French Table Wine Is Superior To German Premium Wine

The worst French Wine served in France is better than the best German wines served at 5 star hotels.

I tried to keep an open mind, and drink German wines while in Germany.  I wanted to expand my pallet to and get a better appreciation for Rhein Wines, Baden Wines, and other vintages produced in the land famous for their beer drinking and their sweet Rieslings.  Instead, what I got were bad head aches - sometimes before the glass was finished, sometimes later that evening. In the middle of the night, each night, after having one or two different types of German wine (a glass or two, not 1 or 2 bottles), I woke up with a nasty head ache.  Wine is not supposed to give you "whiskey head".  Ew.

I will not be adding German wines to my recommended red wine list any time soon after the 4 I tried while in Deutschland.

Let the Germans and Belgians stick to beer, and the French, Spanish, and Italians stick to wine.

Courtoisy Evolution

Courtoisy Evolution, by Manusec.  Made in Germany.  30 seconds to boil 1 cup of water.  Thanks to 230V application, German engineering and precise manufacturing.  If I had a 230V outlet readily available, I'd get one of these too!

But, by the time I rewired it, and installed a hard wired plug, got a construction permit permit for it, I probably  could have bought 3 or 4 Courtoisy Evolutions.

It's 'fool proofed' with an 'auto off' feature as you pick it up.  That little black switch just under the handle toggles automatically upon lift, and is easy to put back down if you need to heat more water.  The base sits concentrically on the coil energizer.  The inside has a spun stainless steel heating base and a handsome clean plastic body. 

The first day I used this in the hotel, I filled it 1/2 way up, and it took about 2 minutes to get to a roiling boil.  I "mis-under-estimated" the next day when I put a single cup of water in it for morning tea, and before I could finish washing my face, BAM it was enthusiastically boiling - less than 30 seconds.

Compared to the failed Made-In-China Cuisinart I encountered in Hawaii 2 years ago, this fine piece of German craftsman, in it's most simple & functional form, was refreshing.

BAD - Bottom Line

"The Horses Are On the Track"
Big Audio Dynamite's "Bottom Line" has been running through my head all morning... I think as a result of watching too much BBC.  The catchy "da-da--da-da--da-Dew" bass line played over and over in the mental sound track of my shower this morning.

...again, with the cowbell.  =)

Stumbling Distance

One thing the Europeans GET MUCH better than any American city, is the concept of "Centre Ville".  One can stumble home, to your warm cozy hotel, after a night of eating and drinking in centre ville.   No cabs required.  No Mass Transit needed.   I like the concept of a viable city center center built up around an older citadel.   Sucks that more American cities are not developed in a similar manner.   Good night.   Time for Just JoeP to crash.

Get the Pizza

If you are dining in Belfort France on a Sunday night, and you happen to go into the ONLY restaurant that is open (Tratorria de la Petite Fontaine) get the Pizzza.   DO NOT get the Etrecote de Marsala.  Unless, that is, you like highly grisled, thin, SWEET, unpleasant entrecote Marsala.  The wine was good, the service was good, but the main dish, ew, I cannot recommend.   I HAVE had the pizza there in years past and it WAS good, but I am a low carb guy now, and I did not enjoy the entrecote Marsala that had vanilla, caramel and very sweet flavors - ew!

Man, it is hard to be low carb in France, where the making and serving of awesome bread is a national tradition. 

AMEX? FU

If you are traveling in France outside of Paris, DO NOT expect to use your American Express.   Most business detest this card that has ridiculous and unacceptable fees.  I paid for my dinner yesterday and today in cash, my lunch yesterday, and every drink I''ve taken in cash since American Express is NOT welcome.  I don't blame the proprietors for forsaking AMEX's draconian fees.  Carry cash when in Europe,if all you have corporately is AMEX. 

Bordeaux Superior & Yoga Sunset

There's something VERY relaxing about doing yoga at sunset in a French hotel room accompanied by a double magnum (yes, that's 3 liters of awesome wine) of Bordeau Superior, after a 5 hour hike around the small city of Belfort France.   They have this centuries ld fort that has resisted the invading Prussians (Germans) and Austrians for centuries,and it has a giant lion sculpted into the side of the fort by Auguste Bartholdi - the same guy who sculpted the Statue of Liberty that reside close to New Jersey in the Hudson Riverbut is claimed by New York and ANY French influence is sadly forgotten.

You see, my old friend and colleague François purchased and held this bottle for me, for 8 years, in his cave. He and his wonderful wife had dinner with me Friday night here in Belfort, and we opened the double magnum, and put a dent in it.  Aftr I took them to the train station (garre) Saturday night for their vacation (by train) to Venice, I consumed some more of the bottle and pre and post yoga today, I had another glass.  I'll certainly finish the Bois Malot before I leave Wednesday.

 It's a 2000, which is famous in Bordeaux for excellent quality and flavor, and this double magnum does not disappoint.  I've got it on the window sill as the ambient temp is 7 to 12 C which is virtually cave temperature.   I'll need to remove it before dawn sun ras begin to heat it Monday morning.


Good wine is BEST enjoyed with good friends, and this  bottle exemplified this axiom.  


In the upper picture, you can see a tiny bit of cork (bouchon) that has broken off. when I tried (unsuccessfully) to withdraw the cork in my hotel room Saturday night.   LUCKILY, Cyrille, the bar keep and proprietor at La Voile Sucree near my hotel thought I was an honest face. and lent me a cork screw (une sommelier)  to withdraw the broken cock.    La Voile Sucree is a WONDERFUL tea bar, that you should visit if you are in Belfort and love tea (as I do).  I wass so grateful to Cyrille that I took the double magnum to his tea bar and poured him a glass, as I returned the borrowed sommelier.  Their tea (The') infusions are wonderful!
 
A 5 hour hike, awesome wine, a lovely sunset, beautiful weather, and a multiple-centuries old fort... it was a good Sunday.

NIN Only

there's no time for blogging today... but this has been running through my head all day today.....  long long day

Trent, don't pick at scabs!

Herding Cats, South African Pinotage Merlot

I'd tried some South African wines previously, and I was Not Impressed.  So when I saw Herding Cats 2010 at Sprouts last week, seeing South Africa AND the "cutesy label" (for which I usually hold disdain), I was initially skeptical. But they were asking only $5 a bottle, so I thought I'd give it a try.  I was pleasantly surprised. 

Herding Cats is a "Western Cape" South African wine, imported by Underdog Wine Merchants - Livermore CA.  The makers say it has vanilla, black berry, and wild truffle.  Well... I don't know about wild truffles, I'm not a wild boar who can sniff them out, and the one time I over paid $38 for a "white truffle" soup at the overly inflated Bergamo restaurant in Greenville SC, I will never do that again... but it was drinkable, and smooth, and not too fruity.  The wine makers say that it is best served with pizza or red meat dishes, and the organic pasture raised sirloin steak I grilled with shallots / peppers / mushrooms & butter with which I paired it complimented well.

