April 2005 Archives
I’m happy that she’s OK and she’ll surely have a story for her children and grandchildren one day but I’m not at all sure there shouldn’t be charges. She touched off a nationwide search. She knew about it. She then lied to the police about a possible kidnaping. This incident drained time and resources from many law enforcement agencies and from concerned citizens. Hoaxes are too expensive to go unpunished or un-reimbursed. Beyond that, her fiancé became a subject of suspicion to police and family. He probably wonders now what sort of person he’s engaged to and whether she’s worth it. I suspect he has a case of cold feet now, too. I’m sure his first question to her is something on the order of “ Are you OK? ”. The second one is probably on the order of “ Hey, WTF? ”.
Quote of the Day
It turns out that Miss Wilbanks basically felt the pressure
of this large wedding and could not handle it
Randy Belcher, Duluth Police Chief
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "You know, when stuck with an energy-sapping lingering cough/illness, it's probably not a good idea to stay up a bit past midnight watching Return of the King again just because it happens to be on TV."
Happy Arbor Day. Plant a tree.
OK, I'm in. The last Indiana Jones movie was made in 1989. Harrison Ford was 47 then. Because Steven Spielberg is involved again, I have less fear of that than I normally would. Indiana Jones has been a very physical character in the three movies so far. Harrison will be 64 next year when the film will be made. I’m anxious to see how they’ll pull that off or if they may choose to make Indiana a little more cerebral. I’d bet on the physical. One of Indiana’s appealing traits has been that his considerable intelligence was not always enough. When it comes out, I'm there.
Quote of the Day
If we could ask one past Pope for an answer,
it would be the Cardinal who advanced to the title in 468.
He became Pope Hilarius.
Keith Olbermann, MSNBC.com
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Best if it's in a Chinese restaurant. Usually, the only wall decoration in a Chinese restaurant is the Heimlich maneuver diagram."
Trying the future post feature for the first time. I wonder whose time is being used. Update (5AM): I'll have to work on that.
Been listening to The Who’s Quadrophenia for the last few days. More on that in a minute. I had an automatic record player many years ago. You could stack six vinyl albums on top of each other to be played in succession. When one album was finished, the next one dropped right on top of it. In retrospect, it was a horrible thing to do to albums. When an album was being played on top of another album, it would often slip. One of the things we used to do to combat that was to put two small strips of masking tape on the album label. The tape on the top album would catch the tape on the bottom album and that would keep it from slipping. Later in that record player’s life, I decided I was going to take better care of my albums and I stopped using the automatic feature and soon thereafter, I got married and replaced my old record player with a top-of-the-line direct drive turntable. My newer albums never endured being on the bottom. My Quadrophenia album has masking tape on it. It’s been replaced with the re-mastered CD version but I’m keeping the original album. Albums have one thing all over CDs. You can read the album cover and the liner notes without a microscope.
About Quadrophenia: This is the best concept album of all time. It is The Who’s best album. It is much more ambitious than Tommy and the music is far superior. Even if you know nothing of Mods and Rockers, Pits and Frats, or Socs and Greasers, listen to it for the music. Everyone should listen to this album start-to-finish, without interruption, at least once. Every Who fan has.
Quote of the Day
The girl I used to love
Lives in this yellow house
Yesterday she passed me by
She doesn’t want to know me now
The Who, The Real Me
Blog of the day is here.
Quote from said blog: ""
I’ll be glad when the trend toward “ franchise ” shows and “ reality ” shows goes away. Because, then we wouldn’t have to have a name for just plain old TV shows, which are now called “ scripted television ” according to USA Today. I prefer scripted television.
I’m hoping that I may have solved my problems. I’ve been getting server errors off and on for no reason that I could figure out. People leaving comments were getting them, too, which is something I very much wanted to resolve. My fingers are crossed.
Happy Birthday, Dad. Miss you.
Quote of the Day
I wish they'd maybe tear down the walls of this theatre
Let me out, let me out
Three Dog Night, The Show Must Go On
Blog of the day via Harmony St Charles is here. We're like a network.
Quote from said blog: "No, this is not a joke. No, it is not a cleverly named rock band. No, it is not the title of a compassionate magnetic ribbon that I bought at Wal-Mart to stick on my car. It is just a statement, "I love robot camel jockeys.""
I was hoping to have some profound thought for this, the 800th entry. Sorry, nothing. The usual drivel follows.
