See link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?o=2&f=/c/a/2007/11/18/BAJRTF0EN.DTL
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Crazy is as Crazy Do!
Michael Grbich, the 75 year old Oaklander who recently tap danced his way across the Golden Gate Bridge "because he could!", would have been stunned with a cattle prod and served up at SFGeneral on a stainless steel gurney had it not been for the 60 or so friends, fans and family he had invited to attend this festive, theatrical, and athletic event.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Henckels Ever Sharp Ginzu Knives
So, Henckels "Ever Sharp" -- are these Ginzu Knives?
Tonight I gently, oh, so gently sliced a ripe avocado while holding the knife in my left hand and the avocado in my right. Dinner was lovely - roast pork loin, steamed broccoli and basmati coconut rice with a green salad.Yum.Washing the dishes, I noticed a sharp pain in my right index finger. wtf?
I now have bandaids on two fingers of my right hand. These knives are so intensely sharp, the concept of a "gentle" stroke is unknown to them. Oh, god, I just realized that the other finger must have been sliced when I was slicing carrots for pug treats. The damage was done two days ago, and I've been unsuccessful with NuSkin (liquid bandage, paints on like nail polish and claims to disinfect and seal slight wounds and promote healing) so today I gave in. I peroxided, treated it with antibacterial ointment, and wrapped in a bandaid.
Are these knives from the devil? Other options suggest that my life may have simply been lead without sharp knives until now, or else my coordination is failing and I am currently incapable of doing anything in a truly gentle manner.
Tonight I gently, oh, so gently sliced a ripe avocado while holding the knife in my left hand and the avocado in my right. Dinner was lovely - roast pork loin, steamed broccoli and basmati coconut rice with a green salad.Yum.Washing the dishes, I noticed a sharp pain in my right index finger. wtf?
I now have bandaids on two fingers of my right hand. These knives are so intensely sharp, the concept of a "gentle" stroke is unknown to them. Oh, god, I just realized that the other finger must have been sliced when I was slicing carrots for pug treats. The damage was done two days ago, and I've been unsuccessful with NuSkin (liquid bandage, paints on like nail polish and claims to disinfect and seal slight wounds and promote healing) so today I gave in. I peroxided, treated it with antibacterial ointment, and wrapped in a bandaid.
Are these knives from the devil? Other options suggest that my life may have simply been lead without sharp knives until now, or else my coordination is failing and I am currently incapable of doing anything in a truly gentle manner.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Oddience
Through a numbing of the senses brought on by a saturation of media, one may commonly fail to realize the importance of an audience, which is essential to live performance.
How strange it must seem to be a performer on stage before a "live" audience, and to get nothing back from them. Such a passive audience might as well stay home with the pugs.
Experience in front of a live audience is a necessary ingredient for an aspiring actor.
As an audience member who is more than willing to suspend my disbelief, I respect the power of influence that theatre can have over me.
I sense discomfort in some around me when I express a reaction to something on stage. This discomfort is representative of such audience members' inability or unwillingness to believe, even within the confines of the evening, that the characters and events enacted on stage are limited by the capacity of mortal actors performing roles.
How strange it must seem to be a performer on stage before a "live" audience, and to get nothing back from them. Such a passive audience might as well stay home with the pugs.
Experience in front of a live audience is a necessary ingredient for an aspiring actor.
As an audience member who is more than willing to suspend my disbelief, I respect the power of influence that theatre can have over me.
I sense discomfort in some around me when I express a reaction to something on stage. This discomfort is representative of such audience members' inability or unwillingness to believe, even within the confines of the evening, that the characters and events enacted on stage are limited by the capacity of mortal actors performing roles.
Tweaker or Tweasure?
So it must have looked odd for N and J to prowl through the rooms with me, poking under sinks, while little G plopped in front of the television which was, surprisingly, in the exact same spot as when her Nonnie lived there.
At lunch, neither N nor G ate much of anything, although both picked at their food. J polished off a serving of sliders, and I had a generous cheeseburger and a huge side caeser.
I should have offered the salad to the girl. It's called a "salad" to imply lightweight roughedge and health, but by the time they smother the poor lettuce in creamy high-fructose hydrogenated dressing you might as well be enjoying a chocolate milkshake.
Back at the house, LuLu was insistant upon an early supper. She was having at my heels, and lunging at me from behine.
At lunch, neither N nor G ate much of anything, although both picked at their food. J polished off a serving of sliders, and I had a generous cheeseburger and a huge side caeser.
