Random links...The Pop Queen unravels (literally and figuratively)

Man allegedly tries to put wife in oven

Well kids.... I couldn't afford to get a turkey this year, so I just thought.... Awww come on stop you're bawling, all she ever did was take up space and spew out hot air.

Scientists: Climate Change Clues in Sky

Super cooled liquid water at minus 30 degrees. That's some pretty fascinating stuff.... it doesn't even seem possible, although I'm certain it has to do with air pressure and the gas composition of the atmosphere at higher levels.

Jay-Z ties Stones for No. 1 albums

I guess you know you are out of touch when there is an article like this one, and you realize that you couldn't name a single Jay-Z song if your life depended on it. The only Jay-Z I ever wanted to here was the Grey album, a "Danger Mouse" remix of a Jay-Z album and the Beatles "White Album". Critics who did hear the album said it was great, however Apple silenced it before it spread to much into the populace.

Britney Spears exposes herself

Funnily enough it was just a few days ago and I was talking to Kate about Britney (in regards to her divorce) and I mentioned that a couple years ago I predicted pretty much everything that was happening to her. The only thing that hadn't come true as of that conversation was Britney posing nude or doing porn. This latest development is about as close as you can get... and much faster than I anticipated.

Since she is a talentless hack, and her whole thing since her first single was always a semi smutty girl next door image (which broke down into full throttle white trash....). Paris made a career out of her ahem... "accidentally leaked skin flicks", however Paris is shrewd and lacks any moral conscience what so ever. Britney on the other hand doesn't strike me as incredibly bright. She has the intellect of a junior high student, because... that's probably about as much "legitimate" schooling she ever received; further more she led by puppet strings for many years by her mother, producers, record companies, etc. Now she has less direction which has been extremely obvious after a sequence of decisions so ridiculous.... that Jacko's attempt to purchase the elephant man's bones almost seems to make sense.

There is a chance this could all work out for her.... and continue to damage the psyche of American youth (as if Lohan and Hilton weren't enough bad news). There's also the possibility of a complete break down. Then again, Mom Spears could step in and talk some sense into her... of course previously it hasn't seemed to have a lasting effect.

This is what happens when you rank fame, fortune, and glamor (although its debatable whether Britney was ever glamorous) over education, responsibility, life experience, and decency. I wonder if Ma and Pa Spears lose sleep at night over the monster they created.... nah, I suppose they are too busy counting their money and planning how to use Britney's little sister for more funds. Perhaps they'll make improvements on the second try?

You know K-Fed isn't really as stupid as people take him for, con artists all over the world hope for an eight of his success.

The Panel Speaks

Report: Panel to advise U.S. pullback, no timetable

Big News and a big compromise, but will it be enough to appease the new legislature or the American public? (Or the World?) Will this be a recommendation that the president will be willing to swallow? Early indications suggest that he would be very reluctant to engage in such a plan.

Bush: No pullout from Iraq until 'mission is complete'

"There's one thing I'm not going to do, I'm not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete," he said in a speech setting the stage for high-stakes meetings with the Iraqi prime minister later this week. "We can accept nothing less than victory for our children and our grandchildren."-W

I'm beginning to believe there may actually be a possibility to get support from neighboring countries if the cards are played right. The problem has been all along that this administration has refused to talk to people who "disagree" with them. Alienating Iran, which was becoming more secular and democratic prior to the Iraq invasion, is nothing short of a disaster.

This Time article describes the debacle that has been U.S. foreign policy as of late.
The Five Fatal Mistakes of Bush's Mideast Policy

Whether any shreds of hope can be salvaged from this grim situation remains to be seen. There is a high probability that this could turn into a large scale regional battle which could have a domino effect across the entire globe. It is in our best interests, to try and make lemonade from this lemon, the future of not only the middle east, but much of Western Civilization may depend upon it.

MY LIFE
Work was a blast today. A little mishap caused me to end up staying late. A co-worker said to me that morning that it would be "one of those days" and as it turns out he was right on the money. There was a "Much ado about nothing" sort of hysteria in the air due to the up coming schedule of one of our large co-operative experiments. This on top of an already busy schedule sort of pissed me off.

The highlight of my day was ultimately making it over to Brookline to spend some quality time with Kate. She made some baked chicken which was nice and warm when I arrived. Additionally we had a garlic flavored rice pilaf, and some broccoli and cheese. I had stopped to pick up a loaf of Italian bread from Shaw's before heading over.

I ended up being a little late due to the turmoil in the lab, however, in the end I fared much better than I anticipated. After a mistake on one of my experiments, I had initially called Kate to cancel, but in an hour or so I recanted as I was only 40 minutes behind schedule, instead of the 2 hours that I anticipated.

Anyway, tomorrow is THURSDAY, which means the day after is FRIDAY... and we all know what that means!! THE WEEKEND!!! Yippee.

Uncanny Valley

Ever heard of the term? Apparently it applies to a theory that there is a hypothetical response curve when humans take in humanoid objects in relation to how real or how fake they seem. The uncanny valley represents a region of negative response which can occur when something looks very real, however has an underlying trait which betrays or exposes the non-human qualities.

Check out the Wikipedia page, there is a whole science to this term.

The term originally was created to apply exclusively to robotics, however now it applies extensively to other scenarios, such as film.

This entertainment article from "slate" livens up the "uncanny valley" description.
http://www.slate.com/id/2102086/

Below is the article which originally made me explore further.
Lifelike robots: Cool or creepy?

In Defense of Rachael Ray

I could talk about how everyone in the world (including many conservative commentators) have come to the conclusion that Iraq is in a civil war..... (NBC is 1st to call it that... check out the conservative blog newsbuster... which does a poor job of busting this piece of news) everyone with the exception of Bush who just this morning said otherwise.... But instead I'll focus on the real news. Some people don't like Rachael Ray.

