Sunday, April 30, 2006
holy cow
Thanks to here's the thing : Martha Stewart's pictorial of how to fold a fitted sheet.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 8:50 AM

altered books
Altered Books is an exhibition and project at the Portland Library in Maine. Its proposition is that many books are no longer being borrowed for all kinds of reasons (subject for a different discussion), and that alternate [sic] treatments may make them intriguing and appealing all over again. My personal favorite is Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass remade into Fields of Greens (see photo). It may at first seem like desecration but library copies are used, not the only extant copy, and the literally recycled project is fittingly relevant to the book itself. How apt it would be to make Sophie Kinsella's Shopoholic books into bright colorful bracelets like this one of a Maggie Dunn book. Anyway, the idea behind the exhibition is best expressed by its curator and artist, Doug Beube: "The book, threatened as it has been in this century by radio, television, film and the Internet, seems determined to survive as a staple of human expression, communication and knowledge." If you go to the Portland Library's search-by-subject page (here) and type "altered books" as the subject, you can page through all 177 altered books, some of which could be borrowed anywhere in the country through inter-library loan.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 8:02 AM

Saturday, April 29, 2006
Monday
No matter what your point of view, since we live in a participatory democracy, if we contact our governmental representatives about Monday's demonstration and the immigration issue altogether, the decisions have more than a whispered prayer of being what "we the people" would like:
contact your U.S. Senators
contact your Congressional representatives

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 4:44 PM

sex lies and rock 'n' roll
Keith Richards what!? Fell out of a palm tree?! Huh? How do you climb into a palm tree in the first place? Have you ever seen lower limbs on a palm tree? Can he shimmy up bark do you suppose? And/or what did he ingest to want to climb a palm tree . . . and fall out? Whew.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 4:37 PM

Thursday, April 27, 2006
idol5 (5)
Bocelli sang beautifully - no surprise there. His breath control is mind boggling as in the last minutes when he used one breath to sing several long long notes. Really beautiful to listen to. (Even if it wasn't the Elmo lullaby. :) ) And DialIdol did correctly have Kellie and Paris as the bottom two, but in the wrong order, and they totally had the others wrong (unless, as I often say, the producers really do muck with the actual phone call results). My own sense of what happened seems better at predicting results than their dial tone thingamabobby. But it's a heckuva lot of fun, either way. (Don't tell anyone I said that or I'll be voted out of the Sophisticated Skeptical Jaded Cynics Club.)

Dial Idol results:
1. Taylor Hicks
2. Chris Daughtry
3. Elliott Yamin
4. Katharine McPhee
5. Kellie Pickler
6. Paris Bennett

Actual results:
1 and 2: Chris Daughtry and Katharine McPhee (D.I. had Chris #2 and Katharine #4)

3 and 4: Taylor Hicks and Elliott Yamin (D.I. had Taylor #1 and Elliott #3)

5: Paris Bennett (D.I. had Paris #6 and out)
6 (and out): Kellie Pickler (D.I. had Kellie #5 and staying)

Kellie didn't sing her way off - first time I've seen that happen. Was she that bad? or did no one want to re-hear "Unchained Melody" in her voice? or did she want to chatter her last few minutes? Who knows. Paula was remarkably clear when Ryan asked for her thoughts on Kellie and Paris (hey - that means they addressed sentences to each other - so much for the tabloids). And what was with Simon's and Randy's apologies - did David Foster freak out over their nasty remarks about what were presumably his (pretty bad) arrangements of some good songs? Behind the scenes must be pretty interesting but I guess there are vows of silence as effective as Trappist monks'! And don't you dread the waterfall when Paris goes?! And isn't it weird how you miss the ones who leave as soon as they're booted - god, I'm ridiculously easy to manipulate. Anyway, they didn't announce next week's theme or plan or whatever so I'm not sure what to look forward (or not) to.
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Permalink | 1 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:15 AM

Wednesday, April 26, 2006
idol5 (bocelli)
It was Andrea Bocelli David Foster night on AI5 last night. I love him but the kids were pretty boring. And Bocelli kept murmuring about what nice instruments the kids had - meaning their lungs and voices. Foster was coach and quite the Simon-like critic. Perhaps Bocelli isn't as analytical as he is tuneful, but then why have him on? Theme nights are fun but they keep singing such dreadful versions. Ugh. I adore the Helen Reddy and Leon Russell versions of the song Elliot sang but he sounded sooooo bland. They all sounded so bland that I wondered what I was doing listening. Anyway, DialIdol nabs Kellie and Paris as the bottom two according to their busy signal readings. I can only hope! I'm sure he'll be splendid no matter what he sings but wouldn't it be cool if Bocelli sang his Lullaby for Elmo tonight?!

