Sunday, May 30, 2010

Cookery At Maggie's Farm
Today's linkage is a post at Maggie's Farm (Another one I need to add to the blogroll) getting all up in the greens and slaw and the bacon and the vinegar and the.... Please note, read the comments as well. There's much of a muchness in the comments. I'm salivating even before I've cooked me egg for brekkies. I was tempted to comment about the buttermilk cilantro coleslaw recipe I posted here but held myself back. I'm all about restraint doncha know.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

One Late Comment On "Lost"
Evangline Lilly's character looked absolutely gorgeous in the black dress Desmond gave her to wear to the concert in the sideways world. Amazing. She is a lovely woman but that outfit was just perfection for her. Congratulations to the production designers.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Chastening
I have a tendency to snark but in deep contradistinction to that attitude is this post at Mudville Gazette. If one is not moved by the story of a young woman facing deep psychic and physical pain to not just survive but triumph, well the person who is not touched is somewhat less than human. Please go read that story. And offer thanks that there are young Americans like Abbey Stokely.
One Of The Reasons I Would Make A Lousy Father
If I had been Anwar Sadat, I would have named a daughter 'Dorothy' so people would end up calling her "Dot Sadat."

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Gotta Add To The Blogroll
Washington Rebel seems like a good addition. Any blog that can show me the phrase "Epic Prow of Christina Hendricks" is all right in my book, err, blog.

Monday, May 24, 2010

The Political Metaphor
We can not stop the flow of oil from the well in the Gulf of Mexico until we have a comprehensive energy policy.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

The Brief Opera Babe Mention Post
Let's see. I still owe a commentary on Renée Fleming which I hope to get done in the next day or so. But last night, as I contorted sleepless through the darkness (my sleep patterns are really screwed up, though I'll get back to regular sleep shortly I hope), I found that PBS was showing a
"Live from the Met" episode of "Great Performances" which was "Carmen" with the previously featured Elīna Garanča. Wow. Just wow. Her performance was stunning. I almost didn't recognize her in the dark hair but the eyes are a complete giveaway. And the singing and the acting and the set design and .... you get the idea. If you see it come up on your local listings, please don't miss it.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Why Does My Birthday Have To Be Draw Mohammed Day?
It's already Liza Doolittle Day and I'd prefer it to be something like "Blog Naked Day." But "Draw Mohammed Day" it is. Since I can't draw, I commissioned this:

If you don't recognize the reference, Google "Kurt Vonnegut" and asterisk. Or this.
When Good Onions Go Bad
Wherein the blog post starts with a brief digression into onion prices. The other day at Trader Joe's, I picked up one of their "Onion Trio" mesh bags which contains a red onion, a yellow onion and a white onion. Name becomes kinda obvious then, doncha think? I like onions and I seem to be particularly partial to red onions these days. But I don't use a heck of a lot of them being a single guy 'n' all. So I picked up the bag and hat the native wit to look at the price before I dropped it in my shopping bucket. $2.99. Paging Whiskey Tango Foxtrot to aisle 2! A dollar per onion! I do not think so.
Instead I grabbed a bag of yellow and a bag of sweet onions for about the same price as the "trio." At home I put the onions in a paper bag more to get them out of the way than properly store them only to find a little spot of moisture on the bottom of the bag the next day. That's not good. So I pulled out all the onions and wiped them down only to find no moisture. Hmm. Oh well. Back they went into the bag. Naturally I had to check the bag again and damned if there wasn't a new spot of onion exudate. This called for further investigation.
The Sherlock Holmes of the kitchen finally tracked down the culprit. One onion was rotting from the core. The outer four or five thick layers were fine, firm and dry but the center was like a reverse twinkie: full of nasty softening, gooey onion instead of delicious creamy filling. And the remains of the stem was actually wicking out the spooge. Bad onion! Bad!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

My New Health Insurer
I just got coverage from Keyser Sözenente. If you make a claim, the adjuster comes to your house and kills you and every member of your family. I'm told it keeps costs down.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Color Seems A Bit Off
Yet I post the pic I swiped from the seller's website while I wait for a sunny day to take pics. Looks more like antique white than powder blue. Go figger. I totally dig the "modern" bird inlays (in, and I quote, "melon" color), solid alder body, rosewood fretboard, five-way blade pickup selector, tone and volume knobs in PRS's proprietary clear lampshade design and a scalloped, compensated nut. If you don't know what that means, don't worry. It's all good stuff.
UPDATE: Someone asked "Why '305?'" Easy. Three pickups, five positions on the blade selector (neck, neck and middle, middle, middle and bridge and bridge). And yes, these are singlecoil pups, not humbuckers. But they're designed to keep the hum minimized
.