Yes yes...

Rachael appears to have reached full celebrity status, meaning there is an "Anti-Rachael Ray" Community.

I was a bit taken a back by this, because amongst people I know, I've only heard positive things about Rachael.... other than her being a "cheap tipper" on her $40/day show.

As some of you know... I have a little crush on Rachael. Truthfully, she's not my type... but its one of those silly crushes that have little foundation outside of the inner workings of my mind.

She's bubbly, fun, seemingly down to earth, and cute in that "girl next door" sort of way. And her cooking show actually caters to "reality". When I say reality, I mean they are 30 minute meals. In this world where people have less personal time this is key. Realistically we aren't going to be cooking like Julia Child or having any "Iron Chef" competitions in our homes. (except perhaps a potato salad cook off?)

Anyway, curious as to why people would "hate" Rachael, I looked at the Boston.com article and then looked up the Rachael Ray Sucks community. I thought the posts were quite revealing. An overwhelming majority of the posts were women. Now in all fairness, maybe more women watch the food channel, but I would expect it to be more like a 60%/40% statistic rather than the 95%/5% that this community represents. This got me thinking... why is this?

One of the reasons I like Rachael Ray is that she seems to be someone who is confident in what she does. In other words, while Cosmo may be entertaining to her, she doesn't strike me the type of woman who would treat such a piece of trash like the bible. She laughs loud, uses silly phrases like "yum-o" and she waves her arms around when she talks, and she always seems happy go lucky. Now this "community" singled out these things as reasons they don't like her..... funnily I think these are the sort of things that make her likable. She's herself!

To contrast... if you are a food channel fan, as I am... allow me to bring up Giada the dull professional chef. While Giada is a stunning beauty, she has an insincere, monotone, nerdy school-girl voice, and often patronizing personality. Giada, as it turns out comes from money and was raised by a silver spoon. Sadly for Giada, I have a feeling she probably acts up tight and restrained 24-7. So one might argue that she is "herself", I might argue that her true self has been kept bottled up most of her life.

Since Ray is building an empire of sorts, (She's even on my box of Wheat Thins.....mmmmmmmm Wheat Thins...... droool) why not compare her to Martha Stewart? While she hasn't quite established herself as the cook/entertainer that Martha's become..... who would you rather spend time with? The icy crook, or warm bubbly Rachael. Hey, its a no brainer that's all I'm saying.

Back to why all of the community members are women.... Rachael Ray is an "Elaine Benes" type character. That's what I've decided. I bet most of her friends growing up were guys. I say this because she strikes me as the type who would seek to "enjoy life". While ambitious, it would seem that her top competition is likely herself, rather than keeping up with the "Joneses".
Rachael does not strike me as one who would sit around with the girls and decide what fashions were in. And... in a couple of improvements over Elaine, she does not strike me as one who would gossip about who was "hip" and who is not. She also strikes me as someone who would be inclusively friendly to all. Lastly I believe Rachael just does what she wants, and what feels and seems right to her. Rachael's choices have obviously been good ones.

Now of course I'm basing this all on the TV persona... but Rachael comes off more likable and sincere where others have not. I believe this is the key component of why an average looking, woman with no culinary training, has persevered on hard work alone. (And the luck of getting the attention of the Great and Powerful OPRAH)

Yes so there is that contingency of "Sex in the city" women (well wanna-be Sarah Jessica Parkers), with their Gucci hand bags, and their strict behavior rules; then there are the traditionalists, the women who believe they should doll themselves up for their men, and have supper... that has been cooking for several hours, waiting for their men when they get home; then the jealous type, which really can overlap the first two categories. These women all hate Rachael Ray, because they feel that they can do some minute detail better than RR. They just don't get that they don't have the whole package, and most importantly the ambition.

So if you look at the community, you'll find a minority of the posts actually dislike her actual cooking, and when they do, its usually for its simplicity. (HEY IDIOTS SIMPLICITY IS THE WHOLE POINT! And they wonder why they don't have their own show.)

The vast majority of the posts criticize her for being happy (Yes... I'd much rather watch an angry cook teach me how to make dinner), they criticize her appearance, (they sound like a group of snotty high-school girls), they even try and tarnish her husband. Think about how the kids treated "Carrie" in Stephen King's novel/movie.... this is essentially the language, and implications thrown towards Rachael Ray.

I think many women see Rachael as a threat, because men find her attractive, yet she doesn't adhere to so many of those principles that they've spent their lives worshiping, whether it be fashion, or simply being able to have a beer with the boys. It irritates them because she's breaking their rules. Rachael is a Tom-boy of sorts I think....while holding firmly onto very feminine qualities. (I can just hear the women saying, "That bitch" "That whore" "She thinks she's so great")

There is also a group that seems to think that a real "chef/cook" should be fat. So Rachael Ray is apparently too thin to cook and eat. (oddly enough there are several posts.... by the h.s. snot types calling her fat) There's this thing called Physical fitness... if they have questions perhaps they can find something in Wikipedia. Granted some of us were more blessed than others... but, if you want, you can have your cake and eat it too. I think I'd want to look good if I were a TV personality.

Oddly enough when I was searching for Rachael Ray info I found these two links with Men's magazines references. Not reading Men's magazines myself (I just criticized Cosmo... who am I to call the kettle black) I was unaware Rachael would be discussed in these. I guess it just goes to prove my point that men dig RR.

Ask Men rates Rachael 80 in their top 99 women.
So she has a smile like the Joker.... she's the one laughing all the way to the bank.

