tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258050422024-03-13T09:15:58.743-04:00Riding a bisonThis moment brought to you by manifest destinyCabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-24893058204106154222014-02-02T14:26:00.002-05:002014-02-02T14:36:19.358-05:00On watching football<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vO_HV8LRjro/Uu6d70Xp8tI/AAAAAAAAAuk/4Q1OFFXNIGQ/s1600/Seahawks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vO_HV8LRjro/Uu6d70Xp8tI/AAAAAAAAAuk/4Q1OFFXNIGQ/s1600/Seahawks.jpg" height="400" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">Two weeks ago I posted the following to Facebook:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have an important announcement: If the Seahawks make it to the Superbowl, I will willingly sit down and watch a football game without my dad. For hometown pride. And for clever commercials and an excuse to eat an entire bowl of onion dip. But mostly for hometown pride.</span></blockquote>
Note the qualifiers in my commitment: "willingly" and "without my dad." I've never been into football—this is perhaps the one thing my father wished he could have changed about me. I'm pretty sure the only game I've sat down and watched in its entirety without him was on a date in BYU's LaVell Edwards Stadium. For me, watching football was never about the game. It was about spending time with my dad.<br />
<br />
Today is the big day, and my dad is no longer here. But I went out yesterday and bought snacks and root beer, gearing myself up for the game. I kept wondering about that—am I going to enjoy watching this? Why do I feel obligated to keep a promise idly thrown out on Facebook? Why do I actually feel invested?<br />
<br />
It occurred to me that today's Super Bowl falls on 2 February—just two days before the third anniversary of my dad's passing. He was taken from us suddenly and inconveniently. Learning to deal with his death has been a long road, one I'm still pushing myself along. One thing I've learned is that it helps me to practice grieving rituals, and I think that's what I've turned this year's Super Bowl into.<br />
<br />
My dad was more into college football than the NFL, but if he were alive today I think he would be excited to see our old home team make it to the national championship. I think he'd be watching. Maybe he'd go over to my sister's house to watch with my brother-in-law Ted. He'd call me when an exciting play happened, or at halftime to ask, "Are you watching?" even though he knows I'm not really a football fan.<br />
<br />
I'm watching today so my answer to his hypothetical question can be "Yes." I think I'll feel like I'm watching with him, or perhaps for him. I don't want to miss the exciting moments he would relish. I can make my voice reflect his, taking the roll of couch-seat quarterback to exult in the good plays and points scored, and condemn the incompletions and turnovers. I'll drink root beer and eat chips and dip and feel like I get a few more hours of quality time with my dad.<br />
<br />
Whom I still miss terribly. But I hope that for a few hours this evening he won't seem so far away.<br />
<br />
I'm still not a football aficionado and I don't anticipate that changing. But for today: Go Seahawks!Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-73372735675901849722013-01-05T12:44:00.000-05:002013-01-05T12:47:54.604-05:00Books I read in 2012Inspired by one of my favorite writer/artists <a href="http://wondermark.com/books-i-read-in-2012/" target="_blank">David Malki !</a>, I submit to you a short list of the books I read in 2012. This list does not include books I started and did not finish, though it may include books that I finished that I started in 2011 or previously. So, for example, <i>Dracula</i> will have to appear on my 2013 list, since I started it in October 2012 but didn't finish it until today. On the other hand, <i>The Essays of E.B. White </i>gets a place on the 2012 list, even though I started reading it back in 2008.<br />
<br />
Following Malki !'s lead, I will note how I obtained the book and the format I read it in, for the sake of mild interest. The books on the list appear in the order in which I finished them.<br />
<br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Castle-Waiting-Linda-Medley/dp/1560977477/ref=la_B0034NOFII_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357401869&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Castle Waiting, Volume 1</a></i> by Linda Medley</b><br />
<i>Format:</i> Hardcover received as a gift<br />
Not so much a graphic novel as a graphic anthology of stories centered around the castle named in the title. The book was a pleasant surprise--it started out as a somewhat stereotypical fairy tale and turned into a platform for telling genre-breaking stories of all shapes and sizes. The running theme throughout the book was friendship--how relying on one another makes us stronger individually and as a whole. I definitely recommend.<br />
<br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Richard-Starks-Parker-Vol-Outfit/dp/B005GNJ88Q/ref=la_B001K8P042_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1357403007&sr=1-4" target="_blank">Richard Stark's Parker: The Outfit</a></i> by Darwyn Cooke</b><br />
<i>Format:</i> Hardcover borrowed from <a href="http://scrumpestuous.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">scrumpestuous</a><br />
I enjoyed Cooke's first graphic adaptation of Parker (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Richard-Starks-Parker-Vol-Hunter/dp/1600104932/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357404754&sr=8-1&keywords=darwyn+cooke+parker" target="_blank">The Hunter</a>) more overall, but this volume was still good. Of particular note are the various heist sequences. They're broken out and explained with all the quirky charm of Soderbergh's <i>Ocean's 11</i>, and he uses different, creative formats to describe each one. Really creative stuff.<br />
<br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Essays-E-B-White-Robert-DiYanni/dp/0072434279/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357403105&sr=1-1&keywords=essays+of+e.b.+white" target="_blank">Essays of E.B. White</a></i> by E.B. White</b><br />
<i>Format:</i> Paperback purchased used from Capitol Hill Books<br />
I took a while to read this, coming back to it here and there to read another essay. The entire collection is worth reading, though as you may expect some essays are better than others. A few of the more notable pieces:<br />
<ul>
<li>Death of a Pig</li>
<li>Bedfellows</li>
<li>Here Is New York</li>
<li>On a Florida Key</li>
<li>Once More to the Lake</li>
<li>Will Strunk</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Frank-Millers-Ronin-Miller/dp/0930289218/ref=la_B000AP9LKU_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1357402770&sr=1-9" target="_blank">Ronin</a></i> by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley</b><br />
<i>Format:</i> Paperback borrowed from <a href="http://scrumpestuous.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">scrumpestuous</a><br />
This is one of Frank Miller's classics, but I didn't love it. The concept was interesting and kept me reading, but in the end I was a little confused and didn't feel quite satisfied. Maybe it was supposed to be that way. Maybe that doesn't help.<br />
<br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Other-Tails-Darwyn-Cooke/dp/1401215297/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357403163&sr=1-1&keywords=batman%3A+ego" target="_blank">Batman: Ego and Other Tales</a></i> by Darwyn Cooke</b><br />
<i>Format:</i> Paperback borrowed from <a href="http://scrumpestuous.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">scrumpestuous</a><br />
Another small anthology of comics, all Batman or Batman character stories. The best by far in the collection is "Selina's Big Score," which reads a lot like one of Cooke's Parker comics. Gritty and noir, it's a crime story about a big heist, and Cooke doesn't pull punches. Recommended reading.<br />
<br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451205367?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0451205367&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2" target="_blank">The Richest Man in Babylon</a></i> by George S. Clayson</b><br />
<i>Format: </i>Paperback borrowed from my brother<br />
This should be a required text for all individuals who are beginning to earn their own money. The eastern parable format was a little tedious at times, but the principles contained in them are sound, and should be learned from an early age. This book is a good place to start for anyone who wants to shape or reshape their financial behavior. Highly recommended.<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Some-Buried-Caesar-Wolfe-Mysteries/dp/0553254642/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357403678&sr=1-1&keywords=some+buried+caesar" target="_blank"><i>Some Buried Caesar</i> (Nero Wolfe #6)</a> by Rex Stout</b><br />
<i>Format: </i>Paperback borrowed from my mom<br />
Any Wolfe novel that gets the titular character out of the reclusive comforts of his Manhattan brownstone is sure to please. This is one of the better Wolfe books I've read so far (and I've read six of them--I'm going in order). I love a good mystery.<br />
<br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hunger-Games-Book-1/dp/0439023521/ref=la_B001H6V7I0_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1357403730&sr=1-5" target="_blank">The Hunger Games</a></i> by Suzanne Collins</b><br />
<i>Format:</i> Paperback purchased at retail<br />
There's not a lot I can say about any of these books that hasn't already been said, other than that I personally enjoyed them. I jumped on the bandwagon after I saw the movie and I rushed through all three in a matter of weeks.<br />
<br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Catching-Fire-Hunger-Games-Book/dp/0439023491/ref=la_B001H6V7I0_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1357403730&sr=1-3" target="_blank">Catching Fire</a></i> by Suzanne Collins</b><br />
<i>Format:</i> Hardcover purchased used<br />
<br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mockingjay-Hunger-Games-Book-3/dp/0439023513/ref=la_B001H6V7I0_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1357403730&sr=1-2" target="_blank">Mockingjay</a></i> by Suzanne Collins</b><br />