I should have offered the salad to the girl. It's called a "salad" to imply lightweight roughedge and health, but by the time they smother the poor lettuce in creamy high-fructose hydrogenated dressing you might as well be enjoying a chocolate milkshake.
Back at the house, LuLu was insistant upon an early supper. She was having at my heels, and lunging at me from behine.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Bursting the Bubble
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/13/MNVPSEMVQ.DTL
"It costs so much money for some of these people to get into the housing market," he said. "We're looking at an emergency loan program to help people refinance, in part because is the cost to help these people keep their homes more efficient than building more affordable housing? It's something we have to look at."
Isn't this bizarre and familiar? The greatest number of bank reposessions and short sales are occurring in the poorer neighborhoods, in spite of their sometimes sharing a Zip code with a perfectly established upscale securely higher-valued neighborhood.
The implication is that these homes aren't any sort of bargain. They could be presented in such a way to the lesser-informed as something grand and worth the investment, but anyone familiar with the area would know better.
A large portion of the paper on these loans is held by International funds. Some of the interest was specifically identified as "French" while the rest were simply "International."
"It costs so much money for some of these people to get into the housing market," he said. "We're looking at an emergency loan program to help people refinance, in part because is the cost to help these people keep their homes more efficient than building more affordable housing? It's something we have to look at."
Isn't this bizarre and familiar? The greatest number of bank reposessions and short sales are occurring in the poorer neighborhoods, in spite of their sometimes sharing a Zip code with a perfectly established upscale securely higher-valued neighborhood.
The implication is that these homes aren't any sort of bargain. They could be presented in such a way to the lesser-informed as something grand and worth the investment, but anyone familiar with the area would know better.
A large portion of the paper on these loans is held by International funds. Some of the interest was specifically identified as "French" while the rest were simply "International."
Friday, October 12, 2007
Homosidal
What a shock to watch the 1961 William Castle horror-ble "Homicidal" for the first time. The Castle take on horror has been an inspiration to many fine auteurs in the horror genre.
Why was this classic never before broadcast on television?
Some of my fondest childhood memories are of the times "House on Haunted Hill" was being rebroadcast on Saturday "Fright Night" features. How I looked forward to watching "Attack of the Crab Monsters" every Saturday morning. My brother seemed more anxious for "Shirley Temple Theater" and polishing silverware. Neither one of us would have considered spending the weekend playing with other boys.
"The Tingler" was a rarer treat. I remember my first encounter with that tentacled terror was after I had already visited Haunted Hill so many times that I could recite the scenes from memory.
Now, 46 years after its release, "Homicidal" is finally given air.
It obviously owes a huge debt to Hitchcock's "Psycho"(1960). There are shots of the sharply tailored young beauty entering the mysterious house, and climbing the stairs. These same stairs will soon challenge a dark older woman named "Helga" who, confined to a wheelchair, manages, through the clever dramatic device of having had a stroke in Denmark, to provide the need to bring a paid live-in female companion back to Solvang, California. Every detail is very, very important - there wasn't anything in the budget to support extraneous detail!
William Castle is reported, hopefully in jest, to have warned that he would personally take out anyone who revealed the ending of his movie. Puhleeze!
Why was this classic never before broadcast on television?
Some of my fondest childhood memories are of the times "House on Haunted Hill" was being rebroadcast on Saturday "Fright Night" features. How I looked forward to watching "Attack of the Crab Monsters" every Saturday morning. My brother seemed more anxious for "Shirley Temple Theater" and polishing silverware. Neither one of us would have considered spending the weekend playing with other boys.
"The Tingler" was a rarer treat. I remember my first encounter with that tentacled terror was after I had already visited Haunted Hill so many times that I could recite the scenes from memory.
Now, 46 years after its release, "Homicidal" is finally given air.
It obviously owes a huge debt to Hitchcock's "Psycho"(1960). There are shots of the sharply tailored young beauty entering the mysterious house, and climbing the stairs. These same stairs will soon challenge a dark older woman named "Helga" who, confined to a wheelchair, manages, through the clever dramatic device of having had a stroke in Denmark, to provide the need to bring a paid live-in female companion back to Solvang, California. Every detail is very, very important - there wasn't anything in the budget to support extraneous detail!
William Castle is reported, hopefully in jest, to have warned that he would personally take out anyone who revealed the ending of his movie. Puhleeze!
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