From Santa Claus, Indiana and USA Today:
The grocery store operates on Central Time —— or "slow time," as locals call it. The hardware store next door runs on Eastern Time —— or "fast time." The doctor, newspaper and nearby monastery are on fast time. The schools, churches and post office are on slow time. The American Legion hall has two clocks as a compromise.
I suppose this is quirky or charming for the residents or for those outside of this world who don’t have any business there they care about. If it inconveniences some passers through in the form of missed appointments or missed planes and trains, so be it. The West Wing did an episode that took into account the various time zones in Indiana and had a little fun with it. On TV, those inconveniences can be funny. Not so in real life. Go Hoosiers.
Quote of the Day
We're always late or early,
but we're never on time
Tom Shelton - Santa Claus, Indiana
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "I have long been of the opinion that world is still at war: the US, for example, has not ceased it's military involvement across the globe since they entered the 'Second World War', and their campaign for cultural dominance continues."
We made crawfish pies yesterday. I ate one last night. Quite delicious. We put them into small pie shells and freeze them. Larger pie shells are fine, too, but you need a few people around when you heat one up whereas the smaller ones can be done more on a per serving basis. They can last in the freezer about a year. We made 64 of them out of about 3lbs of crawfish tails. I say we in a bit of jest. I only handled the garlic and garden fresh parsley and ran an errand to the store because Patsy miscalculated the number of pie shells she was going to need. She did the vast majority of the work.
Hard to get excited about the Saints draft. They did just about exactly what all local followers expected. They drafted an offensive tackle. That some of the national sportscasters think the Saints had a bad draft and some think they had a good draft really doesn’t concern me. No one knows anything about drafts right now and I’m surely not going to pay ESPN’s Insider for their opinion. I can't believe that anyone actually does that. The defense needed some help at a few areas but they were playing OK toward the end of last season. Many people, myself included, think the defense would get more help from an offense that stays on the field a little longer than they would from any one player. The player they selected in the first round, Jammal Brown, may be able to help them in that goal.
Upgraded to the newer version of Movable Type yesterday. We’re now into Version 3.16. Their upgrades still annoy me. The upgrade package has a large number of files in a bit of a convoluted folder structure. A substantial number of the files were over a year old. There were some files in the upgrade package from February 2003. Hopefully, it will be a little more stable than the last two versions. I was getting a lot of server errors in the two previous versions and certain links in my entries would cause it to hang.
And, finally, lest I forget.
Love,
Rob
Quote of the Day
Nice maneuvering,
moving up three slots for OT Jammal Brown.
Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "In terms of everyday activities that give most people no trouble whatsoever, I have the capability to be especially unmindful and ungraceful."
Just another gorgeous Sunday at CrabAppleLane. Crawfish pie is on the agenda today. Patsy and I used to make crawfish pies with the leftover crawfish from our many boils when we lived in Metairie. We have not done it since we moved to Bush. That changes today. Hank Williams wrote a song that goes “ Jambalaya, crawfish pie, filè gumbo ”. Those are the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost of New Orleans cuisine. They are all poor people's dishes.
The Sunday pictures are OK but I’m obsessed with the ones that got away. Those will be my little secret because I intend to capture them one day.
All of the backyard wildlife scampers away when I open the back door out on to the deck. After they’ve reassessed the dangers to themselves, most of the critters come back. The plan was to sit outside and wait for their return. Had to take the morning essentials with me so I wouldn’t have to open the door again for a while.
Mixed in with my tomato plants is a spaghetti squash ( Down in front ) that Patsy planted. I don’t much care for squash of any kind but that hardly seemed to matter to her.
The bottle brush bush is now in its first bloom and has golden tips on the bristles. This bush is fast becoming one of my favorites.
The perches had fallen out of the birdhouse last winter. I replaced them this spring and they’ve been put to good use by the nesting blubirds and the cantankerous chickadees who still squabble with them. This bluebird was studying me carefully. The staples on the roof were implemented in an attempt to keep crows from landing and perching. They used to land on the house and perch there making all sorts of racket. Besides being incredibly noisy, it shook the house pretty violently. That scared the bluebirds away or kept them away. The staples didn’t work. The crows landed anyway. For some unknown reason, they don’t do that anymore.
“
Patsy is using these tubs as water bowls mainly for the raccoons but all of the wildlife uses them. They’re made of rubber and she can throw them around without worrying about them landing on a rock and breaking.
