Silk

There are not that many epic movies made these days. Most movies take place over a very short period of time, this one spans decades.
It is a story of a man who pretty much goes passively through life until he feels driven to take highly questionable action with dire consequences.

And now for something completely different

unless, of course, you live in my world ;)



The lighting on the talking inserts is horrible, all the speakers look SO much better than they appear, but the dancing is fine.

Michael Jackson

My friend Meredith posted this on her Facebook page and I couldn't not post it.

I remember see The Jackson 5 on TV at a friend's house when I was kid and being mesmerized by Michael. Later watching the Motown 25th show with my brothers I was blown away by his performance.

Inspirational Ironing ;-)

Thanks Sewing Divas

I kind of like the bathrobe...

LOL!

From Laurie's blog

34.5 miles per gallon
From Laurie's Blog. Thanks!

Created by The Car Connection

Due out Oct. 3rd

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.

I saw it last night. It was a bit dumb and dorky in the beginning but it soon got us laughing. It was actually quite a funny movie and I recommend it. The main character reminded me of someone, not sure that's a good thing, depends how they turn out I suppose. Anyway good film, go see it or Netflix it.

"I voted for Coolidge..."

That is what my dad always said when we asked him who he had voted for president. Of course my dad was not alive to vote for Coolidge, but that never stopped him.

Right now I am pretty unhappy with the candidates of both major parties, so I too have decided to go back in time and do a little sing along with Graham Nash.
For you younguns ;-) the song refers to the Chicago Democratic national Convention in 1968, but you know it doesn't matter, could be Denver, could be St. Paul.
We had tear gas and riots in St. Paul during the RNC this month, it was nothing compared to Chicago but it is still hard to gets one's mind around it.




Chicago
Graham Nash

So your brother's bound and gagged
And they chained him to a chair,
Won't you please come to Chicago
Just to sing.
In a land that's known as freedom,
How can such a thing be fair?
Won't you please come to Chicago
For the help that we can bring.

We can change the World.
Rearrange the World.
It's dying
to get better.

Politicians sit yourselves down,
There's nothing for you here.
Won't you please come to Chicago
For a ride.
Don't ask Jack to help you
Cause he'll turn the other ear.
Won't you please come to Chicago
Or else join the other side.

We can change / yes we can change the World.
Rearrange / rearrange the World.
It's dying / do you believe in justice?
It's dying / and if you believe in freedom.
It's dying / Let a man live his own life.
It's dying / Rules and regulations who needs them?
Open up the door.

Somehow people must be free,
I hope the day comes soon.
Won't you please come to Chicago,
To show you face.
From the bottom of the ocean
To the mountains of the Moon.
Won't you please come to Chicago
No one else can take your place.

We can change / yes we can change the World.
Rearrange / rearrange the World.
It's dying / If you believe in justice.
It's dying / and if you believe in freedom.
It's dying / Let a man live his own life.
It's dying / Rules and regulations, who needs them?
Open up the door.

I want one of these

Zpen.

That is all...

It was a hip and happening day here in the Twin Cities...

Things I missed:

1) Picnic in my local park with Ron Paul! Jesse Ventura was supposedly there too. There were about 50 people there plus free food too!
If I wasn't so tired from the state fair I would have caught it on my walk, they were less than a minutes walk from my place, oh well. My brother dropped by and took some pictures. They were handing out tickets to Ron Paul's thing tomorrow but my brother didn't get one for me.

2) The peace march on the RNC convention which started out peacefully, a small group of 10,000. However, after the initial march, a riot broke out. So far no one I know was arrested.

3) The last day at the state fair and the final fire works.


Things I did:

1) Had a power outage thanks again to the 22 month old who lives below me who has this thing about flipping switches in the laundry room. Practiced restraint when encountering child, her siblings and mom.

2) Went to barbecue south of the city, over shooting the exit by 10 miles ;-) because I was listening to Al Stewart's new CD. While there watched Gustave related coverage a very large satellite TV.

