Vireo Health, of New York, is promoting its line of kosher medical marijuana "to help serve the dietary needs of the largest Jewish population in the United States."
Source dailymail.com.uk
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
O Gawd! Not AGAIN!
For the 9th year in a row Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper will be "hosting" the ball drop in Times Square, Manhattan.
I say "hosting" because Griffin will merely pick up and flap the reins on the tired old horse that is the comedy routine for this abysmal use of prime time.
Not knowing any better, we watched the 2012 excrement and I was shocked that the network didn't go to black when she groped Cooper's private parts. You know, the never let anyone see what's under your bathing suit area?
I find making fun of another's sexual preferences to be in extremely bad taste and Griffin's take on persuading Cooper to change and be her boyfriend absolutely appalling in that it promotes the ridiculous idea that anyone can willfully change their sexual orientation. This is so 1840s as to be a veritable parade - marching bands, twirling majorettes, an elephant giving children rides - of complete and total ignorance. This is a stereotype designed to appeal to the religious right and shrinks looking to make a buck.
Script:
Griffin - rattles off a series of pleading remarks segues into insulting Cooper's sexuality; audience cheers. (Everyone in Times Square is probably drunk anyhow)
Cooper - giggles.
Whee! Are we havin' fun yet?
I am not without my own resources. I will be watching the clock (not the atomic one although it is catching up) and at 8:58 p.m. we'll cut over to whatever channel is ignorant enough to be running them. How much can they do in two minutes?
On second thought, don't answer that.
I say "hosting" because Griffin will merely pick up and flap the reins on the tired old horse that is the comedy routine for this abysmal use of prime time.
Not knowing any better, we watched the 2012 excrement and I was shocked that the network didn't go to black when she groped Cooper's private parts. You know, the never let anyone see what's under your bathing suit area?
I find making fun of another's sexual preferences to be in extremely bad taste and Griffin's take on persuading Cooper to change and be her boyfriend absolutely appalling in that it promotes the ridiculous idea that anyone can willfully change their sexual orientation. This is so 1840s as to be a veritable parade - marching bands, twirling majorettes, an elephant giving children rides - of complete and total ignorance. This is a stereotype designed to appeal to the religious right and shrinks looking to make a buck.
Script:
Griffin - rattles off a series of pleading remarks segues into insulting Cooper's sexuality; audience cheers. (Everyone in Times Square is probably drunk anyhow)
Cooper - giggles.
Whee! Are we havin' fun yet?
I am not without my own resources. I will be watching the clock (not the atomic one although it is catching up) and at 8:58 p.m. we'll cut over to whatever channel is ignorant enough to be running them. How much can they do in two minutes?
On second thought, don't answer that.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Firsthand Tornado Report
Back story: Longtime readers will recognize the names Red and Barbara, our great friends in the DFW area. Red and Richie transferred from AA NY to DFW when it had just been completed. They had the idea that Texas would be infinitely more pleasant weather- wise than NY. That's before they found out firsthand about the blue northers, 30-degree temperature changes in an hour and so forth. Richie skedaddled for Southern California, but since Red and Barbara had three kids and good schools, they stayed. Additionally, Barbara is a registered nurse and they were able to work out a schedule that had one of them with the kids 24/7.
Today: Their daughter Kirin and her husband George live or lived in Rowlett, TX, some 19.6 miles NE of DFW. It's a small community - the 2010 census listed a population of 56,000. No further data is available; clearly it was felt that there wasn't going to be any noteworthy population surge.
George and Kirin gave a full report. They had about 5 seconds to cram into the bathroom (her son and his son were visiting) and the five dogs were first into the bathtub. There they sheltered, but meanwhile they were treated to what "sounded like a freight train" and the roof blew off, followed shortly by the rest of the house collapsing. Somewhere during all of this, a tornado (of the nine reported) flipped one of their cars into the swimming pool.
They emerged from their shelter and none of them had so much as a scratch. They are sheltering with one of George's brothers; he has extensive family in the area.
The latest report is that 446 homes there were hit; 101 utterly destroyed and 83 severely damaged. The water tower very near to their former home has been drained and is being inspected for structural damage, but to be safe all of the homes still standing within a football field of the tower have been evacuated.
Of note: the figures noted above were gotten from reliable sources (the Dallas newspapers and Google) but the witness accounts may have been clouded by the reporters being in shock from the fact that their former home no longer exists.
Today: Their daughter Kirin and her husband George live or lived in Rowlett, TX, some 19.6 miles NE of DFW. It's a small community - the 2010 census listed a population of 56,000. No further data is available; clearly it was felt that there wasn't going to be any noteworthy population surge.
George and Kirin gave a full report. They had about 5 seconds to cram into the bathroom (her son and his son were visiting) and the five dogs were first into the bathtub. There they sheltered, but meanwhile they were treated to what "sounded like a freight train" and the roof blew off, followed shortly by the rest of the house collapsing. Somewhere during all of this, a tornado (of the nine reported) flipped one of their cars into the swimming pool.