About today's QOTD: Cajuns can pole or paddle a pirogue down the bayou from birth. They roll right over when anyone else gets in them.
Update: Very warm thanks to Meg for the unexpected treat.
Quote of the Day
Goodbye Joe, me gotta go, me oh my oh
Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou
Hank Williams, Jambalaya
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Mr. G puts down the paper, looks at me seriously and says, "honey, you are definitely psycho material.""
General Motors has a weblog that is open for comments. It is today’s BOTD. I discovered this blog via Instapundit and BusinessWeek Online. This is of some interest to me and I’m curious how it will be used. I wonder who at GM is monitoring the comments and also if those comments are being discussed anywhere but on the blog. If it is, then it really is a give and take forum. That would be pretty great. On the other hand, if it turns into an electronic wailing wall for people to whine about or argue the merits of car/truck features, it will lose everyone’s interest rather rapidly. It will surely lose mine that way.
Blogs can be an effective means of communication. It is surely cost-effective. It costs next to nothing to set one up. The consensus in the business world is that “ word of mouth ” is the best kind of advertising. Blogging is the ultimate “ word of mouth ”. A juicy tidbit will spread like wildfire.
Advertising isn’t the only possible use. One of the other things it can do is fire back at criticism it feels is unfair. Gary Grates lets fly here. They can also use it for other things like announcements and maybe just some fun like contests, fun facts, whatever. The only limit is the imagination. For it to really take off, they’ll need to link to and be linked by other bloggers, particularly the major bloggers, and they’ll need a few juicy tidbits. It also wouldn’t hurt to keep it updated. A look at the calender on April 22 showed only 6 entries this month. That’s bad form.
Quote of the Day
I sure feel good
therefore, therefore,
I don't need no doctor
Humble Pie, I Don't Need No Doctor - Rockin' The Filmore
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "I’m amazed at the amount of discussion the vehicle has generated — both good and bad. And I’m pleased about all of it — more the good than the bad, of course.”
I offer a few links that have caught my eye the last few days, all with pictures, for your dining and dancing pleasure.
This image from Pitcherlady reminds me of Sin City, the movie we just saw recently. In that movie, a handful of things were in brilliant color while everything else was various shades of gray. Very surreal. I love it. If you're a fan of hard-boiled film noir, that film is a must see.
Fi has an eye for great images, too. This beach in New Zealand looks pretty nice. I can’t imagine any beach in America that gorgeous would be that deserted.
Ali does sunsets. Love sunset pictures.
Fred ponders the changing seasons. The lonely road in the country is universal. All small towns, Bush included, has scenes very similar to the one he captured so eloquently.
Quote of the Day
This is the season when change is heaped on change,
and while you look west,
the world is morphing behind you to the east.
Fred, Fragments from Floyd
Blog of the day via the Fragments from Floyd blogroll is here.
Quote from said blog: "Morning fog, thick and still and beautiful. Our cats are in their element."
We watched Please Don’t Eat the Daises last night. Hadn’t seen it in many years. Doris Day movies were a staple in our household. Saw quite a few of them at the drive-in. It’s still charming if only a tad dated and a bit unrealistic. Single income, wife, four kids, and a housekeeper didn’t keep them from eating breakfast and lunch regularly at Sardi’s. Doris had the loving, tireless, exasperated, and resigned housewife down. She did it about 15 times. She had a great voice, both singing and speaking, and the camera just loved her. David Niven really can’t pass for a New Yorker but that didn’t stop film makers in 1960. This was a Doris Day vehicle and I suppose they just stuck to the formula and gave her a star husband. I think my favorite co-star of hers was James Garner. Rock Hudson and Rod Taylor couldn’t keep up. Cary Grant could but they didn’t give him the right role to do so. I think Cary was a tad too old for her, anyway. He doesn’t pass for a New Yorker, either.
Quote of the Day
Just once, I’d like to get
dressed without an audience.
Doris Day, Please Don’t Eat the Daisies
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Got on the road and made it in record time. I do have to say the mountains were stunning. Beautiful purple trees spread throughout every imaginable shade of green. Takes your breath away....."