The cheetah is also an endangered animal... and if I ever have grand children, they'll probably read about cheetahs (and Polar Bears) the same way I read about dodo birds and great auks. 

Terence Donovan's Work

Terence Donovan was a British Photographer and film director, who I best remember for the Robert Palmer videos "Addicted to Love" and "Simply Irresistible".  Dr Desert Flower always loved Robert Palmer's work.  I thought he was a good singer and had charisma -as I'm a straight man I can't say he was "Hot" but I guess he was an attractive man.  But the models and dancers Donovan selected for the videos, they were not unattractive.  They moved like they were in a drug induced haze most of the time, but were lovely nevertheless.
Addicted To Love

and
Simply Irresistible

Tethered

Increasingly, I am tethered to my home office due to inadequate battery technology.  When Dr Desert Flower and I moved to Arizona in 2007, and I set up my home office, I thought the "Plantronics C550 Wireless Office Headset System" was awesome.  I could walk around my house and yard during conference calls, take out the garbage, clean the litter box, cook a simple meal, fold laundry, load the dishwasher, answer the door if someone was a-knockin'.. I even did some gardening once, and in awesome weather I've been known to take an afternoon conference call while getting a daily dose of vitamin D from the sun.  The convenient mute button and noise canceling microphone, combined with a comfortable head set and ear cushion made this an ideal office aid.

Then, last Fall, 3 years into its service life, the battery life started to FADE Away.  I'd charge it all night, and it would last at most 90 minutes.   That's since dropped to less than 60 minutes, on a FULL charge.  I contacted my ever helpful Office Administrator at the Headquarters facility back East if they have any "replacement batteries".  She promptly responded that it was now corporate policy to no longer purchase wireless head sets due to the fact that nearly everyone who has used them have had similar results, and the replacement batteries are more expensive than a new corded head set, the "S11 Telephone Headset System".  The S11 has a 3 foot cord, so if I drop a pen on the floor and it rolls away, I cannot reach it without taking the head set off.  The S11 is also subject to electromagnetic feedback from the router and cable modem that are both within a few feet - less shielding.

So I am tethered to my office.  If I need to get up to get a drink of water or step away from the key board for some reason, I now carry an ancient AT&T portable 2.4GHz hand set, put on MUTE and SPEAKER so I can hear the conference call. 

And if you look at NiCad rechargeable batteries, laptop batteries, hybrid car batteries, anything that is rechargeable (like my Plantronics wireless head set) there's a finite life to the number of times it can be fully recharged and a degradation curve on the maximum amount of energy that the diminished recharges can handle.  Humans haven't found a battery combination yet that does not have a finite recharging life.  Once they do, it'll be a multi-billion dollar business... perhaps multi-trillion dollar, as we near peak oil. 

The Beauty of Tiny Things

might be the engineer in me... or the fact that my eye sight is not improving with age, but I find such images beautiful and fascinating.

From the book ' Microcosmos,' created by Brandon Brill, using a scanning electron microscope (SEM)

Anna's Anger Is An Antagonistic Energy

Photo taken from:

The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America by David Allen Sibley

For those of you "sick of hearing about hummingbirds", tune out on this posting.  Because honestly, on most days, I see far more humming birds than I see human beings, when I work from home and do not have to travel or run an errand.   For those of you who are computer scientists (working in teams), reporters, research & laboratory scientists, physicians, educators, chefs, and others who work with, and around many human beings everyday, let this be a short insight into the life of a reclusive misanthrope who values his privacy - yet blogs somewhat publicly...  go figure.

I read the other day on the always helpful Cornel Ornithology Lab website (link here) regarding Anna's hummingbirds: "On rare occasions, bees and wasps may become impaled on the bill of an Anna's Hummingbird, causing the bird to starve to death."  I was so sure this was "urban myth" that I reflexively checked out Snopes first (link here..  but WARNING..  enable AD BLOCKER and Ghostery before visiting Snopes, or you'll be cookied and tracked TO DEATH).  Snopes turned up bupkus on it....  but those pesky scientists, with their peer reviewed journals and thorough methods....  lol!  Google found exactly what I as looking for.

Michael C. Long wrote a nice piece on "Anna's Hummingbirds with Hymenoptera Impaled on Bills" (link here with photos) in "Western Birds".   At this link you can see not one, but 2 different male Anna's hummingbirds, the "dominant species" (bigger than other species, and somewhat the bullies at the feeders) who perished when they had impaled yellow jackets with their bills.  It's sort of fun to listen to scientists (who are not engineers)  theorize about how the insects may or may not have been killed.  "Examination of the lump on the bill revealed the intact head of yellow jacket wasp (Vespula persylvanica) pierced from front to back directly between the compound eyes."  ...and how that "could not" have happened in mid flight because the insect would graze off and be moved to the side.  I did well in both biology and physics in high school and engineering college.  When I read "pierced from front to back directly between the compound eyes" that tells me the thrust was centered, precise, and symmetrical - the same way I place a hammer above a nail, or a bearing into a press, or an arrow into a balloon on a archery target.  It won't "deflect" off if you hit it hard enough, fast enough, and symmetrically at the apex.  But what do I know? I'm "just an engineer".  It's sad that this hummingbird in North Carolina (link here) probably died as well.

I also learned that praying mantids have been known to prey upon hummingbirds and eat them! (link here, but caution opening around children who are sensitive to gore) (learn something new everyday!).  That's like the large tropical rain forest spiders who catch fish (link here)... pretty impressive. 

Another fine source on hummingbird information is Swartzentrover,com (link here).  There you can see multiple images and HEAR what I hear in my backyard, as the Anna's Hummingbirds go flitting around.  Now that my girl friend Anna has run off, all sorts of Costas, Annas, and Black Chinned hummingbirds visit my backyard, since my gf is no longer possessively shooing them away.  The other species are noticeably smaller than the Annas, and I chuckle when I see some hungry male come flitting in to drink from the Exact Same aloe flowers that a female had just been to, 3 or 4 minutes earlier.  Anna used to hoard all the nectar and pollen to herself - now it's a free for all. 

So let this be a lesson to those territorial males out there.  Anger IS an energy, but when misused or applied disproportionately, it can get you killed.  Sure you might be an impressive flier, and the biggest & brightest hummingbird on the block, but flying around aggressively trying to stab things with your beak can get you killed, be it impaled on a wasp, a bee, a rose pedal leaf.

Gato Negro, Blanco

I've mentioned how much I enjoyed the inexpensive Chilean table wine "Gato Negro" before (lines here and here).  Those were reds... and I had forgotten that I also picked up a bottle of Gato Negro Sauvignon Blanc, out of curiosity.  It was not bad, for $4 a bottle (links here, here [ I give it more than 2 and a 1/2 out of 5 though], and here [though I did not taste much grapefruit in mine (thank goodness, I hate grapefruit!)] agree). 

