Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
THIS is ARIZONA???????
Friday, January 23, 2009
A gloomy day
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Signs of the times
Well the sign shows promise of fun.
But wait! High noon and this is the parking lot.
What's going on? Aha, the rumor is true as this sign on the front of the building points out. (Sorry about the blurriness. Photographer failure)
The word is the restaurant had been for sale for a couple of years but so far no buyers have surfaced so the doors have been locked.
Well, moving into downtown in the heart of the restaurant and bar area, we found another place shuttered.
We heard the same story on this place. Been for sale for a couple of years but no one is interested. Looks like the luck of the shamrocks didn't help.
And finally, here's one that's been closed for quite awhile. Last time around it was called N'awlins. Before that it was Zuma's. And who knows what before that. It's a nice building with a roomy interior and only half a block from the center of town but apparently no one wants it either.
Could be the recession but I don't know. My town has recently opened two new hotels and at least one new restaurant. Maybe "Everybody's Home Town" has lost it's charm.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Only a few more hours
I have some years on me and, like many others, I had never thought I would experience the inauguration of an African-American as president.
Today was Martin Luther King day and tonight my memories have turned back to the middle 1960's. I attended a radio-television news director's convention in Chicago. At one noon luncheon we were addressed first by former president Dwight David Eisenhower. I grew up in a Republican family and, while my father had supported Robert Taft for the Republican nomination in 1952, when Eisenhower won and then won the presidency . . he became a hero and somewhat of a demigod to him. But Ike was not a good public speaker. He read his speech to us and even that was not a stirring address. Later, Martin Luther King spoke. I was sitting in a front row, just a few feet away from the podium. King began in his slow, Southern way of speaking by apologizing because he had forgotten his notes back in his hotel room. And then he delivered a spellbinding speech with no hesitations, no ers and uhs (as Eisenhower's speech had contained), but just an amazing oratorial performance. I have no memory of what he said but I still remember how amazing a public speaker he was.
I have seen the "I have a dream" speech many times over the years and it still sends a chill up my spine. And I have seen the speech King gave the night before he was murdered in Memphis, where he said that he had seen the mountain top, that he may not get there himself but that he knew the mountain top would be reached.
Well, I ramble. Barack Obama is also a great orator though not as chillingly good as King, in my opinion.
But tomorrow, he will become the president of a nation that is facing great challenges and serious problems. Four or eight years may not be enough for him to solve all of the problems.
But he has a huge majority of the population favoring him and backing him. In a country beset by problems and the worst economy probably any of us have experienced, we wish him well.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Omigod!!!!!!!!!!1
Barack Obama is about to be inaugurated as the President of the United States
...and . . . .
the Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl!!!!
What a year.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
3 more days
Me too.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
6 more days . . or 5
Less than a week left of the Bush presidency. As we here in America watch countless interviews with the President and the Vice-President, we ask ourselves . . . WILL IT EVER END?
Here are some of the soon-to-be ex-president's "finer" moments.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Mooney
Popovers
But I'm learning to do simpler recipes. Most recently that has come down to Mark Bitten's column and blog from the New York Times. I also recently discovered that a friend from my bookseller days, J. Godsey, is writing a blog about cooking for one. I found a recipe in her blog for simple popovers. So yesterday I decided to try it. SWMBO has some of those neat silicone muffin tin liners so there was no need to spray the pan. I followed Godsey's instructions carefully but discovered the popovers were crispier than I would have thought they should have been.
SWMBO reminded me that Godsey lives at about sea level in Massachusetts and we are at 5,100 elevation in Arizona. She reminded me that in baking, the elevation can make a difference and adjustments are often required.
So today I tried it again but reduced the oven temperature from 400 degrees to about halfway between that point and 375, and also baked the popovers for only 30 minutes as opposed to 35 in Godsey's recipe.
Voila! They were perfect!
Slice one open, toss in a dab of butter or margarine and a slathering of Trader Joe's Boysenberry jam and it was a little dab of heaven.
(Sorry about the slight blurriness of the second photo. I must have been trembling with hunger and anticipation!)
Friday, January 9, 2009
What the hell is that?
Any one have any idea what it is?
It looks like the fallout from one of those old paper punches on a dusty floor.
Or a mysterious hole into another dimension.
Well, that last one might offer a clue.
Or not.
O.K. Enough teasing.
Here's a more distant look.
Yup. It's the moon over my neighborhood on a crispy cold evening.
But more than that. The Internet(s) tell me it is a Waxing Gibbous moon that is 98% full.
