Friday 31 October 2014

Re - Watching...............

..... the ' Last Air Bender '. A movie version of a cartoon show.
The good guys , Benders of Water , Earth and Air. The bad guys , the Fire Nation. Fire = bad , got it.
This movie received negative to hostile reviews from fans of the genre. This information reveals that adults watch the LAB cartoon series. Alright , adults = cartoons , but so critical
My take , sci - fi fantasy , mysticism et al. Cute , stereo - typical
overall entertaining. I've wasted way more money on other more adult sounding and more mainstream movies.
Such as......
' That Championship Season '. To  be fair , we didn't watch past the setting up of the tragedy. The plot : a 20 year re - union of the starting 5 ( minus 1 , why ? dunno , ah the plot thickens) of a PA state championship team. Stars are Paul Sorvino , Vincent D'Onofrio , Tony Shaloub and Gary Sinese.
We (M and I ) kept looking at each other going ' well , are you liking this ? ' . Obviously , no.
Take aways : I always thought Tony Shaloub should do soemthing w/ that haircut on ' Monk ' , his TV show. Apparently , it doesn't  matter - all haircuts look weird on Shaloub.
Good actors make bad movies too ! Duh , just figured that out , right.

Weather : Weatherboy is dressed for winter , he's right , he's smart
Dreary describes the day.
We are busy , or will be busy running errands. A big day for us - rugs to be cleaned , mops to be bought - getting a theme here ?
I am.

JD news. The bust of John Denver on loan from the Colorado Music Hall of Fame was discovered missing from a radio station hosted masked ball.     The radio and TV announcement asked for JD s return , no questions asked.Yes , bring back the dead .. head.

Oh ,there are good guys in the Fire Nation , too , not many but you can tell I'm very prejudiced against Fire people.

Thursday 30 October 2014

Line in the Water and ...........

........... who knows





Cold , windy , hopeless and then .............
4 lb , maybe 3 1 / 2 anyway
Off the dock , looking into off colour water , and there he was


The weather is fall for sure - night time temperatures approaching freezing. Winds are cool to cold - rain threatens. We are faced w/ cool winds cycling over the Grt Lakes Basin absorbing moisture from relatively warm water.

At QMH , raking went well. And.......... the leaf blower contraption - leaf blower extension blew out the gutters. Awkward and very warm , as the outflow from the leaf blower hits my wrist. However it worked , and can be expanded , I think.

' Success  is measured sweetest by those who ne'er succeed
to comprehend a nectar requires sorest need '

E Dickenson

Tuesday 28 October 2014

Congrats

Jonas Salk would be 100 to - day. The key figure in the discovery of a Polio vaccine

Weather : rising temperatures , topping off at 70 + but bringing rain all day.

The leaves are way thicker on the lawn however there is still an abundance in the trees just waiting a big blow.


The photo is our ravine , approx 1 / 2 mi from our house
M's favourite TV drama , ' the Blacklist ' was on last night. James Spader is the villain / not close to hero guy. I'm a captive when M watches it but it is getting interesting

Our election , for city , happened yesterday. If you thought that you knew the mayor of Toronto from the ' Jimmy Fallon Show ' or somesuch then you only have about a month. He lost or rather his brother stand in lost.
The ex - mayor's followers are called ' Ford Nation ' we live in the heart of FN. How embarassing but our neighbours vote for the dude
I gave money to the other guy to make sure FN failed
Apparently , I'm part of the establishment , well to do and an elitist
... really ??  This is the FN line for donors to the John Tory campaign by the opposition.




Monday 27 October 2014

TV Madame Secretary

First , I adore Tea Leoni. She starred in the semi - comedy , mostly dark movie " You Kill Me " w/ Ben Kingsley.
Madame Secretary started this past month or so , sort of a ' West Wing ' but not in the WH. Bess McCord works out of another building and is ' called ' to the WH
So far , best show that I've seen.  ' Marvel Agents.... ' , well , I'm struggling to be interested , as opposed to last season which was intriguing and cute

Weather : Sunny , cool to start but headed for a balmy 50 +. Rain is due.
And the eavestrough are full of leaves after the weekend and  over-stuffed is the best descriptor.
On YouTube , a store owner was showing the Stihl extension for a leaf blower - reaches 20 ft into the air w/ a curve at the end. Cost $ 35 , reasonable.
We'll see how my cheapie version works using vacuum hose. You never know said the Zen Master.

Op Osm weigh in was yesterday , you thought that I forgot. Nope.
My weight was up almost a pound but the Zen Master has me convinced to keep at it.

Sunday 26 October 2014

Re - reads

Overall , I'm finding it hard to find films and books... TV shows , that are interesting.

Thus , I've read ' Instrumentalities of the Night ' 4 times in the last year and a half and..... the last vol. 2 x in a month and a half.
I've just finished a detective mystery from Martha Grimes , American writer who uses English pubs as the title and locale of her murders.

The TorStar is lauding the new show ' the Flash ' but I couldn't get into it.... way too modern ... I used to read the Flash in comics.

Films , I re - watched ' the Prairie home Companion ' , sort of plain but a nice story in all.

I do enjoy the English detective series' such a ' Foyle's War ' , ' Inspector Lewis ' and ' George Gently ' , these are the current productions available.

Weather : pleasant if cool and soon to warm up w/ rain
The wind has blown the leaves into a carpet on the back lawn - very fall - ish - gold , and brown.

