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Wednesday, November 30, 2005

A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.

This is a saying by the great writer Jack London, I just really love it.

Jack London is one of those people who really influenced me in the beginning of my life, perhaps the only Novel I read for him was The Iron Heel translated in Arabic in the name of (العَقِب الحديدية). It was written in 1907, it discusses some events that Jack London predicts that would happen, it's as some kind of story was found in after about 600 years from now, and then he starts reading it with commenting in it as it was really written in that age, the story begins in 1912, as to discuss the situation that lead to the Big Chicago Commune, which he predicts that this would be the first movement against the American Oligarch (which is type of an aggressive Capitalism) against the Labor.

This Story had really influenced me, as it was considered the Bible of the Socialism. That's because of the discussions which were in the story, They were the best discussions I ever saw, I really recommend this story.

These days I'm looking for another books for this writer, I found some of the on the Internet, but now I have to find time to read them.

I hope you could read the story, in Arabic or in English, it is really a good one.

أنا يوسف يا أبي

أَنَا يُوسُفٌ يَا أَبِي.
يَا أَبِي، إِخْوَتِي لاَ يُحِبُّونَنِي،
لاَ يُرِيدُونَنِي بَيْنَهُم يَا أَبِي

يَعْتَدُونَ عَلَيَّ وَيَرْمُونَنِي بِالحَصَى وَالكَلاَمِ

يُرِيدُونَنِي أَنْ أَمُوتَ لِكَيْ يَمْدَحُونِي

وَهُمْ أَوْصَدُوا بَابَ بَيْتِكَ دُونِي

وَهُمْ طَرَدُونِي مِنَ الحَقْلِ

هُمْ سَمَّمُوا عِنَبِي يَا أَبِي

وَهُمْ حَطَّمُوا لُعَبِي يَا أَبِي

حَينَ مَرَّ النَّسِيمُ وَلاَعَبَ شَعْرِيَ
غَارُوا وَثَارُوا عَلَيَّ وَثَارُوا عَلَيْكَ،
فَمَاذَا صَنَعْتُ لَهُمْ يَا أَبِي

الفَرَاشَاتُ حَطَّتْ عَلَى كَتِفَيَّ،
وَمَالَتْ عَلَيَّ السَّنَابِلُ،
وَالطَّيْرُ حَطَّتْ على راحتيَّ

فَمَاذَا فَعَلْتُ أَنَا يَا أَبِي،
وَلِمَاذَا أَنَا

أَنْتَ سَمَّيْتَنِي يُوسُفًا،
وَهُمُو أَوْقَعُونِيَ فِي الجُبِّ، وَاتَّهَمُوا الذِّئْبَ
وَالذِّئْبُ أَرْحَمُ مِنْ إِخْوَتِي..

أَبَتِ! هَلْ جَنَيْتُ عَلَى أَحَدٍ عِنْدَمَا قُلْتُ إِنِّي:
رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا، والشَّمْسَ والقَمَرَ، رَأَيْتُهُم لِي سَاجِدِينْ.

محمود درويش

To listen to the song By Marcel Khalifah
Click Here!
It's so cool

Thursday, November 10, 2005

In The Memory of Ra'afat Al-Boreeny

The moment I heard the news of the bombing, I couldn't imagine that in any chance I know any of the victims, The moment I heard that Ra'afat was there, I just couldn't ... I don't know.

I remember the first time I saw Ra'afat, I thought he was bluffing that he cares a lot about people, after a while of knowing him, it turned that he really cares a lot ... he was a very simple guy, who just want to live a natural life.
I just wish that all of this just didn't happen, I just wish that he could come back again, I would be waiting for a phone from him to tell me that he would be coming to spend the night in my house ... but I just know that this wont happen.

How simple your life could be when you don't know what's happening,
How miseries look simple when you don't know you're in them,
How painful a misery could be when it takes someone you love.
You would always be in our hearts
Ra'afat Al-Boreeny

Terror Attack in Jordan

Yesterday I was shocked as everybody with the three terrorist attacks in the middle of Amman; I was about 850m away from Grand Hayyat Amman, I just cannot stand what happened, I guess I'm still shocked.

