Recommendation

Go see the movie "Up"; it's a wonderful movie.

Unlike most animiated films, the script isn't one of an adolescent making his way toward adulthood. It's the story of an old man finding adventure late in life. It's a very emotional story, which is unusual for animated films. I teared up several times which is not all that unusual for me. (I once cried at a dog food commercial years ago).

Memorable characters, funny situations and beautiful pictures. What else do you need in a summer movie?

Happy Pride Day

Happy Pride Day to everyone. Today is the day that Columbus is celebrating gay pride. It's a big celebration here - 60,000 people last time I went about 6 years ago. It's been over 100,000 for a couple of years now. I'm an old married guy now, so I don't go anymore. Husband has no interest in being in a crowd that large - gay or not.

If you don't know the reason that gay pride is celebrated in late June every year, I advise you to search Wikipedia for Stonewall Riots. Surprisingly rainbow flags were NOT involved. It's important to know history.

In honor of Pride, I want to recommend that EVERYONE (regardless of sexual orientation) read a Armistead Maupin book. (No, I don't get commission). I just read Michael Tolliver Lives last weekend and, as usual, was blown away. His books always come across as fun, breezy and chaotic - until you get to the end. At that point everything comes together in a way that is surprising but still somehow obviously RIGHT. He's written a lot of books by now - most of them part of Tales of the City series. Do yourself a favor and read (or re-read) them. Great stuff and fun summer read.

The Pleasures of Homemade Iced Tea

Several weeks ago husband and I had a couple people over for dinner and, on a lark, I decided to make iced tea from scratch. You know - no powdered mix involved. Boy I had forgotten how much better the real stuff is than the instant stuff. Iced tea was a summer staple in our house when I was growing up. I pieced together this recipe mostly from memory. Make it yourself and you'll see what I mean!

Homemade Iced Tea
2 quarts of boiling water
10 tea bags of your favorite black tea
12 ounce can of frozen lemonade concentrate
1/2 cup sugar (or to taste)
Ice


Put the tea bags in a heat-safe pitcher and pour the boiling water over. Let the tea steep until the water is tepid; at LEAST 2 hours (but 3 hours is better). I know this is a long time, but don't skimp on this step or it won't taste right.

When the tea is room temperature, use a slotted spoon to remove the tea bags. Add the frozen lemonade concentrate and stir briskly until all of the lemonade is dissolved into the tea. Add sugar to taste (1/2 cup is what I add), again stirring until the sugar is dissolved. It's ready to serve!

Be sure to put the ice in the glasses when you serve it and NOT to put it directly into the tea. That will dilute it too much. Also, be sure to stir the tea well before serving, everytime you serve it (assuming it lasts more than the first time!).

Enjoy!

Recommendations

I recently finished reading "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides. I highly recommend it. It's one of my all time favorite books. It's was somewhat slow to start, but once it got going it was very hard to put down. The final scene in the book was very memorable.

I don't think this book NEEDS my recommendation, since some prize by the name of "Pulitzer" and some chick by the name of "Oprah" recommended it before me. But, what the heck. When they're right, they're right.

Also, the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" was a remarkable movie. Go see it. It's hard to describe, but it was a good, old-fashioned comedy.

What Book Do You Recommend?

I think most people have a book that, when asked, they always recommend? It doesn't have to be your favorite book, although sometimes it is. It's the book that's made the most difference in your life. What is yours?

Mine is Illusions by Richard Bach. That book helped me change my life. Before reading it, I was going through life without questioning what I was doing and why. Afterwards, I was much conscious of the decisions I made and why I made them. Great read. Highly recommended!

Now share yours please!

Obama's Final Argument

This is what I think Obama (and all Democrats, for that matter) should be saying in these final days, not what he has been saying.

We have had 8 years of a republican-led administration. The Republicans are rightly held responsible for the current (and likely long lasting) financial mess. But it's their recklessness with American security that infuriates me. The current Republican administration lied to the American public and congress to justify the war in Iraq. Now there are 3,900 + Americans dead in that war so far and tens of thousands of Iraqis. This was a choice to go to war at a time when we were already at war in Afghanistan with the terrorists.