This week's By the Numbers , was another winner , as in , ' How Crooked are Thai Police ? ' e.g. how much to bribe a cop ?

A cousin was sent to Bangkok for work. In his prep bundle was a tip sheet of ' Tourist don'ts ' , his wife was rolling when she read ' in strip clubs , do not lick a girl's nipples , you could get drugged '
OK ...........haven't been there and haven't done that
That was you morning giggle

Well ,off to tidy the yard and shorten the vent hose on the dryer --- its way too long and has 2 bends in it... I'll straighten it out a bit



Saturday 25 October 2014

The Way You ......

see it.
The city pressure flush the eavestrough experiment produced wet windows and water on the roof. 
To paraphrase Thomas A Edison ' I have discovered 2 ways not to flush the gutters '
The steel roof overhangs the eavestrough so much that the space allows for poor aiming of the water stream.
The effort did create a leaf dam that I was able to reach w/ an extension pole and clear the major blockage of leaves.
I've decided that a try w/ a leaf blower hooked up to the extra vacuum hose that I have might work.
Barring that I might be able to create a shepherd's crook affair for the nozzle to get the stream of water into the gutter.
We shall see said the Zen Master

JD or Mr Poems , Prayers and Promises , John Denver has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. JD died in a plane crash in 1997 after an almost pop culture career. JD was an army brat who caught on w/ the Kingston Trio and moved on to a solo career.

The worst accent in the U.S. , the poll says Pittsburgh followed by Scranton. This data would leave one to believe that PA has the worst accents period in the U.S.

Amazon builds a store. A building in NYNY. The store will showcase goods , allow for pick ups from on line orders and bring the physical to the virtual. The thinking is that items such as the Kindle Fire will sell better if potential buyers can handle the e - reader.

Weather :Partly sunny and 52 on the back deck - slight chance of rain

Friday 24 October 2014

# 900

The following is the entry #1

In the movie " Thor " the hammer is too big.  Thor looks like he's swinging a doll house.
It must be tough striking the balance between those who read ' Thor ' comics or know Norse Edda and the frosh who see a new action-fantasy movie.
Dr. Don Blake ( Thor's alter ego, on earth ) used a cane and limped. The cane became Mjolnir.
Of course, I pronounced it ' ma jol neer ' instead of ' mol-neer ' my Norse, not being fully developed at age 15.


I'm getting used to the hammer now that I've seen the " Avengers "
update 2012

The original entries were 2 sentences - pithy and poignant.
Evolution or the natural tendency to exploit a vacuum , that vacuum being between the ears , led to the present format.

I read Thor comics and Dr Strange as well.
I remember thinking the comics were not plentiful and waited for the next issues a long time.

Actually ,in the series that I'm reading " Instrumentalities of the Night " the author uses Norse mythology and " Ordnan or Odin " as characters out of the past for many nations.

I photographed the cover of the first vol and made the picture , the wallpaper background for the iPhone. Neat. Real , neat

Queen Elizabeth tweets - she's way ahead of me

Weather : beutii , sun and all

Overall , I deserve some credit for sticking w/ this blog thingy.
As mentioned when I go on an exploration of following blogs to this one , approx 8 / 10 are no longer running. Many of the blogs stopped upwards of 2 yrs ago.
Now ,we haven't covered the thought that maybe , when you've got nothing to say , you should stop.
Or reaching out is always good

Thank you Norton and Northborough  for being my audience 

Thursday 23 October 2014

Researching the Archives

I went back to #1 and found a review of sorts on the movie " Thor "
Thus , # 900 will be this review plus added features ( that I'm adding )

In summary , this week 2 Cdn soldiers have been killed. The first was hit by a car and the second died on post in downtown Ottawa.
Both perps were Muslim and Cdn.

Weather : what a delight , sun broke through - headed to seasonal temperatures

The experimental gutter cleaning system using the high pressure blow out tactic failed. The water squirted out and connecting was easy but pump pressure even magnified by the nozzle failed to push out leaves.
To -day's retry will use city pressure - much higher. At the Wasaga cottage when we switched to city water couplings popped all over the system.
I'm hoping there will be some leaf popping 

Wednesday 22 October 2014

From Dolly to Renee

Another big name hit the news - apparently , Renee Zellweger is stating to look like me. Well , at least not like Renee Zellweger.
Surmise , says , facelift or tummy tuck or whatever they do to themselves.

Weather : pleasant , cool not too windy - nice

The leaves are everywhere at QMH , however , the bigger trees are holding on , for one big blow... and ka bang they'll be bare.

Unfortunately , this week , a radicalized Canadian who was a Muslim convert , struck and killed an off duty soldier w/ a car.
The police chase ended when the car flipped and the suspected perp drew and knife and was shot by police.
And to - day ,in the gov't district of Ottawa and the House of Commons - a soldier on guard duty was shot and invaders opened fire in the centre block of the H of C. No identities have been revealed. The soldier was pronounced dead at the hospital.




Tuesday 21 October 2014

post #896

I've decided that a portion of the celebration of Post #900 will be a review of Post #1 , not critical b/c that would be ez- pz.

The CBC is dedicating to - day to Ebola information and education.
The head of a NGO in Liberia is lamenting the lack of ... well ... everything in Liberia. He stated that the money pledged will take months to percolate through official channels. His example was based on the agonizing process where 60 million ear-marked for Ebola relief , 4 months ago is 40 % in Liberia.

