Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 30, 2012
2012 that was
As an exercise in reflection on 2012, I looked at the first post of each month. This has been a year of transformations in my household, many of them wonderful, exciting, and joyful. And at the end of the year, I have had to buckle down to finish a task undertaken a while ago, but not yet completed. I'm ready for 2013.
January. We were in Spain for the holidays last year, too. We took a day trip to a restored wetland that has become a place where flocks of cranes and all kinds of other birds and wildlife are flourishing. Restoration, new life, possibilities!
February: I posted the Ted Talk by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, because he writes (and speaks) so beautifully about the sense of self and our physiology. I'm working on changing up my meds so that I can live with my wonky brain chemistry in a healthier way.
March: "8: The Play" Same-sex marriage was to be theme throughout the year, up through the elections. It feels as if a corner has been turned. I can't/won't become cynical.
April A death: Adrienne Rich. I owe her a lot. Rereading "Diving Into the Wreck."
May: another death, another formative context; Tomás Borge, the Sandinista revolution. Idealism, degradation. Can we pardon those we feel betrayed us?
June: commencement speeches (from Laurie Anderson, from Neil Gaiman) for my high-schooler's graduation.
July: for me, this was the year of modest, but joyful gardening: a new rain garden in front, tomatoes and herbs in back. Tending my garden, rooting out invasive species:
August: Another death: Chavela Vargas, lived to see the world ready to celebrate her (public) coming out in her eighties.
September: a year of dance, a moment when my pop culture TV fix unexpectedly gave me with a shot of genius: Axis Dance Company's performance.
October: the video for "Get your cray on" by K-pop idol G-Dragon. Where do fandoms and pop culture meet up in acts of translation/opacity?
November. By the time election day arrived, I felt like Shamus the dog in this political ad Montgomery Burns made for Mitt Romney: quivering, whimpering, desperate to escape ("another jumper).
December: The Pixies, then and now. I only learned later that the performance I saw last year was by people who had created a second chances for themselves after breaking down and breaking up. "Where is My Mind?" (1988).
1988-2012. Twenty-six years
January. We were in Spain for the holidays last year, too. We took a day trip to a restored wetland that has become a place where flocks of cranes and all kinds of other birds and wildlife are flourishing. Restoration, new life, possibilities!
February: I posted the Ted Talk by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, because he writes (and speaks) so beautifully about the sense of self and our physiology. I'm working on changing up my meds so that I can live with my wonky brain chemistry in a healthier way.
March: "8: The Play" Same-sex marriage was to be theme throughout the year, up through the elections. It feels as if a corner has been turned. I can't/won't become cynical.
April A death: Adrienne Rich. I owe her a lot. Rereading "Diving Into the Wreck."
May: another death, another formative context; Tomás Borge, the Sandinista revolution. Idealism, degradation. Can we pardon those we feel betrayed us?
June: commencement speeches (from Laurie Anderson, from Neil Gaiman) for my high-schooler's graduation.
July: for me, this was the year of modest, but joyful gardening: a new rain garden in front, tomatoes and herbs in back. Tending my garden, rooting out invasive species:
August: Another death: Chavela Vargas, lived to see the world ready to celebrate her (public) coming out in her eighties.
September: a year of dance, a moment when my pop culture TV fix unexpectedly gave me with a shot of genius: Axis Dance Company's performance.
October: the video for "Get your cray on" by K-pop idol G-Dragon. Where do fandoms and pop culture meet up in acts of translation/opacity?
November. By the time election day arrived, I felt like Shamus the dog in this political ad Montgomery Burns made for Mitt Romney: quivering, whimpering, desperate to escape ("another jumper).
December: The Pixies, then and now. I only learned later that the performance I saw last year was by people who had created a second chances for themselves after breaking down and breaking up. "Where is My Mind?" (1988).
1988-2012. Twenty-six years
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Nochebuena
- Assorted canapés with spreads like mousse de bacalao, oliva, anchoa, langosta.
- A very large crab called buey de mar
- razor clams (navajas) with a green sauce.
- Largish sea snails called canadillas.
