Recently in CrabAppleLane Sunday Category

Whenever I think of Hurricane Katrina and I certainly don't as much now as I once did, I keep ending up on one thing. If the levees hold, we're not talking about Katrina now. It was a substantial hurricane but Louisiana can handle that. There would be no horrific images, no politicization, no second guessing. New Orleans, Slidell, and Chalmette would have been on the same recovery pace as St Tammany and most of Mississippi. The damage would have been repaired in a few months and we would have be on to other things in no time. If only the levees had held ...

Another morning after a fantasy football auction. Feel as good about this team as I do my other one. Not very. Death on Two Legs - 2010 version:

QB Brett Favre - $7
RB Joseph Addai - $18
RB Jamaal Charles - $37 -- My transition player - Overpaid by a lot. No one knew anything about him until I tagged him - Could have gotten him for half this or even less
RB Cadillac Williams - $3
RB Donald Brown - $3
RB Tashard Choice - $1
WR Marques Colston - $22
WR Reggie Wayne - $26 - Franchise player
WR Chad Ochocinco - $9
WR Lee Evans - $3
WR Dexter McCluster - $2
TE Jason Witten - $14
TE Justin Keller - $1
PK Jeff Reed - $1
D/ST Dolphins - $1

I offer one from just outside my kitchen window this wet CrabAppleLane Sunday morning.

CrabAppleLane Althea - August 29, 2010

11 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. Miss Misery - Nazareth - Hair Of The Dog
2. San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair) - Scott McKenzie - AM Gold: The '60s Generation
3. Roundabout - Yes - Fragile
4. Star Spangled Banner - Dixie Chicks - Super Bowl XXXVII
5. Easy Lover - Phil Collins - Hits

Quote of the Day

President Obama had lunch at Parkway Bakery today. As usual for well-known folks in NOLA, he was just another customer. Voice on loudspeaker said, "Barack, pickup." He got a shrimp po-boy.

Fleurty Girl

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Across the states, the general first estimate of cost to insurers sits at $16 billion."

Ended up being in the neighborhood of $125 billion. -Rob

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This Whitest Kids U'Know skit made me laugh last week. Some, maybe most, of their shtick is crude for crude's sake and gets old rather quickly and some, like the one linked, are too long and don't finish well. It's like they needed to fill some air time. If they'd do less, they'd do better.

I offer two from the CrabAppleLane yard this morning. The two bushes below were the same size when I bought them. One thrived, the other not so much. I transplanted the one not doing so well. I'm hoping that a change of scenery is all it needed.

CrabAppleLane - August 22, 2010

CrabAppleLane - August 22, 2010

Still only preseason but I think most Saints fans are a little more upbeat after last night's game with the Texans than they were after last week's game with the Patriots. A few thoughts:

I have to wonder what the Saints are going to do with Adrian Arrington. I doubt they can trade him but he's too good to release. I hope they can keep him as insurance if one of the other four (Colston, Meachem, Henderson, Moore) in front of him gets hurt.

Ladell Betts had better get his butt on the field. Chris Ivory and P.J. Hill both look like they can run the ball. Don't know if I trust either of them to protect Drew in the passing game, though.

About today's QOTD: The Redskins are stuck with Haynesworth. That much is pretty clear. If they release him, they eat his ridiculous contract and he plays somewhere else. A trade is unlikely because no one wants to assume that contract.

Mario Williams is Julius Peppers. He plays a monster game two or three times a year and then disappears the rest of the time. There's money in that. I don't think his name was called once last night. I'm glad the Texans chose him and passed on Reggie Bush. Reggie's name was called quite a few times last night.

18 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Mark Knopfler playlist:

1. So Far From The Clyde - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky
2. Golden Heart - Mark Knopfler - Golden Heart
3. Whistle Theme - Mark Knopfler & Alan Clark - Local Hero
4. Whoop De Doo - Mark Knopfler - Shangri-La
5. In The Sky - Mark Knopfler - Kill To Get Crimson

Quote of the Day

I don't know. I guess make yourself look good, I don't know. Make me look bad for not going to their offseason conditioning program. But, I mean, next year I'm not coming either. I'll be on my trainer again, and I'll get back in the same shape I'm in, and feel good about myself.

