Reconfiguring Romanticism at Harvard

I went to this last night (from the Harvard college library website)

Monday, March 30, 7:00pm
Reconfiguring Romanticism: Readings from Poems for the Millennium, Volume Three, with Bill Corbett, Gerrit Lansing, Jeffrey C. Robinson, Jerome Rothenberg, Keith Waldrop & othersIn conjunction with the recent release of Poems for the Millennium, Volume Three, this reading and discussion will reveal surprising continuities between the Romantic canon and the experiments of modernism and postmodernism. Introduced by Patrick Pritchett.
Thompson Room, Barker Center

And it was something. My favorite part was when Keith Waldrop read Keats but also when he read his translation of something from Fleur du Mal and used the phrase "make whoopie" in his translation. The two guys sitting in the back of the room next to me (Patrick Pritchett the Introducer & IDK) looked to each other and started laughing at how fricken great that was to insert into a Baudelaire poem. I laughed, too. I also enjoyed the commentary from the two historians.

Random note about the Thompson Room, there's Bose Speakers embedded in the ceiling. (My attention wandered a little at one point -- during one of the non-poem reading times...)

Repost: Missing the State of Maine

Well, this is a funny letter. I ended up taking this letter and making a series of poems about it that're in my creative thesis. I didn't realize that they were inspired by this post until I found it today!

September 6, 2006 @ 3:09 pm ·

Dear Maine,

How are you today? Is the weather nice? Is everything shiny, new or renewed and exciting?

Are my little PITAS respectful as they wander around in the free world? Are they as excited about their new lives like I was when I first moved away?

I keep thinking about the red maple trees along the diagonal path behind the library. It’s not coming until a few weeks from now, but it is my favorite thing to see. I go there in my brain when I stare out the kitchen window with my eyes on the willow tree.

Today and some more todays to come, I'll be thinking about your wide and winding roads and surprise views from every twist.

yours forever,

Me

This Week in WTF: There is no limit to Dick Cheney's EvilNess

Dick Cheney had a secret assassination squad that would go kill people deemed a threat. It was not funded by the miltary and not backed by Congress; therefore, it was illegal.

This story came out a couple of weeks ago, and I read about it on Wonkette, but I forgot to pass it on. Seymour Hersh, the hilarious and intrepid-ish reporter who broke the story back at University of Minnesota in mid-march, was on Fresh Air with Terry Gross today, talking about this story and other Thing He Knows About, including Syria -- he's got an article titled "Syria Calling" in the New Yorker.

Long and short of it: Cheney was in charge of "the Joint Special Operations Command -- JSOC it’s called. It is a special wing of our special operations community that is set up independently. They do not report to anybody, except in the Bush-Cheney days, they reported directly to the Cheney office..." is what Hersh said on the 11th at UMinn.

JSOC, as summed up by Hersh has been, "going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving..."

Fresh Air asked the Obama administration about JSOC and they said that all military operations are funded by Congress and no one reports exclusively to the office of the Vice President.

So, that's that with that! Everything's better! Ha ha yah right---

What's quite, quite sad is that the world has been indellibly changed by the WTFishness of the Bush the Second Years in office and I'm not sure that that will ever change, despite campaign slogan and whatnot.

And now that I've posted these really mature pics of Cheney, his shadow government (as described in the Fresh Air interview with Hersh) will flag me (if they haven't already, they're not really doing their job well) and I will be surveilled. I hope my surveillor doesn't have a thing for redheads; he'll get all distracted by my beauty and forget to spy on me while I blog about how cute my dogs are or poems, or post vegetarian recipes.

This Week in WTF: Nightmare in Milton, MA

Sometimes the WTF stories I post here are the funny kind, but this disturbing story is not of that sort. It's awful -- really tragic. And it happened just down the street, relatively speaking.

MILTON, Mass. (March 29) -- A man on a rampage fatally stabbed his 17-year-old sister, decapitated his 5-year-old sister in front of a police officer and then headed toward his 9-year-old sister before officers shot him amid what their chief described as "a killing field."

The perpetrator was 23 year old Kerby Revelus. The prompting of the rampage has not been unveiled, yet.

That poor family...I feel so bad.

More news here.

On Demand Movie Review: Arthur and the Invisibles

What do Madonna, Snoop Dogg, and David Bowie have in common?

They are all in the movie (as voices) Arthur and the Invisibles. It's real cute! It's a kid movie that's half animation/ half live movie. It looks like it was also, or first, done in French.

What's really fun about it is how many myths and motifs it draws from: Shakespeare, King Arthur, Orphan Annie, Harry Potter, Wizard of Oz, and on and on.

Best Part: when they all end up in Snoop's discotesque and drink gin and tonic.

Also, I love Mia Farrow. She's so cute. What a-hole would ever ditch this lovely soul for a 19 year old adopted daughter...?

Movie Review: Sunshine Cleaning

Waaaaaaay messed up premise, lotsa head sideways "huh?" moments but lots and lots of laugh with some real tear-jerking times, too.

Overall: I loved it!

Sisters played by Amy Adams and Emily Blunt (who mostly hides her English accent but not completely and so I got a little distracted by the moments when it came out) start a cleaning business for hazmat, post-mortem scenes - suicides, dead for weeks, etc. There's a trillion other little layers, lots of quirky characters and all sorts of expected and unexpected twists, but definitely deserving of the heaps of praise from the professional critics.

I'd say this one will be a DVD purchase in the future, I liked it that much.