I don't know what kind of people would do such a thing, what were they thinking in, killing innocent people, for almost nothing. Is this Islam, is this religion, I guess this is madness, what did somebody who was attending a Wedding reception, to deserve this kind of death.

Does this kind of people know how it feels to lose someone you love, I guess they never loved anyone; one of our company girls lost her fiancée in one of the explosions, I just cannot imagine her feeling right now.

Hoping for a better life,

"I lost my father and my father-in-law on my wedding night," the groom Ashraf Mohammad said. "The world has to know that this has nothing to do with Islam."


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Saturday, September 7, 2013

October 30

By Sally

Sandy has come and gone, leaving the Upper East Side largely unaffected.  Unfortunately, that is not the case elsewhere.  The devastation in New Jersey and Staten Island is extensive.  We have only minor inconveniences- no subways and buses, many of the businesses are closed.

Water we did not need.

By Al

It was strange walking around the city today.  There was no public transit and much of the city was without electricity, so many people did not have to go to work.  Without public transit, many people could not get to work.  So, even in parts of the city with electricity, like our area, most businesses were closed.  The restaurants that were open, were pretty crowded.  Roosevelt Drive was closed to traffic, so people were walking on it.  It was like walking on a freeway.  Kind of spooky, like do I have to watch for cars or not.
There were some trees down in our area and a lot of branches.  City crews were already out trying to clear them away.  However, we were very lucky.  The news reports of massive flooding on Staten Island and the Rockaways.  Also, there was a major fire on the Rockaways.  Over 40 homes were burnt as the high wind spread the fire.  The fire department could not put the fires out because of the high winds.  Contrary to what people might think, there was not a lot of rain associated with this hurricane.  There were terrible winds and a major storm surge that caused most of the damage.  Areas near the ocean were the most affected.  Electricity south of 39th street is out and the tunnels for subway and cars are flooded.  The city is at a standstill, yet the streets are full of people walking around and taking it in.

The East River is still riled up.

This is a crane that was not properly prepared for the storm.  Normally, they are allowed to swing with the wind, so that they point with the least resistance to the wind.  However, this one was locked in place which caused the arm of the crane to fold back over the top of the crane and hang by only cables from the opposite side.  It cause several blocks of the city to be closed until it could be removed because of the danger of it falling.

This was one way that they tried to remove the trees.  Two guys with a chain saw and a pickup could have done this in 5 minutes.  I watched them get this far on one tree in about 10 minutes.  It just goes to show the importance of having the correct tool.

October 29, 2012

Sally's Day

A walk over to Central Park- which is closed.  A few people out walking dogs, and a few joggers.

 Jennifer and I dressed up for the rain which continues.

A day to read and find one of the few open restaurants.  The Duane Reed Drug Stores continue to be open throughout.

By Al

This was our first hurricane.  It was interesting that to see the preparations.  It was predicted to be bad.  We hoped that we would be far enough inland and high enough to escape the worst of it.  But, we still filled everything we had with water and had them standing in our living room.  All of the stores were sold out of candles, but we had a lot of batteries and flashlights.

It is raining and the hurricane is coming, but not here yet.  So, we decide to walk over to Central Park.  The entrances to the park are closed.  I guess they didn't want to worry about people in there either getting hit by flying trees or breaking into any of the park buildings and businesses.  This picture is taken along 5th Avenue next to the park.

We got home about 5 PM and went down to the East River to see what was happening.  Roosevelt East River Drive, really a freeway, was closed.  You can see water covering the road ahead of the car.  The water is up over the sidewalk, but people are still walking.  The wind is about 20 miles per hour.  Kind of like a mild blizzard in Minnesota, just a lot warmer.

We go back about 7 PM.  The wind is now about 50 miles per hours.  Water is up over Roosevelt.  It is like a real blizzard in Minnesota, except warmer.