The New Orleans JazzFest starts this weekend. It will run Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this weekend and Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday next weekend. It’s a big event that I avoid like the plague. I went to it back in the mid 70s when it really was mostly Jazz being played. I don’t even like Jazz but I did like to party back in the mid 70s. It’s now a mish-mash of Jazz, Rock, New Age, Gospel, Zydeco, and any number of other forms that really defy description. The crowds have grown unbelievably. What hasn’t changed is the venue or the time of year. The venue is the New Orleans Fairgrounds. Typically, it is hot and rainy in New Orleans in late April and early May. Quite often, including the three or four times I went, it is both. Picture Woodstock. Just not for me anymore. Laissez le bon temps rouler.
Kinda wanted to catch the last few innings of the LSU-Tulane baseball game on ESPN last night. It had an early start and I was listening to it on the radio on my way home. It was a pretty good, pretty exciting game on the radio until the fourth inning. Trailing 4-1 in the 2nd inning, Tulane scored 10 runs over their next three at bats and it was over. For me, anyway. It looks like Tulane will get themselves a regional and are a good bet to go deep in the College World Series. LSU is still finding their way.
Quote of the Day
We would have won the game
if I had been in the zone
Brandon Nall, LSU pitcher
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "We talk about access to computers for students and pat ourselves on the back when a school system reaches the point where there is a computer in each classroom...never mind that it took 10 years, and that the ten year-old models are one step up from an electric abacus (I regress)."
Sad day yesterday for Saints fans. We lost Sam Mills. My years as season ticket holder spanned all of Sam’s years here. He was the smallest, slowest, least-talented, least-paid linebacker on a team loaded with great linebackers in a league where size and speed really do matter. He was the best of the bunch. He was always around the ball, always in position, and always making the play. It was he who almost always led the team in tackles, not those bigger, faster, higher-paid guys. He was also a genuinely good guy. That was a bit of a rarity even in his playing days. He should have retired a Saint. Blame that on the Saints, though, not Mills. RIP, Sam.
Quote of the Day
Hey, I am a football coach.
That is what I am.
Sam Mills, Football Player
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "When I heard them speak of tunnels, orbitals and industrials, I had to step in and get educated."
I bet it's not what you're thinking. Go see. -Rob
So I talked Patsy into going to see Sin City with me, fired up my Moviewatcher.com account, and we were off to the matinee yesterday. It should be noted that Patsy didn’t think much of this film. I loved it. It’s old-style 40s and 50s film noir mixed with comic book and brought up to date although I don’t think you can make any conclusions about what year the film’s world is set in. If that sounds intriguing or confusing to you, see the film. I need to see it again for the things I’m sure I missed. It is very fast-paced. Clive Owen and Mickey Rourke were excellent in this. I will have the DVD.
On Saturday night, we watched Roxanne from the beginning. I have seen snippets of this movie since it left the theaters but never sat down and watched the whole thing. Big mistake. This was a fun movie. The main story is warm and funny but this film has a side story going on in the background. Steve Martin, the main character, is the fire chief and the side story is the ineptitude of the volunteer fire department. All sight gags, those scenes, alone, make the film worth watching. It was a good weekend for movies at CrabAppleLane.
Quote of the Day
This is the old days, the bad days,
the all-or-nothing days. They're back!
Marv, Sin City
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "This boy is a highly effective stealer of wind from sails."
Some pictures from this morning. We're off to see Sin City.
I have one red blooming Iris amongst all of the purples. I have no idea why they bloom at different times. I prefer the red but I like having both.
A closeup of the red Louisiana Iris. The reds and the purples were both given to me by my sister, Katie.
The best part about this time of year at CrabAppleLane is being able to open the windows at night and let the pine and honeysuckle scents in. Heaven.
Another unattended rose at CrabAppleLane.
Decisions, decisions.
For this morning, a little New Orleans and Metairie stuff from yesterday afternoon:
The one thing I really miss since we moved to the NorthShore is sno-balls. We were regulars at Sal's on the SouthShore. There are no decent sno-balls to be found on the NorthShore within a reasonable distance of me that has hours or expertise that suit me. There was a stand on my way home that made fairly decent, but expensive, ones but it was totally dependant on a flighty teenager to open and serve. One night, it was open. The next, it wasn’t. Couldn’t depend on them. It’s now gone. Go figure.
For those who don’t know, sno-balls are just flavored powdered ice but they’re different AND better in New Orleans than anywhere else because of the machine they use to grind the ice into powder and probably because of the water that is used to make the ice. For some reason, the powder elsewhere reassembles into hard ice and that simply ruins it.