Going to war should always be done with deliberation (or not at all, since I'm Quaker, but that's a post for another time). Going to a SECOND war should be discouraged at all costs unless the chance of winning quickly is 100%. So now not only are thousands of people dead, but we are less safe than before the war started because our military is so pre-occuppied with the two wars it's already fighting, that if another conflict arose we aren't equipped to handle it.

Republicans should be held accountable for their actions, and as the current president is fond of saying, the ONLY time voters can hold politicians accountable is in the voting booth. So this once, let's take advice from George W. Bush and remember who it is that got us into this mess. The Republicans. And vote accordingly on November 4th.

Any underdecided voters

must see this video. I love Donna Brazile....

Main Stream Media

Time was newspapers and broadcast news were an important part of democracy in the USA. Those days are LONG gone. Too much has changed - if ever so slowly - for that to be true now. Newspapers and broadcast news have been reduced to profit-making concerns. Consumers of their products should keep that in mind.

Some of the things that have changed to make that true:

1. The Fairness Doctrine was done away with during the Reagan administration. This was a federal regulation that required all companies that used the public airways, to give both sides of the issue (or candidates) equal time. Doing away with this regulation made possible Fox News and the conservative monopoly on radio.

2. Commoditization of news by corporations, oddly enough also in the 1980's required that each newspaper or news broadcast make a profit. Prior to this, it was common practice (for broadcast news especially) to lose some money most years. It was considered the price a company paid to use the public airwaves. With profit making now the goal, news was dumbed down, ratings or circulation became more important leading to sensationalizing of the news, finding good-looking anchors became more important than good reporters. Eventually even the reporters became pretty faces who read the news as increasingly the news producer did more and more of the actual reporting.

3. Twenty-Four hours cable news started in the 1980's and becomes embedded in American culture by the 1990's. It all started with CNN of course, but eventually led to MSNBC and Fox. Unfortunately there's not enough actual news to fill one 24 hour news channel, let alone 3 of them. That led to focusing even more on stories that can be sensationalized (Scott & Lacey Peterson anyone?) and the genesis of the "pundit". If it that reads like a curse word, then you're paying attention. These creatures (I can't manage to call them people) make an enormous amount of money by telling news anchors their opinions about news stories - often politics. Actual qualifications aren't required to be a pundit, just HAVE an opinion. Having 2 pundits with opposing opinions is supposed to be good television and is what passes for trying to follow the Fairness Doctrine nowadays.

4. Also during the Reagan era, the federal law that restricted how many news outlets one company could own in one market was done away with. This law was intended to prevent one company owning all the TV stations, newspapers and radio stations in one market. Over a series of years that was changed. So now there's only one newspaper in most major cities (though, to be fair, this isn't the only reason). And there are many cities where one company owns the newspaper, a major radio and a major TV station. Clear Channel anyone? This has led to fewer voices with more power in fewer news outlets.

All of this is just to say that no one should assume that any journalist is solely devoted to the truth. They're not out to lie, but they are only concerned with reporting that PORTION of the truth that will get you to buy their newspaper or tune in to their news report. The news consumer, if you have any concern about getting the full story, must take the time to find it out for yourself. Sure, continue with the MSM if you like, but remember their bias. And don't forget about the internet. There are great blogs out there - with their own biases that they're very upfront about - and Google and Digg and too many other places to mention.

This is an election year, something to take very seriously. Don't let anyone bamboozle you into making a decision about any candidate - politicians have become adept at using the media (more on that soon). If you hear something interesting about a candidate, verify for yourself on the internet that it's true. Take responsibility for your own news, because nowadays, if you don't no one else will.

Go see Wall E

Husband and I went to see Wall E last night. The movie was great fun and very touching. The first previews of this movie made it look like Short Circuit animated, which held no allure for me. But the more recent previews give a better idea of what the movie is about. Great fun.

Before the movie, Pixar put a short cartoon called Presto. I can't remember laughing so loud and so often at any cartoon - short or long, Disney or Warner Brothers. This is a great cartoon. It's worth the admission price alone, just for this 7 minute cartoon.

MORE Roses

This bottom picture is of the yellow rose vine. These are a traditional rose, in that they take the normal care - dead-heading flowers, have to watch for bugs and frost, need to feed regularly etc. The current bunch of flowers are in full bloom. As long as I prune the branches after each flower dies, I'll get more flowers later this summer.