3) Saw a bit of the Misses McCain and Bush give little speeches, and was amazed to see that their faces above their upper lip had limited mobility when they spoke. I remember someone trying to teach me to smile for photos once where you just smiled from the upper lip down so you don't scrunch up your eyes, and wondered if that is what they were doing.

4) Was shown a pair of Z-coil shoes someone bought at the state fair which looked straight out of Toontown. They offered to let me try them on, but I declined. Supposedly they are really comfortable, but they look dangerous to me. I would probably get them caught on something. Here is the video. They even sell them in Texas and LA!

5) Saw lots of police on all the bridges on the way back, would have taken pictures but they seemed a bit stressed. They had big wagons with lots of room.

6) Spent time making my computer happy again from being turned off suddenly while in the midst of a few programs and downloads. Reset my tv, appliances...

I will post about the fair in a few days.

Hmm roast chicken...

with cranberry sauce!

I almost feel well. It must be feed a fever...

I wonder how long it will last ;-)

Small rant on eco bags...

I am getting overwhelmed with eco bags. Everywhere I go someone gives me one. I hate those weird ones that are a cross between paper and cloth, they do not hold up. They are not water proof, they are ugly and feel gross.

I am also not thrilled with the dirty looks I get from people carrying those bags when I get a paper bag from my local market. I live in fairly liberal neighborhood. Usually I walk to the store but today I am ill. Not the usual, I ate something I am allergic to or food poisoning ill. Today I am running a fever that seems to come in waves and is wiping me out. I am also not sleeping still, again, whatever...

I am not hungry, actually I don't care much about anything. My thoughts processes are a bit off. I even unintentionally insulted Al Stewart, my favorite singer songwriter, last night who graciously thanked me afterwards for my "charity." I also perhaps gave a back handed compliment to Steve Forbert, though he really was cute in this video, really, but I could have said it better. Al didn't deserve it. I am told Steve is a very nice guy and he liked the old youtube I found:-)

Anyway, so I drive to the store. drive! wasted gas! I even took the long back route because the state fair traffic has the usual route all backed up. Our state economy is tanking but the fair is more crowded than it has been in years, go figure... Usually, I have my two Ikea bags in the car, the big blue one and the small one that holds 2 gallons of water. They are cute, easy to fold, strong, lightweight, durable, water proof and you can throw them over your shoulder or hold onto the shorter straps. The Apple store back pack bags are almost as cool. However, I forget to unload them from the library and office depot the other day and put them back in the car. In fact, they are currently sitting over there fully loaded, looking cute which I type this.

At the store, I pick up chicken, cranberries, eggs, bananas and an individual Lindt hazelnut chocolate truffle-just your standard I-feel-horrible-fare when you don't have the energy or cash to get or make anything elaborate. I get to the counter to pay, trying hard not to cough or breathe on anyone. When the clerk asks if want a bag and what kind, I say "paper" and the man behind me holding up his his eco blue bag, that shows hard wear, gives me a dirty look! Of course those bags always look pre-destressed anyway, and as I said they don't wear well in comparsion to canvas and decent stitching.

I definitely reuse brown paper bags. They go to the co-op if they are in good condition. I also use them to sort, or put paper recycling in until they rip. Then I use the remaining paper for patterns or book covers. I used to wrap packages in them like my grandmother, but the post office doesn't like that anymore.

Long before the eco bag craze and really cool Ikea blue bags, I was using canvas bags from trade shows, I always have. I am into bags, I store much of my textile collection in these cool bags from sewing trade shows.

Its not that I am against bringing your own bag! I just don't think it gives people the right to look down on others just because they have an eco bag. I wish places would stop pushing them on me, they are everywhere. Next week, when I am well enough to go to the fair, I am going to count how many of those bags I am offered, I am betting at least 5. Maybe I will refashion the ones I have into something else, though I am not sure what they would be good for? Eco bag purse anyone?

