Lucy

R.Crumb

There's a great interview with R. Crumb on the Vanity Fair website about his new comic book (The Book of Genesis Illustrated). I loved this:

I guess plot holes weren’t such a big deal when the Old Testament was being written.

When they originally told those stories, that wasn't how their minds worked. They weren't as nitpicky as we are. The American Indians have these great creation stories about the origins of the earth, and they don’t hold up to a lot of questions. They had this one great story about the rabbit and the fox who were living in the void and they decided they wanted some land to stand on so blah blah blah. The anthropologist hears this and asks, “Well, where did the rabbit and the fox come from?” And the Indian says, “I don't know, doc. Do you want to hear the fucking story or not?”

My Eyes Rest Easy On You

Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Things

If you don't like this song you don't like steak or of Montréal.

Where the Sinners Are

Sinners! Made by the KSU Geography Dept.

Jesse Meth

Visit Jesse's myspace page.

Happy Monday

From mdk e-mail:

We apologize for the delay. There was some major congestion on the IP-127.0.0.1 freeway. Regardless here it is:

In world news this weekend: the US conducted an unprovoked attack on the moon. General Cotter reported to Fox News that the moon "is a risk on our national security. We must secure the moon before it’s too late! The loons on the left are jocking some B.S. about climate change but, we all know it’s the moon rising the tides!

Next, a real tear jerker. If your children are running outside and it’s Shabbos, please, please ignore them more. There is a jihad on the Israeli dating scene! "In 2004, posters sprang up all over the northern town of Safed warning Jewish women that dating Arab men would lead to "beatings, hard drugs, prostitution and crime". Even the Safed's chief rabbi, Shmuel Eliyahu, reported the "seducing" of Jewish girls was "another form of war" by Arab men." Apparently the jihadist reversed Tony’s more important line: "In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women."

In any case, please check this out! (it is different than some previously thought due to a last minute entry)

Happy Monday LLC. INC. Legal partner holding.

Disclaimer: The discussion on the Israli dating is real

KS Wind Farms

A great site with all sorts of information about energy issues in Kansas. More like this, please.

What brought me to the site was a search for wind farm locations, which you can see in this pdf file. The Meridian Wind Farm in Cloud County in the north central part of the state is visible from my family's farm.

Neko Case

Valerie Plame

Sad that this lovely, patriotic woman had to become famous the way she did. The Decembrists sing of her in this lovely song, that is part of a three single vinyl EP:

Casimir Pulaski Day

If you're from Chicago, or are Polish, you might know about Casimir Pulaski. He's a Revolutionary War hero from Poland and they have a day named after him in Illinois (first monday of March). Don't forget!

His name also graces a great song by Chicago native Sufjan Stevens about a particularly bad C.P. Day:


The lyrics:

Golden rod and the 4-H stone
The things I brought you
When I found out you had cancer of the bone

Your father cried on the telephone
And he drove his car to the Navy yard
Just to prove that he was sorry

In the morning through the window shade
When the light pressed up against your shoulder blade
I could see what you were reading

Oh the glory that the lord has made
And the complications you could do without
When I kissed you on the mouth

Tuesday night at the bible study
We lift our hands and pray over your body
But nothing ever happens

I remember at Michael's house
In the living room when you kissed my neck
And I almost touched your blouse

In the morning at the top of the stairs
When your father found out what we did that night
And you told me you were scared

Oh the glory when you ran outside
With your shirt tucked in and your shoes untied
And you told me not to follow you

Sunday night when I cleaned the house
I find the card where you wrote it out
With the pictures of your mother

On the floor at the great divide
With my shirt tucked in and my shoes untied
I am crying in the bathroom

In the morning when you finally go
And the nurse runs in with her head hung low
And the cardinal hits the window

In the morning in the winter shade
On the first of March on the holiday
I thought I saw you breathing

Oh the glory that the lord has made
And the complications when I see his face
In the morning in the window

Oh the glory when he took our place
But he took my shoulders and he shook my face
And he takes and he takes and he takes

It's a YouTube mornin' folks.

Ry Cooder Vids

Because you need a good dose of one of the best slide guitar players ever.

Funkumenical

I can't get the word "funkumenical" out of my head and it's not even a word. It's a hybrid of "funk" and "ecumenical," which I guess is useful if you're an agent for a funk band. I'm going to try to use to describe people who try to get other people to dance.

Scalloped Corn

OK, this is pot luck comfort food for me. I love this stuff, which is why I can't make it, because the corn is loaded with sugars/carbs and I end up eating too much.