And FHM (another men's mag) pictures of Rachael... ooh la la... didn't know she had it in her.
http://www.torontopics.com/digital/ray.html

A quote:
"My life came out way better without me planning it." -Rachael Ray, on her success.

A woman after my own heart.... planning schmanning!!!

Here is an article by a woman defending Rachael Ray.

Ringing in the 2006 Holidays

I hope all of my American readers had a lovely Thanksgiving and a good start to this very hectic, albeit, comforting time of year.

Last Tuesday Scotty, Mike and I went to the new Kelly's Roast Beef at Station's Landing next to the Wellington T stop. I considered it a primer to the full course Turkey day festivities which would arrive later in the week. Scotty and I had fried clam dinners (mmmmm-mmm!!!) and Caprio, aka., Mike, had appropriately, a roast beef sandwich. It's a great location, I'm sure I'll be visiting it again.

Wednesday night I saw Casino Royale with my father. It was an excellent movie that brought back much of the charm of the earlier Sean Connery films. I look forward to seeing Daniel Craig's next two installments.

Thanksgiving day came and went much as expected. My family discussed our trip to Maryland to see some other family for Christmas. This will mark my second Christmas not spent in Maine.

Black Friday I went shopping with my mother. Saw Jess Wheeler selling the wares at L.L. Bean. My mother was pleased to have met another of my elusive college friends, as she's kind of pestered me about it in the past. Hopefully that will help silence that subject in the future... (Yeah right...).

Put up an old Polaroid into my sidebar here of Mom & I in front of a Christmas tree. I thought it added some cheer to the site. Tis the season... so they say.

I have a busy week coming up, both at and outside work. My company party is this weekend, and I also plan on doing some holiday shopping, putting up my wee "apartment tree" and finalizing planning for the upcoming trip to NYC the following weekend with Kate. I'd like to get a digital camera before I go, which will be my gift to myself. (Gotta do my part to keep the American economy humming :D )

And now for some of my mental insanity...

Holiday lights... yes yes... you've seen them, those homes that make their yards look like Disney land. Now, I used to very much be a fan of the tasteful lights on the trim or candles in the windows. I have fond memories driving around the snow frosted expanses of Maine suburbia looking at the various canvases of middle class creative expression. Tasteful however seems to be a thing of the past.

The modest plastic Santa on the steps has been replaced by wire mesh reindeer flickering with lights, fake psychedelic Christmas trees to place on lawns, and perhaps most horrendous, giant inflatable snow globes, polar bears, snow men, Santa, Rudolph, and the list goes on. Now... I'm not going to ever be one of those people that seeks to ban folks from decorating as they please, but.... Come on!!!

You know these people are raising spoiled brats, they are stopping traffic, in many cases causing accidents, their lights may disturb the peace, and its quite simply wasteful.

I know, I know... I'm such a scrooge. But lets just think of the fuel consumption. I hope none of these people claim to have environmental sentimentality. Not only that, you could argue that they are making a larger donation to nations that seek to destroy Christianity... of course we all know what modern Christmas is "really" about, and I suppose fuel consumption and cellophane trees fit in rather nicely.

Ahhh... Charlie Brown, I sympathize with your seasonal affective disorder, and Linus I see your serious, yet often ignored wisdom.
Charlie Brown is (drum roll) depressed. This show is a classic, the music is beautiful and so is the message. I hope the networks never stop airing it.

Monday, Monday.... can't beat that day

Have to catch an early train
Got to be to work by nine
And if I had an air-o-plane
I still couldn't make it on time
'Cause it takes me so long
Just to figure out what I'm gonna wear
Blame it on the train
But the boss is already there

It's just another manic Monday
I wish it was Sunday
'Cause that's my funday
My I don't have to runday
It's just another manic Monday

Yeah... I know, I know, but it seemed fitting. And Sundays piss me off by the way, it is of course their close proximity to Monday.

Kate met me in Central Square tonight after work and we went to Mary Chung's for Chinese food, just like the old days when we used to go to Salsa dancing class. I sort of miss the dancing class in a way, even though I struggled a lot with this one suzy-q dance step. The food at Chung's always promises to have real zing. It is without doubt the spiciest Chinese food I've ever had. I would definitely put it in the top ten Chinese food establishments in the Boston area too. It has a real cozy atmosphere that allows for a great evening of conversation.

I've been taken in the past couple of days with my Chris Hayes's political blog. Chris is the brother of my friend Tim. Tim let me know about it knowing I have a bit of a thing for politics. I try to keep my posts in here politic-light for the most part, although I do have my moments. I don't want my blog to be too divisive.

http://c-hayes.blogspot.com/

Chris is very very right wing. I think his site attempts to take the pulpit in order to assemble like minds, more than it does seek to convert. If you enjoy political commentary, and you enjoy a good debate, I think you should check it out. If you dissent at all from the GOP platform, I'm sure you'll find something to really think about.

I weighed in a bit on embryonic stem cell research over the last couple of days. Take a look in the comments on his site. (link is above)

I consider myself a fiscal conservative, and social liberal... so neither party really fit my needs. I honestly find that their platforms are strange, and that they contradict themselves.

Democrats tend to support the ACLU and other libertarian ideals such as a pro choice agenda, but then they tote censorship, political correctness, social programs that take away independence etc.

The Republicans claim to support lower spending small, government, less bureaucracy and stand against federal regulation. Republicans support libertarian ideals like the right to bear arms, but then they want to impose various legislation which often blurs the separation of church and state. Additionally, as of late, they are not fiscally conservative.

So I struggle to find a direction in the mess.

The Seas are getting choppy

-for George Walker Bush. A rather common statement by Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush has been, "We'll let history decide on the success of our efforts." Unfortunately the history books are starting to be written, and what will decorate those pages does not promise to be good news for anyone.

