Chicago.
If Chicago teachers walk out, there will be 50,000 kids still in school.
Outside William Penn Elementary School on the city's West Side, you can sort of imagine where a picket line might be set up if Chicago Teachers Union teachers walk out on strike--somewhere near the large painted "Welcome" sign just off the sidewalk. But in this same building, at an entrance about 50 feet away, is the sign for a charter school: Kipp-Ascend. If Penn teachers strike, KIPP teachers will be at work, and hundreds of students will pass the picket line and walk into school. That scenario could be repeated across the city.
"We've never had this dynamic occur in the country where there's been a major urban area considering a teachers strike while they had a large charter sector," says Andrew Broy, head of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools.
"So we'll have some portion of public schools students going to school, some portion of teachers going to school to educate those students, while the rest of the teachers aren't."
Right now, folks on all sides of the equation are trying to figure out what that would mean.The city has over 100 charter schools. All would be open if teachers strike. More than 50,000 kids would be in class, about 13 percent of the district.
Broy says charter schools' phones are ringing.
"We've had a number of charter schools in our network who've been contacted by parents who've heard about a strike happening, and are saying, 'Look, do you have seats available?'"
Broy says about a third of charter schools do have seats, and he wants the district to increase the number of students charter schools are allowed to take if union teachers do walk out. "Because ultimately our goal is not just to represent the charter sector, but to make sure the children of Chicago have access to education," he says. "I don't think anybody wants 350,000 students to be out for a long time."
Broy is betting that parents will see things the way WaConda Curington does. She has four children in charter schools.
"I would say as a parent, I am relieved that my kids will continue to go to school. Because that's not fair to the children of CPS. They're gonna be at a disadvantage," said Curington. "I mean it's sad, but at the same time, I guess I would say I am thankful that my kids are not a part of that system."
Charter schools begin the new school year
Charter school co-teachers Ryan Buchanan and Liz Koonce were already at work last week setting up their fourth-grade classroom at one of the city's five LEARN charter school campuses.
"It was a short summer, but it's good for the kids that they get back so quickly, and their retention is a lot better," said Buchanan, age 23, as he carefully wrote student names onto clothes pins for the class behavior chart.
Koonce agrees. "As a teacher, I want the best for my kids. I understand both sides. I come from a school where there was a union, so I understand the benefits of that."
Koonce is 25. She used to teach in a suburban district. She isn't supposed to say how much she makes at LEARN. But on average, Chicago charter teachers make $20,000 less per year than their CPS counterparts. Part of that is because charter teachers tend to be younger and less experienced. But even adjusting for that, Broy says they make between $8,000 and $12,000 less.
Early Wednesday morning Koonce will be greeting her new students on their first day of school. Look for the city to highlight the fact that teachers like Koonce and Buchanan work longer days and longer school years, while union teachers push for more money.
But not everyone thinks those 50,000 charter school kids will be an advantage for the city in contract negotiations.
"I don't think it figures into either side's leverage. I think it figures into both sides' estimations of what a mess it would be if there were a strike," says Don Rose. The Chicago political consultant says charter school students would be "collateral damage" if charters stay open while teachers are on strike.
"They will be confronted by picket lines. It is even possible that they will be heckled by students whose teachers are out on strike, or their teachers will be heckled. This will just be a further flouting and re-angering of those who oppose charter schools."
Elizabeth Purvis has lived through this. She runs Chicago's biggest charter school network, and kept a charter school open in Rockford last spring when teachers there went on strike.
"We were prepared for people to picket our schools, but no problem. We have a number of the children of public school teachers. They dropped their kids off at school…not a ripple." But charter schools are still a tiny percentage of schools in Rockford and haven't attracted the same level of opposition as they have in Chicago.
The growth of charters has depleted the ranks of the Chicago Teachers Union. Every time the union has negotiated a contract over the last decade, it's come to the table representing fewer members. Thirty-three thousand in 2003. Thirty-two thousand for the last contract, agreed to in 2007. Today, the union says there are 25,500 members in the CTU's bargaining unit.