In Quebec , next door to us , a hit and run may have been related to radicalized Canadians who were Islamic State supporters. Two soldiers were hit by a car and to - day , one of the men died.

Weather : average fall conditions ,rain , damp and cool w/ 51 F on the back deck in the shade

Frito Lay announced the most voted for flavour of their new potato chip line -wasabi - ginger. I hope the realize that wasabi is ginger basically. Thus the new flavour is ginger - ginger.

He's at it again . Re -inventing the wheel. The back eavestrough is second story and the roof is metal. I was out w/ a long pole and found it difficult to move the leaves in the eavestrough.
On line , iRobot has a LOOJ crawler that remotely sweeps leaves and debris form eavestrough. for $ 400 , you too can robot clean your eavestrough. Reviews on LOOJ's performance are mixed.

During the night Sunday , I figured that I have everything that I need for a water blaster leaf remover. The contraption is a 22 ft telescoping pole , a self coiling hose ( collapsible kind ) and a watering wand w/out its sprinkler head. In place of the regular head the wand will get a concentrator head that increases water pressure by 60 %. ( made in the USA ). Pictures to follow. 
The Rube Goldberg set up will get tested at QMH b/c the garage is one story but the ground is very uneven on one side

We shall see said the Zen Master


Monday 20 October 2014

The Dolly Story

Last night on the buds , the CBC in a segment called ' Around Midnight ' , a re - broadcast of items from the week , ran the " Dolly Parton ' story.
Renowned singer in country and pop , the author of over 4 000 songs , and  the wealthiest woman in country and western music.
Her song ' I Will Always Love You ' made hugely famous by Whitney Houston , is ranked #5 all time in pop music.

She caught a break when the legend Porter Wagner needed a female singer for the ' The Porter Wagner Show ' out of Nashville in the 1960 s.
Dolly signed a 5 year deal and sang regularly and stayed 7 years. At the end of 7 years , she decided to go off on her own. Wagner fought the switch and tempers flared.
Dolly Parton showed up at Porter Wagner's door and said I need to sing you a song - ' I Will Always Love You ' - detailing her feelings and reasons that she needed to leave. Porter was mollified and asked to produce the song. The partnership ended and Dolly got a hit song out of  ' Always Love You '.
Three years later , Elvis Presley's team contacted Dolly's agent and asked to use the song.  A deal was struck in principle and work went ahead to set up a studio date.  Col. Tom Parker contacted Dolly's agent and said that it was customary for Elvis to take 50 % of the author's publishing commission for the song.
Despite the pleas of her whole support team , Dolly said , NO.
And of course , 15 years later , Whitney Houston turned ' Always Love You ' into a blockbuster hit. Rumours say that Dolly's home - mansion is paid from the royalties of the song.
Along the way , she continued to perform ,built DollyLand and created the ' Imagination Project ' to help disadvantaged people to read.
Recently , at Glastonbury Music Festival , 100 000 20 somethings sang ' Always Love You ' along w/ Dolly. Almost 50 years after she wrote the song , the audience knew the words - and belted out the whole song.

The Loop , the web page that I love to hate , had a banner announcing ' What to Do W/ leftover Vegetables '. This meant re - using vegetable leaves and stalks normally discarded. The cheepie idea that got my attention - potato peelings. Salt and oil the peeling and bake or fry the peelings to yield chip pieces. The peelings are high in nutrients.
Of course , Mr El Cheepo was all over this. And considering my latest efforts to make potato chips out of pita slices , well , it was a natural fit.

Weather : rainy , fall conditions and not much hope for 30 hrs.
However , eavestroughs are in good nick and run off , well , should run off , after the work that was done.

A report on the attempt to clean grout w/ baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. Time consuming , spread and rub in w/ a toothbrush , wait and scrub , rinse. The results , not bad. Recall this was a first go and long overdue , so , not bad , is good. The bonus , no reek of chemicals and that choking feeling when using tile cleaner in a shower. Biologically , friendly , and safe for your hands - please wear rubber gloves warnings , do not inspire confidence in me when I try tile cleaner.

Sunday 19 October 2014

Revving Up the Worry Machine

Figure , I could let it go....................

No, now , its cleaning grout
The mag " Women First " has 10 uses for hydrogen peroxide.
De - smelling your pet , sanitizing your dishwasher  etc
I used baking soda and hydrogen peroxide on the shower grout.
I did 1 / 2 the shower wall that I face. Thus , its possible to compare the sides
Results , we shall see said the Zen Master

Weather : a reasonable day - cool , yes , dampish , yes - wind seems down
The leaves are falling as are the Leafs ( our hockey team )

I'm a bit down myself - the emphasis on the QMH is lessened
Boat dry docked , so to speak and scut work needed around the place - same old , same old  Life goes on. Slowly , we 're de - cottaging and the process accelerates over the next month.
Takes a while to get used to the change in priorities.

World news : its still there
Someone is shooting someone. The markets are in flux. A strong U.S. greenback is hurting the $ Cnd.
I suppose that I should worry but there is grout aplenty in the house.


Saturday 18 October 2014

52 Deg

The sensor on the back deck reads 52 F in the shade , which is probably the temperature everywhere b/c the sun failed to show this morning Wind is up.