From Ma'am to Miss in under 4 hours

A few weeks ago, I was over at our local art museum because I am working on a blouse and I just had to see a Chinese robe there for some reason. I knew I needed to be there later in the day but I was driving by anyway so I stopped in.

I was wearing sandals, cropped jeans which displayed my henna lotus tattoo around my left ankle quite nicely, a blue sleeveless shirt, my blue sun jacket and my hair up in a twist. After seeing the robe, and visiting my favorite pieces, I wandered over to see where the event was to be set up. A couple cute catering guys came over and explained what was going to be there and as I was leaving they said "see you later, Ma'am." I noticed it mainly because around here its unusually to be called anything, esp. by 20 somethings working in the museum.

So I went home, took a shower, washed my hair, the usual stuff. Put on a blue floral Liberty lawn skirt , a light moss colored silk sweater, my favorite necklace, a lighter pair of sandals and went back to the museum in a few hours. Went to the annual meeting, said "hi" to everyone, and ran into the caterer guys again. This time they called me "miss" and didn't seem to remember speaking to me earlier. I looked around me, I wasn't the youngest person in the room, but many of the people there could have been my parents or grand parents, but that didn't seem to account for it. I wasn't wearing make up in either occasion, nor I wasn't wearing form fitting clothes.

I saw a lot of these two guys because they kept bring me plates of stuff I liked and could eat. I had so much shrimp, polenta, buffalo cheese bacon wrapped figs and I don't know what else, I didn't want dinner or anything until breakfast. They also had this non alcoholic pear cider, which was actually de-alcoholized. Ikea has it, and I really like it. Its so much better than the usual stuff at parties. I was pretty thrilled food and drink wise because for years, decades even, I have been requesting that they have non-alcoholic drinks that are not just club soda or fizzy water and food that is dairy free and gluten free! I wrote the museum a nice note after wards, of course :-)

I started really thinking about the clothes I was wearing and started experimenting. After a couple weeks, I concluded it was the jeans. Most of the women around here who wear jeans like that are my age or older, or at least look older. Younger women around who wear cropped jeans pants wear skin tight pairs. I don't particularly like cropped pants in general but they were what I could find when I needed something, cost about $7 on sale and met the needs that I had at the time. They are great for working in the garden and food coop.

This has begun a general experiment with clothes period. I like experimenting, and I also practice things a lot. The route I walk everyday through my neighborhood is great for experimenting since you run into a a wide variety of people. The past couple weeks I have been testing reactions to t-shirt colors. Now when I walk you can't see more than 12 x 18 inches of the t-shirt since I wear a sun jacket open on top which is blue, kind of like this one only longer parka length and no gathered bottom. I tried the following colored t-shirts, all of which are in my colors and look nice on me, salmon, moss green, various blues, red and a nice brown. Nothing else in the outfit was different. Oh I also wear a hat outside , pretty much always, this hat which I attach various scarves to sometimes, this time I wore it unadorned.

I made no approach to people other than to briefly look at them the same way I always do. I found that if I wore the blue t-shirts, medium to lighter blue, people would say hi to me, other colors they might nod or smile but not the same reaction. Also if I knew them and I was wearing the blue shirts, they would stop and chat, otherwise they didn't. I remember reading years ago that variations on sky blue and light lemon yellow were friendly colors, but I never tested it out before.

I am going to put on the Ma'am pants and go volunteer at the coop now, it will make me appear more stern to the kids, and stop the younger guys hitting on me, except of course the "I like older women" ones, what is it with those guys anyway?


Ha! Cotton Incorporated "The touch the feel of cotton, the fabric of our lives" basically says they are for the mature market!

On a Stick...

Its MN state fair time and once again there is new food to be had!
The fair is referred to as the great Minnesota Get Together, but really its all about food.

My sewing guild/textile/artist friends will ask what I saw at the 4-H, creative activity center and senior center then we will discuss various entries of people we know. However most people, when you say you were at the fair, will ask "what did you eat?"

