Feed store
Car lot
Don't do dat
Bicyclist and Goats
Mexican church
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
L'amour est bleu
| Bleu, bleu, l'amour est bleu | |
| Le ciel est bleu lorsque tu reviens | |
| Bleu, bleu, l'amour est bleu | |
| L'amour est bleu quand tu prends ma main | |
 | |
| Fou, fou, l'amour est fou | |
| Fou comme toi et fou comme moi | |
| Bleu, bleu, l'amour est bleu | |
| L'amour est bleu quand je suis à toi |
Friday, February 20, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Ducks in a Row joke
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Album: Greg Allman Tour
Picked at random from my vinyl collection.
Gregg Allman with a 24 piece orchestra, 3 voice chorus, wind section, &c.
An extremely ambitious effort from 1974. A CD digital release exists but is out of print. Amazon reviewers liked "Queen of Hearts" which I found saappy and over the top. I really appreciate Chuck Leavell's piano on this disk. Love the use of near-silence just before the turnaround in the blues number Feel So Bad, which is a kind of hallmark of the Allman/Southern rock thread. Tommy Talton's guitar riffs are a clone of Duane Allman's (deceased 1971 at age 25), that certain tangy squeak: ta-da-dada-SQUEAK-da.
There's a kind of blues-brothers-ensemble feel that keeps coming and going behind what would normally be a cowboy-fringe five-piece sound, but for me it works. One Amazon reviewer says this was the birth of jazz-rock fusion, but I don't buy that. It's not really an important recording because nobody really went in this direction later, but it's probably the rockinest orchestra ever and definitely worthy of note on that score. If anyone ever wants to do large ensemble rock and roll again, this ought to be primary source material.
My copy is a bit scratchy (and was a cutout to begin with) but still quite listenable. I'm moving this one to the front burner and will consider picking up a used CD if I get the chance.
Gregg Allman with a 24 piece orchestra, 3 voice chorus, wind section, &c.
An extremely ambitious effort from 1974. A CD digital release exists but is out of print. Amazon reviewers liked "Queen of Hearts" which I found saappy and over the top. I really appreciate Chuck Leavell's piano on this disk. Love the use of near-silence just before the turnaround in the blues number Feel So Bad, which is a kind of hallmark of the Allman/Southern rock thread. Tommy Talton's guitar riffs are a clone of Duane Allman's (deceased 1971 at age 25), that certain tangy squeak: ta-da-dada-SQUEAK-da.
There's a kind of blues-brothers-ensemble feel that keeps coming and going behind what would normally be a cowboy-fringe five-piece sound, but for me it works. One Amazon reviewer says this was the birth of jazz-rock fusion, but I don't buy that. It's not really an important recording because nobody really went in this direction later, but it's probably the rockinest orchestra ever and definitely worthy of note on that score. If anyone ever wants to do large ensemble rock and roll again, this ought to be primary source material.
My copy is a bit scratchy (and was a cutout to begin with) but still quite listenable. I'm moving this one to the front burner and will consider picking up a used CD if I get the chance.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Obama on science
More grownup talk:
Like my friend J says, he better not f'ing blow it. Don't you want to hear Palin's take on this issue?
Whether it’s the science to slow global warming; the technology to protect our troops and confront bioterror and weapons of mass destruction; the research to find life-saving cures; or the innovations to remake our industries and create twenty-first century jobs—today, more than ever before, science holds the key to our survival as a planet and our security and prosperity as a nation. It is time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and worked to restore America’s place as the world leader in science and technology.
...
Because the truth is that promoting science isn’t just about providing resources—it’s about protecting free and open inquiry. It’s about ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology. It’s about listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it’s inconvenient—especially when it’s inconvenient. Because the highest purpose of science is the search for knowledge, truth and a greater understanding of the world around us
Like my friend J says, he better not f'ing blow it. Don't you want to hear Palin's take on this issue?
Friday, December 19, 2008
Overheard on Twitter
Courtesy twitter ID caseywright:
Watching the Blagojevich conference, and all I can think is "Don't any of these reporters have shoes?"
Monday, December 15, 2008
New 24" iMac
This screen is so gorgeous I don't think I will ever want to look at anything else ever again.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Canada Who?
The BQ (Quebec separatists) are in a governing coalition! The liberal and socialist parties find them less offensive than the conservatives.
You'd think the most eventful day in Canadian politics in forty years would make NPR news, or the front page of the Times or something.
At least it gets a terse mention on the front page of BBC News. See, right at the bottom there?
Afghanistan is not Iraq
When a former Afghanistan interior minister compares the two by saying "Afghanistan is not Iraq", he is implying that Iraq was a cakewalk by comparison.
I am no military expert, but I doubt it in principle. It seems that had the Bushies not been in such a hurry to engage Iraq, the campaign for Afghanistan would have turned out better. And of course, if Charlie Wilson's version of events (a v ery interesting movie except for the as-always insufferable Julia Roberts, by the way) holds any water, even that should never have been necessary; blame for that falls to both parties and typical congressional shortsightedness.
In practice, though, the volunteer military is tapped out and so is the world's tolerance for American military adventures. This needs to be a NATO campaign or it will be NOT A campaign.
