BURNING MAN PART II

A friend of mine (Scott Trump), that I went to High School with, is a big time burner and has gone to Burning Man several times. This year while another friend (Wade) went out to visit Scott (who lives in Oakland, CA)and Wade got to wear one of Scott's coats that he had made especially for Burning Man. Thought I would share this great photo that Wade sent me....Cool. Wondering what I would wear?

I am going to try and go next year!!

• Ten Principles of Burning Man....
• Radical Inclusion-Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.
• Gifting-Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.
• Decommodification-In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.
• Radical Self-reliance-Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on his or her inner resources.
• Radical Self-expression-Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.
• Communal Effort-Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction.
• Civic Responsibility-We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.
• Leaving No Trace-Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.
• Participation-Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.
• Immediacy-Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.

Wheels Weekend- Lancaster PA =9/13-14/2008

Wheels Weekend ...
Join the City of Lancaster in celebrating everything wheels! The annual "Wheels" event — typically held one day in September — will run two days this year, Sept. 13-14, 2008.

The Wheel-themed weekend, presented by Schwanger Bros., will include the "Wheels of the City" display, the City's annual car and cycle show, sidewalk sales, and special art exhibits.
*Saturday, September 13 - See the latest and greatest in city equipment — trash truck, a street sweeper, police interceptor, dump truck and more — at the Wheels of the City exhibit. Listen to the cool, funky sounds of The Car Music Project. You'll hear all new tunes from old car parts, ringing out to create a fusion of jazz, rock and classical music. Opening for the Car Music Project is local jazz favorite Canal Street Hot 6. The concert runs from 3 to 6 p.m. at Binns Park and features great food from Downtown restaurants, including Dan the Man BBQ, Prince Street Cafe, Spyro Gyro and Treats Creamery. On Saturday night, enjoy a free movie at Binns Park: the Elvis classic "Roustabout," beginning at 9 p.m.

*Sunday, September 14 - Wheels roll into Downtown for the City's annual Car and Cycle Show, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. See more than 200 cars and cycles lining the 100-300 blocks of North Queen Street. The day features vintage wheels, and a special feature: "Ask the Scooru," where you can check out vintage scooters and get all your scooter questions answered. Listen to the oldies at an afternoon concert featuring The Nomads, at Binns Park, noon to 2 p.m. Plus a special appearance by Elvis.
Throughout the Weekend - Hubcap flowers will be in bloom all around the Downtown! Children from the Boys and Girls Club, Lancaster Recreation Commission and YWCA's summer programs created these specially designed hubcap flowers.

Local artists will also exhibit special wheels art installations. And if you love motorcycles, don't miss the Lancaster Museum of Art's Barnstorm Weekend featuring motorcycle tours, art exhibits and activities, all to benefit the Lancaster Museum of Art. Visit or call LMA at 717-394-3497 to register. And don't forget about shopping! Over 20 shops will have sidewalk sales throughout the weekend — a chance to get a great deal on one-of-a-kind items! For more information on Wheels Weekend, visit the Mayor's Office of Special Events' new web site, or call 717-291-4758. http://www.lancastercityevents.com/wheels.html

What just Happened? Sarah Palin-Who? Qualified?

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:
*She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience. (1)
*Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest. (2)
*She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. (3)
*Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools. (4)
*She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.(5 )
*She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.(6)

***How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.(7)

Remember Dan Quayle? Thinking back on the those West Wing episodes. I choose this picture of Sarah Palin because maybe she can teach Senator McCain about the Internet since he has admitted he is just learning about how to use it.

I am fact checking my MOVEON statements from above also...

1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin
2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-4668509-0grFJxx&t=1
3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-4668509-0grFJxx&t=2
4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-4668509-0grFJxx&t=3
5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-4668509-0grFJxx&t=4
6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-4668509-0grFJxx&t=5
"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-4668509-0grFJxx&t=6
"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-4668509-0grFJxx&t=7
7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-4668509-0grFJxx&t=8

Labor Day-Think about it

For those about to work, we salute you ......
Monday marks the celebration of America’s workers. Everybody should take this Labor Day to salute the millions of Pennsylvanians, and all Americans, past and present, who labor to make life better. On this day we not only celebrate the dedication and accomplishments of workers, we also take time to reflect on ways to ensure better working conditions for them.