Greek Yogurt & Granola Recipe: Good for Breakfast, Lunch or Hearty Snack

Greek Yogurt and Granola Recipe

1/2 cup good-for-you granola (found in the hippie store or hippie section of the store, uses pure cane juice and whole oats, etc)
1 6 oz container of Greek yogurt, plain, fruit or flavored -- your choice
1 heaping tbs raisins
1 heaping tbs dried dates
1 tsp pepitas (plain pumpkin seeds)

Mix all together, let sit for a bit so the granola's a little moist, eat and enjoy! Good for breakfast, lunch or hearty snack.

New Books, Lots and Lots of New Books

I hadn't been to Pazzo for a couple of months, so I popped in after the baby shower I went to across the street at The West Roxbury Pub. They had a bunch of good poetry books, which is always a nice treat:

~The Blind See Only This World: Poems for John Wieners
~Springing: New and Selected Poems by Marie Ponsot
~Beginning with O by Olga Broumas (for some variety)

My aunt recently moved in with my cousin and they needed to pare down, so I welcomed lots of new-to-me books from her library:

~The Harvard Classics "The Five Foot Shelf of Books"
~Horizons magazine in hard cover
~an encyclopedia set from 1961 - I'm going to do something artsy with the pictures and whatnot
~a bunch of history books covering various figures and topics including -

---Sacco and Vanetti I think my uncle was a commie??? because I also have a book of his
about Krushev, Che Guevara, Marx, The Communist Manifesto and Red China...)
---Kissinger
---some text books/reference books that look like they were, in kind, purchased from a used book store

~plus a book about houseplants, which I was so happy to adopt since I kill every other house plant I own, it seems
~and a bunch of home remedy books, including the Doctors Book of Home Remedies

I also found at Commonwealth Books (near the Common, not Harvard):

~a poetry anthology for $2
~Speaking with the Angel, featuring Ultimate Phantom Husband Colin Firth writing a sweet little short story about an awkward boy and his Grammy, for $1 (I had already purchased and read this great book of short stories and for some silly reason, gave it away)

I also found a $5 Jane Green chick lit book, Swapping Lives remaindered at the Emerson/BN nearby. I'm thinking of swapping genres in a little bit here and attempting to write a chick lit novel, so I call it "research". (Chick lit novel won't be worked on for a bit, though. I want to do some more with the poetry that's been laying around untyped for weeks, months and years, first).

Oh, and I'm getting 2 more from Library Thing's early reviewer program (yay! free books) and I've ordered a few that I can't find at bookstores but have borrowed from the library and want to own - Digressions on Some Poems by Frank O'Hara, Cultural Affairs in Boston: Poetry and Prose, 1956-1985 and Selected Poems of Barbara Guest (no variety there -- all one "clique", ha ha!)

So, there you go. Lots and lots of books. That's why, the other day on Facebook, I wrote for my status update that I had too many books...

Restaurant Review: Scollay Square

It's Restaurant Week here in Boston. I went to Scollay Square in Beacon Hill (seems wrong to say such a thing, like I went to a restaurant called "Yugoslavia" in Serbia, but whatevs). Most Boston Restaurant Week menus feature seafood, so I thought I'd be fine where ever I went, except that tickle in my throat I get from white fish. Oopsy. As a result I went off the RW menu but is was a pleasant result. I had the lasagna, which was radically different from your usual lasagna with squash, marscapone and pine nuts for the layers. It came with a side of baby garlic spinach and it was delish. It's made me think about all the different things I can do for a lasagna!

Though it's ubiquitous, I had a beet and goat cheese salad with a garlic and taragon viniagrette. Beets with mixed greens is just about everywhere except McDonalds, it seems. Though it is still a tasty combination and I have some beets at home with some arugula waiting to be mixed with some brie. Tasty.

Call to Action: Letter to Your Legislator regarding Alzheimer's

As I mentioned in my last blog, I wanted to send letters to my legislators regarding Alzheimer's disease research, both for the prevention of the disease and for finding a cure. I have put together a standard letter. Feel free to copy and paste to your heart's content.

If you don't know how to get in touch with your legislators, this page can help you find yours:

http://www.votesmart.org/

Here's the standard letter for you to tinker with:

From:
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________

To:
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________


March 29, 2008


Dear _______________,

I'm writing to you to today in support of the National Alzheimer's Strategic Plan as unveiled to the US Senate Special Committee on Aging on Wednesday, March 25, 2008.

Alzheimer's Disease has affected [add your personal story here -- you can discuss friends or family members you know who are affected by the disease. Share as specifically or generically as you feel comfortable with].

I strongly urge you to take the recommendations as outlined in the Alzheimer's Solution Project, so that we can find a cure for this devastating disease. We need to act now to help as many families as possible.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

_________________

Alzheimer's Disease - Finding a Cure

I heard this on the radio today:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102338572

Synopsis:

O'Connor, Gingrich, Satcher Discuss Alzheimer's

Talk of the Nation, March 25, 2009 · Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former Surgeon General David Satcher discuss efforts to combat Alzheimer's disease. They're on a task force studying the disease, which may overwhelm the U.S. health care system as baby boomers age.

Here's the comment that I made on the NPR page:

Fantastic show today. Thanks so much. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but, I'm very appreciative of the politically savvy mind of Mr Gingrich, since we're on the same side on this issue. I'm having dinner with my extended family on Sunday and I would like to bring letters for all of us to sign and send to our legislators. Alzheimers has affected all of us. My great aunt has it right now and my nana died of it in early 2001. I'm looking forward to the update of the page with the links, as promised, during the end of the show.
Thanks again,
Bridge

Gingrich said that if every person who was somehow affected by this disease contacted their legislators about funding research for the prevention of Alzheimer's Disease, then the necessary funding would pass -- no problem. I really find it strange to be praising Newt Gingrich, but what can you do; he's made an excellent argument for the eradication of this disease.