Sigh Heaved
Tired today. Luckily, nothing is pressing me today. I was going to have my dear, dear friends Teh Wilmington Boyz in for a visit but there is health trouble and that visit will have to wait. Say a prayer for Ed, if you will. Our time here is brief, no need to speed the plow.
Yesterday was a bit of running around in the rain, a visit to Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center (if you're ever in the market for a guitar, see Bill Brooks at Chuck's, he's done right by me but then I go with a guy who's probably bought a nice car's worth of axes). Lunch at my local Don Pablo's (Messican type food that can be best described as "acceptable"). An at-home
wherein the new guitars were restrung and set up with sweet, slinky low actions by the Guitar Nazi and his best bud who's visiting from Colorado. Then a bite of dinner at a hole-in-the-wall Thai place and finally home where I tried to do some work on the computer and was practically cross-eyed with that kind of tiredness that leaves you bouncing between sleep and wakefulness.
I think today calls for a nap. And coffee. I'll probably use my last package of mix to make jalapeno cornbread muffins and, if I gin up the gumption, some grocery shopping. I need a good supply of Cherry Coke Zero.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Happy Birfday 2 Me, Happy Birfday 2 Me
Two words, three numbers: Powder Blue 305.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

BlogDog's Quick And Dirty Movie Reviews
First, the Robert Downey Sherlock Holmes movie:
A really, really good action adventure flick. A Sherlock Homes movie? No. No, it's not. Not even close. Holmes was a club fixture, not a club fighter. And Rachael McAdams is an actress who just sets my teeth on edge. I don't "get it" about her. She's about 70% standard Hollywood actress looks and 30% "what the hell is she doing in a movie?" She does not have the heft to play Irene Adler who was the only woman to best Sherlock Homes and because of that, as close as any woman came to being a love interest in the Holmes stories. Ignore the very idea that it's Sherlock Holmes and you'll have a very entertaining slam-bang action movie. The Victorian era Bourne movie, if you will.
Next, "The Hangover" (on HBO this weekend):
Surprisingly good. Reasonably intricately plotted with only a couple of glaringly obvious flaws (that the Zack Galifianakis is a card counting savant strains credulity to the breaking point) and one other major plot point fails miserably but since it's a huge spoiler I won't say what. And it may as lie like a sleeping dog because there's no movie otherwise. Not a heck of a lot to like in the characters though it's nice to see Ed Helms get a major comedy role. And he gets to suck face with Heather Graham which is reason enough to become an actor. Not an all time classic but very, very funny.
Finally, the second Transformers movie:
Oh good Lord. What a massive crapfest. Meghan Fox has eyes that rival Milla Jovovich for witchy hotness but she's a weak actress and all that was good about the first Transformers movie is lost in a bunch of crashing bullflap in this one. The only thing I really liked was the transformation of the SR-71 Blackbird in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum into a Decepticon-turned-good guy robot. And it's possible that if Michael Bay gets to make a couple more movies, there won't be enough explosives in the world to wage any wars. If there is any justice in the world, the franchise dies with this one.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Wherein I Buy Myself a Birthday Present
OK, honesty compels me to admit that I've already bought myself one thing (because it was on sale at The 'Zon), a cordless Dremel tool. I did not pay that much. But I was casting about for something else as a pure indulgence and what should appear in my in box but another communique from the Wall Street Journal Wine folks. To wit: the "Summer Rosé and Bubbly Case." With shipping and tax it works out to a shade under $14 per bottle and the wines I've gotten so far have been really good so far (and superb in one [half]case). These look really good for a hot summer evening on the deck:
French Fizz: Roche Lacour is a Champagne-quality favorite from the historic sparkling wine town of Limoux. Joyful PS is a gently sparkling Syrah rosé from Provence.