This is our pedestrian overpass to the East River.  The corner of our building is in the dark to the left, this side of the do not enter sign.  During the night, the water came up to where you see the parked cars.  This is about 50 feet from our apartment building, but it is also 10 feet below it because of the hill.  So, the surge would have had to be 10 feet higher to get to our building.  Our apartment is on the second floor, so we were in no danger.  The first floor apartments in this picture closer to the river were flooded.

 The water is up over Roosevelt.

At about 11 PM the storm was at its height.  I was going to go outside, but the news said the wind was about 90 to 100 miles per hour.  Okay, this is worse than a blizzard in Minnesota.  Anyway, you cannot stand in that wind.  Also, the mayor warned that they were so many things flying around that it was extra dangerous to be outside.  I decided that I didn't need a picture that much.

October 28, 2012

Waiting for the hurricane

Water rising on the East River.

The greengrocer on the corner sells out of produce, and starts breaking down boxes.  He says he will be closed for 3 days.

The restaurant on the corner put tape on its windows.  The little water trough on the corner is for dogs.

We had word that the hurricane is coming.  Time to buy some supplies (cans of tuna, trail mix, etc.) and fill pots with water.  Businesses also prepared.

October 27, 2012

By Sally
The highlight of Jennifer's visit today was going to see The Heiress.  The play is based on a Henry James novel, Washington Square, set at that location in about 1850.  A  wealthy, widowed doctor (David Straihthorn) lives in a mansion on Washington Square with his daughter (Jessica Chastain).  His sister, a widowed minister's wife (Judith Ivey) also lives with him.  The doctor loathes his daughter. Her mother died at her birth.  The doctor wants the daughter to be just like her beautiful, talented mother.  The daughter is good-hearted, plain, and shy.

A suitor (Dan Stevens) arrives.  He is poor, but charms the daughter. He asks her to marry him  The dad believes that he is after her money (she has an income equal to $275,000/year in 2012 dollars from her mother, and will receive another $550,000/year when her father dies). The dad and daughter go to Europe for 6 months. Upon their return, the daughter still loves the suitor.  He wants her to elope.  She says they will be fine, but also reveals that her dad is likely to disinherit her.

He leaves, but does not return to elope.  She is heartbroken. Dad dies. Two years passes. Suitor returns, and daughter asks him to come back in 2 hours to go away with her to marry.  When he returns, she does not answer the door. End of play.

I was excited to see all 4 actors in a live performance.  I have seen them all in movies or on TV, and been impressed with their skills. Unfortunately, with the exception of Judith Ivey, they all seemed "flat."  Perhaps they were trying to be very Victorian in not showing their emotions in the play.

I'm glad we saw the play, but it was a bit of a disappointment.

By Al

That evening we went to see DUMBO and the Brooklyn Bridge.  DUMBO stands for Down Under Manhattan Bridge.  It is the area on the east side of the East River under the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge.  It has become the new hot area to live.  It is especially favored by artists who have been priced out of the rents in Manhattan.  This was our first time there and it was a bit disappointing.  We were there at night and much of what might have been interesting is only open during the day.  However, it is always interesting to look at Manhattan at night from Brooklyn.  I didn't take many pictures because I have so many already.

October 26

Sally's Day

Our friend, Jennifer, arrived for a visit today.   Our highlight of the day was a book reading with Alexander McCall Smith- best known for his Number 1 Detective Agency series.  He also write 4 other series.  His new book is about a woman philosopher in Edinburgh.

He was quite entertaining, and gracious in signing books. He writes one series for a newspaper in Edinborough where he produces a chapter each day.

By Al

After retrieving Jennifer from the airport, we went on a bit of a walk around town.  We showed her the Mayor's mansion, Gracie Mansion.  Mayor Blumberg doesn't live there.  He has several houses already in New York.  But, it is still used for ceremonial purposes.  We also checked out our local Goodwill store.  As we have said before, they have some pretty nice things since they get a lot of their stuff from the local area.  We live in the tenth riches zip code in the nation, and we are next to the richest zip code in the nation; so much of the cast off clothes are still pretty good.  Needless to say, we substantially bring down the average income.

Jennifer and Sally walking up the driveway to Gracie Mansion.