Albert Haynesworth, Washington Redskins

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "The Texans kicked the Saints' butts on kickoff returns. They averaged 32.8 yards on six returns. The Saints averaged 21 yards on five returns."

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Love the story they tell before the song below. It's cut out here. They were talking about setting up their equipment in a gigantic bar in Texas. If you've never been inside one of those, you absolutely cannot appreciate it. I've been in a few of them. The Rusty Keg in Houston could have easily fit two football fields inside of it ... end to end. Anyway, they're in one of those bars setting up and there are only three people in the whole place besides them ... and a fight broke out. My favorite song of theirs. Enjoy.

Tried to find a link to a performance of Road Fever by Foghat for the QOTD. All I could find was a version from the current incarnation of the band. The lead guitarist is an adequate replacement for the late former lead guitarist, Rod Price. He even bears a slight resemblance. There's no replacing Lonesome Dave, though. The current incarnation is not much more than a tribute band. Save your money.

Preliminary bill for an afternoon at the emergency room: $10,141.00

For that paltry sum, we spent about 20 minutes total with the physician, tied up a hospital bed for about 5 hours, had IV saline, was given some pain medication and some medication for nausea, and had a CT scan performed. $10,141.00 ... so far. We can and should debate/argue about what needs to be done but anyone defending the status quo should be summarily dismissed as a participant in that debate/argument. We're spending more on health care than anyone and we aint healthier. We're not getting our money's worth.

I offer one from the CrabAppleLane sunny back deck. I thought I had accidentally killed it.

CrabAppleLane Mirliton Vine - August 15, 2010

From the Here Nor There Department: No matter how slowly and carefully I sip a Sonic slush, I get a freezer brain headache that takes at least a minute and a half to pass. Dumb, Rob.

Time to start researching my fantasy football auctions. Have one a week from today and have another one a few days later. I started to move some names around yesterday but couldn't finish. Hope to have a preliminary spreadsheet done today. I haven't used a magazine in years.

The Minnesota Vikings walloped the Rams in St Louis last night and they did it "without Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin and Visanthe Shiancoe.". I'm sure someone in Metairie took notice.

25 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Road Fever [Live Version] - Foghat - Live
2. Selling the Drama - Live - Throwing Copper
3. Crime In The City (Sixty To Zero, Pt. 1) - Neil Young - Freedom
4. Sad Lisa - Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman
5. She Don't Love Nobody - Nick Lowe - Andrea's Gift Mix

Quote of the Day

I'm back on the road and I ain't gonna stop
Gonna roll 'til I'm old, gonna rock 'til I drop
Out of the smog, headin' into the sun
I'm goin' to New Orleans
Bourbon Street here I come

Foghat, Road Fever

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "When the new version of the old blog bit the dust I took it as a sign and as a result, this blog has a new name. I decided to retire Pitcherlady and move on to a page that’s a little more refined in its subject matter, (she said)."

I hope not too refined. Refinement has its place but there are times when it should step aside.

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Grilling on Sunday again. This time, it was Tony Chachere's Smoked Sausage with Green Onion just to kick up Patsy's excellent red beans and rice. Took a few snapshots on this afternoon's bike ride, too. The bike rides around here may have panoramic vistas or silly goats. Sometimes, both. They're below the jump.

CrabAppleLane - August 8, 2010

Have a Great Weekend.

With apologies to Neil Diamond, the title here refers to last night. Even though I had been out running errands in the morning and for a bike ride in the afternoon, I still found myself with a case of cabin fever last night. We decided to hit the Tap Room for dinner and head out somewhere and tinker with night photography. I'm still fairly awful at it but these didn't turn out too bad. There was an outdoor movie playing last night in Abita Springs. I've never seen any of them so I can't be sure but I'm guessing it was one of the Toy Story movies. I suppose this is about the closest thing you can have to a true, old time drive-in movie experience these days ... except there weren't any cars. It had to be 85º last night with nearly 100% humidity. I remember nights in the station wagon just like that. The heat, humidity, and the bugs didn't seem to be bothering anyone, though. These free events are a nice novelty, a curiosity for the kids, maybe some nostalgia for some of the older parents and grandparents, or just something to do on a Saturday night. Nice turnout. More below the jump if you're interested.