<i>Format: </i>Hardcover purchased at retail<br />
I'll add one more thing here--a lot of people seem to be disappointed or even angry with how the saga ended. I am an outlier--I thought Collins' ending was brilliant and true to her story and characters. I hold her in high regard for having the guts to end her story the way she did. I look forward to finding out what else she'll give us in the future.<br />
<br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Juicy-Work-ebook/dp/B0086I65NE/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357403803&sr=1-1&keywords=juicy+work" target="_blank">Juicy Work: Finding and Following Your Passion</a></i> by Sandra Mobley</b><br />
<i>Format: </i>Paperback received as a gift from the author<br />
Sandy is a good friend of my sister's and she gave me a copy of her book when I attended the launch party at her house. I've struggled with trying to figure out what I want to do as a career all of my life, and I know that a significant portion of my peers are in the same boat. This is a good book for creating a frame of reference for figuring out what you want from a career and beginning to plan for how to get it. Definitely recommended, especially to anyone who is trying to figure out how to get more enjoyment out of their professional life.<br />
<br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Life-Henrietta-Lacks/dp/1400052181/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357403855&sr=1-1&keywords=immortal+life+of+henrietta+lacks" target="_blank">The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks</a></i> by Rebecca Skloot</b><br />
<i>Format:</i> Hardcover purchased at retail<br />
This is definitely my book of the year. I cannot say enough good things about Rebecca Skloot's master work here. Please obtain a copy through purchase or legal borrowing and read it. Then call me so we can talk about it.<br />
<br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Year-Zero-Novel-Rob-Reid/dp/0345534417/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357403886&sr=1-1&keywords=year+zero" target="_blank">Year Zero</a></i> by Rob Reid</b><br />
<i>Format:</i> Hardcover purchased at retail<br />
A fun and relevant read. It's a science fiction farce about how ridiculous and broad-reaching America's copyright and licensing laws are--the ridiculousness is only slightly augmented by the far-fetched but entertaining plot. Assuming the existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe (and assuming that they have good taste), the book becomes plausible. Entertaining and recommended.<br />
<br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Life-Annie-Dillard/dp/0060919884/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357403920&sr=1-1&keywords=the+writing+life" target="_blank">The Writing Life</a></i> by Annie Dillard</b><br />
<i>Format:</i> Paperback purchased at retail<br />
As I said in my review on Goodreads: "Annie Dillard could write a manual on networked servers and I would get lost in the beauty of her writing." So her writing on writing definitely swept me away. For anyone who writes, or likes to read about writing, or who loves transcendent prose.Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-11768204345711275022010-12-07T23:06:00.018-05:002010-12-08T10:34:47.116-05:00GezelligheidActs of creation combine the messy with the marvelous. It is too easy, and perhaps too common, to step back and observe a final product and say: Ah! Creativity. Creation. The Created. And I am a witness!<br /><br />The Created that we perceive is actually the final moment in a process that involved conception, design, structuring, rehearsal, building, destroying, bleeding, and a multitude of other elements and efforts that often stay hidden behind their final fa<span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><em>ç</em></span>ade. Some of the greatest works--and the greatest workers--overcome this. The evidence of their creative processes reveals itself. This is why people visit museums to see paintings and sculptures instead of simply looking them up on the internet--we love to see brushstrokes and chisel marks. It's why we attend readings by authors instead of merely staying at home with our books--we want to hear the text read in the author's voice and ask her questions about how it was written. It's why we attend concerts instead of just jacking in to our iPods.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TP8XXiw7VYI/AAAAAAAAAjs/vDJc2dNJtqQ/s1600/birdplucking.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 256px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TP8XXiw7VYI/AAAAAAAAAjs/vDJc2dNJtqQ/s200/birdplucking.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548178959180191106" border="0" /></a>The best concerts I've attended have made me feel as though I was witnessing Creation: Nickel Creek, The Swell Season, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, <a href="http://fruitatthebottom.blogspot.com/2008/12/ten-feet-from-legendary.html">the Dave Brubeck Quartet</a>. And last night, Andrew Bird.<br /><br />Bird's performance was stunning and recalled to my mind these other concerts where I felt privileged to be a witness to something new and original and impossible to recreate. But there was something about it that made it seem different from other creative performances I've been to. I'm having a hard time explaining it--even to myself--but I think I've come up with a decent metaphor.<br /><br />Watching and listening to The Swell Season was like arriving in time for the sunset on the Sixth Day. The majority of the work has been done. The lights in the firmament are in place, the waters and the dry land are divided, vegetation is growing and the animals are up and about. There's man, but he's alone. Aha--now he's not! Off they go into the garden!<br /><br />So much of what we saw (and were allowed to participate in, bless Glen Hansard), was a unique act of creativity unrolling before us. But The Swell Season had a setlist and they'd rehearsed it in order. The lights were timed to cues that had been set weeks before and run through hours before the performance. The roadies knew when to bring out what instruments. The band knew when to take its breaks and let Glen and Marketa go on without them. The trial and error and most of the creative processes were past.<br /><br />Being in attendance at Andrew Bird's Gezelligheid concert last night was like arriving midway through the Fourth Day as the seeds of future vegetation are being scattered before the wind. Some may take root immediately while others drift along to find more suitable soils. They're beginning to spring up to see what they'll be, to adapt for specialized pollination, to produce new perfumes and colors and shapes that a moment ago didn't exist.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TP8XxaaniVI/AAAAAAAAAj0/ZZdLtjJtUOI/s1600/birdbowing.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 243px; height: 243px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TP8XxaaniVI/AAAAAAAAAj0/ZZdLtjJtUOI/s200/birdbowing.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548179403615734098" border="0" /></a>Gezelligheid is a Dutch word, roughly translated as "coziness." Bird's work in his Gezelligheid concerts is to bring about an informal, conversational performance where he can relax and be a little more intimate (DC's Sixth & I Historic Synagogue was the perfect setting for this). After his opening number he decided to play a familiar song he loved because it helped him to relax. He played a lot of new songs being prepared for his next album. He performed an unfinished number that he said he'd probably never record. He shared a song with us that was written and recorded by The Handsome Family because it had inspired him long ago to reach for something higher in his lyric-writing ("'Delirious with pain, his bedroom walls began to glow and he felt himself soaring up through falling snow. And the sky was a woman's arms.' I can be better. I know I can be better"). Most of this was impromptu and decided as he went, sharing with us what he was thinking about at the moment and what his favorite tunes were right now. He wasn't afraid to improvise, even with the setlist.<br /><br />And he wasn't afraid to make mistakes or to start over when he wanted to try something different or wanted it to sound better. He laughed at himself when he created a 28-second loop on his on-stage mixing board when the time limit is 26 seconds. He plucked and then replucked and then re-replucked intros and bass lines so that everything would be the best creative product possible. And he let us watch and listen! It was amazing to see and hear a master as he went through the processes of making something astoundingly beautiful and new. It was true Creation, the messy making it even more marvelous than it would have been otherwise.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TP8Yg1JOkfI/AAAAAAAAAj8/ycjw4TVEMTU/s1600/victrolas.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TP8Yg1JOkfI/AAAAAAAAAj8/ycjw4TVEMTU/s320/victrolas.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548180218244403698" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Instead of using the house sound system, Bird set up about 20<br />speakers of various sizes and used Victrola horns as amplifiers.</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TP8ZGI3rgdI/AAAAAAAAAkE/K0zSJtiANpU/s1600/oscillatingvictrolla.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TP8ZGI3rgdI/AAAAAAAAAkE/K0zSJtiANpU/s320/oscillatingvictrolla.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548180859194671570" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">These twin Victrola horns oscillated when Bird hit a pedal, creating a<br />repeating miniature Doppler effect on the background of certain songs.</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TP8ZxUw0ndI/AAAAAAAAAkM/R0_RLHAyy9E/s1600/dinosaurvictrola.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TP8ZxUw0ndI/AAAAAAAAAkM/R0_RLHAyy9E/s320/dinosaurvictrola.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548181601121508818" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">This ample amplifier was just in front of where I was sitting. Every<br />time I looked at it the words "dinosaur Victrola" from Creedence<br />Clearwater Revival's "Lookin' Out My Back Door"popped into my head.