During the show, the panelists talked about the long term costs to families and the government of Alzheimer's. Sandra Day O'Connor said that as our population ages, the amount of people 80 and older with the disease will be 1 of every 2. ONE OF EVERY TWO. Half the population over 80 will have it! Scary. I better hurry up and have kids, else who will change my diapers in 2070? Sorry, "gallows humor".

It's just that my great grandmother had it, my nana had it, my aunt has it, there's no way I'm not going to suffer from this disease (in 40-50 years) unless there's a cure.

So, help me out will yah? Ha ha ha. For real:

http://www.alzstudygroup.org/

What do you think of the name Erasmus?

I like that name a lot but I'm bound to think of Click and Clack's production staff. You know, the head of the working mother's department "Erasmus B. Dragon".

I'm thinking of that name because Erasmus was one of Henry VIII's tutors in childhood. (A tutor of a Tudor! Ha!) Apparently, like his daughter Elizabeth, Henry was "wicked smahhht" as we say around here. No surprise.

He was also very cunning. He is, of course, a Cancer (June 28). According to my Birthday Book, "cunning" is a trait amongst cancers. However, if our cunning goes unchecked, or we are aware of how persuasive we can be, very bad things can happen. I think Ann Boleyn would agree. And the Catholic church. And Katherine of Aragon. And Bloody Mary.

Erasmus's sobriquet (my new word of the day...) was "Prince of Humanists". He took the middle road between the Protestants and conservative Catholics, pissing off both ends of the spectrum. Free will vs Predestination. To put it in 1990s vernacular: Mrs Gump's box o' chocolates or Lt Dan's Plan. (der...) Humanism in the 1500s "described a curriculum comprising grammar, rhetoric, moral philosophy, poetry and history as studied via classical authors. Humanists mostly believed that, although God created the universe, it was humans that had developed and industrialized it. Beauty, a popular topic, was held to represent a deep inner virtue and value, and an essential element in the path towards God." This quote's from Wikipedia, so i'll have to do some further investigating intot he topc but it rings true from other things I've read.

Anyway, that's what I've thought about as a result of reading that Weir book I blogged about yesterday. More later...

Recipe: Curry Stew with Cabbage and Chick Peas

Part ONE:
1 head of cabbage, sliced and chopped
2 large potatoes, cubed
3 carrots, quartered and chopped
1 cup of veggie broth
1 quart or so of water

Part TWO:
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 8 oz. can of chick pea, rinsed and drained
1 tsp evoo
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Part THREE:
1 8 oz container of Greek yogurt
1/2 cup yellow curry coconut sauce - I just bought the store brand

salt and pepper


Boil potatoes, carrots, and cabbage in water, broth and water them simmer over low heat. Prepare the rest of the vegetables. Saute evoo, onion, celery, chick peas and spices in a saute pan about 10 min. Add to simmering vegetable pot with curry sauce about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Let cool down a little then add the Greek yogurt. Stir and serve.

Alison Weir & Henry VIII

Last year, right around this time, my escape from all the poetry and poetic things I had to read for school -- mind you, I loved this reading, but everyone needs a brain break -- was Alison Weir's "The Life of Elizabeth I". This book was a generous gift from my good friend Kara. I in-turn sent her a fictionalized tale of Elizabeth's life before her ascension, also written by Alison Weir. (KB, if you're reading this, have you read that book yet and if so, what did you think?)

This year? Well, this year, the third season of the Tudors has started, as I blogged previously. I also still need a break from the poetry based reading. And the third thing is that I'm a little frustrated that I can't recognize the figures that the show alludes to, assuming that we are Tudorphiles and already know who Sir Francis Bryan is once we see an nasty hearted fellow with an eye patch.

Well, no, actually. I don't know who he is. I have to go to imdb, find the thumbnail photo of the actor playing Sir Francis (um, hel-LO Alan Van Sprang! Zing!) then google the name of his character, read up on Wikipedia, varify -- as EVERYTHING FROM WIKIPEDIA MUST BE VARIFIED on the UK monarchy website and such and then have a better idea of what's going on, plot wise.

So, to give myself a heads up, I'm starting in on a book I borrowed from my mom, "Henry VIII: The King and His Court" by Alison Weir. Reviews and commentary to follow...

I Called It: The Mexico Model for Banking Crisis Recovery

Dude, I should bet on the races or something, since I "called it" on what the Obama administration would do about the banking crisis. Check this out from my Monday, March 9 2009 blog post after listening to This American Life's Alex Blumberg with NPR's Adam Davidson":

I quoted from an article from the Cleveland Fed:

An alternative to the Swedish method that is both bank and borrower-based was attempted by Mexico in the late 1990s, with a program called Punto Final...

And summarized it as this -

That means instead of plain old nationalizing a bank, the country does a mix -- like joint ownership.

And that's sorta what this is...quote from NPR's coverage:

...Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, or TALF...[is] a partnership to acquire the bad loans. TALF would buy the loans from banks and then bundle them into privately administered investment funds that would be partially guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Full story here.

Treasurt Fact Sheet, released today, here.

Repost: Are You Going to Strawberry Fair?

Pre-Script - I just went there for lunch with Alicia and Rene. I had a salmon burger that was so good. Also good is the homemade ranch. Such a lovely little place, right off Rte 53.


September 2, 2006 @ 11:15 pm

So, we finally made it in a majority representation. I wish that we could have made it when Kara was here, but we did tonight. My chowder had bacon, so everyone else ate it, actually. My green beans were delicious, though. The stuffed portabello wasn’t the best one I’ve ever had, but still good. The mashed potatoes were nice, as ever.