In the past two legislative sessions the of the PA Legislative House passed bills that would ensure worker and patient safety by banning mandatory overtime for nurses and other direct patient care workers. We're still waiting for the Senate to act, and you can help us call on the Senate to vote on it through our online action center.

We also are working on pro-family, pro-middle class legislation that would make sure workers are given breaks at their jobs and have the ability to care for themselves and their families in times of illness without fearing job loss.

PA House Bills 1756 and 1757 would guarantee employees rest and meal breaks during their work day. House Bill 1155 would allow workers to accrue up to 52 hours of paid sick leave per year, or half that amount if the business has fewer than 10 employees.

As the national economy continues to struggle, Pennsylvanians are working harder than ever to put food on the table, pay for health care and send their kids to college. House Democrats believe it is state government that should be working harder – working harder to complete the unfinished business of the 2007-08 legislative session.

When the General Assembly reconvenes Sept. 15, House Democrats will continue our fight for a legislative agenda that seeks to ensure health-care coverage for working families, an energy conservation strategy so people can afford electricity and property tax relief that will help Pennsylvania's past and present workers stay in their homes.

FOR MORE INFOR CONTACT: PAHouseDemocraticCaucus@pahouse.net

Low-Alcohol Beers

I like Low_Octane beers if they are flavorful....here is an interesting article that appeared in today's NYTimes...
By BETSY ANDREWS
Published: August 26, 2008 in the New York Times

KELLY TAYLOR was tired of the limited choices of beers he found at bars: either insipid lightweights or staggering powerlifters.

MILD BUT FLAVORFUL- Many low-alcohol beers are from Britain, but American microbrewers are now concocting their own.

LOW-OCTANE NIGHT- Beers that do not pack an alcoholic punch are popular at the Diamond, a bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
“There was no middle road,” he said. “We wanted to make beer where you could have a few and not have to go take a nap.”

So Mr. Taylor, the brewmaster at Greenpoint Beer Works in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, which brews for several local companies, started the Kelso of Brooklyn label in 2006 to make the quaffable beer he craved. Last year Kelso introduced a Fall Session ale. At 3.5 percent alcohol, it is full of flavor and less alcoholic than Bud Light (4.2 percent).

While many craft brewers are trying to quench the nation’s growing thirst for extreme beers pumped with alcohol, Mr. Taylor is one of a small but growing number of brewers, beer experts and importers who are applying the brakes and turning toward well-made low-alcohol beers.

“A bunch of guys talk in the market,” said Don Feinberg, a founder of Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, N.Y., and an importer for Vanberg & DeWulf there. “We’ve all been saying the same thing for about 18 months now, which is, enough of the high octane.”

Mr. Feinberg imports boozy Trappist and farmhouse ales, but in April he introduced a brew from another Belgian tradition: bières de table.

“When I lived there in the late ’70s and early ’80s,” he said of his time in Belgium, “everybody drank it for lunch, from grandmothers to kids.”

His new import, Brasserie Dupont’s spicy, yeasty Avril, is all of 3.5 percent alcohol. By comparison, the brewery’s more famous farmhouse ale, Saison Dupont, is 6.5 percent.
Tom Peters said Avril was selling well at his beer bar, Monk’s Café, in Philadelphia.

“Most people equate Belgian beer with big body and high alcohol, so having something like this seemed like an anomaly,” Mr. Peters said. “First, I had to educate my staff, and now they’re totally behind it. They really like to serve beers without being concerned they have to tell someone who’s drinking 8 or 9 or 10 percent alcohol, O.K., you’ve had a couple, so we have to slow you down now.”

For him, he said: “If I just want one beer, that high octane is stellar. If I want to drink several pints, I want something where I can still have a conversation.”

Other lovers of low-alcohol beer turn to Britain, where a long history of pub culture combined with a system that taxes beer according to alcohol level keeps ales at about 4 percent alcohol. Among British microbrews available in New York, Harviestoun Brewery’s grapefruity Bitter & Twisted, Orkney’s ruby-hued Red MacGregor and Daleside’s mild Old Leg Over exemplify the low-alcohol, full-flavored tradition.

“My brother and I lived in Europe, and we loved English milds because you got a lot of flavor, could have a lot of them, not get drunk, not get full, and really enjoy the taste of beer,” said Jason Ebel, an owner of Two Brothers Brewing Company in Warrenville, Ill. For the opening of their tap house this year, he and his brother, Jim, brewed a nicely hopped 3.9 percent ale, Mild, that was so successful they shipped kegs of it to New York. It has sold well at Bierkraft in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

“I think there’s a good chunk of the bigger players in the craft beer world that are starting to look at this,” Mr. Ebel said.