The top picture is of a new variety of roses called a "knock-out" rose. Not sure why they're called that, but they are next to NO work. No need to dead-head the dead flowers, so far bugs don't like them much, you CAN feed them to get MORE flowers, but they seem to bloom fine without. As you can see, they come in a bush form rather than a vine, and the flowers are quite small - maybe an inch when fully bloomed. The color we have is pale pink (which husband just LOVES. ). If you want roses but afraid of the work, buy these roses. They couldn't be easier.

Front Garden - as promised

Here's a picture of the Korean lilac bush in full bloom. Of course it's raining today (hard!), so the rain will likely wash off all the flowers. So I took a picture of it so I can have it to enjoy!

Hope you do too!

YUM! A recipe for beef

I don't often eat beef - 3 or 4 times a year at most. Until recently, I didn't eat beef at all and hadn't for over 20 years. So when I DO eat beef, I eat the best I can find/afford.

A few weeks ago my husband and I were watching an episode of America's Test Kitchen on our local PBS station. (a show I highly recommend) One of the recipes on this episode was for something called Steak Diane. I had never heard of it before that show, but evidently it's an old, old recipe that doesn't get made very often. Turns out the original recipe called for a sauce that took 3 days to make. In a culture that finds it difficult to make a whole meal in 30 minutes, taking 3 days just to make a sauce is impossible.

That's where the America's Test Kitchen show comes in. They found a way to make a reasonable substitute for the sauce that takes 20 minutes of preparation time and 1 hour of cooking time. Then you put it over a steak of your choice (though they recommend a NY strip). We tried the recipe last night and had BS and his husband DK over for dinner. It was unbelievably good. If I even think of the steak, my mouth starts watering.

So if you have a special occasion and you eat beef, I highly recommend Steak Diane. You can get the recipe at the www.americastestkitchen.com website. The site is free, but you have to sign up for a user ID and password.

Enjoy!

You Better Be Good to me!

TINA! TINA!

Yesterday Cher and Tina Turner were on the Oprah show. The gay union sent a blast email telling everyone about the show, so naturally I watched it. Time to punch another notch in the gay union card.

A prisoner of your love
Entangled in your web

The show was worth watching - I still have it on my DVR to share with friends tomorrow night after dinner. But the BEST thing, was when Tina Turner announced she was going to go on tour again starting on October 1st! WOO HOO!!

Hot whispers in the night
Im captured by your spell


See the last time Tina toured (which was supposed to be her last tour, but I'm NOT complaining), I didn't get to see her. I was flat broke and couldn't afford a ticket. It was a real regret of mine that I had never seen her in concert, when I'm such a big fan of hers. And I try to live my life so that I have no regrets.

Oh yes Im touched by this show of emotion
Should I be fractured by your lack of devotion
Should I? Should I?

Tickets don't go on sale until Monday, May 12th, but the Oprah show's website had details on how to order tickets early. So I immediately went upstairs, got on the computer and ordered 2 tickets for her show in Chicago on 10/3/08. No shows in Columbus. I then left a voicemail for my friend BS saying "I hope you can get time off on your new job, because you and I are going to see Tina Turner in concert in Chicago in October. Call me." (See? I'm blunt in real life too, not just online). BS grew up in Chicago and still has friends there. And I know how much he loves music generally - although I wasn't sure of his opinion of Tina. But I HAD DECIDED. (G)

You better be good to me
Thats how its gotta be now

A little later I was talking with one of my brothers-in-law, FE. FE said to me, "Why didn't you ask your husband?" It wasn't until that point that I consciously thought about it, but I KNEW that he wouldn't want to go. He doesn't care for vocal music and he HATES large crowds. Traveling to to Chicago to go to a Tina Turner concert? Not likely. Just to be sure, I asked him about it later. He looked at me like I had grown a second (extremely UGLY) head on my shoulders and said "No. I don't want to go." He didn't SAY "Are you nuts?" but he didn't need to. Facial expressions can be very clear.

Cause I dont have no use
For what you loosely call the truth

So BS and I are going to the concert on Friday and will stay in Chicago until Sunday. I've decided that this weekend getaway will be the tail-end of my 50th birthday celebration. Unless I can get afford to go to Vegas and see Cher in concert. THEN ALL BETS ARE OFF!