It is bad news for George Bush, who led America blindly into a misguided, poorly planed, attempt to sway an entire region of the world into his mind set. If anything, his efforts have swayed these people further away, increased the perception of the U.S. as untrustworthy, and supported the spread of "radical" Islam.

George Bush is quite possibly the biggest screw up that the United States has ever had at its helm. The last of Bush's loyalists are now quickly jumping off a quickly sinking ship.

Tony Blair has come out saying that the situation is a "disaster".
Blair: Force alone can't beat terrorism
It is interesting that Blair's staff is trying to pass off the "disaster comment" as a slip of the tongue. A Freudian slip perhaps?

Here's an article commenting on the fallout: Blair does not concede Iraq a disaster

Much more surprising than Blair, and perhaps invoking an "Et tu Brutus?" from the Bush administration is Henry Kissinger. The slimy thing about this is Kissinger has been giving W advice on how to conduct the war. So he is criticising what he helped create. Dare I say, a very Rumsfeldian act? I guess you can expect much more from someone who was an architect of the Vietnam war and a former Nixon advisor.
Kissinger: Iraq military win impossible

One thing that W has going for him is the off-loading of Rumsfeld. The legislative branches seem eager to replace Donald, in order to bring about desperately needed change.

Senate Leaders speak well of Gates

Henry Kissinger mentioned that it is perhaps necessary at this point to actively engage surrounding Islamic nations in assisting with temporary control and stabilizing Iraq. I think this is probably something that is in every one's best interest, however the association of an Islamic nation with the west has become such a stigma, it may be a difficult prospect at this stage in the game.

John McCain, who I admire as a politician for his independent views, has mentioned increasing the amount of troops in Iraq. I'm not sure at this point this is a viable option either. Basically, the United States does not have the military to send to Iraq, and it is something that should have been done from the battle's onset. At this point we have been worn down, and I fear if North Korea, Iran, or even the dormant China (Think Taiwan) should get feisty in their desires, we could be forced into making detrimental draconian battle moves, or inaction. Neither of these options are particularly thrilling.


I invite everyone to read this article on a recent John McCain speech, because I think it paints an accurate picture.
McCain: Send more troops to Iraq or face threat at home

I can't blame people for not wanting to jump on this bandwagon. I mean, I'm not going to give up my life at this stage to fight in this battle if I don't have to. (Honestly I would probably really suck as a soldier, you'd want me fighting on the other side so you could blow my head off while I was tying my boot)

Unfortunately McCain's solutions are some which an increasingly pacifist west will never embrace. (I really don't see them as feasible without a draft) McCain's solutions are probably, coupled with some increased involvement of other Islamic nations... probably the only real solutions to a problem that the Bush administration created. Yes, that's right if Bush didn't attack Iraq, Al-Qaeda would not be there, and we'd be fighting them in Afghanistan in increased numbers, and perhaps trying to resolve other pockets like Somalia.

We are naive to the increasing faith-based violence of the Islamic world. To paint a picture of the Islamic world and show everyone what it is becoming would be "politically incorrect". We can do this intelligently without insulting the decent people of Islamic faith. Of course not attempting to engage in this could result in one of those scenarios where nice guys ultimately will finish last. If we continue on our current apathetic track with our blinders on, time will surely tell.

My World: I had a good weekend. Kate and I did a bit of planning for our NYC trip which will be coming up shortly. I'm hoping to get a digital camera so I can post some pictures of our adventures. I'm meeting Kate tomorrow night for supper which will be nice... and then Tuesday Scotty?, Mike? Kelly's Roast Beef and some damn good steak fries are calling out our names!

Well, it will be an indulgent week when it comes to food... to say the least.

Onion Soup and the Rain

This evening I made an onion soup from left over pot roast broth, and some leeks and a packet of Lipton soup mix. I used Sweet, Vidalia, and Spanish onions which I baked in olive oil and brown sugar before adding them to the broth. I also added a couple of chopped up leeks and garlic cloves. I bought a can of extra beef broth, however it was unnecessary to use.

I used french bread slices, Swiss cheese, and sharp cheddar to form my layered cheesy soup creation in a oven friendly soup bowl. It was a nice change from the norm.

I'm almost done reading the Amityville Horror. It definitely keeps me wanting more, and since it is fairly easy reading too, I am finishing it up rather fast. It could start me on a kick for the paranormal, probably not though, as it seems like too much mindless fun.

Some good news on the newly forming political front. Representative John Murtha has lost a bid to become the new majority leader, and it wasn't close. This is a positive sign to me, because it is a rejection of Pelosi's leftist cohort, and bigger than this, I see it as a rejection of the far left. Additionally working against Murtha is a possible scandal that garnered the attention of the FBI, and one of the largest collection of lobbyist funds in the house ($685,000). This should not be the type of person the democrats bring in to replace Tom Delay. See the following article for more details: Pelosi wins No. 1 spot, loses battle over No. 2

About this loss for Pelosi, Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank says:
"She's a very smart woman who made an error in judgment."

Lets hope it isn't the first of many, and if it is, lets hope that her fellow legislators have the good sense to stop errors in judgment from being errors acted upon.

James Carville, Ugly as Sin, Political Genius: Listen to the troll democrats, I know he's from an era past, but he did wonders for Clinton. Howard Dean must go. That's right, who cares if the Dems won? Did they really win? Perhaps they just didn't lose like the GOP. After all they had no unity or stance, and if the scandals hadn't broken out in the GOP on top of the war, we may still be looking at the GOP, a creaky corrupt GOP holding on to a slim power advantage.

Howard Dean is a man of deception, he's posed as a political independent in the past, but in reality he is a caustic left winger, who can only serve to damage the democrat agenda in a still vastly conservative nation. Dean did not get out the vote. It was really a continuation of the same problems that have been plaguing Democrats for many years. No vision.