In fact, some bigger craft breweries already bottle beers that are below 4.5 percent alcohol. Shipyard has included a mild brown in their samplers for years, and Harpoon introduced a Brown Session Ale last year. There are also low-alcohol summer wheats like Magic Hat’s Hocus Pocus.

Last year on his blog, Seen Through a Glass (lewbryson.blogspot.com), Lew Bryson, a beer writer, began championing session beers: well-made low-alcohol brews meant for long nights at the bar. “Unfortunately, we have come to associate low alcohol with low flavor,” Mr. Bryson said in an interview.

NOT So!!!

Rachel Maddow update MSNBC will have her own show

Rachel Maddow Update:
Rachel Maddow will replace Dan Abrams as host of the 9PM hour on MSNBC, the New York Times' Bill Carter reports. Just last month in a Times article by Jacques Steinberg, MSNBC president Phil Griffin declared Maddow "at the top" of a "very short list" for those who should have their own show, though at the time he said he "[didn't] know when" that would be. As Carter reports, the final stretch of the 2008 election season will be Maddow's debut as the host of her own MSNBC show.

Time for Burning Man

I have never been to Burning Man but I have longed to go for a long time. Due to my health I worry about being out in the desert for the length of the BURNING MAN CELEBRATION. As the days are drawing near for the 2008 Burning Man I wanted to share some of the information I found out.

Burning Man is an annual event held in Black Rock City, Nevada. The event starts on the Monday before, and ends on the day of, the American Labor Day holiday. The event is described by many participants as an experiment in community, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening. The event is organized by Black Rock City, LLC. In 2007, 47,366 people participated in The Burning Man Project.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Man

http://www.burningman.com/

Trying to explain what Burning Man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind. Check out the web site and you will find the peripheral definitions of what the event is as a whole, but to truly understand this event, one must participate.

Help the Honey Bees=Haagen Dazs

http://www.haagendazs.com/products/product.aspx?id=354

From the Haagen Dazs web site-Our vanilla honey bee ice cream blends creamy vanilla with a touch of golden honey. we've given this sweet flavor an even sweeter purpose: funding research to protect disappearing honey bee populations.
Honey bees play a key role in creating ingredients (almonds, strawberries) used in nearly 40% of our flavors. learn about the honey bee's plight and how you can make a difference at helpthehoneybees.com.

I have been fascinated about the phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) since reading an article some time ago in the New Yorker.

Iron Hill Brewery- Lancaster PA-

Only o few more days left for Iron Hill Brewery's SUMMER LOBSTER BAKE SPECIAL * $24.95* Join us July and August for a traditional New England Lobster Bake"1 and 1/4 pound steamed lobster, littleneck clams, Prince Edward Island mussels,corn on the cob, fingerling potatoes, drawn butter and lobster broth. Add an optional 10 oz Belgian Wit or Hefeweizen for $2.50* half lobster option for $19.95.

Photo is of the Brewmaster at the Lancaster PA location =Paul Rutherford

Finding the GNOME

Gnomes are traditionally thought of as being small, bearded and wearing pointed, colourful, conical hats. They live in natural areas close to the Earth and care for wildlife. They are more benevolent than other folkloric creatures such as goblins. This traditional view is supported in such fictional works as The Secret Book of Gnomes.

According to certain medieval beliefs, Gnomes were deformed, usually with a hunchback, and were led by their king, Gob, who ruled with a magic sword.

We recently bought a garden gnome but have yet to place it outside, instead we find great pleasure in hiding it around the house and then finding the gnome. We haven't named Mr. Gnome yet.

Thinking about a fall road trip...World Beer Fest

Join "All About Beer Magazine" on October 4th 2008 for the 13th annual World Beer Festival. Where the best of beer, music, food and fun take place! Over 150 world-class breweries with more than 300 different beers. All About Beer Magazine's World Beer Festival - educating the public in beer appreciation and beer quality and building your local beer community!

