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Family on the Cheese Road (continued)

,and Adventures in Chicago

Having traversed Québec, Ontario, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Ohio again; and visited sister, aunt, in-laws, grandparents, we embarked on our final driving leg back to Chicago.

We had four days in Chicago where Eric attended the American Cheese Society conference and I had a chance to unpack, chill out and enjoy the great city as a tourist.

Indiana

Wednesday was perfect for driving, temps in the seventies and partly cloudy. We retraced our miles back through Columbus and on into Indiana. Eric had the cruise control set on 70, as usual, and we were purring along with the light traffic. The traffic slowed, as often happens on Interstate highways for no apparent reason. We passed a sign that said, “Up to $1000 fine for speeding. Speed Limit 65.” Then traffic speeded up again, as did we. We were at the back of the pack. Continue reading “Family on the Cheese Road (continued)” →

Vancouver Objects

Vancouver wasn”t all about food. Other interesting things, unique to that city presented themselves.

A Cool Bicycle Rack in Victoria

A Tank and Cannon guard the Armory

Let the walkin” man walk.

The walking man is ubiquitous; we don”t even notice him. But in Vancouver, the walking man took new forms. Continue reading “Vancouver Objects” →

Lay Pool-Ay Ay R-E-Vay

chicks setup

It’s that time of the year again, folks: I got the early morning phone call from the Post Office announcing that the chicks that we had ordered had arrived and were ready for pick-up.

This year there were a few remarkable aspects. First, when I called to place my order, there was a striking lack of chickens left to order — apparently there is a surging demand for chicks, egg birds and meat birds. I I was interested in getting a few egg layers, but there were only a few varieties left. I ended up getting a rare type that lays chocolate brown eggs (“Cuckoo Maran”), which will complement our regular brown, white, and blue/green egg layers. We also got the last batch of the “Barbecue Special” meat birds in June.
Continue reading “Lay Pool-Ay Ay R-E-Vay” →

The Know Nothing Club

Salmon Pens

Following is a copy of a Letter I sent to the NY Times regarding an idiotic Op-Ed they published last Monday by someone pretending to be an expert on sustainable food sources, but who really wants to blame fish farming for all the evils in the world. [Hyperbole intended.] It’s so frustrating to hear people who know little of what they would criticize repeat exaggerated platitudes to support their arguement. It’s even more frustrating when those people purport to be speaking up for ideas I care a great deal about. It’s lazy, and it ultimately reflects badly on the cause.

In any case, hear my righteous wrath:

To the Editor:

Regarding “Sardines With Your Bagel” by Taras Grescoe (published 9 June 2008 as an Op-Ed) — Mr. Grescoe addresses an important question — human impact on wild fish species, specifically the Pacific salmon so prized for their culinary qualities — but quickly digresses into an ill-informed and misleading attack on farmed salmon that shows little knowledge of agriculture or basic aquaculture. Surely Mr. Grescoe knows that commercially raised salmon are not the only conventionally raised livestock treated with pesticides — conventionally raised chickens are routinely fed them to reduce the viability of fly larvae in their manure…not to mention that worming medicines fed to all non-organically raised ungulate livestock are insecticides. He should point out that farmed salmon, like ALL farmed meats, may contain residues of the pesticides used to treat various maladies (organic meats included — though the pesticides allowed for use on organic livestock are limited to known list of active ingredients). However, I also challenge his implication that these chemicals (which are very expensive) are widely and regularly used on commercial salmon. If they were, farmed salmon might be as expensive as the Copper River Chinook!.

Continue reading “The Know Nothing Club” →

Omar 2584

Our friend Dianna came up with her “Dianna seats” (Row F behind the Giants Dugout) on a special night for the Giants. I know, I know, Carol and I are the only Giants fans amongst us, but this was a special night celebrating Omar Vizquel’s record of the most games ever played at shortstop. He plays with a flourish and a happiness that transcends baseball and sends him into the realm of dance. It is a glorious thing to behold, even in a year when the Giants are irrelevant.

Continue reading “Omar 2584” →

Remembering Margie

Margie Hale

Wife of Carol’s brother Alan

Ohio Farm by Margie Hale

Marjorie Case Hale, 67, of Lancaster, Ohio passed away
Saturday, May 24, 2008, at her home, Hale Hollow.

Big Al for VP!

big al
Here’s ten reasons why Al Gore should be Obama’s choice for VP in ’08:
1. He doesn’t crave being prez and doesn’t have a prez-or-bust ego — in other words, if he’s called, he will answer;
2. As veep, he could pick a couple pet projects and focus on them, a position that he would surely enjoy;
3. He would provide solid White House experience;
4. He would mootify the “what if Barack gets shot” “argument” that Hillary so tactfully raised this past week;
5. He is about the only major politician who can match Obama’s anti-Iraq-invasion-from-Day-1 credibility;
6. Seriously, who’s a better choice?
7. If Bush Jr.-Cheney has taught us anything, it’s that VP doesn’t only have to mean “the guy who goes to state funerals” anymore (Cheney proved it by blowing off Gerald Ford’s funeral) — it’s two presidents for the price of one, but this time in a good way;
8. People around the world have been talking about how an Obama presidency would immediately improve America’s global image (indeed, I have heard this personally from people of many different nationalities) — add Big Al to the mix and we’re talking international America-love-in;
9. Dig, if you will, a picture of a future presidential challenge that Jr. & Cheney don’t have the wherewithal to handle — e.g. getting us out of Iraq gracefully, actually trying to capture bin Laden, or dealing with a resurgent China or Russia. Now imagine two guys as intelligent and thoughtful as Obama and Gore huddling in the Oval Office to come up with a solution. Not only is it the best possible solution but Obama gives the speech laying it out. Does it get any better than that? They could sell tickets to this kind of thing;
10. Obama-Gore would be a slam dunk in November — big states like CA, PA, FL, would go from on-the-table to in-the-bag.