There are 261 places to buy food at the fair. Most people get mini donuts, a pronto pup, fried cheese curds and Martha's chocolate chip cookies as well as other assorted fast and diner food. I always get the same food: pink cotton candy, strawberry crepes, key lime pie on a stick, $1 mini shrimp cup, pickle on a stick and sometimes apples with caramel sauce or a lemon aid. If my parents are with me I also have corn on the cob. I always taste nitro ice cream and chocolate soy milk. Even if I go to the fair for several days I only get one of each of the above, except I occasionally get 2 cotton candies. I only get it freshly spun and from one particular vendor.
I doubt I will vary from that, but if I do, I will let you know. I have a coupon book this year so its possible, but not probable ;-)

People here like food "on a stick." One of the newest is Big Fat Bacon 1/3 lb slice of bacon fried and caramelized with maple syrup, served on a stick with dipping sauces.

The following is available for purchase this year at the fair "on a stick":

Popcorn, caramel corn, cheese corn, cotton candy, snow cones, gourmet roasted nuts, hand dipped caramel apples on-a-stick with gourmet toppings to include nuts, candies, marshmallows

Batter dipped, deep fried candy bars on-a-stick (Snickers, Milky Way, Three Musketeers, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups)

Shrimp (breaded, grilled, cocktail) on-a-stick

Chocolate covered cheesecake on-a-stick (vanilla, key lime)

Cajun seasoned alligator sausage on-a-stick

Deep fried Spudsters on-a-stick

Batter dipped deep fried fruit in a variety of the following combinations served on-a-stick: grapes, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, strawberry, pineapple, apple, banana, kiwi, peaches, cherries, pears

Oriental lemon chicken on-a-stick

Scones on-a-stick (caramel, chocolate, marshmallow)

Blackened Cajun steak-on-a-stick

Big Fat Bacon 1/3 lb slice of bacon fried and caramelized with maple syrup, served on a stick with dipping sauces

Lamb (burgers, gyros, wraps, leg of lamb (marinated on-a-stick)

Fresh dipped (6", 12", 1/3 lb 12" Dogzilla) corn dog on-a-stick

Grilled shrimp on-a-stick with butter garlic seasonings

Frozen key lime pie dipped in chocolate on-a-stick

Cotton candy on-a-stick, in a bag

Grilled pork chops on-a-stick

Nut rolls made on site (peanut, pecan, cashew) may be dipped in chocolate and served on-a-stick

Fudge puppies (a Belgium waffle on-a-stick dipped in swiss chocolate) topped with choices of (whipped topping, crunch coating, strawberries)

Steak on-a-stick

Caramel apples on-a-stick

Foot long pizza on-a-stick

Grilled pork chop on-a-stick

Jerk pork chop on-a-stick

Whole dill pickle on-a-stick

Ice cream on-a-stick

On-a-stick cookies and biscotti

Walleye on a Stick

Scotch Eggs on-a-stick (hard boiled egg, wrapped in sausage, rolled in bread crumbs and deep fried)

Scotch Meatball on-a-stick

Butterscotch cake (cream filled and dipped in butterscotch) on-a-stick

Cheesecake on-a-stick (regular or fresh) (dipped in chocolate, cherry or butterscotch coatings)

Frozen bananas on-a-stick dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts,

Strawberries on-a-stick dipped in chocolate

Puff Daddy on-a-stick

Thai One On sausage on-a-stick,

Pork chops on-a-stick

Chicken breast on-a-stick

Fried Swiss cheese on-a-stick

Fried jalapeno pepper cheese on-a-stick

Watermelon, frozen grapes on-a-stick

Pineapple, oranges, cherries on-a-stick,

Spaghetti and meatballs on-a-stick

Deep fried smores on-a-stick (marshmallow, chocolate, graham cracker batter)

Tater tot hot dish on-a-stick with cream of mushroom dipping sauce

Pronto Pup on-a-stick (6" flour battered, deep fried hot dog)