Since it’s not 1993, no one told me he loved me on the way home. You see, in 1993, I dated a senior when I was a freshman. What a pedo!!! On Valentine’s Day in 1993, Gre g The ran told me he loved me after taking me to Strawberry Fair for Valentine’s Day dessert.

Next time I go, I’m getting the quiche.

Other’s orders and ratings:

Eri n- Garden Wrap: good good good

Rene-Veggie Melt: chopped vegs different but tastes better than it used to. Liked the layer of soft pita bread and side of homemade creamy ranch.

DTC-Milano Chicken Sandwich: grilled chicken with pesto and sundred tomato in foccacia bread

DFG- Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad: still working on eliminating the baby weight. I think she looks adorable still and also, not all of us can be effing Heidi Klum.

Ali cia- Thanksgiving Sandwich: mmm… I love it. (She had this this time too! ~2009)

Anyway, everything’s from scratch and the place is so very very quaint. The other thing that was nice was the live acoustic music.

"http://www.thestrawberryfair.com/"

Recipe: Egg Scramble with Basil, Mozzarella and Kalamata Olive

We had a little dinner party last night and had leftovers, which I made into a delicious breakfast.

1 pint "Better N Eggs"
1 bunch of fresh basil, chopped
10 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1/4 cup fresh mozzarella, chopped
salt & pepper

Mix all together in medium bowl.

evoo & butter

Heat 1 tsp of olive oil and 1 small pad of butter on med heat, let butter melt. Add the egg mixture. Stir around every once in a while to make sure egg isn't getting stuck to the bottom. When its all cooked through, you're done. Eat and enjoy. It's one of my favorite breakfast recipes I've ever tried!

Brush Up Your Pre-Shakespeare - The Tudors Are Back

YIPPPPEEEE!!!!!!!!! Showtime's series "The Tudors" is back for season three.

I know I talk about "Psych" and "Chuck" and "Medium" and even other premium cable shows like "Diary of a Call Girl" and "United States of Tara". But...but...nothing BUT nothing gets me like Showtime's "The Tudors".

I mean nothing. Not the "West Wing", not "General Hospital", not BBC miniseries broadcast as part of PBS Masterpiece Theatre, not even by beloved "Sex and the City" -- not one of those shows just captures me like "The Tudors".

Politics? Drama? History? Anglophilia? The arts? Love? Sex? Romance? Literature? Religion? Rebellion? Yep yep yep yep yep yep yep yep yep yep and yep.

And now, to a min-review of season 3, peisode. Hello Jane Seymour...can't wait to watch you wither away like the nonsense figure you are. (Can you tell I'm impartial to the head strong ---err, figuratively speaking -- maybe I should pick a better adjective for this woman...willful? ---, independent, maybe some would say C U Next Tuesdays Anne Bolelyn...?) Nice pink dress, though. Quite pretty.

Even though she's a menaie to Elizabeth (my fav), I feel bad for Mary. Poor Bloody Mary. Talk about Daddy Abandonment Issues. Imagine if she were alive today? She'd be on Springer every week.

Anyway, can't wait for more. Very fun.

Now, where is my Alison Weir book?

DVD Review - Rachel Getting Married

Man! Thank friggen God for IMDB! I could not, for the life of me, place the husband Sidney! I KNEW I'd seen him on the TEEVEE a lot. And I might have heard him on the RADIO too. It turns out, he's the lead singer of TV ON THE RADIO.

Sweet Jesus, this is such a relief.

And now, to the rest of the review -- except WAIT. I must announce yet ANOTHER man on the list of Phantom Husbands, Mather Zickel. This is a cheat, as he looks like an exish person, but whatevs. He's a sexyman.

And now, the real real review:

It was good. Quite a quirky wedding that was, that Rachel had. It was strange, personal, vibrant and lovely. The actor who played Rachel is in that show with that other ex, the one from high school who wrote to me over Facebook on NYE.

Poor Anne Hathaway as a druggie. It's a long way down from the Princess Diaries Movies. She did a really good job as One Hot Mess.

And surprise surprise Debra Winger is a bitch, as the mom.

Rent it. Squirm. Laugh. Cry. The end.

Vegetarian Irish Stew - the fast-cook version

5 carrots - peeled and chopped 1 inch long

5 parsnips - peeled and chopped 1 inch long

1 small turnip - peeled and chopped approx 1 inch cubes (approx size)

5 potatoes - wash skins well and leave on, chopped in approx 1 inch cubes

1 veg boullion cube
4 quarts water, approx

3 medium onions - halved then quartered
5 celery stalks - chopped 1 inch long

1 package of button cap or baby portabello mushrooms, sliced

optional package of Morning Star breakfast links - chopped 1 in long

1 tbs butter

1 tbs olive oil

1/2 tsp garlic

1 cup of mushroom gravy

1 half can of Guiness

1 heaping tsp dill weed

salt & pepper

To speed things along, lighten damped two paper towels. Rotate microwaving 2 potatoes at a time and the turnip at 3 minutes. While those microwave, chop carrots, parsnips, mushrooms, onion, and celery. Keep mushroom, onion and celery separate from other veggies. Microwave fake sausage for just a minute. Chop and set aside. Those will be added at the last minute.

Add potatoes, turnip, carrots and parsnip to large stock pot. Add water until just above veggies. Smoosh the boullion cube, break apart and add to stock pot. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and bring everything to a boil, then simmer over med heat for 25 minutes.

While those veggies cook, in a large skillet, heat butter and olive oil over med high heat. Add onion and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Stir occasionally for about 7 minutes. Add mushroom and garlic. Saute until onion becomes very limp, about 7-8 more minutes.

In a medium sized bowl, stir gravy, dill and Guiness (mind the beer foan, okay?) together. Set aside.

