revolutionary assoc. of the women of afghanistan photo archive. warning - graphic and disturbing.
The San Jose Mercury (aka Murky News) printed three letters to the editor which questioned the Bush administration's bombing of Afghanistan. Wierd. Is this a sign that it's safe to be rational in America?
I'm hitting the road to see the Butthole Surfers tonight. Blue moon, Holloween, the Butthole Surfers, Knitting Factory LA -- seems like some kind of harmonic convergence.
Steve, if you want to reach me, my cell is the best choice. 408 892 0826
I'm hitting the road to see the Butthole Surfers tonight. Blue moon, Holloween, the Butthole Surfers, Knitting Factory LA -- seems like some kind of harmonic convergence.
Steve, if you want to reach me, my cell is the best choice. 408 892 0826
For the first time in 46 years, Halloween ghosts and goblins can trick-or-treat by the light of a full moon. They won't get another chance until 2020, astronomers said.
Wednesday's full moon will look like an orange jack-o-lantern rising from the east at dusk, said Jack Horkheimer, executive director of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium.
(from LKB)
Wednesday's full moon will look like an orange jack-o-lantern rising from the east at dusk, said Jack Horkheimer, executive director of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium.
(from LKB)
So, is this like the "credible threat" against airforce one, or is this the other kind? Why can't they just say what it is? I guess because it's something like "Mossad says so."
Anyway, I'm moving the /treehouse to highest alert. So you know what to do. Or not.
And what's up with this? Mushroom clouds north of Kabul? Not good. I've been saying it privately but I'll go on the record here - we are going to drop some nuclear weapons on someone, real soon. Here's the formula:
"Experts" and various other talking head types - including many politicians - sense a chance to gain some points in the American public's mind by hitting Bush for being too timid. McCain, to take one example, is strongly calling for ground troops to take and hold land in Afghanistan. Thomas Freidman is calling for similar action (what's up with this guy - he's starting to scare me.) In any case, Bush is going to be forced to do something to seem strong, but as soon as we send ground troops into Afghanistan they will immediately and soundly get their asses kicked. We have the technology, but I'm guessing that doesn't mean much in the chaos of battle. Being accustomed to battle conditions is the only thing that matters, and these people are clearly accustomed. The US military would have to take 10 years of strong defeats before we'd be toughened up enough to really duke it out with a nothing-to-lose islamic fundamentalist army with decades of experience fighting on their home soil.
So, after we lose a couple Somalia style battles (with our soldiers being tortured, gutted, beheaded, and otherwised dragged through the streets of Kabul) our people, goaded by the McCain types, will demand blood. They will demand a victory that our conventional forces will be unable to deliver. So Bush will have no choice but to use nuclear weapons. Even if it's clear tactically that they won't do much good. They will appease the psychic need for a big hit.
(And two days later the Russians will drop one on Chechnya.)
Hope I'm wrong.
Anyway, I'm moving the /treehouse to highest alert. So you know what to do. Or not.
And what's up with this? Mushroom clouds north of Kabul? Not good. I've been saying it privately but I'll go on the record here - we are going to drop some nuclear weapons on someone, real soon. Here's the formula:
"Experts" and various other talking head types - including many politicians - sense a chance to gain some points in the American public's mind by hitting Bush for being too timid. McCain, to take one example, is strongly calling for ground troops to take and hold land in Afghanistan. Thomas Freidman is calling for similar action (what's up with this guy - he's starting to scare me.) In any case, Bush is going to be forced to do something to seem strong, but as soon as we send ground troops into Afghanistan they will immediately and soundly get their asses kicked. We have the technology, but I'm guessing that doesn't mean much in the chaos of battle. Being accustomed to battle conditions is the only thing that matters, and these people are clearly accustomed. The US military would have to take 10 years of strong defeats before we'd be toughened up enough to really duke it out with a nothing-to-lose islamic fundamentalist army with decades of experience fighting on their home soil.
So, after we lose a couple Somalia style battles (with our soldiers being tortured, gutted, beheaded, and otherwised dragged through the streets of Kabul) our people, goaded by the McCain types, will demand blood. They will demand a victory that our conventional forces will be unable to deliver. So Bush will have no choice but to use nuclear weapons. Even if it's clear tactically that they won't do much good. They will appease the psychic need for a big hit.
(And two days later the Russians will drop one on Chechnya.)
Hope I'm wrong.
I just checked my old e.mail address and found the same e.mail (to the original circle of five friends and family he started out with) message from Jim Louis about "seeing you next year", so I think he's pissed off at the world not just us or not pissed off at all. But I'm already missing him and Rachael. Good to see Mark kicking in again and Steve from afar. Who's anonymous ?