Still, union official Jackson Potter says he does not see the 50,000 charter kids in classes as a threat. He points to a Chicago Tribune poll that found parents trust the union's reform proposals more than the school district's.
"We have a rich history in this city of parents taking on the Board of Education when they think there's injustice," says Potter.
Potter says the union is fighting for more than just wages—it wants air conditioning, playgrounds, and social services for kids, and he thinks parents understand that.
And far from talking about charter school teachers as scabs, Potter is looking to build bridges between the union and charters.
"There's a lot of solidarity that I don't think people recognize or understand," says Potter. "I think we could see a number of interesting scenarios, where charter teachers are picketing with us, where charter teachers are talking about what rights they don't have, and what rights they want, and thinking about ways to organize these buildings so that they're not treated with disrespect."
One thing all sides agree on: unions and charter advocates across the country will be watching.


text:
Perryman, Mark (2003) Fandom Resistance New Formations, 48. pp. 176-178. ISSN 1741-0789Full text not available from this repository.
Official URL: http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/journals/newformations/cu...
|Item Type:
|Journal article
|Additional Information:
|Copyright Lawrence & Wishart Ltd.
|Uncontrolled Keywords:
|football; sport and leisure cultures
|L000 Social Sciences > L300 Sociology
L000 Social Sciences > L900 Cultural Studies
L000 Social Sciences > L300 Sociology > L311 Sport and Leisure
|Faculty of Education and Sport > Chelsea School
|Depositing User:
|Chelsea editor
|Date Deposited:
|27 Jul 2007
|Last Modified:
|01 Apr 2015 13:57
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Last week, it was Edinburgh; this week Glasgow's city council is behaving as if they had never met a feminist, let alone employed one! In a letter to the parents of children at a local secondary school, GCC stated that children's shouldn't wear short skirts or tight trousers as it might attract paedophiles. Yes, you read that correctly - it's children's clothing that makes the vulnerable to paedophiles. Does this sound familiar?
Well, fortunately, the Chief Exec at the Scottish Parent Teacher Council had the sense to point out that this was very unhelpful advice as it blamed children for the activities of paedophiles. And, even more interestingly, directly compared this to discussions of adult women's dress and their 'responsibility' for rape.
Time for the local councils to send their peeps on some rape awareness/ gender sensitivity training, me thinks.
2 hours ago


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This high-low tank is sure to become your new favorite layer and an essential for your capsule wardrobe. Ribbed knit neckline adds a subtle but elegant detail. Also available in blue on separate product page. Imported.
Click here to shop it in blue.
We recommend pairing with our scoop tank.
Model is 6'4", size 6, wearing a size small. Item fits true to size.
Front length: 28". Back length: 31.5". Measurements taken on size small.
100% Polyester.
Hand wash cold, hang dry.
Striped Duster
A black & white striped duster made from an incredibly soft knit with ribbed detail. The perfect addition to any capsule wardrobe, you can easily throw it on over our twist front tank, chambray shirt, or basic tees for an easy & stylish look. Designed as always with extra long sleeves and a little side slit detail. Fits true to size. Model is 6'4", size 4/6 on top and wearing a size small. Made in L.A.
Body length (from top of shoulder to bottom hemline): 48"
Sleeve length (from top of shoulder): 31"
79% Polyester, 16% Rayon, 5% Spandex.
Hand wash cold, hang dry.
Classic Cardigan (Grey)
We've created a simplistic, timeless cardigan that is sure to be a go-to basic in your closet. Designed with your favorite features - like extra long sleeves & more room across the back & shoulders. Made from a lightweight, ribbed fabric with a dreamy soft feel. The perfect "short" length to layer over your favorite tanks & other tops.
Model is 5'10", size 4/6 on top, wearing a size small. Fits true to size.
Made in L.A.
Sleeve length (from top of shoulder to hem): 31"
Body length (from top of shoulder to hem): 30"
62% Polyester, 34% Rayon, 4% Spandex.
Care: Hand wash in cold water, hang dry.