This may be changing, but Democrats should bring this change about faster and get rid of Howard Dean. Carville Says Dems Should Dump Dean over “Rumsfeldian” Incompetence

By the way, Rumsfeldian Incompetence? That's priceless. Sounds like it should be a permanent entry in the American lexicon to me.

Casino Royale : I'm hoping to talk my father into going to see the new Bond movie on Thanksgiving before we eat. Sounds as though it is going to be quite good. I've heard that it may hearken back to Connery's more stripped down Bond.
"Casino Royale'': Bond series pulls an ace in Daniel Craig

Pizza that smells like body odor...

That's what I had for supper tonight, and I enjoyed each morsel of it. Kate purchased a Shaw's pizza dough, something I do fairly often, and decided to give this whole quick pizza recipe a whirl. Of course what Kate did not know, and what I should have told her, is that you need a little bit of flour for your hands when you are preparing the dough. With a lack of flour, we decided to use "Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs". At the time this seemed like a nice idea. It removed the "stick" factor from the dough, and added seasoning.

So after the sauce, cheese and toppings were added the pizza was shoved into the oven. The required 12 minutes went by and I checked on it... and it barely looked cooked at all.. "Kate, is this oven even on?" I asked, a little incredulously. "Oops, I only have it on warm!" Replied Kate.

An additional 12 minutes floats by and once again Kate checks on the pizza. The cheese doesn't look crispy yet, and there is a puddle on top of the pizza. Apparently the peppers on top overwhelmed it. That was totally my bad.... I said a lot of peppers wouldn't be a problem. In reality, that many probably should have been cooked a bit to remove some of their moisture.
We decided to stick the pizza in for another few minutes.

Any way at this time I noticed a salty sort of smell. It was about this time when Kate's roommate Joanne came in to prepare her self supper. Not wanting to draw attention to the smell I didn't say anything.

This time we took the pizza out and it looked nice. Unfortunately it looks like the pizza pan may not have had enough oil, and/or was not seasoned enough. The dough was stuck to the pan in a couple of spots. A puddle remained on top of the pizza, but this was of no concern to me. I was hungry and melted mozzarella cheese is almost always good. So, after Kate & I have consumed about half of the pizza... and Joanne has retreated to the living room, Kate whispers "Do you smell B.O.?"
"It's not me!" I defensively reply, once again smelling my self in an attempt to reassure my beliefs.
"Do you think its....?"Kate starts to say,
"I think its the pizza...." I interrupt.
"Oh" Kate sullenly responds. This depresses Kate as she feels responsible for this strange occurrence.... which she in no way was.
"I don't want any more" Kate says
"What? It still tastes good!" I put another piece into my plate.
"Do you want to take it home with you?" Kate responds with a bit of sarcasm...
Of course I respond with a shrug "Sure, Why not?"
I go on to explain my theory about the Italian bread crumbs being the culprit. I take out the crumbs and give them another sniff and pass them to Kate. It sort of stunk in the same way that an Italian Sandwich can stink after getting warm in a lunch box all day... except in this case it was getting baked into the air.
Later I realized that the smell had permeated the entire apartment. It really is quite funny in hindsight, or at least I think so. Kate, much like myself had initially thought the smell was Joanne. It didn't take too much time for us to unfortunately realize our supper was the source of the unpleasant odor. Ahhh well... what are you going to do?

Kate gave me "The Amityville Horror" by Jay Anson to read after I whined that my mp3 player battery would likely lose its charge on the way back to Melrose. Its pretty good and a fast read too. I'm already on page 50. I suppose I'm a sucker for things like ghost stories so it draws me in.

There was a great article on Boston.com today about the 30th Anniversary of the Hancock building's completion in Back Bay and it's history. I knew that the project was an engineering disaster... but I didn't know quite to what extent. I guess this may have contributed heavily to the hub's sour attitude towards high rises.

Hancock at 30, Behind the Looking Glass

Only recently is Boston really beginning to catch up with several new sky-scraper projects in the works. The most notable a 1000 foot tower going downtown which will likely be 70-80 stories, and replace Hancock's status as the highest building in the Northeast U.S.

One bidder for 1000-foot tower site in Boston

Lastly I wanted to mention how pissed off I am that the GOP is stupid enough to vote Trent Lott back into a seat of power. It was Soooo close too. Lamar Alexander lost by 1 vote, a political moderate... not a old cog with racist tendencies.
Lott succeeds in leadership comeback

Please excuse any growing pains my blog has been having, I switched over to a new formatter and I've had a couple of glitches. I'm trying to work on some long over due items such as refining the format & organizing my side bar better.

I put Drano down the bathroom sink....

Highlight of my evening actually.

Had left over pot roast, and some garlic bread. It was a delight.

In Politics:

Iraq panel offers hope, but unlikely to end debate

James Baker and company are busy mulling a possible plan to help rectify the battles both in Iraq, and a likely 2 year quagmire that threatens to unfold between our legislative and executive branches of power. Of course this will not likely be unleashed full throttle until January when the Democrats get their chance at the reins.

There are several points to keep in mind heading into this. One, often left on the back burner is the interesting tid-bit that the Democrats were able to gain power, in part, due to a conservative group called the Blue Dogs. These are Democrats with often social and fiscally conservative routes. They often won in areas that typically lean to the right. Some of these candidates are said to have little difference policy wise than their Republican opponents did. It is fair to say that the "Republican Brand" was severely tarnished in this election, but people from below the Mason Dixon line were still looking for the same ideals to be championed. They just wanted to punish the Republicans for, uncharacteristic spending, legislative inactivity, corruption, and in some cases incompetence.