Argentina again ...
Argentina has the best store-bought mayo I've ever had. Good oil, good eggs, and lemon juice.
Argentina has the best store-bought mayo I've ever had. Good oil, good eggs, and lemon juice.
archived web pages at the internet archive wayback machine
WOTD
Gound (Noun)
Pronunciation: ['gawnd]
Definition 1: The extraneous matter that collects in the corners of the eyes during sleep.
Gound (Noun)
Pronunciation: ['gawnd]
Definition 1: The extraneous matter that collects in the corners of the eyes during sleep.
Mike, that monkfish you cooked last night was first rate. Any tips for the rest of us less gifted over the fire? Also, do you have a favorite spot to buy fish?
Thanks for dinner!
Thanks for dinner!
go yankee's
started out watching Chappaqua last week and it started great and then got a bit boring but was fun to watch for sure, great imagery, people, music...--but then watched Powder (one of my all time favorite movies!!!:>)
peter pan finds tinkerbell
had some extremely tasty and clean chinese on the upper east side last night Henry's Evergreen 1288 First (69 st)
sautewednesday.com is a food weblog that might be interesting.
Forced by the Freedom of Information Act, the EPA now admits that toxic releases at the WTC site are worse than had been reported. I'm not happy about working down there, and can only hope that things are not too bad where I am, about seven blocks away (they claim concentrations are only troublesome at "ground zero"). I certainly don't have much trust in the authorities, but I'm not inclined to wear a respirator. Long term effects are left to the imagination, while the lingering stench of war and death causes depression in the here and now.
Anyone going to a Butthole Surfers show on the west coast? I'm looking around for tickets. SF seems to be sold out, but Portland still looks available.
In the first-century A.D., the Roman poet Martial sent his friends the following invitation:
containment policy
America the Graphical! Click here to view a three page "curated collection" of media banners related to 9/11. Fair warning: pop-ups await you.
Will the real stooge please stand up?
Our pal Steve DiBenedetto is constantly mistaken for actor Evan Handler, who played Larry in the Three Stooges movie.
Our pal Steve DiBenedetto is constantly mistaken for actor Evan Handler, who played Larry in the Three Stooges movie.
The New Yorker has a short article on trucking into Manhattan, a long-standing problem that's been brought to a head by recent events. I'm having trouble getting shipments into the Bookstore. As usual, blame it on Robert Moses.
Also a useful piece (not online) by Nicholas Lemann on What Terrorists Want, contrasting military and academic views of terrorism with understandings derived from the study of civil wars. Wide-spread civil war makes sense as USAma's realistic goal, and these wars don't necessarily proceed in the way you might think.
Also a useful piece (not online) by Nicholas Lemann on What Terrorists Want, contrasting military and academic views of terrorism with understandings derived from the study of civil wars. Wide-spread civil war makes sense as USAma's realistic goal, and these wars don't necessarily proceed in the way you might think.
Not sure if David Lynch's latest is worth a lot of comment. Some images stick with you, though. Below is a character called The Cowboy, a soft-spoken, melanin-deficient creep who might or might not be an assassin-for-hire. In his first appearance, he says to a film director (whose shady backers are trying to influence the casting of a film): "If you do good, you'll see me one more time. If you do bad, you'll see me two more times." Even though the guy looks like a refugee from a dude ranch (by way of the Village People), he makes you shudder: the infantile, Rumpelstiltskin quality of his threat is sheer brilliance.
An article in yesterday's (or was it Sunday's?) Buenos Aires Herald addressed the Latin American ambivalence about Bush's call to arms. This jist of it is this: "We're all behind you on this counter-terrorism thing, but to a point. We remember your counter-communism thing and all the havoc your policies wreaked on Latin American nations."
These shades of gray seem to be lost in US media output.
These shades of gray seem to be lost in US media output.
Impressions of Argentine food
Basic food groups: beef, sugar, caffeine.
Produce: Tomatoes and lettuce rival Salinas, CA quality -- whether in Buenos Aires or at a fruit stand on a dirt road in the remote northwest provinces. Fruits and veggies are plentiful, high quality, and cheap. Can't speak for produce quality in Patagonia, suspect may be similar to Scottish and Welsh produce quality. (Gotta love them root veggies!)
Seafood: I've never seen such a dearth of seafood in a country with such a long coast line. (See "beef" under basic food groups.)
Beef: $5 bucks at a sitdown restaraunt for a large, tasty and tender steak from sirloin or beef tender.
Cabrito: If you're ever in Salta, check out the cabrito asado -- an explosion of flavors
Empanadas: Favorite snack food in Argentina. (See "beef" under basic food groups.) They consist of filling held in a small round "tapa" of dough which is folded in half. Beef, chicken and sometimes onion/cheese are the most common. Baked or fried, but baked is best.