The "Naked Wine Show" concurs as well (link here).  Yummy (the wine and the video..  it's G rated... she's not really naked).  Crisp.  Good with cheeses, poultry, salads.  Wonderful when chilled on a hot day (as we've been having here in Phoenix recently).  This link (here) shows the Sprout's inexpensive price at which I purchased this bottle.  It will not be my last.

Kirkland Malbec

COSTCO appears to have good taste in COSTCO (Kirkland) branded alcoholic beverages.  Their vodka compares favorably in blind taste tests and price to Ketel One and Grey Goose, and now they are selling a Malbec for $9.99 a bottle.  $10 is my "cut off for skepticism" so I picked up a bottle last week on my run through the store. 

I was pleasantly surprised Friday night when we opened it with dinner.  Granted, it was NOT the first bottle of the night, on a dinner with friends, chez leurs, but it was tasty and full bodied.  I will be buying it again, on my next trip through COSTO.  Good with meat dishes - we had Dijon mustard mushroom sauce filets with a sauteed cabbage dish that this complimented quite well - lots of full flavors - and our hosts V and T prefer Californian and German wines, so the Argentinian Malbec was a welcomed sojourn into neutral territory enjoyed by all.

Between Two Saints - 2000 Pauillac

The Appellation Pauillac (pronounced POY-ack for anglophones) is wonderful, but very expensive.  It is situated Just South of St Estephe and Just North of St Julien, two of the most wonderfully delicious Bordeaux wines ever produced.  ("It is hard to find a bad saint" - Pierre Gourdon, 2002) So it is to be expected that a Pauillac is going to be good, and the year 2000 was an exceptional year all around Bordeaux.  So back in 2001, I bought about 40 bottles from a colleague who had lived in France, but had moved to the US, and who was liquidating his Cave (pronounced "calve" - the cool and dark place where you keep your wine, not a place for oil painting on wet walls or a "man cave") of recently purchased French wines "at cost" to his friends.  One of the bottles I picked up, was a 2000 Pauillac, for about $15 at the time.  It turned out to be a Barons De Rothschild Lafite, which retails for about $100,  now a days

Dr Desert Flower and I wanted to get out of the house, and not worry about work, and have a delicious meal, so we made a reservation at Coup Des Tartes, on 16th in Downtown Phoenix.  It is a BYOB place, and has a wonderful menu - I had the Filet Mignon and DDF had the salmon (was a special, not yet on the Winter menu), and we split the Brie Brulee as an appetizer (which was big enough to be a meal in and of itself).  I took the Pauillac, as well as a Portes De Bordeaux, Just In Case the Pauillac had turned in the 11 years and move to Phoenix since we first bought it.

The Pauillac was superb.  The meal was delicious.  The company, exquisite.  No baby sitter required.  No valet parking attendant to deal with.  Convenient location, friendly staff, a remarkable meal, with a fantastic wine.  I can't afford a $100 bottle, but I can afford a $15 one that matures into a $100 bottle, and then have it with the love of my life.  We shared 1/2 a glass with Coup Des Tartes owner Ron Pacioni, and complimented him on his restaurant, staff, and menu.  Good wine is best shared with good friends and good food.

Last Night's Daily Show (link here) was perfect... poignant, perfectly illustrated how Fox News is full of Hypocrites.  This was not some "selective editing" - not at all.  This was gleaned from Foxs' own words, on the same topic of earned income in-equality. 
"Not sucking from the tax payer's teet, except for the millions of dollars of tax payer funded bail out funds that the banks sucked on so voraciously"
"They had contracts" - Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Such blatant cognitive dissonance.

                       

X - True Love

I miss X.

Playlist Relocated

After getting feedback from a friend who follows the blog on an Android phone, that the Playlist obfuscates the top of each new blog posting, I relocated it last week to the bottom of the blog, in an effort to move the obstruction away from the newest blog posts. It worked for the Android ... but did it create any other problems?  I am curious if any other readers have had similar issues on other mobile devices?  or if it is unique to Androids?

As it is Public Radio's pledge week, and I've already pledged, I cannot stomach the endless radio appeals to send in cash, so I am listening to my Playlist exclusively today, sans NPR.  Sucks that the Playlist is "200 songs limited" though.  So much for "to the cloud".

Intellectually Challenged

Baja Arizona

I heard an ironic radio report on KJZZ today about Baja Arizona.  Baja Arizona is a separatist movement by citizens in Pima county to divorce themselves from the rest of the state.   Their website (link here) states their case pretty well.  It would be more amusing, if the reasons they wanted to separate were not so poignantly valid. (link)

Maybe they'll call it "Gadsden" instead?

Anna's Gone

My girl friend Anna has forsaken me.  I did yoga poolside this afternoon, in 73F ambient, 10% relative humidity, and a gentle 5 mph breeze.  The FSM was seen in one of the scattered clouds over-head (Ramen!)... but Anna was on none of her perches around the yard.  Several brightly plumed male hummingbirds dove in to the lavender and aloes to slurp up the deliciousness therein, so I know it is not for a "lack of food" that Anna's no longer keeping vigilance in the yard. 

In the middle of my series of sit ups, a DID hear a familiar chirp-chirp-chirp from the aloe behind me, and turning, I saw a female Anna's Hummingbird drinking from some of the aloe, but after a quick drink, she darted off Eastward over the house, uninterested in the nectar feeders and familiar ocotillo perch on which I'd grown used to seeing Anna.  Perhaps she's got a tic-tac sized egg in a nest of spider webs that she's roosting upon somewhere in the area.  I wish her well, and honestly, I will miss her.

Fat Cat Union Bosses

The Repugnant Republican Spin Machine is running at top speed the last few months.  Instead of getting Americans riled up about Republicans cozying up to large corporations, Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Banking, and Big (Insert Lobbying Group's Name Here), they're trying to get Joe Nascar and Joe WWF who are making 40K a year mad at the Teachers who make (on average) $51K a year.  Yeah, those greedy teachers, with their degrees, and their book learnin, and their "Fat Cat Union Bosses"!  How dare they want to collectively bargain!  Peacefully even!

Well, Rachel Maddow had a nice summary graphic yesterday, showing the top 10 groups who contributed to the 2010 congressional campaigns.  There WERE Unions in there!  3 whole groups, who ranked 5th, 6th, and 9th in order of who contributed the most.  Who was number 1?  Chamber of Commerce, of course, followed by a gaggle of artificial "grass roots" organizations, each of whom are sponsored by Republican millionaires and billionaires, and who claim to be supporting good ole hard workin Umerikuns like you and me.  Grrrrrr.

