May 9-15, 2007
Aging Audaciously – Elder Activists Tell it Like it is – and Was; Is it Possible to Get By on Food Stamps?; VT Hosts Legal Clinics for Returning Vets with Traumatic Brain Injuries
Yellow Checker Taxi
When I was a young man, all of 18 years, I drove a Checker cab in NYC. What a beauty of a vehicle, which I, of course, didn’t appreciate back then. I was also playing in a rock-and-roll band and going to Brooklyn College, but those are other stories. Every weekend, I showed up at…
Food Stamp Diet: Post #4
Day 3Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, nutmegLunch: Three hardboiled eggs, leftover coleslawDinner: One half chicken breast, sautéed beet greens, brown riceSnacks: Buttered popcorn, apple and peanut butterPrep: Make soup stock from chicken bones and vegetable scraps; store Breakfast: Yummy! I enjoyed the oatmeal more than the cornmeal mush. I probably used about two pennies worth…
Labels & Jazz
[image-1] Labels, as in fusion, smooth, latin, etc. Each covers too much turf and ends up meaningless. Sorta like theterm JAZZ which is now forced to be useful in describing Dixieland, New Orleans, Swing, Bop,Rebop, Chicago, Post-Bop, Acid Jazz, Fusion, Free Jazz and many more. Better to listen closely and realize that your ears are…
Food Stamp Diet: Post # 3
Day 2Breakfast: Cornmeal mush with honey, one half apple and butterLunch: Chicken drumsticks, leftover couscous, roasted beets with oil and vinegarDinner: One half chicken breast, mashed potatoes, coleslaw* with carrotsSnacks: Orange, raisins Breakfast: I went running at 6:15, and was ravenous when I got back. Decided to put my “snack” raisins into my cornmeal mush.…
Back-up the Back-up
The couple off the night-time Vermont Transit bus were of a breed solely indigenous to California. Sometimes I think of Arnold’s world as our landlocked Galapagos Island, replete with unique and wonderful organisms. This man and woman were about 60 – baby boomers at the cusp of old-age. The guy was the fluffy bear type…
Food Stamp Diet: Post #2
I’m at the end of day 1. Here’s my progress report. Day 1Breakfast: 1 c. yogurt with one half banana, honey, cinnamon and nutmegLunch: Two peanut-butter-and-apple sandwiches on oatmeal breadDinner: Roasted chicken thigh, whole-wheat couscous* withpan drippings, steamed fiddlehead ferns; roast tomorrow’s beets withthe chicken to save energy. Snacks: Homemade kettle corn, carrots Breakfast: I…
News Quirks 05.09.07
Curses, Foiled Again Two men used a chain and a pickup truck to yank an automated teller machine from a market in Pomona, Calif., then loaded the 1500-pound machine into the truck and sped off. Police chased the truck to a dead-end street, where the suspects fled on foot. One got away, but officers found…
Food Stamp Diet: Post # 1
I’m fascinated by projects, especially those of the culinary variety. I loved it when Julie cooked her way through Julia’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and when various folks started restricting their diets to foods grown within X miles of their homes. Today, I’ve begun my first such undertaking, albeit a brief one. This…
Lord of the Strings
Soundbites: David Bromberg, The Last Town Chorus, David Grisman, Burlington Sounds Project
Big Ears
Michael [image-x] I feel compelled to say that I agree with LJ’s assertions with Smooth Jazz and Acid Jazz as genres: the former is nothing but watered down Fusion conceived and executed in an attempt to be pleasant (but Kenny G’s intonation often spoils even that) and the latter is…well I actually don’t even really…
Cursive, Happy Hollow
(Saddle Creek, CD) On Cursive’s latest full-length, the band calls humanity on its bullshit through the standard, “wake-the-fuck-up” music of American rebellion: rock ‘n’ roll. The disc features legions of crunchy, aggressive guitars and crashing waves of cymbals, punctuated by horn stabs that are at one moment artfully dissonant, and the next, simply trying to…
ALO, Roses & Clover
(Brushfire Records, CD) The English language reportedly contains nearly one million words, with thousands more coined every day. With such a staggering array of terms to choose from, why do so many songwriters use the same tired clichés and ham-fisted metaphors over and over again? I’m considering founding an action group to deal with the…
LITTLE CHILDREN****
In this chilling suburban drama based on the book by Tom Perrotta, Kate Winslet plays a stay-at-home mom who has an affair with a rebellious stay-at-home dad. With Jennifer Connelly, Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Healey. (137 min, R) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/newline/littlechildren/
THE HITCHER*1/2
Sean Bean stars in this remake of the 1985 Rutger Hauer thriller about a psychopath with an odd way of showing his appreciation to people who offer him a ride. Sophia Bush and Zachary Knighton costar. Dave Meyers makes his directorial debut. (90 min, R) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/rogue_pictures/thehitcher/
HAPPILY N’EVER AFTER*1/2
From the producers of the Shrek series comes this satirical computer-animated retelling of the classic Cinderella story featuring the voices of Sigourney Weaver, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze and Andy Dick. Directed by Paul J. Bolger. (87 min, PG) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/happilyneverafter/
DREAMGIRLS****
Bill (Kinsey) Condon brings the Broadway smash to the big screen, with Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson as singers in a Supremes-style ’60s trio managed by an ambitious ex-car salesman. Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy costar. (130 min, PG-13) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/dreamgirls/
ALPHA DOG***
Nick (She’s So Lovely) Cassavetes directs this crime drama about privileged L.A. teenagers who get more than they bargain for when they start imitating the thug life they hear about in rap music. Starring Justin Timberlake, Emile Hirsch, Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone. (117 min, R) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/alphadog/
Interplay 2007
[image-x] Fans who tend to suffer from post-celebratory tristesse at the close of the Discover Jazz Festial have something new to look forward to. New to Vermont, that is. For ten years saxophonist and pianist Fred Haas has been directing his jazz camp, Interplay Jazz, in New Hampshire or Massachusetts. This year Interplay will be…
Shopping Bags are a Drag
Did you know that the production of “paper bags generates 70 percent more air pollutants and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags.” So says an article on MSNBC called Paper or Plastic — What’s the Greener Choice? A site called reusablebags.com offers a few more choice statistics. Now, I have two canvas grocery…