My favorite: Spearmint with condensed milk. What spearmint ( Green ) and bubble gum ( Blue ) sno-balls do to our digestive systems won’t be mentioned here in this journal.
About the QOTD: Our most famous New Orleans native, Louis Armstrong, pronounces New Orleans in his song like a tourist ( Or Leans ). What the natives actually say is closer to “ Or Lins ”. Of course, that doesn’t sound as good for the refrain. No quibble from here. Louis’ only sin in my eyes was dying way, way too soon.
Quote of the Day
Do you know what it means
to miss New Orleans
Louis Armstrong
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "It's beautiful outside and I'm in a huge office, still traumatized by the swimsuit shopping I did yesterday."
McDonald’s birthday came and went yesterday. A little info maybe you didn’t know: My favorite musician/songwriter, Mark Knopfler, has a song on his new CD about Ray Kroc and McDonald’s beginnings called Boom Like That. I eat at McDonald’s now and again. The food is pretty good. It’s consistent, reliable, fairly quick most days, and still relatively cheap. That’s a winning combination and there’s really no secret why they’re successful. Congratulations, McDonald’s.
This is looking to be the third perfect weekend in a row for weather here if the pollen doesn’t bother you. Pollen only bothers me when I have extreme exposure to it. If it’s ½” thick on the ground and other surfaces here and I’m out and around in it, I’ll get the itchy eyes and swollen sinuses but the ¼” that’s here now doesn’t affect me at all. Hope it’s as nice where you are.
Quote of the Day
I followed Liz Taylor to McDonald’s
to watch the numbers change
Joan Rivers
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "a fan chiding me for, of all things, making it difficult to pay for music."
My first thought when I read that law enforcement captured 10,000 fugitives this past week was alarm at the number. 10,000????? Furthermore, the article states that it is only 1 percent of the total number of 1 million fugitives in the FBI database. That’s a rather alarming number, too.
When Terrell Owens was with the 49ers, he caught a TD pass from Steve Young to beat the Packers in a playoff game. He burst into tears and everyone thought he was a refreshing change from the prima donnas that make up the NFL. How things change.
I feel a bit safer not being on the same roads as this guy. If he can’t read, what is he going to do if he sees a sign that wasn’t on the test or one he didn’t study for?
Some say the North Korean government uses shrill rhetoric. I don’t know. The QOTD seems reasonable to me. OK, maybe not. I think they probably have more to worry about with that new South Korean driver getting on the wrong road than with the U.S. setting fires.
Quote of the Day
If the US imperialists recklessly set the fire of war
on the Korean Peninsula despite our repeated warnings ...
we will mercilessly and completely destroy the invaders
so they won’t live again
Kim Yong Nam, North Korean Head of Legislature
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "The first thing that struck me about him was that he was orange."
Happy Birthday, Sue.
Loved Mom's story.
Another Sue’s story here.
The governor of Wisconsin has weighed in and all but put an end to the cat hunting brouhaha. Wise move. There are other solutions to that problem. They’re a little more expensive but a lot less controversial. It’s the smarter thing to do.
The New Orleans Saints announced their 2005 schedule yesterday as did every NFL team, I suppose. They make a Monday night appearance versus the Falcons in December, which kind of surprises me. The Saints typically are in a bad way by December. I think Monday Night Football is banking on a Michael Vick showcase. He usually makes mincemeat of the Saints defense.
Quote of the Day
I don't think Wisconsin should become known
as a state where we shoot cats
Governor Jim Doyle, Wisconsin
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Chocolate mousse recipe eh? It's not likely that we're going to get people serious about using blogs as a serious business communications tool if we keep going back to the recipe sharing or teenage use example."
Revelations airs tonight. Think I’d rather watch West Wing reruns. The hype, the subject matter, and the timing are all a bit bothersome.
Watched a bit of Mickey Rourke last night on Letterman. Found him hard to look at and hard to listen to. I can’t remember, for certain, the last movie I saw him in but I think it was that awful one with Don Johnson, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man. The guy I saw last night hardly looks like the same person.
From the sarcasm department comes the two things I care about today: Britney and Tyson.
Quote of the Day
I'm not alone, than I am
People seem to think I'm superman
Robin Trower, Day of the Eagle
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Remember just who it is you are dealing with - a middle-aged, dyslexic, learning-disabled, math-and-techno-terrified girl who whimpers at the site of a slide rule!"