Yes, Unions can make it more expensive for corporations to operate, and are sometimes less flexible than non-union environments.  I've been grieved against many times in the unionized factories in which I've worked, always for petty reasons... BUT... I like the fact that there's an OSHA, and a minimum wage, and a limited work week, and other safety rules that make it less hazardous to go to work and earn a wage to feed my family.   I used to HATE unions when I was in my 20s and early 30s, but I've matured, and got over my antipathy.  Many members of my extended family are in unions, and most of their unions have worked to help their members.

It's not the unions that are "killing jobs" and "hurting America" - in fact, the unions are working hard to do just the opposite.  But like any evil marketing campaign, Karl Rove and Grover Norquist have spun this brilliantly, to take the Republicans greatest weakness (in bed with lobbyists and wealthy corporations) and occlude it with a false argument of "teachers are all rich fat cats".  Really?  Teachers, not Investment Bankers or Oil men, or Wall Street...  are the cause of  the nation's financial problems?

Vinho Paseo for $4

Sprouts once again had an unbeatable wine sale last weekend.  Bottles of Paseo for $3.99 each. I've never tried Paseo, but Portugal makes wonderful Ports, and Paseo Vinho Regional Lisboa 2009 (imported by HCG imports, San Jose) was not expensive, had a CVR Lisboa Selo De Garantia marked label, and a interesting mix of 55% Castelao, 15% Camarate, 10% Tinta Miuda, and 20% Touriga Nacional.  It was fruity, hinted of Porto without the kick, smooth, and very drinkable as red table wine.  I'm sorry that I bought only 1 bottle.

Once, while dining with a group customers - all of whom were Spaniards - at a Brazilian steak house in Atlanta, I made the mistake of ordering a Portuguese wine with dinner.  Before the waiter could bring it, in slightly hesitant Portuguese, one of my customers Changed the order to a Californian bottle (there were no Spanish bottles on the wine list), grabbed his over-sized steak knife, and said to me in English: "Portuguese wine will not be consumed tonight".  Being an ignorant American, I was unaware of the centuries of enmity between Spain and Portugal.  I won't make that mistake again.

After a few bottles were consumed around the table, I remarked, in very broken Spanish "So you will not drink their wine, but it is OK to eat their steak"?  My Spanish counterpart replied in accented English: "It is Brazilian, not Portuguese steak!" and we finished another bottle of Californian Napa valley together.

I do not have this cultural bias, and I'll enjoy Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, and the occasional German wine from time to time without enmity.

What I Learned At Phoenix Jury Duty Today

Do not show up early. Doors do not open until 745am. You will wait outside in the 40F air until precisely 745.

Do not sit in the waiting room next to anyone wearing strong perfume or aftershave... Strong enough to make you cough & nose run.  The juror waiting room is large, take advantage of it.

Bring a mobile Device - DDF gave me her I touch - Phoenix municipal court has wifi. It does NOT work outside in the cold but it does work well once inside.

Have patience.... Lots & lots of patience. The orientation video is targeted towards a sixth grade education level. Ugh.  It's nice, and sweet, and patriotic, but it doesn't have a great deal of substantial information in it, other than "thank you for coming, your jury duty service is essential to our democracy, and please do not be discouraged if you are dismissed for the day".
 
One cannot wear a hat when in court.

One of the recommendation on the orientation recording is "do not express emotion" - lol!!! - if you are selected to sit on an actual jury.

The coordinator people are very nice and friendly.

Coffee and tea are free, so that is nice.

Average age of the jurors around me in the waiting room is 45 or so. Supposedly every 18 months you can be summoned.

The I touch is fairly intuitive. Sucks that I cannot SIGN OUT of things like FB easily... Grrrrr.

Bring your laptop for work.  The Wifi is strong enough to support VPN up-and-downloads, and there's a very nice "reading room" that is very quiet.  I read Jon Stewart's Earth which is quite hilarious so far.  Even funnier that a nun was sitting 3 feet away from me as I tried not to snicker at it.

If you're interested in watching a movie for free, they play a movie on the ubiquitous large screen TVs (Blind Side and Night at the Smithsonian were played today)

When the juror reception orientation person tells you that "watching the people coming through security is a freak show you don't want to miss" ... take her word on it, and watch the completely unprepared fellow citizens trying to negotiate a simple security screening, on their way into court to see their friends and relatives who are appearing in civil or criminal hearings that day.  On my way out, I saw a variety of human dregs and carnies I've not seen since previously visiting rural, indigent South Carolina.

The jury duty system in Phoenix is based on the "one day, or one trial" premise.  "One day" is "One day, and if you are not picked for a jury, you've done your duty and you can go home". "One trail" is "One trial, that lasts in general, 2 to 3 days typically".  The 5 cases that I could have potentially been picked for, were all "misdemeanor criminal cases" in the words of the facilitator "minor possession, prostitution, shop lifting, things like that".

Parking is EXTREMELY convenient - right across the street from the court house.  Do Not park in a "dark corner" or you'll have to step over a puddle of urine to get into your car.  Park away from corners, and Get your Parking Validated by the juror facilitators.

All in all, it was a very positive experience.  I am glad I did not get selected as I have a HUGE amount of work do to this week for my job with a remarkably full schedule - and unexpected relatives visiting for the next 2 days as well - but I will not dread my next jury summons.

Namaskar Not Namaste

I mentor a large number of young Indian engineers in my work.  They come from all over India - Bangalore, Mangalore, Tamilnadu, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Gurjurat, Mumbai, Chennai, and elsewhere.  Most all of them speak Hindi and English - some better than others.  Several of my close mentees are fluent Tamil speakers.  To get to know them more, and to "put them at ease" in our discussions, I have always tried to adopt and embrace some of the local languages.  India has 29 different distinct dialects spoken by a million or more people each - sort of like how Oklahoma in the US has 21 entirely different Native American languages, but amplify that from 3.9 million out to 1.1 Billion people instead.

As I wanted to avoid doing a Michael Scott / Steve Carell linguistic and social blunder of greeting "every Indian" with "Namaste", I inquired, if "Namaste" was indeed a normal greeting, between co-workers and friends in India.  My closest mentees quickly assured me "No Joe, use 'Namaskaram' for Tamil speakers, and 'Namaskar' for Hindi speakers".  They nicely told me that "Namaste" translates literally to "I greet the God within you" or "the divine presence within you", whereas "Namaskar" or "Namaskaram" translates into a hello that equates to "I humble myself before you" or more loosely "neither of us is above the other".  It expresses an "Absence of Arrogance" and a "reduction of ego", which is very important in a culture used to many centuries of class distinctions.  This distinction is very important to me personally, as I don't want to go through a great deal of obsequious gestures and gyrations, being called "Sir" and such.  I'm "Just Joe" - you don't have to call me "Sir".  I've never been knighted, and my mentees don't work for me.  Yes, it's a sign of respect, but I want to break down those barriers and get them to open up to me, and to speak with me in a normal conversational level, the best they can, without all the pomp and circumstance malarkey.