Abita Springs - August 7, 2010

The first preseason (Don't call it an exhibition) game is tonight. Why on Earth the NFL or NBC wants to broadcast this game in Primetime is beyond me. Bengals v Cowboys would be a good match except that most of the guys you'll see in the game tonight won't be Bengals or Cowboys in a few weeks.

The Saints are heading to New England tomorrow to work out with the Patriots for a few days before their game Thursday night. They'll stop at the White House along the way. Would love to be in on the meetings the two head coaches are having with their teams leading up to this. Both teams fancy themselves as contenders and I think it's fair to say they are. "This is what you can talk about with them and this is what you can't". I expect both teams will be holding back a lot. The game Thursday night will be nothing like that Monday night game they played last November, which the Boston Globe's Adam Kilgore described like this:

The Saints attacked the Patriots defense in every manner. They scored on long drives. They scored on a 75-yard strike. They scored on screen passes, on long post patterns, on a dump to their third tight end. They emptied both barrels.

32 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Angel - Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
2. Boulder To Birmingham - Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris - Real Live Roadrunning
3. Changin' Times - Nazareth - Hair Of The Dog
4. Photograph - Def Leppard - Pyromania
5. Romeo and Juliet - Mark Knopfler - Live From The Ryman

About today's QOTD: Ricky Jackson is maybe the worst public speaker of all time but there is nothing phony about him. You'll find profound nuggets in what he says if you can bear the rest of it.

Quote of the Day

We need to keep football going. Can't let football get away. I mean you can get where the product can be so good, you can lose sight and let it get away.

Ricky Jackson, Saints Hall-of-Famer

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Riders making their way through the mist, across the hay field. I am well behind this pack....somewhere...."

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I started watching The Last Waltz last night. I've never been a great fan of The Band. I like some of their songs but that's about it. I have seen this film before and I didn't think much of it but I kinda got hooked on watching it again last night while waiting for something better to come on. Seeing it again after all these years and on a better TV with a better stereo has made a world of difference. Could be also that I'm a little older and more mature than I was the first time I saw it and it could also be the sound quality has been dramatically improved. The second part is certain. The film I'm watching now is fantastic in both sound and picture quality.

The film is not just about their music and that may have also contributed to why I didn't think much of it the first time. I didn't care about the interviews then. Just get on with the music. I appreciate what Martin Scorsese was doing now. The film is more about the guys being a band and being on tour for 16 years. I can't wait to finish watching it this afternoon. Just fantastic. Didn't even mind the 70s leisure suits. I still only like a handful of their songs but I have a new appreciation for The Band this morning and much greater appreciation for the film. Enjoy the little taste below and see The Last Waltz when you can, particularly if you have a good TV and stereo.

I usually don't care for tight-fitting clothes. Unfortunately, a lot of my clothes fit tightly these days (Be nice). Anyway, I do wear tight clothes while doing yardwork. Too many spinning objects and too many sharp blades can grab. After 2½ hours in the heat here, though, you pretty much have to cut them off of me. I offer a few today in the order I took them from around the CrabAppleLane backyard, where I spent 2½ hours ... yesterday and today.

The garden is resting

The fairway - Water trap on the left - Par 2

The view

The branch had turned and followed the sun until it was brushing against the bluebird house

CrabAppleLane Hummingbird - August 1, 2010

Enough with the NFL training camp injuries already ... and stay the hell away from here. There are still ...

39 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. Already Gone - The Eagles - On The Border
2. Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down - The Better Life
3. Madame Geneva's - Mark Knopfler - Kill To Get Crimson
4. Mississippi Queen - Mountain - Hard N' Heavy: 70's Greatest Rock Hits, Vol. 1
5. '39 - Queen - A Night At The Opera

Quote of the Day

In the winter of '65
We were hungry
Just barely alive
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell
It's a time I remember, oh so well

The Band, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "One of the reasons that I hadn't ever seen The Last Waltz, was because I wasn't a fan of The Band."