</span><br /></div>Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-43068078732572492072010-12-03T13:37:00.003-05:002010-12-03T13:39:51.135-05:00GrahI was all set to have a blog post every day this week. I had a great topic that I was going to go on about after a small project to be completed during my morning walking commute yesterday. But the small project turned into a much bigger project that I haven't been able to finish yet, and so that planned post had to be delayed. Stymied, my work day ended and the evening ran away with me. Ah well. Here is a post for today, even if a small one, and an apologetic one at that (and not even an epic apology, like Socrates').<br /><br />I hope to make some headway on this project over the weekend so that I may blog about it next week.Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-51574566962925562222010-12-01T10:06:00.010-05:002010-12-01T15:14:40.870-05:00Hell damn World Series<blockquote>fruitatthebottom.blogspot.com is probably written by a female somewhere between 36-50 years old. The writing style is personal and happy most of the time. </blockquote><br />Thank you, <a href="http://www.urlai.com/url/fruitatthebottom.blogspot.com">urlai.com</a>, for determining that my writing indicates that I'm a middle-aged woman. Apparently this conclusion came from analyzing the text of 24 of my previous posts, including (but not limited to):<br /><br />1. Roll my blues 11/30/2010<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TPZsAAp7VFI/AAAAAAAAAjk/dh2MZPMrExE/s1600/flanneryoconnor.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 167px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TPZsAAp7VFI/AAAAAAAAAjk/dh2MZPMrExE/s200/flanneryoconnor.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545738738584998994" border="0" /></a><br />2. Don't call him Shirley 11/29/2010<br />3. A tale of two turkeys 11/28/2010<br />4. Two things 11/17/2010<br />5. Mosaic project--YOU decide! 10/3/2010<br />6. The bluest skies you've ever seen 1/29/2010<br />7. Chewing exotic 1/8/2010<br />8. Bison riding...? 9/2/2009<br />9. Kitchen fail 9/1/2009<br />10. Genius 8/5/2009<br />11. Grilled 6/17/2009<br />12. Old and cheap 4/30/2009<br />13. Rush Write 3.23 (on 4.08) 4/8/2009<br />14. Music of the spheres 3/30/2009<br />15. Snow... snow... snow... snow... SNOW! 1/26/2009<br />16. Dreams: Soccer and the LOC 1/15/2009<br />17. Dreams: Nazis and Lamb 1/12/2009<br />18. Sweet, sweet freedom 12/11/2008<br />19. Peace on earth 12/11/2008<br />20. Feeling scholarly 12/8/2008<br /><br />So what drove this blog analytics site to determine that my writing is 68% female? I can see that I've got a lot of posts in there about cooking... but two of them deal with outdoor grilling. There's also a post that's based around a speech given by Elizabeth Gilbert. Too bad she's more known for the indulgent feminine anthem <span style="font-style: italic;">Eat, Pray, Love</span> than she is for her chronicle of frontier manliness <span style="font-style: italic;">The Last American Man</span>. There's a post that references a musical, too. Ooo, and "Old and cheap" talks about my inability to resist chocolate. Hmmm. On the other hand, I've got posts in which I discuss:<br /><ul><li>Bison riding (surely a manly American frontier activity)</li><li>Space exploration</li><li>A dream involving a raucous game of soccer in the Library of Congress</li><li>A dream in which I fought Nazi stormtroopers and succumbed to an experiment in self-cannibalism</li></ul>I don't know, <a href="http://www.urlai.com/">urlai.com</a>. I'd say it's more 50-50.<br /><br />What would make my writing more masculine? What is urlai.com looking for in a man's writing? More curse words? Sports? Violence? Scratching and burping? I'm seriously not sure.<br /><br />At the very least, perhaps I can take comfort in the idea that I've overcome gender stereotypes and risen to a higher plateau in my writing. Behold, I am the Transcendental Male Blogger.Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-53902612483813381462010-11-30T18:49:00.010-05:002010-11-30T19:34:59.437-05:00Roll my bluesThis post goes out to <a href="http://fishingwithworms.blogspot.com/">Darrell</a>, who broadly suggested I blog about <a href="http://fruitatthebottom.blogspot.com/2010/11/two-things.html">food</a>. Though broad, it's a pretty good suggestion, and it's one I plan to continually follow up on. (In answer to your question, Darrell, no. I have not read <span style="font-style: italic;">In Defense of Food</span>, though I have read <span style="font-style: italic;">The Omnivore's Dilemma</span>.)<br /><br />Since I moved to the DC area, I've made breadmaking a focus in my home culinary practice, trying to recreate the warm taste of home that I remember from my formative years. It took a little over a year of baking before I began to feel like I was doing it well, and I think I'm continuing to improve.<br /><br />One of the recipes that has come to be a standby in my repertoire is for homemade rolls, and it's one that consistently gets rave reviews from those who eat them. The recipe comes from Sue Marten, a woman that was a good friend of my mom's and that was pretty influential in my childhood (as Primary president as well as a Cub Scout den leader). It's actually pretty simple and relatively easy to follow:<blockquote><br />1 1/2 cups warm water<br />1/3 cup of honey<br />1 tablespoon of yeast<br />2 eggs, lightly beaten<br />1/3 cup of melted butter (or other oil)<br />1 teaspoon of salt (or 1 tablespoon if using all whole-wheat flour)<br />4 1/2 cups of white flour or whole-wheat flour or some combination of the two<br /><br />Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease an aluminum baking sheet.<br /><br />Stir the honey into the warm water until it's mostly dissolved, then sprinkle the yeast on top. When the yeast begins to activate and grow, stir in the eggs and melted butter. Then add in the salt and stir in the flour, one cup at a time. Stir only until the last of the flour is combined into the dough, then sprinkle with a thin layer of flour and lay a cloth over the top. Let dough rise until doubled in bulk. Punch it down and form the dough into rolls, laying them out onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle very lightly with flour, cover with the cloth, and let rise again. Bake for 10-20 minutes, until the tops of the rolls are lightly browned. Cool a bit and serve.</blockquote><br />One Thanksgiving I accidentally made the rolls too big and they ended up having a diameter close to that of my palm. I thought it was kind of funny to have such huge rolls until I realized that the leftovers were the perfect size for making turkey sandwiches. Now I make them too big every year so I can slice the extras in half and stack turkey and lettuce between them for the next few days after. I even made another batch of huge rolls on Sunday so I could have more sandwich material.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TPWVBEmudyI/AAAAAAAAAjU/8DIB9QM9rYM/s1600/photo.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 271px; height: 168px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TPWVBEmudyI/AAAAAAAAAjU/8DIB9QM9rYM/s200/photo.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545502361825212194" border="0" /></a><br />Incidentally, this year my brother Scott told me that he thought this batch of rolls was the best I've ever made. We discussed what made them good and I think I've determined that the difference came from using a new type of honey--a jar of apple and peach blossom variety that I picked up at the <a href="http://fruitatthebottom.blogspot.com/2008/08/going-local-courthouse-farmers-market.html">Arlington Farmers' Market</a>. It might be worth a try to experiment with other types of honey to see if it makes a difference in the outcome of the rolls.<br /><br /><a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2805460/03%20Roll%20My%20Blues.mp3">Roll my blues away...</a>Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-18639354148403118302010-11-29T15:05:00.013-05:002011-01-16T23:11:57.796-05:00Don't call him ShirleyMany of you may already be aware that <a href="http://news-briefs.ew.com/2010/11/28/leslie-nielsen-dies/">Leslie Nielsen died yesterday</a>. Having had some impact on my enculturation as a kid and the development of my sense of humor, I thought it appropriate to write a few paragraphs on the man and his career.<br /><br />Nielsen did some great work in the field of comedic film, but like any actor he also performed in some really lousy movies. This may have been unavoidable in the last couple of decades, having fallen in as a regular in the Zucker Brothers' films (once a great parody team, now factory engineers of vapid no-brain spoofs). What I'd like to do here in this post is talk about three great works that Leslie Nielsen has left us to admire, lest anyone be tempted to remember him for his role in <span style="font-style: italic;">Superhero Movie</span>. Shudder.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Airplane!</span> (1980)</span> I probably don't need to trump this or worry that it will be forgotten, but I had to mention it first because it is by far my favorite work that Nielsen was involved in. It was also his first major comedic role, setting the stage for the career he'd be known for. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TPQUxCWQSbI/AAAAAAAAAi0/QgW1mCiqtTQ/s1600/Airplane-Peter-Graves-rig-001.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 259px; height: 154px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TPQUxCWQSbI/AAAAAAAAAi0/QgW1mCiqtTQ/s200/Airplane-Peter-Graves-rig-001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545079873876281778" border="0" /></a> My mom recorded this off of television when I was 9 or 10 and my developing sense of humor encountered it at just the right time. I loved the movie as a whole, but to me Nielsen stole the show with his deadpan performance as Dr. Rumack. "Captain, how soon can you land?" "I can't tell." "You can tell me--I'm a doctor."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Police Squad!