saving this space

reposting:

Here's a trick: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?searchtype=address&country=US&addtohistory=&searchtab=home&formtype=address&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&cat=&address=main+st+and+williamstown+ln&city=slatington&state=pa&zipcode=

Change to aerial view and to the left you should see a body of water that looks like a cone pointing about ENE or 70%. Center that and zoom in. That's the abandoned slate quarry.

Charley Pride, the great county AND western singer, headlining the Cascade County Fair near Great Falls, MT, year after year after year: good times.

I believe that Evil Knievel's son jumped some barrels on a cycle one year.

And, walking past the peep show tents in fascinated horror:

mermaid baby
cow-man hybrid
bearded lady

"Vulgar and false," clipped my mother as we efficiently headed for the 4-H exhibits. Never once did my apple pie earn a ribbon but my sailor dress ensemble took first place in the Junior Dress Review, circa 1972.

RD (Rural Delivery) Padouk is still glad that I did not enter my "dressed rabbits," with a journaldocumenting the the rabbits' journey from the kit-phase to the kitchen.

*taking the rebound from the space-saving and scoring*

:-)

Cow plop bingo. Refer back to end of previous kit and just think in that general direction.

I would think you remiss, if you did not attend the Rabbit Judging and the doily event, even if the boodle reminds you more of Goat Showmanship.

CP you are making up the part about the Peep show tents right?

I don't think so, dmd. They used to have those sorts of sideshow at the Ex, when I was a teenager.

I belive *stink bombs* refers to a directly-meant inference. If I'm correct, Mianus, CT isn't a stink bomb unless it's used in a sentence thusly: "Everytime I think of Mianus, I think of --insert a random Boodler's name here--in this case, let's use--Loomis." Of course, if I wrote it about TBG she'd laugh because she has a sense of humor.

Have you foresworn off the proceeds of your tainted, family-owned stock, Loomis?

My favorite country fair sight: Piglets racing their little hearts out to be the first to get oreos in the trough.

Wilbrodog's favorite country fair memory summarized briefly at:
http://wilbrodog.blogspot.com/2007/07/scientific-canine.html

The livestock was the biggest draw for him.

Good heavens, dmd, they used to have those peep show tents at the Oklahoma State Fair when I was little. This last year they still had some sort of snake woman thing. I compared it to snake oil & wouldn't let the Boy pay to see. I'm a big fan of the state fair. Since we host the OK state fair here, we don't really have a county fair that anyone notices. Ivansdad & I went to a splendid county fair somewhere in mid-Canada, in some little town by a great lake, when we honeymooned in Stratford lo these many moons ago. They had a little Ferris wheel with a lovely view of the surrounding countryside, and tasty fried food.

Thanks Yoki, Mom and Dad had us spend a lot of time in the Better Living Centre!! Would you consider the Ex a county fair?

The community Mr. T is from has a fair in September, in conjunction with the fall barbeque. He says it's not nearly as big as it used to be, but it's still fun to look at the farm produce and machinery and crafts. Of course, the big draw is the barbeque, which is the very best I've ever eaten. A delightful way to spend a late Saturday morning.

My favorite event at Tioga County fair (upstate New York) was the demolition derby. Just delightfully tacky.

As a teenager, I spent a few days at the State Fair with my horse, so I had time to explore the whole place. I loved the building with all the competitions of domestic stuff--flower arrangements, decorated cakes, table settings, pies, you name it. And then there were the animals. One of my fellow horse-people usually accompanied me, and we would marvel that they could actually judge chickens--we couldn't even tell them apart. We also managed to find the booth selling a mishmash bag of penny candy for 50 cents and made ourselves sick on the stuff. Good times.

I don't really know what separates a county fair from any other sort. If the livestock and domestic arts competitions are the thing, then I would consider the Edmonton Ex (to which I was referring and should have specified) and parts of the Stampede to qualify. I've never been to the big Ex in Toronto, so don't know about that one.

I don't think the Ex qualifies, perhaps, most unusual thing I remember was the high divers that would dive into a small pool of water.

Royal Winter Fair would be closer, no rides but all the animals, and I believe food contests. We tried to explain it to an American colleague on time, he wasn't getting the part where we said one night was (not sure if still it) formal attire. My grandfather was a judge in parts of the competition for years.

ivansmom | How can a boy become edjamacated if you keep him away from freak shows?

They used to have those sideshows around North Florida, a regular regional tour stop for the carnivals.

Well, Yoki... the Arlington County Fair in Virginia was (and probably still is) the only county fair held mostly indoors. That's pretty different from a state fair.

We were at some county fair in West Virginia a few years ago and my husband got a chance to milk a goat. He has a lovely wife, two wonderful kids and three graduate degrees, but I think he considers that goat-milking as his personal shining moment.

tobytyler999, the Boy often visits our state Capitol. That should be enough.

TBG, your husband's experience sounds sorta like Feta Attraction. Watch him carefully...

In Florida, some garden events reach near-fair status. Last weekend's annual mango event at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. The enormous spring plant sale at Orlando's Leu Garden. Sales by regional Palm (and/or Cycad) societies (except they don't get big enough to attract the Venezuelan arepa vendors (sort of fried corn cakes. Venezeulan comfort food).

The Melbourne art shows are definitely in the fair category. Quite a bit of food.

Then there's things like the Upper Clackamas Whitewater Festival, which is put on by the rafters, who seemed to be a distinct tribe from the kayakers. The riverboarders might be yet another tribe by now.

Montgomery County's fair is in

22 days, 22 hours, 22 minutes, soon.

http://www.mcagfair.com/

What's not to like? What, you want free tickets, or somethin'? That can be arranged, boss.

That is a great story, TBG! From what you say, the Napanee Fair which I attended several times is more like a county fair. The Ex's are something else.

Wilbrod, I snorted at your cheesy pun.

Um, Wilbrod, not to get all legalistic and all, but I believe Curmudgeon has the exclusive license for cheezy puns on the kaboodle. I colby be wrong.

Make sure to read the Von Drehle tone poem on fairs -- link added above.

The first County Fair I ever went to was in Penna. Dutch Country, I think the Berks County Fair outside Reading, Pa., though it may have been Kutztown. I was about 10. My parents took my brother and me. It was my first introduction to the Pa. Dutch people, Amish, Mennonites, etc., and their culture and folkways. But (you sure won't be shocked at this) what I remember most was the food. O.M.G. The food. (Padouk can bear witness.) The items I most remember are two things I myself wasn't crazy about, but which my father loved: perogies and halupkes. I'd never heard of such things before. There were tent after tent after stand after tent of all manner of strange and mysterious stuff: shoo-fly pies, baked goods, funnel cake (first time for that), cotton candy, caramel popcorn, canned and jarred pickles and preserves, you name it: if you could pickle it and put it in a jar it was there. My father went nuts for a stand that made some kind of sausage sandwich with fried onions and green peppers that made your eyes water. He got tremendous heartburn (for which my mother berated him), but he loved it. My brother and I had ham sandwiches made up at an Amish stand; the ham was sliced as thin as onion-skin paper but stacked up about 4 inches tall on a fresh snowflake roll (first time I'd encountered snowflake rolls) that was to die for; I can taste it to this day. A county fair is nothing if not for its food.

And yes, there was a midway with some sort of freak show, and a tent with some sort of dancing ladies; those were quite common at county fairs back then. And the ferris wheel and other rides, plus lots of sheds with cattle and pigs and horses, etc.

What a tactile experience: first and foremost a county fair is all about smell. The smells include hay and straw, animal poop, amazing varieties of food, plus another variety of tacky food like sickly-sweet cotton candy. I think maybe sound comes second: the sounds of the midway, the ferris wheel, merry-go-round, carny barkers, the loudspeakers mumbling this or that event, the animal noises, and just the general happy background noise of being in the midst of thousands of people. (I know some people don't like crowds, but in situations like this I love 'em, the more the merrier. I even like crowds at Christmas time when the mall is jammed with shoppers.)

Boy's first letter home from camp, received today (third year to attend):

I [heart] you. I can't stand the bugs and weather any more. Pick me up.

I laughed and laughed. Bad parent!

Harrumph. I pretty much like to think of them as finely crafted and aged diary-product-infused word play. But yes, I *do* own the franchise.

Mudge thanks that picture you described is the fair I always wish I had attended, my experiences were more of the ones described in the Von Drehle piece. Just as fun but missing a quaint feeling.

SMELL! You have that part right, Mudge. There's nothing like glorious poop and food of all types in the hot summer sun!

February in the Tampa area has both the State Fair and the Plant City Strawberry Festival. Nothing like eating strawberry shortcake and watching big-name country acts. Yee-haw!

Actually, Wilbrodog, I was thinking of you when I was writing that part. A fair must be a hundred times more heightened experience for you than for me. Positively orgiastic.

(And if Wilbrod makes another cheesy pun, yank on her leash for me. That one about milking the goat was udderly indefensible.)

Thanks, JA for the DvD piece. The fair is body knitted to soul:
1) the cow dung, now the Winter Wheat Princess and her court;
2) then the REAL Emmitt-Kelly-the-Clown and but ouch! the thumb excised during barrel racing;
3) the baby puckering at the sweet virgin sting of cotton candy and oh my, the carney-guy with the cig hanging from his toothless grin;
4) the dozen or so Jesus freaks (remember the 70s?) singing Kumbayah louder than the three Hare Krishnas (how did they find Montana?).

Mudge, I am now very hungry but no such food in sight.

Locally, try the Ruritan-run Lucketts, VA Fair for a small-town treat. Hershey Park at night, especially on the white picket-fence Comet roller coaster feels rather midway ala Midwest.

Yanking won't get me any cheese, just cussing.

I like cheese. So I'll just look soulfully and open my mouth in a hopeful grin. That's dog logic.

Go yank your own chain.

It's not quite the same thing as a county fair, but the Maryland Seafood Festival (formerly the Annapolis Seafood Festival) is a fun event, see http://www.mdseafoodfestival.com/b_home.html for details. They hold it at Sandy Run State Park at the western foot of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge just outside Naplis. Great, great food, good music (local bands). We oughta BPH there this year.

Mudge-- you'd never find anybody else in an open festival like that, without bloodhounds and exceedingly personal items of clothing. (Dare I say fripperies?)

Wilbrodog would volunteer to bloodhound for all the crabcake he could eat, but I already told him no.

Fripperies and furbelows are fine, but I don't want to see or hear anything about furaboves.

I dunno, Wilbrod--we BPHers are pretty resourceful. Scotty and Mo and I all found each other pretty easily at the Montpelier Wine Festival a couple months ago. (Of course, Scotty and I were both wearing our red Nationals hats, so that made it a little easier. And we hadn't started drinking yet.)

Mudge, is this why you've never liked deep water much? You're old enough to have been there...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070718/sc_livescience/megafloodcreatedgreatdividebetweenbritainandfrance

But what about the new BPHers who are busy looking for Robert Redford, not realizing he had to run for the bus already?

The fair where the elite meet? Why, it's the West Tisbury Agricultural Fair on Martha's Vineyard, which occurs around August Teenth. You'd be in shock and awe if the attendees had to wear name tags.

Joel, I'm sure your editor would be delighted to spring for hotel, meals, etc. for your entire family!

I forgot to mention that they have the fair in August so that all the psychiatrists can attend.

Martooni, m'dear. Bon Courage! And I do mean courage. It's not easy, and your willing to try again is more than commendable.

Good night and good luck.

Jeez dmd. Royal Winter Fair, Toronto Ex. I was getting all wistful and then I remembered the TO Santa Claus Parade and now I'm near bawling. When I was a kid a year was defined by these events.
Oh nostalgia.

I know Boko this kit reminded me of the year I was allowed to go to the Ex with just my friends, no adults. A lovely bit of nostalgia and then I realized my oldest is just a year or two away from that and I got over my weepy nostalgia fast and went to fear.

Oh man, this is a concept:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701791.html?hpid=artslot

I hope they will make a positive difference.

Re. the link to Reliable Source.
Congratulations to Washington native Lee Childs for making it to the final table and finishing 7th at the World Series of Poker Main Event bringing home $705,000.

Kudos to Mississauga, Ontario resident Tuan Lam for finishing second. I'm sure the $4,840,000 will come in handy.

That is quite the collection of "has beens" isn't it Slyness.

dmd, as a kindness I won't tell you what happened when I visited the CNE OctoberFest tent in my late teens (the Norton Commando years).

Boko, just in passing, your restraint in not commenting about JA calling himself Canal Boy so soon after the exchange about the Rideau Canal has been noted.

Well its a much tamer place these days compared to when we visited. If you want nostagia - Argo games at the Ex, especially against the Ti-Cats, drunks and brawls!

From the ages of 9 to 18 I belonged to a 4H club. I learned about photography, pottery, gardening, cooking, public speaking, kite building, gas-powered model aircraft, macramé, basket weaving, and glass cutting. Now, one of the percs of belonging to a 4H club was the right to display your handiwork at the local county fair. In fact, so many local 4H clubs took advantage of this that the county fair was informally known as the "4H Fair."

Because a blue ribbon at the county level allowed one to move on to the State Fair, my memories of the county fair are tinged with anxiety. I spent many sleepless nights before the fair wondering if my hanging aquarium made of carefully-cut sections of glass bottles would make the grade. I recall obsessing over the precise placement of my handmade ceramic frogs to give them the best chance of being considered worthy of the Big Show. (Turned out the aquarium earned a blue, but the frogs were only awarded a red. Philistines.)

Anyway, to celebrate the boundless joy of acceptance, or soothe the tortured soul of a failed artist, there was always the fairway. My favorite ride was the Tilt-O-Whirl, which my brothers and I were convinced represented a highly-accurate representation of astronaut training.

When that got boring, we would wander through the many booths where you could pick up fascinating literature, pins, and bumper stickers for the highly divisive political cause of your choice. I clearly remember one booth sternly advising us to "split wood not atoms." Oh, the irony.

I must admit that I have never taken my kids to a true county fair. Instead we visit a lot of much smaller "street fairs" popular in rural Pennsylvania. Although these feature rides and booths, they lack the competitive spirit of a true county fair. No blue ribbons are awarded at these fairs. Which is a shame. Because I think I still have those frogs around somewhere.

I mean, maybe I was just ahead of my time.

SoC | I did comment, all envious like, and good on him. I just wish that someone up here would write something about the Rideau Canal as fine as The Grand Idea.

As for the perfidious Ti-Cats, how many of their QBs have gone on to win the Superbowl. I'm thinking Argo QBs Joe Thiesman.
Warren Moon Moon held the record for most passing yardage in professional football until surpassed by Damon Allen on September 4, 2006.

Dear 'ol dad has the videotaping franchise at the Fryeburg Fair in Maine, and I've had the honor of manning a camera now and again. Dad sez nobody tapes cow judging the way I can.

I think that's a compliment...

And oh yes, the Fair's plenty of fun regardless... Lumberjack competitions, harness racing, crafts, horse and ox pulls, midway... *SIGHHHH*

:-)

Joe Thiesman... now you're talkin' our language, Boko!

Joel, please find out how to get those blasted coins into the bottles at the coin toss or is it the bean bags in the barrel toss? Very frustrating. I never win the big stuffed animals. Although I am very good at the duck hunting rifle range.

Thank you.

Yes, it is gouda get away from cheesy puns.

On another subject (quickly), I liked this article about 20 important rock albums from 1967 published in USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2007-07-17-summer-of-love-main_N.htm

The two sidebars on Singles and That's Odd are also good. It brings back some good memories.

I barely have time to read any of the Kit at work so forgive me for going back to the last one to complement Firsttime on a wonderful post this morning to Martooni. Extremely well written and on target.

We have what passes for a fair in a nearby town in August. I went once with my daughter when the granddaugters were very small. It was outrageously expensive but there were a few fun things like the pig races. I know she's gone since and spent a small fortune each time.

Sneaks, I trust this means that your new job is keeping you engaged and busy and happy.

pj just cracked me up.

I actually overheard this (real) snippet of conversation between #1 and #2 when she was 11, and she was 9, and she was eating bread and cheese for lunch:

"Is it Oka?"

"No, but it is Goud enough."

My work there was done!

Well Slyness, my job has been keeping me very busy for the last two weeks after a slow start. Lots of reports going out that I'm involved in preparing but not in a particularly brain-taxing way. I have so many different responsibilities from the mundane (ordering supplies) to the semi-mundane (travel arrangements), that at least I'm not bored. I have been told that I will pick up more responsibilities as time goes by which is good. I have learned some new skills which is always fun. The people I work with are very nice and I feel at home there. And I love having a 10 minute commute. My benefits start on August 1st, yippee! So, all in all, yes I am happy. Oh, and frosting on the cake, "S" got a big raise the other day (of course he hadn't had one in three years, so it was long overdue). Life is good.

The NY Times is showing a somber picture of smoke and steam rising from near the Chrysler Building from the 6 pm steam explosion that killed at least one person. It must have been a bad reminder of the end of the World Trade Center.

On the other hand, developers are now proposing something larger than the new World Trade Center for the vicinity of Penn Station/Madision Square Garden. The big city seems to be doing pretty well.

The first fair I ever attended was the Ohio State Fair sometime in the 60's. After all the animals (we had two very small children, and animals were what they loved) we came to the midway. There was a very handsome double ferris wheel.

Having grown up in Long Beach, CA, and spent many a Saturday at the "Pike", I said I would take the kids on the wheel, I loved it.

OH MY goodness! That thing goes up in the air and turns around!

I did not scream.

Then.

I don't know anything better than working with compatibles, with benefits, so yay! Bad Sneakers.

And "S" gets a shout-out for his raise. Excellent.

And now the NY Times has bought the Harry Potter Book, retail, and already spilled the beans.

What newspapers WILL do in order to get read. I'm totally not reading the NYT's "beanspilling" now.

What newspapers WILL do in order to get read. I'm totally not reading the NYT's "beanspilling" now.

That was funny Nellie. I hate ferris wheels, something about being up in the air and swinging back and forth at the same time just creeps me out. My mother went on one with me when I was about ten. We got to the top and it stopped to let more people on and I announced to her that I wanted to get off. She told me later that she was afraid I'd jump. Poor Mom, she never let on at the time though, just like Nellie she kept her cool.

Thanks Yoki. "S"'s boss looked at the first contract and rejected it because his raise wasn't big enough. Talk about feeling appreciated!

I do embarrassing things with respect to special events. In London, about four Decembers ago, I missed the lighting of the National Christmas Tree (and in fact the whole tree deal) even though I was staying nearby and going within a couple of blocks while going to and from theaters. I also missed the London Eye, despite having a domineering view of it from my hotel room, which was in the same building as the ticket office [it was the cheap Travel Inn on the non-scenic side of the building, not the Marriott on the river side].

For fair-like ambience, a night market in Taipei must be perfect.

I am jealous, RD! You were in 4-H! I was just on the cusp of "urban" v. "rural", and there was no chapter in my school. My dad was a farm boy who moved to the city (I always thought he signed up for officer's school in WWII to get off the farm). We religiously visited the 4-H exhibit hall and animal buildings at the State Fair every year, and he'd consider buying a cow for a day or two, until he remembered the ceaseless labor involved. I was always fascinated by 4-H, very jealous of my Indiana farm cousins when we visited and saw their 4-H projects, but never participated.

Ivansmom... I, too, got a letter from camp today. She's having a great time. It was mainly a list of stuff to bring to her when we visit on Saturday.

(She even prefaced the list with "this is pretty rude, but...")

I am glad to see that highly evolved and astute websites like yours are warming to the obvious facts of Bill Richardson's ascending campaign, even though you are very reasonably somewhat skeptical about the precise statistics.....

Richardson is my governor, and I have known him personally for 30 years. What Richardson has achieved vis-a-vis the New Mexico Legislature is remarkable, but I won't recite the accomplishments. I want to see him elected President, but I am in no way connected officially to his campaign.

The so called "top-tier" candidates together, all 3 of them, have a collective resume still lesser in quality to Bill Richardson's!(Incidentally, Pollster.com determined very recently that Richardson henceforth shall be considered in the "top-tier," based on his being the only candidate who has substantially risen in Iowa!)

I am certain that Richardson's real genius and his strongest suit is in international affairs, and that will be vital (and I don't mean as just a future US Secretary of State!), if we are going to even attempt to rebuild the shattered US image internationally, after six years of Halliburton-driven corporate kleptocracy. His debate skills have not been as honed and polished as the 3 lawyers in so-called "top tier," but that is fixable. His biography is great (Between Worlds: the Making of an American Life), and the new book on Energy Policy will be just as good.

Here is what I consider the bottom line: you don't have to be a Marxian or Hegelian or a Ph.D Economist to comprehend that our domestic economy is suffering and going to get worse resulting from the on-going international implications of the screwed up foreign policy of this administration, so thoroughly based on corporate needs and demands; don't expect ANY improvements in the last two years of Bush's tenure, especially in the trickle down economic realms which would improve the lives of the vast lot of individual American consumers.

Richardson has repeatedly made it clear that Congress should deauthorize the Iraq War, and that he personally would end it the first day of his Presidency: his very recent TV ads have made this really clear.
["Our troops have done everything we've asked and I don't want to see any more die,"]

My prediction: for lots of really good reasons, Richardson is going to win in Nevada, and he is going to do very very well in Iowa, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and California, I think winning in at least two of those states.

May I suggest that you and your readers directly communicate to David Contarino and Amanda Cooper, his Campaign Manager, and Deputy CM, or to Richardson directly through the email function on his NM governor website? These people are very open to new ideas, questions, strategies, insights, etc., and I encourage anyone reading to take the time to contact them by phone or by email, even if you have just one question on a policy matter, or want to tell Bill Richardson what YOU think.

If you wish, please google the title of my most recent major article, RESOLVING THE WORSENING CRISIS AT THE FDA, published at many websites in many nations.

Truly,
Stephen Fox
New Millennium Fine Art,
217 W. Water St.,
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
505 983-2002

Are these Proper Bostonians?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/07/18/parade_planned_for_mr_butch/

I am so proud.

Mahvelous news, Sneaks! Give S my best, and don't let him spend the raise all in one place (unless it's on you)!

Hegelians must die.

Mr. Fox writes very nicely. I wonder how people in the cruder arts might vote.

Bob S., sorry for the vitriol. We all build our lives on the backs who come before us. Following a thread (giggle) from the recent Weingarten chats, we have all gained from the exploitation of African-Americans. I just happened to feel that Mr. Boone gained just a little too famously in that regard and wanted that on the boodle record, such as it is.

It was overly sincere, I will grant you that. *Dismounting from high horse.*

County fairs; oh, the demolition derbies, the tractor pulls, oh, the humanity.

It's been a long time since my brothers and I did the demo derby at the Montgomery County fair... I may have to raise that as an item when I have dinner with them this weekend.

bc

Wop-bop-a-loo-mop alop-bom-bom
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Awop-bop-a-loo-mop alop bom bom

I got a girl, named Sue,
She knows just what to do
I got a girl, named Sue,
She knows just what to do
I rock to the east, She rock to the west, but
she's the girl
That I love the best.

Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Awop-bop-a-loo-mop alop bom bom

I got a girl, named Daisy,
She almost drives me crazy
I got a girl, named Daisy,
She almost drives me crazy
She knows how to love me ,
Yes indeed
Boy you don't know,
What she's doing to me
[Tutti Frutti lyrics on http://www.metrolyrics.com]

Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Awop-bop-a-loo-mop

(Saxophone solo)

Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Awop-bop-a-loo-mop alop bom bom

Got a girl, named Daisy,
She almost drives me crazy
Got a girl, named Daisy,
She almost drives me crazy
She knows how to love me ,
Yes indeed
Boy you don't know,
What she's doing to me

Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Tutti Frutti, aw rutti
Awop-bop-a-loo-mop alop bam boom

Stephen Fox.. very well written and very interesting! Bill Richardson is a candidate I'm interested in and on the surface like very much. But I don't know enough about him--and would like to learn more.

If you've visited here before, you know that most of us agree wholeheartedly with you about our current administration. But many of us have expressed the opinion that it's too soon to be fighting over a nomination for an election that's more than a year away.

I'm concentrating on my local elections coming up in November. We are trying to "turn Virginia blue." Or at least a darker shade of purple.

If you're new here, welcome!

[And if you're spam (which I suspect after Googling some direct quotes from your post), then never mind.]

Boki999 is bach!

Oh, TBG, I do love you so, said Pooh.

Has there ever been an account of some of these quixotic (the most awesome scrabble word ever) folks who run for president whose chances are next to nil?

I am impressed and embarrassed for them at the same time. What is the mix of ego and fervor that drives them? If I could just get a little of it every day at work.

Guess that's why I have the day job.

So do I, said Piglet.

Sorry, I forgot supply an attribution. Richard Penniman wrote the lyrics I posted at 10:57.

Boko, a testifier for the Lord like Mr. Penniman has no desire to litigate for the coin of realm.

10/12 on the flower quiz - I missed the plague question, and the tulips -
"And while Holland may still be considered the "tulip capital of the world," there are more acres of tulips in Skagit Valley, Washington, than in all of Holland."
Oh, the shame. I knew about vodka, because of my crazy radio gardener guy.

That is an interesting list, pj. I had quite a few of those albums, although I didn't discover the Dead till a few years later (where is jack?).

My favorite part of county fairs was harness racing. And quilts. And fudge.

A surprise from the University of Chicago Press. I was looking for something other than an excerpt from the new Army counterinsurgency manual.

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/841519.html

I don't know where she's coming from
But I just met a lady named
Dynamo Humm

Everyone loves Jesus
Just ask Tipper Gore

DotC - well, that was pretty depressing.

TBG - woohoo, turning VA blue, or even purple....sign me up.

7/12 on the quiz. I'm just the worker bee..I think the hubby would have gotten 12.

Oooh... Kim.. start here: http://www.vademocrats.org/

I've been having lots of fun volunteering at the local level. Not just the State Senate candidate, but even as local as the Clerk of the Court.

I live in a part of the county that has been very Republican for several years, but is starting to show a little blue. I figured the best way to see that improve is to do what leg work I can. I'm not a phone or door-to-door person, but I'll be happy to hand out balloons or fans or stuff envelopes.

I've seen some interesting parts of the county, met some very nice people (including the governor!) and have made some great friends this way. And I feel like I might be making a little difference.

I grew up with the Antelope Valley Fair in Lancaster, CA, from the time I was in 5th grade til HS graduation.
Tractor pulls, rodeos, livestock, competitions...whathaveyou...I wasn't interested in any of that. It was the highlight of the year for the under 12 crowd and the social event of the year for the teenagers. For those unable to enter the beer garden, it was all about the midway. See and be seen, ride the tilt-a-whirl, the zipper, the swings, the bob-sled and the scrambler.

Of course I have fond memories of cotton candy, candy apples, lemonade and sno-cones, but the best were the burritos served by the Rotary Club (whatever that was!) I think they had grilled onions in the burrito and it was really heavenly. I'm a burrito expert and I've never had a better burrito.

On the whole, I think RD's experience may have been more valuable in the scheme of life, but I can't say I didn't enjoy the fair!

I thought you lived DC TBG. I didn't know you're in 'Ginny.
Jim Webb for President!

TBG- thanks for that... as the kiddies are getting older, I see some opportunities there.

I'm just over the bridge Boko (well... 15 miles over the bridge but I guess it's all relative, isn't it?). I was born in DC, but moved here when I was wee.

Let's keep Webb in the Senate for now.

Tim Kaine for President!

Well TBG, sign me up for that, as well. I think he's the best. He's not an idealogue, he's willing to work across party lines, he is not shy about saying what he believes, yet he doesn't shove his beliefs down other's throats. I could go on, but I won't.

Ha ha, Kim - a burrito expert! I love burritos too. There used to be a nice little hole-in-the-wall restaurant near me with the best Mexican food - they used spices that we couldn't quite figure out, so good but different from the usual Americanized fare. The restaurant is still there, but it has changed ownership over the years and the food has gotten blander and blander. (I was going to say it went downhill, but GeneW has me confused about that expression now).

Forget the ego and fervor. I want the physical stamina to run for president. And write a book at the same time (Remember Al Gore and Bill Clinton in 1992?)

Hi mostly...I'm with GeneW about that...uphill means >bad, downhill means> good, right?

There used to be a great hole-in-the-wall restaurant in south central LA called El Tepeyac which had the next best burrito (after the Rotary Club). When I moved to the East Coast in 1976, I literally had burrito withdrawal. I was 18, had left my boyfriend, my friends, the beach, the sun, the lack of humidity, Westwood, etc., but I missed Mexican food the most. Good Mexican food just wasn't to be found here back then. Thankfully, it's much better now, but it's still not the same.

Thanks all, for letting me ramble on...

OK.. anyone with an iPhone, please use it to check out my list of helpful apps here...

http://www.iphonecompanion.com

(This is optimized for an iPhone and will look a little odd on a PC screen)

Tell me what you think!

TBG. Well, Ok. As a Canadian I don't get a vote, but you should know that the choices you make have a huge effect on the lives of everyone who lives on this planet.
Please no more Bushes or people who think they're Ronald Reagan.
We liked FDR. Got anymore of those?
G'night

I'm with you, Boko! I'm trying the best I can!

:-)

G'night, too.

Everyone is asleep? No late night lurkers?

Nothing to report on the wildlife tonight, but I just took out my trash and the Milkyway is quite brillant tonight. I stood there enjoying it for about 10 minutes before the stench of my trash got to me. Also I was thinking the bear might enjoying getting into my crab shells and other goodies.

Oh by the way the Morgan county Fair is August 4-5, come out to Berkeley Springs and enjoy the festivities.

http://www.morgancounty-wv.org/Fair/Fair-Home.htm

kim, i googled el tepeyac, and it appears to still be going strong.

my parents now live in central pa after years on the jersey coast (and mom originally from ca). despite being true blue...er red...republicans, they were culturally shocked that there is an annual gun show held at the local firehouse. the loud and eerie droning of a dirt racetrack a mile away fills their evenings. they strongly suspect that they may live in redneck territory.

i never heard of 4h until a fellow student (from south dakota) at a moscow summer study-abroad program received a video from home. there was extensive footage of the county cattle competition. i simply marvelled.

Hello L.A. lurker, how goes your research?

I have always enjoyed county fairs, much more so since I moved to WV. I think the best part(besides the food) is all the fun that the kids have. To see all of their smiling faces,it makes me believe they will be around for a long time.

'Morning, Boodle. I'm happy to report there's nothing much on the WaPo front page worth commenting about. I guess no news is good news.

I'm hungry: I hear a tangerine calling me from the kitchen. See y'all later.

Mornin' everybody...

Rehab never called back yesterday, so apparently they have no empty beds. So... self detox. Kinda dangerous, but I think the worst is over. Yesterday was basically low-dosage OTC sleeping pills (to keep the heart rate from getting too high), aspirin (for obvious reasons) and a twelve-pack (keeps down the shakes and prevents seizures). Definitely feeling better today, but I'll probably have to maintain the beer regimen -- still very shaky and discombobulated (having some of the coolest/strangest auditory hallucinations, though the one with the giggling kids kinda freaks me out). I'm planning to check in with the clinic again this morning to see if there's an opening, but I'll see this through on my own if I have to.

Oh Martooni, dear boodle-dude. Be steady. Don't interpret the universe as against you since the clinic did not call yesterday and that today's bed possibility is not clear. Such bad luck on that! Can you lie on the couch and watch stupid TV? I appreciate stupid TV more than I care to admit.

I admire your courage. Stars shine, even in sunlight. God bless you.

Thanks for checking in Martooni and please take care.

martooni -- Riffing off of CP: Third star to the left and straight on 'til morning, dude. We're here for you.

*almost-Friday-and-even-closer-to-BPH Grover waves*

:-)

SN -- I like riff as a verb, don't you? I expect it is guitar speak, but now belongs to all. To noodle upon one's guitar strings is also a fine fiddle of a way to "waste" time...like fishing.

Martooni, I am taking a picture today of the tree that begs me for a portal-door. I look foward to that before, say, Christmastide.

SN -- fax him some expensive Italian ice, say, limone flavored. Something light and clear and not overly 'merican sweet.

Paging SofC, was it you who liked reading Sigrid Undset? A proffie friend who studies medieval Teutonic culture told me about this film (produced in part by Canadians!)

The Danish Poet (animated short)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Danish_Poet

Mentioned is Kristin Lavransdattir. I would love to see this and perhaps will try my first forey into Amazon.ca

I started rereading SU's _The Axe_, first in the tetrology about the Steinfinn and Audenson clans. Not a happy bunch; such dark, glowering Norwegians.

Every summer I reread
Lonesome Dove by L. McMurtry
The Godfather by M. Puzo

And something big of Sigrid Undset.

As long as you fax me some handi-wipes for the cleanup, CP. Ice is so tough to fax...

:-)

SofCarl: IMDB includes the quote!

"But had it not been for the Danish poet and Sigrid Undset, a rainy summer in Norway, a slippery barn plank, a careless mailman, a hungry goat, a broken thumb, and a crowded train, my parents might never have met and who knows I might still be a little seed floating around in the sky waiting for someone to come and get me."

Oh my, I am so very not on topic. We can revise this into the fair theme:

But had it not been for the carnival barker and Oscar Wilde, a rainy summer in Ohio, a jumbo ferris wheel, a slipped gear, the long pause near the top, a thumping heart, and a proferred jacket, my parents might never have met and who knows I might still be a little seed floating around in the sky waiting for someone to come and get me.

Slyness to follow up on your post about the group of former leaders meeting in Johannesburg, here is an article from the local paper.

There is a great collection of photos, one shows Desmond Tutu wiping tears after hearing Peter Gabriel in Biko, a great shot.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070718.welders0718/BNStory/International/home

Martooni, please do not try to detox alone. Treatment can monitor your health as well as reinforce the lessons you have learned, and you are with others who share your disease. Don't isolate, please.

CeePee, the movie The Danish Poet won an Oscar last year I believe. The woman who made the film is Danish but lives in Montreal and works at the National Film Board of Canada.
A memory of the provincial fair in Quebec city; we "improved" my uncle's Ayrshire prized cow by applying cocoa powder to the brown spots and talc powder to the white areas. Some other teenage activities are best forgotten.

Thanks, everybody. We'll see what happens after 9:30 when the admissions person gets in. When I was there before, they admitted me on a Thursday... maybe they only do admissions on certain days. I dunno.

All I know is it's going to be a very long day in Martooniland if they tell me to try back tomorrow.

SD -- we lived country-mile biking distance from our beloved Ayrshire Dairy. We even "starred" in local commericals for that institution. I knew about baby powder but had NO idea about cocoa....you made my day with that essential factoid.

Ayrshires are very pretty cows....beat Holsteins any day.

RD, I was also a 4-Her. Although it was the specialized horse-only variety. We didn't do the other livestock or projects. Horse judging, horse bowl (like the old College Bowl show, only with horse-ony questions), hosting a horse show for other clubs, you name it. Did yours have the Excellent (blue), Good (red), and Worthy (green) ribbons? We renamed the green a Whoopee.

Thanks for sharing that link, dmd. The photo of Tutu brought tears to my eyes! I do hope they will be successful with all the projects they take on.

Notes from a morning walk:

There is no sweeter time in the whole year than a sunny summer morning. To walk in the cool of the day, to hear the birds, to see the dew and shades of green all around - wonderful!

The crepe myrtles are blooming! After the Easter freeze, I was afraid they would be gone but they bounced back, a little late, but blooming like crazy! A good sign.

What is it with people who have single family homes and don't take care of the yard? That's why condos were invented. I walk past a yard with an oak tree being covered by the healthiest poison ivy vine I have ever seen. As reactive as I am to poison ivy, it scares me...

On with the day...

Slyness, I'm with you on the charms of a summer morning. The coolness, the critters, the quiet all take the sting out of getting up at 5:30.

Have I mentioned that I love my bosses. Just received this in an email: "In addition to the usual idle chatter, speculation, and gossip, I'd like to discuss the following at today's staff meeting at 9:30:"

Hmm, Richardson's surge paralleling the Administration's surge in Iraq? Hmmm.

martooni, you know this: keep yourself moving forward, and you have less chance of sliding back.

I hope you get into the facility today, and can get the help you're looking for.

la lurker, dirt tracks in Central PA? Say it isn't so! Seriously, that part of the country is a mecca for east cost sprint car racing. There are fewer today than there used to be, but there are still plenty. And that noise carries a long way in the humid summer air...

bc

Raysmom;

How'd you get onto our e-mail distribution??? *L*

Took a quick peek at the MommyBlog. Took them exactly 6 posts to start getting nasty with each other. I love it here...

martooni, I have personal experience with this stuff, too. Here's my two cents' worth. The boodle is here for you, 110%. We support you no matter what, but we can't help you. The meetings are better because when you start with the b.s. they WILL tell you to sit down, shut up, and listen. 90 meetings in 90 days is where it starts. When you find yourself resisting the philosophy/theology of AA, just go through the motions, fake it till you make it. I've seen it take 30 years and dozens of relapses. I've seen it work the first time. There are no guarantees. But as long as you are breathing, there's nothing for it but to move ahead, and that means doing what you've gotta do, and that means working the program.

::folding up the portable soapbox, storing it back under my desk::

Looks like its gonna be more than just a long day here... 4 to 6 week wait, so I'm on my own.

I even offered to bring a sleeping bag.

If you follow TBG's IPhone link on a PC and resize the window (shrink it to half width) it looks just fine.

As for on topic:

1 Richardson Surge: got nothing.
2 County Fair: nothing that hasn't already been said better than I could.

There was something else, but I forget...

martooni,
I have no idea what you are going through. It's beyond my life experience. Hang in there. Find other things to do. Stay social. Find role models. That's all I got.

Now if someone can help me with my boodling habit, I might be more effective at work.

Martooni -- go to a meeting. No waiting list. Go to a meeting, even if you lapse. Call your sponsor, even it was long ago.

Part of AA is the storytelling miracle; part of AA is the no-cow-crappie zone and peer enforcers.

Besides, the acid-wash church coffee at meetings is priceless. Just be sure you have milk and soda crackers in your tummy.

Kbert is right.

Raysmom - I had totally forgotten about the "green" ribbons. Where I grew up they were mixed in pretty indiscriminately with the equally unimpressive white ribbons.

And Ivansmom, I'm sorry there were no clubs around where you were. The weird thing about our 4H club is that it had very little to do with agriculture or farming. We were all suburban kids. The club was more about arts and crafts and natural conservation. Very seventies.

Anyway, it was a fun activity for me. A bit like boy scouts except without the uniforms. Also, it was co-ed. A feature that became extremely attractive to me during my teenaged years.

The cardboard bun story is a fake?

http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/237616

Aha! The Chinese Daily Show! Fake news at its best.

4H-er here, RD. So you do understand, at least in theory, about the rabbitry program that I almost took to finality. Rural 4H programs feature animal projects and the domestic arts of canning, cooking, sewing, and some decoration. I think you could make acrylic grape clusters, through Mrs. Jeannette Poitre (a Franco-Canoucki!).

The rabbitty-4H leader began to say this chesnut: "kids should learn to complete projects" to my dad.

He (dad) sorta exploded (out of character) about this with language like "we don't have to learn responsibility by killing bunnies today." Turns out, my dad lived off the progeny of Peter and Mrs. Peter all through the depression. He was sick of eating bunny and for him, the American dream on that day was to NOT MAKE HIS KIDS KILL BUNNIES.

I had no entry in the fair that year. Fine with me to NOT earn a ribbon of any color.

Kim, I saw your 12:29 about El Tepeyac in LA. I've been there! Manuel's el Tepeyac Café, before I was married -- 18 years ago. There was a line stretching around the corner, waiting to get in. My soon-to-be father-in-law wanted me to see (and get) the world's largest burrito, a multi-tortilla monstrosity. Not really a food item, more of a stunt, but it was good, anyway.

morning all. posted last night and promptly went to bed.

gwe: research is on an as needed basis since i'm mostly rewriting.

bc: my folks live about a mile as the crow flies from williams grove speedway. i know diddly squat about this, but i can confirm that the races are sprints since the noise is on and off all evening.

martooni: i take it you've done this before, but is there another place you could check in even if you have to travel further than your first choice? hang in there, and please do the meetings at least.

Martooni, please think twice about doing the detox alone and self-medicating. Isn't there at least a walk-in clinic or something where a doc can examine you and recommend (and monitor) a safer process?

Slyness - I guess that tree encrusted with the vine of ultimate evil could be viewed as a public health threat. Perhaps government intervention is needed.

Personally, I would don a solid black ninja outfit (I know people) and, under cover of darkness, kill the beast by surreptitiously severing the base of the offending vine with a pruner honed to razor sharpness.

Yes, kill the foul unclean herbaceous curse.

Rid the planet of this dark source of unholy urushiol.

Kill! Kill! Die! Die!

Sorry 'bout that. I have issues with poison ivy.

CP - they wanted you to hurt bunnies? I guess that is the dark side to livestock. They aren't being raised for pets.

Kudos to your dad for standing up for you like that.

For Boko and SD, today's Star Editorial cartoon about Lord Black.

http://www.thestar.com/OpinionPopImageGallery/127057

As another follow up to previous threads, just saw this series on the economic cost of conterfeit products (the top 10).

http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/map-counterfeit-goods/

I'm having a strong emotional response to the possibility that the cardboard bun story was fake:

1) feel like I sort of suspected that all along. (this is an unreasonable, indefensible emotion)
2) feel like laughing--reminds me of the Onion
3) feel like crying--bad information is EVERYWHERE, even on the Achenblog
4) feel confused--maybe this latest report is the bad information and the earlier report was true
5) feel distrustful of anything coming out of China, since their press isn't very free, maybe the second report is government propaganda
6) mostly, I hope they aren't planning to execute the person(s) they find responsible, whether it is real or fake or propaganda or whatever.

RD, I need to get you and Raysdad together to discuss poison ivy strategies. Our HOA is very lethargic about attacking PI in our open space areas, so he takes it on himself. Armed with a machete and Round Up, he goes to work every spring. I can't help him; I get the rash merely by thinking about the stuff.

The bun story's a fraud????? O.M.G.!!!! What does that do to my musical? We've got all the parts cast, Andy (Lloyd-Webber, of course) is working on fine-tuning (nopun intended) the libretto, and we're doing blocking and choreography rehersals! We open in Hartford in three weeks! I'm ruined! Ruined, I say! Ruined!

O the heartbreak of the Great White Way.

RD, I have seriously considered getting up in the middle of the night to spray that poison ivy with Roundup. There are a couple of other places on my walk where it's flourishing, so I could make it a threefer.

I would be as skeptical of the retractions of the cardboard bun story as I would be of the original tale. Chinese authorities have a well-deserved reputation of shooting the messenger (sometimes literally).

WaPo today documents how whistle-blowers were treated in the food and drug safety.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/18/AR2007071802768.html

Good morning.

Re: poison ivy. Slyness, maybe those homeowners don't know it is poison ivy. Lots of people are unsophisticated when it comes to plants ("Oh, what a pretty vine!"). Leave a note on their porch. RD, you would not dress up in a ninja suit and sever the vine, because you are allergic to poison ivy. Any competent investigator would discover the crime immediately. Get an underling to do it.

Martooni, what kbertocci said. If you can't get into treatment, start going to meetings. There'll be an AA chapter nearby; there always is. We're here for you but we can't help you. AA is not a substitute for detox but it will help.

greenwithenvy, I spent a lovely weekend at Berkeley Springs in the late '80s. Toured the castle and everything. I hope the castle is still there; it was pretty cool. I daydreamed of buying it to live there.

CP, twas I indeed. I actually just started Kristan Lavransdatter on the weekend. A weighty tome, but I'm engaged in it now. Kristan just gave Lavrans the news last night. Lavrans took it pretty well, but what can you do (then as now)?

yellojkt, if you form a boodle addiction group, pencil me in. Nah, scratch that - I like the book recommendations too much.

On topic for a moment, 4H where I grew up was pretty hard core. I lived out of town, in the area of a small town in a rural area, and it never even occurred to me to join. They would never have accepted such a husbandry poseur as I.

CoC -- K tells her daddy that she wants to marry the rock-star knightly has been, who fathered two children with another (older, hence cougar) woman?

The more things change, they stay the same.

YOU MUST COMMIT to the Axe series. SU follows a young boy through four books.

I really liked the movie version too.

Mudge, not *all* musicals are based on true stories. In fact, only Spamalot and Wicked are, as far as I know.

BPH reminder: Tonight • 5:00 • M&S • 1652 K St.

You mean...you mean...Tony and Maria were (gasp) *fictional*??? He wasn't really the leader of the Jets? She wasn't really Bernardo's sister? And Doc...what of Doc, kindly old geezer that he was (a role model of mine, if I may say so), who ran the candy store?

I am devastated. I'm having the vapors. I may need to take the rest of the day off.

(Now, I'm madly trying to figure out ways to use "husbandry poseur " in something, anything. A new TV series, perhaps: "Rip Colostomy, Husbandry Poseur to the Stars." I wonder if Erik Estrada is available?)

I'm telling you guys, this has been an extraordinary week: it's given us both "gutternalia" and "husbandry poseur" all in just what? four days? Incredible. I'm sure Johnson, Webster, Merriam and Safire had dreams of weeks like this.

And Funk. Not too sure about Wagnall; he was always tough to impress. But Funk...oh, my, yes.

Don't jinx us just yet, 'Mudge, we have more than a full day left this week.

:-)

Mudge -- Call SoC, get started on the Sigrid Undset world of medieval Norway.

cougars
burning kirches
teens defying parents
convent girls giggling
bloodletting
ale
vikingesce peeps
curses (witch type)
plague

and really cool retro words like

thrall
midden
coracle
concubine
priestsson
tansy poultice
groat
cairn
rune
circlet

Oh, jeez, you gotta read this. I couldn't make this up: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/19/AR2007071901039.html?hpid=topnews

Yanno, I've always wanted a concubine, but I never thought I had the panache to carry it off successfully. But it's such a cool word.

Regarding FEMA... this administration has always believed that if they say it, that makes it true.

It follows that they'd also believe if they DON'T say it, it won't be true.

Emmy nominations out this morning. This one caught my eye...

Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics

Saturday Night Live • Host: Justin Timberlake
NBC • SNL Studios in association with NBC Studios and Broadway Video
Song title: "Dick In A Box"
Justin Timberlake, Music & Lyrics By
Jorma Taccone, Music & Lyrics By
Katreese Barnes, Music By
Asa Taccone, Music By
Akiva Schaffer, Lyrics By
Andy Samberg, Lyrics By


Also.. Why is Boston Legal categorized as a drama?

Thanks for the link, Mudge, I think. FEMA is supposed to be bringing in trailers for the families in Oklahoma displaced by the recent flooding. Of course, the trailers are late. That might not be a bad thing, if they're full of formaldehyde.

well, Boston Legal is a spinoff from The Practice which was a drama. Sorry TBG, that's all I got...

I've got a question for you all, experts or not...

Our office has been having issues with the HVAC system since we moved in last fall. If too many people in one part of the building set their thermostats low for cooler AC, other parts cannot cool down. Conversely, we've been told if some offices set their temps higher, then the other spaces will get cooler air.

Is there really only supposed to be X amount of cool air that can go to all of the offices, or is there a problem with this system that should be addressed?

The perfidy of this administration is boundless; how many more immoral, amoral, sociopathic assaults can we take?
I wish I had begun a list on the innauguration/coronation of He Who Should NOt Be Named's evil doings. That list now would be really mindboggling.

Where's yello? This is his line of work, TBG. He should be able to help you answer that...

TBG, that happens in buildings which were renovated but where air ducts were not redirected or rebalanced. Our building is really bad for this sort of thing.

Yellojkt, this sounds like a job for you.

TBG,

Yes. In most office buildings, each system only has so much cool. You can move it around to where it's needed to a certain extent, but even that only goes so far. In the morning the people with windows on the east side need the cool, and in the afternoon, the cool has to move over to the west side windows. People with windows on the south side need their cool in the winter which can be a bummer if the system is heating the people on the north side.

If some people hog all the cool, there isn't enough to go around. The answer would be to have enough cool for everybody, but that usually means a bigger and more expensive system.

Sorry for getting so technical.

Ivansmom:

The idea of 4-H envy strikes me as very funny. I was in 4-H for years--competitive sewing, competitive cooking and baking, competitive gardening, competitive flower arranging. Best part was kissing boys at 4-H camp. As it was only three days long, however, it was impossible to develop the deep, lasting relationships that were kindled at church camp, which lasted a week.

A propos of nothing in particular, I've been recommending to everyone a concert that will be on PBS this weekend.

The concert was in honor of Paul Simon, who was just given an award called the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song by the Library of Congress.

It was originally broadcast at the end of June. I recorded it then and just watched it last weekend. It's a lot of fun; if you can, you should record it. It'll be like buying a new CD, as it's mostly music (i.e., not much award show blather). You can play it again and again.

The announcement is at:

http://www.pbs.org/gershwinprize/links.html

The listings for people in the DC area are at: http://www.weta.org/tv/archive/indexfull.php?episode=0&series=14168
(Note that these listings are for the WETA "family of channels", not Channel 26.)

At the second link, you'll see a partial list of the performers--rock singers, folk singers, country singers, gospel singers, an a capella group, a zydeco group, and others. All the performances are terrific (except, unfortunately, Garfunkel, whose voice is past its prime), and they really make you aware of both the reach of Simon's musical work -- and just how long he's been a songwriter.

Enjoy. It's the best thing I've seen for a long time. Jessy Dixon will knock your socks off.

THS, I didn't have 4H envy until I read your 12:36.

Maggie O'D, the list in the reply to Kristol's outlook piece was a good start.

THS, we were discussing that show in "real time" here on the Boodle when it was on one Saturday night two or three weeks ago. Yes, it was a great show.

If you don't want to take my word for it, you can read this (don't click on the link unless you have a fast connection and are really interested):

http://energy.ca.gov/reports/2003-11-17_500-03-082_A-11.PDF

Page 49 talks about factors that affect comfort. My guess is that TBG has a variable air volume system in her office. A google search for "variable air volume" will numb your mind for hours if you let it.

>If some people hog all the cool, there isn't enough to go around.

Truer words were never spoken.

Sorry I missed that real-time discussion, mudge (or Mudge?). It was a wonderful concert. I emailed WETA to see whether there would be a DVD and was disappointed to find that there won't be one.

The person who answered my email said that it was impossible to obtain permissions from all the different performers (or their management companies). That struck me as weird. I would think that all the performers performed free (or for their expenses), and it's hard to see that selling a DVD of the concert would cut into any recording company's profits. It's not like anyone looking for, say, a James Taylor CD would say, "Oh heck, I think I'll buy this DVD on which JT only sings two songs."

So, sigh, it looks like I'll have to be satisfied w/ my DVR recording, which is not the best because the timing of the broadcast and the timing on my machine weren't in synch. I have several minutes of a movie at the beginning and the big finale w/ Stevie Wonder et al. is cut off. Maybe I can make a better recording this weekend.

Sorry, Slyness! I couldn't get a condo with my own fenced yard for the dogs, and single homes cut down on neighbors' noise too (as well as offering me my own hassleless garage/parking).

Generally, if the lawn service doesn't take care of something, it takes me a while to get around to it because of the hours I work. I'm also not allergic to poison ivy (singular among the 1000s of things I *am* allergic to), and figure if it helps keep the kids next door off my property, all to the good.

I wouldn't be insulted if you rounded it up, though! :-)

Here's a random language question. Ivansdad & I were discussing the term "old coot". I say this is gender-specific and applied to older men who exhibit particular coot behavior. The female counter-example would be a "biddy". However, the two are not equal. If, as I maintain, "coot" refers to men, then what is the term for older women who behave like old coots? This seems like a question for the Boodle.

dbG, if you have lawn service, I'm not picking on you. The ones I am picking on do zero-zip-nada in their yards, so that they look horrible and degrade the neighborhood. We've got one of those five houses up the street from us. No grass in the front yard, just a weed here and there. They don't rake the leaves so that walking by is hazardous. Jeez, folks, why are you living like this?

I think coot means simpleton, and can refer to men and women, even though you never hear it applied to women. It only applies to older men when you also use the adjective 'old'. For example: GWB has been a coot all his life. Now he's an old coot.

I don't know Omni, when someone refers to a gentlemen as an "Old Coot", it brings to my mind a character, perhaps a little crusty but loveable. GWB does not seem applicable to me.

To that end I am not sure what I could call the female equivalent, I think I generally use "character", biddy seems too uptight to me.

If "cootatrix" doesn't work for you, I'm afraid I don't have a very good answer for you, Ivansmom. It derives from a sluggish, slow-moving bird of the rail family, similar to a duck; that would tend to make it gender-neutral. My dictionary gives the secondary meaning of "simple, harmless fellow," which tends to make it gender specific. And I think general common usage also tends to make it gender specific to men, also, and "biddy" strikes me as a perfectly good female counterpart. Of course, being of the legal persuasion yourself, you may prefer instead of cootatrix something like uxorcoot [literally, wife of a coot, which, I suppose, might describe Mrs. Mudge].

Of course, considering the avian heritage of the word, perhaps we could make it "hencoot" ("coothen" doesn't work because of the "th" pronunciation problem).

Please, please, please don't ask me about peacock.

Ivansmom - harridan?

THS - yes, definitely had 4-H envy after your 12:36.

Culinary Tim - I googled El Tepeyac after la lurker mentioned it. I don't know about your visit, but it looks like they've definitely "gentrified" a little since I was there, oh about 25 years ago. I went many times, my boyfriend was Hispanic and his cousins lived near there and they went all the time. It was a true hole in the wall then, but yes...the line was always out the door. Great burrito! Yumm! But still not as good as the one served by the Rotary at the great AV Fair and Alfalfa festival.

I'm w/ you, dmd. I don't think "coot" refers to brainpower. "Quite a character" is the phrase that comes to mind. Maybe "coot" refers to someone who lives just slightly outside social norms, but, because of being old, is forgiven. Am not exactly sure what I mean by "outside social norms", but I'm thinking about mild offenses such as wearing "what you damn well please"--things that would cause wives and offspring to say, "Oh Dad, don't be so ornery."

"Quite a character" might refer to women too, but I don't think "coot" does. Older women may be less likely than men to be recalcitrant about following social norms.

Geez, I always though coot referred to a cranky old guy, not a simple old guy. Thank goodness for the boodle!

I hope you all have a nice time at the BPH tonight. Hoist one for me!

Kim, "cranky" and irascible would be my interpretation of a coot, too. Say, a geezer with a bad attitude.

Since we have moved on to Senior citizens, I give you Canada's last WWI veteran, about to celebrate his 107th birthday. Since his return from the war he has lived in the US and is a naturalized US citizen.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/070718/national/bc_last_veteran_birthday

Huh, I always thought of "coot" as eccentric or crotchety, not necessarily a simpleton.

I'll buy "quite a character," but don't know about bird-brained, aquatic or otherwise.

bc

>I don't know where she's coming from
But I just met a lady named
Dynamo Humm

Boko999, you're a man after me own heart. I encourage anyone with a 100% sense of humor to follow up on that album.

>each system only has so much cool
Yello, please report for your homorary Doctorate of Philosophy. That just covers so much, doesn't it?

Gotta love Wi-Fi. I am boodling from The White Sands Lido Cafe, about to head down the boards again for mondo pina coladas and honest-to-goodness Jersey shore sausages.

Life is good people. Eat it up while you can.

Looks like Manasas is about to get pummeled. I see a lot of yellow and a few large splotches of light peach and least one tiny splotch of dark peach.

Error - have one of them there pina coladas for me too! Enjoy!

Well I'm crushed! All the schaudenfreude elicited from the cardboard in the baozi was for nothing! I think someone's going to lose their head for this. You have to admire the reporter's creativity and ambition.

My favorite memories from the local county fair -- winning a couple blue ribbons in photography and the apple dumplings my Dad insisted on buying for us. There was also an echoing loudspeaker system, the very thought of which brings back a flood of tactile and olfactory memories!

Thanks for the reminder, Error. Your afternoon sounds good. I'd say to drink one for me. That's a slippery slope, though, and it will be hard to explain, as you can no longer walk out the door, that you HAD to have one of those drinks for each of your imaginary friends.

"Coot" and "Biddy" are gender specific, according to the Concise Oxford. Biddy is not listed as having any connotations other than age. Coot is noted for referring to a stupid or eccentric person, typically a man.

Cootessa, maybe?

Interestingly, "biddy" also originally denoted a chicken (C17)

"Cat lady" perhaps captures the equivalent imagery of "coot".

Fellow doesn't always refer only to a man or men. Just sayin'.

I see some dark red in that storm, which is severe. Only three colors remain. yikes

To my mind, "old coot" implies eccentricity and an element of irascibility. An old coot should be mildly exasperating, but definitely have the potential to be lovable by the right person(s). Not everyone should find an old coot lovable however -- to some, he should be just "an ol' coot", a semi-crazy but certainly tiresome person unworthy of attention. Others, however, will know that the proper application of attention will unearth unexpected troves of wisdom.

Maude, in Harold and Maude, would be the female equivalent of an old coot. Grandpa Walton. Pap, in Lum & Abner. Professor Dumbledore.

As to a feminine equivalent -- biddy implies an element of personal pruniness, both physical and spiritual, perhaps hiding riches of emotion. Nevertheless, a biddy would definitely be someone prickly, who rejects easy intimacy. A harridan would be a horrid person -- a person who genuinely dislikes others and would like to see them get lost. Cat Lady would be someone actually crazy, or on the road to that state. Plus, she has to have cats. Little Old Lady, to my mind, carries the closest connotations of personality similar to a coot. Perhaps "old harpy" -- too divorced from its mythological antecedent to be perceived as actively insulting, but implying some asperity and difficult personality.

My new mantra...

Life is good people. Eat it up while you can.

Posted by: Error Flynn | July 19, 2007 01:54 PM



We were not "Fair" people when I was a kid. But we were boardwalk folks and I still stop and savor the air whenever I smell candied popcorn, french fries and probably the odor of creosote, but to me it's the smell of a hot boardwalk.

A whiff of that can happen anywhere and it recently did for me right here in NoVa somewhere, can't exactly remember where. But it put me right back in Ocean City, Maryland, where I spent my childhood vacations and also lots of time with my kids at Yia Yia and Papou's beachhouse when the kids were little.

Error... enjoy the beach, my friend. I think this may be the first summer in a looong time I won't be hanging out on an Atlantic beach. Sigh.

I loved Grampa Walton.

Remember, what happens at 4H camp *stays* at 4H camp.

Take a peek at the main "Columns & Blogs" page. For some reason, this cracks me up.

Von Drehle's take on the fair exemplifies his writerly skills (I almost typed "skilz"--where did that come from-- how do I know the phrase "mad skilz?") How did the Washington Post let him get away?

We were discussing fairs last September and Ivansmom suggested that an Achenarticle on the subject would be welcome. Others concurred, noting the IRS deduction possibilities--wouldn't it be fun to have Uncle Sam pick up the tab for your corn dogs and fried dough. I even quoted the same Charlotte's Web passage that von Drehle used in his story.

When we did our 6-month tour with the Airstream trailer we traveled with Coleman Brothers Shows for a while. My husband just loves to "wake up on the midway" as he puts it--although to me the phrase seems to imply at least a hangover, if not worse. It is interesting to be on the fairgrounds in the morning, though--it has quite a different atmosphere without the lights or the sounds or the smells (well, the smells are different, anyway). Our daughter, then three years old, learned the password for getting on the rides for free: "I'm with the show!" [I don't like to think of her transferring that skill to getting backstage at rock concerts ("I'm with the band!")]

Our favorite fair was Trumansburg, NY. We watched the pig races multiple times, enjoyed the square dances, saw the demolition derby and the tractor pull, petted the animals and rode the rides, day after day. In our spare time we collected bottles and cans and walked down the road to the supermarket to redeem them for 10 cents apiece. Ah, the good old days.

Oh mercy yes, RD.

Some cat ladies are delightful, wonderful, and a joy to experience.

'Jes sayin...

:-)

That is funny Yoki - thanks

Good afternoon, my friends. Ivansmom, you cracked me up talking about the letter from the boy. I think you missed your life's work.

I am not familiar with Bill Richarson, only the fact that he worked in the Clinton administration. Wasn't he in some kind of legal action about something he did while working for President Clinton? I really don't know where he stands on the issues. I think the Edward's campaign needs some life. He's on a poverty tour, but the question keeps coming up about the four hundred dollar haircut. I believe he is sincere in what he proposes, but sometimes money can build a wall around folks when they