Italian Pink: High in the mountains of northern Italy, a gentle pressing of Pinot Grigio (a light red grape) gives a raspberry-scented rosé. You’ll enjoy two top finds.
Looks like it could be a pleasant summer. Come on over. We'll drink a bottle of rosé and talk of the world.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Happy Birthday!
It's the sixth birthday of The View Through the Windshield, Joe Sherlock's most excellent and perspicacious blog. TVTW is a PoW all-star favorite and has vbeen on th blogroll for ... hmmm, a long time. Joe knows business, he knows cars and he's a dab hand as an artist as well, demonstrated by occasional black and white art work of cars. Wish I could produce art like that!
If you're not a regular visitor, you should be. There is always something interesting and sometimes there is an abundance of linkage and acute thinking. Finding someone like Joe is one of those things that the internet allows that never would have happened before. It's a clear demonstration of how technology adds to one's life. Happy blogiversay Joe!

Sunday, May 09, 2010

Renée Fleming
Commentary later. Video now.


Saturday, May 08, 2010

Damn It
I awoke this morning pressed under the weight of unremembered dreams. It feels like the medieval torture where increasing numbers of stones are piled on until the breath is crushed out then the muscles and bones can not open the lungs to take more air in. But since it's a pressure of mind, an insubstantial thing, all the crushing weight only forces out tears. So I wake up, as Kang or Kodos once put it, leaking ocular fluid yet there's no reason why. Though, of course, there always is.
I suppose if I remember the dreams, it was a night as full of dreams as it was of lack of sun, it may become clear. I've had dreams like that. I even remember some of them. I'm not going to write them here. I'm just going to mention them.
UPDATE: On top of that, today's "Live from the Met" is seriously not to my taste: Berg's "Lulu." Too non-melodically modern for my taste. The story's engagingly perverse though (link will take you to Wikipedia where it's all laid out - and I do mean "laid"). Oh well. After a string of several wonderful broadcasts, the last of the season hits a clinker for me. There are those who like this sort of thing and more power to them. No! Less power to them. Just a little bit of power to them. Not enough to power to screw up the opera broadcasts for me. Tomorrow, the glorious Renée Fleming in my on-going opera babe series.

Friday, May 07, 2010

Guitarfleisch
Just a quick link to one of the most gorgeous colors Paul Reed Smith ever stained into tone wood: Bonni Pink. The model is a Custom 24 in a quilt maple with "old bird" inlays, a terrific guitar in any incarnation but drool-worthy in BP. It would run you about four grand if you wanted it. I'd love it but I don't feel like dropping four large in this economy.
Anzen Chitai - Deai
A very beautiful song by the Japanese group "Safety Zone."
One of my favorite songs. I meant to post this some time ago but it wasn't posted until late last year. This version is shorter than the one I have on CD but the CD has the "arubamu baashiyon" (album version). In any event, even half a minute shorter, it's a lovely song.


Wednesday, May 05, 2010

May The Fifth
Screw your "sinko de myoh" pal. This is Boy's Day! Though called "Children's Day" now (pfaw! ptui!), the day is in celebration of the male offspring who will carry the family name and bring glory to the clan. You will fly your koinobori (carp pennant), one each for the parents (honor the parents) and one for each son and sized according to the age of the boys. Carp because the carp is a fish that swims upstream and grows large
and strong. A model for young men.
You will display your kabuto (model samurai helmet) and Kintarō doll. All right, action figure. Traditional Japanese action figure. If that makes you feel better.
Somewhere I have a koinobori that dates back at least several decades and I have a kabuto packed away in my closet. I didn't plan for this day but I think next year I will have both out for the day. I'll post pics.
Go thou and swim upstream!

Sunday, May 02, 2010

L'amour Est Enfant De Bohème
(editorial comment deleted as no longer relevant)
This will be featuring the stunningly beautiful Romanian diva Angela Gheorghiu. A treat worth the wait, I assure you.

More comment on the morrow, but for now, you know the music but the face and voice may be new to you. It' a little unusual for an aria to be put together as a music video per se but here it is. Yes, she is that gorgeous.