In the sink, place a large bowl under a sieve. Drain the veggies, keeping the broth in the big bowl. Return the stock pot to the stove on med high heat. After the skillet veggies are well sauteed, add them to the large stock pot. Add the gravy mixture, the strained veggies and just enough broth to touch the top of the veggie. Save the rest of the broth, though. It's good for another dish.

Cover pot, add fake sausage, simmer until the veggies are tender.

It's one of my favorite things to eat, even if it does take lots of bowls and pots to make.

The Trouble with Being Unemployed

The trouble with being unemployed, besides the money part, is that it's harder to make sure everything that should get done, gets done. Without a looming deadline or an incredibly busy day ahead of you, it's hard to motivate yourself to do those things that you don't want to do because, well, there's literally always later, since you're schedule is so wide open. I was always best under pressure. The more things I have to do, the more reliable I am at doing them.

This, for me, means I don't get nearly enough done while in the doldrums of unemployment. I mean, I don't even have a weekly planner anymore, and I used to live and breathe by my planner.

So, today, while I was driving in Weymouth, on my way to do laundry, I stopped at the CVS (one of 1783 pharmacies located in Weymouth) and purchased 1) some red hair dye, since mine has gone down to strawberry blonde and I'm in need of a perk and 2) a weekly planner.

I filled it up with all the things I have to do this week and will feel so lovely when I can cross things off. Conversely, I'm hoping it makes me feel icky about things I did not get done. It's a way to psyche myself into feeling like there isn't a seemingly endless plot of time throughout my week, even though there certainly is.

The other thing I noticed was that if I didn't wake up and drink two cups of coffee, take my multivitamins and go for a walk as soon as I was up, I woulnd't really be totally "up". I'd sit in bed and try to read or write but just end up falling in and out of sleep. Must get up and get going as soon as I'm awake.

I wonder how many other people out there are like me -- just lost without the regimen of a very busy schedule? I'm sure I'm not alone. I'll tell you what though. This unemployment thing is way way way old. And there isn't a library clerk position to be had on the job board. Not a one.

I'm so hard up for a job, I'm starting to consider terrible things, like copy editing and writing again. Eek.

What about you? Do you think you'd be able to psyche yourself into being busy & motivated if you were this free?

Britney at the Garden

Oh holy hell. Ha ha ha ha -- Britney Spears was at the Garden last night. I had the good luck to be at North Station while the droves of teenie poppers dressed as prostitutes and gays in scarves and tightjeans malingered around waiting to get in to the concert. I'll have pictures to post in a bit, but here's a video of her "dancers" leaving the Garden after the concert.

According to the security guard, this is just her "dancers". I think this decoy bus is the real bus and this is actually video of Britney leaving Boston, but whatevs.

I have some advice: if you ever want to incite a mini-riot in Boston, yell "OH MY GOD IT'S BRITNEY SPEARS!!!" after her concert as a bus pulls out. You'll get a crowd swarm around in 2.2 seconds.

Is it time to just quit and drink whisky 24/7?

Yeah, so, if I had a full time job, I'd have less time to read about how bad the economy is and how no one has jobs. Ha ha. As it stands, I am underemployed and do read about the financial crisis. (See previous two posts.) The thing that I read today that scared the crap out of me the most was this excerpt from My Economist Crush, Robert Reich:

...if our very own Secretary of the Treasury doesn't even learn of the bonuses until months after AIG has decided to pay them, and cannot make stick his decision that they should not be paid, AIG is not even accountable to the government. That means AIG's executives -- using $170 billion of our money, so far -- are accountable to no one. (The Real Scandal of AIG ~ 3/14/09)

Oh man. We. Are. Faqt.

Full blog post here.

Erm, okay...CEO Patrick Byrne read my blog

Did you all see that? The CEO of Overstock.com just posted a comment on my blog. (See previous post.) He was mad that I wasn't willing to automatically trust the contents of the article he funded, Deep Capture, without some critical thinking.

I read that really long article and I was nice enough to link to it. But, sorry dude, it seems these days you just can't trust anything to be what it is on its face. So don't take offense that I don't just read and believe. Clearly you cannot take anything you get from the media at face value these days: case in point, Jim Cramer trashing Overstock for for the purpose of short selling the stocks and making money off of it. So, I'm just saying, I read that article and found it illuminating but I'm never going to take what I read and just think, "Okay, this is all true and I should believe it." If anything, "Deep Capture" stresses our lack of healthy skepticism leading to this financial crisis at hand.

I think we all need to keep our skepticism at everything we encounter. It's the only way we can protect ourselves.

The Daily Show and WAY Beyond - how Jim Cramer is a criminal

Holy mackerel! That Jim Cramer is even douchier than we suspected!

First, of course, is Cramer's appearance on the Daily Show. If you've got extra time on your hands, don't just watch this clip linked from Wonkette, but read the entire thread, including the comments. They meander out to all manner of things but they are good.

http://wonkette.com/406968/jon-stewart-jim-cramer-make-america-feel-pleasantly-uncomfortable

Here's some MSM coverage of it but it completely misreads the success of Stewart's interview, saying he was too serious for a comedy show:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/14/arts/television/14watc.html?th&emc=th

Hey guess what New York Effin Times, if you or the other legion of MSM did their effin job and called these people out, like you're supposed to, the comedian could go back to making fart jokes, no problem.

Anyway, here's some more on how sinister and awful Jim Cramer is. Now, I'm not sure how much I trust this, since the elaborate article "Deep Capture" is funded by the CEO of Overstock.com, so my cynical side tries to see what he stand to gain. Never the less, worth the read:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/3/5/16720/74815

http://www.deepcapture.com/the-story-of-deep-capture-by-mark-mitchell/

This banking crisis get wackier and wackier.

