we’ve featured them before singing this:
and still find them endearing.
those scandanavians.
what can i say. i have a weakness.
as if you needed another reason to go to downtown wine & gourmet’s wine tasting tonight:
College wine tastings can prevent alcoholism among pupils, believe French advisers
the theory being that controlled wine tastings can prevent binge drinking.
no.
so, for the good of our community, it is your duty to attend the wine tastings each week.
yes.
5-7p tonight!
just wondering…
if macrock is is scheduled to happen april 2-3, and only 20 bands have been announced/alerted that they are officially on the bill, how do the organizers expect this thing to fly?
are bands expected to hold the weekend “just in case”?
seems like most bands plan ahead – like more than 3 weeks ahead – for a major event.
i bet that back in the day, you didn’t wait around to inform fugazi, elliot smith, and sufjan stevens that they were invited to perform.
what’s up, macrock?
we really look forward to feeling like harrisonburg is cool like austin once a year. it’s been good times in years past…
here’s to hoping that it’s just your website that is a little slow this year…
there were some very exciting new foodstuffs delivered to downtown wine and gourmet today…
including the realization of a special request from a very pregnant woman desperate for a grown-up alternative to cranberry gingerale:
jason,
you rock.
Filed under: -of deals, -of drink, -of harrisonburg, -of jgrimsrud, -of localism, -of sound
i made my regular visit to kroger, mainly to get a new round of homestead milk (i miss the eggnog!), and of course the impending-doom-panic of a snow-inspired grocery run.
the $2.00 bottle deposit may be offputting to some, but not only do i believe it to be worth it, but the bottle return cash i get at the front desk leads me & my 3-year-old across the parking lot to goodwill. with a few milk bucks in my pocket, we’re set to score some toys & books. today’s crop included:
two mini coopers, one eric carle book about cats,
a recycled frisbee,
and some amazing books.
(today, i believe the Lord would gather his flock around the water cooler.)
i was thinking of using the latter as freebie giveaways for preacher’s show on wxjm live this thursday night (streaming here). 
but we’ll see if i can bear to part with them…
i’ve written & ranted before about kids’ programming in the past, mostly about grumpy old takes on the new (vapid, pandering brain-killers) vs the classic (hilarious, fantastic, subversive gems) in kids’ shows.
i can’t decide if this proves or disproves my theories (that the specialization, in terms of developmental-appropriateness, etc., along with the evolving purposes of kids’ tv time, have led to a present-day situation where most grown-ups wouldn’t want to bother actually spending time with their kids enjoying a program; not to mention the escapist hell of vanilla, straight-edge, politically-correct subject content), but it’s my 3 year-old’s new favorite:
and, there’s pingu:
our esteemed governor-to-be looks to be a rising star in the teabagger-cum-republican movement.
bob mcdonnell believes in the campsite rule (just like dan savage!), and pledges to leave this darn commonwealth a nicer, cleaner spot than he found it, which evidently means stopping tax adjustments, as suggested by outgoing tim kaine,
McDonnell, who will succeed Kaine on Jan. 16, promised to work “in a bipartisan fashion” with House and Senate money committee leaders to make the cuts necessary to balance the budget, but he added that “it is bad economic policy to increase taxes on Virginians” during a recession.
in favor of cutting program funds (i.e. local teachers, etc.).
the state of oregon has a different idea: raise taxes on the wealty, & large corporations:
Oregon voters bucked decades of anti-tax and anti-Salem sentiment Tuesday, raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy to prevent further erosion of public schools and other state services.
The tax measures passed easily, with late returns showing a 54 percent to 46 percent ratio. Measure 66 raises taxes on households with taxable income above $250,000, and Measure 67 sets higher minimum taxes on corporations and increases the tax rate on upper-level profits.
The results triggered waves of relief from educators and legislative leaders, who were facing an estimated $727 million shortfall in the current two-year budget if the measures failed.
so, bob mcdonnell, can we clean up our campsites just like those oregonians?
or will moderate “democrats” give you another pass on your pseudo-populist hypocrisy?
another bit of sad news came this week: the death of jd salinger. i immediately thought of the onion, who just ran an obit:
“Bunch of Phonies Mourn J.D. Salinger”
but the news made me think of this gem:
“Search For Self Called Off After 38 Years”
The search initially showed great promise, with Speth’s early discovery of his uncle’s old Doors records and a copy of The Catcher In The Rye. Over the next two decades, however, the “leads just petered out.”
Filed under: -of civil rights, -of human rights, -of jhumphrey, -of politik, -of reads
we’ve posted about our small obsession with under-the-radar, pseudo-restaurant, dinner parties before.
