Jerry Falwell nearly died from viral pneumonia, an illness resulting from a seemingly potential AIDS complication. He was in critical condition, and I believe very near dead, for the second time this year. Read about it at CNN.com. It appears, though, heaven refused to take him because of his incendiary language that violates the tenets of his own religion and G-d. His intolerance and inability to love his neighbor nearly as much as he loves himself has resulted in him receiving a heavenly Heisman rejection.
An additional twist is the refusal of hell to take Falwell because he is seen as a threat to the current power structure there. The result of the rejections has left Falwell in a state of limbo on earth and a stabilized condition in the hospital.
Developing story . . .
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Do We Have a First Amendment?
The Daily Kos has a story, and links to one from the AP, in which American citizens were removed from a town-hall meeting to tout Bush's plan to eliminate Social Security. Many stories about came out about people removed from Bush's campaign stops during the last presidential election, but this is different.
Given that these are taxpayer-funded events, they should be open to all taxpayers who obtain tickets appropriately. (The people removed from this event received tickets from their congressional representative.) The events have become publicly funded private events. By controlling who can participate, the administration silencing those they disagree with, or more likely fear.
Controlling information is a key to controlling people. It's worked through history, and it appears to be working in the US.
Joseph Goebbels would be proud.
Given that these are taxpayer-funded events, they should be open to all taxpayers who obtain tickets appropriately. (The people removed from this event received tickets from their congressional representative.) The events have become publicly funded private events. By controlling who can participate, the administration silencing those they disagree with, or more likely fear.
Controlling information is a key to controlling people. It's worked through history, and it appears to be working in the US.
Joseph Goebbels would be proud.
Friday, March 25, 2005
Los Panchos
The wife, some friends, and I ate at a relatively new Mexican restaurant in town last night. Los Panchos is conveniently located across the street from the popular pizza/Italian restaurant, Luigi's, on Davison road near Franklin (Yes, the Davison and Franklin where the shell of a restaurant named Angelo's stands, but that is a story for another entry.)
What I first liked about Los Panchos when I entered was how strikingly similar the atmosphere was to many Mexican restaurants I'd eaten at in Baja. It is relatively sparse, with few decorations. The tables and chairs are similar to Coney fair; they look like they could just be hosed down at the end of the night and left to dry, but they weren't uncomfortable.
The service was friendly and the menu was adequate. They don't have the extensive menu that El Potrero has, but they do serve beer. A full bar will open in a room next door soon, so I imagine they will have a full compliment of liquor. My friends had a combination plate, their son had a taco, and my wife had a tostada place. I had an amazing plate of wet tamales to wash down my Negra Modelo.
The plate had three tamales, all thin, but longer than the mini-tamales one finds at many other Mexican restaurants and Tippy's. They weren't as massive as the tamales I remember eating while growing up, but there was enough to eat. (I still managed to eat part of my wife's dinner.)
What might have pleased all of us most was the beans and rice. They weren't the most amazing I've ever had, but given that I have yet to find good beans and rice in the Midwest, I was ecstatic.
I've learned that this Los Panchos is actually the second one opened by the owner, Frank Molina. The first Los Panchos is located on Fenton Road. The Davison Road Los Panchos will also sport a Mexican Bakery. I assume they won't call it a pandaria because no one would know what it is, but I hope their bread is as good as the bread I ate as a child from local pandarias in Ensenada.
I look forward to the bar and bakery, and I can't wait to go back to Los Panchos. If you're interested in going, they're address is 2209 Davison Road in Flint, and their phone number is 233-8226. If you go, tell me what you ate and what you think.
What I first liked about Los Panchos when I entered was how strikingly similar the atmosphere was to many Mexican restaurants I'd eaten at in Baja. It is relatively sparse, with few decorations. The tables and chairs are similar to Coney fair; they look like they could just be hosed down at the end of the night and left to dry, but they weren't uncomfortable.
The service was friendly and the menu was adequate. They don't have the extensive menu that El Potrero has, but they do serve beer. A full bar will open in a room next door soon, so I imagine they will have a full compliment of liquor. My friends had a combination plate, their son had a taco, and my wife had a tostada place. I had an amazing plate of wet tamales to wash down my Negra Modelo.
The plate had three tamales, all thin, but longer than the mini-tamales one finds at many other Mexican restaurants and Tippy's. They weren't as massive as the tamales I remember eating while growing up, but there was enough to eat. (I still managed to eat part of my wife's dinner.)
What might have pleased all of us most was the beans and rice. They weren't the most amazing I've ever had, but given that I have yet to find good beans and rice in the Midwest, I was ecstatic.
I've learned that this Los Panchos is actually the second one opened by the owner, Frank Molina. The first Los Panchos is located on Fenton Road. The Davison Road Los Panchos will also sport a Mexican Bakery. I assume they won't call it a pandaria because no one would know what it is, but I hope their bread is as good as the bread I ate as a child from local pandarias in Ensenada.
I look forward to the bar and bakery, and I can't wait to go back to Los Panchos. If you're interested in going, they're address is 2209 Davison Road in Flint, and their phone number is 233-8226. If you go, tell me what you ate and what you think.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Sick Food
I was reading the news online and stumbled across the news of an "execution" (or state-sanctioned murder). Coming from a Southern, fairly christian state, the news of an execution didn't suprise me, but what caught my attention was that the news included the victim's last meal.
