I am attending the CTA Summer Institute next week. I am taking some training in advanced bargaining. Sue is coming too. We are staying on campus and will eat at their institute cafeteria. It was originally designed to house and feed the athletes for the LA Summer Olympics.
Tomorrow we start two nights at the Hyatt Regency in Anaheim.. or rather Garden Grove.. Harbor Blvd. We got two nights for 65 dollars each night. The credit union had some great prices for 3 day park hopper passes at 165 per. We are going to have a great time. The truck has been serviced and we are partially packed. Any will be by to feed and water the cats and the plants. The weather is supposed to be pretty good. The highs are in the high 70's and lows in the 60's.
I will do my best not to take the simulation too seriously. I will probably get the management side this year. Sue is hoping that the friend she met with their family from Hespres is going to be there too. They always use this as an excuse for a family vacation.
What is really good about this conference is a chance to see the next level beyond our local support reps for negotiation. They really have some good people that know their ins and outs of contract. This is probably the reason so few districts go to strike votes. There really has to be something dyfunctional to get to that point.
We have a new sup this year. He has already been lighting fires and taking names. I hope that we may be able to perserve the transparency that we have worked so hard to get at the table. We represent over 550 teachers as their bargaining agent. I think we have done a pretty good job in the last 4 years.
Tomarrow at this time we should be in big D.
Have a great one
Pat
A written expression of a 65year old plus retired Speech and Language Specialist in the Central Valley of California.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Thanks Cammie!
Some of the family knows the verbal and written battle we had with our local Mervn's over Christmas merchandise that crowded the isles to the point that the cards hauled in for the season, made it impossible for Sue to look over the luggage. We were headed for a cruise. The only accommodation that Mervyn's did was allow for her to point to a display and the salesperson would grab the luggage and bring it to her. All of this happened in 2003. I wrote an email to Mervyn's and got a hand pat and a disclaimer that the aisles were really not barriers. It seems that other folks with legal connections also had the same experiences.
Granted, Our store is one of the older ones in a mall were physical expansion was not possible.. but over the years we have seen that their range of merchandise as shrunk. At one time they carried all kinds of kid toys. They had a full fabric department. That was the reason that we got a Mervyn's card. Then these departments went by the way of the salad bar and now they are a jewelery clothing store and that is about it.
They also have gone from providing for all sizes of people to just the average to smaller size people. Their buyers must be all of 22. We have not bought anything from Mervyn's since our run in with the luggage with the exception of some work clothes for one of the daughters. Then because they were not on my usual monthly pay group we missed a chance to pay them off. We were called and harassed for those clothes for the next 3 weeks. Finally I went down and paid it off at the store. It was no small task and they did not even have an accounting of the amount due. So I guessed.. and overpaid.
So in some ways it is not surprising that they are filing bankruptcy and still will not accommodate the mobility handicapped.
Here is the transcript of the SF Gate article that Cammie sent me>
Thursday, July 31, 2008 (SF Chronicle)
Court orders Mervyns to accommodate disabled
George Raine, Chronicle Staff Writer
Mervyns, the department store chain that on Tuesday filed for bankruptcy,
on Wednesday lost a round in a long-running legal dispute when the
California Court of Appeal ruled it must find ways to make all merchandise
available to disabled consumers.
A three-judge panel, ruling unanimously in a case filed in 2002 by
Californians for Disability Rights reversed a 2004 judgment by an Alameda
County Superior Court judge and told the company to produce a remedy for
access problems for disabled consumers.
That is not expected to be coming forthwith, however, said Sid Wolinsky, a
lawyer with the Berkeley nonprofit advocacy group, because of Mervyns'
bankruptcy filing.
"What it means in the case of Mervyns remains to be seen because of its
financial woes," Wolinsky said. "If the whole business collapses, it does
not mean much."
The ruling is specific to the troubled Mervyns, but it is significant, if
it stands, because it could have broad implications for retailers
statewide. It will establish a precedent in California for how retailers
will have to accommodate disabled consumers, Wolinsky said.
The suit claimed that Mervyns denied access to people with mobility
disabilities by failing to provide adequate pathways between merchandise
displays. The nonprofit said the Hayward company violated the state's
Unruh Civil Rights Act and Disabled Persons Act.
The Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday that Mervyns discriminated against
people with disabilities by blocking aisles with removable fixtures
without providing effective means for making merchandise available.
"It means that every retail establishment that is newly built or
substantially remodeled in the last 15 years - from 1993 on, the date of
the Americans with Disability Act - must comply with regular building
standards," said Wolinsky. "They have to provide accessible aisles."
Mervyns said in a statement Wednesday: "As a California-based and
family-friendly promotional department store, Mervyns is committed to
making all our customers feel welcome and providing them with the best
shopping experience. Customers with disabilities are no exception."
In 2004, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Henry Needham Jr. found that
20 percent of Mervyns merchandise was inaccessible to the disabled, but he
accepted Mervyns' case that it would face financial hardship if made to
remodel all its California stores. The company had said it might have to
close its stores, if forced to widen aisles and remove merchandise to
accommodate wheelchairs.
Needham's ruling said Mervyns could provide greater accommodation in new
and remodeled stores.
Californians for Disability Rights appealed that ruling, and while it was
pending, voters amended the statute under which the case had been brought.
The vote in favor of Proposition 64 barred private lawsuits for unfair
business practices unless the plaintiff had suffered or had been
threatened with personal or financial harm.
That became effective on Nov. 3, 2004. On Dec. 6, 2004, Mervyns moved to
dismiss the disability rights group's appeal, saying Prop. 64's change in
standing requirements applies to pending actions.
That dispute was subsequently resolved when the state Supreme Court
allowed Californians for Disability Rights to proceed with its appeal.
On Tuesday, Mervyns announced it had filed for bankruptcy at the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
Mervyns filed for bankruptcy 59 years to the day after it opened its first
store in San Lorenzo.
Granted, Our store is one of the older ones in a mall were physical expansion was not possible.. but over the years we have seen that their range of merchandise as shrunk. At one time they carried all kinds of kid toys. They had a full fabric department. That was the reason that we got a Mervyn's card. Then these departments went by the way of the salad bar and now they are a jewelery clothing store and that is about it.
They also have gone from providing for all sizes of people to just the average to smaller size people. Their buyers must be all of 22. We have not bought anything from Mervyn's since our run in with the luggage with the exception of some work clothes for one of the daughters. Then because they were not on my usual monthly pay group we missed a chance to pay them off. We were called and harassed for those clothes for the next 3 weeks. Finally I went down and paid it off at the store. It was no small task and they did not even have an accounting of the amount due. So I guessed.. and overpaid.
So in some ways it is not surprising that they are filing bankruptcy and still will not accommodate the mobility handicapped.
Here is the transcript of the SF Gate article that Cammie sent me>
Thursday, July 31, 2008 (SF Chronicle)
Court orders Mervyns to accommodate disabled
George Raine, Chronicle Staff Writer
Mervyns, the department store chain that on Tuesday filed for bankruptcy,
on Wednesday lost a round in a long-running legal dispute when the
California Court of Appeal ruled it must find ways to make all merchandise
available to disabled consumers.
A three-judge panel, ruling unanimously in a case filed in 2002 by
Californians for Disability Rights reversed a 2004 judgment by an Alameda
County Superior Court judge and told the company to produce a remedy for
access problems for disabled consumers.
That is not expected to be coming forthwith, however, said Sid Wolinsky, a
lawyer with the Berkeley nonprofit advocacy group, because of Mervyns'
bankruptcy filing.
"What it means in the case of Mervyns remains to be seen because of its
financial woes," Wolinsky said. "If the whole business collapses, it does
not mean much."
The ruling is specific to the troubled Mervyns, but it is significant, if
it stands, because it could have broad implications for retailers
statewide. It will establish a precedent in California for how retailers
will have to accommodate disabled consumers, Wolinsky said.
The suit claimed that Mervyns denied access to people with mobility
disabilities by failing to provide adequate pathways between merchandise
displays. The nonprofit said the Hayward company violated the state's
Unruh Civil Rights Act and Disabled Persons Act.
The Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday that Mervyns discriminated against
people with disabilities by blocking aisles with removable fixtures
without providing effective means for making merchandise available.
"It means that every retail establishment that is newly built or
substantially remodeled in the last 15 years - from 1993 on, the date of
the Americans with Disability Act - must comply with regular building
standards," said Wolinsky. "They have to provide accessible aisles."
Mervyns said in a statement Wednesday: "As a California-based and
family-friendly promotional department store, Mervyns is committed to
making all our customers feel welcome and providing them with the best
shopping experience. Customers with disabilities are no exception."
In 2004, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Henry Needham Jr. found that
20 percent of Mervyns merchandise was inaccessible to the disabled, but he
accepted Mervyns' case that it would face financial hardship if made to
remodel all its California stores. The company had said it might have to
close its stores, if forced to widen aisles and remove merchandise to
accommodate wheelchairs.
Needham's ruling said Mervyns could provide greater accommodation in new
and remodeled stores.
Californians for Disability Rights appealed that ruling, and while it was
pending, voters amended the statute under which the case had been brought.
The vote in favor of Proposition 64 barred private lawsuits for unfair
business practices unless the plaintiff had suffered or had been
threatened with personal or financial harm.
That became effective on Nov. 3, 2004. On Dec. 6, 2004, Mervyns moved to
dismiss the disability rights group's appeal, saying Prop. 64's change in
standing requirements applies to pending actions.
That dispute was subsequently resolved when the state Supreme Court
allowed Californians for Disability Rights to proceed with its appeal.
On Tuesday, Mervyns announced it had filed for bankruptcy at the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
Mervyns filed for bankruptcy 59 years to the day after it opened its first
store in San Lorenzo.
Sign of the timesx2
Along my walk I came to two vehicles in a very nice part of Merced for sale. One was a 1988 suburban for sale 1400 dollars. It was older and had some miles.. but it looked like a hauling machine.
Near an intersection was a older pickup..with a garden business trailer attached. Going price was 2400. The label on the truck was the company that did a yoeman clean up job on our backyard a couple of years ago. It was an instant business on wheels.. just ad lawn mower and a licenced driver and you could do gardening.
Small businesses are hitting the cusp or believability. Starbucks has announced that they are closing many of their newest stores.. expanding too fast to the weaker economy. Mervyn's and linen and things are both filing chapter 13. I think that the reason for that was the dependence on Chinese goods. We are no longer the place for these goods. The weak dollar has made this market dry up. Also the increases in fuel costs to get these items to the store may factor into the equation.
So what kind of America will we become? Will we rely on Big Box stores and big franchised businesses with advertising budgets. Even with these advertising is in a total quandry with the lack of eyes in T.V. and fewer people buying paper newspapers.