Anyway, the recipe is very flexible as long as you have the corn, eggs, evap milk and crackers in it. You can add peppers, for example, or use a different kind of cheese. Try green onions or jalepenos. Bake it until it browns nicely and you get a pretty clean toothpick.

Scallopped Corn

Ingredients:

• 1 can whole corn
• 1 can cream corn
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 can evaporated milk (small)
• 4 tablespoon minced onion
• 2 cups crackers
• 8 oz. Swiss cheese
• Salt & pepper to taste

Drain corn, beat eggs, stir in corn and 1/2 cup of the liquid. Add everything else. Fold in cheese and crackers. Bake at 325 for one hour.

Negawatts

Negawatts: Units of energy saved via conservation.

Hung Out to Dry

I love this story about clotheslines. I remember as a kid, even though we owned a dryer, having to hang out clothes on the line and bring them in. I think it was because mom was frugal, but also because the clothes were fresher and dried faster on the line.

I have no beef with people wanting to hang out their clothes to dry. I noted that our new neighbors had strung up a short line and had some baby clothes up there last week (between storms). Then yesterday I was walking between the houses and saw their dryer exhaust coming out--hints of "Mountain Breeze" or something. Either way, it doesn't bother me.

It does bother homeowners who like to join associations and make lots of rules about what their neighbors can and cannot do. I suppose we have to honor such agreements to some extent, but I wouldn't be too hung up about a ban on clothesline bans.

The Bigger Lebowski

Rolling Stone had this great headline, and an intriguing review about Pynchon's latest book. I'll admit that I've never read any of his books, but this one has caught my eye.

Has anyone read Pynchon or this book, Inherent Vice?

Jamaican Beef Dumplings

This is a great recipe I want to try, with a very sad postscript. Gourmet magazine is going to stop publishing after November, after publishing for 68 years. The remainder of people's subscriptions will be fulfilled by Bon Appetit.

Here's the recipe in case the link stops working. Gourmet says their recipes will still be available on Epicurious.

JAMAICAN BEEF DUMPLINGS
MAKES ABOUT30 DUMPLINGS
ACTIVE TIME:30 MIN START TO FINISH:45 MIN
MAY 2009
View more of our favorite recipes from this issue.
1/2 cup finely chopped scallion
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
4 cups vegetable oil, divided
1/2 lb ground beef
2 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs
Hot sauce (preferably Jamaican)
About 30 dumpling or wonton wrappers
Cook scallion, onion, curry powder, and thyme in 1 1/2 Tbsp oil with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in beef and bread crumbs and cook until meat is just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Season with hot sauce. Cool.
Put a rounded tsp filling in center of a wrapper. Lightly brush edge of wrapper with water, then fold in half (diagonally if square) and press to seal. Form remaining dumplings.
Heat 1 inch oil to 350°F in a 12-inch skillet. Fry dumplings in 3 batches, turning once or twice, until golden-brown, 2 to 3 minutes per batch.
RECIPE BY MAGGIE RUGGIERO

Architecture 2030

Deriving its name from the date by which it challenges all new buildings to be carbon neutral, Architecture 2030 puts the call out to the architecture community to make buildings passive through a variety of green building practices. As they put it:

Buildings are the major source of demand for energy and materials that produce by-product greenhouse gases (GHG). Slowing the growth rate of GHG emissions and then reversing it over the next ten years is the key to keeping global warming under one degree centigrade (°C) above today's level. It will require immediate action and a concerted global effort.

It would be great if more organizations like this sprouted up in various industries. When people realize that they will save money (and the world) in the long run through green practices, maybe there will be faster progress.

The Fit House

A new energy efficient concept home in the neighborhood. The guy at the booth at the art fair expressed great disdain over the fact that they had to design the outside in keeping with the historical neighborhood. He assured me that the inside would be modern. I like the concept of efficient homes, and I wish them well, but he can take that attitude about the neighborhood and shove it.

I'll be watching to see how they do.

Record Breaking War

Having surpassed the length of both World Wars (4 and 6 yrs), Afghanistan (8 years) is about to overtake the American Revolution (8 yrs, 4 mos) and Vietnam (8 yrs, 5 mos).

We're still quite a bit short of the 13-year occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviets, though. That would take us a year or so into Obama's second term.

Mexican Chocolate Tofu Pudding

Mark Bittman, The Minimalist, posted this recipe at the NYT site recently. I'm interested in combo of Mex, choc, and tofu.