Now there's some information you can use at the bar.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Potpourri
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Prescott restaurant operator Barry Barbe has put down a rumor that he's closing his tapas restaurant El Gato Azul. He says next year he may close it for the winter season because the tiny place with a larger outdoor patio is more of a summer restaurant. But he insists it is successful.
Barbe also operates 129-1/2 An American Jazz Grille and has a new interesting looking lunch menu.
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President-elect Barack Obama tells NBC's John Harwood he's going to try to hang onto his Blackberry, in spite of protests from the Secret Service and Washington lawyers. He also seemed embarassed by questions about his shirtless photos in Hawaii while on his recent vacation.
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Vice-president Dick Cheney told Mark Hollinger of CBS that he's really a warm, lovable sort. He also denies that he called the shots in the White House, saying President George W. Bush always was in charge. I don't know. I just read the Cheney bio Angler and there seems to be too much evidence to the contrary.
Of course there's that old line about politicians: how do you tell when they're lying? If their lips are moving.
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In Cleveland: Blagojevich headed for impeachment.
In Washington: Burris headed for the Senate.
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Addendum:
Granny J has been kind enough to point out, gently, that Cleveland is in Ohio while the Blagojevich impeachment trial is being held in Illinois, where he is the embattled governor (temporarily). Which is to explain why this is being written in the same color as my face. Sorry, Cleveland.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Alone . . but eating well!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
End of the year
As the year draws to a close, here's a look at the bottom of a birdbath in our back yard. Some leaves, a rock, some water, some ice.
And a twisting trunk of a wisteria vine.
These aren't really Christmas lights. Well, they are. But we didn't put them up there for Christmas. They're always up there. And rarely lit.
And I was sure you'd want to see a current picture of old Catalyst so I took this one, with a piece of metal latticework.
Meantime, just inside the rear door, the impatient Jazz awaited my return. She always wants to go out if I go out, although she is never allowed to. So she watches through a window, crying and squalling. Poor Jazz.
HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
The visitor
I don't know whose cat he is but he's a pretty thing. Of course, SWMBO always likes the orange Toms. (Click on the photo to get a better look at his inquiring eyes.)
Friday, December 26, 2008
2008-2009
Now let's take a look at the year behind us.
Big political winners -
Barack Obama (of course)
Sarah Palin (Oh, my god)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy - Doing the right things after a shaky start. Great looking wife.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown - Another guy who didn't look like he'd get through his first year, post-Blair, but has recovered his footing.
Big political losers -
Robert Mugabe - Lost the election but still stayed in power. Says there is no cholera in his failing country.
John McCain - Too many compromises with people he didn't even like. Joe the Plumber? C'mon John!
Bill Clinton - Has lost his political skills, it seems. Can't hold his temper in check or keep his mouth shut.
Rod Blagojevich - The Illinois governor with the weird hairdo and weirder idea of governing. Even in Illinois.
Ted Stevens - Longtime Alaskan power broker gets convicted, then defeated for re-election.
Madelyn Dunham - Missed seeing her grandson elected president of the U.S. by two days.
Other big winners -
The New York Yankees. - I know, they didn't even make the playoffs but next year they've got a brand new stadium and they've spent half a billion dollars on several of the best players in baseball.
Clint Eastwood - Keeps making great movies.
Other big losers -
Wall Street firms, banks, the American taxpayer.
Detroit car companies and their union employees. It's sunset and getting darker.
Heath Ledger - Ooops, mixed too many drugs.
There are probably plenty more but that's it for now. Add your own.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Scandinavian Christmas
To those of you who, like Lucy (see comment below) don't know what lefse is . . . think flour tortilla (if you're familiar with Mexican food) but made with left over mashed or riced potatoes. What you end up with is a circle of thin fried dough on which you spread butter and sugar, roll into a "cigar" and eat it. If you have a sweet tooth, you'll love it. Here are some recipes, history and the like.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Christmas Cookie Rules
Christmas Cookie Rules
1. If you eat a Christmas Cookie, fresh out of the oven, it has no calories because everyone knows that the first cookie is the test and thus is calorie free.
Monday, December 22, 2008
It's the season to get lit
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Holiday horrors
SWMBO and I went down to the Big City this past week for a couple of days. Canceled out of the Chihuly exhibit because of cold weather. We'll get back later for that.
Had some great meals in restaurants. $48 for four martinis and $20 for a glass of wine at The Capitol Grille. But it was worth it. Food was good. Wait a minute. Did I say it was worth it? The menu said they were pouring Smirnoff vodka. I could have bought a bottle of it for 12 bucks! Oh, what the hell. It's once a year or so.