We have some serious retooling to do in the US. I think that we can do it. We have to keep and open mind on what the "new" will look like.
Have a great day.. Pat
Near an intersection was a older pickup..with a garden business trailer attached. Going price was 2400. The label on the truck was the company that did a yoeman clean up job on our backyard a couple of years ago. It was an instant business on wheels.. just ad lawn mower and a licenced driver and you could do gardening.
Small businesses are hitting the cusp or believability. Starbucks has announced that they are closing many of their newest stores.. expanding too fast to the weaker economy. Mervyn's and linen and things are both filing chapter 13. I think that the reason for that was the dependence on Chinese goods. We are no longer the place for these goods. The weak dollar has made this market dry up. Also the increases in fuel costs to get these items to the store may factor into the equation.
So what kind of America will we become? Will we rely on Big Box stores and big franchised businesses with advertising budgets. Even with these advertising is in a total quandry with the lack of eyes in T.V. and fewer people buying paper newspapers.
We have some serious retooling to do in the US. I think that we can do it. We have to keep and open mind on what the "new" will look like.
Have a great day.. Pat
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Quilting Big Business
Check out Kelly's comment on the lack of quilts of the fairs. Its too bad that something so idiomatically American as the quilt has to be in a place where they are heavily guarded. I think that many of the quilts in the valley are pieced together by the quilter but are commercially quilted on big machines. Many of the Stanislaus County Fair Quilts had that designation on them. I am sure this means that they are not as worth as much as a collectible. Each still represents a huge amount of time and organization.
Once my friend Tom thought that he wanted to go into the Quilt show business. He thought they could be the next card show deal plus they did very little in the way of start up and took in huge amounts of money at the door. I am sure that he hadn't figured on the amount of money needed for security. I am sure these big shows have close circuit tv on the more valuable ones.
I was a little concerned with how the quilts were displayed at the Stan County Fair too. Many were folded and layered on top of others so that you could only see the quarter detail. At the Pleasanton county fair, they are displayed high.. just like Kelly mentions and if the quilting is done by hand you loose the detail in that display. I never thought that is was done out of security.
We have a couple of old ones that Sue got from her mother's side of the family they are pretty cool.
Have a great day..
Pat
Once my friend Tom thought that he wanted to go into the Quilt show business. He thought they could be the next card show deal plus they did very little in the way of start up and took in huge amounts of money at the door. I am sure that he hadn't figured on the amount of money needed for security. I am sure these big shows have close circuit tv on the more valuable ones.
I was a little concerned with how the quilts were displayed at the Stan County Fair too. Many were folded and layered on top of others so that you could only see the quarter detail. At the Pleasanton county fair, they are displayed high.. just like Kelly mentions and if the quilting is done by hand you loose the detail in that display. I never thought that is was done out of security.
We have a couple of old ones that Sue got from her mother's side of the family they are pretty cool.
Have a great day..
Pat
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Stanislaus County Fair
It brings back a lot of memories.
When we first arrived in Turlock to go to graduate school.. none of us were to wealthy. We had a little one.. Heather Renneee and so we still gathered up our resources and went to the fair. We brought our own food.. tuna fish sandwiches. We had a good time except when it came to walking home. We could not find the exit gate that we came in to the park. Much of Turlock was made with angular streets and the fairgrounds roads are no exception. We came into the fairgrounds where it angles to a point right on the edge of East Boulevard and Canal. We tried several exits and they did not look right. Finally we figured out that we came in under the big Souza sign..that had a huge bouncing florescent sequence sign. Its no longer there. So out we went with stroller and and all.
We had a great time at the park. It was warm but not too hot. I had my favorite food, the sish kabob from the Assyrian club. There were not many takers or any kind of line for this food. That is too bad because it is really the prize of the ethnic food. It came in a sandwich with lots of fresh tomatoes green peppers and a sprinkle of cilantro. Sue had a bite of just the meat.
Latif's had the pie concession in the commercial building.(I had to have a piece of coconut cream)... along with booths for both presidential candidates. I bought a new wallet and Sue got some woodchip roses.
We had a good time in the petting zoo. I got some good movie footage of a mother sow feeding her piglets.. they were pretty rambunctious. The milk folks have a milk station set up to milk the cows that come to the fair. It was in full service. We talked to the operators and found out which numbers on the electronic readout represented the amount of milk the girls were providing.
It is measured in pounds. There were four being milked when we walked by. A couple of them were Jersey cows. The FFA was showing their goats in the arena. What fun and pretty tense for them.
They even had a place for tots to ride their toy tractors in the form of tricycles. I have some nice footage of them zooming around the enclosure.
Heather will be happy (not) that the poppers were working in full force at this fair. Many old machines were popping along from 1923 and before.
There were many nice quilts but not nearly as many as there are usually displayed at the Alemeda County Fair.
The Flowers.. particularly the Dahlias were wonderful at this fair.
They displayed about five times as much photography at this fair. Not many really good paintings however.
Overall we had a great Fair visit.
Pat
When we first arrived in Turlock to go to graduate school.. none of us were to wealthy. We had a little one.. Heather Renneee and so we still gathered up our resources and went to the fair. We brought our own food.. tuna fish sandwiches. We had a good time except when it came to walking home. We could not find the exit gate that we came in to the park. Much of Turlock was made with angular streets and the fairgrounds roads are no exception. We came into the fairgrounds where it angles to a point right on the edge of East Boulevard and Canal. We tried several exits and they did not look right. Finally we figured out that we came in under the big Souza sign..that had a huge bouncing florescent sequence sign. Its no longer there. So out we went with stroller and and all.
We had a great time at the park. It was warm but not too hot. I had my favorite food, the sish kabob from the Assyrian club. There were not many takers or any kind of line for this food. That is too bad because it is really the prize of the ethnic food. It came in a sandwich with lots of fresh tomatoes green peppers and a sprinkle of cilantro. Sue had a bite of just the meat.
Latif's had the pie concession in the commercial building.(I had to have a piece of coconut cream)... along with booths for both presidential candidates. I bought a new wallet and Sue got some woodchip roses.
We had a good time in the petting zoo. I got some good movie footage of a mother sow feeding her piglets.. they were pretty rambunctious. The milk folks have a milk station set up to milk the cows that come to the fair. It was in full service. We talked to the operators and found out which numbers on the electronic readout represented the amount of milk the girls were providing.
It is measured in pounds. There were four being milked when we walked by. A couple of them were Jersey cows. The FFA was showing their goats in the arena. What fun and pretty tense for them.
They even had a place for tots to ride their toy tractors in the form of tricycles. I have some nice footage of them zooming around the enclosure.
Heather will be happy (not) that the poppers were working in full force at this fair. Many old machines were popping along from 1923 and before.
There were many nice quilts but not nearly as many as there are usually displayed at the Alemeda County Fair.
The Flowers.. particularly the Dahlias were wonderful at this fair.
They displayed about five times as much photography at this fair. Not many really good paintings however.
Overall we had a great Fair visit.
Pat
Monday, July 28, 2008
Case of the Purloined Clothes
Reading my sister's blog entry reminds me of the incident one Summer in Fort Collins, the home of my mother and father-in-laws.
We would regularly hang clothes on an umbrella shaped hanger and every afternoon when we took off the clothes we were noticing that single socks were missing as well as odd pieces of underwear.
We looked around the yard and they didn't seem to be off in the bushes or the grass. So where were they? Some people in the family accused other people of not being good hangers and the hangers did not take the blame because they had done their best. We finally came to the conclusion that the only defense was to say.. its hard to get good help now days... it changed the anger of concern. Still clothes were missing and you could not accuse the dryer monster.
This continued to happen for the next two weeks. Some socks were getting rather thin and singles were collecting in bundles that "almost" made it or just a spare piles.
Then one day the mystery was solved. A little boy about 8 years old sheepishly knocked on each of the doors in the neighborhood. He was carrying a medium sized cardboard box. He knocked on our door and we opened the door.
He said, do any of these clothes look like one's you have lost. Well son of a gun there were all kinds of lost clothes in the box. Some of them were even ours..
We picked out ours. We asked.."Where did you get these?"
He answered.. well my cat has been bringing home these clothes. We knew they are from our neighbor's clothes lines. I was told to take them back to the people.
Soooo... Keep an eye on those hanging clothes and look for stay cats with clothes in their mouthes.
Love pat : )
We would regularly hang clothes on an umbrella shaped hanger and every afternoon when we took off the clothes we were noticing that single socks were missing as well as odd pieces of underwear.
We looked around the yard and they didn't seem to be off in the bushes or the grass. So where were they? Some people in the family accused other people of not being good hangers and the hangers did not take the blame because they had done their best. We finally came to the conclusion that the only defense was to say.. its hard to get good help now days... it changed the anger of concern. Still clothes were missing and you could not accuse the dryer monster.
This continued to happen for the next two weeks. Some socks were getting rather thin and singles were collecting in bundles that "almost" made it or just a spare piles.
Then one day the mystery was solved. A little boy about 8 years old sheepishly knocked on each of the doors in the neighborhood. He was carrying a medium sized cardboard box. He knocked on our door and we opened the door.
He said, do any of these clothes look like one's you have lost. Well son of a gun there were all kinds of lost clothes in the box. Some of them were even ours..
We picked out ours. We asked.."Where did you get these?"
He answered.. well my cat has been bringing home these clothes. We knew they are from our neighbor's clothes lines. I was told to take them back to the people.
Soooo... Keep an eye on those hanging clothes and look for stay cats with clothes in their mouthes.
Love pat : )
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Up to my Arm Pits in White Peach Juice
I am nearing the end of the white peach season. Every day more peaches are hitting the ground before I have a chance to slice them up and stick them into the freezer.
The new freezer has come and it is now receiving the meat from Costco and the fruit from our front yard. Still someone has to peel the peaches and partition the meat into plastic bags to get it into the freezer.
The usual mode is to make a fresh meal or two with a Costco meal lump and then freeze the additional in the freezer. Its amazing how that practice accumulates frozen meat. I have been trying to package up tri tip strips into meal size bags. Usually we can 1 and a half strips from the package at a time. so it is sort of useless to package more in the plastic bag.
As for the fruit, I have been labeling it so that I will know which date that I picked and processed it.
My neighbor, Ramon, grew up on a peach orchard in Le Grand. Its about 9miles south west of here. I really admired my Sugar Lady peach tree. He has a young yellow peach in his backyard. We talked yesterday about how he was going to graft some of my white peach wood on to his yellow peach in the backyard. Apparently it has to be one year wood (you can tell by a change in color) and it has to have some good buds on it for grafting to produce good branching. He said that he will do it sometime in the early morning... but right now is a good time of the year.