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:20 AM

Tuesday, April 25, 2006
lew ayres
A friend asked a question today which led to discussing Lew Ayres, a stunningly handsome and quite talented actor who appeared in 147 films (according to IMDb) from 1929 through 1984. Given his huge number of films and his obvious influence and skill, when you see the films, my friend pondered why Errol Flynn and William Powell are so revered and someone like Ayres is known only to buffs. Those are grand guys, for sure, but it's a good question!

So who is your favorite underappreciated actor or actress?

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 11:59 AM

Monday, April 24, 2006
bds
Anyone else notice that BDS has gotten so pronounced that if GWB says something, anything, the usual suspects jump up and say "no no that's wrong" no matter what it is? I swear, he could say something like "from sea to shining sea" and they would say something like "hey, there are mountains on each coast too, dammit". There are issues and concerns that deserve intelligent, thoughtful consideration rather than yelling and screaming just because that's how they've been doing things a long time. One is tempted to ask whether we can't all just get along.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 3:52 PM

Sunday, April 23, 2006
sweet poem
I shall refrain from saying the author of this little verse because it might detract from its charm for some of you us.

It's you I like,
It's not the things you wear,
It's not the way you do your hair--
But it's you I like
The way you are right now,
The way down deep inside you--
Not the things that hide you,
Not your toys--
They're just beside you.

But it's you I like--
Every part of you,
Your skin, your eyes, your feelings
Whether old or new.
I hope that you'll remember
Even when you're feeling blue
That it's you I like,
It's you yourself,
It's you, it's you I like.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 11:33 PM

Saturday, April 22, 2006
broccoli
This may seem like I'm kidding, but I'm absolutely serious - Perkins broccoli is fantastic. Sometimes I go there just to have broccoli, believe it or not. Tonight, my friends and I went to a Perkins near us for dinner (partly because it's near a Home Depot, but that's a different story). Everyone knows their breakfasts and baked goods are delicious (their eggs benedict is great!). But isn't it surprising that their broccoli is beyond yummy? For more than a year we'd noticed this and I finally asked and apparently they actually do have deliberate and high standards for broccoli. Who'd have thought?! They buy locally grown broccoli when they can, and they steam it in those big industrial-size steamers to very exact specifications. Anyway, it tastes fresh, light, neither tough nor soft, never too hot or too cold. I even brought some home it reheats well. So now there are no excuses to avoid broccoli - you'll WANT it!

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 11:55 PM

Thursday, April 20, 2006
idol5 (rod stewart)
Fairly accurate and amusing, if snarky, review by joker's updates. I have to say that I thought Stewart sounded off key (dare I say it?) and unsteady. And why the heck didn't they sing real Rod Stewart songs instead of the olden goldies that they chose? THAT would have been fun. Meanwhile, I'm amazed that the producers think it's entertaining to watch one of the "kids" squirm while being asked to tap the Christian singer he guesses will be thrown out of the Coliseum competition while the rest get to dodge the lions judges and audience for another week. Next week Andrea Bocelli??!!!! I'm a big fan of his but can't imagine what he and American Idol winners have in common. We'll see.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 4:55 PM

Wednesday, April 19, 2006
g for guffaw
As several people have mentioned, the alphabet thing is much harder than one might imagine, probably because of the audience. I could rattle off many ideas and objects for each letter, and be perfectly happy with all of them. Until the daunting moment of writing about it and knowing that there might just happen to be a reader that day who would think I was an utter fool for using *that* instead of *that*.

Which leads me to guffaw, a word I enjoy for its sound as well as its meaning and, of course, for doing it. The dictionary defines a guffaw as a loud or boisterous burst of laughter. I associate guffaws with black and white comedies, for some reason, which adds to their charm for me. And with puns and really dumb (a/k/a silly) jokes (like this: knock, knock; who's there?; doctor; . . . you got it!). I wish you at least one big guffaw today.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 5:29 PM

Sunday, April 16, 2006
easter
On a lovely day beside the beautiful Hudson, a lovely child watched geese and fish and I photographed her through leaves. Wouldn't it be nice if this day were the harbinger of the weather and mood of the next several months. Happy Easter to you - or Passover or Spring or whatever you celebrate.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:14 PM

Friday, April 14, 2006
writing
Article by Catherine Keenan in the Sydney (Australia) paper was alluring because it purported to be about writer's block. Although it is interesting, it's actually an essay about a handful of great writers who never wrote much more after their great work. (Harper Lee, Truman Capote, F.Scott FitzGerald, and some others.) Perhaps geniuses write as long as their muses send messages, and the rest of us just plug away as at a trade.
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Permalink | 1 comment(s) | posted by jau at 10:45 AM

