Spring means many things at the Rector household in Monroe, Maine: a drizzly day that turns into a couple of inches of wet squeaky snow that piles perfectly on every surface before the sun comes out, seedlings in the window (truly a garden in a box), but best of all a ripe prosciutto.
Continue reading “Spring Things”
YO…lookin’ for two!
It was incredible: the stuff urban legends are made of. The game? Nope. Most of the play on the court was just plain wrong. No, I am talking about the process to GET INTO the game.
So, it was like this: Wendell (did I tell you that I convinced Wendell to drive down to join me?) and I had been cruising all around the perimeter of the Georgia Dome, subtly seeking a ticket seller with a good heart. The hype surrounding the game was emotional: FLA fans wanted to see their beloved Gators win the back-2-back; and OSU fans are just plain fanatical anyway (despite their typically disappointing displays in championships). Buyers far outstripped sellers, and the sellers available were asking outrageous money ($200+) for horrible seats. Not a formula for on-the-fly success.
Continue reading “YO…lookin’ for two!”
Unk T seen w/Public Enemy
UNK T was IN DA HOUSE last nite (Sunday 3-25) @ a local club to see Public Enemy. Rolling Stone included PE on their list of The Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. A seminal hip hop group for over 20 years, “their politically charged lyrics” take an “activist interest” in the concerns and needs of the African American community. They are known for “their aggressive artistic expression and behavior”, whose rhymes deplore violence, chauvinism, crime and reverse racist hate”. Even though D preaches about DA MAN enslaving the blacks, nobody apparently blamed me personally.
Public Enemy’s most “mainstream” exposure has been from writing for Spike Lee films such as “Do the Right Thing”, “He Got Game”, and “Malcolm X”. Chuck D, FlavorFlav (yep,the one an only), Professor Griff, and Terminator X took over the small venue’s stage about 11:30PM, after a series of SEVEN other acts has literally worn me down with their crotch-grabbing, baggy sweat clothes, heavy bling, mumbling into the microphone. (A highlight was the group AGO: all girl orchestra. who turned out to be hot female rappers. As Borat would say: “Aza nice!”). I really love hip hop, but in live shows, over-produced acts really stick out in their poor stagecraft, choreography, and screaming incomprehensible rhymes.
Continue reading “Unk T seen w/Public Enemy”
Letter From Languedoc
This morning Chirac finally (and tepidly) endorsed Sarkozy as his choice for prez. Much was made of the wait and basically it was about as climactic as Clinton endorsing Gore in 2000 (or Bush Jr. endorsing whatever fascist gets the nomination next year). There was a big thing on the noon interview show that the lab lunch crowd watches (of which I join about 3 days a week) about the impending (5 weeks!) first-round of the election. The main reason is that last time (’02) Le Pen came out of nowhere to make the top two (who advance to the second and final round).
This time the left learned their lesson and anointed Ségolène Royal and are more or less standing behind her (last time, the left was much more split than usual, which contributed to Le Pen sneaking into the 2nd round with 17%). The right is more or less united behind Sarko.
[also for reference: No Sex, Please, We’re French, an NYT op-ed by Stephen Clark printed 23 March]
Continue reading “Letter From Languedoc”
Tourney Time
It’s impossible to resist filling out a bracket for the Enceedubelay Mensmarchmadness event, and the big web sites have caught on and are offering their own ways to do it on-line. (I also couldn’t resist using the kih-kass graphic I put together last year at this time…)
It would be nice if all the Rectors who were similarly inclined would use the same tool so we can easily compare and contrast. I look at the NYTimes every day, so I’d prefer to use theirs — the NYTimes site always seems to load very quickly on my cussed dial-up line, while the SI, ESPN and CBS sports sites take FOREVER to load, probably because of the million little ads they sprinkle around. I have gone ahead and picked my bracket on the NYT site, and also created a “group” called HilltopGang (see below for group code) if you should decide to join me there. (Their bracket page is actually VERY cool because you just click and drag your picks, and you don’t have to wait for the page to update each time because they’re using Shockwave in a very clever way…sorry, but this geek is impressed.)
NYT Bracket Group Code: 99369b0cecCJtW9063K1BdQ2FcdeAJnUoQ51
The Duke men, alas, will probably not go far this year (they look pretty slow, though the ladies are going to be #1 seed on their bracket), but there are seven ACC entries, and I’m going to root for them all, except for UNC.
Meanwhile, the Buckeye mens BeeBall team better play as a better favorite than their EffBall brethren, and the only way they can exact some revenge on the Gator team would be in the final game. I know that Celtic fans will be watching young (but elder-looking!) Mr. Oden while he’s still in the mix.
Good luck gentlemen — may the upsets be “obvious” and your biases not blind you.
OIL’SWELL
I just found my OIL”SWELL folder.
Here’s a simulation of the hand drawn announcement (I don”t have a scanner):
8:30am Friday in Maine
Another snow storm has come through our neighborhood, and there’s nothing like enjoying it in front of the fireplace with a hot cup of tea.
Continue reading “8:30am Friday in Maine”
Pictures From The Past
Cinda Gavagan sent this recently:
Rector and Breiding group picture from 1964
“Cleaning up my desk this weekend and ran across these pictures. Enjoy!!!
Happy Valentine’s Day
Sarah had been wanting us to try this little restaurant, Cajun Pacific, out in the outer Sunset, it’s right around the corner from her house. They”re only open on weekends and special days, so when we heard about their Valentine’s Day dinner, we signed up.
We entered a bustling square room and were immediately greeted by the hostess, “Marcus?” she said, and seated us at a corner table by the bar. The kitchen is at the back of the room and a bar divides the open kitchen from the dining room. There are stools at the bar, but only two are accessible. The dining room is crowded with seven occupied tables, about 20 people. Continue reading “Happy Valentine’s Day”
Big Snow Storm
It’s likely that you have heard about the big snow storm that just walloped the Mid-west and then the East coast; meteorologists called it “explosive” because the low pressure was able to draw on big hanks of moisture off the Gulf and Atlantic as it spun across the country. It has been very very cold in Maine for the past few weeks (regularly averaging below 10 °F), but we’ve had little snow — just enough to keep your steps squeaking as you cross fields, go into the woods, or finally be able to venture out onto the frozen skins of our lakes and ponds.
Continue reading “Big Snow Storm”
RectorSite 