I walked the long route today.. all the way to McKee. I got a phone message that mom and dad were not coming to the fair today.. just a little too far and hot.. etc. It would also be pretty late if they were to drive home.. or my sister would drive them home.
We have a grand opening of a super Target store in Atwater, just north of here. There were residents that fought its opening for a quite a while. There is also supposed to be a new Home Depot to open in its same complex. This decision is on hold due the the economy. If they open there, they might close the one in Merced. They have met some stiff competition in Merced with the Lowe's.
Have a great Saturday..
pat
The new freezer has come and it is now receiving the meat from Costco and the fruit from our front yard. Still someone has to peel the peaches and partition the meat into plastic bags to get it into the freezer.
The usual mode is to make a fresh meal or two with a Costco meal lump and then freeze the additional in the freezer. Its amazing how that practice accumulates frozen meat. I have been trying to package up tri tip strips into meal size bags. Usually we can 1 and a half strips from the package at a time. so it is sort of useless to package more in the plastic bag.
As for the fruit, I have been labeling it so that I will know which date that I picked and processed it.
My neighbor, Ramon, grew up on a peach orchard in Le Grand. Its about 9miles south west of here. I really admired my Sugar Lady peach tree. He has a young yellow peach in his backyard. We talked yesterday about how he was going to graft some of my white peach wood on to his yellow peach in the backyard. Apparently it has to be one year wood (you can tell by a change in color) and it has to have some good buds on it for grafting to produce good branching. He said that he will do it sometime in the early morning... but right now is a good time of the year.
I walked the long route today.. all the way to McKee. I got a phone message that mom and dad were not coming to the fair today.. just a little too far and hot.. etc. It would also be pretty late if they were to drive home.. or my sister would drive them home.
We have a grand opening of a super Target store in Atwater, just north of here. There were residents that fought its opening for a quite a while. There is also supposed to be a new Home Depot to open in its same complex. This decision is on hold due the the economy. If they open there, they might close the one in Merced. They have met some stiff competition in Merced with the Lowe's.
Have a great Saturday..
pat
Friday, July 25, 2008
Mama Mia is Great
Sue didn't want to go. Its not her genre.
So she said go yourself. I did and I loved it too. Its a joyous celebration of the Summer and the Greek isles look terrific too.
The only problem is you can't keep th ABBA out of your head. It is kind of like what I used to do to torture Linzi when she was little. I would sing song sung blue by Niel Diamond and it would stay in her head all day. the same could be true for Dancing Queen.
The choreography was wonderful. I really like the choreography of the guys with the flippers on the dock. The spirit of the show was upheld in the dance moves of the actors and actresses.
The dialog was more than a little soft. Piece Bronson tried to do a credible acting job but his lines were mushy. That was why it didn't win a Tony despite five nominations in 2001. It is still packing them in on Broadway's Winter Garden. Here is the article:
"Mamma Mia!" premiered at the Winter Garden Theatre in October 2001 and has remained open since then, often playing to SRO. At the 2002 Tony Awards it reaped five nominations: best musical, lead actress (Louise Pitre), featured actress (Judy Kaye), orchestrations and book of a musical.
It never had a prayer to win best musical. On one hand it wasn't considered seriously as art, since it was flimsily constructed using pre-existing ABBA songs. Secondly, it wasn't nominated for best director, which is usually a requirement of a best-musical winner even if its helmer loses.
"Mamma Mia's" nominations were clearly just Tonys' acknowledgment of a huge Broadway hit that was destined to become a successful touring show too. Thus "Mamma Mia" lost all five of its bids to a show that was considered to have more substance, although, frankly, not that much more. Pitre bowed to Sutton Foster and Kaye to Harriet Harris, both stars of "Thoroughly Modern Millie," which claimed the prize for best musical.
But, alas, even if Tony didn't adore "Mamma Mia!" average Joes and Janes still do. After nearly 2,800 performances, it's still running all these years later, unlike any of its three rivals for best musical: "Sweet Smell of Success," "Urinetown" and, of course, "Millie." Even with a half dozen Tonys, "Millie" managed to run only two years and spawned only one national tour while the stage version of "Mamma Mia!" has played the world, grossing over $2 billion to date.
As I was leaving the movie someone said that the movie was better than the stage show because it could use the actual Greek Isles.
Have a great day.. If you are even mildly interested in musicals.. Momma Mia could be your Summer Tonic.
: ) Pat
So she said go yourself. I did and I loved it too. Its a joyous celebration of the Summer and the Greek isles look terrific too.
The only problem is you can't keep th ABBA out of your head. It is kind of like what I used to do to torture Linzi when she was little. I would sing song sung blue by Niel Diamond and it would stay in her head all day. the same could be true for Dancing Queen.
The choreography was wonderful. I really like the choreography of the guys with the flippers on the dock. The spirit of the show was upheld in the dance moves of the actors and actresses.
The dialog was more than a little soft. Piece Bronson tried to do a credible acting job but his lines were mushy. That was why it didn't win a Tony despite five nominations in 2001. It is still packing them in on Broadway's Winter Garden. Here is the article:
"Mamma Mia!" premiered at the Winter Garden Theatre in October 2001 and has remained open since then, often playing to SRO. At the 2002 Tony Awards it reaped five nominations: best musical, lead actress (Louise Pitre), featured actress (Judy Kaye), orchestrations and book of a musical.
It never had a prayer to win best musical. On one hand it wasn't considered seriously as art, since it was flimsily constructed using pre-existing ABBA songs. Secondly, it wasn't nominated for best director, which is usually a requirement of a best-musical winner even if its helmer loses.
"Mamma Mia's" nominations were clearly just Tonys' acknowledgment of a huge Broadway hit that was destined to become a successful touring show too. Thus "Mamma Mia" lost all five of its bids to a show that was considered to have more substance, although, frankly, not that much more. Pitre bowed to Sutton Foster and Kaye to Harriet Harris, both stars of "Thoroughly Modern Millie," which claimed the prize for best musical.
But, alas, even if Tony didn't adore "Mamma Mia!" average Joes and Janes still do. After nearly 2,800 performances, it's still running all these years later, unlike any of its three rivals for best musical: "Sweet Smell of Success," "Urinetown" and, of course, "Millie." Even with a half dozen Tonys, "Millie" managed to run only two years and spawned only one national tour while the stage version of "Mamma Mia!" has played the world, grossing over $2 billion to date.
As I was leaving the movie someone said that the movie was better than the stage show because it could use the actual Greek Isles.
Have a great day.. If you are even mildly interested in musicals.. Momma Mia could be your Summer Tonic.
: ) Pat
Thursday, July 24, 2008
New Freezer
We thought we could get by with our new refrig freezer side my side combo. But you have to budget your freezer space carefully if you expect to make it with one of these. Yes I know those in my audience that are dealing with apartment sized refridgs don't have any sympathy. We have gained a new since sympathy for even you.. We have been contained by not buying big bundles of food that we won't use for awhile.. Like Marie Calendar Pot Pies.. or large quantities of frozen dinners. Its been in the freezer and used within one month.. the exception has been some purchases before we became aware of the limitations.. we have a shaft of frozen salmon patties, we have a chicken rice Costco casserole and of course you keep your nuts (unlike Jessie) in the freezer.. almond and walnut.
Then this fruit crop arrived. I have been doing one freezer bag a day with the white peaches and they are starting to pile up. Today was another pie filling day. Who doesn't like a scoop of ice cream or one of a couple of kinds. A stand alone freezer makes that more of a happening.
We have been "shopping" for the right sized one. The last one was too big. It was donated to the men's rescue mission. So a small one was in order. At first we were interested in a chest freezer. But alas they do not defrost themselves. So only the uprights seem to do that. Sears had the best selection. We have waited our turn to have it delivered (delivery free on a rebate) and today they delivered.. still have to wait until tomorrow to fill it.
We got a card from the girls group that went south. We were impressed. We are looking forward to going south to the UCLA CTA Summer Institute the first week of August.. coming soon. We have a lot to do until then.
I have heard through the grapeline that others in the family have enjoyed the movie Momma Mia and are recommending it to the rest. Music from ABBA. I hope that I can get Sue out to see this today.
Love to all
Pat
Then this fruit crop arrived. I have been doing one freezer bag a day with the white peaches and they are starting to pile up. Today was another pie filling day. Who doesn't like a scoop of ice cream or one of a couple of kinds. A stand alone freezer makes that more of a happening.
We have been "shopping" for the right sized one. The last one was too big. It was donated to the men's rescue mission. So a small one was in order. At first we were interested in a chest freezer. But alas they do not defrost themselves. So only the uprights seem to do that. Sears had the best selection. We have waited our turn to have it delivered (delivery free on a rebate) and today they delivered.. still have to wait until tomorrow to fill it.
We got a card from the girls group that went south. We were impressed. We are looking forward to going south to the UCLA CTA Summer Institute the first week of August.. coming soon. We have a lot to do until then.
I have heard through the grapeline that others in the family have enjoyed the movie Momma Mia and are recommending it to the rest. Music from ABBA. I hope that I can get Sue out to see this today.
Love to all
Pat
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Pork and Hominy in a Red Chile Broth Pozole
We know this as pozole.
My daughters still remember the day we made this. I have been hunting for the recipe. It is in a rather old Sunset addition called "Cantina" When the food network first came on the dish network we were captivated by two female chefs, nicknamed the two hot tamales. They are Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken. They have put together three top restaurants in Southern California. They also cooked Latino food on the air and were not afraid to snipe at each other.
At one time I had all of their cookbooks and each has a place with a recipe or two that is really good.. at least that I have tried. I have been recollecting them on Ebay and now I have a complete collection. The last one had the posole recipe.
It is a little more difficult to find the ancho chili peppers.. dried poblamo chili pods.. and even when I found them in my local Food4less they were not labeled.. They are very mild and dried up look like big brown pears..At Food4Less they were in bulk. The real cool part of this dish is the condiments.. yup Kelly this one is for you. It has sliced limes, radishes, onion, and cabbage condiments.. but some people may also include chopped up avocado, and fried tortilla strips.
Here is the recipe:
1 lb boneless stewing pork cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 Cups water
4 dried ancho chili peppers, stemmed and seeded
5 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons of dried oregano
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion diced
2 Cups of well drained canned hominy
3 Cups of chicken or pork stock, or as needed
Sliced radishes, shredded lettuce, diced yellow onion, corn tortilla chips, diced avocado, and lime wedges for garnish.
In a saute pancombine the pork cubes and salt with the water. Bring to a boil. reduce heat and simmer gently, until barely tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the pork cool in the liquid. Drain, reserving the liquid in the bowl. Set the meat aside, covering it with a tamp towel.
