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Boomtown Rats ~ I Don’t Like Mondays
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdA-2oXzk10[/youtube] For those of us old enough (or young enough) to remember Live Aid, it was indeed an amazing phenomenon. We missed a lot of it in California, being 8 hours behind England, and 3 hours behind Philadelphia, and it being announced not too long before the concerts were held. But wow, the work that went into that…without email, without cell phones, all of that. And a lot of it didn’t make it to MTV at the time. Originally, Geldof didn’t want the concert to be re-broadcast, saying that it would have more power in our memories than in being replayed over and over again. Not like today, where it…
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Queen ~ One Vision
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJvNvBYTsGw[/youtube] I remember the day I heard on the radio that Freddy Mercury had died from complications of AIDS. I wasn’t the biggest Queen fan in the world, but still, the news broke my heart, and I knew the world was worse off without his exuberant spirit in it. I think the DJ played Bohemian Rhapsody, and these lyrics never rang more true: Too late, my time has come Sends shivers down my spine Body’s aching all the time Goodbye, everybody I’ve got to go Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth Mama, ooh I don’t want to die I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all……
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Friday Randomness
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiNB4epGxK8[/youtube] First off, go see Ponyo. Right now. I’ll wait here. Seriously, we went to see it on Wednesday evening, and we LOVED it. So much that Maya and her friend went to see it on Thursday. And the friend said she now wants to see it again, with her mom. Such a sweet, lovely film. It’s made for perhaps a slightly younger audience than Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, but it’s so charming and delightful, I can’t think of a single age group that won’t enjoy it. That’s two awesome films in one week, and I have to say that I cannot imagine two more different films than Ponyo and District…
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Letter to Abercrombie
Dear overpriced mall chain store (aka, Abercrombie in this case, but this has happened in other stores as well), Perhaps I don’t understand basic economics, but it seems reasonable to me that when a hapless 40-something year old mom finds herself dragged into your obnoxiously loud and smelly store, willing to shell out more than she can afford on clothes for her teenage daughter, in order to emerge relatively soon and sane, you might help her out by having some of the clothes that you advertise in stock. I took my daughter clothes shopping the the other day, and was irritated and then simply dismayed as outfit after outfit that…
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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Dear Sidney, How comforting it was to hear you say, “God damn, oh God damn.” That’s the only honest thing to say, isn’t it? Elizabeth’s death is an abomination and it will never be anything else. This short paragraph struck my heart, because it’s almost what my dad said when I told him that my mom had died. Everyone else was mostly sad for me, worried for me, and said kind things like, “I’m so sorry”, or “Oh, no”, or whatever wonderful and caring things they said. But my dad, he and my mom were part of their own group in High School, their own society that railed against the…
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Health Care food for thought…
I have a Facebook friend who I sort of knew via High School. He was a really great guy, and we had several friends in common, but he was a few years ahead of me, and he graduated before I started HS. Anyway, through common friends, we became Facebook buddies. He’s been talking once in awhile about the Health Care issue, one that he clearly feels passionately about, as do many people on both sides of the argument. I’ve made my admittedly emotional points already, but since A doesn’t have a blog, I thought I’d let him guest post here. He sent me several emails full of his thoughts on…
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Police ~ Message in a Bottle
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G2LtPvPemw[/youtube] What is it about being a teenager that makes you feel so in tune with the ideas of alienation and loneliness? I swear, I had so many wonderful, caring friends, not to mention a very warm and loving family, and yet songs, poems, and stories that dealt with these issues just SPOKE to me. Resonated like no other subject. So “Message in a Bottle” was a favorite for me, from the very first time I heard it. Back in 1983, The Police went on tour. They played at Day on the Green, which was an amazing all day concert in the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California. The Police headlined,…
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District 9