Another view of Gracie Mansion.

Sally talking with  Alexander McCall Smith.

A posed photo.  The book reading was at the Barnes and Noble by Union Square.  This is a four story building and it quite large.  However, two blocks away is the original Barnes and Noble.  So we walked over to see it.

We walked back to Union Square to get the subway.  In the corner of Union Square they have a statue of Gandhi.

October 25

Sally's Day

Most of my day was devoted to the Metropolitan Opera.  The Opera offers $20  rush seats which are sold 2 hours before the performance.  However, it is necessary to get in line by 2:30 because there are only 150 tickets sold.  So it is day of getting a good sandwich at the deli, knitting and reading.

Tonight's opera was Carmen.  I have, rather cynically, come to believe that most operas have a plot of love, jealously, death.  Carmen was no exception.  A nobleman loves Carmen.  She loves a gypsy.  Neither she nor the nobleman know that the gypsy is actually the nobleman's brother.  Carmen agrees to marry the nobleman if he will spare the life of the gypsy.  She then takes a poison which results in a  slow death (comment- deaths in operas always seem to be slow to allow time for an aria and/or duet before the actual death).  The nobleman has also captured the woman who has raised the gypsy.  Just before killing her, she reveals that the nobleman and he are brothers.  In the end, everyone is either dead or miserable.

A friend went  with me.  A violinist in the orchestra is a friend of his.  She took us to the bowels of Opera Hall.  There is a cafeteria right next to the orchestra pit.  During the intermission, we sat amongst soldiers and gypsies having a snack between acts.  Fun.

I love the Metropolitan Opera House.  It is a  magical place to come upon the lights, chandeliers, and happy people.

Met staff cafeteria,

I have seen these dog buggies on the  street.  Here is one in a store window.  I don't know why people take their dog out in a buggy, rather than letting the dog walk.

By Al

While Sally was at the Opera, I went for a walk around the Upper East Side looking at Halloween decorations.  Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and Amy and I always enjoyed decorating our house.  I, obviously, could not do that this year, so it was fun to see what New Yorkers had done.  Most houses didn't have much room, so the displays tended to be a bit crowded.  Also, keep in mind that the houses that show these displays are multi-million dollar houses.

October 24, 2012

Sally's Day

Two outings today.  The first to see "War Horse" at Lincoln Center, and then a book reading with Louise Erdrich.

I found the story in War Horse rather boring, and the music uninspired.  The story centers around an Irish boy and his horse at the time of World War I.  The horse is drafted into the service.  The boy enlists.  The horse and boy are separated during the war.  They are eventually re-united.

I enjoyed the staging, and the horse puppet. It was, of course, impossible to have a live horse in the play  since the horse appears in many of the scenes.  The makers developed an amazing wooden full-size wooden puppet, which was operated by 2 people underneath the puppet.  The movements were so realistic that it seemed to be alive.  The staging included scenes in Ireland and Europe during World War I. The settings were conveyed with projections above the action on stage, and very few props- yet there was no confusion about where the action was occurring.  Well done so that your mind filled in the things that were not on stage.

My second outing was a reading by Minnesota's own Louise Erdrich.  Her new book The Round House,  has been nominated for the National Book Award.  I bought the book- and read it in about 1 1/2 days.  The plot involves a 13 year old Ojibwa boy living on a reservation in ND.  His mother is raped.  Although the perpetrator is found, it is impossible to prosecute him because the mother was blindfolded- and the location of the crime is on land where federal, state, and tribal jurisdictions meet.  The issue then becomes doing justice and values. She interweaves a crime story, Ojibwa legends, and relationships between generations.

I highly recommend this book.  Ms. Erdrich was a wonderful speaker.  It was apparent that New Yorkers were not familiar with the Native American land issues which we know well in Minnesota.

Ms. Erdrich was wearing an Obama button on her lapel.  She owns in independent bookstore- Birchbark Books- in Mpls, which I look forward to visiting.

By Al

I also found War Horse to be quite boring.  I agree that the horse puppet was amazingly lifelike.  That might be a reason to see the play, but you could also just go watch a horse.