- langostinos,
- champiñones rellenos,
- lomo embuchado,
- ensalada de quinoa,
- cardo en salsa de nueces,
- lubina al horno con salsa,
- macedonia de frutas,
- turrón, champán.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Great-aunt Alma:
My mother's aunt Alma is her mother's youngest sister. My grandmother, Giovanna Nitti, was the oldest sibling, and Alma was the youngest. Alma is only ten years older than mom, about the same age as my mother's oldest brother, Jim. She was the only woman in the family who didn't marry or have children. Instead, she had a career in Manhattan working at BMI until she retired in the '80s. She loved interacting with the musicians. I don't think she was well treated at the end of her career, something that happens to older women rather frequently.
When I used to visit her in New York, while she was still working, she would always send me to her hairdresser (she was always perfectly groomed, then as now, and was appalled by my lack of polish). She would buy me tickets to a Broadway show from the half-price dealers: I saw a Tommy Tune musical, Frank Langella in Dracula, and the original cast of Hurly-Burly. When we went out to dinner, she never let me pay, although I always tried. She told the maitre-d' ahead of time not to take my money. It seemed to me that she lived differently than many other women of her generation, as a career woman when it was not the norm, but she always upheld very traditional gender roles. The man was always right.
Now she is 92, and lives in an assisted living facility on Long Island. They have filmed these short interviews, or "Life Stories," and my mother shared this with me.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Zaragoza sunset
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Only a few more days of 2012
We are off to spend three weeks in Spain with our family in Spain. I'm so happy to know that our friends will be enjoying a creative retreat in our home, in the company of Master Leo. We'll be back for a few days, and then off to San Francisco to visit our family in SF. I will be glad to be away. These past few months have been hard. Our first-year student was rewarded with straight A's for her hard work and creativity in her first semester. I'm happiest about how much she enjoyed all the new things she tried, and how much she learned that wasn't on the tests.
I am eager to read the papers by my freshman class; they were at terrific group, and I'm only sorry that I wasn't able to say goodbye to them in person during the last week of class.
During these weeks, I will be meditating on the New Moon in Sagittarius post by Katie at Empowering Astrology. I have been finding these writings extraordinarily apt for my stage of life right now. "Head home" is a phrase that emerged, and the idea of rebalancing the feminine. What does she mean about Uranus going direct? Here are some questions to ponder:
So ask yourself, as this new moon begins to wax, as we head towards the much hyped solstice in 8 days, what does “head home” mean to you? How are you integrating and releasing your shadow? How are rearranging the parts? How are you rebuilding a better you? Uranus is about to turn direct. The alarm clock says it’s time to wake up.
Sagamihara
When I was five, our family left El Paso, Texas, on the first stage of our journey to Japan, where my father was to be stationed. We drove to California. I don't remember the drive, but I do remember that we stopped at the San Diego Zoo and Disneyland on our way to San Francisco. What must it have been like to have three kids under six in the back seat of the car?
From San Francisco, we took ship to Japan, a two-week trip with a stop in Hawaii. The ship was the USNS Gen. Hugh J. Gaffey, one of many ships in the Military Sea Transport Service (MSTS). This essay by Tom Barry on the JapanBrats blog includes the memories of many kids who made the trip with their families during those years. I also remember the spartan conditions, the boredom, the cramped cabins (I think we were all sick at one point), but also crossing the International Dateline, seeing flying fish, and arriving at Yokohama, welcomed by a band.
When we arrived, housing wasn't ready for us yet, so we lived for a few months in temporary housing at the Sagami Depot. I remember the rows of tanks and half-tracks parked on the other side of the fence. We slept in a bunk bed, which was exciting, but at least one of us fell out. I had my sixth birthday there.
We
then moved to Sagamihara Dependent Housing Area, which was part of the
military complex supporting Camp Zama, where my father was working in
the hospital as a surgeon. Here we see the base as an island of green in a highly urbanized area, but I remember farmland.
According to my father, in the first two years we were there, it was like working in a small town, but with the escalation of the war in Viet Nam, the number of wounded being transported was such that the 100 beds were increased to 500, and three other hospitals were built, to receive the thousands of casualties that were to arrive in the next few years.
Of course, I knew almost nothing of this. What I remember is my first grade teacher, Miss Bell, whom I adored. The Snack Bar had a jukebox and hamburgers. We loved an excuse to eat there.
Teachers from the Elementary School. We lived next door to Mrs. Allen.There were three kids: Sharon, who was twelve, was like a goddess to me. Debbie Cynthia, who was my age, beat me up. Billy, who was younger, was, according to my mother, a brat.
I learned to swim in this pool, where we spent hours and hours in the summer.