</span> (1982)</span> Few today remember this short-lived television show with much laud (it got canceled after six episodes), but it was a hilarious work of comedic genius. All the one-liner rapidity and comedic timing of <span style="font-style: italic;">Airplan</span><span style="font-style: italic;">e!</span>, wrapped up in a 30-minute television show. It is renowned in some circles as one of the few shows on TV never to have <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpraJYnbVtE">jumped the shark</a>. One of my favorite gags on the show was the "freeze frame" at the end over which they ran the credits. Rather than broadcasting a still, the actors all just froze in place, sometimes in the middle of pouring liquid (which proceeded to overfill the cup and run everywhere), sometimes in the middle of booking a criminal (who looked around confusedly for a moment before slowly slipping away from the frozen cops and running off).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TPQVGtWejiI/AAAAAAAAAi8/93LLS1yPl2k/s1600/Police-Squad-Leslie_l.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 146px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TPQVGtWejiI/AAAAAAAAAi8/93LLS1yPl2k/s200/Police-Squad-Leslie_l.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545080246197194274" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Police Squad!</span> also laid the foundation for the much better known film <span style="font-style: italic;">The Naked Gun</span>. Not many people pay attention to that movie's subtitle: <span style="font-style: italic;">From the Files of Police Squad!</span> Personally, I think the series was funnier overall than the movie, not to mention a bit cleaner. But then you don't get to watch O.J. Simpson... Oh wait. Maybe that's a good thing.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Forbidden Planet</span> (1956)</span> This was Nielsen's premiere role in film--and a lead role at that! Don't watch this movie expecting the deadpan, wise-cracking Leslie Nielsen you've come to know. He's completely straight-arrow and no-nonsense in this film, the captain of a starship sent from earth to a distant planet to investigate the disappearance of an entire colony. He plays opposite the formidable Walter Pigeon, working off a script that was inspired by Shakespeare's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Tempest</span>. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TPQVXnx9E6I/AAAAAAAAAjE/8HR8Je--n20/s1600/forbidden_planet.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 275px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TPQVXnx9E6I/AAAAAAAAAjE/8HR8Je--n20/s200/forbidden_planet.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545080536759604130" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-style: italic;"> Forbidden Planet</span> was one of those early sci-fi films that set the standard for all other sci-fi films to follow. It's also notable as the premiere performance for Robby the Robot, an iconic cinematic automaton who continued to appear in science fiction spots for the next five decades. In the movie's titles, Robby is credited as "himself." And Nielsen got to star alongside him.Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-2376610081556224182010-11-28T19:40:00.008-05:002010-11-29T00:21:15.994-05:00A tale of two turkeysThank you all for your suggestions for future blog posts. What I did not tell you when I made the request is that I intend to write up a post based on each and every one of the suggestions I received (<a href="http://dinnergrouprecipes.blogspot.com/">JBod</a>'s second suggestion is likely eclipsing his first one, for the record). So my goal is to get my fingers flying and write a post every day this week. Starting today, with a suggestion from <a href="http://yikesanj.blogspot.com/">ANJ</a> to blog about the Great Turkey Experiment my brother and I pulled off for Thanksgiving this year.<br /><br />Two and a half weeks before 25 November, my brother Scott sent me an email titled "Interesting Method to Cook Thanksgiving Turkey." The email contained a link to a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-goldwyn/smoked-thanksgiving-turkey-recipe-technique_b_778299.html">Huffington Post article</a> with detailed instructions on brining, rubbing, perching, smoking, and grilling a turkey in spite of many traditional methods that produce dry or otherwise undesirable meat.<br /><br />Everything about the method looked good to me, but I kept going back to the explicit instructions NOT to stuff the bird. Which makes sense for this recipe. But the unfamiliar reader here must understand that for a Gillins, a Thanksgiving turkey is really just a vessel for creating moist, flavorful stuffing.<br /><br />I pointed this out to Scott, and he saw my point. We then agreed that the only way to proceed was to cook two birds--one traditional, the other new.<br /><br />I picked up two 10-pound, free-range turkeys from Whole Foods (no performance-enhancing moisture injections in those birds) on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I made two separate batches of brine (one the recipe from Alton Brown we've been using for the last three years, the other the one from the Huffington Post article). I set each turkey to rest overnight in separate containers, as depicted below:*<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TPMUwFHyw1I/AAAAAAAAAik/mamcX4dHGtA/s1600/IMG_0276.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TPMUwFHyw1I/AAAAAAAAAik/mamcX4dHGtA/s200/IMG_0276.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544798382464353106" border="0" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TPMVAqyz7WI/AAAAAAAAAis/Ag1WqVnBoYI/s1600/IMG_0277.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TPMVAqyz7WI/AAAAAAAAAis/Ag1WqVnBoYI/s200/IMG_0277.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544798667454803298" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Thanksgiving morning Scott and I set to work preparing each bird according to its prescribed method. I left partway through the process to donate blood (the American Red Cross <a href="http://www.ehow.com/facts_5716963_definition-cmv_negative-blood.html">really, really wanted it</a>). When I got back, one turkey was stuffed and in the oven, the other perched over a gravy pan, hot coals, and smoking wood chips outside in my grill.<br /><br />The grill-smoked turkey required a little more effort than the oven-roasted one. Scott had to add fresh, hot coals three times during the cooking process and all-in-all it took a little longer to cook. But the results were well worth the work.<br /><br />We pulled the stuffing out of the oven bird (delicious as stuffing from inside the cavity always is), then set to work carving each turkey up. I cut an entire half-breast off the smoked turkey and sliced up three slivers for me, Scott, and Scott's wife Marilee to try.<br /><br />Many of you who know me well understand that I have an affinity for hyperbole. I use it from time to time as I see fit. However, I mean no exaggeration when I tell you that that smoked breast meat was THE BEST TURKEY EVER. Under the browned, crispy skin was a rosy, smoke-infused meat that retained more juices than I'd ever seen in a roasted turkey. The smell was tempting, the taste irresistible.<br /><br />I carved the rest of that half-breast and the majority of a thigh, then set in on carving the oven bird. It seemed to have no flavor. I ended up slicing up one half-breast, but I didn't bother with the rest, knowing where my attention would be during the dinner.<br /><br />After our dinner was over and Scott and I laid on our backs for a while, we went back into the kitchen to divide the two carcasses between us. With a few hours of objectivity now between me and my first try of the two meats, I took a taste of the oven-roasted bird. It actually tasted quite good. It was reasonably moist, had a nice flavor, and it was pretty tender. Then I took one more small bite of the smoked bird--it was simply superior. I conducted my first taste test in an order that was unfair to the oven-roasted bird. If I'd given it the first shot, I would have appreciated it for what it was. Putting it second in the line-up was like having the Beatles open for your cousin's boyfriend's Oasis tribute band.<br /><br />The future of Thanksgiving is undecided. Now we know how great a turkey can be, but stuffing is still the king of dishes at our table. The next 12 months will be filled with careful deliberation--and possibly some heated debate--as we decide how the next Thanksgiving turkey will be prepared.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">*I intended to take pictures of the entire process and the end results for comparison, but I only got these two preliminary brining shots. Ah well.</span>Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-51154613095389026522010-11-17T22:35:00.005-05:002010-11-17T23:03:50.713-05:00Two things<span style="font-weight: bold;">Thing 1:</span><br /><br />I never got back to you, dear readers, about the results of my mosaics project vote-off. So technically the Beatles won out, what with a couple of Facebook votes and a text message that put the U.S. cover of <i>A Hard Day's Night</i> over the line.<br /><br />However, when I showed up to class with a large printout of the image, my teacher immediately nixed the idea, saying it would be too difficult for a beginner such as myself.<br /><br />So you would think I would default to the roots... but no. I went a totally different direction. Well, not TOTALLY different.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TOSh1E4mk2I/AAAAAAAAAiU/NetnV8a455o/s1600/AppleRecordsLogo.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 198px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TOSh1E4mk2I/AAAAAAAAAiU/NetnV8a455o/s200/AppleRecordsLogo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540731374788842338" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TOSh6NdmcFI/AAAAAAAAAic/9OgLU4lSQlY/s1600/AppleRecordsLogo2.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TOSh6NdmcFI/AAAAAAAAAic/9OgLU4lSQlY/s200/AppleRecordsLogo2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540731462990852178" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Behold: The Apple Records logo! A-side and B-side! Yeah, it's still The Beatles, but a bit more abstractly. I'm doing both images side-by-side--sort of a diptych, but without the hinge.