The big issue of contention is the idea of setting a time table for withdrawing troops. While I think Iraq is a fiasco, I feel it is our duty not to leave until we can feel comfortable in Iraq's ability to maintain, if nothing else, a loosely held sense of order. We are obviously quite far from that, as just today 100 Iraqi government officials were kidnapped. As I've said before, ultimately politics will win over reason, after all that is sort of the reason we are there to begin with! So I think you can fully expect that eventually, perhaps not for two more years, but eventually we will pull out before securing the country. This will likely go down as one of the worst debacles of Western policy since the treaty of Versailles.

Fundamentalist hatred is at an all time high, and western hatred and blood lust is quickly transforming from something that is supported by the few, to the accepted beliefs of many. It is Jihad that is the abused term. It is one easily abused too, and is perhaps the source of much of the ease in transforming what should be a religion of peace to one of confrontation, intolerance, and war.

This page is an Islamic site which appears to preserve the intent of jihad in a manner that allows for coexistence with the western cultures. allahuakbar.net Movements such as this, as well as Cat Steven's return to pop culture (Yusuf Islam) can help promote a positive, civil, and accepting voice to help drown out extremists.

I am concerned that ultimately the trends appear to favor the rhetoric of hatred and fear ultimately winning the minds of much of the Muslim world. These are people who glorify death and fighting. School children are being taught that we are murderous devils. In light of recent failed U.S. policy, it is easy to see how this can be spun with little to no effort. Iran was on its way to becoming a secular, more liberated society before the latest Iraq incursion. Now it has done a 180 and threatens to be the seat of the iron fist that could begin a quest unlike any seen for more than half a century.

It is an interesting contrast between Western and Mid-eastern societies. Where as our culture treats these topics with kids gloves (Prevention of planting seeds of hate within our own people?), much of the middle east is filled with fascinating stories of our uncontrolled evil. Will we make the same mistakes of past World Wars? Probably...

It's kind of like a filling that you know you need but you put it off until you have a horrible tooth ache.... or its like my leaky kitchen faucet. I'll have to fix eventually but I'm avoiding it as long as I can. Trouble is, in this case, we will all have to pay for the water bill.

My Ice Cream Scoop Broke Tonight

And so I stopped using it.

I have a leak in my kitchen faucet... and I think it is getting worse. I really don't want to call the land lord because:

A. He'll likely never get back to me, and will be irritated.

B. I'll probably have to take time off from work to let the stupid plumber in.

I'm kind of tempted to try and fix it myself because it may be easier than the alternatives.

I watched "You Can Count on Me" tonight which won dome Sundance Film Festival awards back in 2000. It stars Laura Linney, Matthew Broderick and Rory Culkin. It has to do with life in a small town and a family that was scarred by a horrible accident in childhood, that took away their parents. The film takes place some 15-20 years later and we see the characters deal with their various weaknesses. The set is a small town in the hills of Western Massachusetts. It was an excellent film, but be forewarned, it is a slow moving drama (Think the Station Agent). If you need a quick paced plot, this one won't be for you.

Well... I should have a lot to do tomorrow, and I'm not looking forward to it, so I should go to sleep.

Peace Out...

Pumpkin Bread Crumbs

Saturday night I made a pumpkin bread. When I took it out of the pan it fell apart and I became very sad.

Luckily Kate came over and the pot roast that I'd been making came out quite nice. Despite the pumpkin bread being pulverized it still tasted good so it was not a total loss.

Today I went to Kittery with the intention of beginning some Christmas shopping. Kate came along and we walked around through a torrential downpour. The forecast of course called for intermittent rain. Despite the deluge, we had a decent time. On the way back to Boston we took a detour into Portsmouth and got supper there. We ate at this quirky place called "The Friendly Toast". It had an eclectic menu with an eclectic decor (and staff). I had a vegetarian burrito, called "The Mission Burrito", Kate had an egg sandwich with a special bread which I want to say was habenero and cheddar, but I'm probably wrong.

I was pretty out of it on the way back to Boston, too over tired from too many nights of little or broken sleep. I missed the turn to get on route 1 because I wasn't paying attention, and it just got worse. I decided it would be best for me to probably cut my night short and get some rest... So as I finish this I'll be headed to the comfort of my bed which will hopefully return some sensibility to my being for the week ahead.

Here's an amusing Rumsfeld clip from CBS's late late show....

WWII Vet - Saturday Slumber

It was a relaxing day today as I slept until 1:00. I must have shut off an alarm clock in my sleep, woke up at 11:00 then went back to sleep. So even though I lost a good chunk of my day, I suppose I definitely needed the extra rest.

I woke up and embarked dutifully on my fairly busy schedule today. The dishes are done and I have a Pot roast cooking in the Crock Pot for tonight when Kate comes over. I used rosemary today in addition to the usual thyme, garlic, and pepper that I use. When I went to Salem with my Mom, Aunts, and Cousin hope in early October, I bought some freshly dried rosemary at one of the herbology places there. Should be tasty. I'm thinking of doing some baking too, although I have a couple of small apartment cleaning items on the to do list, and they take priority.

Last night I found a cool Video- blog series which I may occasionally post from in here. It is a WWII Veteran talking about his time in post war Japan. It is very interesting. He's an excellent story teller, great vocabulary, very sharp. I hope that somehow I can be as remarkably together when I am his age. (I'm not even sure I'm as eloquent or coherent right now to be truthful.)

So... Enjoy, hope your weekend is going well.

A day later

Well... The Republican loss was well deserved and it needed to happen. The corruption had run out of control. Spending is unchecked. The war is a mess. And of course this goes on.

The powers that be needed a wake up call and this was it.