An Tantalizing New Book about Manny

I heard a story ont he radio about a book about Manny Ramirez, on my way to work today. It's called "Becoming Manny" and one of the co-authors is a psychologist who studies mentor relationships for troubled youths.

The other co-author, when discussing "what went wrong" with Manny and Boston, said that this town was too small for Manny's penchant for privacy. I almost started to be offended, because that's what you do when someone outside of your town criticize it but really, he was right.

I mean, my roommate's best friend's brother's girlfriend's good friend was the object of Manny's affection and we got to hear all mannerof screwy stories about him that I'm sure he'd rather us not know, like how he would come into town from away games and invite my rommate's best friend's boyfriend's girlfriend's friend to random hotel room parties. How Manny lied to the rm's bf's bro's gf's f and said he was single, when he's Manny in Boston and a quick search of Boston.com will have all the details about his marriage and his children and all that jazz. Apparently when the roommate's best friend's brother's girlfriend's friend called Manny out on this, he simply said, "Yeah but it isn't going well. We're getting a divorce."

So, I don't know what that co-author is talking about at all when it comes to this town being too small and Manny being under a microscope here. But I do see that LA, with it's Hollywood celebs, is appealing because you can more easily seduce unsuspecting young women with a web of lies.

Oh, and, I have to add this: I still miss Manny. He's still a g#ddamn fantastico slugger, despite his many Manny quirks.

For No Good Reason - watch this commercial

what happened was some dumb mayor of a Georgia town said that if the PM Gordon Brown didn't like his DVDs then he, the mayor, wondered what Brown would think of a quart of the Bull and a pack of camels and then Wonkette picked it up and a whole bunch of people were like, "Oh, he didn't mean Red Bull, he meant this more racist drink, Schlitz Blue Bull" and then I googled that and then I found the video and, well, it's too awesomely bad not to share, but really it's for no good reason.

Hooray for run-on sentences!

This Week in WTF - Company Exec Fakes Cancer to Avoid Fraud Charges

Howard Richman, formally of Boston company Biopure, FAKED HAVING CANCER so that he could avoid federal charges in securities lawsuit.

He even pretended to be his own doctor on the phone.

An AP article reports, "Richman had fabricated the story about having cancer in an attempt to wriggle out of a lawsuit filed in 2005 by the Securities and Exchange Commission and to avoid paying a large civil fine."

And now? After pleading guilty to obstruction of justice, he faces ten years in prison. What a FOOL!!! (hence the tarot card...)

Friggen Moron. Honestly, WTF?

Understanding the Banking Crisis Via 'This American Life'

Adam Davidson and Alex Blumberg of NPR are magicians, for they have made it possible for the Lay People, like you and me, to understand this banking crisis.

Please take 39 minutes out of your day today or soon to listen to this story:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1285

After listening, I was able to understand phrases like this

undercapitalized banks choose not to address problem loans because doing so would force asset write-downs

from the link I posted previously about the Swedish model of nationalizing banks.

Here's another quote I sort of understand

Credit restoration has proved to be among the most difficult resolution steps to execute effectively, and it can involve different public–private hybrid models to enhance the probability of success. An alternative to the Swedish method that is both bank and borrower-based was attempted by Mexico in the late 1990s, with a program called Punto Final. The program subsidized 60 percent of a loan if the borrower started repaying it, a cost that was shared equally by the government and the lender. The government’s share of the cost would also increase in proportion to the number of new loans the lender made. This had the effect of subsidizing only good loans (failed borrowers would rather default than keep throwing money at a loan they could not repay) and incentivized lenders to start credit flowing again.


That means instead of plain old nationalizing a bank, the country does a mix -- like joint ownership. The nationalizing and what goes on with it, I am still a little fuzzy on that detail.

More Signs of the Grunge Age Apocalypse - Chris Cornell Does an R&B Album with Timbaland

I was listening to NPR tonight and Jackie Lydon started describing my former phantom husband (who I retired after an atrocious appearance on Leno last year) Chris Cornell & his distinctive vocals. And by distinctive, she meant rocking. However, I would instead use the term goddamn sexy as all faulck. Regardless, those vocals are now laid out on completely different tracks than ever before: with R&B producer Timbaland.

Good God in heaven. First Smashing promotes credit cards. Then Chris Cornell goes gangsta. What next? Courtney sells the rights to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" to the NRA...'Load up on guns and bring your friends!'

Ummm...yeah - I donnow, wadda u think?

This, to me, is a scene that seems out of a dream, "It was the weirdest thing. Nancy Pelosi was there with Brad Pitt giving a press conference and I coudln't tell if I was watching a movie or watching a real life thing...so confusing."

It's just...weird.

This Week in WTF - Debacle over photo of Mrs O

Michelle Obama volunteered at a homeless shelter and someone there took a picture of her with their cellphone and then all the conservative were like, "Why does this homeless man have a cellphone???!!!!" And then a whole bunch of liberal people were like, "How do you know he's homeless? If he is, some homeless do get cellphones with prepaid cards. Often times as part of charities, so that they can get a job or search for a permanent place to live. How do you know that this isn't his circumstanc?" And back and forth everyone went for no real good reason.

But that's not what I want to talk to you about. What I want to talk to you about is this woman, Kathy Shaidle, who had all kinds of hateful things to say about this photo. It seems she never runs out of hateful things to say. Blah blah blah, a conservative is hateful. I'm shocked! Shocked!