<br /><br />The project is coming along nicely and should be done in a few weeks. I'll be sure to post pictures when I'm done so you can all see the results.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Thing 2:</span><br /><br />I have fallen out of the habit of writing. And I'm not just talking about the gross understatement that that would be about this blog. I mean that since I graduated in May, I have done almost no writing at all. Maybe chalk it up to wanting a brief break after all the paper writing that made up my graduate career? Whatever the cause, it is time for the dearth to end and for me to start composing again. I've been pondering ways to get back into it, and it seems to me that blogging would be a healthy exercise.<br /><br />So.<br /><br />In order to jump-start this renaissance, I am proposing to allow you--my few, faithful readers who have decided to revisit this page--to choose a series of topics for me. The idea is that your topics will stretch me and help me to think outside myself again--to think more like a writer, that is. There is no limit to what you may suggest as a topic, or even as a genre. Fiction? Sure! Biography? Definitely. Poetry? I'm willing to give it a shot. Literary criticism? Try me.<br /><br />Please place your suggestions for topics and/or genres in the comments below and I'll start working on them as soon as time permits. You know, if I happen to have some downtime at work or some oddity like that.Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-88585200615986437052010-10-03T20:17:00.008-04:002010-10-03T20:45:26.038-04:00Mosaic project--YOU decide!Trusted friends and unknown readers:<br /><br />Over the course of the next eight weeks I will be attending a weekly art class on the creation of mosaics. The class is offered by the <a href="http://www.theartleague.org/">Art League of Alexandria</a> through the <a href="http://www.torpedofactory.org/">Torpedo Factory</a>. I've always loved mosaics and I have a lot of time on my hands since I finished school. So I figured, "What the hey? I'll take a mosaics class."<br /><br />My assignment to complete before this Wednesday (6 October) is to bring in a picture of what I want to make my overall project for this class. It can be literally anything. I'm not a skilled artist by any means, of course, so it shouldn't be anything too complicated. But really, I can make whatever I want.<br /><br />I've narrowed it down to two choices, quite different from one another. I like both ideas, so I thought I'd put it to you, my dear readers, for a vote. Democracy!<br /><br />Idea 1: I love trees, and I think that tree roots are quite interesting. They're not the subject of art quite as often as their trees' lofty limbs, so I thought it might be cool to do a mosaic study of at least a section of a tree root system. Could be quite lovely. I did a quick Google image search for tree roots, and here's something that at least somewhat represents what I'm thinking:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TKkfmY4JtTI/AAAAAAAAAho/aVEC-h5zzRM/s1600/tree-roots2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 122px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TKkfmY4JtTI/AAAAAAAAAho/aVEC-h5zzRM/s320/tree-roots2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523981162320082226" border="0" /></a><br />It's not quite it--I would definitely set the roots in an earthy background (there'd be a lot of brown in this mosaic), and I think I'd make it clear that we're looking at roots by making a basic horizon with a strip of blue sky above the ground.<br /><br />Idea 2: As most of you know, I love The Beatles. The US release of the cover of their album <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://media.fanfire.com/images/product/large/BEA/BEA45692.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fanfire.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Store.woa/wa/product%3FsourceCode%3DBEAWEB%26sku%3DBEA45692&usg=__5rjw203G3qIZcj49hMS_mZGMfVo=&h=500&w=500&sz=54&hl=en&start=0&sig2=cNhaaIVwk0y1iK18LCxpkQ&zoom=1&tbnid=BE0ce9CSijpDnM:&tbnh=149&tbnw=159&ei=zCKpTMDzBML48AbA5qyqDA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhard%2Bday%2527s%2Bnight%2Bus%2Balbum%2Bcover%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1276%26bih%3D596%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=135&vpy=70&dur=623&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=147&ty=134&oei=zCKpTMDzBML48AbA5qyqDA&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0">A Hard Day's Night</a></span> differed from the UK release in that it took just four of the many images of the band members' faces and then cut them in half, showing the moppy tops of four young lads' heads. Cutting out the album title and focusing in on those iconic coiffures makes for a pretty cool image, and one that would do well in mosaic form, in my opinion:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TKkhmMziu1I/AAAAAAAAAhw/YXh_ZMLh6OI/s1600/BeatlesHardDaysNightUS2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/TKkhmMziu1I/AAAAAAAAAhw/YXh_ZMLh6OI/s320/BeatlesHardDaysNightUS2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523983358102780754" border="0" /></a><br />So what do you think? Idea 1 or Idea 2? Roots or Beatles? Vote in the comments!Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-28581054827582536022010-01-29T19:33:00.006-05:002010-02-01T10:07:10.263-05:00The bluest skies you've ever seenMy friends: I, like most of you, am a fan of fine photography. As such a supporter of the arts, I urge you all to check out <a href="http://www.rachelthurston.com">Rachel Thurston Photography</a>.<br /><br />Not only is her photography great--she also knows that Seattle is awesome. In conclusion, take a look. You'll enjoy.Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-26128383196837216222010-01-09T00:08:00.007-05:002010-01-09T01:48:50.894-05:00Chewing exotic<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/S0gkcK5jIXI/AAAAAAAAAeU/RC6ZXE6DzrM/s1600-h/EclipseBreeze.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 227px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/S0gkcK5jIXI/AAAAAAAAAeU/RC6ZXE6DzrM/s320/EclipseBreeze.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424625817548431730" border="0" /></a><br />I recently acquired this pack of Eclipse Breeze: Exotic Berry gum. I got it for quite a steal: the friend I went to see <i>Avatar</i> with offered me the rest of her pack for just one piece of my Original Flavor Trident that had been sitting in my pocket for several hours. For those of you who are counting, that's six pieces of foil-and-plastic-wrapped gum (only ONE of which had<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/S0gjvHPCCvI/AAAAAAAAAeM/M9NrZ_-4lbc/s1600-h/ABCgum.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 88px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/S0gjvHPCCvI/AAAAAAAAAeM/M9NrZ_-4lbc/s320/ABCgum.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424625043470682866" border="0" /></a> already been chewed) for one piece of paper-wrapped gum. That had been hanging out in my pocket. Her reason for this shrewd deal? It was the worst gum ever. I told her I'd take the remainder of the pack and decide for myself.<br /><br />The peculiar thing about this Breeze line of Eclipse gum (which also includes Exotic Mint) is that it uses cardamom as an active ingredient and a central flavor. Cardamom is a seed-based herb that generally plays a major role in Indian and other Eastern foods. You can buy it ground on the spice aisle of your grocery store and it often makes a nice compliment to both sweet and savory dishes (I have a recipe for some whole-grain pancakes that calls for cardamom--it plays well with the hint of cinnamon and the nutty whole-wheat and buckwheat flavors). Cardamom seeds are actually sometimes chewed like gum, and are known to freshen breath. The idea to include cardamom in gum is not bad in and of itself.<br /><br />Where Wrigley went wrong in this particular venture was its attempt to wed the unique taste of cardamom with a totally incompatible berry flavor. Cardamom in my pancakes, or in sweet Scandinavian breads or savory Indian dishes, is carefully balanced against other complimentary flavors. Not so in Eclipse Breeze Exotic Berry. It's like someone just decided to take some berry gum and add in some cardamom to "neutralize the toughest breath odors," then threw the word "exotic" into the name of the gum by way of explanation or apology. Noting that the berry is exotic does not excuse it from sucking.<br /><br />And yeah, it's probably the worst gum ever.Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-67917846148897894082009-09-02T13:14:00.006-04:002009-09-02T13:32:05.133-04:00Bison riding...?I just wanted to mention--I think it is strange how many hits I get on this page based off of people clicking on Google results for searches on "bison riding." Do people actually ride bison for sport and recreation?<br /><br />The latest such hit occurred early this morning at 4:19 am. The user doing the search was in Muttenz, Switzerland. Perhaps the Swiss view bison riding as a typical American hobby?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/Sp6r_0WiN3I/AAAAAAAAAbw/D-ZOscK7_MU/s1600-h/SFRAnimals_jpg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/Sp6r_0WiN3I/AAAAAAAAAbw/D-ZOscK7_MU/s320/SFRAnimals_jpg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376924118000220018" border="0" /></a>Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-71616061998779162762009-09-01T11:57:00.009-04:002009-09-01T12:26:38.479-04:00Kitchen fail<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/Sp1JJTmt1OI/AAAAAAAAAaw/TcjhimoGooM/s1600-h/Brown_Alton_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 196px; height: 162px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/Sp1JJTmt1OI/AAAAAAAAAaw/TcjhimoGooM/s320/Brown_Alton_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376533954380551394" border="0" /></a><br />Alton Brown has never lied to me before. So when I watched the episode of <span style="font-style: italic;">Good Eats</span> about milk, and he told me that homemade cottage cheese is way better than the store-bought stuff, I believed him.