HALLOWEEN IS COMING

Yesterday, SWMBO and I met our friend Diane for lunch at the Asylum Restaurant in the Jerome Grand Hotel in Jerome, Arizona.  There is a mixed history about the old hotel.  Some say it was a hospital, some say it was an insane asylum.  The restaurant owner prefers the latter history and, as Halloween nears, the restaurant and grounds have been lavishly decorated by the staff.  One of them told me the whole staff pitched in and did it all in four hours.



The ghostly and ghastly patrons of the restaurant seem to grow scarier as the shadows creep over the building.  Our final lady of the night may have been caught in mid-scream as she got the first look at her check for the night.  Or not.

Lunch, as usual, was delicious.

CARNIVAL SET-UP

As I noted yesterday, the County Fair is about to begin (tomorrow).  And a carnival was busy setting up rides and food carts yesterday.

The Fire Ball, guaranteed to produce screams.

Maybe a little milder, the Berry Go Round.

The Tornado.  Looks nausea causing.

Pharaoh's Fury.

The Gravitron.

And one (not a ride) I posted just for my pal Dana (The Bug).

If you're going to indulge, you'd probably not want to partake of a funnel cake before challenging the rides!

LINING UP FOR THE COUNTY FAIR

"Constant Readers" of this blog will remember that I have on occasion posted photos of a side of beef on the hoof.  But I think this is the first time I've shown you such a herd.



As you can see, their pasture lies right in the middle of the town limits.

But I think I know why there were so many so close today.

The County Fair is getting ready to open later this week!

I'll have some photos of the big carnival setting up tomorrow.  In the meantime here's one more photo from Cattle Country.



"Are you talkin' to me?"

DEALERSHIP MASCOT

Anybody have an idea which car dealership this is?



Give up? 

It's Lamb Nissan in Prescott, Arizona.

OLD BONES



These are the supporting limbs of a very healthy honeysuckle vine.

You wouldn't think the plant is even alive but it is.

(Note:  The second picture has been digitally treated to show the intensity of the green vine.)

THINGS I WOULDN'T HAVE KNOWN WITHOUT THE INTERNET

The sheer brilliance of cartoonist Dan Piraro.



The great good humor of the commercials produced for Paso Robles wines.



That I really like Leonard Cohen's poetic songs but I wish Rufus Wainwright would always sing them.  I just think Cohen's drab voice turns a lot of people away from him.  Though on this song, when he goes down for the real low notes, his purity comes through.



Yes, there is a lot of crap out there but there are some good discoveries, too.

ONE BIG GRASSHOPPER

As I stepped out my back door this afternoon, I spotted this invader clinging to a vertical wall.

The stucco seemed to support his sticky feet well and he allowed me to come in quite close.

The grasshopper seems like a prehistoric creature with his armor and barbs.  I contemplated him for awhile as he returned the favor.

Although he was huge for his species - about two inches tip to tip - my size dwarfed him and possibly made him nervous as I snapped photos only an inch or so from his face.  When he began to move his legs, adjusting his position, probably preparing to leap, I backed off and left him alone.  As I write these words, he is most likely devouring one of our plants.

PATRIOTIC PETUNIAS

SWMBO said "You ought to take a picture of the petunias out front.  They're red, white and blue."  She added that some days they pout and other days they bloom like crazy.  "Maybe a little water helps them," she added.

Well, yeahhhh.



RAW TALENT

This is a truly amazing display of talent.  In this video, a young girl walks up to a Karaoke machine in a store and proceeds to blow the doors down.  Check it out.

According to an Australian newspaper, the Herald Sun, the singer is a 21 year old girl from the Philippines named Zendee Rose Tenerefe. The newspaper now says she has landed a guest spot on the Ellen DeGeneres television show, thanks to this performance in a Manila shopping mall.

LOBSTER!!!

We don't often have them.  Actually I don't think it's more than once a year.  But apparently there is a huge oversupply this year.  So a local store had 5 ounce lobster tails on sale for $5.00.  SWMBO went to the store and bought four of them the other day.

Today she grilled them.  Grilling lobster is a first for her.  They were absolutely fantastic.



They were accompanied by grilled corn on the cob and a grilled mashed potato dish with sour cream, bacon and chives.  The lobster tails were swabbed with a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, white pepper, salt, paprika and garlic powder.

I was only the bartender.  Here is my picture after this wonderful meal.



It appears to be a death picture.  It is not.  But if I am to die, let it be after a meal like tonight's.

GROWTH AND MORE GROWTH

We had to make a trip to Phoenix today.  It was good to see the old city though it's growing, growing, growing.