Her ranting is not what I want to talk about, either. What I really, really want to talk to you about is how Shaidle is clearly the secret mother of another Epic Failure, one of the most WTF-i-est stories of all the WTF stories:

Kathy Shaidle is Ashley Todd's secret mum. This explains EVERYTHING!!!

Sign of Our Old Age Apocalypse

Here we are, watching 30 Rock and some commercial comes on. It features this Smashing Pumpkins song, "Today." I flash back to memories of Lollapalooza 94 and Rene remarks on how much she loves this song.

But guess what? It was featured in a commercial FOR VISA. Really Billy Corrigan? Really?

Nothing makes one feel old as all sh1t than when the songs of your youth appear in a commercial. The second worst is when you hear them in the grocery store.

Now, where's my cane? And I need a can of Ensure...

Oh, and now I'm hip again. Ray LaMontagne is going to be on SNL - Lewiston in the hizouse.

The Lastest in Awesome Late Nite Commercials

Oh good Lord in hebben above, what in the name of all that is holy is this?

https://www.bumpits.com/Default.aspx?MID=538365

Really? You put a piece of plastic on the back crown of your head so you can look like Amy Winehouse?

Good Lord.

This Week in WTF - Free Boca Burgers

I'm up working on writing stuff, after drinking coffee after way past the 3 PM cutoff (I thought I'd be okay since it was only a half a cup, but no) and Rene woke up from the loveseat to say she wished we had a treadmill.

So, I went to the Craigslist "free stuff" postings and found this HILARIOUS post that just blew my mind. Imagine driving 30 minutes for some Bocas? Me neither.

One part good for you, two tiny parts bad for you Dessert

Ikea sells these Leksands Crispbread things. Like, real serious whole wheat crackers, in the shape of a wedge. They have no fat, 45 calories, 1 g protein, 2 g dietary fiber. They have a bland but likable taste. I spread 2 tsp of all natural peanut butter (much less than serving size): 60 cal, 2.5 g fat, .35 g fiber, 1.2 g protein. And then one tsp of Nutella on top of that. Nutella is the indulgence part, but if you use it in far less than the serving size (2 tbs), you won't do too much damage. The Crispbread fills you up and you get a little bit of sweetness.

I'm on a role with the food blogs. I haven't the slightest clue why. Something non-foodie will be my next post, I swear.

My Fake Bolognese Sauce

My Fake Bolognese Sauce (vegetarian version) - Well, I made it again, and it was good, again, if I do say so myself. But what I'm floored by is the low cost of it.

Parsley: 99 cents
Sauce: 40 cents
Mushrooms: 2.00
Onion: 30 cents
Cheese: 2.00
Pasta: 1.90

And every good house always has a splash of wine, a bit of butter, garlic cloves, salt & pepper, dash of cinnamon and some olive oil. If you don't you should.

Total cost: SIX DOLLARS AND SIXTY CENTS

Yay delicious Depression food!

Mmm, tasty - Almond Milk

Almond milk was on sale - 2 for $5 at Roche Bros today. So, I bought some for my coffee. I mjust had "dessert" which was one half coffee, one half chocolate almond milk. Super delicious.

Almond milk is better than soy milk because it's so thick and creamy. It's also pretty nutritious.

Alrighty, just thought I'd let you know. Look for it in the soy milk section of the hippie section of big grocery stores and the milk section of the hippie stores.

Recipe - Red Bean & Potato Stew

Recipe: Red Bean and Potato Stew

1 tbs olive oil
2 tsp Louisiana Hot Sauce
1 can of red beans, drained
1 small can of corn, drained
3 potatoes, half-inch cubes
1/4 cup peas
3 chopped carrots
1 tsp mince garlic
1 28 oz can of Pastene Kitchen Ready Ground Peeled Tomatoes
refill can with water
1/4 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp parsley
1 mashed and broken up veg boullion cub dissolved in a little hot water
salt & pepper to season
1 tsp dill weed
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Heat olive oil on med high, add carrots and peas. Stir and heat up a minute. Add garlic, season and stir. Heat another minute. Add tomato, water, boullion, thyme and parsley. Cover and bring to rolling boil. Reduce to low heat and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat. Add dill weed and cayenne pepper. Stir. Cover and let cool for a few minutes then serve.

Option to add more hot sauce.

Recipe - Hummus Caserole (for real!)

There was a container of hummus that was dated Feb 28, so I decided to use it up tonight. But how? Well, I had stuffing mix, cream of mushroom and some complementary veggies, so...

Recipe: Hummus Caserole

1 tub of red pepper hummus
1/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers
1/4 cup well-chopped carrots
1 can of fat free cream of mushroom soup
1 8 0z. package of whole wheat stuffing
1/4 cup of broth

optional: sprinkle parsley, thyme, salt, pepper, garlic powder & paprika over top

Heat oven to 450. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Spread in 9x9 in glass dish. Bake 45 minutes. Remove and serve. It's a bit radical, but it's delicious.

Recipe: Semi-Homemade Tuna Melt Caserole

Recipe: Semi-Homemade Tuna Melt Caserole

1 box of Annie's Whole Wheat Shells & White Cheddar mac n cheese
1 can of tuna, drained and flaked
1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup mild cheddar cheese
1/4 cup peas
1/2 small onion, very finely chopped
1 tsp parsley
1/2 tbs butter
3 oz of sour cream (fat free or low fat preferred)
1/2 cup pasta water
salt & pepper

Set oven to 425 degrees. Cook pasta 6-8 minutes, until just al dente. Drain with bowl underneath (to catch the starchy water) and set aside. In the same large sauce pan, heat butter over med high heat. Add peas, onion and tuna. Season with salt and pepper. Stir well and cook about 2 minutes. Reduce to medium heat. Add cheese packet, shredded cheese, sour cream, pasta, 1/4 cup pasta water and parsley. Stir well and simmer a few minutes. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake in oven for 30-45 minutes, depending on how browned you want the melted cheese to get. I like that part. It reminds me the most of the tuna melt. But, you decide. Remove and serve.