Thursday, April 13, 2006
idol5 (8)
If dialidol.com is correct, then it's for sure that the producers manipulate based on something they have in mind. Here's what dialidol said were the busy signal voting results, with the actual bottom three numbers on the right (added by me). Elliot wasn't even close, according to this. I hate to be cynical - or at least mightly skeptical - but the apparently already crowned Chris did quite badly in the voting, if this is right, as did the semi-crowned Katharine, and perhaps they felt they couldn't allow that. And while we're at it, why don't the fans spell Kellie's or Katharine's names correctly on their signs?! Then, again, why does Kellie persist in saying she's a hick with no knowledge of almost anything and no previous singing experience? And why do fish swim? And why aren't I tall, thin and blonde?

P.S. Apparently it's Rod Stewart next week. Should be easy singing, at least, no special challenges, but it could be mighty boring.

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Permalink | 2 comment(s) | posted by jau at 1:52 PM

blog fiddling
Couldn't resist a change of color scheme, for spring. I'll always return to the black background, knowing my fondness for black, but playing with one's blog is like moving furniture only with less physical exertion.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 1:09 AM

Wednesday, April 12, 2006
linkage
Some interesting, if unrelated, links with which I do not necessarily agree but do find stimulating and thought-provoking:
--Our Literature of Extremes by Jeffrey Hart, a professor of English at Dartmouth
--Iranian Bomb Scare on the WSJ opinion page today
--many of the stories on the front page of Arts & Letters Daily (I must be in a tolerant mood)
--Rudolph Vrba's obituary - an enthrallingly adventureous and courageous man
--article in the NY Sun about Massachusetts' new health bill which is either fabulous and the beginning of sanity or horrible and the beginning of the end of life as we know it, depending on who you hear and/or listen to
T-t-t-t-that's all, folks, for now.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 1:01 PM

Tuesday, April 11, 2006
immigration
This has so many pieces that I don't know my own conclusions yet so I'm just going to ask questions and read/cite others' pieces which aren't necessarily what I think but are worth reading, namely: Wide Awake Cafe's post, Charles Krauthammer's article, the Immigration Law Blog (not very recently updated but informative and useful) and Michelle Malkin's Immigration Blog to which others also contribute. As for some questions:
--Could those who say they want so badly to become American citizens state very clearly that they want to be Americans and that they care about this country? Wouldn't that would go a long way towards convincing people that it's all right? There are many who are concerned that amnesty is like handing the car keys to the guy who wants to steal the car.
--If full or even broad amnesty were granted, doesn't it say that the people who came and applied for citizenship in the slower-though-legal ways were silly saps?
--Is it practical to grant amnesty to all the currently illegal aliens?
--On the other hand, is it practical to send them all home?
--If amnesty is granted to all currently illegal aliens, what's to stop future influxes of the same magnitude?
--Isn't a wall of any effective kind nearly impossible to build (how many hundreds of miles?), not to mention keep up? How would a wall help at airports and train stations, anyway?
--And what about education? According to Time magazine, over half of all immigrant children in America don't finish high school and some huge number don't even finish elementary school. Where does that leave everyone?

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Permalink | 1 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:54 AM

Monday, April 10, 2006
f is for far
There's nothing like stretching one's mind or one's feet or one's vision or one's expectations, therefore "f" is for "far". As in go far, reach far, far out (!), farther and farthest, not to mention "it is a far far better thing that I do than I have ever done" (quick: who said it, when, and why?).

F is also for father because today would have been my father's 88th birthday.

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Permalink | 1 comment(s) | posted by jau at 1:57 AM

Sunday, April 9, 2006
wikipedia meme
Some fun courtesy of dustbury. Search for your birthday (without year) in wikipedia. Using your own definition of "interesting", list 3 each: interesting people born that day, died that day, and events that occurred that day. All assuming the accuracy of Wikipedia's entries in these cases, of course.
People born: Grant Wood, Chuck Yeager, Robbie Williams (plus a slew of actors and actresses - Kim Novak, Carol Lynley, George Segal, Oliver Reed, Stockard Channing, David Naughton. . .)
People died: Catherine Howard (unfortunate 5th wife of Henry VIII), Benvenuto Cellini, Richard Wagner, Josephine Tey, David Janssen (oops, that's 5)
Interesting events: Boston Latin School is founded (1635), Bruno Hauptmann found guilty of kidnapping the Lindberghs' baby (1935), Queen Elizabeth knights Rudy Guiliani (2002)
Go for it yourself.
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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 12:12 PM