I went to a taiko class in the evening.  It was at the place that I regularly go to class, but there was a special instructor tonight.  His name is Ryo Shimamoto.  He is a taiko player from Japan who specializes in playing the Odaiko.  This is the largest drum and is usually played with great flair.  He has won several major competitions in Japan.  He was doing a tour of the United States teaching and performing.  He was a very good teacher and I enjoyed the class.  He was being accompanied around the United States by Mark Rooney.  Mark is a friend of mine who has a taiko studio in Washington, D.C.  I did not expect to see him there.  It was good to see him.

This is Ryo giving a demonstration.  At the end of the class he performed for us.  It was amazing.

Here is a video of him playing.

October 22

By Al

Today, we went back to the Intrepid.  We had tickets to go on the Concorde.  You need special tickets to do this because only so many people can go on at a time.  We also were going to go to see the Enterprise Space Shuttle.

As most of you probable know, the Concorde Aircraft was a cooperative venture between the French and British government.  Thus, the name.  It flew from Britain and France to the United States, as well as other countries.  However, the first passenger flight was in 1976.  The last flight was in 2003.  There were 20 Concorde airplanes produced.  They made the flight from Britain or France to the United States in about half the time of other commercial flights.  However, they never made a profit and had to be subsidised by the British and French government.  Still, it was fun to go on board and pretend for just a few minutes that you were flying across the Atlantic and faster than the speed of sound.

We were surprised at how small the interior space was.  But, the luxury was there.  Nice, but small, seats.  We saw a menu and it would have been first class in any restaurant.  The service was supposed to be exceptional, even for those days when airlines had some service.

A pretty tree changing color along the Hudson River.  Back home in Minnesota most of the leaves would be gone by now.

The Concorde.  Notice the people under it.

Here we are on our way to France.

This is half the passenger compartment.  The back half is closed off and only the front half is used for tourists.
When in service, the seats would not be covered with plastic.  This is just for the tourists also.

Looking toward the cockpit.

Sally in the cockpit.  It was pre-computer, so there are switches everywhere.

The back end of the space shuttle.

The front end.  They have a platform at the front end that you can go up and see more of the shuttle.  You cannot go inside or look inside.  This building is an air tent, that is a tent held up by air pressure, much like the Metrodome.  In Hurricane Sandy it collapsed and some of the electronics was damaged.

Sally and I and our friend the big space shuttle.

Another view of the flight deck of the Intrepid.

Another view.  The water is the Hudson River, which really isn't a river at this point, but that is another story.

That evening I went to the Russian and Turkish bath.  I had bought a Groupon for this establishment.  I like to take sauna's so I thought it would be fund to try out a bath house in New York.  It is coed, so everybody wears swimsuits.  They have several steam room and sauna options.  It was a slice of New York life.

October 18

By Al

Today, I went to the Museum of Chinese in American.  They were having a special exhibit of the portrayal of Chinese in comic book art.  One display showed the depiction of Asians in comics from 1942 to 1986. In much of it, Asians were the bad guys.  When not the bad guys, they were martial art type guys.  Most of it was racist.  They had another display of new alternative comics done by Asian artists.  It was very interesting.  I bought some books.  The permanent exhibit is also very interesting.  It looks as some of the ways in which Chinese immigrants adapted to life in American and some of the ways they kept parts of Chinese culture and how they adapted it to America.  Very interesting.

This is the outside of the museum.  It is right on the boundary between Chinatown and Little Italy.

October 19 and 20

I have nothing.

October 17

By Al

I've got nothing.

October 16

By Al

Today, I went to the Chinatown Rotary Club.  It was, as usual, friendly people and good food.  I decided to walk home.  I had not walked much east of Chinatown, so I walked over to the river under the Manhattan Bridge.  I then tried to stay as much along the East River as I could.  This brought be through several housing projects.  Some of them were for lower income people, but they were all well kept and very safe.  Not what we see in the popular media.  Nothing significant happened, but I do recommend just walking around New York.  You will never be disappointed.

A playground and mural in one of the housing projects.