Just like me except with a better reason. They weren't before my time. -Rob

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It's been raining off and on all weekend. The sun is out now and it's more than a little steamy. If the rain is still gone in an hour or two, I'll be on the tractor. I started doing yardwork yesterday but couldn't finish.

Between the rains Saturday afternoon, I was able to pull up the 2010 CrabAppleLane spring vegetable garden. The tomatoes have been done for a a few weeks but I wanted to let the peppers fill out a little more. I'm not a big fan of bell peppers normally. They're usually a little too thick when you buy them at a store, when they come on a pizza, or when they're in a dish at a restaurant, particularly Chinese dishes. Homegrown bell peppers are a whole other thing. Commercial bell pepper varieties have a much thicker skin because they've been developed that way so they can travel better. Homegrown peppers are thin-skinned and have a much lighter and sweeter taste. In the bowl below: "Big Early" bell peppers. On the rail: "Italia" sweet peppers. There is almost no difference in taste, texture, or size between them. They're both delicious. We haven't decided what to do with them yet. We may stuff them or we may add them to some scrambled eggs but we're most likely to add them to a huge batch of Patsy's sausage rice casserole. I'm fine with any one or more of those options.

Last of the CrabAppleLane 2010 spring crop - July 25, 2010

It was an average year for CrabAppleLane tomatoes and peppers. It got too hot too early and there was too much rain toward the end of the season. I don't think the eggplants did well at all. I haven't done a fall garden in many years but I think I will this year. Patsy and I both love homegrown baby Brussels sprouts so there will surely be a lot of those planted. I'll throw in a row of broccoli and maybe some red and green cabbage, too. Patsy makes good coleslaw.

I like to rate the songs in my iTunes library. I haven't done it with all of them yet but I've got a substantial number of them rated. Five stars is the highest. Today's iTunes shuffle is from the Four Star list.

There are probably a few funnier things about the upcoming NFL season but the New York Times Fifth Down Blog picking the brash, loudmouthed Jets to finish third in their division behind the Patriots and Dolphins is pretty good. The QOTD plugs into that. Thank you, Judy.

46 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Four Star playlist:

1. Mean Mistreater - Grand Funk Railroad - Live Album
2. Heartless - Adrien Reju - A Million Hearts
3. Space Truckin' - Deep Purple - Machine Head (Roger Glover Remixes) [Disc 2]
4. Behind With The Rent - Mark Knopfler - Kill To Get Crimson
5. Boogie With Stu - Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti [Disc 2]

Quote of the Day

Is there enough oxygen in Cortland, N.Y., to sustain all the Jets’ talk?

Judy Battista, NY Times

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "I wrote about this soup two years ago when I first found the recipe in the New York Times. Since then, I've made it many times, making a few tweaks here and there. It's definitely remained a favorite – in fact, it's one of two soups that I constantly go back to. You know, the ones I know I can really nail."

Looks like a lot of work. Also looks fantastic. I've never heard of smoked paprika. Might have to try it. -Rob

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Patsy had a gift coupon or certificate for two free movie passes and I talked her into Inception last night. I owe her the next 8 or 10 movies now. Inception was much more my type of movie than hers. Director Christopher Nolan also did Memento. The two films share two traits. The first one is that they are both utterly bewildering for the first half and Nolan never slows down. Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) leads a team of dream invaders. They insert themselves into peoples' dreams to discover secrets or intentions and there are all sorts of rules and techniques that are explained throughout. Once the rules have been established for the audience, the team embarks on a mission of "inception", thought to be impossible and dangerous. They plan to plant an idea into someone's head without that person's knowledge or consent. Check your ethics at the door, please.

The rest of the film is about that mission. It is very well done and here is where I started to catch up but Nolan still has a few twists up his sleeve. The subject has built up defenses against people doing what Cobb and his team wants to do and Cobb has demons of his own that only Ariadne (Ellen Page), the newest member of the team, has discovered. The other trait Inception shares with Memento is that its worth your time. It's a whale of a ride. Loved the ending.