Place the ancho chiles in the reserved warm cooking liquid and let soak for 20 minutes. Transfer the liquid and the chiles to a blender. Add the garlic and oregano and puree until smooth. Set aside.
In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, warm the vegetable oil . Add the onion and saute until golden, about 10 minutes, Add the pureed chili mixture, hominy and chicken or pork broth stock, adding more for a more soupy consistency. Stir in the reserved pork . Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer gently uncovered until the pork is fork tender, about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Ladle the stew into warmed shallow bowls , Arrange the garnishes in the small bowls and let guests add to the stew to taste.
(Some People have used chicken for this.. but times need to be reduce as chicken cooks faster than pork stew meat)
Pat
My daughters still remember the day we made this. I have been hunting for the recipe. It is in a rather old Sunset addition called "Cantina" When the food network first came on the dish network we were captivated by two female chefs, nicknamed the two hot tamales. They are Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken. They have put together three top restaurants in Southern California. They also cooked Latino food on the air and were not afraid to snipe at each other.
At one time I had all of their cookbooks and each has a place with a recipe or two that is really good.. at least that I have tried. I have been recollecting them on Ebay and now I have a complete collection. The last one had the posole recipe.
It is a little more difficult to find the ancho chili peppers.. dried poblamo chili pods.. and even when I found them in my local Food4less they were not labeled.. They are very mild and dried up look like big brown pears..At Food4Less they were in bulk. The real cool part of this dish is the condiments.. yup Kelly this one is for you. It has sliced limes, radishes, onion, and cabbage condiments.. but some people may also include chopped up avocado, and fried tortilla strips.
Here is the recipe:
1 lb boneless stewing pork cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 Cups water
4 dried ancho chili peppers, stemmed and seeded
5 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons of dried oregano
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion diced
2 Cups of well drained canned hominy
3 Cups of chicken or pork stock, or as needed
Sliced radishes, shredded lettuce, diced yellow onion, corn tortilla chips, diced avocado, and lime wedges for garnish.
In a saute pancombine the pork cubes and salt with the water. Bring to a boil. reduce heat and simmer gently, until barely tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the pork cool in the liquid. Drain, reserving the liquid in the bowl. Set the meat aside, covering it with a tamp towel.
Place the ancho chiles in the reserved warm cooking liquid and let soak for 20 minutes. Transfer the liquid and the chiles to a blender. Add the garlic and oregano and puree until smooth. Set aside.
In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, warm the vegetable oil . Add the onion and saute until golden, about 10 minutes, Add the pureed chili mixture, hominy and chicken or pork broth stock, adding more for a more soupy consistency. Stir in the reserved pork . Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer gently uncovered until the pork is fork tender, about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Ladle the stew into warmed shallow bowls , Arrange the garnishes in the small bowls and let guests add to the stew to taste.
(Some People have used chicken for this.. but times need to be reduce as chicken cooks faster than pork stew meat)
Pat
A Most Prolific Year for Stone Fruit
What do you do with tree after tree of beautiful fruit? We have been giving them away to neighbors and Starbucks folks. I canned all of the apricots.. the only very small harvest of the year. The Bonanza peaches produced a bumper crop. The tree underwent a renovation this summer so that it will be more stable, but with fewer peaches. The Nectarine tree totally outraced expectations this year or any previous year. There are people that prefer nectarines to peaches. Jam was made with the majority of this crop. And then there has been this marvelous white peach tree, the sugar lady. It produces super sugary peaches without very much acid. I have been peeling and putting at least of bag of these in the freezer every day. Today and Yesterday I had just short of three quarts of these so I made some premade peach pie filling. It will when it is unthawed have the tapioca, lime juice and the sugar already to go. I think that I will not unthaw them just dump them into a pie crust and let them slowly unthaw as the pie crust bakes.. It may be the hit of the Thanksgiving.. I have been given the order.. no more chocloate cakes.. Grandma always gets stuck with them and face the dilemma as to how much can they eat within their dietary restrictions. Dad is a huge fan of deep chocolate cake.. so why shouldn't he be able to eat it.
The big pluot tree has yet to get ripe. The 5 in one is cranking out fruit like crazy. It had the first of the ripe front yard fruit in the year. It produced about 30 Flavor supreme fruit. The next one is the dinosaur egg variety. There is another creamy yellow one to follow. The big tree has the green variety. It is based on the green gage plum. That is one that everyone likes.
I bought a new camera today.. It is a cannon powershot 790. At Costco for $269. It seems to have all the bells and whistles but as dad says you don't have to deal with them if you don't want to. Its a 10 pixels that captures photos at 180 dpi. That was my big gripe on the Olympus.. currently lost.. that it would carry a 10 megapixel but it would shoot at 72 dpi.. great for web dpi but not so good for prints. I also got a 4 gb sdhc chip at Costco for 38 dollars. It even came with a usb disk reader that resembles a cruiser card. It sits vertically into my usb2 hub. Pretty cool.
Sue and I are finally tackling the house. Things have been lost for so long in buckets it is about time to debucket this house. Have a great day.
Pat
The big pluot tree has yet to get ripe. The 5 in one is cranking out fruit like crazy. It had the first of the ripe front yard fruit in the year. It produced about 30 Flavor supreme fruit. The next one is the dinosaur egg variety. There is another creamy yellow one to follow. The big tree has the green variety. It is based on the green gage plum. That is one that everyone likes.
I bought a new camera today.. It is a cannon powershot 790. At Costco for $269. It seems to have all the bells and whistles but as dad says you don't have to deal with them if you don't want to. Its a 10 pixels that captures photos at 180 dpi. That was my big gripe on the Olympus.. currently lost.. that it would carry a 10 megapixel but it would shoot at 72 dpi.. great for web dpi but not so good for prints. I also got a 4 gb sdhc chip at Costco for 38 dollars. It even came with a usb disk reader that resembles a cruiser card. It sits vertically into my usb2 hub. Pretty cool.
Sue and I are finally tackling the house. Things have been lost for so long in buckets it is about time to debucket this house. Have a great day.
Pat
Monday, July 21, 2008
Cleaning up the Front Yard
The white peach tree is always calling this time of the year. It had a real bumper crop but it is yielding just a few tree ripe peaches at a time. I always like to wait until the skin can come off in big sheets before I pick them. This means the fruit under is nice and soft and sweet. Sue thinks the white peaches are too sweet and really prefers the yellow ones.. but white is what we got this time of the year. Down the pike when the other trees plug in, we should have July Elbertas or Fay Elbertas this time of the year.
The next set of pluots are coloring up nicely and we should be up to our arm pits in pluots soon.
I have been cleaning up the front yard area today since the weather has moderated significantly. Today I think that we will be lucky to reach 90 degrees. I have been working on the iris collection. The main job is to cut down the current leaves in a cheveron shape so that the new side shoots on the iris plants may take over the role of bloomers. the greener is only good for one year of flowering.. then the tuber gets old and send out multiple side tubers to produce the next years flowers. This leaves last years leaves in a dried out or semi dried out state.
I also planted some mint in the garden. I dug a hole ready to take a 5 gallon plastic pot. I put shade cloth over the holes on the bottom of the pot. Next I filled in dirt in the pot as it was seated at ground level in the garden. Then the mint went into the pot with a little enhanced soil in it. Mint is highly invasive in this climate. so I am hoping that it will take off but will be limited to the space in the 5 gallon can. The shade cloth at the bottom will keep the roots from invading the rest of the garden. Or so the theory goes.
Have a great day..
pat
The next set of pluots are coloring up nicely and we should be up to our arm pits in pluots soon.
I have been cleaning up the front yard area today since the weather has moderated significantly. Today I think that we will be lucky to reach 90 degrees. I have been working on the iris collection. The main job is to cut down the current leaves in a cheveron shape so that the new side shoots on the iris plants may take over the role of bloomers. the greener is only good for one year of flowering.. then the tuber gets old and send out multiple side tubers to produce the next years flowers. This leaves last years leaves in a dried out or semi dried out state.
I also planted some mint in the garden. I dug a hole ready to take a 5 gallon plastic pot. I put shade cloth over the holes on the bottom of the pot. Next I filled in dirt in the pot as it was seated at ground level in the garden. Then the mint went into the pot with a little enhanced soil in it. Mint is highly invasive in this climate. so I am hoping that it will take off but will be limited to the space in the 5 gallon can. The shade cloth at the bottom will keep the roots from invading the rest of the garden. Or so the theory goes.
Have a great day..
pat
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Sue Feeling Better... Manic
In the afternooon Sue was felling much better than she had for a number of days. She has been nursing 7up for almost a week. She is pretty sensitive to heat and its been more than a little warm... high in the mid 90's.
He latest drive is to get some potted plants indoors. This time of year the indoor selection of plants is minimal. Outdoor plants do not fare much diversity either. It is too late to plant Summer veggies and I think that the heat will take out most of everything that is normally associated with summer annuals. Petunias wilt and pansies don't have a chance. There are some pretty decent sales on succulents however.
We went to Orchard Supply since their stock of plants usually holds up the best. We have a lot of nice house plants now.
In the mean time we took a run through Target, Orchard and Home Depot. Then Sue said," I wouldn't mind going to the Fair if we didn't have to stay too long.."
No problem for me. So off to the Fair we went. The Temptations were starring.. but we didn't have the time to sit down and listen. We took a run through the animals and sue petted a pig, and got a charge out of some lambs that were just born. they were kicking up their heels to celebrate the cool evening.
We walked through the ag display room and the art. We walked the commercial exhibits and had a tri tip and a pork sandwich at the bar be que booth. Sue had a ear of corn and some cappucinno gelato. I had a cup of lemon gelato that was to die for... probably the most authentic.. yum. Most gelatos even in Italy come from mixes.. I wished I had one made from my ripe white peaches.
As we were leaving a lady came up to Sue from the entrance and asked if her stuffed peach could go home with her. Sue as taken back at first but then proudly exited the fair with a stuffed peach.
A Great time overall..
: ) Pat
He latest drive is to get some potted plants indoors. This time of year the indoor selection of plants is minimal. Outdoor plants do not fare much diversity either. It is too late to plant Summer veggies and I think that the heat will take out most of everything that is normally associated with summer annuals. Petunias wilt and pansies don't have a chance. There are some pretty decent sales on succulents however.
We went to Orchard Supply since their stock of plants usually holds up the best. We have a lot of nice house plants now.
In the mean time we took a run through Target, Orchard and Home Depot. Then Sue said," I wouldn't mind going to the Fair if we didn't have to stay too long.."