When we arrived, housing wasn't ready for us yet, so we lived for a few months in temporary housing at the Sagami Depot. I remember the rows of tanks and half-tracks parked on the other side of the fence. We slept in a bunk bed, which was exciting, but at least one of us fell out. I had my sixth birthday there.
According to my father, in the first two years we were there, it was like working in a small town, but with the escalation of the war in Viet Nam, the number of wounded being transported was such that the 100 beds were increased to 500, and three other hospitals were built, to receive the thousands of casualties that were to arrive in the next few years.
Of course, I knew almost nothing of this. What I remember is my first grade teacher, Miss Bell, whom I adored. The Snack Bar had a jukebox and hamburgers. We loved an excuse to eat there.
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Monday, December 17, 2012
The "Up Series" part 2:
As I finished my Netflix marathon of the Up documentary series, I realized that I am
the same age as this group. Well, slightly younger, but I also turned 7 in
1964, the year of the first film. I decided to make my own timeline,
parallel to the series: where was I in the year of the release of each
part, or when I was the age given in each title: 7, 14, 21, 29, 35, 42, 49,
and now 56? (although because I'm a year behind, I'll have to settle for
just-turned-55).
Because my family moved frequently when I was young (dad was a doctor in the Army), to make my timeline I found that I had to do some work to nail down the exact dates for events that I vaguely remembered: when did we move? when were we in each housing situation? what grade was I in at school?
As I worked out this chronology, I also wondered what I really remembered about those years, and how this somewhat arbitrary cycle relates to other milestones in my life, such as graduating from high school, or moving to Minnesota. I wondered what I might have said if I had been interviewed like those children: what was my heart's desire (to be a horse. And if I couldn't be a horse, to be an archaeologist in Egypt). Where would I go to school in the future (absolutely no clue). Did I have a boyfriend (no, but I had an intense crush on Mike Fukushima, to whom I never said a word, a pattern that would be repeated each school year until I was in high school).
My life has been at once typically American middle class in many ways and rather unorthodox in others. I've previously counted the number of times we moved (4), the number of homes we lived in (7) while we were still in the Army. I've reckoned my life in boyfriends/relationships with men. And then there are the more traditional timelines of schooling, career, parenting. How does this 7+7 timeline intersect with these?
I started to write about what I remembered from age 7, from the year 1964. My family had just moved from El Paso, Texas, where my brother and sister were born, to an Sagamihara Dependent Housing Area, near Tokyo because my rather had been stationed in Camp Zama hospita. I realized that Apted's films almost never refer directly to national or world events, whereas my life was shaped, at this point especially, by my father's work as an Army doctor during the major escalation of the Viet Namwar. Yet I know almost nothing about what my father was doing, what he thought or felt about the extraordinary experiences he lived through as a surgeon at Camp Zama from 1963 to 1967.
Because my family moved frequently when I was young (dad was a doctor in the Army), to make my timeline I found that I had to do some work to nail down the exact dates for events that I vaguely remembered: when did we move? when were we in each housing situation? what grade was I in at school?
As I worked out this chronology, I also wondered what I really remembered about those years, and how this somewhat arbitrary cycle relates to other milestones in my life, such as graduating from high school, or moving to Minnesota. I wondered what I might have said if I had been interviewed like those children: what was my heart's desire (to be a horse. And if I couldn't be a horse, to be an archaeologist in Egypt). Where would I go to school in the future (absolutely no clue). Did I have a boyfriend (no, but I had an intense crush on Mike Fukushima, to whom I never said a word, a pattern that would be repeated each school year until I was in high school).
My life has been at once typically American middle class in many ways and rather unorthodox in others. I've previously counted the number of times we moved (4), the number of homes we lived in (7) while we were still in the Army. I've reckoned my life in boyfriends/relationships with men. And then there are the more traditional timelines of schooling, career, parenting. How does this 7+7 timeline intersect with these?
I started to write about what I remembered from age 7, from the year 1964. My family had just moved from El Paso, Texas, where my brother and sister were born, to an Sagamihara Dependent Housing Area, near Tokyo because my rather had been stationed in Camp Zama hospita. I realized that Apted's films almost never refer directly to national or world events, whereas my life was shaped, at this point especially, by my father's work as an Army doctor during the major escalation of the Viet Namwar. Yet I know almost nothing about what my father was doing, what he thought or felt about the extraordinary experiences he lived through as a surgeon at Camp Zama from 1963 to 1967.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Colbert: funny AND a mensch
(via Alan Sepinwall, one of my favorite TV critics)
"Breaking Downton" Warning: NSFW and lots of insidery Breaking Bad jokes, but I love it!