Already we've seen Donald Rumsfeld step down, which can only be a good thing. One would hope...

Anyway, I honesty can't compose myself still, It's too late tonight, and I haven't had enough time to process.

I'm obviously worried about Nancy Pelosi, and the prospects reinforced fiscal irresponsibility, but I suppose it is a risk we are going to have to take.

The Democrats have been trying to paint themselves as budgetary conservatives in light of recent deficits under a GOP run legislature. Now its time for them to prove that they can live up to the sermon.

-Till I have time to write something... ummmm better,
Good Riddance Donald!



We'll see... we'll see...

Democracy works.... now what? (for full effect turn on sound)

When I'm stuck with a day, that's gray, and lonely

I'm so excited... and just can't hide it... I know I know I know...

Actually I don't know any more of these lyrics..... but its election day. It's like Christmas, but instead of candy we can all anticipate lumps of coal in our stockings. Its just a matter of checking out the quality of that coal. How efficient is it? Does it burn fast or slow? Does it bring a fire storm with it? Is it perhaps tough to light? Perhaps it will just give off a lot of pollution and not much else?

ONLY time will tell.

But... I will be going home early tomorrow to vote, and I will be staying up late to start and get some off those exit polls.

To make good for the following rant, please see the clip of an adorable bunny at the end of the post.

WARNING: The following is a rant, things will be said, streams of consciousness will be spewed.

Exiting the gym tonight I saw a bunch of students reminding me to vote for Deval Patrick, or in my case not to vote for Deval Patrick. I'm old enough to remember what Massachusetts used to be like before it had a system of check and balance. There is a slight chance that Patrick will be reasonable... but it is VERY slight. This could bring back the taxachusetts that the entire country used to laugh at.

I'm always completely baffled by people who waste their precious time campaigning for democrats in Massachusetts. Its like performing rain dances in Seattle or London... anyway I digress.

Patrick is campaigning saying that the Massachusetts economy has problems right now. This really is a crock of sh*t. The Massachusetts economy went through some rough times, and with Romney's leadership came out on top of the pack. While not perfect, Massachusetts's economy leads the national average in growth, although you wouldn't know it from the TV ads. Trouble is we have a bunch of spoiled Gen-xers and Gen-Y folks who haven't got the slightest clue about what hardship is. They think the government is supposed to take care of them like mummy and daddy. Well a couple years from now after Patrick and crew have made the state more unfriendly to big business we'll see how well they do at the unemployment office. A state bureau filled with many (I'm sure not all.....but MOST are) complacent lazy people who are cogs in a corrupt careless system. (Has anyone had any experience with someone getting a job through unemployment's help? I'd really like to know... additionally, I'd love to hear stories about difficulties getting paid due to misinformation... I have them that's for certain). Lets bring that joy to healthcare, lets expand the damn organizations that brought us the big dig, and everyone knows what fixes everything.... more money. So get ready.... the big dig came out of the Donkey run era. Expect that more of that.

And you know, the Republican candidate just quite simply doesn't deserve to win... which really screws over everyone in Massachusetts (Unless you work for the government I suppose). How on earth did she win the primary? Kerry Healey has run a lousy campaign that no one seems to care about. The one memorable TV add she has is a joke... not to mention extremely questionable. Shoddy editing and accusing her opponent of supporting a rapist because of discussions with his client?! Who dreamed this stuff up?

Patrick has played his cards well. As much as I don't want him to win, he has taken the high road and this dirty campaign and it will only serve to help him.

Healey comes off as being distant, and arrogant. Its almost as if she believes she deserves to win and so she's not going to exert to much effort.

She will get slaughtered... double digit lead, I predict Christy Mihos... and Ross (Who I was tempted to vote for just out of spite :D) together with Healey, won't even add up to half of the total vote. I'm voting for Healey begrudgingly, because it is my only safe bet.... Patrick will win, I just fear for the worst.

Anyway.... I'd say the sun will come out tomorrow, but it probably won't.

Till then....

Gloomy Sundays.....

I feel strangely depressed. OK it isn’t really all that strange, I just have a bit of seasonal depression.

Today played out for me a lot like the days I had several years ago when I used to be living in Lowell. Well I didn’t have any middle aged Asian men try and solicit me for gay sex and trips to strip clubs, but it was “almost” like the days spent living in Lowell.

I woke up, late, not really wanting to get out of bed. I didn’t shower, instead, eventually around 1:00 pm I threw on a ball cap, sweater, and corduroys. Before doing anything of significance (or insignificance) I checked my email and scanned over the stories on CNN.com. I had no mail other than a couple of spam letters and some weekly crap I get from astrologers.com. I sat around a few minutes listening to the distant tick.. tick … of the clock on the kitchen wall, and the hollow drone of jet liner thousands of feet above, circling before arriving on the tarmac at Logan Airport. Eventually I decided to escape the noise of emptiness and I headed out for an afternoon drive.

My initial plan was to drive to Newbury Comics at Square One mall in Saugus. Upon arriving I realized that I had never returned a Blockbuster movie from last weekend. I drove back with the late fall sun flickering through the balding trees, and the car bounded along as though it was hurtling itself off a cliff like a lemming. A song played on the stereo and its lyrics and notes scuttled about the entrance to my mind never quite penetrating.

Upon turning into the Wyoming Station terminal parking lot and re-entering my apartment lot, I lightly cursed my negligence a couple of times. Luckily, I don’t believe there was a late fee as it was a weekly rental.

Video in hand I headed out to Stoneham to drop off the DVD.

After walking around in circles at Blockbuster to reassure myself that I would not have a late fee, I got back in the car. A Subaru was parked next to me, and three dogs inside barked excitedly at me as I seated myself. Once the door was shut, one of the dogs, the oldest, stopped barking. The other two continued until I started the car, and then they gave up their vocal assault.