No problem for me. So off to the Fair we went. The Temptations were starring.. but we didn't have the time to sit down and listen. We took a run through the animals and sue petted a pig, and got a charge out of some lambs that were just born. they were kicking up their heels to celebrate the cool evening.
We walked through the ag display room and the art. We walked the commercial exhibits and had a tri tip and a pork sandwich at the bar be que booth. Sue had a ear of corn and some cappucinno gelato. I had a cup of lemon gelato that was to die for... probably the most authentic.. yum. Most gelatos even in Italy come from mixes.. I wished I had one made from my ripe white peaches.
As we were leaving a lady came up to Sue from the entrance and asked if her stuffed peach could go home with her. Sue as taken back at first but then proudly exited the fair with a stuffed peach.
A Great time overall..
: ) Pat
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Ronney a Bust
About 150 people watched part of Rooney. They are a band that sound better recorded than live. The drums were a little much. They had a little problem about where they were. At one point the lead singer said that it smelled like manure.. duh. He wanted to know how many people lived around here.
The best songs of the evening were the "cover songs" explained by them that they were songs that were recorded by other people. These showed their roots. The Band was one of their cover songs.. The weight.. you know this one put the weight on Maddy.. etc. Also they played the Del Shannon "Runaway" I wonder I wwwwwwww wonder.
The boys from Pismo had a second class cinnamon roll. They were not the blue ribbon folks that usually do this concession. There was a both with a credible gelato. It was selling huge waffle cones too. One guy left with a pile of gelato in the cone. Someone asked him how much he payed.. he said 12 dollars.
Flex your power was passing out free light bulbs and a pen if you promised to conserve energy.
There was the bungie jump. One gal, dressed in typical valley "out" costume.. jeans and a camisole lost what her top was holding in temporarily in the bungie jump.
The farm vehicles were there to ogle. Their prices and what they do were posted too.
The destruction derby was wonderful. There were 5 cars in each heat. Lots of sliding around in the mud with high powered cars. There were even some corporate sponsored cars. One was advertising Jake's hoof trimming service. Many were sponsered by Moore's auto parts and victory heads.
The station wagons did not seem to have a particular advantage like they usually do. One of the cars was a Lincoln town car. It really did well. One of the station wagons looked like a little Renault at the end crunched from both sides.
Night time temps were moderate.. in the 80's no sweater needed.
The Who is playing tonight.
: ) Pat
The best songs of the evening were the "cover songs" explained by them that they were songs that were recorded by other people. These showed their roots. The Band was one of their cover songs.. The weight.. you know this one put the weight on Maddy.. etc. Also they played the Del Shannon "Runaway" I wonder I wwwwwwww wonder.
The boys from Pismo had a second class cinnamon roll. They were not the blue ribbon folks that usually do this concession. There was a both with a credible gelato. It was selling huge waffle cones too. One guy left with a pile of gelato in the cone. Someone asked him how much he payed.. he said 12 dollars.
Flex your power was passing out free light bulbs and a pen if you promised to conserve energy.
There was the bungie jump. One gal, dressed in typical valley "out" costume.. jeans and a camisole lost what her top was holding in temporarily in the bungie jump.
The farm vehicles were there to ogle. Their prices and what they do were posted too.
The destruction derby was wonderful. There were 5 cars in each heat. Lots of sliding around in the mud with high powered cars. There were even some corporate sponsored cars. One was advertising Jake's hoof trimming service. Many were sponsered by Moore's auto parts and victory heads.
The station wagons did not seem to have a particular advantage like they usually do. One of the cars was a Lincoln town car. It really did well. One of the station wagons looked like a little Renault at the end crunched from both sides.
Night time temps were moderate.. in the 80's no sweater needed.
The Who is playing tonight.
: ) Pat
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Merced County Fair Time
Tonight is everyone's favorite.. the destruction derby. Its free with admission. Some other fairs are charging a premium for this attraction. It is alot of crashing and steaming.
Also staring on the celeb stage is a group called Rooney. I never heard of them before so the internet and Itunes was perfect in sampling their music. They are a very young California surf oriented indie band with 5 vocal members... similar sound to the Monkeys.. oh I know they would hate that description.. There is a lot of Beatles pop sound in them and the harmonies are more surf oriented.
The weather has moderated here.. we had some overcast in the sky today and we are only supposed to reach 92.
I have been cleaning up the front patio today. I have come to the conclusion that the front patio is too hot for annuals.. even when they are watered automatically. So big pots it is and that allows the roots to hide down in them.
I got the fountain working again on the front walk up so we have front porch music.
Got to get back at it..
: ) Pat
Also staring on the celeb stage is a group called Rooney. I never heard of them before so the internet and Itunes was perfect in sampling their music. They are a very young California surf oriented indie band with 5 vocal members... similar sound to the Monkeys.. oh I know they would hate that description.. There is a lot of Beatles pop sound in them and the harmonies are more surf oriented.
The weather has moderated here.. we had some overcast in the sky today and we are only supposed to reach 92.
I have been cleaning up the front patio today. I have come to the conclusion that the front patio is too hot for annuals.. even when they are watered automatically. So big pots it is and that allows the roots to hide down in them.
I got the fountain working again on the front walk up so we have front porch music.
Got to get back at it..
: ) Pat
What kind of Reporting is that?
After all that talk about the game.. I didn't report the score or who won. Of course it matters very little as to who won. But for the sake of the home field advantage.. the
American League came through again.. as it has for the last 12 years.
This means more designated batters and the pitchers are a little more safe from having to show they are not good hitters.
The final score was 4-3.
Pat
American League came through again.. as it has for the last 12 years.
This means more designated batters and the pitchers are a little more safe from having to show they are not good hitters.
The final score was 4-3.
Pat
Baseball to the Bitter End 15 innings
The baseball all star game was last night. The game started with the pitchers ruling.. as any good game will be. The pitchers especially the all star pitchers were pretty incredible.
The middle of the game had a huge amount of infield work. This is still a pretty soft area of baseball considering the history. I know the runners run faster these days. But there was actually a pick off at first.. kind of a strange happening in a big league game these days. There were sacrifice bunts and players were thrown out trying to stretch hits into doubles. In the later innings there were lots of base runners, since the pitchers had pitched on Sunday and this was Tuesday. The Giants pitcher flaked out.. Linsacome.. a great pitcher showed up to NT with flu like symptoms. The national league was sorely missing his arm..
The American League flat ran out of pitchers. The winning pitcher had pitched on Sunday and even he was a little wild.
So what started as a bang bang pitchers duel ran into the night and into the early morning as a marathon... a 4 hour plus game. Thats baseball.
The middle of the game had a huge amount of infield work. This is still a pretty soft area of baseball considering the history. I know the runners run faster these days. But there was actually a pick off at first.. kind of a strange happening in a big league game these days. There were sacrifice bunts and players were thrown out trying to stretch hits into doubles. In the later innings there were lots of base runners, since the pitchers had pitched on Sunday and this was Tuesday. The Giants pitcher flaked out.. Linsacome.. a great pitcher showed up to NT with flu like symptoms. The national league was sorely missing his arm..
The American League flat ran out of pitchers. The winning pitcher had pitched on Sunday and even he was a little wild.
So what started as a bang bang pitchers duel ran into the night and into the early morning as a marathon... a 4 hour plus game. Thats baseball.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Watching the Tour
The annual Tour de France is often on my TV during this time of year.
There is something about the precision of team cycling over the French and Spanish countryside the is visually interesting. With all of the precision, at the end there is a mad scramble for the finish.
Today was a major day in the Pyrenees. The first climb took the starch out of most of the riders. Then it leveled off and headed for a shorter steeper climb... 10% grade. I think that Kelly can relate to that with the dive and climb up out of a Utah lake with the old Travelall. I think that it was rated at 7.5% grade. The Donner Summit is pretty darn steep but its grade is mostly in the lower 6s.
There were a few accidents as they came down the hill. There was one particularly wicked turn. It was not too far from the Summit off ramp on Hwy 17. You watch your self coming back at you. Can you image doing that at 45 miles an hour?
The towns are pretty cool in France too. I also enjoy the camping rigs spectators have along the side of the course.
Most of the teams are multinational so the team is not only competing for the company, but also recognition the rider's country. This will all change when the Olympics come this Summer.
Take care Pat
There is something about the precision of team cycling over the French and Spanish countryside the is visually interesting. With all of the precision, at the end there is a mad scramble for the finish.
Today was a major day in the Pyrenees. The first climb took the starch out of most of the riders. Then it leveled off and headed for a shorter steeper climb... 10% grade. I think that Kelly can relate to that with the dive and climb up out of a Utah lake with the old Travelall. I think that it was rated at 7.5% grade. The Donner Summit is pretty darn steep but its grade is mostly in the lower 6s.
There were a few accidents as they came down the hill. There was one particularly wicked turn. It was not too far from the Summit off ramp on Hwy 17. You watch your self coming back at you. Can you image doing that at 45 miles an hour?
The towns are pretty cool in France too. I also enjoy the camping rigs spectators have along the side of the course.
Most of the teams are multinational so the team is not only competing for the company, but also recognition the rider's country. This will all change when the Olympics come this Summer.
Take care Pat
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Tamale Pie
I think this was the most dreaded of my homestyle dishes by the girls. I had a chunk of ground beef the I carefully unthawed for two days in the refrig. Meatloaf was just not going to make it because mashed potatoes usually goes with that and I just didn't think about making mashed potatoes.
The cool part about tamale pie,is the olives. The first thing that Sue checks out is whether or not there is an olive in her portion.
Linzi does the same when it comes to chicken morengo. Everyone needs olives.
:) pat
The cool part about tamale pie,is the olives. The first thing that Sue checks out is whether or not there is an olive in her portion.
Linzi does the same when it comes to chicken morengo. Everyone needs olives.
:) pat
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Yard clean up
Yesterday morning I worked on getting the front yard looking a little better,
I mowed the lawn and trimmed it.
I trimmed the Bonanza peach tree in the front so that it will be stronger for the winter. Some of the lower branches got edited.
The nectarine tree got some adjustment (still a few left on the tree).
The ground under the trees got a quick hoe and pick up.
All this was possibble because it was in the 90's yesterday instead of the 103+.
Not all the baristas got peaches the last time I took them.. so they got some this time. A year ago Dad was getting his heart bypass in San Francisco. He is doing just great since that time. He is alert, and walks every afternoon with Mom. He has a backyard orchard that won't quit.
Have a great Saturday.
:) Pat
I mowed the lawn and trimmed it.
I trimmed the Bonanza peach tree in the front so that it will be stronger for the winter. Some of the lower branches got edited.
The nectarine tree got some adjustment (still a few left on the tree).
The ground under the trees got a quick hoe and pick up.