A close up of the mural.

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Monday, October 20, 2008

King Monkey-Back!

I took a little break from drawing King Monkey to get some other bits done, but as you have already seen in the title to this post, it's back. Hooray! Break out the Aldi's own brand Cava!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Saturday, October 11, 2008

I've been doing a lot of research into contemporary caricature recently in my capacity as an illustration lecturer and I was inspired to have a go myself. I haven't done any for ages, since university really, but I very much enjoyed getting back into it. Here's an illustration of Barack Obama I've just this minute finished. I'm nowhere near the league of artists like Hanoch Piven, Noma Bar or Stephen Kroninger, but I'm pretty pleased with the result.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Observer competition

Here I present the first page of my entry for the Observer Graphic Short Story competition. It's a devastating exposé of the english education system from a teacher's perspective. It should bring the government down or at the very least the crumbling and bizarre edifice that is british education. I expect no less.

I was walking home from the Metro station and the whole of the idea came into sharp focus. It happens that way sometimes, especially when walking. I find that my mind is much sharper as I walk. The artwork has been much more difficult to produce. I've tried some experimental approaches, but in the end have opted for a regular cartoony approach that I hope works as a counterpoint to some of the serious things in the story. This first page is very introductory in tone, but the other three have a definite plot and resolution. The only problem is that I've got masses to draw and the deadline is looming. Comments are very welcome.


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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Do you get this?

I've asked a lot of people, many people don't, or at least they think they do, but are missing a major part of it. Anyway, the people at Private Eye obviously got it because they published it, even though the drawing isn't much cop. If you're not sure you get it, then click here and all will become clear. But you probably won't need to do that, will you, because you're all brains, aren't you?

Friday, July 22, 2011

Preview central

Here's three previews from some kids comics I have been working on, one of which is for The Dandy. No more details shall I proffer than that. Return later for more news, wanderer.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Dingus lives!

My character Dingus is being used as the mascot of a site all about dinguses (dingi?). Check it out at department of dingus.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Evil Twin begins again!

I've just about created a new website for my strip Evil Twin that was a finalist (final 10!) in Amazon's ComicStrip Superstar competition last year. Was it last year or the year before? I forget. Anyway-you can see the submission strips starting now on it's own website: After those old strips have finished in a coupla weeks, brand new shiny ones will start. The disappointing website will soon look sexy too, with bells and whistles and shells and gristle. Oooh, excitement.


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Artist Overview

It started off as an Oriental-groove-Djent-metal solo project based musician Dmitry Demyanenko. In September 2, 2012 the debut EP titled "Sixth Sense" was released. The EP contained the five tracks, the material for which was written and recorded by Dmitry. Drummer Michael Isaev, soon joined the project then Dmitry found vocalist Sergei Raev (ex-Sumatra, Obscure Of Acacia) with the addition of bass player Rodion Shevchenko and guitarist Alexander Burlakov (Groundfloater). After all these events, the one man project had turned into a full-time band. facebook | vk.com | bandcamp | youtube | spring.me | twitter | soundcloud Founded: August 2012 Hometown: Yeisk / Moscow, Russia Genre: Progressive Metalcore | Djent | Math Metal | Oriental | Groove
Djent,Progressive metal,Math metal

Supreme Truth (Instrumental)(2014)(~)

Exodus (Instrumental Edition)(2017)(~)


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Alexandra & Ainsworth Estate

Tenants and Residents Association

Currently we have various working groups including –

  • The Heating Working Group which has been working with the Council to ensure that any new heating system for the estate is what residents want;
  • The Open Space (Park) Working Group A team from the TRA worked with other residents to put together an application for funds to the Heritage Lottery Fund for money for our park and successfully raised £2mm for our Park. Works will start soon
  • The Tenants Hall Working Group which has been working hard to get activities running in our Tenants Hall including the Monday Matinee Film Club, yoga class, the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Judo Classes for kids and adults
  • The Filming Working Group which looks over applications to film on the estate to make sure that programmes made here are positive.