They emerged from their shelter and none of them had so much as a scratch. They are sheltering with one of George's brothers; he has extensive family in the area.
The latest report is that 446 homes there were hit; 101 utterly destroyed and 83 severely damaged. The water tower very near to their former home has been drained and is being inspected for structural damage, but to be safe all of the homes still standing within a football field of the tower have been evacuated.
Of note: the figures noted above were gotten from reliable sources (the Dallas newspapers and Google) but the witness accounts may have been clouded by the reporters being in shock from the fact that their former home no longer exists.
Monday, December 28, 2015
Let's Pop Into the Kitchen with Jacques Pepin, Shall We?
Richie is a great fan and when I saw Pepin's newest book - Heart & Soul in the Kitchen - in the library, I grabbed it for him, read it in an afternoon and culled out the following:
RED CABBAGE, PISTACHIO AND CRANBERRY SALAD W/ BLUE CHEESE
1 small head red cabbage, trimmed and chopped
1/2 cup shelled pistachio nuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Dressing
1 T Tabasco
1 T cider vinegar
2 T peanut oil
1 T walnut oil
6 T crumbled blue cheese
3 T chopped chives
SAUTED CAULIFLOWER
3T olive oil and 1 T hazelnut oil
Black pepper to taste
2 teas. chopped fresh garlic
head of cleaned and cut cauliflower sauteed in the oils, dotted with the garlic till golden brown.
QUICK PICKLED RED ONIONS AND RADISHES
2 cups warm water
1/2 cup kosher salt or 1/3 cup table salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 teas. Tabasco
2 medium red onions sliced
3 cups diced radishes (in the photo, they've been sliced)
Mix the water, salt, sugar, Tabasco and vinegar together, add vegetables and let sit for three hours, put it in jars and then into the refrigerator. Will keep 3 months there.
RED CABBAGE, PISTACHIO AND CRANBERRY SALAD W/ BLUE CHEESE
1 small head red cabbage, trimmed and chopped
1/2 cup shelled pistachio nuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Dressing
1 T Tabasco
1 T cider vinegar
2 T peanut oil
1 T walnut oil
6 T crumbled blue cheese
3 T chopped chives
SAUTED CAULIFLOWER
3T olive oil and 1 T hazelnut oil
Black pepper to taste
2 teas. chopped fresh garlic
head of cleaned and cut cauliflower sauteed in the oils, dotted with the garlic till golden brown.
QUICK PICKLED RED ONIONS AND RADISHES
2 cups warm water
1/2 cup kosher salt or 1/3 cup table salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 teas. Tabasco
2 medium red onions sliced
3 cups diced radishes (in the photo, they've been sliced)
Mix the water, salt, sugar, Tabasco and vinegar together, add vegetables and let sit for three hours, put it in jars and then into the refrigerator. Will keep 3 months there.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Tinsel Ground Into the Rug
Sometimes Ya Gotta Be Tough to Live at the Beach
This morning it was 39 outdoors and 57 inside the living room. Richie has one of those "atomic" clocks that operates on a radio signal or something out of Denver, I believe. The indoor-outdoor temperature is a feature of it.
However, the clock also said 7:22 a.m. at 7:02.
Beating the Cold
We crank up the wall heater and turn on the dining room ceiling fan. By 7:30 a.m. it was 62 inside. Thank God it's a sunny day; overcast would really make us miserable.
I have lectured about this probably every winter but ... here's what insures a toasty warm bed:
Mattress
Waffle weave thermal blanket
Bottom sheet
Top sheet
Polar fleece blanket
Comforter
Heavy bedspread
Optional: Make cats lie in the nooks and crannies the bedding doesn't seem to reach.
This morning it was 39 outdoors and 57 inside the living room. Richie has one of those "atomic" clocks that operates on a radio signal or something out of Denver, I believe. The indoor-outdoor temperature is a feature of it.
However, the clock also said 7:22 a.m. at 7:02.
Beating the Cold
We crank up the wall heater and turn on the dining room ceiling fan. By 7:30 a.m. it was 62 inside. Thank God it's a sunny day; overcast would really make us miserable.
I have lectured about this probably every winter but ... here's what insures a toasty warm bed:
Mattress
Waffle weave thermal blanket
Bottom sheet
Top sheet
Polar fleece blanket
Comforter
Heavy bedspread
Optional: Make cats lie in the nooks and crannies the bedding doesn't seem to reach.
Saturday, December 26, 2015
It's An Insanely Small World After All
My nephew Steve is a professional sommelier. For special occasions, he sends us a bottle of wine. This Christmas was no exception and the wine is a Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. On the gift card, he wrote that this wine is one of his favorites.
Meanwhile, here in Redondo, far, far from New Zealand, our friend and former neighbor, "D" came for what turned out to be a minor champagne tasting and app grazing. Knowing he is a wine aficionado (no, this is not polite-speak for "roaring drunk") I showed Steve's bottle to him and asked, "Have you ever heard of this winery?" knowing nothing about NZ wines and very little about Sauvignon Blanc either.