All this was possibble because it was in the 90's yesterday instead of the 103+.
Not all the baristas got peaches the last time I took them.. so they got some this time. A year ago Dad was getting his heart bypass in San Francisco. He is doing just great since that time. He is alert, and walks every afternoon with Mom. He has a backyard orchard that won't quit.
Have a great Saturday.
:) Pat
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Its Hot, But okay
We are expected to get a little hotter today. Around 107. I don't think it will get there. We have clouds in the sky. We have a West to East breeze. There was enough breeze so that I had to noose up my hat.
I finally got the Reunion 1968 page up. We are going to the Best Western El Rancho on October 25th for a confab. Whenever you start a new domain... such as prbrownie.com a series of steps has to be accomplished.
1 The domain has to be searched to see that no other domain has the same name.
2. Rights to that name have to be purchased.
3. Hosting to a server has to be rented.
4. Acknowledgment that the domain has been accepted in one layer different than the layer of hosting.. with different passwords and Id numbers. This takes a couple of days. It also registers who will do the support for this site. It is the legal teeth of ownership.
5. The hosting server has to put up a listing with the various catalog sites so that the new site can be accessed. A set of user names and passwords has to be submitted for this part to take place. This part may take up to 48 hours.
I am going through Go Daddy . com to work out the details of most of the steps listed above. I also had to remember how to use go live to make a page. So the first page is a little sketchy. El Camino Class of 68 Reunion Page.
: ) Pat
I finally got the Reunion 1968 page up. We are going to the Best Western El Rancho on October 25th for a confab. Whenever you start a new domain... such as prbrownie.com a series of steps has to be accomplished.
1 The domain has to be searched to see that no other domain has the same name.
2. Rights to that name have to be purchased.
3. Hosting to a server has to be rented.
4. Acknowledgment that the domain has been accepted in one layer different than the layer of hosting.. with different passwords and Id numbers. This takes a couple of days. It also registers who will do the support for this site. It is the legal teeth of ownership.
5. The hosting server has to put up a listing with the various catalog sites so that the new site can be accessed. A set of user names and passwords has to be submitted for this part to take place. This part may take up to 48 hours.
I am going through Go Daddy . com to work out the details of most of the steps listed above. I also had to remember how to use go live to make a page. So the first page is a little sketchy. El Camino Class of 68 Reunion Page.
: ) Pat
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Rejoiner to Kelly
Let's think about grandpa and grandma for a moment...
Did they have air conditioning?
no air conditioning.. still most people around there don't have it
Did they have more than the pickup truck?
Yes they had a brand new Dodge.. cornet with push button transmission settings
Did they take long vacations and if they did, did they drive? take an airplane?
They came out to see us every Christmas except a couple.. where we went out there. Most of the time they took the train. Sometimes they drove.. the southern route through Las Vegas. They had friends all over the state.. from the peach orchard. when they drove down to see us in Monte Vista we were all invited out to a lunch in Creed where some acquaintances had a trout farm
How many nights a week did they eat out?
They always ate out one or two nights a week. One time at the Mesa drug store lunc counter. Sometimes in the summer at the Peak drive in.. (the place that Grandpa dumped a large cup of ice on the counter that had minimal soda in it.. Claiming that he would never go back again. He did go back but we always stopped at Colescotts to get our sodas from a bottle) They were also patrons of Furrs cafeterias.
Did they have a color television? What were their hobbies?
No color TV... wasn't invented yet. They watched every day Art Linkletter's Kids say the funniest things.. just before their afternoon siesta. Grandma loved to collect pretty things. Granpa was a hunter and fisherman.. but work and managing his 30 acre farm was his first priority.
I once did a comparison with my weekly grocery list and what grandma's would have been. We eat waaaaay more processed food. We believe in food from foreign countries.
You might be surprised with this one. They always had Karo syrup... clear and maple flavored. The biscuits were often "tube" biscuits. She never made her own mayo. She bought store pectin. And those "kindergarten chickens" were store bought in the deep freeze.
Backyards are becoming more and more expensive. As we look at housing options, one that is looking really good is a condo in downtown SJ... but that would make growing peaches rather difficult.
Do you think that a backyard would be expensive in San Jose in 1970? We were looking at a home on the Foster Lagoon in about 1963.. you could sail to your grocery store.. price 22,000. I think my point on this one is that people have backyard with room for a fruit tree don't plant them.. they would rather plant an ash tree or a birch. Then they don't eat fruit.. that is changing.. or it is a real luxury item. When Heather was bringing in her sack of fruit from us on the elevator was asked by a fellow elevator rider.. do you have fruit in there?" It is a real luxury for condo dwellers.
My commute is 26 miles each way... is that 52 miles a day? When I was working in Sonoma County, I drove at least a hundred miles of backroads every day. Will fuel increase our use of public transit?
This is the question for all of us to consider. If gas gets to be 8 dollars a gallon.. how much commuting can you afford to do?
Pat
Did they have air conditioning?
no air conditioning.. still most people around there don't have it
Did they have more than the pickup truck?
Yes they had a brand new Dodge.. cornet with push button transmission settings
Did they take long vacations and if they did, did they drive? take an airplane?
They came out to see us every Christmas except a couple.. where we went out there. Most of the time they took the train. Sometimes they drove.. the southern route through Las Vegas. They had friends all over the state.. from the peach orchard. when they drove down to see us in Monte Vista we were all invited out to a lunch in Creed where some acquaintances had a trout farm
How many nights a week did they eat out?
They always ate out one or two nights a week. One time at the Mesa drug store lunc counter. Sometimes in the summer at the Peak drive in.. (the place that Grandpa dumped a large cup of ice on the counter that had minimal soda in it.. Claiming that he would never go back again. He did go back but we always stopped at Colescotts to get our sodas from a bottle) They were also patrons of Furrs cafeterias.
Did they have a color television? What were their hobbies?
No color TV... wasn't invented yet. They watched every day Art Linkletter's Kids say the funniest things.. just before their afternoon siesta. Grandma loved to collect pretty things. Granpa was a hunter and fisherman.. but work and managing his 30 acre farm was his first priority.
I once did a comparison with my weekly grocery list and what grandma's would have been. We eat waaaaay more processed food. We believe in food from foreign countries.
You might be surprised with this one. They always had Karo syrup... clear and maple flavored. The biscuits were often "tube" biscuits. She never made her own mayo. She bought store pectin. And those "kindergarten chickens" were store bought in the deep freeze.
Backyards are becoming more and more expensive. As we look at housing options, one that is looking really good is a condo in downtown SJ... but that would make growing peaches rather difficult.
Do you think that a backyard would be expensive in San Jose in 1970? We were looking at a home on the Foster Lagoon in about 1963.. you could sail to your grocery store.. price 22,000. I think my point on this one is that people have backyard with room for a fruit tree don't plant them.. they would rather plant an ash tree or a birch. Then they don't eat fruit.. that is changing.. or it is a real luxury item. When Heather was bringing in her sack of fruit from us on the elevator was asked by a fellow elevator rider.. do you have fruit in there?" It is a real luxury for condo dwellers.
My commute is 26 miles each way... is that 52 miles a day? When I was working in Sonoma County, I drove at least a hundred miles of backroads every day. Will fuel increase our use of public transit?
This is the question for all of us to consider. If gas gets to be 8 dollars a gallon.. how much commuting can you afford to do?
Pat
How much of Your Income Goes to Fuel?
Buy a house in valley.. get some acreage and a place for your children to grow up out of urban influences.
This was the promise to the new generation of road warriors.
It was also the promise to my generation. Most of the my graduating class now lives in South San Jose instead of South San Francisco. Those that moved got suburban lots with a nice backyard. It was something that they could not afford in SSF. The jobs headed south too. San Jose grew and grew. The once plentiful apricot orchards were replaced with urban sprawl with no since of containment. Traffic got worse. Serious shopping moved to the perimeter and everyone drove cars to get to everywhere. Spending more fuel to do the basics.
Gas has climbed in my adult life from 30 cents a gallon to more than 4.65 a gallon. As great as it is to be a conservationist.. and we all should use less.. this still amounts to inflation. It shows up in the food he buy. White peaches at Raley's are 3.99 a pound. When Grandpa had a farm, he sold tree ripe fruit for a dollar a bushel People buying for fruit stands on the Eastern slope of the state could even get a better price than that if they were buying more than 20 bushels. if you brought your own containers.At today's prices, 3.99 a pound makes a bushel of peaches (about 30 pounds) to be 120 dollars. Heather said a pound of organic peaches in the city are over 5 dollars a pound. Save the fuel, plant peaches or apples or something you can eat in your front and backyard!
Older people are having a really difficult time with this economy.
At the bargaining table we will have a problem with this economy and its inflation too.
It will get down to labor vs fuel. Its a chicken and egg question. You cannot get the kids to school without transportation. Without kids in school you do not need as many teachers to teach them.
The district will always pay its fuel bill first then its labor bill.
Take care.. stay cool..
Pat
This was the promise to the new generation of road warriors.
It was also the promise to my generation. Most of the my graduating class now lives in South San Jose instead of South San Francisco. Those that moved got suburban lots with a nice backyard. It was something that they could not afford in SSF. The jobs headed south too. San Jose grew and grew. The once plentiful apricot orchards were replaced with urban sprawl with no since of containment. Traffic got worse. Serious shopping moved to the perimeter and everyone drove cars to get to everywhere. Spending more fuel to do the basics.
Gas has climbed in my adult life from 30 cents a gallon to more than 4.65 a gallon. As great as it is to be a conservationist.. and we all should use less.. this still amounts to inflation. It shows up in the food he buy. White peaches at Raley's are 3.99 a pound. When Grandpa had a farm, he sold tree ripe fruit for a dollar a bushel People buying for fruit stands on the Eastern slope of the state could even get a better price than that if they were buying more than 20 bushels. if you brought your own containers.At today's prices, 3.99 a pound makes a bushel of peaches (about 30 pounds) to be 120 dollars. Heather said a pound of organic peaches in the city are over 5 dollars a pound. Save the fuel, plant peaches or apples or something you can eat in your front and backyard!
Older people are having a really difficult time with this economy.
At the bargaining table we will have a problem with this economy and its inflation too.
It will get down to labor vs fuel. Its a chicken and egg question. You cannot get the kids to school without transportation. Without kids in school you do not need as many teachers to teach them.
The district will always pay its fuel bill first then its labor bill.
Take care.. stay cool..
Pat
Off the Waitlist
We were wait listed to go to UCLA for the CTA summer institute. We needed a single room so that Suzie could come along. We were informed by email that we were no longer wait listed and they had accommodations on campuss. This worked out beautifully for us, as we could eat all of our meals together. Conferences are strange to chart since some sessions get out earlier than others.