The channel surfer has landed on the original CSI once or twice. The reviewer in the link raves about it a little more than I think its worth. It is a formula show and I like it fine but it’s not quite quirky and/or offbeat enough for me to stay with it. I have always liked William Peterson. I first saw him in Long Gone, which is a minor league baseball story similar to and every bit as good as Bull Durham.
Speaking of baseball, this corny bit of theatrics couldn’t have gone better for the Red Sox. First, they had their championship ceremony in front of the hated Yankees and then they went out and trounced said Yankees. That’s about as good as it can get.
Anxious to see the devastation in the yard after last night’s horrific thunderstorms. That will have to wait until it’s time to leave this morning. Miraculously, we did not lose power.
Quote of the Day
They certainly deserved everything they got today
Joe Torre, New York Yankees Manager
Blog of the day via Harmony St Charles is here.
Quote from said blog: "I went to New Orleans at the end of March and stayed at The Columns Hotel in the Garden District. My grandmother was the manager in the 1950s."
At one time, I noticed the language in Deadwood for its over-the-top obscenities. Now, the obscenities seem to be the only dialogue I understand. There were at least two conversations last night that I had to back up and play over two or three times because I didn’t catch what was going on until the conversation was almost over. Deadwood has a language all its own.
More accepting of spam? More resigned about it is more like it. It will always find a way around our defenses and it won’t ever go away until it stops working. I can’t imagine that people think they can actually buy Vicodin at a discount without a prescription but they must be trying to.
Quote of the Day
That was about as much fun as I've had in a day
Chris DiMarco, 2005 Masters Runner-Up
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "It was my fresh, grievous head injury."
CrabAppleLane Sunday Pictures from the backyard and front yard: I'll move some of them to an extended entry tomorrow. The yard is coming along quite nicely. If you think it’s because I know what I’m doing, you are mistaken. The results are almost entirely trial and error. Nature is very forgiving with most, but not all, of my mistakes. The crepe myrtles look great in the front yard but not so great in the back. I don't know why. There is one spot in the backyard that is responsible for the death of five different varieties of trees. I have killed every dogwood tree I have ever planted. On the other hand, the azaleas, impatiens, blue ginger, and roses seem to thrive on my neglect. Yeah, I know what I'm doing.
Not award-winning but OK by CrabAppleLane standards. Our rose bushes have been on their own for a few years now.
Some little flowers Patsy picked up a few weeks ago. They've been a pleasant surprise because they were not blooming when she bought them and she also wasn't sure what they were.
More of them. Different color, different place, same pleasant surprise.
The lone tadpole that didn't disappear as I approached.
This butterfly was flitting and flying from one crawfish shell to the next hardly pausing long enough for me to focus. These are the remnants of last week's boil. The critters and insects have pretty much picked them clean and the sun is bleaching the shells. Next week, I'll grind this up with the tiller. Crawfish shells are excellent fertilizer.
This pair of cardinals are taking a break for a little lunch before they get back to nest building.
Quote of the Day
I said a young man
aint got nothin in the world these days
The Who, Young Man’s Blues
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "I grew up in a time that bridged two centuries and into a new millennium in some ways. My maternal grandmother was born in 1866, just one year after the end of the Civil War. My father was born in 1894. My mother was born in 1903 – the year the Wright brothers first made a powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina."
The first I've seen of the new MSN blogs. -Rob
Scenes and other assorted items from French Quarter Fest yesterday:
It was hard to get around the crowds in Jackson Square. When you stopped, someone always had to get past and when you were moving, someone always stopped. I suspect it will be worse today and tomorrow with more locals down there.
Patsy and I headed straight to Muriel’s booth ( Muriel's Jackson Square is the middle booth in the first picture ). These are delicious although the portions seemed a little smaller this time.
St Louis Cathedral in mourning for Pope John Paul II. Black wreath over the door.
The one in the street.
This had to be the smallest shop I have ever been in. It's right off of Pirate's Alley. There was a T-shirt in there that said " Sin like you mean it ". If it hadn't been such a lightweight T-shirt, I would have bought it.
Vandalism sucks. How much nicer the city would be without it.
Pirates Alley runs right alongside of St Louis Cathedral. Someone has a sense of humor.
This one looks similar to a picture a friend took.
Quote of the Day
She keeps the bed...turned down
Clean sheets on
I can jump in any old time
Steppenwolf, Straight Shootin' Woman
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Someone found my blog by searching Google for "wombat socks.""