World Beer Festival Durham October 4, 2008 -The Durham Bulls Athletic Park, 409 Blackwell Street, Durham, NC= 1st Session: 12 noon to 4 pm. 2nd Session: 6 pm to 10 pm

Havre de Grace, MD- Day Trip

We took a day trip last Sunday and drove down to Havre De Grace. Such a nice day trip.

http://www.hdgtourism.com/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g41187-d539684-Reviews-Tidewater_Grille-Havre_de_Grace_Maryland.html

BLOG ACTION DAY 2008::POVERTY

The 2008 Blog Action Day will be devoted to the issue of Poverty. I will start to add most posts about the issue of Poverty. We’re told that poverty can be eliminated within our lifetimes, but even so, most of us feel stuck when it comes to taking action. There are in fact a range of things that anyone can do.....one way is to start here, check out the links!

The End Poverty Blog is a daily log of experts from around the world promoting the Millennium Development Goals and the global fight against poverty. The site is jointly operated by several partner organizations and includes posts from staff, volunteers, journalists, and other members.

http://endpovertyblog.org/

Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion. From August 15th to October 15th bloggers are asked to register to participate so we can track how many are involved, as well as their approximate audience size. On October 15th the bloggers post on the issue!!

Iron Hill Brewery- Lancaster PA- Mug Club

Attention Iron Hill Mug Club Members for the Lancaster brew pub:
******Kryptonite Imperial IPA is back*********
On Thursday, August 21st from 5-9pm- IRON HILL will be tapping the last firkin of Kryptonite for mug club members only! So come out for the last chance to taste this American Imperial IPA brewed with 50lbs of hops, that is until next year. See you there!!
Love that Brewmaster Paul Rutherford!
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant-Lancaster PA

MAC-Apple store coming to Lancaster Park City MALL

An APPLE-MAC store will be opening in the Park City Mall in Lancaster PA!! Unknown opening date but I will keep you posted. I believe it will be open before the Holidays, that's for sure. Fudruckers restaurant closed the mall and so did Wilson's leather??

Lucinda Williams-11/04/08

I just read where Lucinda William's new cd will be released on 11/04/08 and the title will be: LITTLE HONEY. Another one of my fav's will be on the cd as well, Elvis Costello will sing on a single entitled " Jailhouse Tears". Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs will also add harmonies on a song inspired by reading Rolling Stone mag about Pete Doherty called "Little Rock Star".

I heart Douglas Coupland

'Gen X' author tells how guys really view age
Most see themselves as 31, no matter how old they are.

He (Douglas Coupland) is one of my favorite writers and so when I saw the headlines on the recent MSN lifestyle page with an article he had recently written for BESTLIFE I had to read it and when I read something this good I have to share:

A few days ago, I had a business lunch with a guy I thought was about 10 years older than I am. I'm 46, and he looked to be 55 and resembled every English teacher you've ever had. At the end of lunch he said, "You know, I was born the same week as you..." and went on to discuss all the same music we listened to in high school. Meanwhile, it was all I could do to compose myself while looking around for a reflective surface — a knife blade, the hologram on my Visa card — to convince myself I didn't look 55 like this guy did. I felt as if I had progeria, that disease in which you age half a century in five years. That's what growing older does to a guy.

We've all bumped into friends who look like hell. Our first thought is always divorce, booze, or one of those other wicked speed bumps on the road of life. What's really happening, of course, is that your friend is in the middle of a progerial plunge. Time passes, and more time passes, and then you see that friend in the checkout line of a Safeway one afternoon, and you realize he's not drinking or having troubles. He's just aging. The kicker: So I must be too. That's when you head to the produce department and check yourself out in the mirrors above the lettuce and celery.
I have this theory about men and aging. We have two ages: the age we really are, and the age we are in our heads. Most men are almost always about 31 or 32 in their heads — just ask them. Even Mr. Burns from “The Simpsons” is 31 in his head. One of the most universal adult male experiences is of standing before a mirror and saying, "I'm sorry, but there's been a horrible mistake. You see, that's not really me in the mirror there. The real me is tanned, throws Frisbees, and kayaks the Columbia River estuary without cracking a sweat."

In myself I've come to notice that aging comes in spurts. I've asked others, and they pretty much agree. I'll look the exact same way for a decade, and then — wham! — God hits the progeria switch and for two years the downhill plunge begins anew.
And then it stops again.