You better be good to me

I decided to put the first verse and chorus of "You Better Be Good to Me" in this posting so that you could know what I've been like all day. That song has been running through my head since I ordered tickets yesterday!

Front Garden

This is a close up of a flowering shrub in our front garden. It's called a Korean lilac bush, or so I'm told. It's kind of like a lilac bush if Jackson Pollack had designed it. Right now it has these splotches of lilaccy purple buds all over the place. Last year that's all we got - buds. Since this is a bush I'm not familiar with, I'm not sure if that's what's supposed to happen or not.

You see, early last spring we had VERY warm weather - promptly followed by 6 inches of snow. This on our then brand-new garden. So, I'm still learning things about the plants in our garden because last year was kind of a bust, garden wise. So, I decided to take a picture of the lilac bush now, because even if these buds don't bloom it's still really beautiful. I love this bush. (and yes I just mixed politics with gardening). If the buds actually bloom, I'll be sure to take another picture of it in bloom and I'll post that too.

The Japanese maple tree are both doing really well, as are the climbing hyrdrangeas. Two of the boxwoods are dying as is one of the lavendar bushes. But c'est le vie. I didn't care for the boxwoods anyway and now I know that growing lavendar is an iffy thing at best in Ohio. Not sure why.

Does anyone know of a variety of lavendar that grows well in Ohio? I'm not terribly concerned about the scent (which I know some are), I'm more concerned about it being winter hardy so I don't have to replant some every year. Happy gardening!

Question for Wii users!

I bought a Wii console and a couple of games a few months ago and haven't used it as much as I thought I would when I bought it. I'm thinking that may be because most of the games (with the exception of Wii Sports) are single player games. I think I'd use the console more, I think, if both my husband and I could use it. He gets bored watching me play, and I feel like I'm hogging the television when I play single player games.

So, my question for Wii users is: what multiplayer Wii games have you played and recommend? See? This time I'm asking for a recommendation rather than giving one.

Neither of us like shoot'em ups, but other than that any games are fine. Thanks for the help!

Wheel of Time

I just read that the last book in the Wheel of Time series will be published in Autumn 2009. (this being news from the publishing world, one must Capitalize Autumn. Ahem). I'm psyched.

That book being published at all is bigger news than it may first seem, if you haven't read the series. You see the author is now dead and didn't actually finish the last book. ANOTHER sci-fi/fantasy series' author dead before the series is finished! (YEAH I'M LOOKING AT YOU FRANK HERBERT!!!!) I was seriously annoyed. Yes, yes sad too, but ANNOYED.

But Robert Jordan (author's nom de plume) knew he was sick,, had already begun what was planned to be the last book in the series and made copious notes of what was going to happen. His widow has chosen an author to finish the book (Brandon Sanderson), who has begun his first draft. WOO HOO!

This book, when it comes out, will be the 12th book in the series. The books average about 750 pages a piece. The first 3 books were incredibly good. The next 3 were good, but not great. The rest of them were - MEH! I know, why keep reading when all I thought of them was MEH? Because I'm invested in the characters now. I want to know how their stories end.

So I guess next January I'll start re-reading the series from the beginning so I can read that last book with a clear picture of all the characters and all the plot lines. Sounds like fun!

Avenue Q

My husband and I saw Avenue Q last weekend. What a great show! Calling it irreverent doesn't quite capture it. It's like calling the ocean moist. It's not inaccurate per se, but the scope is missing.

For those who haven't heard about: Avenue Q is musical (still on Broadway) with puppets. That being said, it is NOT intended for children. When you order tickets on the phone, the operators even ask you if you understand that it's not for children! But with song titles like "It Sucks to be Me" and "You Can be as Loud as You Want When You're Making Love" you can understand why.

I've had the CD of the broadway cast for several years now and I got a book about the show for Christmas last year, but had never seen the show. The book says the writers' description of it is "Sesame Street meets Friends" I would add "if Friends were on HBO." I don't remember the last time I laughed so often at a show. Friends of ours came too, and even DK (who doesn't like musicals) liked this one.

So, if the show comes to your town, my advice is to see it - but leave the kids at home. (There is a website, of course: www.avenueq.com)

And no, I don't get a commission if you buy a ticket.