Here it is in case the link breaks:

Mexican Chocolate Tofu Pudding
by Mark Bittman

Time: 10 minutes, plus 30 minutes’ chilling

3/4 cup sugar
1 pound silken tofu
8 ounces high-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon chili powder, or more to taste
Chocolate shavings (optional).
1. In a small pot, combine sugar with 3/4 cup water; bring to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly.

2. Put all ingredients except for chocolate shavings in a blender and purée until completely smooth, stopping machine to scrape down its sides if necessary. Divide among 4 to 6 ramekins and chill for at least 30 minutes. If you like, garnish with chocolate shavings before serving.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Visualization Software

Two really interesting software packages for data visualization:

http://processing.org/

http://flare.prefuse.org/

Obama's Reaction to Winning Nobel Peace Prize

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
___________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release October 9, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON WINNING THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

Rose Garden

11:16 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Well, this is not how I expected to wake up this morning. After I received the news, Malia walked in and said, "Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo's birthday!" And then Sasha added, "Plus, we have a three-day weekend coming up." So it's good to have kids to keep things in perspective.

I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee. Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

But I also know that this prize reflects the kind of world that those men and women, and all Americans, want to build -- a world that gives life to the promise of our founding documents. And I know that throughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action -- a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.

These challenges can't be met by any one leader or any one nation. And that's why my administration has worked to establish a new era of engagement in which all nations must take responsibility for the world we seek. We cannot tolerate a world in which nuclear weapons spread to more nations and in which the terror of a nuclear holocaust endangers more people. And that's why we've begun to take concrete steps to pursue a world without nuclear weapons, because all nations have the right to pursue peaceful nuclear power, but all nations have the responsibility to demonstrate their peaceful intentions.

We cannot accept the growing threat posed by climate change, which could forever damage the world that we pass on to our children -- sowing conflict and famine; destroying coastlines and emptying cities. And that's why all nations must now accept their share of responsibility for transforming the way that we use energy.

We can't allow the differences between peoples to define the way that we see one another, and that's why we must pursue a new beginning among people of different faiths and races and religions; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect.

And we must all do our part to resolve those conflicts that have caused so much pain and hardship over so many years, and that effort must include an unwavering commitment that finally realizes that the rights of all Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security in nations of their own.

We can't accept a world in which more people are denied opportunity and dignity that all people yearn for -- the ability to get an education and make a decent living; the security that you won't have to live in fear of disease or violence without hope for the future.

And even as we strive to seek a world in which conflicts are resolved peacefully and prosperity is widely shared, we have to confront the world as we know it today. I am the Commander-in-Chief of a country that's responsible for ending a war and working in another theater to confront a ruthless adversary that directly threatens the American people and our allies. I'm also aware that we are dealing with the impact of a global economic crisis that has left millions of Americans looking for work. These are concerns that I confront every day on behalf of the American people.

Some of the work confronting us will not be completed during my presidency. Some, like the elimination of nuclear weapons, may not be completed in my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone. This award is not simply about the efforts of my administration -- it's about the courageous efforts of people around the world.

And that's why this award must be shared with everyone who strives for justice and dignity -- for the young woman who marches silently in the streets on behalf of her right to be heard even in the face of beatings and bullets; for the leader imprisoned in her own home because she refuses to abandon her commitment to democracy; for the soldier who sacrificed through tour after tour of duty on behalf of someone half a world away; and for all those men and women across the world who sacrifice their safety and their freedom and sometime their lives for the cause of peace.

That has always been the cause of America. That's why the world has always looked to America. And that's why I believe America will continue to lead.

Thank you very much.

END 11:22 A.M. EDT

Top 10 Kanye West Interruption Parodies

I'mma let you finish with your blog post, but this is some funny shit.

Hometown Poetry

Internet porn, Wal-Mart, and chrystal meth
Webkinz and high-end alloy wheels
A moose in every pot

(10-8-6)

British Cat Fancy

We named our cat after this Beatles song. Didn't know it was a child's drawing at the time. Guess we just thought it was just a groovy Beatles song.

Sorry to hear that she's passed.

Gap

Nobody is paying attention, but just below here is a big gap in post dates. Was out of town (and stuff). It is harder to keep up than I thought. Back to your regularly scheduled crappy programming.

Happy Monday

From mdk e-mail:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8cCPH1qnYI&feature=related

Do you know why you are suddenly hungry? Don't forget: "The AUSSIES ARE COMING!" There isn't much to it other than fun colors. Next week we will resume our full feature coverage of social brain complexity disease.

For the newer people on the list take a few minutes to watch some of our back issues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxvGHQHiY70

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxhaRgJUMl8