Events conspire to prevent me from watching the Gators wriggle their way to the championship -- I had to put on a tux and help emcee trivia night for the 8th graders -- but we finished in time to dash out the door and run to Saxby's and watch the final 4 minutes of the Georgetown game on the big screen. A thriller. Yeah, maybe he walked, but I say you have to let 'em play in the final moments of a game like that. What a shot.

Mind scrambled from trying to figure out etiquette of "first" when kit writer is first on the boodle.

I agree, let them play. I'm pretty sure I'd feel this way even if I hadn't picked Georgetown.

Frostie, words to you on last kit.

Re Georgetown. Jeff Green is Northwestern HS grad from our neighborhood. He is a lovely young man. Please to all: channel your prayers, thoughts, pyramid ablutions, spaghetti with octopi rituals, [insert your religion or code here] to him.

FINISH SCHOOL, you big darling lug of a man. FINISH SCHOOL. His mother will thank you. We who love the young in this neighborhood need to see a hero that chooses school over NBA this year. Cassandra, too, may like to point to his example of sports as a lever to school.

Done with plea. Off to soccer.

Kit comment: I will eat shoelaces before I eat octopi.

Once, when the world was young, my older brother returned from a scuba diving expedition with a large Pacific Octopus. (For the uninitiated, a Pacific Octopus is just a single hormone shot away from being able to flatten San Francisco.)

My brother didn't, technically, catch the octopus. Instead, the octopus attacked my brother by wrapping itself around his head. Although, in retrospect, taking the octopus home with him may have been of dubious legality, it was the 70s and we all lived on the edge.

I will spare the details of how this beautiful mollusk was dispatched, but let's just say it was considerably more, well, dynamic, than what Joel described. At the advice of our neighbor, who was wise in the ways of seafood, we put the dismembered bits in a giant smoker and made octopus jerky. The suckers, or "buttons," were especially tasty.

Of course, nowadays octopi are on my "shall not eat" list along with turtles, froggies, and bunnies. But I will forgive Joel his indiscretion. Yet I must warn him that Octopus Chili is starting to sound suspiciously like chowder. If he wants to cook with a cephalopod and still keep his man-food street cred, he should look into scoring some giant squid.

My still queasy stomach was not ready for that, very funny though, I am still at the Frito stage.

I think Jeff Greens foot may have just stepped on a small non visible octopi,that is the reason he had to pick it up.all squishy and slimey.

Isn't there a hockey team that the fans used to throw Octopus on the ice after a big win to celebrate the goalie?I recall seeing that somewhere,maybe Detroit?

I had a friend of my wife offer to bring over lobsters once. She brought six live ones in a huge cooler. I had to steam them in shifts while the others watched on. They were delicious, but it's as close as I ever got to feeling squeamish over eating an animal. I got over it.

My mom used to buy chicken necks and make my brother and I catch blue crabs for the neighborhood. That was good times even if I didn't eat the crabs.

I always had a policy to not volunteer at my kids' schools unless I was really interested in the activity (fortunately, I am curious about many things, so I think I was at school as much as any other parent). When #2 was in grade school, her teacher included a unit on Japan, and one activity was the cooking of large amounts of authentic food, including octopus and squid. I enthusiastically signed up to staff the squid-cleaning table, because watching 5th graders handle their first slimy sea-creature with, as Joel would have it, "shrieks, yelps, theatrical revulsion" was highly entertaining.

dmd, I'm with you on the Fritos.

I'd posted to you at the very end of the last kit.

Also, Joel, I think it is very generous of you to share your blog with Hank Stuever. I aways enjoy his work and this piece is characteristically good.

A 73-year old nun? That is one complicated story I would love to hear.

Good kit, Joel, but I still have questions (as is my wont):

1) Were those "free range" octopi? Or the domesticated kind grown in little teeny-tiny pens and force-fed plankton so they swell up and can't turn around or otherwise exercise their little teeny-tiny tentacles? [Tenny-tiny Tentacles is available as a boodle handle, BTW.]

2) Is the proper term for a baby octopus "octopup"? And if not, why not? It's a much better term than, say, octoveal.

3) If it's a covey of quail and a murder of crows, what is the collective term for a group of octopi? I suggest either an "ink cartridge of octopi" or "a revulsion of octopi."

4) How come you can continue to make [censored country] jokes and we can't? (Yeah, yeah, I know..it's YOUR blog, so you get to make up the rules. Forget I asked.)

5) How cool is it that Stuever's mom is a nun! Somehow, I can't say I'm surprised.

6) How come you are prohibitied from writing any more about manfood, but it's OK for you to write about sissified French-type delicaies like Sauteed Octopup St. Jacques and Octopup Scampi? Eewwwwwwwwwwww.

And yellojkt's son leads his team to victory!

TBG;

In heels as well!

Not yello Jr., Eddie Izzard!

Morning all!! *Grover-ishness*

:-)

Let them play? WHAT???

Play what? Rules make the game. As exciting as the game may have been for GTown fans, remember that there are Xavier fans and Vandy fans, not to mention those teams, who are wondering what you mean by that.

So far, 2 games have come down to absurdly bad ref'in. You gotta make the call. (unless the refs are scared of Cricket treatment)

That's one funny kit. I hate to think what a downscale fishmonger might be like. Baitshop?
I'm a little shocked to learn that New Mexico nuns raise their children on Fritos. Espcially when one of them is supposed to be in Florida enjoying the spring.

Point of Personal Privilege:
I am over the moon. This evening I'm going to see the greatest, most accomplished guitar player in the Univer....hmmm.

*scritch scritch scritch scratchity scratch scatch*

Boko999 is pleased to announce that he will be attending the Johnny Winter musical recital in Ottawa this evening.

I once had an apetizer which I though would be ring like calamari. I had one, and then had wine, more wine, and then took a second, which was a whole baby octopi and that was the end of my octopi eating days. Compared to that, manfood sounds really good.

You could always write about the clam chowder controversy. Or is that over now?

All typos and other grammatical errors in the above, are to be put to fume inhaling. I'm painting but expect to fly any time now.

Baby octopi is best served tempura. that way you can sit themup with their wee legs going out in eight directions and the have a deep fried goodness to them.

Boko999 pencil is not an accepted internet deletion tool, as only you can see the difference

Mudge ... a grapple of octopi

Calamari and its variations reinforce the batter-fried and wasabi sauce rules of increasing edibility.

Grapple. I like that, DM. Very nice.

Joel... How 'bout I send you a 55 gallon drum of Youngstown Paisano? Trust me... one glass would make those octopi as tasty as Fritos dipped in chili, then deep-fried in real lard and smothered with cheese and jalapenos.

You could also use it to make sure the buggers are really dead.

This has just got to be the funniest freakin' headline of all time: "Bush: Democrats Should Drop Partisan Politics." Whoever the copy editor was who wrote this, my hat's off to him/her. They must have just been laughing their a$$es off around the copy editing rim (the round desk where CEs traditionally sat, while the guy/gal in the center was the boss, called "the slot").

Isn't grapple one of those "southern" delicacies that consists of the parts of a pig even sausage makers throw away?

martooni, I gotta tell ya I'm still laughing over your Yongstown Paisano from yesterday.

As I have no problem eating raw oysters or cherrystone clams, I was thinking that the ewww factor had something to do with whether or not the sea creature had appendages and could, at least in one's nightmares, come after you. Then I remembered lobster and crabs. But of course, they have shells so you can't see the yucky raw meat of them so I've decided that, at least for me, if crabs and lobsters weren't wearing a shell, there's no way I'd ever be able to cook and eat them.

Very funny kit, Joel. Have I mentioned how frustrating it is that I can't keep up or comment here as I'd like? Yeah, I know. Just venting.

Oh, JA, eating octopus? I know, I know, I shouldn't draw up at you eating that, considering some of the stuff I've eaten from pigs, but sheesh, I want some fritos quick!

Beautiful piece about Anna Nicole. And I believe the story of the mother becoming a nun would be more than interesting.

Somehow I sense the whole experience was a letdown for Mr. A. This is unfortunate. The part about the kids shrieking was at least half the fun, and should have been drawn out longer, with little tentacles disappearing into the mouth like suctioned spaghetti noodles. With a wiggling eyebrow thrown in for visual buffoonery. And recorded with a close up lens for Youtube.

If it were me, I would have gone the chowder route, and put some other fishy bits in there as well, such as clams and whitefish. And the usual vegetable characters of course. And sauted the octopi a mere 30 seconds in bacon fat before adding them to the simmering chowder a minute before serving.

The chili idea sounds pretty bad but I bet octupus tacos are do-able. Somehow. With crunchy tortillas to help masticate the rascals.

At a Japanese restarant which I used to frequent, the sushi chef told my buddy and I that he wanted to give us a special treat.

What he brought was sushi topped with a baby octopus. It was cooked, and had a delicate sauce only slightly like teriyaki. It was disconcerting in appearance, but very, very tasty.

The two women sitting next to us were overwhelmed, and had to leave almost immediately! Oh, well, adventure ain't for everyone.

"Octopus tacos"! Hahahahateeheehee.

"Tako" is the Japanese word for "octopus".

Guy walks into a bar with an octopus.

Bartender says "whatchoo doin' bringin' that octopus in here?"

Guy says, "This is a *musical* octopus. He can play anything."

Bartender says, "No way."

Guy says, "Way. And I got 20 bucks says he can."

Bartender says "Well, the band's on break right now. Let's see how your octopus does on the drums."

Guy throws the octopus up on the stage. It picks up the drumsticks and does a drum solo to make Neil Pert cry.

The bartender says, "I'm impressed. But can he play guitar?"

The octopus then picks up the guitar (while still playing the drums) and starts playing Jimi's version of the "Star Spangled Banner".

The bartender figures he's now out $20, but then he remembers that he still has a set of bagpipes under the bar left by a drunken Irish band a few nights ago.

"Bet he can't play these," said the bartender as he threw the bagpipes up on the stage.

The octopus then attacked the bagpipes, making a horrendous racket in the process. He wrapped his tentacles around them and wrestled them all over the stage.

"Ha! You owe me 20 bucks, octopus man!"

"Wait a minute," said the guy. "As soon as he figures out he can't have sex with those bagpipes, he'll be playin'em"

Tako taco? Not tacky.
Tick taco? Tacky.

Hey, Boko - have fun at the concert!

Oh, and the NM nun is not the Frito-pusher, and Joel's mom is not the nun. And Mr. Green lives in the red house with Mr. White next door.

I am disappointed that Joel didn't go the full monty and use "medallion of ferret". Which of owns the trademark on that phrase?

Jumper - I recall, with a mixture of mirth and revulsion, my father sitting at the dinner table dangling squid tentacles dangling form his mouth.

And to all those questionable epicures, who choose to consume octopi, remember octopi are mollusks. They should be prepared in a manner similar to clams.

G'day, boodle!

Yesterday was warm and rainy, and I woke to froggies burbling happily. Later in the day, I actually heard a spring peeper, too. I thought the poor thing was all alone, but eventually a ?*peep*? answered it, and as I listened, the *peep* noises moved closer together and eventually stopped. I hope the result was happy. One early daffodil has bloomed, and I found a spray of tiny bluebells hiding under a wet log.

On the pet food recall, the toxic chemical they found in the gravy isn't that far in nature from the aspergillus poison that was in the Diamond dry dog food, according to this blog: http://vyoma.livejournal.com/1513919.html

If so, the problem isn't going to go away anytime soon. And there must be a better way of finding out than waiting for a pet to get sick after eating.

Hey, if one consumes eight pies, has one, in fact, consumed an octopi?

HaHaHa..Ha..Ha...ha

Okay. I'm done now.

SCC too much dangling. You see, the memory haunts me still.

WaPo subtitle on the homepage with interesting spelling. Let's see how long it lasts.

"Retailer makes comprimises with Md. residents concerned about store's impact on neighborhood."

Sevenswans -- I always hear notes from the "12 Days" carol when I read your name. What is your appr. latitude? Spring is not the same, horticulture-wise, for all boodlers.

Dolphin M: I tend to agree, but will also say as a veteran of youth sports, refs don't always see everything.

One golden rule with two related statements: the ref is right all the time; The ref is right even when the ref is wrong.

---
I have no idea about the replay rules for college b-ball.

At least b-ball does not have the weirdness that is standard in soccer concerning off sides. And hey, I know the rules, even that one, but sight lines matter, and again:

ref rules.

I had a friend who said eating squid was like chewing erasers.

I'm turning into a clematis addict. My evergreen clematis (clematis montana)at the back corner is blooming spectacularly now - covered with sweet-smelling white blossoms. There is a pink Nelly Moser back there that will bloom in about a month. I have a purple one out front - jackmanii probably - that gets too much shade from the maple that needs a trim. The two that I planted last year close to the back porch survived and are putting out new growth - I hope they'll bloom this year.

Boko, hope you have a great time at the concert. Some friends of mine saw him a couple of weeks ago and he did not disappoint.

CP, it may be the altitude that affects the spring froggie timing here more than the general location. My area is at least two weeks ahead of the DC-metro commute area for fall, behind for spring, and about 5-10 degrees cooler at all times. It's a microclimate, though - the next mountain/valley over can be different, even on the same day.

CP;

"Retailer makes comprimises with Md. residents concerned about store's impact on neighborhood" is still there...

*SIGHHHH*

CP!!! Of course, but NCAAs are big business. And yes, having ref'ed basketball and soccer as well, your purpose w/ youth sports is to maintain a healthy flow to the game. AND encourage the enjoyment for all.

That would be a far cry from the handprints that Cage of Xavier must still have on his chest from the foul in the OSU game. There is a whole lot of gamesmanship and even cynical fouling going on.

It is hard to really judge at the college level, but refs need to be able to make a tough call and intentional fouls are at the heart of many controversies.

Here's an interesting article about the current BBall March Madness and this subject:

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1601906,00.html

What's interesting is not only the fact that they are talking about "giving a foul" but that the writer implies that the foul by Oden on Xavier's Cage was a "no call" when there was a call, but not an "intentional" foul.

For those of you who missed the play, one moment, Cage was standing under the basket by himself holding the ball after snaring what could have been the last defensive rebound of the game, and then the next second, he was sprawled in the row of photographers w/out his Nikon.

By all rights, that should have been 2 shots and the ball to Xavier. The ref's choked the call. (IMHO) ... They surely were hoping that it wouldn't cost Xavier the game, but unfortunately, it did.

Here's an apt listing from Craigslist yesterday:

Buffalo Liver - Free
High quality buffalo liver for you or your pets. Organically raised animals on a farm in Riner VA. I gave up organ meats and don't want to see it go to waste. 2 pounds - frozen to maintain freshness.

Mmmm... imagine... buffalo liver and octopus chili. I wonder if Kim O'Donnel has a good recipe.

Mostly have you tried the fall blooming clematis, I had one at the old house, tiny white flowers in late summer that fill they yard with scent and then have nice seed pods that hang on in the fall. Can't remember the full name and my plant boods aren't reachable right now. It is a great addition if you love clematis and would probably do well in your climate.

Here's a picture and the full name,

http://canstockphoto.com/Clematis-Terniflora--0490854.php

TBG... believe it or not, buffalo liver sounds really good to me right now (I get strange cravings that make pregnant women seem downright reasonable).

I'm picturing it frying in my trusty iron skillet with some onions and bacon and freshly squished garlic.

Of course, I was the weirdo who fried up some spinach and onions w/garlic for breakfast this morning. This could explain why Mrs. Martooni has been going on an unusually high number of errands and shopping trips today.

First she complains about all the sawdust. Then it's the garlic. Next thing you know, she'll be demanding I put fresh socks on every morning.

All this talk of "clematis" has me thinking I need to go to confession or take a shower or something.

I did read about it once in Cosmo (and must say I was intrigued by the concept), but when I mentioned it to Mrs. Martooni, she slapped me and I ended up sleeping on the couch for a week.

Dm -- yes to what you say about the intentional fouling. I did not see that game but overheard the chat about it. Not good at all. I believe the "gentlemanly conduct" proviso trumps the "ref is right rule," but sports gave manners long ago.

And I go out on a limb here, re Jeff Green's Hail Mary moment. I am biased toward him and the neighborhood we share; I am dumb about b-ball, truly. Perhaps his dribble-into-carry-the-ball-up-into-the- heave-to-the-net was not quite right; the ratio of feet to upper body activity has to meet a rule....traveling, possibly.

Unless I saw it directly on, I would let that one go (and me, imitating a ref!) ....Slap me silly, if you must, in a joshing tickley way here....but his move looked borderline Ok to me.

The octopus joke is one for the ages, 'tooni. I'm a bit punchy as a result of doing yard work for the past four hours. Aesthetically, it doesn't look like anything was done. The kit had me rolling. Ventilate, dr. I once had to paint a basement bathroom with oil based paint. By the time the job was finished I was three sheets to the wind and had to ride my motorcycle home. The ensuing paint hangover was quite uncomfortable. Off to fry up some grubs I found in the yard for lunch.

Martooni, martooni, martooni -- What ever are you thinking about gardening words! Confess if you must, but you've gotta believe!

How's the wordworking biz? Talk of gardens means garden chairs, arches, and other gardenescue furniture. Take notes as you may have a market here.

mmmm... grubs.

Bet you can't eat just one.

;-)

I think perhaps the refs were so looking for the foul, they missed the feet.

CP... It's very dangerous to say my name three times. I just may materialize on your doorstep and attempt to build or repair something.

btw... anyone with little ones... I'm building "magic doors" that allow your wee one to travel from his/her closet to the Hundred Acre Wood, Santa's workshop at the North Pole, the Backyardigans back yard, or any other imaginary destination -- all you have to do is tickle the door knob and tell it where you want to go. There's even a book in the works that comes with it. (sometimes the drunken ramblings of a devoted/deranged dad at bedtime bear fruit)

Martooni,

Will these things, with varnish, adhere to trees outside? Fairy doors are the range in some midwestern gardening circles. Some college students in town places fairy doors on their sorority houses....are we talking about the same thing?

Martooni, I hope you do write that book, as a kid, my brother entertained me with all kinds of stories, we had fairies in the glass door knobs that came out to keep up from getting bored as we did the dishes. At night my large oollection of stuffed animal were used as props in the stories. Sadly none of them were written down, I wish they had been.

Your magic doors holds a similar sense of wonder and enchantment for me - good luck.

Well, TBG, one could deconstruct the phrase "high quality buffalo liver" and examine the innate ambiguities. For example, what does "quality" modify? If the key implication is "quality liver" then all that one is promised is organ meat with unspecified "quality" characteristics. Since nutrition is not specifically identified, the "quality" features could refer to such irrelevant characteristics as color and tensile strength.

Even worse, if the discriminate phrase is, in fact, "quality buffalo" then all one can safely conclude is that the buffalo had at least one "quality" feature, including, perhaps, something such as superior leadership skills within the herd. No assertions of value are specifically levied against the liver.

One might suggest that this is all a bit pedantic and weird. And one would be right. But your government has carefully trained me to realize that one can never be too careful when evaluating vendor claims. Especially when they involve stuff one is to put into one's mouth.

Or can one?

I have actually eaten buffalo, and its not bad, can't vouch for buffalo liver, I do liver.

martooni, is it restricted to little ones? I have spent most of my life yearning to go to Narnia (the movie only made the pain in my heart worse!) and the Hundred Acre Wood. May I have a magic door?

Off topic, and I know you all stopped discussing the BPH days ago, but I had such a wonderful time, I want to thank all the regulars. It was delightful to meet everyone. For the remoter Boodlers, you've seen the pictures, but everyone is even better looking than that, when their faces are animated. And they were all so welcoming. My interpreter did a great job. The flags and songs were fantastic. The conversation was flowing. I drank too much wine. It was great. Thank you all.

*waving at Annie*
*hugs* for everyone

There's a roadside ice cream joint over in Western PA (between New Castle and Slippery Rock on Rt. 108) that also raises buffalo and sells buffalo burgers. Can't remember the name and even tried to Google it (apparently they're not into the dot com thing) but I think it was "Forbes" or "Forbushes" or something like that. Probably 15 years since I've been there, but the burgers were excellent (liver not on the menu) and I still remember the red/white checkered table cloths and overall "diner" atmosphere. Nothing to write home about, but if you're in the neighborhood and hungry it's good eats.

We used to have buffalo burgers every once and a while as a kid. They tasted like beef with an attitude.

Yoki - I always wanted to go to that Chocolate Factory along with Charlie. I always got the feeling there were still a whole lot of cool rooms left to explore.

And I am so sorry I didn't get to see you at the BPH. Perhaps TBG mentioned why it would have been difficult.

Which is partly why I am sitting here doing this.

dmd, thanks, I hadn't heard of that kind of clematis. It sounds like the clematis montana that I have, but would bloom in the fall. I'll keep my eye out for it.

We eat buffalo quite a bit - get it at the grocery store, nothing exotic. I can hardly tell the difference between buffalo and beef. Buffalo is leaner and more expensive, so we wait till it goes on sale.

Yoki... when I said "little ones" I should have said "imaginative ones", which would grandfather/grandmother in those of us who no longer require parental assistance for "potty" matters yet still have a desire to hang out with a silly old bear and are always on the lookout for heffalumps and woozles.

CP... never heard of "fairy doors", but I guess mine work similarly -- to some they're just a prop, but add a little imagination and next thing you know you're in an other world.

btw... Santa Claus is the only certified magic door repairman in the world. He's also the only person in the world who can "activate" one (this is what Little Bean tells me). Even Handy Manny has to call him when one breaks down. In other words, I'll make you a door, but you'll have to talk to the chubby guy in the red suit to make it work.

Martooni,

Make some doors. Tell us how to adopt them. (You collect a fee!). Make some of them for the outside, so garden-peeps can put them to work in the yard. We write props for your website, post images of installation, etc.

I get buffalo burgers all the time at Trader Joes. They are a little leaner and stronger flavored than beef, but otherwise pretty interchangeable.

There is a restaurant in Denver called Buckhorn Exchange that specializes in game. My wife and I shared some sampler dishes that included yak and elk.

martooni - if you feel you need some government funds just give me a call. I can probably work a sole source justification based upon magical powers.

Hey, it could work.

mostlylurking -- Sweet Autumn Clematis is wonderful. I purchased it in the past from Wayside Gardens. (Was going to post a link but it seems their server is down.) It is worth searching for!

CP... I guess I could use treated lumber for the outside variety. Or cedar. Teak would be nice, but would cost an arm and a leg (and probably a kidney or two).

My sister thinks I should push this book/door thing (and at this point, I'll do just about anything for a buck that doesn't involve the wearing of hot pink short shorts and silver go-go boots or a purple dress). She's also a very talented artist and has agreed to illustrate the book (assuming I ever get it written down). I'd really like to see it happen -- your mention of the fairy door market is promising, even if the term "fairy" is involved (not that there's anything wrong with that).

martooni, I'd be in the market for a magic door. There are numerous places out back where it could go. Considering the size of magical beings, do they come in more than one size? Cause I have at least one tree that was just meant for a small size secret magic door.

Does anyone remeber elf stories from a very long time ago, where the elves houses were mushrooms, and one of them was named 'Pookie'?

martooni, you can name your company "Imaginary Friends."

Martooni,

I am not afraid of plywood or other scrap wood. Mudge will tell us how to Valspar the piece to withstand typhoons.

Use us as field testers. Nellie's name for you is perfect. Make the doors: split the marketing into the two crazed segments:

people for their children
people for their gardens

I would like one to go into the Wonderful World of Thornton Burgess:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thornton_W._Burgess

I did not know Pookie the Elf. But I stumbled upon British books through Irish cousins of Noddy the Elf and Policeman Mr. Plod.

But if peeps here have not read this book, try this gem-tome:
Little, Big: or, The Fairies' Parliamentby John Crowley, published in 1981.

Fairy story for grownups. Excellent.

CP... you don't know how encouraging it is to hear that one of my wacky ideas just might have a shot at success. Mrs. Martooni is in disbelief that anyone other than me thinks this isn't insane (and I've even had her read the posts here).

Just for the record, here's a pic of the prototype I made for Little Bean: http://www.axcessmypics.com/photos/d1/9a/7f8f9e657370.jpg

CP - I sent you something at 6:15, but my email is acting all hinky-like. Let me know if you don't see it.

Martooni, it is wonderful!

That does look nice Martooni,I also like the pet toys in the photo,How many of them little critters do you have running around there?

Martooni, the door is great. You need to find a craft show where you can take some -- and some paint so you can fill in the child's name. Different door styles and colors will catch the eye -- super!

I am coveting that door. I can see it now in the back.

The Lord said thou shalt not covet, so count me in as a ready market. Write that book quickly, and get it out there.

After the paint session, I went home and had a nice cup of coffee by the sunny kitchen table. I took out my new Mexican cookbook, and opened it randomly. I swear upon my grandmother's grave, it opened to the only recipe in the entire book with octopi in it.

(cue twilight zone music)

For those of you tired of watching basketball.

It's a mad mad mad mad world is on Turner Classic Movies.

martooni, that door is fantastic. I just love the moon-shaped handle.

**************

"'The modern, global belief in flying saucers and their occupation,' wrote [Jacques] Vallee, 'is identical to the earlier belief in the fairy faith. The entities described as the pilots of the craft are indistinguishable from the elves, sylphs and lutins of the Middle Ages. Through the observations of unidentified flying objects, we are concerned with an agency our ancestors knew well and regarded with terror: we are prying into the affairs of the Secret Commonwealth. . . .

". . . . Fortean researcher Janet Bord reports a story that was a brief local sensation in the English city of Nottingham in September 1979 when a small group of children between eight and ten years old were in Woolaton Park at dusk and saw 'around sixty little men, about half as tall as themselves.' The children, who were deeply impressed, stuck by the details of their collective vision. It seems the men, who wore 'blue tops and yellow tights' as well as jester-style caps with a bobble on the end, had wrinkled faces and long white beards with red tips. In the drawings the children did of them, as in the verbal descriptions, they greatly resemble fairies, imps, elves, dwarves, or clowns as they might have been portrayed in the Middle Ages, but with one jarring, anachronistic detail. This is that they are driving around in small motorcars. The children were adamant that there were around 30 of these cars, most of them with two of the little men on board. The cars didn't have conventional steering wheels 'but a round thing with a handle to turn.' Although there was no engine noise the cars moved fast and could jump over obstructions."

***

"As recently as August 1977, well into the UFO age, fairy 'overlaps' were still occurring. On that day a police constable on early-morning patrol first saw a bank of fog -- which cleared to reveal three figures dancing in a field. 'As he got nearer, however, they disappeared into thin air.' The constable described one of the figures as 'a man dressed in a sleeveless jerkin, with tight-fitting trousers; the other two figures were women, wearing bonnets, shawls and white dresses.' All had an arm raised as if dancing around an invisible maypole..

"Janet Bord asks rhetorically, 'Why are the fairies so often seen dancing?' but feels that this is an 'unanswerable question.' Later, commenting on the huge numbers of accounts that exist of the dance, many collected together for the first time in her excellent book 'Fairies: Real Encounters With Little People,' she adds that in her view these consistent descriptions 'have the ring of truth . . . though I am at a loss to explain why the fairies should enjoy so much dancing . . . Perhaps it is simply that they enjoy it and will take every opportunity to relax in this way; perhaps they are performing rituals of some kind.'"

-- from "Supernatural: Meetings With the Ancient Teachers of Mankind," by Graham Hancock

I am fired up. I just read George Packer's article "Betrayed" in this week's New Yorker. It is about Iraquis who have worked for the allies in Iraq, mostly as interpretors, and have given faithful service but have been fired or had to flee execution by Shiite militias as traitors. They are now spending their savings or subsisting on charity in Syria, Dubai, Egypt, Qatar, even Sweden, while attempting to find any country which will allow them to live and work. Some have been forced back to Iraq (the U.S. certainly won't take them, or even give them minimal assistance) to an almost certain death. This is a catalog of betrayal, callousness, willful ignorance and mismanagement on almost every level by U.S. military and diplomats in Iraq.

I can only believe that the U.S. has a moral problem. At least in Vietnam we made a small attempt to rescue those who stepped up to help us when we needed help.

Ironically for me, since my politics are quite to the left of the Democratic party, the shining star in this article is one Kirk Johnson, former USAID official in Iraq and lifelong Republican. He went to Iraq idealistic, thinking he could make a difference and help rebuild the country. He quickly became disillusioned and disgusted with the harm we are doing to people who wanted to help us and are now in danger, broke and ignored by the U.S. Back in this country now (long story) he is compiling a list of people we must help, starting with Iraquis he knew and liked who are now in limbo, and being added to rapidly as others who need assistance contact him. He is writing articles and speaking to officials in power, and making some progress. Our administration is determined to ignore the "good" Iraqis, saying they must remain to rebuild the country. That will be impossible when they are all executed, though.

I cannot continue to ignore this war. I protested in a few demonstrations before it started, put up an anti-war yard sign, signed petitions and sent letters, but have done very little else. In trying to think what to do my first reaction was to whip out my checkbook and I am trying to locate Mr. Johnson to offer assistance, but I've had to send a letter to the New Yorker asking for his contact info - he's not yet organized for donations, I guess.

Any suggestions?

Wheezy, I'm not sure what to do in that specific case, but a local columnist wrote about sponsoring Iraqi's for H-1B visas:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/308164_robert20.html

It is an injustice what is happening to these people. On Friday's NBC news, Tom Brokaw reported about an Iraqi family who had fled to CA in the 1990's, then returned to Iraq in 2003 to help rebuild. The father was kidnapped sometime after that and is presumed dead, and the rest of the family are refugees in Jordan. Very sad.

Not elves or fairies, but this article about a former Arizona governor who says he saw a UFO is interesting:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110ap_symington_ufo.html

Thanks, Mostly. I don't have a job to give anyone, but at least there's a "want to help?" link I can follow. Appreciate it.

Thanks for watching It's Acaedemic. You probably doubled their demographic. I got the whole thing on DVD so I can watch forever my son quickly covering up his President "McCarter" answer. They crushed the other teams, but they have the next round in a month.

mostlylurking, here is the link to Wayside Gardens. If you have never used them, they are very old and established and I have gotten great plants from them for many, many years.

http://www.waysidegardens.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?catalogId=10067&storeId=10151&langId=-1&mainPage=page1

Wheeezy, I don't know what we can do to help the Iraqis you mention. I'd heard an NPR story a couple of months ago on the weekend that related one particular story of an interpreter who had to steal away to Jordan to protect his family from being slaughtered. Sometimes we just have to be "Meester Rick" and wait for our opportunity to help.

I would note to the other lawyer types out there that our firm, like others, are getting involved in pro bono projects to help veterans to insist they get what they need benefit wise. I know, sort of the "man" sticking it to the "man," but it's something.

I haven't completed George Packer's story about the Iraqis we're abandoning, perhaps partly because as chilling as it is, the story's no surprise.

When I was a kid (somewhat before Joel), I recall octopus-wrestling was sort of a super-macho thing to do, especially if someone could take your picture and put it in a magazine. Almost as good as being run up a tree by a grizzly bear. Come to think of it, grizzly bear fantasies still grace certain magazine covers. You'd think there'd be lots of guys out there missing a foot that a griz got. In the real world, limpy surfers seem easier to find.

So do Costa Ricans (Ticos) sell tacos to the gringos who think they should eat Mexican in the land of Trits? A Trit, by the way, is from Dos Pinos dairy, a "Succulent 'hamburger' filled with vanilla ice cream, and chocolate traits. It is the ideal combination. This cookie is made craftily. Addressed to young adults. It can be eaten as a hamburger or as desired." (That's their English translation).

Trits are of course beloved of surfers, just as ice cream sandwiches from Livingston, Montana long nourished explorers of the Yellowstone.

The online Opinion page (as of 12:30 am Sunday) had a picture of someone at a lectern addressing people in what looked for a moment like some ugly bit of the Rayburn Building. I was sort of relieved to figure out that it must be some building in Baghdad's Green Zone. I hope the Capitol Visitors Center turns out better than that.

Wheezy, I spent most of Monday reading and pondering that very story in the New Yorker. As you all know, I try not to comment on US politics, as I cannot and should not influence it. But this is an injustice I have reflected upon. (And I am putting time and energy and money into trying to influence Canadian Conservative politics, which is equally toxic.)

If I could urge US citizens to do one thing, one small thing, it would be to use your votes to persuade the powers-that-be to divorce politics from religious-affiliation or nationality.

To be Iraqi is not to be a potential terrorist. To be Muslim is not to be a potential fundamentalist.

To be a fundamentalist terrorist (of whatever religion or culture) is, not surprisingly, both a political statement and a character-flaw, and not a condemnation of the religion or the culture.

I am, fortunately, old enough to remember the Bader-Meinhof Gang and the Red Brigades and the IRA (radical arm). When Europe was terrorized in the 60s and 70s and 80s, it had nothing to do with Islam. It had everything to do with the political and economic conditions of the oppressed.

Do I agree with all the Islamic tenants? The oppression of women and children which is endemic? No! But Islam does not a terrorist make. My Muslim friends are wonderful.

And I would remind you that if you start something, and use people, you have taken on the Chinese curse.

nellie, thanks so much. I'm sure Wayside used to send me a catalog. I don't get many paper catalogs these days, actually. Ha - they have a redbud tree in my favorite Pepto-Bismo pink! And oh, the clematis - the Sweet Autumn is even on sale. They have Estonian clematis, and yellows, and doubles, and bell-flowered - oh my. (Thanks to dmd, too.)

Good morning, friends. I am so tired and sore this morning. I cleaned this apartment from one end to the other, and I know I used parts of my body that have not been used in awhile, and I am paying dearly this morning. I am running late this morning, can't stay long.

Martooni, I am glad you seem to be feeling better. I hope you can embrace this good feeling and stay with it.

Yoki, what's the Chinese curse?

I'm off to Sunday school, and church this morning. Please give God some of your time, show your family that you love them, and try to get some rest. God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

I write this morning via paulbunyan.net, provider of free Wi-Fi at the Bemidji airport where I will be for some time. The same fog through which I drove quite recklessly kept the airplane I'm supposed to be on in Minneapolis.

When I get to Tampa it will be interesting to hear the SOCOM buzz first hand re: SOCCENT pulling the Marine Co. out of Afghanistan. The special operations role for marines was very controversial within the corps because "a marine is a marine" and one is no more special than another. Not privy to any particular info but experience says we're at a point where heads will roll immediately and some of the innocent will go along with the deserving.

Caught just the tail end of a BBC radio report on the sailors held by Iran. It was noted that the Iranians have done this before and paraded prisoners in front of tv cameras "In violation of the Geneva convention." There was a time when those words were a chilling reminder that not all nations followed the American (Canadian, British, Australian, Scandinavian etc.) example of acting morally in times of war. I am so sad and ashamed, and not of the US military's image in the press, but the reality. Even if not as bad as reported, it is bad enough.

"paulbunyan.net" Oh Frostie, Paul is digital now. Amazing.

I wonder about all that $@^$*& too. Between the two P.Gulf wars we have squandered our reputation. Easily lost;so hard to rebuild.

My SF brother is disgusted and angry. He sees new risks and atrocities directly related to our behavior. The architects of terror did make us change our behavior regarding moral and civil conduct. War without norms and standards is even more horrifying than the horror inherent.

I suspect you will be a good listener as that is so much what those engaged need. Take care. Apply pie, flowers, jokes, silence as needed.

'morning, all.

I've caught a cold this weekend, so I haven't been Boodling much.

Martooni, love the magic door.

I've been meaning to read that stroy in the the New Yorker, but haven't gotten to it yet.

bc

Mornin' All...

Cassandra... Thanks, but I'm not so good. Just stubbornly hanging in there. You know you're in America when there's a two week waiting list for non-millionaires/non-famous-types/unemployed to get into rehab, but if you have one of those magical insurance cards, they roll out the red carpet immediately.

And thanks, all, for the encouragement regarding the doors/book. If my liver and/or pancreas doesn't pull an "Alien" and jump out of my body and bite someone, I'm gonna do it.

Rough night. Back to bed for me.

Martooni... hang in there; we're all pulling for you. Can you somehow keep in touch when you're in rehab we we know you're doing OK?

Teach the bean how to boodle. She can be our Boodle Bean!

*tee hee* I said "we we."

I meant "so we."

Martooni,

Love your creativity and verve and zest. Little (fairy creature, magic princess) Bean wants mostly your steadiness to ground her life. I am thinking of you, steadywise. I look forward to more information on doors.

You are at a threshold, with light beckoning. God bless you and keep you. (Insert: Universe, Higher Power, Narnia, Secret Garden, the asteroid of the little prince, BeanTown....)

For all you Stevie Nicks fans, she's going to be profiled on CBS this morning sometime between now and 10:30 am edt.

Martooni, I am thinking of you, just hang in there, my last trip to rehab involved a wait (I had insurance, they didn't have space) but it was the trip that finally put me on the right road. Do not give up, you are going to feel better one day at a time. And what CP said!

martooni-I too love the door. Though I think my garden would need one with a moon cut out rather than handle. I need to do something for the septic fairies who kept mine from freezing this winter. Keeping a good thought for you.

CP- A military friend of 20+ years was rejected for the Graner trial jury because as it was widely reported at the time:

Col. Allen Batschelet, one of the two dismissed jurors, expressed his sentiments about the scandal, "Frankly, I've got to tell you, it had a strong impact on me...As an Army officer, I was embarrassed by what I saw in the media...The values I hold dear as a soldier were called into question by the whole affair."
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/crimprof_blog/2005/01/mark_10_soldier.html

As usual the daily reality of military family life intrudes on bigger thinking. The husband is going to be away for the NCAA championship, and half my trip to Tampa. Nothing dangerous, but to be separated once again for what we consider to be the second most romantic event on our calendar is getting very old indeed. (The first most romantic is the women's final, which we saw in person last year in Boston. His beloved Md. women rocked!)

Almost forgot, in the Boston Globe Sunday magazine there is a little piece on how three different restaurants prepare baby octopus. Just too strange. Is octopus the latest 'in' food or something?

A silly question has been in the back of my mind for a long time. When you go to a restaurant for the second time (and sometimes third and fourth), and keep being seated at the same table, is this just coincidence or something else. I'm sure I'm not the only one this happens to and maybe there's a name for it.
.

Yoki, you are back ! Glad to hear you had a wonderful time at the BPH. You really make everybody who couldn't attend jealous.

I had a colleague who will not eat anything he can identify. Put a whole fish in front of him and he'll not touch it.

Regarding the US going into Iraq, almost everyone I spoke with at that time were against it. I was against it. However, Bush had ally in my family. All my 5 sisters were for it. So we agreed we will not talk about Iraq when we meet. It's so strange.

Bad Sneakers-my observations as former waitstaffer. If you're going back a second, or third and fourth time, chances are you are with the same person or people. This means your party size remains the same. Creatures of habit are we, so you are likely to be arriving within a relatively small time window, and perhaps on the same day of the week. Restaurants set their stations up in a regular pattern based on time of day and day of week. Then, if the hosti (pronounced host-eye) are not brain dead from hair care product fumes (sorry, professional bias showing) there is a set sequence in which guests are seated. I would say it is more likely than not that you would be seated at the same table repeatedly. Surely a smarter boodler than I can coin a phrase for this.

Speaking of coining a phrase, and the Kittly Carlisle effect (celebrity thought dead is actually still alive). Ed McMahon is touring the Indian casino circuit so our airwaves are glutted with ads touting him as, "beloved coiner of the phrase 'Here's Johnny.'"

Is inventing a catch phrase the same as "coining" a phrase? I think not, but could be persuaded otherwise.

Also, I've observed some astute obit linking here on occasion. Are there an Lee Atwater Dead Pool players in the house?

SCC-Are there any

*sky report*

Blue, blue, blue!!! OK, a couple of cotton balls here and there. Wonderful jogging weather, so...

*wondering what the neighborhood will think of a Grover-waving jogger*

:-)

I read this review in Book World this AM, and thought it might make interesting grist for the Boodle:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032201592.html

I love a good discussion of the nature of reality.

bc

frostbitten, hope you're on a plane by now.

Bad Sneakers, thanks for the tip - but Sunday Morning runs so early and/or erratically here that I never got in the habit of watching it. This is what is Tivo is for, I realize, but I'm still stuck at the VCR stage. Maybe they have it online. And that was interesting about the restaurant placement observation - and a great explanation by frostbitten. Perception versus reality, eh? I think I'm with the reviewer on the book (although, obviously I haven't read the book). Seems like the world and the universe exist whether or not we're here to interpret and analyze and shape (and to destroy).

Oops, gotta go - sun's coming out!

Stevie Nicks on Sunday Morning:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/22/sunday/main2596297.shtml
She's a few years older than me - thought she was younger.

There's also a story related to The Secret there.

From Colin McGinn on Michael Frayn's book:
"I cannot refer to things without using words to do so, obviously, but it is wrong to conclude that objects cannot exist without words."

Yeah, yeah. Old news. Kinda like a middle-schooler who "reinvents" perpetual motion, thinks he's a genius. Except that perpetual motion does not exist, and solipsism does. And quantum strangeness too. Derrida, Carlos Castaneda, and Richard Feynman do not.

To paraphrase Feynman, he said he once as a kid maintained that thought is just words in your head. His friend said, oh yeah, well when you think of that crazy shape of a crankshaft, and picture that in your head, what words did you use?

For fun, I just googled the phrase "only I exist." Straight to mushroomville you go.

One day I will post my true story "I was a UFO Hoaxter."

Not only am I not on a plane yet, 5 hours after my scheduled departure, it will be 5 more hours before I leave Paul and Babe's fine Wi-Fi palace, aka the unsecured area around gate B1 at the Bemidji Airport. Why "B"1? There is only one gate. Why not "The Gate." Does assigning the prefix B create ns of A gates, when people who don't know Bemidji better conjour up said gates in their minds? It's going to be a long afternoon with the boodle on life support and me avoiding doing anything useful despite a bag full of things I could be working on.

I read the George Packer article too, but like all good WaPo & other neocon source readers I am aware that ALL the problems in Iraq are caused by the Iraqis, and consequently I have absolutely no empathy for any of them. Out of the goodness of our hearts we have expended billions for their benefit and they still will not freely give us their petroleum reserves. With that sort of ingratitude, who cares if they no longer have electricity? or food? or joy, love, light, certitude, and freedom from pain? Torture 'em all, I says. We gave them republicanicity & they turned it into unchristian anarchy. Now we gotta bomb Iran just to show 'em we really mean business. Heckuva job, y'know? Good thing we got Dick & George to keep 'em fightin' over there 'stead of over here. Weenies like Packer just don't get it. Yore either with us or agin us, and we decider if yore with us. They're agin us.

A belated thanks for the restaurant table explanation, Frostbitten. I'm sorry to hear that you are stuck in the airport for the afternoon. I have no excuse for not being productive. I've started sewing my granddaughter's 1st Communion dress. Tiers of ruffles from waist to ground, very pretty to look at but darn tedious to put together. Too cold to be tempted outside as I was yesterday, although the sky is finally starting to show some blue. Yesterday it was in the high 50's and sunny, last night it snowed then rained and now it's just too chilly for me out there.

frostbitten: In Crescent City, CA, at least when I was there, the airport had one gate. All the flights were listed on the board with the gate number. I found this hilarious, somehow. Flight 255 leaving at 9:34, gate 1. Flight 72 arriving at 9:55, gate 1. Flight 101 leaving at 10:15, gate 1. And so on.

frostbitten, sorry to hear you're still stuck. That's why I take tons of books with me, and CD's. Knitting socks or a scarf or something is another option - small enough that you don't need tons of yarn, interesting enough that you don't bore yourself silly. The sun is still struggling to come out here. It's been raining for weeks - but I'm not complaining because it's not snow.

I realize that I'm mixing up my clematis - it's the armandii that is evergreen and blooming now. Luckily I kept the label from the montana that I planted last year, or I would be perpetually confused. And confusing everyone else (not to mention boring). A thousand apologies.

frosty, hang in there. Forced time spent at an airport pays back double on karma points.

>mmmm... grubs.
Meet our chef, Medium Rari:
"Here, have some grubs. Oh, they are very tender baby ones. Cooked over incense in holy corn oil. That's oil from the corns of holy men. Known in your country as Polyunsaturated Ghee."

The Firesign Theater
"W.C.Field Forever"
"Waiting For the Electrician Or Someone Like Him"

Channelling - Cute stuff! (Although WaPo as neo-con source is a bit of a stretch.)

LOVE BLACKSALT. That's where you went, isn't it? I remember having brunch with my folks and the fish was so expensive, only one fillet of each species was for sale, sitting on marble slabs on the ice. Just purchasing a tuna steak would cover the overhead for the store.

Mostly-I brought plenty of reading and work, but don't feel much like doing it. I plan to stretch my gardening chops and am going to try to plant clematis and roses for one zone warmer than my 3b-ish northern abode.

Do you grow peonies too? If there's anything worse than clematis obsession it's peonies envy. I have both.

ML and Frostbite (falls) Sorry, I can't help myself.

I would hope peonies would work long and hard in Minnesota cold-bogland. Here they are felled too quickly by heat, but you knew that from your NOVA days.

In MT, long ago and far away, our neighbor Mrs. Brooks (of a Houston accent here with Mr. B at Malstrom AFB) grew three peonies:

Sarah Bernhardt
Bowl of Beauty
Festiva Maximus

She SPOKE to them, when she did not know we were looking: Sarah, Beauty, and Max. She also spoke to pansies as little "sweetie faces."

We grew purple jackmanii clematis everywhere because it liked the cool long spring and again early long fall.

Plants had to survive the neglect appropriate to a seven-child, stairstep family. But, these plants were fertilized regularly by fish emulsion and sometimes fish. The things my dad did to justify fishing....including an ongoing series of holes in the yard to bury fish.....

frostbitten - Oh, my!

: )

CP-yes peonies are a flash in the pan in NoVA, but I did plant one and think the short bloom season was worth the space it took up in the border.

This is what I garden for, not the specific plants, but the quality of light at day's end.

http://jssgallery.org/Paintings/Carnation_Lily_Lily_Rose.htm

This is not my favorite painting of Sargent's, but it is my favorite garden painting.

Oh my. Is my taste in art so dreadful it killed the boodle?

No Frostie,

Just so lovely here. I am grading papers outside, but rewarding myself by saying boodle to you every ten papers. Hope you are off to Tampa soon. Brother IS there now and I will talk to him tonight.

Love the painting and all those luminous colors....Long time ago, my children were shorter than half of the flowers. Not now!

My roomies took off on a drive to Orlando at about 11:00pm last night. Presumably, they're getting pretty close by now.

Howdy y'all. We survived the Happiest Place on Earth and returned to Spring. I have days of Boodle to catch up on and BPH pictures to find, but had to check in with the current crop first. Disneyland was the Happiest Place on Earth, and the biggest; we walked around for three days and didn't begin to cover the whole thing. Legoland was a trifle overpriced, and many rides were down, but they did some really amazing things with those little blocks. The Long Beach Aquarium is awesome. You can pet sharks. They have lots of octopi, and octopups. Venice Beach and Huntington Beach were very beachy. Oceany. We ate some fried calimari rings in Dallas, and in Disney, but no octopups. In a climatic switch, it was cooler and rainier in Southern LA than in Oklahoma. A nice change.

Frostbitten - I don't recall ever having seen that painting before, even though I've certainly seen and enjoyed plenty of Sargent's work.

It is, simply, extraordinary.

No, frostbitten - that's a lovely painting. And I know what you mean about gardening for the light. Here where sunlight can be so elusive, I keep that in mind.

I found a Sweet Autumn clematis at the local hardware/garden center, so I have that to plant this afternoon. (I went to get bags of compost on sale, and just happened to walk by the clematis, and there it was!) I do have a couple of peonies, although their names escape me. One's pink and big and blowsy, the other is white with a purplish center. Their shoots are up a couple of inches already. I really love the Chinese tree peonies, which aren't fragrant but have huge flowers and some have wonderful names (and can be very expensive). I have one, pink, no fancy name but fabulous - it has 9 or 10 buds on it. Peonies envy - ha!

Must get outside now.

Mostly just a warning about the clematis, the first year I noticed the scent wasn't that strong - but just wait until the next year.

You have all reminded me to add peonies to the list of plants I need for the new place, there is not one single perennial planted - just shrubs and tries and one very old wisteria.

Frostbitten-- It's a pretty picture but do you mean you actually plant cockleshells, paper lanterns and pretty maids all in a row?

Back when I played bass guitar for a Greek band (circa 1996), the joint we played at had stuffed calamari -- as in the squid still gots his/her tentacles intact and was served as a body, not as deep fried rings camouflaged in batter. I think the stuffing was based on feta cheese, but I learned not to ask questions about the food there (kinda like the "don't ask, don't tell", or "if you like sausage, you don't want to see them make it" rules of thumb).

All I know is that if you closed your eyes and focused on the flavor instead of the texture, the stuff was pretty darned good.

They also had excellent stuffed grape leaves (what won't those crazy Greeks try to stuff?) and I never made more money in my life as a musician as I did when I played there (or drank more free shots of Ouzo or Metaxa).

Hopa!

Yasou martooni!

Did you get to play at any Greek weddings? Fun!

One of my favorite appetizers is the marinated octopus at Taverna Cretekou in Old Town Alexandria. Mmmmm. They cut it into chunks, so you can see still its "octopusness" but it doesn't still look like a whole animal.

I always thought of them as just miniature octopi though; never really realized they were babies. Yikes.

Not exactly Wilbrod, but I do perennial borders almost exclusively for how they will look for the 30 minutes before EENT (end of evening nautical twilight, EENT occurs when the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon). In other words I am willing to sacrifice time, money, heart and soul for a garden that looks its best for the half hour before it is too dark to see without the lanterns.

BTW, Sargent grew so exasperated with this painting he is said to have referred to it as "Carnation, Lilly, Silly Pose."

TBG... "Yasou" is the only other Greek word I ever learned while I played with that band. They told me it roughly translated as "whoohoo!" or "Rock on!", but for all I know it really means "kiss my Hellenic a$$".

I only did one wedding with that band. It was a good time, but not as profitable as the bar gig. At the bar, they threw dollar bills instead of plates and glasses (something to do with their insurance). At the end of the night, they'd sweep up all those dollars (we're literally talking a couple thousand one dollar bills) and they would be split between everyone in the band (the bar counted as a "silent" band member, probably since they owned the broom).

At the wedding, though, no money was being tossed around. Just plates and midgets. But it was still a great party.

I also learned to never wear a black suit to a Greek wedding -- all the dust from the broken plates had me looking like Father Guido Sarducci after an accidental flour explosion at the holy bread factory.

>I am willing to sacrifice time, money, heart and soul for a garden that looks its best for the half hour before it is too dark to see without the lanterns.

Frosty, it's people like you what made Stonehenge. Very Cool.

So you want the border to the southeast, with blue-green chlorophyll and bright and light flowers, so you can really enjoy the sunset dusk on the flowers?

Sounds good to me, especially if you're viewing it off a deck after work anyway. Maybe a gazebo or stone statue/bench in front of the border, something nice and light that catches the dying rays.

That pose IS silly.

They are closing the reservation desk so the counter folks can become baggage handlers. Looks like this flight might actually leave. Wish me luck, I will have 22 minutes to make my connection in Minneapolis or I won't be getting to Florida tonight.

Good luck! And I think you'll make it, just don't run over too many people at MSP in the process.

Frostbitten... as long as the Minneapolis airport isn't laid out (or as spread out) as Chicago's O'Hare, you just might make it.

martooni, I love the door! Although to have one here, I'd probably have to go through the application process with our homeowner's association, something which I studiously try to avoid!

Ivansmom, glad you survived the visit with The Mouse.

I've been cleaning out our gardens, getting ready to put down mulch. Will now go lay down and wait for the Motrin to kick in.

Error... I once piled up some rocks, but (from what I remember) there was a certain glaucoma med involved and my neighbors petitioned the zoning board to have it removed. It *was* really cool though. Like a Masonic mash-up of the Easter Island heads, Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid with AC/DC's "For Those About to Rock" as the soundtrack.

No squirrels or hamsters were harmed in the process.

I hope you photographed it before it came tumbling down like London Bridge, martooni.

I think a toad may have been squished during the stone-stacking incident, but no suits have filed suit, so this may just be an anomaly of my imagination (or a subliminal cry for help from my subconscious inner child, who, by the way, wants a new swingset w/sliding board and a unicycle).

I used to drive by a house which was covered in clematis, purple on the front of the house, and pink on the side. There was a small strip of lawn and then the rest of the front yard was filled with the rows biggest roses I have ever seen, and down the property line, dahlias, huge blousy wonderful dahlias.

It was not a landscaped yard, but that man surely loved flowers. He must have gotten too old to keep it up, because now its just mundane lawn. I do miss the glory of it.

No pics of the collapse/demolition, Wilbrod. I've heard that there may be a video of me on YouTube singing the Star Spangled Banner in French while wearing a tutu and silver go-go boots, but since this report came from WaPo via the "OnFaith" blog, I'm not particularly worried.

And for the last time, the word "clematis" just makes me feel dirty. Can't we just call it a flowering "plant" or "shrub"?

I'm not really seeing how it's a dirty word, and I suspect I don't really wanna know, like I really didn't need to know what Delores rhymed with.

Martooni, but we are sciency-types and those genus species names roll of the tongue....you may prefer the British pronounciation:

CLEM a tiss

You can pretend that Clem (Clement or Clemantine) is at the door and you remark in your best Irishey lilt, "tis."

Make a very small door for raysmom so that she can revolt quietly against her association.

Frostie, I agree. The whitish garden in sunset-turning-twilight glows. Add scent. Well, then, we are in heaven already without the inconvenience of dying, etc. And if you are undecided on the heaven question, plant thee such a garden. You really need this experience: sublime and transporting.

*White German species iris (cheap common and smells of grape soda if you stick your nose in);
*Any lily that is white, shell pink or pale yellow;
*White Dawn climbing rose (from the turn of the century);
*eleagnus pungens with the silvery flutter grey leaves and scent in Sep.);
*four o-clocks or Miracle of Peru flowers;
*flowering tobacco of old Nicotiana species, not the colored ones in the stores now;
*moon flower.

Moon flower -- like a night morning glory. If you sit still, over an hour, you can watch the blooms unfurl and pop with pollen when they do.

One moonflower seed packet is about 1.29. Score the seed, soaking overnight in water. Grow in a large pot, keeping it watered but not soaked. I am starting my seed on April 1. If you grow one thing this summer, moonflower is the one.

I'm back, muddied but unbowed. Had to rip the clematis out of its pot, leaving a lot of roots behind - so we'll see what it's made of! BTW, I think "CLEM-a-tis" but usually say "cla-MAT-is".

I try to grow moonflowers every year, but haven't had luck getting them to flower. When I lived in Houston, no problem. I think I probably don't water them enough. Do you fertilize them?

Lest this turn into a gardening chat, I see where the Gators defeated the Ducks (well, of course). And may I say it makes me feel really old to read that Patrick Ewing's son is playing for Georgetown?

Ivansmom, glad you, and family enjoyed yourselves. And glad to hear from you. RD, kinda explained why you were not boodling.

Oh.. it's a sad night in the G house. I imagine the Slyness house feels the same way.

It is good to be back, Cassandra. Two of the guys we were with have put up rides or been involved in ride technology for the Rat and Universal, among others. One did the guns & targets (the laser technology) for the Buzz Lightyear ride, which is all about shooting targets with little laser guns while riding in carts you can spin (not me) through a themed path. He'd never been on the ride, or to Disney. Much fun.

Frostbitten, the light just before dusk is referred to in Show Biz (and at our house) as "magic hour". If you look, many movie scenes, particularly romantic outdoor ones, are shot during "magic hour". Enormous logistical problems and tons of money are spent just to get the right shot at that time, when everything looks beautiful and suffused with a faint glow.

At the old house I planted 3 or 4 clematis along the southeast side of my porch. They grew to become a beautiful flower-filled privacy screen. There is one here in the yard climbing up a pole with a birdhouse on top but it didn't flower last year. We took the birdhouse down because it was home to a huge group of English sparrows who had pretty much taken over the yard. "S" will fill the holes and put it back up as a decoration (it has a copper roof) and I have bought some new clematis plants to replace the none-flowering one at the base of the pole. I'm looking forward to paying attention to the gardens this year. Of course, up here in the northeast, nothing is growing yet, although the daffodil bulbs I planted are throwing green shoots a few inches above the dirt. There is one peony, I'd like to have more as they are so spectacular. But first on my list is to plant a few more hydrangeas. They are my favorite flower.

Um, can anyone tell me why NC started trying to jack threes with 4 minutes left in the game, and then all through the OT?

NC has such a strong inside game, you'd think they could have just played a patient game in the paint... ah, well, what do I know?

Anyway, who will Joel root for if FL plays Georgetown for the National Championship.

bc

My father in law makes a great Bloody Mary with Clematis. Although I, personally, prefer it made with straight tomato juice.

Actually, there is a purple Clematis that grows along our back fence. I have done absolutely nothing to it over the last 13 years, and yet it produces glorious blooms for a very few weeks each year.

Ivansmom - Good to see you survived the Happiest Place on Earth! The last time I was in Disneyland was back in '84. At the time I was amazed at how much stuff they had managed to pack into the place. Did you see Eeyore? Cause he and I are, you know, pretty tight.

CP - The garden you describe reminds me of these things called "moon gardens" of which I have heard. These are gardens designed specifically to be enjoyed by the light of the full moon. Also, you have me totally fascinated with growing a Moon Flower. And 1 April sounds like a great time to start.

CP, I finally heard the red-winged blackbird horndog song! It's about time--the cardinals have been broadcasting their...uh...availability for a couple of weeks now, as have the titmouses (titmice?) and Carolina wrens.

I already have a subversive campaign underway against the HOA, in the form of a couple of verboten pink plastic flamingoes which can only be seen from our deck. But maybe a small door to the imagination would be a good addition.

I'm tempted to ask Martooni to do a "fairy door", but deep in my heart I know it'd probably would wind up looking like an rather small, tattered, old fashioned privy door (cut out moon) with "DO NOT DISTURB" sign on the doorknob.

And people would be very, very afraid to use that magical door.

Mostlylurking,

Are you in the mid Atlantic? The moonflower, unless you start in a greenhouse, won't flower until August. September is really the heyday, with the white blooms a relief in the sun burnt days. Here is a web exhibit on culture. I use fish emulsion twice, say June 1 and July 4th. Otherwise, regular watering, especially if it is in a pot, works fine. I have not used the water crystal ammendments but am tempted....

http://www.floridata.com/ref/i/ipom_alb.cfm

I have never had a full moon garden; just bits of what is light-colored and does glow at dusk and dark. I used to enjoy student moles infiltrating into the greenhouses on campus. They would grow seeds for me, after they were no longer my students. But,alas and alack-a-day the greenhouses are now professionally managed and look askance on such transactions.

I only start infallible-easy seeds, mostly outside but under a propped-up old window for a greenhouse effect.

I am beginning to think that the zinnia "green envy" would glow somewhat in the night. Another easy, sure-fire winner.

--
BC -- I will support Georgetown and Gentleman Jeff "Wildcat" Green against Florida, even if JA bans me from the boodle.

To link up the garden tangent with horrid food, can I ask the bleeding obvious? Does anyone eat slugs? They look so snail-like and sans house, perhaps easier? I can donate my beer-soaked ones toward the effort. I do feel bad about slaying them.

RD may begin to reveal the charm of banana slugs in the rain forest NW sector.

>looking like an rather small, tattered, old fashioned privy door
Funny, I thought that was one of the features.

Raysmom! Your blackbirds win! I hear cardinals too, and also white-throated sparrows. But the WTS are not mating, I believe, I think they are just moving northish.

In MT, near Canadia, we identify the WTS call as "O sweet Canada, Canada, Canada," but my cousins north of Boston say, "O sad, Peabody, Peabody, Peabody." with the pebedee pronounciation, rather than the peaBODy.

That reedy call will be outa here soon, so catch it while you can.

Back to the last round of paper comments, which they don't read but have paid for in their hard-spent tuition dollars.

Yes, TBG, no joy in this house tonight. When the game was over, we went for a walk. I didn't say much. He didn't say much.

I have a white clematis that doesn't do well in its current spot. Like most of the plants in my yard, it belonged to my mother. She moved it here when she left the farm. I think the earwig population is responsible for its ne'er do well condition. They like to chomp on every bloom and some of the leaves.

The iris, the fairy rose, the Lady Banks rose, the camellias, the Lenten roses, the pinks, the butterfly bush, the spearmint, the Russian tea olive, the white violets, the Shasta daisies - all these my mother planted in my yard. The best is the old-fashioned rose whose flowers my grandmother used for her wedding bouquet. That bush is huge, and indestructible. When it blooms for the first time in May, it is gorgeous, with hundreds of flowers that start as deep pink buds and progress to light pink as they open. I am looking forward to having all the time I want to work in the garden this year.

I hope everyone will keep the family of the UNC mascot in their thoughts and prayers tonight. He was hit the other night, walking along a road in NJ. The latest news is not good; he is comatose and on life support, and the doctors are not optimistic about his recovering.

RD, if you haven't been to The Happiest Place on Earth since '84, you'd be astonished. We hadn't been since about '91, and the changes are immense. For one thing, they've built a lot of new park on what were apparently former parking lots. We didn't make it to Pooh's Corner, and so, alas, missed Eeyore - he and Grumpy are among our favorite Disney characters. The four-year-old with us reported that Pooh's Corner was just grand. Here's something to make you feel old (you're welcome) -- they "revived" the magic parade of lights as a California Adventures feature, after retiring it as a Disneyland attraction. Same old '70s synthesizer music and all.

Ivansmom, Eeyore and Grumpy are your favorite Disney characters? You're certainly well-equipped to deal the Boy as artistic actor and budding teenager then.

You'll also learn to appreciate Sleepy, too.

It is true, CP. High in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest lurks a Mollusk of Unusual Size whose hue demands that it be known as the Banana Slug. The Banana Slug is a gentle and noble creature, which seeks nothing but to be left alone so that it may enjoy its slime-encrusted existence.

And for the most part, man and mollusk manage to live in harmony. Sometimes, however, the need for survival does cause conflict. For it is believed that, if lost in the woods, a hiker can survive for days on Filet of Slug. Which is why the prudent hiker, just to be sure, always carries plenty of butter and garlic.

RD... all this talk about the Banana Slug reminds me of today's Style Invitational entry about the banana tree...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032300854_pf.html

I saw the Electric Light Parade at California Adventure a few years back. I think they have blinged it up a little, but a great nostalgia trip.

Thanks, Yoki for your take on the New Yorker article. I'm sure my little synopsis while keyed up on adrenalin didn't do the article justice. When I hear back from the group (thanks, Mostly) helping Iraqis to settle here or elsewhere overseas I'll let the boodle know in case anyone else wants to donate.

But Wheezy, I don't believe it is *about* the donations (though they help -- except the donations won't go to the oppressed). It is about writing to your congressperson and demanding that the congressional-type person vote in the way the constituency requests. Or else that congress-seat-filler-humanoid will have his/her a$$ booted out.

This is the only language the pols understand. Tell them you want them to re-locate the helpers to the US, and give their children an education. That is all the translators/interpreters want, after all. But you need to use your networks and vote to make it happen.

Love, Yoki (old-time activist)

Pardon me, maybe I had a little too much Boone's Farm "Mountain Berry" today or did I see that Carol Channeling is now a Boodler?

She sure was great in "Hello Dolly."

CP, I'm in Seattle - land of filtered sunlight, cool summer nights, and voracious slugs (ewwwww). Thanks for the info on the moonflowers - I'll put mine in the most sunny, sheltered place I can, feed them a bit, and see what happens. I did better with morning glories last year, so there's hope.

Welcome back, Ivansmom!

LOL!

G'night.

George Will in his column today either proved himself the ultimate ironist (doubtful) or the stupidest man in the United States.