The CTA Summer Institute is right before school starts... man I hope that at school start we don't have this kind of weather. It was over 110 yesterday. The smoke from the fires was still really bad. I am walking much eariler this morning.. it is already 77 degrees at 6.
I made the best cobbler of the season so far yesterday. It was a cake cobbler (sorry Linzi) that combined the peaches of three trees. I didn't cook the peaches first so the cake, a Lady Baltimore, had more time to bake.
What was great about this one was that sugars in the cake got to tasting like carmel.
Yum
Pat
The CTA Summer Institute is right before school starts... man I hope that at school start we don't have this kind of weather. It was over 110 yesterday. The smoke from the fires was still really bad. I am walking much eariler this morning.. it is already 77 degrees at 6.
I made the best cobbler of the season so far yesterday. It was a cake cobbler (sorry Linzi) that combined the peaches of three trees. I didn't cook the peaches first so the cake, a Lady Baltimore, had more time to bake.
What was great about this one was that sugars in the cake got to tasting like carmel.
Yum
Pat
Monday, July 7, 2008
Dearth of Caffiene Free Diet Pepsi
Throughout the region it is getting harder and harder to fine caffeine free diet coke or Pepsi.
This meets the requirement of a virgin coke.No sugar to caffeine nor worries. I think that coke is trying to move us to coke zero. The recipe is very different. It seems more syrupy. The soda companies are always good for a conspiracy theory.
The white peaches are starting to get ripe. I had one today that had no green on it at all. The variety that we have is called sugar lady. It is very sweet and has little acid in it. The texture is good. The pit is very red, but the flesh is very white. The skin is very much like a yellow peach. The literature on the web says that it is beginning to show up at fruit stands. It is a great peach and a little different from the traditional white peach, the Babcock.
The pee wee peach closest to the sidewalk is also ripe. We still have some Bonanza peaches and a few apricots are hanging on the tree in the backyard. The 6 in one pluot is almost ready for the next variety. It is a yellow pluot with a tinge of red. So we are swimming in peach juice these days.
The pur filter on the refrig is starting to show red. Sears has them for sale at 56 dollars a pop. It sure keeps the chlorine out of the ice cubes.
My walk at 7:40 this morning with a outside temp at 78. We are headed for a forecasted 109 today.. wow. I am sure glad we have a functional air conditioner.
Have a great day. Pat
This meets the requirement of a virgin coke.No sugar to caffeine nor worries. I think that coke is trying to move us to coke zero. The recipe is very different. It seems more syrupy. The soda companies are always good for a conspiracy theory.
The white peaches are starting to get ripe. I had one today that had no green on it at all. The variety that we have is called sugar lady. It is very sweet and has little acid in it. The texture is good. The pit is very red, but the flesh is very white. The skin is very much like a yellow peach. The literature on the web says that it is beginning to show up at fruit stands. It is a great peach and a little different from the traditional white peach, the Babcock.
The pee wee peach closest to the sidewalk is also ripe. We still have some Bonanza peaches and a few apricots are hanging on the tree in the backyard. The 6 in one pluot is almost ready for the next variety. It is a yellow pluot with a tinge of red. So we are swimming in peach juice these days.
The pur filter on the refrig is starting to show red. Sears has them for sale at 56 dollars a pop. It sure keeps the chlorine out of the ice cubes.
My walk at 7:40 this morning with a outside temp at 78. We are headed for a forecasted 109 today.. wow. I am sure glad we have a functional air conditioner.
Have a great day. Pat
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Pacifika
I picked up a sample of this group's songs at Starbucks.. Yes they are passing out ITunes songs again.. only once a week.
Its a great group.. unusual sound. Most songs are in spanish and I needed the dictionary to figure out some of the titles..
Olas = waves
Hijas= daughters
Miel= honey
I downloaded the album as part of my July 90 songs budget at emusic.
Their new album is Asuncion
They are an alternative trio from Vancouver, Canada.
Here is their background from their website:
Pacifika. The name is at once familiar and mysterious, implying endless seascapes and tropical beaches, golden sunsets and endless summers, warm tides and mighty tsunamis. “Words are powerful,” says the band’s lead singer and chief lyricist Silvana Kane. “We wanted a word that described the music and our feelings. Pacifika sounds warm and eternal, like the ocean itself, open to limitless possibilities.
Pacifika is the multi-talented Silvana Kane, a Peruvian born singer, re-formed pop sensation (West End Girls), and accomplished actress with a love of flamenco, electronica, and textured percussion; Adam Popowitz a Canadian bred guitarist adept at new wave, classical, and pop, and a skilled producer responsible for a catalogue that includes indie rock and Armenian folk music; and Toby Peter, a dub wise bassist born in Canada and raised in Barbados, explorer of jazz, hip-hop, metal and Caribbean grooves. Together the Vancouver based trio is making a new kind of global pop, music that nods to its diverse international influences, while forging its own unique voice. Jazz infused and Latin tinged, marked by gently flowing melodies, deep grooves, waves of cracking percussion and the occasional burst of exhilarating guitar noise, Pacifika’s comfortable, complex sound defies categories, creating soothing soundscapes held together by Kane’s smooth, intimate vocals.
Pacifika produced Asunción in 2006, with the three partners working all night, eating, playing and writing together. Arrangements were done on the fly, as the songs evolved, and the trio’s multifaceted influences came into play to create their own singular style. “We have a clear vision of our sound,” Peter explains. “And we all have the experience and know how to fulfill the vision. We shared creative duties with minimal friction. We’d try different things until we caught a wave, then let it take us wherever it wanted to go.” The freewheeling music of Pacifika borrows from Latin America, Spain, North America and the United Kingdom to generate a positive vibe guaranteed to relax your nerves and uplift your spirit.
“We look at Asunción as a body of work, an album that takes you on a journey,” Kane explains. “The songs flow and tell you a story, starting with ‘Sol,’ the rising sun, and ending with ‘Las Olas,’ the waves, lifting you up and floating away with you. Asunción is the journey we all take back into the light.”
Pat: I think that this group has all the right parts.. check them out on Itunes and see if you don't agree.
Its a great group.. unusual sound. Most songs are in spanish and I needed the dictionary to figure out some of the titles..
Olas = waves
Hijas= daughters
Miel= honey
I downloaded the album as part of my July 90 songs budget at emusic.
Their new album is Asuncion
They are an alternative trio from Vancouver, Canada.
Here is their background from their website:
Pacifika. The name is at once familiar and mysterious, implying endless seascapes and tropical beaches, golden sunsets and endless summers, warm tides and mighty tsunamis. “Words are powerful,” says the band’s lead singer and chief lyricist Silvana Kane. “We wanted a word that described the music and our feelings. Pacifika sounds warm and eternal, like the ocean itself, open to limitless possibilities.
Pacifika is the multi-talented Silvana Kane, a Peruvian born singer, re-formed pop sensation (West End Girls), and accomplished actress with a love of flamenco, electronica, and textured percussion; Adam Popowitz a Canadian bred guitarist adept at new wave, classical, and pop, and a skilled producer responsible for a catalogue that includes indie rock and Armenian folk music; and Toby Peter, a dub wise bassist born in Canada and raised in Barbados, explorer of jazz, hip-hop, metal and Caribbean grooves. Together the Vancouver based trio is making a new kind of global pop, music that nods to its diverse international influences, while forging its own unique voice. Jazz infused and Latin tinged, marked by gently flowing melodies, deep grooves, waves of cracking percussion and the occasional burst of exhilarating guitar noise, Pacifika’s comfortable, complex sound defies categories, creating soothing soundscapes held together by Kane’s smooth, intimate vocals.
Pacifika produced Asunción in 2006, with the three partners working all night, eating, playing and writing together. Arrangements were done on the fly, as the songs evolved, and the trio’s multifaceted influences came into play to create their own singular style. “We have a clear vision of our sound,” Peter explains. “And we all have the experience and know how to fulfill the vision. We shared creative duties with minimal friction. We’d try different things until we caught a wave, then let it take us wherever it wanted to go.” The freewheeling music of Pacifika borrows from Latin America, Spain, North America and the United Kingdom to generate a positive vibe guaranteed to relax your nerves and uplift your spirit.
“We look at Asunción as a body of work, an album that takes you on a journey,” Kane explains. “The songs flow and tell you a story, starting with ‘Sol,’ the rising sun, and ending with ‘Las Olas,’ the waves, lifting you up and floating away with you. Asunción is the journey we all take back into the light.”
Pat: I think that this group has all the right parts.. check them out on Itunes and see if you don't agree.
July 5th at Morgan Hill
We met in Morgan Hill.
I brought the chicken morengo. I showed mom how to make the polenta (butter and dried cheese), I also brought some salad makings and two peach cobblers. Mom made a peach cobbler too.. out of their white peaches.
Consensus: White peaches are better eaten fresh
Yellow peaches are best in cobbler.
Cake cobbler is the family traditional cobbler.. (source Wanda Brown) often made with some modifications to a jiffy mix.. Also a great cornbread could be made by mixing a jiffy corn muffin mix with a yellow cake mix... better than Marie Calenders.
Sue and both girls had a great time shopping at the outlets. Business clothes and warm clothes were the garment du jour.
The polenta turned out just right. I ground up some romano cheese to add to the 5 tablespoons of butter... yum
Heather is still a steadfast cake cobbler fan. Linzi sticks to the biscuit cobbler. Heather was disappointed that more cake cobbler was not provided... it was the whole recipe.. (it also means that it met with approval)
The weather was great.. had a great time..
Home safely at 10:30.
Pat
I brought the chicken morengo. I showed mom how to make the polenta (butter and dried cheese), I also brought some salad makings and two peach cobblers. Mom made a peach cobbler too.. out of their white peaches.
Consensus: White peaches are better eaten fresh
Yellow peaches are best in cobbler.
Cake cobbler is the family traditional cobbler.. (source Wanda Brown) often made with some modifications to a jiffy mix.. Also a great cornbread could be made by mixing a jiffy corn muffin mix with a yellow cake mix... better than Marie Calenders.
Sue and both girls had a great time shopping at the outlets. Business clothes and warm clothes were the garment du jour.
The polenta turned out just right. I ground up some romano cheese to add to the 5 tablespoons of butter... yum
Heather is still a steadfast cake cobbler fan. Linzi sticks to the biscuit cobbler. Heather was disappointed that more cake cobbler was not provided... it was the whole recipe.. (it also means that it met with approval)
The weather was great.. had a great time..
Home safely at 10:30.
Pat
Fourth of July on the TV
The fourth is a little scary here. Some people have been to Mexico and or Wyoming and brought back some bottle rockets.
