Have you ever taken the time to sit down and write your favorite player, actor singer or poet and not get a response?
I wrote Maya Angelou a letter 11 months ago to ask for some feedback on my CD of poetry and to find out how she has managed to be the only poet to win a Grammy Award in 53 years. I followed the directions on her website and made sure I included my contact information. I wrote my return address on the envelope, included my address on the formal letter and also sent along a self addressed stamp envelope for her to send a response to.
I never heard form her! The day it snowed 10 inches here in Dallas, TX I had some down time so I sent an email to her contact person. The person sent my email to Ms. Angelo’s personal assistant who replied Ms Angelou did receive my CD but there was not a return address for her to send a thank you card to. What the What?
On the website it tells you if you are sending anything to Ms. Angelou it has to be sent to her “gate keeper” Lordly & Dame Inc. located in Boston. Ms Angelou lives in North Carolina. So it appears Lordly & Dame did not act in a professional manner at all. They took my CD out of the envelope threw away my letter and just sent Ms. Angelou my CD. As an inspiring poet, I’m heartbroken to know that the “gate keepers” didn’t think my letter was worthy enough to be responded back to.
There was nothing “lordly” about what they did and shame on the “dame” who couldn’t do a simple task and send my letter along with the CD! After all, I was not writing to them but to Ms. Angelou.
I responded back to the assistant and informed her that I did send my address and gave the assistant my address and informed her that I would still like to hear back from Ms. Angelou.
It has been over a month and I have not received a response from the assistant or Ms. Angelou and That’s Not Cool!
I had my first taste of the Tea Party movement at the University of North Texas, where a rally was held on the town square during the last presidential campaign. Children held signs featuring political jargon that they surely didn’t understand and conservative men and women protested progressive politics with unwavering gusto.
For the first time (excluding the stone-walled health care bill) I am beginning to see the effects of such radical conservatism. Educators will vote in May if Texas students will be able to learn about the deist, Thomas Jefferson. They might be given a skewed perception of the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement because of its liberalism. Hip-hop music might not be credited as an influential musical genre. Anything featuring liberal or progressive ideology will be reduced, restricted, or eliminated and replaced with Christian and conservative ideas if the Texas State Board of Education has its way.
Students should be taught an equal amount of conservative and liberal ideas and not smothered in either. I always hear conservatives decry the liberal agenda and how its always shoved down their throats, but if this education overhaul takes effect they will be doing exactly the thing they condemned liberals of doing.
I’m opposed to political fanaticism and partisanship and all its facets. These adults are harming future generations by tailoring history to suit their agenda. Politicians should not have the power to dictate what is to be included and excluded from the history books.
The original article can be found here.
I have always thought that French cooking was not only my thing at the stove, but that it was not my thing as far as taste buds go. However, I am once again proven wrong. I love all things cheese, cream and wine, so why on Earth did I not think I was into French cooking?
The dish I wanted to tackle, Cordon Blu. Yes, I have made a Cordon Blu before, twice actually, but never a true French version, and one of those times did not really count since my dog got a hold of the chicken prior to my actual enjoyment of my hard work. He loved it though!
Heavy cream, white wine and a lovely assortment of mushrooms is what was to cover this dish. Freshly shaven prosettio and baby swiss would melt together inside of the lovely rolled breast. What a delight this dish would be.
I did not find this dish difficult to make, but I was left with one boggling question, How is one to lightly pound a chicken breast. I mean really, how do you lightly pound a lump of meat into a flat piece of meat? I had no idea when I was pounding too soft, or too hard; although, I would have to guess too hard would have been when I ripped through the wax paper that the chicken sat between. None-the-less I pounded that bad boy into submission, and all was good in the kitchen.
Now, the last time I made Cordon Blu, there were no noodles and no cream sauce. Had I known there would be cream sauce involved I would have mastered this dish by now, I love a good cream sauce. This cream sauce was to die for. It started with a good portion of butter, garlic, onion and was soon joined with mushrooms (my favorite). A heavy helping of cream and a bit of white wine, and that was it. It was amazing, yes it was.
After being rolled, the chicken cooked in a pan of butter, and it turned out very moist and tender. It was actually the best pan cooked chicken I have made.
All-in-all the dish was a hit, I loved it.
by Joe Stumpo
So why was actress Farrah Fawcett omitted from the memoriam sequence at the 2010 82nd Academy Awards?
That was the question, not to mention, surprise that occurred at this year’s ceremonies. The reason, as inexcusable as it sounds, is because Fawcett was best known for her “remarkable television work”, according to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences executive director Bruce Davis.
“In every category, you’re going to miss some wonderful people,” Davis told the Associated Press.
I suppose I could accept that in the cases of actress Bea Arthur (Golden Girls, Maude) and actor Edward Woodward (The Equalizer) who also passed away in 2009, who were more known for their television work than their contribution to motion pictures.