V-Neck Tee
Say hello to perfectly proportionate tees created exclusively for your tall frame! Our v-neck tee is made with a longer body and longer sleeves to compliment your tall girl torso and arms.
95% Rayon, 5% Spandex.
Care: Machine wash cold, line dry.
Favorite Crew Long Sleeve - Black
This will easily become your new favorite long sleeve top. Made from a super soft knit, this fitted crew neck in black is designed with extra long sleeves AND double lined in the body. Also available in white. Made in USA.
Click here to shop it in white.
Model is 6'4", size 6, wearing size small. Item fits true to size.
Body length: 29.5". Sleeve length: 31". Measurements taken on size small.
Chambray Shirt
A tailored yet relaxed button down shirt in a versatile chambray style. Made from a super soft tencel fabrication. Extra long sleeves and more room across the back and shoulders makes for a perfect tall girl fit. Model is 5'10", size 6 and wearing a size small.
Front body length: 28.5"
Back body length: 30.5"
Sleeve length: 29.5"
Care: Hand wash cold, dry flat.
90% Tencel, 10% Cotton.
Button Back Thermal (Olive)
A simplistic, super soft thermal gets a chic but subtle upgrade with asymmetrical button details on the back side. Extra long sleeves. True crew neck style. Fits true to size. Model is 5'10", a size 4/6 on top and wearing a size small.
Style also comes in black on separate product page. Made in L.A.
Body length (from top of shoulder to bottom hem): 30"
Sleeve length (from top of shoulder): 33"
96% Rayon, 4% Spandex.
We know the drill - shopping is usually a choice between style or fit. Not anymore. Say goodbye to your shopping struggles.
Sign-up now and receive a code to save 15% off your order. PLUS - you'll be the first to know when new styles arrive (which is a big deal because sizes can sell out really fast!
(offer applies to new email sign-ups only.)


text:
Thrifted Firewood Rack
Sometimes inspiration for a craft comes to you from out of the blue. And sometimes you trip over it… literally. Well, at least I did for this project! I was walking through my local thrift store several months ago and, literally, tripped over this old, outdated, and beaten up magazine rack. I did one of those super cool half-jump-trips that results in a casual glance around to see if anyone noticed. Yeah… I'm cool like that. 😉 I looked at that mean magazine rack that jumped out at me {I swear that's how it happened!} and immediately had a fantastic idea of how to turn this old magazine rack into a Thrifted Firewood Rack!
This is what my little beauty looked like when I found her
attacking people sitting all alone at a thrift store. I snatched her up before I could think twice about all her bumps and bruises. Her price tag? Only 99 cents. Score! It was obvious that people had a hard time looking past her rough and outdated looks to come up with something awesome to turn her into. But she had great features and really fun lines! So she came home with me. The hubby looked at me like I was crazy when he saw it but I told him to trust my creative vision.
After sitting in my closet for 5 months, I pulled out my little lady, excited to transform her! After some sanding, priming, painting, taping, painting some more, sanding some more, and poly-ing here is her final look! It really wasn't much work at all even though that list makes it sound like it was.
She was still looking ho-hum until I added the white stripes. Taking a sanding block to her to give her my beloved "well loved" look also brought it one step farther! I love the little touches of gray popping through some of the white where I sanded it. But the stripes really make my heart go pitter patter!
I popped in a few of our "clean burn" logs and set her at home next to the fireplace! {Side note: I've been informed that I'm too accident prone to try to set a real log fire. I don't quite know how to do it properly and I'm terrified of setting the apartment building on fire!} I promise she doesn't actually sit that close to the fireplace, she was just posing for glamour shots. 😉
I'm absolutely in love with my thrifted firewood rack! I love, love, love it! It was such a fantastic find and I love that it could be re-purposed and could use it to hold magazines, or blankets, or children's book, or anything! Now you know not to walk past those ugly magazine racks you find at the thrift store!
What is something that you have re-purposed?? What would you re-purpose a magazine rack into??