Salteņo Empanadas: People in Buenos Aires and the pampa speak in reverential tones of the empanadas from the Northwest. "My grandfather is from Salta, and he always makes Salteņo empanadas -- the best." BA empanadas are very simple, but the Salteņos use a dozen different ingredients in the mixture for the filling.
Mate: The people of Argentina are obsessed with mate, a bitter and mildly stimulating (i.e., caffine-like substance) tea made from yerba mate. To add sugar or not is a touchy subject. Mate preparation and consumption is a group activity, which plays into the close personal interaction typical of Argentines.
Dulce Leche: Can be described as a jam-like substance made from camelized milk. It's sweetened, carmelized condensed milk -- much more condensed than typical US condensed milk. Argentines love to have bits of bread coated with dulce leche as an afternoon break during the long interval between lunch and late-night dinner. Dulce leche with peaches sounds like an odd combination, but is a delightful dessert.
Basic food groups: beef, sugar, caffeine.
Produce: Tomatoes and lettuce rival Salinas, CA quality -- whether in Buenos Aires or at a fruit stand on a dirt road in the remote northwest provinces. Fruits and veggies are plentiful, high quality, and cheap. Can't speak for produce quality in Patagonia, suspect may be similar to Scottish and Welsh produce quality. (Gotta love them root veggies!)
Seafood: I've never seen such a dearth of seafood in a country with such a long coast line. (See "beef" under basic food groups.)
Beef: $5 bucks at a sitdown restaraunt for a large, tasty and tender steak from sirloin or beef tender.
Cabrito: If you're ever in Salta, check out the cabrito asado -- an explosion of flavors
Empanadas: Favorite snack food in Argentina. (See "beef" under basic food groups.) They consist of filling held in a small round "tapa" of dough which is folded in half. Beef, chicken and sometimes onion/cheese are the most common. Baked or fried, but baked is best.
Salteņo Empanadas: People in Buenos Aires and the pampa speak in reverential tones of the empanadas from the Northwest. "My grandfather is from Salta, and he always makes Salteņo empanadas -- the best." BA empanadas are very simple, but the Salteņos use a dozen different ingredients in the mixture for the filling.
Mate: The people of Argentina are obsessed with mate, a bitter and mildly stimulating (i.e., caffine-like substance) tea made from yerba mate. To add sugar or not is a touchy subject. Mate preparation and consumption is a group activity, which plays into the close personal interaction typical of Argentines.
Dulce Leche: Can be described as a jam-like substance made from camelized milk. It's sweetened, carmelized condensed milk -- much more condensed than typical US condensed milk. Argentines love to have bits of bread coated with dulce leche as an afternoon break during the long interval between lunch and late-night dinner. Dulce leche with peaches sounds like an odd combination, but is a delightful dessert.
SUMMERVILLE, Ga. (AP) -- The Rev. Howard Finster, a folk artist who
created sermons in paint that were featured on the covers of rock
albums and in galleries worldwide, died Monday of congestive heart
failure. He was 84.
Finster died at Redmond Regional Medical Center in nearby Rome,
Erwin-Pettit Funeral Home of Summerville said.
Finster, a Baptist minister since his teens, began his art career in his
late 40s, creating works that ranged from wooden cutouts to paintings
to assemblages, many of which he adorned with messages like ``Hell
is a hell of a place'' in block letters.
He often used pop culture icons such as the Coca-Cola bottle,
Cadillacs and Elvis Presley in his work.
``When Christ called his disciples, he called fishermen, he didn't call
nobody from a qualified university,'' Finster said in a 1990 magazine
interview. ``He used common people to reveal parables. That's what I
do. I use Elvis because I'm a fan of Elvis. Elvis was a great guy. By
using him I get people's attention and they read my messages.''
Finster was considered a pioneer among self-taught artists, advancing
the ``outsider'' movement with his unique personality, unflagging
salesmanship and resolute work ethic. Such artists work ``outside'' the
aesthetic of formal art training.
``He was an introduction to this art for a lot of individuals who had never
heard of it,'' said Marcia Weber, a gallery owner in Montgomery, Ala.,
who has handled several Finster paintings. ``He broke ground.''
Finster's work, consistently imbued with evangelistic themes that
exhort the viewer to repent and accept Christ, became popular in the
early 1980s in New York art galleries.
``He took the word of God and did it entirely in his own way, this
eccentric, unconventional manner,'' said Lynne Spriggs, folk art curator
at Atlanta's High Museum of Art, which holds the world's largest
collection of Finster works. ``He was a tireless artist and a great
teacher.''