So, Barack, if you’re reading this (and we know you’re a regular), pick up the fone. It says here that if we aren’t treated to an Obama-Gore ticket, it will be because Barack didn’t ask — not because Al turned him down.

Either way, you heard it here first.

Zavet

Click on thumbnail for full-size photo

It’s safe to say I’ve never seen a film that had so much bestiality — in a funny way, of course, as Zavet (which means “The Promise” in Serbo-Croatian) is more screwball comedy than anything else. It’s also a statement by the former Yugoslavia’s most prominent film maker (Emir Kusturica, who is quite popular in France) about globalization, the westernization of Eastern Europe, and a country boy’s coming-of-age journey to the big city. But as I said, it’s a screwball comedy first and foremost and features, among other things, an endless array of trap doors and pulleys, a local government official persistently wooing a buxom villager in a succession of funky old cars, and a man shot out of a cannon who never lands.

Of course, of all these things, you can prolly guess that the story revolves around the country boy’s coming-of-age. Briefly, the story sets up thusly: Young Tsane lives in the Balkan countryside with his eccentric grandfather and a handful of other village characters. Their buxom neighbor is the schoolmarm in the one-room schoolhouse, in which Tsane is the only student. One day Grandpa decides that it’s time for Tsane to come of age, so he gives him the family cow and instructs him to cross the hills to the nearest city and sell it. Tsane is also instructed use the proceeds to collect a souvenir, an icon, and a wife to bring back to the village. Once he gets to the city, the object of his affection quickly becomes the babe-a-licious Jasna (Marija Petronijevic) but luckily for us the two of them must first endure a surreal odyssey — including small-time gangsters, an old-timey whorehouse, non-stop gunplay, a bumpy ride in the trunk of an old Lada, a pair of bald, boisterous twins (one 6’6″, the other 4’5″) who dress alike and share a passion for imploding buildings, and yes, plenty of bestiality — before they can get back to the village and up to the altar. One emerges from the theatre baffled, light-headed, and laughing out loud.

SFIFF51, My take… Part 3

Part 3

The 51st San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF51) has just concluded. Unlike the previous two years, this year I didn”t work at the Festival, so I had no insider information to use in selecting films (nor did I have free tickets). You can see my chronicles of the 49th and 50th in the archives of this site.

For SFIFF51, I relied on the Program Guide for my selections, as well as chatting up members of the SFFS staff at the Members Night previews. The Program Guide has descriptions of each film, along with one picture. They are not reviews, but promotional descriptions meant to entice ticket buyers to buy tickets.

Here, I include the Program Guide entries for the films I saw, and append a paragraph called My Take — for my reaction to the film. I”ve rated the films, as well, from * to **** with ~ being a half star. I”ve noted the films that have distribution. Some will gain distribution due to their exposure here, some may never be seen again.

The films are presented in the order I saw them, April 25 through May 8, 2008.

UP THE YANGTZE
Canada

On a cruise ship gliding up the Yangtze River, European and North American tourists get a relaxing firsthand view of changing China. The perspective is markedly different, however, for two Chinese teenagers working on the boat. Chen Bo (assigned the gringo-friendly name Jerry) is a good-looking, supremely self-confident urban dude with a quick appreciation for the newly introduced practice of tipping. Downstairs in the galley, meanwhile, the shy country girl Yu Shui (aka Cindy) grapples with the demeaning drudgery of dirty dishes. Yu Shui would much rather be in school, but it’s not in the cards. Continue reading “SFIFF51, My take… Part 3” →

SFIFF51, My take… Part 2

Part 2

The films are presented in the order I saw them, April 25 through May 8, 2008.

I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND
Czech Republic, Sony Pictures

I Served the King of England marks the return of director JirÃ Menzel, master filmmaker of the Czech New Wave. The story, told in flashbacks, concerns the rise and fall of an amorous and opportunistic apprentice waiter. Jan DÃte is a little man with a big appetite for discreet sexual encounters and worldly success. His coming of age at various grand hotels exposes him to the lifestyles of the upper crust, the crÃ¨me de la crÃ¨me of 1930s Czech society, and a taste of their self-indulgent and carefree extravagance fuels his ambition. Soon he lands a job at a prestigious luxury hotel, where a chance encounter with a Sudeten German activist leads to a newly varnished Aryan identity. As the hotel changes hands from private ownership to the grip of the German SS, he finds himself in one of the Lebensborn breeding resorts designed to spawn the Aryan master race. It appears he finally has it made, but with the Germans occupying Czechoslovakia he is unfortunately on the wrong side of history. Luscious to look at, this finely crafted film is based on the picaresque novel of Bohumil Hrabal (1914—1997), a frequent Menzel collaborator who inspired a generation with his lyrical yet unsentimental view of 20th century life.
â€”Janis Plotkin Continue reading “SFIFF51, My take… Part 2” →

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