I offer the only relevant image from the CrabAppleLane Backyard, where the yardwork was canceled this week due to rain. The mirlitons are loving it, though.

CrabAppleLane Backyard - July 18, 2010

Some other tidbits for a CrabAppleLane Sunday:

So far, the oil cap is still holding but no one is calling it a success yet. A delightful and heartbreaking series from the Times Picayune told from a Brown Pelican's point of view. I cannot look at any more real pictures or video of Brown Pelicans covered in oil. It kills me.

Joe Montana's son was arrested for underage drinking and, somehow, that passes for news. Nate Montana is 20. I'm shocked, shocked to learn that underage drinking occurs amongst college students. Come on. Besides the kid and his parents, who else should care about this?

The Saints finally signed a draft pick this past week. Training camp starts next week. What's the hurry?

53 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist starting with "L" :

1. Long Distance Runaround - Yes - Fragile
2. Love To Love - UFO - Essential UFO
3. Locomotive Breath - Jethro Tull - Aqualung
4. Love, Reign O'er Me - The Who - Quadrophenia [Disc 2]
5. The Load-Out - Jackson Browne - Running On Empty

Quote of the Day

Long distance runaround
Long time waiting to feel the sound
I still remember the dream there
I still remember the time you said goodbye

Yes, Long Distance Runaround

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Christopher Nolan's 'Inception' hits theaters today, and with glowing reviews it's poised to become this summer's intellectual blockbuster -- a mind-bending experience that will dazzle you as much as it will make you scratch your head. (In its review, Entertainment Weekly called the film "brainiacally engaging.")"

"Brainiacally engaging"? See, this is why I can't review movies professionally. I don't have the necessary vocabulary. -Rob

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Congratulations to Spain on their World Cup victory today.

I didn't really comment much on "The Decision" this past week, mainly because I don't care that much. If you don't even know what I'm talking about, I envy you. The Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy pretty much sums it up.

I'll only be in one Fantasy Football League this season. Kinda sad to see the league I founded discontinued but it was for the best.

60 days until football season ...

I offer one from the CrabAppleLane backyard. The summer weather pattern has set in. At CrabAppleLane, it goes like this: Blistering heat in the morning, scattered thunderstorms, and then, steamy, blistering heat until dusk. Rinse and repeat. As the sun was peeking in and out of the clouds, I saw one 5" X 5" sunny spot on my backyard trail. It found the little toadstool below. The sun went back behind the clouds about 5 seconds after I took this.

CrabAppleLane Backyard - July 11, 2010

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. California Dreamin' - The Mamas & The Papas - The Best Of The Mamas & The Papas: 20th Century Masters
2. Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) - Pink Floyd - The Wall [Disc 1]
3. You've Got Another Thing Comin' - Judas Priest - Living After Midnight
4. The Jean Genie - David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
5. Back On The Road Again - REO Speedwagon - Nine Lives

Quote of the Day

Well I've loved you since the day I met you
And I'll love you til the day I die
But we both know the life I'm livin'
And we both know the reason why

REO Speedwagon, Back on the Road Again

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Best photos of the week (50 Photos)"

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Happy Independence Day

Got plans?

We're having jambalaya at CrabAppleLane. It is a Louisiana staple and a favorite here. There are a million recipes and everyone has their own variation. Jambalaya is a poor folks' dish. You brown rice and throw in whatever meat or seafood you have. Traditional jambalaya has sausage, chicken, and shrimp or crawfish. Shrimp is expensive now but it was once cheap in Louisiana before some traitor first shipped some up north and demand started outgrowing supply. Just chicken and sausage today ... and then maybe the siesta.

About today's BOTD: He and I have a different view on the oil drilling moratorium. I'm not opposed to it. I'm not really for it, either. I just don't think it will do much good. It doesn't work as punishment and it doesn't allow enough time to find scientific, practical solutions.

In unrelated BP news, the QOTD is about the Lockerbie terrorist. 270 lives were lost in that act of terrorism. He was given a "compassionate" release from a Scottish prison and allowed to go home to a hero's welcome in Libya because he only had "3 months to live". Turns out he may live 10 years or more.