Speaking of growing, back at home the vinca is growing like . . . . vinca.



SUNFLOWERS



With our over-active monsoon season this summer, the sunflower weeds are abundant, lining the roads everywhere.  The surrounding land seems greener than I can remember.

Of course, I'm older now and my memory isn't what it used to be!

BAKING DAY

Friday was baking day at my house.  First, I (and the bread machine) made a loaf of whole wheat bread studded with Craisins (dried cranberry raisins). 

I've been experimenting with my last couple of loaves, trying to solve the problem of the top collapsing.  We're at about 5,100 feet elevation so my cookbooks gave me the idea I'd have to adjust the ingredients for high elevation baking.  The first loaf I reduced the yeast and it helped but it still wasn't right.  With this loaf I added more water in addition to the reduced yeast.  I think that pretty much made the difference.

The top is still a bit misshapen but it generally stayed high and the bread is not as dense as before.  My chief taster said she liked it a lot better.

While the bread was baking, I whipped up a batch of shortbread cookies.

They're so light in color they don't look done to me but they are.  Also, because they're so "short" (i.e., pastry with a high percentage of fat) they crumble practically at a touch.  I had difficulty with a few that I tried dipping in chocolate.

As you can see, they're not pretty enough to offer to company but they were only made for home consumption anyway.  And again, I thought they tasted good.  And my official taster (who loves shortbread cookies much more than I do) gave her stamp of approval.

A moderately successful day.

(The cookie recipe . . along with many variations . . is courtesy of Mark Bittman and last Sunday's New York Times magazine.)

TUT TUT



ST. FRANK IS PEEKING

Warning!  It's not Saint Francis.  It's Saint Frank!

Others have made this error.

Saint Frank is watching.

And thinking.

Beware Saint Frank.

BAD MITT



A HEALING FIELD OF FLAGS

Yesterday on the 11th anniversary of the September 11th disaster in New York City and Washington, D.C., and a field in Pennsylvania, a grassy area between the Prescott Valley Town Hall and the Police Department was transformed by one thousand U.S. flags.



The flags were posted to remember the people who lost their lives in America's great tragedies on September 11th, 2001.

There are tags attached to each flagpole with the names of victims of that terrible day.  I found the tag identifying a young woman from my home town.  She was the daughter of one of my schoolmates from long ago.  She was at work that day in one of the World Trade Center buildings.

It is a fitting tribute to those who lost their lives on that black day in history.



THE EYES HAVE IT



SAINT FRANK IN PARTIAL HIDING



IS IT ART?

It is said that one man's junk is another man's treasure.  But would you really want these "artworks" posing in your front yard?



The central figure appears to be some type of man clutching a rather large snake.

Next to him, staring at the confrontation, is a vicious-looking dog.

The white figure to the left seems to be an adult holding a younger person back protectively from . . . what?

It's not my kind of art but I'm sure it's a topic of conversation in the neighborhood.  Who knows?



RED RED ROSE



EVENS AND ODDS

I love our Mimosa tree.

I hate our Mimosa tree.

It's feathery foliage is beautiful, Oriental, soft.

But then it sheds and my driveway and sidewalk is full of this crap that I have to sweep up.

Yin and yang.

HAPPY LABOR DAY

One for the working man and woman.



JOHN AND IRIS

This post was prompted by one at Vinyl Stats written by an old pal, Frank.  He recently saw John Prine and Emmy Lou Harris in a concert and mentioned a song that the two dueted on.  I first heard it with Prine and Iris DeMent and since I'm a big fan of hers, that's the version I'll play here.



As I said I've long been a fan of Ms. DeMent with her unique voice.  I once emailed the producer of Austin City Limits saying I thought a show that paired her with Jimmie Dale Gilmore would be fun to see.  He agreed and thanked me for the suggestion but I don't know if they ever did it.

COMIDA

For non-Spanish speaking readers of this blog, "comida" is a main meal eaten in the afternoon.  That's what we had today at a restaurant I won't name for reasons you'll understand in time.

We shared a delicious salad.



We preceded that with a healthy martini for SWMBO and a healthy gin and tonic for me.

Then I had glazed pork belly with mashed sweet potatoes.



My companion said she didn't want to taste them but she did take a tiny bite.  She said they were fatty and greasy.

She zeroed in on a plate of fried oysters, remembering the ones we used to have at the beach in Mexico.  But, she said, unlike those and unlike the description on the menu that said they were crispy . . these were soft and greasy.  Hmmm, seems like greasy was a main complaint with her. 

At any rate she was disappointed and told the waiter.  So it goes in the world of dining out.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

By the way, comida is Spanish but the restaurant we were at was French.