These are groups of about 4 people, some TRA members and some residents that are just interested in that subject.The more people involved the better, you don’t have to be a TRA member to be involved. So you can be involved as much as you want to be. For more info join one of our TRA meetings or email us at


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Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Gary Larson - Seriously Off-Beat Cartoonist

I was living in Beijing for the whole year of 1988 - just before the Tiananmen Square Massacre, when there was still a sense of 'opening-up' and people would stop Westerners in the street to talk, practise English, and gain a sense of the world outside the Middle Kingdom (中国) or China. Cos there was very little unofficial stuff on TV or in magazines or anywhere about the wider world.

I had an enormous old-style flat in the Friendship Hotel ('Yoyi Binguan')', in the Haidian district, north-east of the CBD. This gigantic complex was built in 1954 in a Russian style.

Anyway, one night an American friend gave me a pile of 'The Far Side' magazines, and so introduced me to Gary Larson, cartoonist extraordinaire:

One of the first cartoons I remember was this one - it got me really howling, and this didn't stop till I turned the last page in the last collection.
What I loved about this cartoon is the wild off-beat humour, quite wonderfully weird and unexpected.

Okay, here's a selection. Enjoy!

Well, how did you go? On a scale of 1-10, how hard did you howl? If you didn't manage even a decibel, you are in big big trouble, and in need of help. Though I suspect your condition is terminal!!!

Okay, you have one more chance, with this non-Larson effort:

Well ... ??? Did the gay content help? No! Dismiss yourself immediately!

  1. Heeheheh I've always loved Larson.

  2. always loved him...truly great and so much my brand of humor. thanks for reminding me

  3. I've always liked Larson's cartoons too. I've got a heap cut out of the newspaper but I have been so tempted to buy this book but it's a big spend.

  4. Love LArsons twisted sense of close to my own

  5. hi guys! i got a lot of the cartoons from googling him - saves u buying (paul).

  6. The hibernating one has always been my favourite.


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Monday, March 2, 2009

Wedding Toasts

The ceremony was beautiful now its time for the reception. Food, dancing, fun, thank yous and toasts.

Your guests have come out to join you on your special day and you should take the time to say thank you. It is also an opportunity to thank those who have not only supported you during the wedding planning but throughout your life. It does not have to be a long speech, it should be a sentiment from the heart. You can decide whether you will give the toasts or whether your husband, or maybe even both.

Hold your glass in your hand, look around to acknowledge everyone and begin. Giving some thought and possibly writing down what you would like to say is definitely important, it will help you to have your thoughts organized and a lists of all of those you wish to thank. If however you happen to forget all of the individuals that you wish to thank, be careful with starting to list names beyond immediate family to avoid hurt feelings. If you will be using a quote from a poem or book, rehearse it so that when you speak it flows naturally and seems unrehearsed.

Do's and Don'ts

* Do choose a story general enough for every listener to understand
* Don't include slang (unless it's in such wide use that everyone will get it): you're thanking all your guests, so you need to include everyone.
*Don't embarrass anyone (at least not in a mean-spirited way) and forget foul language.
* Don't give a toasts if you are drunk, it's a horrible idea ( you should not get drunk at your own wedding, anyway). It's a toast, not a roast
*Do try to limit your speech to two - three minutes. Speak slowly and clearly
*Do keep it simple. It's nice to tell a quick, illustrative anecdote, but launching into anything too lengthy makes you hard to follow

Etiquette expert Jason Tesauro, coauthor with Phineas Mollod of The Modern Lover: A Playbook for Suitors, Spouses & Ringless Carousers (Ten Speed Press, 2004), suggests kicking things off with something borrowed. "Using part of a song, poem, or even a bit of the history of toasting as your intro will get the marbles out of your mouth and loosen up your tongue while your guests are still quieting down," he says. "If they miss anything, no big deal -- they weren't your words anyway." Start your toast with an eloquent reflection on marriage, love, or soul-binding. (The Knot)

Find these beautiful flutes at

Technical checks:

Take the time to do a quick mic check too: Tesauro suggest that most microphones are made to sound best at a distance about equal to that between your extended index and pinkie fingers.