Ted and Maya are huge science fiction fans, so we went to see District 9 on Friday night. In case you haven’t heard, District 9 is the apartheid tale of a group of aliens who find themselves stranded in Johannesburg for the past 20 years. Humans are afraid of them, so they’ve been sent to live in abhorrent conditions outside of Johannesburg proper, conditions where crime runs rampant, and the aliens learn that humans are not to be trusted in the least. Watching the gangs and violence portrayed by the aliens, and the dismissive racism (speciesism?) portrayed by the humans, is a grim reminder of what humans are capable of. …
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Gaited Horses
One of my favorite books when I was growing up was Album of Horses, by Marguerite Henry, with beautiful illustrations by Wesley Dennis. Each chapter in the book told a short story, and described a different breed of horse, and what made them different from other breeds. This is the book where I discovered what made a Quarter Horse special, or a Thoroughbred. The Arabian was my favorite of all, followed by the Morgan. But one horse that always intrigued me was the Tennessee Walking Horse. Tennessee Walking Horses, I read, were bred to encourage a strange gait, which makes them look almost like they’re running, when in fact they…
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Chicken-Orzo Salad with Goat Cheese
I came across this recipe in an old copy of Cooking Light magazine, and I thought it looked perfect for a hot summer evening. We tried it for dinner the other night, and it was a hit with all of us. For the chicken, instead of buying pre-cooked (which the recipe suggested, and I thought sounded like it might be pretty dry), Ted just added some chicken breasts to the grill the night before. So they were ready when I wanted them the following day. To add flavor to the orzo, I cooked it in low sodium chicken broth instead of water. That’s a waste of broth, but it’s such…
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Finally Joining the 21st Century
(adorable photo found here) If you must know, I’ll confess. I’m a bit of a technophobe. A late adopter. I don’t like change. I resist it heartily and look at it askance from the corner of my eye, pretending to focus elsewhere. Imagine my horror then, when our beloved Sony cordless phone recently stopped taking a charge*. I know I seem all tech savvy. I work for a software company, I have an iPod and a cell phone and I (sort of) know how to use them. I blog, I maintain the html on my company’s website, I keep in touch with family via email, all of that. But mostly…
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Julie & Julia
Julie and Julia (link is to my review from a few years ago), the book, is a memoir written by New Yorker Julie Powell, who in 2002 found herself coming up on the big 3-0 in the midst of serious career angst. Her aspirations of becoming a writer were not panning out for her, and she found herself in that horrible quadrant of the work spectrum that I like to call, bored and stressed. She had an emotionally stressful job (talking to people about the memorial for the victims of September 11th…many of the people who called had lost loved ones that day) that was at the same time the…
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Outfield ~ Mystery Man
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tOFnTHXbQU[/youtube] This isn’t really a video, just a picture of the album cover. Sorry. Back in the 80s, I was a big fan of The Outfield. I had a little rag top VW bug, which was foolish to put a stereo in, because it was ridiculously easy to break into (unsnap the homemade rag top, take what you want. Done. For faster access, slash the rag top, so J has to go have a new one custom made.) So, I had a little boom box that I took in the car with me, and I listened to cassettes that way. Play Deep was on seriously heavy rotation, and now that…
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Friday Randomness
Nothing earth shattering today, k? As if there were anything earth shattering around here lately anyway. Sigh. OK, first, I could have done without the stupid helicopters hovering around in the stupid sky this morning, waking me up a whole hour before I needed to get up. Grrr. Second, I kinda want to make some chili dogs for an upcoming girl scout pool party at our house, but I’m not sure if I’ll make the chili from scratch, or go buy some. What I’m looking for is an all beef chili, kind of like what you might find at Pink’s in Los Angeles. Anyone have a good recipe? Facebook is…
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Artichoke, Fennel, and Sausage Fusilli
We found this recipe in an old Sunset Magazine. I’ll copy it as is, and then tell you the changes I made. Artichoke, Fennel, and Sausage Fusilli Ingredients: 1 head fennel (about 3-in. diameter) 4 oz. mild or hot Italian sausage, casings removed 1/3 cup chopped onion 1/4 cup slivered red bell pepper 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced 1/2 tsp fennel seeds 5 oz. frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and drained 1/3 cup fat-skimmed chicken broth 2 tablespoons dry white wine 2 tablespoons whipping cream 6 oz. fusilli pasta Grated Parmesan cheese Rinse the fennel and cut off course stalks, reserving some of the feathery green leaves. Trim and discard…