Ebola . The TorStar has an article ' Where the World Went Wrong '
ans: everything went wrong
This blog noted the emergence of the Ebola virus in late Mar. The efforts of non - gov'tl agencies and the ineptitude of the national gov'ts in affected countries. I partially blamed WHO , only to discover later , WHO had no on the ground abilities having lost its budget for emergency response.
Well , laddies check your temperature yourself  , buy raincoats , rubber boots and surgical gloves - in the TorStar , a W. African lady protected and cured her family , w/this equipment.

World News : has China out producing the U.S. 
White men do extremely well in U.S. politics. Representing 31 % of the population WM occupy almost 65 % of political offices

W/out eavestroughs and dryer vents to worry about , I find myself looking for problems.
From  ' Instrumentalities of the Night ' , Piper Hecht , leader of the Patriarchal army , gets this from his second in command ' boss you worry that there is nothing to worry about' 
Yepper , been there , doing that

Friday 17 October 2014

Oh , Canada .......

?????
The Loop occasionally has some titillating banner headlines.
Yesterday , ' 20 things Only in Canada '

Ketchup ( potato ) chips - gotya U.S.
Beavertails - sorta pastry thingy
Chrush ( brand ) cream soda pinky looking soda , pop
Bison , caribou etc ( as food choices )
Bannock bread Scottish origins , first nations staple
Nanaimo bars  think gooey brownie
Montreal style bagels smaller , sweeter , a deli fundemental
Kraft Dinner ( KD , you see ) or mac and cheese in US speak
Swiss Chalet dipping sauce ,  rotisserie chicken franchise
Montreal smoked meat , a deli delicacy
Kraft peanut butter , not ' Jif ' , Kraft foods brand
Donnair , think shawarma
Coffee crisp , a candy bar - biscuit centre
Split pea soup , origine au Quebec
Canada Dry ( brand ) ginger ale
Toritere , a meat pie's meat pie
Jos Louis ( say , Jo Looey ) , a Hostess Twinkie on steroids
Hickory sticks ,shoe string potato schips 
Smarties
Butter tarts

I can only tell you that everyone of the above items is ' must have ' for Canadian ex - pats , living or away in the States.
A good meat pie is a rarity in the U.S. c.f. what were used to up here.

Weather : throw it back kinda day
Nothing awful , its a day

A muffin morning. Yes , there are raisin bran muffins cooling out in the kitchen. The morning ritual , coffee and muffin ( mine )
The recipe is off the bag of Rogers Whole Wheat Bran 
Rogers is a western food corp famous for corn syrup.

Please help
Issue # 900 is coming
Please comment on your favourite post from the past or what you'd like to see here
There are only 2 of you , so the field is pretty open , you'll more than likely get a shout out if you reply











Thursday 16 October 2014

Saved by Neuroticism

Some people worry about world hunger , poverty and climate change - me , its eavestroughs and dyer vents.
Luckily , both have been solved - one a disaster / the other mostly aesthetic. The contractor dude showed up and conquered the dryer vent.
In this house ( previous owner a contractor ) some elements of the basic needs of the house are well done , others , well , your child w/ a hammer and duct tape could have been involved. 
The existing ( pre - existing , I mean ) was vinyl and ran through two walls and was bent 90 deg in two places. The 4 "vinyl connected to a galvanized brace of 3 " diam.
We ( he ) ended cutting an 8 x 10 " access panel through the closet floor. Plus two access holes in the basement drywall , 14 x 14 ".
Alls good now , but keep your child away from my house w/ that hammer.

I will sleep better to - night .......................no I won't , but its a nice thought

Weather : partly everything. Like they say about weather in Newfoundland ' if you don't like the weather right now , wait ten minutes. This is do anything weather ...walk , outside work or just look.

I've truly become enamoured of the vol 4 of  ' the Instrumentalities of the Night ' , I mentioned that I'm re - reading the book , 1 week after finishing it for the first time.



Wednesday 15 October 2014

Blew the Call

A - ha , outsmarted again , by myself
The boat was winterized and lower gear case oil changed , she won't go out again this year
This storage process could have been done next week, Problem would have been if anything goes wrong re: next week then I wouldn't get a chance until about the 8 th of NO. Ice / snow , 1 st week of NO , sure.
Thus , I did the winterizing , yesterday , in 75 F weather.
Last year , last week of OC , 40 F weather , the only thing that ran well was my nose.
I dropped the boat in the water and revved and fogged the engine.
The engine was likely cold. Draining the lower gc oil took forever.

This year , went for a spin , engine warmed ,  fogged the engine and drained the oil.
Beutii , what can I say.

You see if I'd planned better , I actually ,could have gotten 2 more fishing trips in. Oh well ,in your dreams is the saying.

Tough when the season ends. A lot of dreaming and scheming goes into the fishing year. Fortunately , I get a reprieve. I fish in Fla for JA / FE , almost 6 weeks. See , not so bad.

Ebola , they are worried now , where will it go next. They're testing in Spain , Belleville ,ON and in Texas , the second after care case is being quarantined.
The Texas hospital came up w/  ' obviously , some protocols weren't effective '  You think ??

Weather : Grey , dampish but not bad for OC - rain still threatens
Last night , the rain started at 7 P and I think it went all night.