I think a little part of me is like that old dog. I’ve sort of realized that all of the barking is sort of pointless, even though it may be fun, and it seems to give purpose to my life. Of course like the old dog, a part of me wants something that will get me to start barking incessantly again. You could see it in his eyes. It was the sort of look that said “Oh well…. Life goes on”. Also, much like the old dog, I occasionally drool uncontrollably.

Before leaving Stoneham I stopped at a “Fye” records which used to be a Strawberries. I literally walked in the door and right back out. I looked at the “top twenty sellers” and it was all a bunch of crap. Rap stars with short fuses and brainless bimbos whose music will be about as timeless as snowman that a child builds after a winter storm in Virginia. Nauseated, as I opened the exit door, I believe I even said “This place sucks…” loud enough so that the clerk, and two customers (an old guy looking for some Tony Bennet or something, and a kid with baggy wind pants and crooked hat, aspiring to a life of hate and laziness) could hear me.

I went to Newbury Comics finally, although I couldn’t bring myself to walk around for an hour in the store. I used to salivate at all of the great music that would be there. It was almost as if purchasing CDs would some how enlighten and expand me as a person, and that with every new listening experience I might be closer to some sort of imagined perfection.

Today I was feeling like it was all just a bunch of the same old crap with slightly different perspectives. The thought also crossed my mind that soon Newbury comics, and places like it probably won’t even exist. Hell, if Tower and Virgin records go down how can Newbury comics even hope to survive?!

Anyway I finally bought Arcade Fire, which I had been avoiding for a real lame excuse. I figured everybody likes it so it really can’t possibly be that good. It is pretty good. They are contemporaries of the Talking Heads, and perhaps expand upon a style popularized by Modest Mouse. Unlike Modest Mouse the music is much more layered and polished, and Arcade Fire seems to understand how to combine sounds and harmonies in a manner that builds a much more impressive sound. I also bought Pink Floyd’s “Piper at The Gates of Dawn”.

I next bought myself a small pizza and Buffalo wings at Dominos. (I don't really like the pizza at dominos, but the wings are great, I should have just got cheesy bread) I wolfed down all but two slices of pizza as I watched commentators talk about Iraq, Saddam, and the elections… oh yeah and the gay Christian Fundamentalist who just got fired from his gigantic tele-parish. At least there is occasionally some decent comedy in reality. (ahhh hypocrisy.)

As I write this…. I can hear people hollering in the apartment building across the way. By people, I mean one guy with more testosterone than he knows what to do with. A football game must be on, probably the Patriots. Too bad I don’t care. It would be a nice distraction from myself. Of course if I were watching the game I wouldn’t yell so three city blocks could hear me at 11:00 pm at a game of little significance to the season… I wouldn’t yell like we had just defeated foreign invaders and triumphed over evil. I wouldn’t yell like I had just won a million frigging dollars. As emotionally attached as I might become to a bunch of millionaire thugs with an 7th grade reading level, I’d like to think I'd have slightly better control of myself, and that I'd have an ounce of respect for my neighbors.

Perhaps tomorrow I will write about politics or something more interesting than a couple pages of me droning on about the meaninglessness of life.

HAPPY MONDAY :D Yeh, yipeee!!! Wooo Hooo HOOT HOOT HOOT!!!

The Information

I have been thoroughly enjoying the new Beck album "The Information". As it so happens, I typically enjoy new "Beck" albums, however this one is an improvement over Guero which was Beck's anticipated return to that off beat and often nonsensical sound he is famous for.

The first single, Nausea, actually did not stand out as one of the more memorable tracks from the information (for me anyway). That being said it definitely cooks along. I've attached the official music video here which recollects the Verve's "Bitter Sweet Symphony".



The thing with Beck is you can't tell when he's trying to be profound or simply absurd.
While often appearing to rhyme for the sake of sound... his delivery is almost always steeped with conviction and a certain style and swagger.

For a Beck album that is the antithesis of his norm check out "Sea Change". It's style is perhaps a contemporary of the sound established by the under appreciated, Nick Drake. There is a cover of Drake's "Parasite" that Beck had on his web site for a bit, if anyone knows a way to get a hold of that one, please let me know.

I'm sure Beck Hansen often sits back either laughing at fans trying to find depth in meaningless rhymes, or perhaps steeped in frustration over a public that doesn't understand him. Who knows... after all the dude's a Scientologist.

Nausea [Version (a)]:

1, 2, 3, 4

I'm a seasick sailor
On a ship of noise
I got my maps all backwards
And my instincts poisoned
In a truth blown gutter
Full of wasted years
Like blown-out speakers
Ringin' in my ears

Oh it's nausea, oh nausea And we're gone
It's nausea, oh nausea And we're gone

Now I'm a straight-line walker
In a black-out room
I push a shopping cart over
In an Aztec ruin
With my minion fingers
Working for some God
Who could see his own reflection
In a parking lot

Oh it's nausea, oh nausea And we're gone
No it's nausea, oh nausea And we're gone

Now I'm a priest teenager
On a tower of dust
I'm a dead generator
In a cloud of exhaust
I eat alone in the desert
With skulls for my pets
I rate the days, one to ten
With lead cigarettes

It's nausea, oh nausea And we're gone
It's nausea, oh nausea And we're gone

Hmmmm.... an expression of the futility of it all perhaps??

The following is a song (video) from the Sea Change album, "Lost Cause". I never saw it because I'm too old and crinkly now to pay much heed to MTV. Amusingly enough, apparently you can no longer say the word "gun" on MTV, as it is censored here. (wow.... I know people are dim, but please give kids a bit more credit than that!)