In the suburbs they are shot into the air and quite possibly on to the roofs of houses. This is a pretty scary prospect. We stayed home with our hose ready.
I decided to cook and watch TV on the Fourth.
I started watching Wimbledon tennis. Nadal is a new force in the sport. There were some pretty amazing shots. They were not on the big three broadcast which collected and time swapped to later in the day so that they could get in their morning shows. (It was a Friday)
I watched a little Nascar. It was a nightime version of the Daytona 500.. only shorter to get the race in before the fireworks. Very good race and on a track that is appropriate for Nascar. It is long enough and wide enough to go three wide. The winner has Tim Helden, pulling the win for the Farm Bureau.
We watched the movie "Vantage Point." It hooks you with feeding you a little more information each time it tells the story. It is a president assassination plot that has a number of kinks and side stories to it. Forrest Whittaker and Dennis Quaid do great role in the lead. The story takes place in Spain. There is color all over this movie. It was a great red box rent.Sue says that it is a sharable..
I watched a little of the new Lynard Skynyrd on HD showcase. They were having a difficult time getting as much audience participation as they wanted. I was pleased with their rendition of Three Steps.
I also watched the PBS version of the celebration in Washington D.C. with Heuy Lewis and the news. There was also a guy that came from the idol show. He insisted on singing a Bruce Sprinsteen number in Bruce Springsteen style... so what is it with Idol winners.. They should be doing their own style by now... hummm
Lots of great singers on this show too. Staging was a little weird.
Cooking... I made up two chickens in Morengo style.. and yes.. two peach cobblers. Sue asked me,"Did you make it Heather style (cake) or Linzi style (biscuit)? I returned..
"If you were making it what would you do?"
She replied.. "I would make one of each."
I said,"You got it.."
Have a great post 4th.
: ) Pat
In the suburbs they are shot into the air and quite possibly on to the roofs of houses. This is a pretty scary prospect. We stayed home with our hose ready.
I decided to cook and watch TV on the Fourth.
I started watching Wimbledon tennis. Nadal is a new force in the sport. There were some pretty amazing shots. They were not on the big three broadcast which collected and time swapped to later in the day so that they could get in their morning shows. (It was a Friday)
I watched a little Nascar. It was a nightime version of the Daytona 500.. only shorter to get the race in before the fireworks. Very good race and on a track that is appropriate for Nascar. It is long enough and wide enough to go three wide. The winner has Tim Helden, pulling the win for the Farm Bureau.
We watched the movie "Vantage Point." It hooks you with feeding you a little more information each time it tells the story. It is a president assassination plot that has a number of kinks and side stories to it. Forrest Whittaker and Dennis Quaid do great role in the lead. The story takes place in Spain. There is color all over this movie. It was a great red box rent.Sue says that it is a sharable..
I watched a little of the new Lynard Skynyrd on HD showcase. They were having a difficult time getting as much audience participation as they wanted. I was pleased with their rendition of Three Steps.
I also watched the PBS version of the celebration in Washington D.C. with Heuy Lewis and the news. There was also a guy that came from the idol show. He insisted on singing a Bruce Sprinsteen number in Bruce Springsteen style... so what is it with Idol winners.. They should be doing their own style by now... hummm
Lots of great singers on this show too. Staging was a little weird.
Cooking... I made up two chickens in Morengo style.. and yes.. two peach cobblers. Sue asked me,"Did you make it Heather style (cake) or Linzi style (biscuit)? I returned..
"If you were making it what would you do?"
She replied.. "I would make one of each."
I said,"You got it.."
Have a great post 4th.
: ) Pat
Thursday, July 3, 2008
4th of July in San Jose
It used to be a big thing.
When we were home for the 4th, we would all pile into the car in the evening and travel the 101 to San Jose. The big event was at Spartan Stadium. I remember it being considerably hotter then South City, and more windy. We got there in time to see the drum and bugle groups play. We got there in time to hear all of the politician's speeches. We got there in time to run up and down the grassy endzones. It was sooo cool.
It was a time that the fireworks seemingly exploded over our heads. We were very impressed by the show on the ground floor. There were spinners that spun and exploded to one another. There were American Flags set up in fireworks. There was even a Nigara Falls of fireworks on the floor of the stadium. It was a great event. We never bought our own fireworks except for a black worm or two and some boxes of sparklers. If we could go to that show we were not disappointed.
Nothing can be like that now. The liability of ground shows makes that hard. In Atwater they used to have the Miss Atwater contest just before. That has shifted to a separate event with a paid admission... with budget cuts.
One year the big deal was honoring the anniversary of the statue of Liberty. Everyone bought foam Statue of Liberty visors at the Atwater show.
This is a really tough time for Heather. She freaks out with the ka booms. We try to be indoors at Disneyland when the firworks go off. Last year we didn't make it, but we were far enough away that it was okay... well sort of.
Happy 4th Pat
When we were home for the 4th, we would all pile into the car in the evening and travel the 101 to San Jose. The big event was at Spartan Stadium. I remember it being considerably hotter then South City, and more windy. We got there in time to see the drum and bugle groups play. We got there in time to hear all of the politician's speeches. We got there in time to run up and down the grassy endzones. It was sooo cool.
It was a time that the fireworks seemingly exploded over our heads. We were very impressed by the show on the ground floor. There were spinners that spun and exploded to one another. There were American Flags set up in fireworks. There was even a Nigara Falls of fireworks on the floor of the stadium. It was a great event. We never bought our own fireworks except for a black worm or two and some boxes of sparklers. If we could go to that show we were not disappointed.
Nothing can be like that now. The liability of ground shows makes that hard. In Atwater they used to have the Miss Atwater contest just before. That has shifted to a separate event with a paid admission... with budget cuts.
One year the big deal was honoring the anniversary of the statue of Liberty. Everyone bought foam Statue of Liberty visors at the Atwater show.
This is a really tough time for Heather. She freaks out with the ka booms. We try to be indoors at Disneyland when the firworks go off. Last year we didn't make it, but we were far enough away that it was okay... well sort of.
Happy 4th Pat
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
From the Newsweek Stumper
A little Tuesday Politics:
OBAMA'S MONEY CLASS
(David Brooks, New York Times)
Political analysts now notice a gap between professionals and managers. Professionals, like lawyers and media types, tend to vote and give Democratic. Corporate managers tend to vote and give Republican. The former get their values from competitive universities and the media world; the latter get theirs from churches, management seminars and the country club. The trends are pretty clear: rising economic sectors tend to favor Democrats while declining economic sectors are more likely to favor Republicans. The Democratic Party (not just Obama) has huge fund-raising advantages among people who work in electronics, communications, law and the catchall category of finance, insurance and real estate. Republicans have the advantage in agribusiness, oil and gas and transportation. Which set of sectors do you think are going to grow most quickly in this century’s service economy?
OBAMA'S MONEY CLASS
(David Brooks, New York Times)
Political analysts now notice a gap between professionals and managers. Professionals, like lawyers and media types, tend to vote and give Democratic. Corporate managers tend to vote and give Republican. The former get their values from competitive universities and the media world; the latter get theirs from churches, management seminars and the country club. The trends are pretty clear: rising economic sectors tend to favor Democrats while declining economic sectors are more likely to favor Republicans. The Democratic Party (not just Obama) has huge fund-raising advantages among people who work in electronics, communications, law and the catchall category of finance, insurance and real estate. Republicans have the advantage in agribusiness, oil and gas and transportation. Which set of sectors do you think are going to grow most quickly in this century’s service economy?
Time to pull up the 4th of July Collection
Eight years ago, Linzi and I put together our 4th of July collection. Based on what we wanted in the collection, and the help of napster, we collected a great mix. Those of you that still have it on your Ipod playlist may want to call it up and listen to it again.
4th of July 2000
40 hour Week ----Alabama
City of New Orleans- Arlo Guthre
California Girls- Beach Boys
Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen
Glory Days-- Bruce Sprinsteen
Abraham, John, Martin --- Dion
Rodeo- Garth Brooks
Poems, Prayers, Promises -- John Denver
Please Come to Boston -- Kenny Loggins
Sweet Home Alabama -- Lynyrd Skynyrd
California Dreamin-- Mamas and Pappas
America- Neil Diamond
RC America - Ray Charles
Joy to the World - Three Dog Night
God Bless the USA -- Lee Greenwood
Hotel California - Eagles
America Pie- Don McLean
Several years later, Heather and I sat down to do a mix that was a little heavier. It is called Americana Rock.
It was in response to the notion that any patriotic rock series worth its salt has to have Jimmi Hendricks Star Spangled Banner. I agree for the first 50 bars of the song.. after that it loses my interest.
So here is that mix:
Rock Americana
Star Spangled Banner--- Jimi Hendricks at Woodstock
Mountain Honey-- Steve Miller Band
Small Town -- John Mellencamp
Light my Fire- Doors
Magic Carpet Ride- Steppenwolf
Jack and Diane --- John Melloncamp
Edge of Seventeen--- Stevie Nicks
Independent Women-- Destiny's Child
Ain't No Mountain High Enough---Micheal McDonald
Piece of my Heart- Janis Joplin
American Women--- Lenny Kravatiz
The Joker-- Steve Miller Band
4th of July 2000
40 hour Week ----Alabama
City of New Orleans- Arlo Guthre
California Girls- Beach Boys
Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen
Glory Days-- Bruce Sprinsteen
Abraham, John, Martin --- Dion
Rodeo- Garth Brooks
Poems, Prayers, Promises -- John Denver
Please Come to Boston -- Kenny Loggins
Sweet Home Alabama -- Lynyrd Skynyrd
California Dreamin-- Mamas and Pappas
America- Neil Diamond
RC America - Ray Charles
Joy to the World - Three Dog Night
God Bless the USA -- Lee Greenwood
Hotel California - Eagles
America Pie- Don McLean
Several years later, Heather and I sat down to do a mix that was a little heavier. It is called Americana Rock.
It was in response to the notion that any patriotic rock series worth its salt has to have Jimmi Hendricks Star Spangled Banner. I agree for the first 50 bars of the song.. after that it loses my interest.
So here is that mix:
Rock Americana
Star Spangled Banner--- Jimi Hendricks at Woodstock
Mountain Honey-- Steve Miller Band
Small Town -- John Mellencamp
Light my Fire- Doors
Magic Carpet Ride- Steppenwolf
Jack and Diane --- John Melloncamp
Edge of Seventeen--- Stevie Nicks
Independent Women-- Destiny's Child
Ain't No Mountain High Enough---Micheal McDonald
Piece of my Heart- Janis Joplin
American Women--- Lenny Kravatiz
The Joker-- Steve Miller Band