This is not to say the "Namaskar" and "Namaskaram" have NO spiritual context whatsoever, and "Namaste" is completely spiritually oriented.  No, it's far more nuanced than that.  But I have seen where "Namaste" is over-used by every practitioner, partial practitioner, enthusiast, or fan of yoga, or of India, and such over-use cheapens and degrades the word and it's inherent meaning.  So I actively AVOID using "Namaste" with anyone I do not know very well, and use instead. "Namaskar" with most native Indians in greeting them on the phone, in work related Instant Messages, in emails, or on the occasion that they visit the US or I visit India.  I don't include the traditional "bow", but in electronic correspondence, it doesn't really matter or convey that well.  If I find out that the person with whom I am speaking is a native of Tamilnadu, I will switch over to "Namaskaram" the next time we speak. 

You can use whatever you like - I am not preaching or advocating the use of one over the other - explaining why I tend to "cringe" when I hear "Namaste" being over-used around the world, often by people who think that it is just some kind of greeting associated with practicing yoga, and who do not understand the deeper meaning therein.

If you'd like to read more about the differences and deeper meaning, you may find useful links here,  here, here, and here.

Sweet Dreams

...Are Made of This.   Classic Annie.

Ebonized 230

I was playing Scrabble online this afternoon, when I came up with the biggest (highest scoring) word I've ever placed on a Scrabble board.  "Ebonized" with two different triple word scores, was worth 230 points.

My opponent resigned, 5 seconds later. 

I've played double triple word scores before... but this was the first time I doubled my score and had a "Z" in it.  Lemme know if you want to play Scrabble online sometime =)  (Note: Facebook Scrabble sorta sucks, so I won't go there again).

Misguided Indian Marketers

This morning, I received what I thought was a SPAM comment to the "How To Clean Your Own Hayward Pump Cartridge Filte..." posting from earlier this month.  Some anonymous person called "sachin" commented:

"Buy slotted angles shopping-racks, we are leading slotted angles shopping-racks manufacturer and provider or supplier for "plastic baskets delhi" and "plastic baskets manufacturers delhi" (India)."

The "quoted" parts were hot linked to a (perhaps) poorly named website "adequate steel" dot com.  I am not going to hot link it here and send these misguided marketers any traffic.  "Adequate Steel" does NOT inspire confidence to me.  Did they reject the names "Marginal Steel", "P*ss Poor Steel", "Maybe It's Steel", "Won't Break Immediately Steel"?  Obviously, the nuance of the negative psychological impact of "Adequate" are lost on "sachin" and his company.  At "Adequate Steel" they showed that they manufacture shopping carts.  The pictures they showed were the smaller "custom" carts that you can find at places like Whole Paycheck, Auto Parts Stores, Trader Joes, etc.  They might have offered LARGE carts like Costco and Home Depot use, but I didn't dig deep enough, uninspired by the adjective "Adequate".

So AS's "sachin" probably found my blog with a keyword search of "basket" or something...  and then quickly assumed that a specialized pump's filter basket equates to a shopping cart.  "sachin" never bothered to set up a Google profile, so that anyone who was actually interested in his company would know how to contact him, but who knows, maybe he's a non-Indian contractor who AS doesn't want customers contacting?  I dunno.

And "delhi (India)".  How many other cities called "delhi" are there, outside of India? And why would you not capitalize the name of your city "delhi"? 

The lack of an article "we are leading slotted angles shopping-racks manufacturer" implies that AS is somehow guiding, controlling, or drawing away, shopping-racks manufacturers some-place...  where exactly... who knows?  If they were "a leading manufacturer" or "the leading manufacturer" then that sentence would have made much more sense.  But they are not "the" or "a" they are simply "leading" manufacturers somewhere.  And the end of the 2nd half of the sentence implies they are only supplying people in "delhi" .. wherever that is.  Had it been capitalized, it might have been Delhi, locally pronounced as Dilli (Hindi: दिल्ली, Punjabi: ਦਿੱਲੀ, Urdu: دِلّی) or Dehli (Hindi: देहली, Punjabi: ਦੇਹਲੀ, Urdu: دهلی), officially National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT).  But no.

So "sachin" and the AS company he represents, have failed miserably.  They have drawn my ridicule and disdain.  I know there are millions of smarter, more fluent in English, more motivated Indians in India.  I've worked with many of them, extensively.  So Misguided Marketers BEWARE.  Do a poor job of approaching me in a language that is not your mother tongue, and you will be justifiably mocked.  There's others in your country and in the market place who are doing much better jobs at approaching potential customers.

Bittman on making Oatmeal Disgusting

Friends of JustJoeP already know that I'm a BIG Mark Bittman fan (link here).  His cook books, his philosophy towards food and eating, one could do alot worse.  So a Tip Of the Hat to my friend Jill for this link (here) to Bittman's article this week on McDonalds attempts to turn the wholesomeness of Oatmeal into yet another Frankenfood.  It's really worth the read. 
"A more accurate description ... would be “oats, sugar, sweetened dried fruit, cream and 11 weird ingredients you would never keep in your kitchen.”"
and
"The aspect one cannot argue is nutrition: Incredibly, the McDonald’s product contains more sugar than a Snickers bar and only 10 fewer calories than a McDonald’s cheeseburger or Egg McMuffin. (Even without the brown sugar it has more calories than a McDonald’s hamburger.)"

Ew ew ew!!!!!

So very gross.   As Jill put it "This article just kind of made me throw up in my mouth a little."  I Verped as well.  Disgusting.  This reinforces why I never go to McDonalds.

Wanna Help The Wisconsin Union Protesters?

Buy them a Pizza.  PRI's "The World" ran a story on how Ian's Pizza in Madison has been getting pizza orders for delivery to the protesters, from every continent - including Antarctica!  Crooks and Liars has a nice story on it here: (link) from last Sunday.  "The World" doesn't update their website until 5pm Pacific Time... so I can't give you a link here.

Supposedly the "Macaroni & Cheese" pizza is the Most Popular flavor being ordered by concerned fellow world citizens, for the union members in Madison with whom the Governor and Republican Legislature refuse to have a dialogue.