I like free parking as much as the next guy but I don’t dwell on it. If I’m heading towards a place where free parking is going to be scarce, I’ll usually give free parking one pass and if I don’t find a spot, I’ll take the most reasonably priced and reasonably close pay parking lot I can find. That’s me. There are some who think free parking is a birthright. They will stop in the middle of the street and wait for pedestrians to get to their car, load it up, and vacate the parking spot. That 30 or more cars, almost always including mine, are stuck behind them trying to get through is some amusement for them. In fact, I think they must have a secret club. The people loading their car are in the free parking club, too, obviously since they’re vacating the free spot. They take their sweet time getting to their car and leaving and they nod knowingly to the car holding up traffic. I think this club should be investigated. Where’s John Ashcroft when you really need him?
I must confess I have no idea what today's QOTD means but I liked the sound of it for some reason.
Quote of the Day
Just like you can't have bangers without mash,
you can't have a royal wedding without souvenir tea towels.
Maria Puente, USA Today
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Whatever. Screw you, Blockbuster."
The French Quarter Festival is this weekend. We’ll surely be there one of those days. Yes, I hope to have pictures worth sharing. We went to the very first one 22 years ago. It wasn’t much then but the food was fantastic. Many restaurants in town set up booths and serve samplers of food that may or may not be on their normal menus. We had Chicken Desire from Paul Prudhomme ( AKA K-Paul, the guy who first blackened anything on purpose ) that was out of this world that first year. It was $2.75 and it’s not ever on the K-Paul menu according to the person who served it to us. It was created just for the festival. Two years ago, we had goat cheese crepes in some kind of sauce from Muriel’s that was also just fantastic. Wanted to get them when we had lunch there back in October but those are only on their dinner menu. Thank goodness for the poster we bought two years ago. If not for that, the only thing we remember with any clarity about them is the food. Strolls through the French Quarter are always, always worthwhile but they tend to meld in your memory after a few hundred of them.
Quote of the Day
We only came here to play Rock n Roll
Share some times with some people we know
Nazareth, Vancouver Shakedown
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Their study, which has some sampling flaws that degrade the ability to generalize the findings, say that bloggers find blogs the most credible source for news & information."
That's not very surprising to me but I don't consider it a good thing. -Rob
Congratulations to the Baylor Lady Bears.
OK, sign me up NOW.
One of my new favorite blogs on Peter Jennings. Jennings is fighting lung cancer.
There’s probably as much or more harm in adding this layer of bureaucracy as there is good. The bad guys can get passports with little or no trouble and they can still sneak over the border as they always have. I think more good people will struggle with it than bad people.
Quote of the Day
a billion bits per second is completely doable
Brian Roberts, Comcast CEO
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Do you ever have one of those 'I wish I lived on my own private island' days?"
Congratulations to the North Carolina Tarheels and the winners in the CrabAppleLane March Madness Pool.
This story caught my eye for some reason. I just don’t know what to make of it. Did the escapee let her go and she decided to stay gone? Were they in on the escape together? How could they not be? They were found in different parts of the county. That doesn’t sound to me like she was being held hostage. If she was in on it, why wasn’t she arrested? To help a murderer escape or to help him remain a fugitive seems to me like a serious crime. She must be guilty of one of those I should think.
Less-than-convincing farewell here. More convincing one here and more disconcerting for CrabAppleLane.
Quote of the Day
The third championship was the charm
Roy Williams, North Carolina Head Basketball Coach
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "At first glance, cheating is precisely whatever you and your partner have agreed that cheating consists of."
Some time ago, I mentioned something related to A Man for All Seasons. Patsy didn’t get the reference because she had never seen it. I set the UltimateTV to record it automatically whenever it came on ( What a great feature ). It was recorded sometime last week and we started watching it last night but it was a little too late for us to finish it. We’ll finish it tonight if we can. I haven’t seen it since I was in high school and Patsy has never seen it. We saw it in religion class on a videotape machine that had to be wheeled into the classroom and I remember understanding almost every minute of it. It’s fun to watch it now. There is a very young John Hurt in it. It is a powerful film and I am still mystified about why Paul Scofield didn’t become a superstar. I don’t think there is a star today that could have played that part better and all of them would have been too much. Scofield did it with restraint. That’s something most of today’s actors don’t have.