Granted, I am the only one in America who loathed The Cannonball Run (1981) but there is still no disputing it was a box office hit for Fawcett along with her brief appearance in the sci-fi film, Logan’s Run (1976). She received a Golden Globe nomination as a woman who exacts revenge on a rapist in Extremities (1986) in 1987, and had supporting roles in such notable independent films as The Apostle (1997) and Robert Altman’s Dr. T. and the Women (2000). Her death last June 25 was shrouded by the death of singer Michael Jackson. Her being overlooked by the Motion Picture Academy now lands her a double blow.
Even more insulting was the omission of three time Oscar winning composer Maurice Jarre. What was the Academy thinking when they put this montage together? Jarre composed the musical scores for Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and the 1977 television mini-series Jesus of Nazareth for God’s sake!
If there is one thing I can say about the Oscars every year it is how remarkably consistent they have been in delivering at least one unexpected surprise like the Fawcett omission that gets everyone talking the next day, if not, hours after they’ve aired. In some cases, people were already talking about the Fawcett snub on the web while the Oscars was still being televised.
Therein lies the problem I continue to have with these yearly ceremonies. I thought the Oscars was about getting excited that your favorite film was nominated though the odds were against the picture that it would sweep all categories. The last time I got excited about a favorite film of mine being nominated was James Cameron’s Titanic (1997) back in 1998.
If last summer’s Star Trek had received other nominations as Best Picture, Best Director, and maybe even Best Screenplay, I’d have been excited even if it didn’t stand a chance. The same goes for if Paranormal Activity had gotten nominated. All right. So I am being prejudiced because they are the ONLY two movies I could justify buying on Blu-ray last year along with this year’s Blu-ray release, 2012.
Despite the Motion Picture Academy’s attempt at upping the Best Picture number to 10 films in hopes of winning over more viewers, there was not a single movie in that category I was rooting for. Avatar had great effects. It was NOT a great film.
Although I was happy the Ex-Mrs. James Cameron – Kathryn Bigelow won Best Director, I am still at odds embracing her anti-Iraq war movie, The Hurt Locker, which does not honor the nation’s troops despite her thanking the armed forces on stage not once, but twice.
Today, the Oscar nominations and the awards shows are still more about who the Motion Picture Academy thinks should be recognized versus what audiences want to see nominated and win. If people had their say back in 2005, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 from 2004 would have nabbed nominations for Best Picture and Best Director. Very few people saw The Hurt Locker. Critics loved it. Audiences embraced Avatar but it didn’t win Best Picture or Best Director. Cameron had already crowned himself “King of the World” once.
Until another multi-nominated film that I personally enjoyed like Titanic comes along again that I can root for, I am always going to watch the Oscars looking for something unexpected to happen that gets everyone talking the next morning.
That’s not what the Oscars should be about.
Growing up, my mother hated to allow me to cook with her. It was not that she didn’t want her children in the kitchen, oh no, she thrived giving us lessons. However, I have always been a messy cook, and that is something my mother never allowed.
As I tossed the package that once held the chicken into the trash, and cleaned off the counter tops between steps, I sang to myself, this blog is for you mom. I am one mean and clean cooking machine.
For me, there is nothing better than anything cooked in a cream sauce. Excited is a word that barely explains how I felt when my eyes glazed over the recipe for Champagne Chicken on the back of my California Sun dried Tomatoes package.
I quickly read over the directions and was excited to see how simple they were, a browning here, a boiling there and at last a simmer. I was off to the stove!
Following four generous tablespoons of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter, my pan heated up. There is something amazing about the crackling sound of chicken when it hits than pan. That sound danced around my ears for several minutes while I browned the breasts. Before I ate this dish, I knew it would be a good.
Selecting the champagne was not easy for me. There are so many choices, but I ended up with a Barefoot Bubbly. Accented with crisp apples, this champagne had a clean and crisp taste and smelled wonderful.
When all was done, I plated the dish, and the creamy mashed potatoes I made to go with it were a perfect accent. I carefully spooned the champagne cream sauce over the chicken and served my family. Enjoying a glass of the 
bubbly with dinner was a perfect way to wash down the robust flavors of the dish. The champagne stood out among all the flavors which is something I did not expect because of the potency of the sun dried tomatoes and the rich cream flavors.
Of course a few tweaks will be made the next time I make this dish such as; basil in the sauce and heavier seasoning in the flour the chicken was coated in, but all-in-all this was a winner.
Since the time before Myspace and Facebook (a time I can’t easily remember) I have acquired and subsequently “fired” friends for various reasons, but only with the advent of online social networking have I been given the chance to literally DELETE these people from my life.