Pappa Pup on-a-stick (10" flour battered, deep fried hot dog)

Hot dog wrap (hot dog in a wrap deep fried) on-a-stick,

Bull Bites (blackened tenderloin tips with horseradish sauce), chicken bites, macaroni and cheese on-a-stick

Special Tator tots (hash browns formed with cheddar cheese, bacon, green onion, sour cream) deep fried on-a-stick

Chocolate covered cheesecake on-a-stick

Salmon on-a-stick

Porcupine meatballs on-a-stick (wild rice and ground pork),

Rueben on-a-stick

Green battered corn dogs with green ketchup

Corned beef and cabbage dipped in batter on-a-stick,

Cotton candy on-a-stick, in a bag

Taffy pop on-a-stick

Costco!

Today, bright and early I joined my friend Lisa and her mom for a shopping trip at Costco. It was really fun! I am sure for many of you, a big box store is nothing, but for me its still awe inspiring and amazing. Every time I go I see things I haven't seen before.

As a shopper, Costco has very good prices on a few things that are hard for me to find but not consistently. Sometimes their prices as high or higher than the sales at the local upscale super market. As a marketer, I enjoy how they change item locations and reroute traffic flow. As a walker, its like a big indoor walking adventure complete with obstacle course. During my trip today I walked 1.55 miles!

Since the price of food around here has been jumping quicker and higher than the price of gasoline, and I have been talking with some friends about food budgeting, I decided to put my list in a cute little moleskin notebook someone gave me. I have had it a while and never used it because I prefer these. I carry 1-2 of the them with me most times, one is for experiences and things I want to record for some reason and the other for clothing, textile and/or design related things.

Anyway, on one side of the pages I had my list and recorded the prices next to it as I put them in the cart, on the opposite page I wrote down things I might like later such as a new rechargeable sonicare tooth brush for $99.00 with 2 bases, 3 heads and a quad timer and a big rival crockpot for $35.00. I was disappointed that they didn't have kiwi's, Muir Glen tomatoes, frozen french cut green beans and Ocean Spray cranberry sauce, however today, the tastes today balanced it out!

Usually unless they are sampling fruit with no sauce, plain meat/fish or dark chocolate, everything seems to have wheat, dairy or sweet bell peppers in it. Amazingly, I was able to try THREE things: gluten free breaded chicken pieces, blue corn chips with hummus and goat cheddar. They all tasted very good too, and I almost bought the goat cheddar but I didn't as it wasn't on my list. I spent about $33 on chicken broth, lemon juice, orange juice, wipes and frozen organic broccoli.

Usually a gallon of lemon juice would go a very long way but recently I have had a series of unexpected visitors (ie. friends, their kids, my brothers...) My solution is has evolved to taking them out to the balcony and serve them lemon aid to which they can add fresh cinnamon basil. My balcony is 6 x 12 and fits 4 adults, 2 kids quite comfortably. In the past week or so, it has happened so much I have started keeping sugar syrup in the frig for just such occasions. I made a batch of stew a few days ago, so I have been offering that too. Now I could offer steamed broccoli with a choice of dressings I made the other day, LOL!

Yesterday I attended Macy's Free 2 Days of Music that kicks off the start of Sommerfest at Orchestra Hall. It used to be 24 hrs of music, but this year the schedule stopped at 1am, and started up again at 9am. I went down there at about 3pm, listened to some music and wandered around. I spent about an hour walking around downtown and stopping in stores from a world I no longer live in, and wondered if I wanted to live there again. That would be another posted I guess.

I went back to watch the junior e-pianio competition awards. It's a very interesting competition.
"participants will have the opportunity to perform on Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand pianos. What is unique about these instruments is that they are equipped with state-of-the-art Disklavier Pro recording technology. This system, which was pioneered by Yamaha, is the fusion of the acoustic piano and computer electronics and allows all solo rounds of the competition to be downloaded via MIDI to be enjoyed anywhere in the world. "

The above is true but really doesn't explain it that well. The piano's are kind of like recording player pianos, that record key and peddle pressure, what ever the player does to the paino. Then the judges can play it back on a piano where they are. This explains it better.