The "real" Stephen Colbert started a super-PAC to draw attention to the evil of PACS (my words), and actually raised a boatload of money. Here is his way of sharing the fact that the money has all been donated to groups helping victims of Hurricane Sandy, and also a group working for campaign finance reform.
"Breaking Downton" Warning: NSFW and lots of insidery Breaking Bad jokes, but I love it!
The "real" Stephen Colbert started a super-PAC to draw attention to the evil of PACS (my words), and actually raised a boatload of money. Here is his way of sharing the fact that the money has all been donated to groups helping victims of Hurricane Sandy, and also a group working for campaign finance reform.
The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Nicholas David (Mrozinski)
Minnesota native son (Saint Paul! Eagan!) has made it to the final three on The Voice. Like the other two finalists, he has been gigging around, recording his own music, playing in bands. They aren't amateurs.
If you want to hear a genuine Minnesota accent, listen to his dad in this little bio clip. Pure.
You can find his original music at his website,
He's pretty scruffy in his audition with "Stand By Me," but Cee Lo picks him for his team. Wise choice, Cee Lo, because he has become a fan favorite.
Jennifer Hudson ("Holy Buckets!") worked with him on this Bill Withers song, "Lean on Me" (one of my favorite songs ever).
He gave his own flavor to this up-tempo Barry White song.
"The Power of Love" gets the soul treatment.
The other two finalists are good. I don't much care for Cassadee, but the rocker dude Terry McDermott has a great voice, of the power tenor rocker type, and sings with conviction. He has covered songs by The Who, Journey, Boston, and even the Kansas classic, "Carry On, My Wayward Son." (aka "The Supernatural song") Does that mean that the Supernatural fandom will vote for him en masse? If so, watch out.
If you want to hear a genuine Minnesota accent, listen to his dad in this little bio clip. Pure.
You can find his original music at his website,
He's pretty scruffy in his audition with "Stand By Me," but Cee Lo picks him for his team. Wise choice, Cee Lo, because he has become a fan favorite.
Jennifer Hudson ("Holy Buckets!") worked with him on this Bill Withers song, "Lean on Me" (one of my favorite songs ever).
He gave his own flavor to this up-tempo Barry White song.
"The Power of Love" gets the soul treatment.
The other two finalists are good. I don't much care for Cassadee, but the rocker dude Terry McDermott has a great voice, of the power tenor rocker type, and sings with conviction. He has covered songs by The Who, Journey, Boston, and even the Kansas classic, "Carry On, My Wayward Son." (aka "The Supernatural song") Does that mean that the Supernatural fandom will vote for him en masse? If so, watch out.
The "Up series" Part 1
Having seen the POV blog's list of best documentaries, I was reminded of my desire to see the series of films by Michael Apted, now known as the "Up series" In 1964, Apted was brought in on a project that later he made his: a group of children from widely different backgrounds was selected and then interviewed, with the premise: who will they be in the year 2000? The assumption or question behind the films, made every seven years since then, had to do with ideas about class in British society. Were these children already who they would be, by the age of seven? Were their paths laid out for them and constrained in such a way that they would conform or be limited by class expectations or opportunities such as education? The first documentary ended with the sentence "Give me the child until he is seven, and I will give you the man."
Here's the first part of the first film. You can watch the whole series on Netflix streaming.
The films don't set out to be anthropology, sociology or psychology in an academic sense, but they do prompt reflection on nature and nurture, the work of marriage, mental health, parenting, immigration, changing gender roles. The seven-year olds from the upper-class backgrounds are clearly parroting what they've heard from their parents when they list the schools they expect to attend, in contrast to the boy in the orphanage who asks, "What's university?" It is also not revealed that the boy who seems to be the most Tory in his statements, John, the most representative of a certain upper-class posture, lost his father at the age of 9, and was raised by his Hungarian mother, attending public schools on scholarship. Although he has privilege and wealth, his life was not as easy as the films imply.
One of my favorite moments in the 14-year old episode is when Suzy, also from a wealthy background, refusing to look directly at the camera and clearly uncomfortable about the whole deal, responds with a perfect teenager eye-roll to an earnest question by Apted, off camera.