If you want to help to feed fatigued, entrenched protesters, by ordering a pizza or two online, read on:
"Monday, February 21 (12:15pm)
Thank you all so much for visiting!
If you are here to learn how help feed the protesters in Madison, here's how you can do that:
Call us at 608-257-9248, then press 1. As we have just three phone lines it may take a while to get through, and we apologize in advance for that.
For online ordering we have partnered with both badgerbites.com and campusfood.com to process our online orders. If you would like to order online, please put 115 State Street as the delivery address, and add in the notes that you would like to help feed the protesters.
While we thought about it, we will not be setting up a Paypal account, even though we realize that would make it easier. Please understand it's not because we don't want to help you out; we really just don't want to over-promise & under-deliver. "

American Workforce Makeover Needed

The Daily Show excoriates the codependent relation between American Corporations and their labor forces, using rapier wit and poignant analogies, skewering the Republicans on their own words.  Link here.  I watched this twice last night, and twice again today.  Emmy worthy, at Camera 3.
"You don't understand why Corporations don't look at you the same way they did in the good ole days, before collective bargaining allowed you to limit, when and where they could look at you."
"You thought you were doing the things necessary, to raise a middle class, together, with the corporations, but when you were home on 'Weekends', or "Federally Mandated Holidays' or having your 'Dental Work', your Corporation was off banging Mexico, India, or China's industries."
"And now you wann'em back"
"Well it's not like he hasn't been telling you what turns him on"
- Cut to failed former CEO of HP Carly Fiorina who drove that company into the ground before the board threw her out, claiming that "35% tax on business when the world averages 18%" - REGARDLESS of the FACT that MOST of the RICHEST US Corporations pay NO FEDERAL TAX (in 2008, and again in 2009). GRRRRRRRR
"Who wants 35, when they can get 18??"

"In the old days, American worker, you were wild and exciting.  You'd do it all day, and all night, in every room, even the ones with no fire exits."
"But now, when he rolls over, and announces he wants to start drilling, you're all 'Oh no mister, not here, not without protection!' "
- Cut to Headline News covering the BP spill's idiotic and perfectly avoidable mistakes -
"But when I wear a blowout preventer, I barely feel like I am drilling"
"And the constant nagging!!!!"
- cut to MSNBC and Fox News commentators scolding big business for laissez-faire evil -
"India and China understand Corporations.  India and China let them be themselves"
"Corporation wants to come home late, wreaking of DDT and salmonella, and go wake the kids up, because it's time for their shift, that's cool! They just want them to be happy!"
Look, you knew!! ...they were sociopaths when you married them."
"Not that there haven't been hints, of what you might do, to create a more welcome corporate atmosphere"
- cut to Kneeling Cavuto and a corporate sycophantic berating unions, and another Fox fool berating  Wisconsin teachers for making $51K a year (yeah, with BAs or Masters degrees or PhDs, how despicable!) 

(whispered) "But-cha gotta want it"

"Pretty nice, Professor Trump"
 "So American workers, Slim Down! Work More! For Less! In Sh*tty Conditions!"
"And I'm not talking 1/2 pay Saturdays and partial Dental."
"Ohh the Corporations are saying you're looking good, and they really appreciate the effort, but the Truth is, if you want First World Corporations to think you're attractive, you're gonna need a Third World Makeover."
- cut to picture of Mexican family outside a double wide
"This family does your job for 70 pesos a week."

But The Administration Said It Was Gone...

Scientists, gathering actual data, find more large swaths of Gulf sea bed dead and polluted (link here). (older here, and related here [go to bottom of page])  Don't they know that most of the oil BP spilled is all gone?!?? The EPA & NOAA, on orders from the Obama Administration said it was all gone, last year before the November elections, remember? (links here and here).  Who do those pesky Scientists think they are anyway? Using actual method, data, facts... it's completely unacceptable.  Don't they know they should be leaving well enough alone and TRUSTING the environmental monitoring agencies who have already ruled on the matter??

This is just another example of how Obama's administration is losing more respectability and "Say / Do" quotient points.  Grrrrr.  We had bogus spouting liars in the executive previously.  I thought there was going to be actual change on this topic.

I knew it from the first time I heard that it was all 'magically gone' and 'microbes ate it' that it was bogus.  Despicable lies.

No worries though.. The Republicans will soon de-fund everything, except subsidies to Oil Companies and the super rich with un-needed tax breaks, so soon it will be irrelevant whatever the EPA or NOAA says.

Quote of the day - Neil DeGrasse Tyson

"The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it."

Dr Neil DeGrasse Tyson

HBO link here.  (Dr Desert Flower and I saw DeGrasse Tyson speak passionately about Science on Real Time last week, that we'd DVR'ed)

Good Reads Quotes Link here.

HuffPo link here.

This quote is so good, it may be actually the quote of the year (after living in Red State America & having fundy relatives and co-workers who refuse to believe in basic scientific facts).

The Scraggly Beard Must Go

I got busy with a surge of work this week, and didn't bother to shave for a few days. The calico cat multi colored bristles need to go today.  Itchy and unpleasant, and Dr Desert Flower doesn't like it either. Enough with the superfluous facial hair.

I don't think it looks "rugged" or "stylish", I think it looks lazy, un-kept, and unsightly.

Dos Gatos Negro Adicionales

Dos Gatos Negro Adicionales - or two additional Black Cats.  Last week, DFF and I stopped by Sprouts to pick up some fresh organic produce, and I noticed they had Gato Negro on sale for $3.99 a bottle.  The Malbec & Carménère that I'd enjoyed earlier (link here) were down to 2 each on the store shelf, so I picked up a Cabernet Merlot and a Merlot, to try them, rounding out the wine carrying bag to 6 - AND getting an additional 10% off in the process.  The helpful cashier reminded me, as I had only picked up the Cab, so I ran back and got another bottle - no one was waiting behind me, so I didn't "clog" the line.  Over the course of the week, I polished off both bottles, and I have to say, for $4 a bottle (or actually $3.61 with the discount) they were very good.  Floral notes, smooth finish, full flavored, hints of red berries but not overly fruity, very little oak.  Nice, drinkable, good table wine.

Keep up the good work Gato Negro!  And thank you Sprouts for carrying it.

Just My Imagination

Been going through my head all weekend.
The Rolling Stones does a version of this as well, but all I could find were live performances with low quality audio.  The Cranberries have a song of the same name, but radically different... the Vevo video does have nice slices of Dolores O'Riordan's slender stomach in it, for those who like that sort of subtle allure, but this morning I was opting for the 1971 Temptations classic.

The Wind, She's a Blowin

Today around noon, I pull up to my house after giving blood and running a few errands, to find this, in front of my garage!  Yes, I've seen tumble weeds before, they are no big deal.  Tumble weeds are ubiquitous in rural Arizona, along highways, stuck to cattle fences, in drainage ditches and canals, stuck to an occasional cholla.  But I live in the middle of a nautilus shaped sub division (the roads, when viewed from google maps, look like a spiraled nautilus).  The nearest open field, which is a large farm field that grows (alternately) sorghum, cotton, and corn is 6 city blocks away and separated by a raised 4 lane highway from my neighborhood. 

So yeeeeee haw! Alrighty there, young missy, you just giddy up and get along now, ya hear!  A nearly 3 foot diameter ball of tumbleweed, blowing across my driveway.  And here I thought I lived in the Big City, since Phoenix has nearly 5 million people in it (the 5th largest US metro area).

I checked my pool filter's skimmer, and it was JAMMED FULL of pin oak leaves, blown from adjacent yards over the wall and into my pool.  The hummingbirds are enjoying the one feeder that is covered, hanging in the patio, out of the rain. 