My body will plateau for another decade, until the next time it decides to collapse a bit more. Which is funny, because in a weird plot twist, I'm probably in better shape now than I was at 20. Many reasons: I quit smoking in 1988 (though I could start again right now), I stopped eating crap two years ago, and last year, I finally found a gym that doesn't allow music: no John Cougar Mellencamp blasting at maximum volume while circus freaks in harem pants and the thong equivalent of a T-shirt make those embarrassing orgasm noises while bench-pressing the mathematical squares of their IQs. Instead, I can think and enjoy my time working out without a massive sonic brain invasion. It makes all the difference. And what do I think about in the gym? Muscle tissue breaking. And then I try to decide whether to rebuild or pack it in. My ligaments are iffy about whether they should snap or strengthen. My body tries to decide whether to age or become more powerful. And as a control freak, it bugs me so much that a lot of this stuff is beyond my control. Exercise, sure, but at the end of it, instead of looking thinner, I may merely look gaunt. Or haggard. Or — ironically — my age.

Former astronaut Neil Armstrong was once asked if he exercised, and he said, "The good Lord gave us a finite number of heartbeats, and I'm damned if I'm going to use up mine running up and down a street." What I've found is that even if I do get into fantastic shape and shed the spare tire and stop eating junk, the best I can hope for is to stay in the same place. That's the main thing I've come to realize about aging. The elevator is never going up again. Well, okay, I think it goes up if you go the Beverly Hills-plastic-surgery route, but that's an expensive and shadowy realm. Compare and contrast George Hamilton with Samuel Beckett.

Lately, I've begun to have this heretical thought that people were never supposed to live to be old enough to age in the first place. We forget that until the 1950s or 1960s, senior citizens were extraordinarily rare, and the seniors one did see were begoitered, often-limbless, shrunken-apple-head people who wheezed and cackled. A hundred years ago, if you hit 70, you deserved every shred of respect you got. These days... well, does one deserve respect for wanting to look 55 at 70? Does wanting to appear younger in any form deserve any respect at all? In the 1990s, I helped design a plausible future for the film "Minority Report." One of the things I came up with was "young old people." Tom Cruise's character in the movie was actually 70 years old, even though he looked 35. Now that I think of it, maybe Tom Cruise really is 70. If that turned out to be the truth, would you be surprised? Be honest.

The way things are going now, pretty much everybody you ever graduated from high school with is easily going to make it to 70. Nobody thought of this a hundred years ago when they invented the high school reunion. The essential allure (and intrinsic unfairness) of high school reunions is that you never know who's still riding along a plateau, and who has just gone through a progerial plunge.

My father is 80 this year and still works as a doctor, a GP. His practice is largely older, and his specialty is keeping them not only alive but also alive and chugging. He has a belief that aging can be slowed by careful monitoring of the thyroid, by keeping folic-acid levels high, and by monitoring cholesterol a certain way. All of this is good advice in any event, but I bump into his patients all the time, and man, these people are vibrating. His waiting room is like the pool scene in Cocoon. These people still attend their high school reunions. It's the weird new circle of life.

I actually don't mind aging. The best part of aging is that everybody you know is aging right along with you. Last week, I checked online, and James Gandolfini, Leif Garrett, Michael J. Fox, Henry Rollins, and I were all born the same year, 1961, and yeah, that's about where I feel in my head — which feels honest and righteous. I'd be truly freaked out if I discovered that Nick Lachey was born in 1961.

It sounds obvious, but... we get old. It's one of the first things we forget once our teens are over and we've stopped counting the hairs in our armpits. Freaking out about aging becomes depressing or funny or pathetic only if you make the incorrect assumption that everyone else lives inside a change-proof hyperbaric chamber.
They don't, of course. We're all locked inside the time machine, and we're all going to the exact same destination. And I just checked: Tom Cruise was born in 1962.

**Douglas Coupland is the author of the 1991 novel "Generation X." He's also written nine other novels including "Microserfs" and "Hey Nostradamus!" as well as nonfiction books. He lives in Vancouver, B.C.

Live from New York -Its Thursday night=NBC

SNL Weekend Update will air live Thursdays half hour shows October 9,16, & 23. On election eve the 90 minute Live Presidential BASH 2008 will include flashbacks to former SNL prexy mimickers. I watch comedy central for my political muckraking and jokin'news but Since I am a long time fan of SNL I will watch.