Recipe - Baked Lentils & Rotini

Recipe: Baked Lentils and Rotini

Lentils:
1/2 cup dry lentils
1 tsp onion flake
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cumin
3/4 cup water or broth

Pasta:
1/2 box whole wheat rotini, cooked al dente

Sauce:
1/2 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
sprinkle of cayenne pepper
1 5.3 oz container of Fage yogurt (Greek yogurt)
1/4 c. water or broth
1/4 c. of sour cream
salt & pepper

In a small saucepan mix all ingredients for the lentils. Bring to a boil then simmer 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Cook pasta to al dente (about 10 min). Drain and set aside. In the large sauce pan, heat butter and olive oil on medium high heat. Add peas and carrots. Stir and heat about 2 minutes. Add garlic, stir and heat for 2 minutes. Add lentils, yogurt, curry, dill weed, parsley, cumin, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Stir well. Cover and simmer on med low heat for about 5-7 minutes, until the lentils and carrots are tender. Add yogurt & water. Stir and remove from heat. Cover with aluminum foil (especially over plastic handles) and bake 30 minutes. Remove from over. Add sour cream and cayenne pepper. Stir and serve.

Food Stuff - Chopped on Food Network

Well, I have four recipes to share with you. They'll be in upcoming blogs, so stay tuned.



I'm currently watching the show "Chopped" hosted by my gay crush Ted from Queer Eye. Right now this French guy is kinda trying to serve raw chicken to the judges. Um, bye bye. Here's a plate of salmonella. So, the premise is that you get a box of random crap from this box. In this round it was chicken thighs, plantains, rice cakes & fruit punch. Ugh.



It's fun to see what things they come up with. Okay, let's see if my prediction about the French guy comes true...enh. Nevermind. It's a commercial.

...update: yep. The Frenchie was Chopped.

Anyhoo, stay tuned for some recipes...

MOVIE MANIA - Babysitters Club - Blow Dry - An Ideal Husband

With the Depression still being as depressing as ever, I have to tighten the purse strings. Friday was a night out; therefore Saturday was a night in. What did I do to wile away the hours? I watched movies. Lots of movies, actually:

- The Babysitters' Club: I knew this thing would be one hot mess as soon as I saw it, but nostalgia would not let me pass it by. Kristy's scumbag dad comes back to town and lives in a motel, trying to get a job at a local media station and makes her keep his presence a secret. She only tells Marianne. The rest of the movie is centered around this storyline. Also, Stacy falls for a 17 year old Swede who she tells she is 16. Claudia has to take science in summer school. Dawn befriends the crotchety old hippie gardening lady next store. Marianne and Logan have to put up with the shenanigans of bitter Maguerite. All the while, they're hosting a summer camp in Marianne and Dawn's backyard. Jessie and Mallory are secondary characters without their own storylines. Though it's been just about 20 years since I read my last BSC book, having read about 100 of them, everything came back real fast. I LOVED these books. Babysitters' Club and before that Encyclopedia Brown fostered my love of reading. Bonus: many of the young actors in this film grew up to be recognizable faces, albeit C & D-list ones. Kristy was played by Schuyler Fisk, the daughter of Sissy Spacek. According to the interwebs, Schuyler (pronounced "sky-ler") is now a folk singer. Another actor in the movie was Rachel Leigh Cook, which brings me to my next film...

- "Blow Dry": starring Rachel Leigh Cook, Josh Hartnett, Alan Rickman, Natasha Richardson, Rachel Griffiths and Bill Nighy. A story of Shakespearean proportion, in its multiple layers of story lines, comedy mixed with tragedy and interweaving of everything. I loved it! It's directed by the guy who did "The Full Monty" movie and is fun to watch the whole way through. The movie is centered around the national Hairstyling Competition coming to the small town in England where Alan Rickman and his son, played by Josh Hartnett, live. Natasha Richardson is the mom. She's dying of cancer. Rachel Griffiths is the lesbian lover of Natasha Richardson. Alan Rickman used to be the best hairstylist in the Competition in all of England, until his model, Rachel Griffiths, took off with his wife. Then he quit the game. When the competition comes to his hometown, the dying Richardson gets her family to reunite for the it. Though reluctant at first, everyone goes in for it, especially in the face of Rickman's fiercest long-time competitor, Bill Nighy, taunting him. Nighy's daughter is played by Cook. Cook and Hartnett have a bit of the ol' Romeo and Juliet rival family romance going on. In the meantime, side stories, like that of Heidi Klum, as a real nasty model, and the two hairstylist brothers she's romantically involved with & the witless mayor trying to make the town less provincial are all in play. Speaking of plays set in England...

- An Ideal Husband: Rupert Everett, Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver, Julianne Moore, and Jeremy Northam play the main character's in this Oscar Wilde comedy. Julianne Moore is a c-word and tried to blackmail and destroy everyone's lives because she's evil and meddling. Cate Blanchett is a bit of a goodie two shoes. Rupert Everett is a lascivious and rich bachelor who is resistant to his father's imploring him to marriage. Minnie Driver is a spirited & witty socialite. Jeremy Northam is a politician with a teeny tiny past that Moore is trying to exploit for her own gain. Everett's character, who, in my minds, bares a resemblance to the way Wilde himself was characterized, emerges as the hero of the play. Interesting, that, eh? Anyway, it's fun and British & olde tyme-ie, which I always love. All the good people prosper by the end. Yay!