<br /><br />It wasn't much of a stretch of the imagination to believe it for me, actually. See, I don't really like cottage cheese. I like the idea of it--low-fat, high-protein, slightly salty cheese product. I like cheese, I like salt, and protein helps me to live. It should all add up, right? But the actual placing of spoonfuls of cottage cheese in my mouth never really lives up to the ideal.<br /><br />So when Alton Brown promised a better product that I could make in the comfort of my own kitchen, I decided to jump in. I bought a gallon of skim milk and a small bottle of white vinegar. I enhanced my kitchen tool box with a candy/fry thermometer.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/Sp1JcCXg4GI/AAAAAAAAAa4/3ZMbMZue1Ic/s1600-h/cottagecheese1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 162px; height: 121px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/Sp1JcCXg4GI/AAAAAAAAAa4/3ZMbMZue1Ic/s320/cottagecheese1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376534276170899554" border="0" /></a><br />I poured the entire gallon in a large saucepan, clipped the thermometer to the side of the pan, and slowly raised the temperature of the milk over medium heat until it reached 120 degrees Fahrenheit. I turned off the flame and poured in three-fourths of a cup of vinegar, gave the concoction a stir, and let it sit for 30 minutes. I lined a colander with a flour sack tea towel and strained the whey-vinegar-water solution off of the mass of casein protein. I gathered up the edges of the towel and rinsed the clump of protein under cool running water for three to five minutes, let it drain a bit in the colander, and put it in a bowl.<br /><br />I sprinkled it with a little kosher salt and poured half a cup of whole milk over it.*<br /><br />I put a spoonful in my mouth.<br /><br />I chewed the salty paste.<br /><br />Yes, p<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/Sp1J9JPEujI/AAAAAAAAAbA/ZC-IQGKO1c0/s1600-h/paste.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 51px; height: 109px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/Sp1J9JPEujI/AAAAAAAAAbA/ZC-IQGKO1c0/s200/paste.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376534844950231602" border="0" /></a>aste. That's about what it tasted like. Maybe this is why the stuff from the store is so high in sodium--add enough salt to milk protein paste and it's palatable?<br /><br />The thing that bugs me the most is that I don't know if I did something wrong, if something out of my control went wrong, or if I just really don't like cottage cheese.<br /><br />In the end, I still trust Alton. Our joint successes far outshine the tasteless failure that sits leftover in a Gladware container in my refrigerator.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/Sp1K7hx7KOI/AAAAAAAAAbY/vz7ZxOdMPRM/s1600-h/alton-brown-knives.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 170px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/Sp1K7hx7KOI/AAAAAAAAAbY/vz7ZxOdMPRM/s200/alton-brown-knives.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376535916690745570" border="0" /></a><br />*<span style="font-size:85%;">Alton said to use half-and-half, but come on--I was trying to be healthy here.</span>Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-48111825881896902892009-08-05T15:55:00.004-04:002009-08-05T18:20:12.870-04:00GeniusI just watched this <a href="http://www.ted.com/">TED.com</a> video.* Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the recent popular b<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/SnnylV5y09I/AAAAAAAAAZg/wHv_mI1admo/s1600-h/eatpraylove.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/SnnylV5y09I/AAAAAAAAAZg/wHv_mI1admo/s200/eatpraylove.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366587154337289170" border="0" /></a>ook <span style="font-style: italic;">Eat, Pray, Love</span>, explains a new way to look at creativity and the creative process. I've embedded the video below, but for those of you who don't have 19 minutes' worth of free time or patience right now, I'll sum it up: Creative types carry the burden of being expected (and expecting themselves) to be creative all the time. Creativity can seem like cutting parts of yourself out, a bit at a time, and being constantly burdened with producing at the cost of personal sacrifice. A better way to understand creative genius, according to Ms. Gilbert, is to appreciate that it comes from an outside source. The Romans referred to creative muses as Genius. These ethereal fairies may not really exist, but maybe another creative force does, and maybe it illuminates humans from time to time, giving us glimpses of the Divine. Reshaping our thinking this way takes the burden off of the writer, the musician, the artist, and gives back some credit where credit is due. This is, I think, a brilliant way to perceive the creative process.<br /><br />Interestingly, the main point that I caught hold of while Ms. Gilbert was explaining this was not the idea that I need to recognize outer inspiration in my own creative processes, but rather that I need to put more emphasis on the efforts required of me to make that inspiration become something worthwhile. At one point in her speech, after describing what inspiration can be like, she counterbalances it with this statement:<br /><blockquote><br />I'm a mule, and the way that I have to work is that I have to get up at the same time every day, and sweat and labor and barrel through it really awkwardly.</blockquote><br />This sentence hit me hard, and I realized that at times I neglect the fact that I have to work hard for what's important to me.<br /><br />This may sound like I'm being harsh on myself. Or it may sound like I'm an idiot for not realizing that I have to work hard for important things. Please bear with me.<br /><br />First off--I'm not an idiot. I've been familiar with the Law of the Harvest for quite some time, but I think that I sometimes expect to be able to set the terms of what needs to be sown. In high school I started to exercise in earnest. I remember coming to a decision that it was important for me to be in shape. But I would lift weights and run and do sit-ups and push-ups for maybe two weeks, then go stand in front of the mirror, bare from the waste up, and be totally unimpressed with myself. Where was the definition? Why was I still so soft? I had worked hard--really hard--for two whole weeks, with no visible results. It took several times of starting and stopping before I finally realized what was required of me and got into a long-term exercise routine that yielded a leaner body and more defined muscles.**<br /><br />Second--I don't think I'm being too harsh. I do recognize that in spite of my occasional shortsightedness there are trends of knowing what's required of me and giving my all to get it done. I knew what it would take to become an Eagle Scout. I prepared for and carried out a hard-working two-year mission, learning Spanish throughout. I completed my B.A. and I'm nearly done with my M.A. Perhaps the key difference is that the things I know I need to put X amount of work into have some semblance of defined parameters. I knew from age 12 what I needed to do to achieve the rank of Eagle--it was outlined in my Scout Handbook. I know how long two years is, how long four years is, what courses I needed to take during those four years, et cetera. But nobody was able to tell me how many weeks of hard exercise it would take to get a line of definition onto my abs, and nobody has ever set out how many drafts I need to rewrite in order to produce a publishable account of my Great Uncle Ronald's sordid life.<br /><br />The brilliant thing about Ms. Gilbert's speech and what it taught me is that it's nothing really new or novel. As I said, I know the Law of the Harvest. And it's not like every time I write something I just sit down and expect the light of creativity to illuminate my keyboard and stream art onto the screen. One of my favorite posts I've written for this blog is my <a href="http://fruitatthebottom.blogspot.com/2008/12/ten-feet-from-legendary.html">reflections on seeing Dave Brubeck perform in New York</a>. That post is the result of a writing process that involved some research, the transcription of portions of Ken Burns' documentary, and a few revisions and minor rewrites before I felt satisfied with my work, satisfied that it reflected what I felt and thought when I heard and saw Mr. Brubeck perform.<br /><br />There's a point to all of this. Maybe I'm learning now that if I want to be satisfied with my paper on the anti-sell-out culture of ska, I need to become more of a mule. The creative spark was there--something inspired me to research a paper asking whether or not ska bands and fans really care about selling out or not. I must admit that it's a pretty cool idea and the foundation for a potentially great paper. But so far I haven't put the work into it that has been required. My biographical piece on my Great Uncle Ronald is pretty good, but I need to sweat and labor and barrel through it awkwardly to make it great and get it published. I eventually learned what it would take to get my body into shape. Maybe now I'm learning what it takes to really write well, and not wait for some brilliant idea to strike me and expect to be able to do it justice with a first draft.<br /><br /><object height="326" width="446"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/ElizabethGilbert_2009-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/ElizabethGilbert_2009.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=453"><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/ElizabethGilbert_2009-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/ElizabethGilbert_2009.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=453" height="326" width="446"></embed></object><br /><br />*<span style="font-size:85%;">If you're not familiar with TED, it's worth taking a look at the site. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a non-profit organization that hosts an annual conference in the name of "ideas worth spreading." The conference consists of several short speeches given by leading writers, business people, scientists, et cetera, all of whom have something, supposedly, worthwhile to share. Some of the talks are definitely better than others. Like I said: worth perusing the site.