Sid and Marty-ah memories

My favorite cartoons as a child were by Sid and Marty Croft. I loved all there weird stuff and really can't explain why.Well through the power of the Internet and DVD I can re-live most of their old shows. News has broken a few weeks ago now that there is a remake taking place on " LAND OF THE LOST" Here is a little bit more on sid and marty from wiki...

Sid and Marty Krofft are a sibling team of prolific television producers who were influential in children's television and variety show programs, particularly throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. They are largely known for a unique brand of ambitious fantasy programs, often featuring large-headed puppets, high-concept plots, and extensive use of low-budget special effects. The team also dominated the arena of celebrity music/variety programs during the period. Some of my favorites:

Land of the Lost (1974)
Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (1973)
Lidsville (1971)
The Bugaloos (1970)
Pufnstuf (1970)
H.R. Pufnstuf (1969)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_and_Marty_Krofft

LOVE THAT TOM WAITS

FROM npr.ORG July 29, 2008 -By Robin Hilton

A trip through the world of Tom Waits can be disorienting. His ramshackle story-songs, with their creaky instrumentation and dusty poetry, usually leave listeners with more questions than answers, and his persona outside of his music revolves around a playful but guarded mix of fiction and reality.

To promote his latest tour, Waits offered the media an extended print interview — one he conducted with himself — and a taped press conference, featuring Waits seated at a table of microphones, answering questions amid bursts of flashbulbs and murmurs. Only at the end, as Waits donned a bowler hat and exited, did viewers see that the room was empty and the sound of the press corps was merely a record playing.

Both interviews were filled with more wildly imaginative stories and questionable trivia (was a sunken Japanese freighter really raised with 20 million ping-pong balls?) than actual details of the tour. But that's the allure of Tom Waits: It's hard to know what to believe, but the world he creates is enchanting enough to get lost in.

Here's what we do know: Waits has dubbed his summer 2008 tour "Glitter and Doom." It's a trek through the lower half of the U.S. he describes as "PEHDTSCKJMBA" (pronounced "pess-kuh-JUM-buh), an acronym for each of the tour's stops: Phoenix, El Paso, Houston, Dallas, Tulsa, St. Louis, Columbus, Knoxville, Jacksonville, Mobile, Birmingham and Atlanta.
For his Atlanta stop, recorded at the city's historic Fox Theater on July 5, Waits delivered a stunning and epic two-and-a-half-hour performance, including songs he says he's never attempted outside of the studio before. Backing Waits is a five-piece group featuring Seth Ford-Young (upright bass), Patrick Warren (keyboards), Omar Torrez (guitars), Vincent Henry (woodwinds) and Casey Waits (drums and percussion). "They play with racecar precision and they are all true conjurers," Waits says. "They are all multi-instrumentalists and they polka like real men."
Waits wraps his tour with seven stops in Europe, including his first-ever concerts in Spain and the Czech Republic, with a finale in Dublin on Aug. 1.

SET LIST

"Lucinda / Ain't Going Down to the Well"
"Down in the Hole"
"Falling Down"
"Chocolate Jesus"
"All the World Is Green"
"Cemetery Polka"
"Cause of It All"
"Till the Money Runs Out"
"Such a Scream"
"November"
"Hold On"
"Black Market Baby"
"9th and Hennepin"
"Lie to Me"
"Lucky Day"
"On the Nickel"
"Lost in the Harbor"
"Innocent When You Dream"
"Hoist That Rag"
"Make It Rain"
"Dirt in the Ground"
"Get Behind the Mule"
"Hang Down Your Head"
"Jesus Gonna Be Here"
"Singapore"
ENCORE
"Eyeball Kid"
"Anywhere I Lay My Head"

Chestnut Hill Cafe opens in Lancaster PA

Former grocery becomes coffee shop....
Chestnut Street Cafe has finally opened. The cafe/coffee shop also serves soup, sandwiches and ice cream.....

A new city coffee shop, Chestnut Hill Cafe, opened July 27 at West Chestnut and Pine streets. The cafe at 532 W. Chestnut St., is a project of Paula Light, Doreen Landis and Stephanie Bennett, who own Pennsylvania Fudge Company, which has a stand at Central Market. The trio did most of the extensive renovations on the former grocery store themselves, although they say they had a lot of help from relatives, friends and some local businesses. The cafe, which seats about 40, boasts a fireplace, stained-glass windows and part of a counter made from recycled bowling lanes.