The last of the series that I was able to see was 49 Up. Here's a clip:
The latest film, 56 Up, has already been screened in the UK, and will probably be released shown in the US in Jan 2013. Much has been said about the how this series of films has affected the lives of the participants, and how it continues to fascinate viewers, especially now that "reality TV" is present as a comparison. Apted has said that he regrets that there were not more girls in the bunch, or more middle-class children, but even if the group is not truly representative of their generation in that sense, the series is a fascinating longitudinal study of human beings, as well as compelling cinema.
Here's the first part of the first film. You can watch the whole series on Netflix streaming.
The films don't set out to be anthropology, sociology or psychology in an academic sense, but they do prompt reflection on nature and nurture, the work of marriage, mental health, parenting, immigration, changing gender roles. The seven-year olds from the upper-class backgrounds are clearly parroting what they've heard from their parents when they list the schools they expect to attend, in contrast to the boy in the orphanage who asks, "What's university?" It is also not revealed that the boy who seems to be the most Tory in his statements, John, the most representative of a certain upper-class posture, lost his father at the age of 9, and was raised by his Hungarian mother, attending public schools on scholarship. Although he has privilege and wealth, his life was not as easy as the films imply.
One of my favorite moments in the 14-year old episode is when Suzy, also from a wealthy background, refusing to look directly at the camera and clearly uncomfortable about the whole deal, responds with a perfect teenager eye-roll to an earnest question by Apted, off camera.
The last of the series that I was able to see was 49 Up. Here's a clip:
The latest film, 56 Up, has already been screened in the UK, and will probably be released shown in the US in Jan 2013. Much has been said about the how this series of films has affected the lives of the participants, and how it continues to fascinate viewers, especially now that "reality TV" is present as a comparison. Apted has said that he regrets that there were not more girls in the bunch, or more middle-class children, but even if the group is not truly representative of their generation in that sense, the series is a fascinating longitudinal study of human beings, as well as compelling cinema.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
POV blog offers a list of 100 documentary films to see
Now I know what to add to my Netflix queue! I copied this list from the PBS program POV's blog. They crowd-sourced a list of documentaries from their viewers. Naturally, some readers left their expressions of outrage in the comments, but also included more titles.
I have seen 33 of them (marked with strike-through) and have heard of most of the others. Some I will probably never see (The Cove, no, I can't). There are at least 2 or 3 that I think I might have seen, but I honestly can't actually remember if I just saw a clip in a class (Shoah, Gimme Shelter) or did see them at the PFA (For the 15 years I lived in Berkeley, I don't think I ever lived more than six blocks from the Pacific Film Archive, where I went instead of watching the TV I did not have: a different double feature almost every night of films new and old, from all over the world).
This list has struck my "completist" nerve, and I will probably look at the titles with a different sense of motivation the next time I am scrolling through my queue, trying to decide what I feel like watching.
I really want to see the Up series.
I have seen 33 of them (marked with strike-through) and have heard of most of the others. Some I will probably never see (The Cove, no, I can't). There are at least 2 or 3 that I think I might have seen, but I honestly can't actually remember if I just saw a clip in a class (Shoah, Gimme Shelter) or did see them at the PFA (For the 15 years I lived in Berkeley, I don't think I ever lived more than six blocks from the Pacific Film Archive, where I went instead of watching the TV I did not have: a different double feature almost every night of films new and old, from all over the world).
This list has struck my "completist" nerve, and I will probably look at the titles with a different sense of motivation the next time I am scrolling through my queue, trying to decide what I feel like watching.
I really want to see the Up series.
The 100 “Greatest” Documentaries
In November 2012, POV asked its viewers, “What do you think are the greatest documentaries of all time?” Viewers were allowed to define “greatest” however they wished, whether that meant the most expertly crafted, influential, illuminating, impactful, form-defining, beloved or simply those that were the most successful at the box office. After 30 days of voting on over 1000 submissions, these 100 came out on top. How many have you seen?