During the awards ceremony the contestants sat on the stage and watched as a visual showed them playing a piece in the competition and a piano on stage played it out! These kids were amazingly good players, perhaps better than some of the adult ones I have heard in the past.

The judging was a bit strange, there was 1 fifth place winner, 2 third place ones and 2 first place ones. The first place ones then played a concerto each with the Minnesota Orchestra.

We were planning to listen to some more bands after the Orchestra performance but when we got outside again we found that a storm had come through, knocked down a bunch of tents, damaged the 3 outdoor stages, and it was very wet. They were supposed to be back up for this morning but everything outside last night got cancelled after the storm.

This is a picture by TOMruen on weather underground:

Caption:

View from third Ave bridge in Minneapolis just before the storm front hit. A pretty sky - darkest straight above, and rain in the west was a soft glow with the promise of the returning sun when it passed. (And the end of our 73F dewpoint I hope!)

One of my favorite bits from "Elephant Parts"

written by a Texan no less.

Manatees!

Florida Governor Charlie Crist recently signed SB 1286, which will help fund the manatee rescue and rehabilitation program, University of Florida Marine Mammal Veterinary program, and retention of 66 law enforcement positions for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

This means:

• FWC biologists and oceanaria staff will continue to rescue injured or sick manatees.
  
  
• Manatees will receive treatment and critical care at rehabilitation centers throughout Florida.
  
  
• Government agencies, the University of Florida, and the oceanaria will work to gather and examine findings from injured and sick manatees to help prevent future threats to the manatee population and better protect Florida's aquatic environment.
  
  
• Safety for manatees and boaters alike will be increased.

If any of you would like to join me and other Manatee Activists in thanking the legislators and Governor Crist please click here.

"God willing and the Creek don't rise"*

Of course, its been almost 200 yrs since General Andrew Jackson completely crushed the last uprising so I don't think that is likely.

Around here we have had a lot of rain and the river is rising. I took some pictures of the Mississippi down near the St Anthony Falls last night. Please note perfect sky in pictures.

Back in 1993, I drove from St. Paul, MN through Iowa on my way to Springfield, IL and St. Louis, MO. There was so much water on either sides of the road I could have been pulling a water skier most of the way. The first day I had to take a several hundred mile detour and ended up across the state making an unplanned over night stay with a relative. The next day there was lots of water but I was able to take I-80 straight through. I didn't see anymore flooding until I got to St. Louis where everything around the arch was seriously underwater. I drove back via Chicago and WI.

I couldn't make that trip this week though, not only is Iowa seriously flooded, parts of Wisconsin are too. In the Dells, Lake Delton is just gone! 30 counties in Wisconsin are being declared a state of emergency. I think Iowa has about 90. Its bad all over the midwest, Minnesota is the least hit so far. We have just been getting tornadoes.


Here is some hail damage I saw last week outside the library:
The hail has been very localized, some streets get it and others don't. Every weekend for a while now we have had bad storms, a couple weeks ago I saw a wall cloud start to rotate, someone posted this picture of it on weather underground. I was too busy heading for the basement to take a picture.

Last night, after being down at the river where the sky was looking just fine, on the way home a few blocks from my house it started to rain out of nowhere. The wind started picking up as I was getting dropped off, and suddenly this chair comes flying by as I just make it inside. Lightening starts up, so I turn on the tv. There were warnings about 30 miles west of us, but nothing for us, then the sirens go off, all the sirens!

Where I live I can heard about 4 different sirens, so you can usually tell which way the storm is going based on which you hear. The tv still had nothing, then finally they interrupt programming with a severe thunderstorm warning with high winds. I suspect the wind gusts set the sirens off. I haven't seen any damage so far. My power flickered but stayed on, about 10 miles west of here 56,000 houses lost power. I bet they have trees down there too.