We are in for big media battles , the big 3 media conglomerates that control all but 10 % of the entertainment market are set to go to war w/ Netflix.
Netflix seems to have engendered some real fear in the regular broadcasters. Each is rolling out a substitute for real time streaming as competition for Netflix.
My take and you'll be used to this , its only TV , good / bad and real ugly , is the norm. I just know my Bell bill is going to go up.
The CRTC ( regulator ) , is considering how to re - package TV channels so consumers get more choice. The big 3 are saying that they will comply. Yeah  , my bill goes up , betcha , betcha.


Tuesday 14 October 2014

Warmth of Summer

The forecast says , to -day , will be warmer than 20 something days this summer. Unfortunately , the rain follows close behind. We were on average for temperature , yesterday.
 The nights are getting colder , though.

A quote from the ' Instrumentalities of the Night , V 4 ' that I'm re - reading , caught my attention. The world that Glen Cook created is a parallel to Europe to Africa corridor including the Middle East.

His character says " In this messed corner of the world , everybody knew something about his neighbours beliefs , usually just enough to justify banging him over the head "
I thought the quote applied everywhere in the world not only in the Euro - Afri - Mid East triangle.

On the Ebola front , my job has been taken over by every media source in the world. Now , ask yourself - where were they when the numbers were at 300 dead and action would have curtailed the spread.


Monday 13 October 2014

Thnxgvng Trivia

Canadians have been celebrating Thnxgvng since 1578. Which is 43 yrs longer than the U.S. Why this means anything , I haven't a clue .Our Thnxgvng day originally marked the survival of  Martin Frobisher , Arctic explorer.
To - day is Canadian Thnxgvng Day. The American TD comes in a month and a bit.
Our day is conveniently 2 months out from Xmas. The retailers put up TD decorations and then ramp up the Xmas themes over the next while.
We can recover - digest the turk and extras and go full bore into Xmas mode starting Nov first.
In the U.S. , retailers convert from TD to Xmas  , overnight , which is remarkable and reportedly , a total abuse of staff.
More Americans travel on the TD week than on any other holiday week.
150 million people watch the Macey's TD parade

Americans eat so much turkey ( 5 lb / person ) that the US imports Canadian turkeys for Thnxgvng. Canadians consume 2 lb / person.


Then , Black Friday , when Americans spend $420 / person.

Our TD dinner was traditional. Turkey , stuffing ,  veg and mash potatoes , gravy and rice. However , we cooked a breast chunk and a thigh chunk , same pan. Normally , a whole turkey even small , takes 3 hr and we have left - overs up the whazoo.

I made turkey stock for soup w/ the bones and the left - overs are in two plastic containers , very manageable

Weather :grey , dampish 50 F in the back.

Have a good TD day , Canada

Sunday 12 October 2014

Cryptids

Animals of unknown origin or weirdies
On the buds , RTE , radio Ireland , presents documentaries. This week's doc was on ' cryptids ' of Ireland. It seemed to centre on big otters or feral cats. Big kills or haunting calls. I woke up.
Warm water and lemon at 6:15 A
Coffee on.
" I don't expect to sleep through the night "

Weather : ??????????????? pitch black out there

Cryptids the word , came up in the crosswords this week. As in , ' cryptid of the Western forests ' , sasquatch or bigfoot ( it was bigfoot )

Ebola: An expert in Guinea says that he foresees the end to the outbreak in 3 months. Basically ,people are now aware of quarantine and the transmission process. In March , e.g. , there was a lot of disbelief and mistrust of officials and aid workers.
As you may be aware , security for bio-hazards have been stepped up at major airports - check for fever etc.



Saturday 11 October 2014

Sunny Side of the Street

actually ,both sides of our street ( crescent ) , qualify

The fall colours are beginning , we have one show off tree that started the red thing , mostly goldy browns on the rest

World News : Making Planes Safer 
- data , 1 flight a year crashes into the ocean ( since 1980 , Boeing Corp )
P.S. there was more but ...boring

Oktoberfest : Disaster , beer sales have declined in Germany b/c of strict brewing laws ( ingredients )

107   litres of beer / German  ( down from 140 )

The travel season starts for us. We , now , have 2 trips to the U.S. booked for the remainder of 2014. We have not used Nexus , yet , but gossip says ' no biggie ' b/c we got the scare treatment from the interview dude at U.S. customs when we were interviewed.

Movie Reviews : ' Brighton Beach Memoirs " , very old about the 40's - growing up in Brooklyn. stars Jonathan Silverman in an angst riven , sex driven talk to the camera style
Excellent film  ( bought used $ 6 and worth every penny )
I thought the cousin , an aspiring dancer looked familiar - kinda cute etc Maybe , she is familiar but I didn't know the name

Shout - outs : How is life in Northborough , Mass

Thank you to Norton , for all your effort       SYS

Friday 10 October 2014

What Is ....

.. a carpuccino - according to the banner news bit on CITY Pulse , someone tried to use cappuccino to fuel a car. They called it a motor pick me up.

In the Loop , the information homepage for Outlook ( e-mail service ) there was a recipe for microwave potato chips
Using a potato peeler shave off potato slices. Soak the potato slices and dry. Add olive oil to a bowl and swish to potato shavings around , add a dash of salt.
Now, skewer the slices on a stick
Brace the stick on a bowl and microwave the ensemble for 4 - 8 min.
Result : by acclamation ,  not bad. Time consuming but tasty.
Maybe , I should have read more carefully , b/c each attempt makes enough chips for 3 or 4 nibbles.
This MW chip thing might be the ideal diet snack. Want to snack do some work , fatty , it slows down the eating part a lot. See ideal diet food.
Obviously , much less calories and fat than regular potato chips.
A repeat . Yes , especially away from home , e.g. Fla


Weather : bright , beautiful sun. 