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High Stakes: British Bookmakers Assess Russian Elections
Over the past month, several new candidates for the presidency emerged. Bookmakers, however, do not see any intrigues in the 2018 elections. The British turf accountants believe that the result is predetermined: the probability of Vladimir Putin's victory is estimated to be above 90%. Russiangate tells how much one can earn from the election and why it is the UK people that bet.
The first reports on the possibility of placing bets on the 2018 Russian presidential election's outcome transpired as early as 2014. Bets are accepted in the UK, although some Russian bookmakers offer this opportunity as well. In Russia, bets on the outcome of elections can be placed before the start of the election campaign, which is planned for December 2017: officials believe that bets can indirectly influence the voters' decisions.
Great Britain is considered the birthplace of bookmakers: this country has one of the most liberal legislations in this field. In Russia, however, many websites of both British and Russian turf accountants are blocked. In 2016, the president of the Self-Regulating Organization of Bookmakers of Russia, Oleg Zhuravsky, said that in the Russian jurisdiction, only four websites operate legally, the rest take bets offline. Therefore, the bets on the Russian elections are placed by citizens of other states.
It is simple: money can be placed on whether an event will occur (the list of bets on the particular event is called a line). For example, the victory of opposition politician Alexei Navalny in the presidential election in 2018. If this does not happen, the player will not get anything. What will he get if Navalny becomes the president? It depends on the rate and the initial amount he placed. The coefficients depend on the bookmakers themselves: they calculate the probability, taking into account the results of the polls, the statistics and the number of players who placed their bets on the given event. The higher the probability of the event, the lower is the coefficient and, accordingly, the profit that the lucky players will receive.
These days the British bookmakers estimate the chances of Vladimir Putin to win very high: for example, Ladbrokes, one of the oldest British bookmakers, estimates his chances at 95%. This bookmaker proposes to bet on the victory of the current president with a coefficient of 1.05. That is, placing $ 100, you get only $ 105 if this candidate wins. The probability of any other candidate to as estimated by Ladbrokes is a little over 11%, and for a bet of $ 100 the winner will receive $ 900.
On the website of another British turf accountant, Coral, the figures are the same. On the Betfect's website, where players exchange tips and betting options, Putin's odds are estimated at 1.17, and the chances of any other candidate are 5.
On the website of the British bet exchange Betfair, there are more options: you can bet on specific competitors of Putin. Among the candidates is the former adviser to the head of Balashikha, Anatoly Batashev, who announced his intention to run in April 2017. There are also Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Russia Maxim Suraykin, journalist Sergei Bizyukin and chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Their chances are estimated at a coefficient of 11.4, the probability of winning Alexei Navalny is 13.8.
As early as 2016, Ladbrokes assessed Putin's chances at a coefficient of 1.25, and the victory of any other candidate was at 3.75. At that time, the biggest bet (400 pounds) was made by a Russian client living in London, said Ladbrokes representative Alex Donohue.
Russian director and artist Alexander Kargaltsev, who emigrated from Russia to the United States, watches fluctuations in British bookmakers' odds on Vladimir Putin's victory in the 2018 election as part of his art project called Disassembled. Kargaltsev's monitoring began in March 2015, when Putin's chances were estimated at only 40%. His rating is updated every month. In September 2017, Kargaltsev wrote about a 100% probability.
The decision to ban election betting during campaigns in Russia was made back in 2004. But the presidential elections of 2008 were still popular among those who wished to put their money down on the candidates. Bets were placed both for Dmitry Medvedev and his main rival, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, Lyudmila Putina, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Boris Nemtsov, LDPR chairman Vladimir Zhirinovsky, communist Gennady Zyuganov and other politicians.
The bookmakers estimated the victory of Sergei Ivanov as a more likely option with a coefficient of 2.2. Dmitry Medvedev's victory could make one good money: the coefficient of 3.75. However, if Mikhail Khodorkovsky won, one could have made even more: his coefficient was 200.
In the Russian turf accountants one could place bets on the governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matvienko, head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu, head of the Presidential Administration Sergei Sobyanin.