I've found Arizonians treat "rain" the same way South Carolinians treat "snow" (or the possibility that there MIGHT be snow).  Since it is often sunny, rarely cloudy (most years), and rains typically at most 2 weeks out of the year here, when a storm does come blowin' in, local residents are FASCINATED with looking out the window of their homes and businesses. "Didja see the lightening!?!" (yes, I've seen lightening many times in my life)  "Do you think it'll snow??" (it was 65F today, and we are at 1100ft elevation. Um, No, it won't snow).  Spend some time in the Midwest, and rain and snow and lightening and wind don't impress you much, unless a tornado is lifting your home or car.  But a tumbleweed, up against the garage door, in a suburban driveway?  That's funny.  =)

In Flight, Near Collision, Again

Last week Monday, I was flying in the back of a Continental Airlines flight (CO369) Airbus 320, in window seat 31A (there were 34 rows on my flight).  My window faced north.  It was about an hour and a 1/2 into the flight, around 11am ground time, we were at or near 35,000 feet heading NE somewhere over the Texas or Oklahoma Pan Handles, when I happened to notice a RAPID SHADOW flash across the left wing I could clearly see outside my window, from right to left (fuselage to wing tip), in less than a second.  It was a cloudless day, so I thought... 'Is this a Twilight Zone episode?' or 'Are my old eyes deceiving me?'  So I leaned forward, looked out the window, and saw what made my heart sink, and put a lump in my throat.

A very similar view to what I saw out my window.

About 500 feet above us, and heading towards the NW at a clip of about 600 mph, was the distinctive red and blue colors and outline of a Southwest 737, probably SW5060 heading from Houston to Denver.

Now, if I didn't know that "Above 29,000 feet (8,800 m) no aircraft shall come closer than 600 m (or 2,000 feet)", I would have shrugged off the ~500 foot separation.  I know it wasn't 2,000 feet, since I could see nearly directly INTO the back of the 737-500's CFM56 engines, which would have been a very oblique view had the Southwest flight been 1/2 a mile or more above me.

I've been in my backyard swimming or working out when the landing pattern for Sky Harbor Airport has been from West-to-East, and had a plane's shadow pass over me as the commercial flight is slowing from about 250 to 170 mph as they decelerate to land, before banking to follow and parallel the I-10 to the airport. So it was not the first time a large flight's shadow as crossed my path.  But it was the first time over 29,000 feet I had a shadow cross, and the 6th time I've been on a commercial flight that nearly collided with another plane (over New Mexico 2010, Siberia 2000, China 2001, Belgium 2001, Southern Indiana 2010) of which I am aware.  I am quite certain there's been more aerial close calls, but like the pilot on CO369 a week ago, most of the time no evasive maneuver is made - Siberia 2000 was a near head-on at 7am as my Continental flight was heading due South and a Polar Express cargo flight was heading due north, in the same (but opposite) vectors, when the Continental 777 pilot made an extreme course correction that almost sent my just-served breakfast into the aisle and I watched the blue and white Polar cargo plane streak North at a relative speed of nearly Mach 2 about a 1000 feet to the West.of our starboard wing tip.  Maybe the CO369's flight computer had no "collision avoidance" alarm.  I don't know.

The most positive aspect of a potential in flight collision, is that the resulting cataclysmic fireball would probably instantly kill me, and make my wife a very rich widow.  If the fireball didn't get me, and the impact threw me and my buckled-in seat clear, suffocation (above 15,000 feet) due to oxygen deprivation would knock me unconscious and I wouldn't notice the inevitable impact with the Earth below.  And if the crash was below 15K altitude, and I didn't pass out, I'd have one heck of a rapid vertical fall (human terminal velocity is about 120 mph) for a minute or two.

As I laid on my yoga mat pool side this afternoon, admiring the beautiful blue sky with light wispy clouds soaring slowly above, the thought occurred to me "look up at the sky, not down at the ground, if you're ever thrown clear from the impact of a mid air collision".  I try to look on the bright side.  =)

The "R" Is Important

When working with many people from around the world who did not grow up speaking English, it is important to keep in mind how IMPORTANT the letter "R" is, and how difficult it is for non-native English speakers to sometimes get it right, and to not confound the use of "R" and "L" with each other.

Cancer       becomes "Cancel"
Titration     becomes "Titillation"
Increment   becomes "Inclement"

The examples are endless, but these are a few that I've heard in the last several days from Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic native speakers.  I try very hard, when pronouncing non-native English words and names to get it right, the way the local native speaker would pronounce it.  In English, when there's an "R", use an "R" and not an "L" or a "W" or a silent letter.  When there's no "R" (like the word "India") please don't add an extra "R" in there.  =)

The Mechanic's 2011 Version

While I was stuck in Pennsylvania on business, I watched The Mechanic late one weekend night.  Jason Statham does his usual "professional, silent & deadly" personae.  I'd not seen the Charles Bronson 1972 original Mechanic (link here)... but I am curious how they compare.  Ben Foster plays an unlikeable character, counter balancing his previous role in The Messenger, which nearly had me in tears when I say it last year.  He was so unlikeable in the Mechanic, that he reminded me of the idiot Jesse in Breaking Bad. 

A high body count - most of them body guards or assassination targets - and a predictable ending, but not a terrible movie.  Not terrible that is, to see alone, or with guy friends - I know Dr Desert Flower had no interest in seeing it.

Jean Albrecht Pinot Blanc Reserve

Dr Desert Flower purchased a bottle of Jean Albrecht Pinot Blanc Reserve, 2009, at Total Wine while I was traveling last week.  I enjoyed finishing it off this evening with a bowl of soup.  Jean Albrecht Pinot Blanc is a Alsace Appellation Controlee wine, and actually the first Pinot Blanc I've ever tried.  It was wonderful.  Delicious fruit flavors without tasting like sweet grape juice.  Not too dry, Not At All grapefruit-like.  Really enjoyable and pleasant.  Highly recommended.

If you enjoy Sauvignon Blanc, and think most Chardonnays are too grassy, then try a Pinot Blanc.  You'll probably like it as well.

Links to it here, and here.

Bieber Fatigue, not Bieber Fever

I am getting tired of hearing about the Bieber kid.  I don't have "Bieber Fever", I have "Bieber Malaise" or "Bieber Fatigue".  It's bad enough that his petty and mean-spirited fans showed what sore losers and sad non-humans they are when they defaced the Wiki entry of the truly talented and lovely "best new solo artist" Grammy winner Esperanza Spalding earlier this month.   Bieber Fans don't "play hard ball", they're just petty little kids with a mis-guided sexual fixation.  Sort of like adult Republican men are, with Sarah Palin.