Grey Gardens (1975)Paris is Burning (1990)- Hoop Dreams (1994)
- The Thin Blue Line (1988)
- Bowling for Columbine (2002)
- Harlan County, USA (1976)
The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)Grizzly Man (2005)Roger & Me (1989)Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)Man on Wire (2008)- The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003)
- The Up Series (1964-)
- Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
- Crumb (1994)
- Jesus Camp (2006)
- Food, Inc. (2008)
- King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
- An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
- Salesman (1968)
- Man With a Movie Camera (1929)
- Super Size Me (2004)
- Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
Woodstock (1970)- Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
- American Movie (1999)
Night and Fog (Nuit et brouillard) (1955)- The Civil War (1990)
March of the Penguins (2005)- Titicut Follies (1967)
- Sherman’s March (1986)
Planet Earth (2006)- Eyes on the Prize (1987)
- Religulous (2008)
The Last Waltz (1978)- Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)
Spellbound (2002)- Born into Brothels (2004)
Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001)- Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (1991)
Koyaanisqatsi (1982)- The Cove (2009)
- Nanook of the North (1922)
- The Corporation (2003)
- The Celluloid Closet (1995)
Buena Vista Social Club (1998)- Sicko (2007)
- Waltz with Bashir (2008)
- Gimme Shelter (1970)
Stop Making Sense (1984)- Shoah (1985)
- When We Were Kings (1996)
- Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006)
- Inside Job (2010)
- Hearts and Minds (1974)
Murderball- The Gleaners & I (2000)
- Restrepo (2010)
Bill Cunningham New York (2010)- Sans Soleil (Sunless) (1983)
- Dont Look Back (1967)
- Touching the Void (2003)
- Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone (2010)
- Baraka (1992)
- This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)
Tongues Untied (1989)- Brother’s Keeper (1992)
- High School (1968)
- F for Fake (1973)
- Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)
- Dark Days (2000)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)- Cosmos (1980)
- Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
Helvetica (2007)- Why We Fight (2005)
Winged Migration (2002)The Aristocrats (2005)- Last Train Home (2009)
- The Atomic Cafe (1982)
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)Wordplay (2006)Burden of Dreams (1982)Monterey Pop (1968)- The Battle of Chile (1975-1979)
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2003)- Gasland (2010)
- The Interrupters (2011)
- Catfish (2010)
- The Endless Summer (1966)
Marwencol (2010)- If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (2011)
Triumph of the Will (1934)- King Corn (2007)
Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991)- No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005)
Sweetgrass (2009)- The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
- The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
- Fast, Cheap and Out of Control (1997)
Sunday, December 09, 2012
So glad we bought a snowblower last week!
By the time I took the brand new "snow blower" out for its test run, seven inches of very wet snow had fallen. It is called a "quitanieves" in Spanish or "souffleuse de neige" in French, according to the trilingual manual. I got it on sale last week, fifty dollars less than today.
I was thrilled! It did a great job of shooting the snow over to the side ( your turn a little crank to redirect the spout), and cleared the sidewalks down to the last half inch, but there was so much water in the snow that I had to use a shovel to hack up the stuff that was packed down by pedestrians. Still a workout to haul it around without running over the extension cord (special! for super-cold temps!), but I got the hang of it really fast. It's easy to use, and I don't have to worry about gas. The snow is still falling, and they are predicting 14" total by tomorrow morning's commute. I'll be doing it all again in the morning, but at least I won't be trying to move over a foot of wet snow, which would surely burn out the belt in no time.
A Snow Emergency has been declared, so parking restrictions go into place. In Minneapolis, for those of us without garages, this means the dance of odd/even sides of the street. If you don't move your car correctly during the time frames, you WILL be towed and it will cost a lot of money and take at least half a day to get your car back.
My first snow tow, several years ago now, required a three-hour wait in a line at -11 degrees, so that by the time I got to pay my fine, I had to pee so badly I almost didn't make it home in time. NEVER AGAIN. Even with my butt-ugly Sorel boots that I bought in 1988 when I moved here, a full-length down coat with a hood, a wool hat, muffler and double ragg-wool mittens, I was miserable in that line
Tomorrow, I'll also have to shovel out the garbage and recycling bins aren't so they won't be behind a snow berm in the alley, that will freeze and be there for the rest of the winter.
UPDATED TO ADD: 15" total, and I"m so glad it shoveled the first 7" yesterday. It made today's job so much easier. But there is not getting around the fact that shoveling the snow away from the garbage and recycling bins, without getting it in the alley, is freakin' hard work. It is one good way to meet your neighbors, though.
Someone made this nifty little song to help remember where to move your car and when.
I was thrilled! It did a great job of shooting the snow over to the side ( your turn a little crank to redirect the spout), and cleared the sidewalks down to the last half inch, but there was so much water in the snow that I had to use a shovel to hack up the stuff that was packed down by pedestrians. Still a workout to haul it around without running over the extension cord (special! for super-cold temps!), but I got the hang of it really fast. It's easy to use, and I don't have to worry about gas. The snow is still falling, and they are predicting 14" total by tomorrow morning's commute. I'll be doing it all again in the morning, but at least I won't be trying to move over a foot of wet snow, which would surely burn out the belt in no time.