The news often covers the last meal and it manages to show up in movies in which someone is being put to death, and I wondered why food (and a final visit or not from a padre) was so interesting to our culture. What is so attractive about knowing what a condemned man or woman's last meal is? I thought it could be that it is representative of the person. What they choose to eat could tell us much about the victim. It could be that it represents one of the few choices a death row inmate gets to make in the final 20 years of his/her life. Why are we so interested in what the walking dead want to eat?
A quick and brief Internet search turned up a website that didn't surprise me, but bothers me. It's deadmaneating.com. Just as you might guess, it provides information about the last meals of victims of state-sanctioned murders. You can even buy products from it on cafepress.com. As I'm writing this, I am thinking, "How generous! Those states that kill people are nice enough to feed their victims anything they want just before they die."
Now as someone interested in food, I think it would be interesting to look at the food choices victims make from a sociological view. I can't imagine myself ordering a pizza from Domino's as a last meal (unless I was trying to commit suicide), but I can imagine asking for comfort foods. Maybe Domino's is comfort food for someone. But what if the CEO of corrupt major corporations were on death row (more worth worthy candidates than 15 year old boys and the mentally incapacitated)? I doubt they would order pizza, but how would I know.
It might be an interesting culinary journey to eat the same food as the condemned, but somehow I don't think it would be the same.
The news often covers the last meal and it manages to show up in movies in which someone is being put to death, and I wondered why food (and a final visit or not from a padre) was so interesting to our culture. What is so attractive about knowing what a condemned man or woman's last meal is? I thought it could be that it is representative of the person. What they choose to eat could tell us much about the victim. It could be that it represents one of the few choices a death row inmate gets to make in the final 20 years of his/her life. Why are we so interested in what the walking dead want to eat?
A quick and brief Internet search turned up a website that didn't surprise me, but bothers me. It's deadmaneating.com. Just as you might guess, it provides information about the last meals of victims of state-sanctioned murders. You can even buy products from it on cafepress.com. As I'm writing this, I am thinking, "How generous! Those states that kill people are nice enough to feed their victims anything they want just before they die."
Now as someone interested in food, I think it would be interesting to look at the food choices victims make from a sociological view. I can't imagine myself ordering a pizza from Domino's as a last meal (unless I was trying to commit suicide), but I can imagine asking for comfort foods. Maybe Domino's is comfort food for someone. But what if the CEO of corrupt major corporations were on death row (more worth worthy candidates than 15 year old boys and the mentally incapacitated)? I doubt they would order pizza, but how would I know.
It might be an interesting culinary journey to eat the same food as the condemned, but somehow I don't think it would be the same.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Procrastinating
I haven't posted in a while, and I thought I should at least let the larger world know that I haven't fallen off the turnip truck. Yes, I'm still here and busier than ever. Over the break, I (with the help of dear friends) painted our living room. Painting is a task I hate. Now I use the word often, but I really do mean hate here. To be more specific about what I hate about painting, I hate prep work and trim. Rolling is easy. You just dip a roller in a pan of paint, slather it on a bit space, and hope it runs into smooth or interesting patterns. Prep and trim takes attention and detail work. No real slathering is allowed if you want things to come out okay. The paint job came out okay. But there will be no close inspection of the walls or trim allowed!
On a completely different note, we dogsat some friends' dog over the break as well. She is well-behaved and a general pleasure to have around (Except for the occasionally annoying way she wants you to pet her and doesn't want you to pet her at the same time. I saw this in our Boxer, Bailey, and was frustrated when he did it too.). Well, what we most appreciated about having her around was the calming affect she had on our dog Kisha. We didn't really notice it until we were back to one dog and Kisha returned to the habits we had happily forgotten she did since Bailey passed away. She whines more, follows us around the house more closely (which is excessively annoying when you consider how big she is and slowly and poorly she moves). She has a way of blocking a passage that can only be rivaled by a herd of stubborn yaks standing on a mountain pass. Is another dog in the picture? I don't think so at this point, but I told my friends I'd love to dogsit anytime they need a break.
Okay, enough procrastinating. I have work to do and I'm sure you do too. Why else would you be reading this blog?
On a completely different note, we dogsat some friends' dog over the break as well. She is well-behaved and a general pleasure to have around (Except for the occasionally annoying way she wants you to pet her and doesn't want you to pet her at the same time. I saw this in our Boxer, Bailey, and was frustrated when he did it too.). Well, what we most appreciated about having her around was the calming affect she had on our dog Kisha. We didn't really notice it until we were back to one dog and Kisha returned to the habits we had happily forgotten she did since Bailey passed away. She whines more, follows us around the house more closely (which is excessively annoying when you consider how big she is and slowly and poorly she moves). She has a way of blocking a passage that can only be rivaled by a herd of stubborn yaks standing on a mountain pass. Is another dog in the picture? I don't think so at this point, but I told my friends I'd love to dogsit anytime they need a break.
Okay, enough procrastinating. I have work to do and I'm sure you do too. Why else would you be reading this blog?
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Sponge Monkeys
After some serious research on an important topic to my field of rhetoric and writing, I have found a source for the Quiznos Subs creatures that sing that amazing song We Love the Subs. It turns out they are called Sponge Monkeys, creations Joel Veitech and located at rathergood.com. You can reach them directly here singing the original composition We Like the Moon. It truly is a work of art.
p.s. I have to thank my pop-culture diva friend who told me of the Sponge Monkey's humble origins. Thanks.
p.s. I have to thank my pop-culture diva friend who told me of the Sponge Monkey's humble origins. Thanks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