Yesterday , a phone call came at 8: 30 AM , I let it ring.
At 9:15 , 2 trucks pulled up.
At 2:00 , they left
The result , there is a new 6 " deep eavestrough in place.
This renovation took away my water display - which was hockey sticks holding pieces of eavestroughing to shoot the water out over the garden.
Over the past ten years , it became apparent that repeated icing of the eavestroughs had created a lot of sag in the eavestrough run.
Thus, the water pooled in the eavestrough and didn't make it to the end and downspout. My solution , shoot the water out over the garden ( mostly ) in two places. Vastly , entertaining during a downpour if that's your idea of entertainment... worked for me.
M apparently , felt the cobbled to-gether water fall  less than aesthetic.
The story of my life.  Less than aesthetic

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder , is a major topic in the news. Across Canada , close to 50 suicides have occurred in people who are first responders. The latest , was a police officer. The media and public are blaming a culture inside the police force that disdains PTSD and mental illness , in particular. I think that the police force probably mirrors the public perception of mental illness.
If you consider the rank and file police and rank and file public , not the people making speeches , you will find that disdain.

And Ebola marches on... and on ... and on

Mah Jhongg is not going well , the record in the house is 3 min 46 s
and no one is coming close to that. Frustration in spades.

We shall see said the Zen Master



Thursday 9 October 2014

We Had It All

.... just  like Bogie and Bacall  " sang Bertie Higgins

The news banner on CITY Pulse said ' Lauren Bacall mad her last movie in 2003

Last night , marked a week w/out using the earbuds to listen to overnight radio. I was in the habit of sticking the buds in before I went to sleep , middle of the night and morning. I remember doing this kind of listening as teenager.
The attempt was to improve my sleeping habits. Reasoning that listening interfered w/ good sleep.
Really , I'm not sure its make a difference

The innocent sleep well ,     nuff' said

Weather: Cool to cold , its 7 AM w/a reading of 45 F on the back deck. Looks grey , the forecast is a trend to warmer temperatures.
Bringing rain though , in the next few days.


Wednesday 8 October 2014

Revisited

The towel warmer
The washroom at QMH is warmer , the Tw is on all night. The towel is warm. The wattage on the tW is 150 , thus , thats like leaving a light on - fairly economical , for that amount of heat
The TW is a little klunky but perhaps its a matter of getting used to it

Rice.  There was a time when M would ask if this rice or that rice is good. I was pretty fussy , crikey , I'm always a little fussy
Last night eating dinner , which was lamb and rice , I re - considered my position.  You see , I was eating Uncle Ben's microwave , garlic and ... rice. 2 minutes in the mw and slam bam , thank you ma'am.
Oh , how my morals have fallen

The Ebola patient in Texas died. He got to be # 1 Sympathies.

The weather is rugged , not freezing but strong winds and damp.
The wind on the 'bee was south then north but the predominant wind is supposed to a W wind.

Fishing was a zero , whats new.

The marine railway trolley got stuck and I had to bring a second winch to get the boat up on Tues. I greased the wheels and next time , the trolley came up easily.  Oh well , grease the wheels , life goes on.

Monday 6 October 2014

The Fall - out

On the Ebola front or spread. Bookmakers , now , have a target for betting purposes. The chance that Ebola will spread to France this month is 75 % and Britain 50 %.

The world record for longest line of classic cars was set in Mexico City at 1 721.

Here the WEATHER turned on us. We got rain and cold and it will keep coming. They tried to make us feel better by explaining why the rain is happening . Southerly winds are affected by the cooling surface water of the Great Lakes and warmth deeper down. Winds are gusting , so , its going to be uncomfortable out there on the 'bee.

Wind from the East , not fit for man o r beast
Wind form the North , wise fisher goes not forth
Wind form the West , fishing is best
Wind from the South , blows the bait in the fish's mouth

All S and SW winds for 3 days - now if I don't get hypothermia out there , I should be be a happy camper fisherman ( oops ! )

Almost at the end of that 4 th V of ' Surrender to the Will of the Night ' , and its terrific. I read / hear of books that transport you and there haven't been many.
I would list ' Fires of Spring ' Michener ( ? )
' the Red and the Black ' Stendahl
' the Big " E " ' the USS Enterprise ( WW II - carrier ) ..............?
and now , ' Surrender ........  '

So ,how is Northborough
and Norton  ?????????????