"Heard of it?" came the quick retort, "I've visited it!" My eyes flew open in shock and then I recovered, belatedly remembering "D" had been to NZ. He went on, "I OD-ed on the Sauvignon Blanc but came back on their Rieslings. They're drier, not as sweet as here or in Europe."
If that isn't proof that we do live in a small world, nothing would be.
Champagne Tasting
"D" brought a bottle of 2011 Laetitia Brut Champagne (Methode Champenoise because made in
Arroyo Grande Valley, CA) It was as crisp as a freshly-ironed linen sheet.
We countered with an Almond Creek sparkling wine someone had given us (and I hope to God it wasn't Steve or "D") which lived up to its label which read "almond-flavored." Perforce, it had a softer taste, due no doubt, to the almonds whose taste was definitely there.
Finding that we still had an ample supply of anecdotes to share, we turned to my old favorite, Amour de Paris which has a champagne front taste and a peach back taste. It can be legally labeled "champagne" as it is made in France (and quite possibly sent over to America by tanker ship.) ((Trader Joe $4.99))
Meanwhile, here in Redondo, far, far from New Zealand, our friend and former neighbor, "D" came for what turned out to be a minor champagne tasting and app grazing. Knowing he is a wine aficionado (no, this is not polite-speak for "roaring drunk") I showed Steve's bottle to him and asked, "Have you ever heard of this winery?" knowing nothing about NZ wines and very little about Sauvignon Blanc either.
"Heard of it?" came the quick retort, "I've visited it!" My eyes flew open in shock and then I recovered, belatedly remembering "D" had been to NZ. He went on, "I OD-ed on the Sauvignon Blanc but came back on their Rieslings. They're drier, not as sweet as here or in Europe."
If that isn't proof that we do live in a small world, nothing would be.
Champagne Tasting
"D" brought a bottle of 2011 Laetitia Brut Champagne (Methode Champenoise because made in
Arroyo Grande Valley, CA) It was as crisp as a freshly-ironed linen sheet.
We countered with an Almond Creek sparkling wine someone had given us (and I hope to God it wasn't Steve or "D") which lived up to its label which read "almond-flavored." Perforce, it had a softer taste, due no doubt, to the almonds whose taste was definitely there.
Finding that we still had an ample supply of anecdotes to share, we turned to my old favorite, Amour de Paris which has a champagne front taste and a peach back taste. It can be legally labeled "champagne" as it is made in France (and quite possibly sent over to America by tanker ship.) ((Trader Joe $4.99))
Friday, December 25, 2015
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
The cards-in-the-mail didn't happen, but considering the opprobrium that snail mail is regarded, this shouldn't have been a surprise and it wasn't. Instead, this morning's e-mails included one from a friend updating me on his news. Jimsie and I have been friends since I was 18 and he was 28 and we were both cutting vast swathes of deviltry in Kansas City, MO.
He wrote of his recent back surgery and mentioned that he is beginning to enjoy 24 hour home nursing. He mentioned something about being spoiled and that he is finding that this is not a bad thing.
I immediately countered with this charming directive -- "Shift your lazy ass and listen to my tale of woe!" whereupon I updated him on my on-going miseries in the hip department and I am not using "hip" as it was used in the '60s.
What I learned for my own self is that yes, older people DO discuss their health, most recent surgeries, outcomes thereof and so forth and so on and I learned it at the Thurs. Writers annual Christmas luncheon!
La the merry confidences, the bravery-overcomes-all reports. I was shocked frankly to hear Richie and Laura having a cozy chat about her arthritis and Richie's recital of my hip woes! Good heavens, even I don't go on and on about it! (Which has to be a shock to many longtime readers.)
All of the above is to serve as a gentle reminder as we head into 2016: NEVER ask anyone over 60 how they're feeling, because by God, they'll tell you!
He wrote of his recent back surgery and mentioned that he is beginning to enjoy 24 hour home nursing. He mentioned something about being spoiled and that he is finding that this is not a bad thing.
I immediately countered with this charming directive -- "Shift your lazy ass and listen to my tale of woe!" whereupon I updated him on my on-going miseries in the hip department and I am not using "hip" as it was used in the '60s.
What I learned for my own self is that yes, older people DO discuss their health, most recent surgeries, outcomes thereof and so forth and so on and I learned it at the Thurs. Writers annual Christmas luncheon!
La the merry confidences, the bravery-overcomes-all reports. I was shocked frankly to hear Richie and Laura having a cozy chat about her arthritis and Richie's recital of my hip woes! Good heavens, even I don't go on and on about it! (Which has to be a shock to many longtime readers.)
All of the above is to serve as a gentle reminder as we head into 2016: NEVER ask anyone over 60 how they're feeling, because by God, they'll tell you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