I offer two from the CrabAppleLane backyard on a spectacular and very hot Independence Day. The fig trees have found some elements in their environment they like because they have taken off. They have tripled in size in the last month or so. Found the whirligig in a corner of the garage I hadn't seen in a few years. Yes, there was quite a bit of clutter in the garage.

CrabAppleLane Fig Trees - July 4, 2010

CrabAppleLane Whirligig - July 4, 2010

Well, it's been money for muscle
On a .. another whirligig
Money for muscle
And a ... another girl I dig
Another hustle
Just to ... just to make it big
And rock away rock away
Oh rock away rock away
Dire Straits, Tunnel Of Love

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. Walk The Line - Live - Live At The Paradiso
2. Just What I Needed - The Cars - The Cars
3. Going Home - Theme From 'Local Hero' - Dire Straits - Alchemy: Dire Straits Live [Disc 2]
4. Lick Your Fingers Clean - Jethro Tull - Aqualung
5. Mississippi Queen - Mountain - Climbing!

Quote of the Day

According to an earlier Sunday Times report, a former British justice secretary wrote to his counterpart in Scotland that it was "in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom" to make it possible for al-Megrahi to return to Libya.

The letter was written in 2007 during stalled negotiations over a BP oil exploration contract worth billions of dollars.

msnbc.com staff and news service reports

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Part of the rationale for the deepwater drilling moratorium is that we've not identified the cause of the failure. We know that the drilling crew attempted to activate the shear rams of the blowout preventer."

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It turns out that Group C at the World Cup was a disappointment. The US team went down to Ghana yesterday and the UK team was trounced today by Germany. Won't be much English spoken at the World Cup this year.

Seen in a documentary last night: Somewhere in the south during World War II, nine black US Marines watched as white Army prison guards escorted German POWs into a restaurant that the Marines were told they couldn't enter. My guess is the restaurant owners probably fancied themselves as patriots, too. Enemy troops welcome, our own troops not? Patriots isn't the first word that comes to mind here.

LSU football and baseball star, Chad Jones, was injured in a horrific automobile crash in New Orleans Friday morning. He is one of two student athletes to play on a National Champion in both baseball and football. The other is his teammate at LSU, Jared Mitchell. The future was really bright for Chad. He was drafted in the 3rd round by the New York Giants to play safety. He's a fantastic athlete. He's a more polished football player at this point but I really thought his career was going to be in baseball. Although he's shown below playing right field, he surprised his teammates and head coach while throwing some pitches one day last year just horsing around. He's a left-handed pitcher that throws very hard (Low 90s). He's very raw and had almost no formal pitching instruction. I thought he was a great prospect. All of that is in jeopardy now. Good Luck, Chad.

Outfielder Chad Jones at Alex Box Stadium

Just for fun, I offer the "Girls with Glasses" below. The sound is great but the person who shot the video fooled around a little too much to suit me. I don't know much about them but I think they're four individual artists that collaborated for one tour. They are fantastic together. Enjoy.

I offer one from the backyard that I took just before the thunderstorm came.

CrabAppleLane Texas Star Hibiscus - June 27, 2010

74 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist starting with "S" :

1. Sunshine Of Your Love - Cream - Disraeli Gears
2. Skateaway - Dire Straits - Making Movies
3. Sucker Row - Mark Knopfler - Shangri-La
4. Stone Cold Crazy - Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
5. Soldier Of Fortune - Deep Purple - Stormbringer

Quote of the Day

Jones was drafted in the third round by the New York Giants in April, and signed his contract with the team last week. He was also drafted by two Major League Baseball teams, the Houston Astros and the Milwaukee Brewers.

WDSU.com

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "We do a handful of things – create music, paint, dance, watch “The Biggest Loser” – that are not “productive” or “useful.” They’re the things we do out of sheer joy or fear or boredom."

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Happy Father's Day, Dad - Miss you

Just a few tidbits on a hot CrabAppleLane Sunday.

• The CrabAppleLane Award for the kid who had to have had one of the most awful times in school goes to Clement von Franckenstein. Do you think there are any Frankenstein jokes he hasn't heard? He was in a movie we watched yesterday.