A Snow Emergency has been declared, so parking restrictions go into place. In Minneapolis, for those of us without garages, this means the dance of odd/even sides of the street. If you don't move your car correctly during the time frames, you WILL be towed and it will cost a lot of money and take at least half a day to get your car back.
My first snow tow, several years ago now, required a three-hour wait in a line at -11 degrees, so that by the time I got to pay my fine, I had to pee so badly I almost didn't make it home in time. NEVER AGAIN. Even with my butt-ugly Sorel boots that I bought in 1988 when I moved here, a full-length down coat with a hood, a wool hat, muffler and double ragg-wool mittens, I was miserable in that line
Tomorrow, I'll also have to shovel out the garbage and recycling bins aren't so they won't be behind a snow berm in the alley, that will freeze and be there for the rest of the winter.
UPDATED TO ADD: 15" total, and I"m so glad it shoveled the first 7" yesterday. It made today's job so much easier. But there is not getting around the fact that shoveling the snow away from the garbage and recycling bins, without getting it in the alley, is freakin' hard work. It is one good way to meet your neighbors, though.
Someone made this nifty little song to help remember where to move your car and when.
Thursday, December 06, 2012
Midweek round-up: political metaphors, animal antidotes, Velvet Underground
Everyone and their brother has embedded this; let me jump on the bandwagon: Montgomery Burns gives his explanation of the "fiscal cliff."
Are you as tired as I am of the misleading metaphor "fiscal cliff"? George Lakoff, UC Berkeley professor of Linguistics and author of many books about metaphor and the embodied mind, tells us how it works, and why it is so hard to get rid of it.
When I am feeling particularly stressed out, I have found that visiting the site ZooBorns always makes me feel better. The videos of this lion mother with her four cubs have been especially lovely.
Wow, Science Friday, the NPR show that I love, has a Spanish-language blog!
Velvet Underground, live in 1969.
Set List:
1. Heroin (0:00)
2. Move Right In (8:26)
3. I’m Set Free (13:12)
4. Run Run Run (17:49)
5. I’m Waiting For The Man (25:39)
6. What Goes On (34:35)
7. I Can’t Stand It (39:05)
8. Candy Says (45:23)
9. Beginning To See The Light (50:10)
10. White Light/White Heat (56:00)
11. Pale Blue Eyes (61:42)
12. Sister Ray (68:10)
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Old school "Reading Rainbow"
Today I learned that this is Chaka Khan singing the theme song to Reading Rainbow. No wonder.
Monday, December 03, 2012
Pixies, "Where is My Mind" and second chances in life
I'm so glad I go to see the Pixies on their most recent tour, when they played the album "Doolittle." They were hugely influential, if not as commercially successful as some other bands, but broke up for a while. I missed knowing about them their first time around, in the late eighties: too busy finishing my PhD and trying to get a job. So, thanks to Rick, who snagged tickets and took me along. Their show was insanely great.
Their generous web site has boatloads of material you can download for free: live concerts, great stuff.
Live, 1988 "Where is My Mind"
loudQUIETloud is a documentary about the band's reunion in 2004. I found it totally engrossing, because it is a portrait of a second act in life, for people who have been through recovery, started new lives, had children, and who still can create that magic when they go out on stage together, even if they are not best friends when they are off stage.
This British Channel 4 documentary "Gouge" interviews many musicians about how hearing Pixies in the late '80s influenced them. Is not David Bowie mesmerizing? He's so intelligent, and so beautiful.
Not enough Kim Deal, though. Gotta fix that:
Their generous web site has boatloads of material you can download for free: live concerts, great stuff.
Live, 1988 "Where is My Mind"
loudQUIETloud is a documentary about the band's reunion in 2004. I found it totally engrossing, because it is a portrait of a second act in life, for people who have been through recovery, started new lives, had children, and who still can create that magic when they go out on stage together, even if they are not best friends when they are off stage.
This British Channel 4 documentary "Gouge" interviews many musicians about how hearing Pixies in the late '80s influenced them. Is not David Bowie mesmerizing? He's so intelligent, and so beautiful.
Not enough Kim Deal, though. Gotta fix that:
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