*quote is by Benjamin Hawkins

Smokey and "U"

A friend's new "whatever" sent this and I thought it was so funny, I am posting it.

Ring of Fire

So tonight I saw my first tribute band I think, Boss Grant and the Johnny Cash Revue at a biker bar called Whiskey Junction. My friend's husband got us tickets, it was suppose to start at 9:30, it was more like 10:30.
We were invited to sit down in a reserved area by a nice group from the Cold Spring Brewery.
The president of the company, a big Johnny Cash fan, brought a coach load of folks down from wherever Cold Spring, Mn is to hear the band. He also sang with the band on the Ring of Fire. I did a voice message of it and sent it off to the usual suspects, I don't know how to put audio here though. There were a few very bouncy people dancing, but most people stood or sat and listened. There were men in cowboy boots and women with big hair. The warm up band was all 70's stuff.

It was great fun! I tasted my drink for the year, a hard lemonade mainly because I liked the t-shirts that brewery people were wearing, black with something about liking it cold and hard on them. It tasted like lemons and alcohol. yuck! Last year I tasted Vodka ;-) I guess I get to be belligerent for a while now ;-)
Other than people like Beatlemania, I was unaware of tribute bands until Jack told me about them a few years ago. I think I should hear a few more.

On Memorial Day, I was at another biker bar, Bunker's which was much more crowded, wild, with real stylin' men. It was a very mixed crowd, the Whiskey Junction crowd was all white, middle aged, mainly guys. Bunker's had everything, everyone and packed to the gills! We listened to a set of Dr Mambo's Combo the music there really got you moving, click the link and you can hear them a bit. During the set we saw they did some Prince followed by some Morris Day and the Time stuff which was really nice, including Morris Day/Jerome stylized dancing. More my style of music but really loud and really, really crowded. We went over because one of my girlfriends got stood up again, and I was curious. She danced with a human octopus, and we got to meet "Big Sexy Michael" for whom I did some web work a few months back. We left after one set, as it was long after midnight.

This has nothing to do with anything, just of my two favorite drummers ;-)

On that beat, I am heading to bed, night all!

Public Health release for the day, LOL!

"Health officials warn of disease risk from handling baby chicks and ducklings
Seven Salmonella cases identified from March through May

State health officials have identified seven cases of salmonellosis in recent months that are associated with handling chicks or ducklings, prompting them to remind Minnesotans to wash hands thoroughly after handling baby poultry. Read the entire news release.

For more information, contact:

Doug Schultz
MDH Communications
651-201-4993

Dr. Joni Scheftel
State Public Health Veterinarian
651-201-5107"

#####

They also makes some recommendations such as don't let poultry live inside your home. So all you people out there incubating chicks in your kitchen....

How I see things for free...

I am on some lists, the ones I know of are "the arts committee", a couple ad agencies' opinion maker screening , the landmark theaters film club, and supposedly the Black Film Arts board. Some I know how I got, most I don't. I also get tickets from other groups who got invites, like the MISfits who run CONvergence. I signed up for the landmark theater list and the director of the Black film arts board told me at a function that she was putting me on their list. I also signed up recently with Film Metro in hopes of getting Sex in the City or Indiana Jones tickets but none have been near here, mainly available on the coast and a few in Chicago.
From these lists I get invites to movies, theater, premiers, art openings and concerts. Some include food that I usually can't eat. The Sundance/Grey Goose premier party had great food though! The drinks were supposedly quite good as well.

This is how the movie thing goes. Sometimes I get pretty postcards that are invites with lots of warning. Most of the time I get 1-3 emails from different sources that ask me if I want to go, want to enter a "drawing" to go, or plead with me to go. Each source offers me two tickets and various restrictions-no cell phones, camera pda and/or children.
The real cool ones are dog and pony shows complete with a Q&A with the director and sometimes an actor or two. I think the director of Evening was quite interesting as was Wim Wenders, and I like his clothes too! Most of the time I get a day or two notice that I might be going.