• Just say NO to a longer NFL season. There ought to be a "No Tinker" rule in the NFL. They should only be able to tinker with the game, except for issues regarding player safety, at 10 year intervals. Let the game evolve naturally.

• 16381 spam comments on this blog have been blocked since I activated TypePad AntiSpam (June 2008). That's a ridiculous number for an obscure place such as this, don't you think?

• When I close an ad on Facebook as "uninteresting", I get the following response:

  Thanks for your feedback. Over time, this information helps us deliver more relevant ads to you.

  For the record, I don't find that to be a particularly desirable result, either. I suppose I should just ignore them.

• What ever happened to those "Baseball Fever: Catch It" commercials? I used to love those. This play by Minnesota Twins catcher, Joe Mauer, would definitely make a good one. I meant to link that awesome play last week but I forgot. I saw it on a show I've been recording off of the MLB channel called the Plays of the Week. If you love baseball, I highly recommend it. They count down the 100 best plays of the week. It's nothing but clutch hits and defensive gems. That they can find 100 in every week's worth of games is part of baseball's magic

• About today's QOTD: I commented on that when I read about it but I didn't add the great zinger. I have serious issues with the Irsay family for moving that team out of Baltimore and I have issues with the way Bill Polian runs the team but those 53 players deserve better fans than they've got considering what that team has done not only in the last 8-10 years but pretty much the majority of their time in Indianapolis. The Saints would have had more than 11 fans welcoming them home even if they'd have lost the Super Bowl by a hundred. One other thing on that. A Colts fan had this to say in the Indianapolis Star:

  But we were so out-numbered in the stands by these "poor down-troddened'' New Orleans Saints fans that we could not even be heard. It seemed to be that the Saints fans either were given more tickets or given better deals that kept all of us hard-working, middle class true-blue Colts fans home.

  Setting aside the silly notion that ALL Saints fans are "down-troddened'', what she's saying is not an indictment of New Orleans. It's an indictment of Indianapolis. Colts fans had the exact same opportunities for tickets Saints fans had and, still, the "down-troddened" outnumbered the "hard-working, middle class true-blue". It wasn't better deals. It was better fans.

I offer two from the same area of the CrabAppleLane backyard six months apart. Love the contrast between drab January and sunny June. Prefer the weather in drab January, though. It is miserably hot outside.

The Clearing Project - January 2, 2010

CrabAppleLane Clearing Project - June 20, 2010

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist starting with "H":

1. Happy Home - Garbage - Bleed Like Me
2. Highway Star - Deep Purple - Machine Head 25th Anniversary Edition [Disc 2]
3. Headlong - Queen - Innuendo
4. Hocus Pocus - Focus - Moving Waves
5. How Many More Times - Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin I

Quote of the Day

While New Orleans residents may never stop celebrating the Saints' Super Bowl victory, Colts fans jumped off the bandwagon quicker than it took Tracy Porter to return a Peyton Manning interception for the final touchdown.

Eleven fans greeted the Colts at Indianapolis International Airport on Monday afternoon.

Chicago Breaking Sports

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "He remotely activated the software, which grabbed screen shots of the thief’s online activities, while the Mac’s built-in camera shot pictures of him. After eight months of activity on the Mac, the software had given police enough information to identify the thief and put the MacBook back in Mr. Sienna’s hands."

8 months? -Rob

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Congrats to the USA World Cup team on a draw? I've tried it a few times now and I am simply not getting why the entire world goes cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs over soccer. Carry on.

ESPN.com has taken a big lead in my search for a new fantasy football website for 2010. Many thanks to my friend, Dave, for helping me get past the obstacle I couldn't get past on my own. It offers most of what I'm looking for and only has a couple of minor drawbacks. I'm about 99% committed.

It's hot at CrabAppleLane today. Love the shade our backyard trees provide. I planted two of them, myself. They're the tow you see here, Bradford Pear in the foreground and Chinese Tallow in the background. They're getting big and starting to block the satellite signal. They're also keeping grass from growing in areas where we always had grass. Not sure what I want to do about it yet. Hate the thought of cutting one or both down only slightly less than I hate the thought of moving the satellite dish. I offer one from the shady, but still very hot, CrabAppleLane backyard.