Speaking of seasons, the NCAA Men's basketball season comes to an end tonight. I think Illinois will win tonight. I have to get that out. I need North Carolina to win to get a prize in the CrabAppleLane March Madness Pool. I’m pulling for me more than I am pulling for the Tarheels, though.
In yet another season, there will be no LSU-Tennessee matchup tomorrow night for the women’s NCAA championship. Both teams lost. I am certain that the Michigan State Lady Spartans and the Baylor Lady Bears were sick of hearing about that kind of talk and were motivated by it. I didn’t watch the Tennessee game but the Lady Tigers lost because they were out-hustled, outplayed, and out-coached. That kind of effort gets pretty consistent results. You lose. I’m pulling for Baylor. Kim Mulkey-Robertson, Baylor’s head coach, is from Louisiana and played at Louisiana Tech in their glory days. She should have been given that head coaching job a few years ago.
Quote of the Day
The world must construe according to its wits;
this court must construe according to the law.
Sir Thomas More, A Man for All Seasons
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Remember that moment, twenty minutes into The Phantom Menace, when you got that sickening feeling as you realized that the rest of this story was not only going to suck, but it was going to be so bad that it would retroactively ruin all the enjoyable stuff that had come before it?"
These are the two finalists in the Mae sweepstakes. Mae is in the middle. The other three just weren’t up to the challenge.
The goose has asked them to stay on their side of the pond.
I offer some pictures from this glorious morning at CrabAppleLane. Sunshine and 65º. You can’t ask for much better than that. Gotta just open your windows and let it in or get out in it. I plan to do both today as soon as I can muster the energy. Overindulgence in crawfish and assorted other goodies last night has made me a bit slow moving this morning. I am firmly in the lightweight category these days. Have a great Sunday on this first day of daylight savings.
Patsy feeds the birds. All I do is watch them. I think these are Chipping Sparrows.
That’s a Goldfinch on the left just passing through on his way north. I’m pretty sure, but not certain, that’s a Purple Finch on the right. They come around once in a while.
The Cardinals will occasionally try to get something out of this feeder but they’re totally dependant on the smaller birds pulling out the black oil sunflower seeds that are too big for themselves. Still struggling with auto focus on this camera. I was in shade and the subjects were in bright sunlight. Sometimes I do OK, like the two above, other times I get this. There should be a sharper focus on the birds. The camera thought the focus should be on the left feeding tube and its seed. BTW, the top is lopsided from squirrels and raccoons jumping on it.
The tomato bushes have found the sweet spot in the soil. They’ve just about doubled in size in the last three days. This one is a Celebrity, I think.
Purple Louisiana Irises that my sister dug out of her drainage ditch for me. They like it here in my small pond.
A closer look at the Louisiana Iris.
Quote of the Day
I'd make a great Gordon, Gordon.
MacIntyre, Local Hero
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "And for my own part, I told Rosie the truth, As we ate through the table and most of the booth"
Kirstie Alley's blog. Supposedly. -Rob
What I wrote in those two entries is still true today. This chronicle is still evolving, still has no particular set goals, and I’m still learning. It has been a great experience. For those who have dropped in here the last two years to read this drivel, thank you. Thanks also for your comments.
Boiling some crawfish this afternoon in an unrelated celebration.
Quote of the Day
Married?
Goody two-shoes and the filthy beast?
Trevor Howard, Father Goose
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "The blogosphere was rocked this week when a religious fanatic called 'Hundred Percenter' theatrically flushed several more popular & frankly better written blogs, for the sin of disagreeing with him.”
The Michigan State campus has to be electric right now. I don’t think either team will win a championship this season but it’s surely fun for them. I like the men’s chances better than the women’s but congratulations are in order for both. The quote from that article that is interesting is this one:
We have some University of Michigan die-hards in our ranks, and even they are pulling for the Spartans.
Many years ago when Michigan and Ohio State tied for the Big Ten football championship and who was going to go to the Rose Bowl was to be decided by a secret vote of the schools, it is thought that Michigan State cast their vote for Ohio State. Michigan fans were not wild about that as I recall. Maybe they’ve finally forgiven and forgotten. That’s good.
I’m wondering what the bag of dog poop looked like for an idiot like this guy to think there was anything in it that he wanted. There's a man with a future.
Quote of the Day
Didn't any of you guys ever go to Sunday school?
Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "This was a good day to stay home."