(we’re hosting one for Friendly City Co-Op in Feb…)
so, i was particularly keen on this:
sounds a hell of a lot better than cuchi guidos to me…
and, to top it off, even if we wanted to drink away our tears at the state of the nation, we can’t.
or at least it’s more difficult to obtain the necessary ingredients for a manhattan.
the bitters are suspended.
thanks to the recession, which has reached trinidad & tobago, production of angostura bitters has been halted:
glad we picked up a super cheap bottle (randomly) at teetotaling sharp shopper a few months ago.
the most requested video around these parts today:
gregory hines, sammy davis jr., tap dance-off…does it get better?
well. along dance-theme lines, this was also popular among the 3 year old set:
isn’t that soundtrack (to 1985′s white nights, featuring mikhail baryshnikov, helen mirren, gregory hines, and a pre-blue velvet isabella rosallini) fantastic? sort of a passionate russian tom waits. it’s vladimir vysotsky. here’s more of the bard:
this week has been red letter for podcasts.
(isn’t that all bloggity of us to push other crazy new-fangled computer media on you?)
however, if you’re feeling nervous, take comfort in knowing that both of these audio suggestions lead directly to new books…
1.) god we love patti.
check out fresh air, terri gross, and patti smith.
2.) and we think michael is damn straight.
now, go directly to on point, tom ashbrook, and michael pollan.
way to go, massachusetts.
every man for himself.
long live the tea party.
(dan savage says that if you need a laugh, go here to get it.)
someone at work said they were listening to the radio the other day. (you know, top 40 with annoying-as-hell sound effects and reverb-heavy commentary by announcers on speed?) apparently, there was some clever call-in question about whether women can possibly be pregnant and hot at the same time. that conversation quickly turned into a laugh-fest about how gross it is to see a preggo wearing a bikini.
here’s some vintage south american charm to put a sock in that discussion:
this is the scoop on the photo (according to hot, pregnant, aussie blogger anna):
Brazilian actress called Leila Diniz, who in the 60′s during a time of repression shocked the entire country by showing her baby belly in a bikini. Apparently she was considered vulgar by women of her time, but I think she looks beautiful and so calm in this image, which became a symbol of feminine revolution in Brazil.
smack.
Filed under: -of human rights, -of jhumphrey, -of politik, -of the outside world
i’ve been pondering how to go about sifting though the possibilities for helping haiti.
it’s always difficult to figure out what to do, what to send, and to whom.
i’ve been thinking a lot about this one in particular:
paul farmer’s organization has been working in Haiti for 20 years. we’ve heard him speak before about PIH on democracy now.
the book, mountains beyond mountains, by tracy kidder, documents his efforts to provide health care and social justice in haiti. i remember thinking it was a pretty great read.
tracy kidder talked with rachel maddow about PIH’s efforts in post-earthquake haiti and said this:
Well, not all aid organizations are created equal. There are some very good ones and I didn‘t mean to slam all of them, you know, in one fell swoop. All I meant to say is that there are 10,000 aid organizations in Haiti, and Haiti is still one of the poorest countries in the world then something‘s wrong with the way things are—the aid is being administered.It seems to me that the real problem is that—that many organizations are not willing to work together or they don‘t know how to, or, you know, the mechanisms for doing that haven‘t been established. But even more than that, that they have not really endeavored to make their projects, to make their work indigenous. And what I mean by that is they have not done what Partners in Health has really striven to do, which is—which is to work as closely as possible with the government and the particularly that agencies, in their case, with the Ministry of Health. There is no other way, finally, to improve the state of a place like Haiti.
and, in the same vein, he had a to-the-point editorial regarding this issue of “aid” in the face of disaster in the new york times:
There are the many projects that seem designed to serve not impoverished Haitians but the interests of the people administering the projects. Most important, a lot of organizations seem to be unable — and some appear to be unwilling — to create partnerships with each other or, and this is crucial, with the public sector of the society they’re supposed to serve.
. . . .
The ultimate goal of all aid to Haiti ought to be the strengthening of Haitian institutions, infrastructure and expertise.
. . . .
But there are effective aid organizations working in Haiti. At least one has not been crippled by the earthquake. Partners in Health, or in Haitian Creole Zanmi Lasante, has been the largest health care provider in rural Haiti.
. . . .
As a result of this calamity, Partners in Health probably just became the largest health care provider still standing in all Haiti.
Fortunately, it also offers a solid model for independence — a model where only a handful of Americans are involved in day-to-day operations, and Haitians run the show. Efforts like this could provide one way for Haiti, as it rebuilds, to renew the promise of its revolution.
so – for it’s dedication to sustainable aid and tight partnership with other respected organizations (doctors without borders, the haitian ministry of health, etc.) this is where we suggest your money goes.
if you want to give, go here:
Filed under: -of civil rights, -of human rights, -of jhumphrey, -of politik
i’ll leave it up to you to decide just who made that pact.
way to make the world a better place, pat. your timing is impeccable as always.
in two centuries.
new rubble piled on top of the poorest country in the western hemisphere.
“Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed.
Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed.”
— President René Préval of Haiti