CrabAppleLane Backyard - June 13, 2010

I just can't do anything but shake my head at the quote from the Blog of the Day.

88 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Bonaparte - Mark Knopfler - Live From The Ryman
2. A Passage To Bangkok - Rush - 2112
3. Rock The Nation - Montrose - Montrose
4. What Do You Want From Me - Pink Floyd - The Division Bell
5. Runnin' With The Devil - Van Halen - Van Halen

Quote of the Day

You are a murderer of love

Cara, Dana in Real Life

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Jets fans who want season tickets in the lower bowl of the New Meadowlands Stadium are required to buy the seat licenses, which cost as much as $30,000 per ticket."

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I offer two from the CrabAppleLane backyard on this hot and humid first tomato harvest Sunday. That rain water you see in the rain gauge is the weekend's worth but easily could have been the sweat that poured off my nose this afternoon. The larger tomatoes are Creole tomatoes and the smaller ones are Sweet 100 Hybrid Cherry Tomatoes. The first Creoles to ripen are usually medium-sized. The larger ones don't start coming in for another two weeks or so. Size has zero bearing on flavor. Variety and degree of ripeness are all that matters. I have my eye on one of these for supper tonight. Not hard to figure out which one. I like them red RED RED.

CrabAppleLane Tomatoes - June 6, 2010

CrabAppleLane Tomatoes - June 6, 2010

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist starting with "B":

1. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen - A Night At The Opera
2. Bad Company - Bad Company - Bad Company
3. Baby I'm Amazed - Paul McCartney - McCartney
4. Badge - Cream - Goodbye
5. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp - Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III

Quote of the Day

Ahhhh, caught you smiling at me
That's the way it should be
Like a leaf is to a tree
So fine

Led Zeppelin, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "ELVIS PRESLEY"

Fabulous poster. -Rob

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I was sad to hear about Dennis Hopper yesterday. He had an enormous body of work. There is a little something there for everyone, I suppose. I liked him in most of the movies I saw that had him in it. Like a few other excellent actors, though, I just wish he had done more movies I cared to see. His signature film, Easy Rider, seemed a bit amateurish to me when I finally saw it and I thought one of his other famous movies, Blue Velvet, was awful. He was easily the best thing in both of them so there's that. He was fantastic in Waterworld, True Romance, and Speed ... all CME that I liked. Yes, I liked Waterworld. R.I.P., Dennis.

The LSU Tigers, who stumbled played their way into the SEC Tournament on the last weekend of the regular season, have turned in three excellent games and are playing for the SEC Championship today. Because they're playing in Alabama against Alabama and because both teams have great fans, there figures to be a very large crowd. GEAUX Tigers.

I offer a few from around the house on this hot and muggy CrabAppleLane Sunday and then we're off to a barbecue.

CrabAppleLane - Sunday, May 30, 2010

CrabAppleLane - Sunday, May 30, 2010

CrabAppleLane - Sunday, May 30, 2010

CrabAppleLane - Sunday, May 30, 2010

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Hide In Your Shell - Supertramp - The Autobiography Of Supertramp
2. 20th Century Boy - Placebo - Velvet Goldmine
3. Gotta Get To Know You - Foghat - Foghat
4. Heartbreaker [Live] - Grand Funk Railroad - Caught In The Act
5. Never Before - Deep Purple - Machine Head (Roger Glover Remixes) [Disc 2]

About today's QOTD: Welcome to the NFL, rookie.

Quote of the Day

The first-round pick, Florida State cornerback Patrick Robinson, got torched on the first route he defended Thursday

James Varney, The Times-Picayune

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Dennis Hopper, whose portrayals of drug-addled, often deranged misfits in the landmark films “Easy Rider,” “Apocalypse Now” and “Blue Velvet” drew on his early out-of-control experiences as part of a new generation of Hollywood rebel, died at his home in Venice, Calif., on Saturday. He was 74."

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