The representative of the Maltese Unibet, who also accepted bets on the 2008 Russian presidential election, told reporters that such bets, unlike sporting events or American politics, are more likely to be placed for fun than to earn money: the average stake is about $ 20. They bet more often from European countries than from Russia: the most reckless players are from Sweden, Great Britain, Italy and Poland.
As the bookmakers themselves noted, not all elections are interesting for players. For example, among Russians, there are very few of those wishing to bet on the results of elections to the State Duma. At the same time, you get bets on that from abroad: bets on the Duma elections in 2016, were accepted by the UK companies. Bookmakers did not doubt that United Russia will definitely go to the State Duma. The chances of the opposition party PARNAS were assessed least of all.
Before the presidential elections in 2012, the Russian bookmaker Liga Stavok (The Bet League) circumvented the ban on pre-election bets: instead of betting on the outcome of the presidential election, players were offered to bet on who would take the place of the first lady. Now, the website of this company also has several election-related lines: you can bet on Ksenia Sobchak – will she remove her candidacy or change her surname before the election. One can also bet on Anfisa Chekhova – whether she will run for the president. You can also try to guess how many women will be nominated to the candidates.
The Kazakh company Goal + Pass in the summer of 2016 has been accepting bets on whether there will be a terrorist attack in this or that part of the world. In September 2016, it also opened a line for the outcome of the presidential elections in Russia. Putin's victory had a coefficient of 1.1, the victory of any other candidate – 9.0. The probability of Dmitry Medvedev's return to the presidential post was estimated at 9.9, Aleksei Navalny's victory was at 77.0, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's – at 88.0, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky at 111.0. Goal + Pass also offers to bet on the fact that the next president will be a woman with a coefficient of 55.0.
The lines related to the American elections are used more actively: the presidential elections, the possible impeachment of Donald Trump, and even his parting with Melania Trump. For example, only through the Betfair exchange, more than $ 100 million were bet on the outcome of the rivalry between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
The rates for the American elections were accepted by Russian offices: in 2014, through Liga Stavok, it was possible to bet on Trump's victory with a coefficient of 100.0. According to Maxim Afanasyev, the trading CEO the bookmaker, the amount of funds placed on the outcome of the American elections exceeded the rates for all other non-sport events, including Eurovision.


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Immunisation programs
The aim of immunisation programs is to reduce the impact of vaccine preventable disease through achieving high vaccine coverage rates in the community.
The vaccines offered through these immunisation programs, for eligible people, are free and available through your immunisation provider, however, in some cases a service delivery fee may be applied by the immunisation provider. See the Immunisation services page for a list of providers.
National Immunisation Program
The National Immunisation Program is supported by the Australian Government and provides free vaccines for children, adolescents and adults who hold or are eligible for a Medicare card.
The National Immunisation Program consists of the following:
Childhood Immunisation Program
The Childhood Immunisation Program provides free vaccines to protect against many different diseases for children from birth to four years of age. Additional vaccines are also recommended for Aboriginal children. For further information see Aboriginal immunisation recommendations.
School Immunisation Program
The School Immunisation Program provides recommended vaccines for South Australian students in Years 8, 10 and 11 (2019 only).
Catch-up schedules
Catch-up schedules are required for individuals who have missed or delayed vaccines and may be necessary for child care and school enrolment, and are currently used to determine eligibility for some family assistance payments. A catch-up schedule is planned by health professionals based on age, vaccination history, current recommendations and risk factors. For further information speak to your immunisation provider.
Meningococcal B Immunisation Program
A state-wide Meningococcal B Immunisation Program for babies and children commenced on 1 October 2018. Meningococcal B vaccinations will be available in a phased implementation, and started with a childhood program for babies aged six weeks to 12 months of age, and a childhood catch-up program for children aged over 12 months of age to less than four years of age.
In February 2019, this Program expanded to include students in the School Immunisation Program in Year 10, with a catch-up program for students in Year 11, as well as young people aged from 17 to less than 21 years of age.
The Program will be delivered through existing service providers including GPs, local government immunisation clinics, Aboriginal Health Services, Child and Family Health Services (CaFHS), Country Health SA Local Health Network (CHSALHN), Women's and Children's Health Network (WCHN) and other existing programs including the School Immunisation Program.