To get a shout out , become a follower of this blog
Its a very exclusive club , verrry exclusive

BTW - called Bell re : the LD kufuffle and the operator said ' how much ' and ' we'll cover it '
That s all - don't send a bill or anything Slam bang , thank you     ma' am        D - O N - E
neat. ( XXXXXX , that's my fingers crossed )

Be kind to your web footed friends
Oh , they'll be blasting away soon on the 'bee
killing everything that has wings

Sunday 5 October 2014

Pita , You

You got it. The topic is pita. Actually , pita brushed w/ balsamic dressing and dashed  w/ herb mix.
The recipe originates in  a book ' Looney Spoons' , a compendium of reduced fat etc recipes. I'll explain the ' pita chips ' and you'll get the idea.
Take the pitas and split them open. Cut the pita into 12 pieces. Spread the balsamic dressing on the open faces of the segments and dash w/ herb mix ( comes dry in a spice jar ).
I've found that 1 / 2  ing the pita and then knifing the halves open is easiest. Then cut into wedges.
The original used 1 tbsp of oil and a beaten egg white. I substitued the  low fat balsamic dressing. Much easier and no egg yolk left over.
Turns out that my way results in a pita chip w/ 16 cal. Or 6 is a hundred cal.
Bear in mind that the gist of the pita is to replace potato chips , thus you'd have to eat 2 whole pitas or 32 wedges to equal a medium bowl of potato chips. Thats calories , in fat , don't bother - the ratio is pita chips 20 - bowl of chips 200
You bake the pita wedges crispy.
Told you that I tried at the last poker game and it worked. not happy like a banshee but satisfied.

Now ,for the results of  Op Osm. I am down almost 15 lbs. Been long , Jul 19 til to - day. Let's talk about the way that I feel.

Deprived , I would say no , but feeling sorry for myself , yes.
Keeping the record straight , I've had beer and sushi this week. I watch the carbs e.g. last night - scalloped potatoes , check , bread , no check.
Dessert , yes.
I eat pita chips and carrots to snack. Or almonds and raisins at night. Sort of my own trail mix.
You understand that in the mode of most diet commercials , I'm supposed to tell you ' I feel great , younger than ever , I've got more energy '  yada , yada , yada
Not quite , I feel about the same. Pleased w/ the results , a little paranoid about gaining back weight. This paranoia is probably normal , for dieters , for me.
I think that all the advice that people have given me and that you hear is coming home to roost.
Portion control ( thats my cousin )
You snack too much ( M , herself )

Clothes that I hadn't worn in 2 years , are now doable.
However , the one imponderable is health. Yes , you can watch the scale but measure health ?? I have no way of telling. Like many things in life - we shall see said the Zen Master.

World news : India is short of water. 92 billion dollars to re - route waterways as a start , that estimate in 2004 dollars.
America's got a secret weapon. the F  - 22 , Raptor , stealth fighter
The f - 22 is expensive , 150 million each. Canada can afford 1.
Or 2. We'll most likely buy at the USAF garage sale for allies , in 5 years.

Lighter notes : the man bubbling his way to Bermuda or from Bermuda is rescued. He was walking the bubble across the ocean.
Ah ,perhaps too light , huh ?

Weather : looks good out there , 50 F on the back porch in the shade. Rain is coming , off and on for 3 days.

I've spent approx 6 years , reading and re - reading a series by author Glen Cook.  The 4 th in the series was published , this March. I , finally , bit the bullet and ordered the ' Working God's Mischief '. Reviews , noted that a familiarity w/ the original three volumes was required. A brief intro , but no in depth background.
I've got that in spades.
I've fallen in love w/ the book. The characters are being revealed in more detail and the absurdities are being extended.
I'm captivated by  the whole experience. Unfortunately , personages that I enjoyed in the previous volumes are dying.
The hardcover cost $ 34 but compared to ' Guardians of the Galaxy ' at some $ 15 , this book is a bargain. I'm thinking , in terms of a long time investment. Each of the previous volumes has been read at least 3 times.
FYI , I bought the first ( vol 1 ) in Worchester , Mass in 2008. The rest have come via Amazon. That first vol cost $ 5 / hardcover. The rest cost more - happy like a banshee.
You know  , we need to be careful here , I'm not sure , how happy a banshee can be. Weird , yes , happy ????????? OK , happy as a lark



Saturday 4 October 2014

Question

...answered
I ran into the grocery store and missed the answer to the question
' in Holland , what is a Chinese apple ? '
I was going to wait , then thought my Uncle Jack is Dutch , he'll know and I'll pick them up later.
He knew , it is an orange.

Weather : rain last night and cold to- day , well ,way colder than 3 days ago

Ebola seems to be the # 1 story , now that the dead exceed 4 000 and numbers such 50 000 are being tossed around.

ISIS , must be #2

And on the medical theme , enterovirus D69 is in the news - bringing the chance of permanent paralysis or immoblity , esp to young people

Friday 3 October 2014

' The Best Part of Waking Up '

.....Folgers in your cup ? The ad line

Mon , past ? was international coffee day , in that vein - coffee tidbits
The int'l coffee consortium wants you to know
a) coffee is a pick me up and unfortunately a drop me down as well

b) coffee will boost your metabolism , up to 10 %. Anyone who has O - D d on coffee will know the jitters from the stimulation. Many energy drinks are caffeine sources including diet supplements

c) moderate coffee consumption is capable of lowering Alzheimer       risk

d) coffee can reduce the risk of depression  I can tell them , not in       my case

On the buds , a coffee entrepreneur was discussing his love of  coffee. He mentioned types of beans and their origin. He next tells the host that he might go days w/ out coffee.
He said it all starts w/ the water. If the water isn't pure or clean , w/out chlorine or fluoride e.g. he doesn't drink coffee at that place.
I know people who pay $ 14 / lb for their coffee and grind at home
... then use T.O. tap water.
As well , the grinder needs to produce fine even particles. Spinning blade grinders do a poor job.