Usually, I try and only befriend interesting people, both in real life and in the virtual world, but over time I’ve come to realize how schizophrenic people can be. A lot of people tend to have online personas, or avatars, that are vastly superior to their real life. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing! I think it allows people to actualize parts of their personality that they restrict in their real lives. I think its healthy…to some extent.
However, over the years I have had the misfortune of befriending people in real life who are, in the virtual world, internet celebrities. Their online persona is so dramatically different from their character in real life that it becomes difficult to take them seriously. You know the type. They are almost always abnormally attractive, have several thousand photographs of themselves that are all extremely flattering, and have a fan-base that could easily outnumber the population of an island country. They are usually famous for no apparent reason and never comment on your page, but always want your opinion about something (which usually involves hair color or what you think of their band’s new song.)
After several hangout sessions (which are almost always unintentional) I put these people on a “friend probationary period,” which can span from several months to a year. In that time frame, the new friend must show me that I am more than just a spectator for their online circus and a freak in their sideshow of subservient friends or they shall have the pleasure of meeting the vengeful click of my delete key.
Nope, I really don’t care what color you want your hair this week, but the pic you posted from last weeks hair-color alteration was unavoidable. Thanks, news feed! Nah, I don’t think I have a comment on you favorite Starbucks beverage, but I guarantee that every single male you’ve befriended checked out your “Bikinis and Martinis” album just now. But hey, since we haven’t actually hung out in months and our online friendship is based entirely on your shameless self-promotion, I think I’ll spare myself the eye-rolling and face-palming and click that box with the “x” next to your brand new profile pic.
Permanence. That’s the feeling I get from deleting an online contact. I can completely eradicate any proof that I ever knew that person. Closure. Like when I delete an ex-girlfriend’s phone number from my cruddy Wal-Mart cell-phone. The persona they created was counter-productive. I become a giant hand with a flyswatter hovering menacingly above the table, and the ex-friend becomes a helpless insect looking for a photo-opportunity and a comment to devour.
In a city that is known for drawing in the wildest crowds, and has been dubbed “best tour spot” by many of bands, Dallas was in for a treat when Underoath rolled into town Dec. 13 at The House of Blues with tour-mates August Burns Red and Emery.
The night started off with some holiday cheer gifted to the sold out venue by Emery, a five-piece rock band from Rock Hill, South Carolina. Following a rendition of the holiday classic “White Christmas,” the band stormed the stage bringing hardcore guitar and double bass drums along with earth shattering screams that had every body in the house moving, every fist pumping and every mouth singing. Closing down their set lead singer Toby Morell lifted his hands in the air, as keyboardist Josh Head crawled across the body of an audience, and then belted out a growl that froze the room. Cementing their spot in this line up of stunning performers, Emery is a band to be seen.
Succeeding a short intermission, the lights dimmed, and a vibe of relaxation overcame the crowd as none other than Frank Sinatra’s voice began to croon “Come Fly with me.” It was an unexpected lovely surprise. Second’s later Pennsylvania-based metalcore rock-band August Burns Red took the stage with a bang.
Opening their set with “Up Against the Ropes,” a powerful song from their 2007 release Messengers, August Burns Red set their performance off with a high impact. Stage lighting paraded across the stage in a fast pace, complimenting the strong driving bass and guitars as they shred into heavy drums and vocals.
Following their opening, the band offered songs from their newest album Constellations, with fan-favorites “Meddler, Marianas Trench and Thirty and Seven.” In cord with the holiday spirit, the band wished the crowd a Merry Christmas by blessing them with a beautiful instrumentation of their song “Carol of the Bells,” showcasing an unbelievable passion that shook the foundation of The House of Blues.
There comes a moment when you cannot possibly imagine handling anymore, the lights go dim, you feel the excitement grow, and the crowd begins to sway in anticipation. It is then you remember what you came for. Taking the stage, Florida-based metalcore band Underoath fills the room with a heat that sets your heart on fire.
Sitting down with the craziest of the bunch, keyboardist Chris Dudley, it was hard to imagine the set backs this band were hit with on this leg of the tour. From slippery stages in Chicago, to car accidents with hospitalized drivers, as well as being snowed in somewhere in Iowa, his demeanor was overjoyed with life. A joy, that pours out on stage with an energy that cannot be measured.
A highlight of the evening was the presentation of a beautifully composed and played instrumental piece. The colors of orange and yellow painted the room as magenta created a rainbow over the crowd. Left in your own reflections, you are brutally forced to reality as Dudley and drummer Aaron Gillespie release a power driven section over the drums.
The set ended with the chords of “Too Bright to See, Too Loud to Hear,” a song that was intended to be a departure from the rest of the album, but landed the band their first single on local radio station KVRK(89.7). The room was beautifully filled with the vocals of the audience and arms stretched into the air singing “They will stare and say how empty we are. How the freedom we had turned us up as dead men.”