We drove around the Valley. Used to be called the Valley of the Sun. Now you'd have to call it the Big Valley. Something like 5 million people crowded in now. One street near our resort (a free ride thanks to the BRD's time share plan) had a Mercedes dealership next to a Hummer dealership next to a Land Rover dealership next to an Audi dealership next to a BMW dealership next to a Jaguar dealership. I think. It was something like that anyway. Amazing.
Couple of days later we drove around the perimeter of Metrocenter, which was the first big shopping center in the Phoenix area, back in the 70's. Now we found empty stores that used to house Trader Joe's, Best Buy, Circuit City, Bennigan's and more. Signs of the recessionary times. A friend who lives in the Valley told us later it was partly that and partly a changing neighborhood: now people are avoiding it because of the fear of drive-by shootings.
Quite a contrast.
But the oysters, blackened catfish and gumbo were still fantastic at the nearby Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen.
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Watched our Arizona Cardinals in the snow in New England today. They lost 47 to 7. I called a friend after the game and exclaimed "They scored!" The team made the playoffs for the first time in god knows how many decades. Now they've decided to lose the rest of their games, I guess.
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I look at the obituaries in the Sunday New York Times each week and I figure maybe . . . just maybe . . . I might have ten years left. Or ten months. Or ten minutes.
Eat and drink heartily, my friends, and best of the holiday wishes to you.
(Bah, humbug!)
Monday, December 15, 2008
The White House
Friday, December 12, 2008
Blue Friday
We'll be staying at a time-share resort courtesy of the BRD. Always nice to have one of those R ones in the family, especially when they share.
I expect that will be about the extent of our holiday celebrating this year. We've put up no lights, hardly any decorations, sent no cards. You get to the age where it's just more work than it's worth. Of course we do have a friend who is 76 and can't wait to decorate her house and a tree in her yard and to play Christmas music on her stereo non-stop for over a month and to shop, shop, shop. However, she said the recession means there will only be "stocking gifts" this year, nothing under the tree. But then she reports how she put gussets in the Christmas stockings a year or two ago so they'd hold more! And while she lives alone she has several children, numerous grandchildren, cousins, and friends of the family who all seem to get in on the "racket". She also said she had cut way back on her cards this year, too, only sending out 57 (at last count.)
Well some people still get excited about Christmas. SWMBO and I just can't wait to get it over with.
It's looking like the recession is going to put a serious crimp into the hopes of retailers in the U.S. this year. Every day there is word of more layoffs, store closings and the like. Brings to mind that song Elvis recorded some decades back although this year it probably should be called Black Christmas.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Another blogger
Joan, from Walk this Way led me to this one. Check out Old Horsetail Snake for some good humor.
Or for those of you in the U.K., humour.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Definitions
Quotations from Mr. Bill
Nature sides with the hidden flaw.
You cannot successfully determine beforehand which side of the bread to butter.
If you drop your toast it always falls with the jam side down.
If it doesn't, you put your jam on the wrong side.
The chance of the bread falling with the buttered side down
is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet.
Mr. Bill's Law of Selective Gravity
An object will fall so as to do the most damage.
Mr. Bill's Laws of Selective Physics
It is a mistake to allow any mechanical object to realize you are in a hurry.
If it jams ‑ force it. If you can't force it, get a larger hammer.
If it breaks, it needed replacing anyway.
When all else fails, read the instructions.
Whenever you are looking for a standard screwdriver; You will find a phillips
Whenever you are looking for a phillips screwdriver; You will find a standard.
Mr. Bill's Laws of Infernal Dynamics
An object in motion will be headed in the wrong direction.
An object at rest will be in the wrong place.
A wire cut to length will be too short.
It works better if you plug it in.
If a project is not worth doing at all, it's not worth doing well.
The solution to a problem changes the problem.
When working towards the solution of a problem,
it always helps if you know the answer.
Inside every small problem is a large problem struggling to get out.
The trouble with resisting temptation is it may never come again.
Life is what happens to you while you're making other plans.
Washing your car to make it rain doesn't work.
A taxpayer is someone who doesn't have to take a civil service exam
to work for the government.
All things being equal, a fat person uses more soap than a thin person.
Infinity is one lawyer waiting for another.
Murphy was an optimist.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Update
Of course, this nearby "sculpture", which stands at the entrance to the grounds of the town's public buildings might leave one scratching one's head, too.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thanksgiving photos
Now, she (at her choice) is rarely photographed but the lady on the left, in command position, is SWMBO. Next to her is the BRD and her beau. (He always knows where the camera is!)