So I spent a few minutes of my life, listening to Justin Bieber's much bragged about drumming skills this afternoon.  Well, the kid is average for a 3rd or 4th grader.  He's not progressed much since his debut 9 year old premier video days.  He thinks he plays "fast" but he exhibits no stick control, no discipline, little understanding (or demonstration) of rudiments, sloppy technique, and a lack of a mature playing style.  "What do you mean??!!?!?!? Justin is awesome!!!!" - no, he's not awesome, as a drummer.  And as a performer, well, I give him to he reaches 21 before he implodes on his own overly inflated ego and image, due to a lack of a solid "Mozart Like" musical foundation.  Yeah, Mozart didn't make it much longer than that, but he had more talent in his pinky fingernail than Bieber has in his whole little boy body.

If you want to know what good stick control and drumming technique are, you can look here, here, and here, at DCI amazing talents Mike Bierek, Makana Sylva, and Ian Pacheco - though Ivan is somewhat of a show off, and that's not my preference.

"But Justin plays a WHOLE Drum Set!!!" .. yes, he does, in a very mediocre way.  I'm very unimpressed, and distressed that the sheep-like masses think he's so awesome when there's little-to-no substance there.  I watched as my own son passed Bieber's minimal level of play before he got to 8th grade.  Today, my son could teach Bieber and his irrationally devoted fans clinics on improving their drumming technique substantially. If you'd like to see (and hear) what good drum set technique is, listen to Moby Dick (link here minimalist, building, with supreme control) and the Professor on the drumkit, in a YYZ spliced montage (link here). 

Longer version (10 mins) of Moby Dick, here, including hand drumming, and video of Bonham's son playing drums with him =)

Examples of  Justin Bieber's lack luster drumming performances:
Justin Bieber Live Drum Solo at SIRIUS XM, link here
Stumbling, high sticks, no control, any 3rd or 4th grader could do, link here
Yawn, link here (start at 2:40 mark)

And these link above, are after this "younger" video done at age 9, here
As you can see, he hasn't progessed much at all.

If anyone has a differing opinion about young Justin, as to why he's the best thing since the debut of the double base drum pedal in regards to drumming, I welcome your comments, and look forward to discussing what aspects I may have missed - but I don't think I've over-looked anything.  I'm not a "hater", I just keep my facts in perspective.  =)

Studebaker Hawk

Billy The Mountain

Billy was a mountain.
Ethell was a tree, growing off of his shoulder!
Billy Had two big caves for eyes and a cliff for a jaw
that would go up and down when he coughed
let out dust, and hack up a boulder...  hack up a boulder....

Ethell, we're going on a vacation!

For part 2, click here.  Lyrics here.  Part 3, click here. (Part 3 is not child listening friendly).

Toto???   Auntie Em!?!?!?

Studebaker Hawk!  He's soooo mysterious!

Or if he has a son named Pinocchio, or what?  Maybe he sings like Neil Sedaka...

They said he could dance, and of course, they were right!

He might be a MARC or a lady marine...

A mountain is something you don't want to f*ck with....

The first time I ever heard this, was my Freshman year in college in Terre Haute.  Hilarious! =)   Anysley Dunbar, on the drum kit.

If you have never heard this before, and you make it all the way through all 3 parts, please let me know in the comment section what you thought about it. 

Mubaraked, verb

I've seen several interweb stories of how the verb "Mubarak" has entered the Egyptian Arabic lexicon (links here, and here) but they only concentrate on "over staying one's welcome", as in "Have your in-laws Mubaraked?"  What they do not mention, are the other definitions of "Mubarak" that have not yet entered Merriam-Websters, or Dictionary.com, or other places, but yet are intrinsically linked to the now deposed dictator's reputation.  So let me be the first one to present the other definitions:

Mubarak - verb  ( محمد حسني سيد مبارك‎)  slang

[moo-bahr-uhk]1) To fail to get the hint, regardless of how obvious it may be2) To farcically outstay one's welcome3) To brutally oppress one's people, using networks of corrupt police forces, informants, and torture, denying them open elections and basic human rights for a period of 30 years or longer.  Used in a sentence, for example: "Ahmadinejad ( محمود احمدی‌نژاد) and the Guardian Council ( شورای نگهبان قانون اساسی ) have Mubaraked the Iranian people".4) To make vain, desperate, futile attempts to look younger than you really are, while being a septuagenarian or  octogenarian, eg: dying one's hair. 
5) To have the goal your whole adult life of installing your first born son in the seat of national power (as every despotic dictator does) from which you've ruled as a billionaire, only to have it dashed away by millions of protesters from your unemployed, under-developed, secular country, deposing you and sending you into exile.

6)  To play Democratic and Republican American Presidents for the myopic fools they really are, from Reagan to Obama, to get Billions in military aid, while maintaining a posture of non-aggression towards your strong, well armed, but out-numbered, Jewish neighbor to the East. (also see "To Hoisni" as a synonym for "to hose").

So yes... there is the failing to get the hint and over-staying one's welcome, but those tell only one part of the story.  Hosni was not an obstinate idiot his whole life.  He played the Israelis, Americans, Saudis, Hammas, and Europeans quite well.  Raking in billions in tourist dollars and foreign military aid, torturing thousands of people, and stashing away a Bill Gates sized fortune.    

Hopefully a Democratic Secular state will come into being, like Turkey, but better, now that Mubarak's autocratic rule has ended, and no military coup or Fundamentalist Islamic state will take hold.  Il faut voir:   يجب أن نرى 

Oh, Ah, Bella La

This song (Vassy - Desire) has been running through my head since lunch time today.  I certainly hope I don't have to climb a Ladder anytime soon.  Il faut voir.. in the coming weeks.

EarPlanes Failure

3 weeks ago, I'd just gotten off a flight with a crying child in the seat behind me.  I'd forgotten the ear plugs I normally keep in my laptop bag.  So I stopped into a shop in the Detroit Airport (formerly NW terminal, now Delta) and picked up a box of "EarPlanes".  Living in an age of bar codes, I did not look for a marked price on the package, approached the store clerk, and began to hand her $2.  SILLY Me!  The pair of ear plugs was $7.49. Ridiculous!

They have little pressure relief valves in them... ok.. maybe they'll help my ears form popping.  Nope.  The air passage provided by the pressure relief shuttle valve decreases the noise arresting ability to a paltry 30 dB.  I could easily hear all conversations around me in the next flight.  And the Rigidity of the hard plugs and internal valves makes for a painful ear canal insertion. Ouch.

If you want to throw away $8 on ear plugs that barely work, and hurt your ears, by all means, get EarPlanes (aka EarPains).  I'll be sticking with my 20 cent compressible plugs that I can get at manufacturing facilities, by the handful. 

Psychedelic Furs - Heartbeat

This has been running through my head for the last 2 days...  I don't know why.  I also could not find a "non live" version of it on the interwebs that had a substantial number of hits, so this'll have to have to do.

I think driving home in taxi cabs at midnight, combined with jet lag, has dredged out long term memory neurons  from 30 years ago...  I dunno.