In response to a request for a much-needed encore, Underoath returned to the stage with “It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door.” The ocean of fans crashed into one another as the music interwove itself with alluring and urgent guitars.
Closing the night with the powerful “Writing on the Walls,” Underoath demonstrated strong musical ability. While at times it seemed members of the band may have not been giving it their all, this evening in whole was one of the best shows of 2009.
We are all gifted with certain attributes that others can be envious of. Some may have more beneficial attributes like a great butt or a vast mind. While others of us have smaller gifts like the ability to love, or in my case really great teeth. I was never very thankful for my wonderful attribute. My sister got the big boobs, and my brother.. he was my parents only son.. enough said.
I will be the first to admit that I took my teeth for granted. I ate lots of candy as a kid, I opened beer bottles with them in my 20’s and I haven’t seen a dentist in over twenty years. Thankfully, the good ol’ teeth are still around. However, something shady started to go down a year or so ago. I would like to blame the coffee distributors of America for this one.. my teeth have started to turn an unsightly shade of yellow. A total WTF moment here.
I can honestly admit I have toyed with the idea of whitening strips for as long as I can remember. I just never really got around to spending fourty bucks on something I though toothpaste could fix. Well folks, I did it… I GAVE IN! Today I bought my first box of Crest white strips, and let me tell you, I AM HOOKED!
In one single application I can honestly say I see a difference. Luckily, I had a camera in hand, and I am getting all this goodness on the record. So, please feel free to check out DAY 1 of results!!
I know, gross right? This is a picture of my teeth before I put on the crest strips.
These are the teeth after one application. What an improvement!!
I have more applications to go, and I cannot wait to see the results. Stay tuned!!
Now to be honest I haven’t been anywhere near the new stadium, and I don’t plan to. But I still thought it was worth commenting on. I also don’t expect anyone to agree with me, so don’t waste time posting hate comments, unless you really have nothing else to do.
I really wonder if was just sheer arrogance on Jerry Jones’ part. Isn’t the Dallas Cowboys called “America’s Team?” When I think of the time it took to design, build, and create this monstrosity of an arena, (which is nothing more than an homage to Jones’ ego), was taking a day to work into the design a gosh-darned, honest-to-goodness cloth American Flag so hard?
Instead, they had an animated one placed on the TV screens. Talk about smoke and mirrors. It wasn’t until some glitch that people realized without the TV’s there was no flag to sing to.
Then one morning on KLUV’s morning show, Jodi Dean who is also an announcer during the home games, mentioned the lack of a flag and how even though he is BFF’s with Jerry Jones and “loves the guy to death”, Jones was wrong not having a flag. He even quoted Jerry saying that he had no plans to fix it because it would have blocked the view for some screen or some piddlely little excuse like that.
Say it with me: EGO!
Granted, they have now fixed the problem. I guess fan outrage or some other benevolent power forced Good Ole’ Jerry to put a flag up. If people can get an egotistical idiot to put up an American flag in a stadium that is an overpriced privilege, then why can’t those same people get similar results within the Government? Perhaps Texas can’t influence Washington, but I’d settle for some changes here first.
As I was writing the last post I lead into the idea of an overwhelming consumer-driven society. I have lived several places, North carolina, New Mexico, Southern California and now Dallas yet I have never seen anything like the consumer driven society that I have experienced here in Texas.
This place is literally covered with strip mall after strip mall. You can drive one block and see the same stores at either end of the block.No matter what day of the week it is, the mall is always crowded. It used to be that I would save the Christmas shopping for a week day. I would leave work early so that I could spend an afternoon free of the crazy weekend holiday shoppers. When we moved here two years ago, I realized that there was no such thing as a quiet day at the mall. People here SHOP. They shop every day, all day at any time of the day.
How is that possible?
No, I don’t have an answer to that question. I don’t even know what to guess at. I know that when we moved here a realtor told us that Texas was the only place that she had ever lived where people would rather live in a crappy apartment and drive an expensive car than own their own home. I can assume that what this means is that image means quite a bit here in the land of cattle. You have to remember that what I am saying is coming from someone who has lived in Los Angeles-land of plastic. I feel more plastic around me here than any place that I have ever lived.
Of course you have to find your niche anywhere that you live and I realize that I cannot judge an entire city this way fairly. I guess the reason that I sound this way is because I have never lived anyplace that has such an overwhelming feeling about the importance of appearances.
I have never put on make up for much and I won’t be doing it to go to the grocery store. I am amazed at the outfits that I see while I pick out my bread. I wonder, was it a quick stop for eggs and then off to the symphony?
Hmmm..
Anything of interest to community college students; please blog with care and common sense. Pretend your teachers are reading this - they probably are!
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