</span><br /><br />**<span style="font-size:85%;">Then I fell through a roof and injured my lower back, ruining that for the rest of the summer. But that's another story...</span>Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-50123038315553622812009-06-18T00:32:00.004-04:002009-07-30T11:30:35.677-04:00GrilledSo I really enjoyed my dinner tonight. I just had to share. If I'd had some foresight, I would have taken a picture before I supped, but I was hungry. And it was delicious.<br /><br />I purchased some sockeye salmon* at Whole Foods on Monday and I decided to grill it--it had been a while since I'd stoked the grill fires and it sounded good. I rubbed some foil (shiny side out) with a tiny bit of olive oil and put the fillet on it. Then I rubbed about a tablespoon more of olive oil over the meat, sprinkled it with a pinch of kosher salt, and applied some dried dill (I would love to try this with a couple of sprigs of fresh dill). I topped the fillet with some thin lemon slices, covering the whole surface area. Then I folded up the sides of the foil and nearly wrapped it, leaving a sort of vent open at the top. I didn't want to seal it completely--got to let some of that smoke in to flavor it.<br /><br />I got that started on the barbecue, the coals piled to one side and the salmon on the other so as to keep direct heat from cooking the bottom too fast. While that sat for about 10-15 minutes in the covered grill, I cut the woody ends off of half a bunch of asparagus and put it in a plastic bag with some olive oil, a splash of champagne vinegar, and some salt and pepper. I tossed the whole thing and brought it down to the grill. The salmon was nearly done, so I closed up the foil tent around it and put it far from the coals, letting it cook the rest of the way in its own heat. I arranged the asparagus stalks directly over the coals and let them cook for a couple of minutes, then rotated them all and let them cook another minute or so.<br /><br />The whole thing was really delicious and hit the spot. The salmon was not overdone and no one of the seasonings overpowered the others. I'll admit that the asparagus could have used a a little less salt and just a little less vinegar, but overall the seasoning was a winning combination, and it complemented the salmon well.<br /><br />This evening I am content.<br /><br />*<span style="font-size:78%;">Here's a little tidbit that I've picked up: beware of fish labeled as "Atlantic salmon." The Atlantic salmon has been fished to near extinction. The breed still exists, but almost exclusively as farmed fish. Due to this, Atlantic salmon will have been raised in crowded, netted-in coastal environments, with diets heavy in antibiotics and waters rich in fish poo. Opting for sockeye or "wild Alaskan" or some other variety will help lower the overall crud content of your fillet. Mercury is still a factor with wild fish, though.</span>Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-17458063272382117022009-04-30T12:06:00.002-04:002009-04-30T12:12:31.536-04:00Old and cheapNo, this post isn't about your mom (zing!). It's about the chocolate I just ate.<br /><br />I'm sitting up at my client site waiting for a relatively simple task to be performed that will enable me to finish up my work here in about ten minutes and go back to where I'm supposed to work (and where I have personal email access, incidentally). I ate my lunch, I've been catching up on blog reading... still no movement on the simple task I'm awaiting. I've walked up and down the hallway a couple of times and I keep passing this bowl of Easter candy. Chocolate is one of my few weaknesses, but it's that terribly cheap brand that comes in large coin shapes (for Easter and Halloween) as well as eggs (Easter only). I kept telling myself that cheap chocolate simply isn't worth it, and that held me at bay for the first five hours today.<br /><br />But I just walked by the bowl again and I couldn't resist the siren song of chocolate any more. I took an egg. I unwrapped it. I ate it. I felt sick. Not only is it cheap chocolate--it's old chocolate. Probably from <em>last</em> Easter. Urgl.<br /><br />My resolve is renewed.Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-55465069256597996092009-04-08T14:39:00.001-04:002009-04-08T14:41:43.089-04:00Rush Write 3.23 (on 4.08)In response to <a href="http://winterberrybook.blogspot.com/2009/03/rush-write-323.html">this post:</a><br /><br />1. Artists gratify men’s urge for immortality by demonstrating that it is possible. An artist may not necessarily capture my visage in oils, or my deeds in verse, etc. (let alone become famous enough to make his rendering of me known to the world). However. The fact that some Italian lady who once sat for Da Vinci can capture the heart of the world, inspire songs, and cause all to bemusedly wonder about her smirk, that tells me that some of us are immortal. That some of us do live forever. And if it’s possible for some Italian lady, then why not me? Why not all of us? <br /><br />2. “Joyce” is telling us that Homer’s art (specifically the Iliad and the Odyssey) , and the myriad works of art that it inspired did more to preserve the memory of Troy and the war that brought Greece to it than any formal history ever did. That without Homer’s works, Troy would be insignificant and unremembered. I must agree. What other evidence do we have, aside from ruins that were only discovered and identified centuries after the fact and recognized because we knew what Homer told us?<br /><br />3. I would say that according to “Joyce,” Homer’s telling of the Trojan War is even more valuable/valid because of its inaccuracies. And here I mostly agree with him. The inaccuracies are, arguably, the artistic license of Homer. The myths that are mixed with the history are the things that enrich us, in “Joyce’s” view. The embellishments of Ulysses’ character are what make us relate to him and treasure his tale. Accuracy may affect a work of art’s value as a history, but since when has historical worth been the ultimate standard of value?Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-32990085329767295042009-03-30T16:56:00.018-04:002009-03-31T09:55:34.567-04:00Music of the spheres<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/SdE4HQ-ttVI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/HmRCOOeI-5k/s1600-h/Voyager2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 159px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/SdE4HQ-ttVI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/HmRCOOeI-5k/s200/Voyager2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319094332369515858" border="0" /></a>I remember learning about the two Voyager space craft when I was in junior high. Of course by that point they had been hurtling through the cosmos for nigh onto 17 years, but it was news to me. The best part of the earth press kit we put together in case some extraterrestrial intelligent life happened across our little craft was a golden record. The record contains greetings in 55 languages, various naturally occurring sounds from earth, several music tracks, and the recorded brain waves of Ann Druyan*, the last wife of Carl Sagan.<br /><br />This is all really fascinating, but what caught my attention the most when I recently rediscov<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/SdE4SdyRxFI/AAAAAAAAAXY/C36uXHQrKG4/s1600-h/GoldenRecord1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 139px; height: 148px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/SdE4SdyRxFI/AAAAAAAAAXY/C36uXHQrKG4/s200/GoldenRecord1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319094524785574994" border="0" /></a>ered all of this was the list of musical tracks that the world decided to put on the record to represent our people and cultures to the universe. Twenty-three different nations collaborated to choose the 90 minutes of music. Most countries selected various folk songs and classical pieces (Bach was a very popular choice--represented three times (Beethoven is on there twice--every other composer only once)). The United States also chose a classical piece for one of its selections--we collaborated with the U.S.S.R. and France to get "Sacrificial Dance" from Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" on the album. But the rest of our selections were more... unique:<br /><ul><li>"Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry</li><li>"Melancholy Blues" by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven</li><li>"Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" by Blind Willie Johnson</li><li>"Night Chant," a traditional Navajo chant</li></ul>I love that we chose jazz, blues, and rock & roll to send out into space, along with a representation of America's aboriginal cultures. I think it's also noteworthy that all of the artists featured from our selections are minorities--blacks and Native Americans.<br /><br />We're awesome.<br /><br />As I was learning all of this, I came across this quotation from writer Darren Wershler-Henry:<br /><blockquote><span id=":2h">Design a faster than light spacecraft and then overtake the Voyager II probe for the sole purpose of replacing the gold LP of the second Brandenburg concerto with a copy of <i>The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars </i>(from hi</span><span id=":2h">s poem </span><i>The Tapeworm Foundry: andor the dangerous prevalence of imaginat</i><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/SdE5YX5wCNI/AAAAAAAAAXo/etb4qacVJIU/s1600-h/200px-ZiggyStardust.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 160px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/SdE5YX5wCNI/AAAAAAAAAXo/etb4qacVJIU/s200/200px-ZiggyStardust.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319095725797148882" border="0" /></a><i>ion</i>). </blockquote>Also awesome. I mean, this is probably meant to be more clever or in jest, but it's an interesting idea, right? Like maybe we did earth a disservice by putting so much Bach on there instead of diversifying a bit. Maybe David Bowie's alter-ego is truly stellar, while you kind of have to be from here to get the Brandenburg concerto.<br /><br />I'm curious to know what music other people would have picked to go on the golden record. Here's the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record#Music">track listing</a>. Thoughts?