In addition to coffee, pastries and bagels, the menu includes soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps, ice cream and a yogurt bar. The owners plan to host music on Sunday afternoons.Hours: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. By by CHAD UMBLE, Staff from Lancaster On-line. http://scootlancaster.blogspot.com/
I hope to check out the cafe very soon. Check out scoot lancaster for another post on the cafe and a great photo.

Good News from Troegs Brewery-Dead Reackoning Porter

Seasonal (August - October) Tröegs Dead Reckoning Porter

*Available: 12 oz. bottle and 1/2 kegs

Alcohol by Volume: 5.8%Hop Bitterness (IBU's) : 53Color (SRM) : Brown to Black

Availability: Seasonal Malt: Pilsner, Caramel, Roast, BlackHops: Vanguard, Chinook Yeast: Unfiltered Ale

In the 14th Century, Sailors would rely on sheer skill to get from a starting point to a final destination. They called this Dead Reckoning. We see our beer the same way. We know where to begin and know where to go, but there are hundreds of ways to get there.

Dead Reckoning is unfiltered and weighs in at 5.8% abv and 53 IBU’s. It features Pilsner, Caramel, Chocolate and Roasted malts along with Chinook and Vanguard hops.

“The outstanding taste and flavor of Dead Reckoning originates in the chocolate and roasted malts,” says John Trogner. “There is a nice hoppiness in the front of the beer, but the rich, smooth mouth feel is what really stands out.”
Dead Reckoning will temporarily be replacing Oatmeal Stout as a fall seasonal in 2007. More info on Oatmeal Stout will follow...from the Troegs web site!! Oh Yeah, I can't wait to taste some!!

Aleksander Solzhenitsyn dies

From Reuters new service... Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, the Soviet dissident writer and Nobel literature prize winner, has died aged 89, the Interfax news agency reported on Sunday.
He died of a stroke, the agency said, quoting literary sources in Moscow.
Solzhenitsyn served with the Red Army in World War II but became one of the most prominent dissidents of the Soviet era, enduring labor camps, cancer and persecution by Soviet officialdom. His experience in the network of labor camps was vividly described in his "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich." (One of my favorites books on WWII)
His major works, including "The First Circle" and "Cancer Ward" brought him world admiration and the 1970 Nobel Literature Prize.
Stripped of his citizenship and sent into exile in 1974 after the publication of "The Gulag Archipelago," his monumental history of the Soviet police state, the writer settled in the United States, returning to post-Soviet Russia as a hero in 1994.
He was born on Dec. 11, 1918, studied physics and mathematics at Rostov University and became a Soviet army officer after Hitler's invasion in 1941.

Schlitz beer returning

Schlitz returns, drums up nostalgic drinkers...
After decades of dormancy, Milwaukee's iconic beer is back on the shelves. Oh how I remember my great Aunts and Uncles drinking Schlitz. From an Ap wire report...

Schlitz' owner, Pabst Brewing Co., is recreating the old formula, using notes and interviews with old brew masters to concoct the pilsner again. The maker of another nostalgic favorite, Pabst Blue Ribbon, it hopes baby boomers will reach for the drink of their youth, otherwise known as "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous." They also want to create a following among younger drinkers who want to know what grandma and grandpa drank.

"We believe that Schlitz is if not the, one of most iconic brands of the 20th century," said Kevin Kotecki, president of Pabst Brewing Co., which bought the brand that dates to 1849 from Stroh's in 1999. "And there's still a lot of people who have very positive, residual memories about their experience. For many of them it was the first beer they drank and we wanted to give it back to those consumers."

In Milwaukee, the comeback is creating a buzz. Stores are depleted of their stock within days, they're taking names for waiting lists and limiting customers to just a few six- or 12-packs each.

The Nation and Rachel Maddow

The Nation's August 18/25 issue features a article on Rachel Maddow by Rebecca Traister. It talks about the New York Magazine's Intelligencer column that ran with the headline: Why we're gay for Rachel Maddow. "The blogospere is dotted with posts headlined: I'm totally gay for Rachel, transcending gender and sexuality. Women, men, straight and not straight: they're all gay for her. In a year in which we have decided to become postracial and postgender, Maddow may embody a media in which adoring fandom is postgay."-from the article.

I have been on the Rachel bandwagon for a long time. I want her to have her own show on MSNBC. I am looking forward to more Rachel as November draws near. More Rachel, More Rachel NOW.

Read the article:http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080818/traister