Saturday, April 8, 2006
oh boy
You want to read something that makes you react on nearly every level to nearly every paragraph? Here you go - Robin Givhan's Washington Post column on Rep. Cynthia McKinney's hair. Agree, disagree, hate it, love it? Read it, scream, weep, yell . . . and tell me what you think.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:26 AM

carmel, california
Today is the 20th anniversary of Clint Eastwood's election as mayor of Carmel, California. Which gives me an excuse to wax rhapsodic about what a lovely town it is. I spent a week there a while ago. At the beginning I thought it was just a cute town but kept asking myself what the big deal was. But I totally got it after a week strolling among bright gorgeous gardens, watching the Pacific crash on the rocks below my hillside room, driving along Big Sur, eating outdoors at least one meal every day, listening to terrific music, wandering through lovely stores and galleries and, best of all, watching the sun set over the main beach each evening.
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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:02 AM

Friday, April 7, 2006
cherry ames
Delightful piece in Thursday's New York Times Style section about the Cherry Ames book series (Cherry Ames Student Nurse is the first). I was absolutely nuts about those books when I was a kid, couldn't read them fast enough. I wanted to BE Cherry Ames. When a guest asked me, one summer afternoon, what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said, "a nurse! like Cherry Ames". I couldn't wait to help people and feel useful in all corners of the world. How wonderful that some readers are rediscovering Cherry and her escapades. Maybe I'll read them again - I had no idea there were 27!
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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 10:55 PM

Thursday, April 6, 2006
idol5 (8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 . . .)
Here's my prediction guess for who leaves over the next six weeks, although I think this is really up for grabs since it's a popularity contest among teenagers who don't mind voting and voting and voting. . . .
-- 4/12 (after Queen week) Kellie leaves (long overdue, for me)
-- 4/19 Ace or Bucky (Bucky's growing on me, believe it or not)
-- 4/25 Ace or Bucky (whoever didn't leave the previous week)
-- 5/3 Elliot (pretty good singer despite his bland exterior)
-- 5/10 Paris (she's too popular to leave before this, I think)
-- 5/17 and then Taylor (I think, I think his popularity is waning)
-- 5/23 and then the last two duke it out (Katharine and Chris, I think)
-- 5/24 someone wins unless there's a tie
Go ahead - make your own prediction(s)!
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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 3:50 PM

Wednesday, April 5, 2006
idol5 (9)
Some thoughts on this week (couldnta said it better myself so no need to):
-- country night performances: here and here and here (the last, though mighty sarcastic, is also pretty accurate)
-- country night results: here and here
-- Mandissa's exit (astonishment and theories abound, but my personal sense is that the wardrobe was simply impossible for teenagers to deal with, no matter how good her voice)

"Queen" next week. Might be ghastly (Kellie or Paris screeching, "Mamma, just killed a man"?) or might be great (anyone on key and energetically being one of "the champions"!?). Anyway, I'm looking forward to it....

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 11:06 PM

Tuesday, April 4, 2006
montessori
When Montessori advocates use the word "obedience", what do they mean? It seems jarring and odd in the midst of discussions about learning to be oneself, discovery of all things brilliant and exciting in the world, etc.
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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:31 AM

Sunday, April 2, 2006
literary discussion
Interesting thread at Seablogger on the many virtues (or not) of several writers (Proulx, Hardy, Austen, Dickens, Harte, Hemingway, Naipul, among them). It all started when Alan Sullivan cited VS Naipul's latest expression of disdain in a recent interview (he is prone to deliberately provoking the literati, after all). I certainly am startled to see HG Wells and Twain ranked highly in the same breath with disparagements of Hemingway and Austen. But that's what taste and opinion are all about, right? Anyway, enjoy the Naipul interview and the Seablogger thread . . . and if you'd like, add your own opinions here. It always interests me to find out which authors people like, and why.
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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 10:22 AM

Saturday, April 1, 2006
april 1st
Happy April Fool's Day!! I always want to think of something fiendish or terribly witty but rarely do. The only time I ever did anything halfway good was when I was about ten or eleven. My father needed me always to be neat and tidy (don't ask) and, living in Greenwich Village, you could always find stores with cool goofy things. I'd found something that stuck a small piece of thread on the outside of whatever it was on, while really being a rolled-up ball of thread on the other side. I put it near the seam of the shoulder of my dark gray school uniform jacket and, sure enough, as we left the house that fateful April 1st to go to school, my father disapprovingly tsked at me and picked off the thread. And, sure enough, it seemed to be unraveling the seam and, sure enough, he was upset. Victory! He told me we'd have to go back and sew it because I couldn't go out of the house like this, etc., etc., except then I burst out laughing. A real hoot. Right.

So do you have a favorite April Fool's joke or prank?

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 10:36 AM