<br /><br />*<span style="font-size:78%;">Ann Druyan on recording her brainwaves: </span><blockquote><span style="font-size:78%;">Earlier I had asked Carl if those putative extraterrestrials of a billion years from now could conceivably interpret the brain waves of a meditator. Who knows? A billion years is a long, long time, was his reply. On the chance that it might be possible why don't we give it a try?<br /><br />Two days after our life-changing phone call, </span><span style="font-size:78%;">I entered a laboratory at Bellevue Hospital in New York City and was hooked up to a computer that turned all the data from my brain and heart into sound. I had a one-hour mental itinerary of the information I wished to convey. I began by thinking about the history of Earth and the life it sustains. To the best of my abilities I tried to think something of the history of ideas and human social organization. I thought about the predicament that our civilization finds itself in and about the violence and poverty that make this planet a hell for so many of its inhabitants. Toward the end I permitted myself a personal statement of what it was like to fall in love.</span></blockquote>Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-44512385521908008502009-02-08T03:09:00.001-05:002009-02-08T11:26:34.873-05:00SelloutThy name is Cabeza.<br /><br />Posted from my iPhoneCabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-23250483607514349152009-01-26T13:06:00.002-05:002009-01-26T13:43:28.471-05:00Snow... snow... snow... snow... SNOW!So I went out my front door this morning and saw flakes drifting down. Without thinking I said, "Aw, shoot--snow!"<br /><br />Immediately I realized that 10-year-old Cabeza, if he were here, would be sorely disappointed in what a lame adult I had become. Therefore, I repent of my dread of traffic and ice and embrace the possibility of building a snow man (or maybe a snow toilet (ah, Soutridge)). Let it <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yQ2xqCE2E8">snow</a>!Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-41971186720272304282009-01-16T01:55:00.002-05:002009-01-16T02:06:26.376-05:00Dreams: Soccer and the LOCI figure I should get this one written down and published before I forget any more of it. A night or two after the Nazi invasion dream where I tasted of young ovine, I dreamed I was leading a group of fellows from the elders quorum in my ward to a "manrichment" activity. We were in DC, and I had a soccer ball. We walked past the Supreme Court and took a turn at the entrance to the Library of Congress. Once inside, we spread out and I gave the ball a good kick. It careened off of walls and bounced through the stacks, landing near another guy from my quorum and barely having time to rest before he sent it flying in another direction. It's funny, because I remember in my dream thinking that we were playing soccer--that there were goals and everything--but it seems like really we were just generally making noise and trying to get the ball to bounce off as many fixtures as possible. <br /><br />After several minutes of general running around and yelling and chasing the ball, an irate middle-aged lady librarian confronted me at the top of an open staircase and started getting all passive-agressive. "Does this seem like an appropriate activity for the <span style="font-style:italic;">Library</span> of <span style="font-style:italic;">Congress</span>? Hmmmmm?" <br /><br />Since she was playing it overly cool, I decided I would too. I glanced down at the banister and noticed I had a plate of potato chips and a big bowl of onion dip resting at the top there. I reached down nonchalantly and scooped an extra-big helping of dip onto one chip, then shoved it into my mouth. "Sure." Crunch-munch-smack-smack-smack-smack-smack... "I don't see why not." Another chip, more loud munching.<br /><br />This had the desired effect of Smug Dream Jared, as the librarian dropped her act and started yelling at all of us to get out of there. Security guards showed up and led us all out. But it was fun while it lasted.<br /><br />There was a second part of the dream, something about having to pack up and check out of a boarding house, but I really don't remember much of anything about it.Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-79565605499491514772009-01-12T15:12:00.008-05:002009-07-30T11:40:48.494-04:00Dreams: Nazis and LambIn the tradition of the Shark's <a href="http://goldencalves.blogspot.com/search/label/dreams">dream-recording blog posts</a>, I share with you two recent excursions into my id:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Island of the Nazis</span><br /><br />On the night of 2 January I found myself on a boat approaching an island off the U.S. Pacific coast. The island was fairly covered with trees, but a few hundred feet from the shore where we docked there was a cabin, overlooking the ocean. My brother Scott and I went to the cabin, where we sat and talked for a moment (I don't remember the conversation). I glanced out the open door and noticed people moving up from the shoreline toward us. Nazis<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/SWvKlJnnKkI/AAAAAAAAAWo/Idy9tXGBaYE/s1600-h/officer.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dMi29fwIwRQ/SWvKlJnnKkI/AAAAAAAAAWo/Idy9tXGBaYE/s200/officer.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290544926862813762" border="0" /></a>! One of them was dressed like some sort of officer, and the rest were his stormtroopers.<br /><br />I turned the table I was sitting on onto its side to use as a shield, then pulled a small handgun from my pocket. It was old and I wasn't even sure it if was loaded, but I had no time to check the clip. The Nazis were coming through the door! I put my arm up over the edge of the table to see if I could get a few rounds off, but the trigger was stuck. The officer pulled his Luger and shot me in the wrist. I dropped my pistol. I started to bleed pretty badly, but the Nazi officer didn't seem to care.<br /><br />"Vhat iz ze radio frequency you are broadcasting on??!" I refused to answer--on principle, really, since I had no idea what he was talking about. This angered the officer, so he put his gun to my head and was getting ready to pull the trigger when Scott blurted out the answer, saving my life. This satisfied the Nazis, and they allowed Scott to right the table and help me lie on top of it while he administered first aid to try and stop the bleeding. I had been trying to apply pressure to my wrist this whole time, but the bleeding wouldn't stop. "I don't think it's really all that bad," Scott said. "It looks like a pretty small wound." I looked and saw that he was right. Then I looked away, looked back, and saw a gaping hole opening into my forearm. A nurse (where did she come from?) came in, looked at my arm, and announced that part of it would need to be amputated immediately. And it was.<br /><br />Someone else who showed up in the cabin said that my amputated flesh shouldn't be wasted, and proceeded to toss it onto a grill. A few minutes later it was done, but the cook decided that he probably shouldn't feed it to anyone, seeing as how that would be cannibalism. But he figured that before he threw it out he should offer me a bite. "Don't you want to know what you taste like?" Turns out that I did. It also turns out I taste like lamb.<br /><br />Okay, so maybe one is enough for now. I'll post the second dream tonight or tomorrow.Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-73516643100246925632008-12-11T22:13:00.006-05:002008-12-11T22:44:31.268-05:00Sweet, sweet freedomLast night I turned in my last final paper of the semester (huzzah!) and now I stand facing the future. A future of 43 days without obligatory reading. It is time for the annual inter-semester reading spree; here's what's on the list (in no particular order, and not necessarily guaranteed to be read):<br /><ul><li><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Adventures-Kavalier-Clay/dp/0312282990">The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay</a> (okay, so this one is in particular order since I'm already reading it--about 150 pages in)</li><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Knife-Man-Snatching-Modern-Surgery/dp/0767916530/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229052008&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Knife Man</span></a></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Devil-White-City-Madness-Changed/dp/0375725601/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229052445&sr=1-1">The Devil in the White City</a></span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Assassination-Vacation-Sarah-Vowell/dp/074326004X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229052614&sr=1-1">Assassination Vacation</a></span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Third-Policeman-Flann-OBrien/dp/156478214X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229052719&sr=1-1">The Third Policeman</a></span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/United-States-Arugula-American-Revolution/dp/0767915801/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229052756&sr=1-1">The United States of Arugula</a></span></li></ul>Thoughts? Suggestions? Maybe I should strike a book or two? Maybe I should add a couple? I'm open--I realize there's an imbalance on the side of nonfiction. I want to make as much out of this reading time as possible.<br /><br />Also on the slate for the break: revising my biographical essay on my Great Uncle Ronald that I wrote for a class last semester. Time to get that puppy published. And I need to keep in the habit of writing non-scholarly stuff. Need to keep my focus--it would be a shame to get stuffy at this point.Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805042.post-43003083334026448702008-12-11T13:20:00.001-05:002008-12-11T13:21:25.873-05:00Peace on earthIn case any of you have forgotten, I've embedded a copy of the best version of "Little Drummer Boy" ever.<br /><br />Okay, so it's the only good version of "Little Drummer Boy" ever. Still... David Bowie + Bing Crosby = magic.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/c9KpNznVLlY&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/c9KpNznVLlY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999687733029976277noreply@blogger.com6