Annual Influenza Program
The Annual Influenza Program provides free vaccines to specific groups who are considered at greatest risk from complications of the flu (influenza), including all Aboriginal persons from 6 months of age. The state funded influenza program is available to children in South Australia from 6 months to less than 5 years of age.
National Shingles Vaccination Program
The National Shingles Vaccination
High Risk Hepatitis B Immunisation Program
New Arrival Refugee Immunisation (NARI) Program
The New Arrival Refugee Immunisation (NARI) Program offers specific vaccines to newly arrived refugees as part of the Australian Government Humanitarian Scheme.
All refugees and humanitarian entrants are eligible for funded catch-up vaccines under the National Immunisation Program.
Further information
For further information on immunisation programs, contact your doctor or immunisation provider.


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Card: HDA Intel Chip: SigmaTel STAC9271D View: [Playback] Capture All ...
Codec: SigmaTel STAC9271D
(that grep is slow because the kernel takes a long time to generate the file, probably querying hardware settings, not because it's so big that grep has to chew it for a while.)
But an older AC97 on-board codec I had (some RealTek chip I think) was also only able to use 48k and up. So I guess it's not only add-in cards that resample 44.1->48.
I wonder if dmix can resample to 96kHz/24bit? That would probably avoid any audible distortion, at the expense of a lot more CPU.


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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Geoff Sullivan (pictured) scored with 1:32 left in regulation to help the 14th-ranked Colby College men's hockey team to a 3-3 overtime tie with Williams College on Saturday.
Williams had 39-16 shot advantage in the game, but first-year goaltender Andrew Tucci stopped 36 shots for the Mules.
With the Mules putting on pressure, Sullivan was able to fire off two consecutive shots from the right side. He scored his fifth of the season and finished with two goals in the game.
After a scoreless second period, the two teams combined for five goals in the final 20 minutes. Williams went up 2-1 with a pair of goals in the opening 6:44. C.J. Shugart scored on the power play at 1:49 and Roberto Cellini tallied to put his team up by one.
Colby will play two non-conference games next weekend. The Mules head to University of New England for a 7 p.m. game on Saturday and then play host to Fitchburg State on Sunday at 3 p.m.
Scoring by Period - CLB 1-0-2-0=3; WIL 0-0-3-0=3
1st Period
Scoring - 1, CLB Nick O'Connor/7 (Mark Leprine/6) 16:14
Penalties - Wyatt Glover, WIL (Interference) 14:05; Jack Burton, CLB (Holding) 19:48
2nd Period
Scoring - None
Penalties - Tyler Young, WIL (Cross-Checking) 2:56; George Hunkele, WIL (Holding) 8:15; Dan Dupont, CLB (Hooking) 14:17
3rd Period
Scoring - 2, WIL C.J. Shugart/10 (Sam Gray/9, David Italiano/12) 1:49 (PP)
3, WIL Roberto Cellini/9 (Sam Gray/10, David Italiano/13) 6:44
4, CLB Geoff Sullivan/4 (Phil Klitirinos/7, Michael Rudolf/3) 10:54
5, WIL David Italiano/10 (Frankie Mork/10) 14:21 (PP)
6, CLB Geoff Sullivan/5 18:28
Penalties - EJ Rauseo, CLB (Interference) 0:25; Mario Benicky, CLB (Cross-Checking) 12:38
Scoring - None
Penalties - None
Colby Goaltending - Andrew Tucci (65:00, 39 shots, 36 saves, 3 GA)
Williams Goaltending - Michael Pinios (64:58, 16 shots, 13 saves, 3 GA); Empty Net (0:02, 0 GA)
Tie - Andrew Tucci, CLB (5-3-3). Tie - Michael Pinios, WIL (4-4-3).
Shots On Goal - CLB 4-4-6-2=16; WIL 11-14-11-3=39
Power Plays - CLB 0 of 3; WIL 2 of 4
Penalties - CLB 4 (8 min); WIL 3 (6 min)