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Sitting Pretty
Latest from the stainless steel counter, a new combination made exclusively from liqueurs.2 parts sweet vermouth2 parts Cachaca1 part Amaretto liqueur1 part fresh lemon juiceSwirled and served up,...
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The O.J. Simpson Psychopathic Confession
Fox News decided to bring out its old Interview with O.J. Simpson, conducted in 2006 to promote a book to have been published by HarperCollins--which was initially cancelled at the time due to the...
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Manet's pre-Modernist Challenge
Le Dejeuner sur l'herbe [The Luncheon on the Grass 1863] is a painting by Edouard Manet [1832-1883]. It is a familiar painting, now recognized as among the most important pre-Modernist paintings. The...
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Bach's Italy thru the Eyes of an Hungarian Exile Jew
Bach's keyboard piece Italian Concerto (originally title Concerto in the Italian Taste), was published in 1735. It was conceived as an emulation or adaptation of Italian chamber music to the...
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Come Spring
It's been an odd year.The predicted droughts of Global Warming haven't quite materialized, though the winter rains weren't quite enough to reassure Californians. As anyone knows, the crucial factor is...
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Apropos of New Chips
Apropos of nothing in particular, here's a tequila recipe.Actually, to be frank, the idea popped up when I discovered a new "chip" in the grocery this afternoon.One of the local Mexican restaurant...
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On a Photograph of Philip Hyde
Philip Hyde [1921-2006] was among the first photographers to feature and promote photographic imagery in support of environmental ideals. Beginning in the early 1950's, he along with Ansel Adams, and...
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Prepare to be Frustrated
The Grammar Nazi has been away for some time, but he's back again.Actually, this post won't be about grammar, though grammar is often on his mind these days, stimulated on a regular basis by the public...
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Another Aperitif
Summer again, and time for cool accompaniments to relaxing late afternoons. This one's composed entirely of liqueurs, with no "goods" as such. Which makes it purely an aperitif, in the European sense,...
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Smooth landing
The recipe:3 parts select bourbon1 part Amaro1 part dry vermouth1 part B & B liqueur1 part fresh lemon juicepoured over ice in any common tumbler What is dryness in language?What is dryness on the...
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Duet for Two Mixes
Here are two new inventions from the steel counter.When we built our house in 1991, I wanted a stainless steel counter. I didn't have anything specific in mind regarding kitchen activity, I had just...
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From the Gallery of Heroes
Willie McCovey died yesterday at age 80.As with all such events, it was another reminder of time passing. Willie's death was not unexpected, since he'd been having health problems for several years,...
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Pedigree from a Prix Fixe
Bill Berkson's Since When [Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 2018, 262pp.], as an analogue of his life, seems pretty much right on.It starts out with a fairly traditional straight "David Copperfield...
View ArticleTwo New Recipes with An Irrelevant Commentary
Regarding the smokey air from the so-called "Camp Fire" forest fire in Northern California in November 2018. Commentary: This may seem counter-intuitive, but I grew up in a house with a man who...
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The Border Security Debate
The current heated debate about security at the U.S.-Mexican border offers few new ideas or analyses. Despite fluctuations in the number of illegal crossings, the problems of illegal entry, drug and...
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D E C A D E S
Time and duration. Increments. Segments. Blocks. Threads. We tend to think of time in terms of the astronomical events that govern our existence. The turning of the earth, day and night, the seasons,...
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"Babies Dying in the Desert! Babies Dying in the Desert!"
This morning I had a fantasy meditation about the crisis at our southern border with Mexico. It was an exaggerated version of the sort of media event we've been subjected to routinely over the last few...
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China Trade War
Many people prefer to believe that the world is entering a post-apocalyptic stage, that the peoples of the earth will soon co-exist in harmony with one another, and achieve a general prosperity and...
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April Photo Op in Charleston South Carolina
Caught this strange shot looking up along a side-street in Charleston, South Carolina during our swing through the South in April of this year. I think of it as an expression of skewed perspective...
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Quote for the Day
"Having a baby is like trying to negotiate a grand piano through the transom window."...
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