Here , its Folgers and tap water and you take your chances. Friends left Starbucks coffee at the QMH in the fridge. Its still there , we trot it out every now and then , to experiment. mostly , b/c thats how I feel after drinking it - an experiment

Weather : not bad , little damp , little warm , little sun

Yesterday , the workers came and buried the run off pipes. When we bought the place the run off from the roof went down into the  ground at the house. Someone had repaired the ground pipe but we decided to re  -route the water across the pavers. When we re - did the front w/ interlock , the company buried the run off pipe. 
Unfortunately , they used a perforated drain pipe and the overflow was digging out the interlock.
I re -routed this spring but over top of the interlock and it looked ugly - functional but ugly. I dug a dry well at the edge of the interlock in case the pipe was freezing and causing the overflow.
But the perforated pipe was still under the interlock.
The workers lifted the interlock and re - buried a solid pipe up to the dry well. Now ,the perforated drain pipe runs away from the dry well only.
The other side of the garage had a similar problem but no place to bury the run off pipe. Solution , shoot the water out over the boulevard , as in a waterfall. The neighbour thought the water was bouncing off his wall in a wind. I ran a run off pipe over the interlock.
The workers buried the pipe by digging up the boulevard. Done in one.

So , how was your day ???

Thursday 2 October 2014

A Life Unexamined....

.. is not worth living  < according to Diogenes ??? >
On the buds , the CBC aired a segment on analyzing your writing.
As in , is your style conducive to  making others want to read your writing. And are you an effective writer.
This is 4 AM and to quote Paul Simon " I don't expect to sleep through the night " but this is nuts. I've been tossing and turning since 2 AM.
A mosquito bite happened to get to the itchy stage during the night
and that surely didn't help
There I am scratching away , thinking ' is my writing interesting '
Part of me is wisely saying , # 1 , how many people does this affect. And if they don't read it , how will you know ?

As well , another segment was on the topic of TV shows. Now , you would think that I must have known something about the topic.
We watch TV enough hours for sure , to qualify.
Nope. The shows mentioned   ' True Detective ' and ' House of Cards ' ??????????????????????????
I may have mentioned when they give out those TV award thingies
that there is better than even chance that this house has never seen an episode.
Talk about out of the loop ! We were never in it.

Ebola. Nigeria announced that the country is Ebola free after isolating and treating a relatively small number of patients. Rumour had it that the strain was not the same as in Liberia , Senegal and Sierra Leone.
Further , correspondents for the CBC and others were commenting on the some 4 000 children orphaned by Ebola in Liberia.

I keep a ' Note ' page on the i Phone to remind me of information that I may want to use in the blog - yes, I plan the torture , way in advance of writing.

The tree. A while ago , a letter came from the city , your property has qualified for a tree planting. I thought about it and ended with ' oh , another living thing that will die from mis - treatment on our property. I didn't reply.
Apparently , that means that you agree - we have a tree. The truck pulled up and bingo - bango ... A black gum tree is a resident. Complete w/ plastic bag wrap - to keep in moisture  ? - see , we don't even know what the bag is for.
This new addition joins the tulip tree about which I have mixed feelings , its supposed to be decorative , and a .... cypress which we call the ' scarecrow tree ' an it is big and I never liked it.
We think that the new arrival has spelled doom for the tulip tree b/c now we can take it down and there is something to take its place.

I'm off to get a glass of milk and stumble back into bed. And try to get back to sleep. I hope Paul didn't write ' and I never get back to sleep '


Wednesday 1 October 2014

So , You Thought

You're aware of the strategy. Call Bell and whine - customer loyalty says ' lets see what we can do '
Upshot , our bill gets reduced by $ 20 - at least we're under $ 200

For Sept , I was calling Ohio and Vancouver all ' free ' w/ the new Bell promo
On a whim , went on line and checked the invoice for Yak - our used to be provider. Saw the Aug bill. Called Yak to ask what charges would be on the Sept invoice - 13 calls from Sept 4 to the 28.  Eek ! Bell was free - Yak was still charging

The Bell tech who sent the notice  that we were now Bell Long dist customers didn't switch us over to Bell

After 20 minutes w/ Bell , the switch over will occur in 2 days.
When we receive the Yak invoice for Sept , call Bell and they'll ' help ' How ??? Who knows

And do you think the Bell switch guy would say - you can verify your LD carrier by calling this number ( CRTC ) - recorded voice says ' your carrier is _______ '
Crikey , this world , my world
I read an article back in the 1980 s that said , an analysis of office work showed that the average employee spent a 1 / 3 of the day correcting their mistake or someone else's
Things stay the same ?? 

Ebola comes to the U.S. , in Texas , a traveller from Liberia is very sick w/ Ebola. You're safe. This message from every expert who is at least 2 000 miles from Texas.

Canada was rated ( yes , its us ) 4 th in the World for best places to be elderly. This poll does not take into consideration , do you want to be old ? Canada was behind Norway and Sweden in the poll.
Canada's pension and health care got us up in the top.

The fishing drought is over. Last night , after 2  1 / 2 h of bobbing around on the river , magic happened. In a 1 /2 h period , I caught a walleye and 4 largemouth  bass ( could have been 5 but 1 jumped off at the boat ).
In fact , the bass were caught in a frantic 15 min window
There will be no photos , the bass refused to give their permission for release on the internet

The walleye was dinner and breakfast. The fillets were dusted w / flour and dipped in egg mix - coated with panko crumbs.
Delicious , delicious and best b/c it was fresh. 20 minutes from cleaning to pan.