I am no military expert, but I doubt it in principle. It seems that had the Bushies not been in such a hurry to engage Iraq, the campaign for Afghanistan would have turned out better. And of course, if Charlie Wilson's version of events (a v ery interesting movie except for the as-always insufferable Julia Roberts, by the way) holds any water, even that should never have been necessary; blame for that falls to both parties and typical congressional shortsightedness.
In practice, though, the volunteer military is tapped out and so is the world's tolerance for American military adventures. This needs to be a NATO campaign or it will be NOT A campaign.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Shrimp Breakfast Tacos (Tacos con huevos y camarones)
Irene wanted shrimp for breakfast. This recipe is my response:
You will need two frying pans, one nonstick and one cast iron.
1) Fry onions and chiles in oil or grease slowly, adding pressed or crushed garlic cloves, salt and spice blend to taste in nonstick frying pan.
2) when onions are translucent, remove most of the vegetable blend from pan and save for some other recipe; you will need just a small amount here.
3) Add shrimp; fry the shrimp with veggies until just barely cooked. Take nonstick pan off heat.
4) Warm tortillas in hot cast iron pan on each side until heated through and one side starts to brown. (If they start to puff up, you have the authentic kind. Remove them just as they start to inflate.) Put in warm oven or ceramic tortilla dish to keep warm.
5) Reheat nonstick pan. Once hot, add eggs. Scramble until no longer runny. Put into warm tortillas.
6) Sprinkle generously with lime juice and freshly ground black pepper. (This step is crucial.)
7) Garnish with avocado slices.
Serves two, obviously. Scales up to the number of eggs you can scramble in your pan. (Hungry younger folk can easily handle two tacos each.)
Serve with refried beans, orange juice or mimosas, and if you can find such a thing in Texas, a halfway decent cup of coffee. Enjoy! And don't ever tell me I never had an original idea in my life.
- olive oil or bacon grease
- sweet onion, finely chopped
- roasted, peeled, seeded, chopped Hatch green chile, one per medium onion (may substitute Anaheim, or Poblano)
- two peeled cloves garlic per medium onion
- chili powder or, (preferably Tears of Joy Armadillo Rub!) barbeque rub
- pinch salt
- a half dozen medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and coarsely chopped
- two authentic flour tortillas (small, taco size; HEB house brand has lard but is nice Central Market and Whole Foods now carry oil or butter based tacos in these parts.)
- Two eggs, cracked in a bowl and blended
- black pepper
- fresh lime
- ripe Haas avocado slices
You will need two frying pans, one nonstick and one cast iron.
1) Fry onions and chiles in oil or grease slowly, adding pressed or crushed garlic cloves, salt and spice blend to taste in nonstick frying pan.
2) when onions are translucent, remove most of the vegetable blend from pan and save for some other recipe; you will need just a small amount here.
3) Add shrimp; fry the shrimp with veggies until just barely cooked. Take nonstick pan off heat.
4) Warm tortillas in hot cast iron pan on each side until heated through and one side starts to brown. (If they start to puff up, you have the authentic kind. Remove them just as they start to inflate.) Put in warm oven or ceramic tortilla dish to keep warm.
5) Reheat nonstick pan. Once hot, add eggs. Scramble until no longer runny. Put into warm tortillas.
6) Sprinkle generously with lime juice and freshly ground black pepper. (This step is crucial.)
7) Garnish with avocado slices.
Serves two, obviously. Scales up to the number of eggs you can scramble in your pan. (Hungry younger folk can easily handle two tacos each.)
Serve with refried beans, orange juice or mimosas, and if you can find such a thing in Texas, a halfway decent cup of coffee. Enjoy! And don't ever tell me I never had an original idea in my life.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Dire Symmetry
Republicans paranoid about people voting multiple times and Democrats paranoid about votes not being counted does not make for a stable democracy. Nobody is going to believe anything.
This better be a landslide; a close election going either way will be disastrous just by itself.
I don't think other countries have these problems, at least, not other established democracies.
More here. (h/t electoral-vote.com )
This better be a landslide; a close election going either way will be disastrous just by itself.
I don't think other countries have these problems, at least, not other established democracies.
More here. (h/t electoral-vote.com )
Saturday, September 13, 2008
CCSUSA Wastes Your Tax Dollars Bothering Me
Somebody named Benjamin something-or-other owes somebody money. A credit agency robot calls me at work every few days. It has stopped warning me sternly not to reply if I am not Benjamin, but it offers me no way to shut it up.
Today, I went to the website to enter Benjamin's account number and my office phone on their website, but it refuses to let me through. It says
"Continue button will be enabled when form is completed."
but it isn't. Perhaps it's just bad HTML that only works on Explorer? I am pretty sure I got the account number right. They also gave me a telephone number to call. Every time I have called it it is busy, except today, Saturday, when it urges me to call during business hours.
Oh. It is bad html. Firefox 3 succeeded where Safari did not. However, to get anywhere I had to read past the place where they told me to avert my eyes if I am not Benjamin. It turns out this is about a debt of a bit less that $400.
Now I suppose this isn't costing them very much. But as my employer, do you think this is a good use of my time? I think it constitutes harassment. They ought to make some effort to see that I am actually the person they are calling.
In the private sector I could assign clerical staff to track this down.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
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