Finster's widest exposure may have been from music cover art.
In 1988, the Georgia-based rock band R.E.M. asked Finster to make
the cover for its second album, ``Reckoning.'' The Talking Heads, a
musical group of former art students, also commissioned Finster for
the cover of its ``Little Creatures'' recording.
Finster was also known for his three-acre Paradise Garden, which he
described as a ``folk art haven,'' built in 1961 on filled swampland
behind his home in Pennville in northwest Georgia.
Paradise Garden features mosaic cement paths, a giant cement boot,
the Tomb of the Unknown Body and Finster's folk art chapel. For years,
he spent Sunday afternoons at the garden greeting visitors. He later
moved to nearby Summerville, and Paradise Garden is now largely
owned by the High Museum of Art.
Finster was born on a small farm in DeKalb County, Ala., on Dec. 2,
1916, and became a Baptist preacher at age 16.
For more than three decades, he traveled Alabama, Georgia and
Tennessee preaching at tent revivals and supplementing his income
with odd jobs, including plumbing and bicycle repair.
In recent years, most of Finster's work was advertised on his Web site,
with the artist himself working at an almost assembly-line pace.
``We can call it commercialism, but his aim is that his art serves a
didactic function: to spread the word,'' said Lee Kogan, a friend of
Finster's and director of special projects at the Museum of American
Folk Art in New York. ``His art serves God. He's interested in getting
this message out.''
Survivors include his wife, Pauline Freeman Finster; four daughters; a
son; 15 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
created sermons in paint that were featured on the covers of rock
albums and in galleries worldwide, died Monday of congestive heart
failure. He was 84.
Finster died at Redmond Regional Medical Center in nearby Rome,
Erwin-Pettit Funeral Home of Summerville said.
Finster, a Baptist minister since his teens, began his art career in his
late 40s, creating works that ranged from wooden cutouts to paintings
to assemblages, many of which he adorned with messages like ``Hell
is a hell of a place'' in block letters.
He often used pop culture icons such as the Coca-Cola bottle,
Cadillacs and Elvis Presley in his work.
``When Christ called his disciples, he called fishermen, he didn't call
nobody from a qualified university,'' Finster said in a 1990 magazine
interview. ``He used common people to reveal parables. That's what I
do. I use Elvis because I'm a fan of Elvis. Elvis was a great guy. By
using him I get people's attention and they read my messages.''
Finster was considered a pioneer among self-taught artists, advancing
the ``outsider'' movement with his unique personality, unflagging
salesmanship and resolute work ethic. Such artists work ``outside'' the
aesthetic of formal art training.
``He was an introduction to this art for a lot of individuals who had never
heard of it,'' said Marcia Weber, a gallery owner in Montgomery, Ala.,
who has handled several Finster paintings. ``He broke ground.''
Finster's work, consistently imbued with evangelistic themes that
exhort the viewer to repent and accept Christ, became popular in the
early 1980s in New York art galleries.
``He took the word of God and did it entirely in his own way, this
eccentric, unconventional manner,'' said Lynne Spriggs, folk art curator
at Atlanta's High Museum of Art, which holds the world's largest
collection of Finster works. ``He was a tireless artist and a great
teacher.''
Finster's widest exposure may have been from music cover art.
In 1988, the Georgia-based rock band R.E.M. asked Finster to make
the cover for its second album, ``Reckoning.'' The Talking Heads, a
musical group of former art students, also commissioned Finster for
the cover of its ``Little Creatures'' recording.
Finster was also known for his three-acre Paradise Garden, which he
described as a ``folk art haven,'' built in 1961 on filled swampland
behind his home in Pennville in northwest Georgia.
Paradise Garden features mosaic cement paths, a giant cement boot,
the Tomb of the Unknown Body and Finster's folk art chapel. For years,
he spent Sunday afternoons at the garden greeting visitors. He later
moved to nearby Summerville, and Paradise Garden is now largely
owned by the High Museum of Art.
Finster was born on a small farm in DeKalb County, Ala., on Dec. 2,
1916, and became a Baptist preacher at age 16.
For more than three decades, he traveled Alabama, Georgia and
Tennessee preaching at tent revivals and supplementing his income
with odd jobs, including plumbing and bicycle repair.
In recent years, most of Finster's work was advertised on his Web site,
with the artist himself working at an almost assembly-line pace.
``We can call it commercialism, but his aim is that his art serves a
didactic function: to spread the word,'' said Lee Kogan, a friend of
Finster's and director of special projects at the Museum of American
Folk Art in New York. ``His art serves God. He's interested in getting
this message out.''
Survivors include his wife, Pauline Freeman Finster; four daughters; a
son; 15 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