For example, last night I got an invite from two sources for a movie on males using steroids, so possible 4 tickets for weds at some Landmark theater around Mpls. Since I was dealing with an ill sibling who was being impossible not to mention my lack of interest in the angst of adolescents and steroids, I didn't reply . If I had wanted to go, I would have responded to one invite, or two if one was a lottery/drawing. Its really bad form to not show up if its a direct invite, esp if you have rsvp-ed, so once I respond unless something like the bridge falling down happens, I go. So I may or may not have gotten tickets, you usually find out the night before.

Movies are usually on Tue, Weds or Thurs and often at the Lagoon Theater in Uptown at 7pm. Since they often give out more tickets than there are seats, it pays to swing by the theater early. Also to be on the look out for bling. At "the wackling" they gave out fairly nice t-shirts. These screenings are organized (or not) by either an ad agency or some group connected with the film. I saw "death at a funeral" twice the first time it ran smoothly, the second time it was an insane mess, they forgot the list, then they found it but couldn't read it, finally it was a free for all. Normally, these are fairly civilized events, but anything can happen.

Some places I won't go if the screening turns out to be there because of the security. I can't handle being without my cell phone, or being padded down. This usually happens at French films, but sheesh.... Do they really think that a coordinated effort of film goers such as myself will copy a movie from their cell phones. I could maybe get 7 mins and not very good quality. I would think that most bootleggers are doing directly off a film print from the studio or something.

Anyway if any un-usual suspects want to go with me to these things, just let me know. often I just get one extra ticket. Its a quick answer, hurry and wait deal, similar to triage at the ER sometimes, but thats another story.

Spring

Its that strange time of year here in Minnesota. The week between winter and summer when you can sleep with your windows open without freezing or overheating. A time to reacquaint yourself with seasonal allergies and the sounds of your neighborhood at night. Since I am trying a new light/sleep experiment I have been sleeping with a fan in the window which lets some light in. I also have a room Vornado which I use in the summer to move the ac around. Both fans have thermostats so I am used to hearing them changing speeds while I sleep.

This morning I awoke to what I thought were sounds of WWII aircraft, but I dismissed it and took a shower. Was putting my sunscreen on and heard more sounds of low flying old aircraft. Normally this weekend I expect to hear steam engines as they move them north for the summer excursions not low flying old planes. I looked out from my balcony and I swear I saw a B25 go by.

I was still mulling this over and making breakfast when a friend called to asked if I wanted to meet up as they would be in my neighborhood on the way back from the MN Sesquicentennial Weekend flyover of 26 vintage airplanes at the state capital! I might wander down there tomorrow evening to catch the music and fireworks. Of course, we have fireworks almost all summer long here, but that is another blog post...

Before the Rains

Tonight I went to an advance screening of "Before the Rains. "
I had 4 free tickets but none of the usual suspects was free to go, so I went alone. I am kind of glad I did. It is a very beautiful powerful and emotional movie, I sat still for almost of it, there was one scene where I closed my eyes for a bit, but the sound still made an indelible image on my mind.

Its an Ivory Merchant production so I knew it would be incredibly beautiful and well told. There is just nothing like one of their films. Unfortunately, Ismail Merchant died a few years ago while working on the film White Countess and I was worried that was the end, but the company is still involved in making films which is great!

The movie is sent in the amazingly lush Kerala, India during 1937, 10 yrs before the British left. Its about the interactions between an English tea farmer and the local villagers at the beginning of the Indian movement that lead to the partition and India gaining independence from the British.
For me, the movie was about people being caught between beliefs, cultures and change and not understanding the difference one white lie can make.

It opens today in New York and LA.



For you Texans it is a Houston WorldFest Winner!
3 Awards!
Best Picture
Best Cinematography- Santosh Sivan
Best Music- Mark Kilian