Be inspired by the Masters, integrate their words into your own speech>

Here are some starting lines, resources provided by The Knot

("As Shakespeare said..."; "In the words of the poet Nikki Giovanni..."), relating them to bride and groom. The idea is to get the crowd to feel the universal significance and emotional impact of the words.

1. May your love be like the misty rain, gentle coming in but flooding the river.
-- Traditional African

2. In so much as love grows in you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.
-- St. Augustine

3. We never live so intensely as when we love strongly. We never realize ourselves so vividly as when we are in full glow of love for others.
-- Walter Rauschenbusch

4. To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.
-- Lao Tzu

5. Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

6. One word
Frees us of all the weight and pain of life:
That word is love.
-- Sophocles

7. Night and day you are the one,
Only you beneath the moon and under the sun.
-- Cole Porter

8. At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.
-- Plato

9. Love is a fire that feeds our life.
-- Pablo Neruda

10. Love is friendship set to music.
-- Anonymous

11. Marriage is like a golden ring in a chain, whose beginning is a glance and whose ending is eternity.
-- Kahlil Gibran

12. The strongest and sweetest songs
yet remain to be sung.
-- Walt Whitman

13. We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond.
-- Gwendolyn Brooks

14. In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love.
-- Marc Chagall

15. We love because it's the only true adventure.
-- Nikki Giovanni

16. We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.
-- John Keating, in Dead Poets Society (1989)

17. They do not love that do not show their love.
--William Shakespeare

18. When people care for you and cry for you, they can straighten out your soul.
-- Langston Hughes

19. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.
-- Emily Bronte

20. That love is all there is
Is all we know of love.
-- Emily Dickinson

21. A great flame follows a little spark.
-- Dante Alighieri

22. There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.
-- George Sand

23. Without love, the world itself would not survive.
-- Lope de Vega

24. When love reigns, the impossible may be attained.
-- Indian proverb

25. Love is life.
-- Leo Tolstoy

26. Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination.
-- Voltaire

27. Love is a moment that lasts forever.
-- Anonymous

28. Love is all you need.
-- John Lennon/Paul McCartney

29. A good marriage is that in which each appoints the other guardian of his solitude.
-- Rainer Maria Rilke

30. May your dreams ride on the wings of angels who know their way home to the skies.
-- Anonymous

Be Inspired!

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Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Much Needed Garden Time

 With all our busy plans this week,
I will try to sneak some garden time in this weekend.
I can smell the orange blossoms and blooming jasmine in our yard.
 Taking photos outside is much better
than in this studio
 Here's to sprucing up my patio
grabbing a few spring weather moments

  1. That sounds great, Rhonda. I just love the smell of orange blossoms and jasmin. The bee tags are pretty and the rustic cage is wonderful too. Have fun in your garden!

  2. Good morning dearest Rhonda! ENJOY YOURSELF OUTSIDE! Do you know we just got a new layer of snow yesterday? We could NOT believe our eyes. So enjoy all you can of this fleeting and very RARE season! And your photos my dear, are just gorgeous. You should see the fabulous antique white French settee I saw yesterday. I WANT IT! I would put it in my covered patio area, but it's too pricey, but it was so lovely.

    Have a super day! Anita

  3. It sounds like a great weekend to me, Rhonda! It is too soon to plant anything yet for me. I do have a pot of pansies out on our little outdoor table. I will wait until Mother's Day weekend for everything else. It will be a good weekend for pulling some weeds that are popping up, though. I expect they will be around soon to our condo community with new mulch for this year.

  4. Oh, I just adore your little bee tag and your lovely photos, Rhonda. I'm digging that cage thingy in the last photo, too. I want to swoop right over there and sit in your pretty garden, since we have temps in the 30's yesterday & this morning! Plus that ugly snow appeared yesterday. Tired of this polar vortex!
    We missed you somethin' awful over the weekend. You would have camped out in that white tent (hee hee). xoxoxox, Susan

  5. What a lovely look...I like the bees = )

  6. Oh I adore the wee cage!!!

    Have a delightfully lovely Easter.

  7. I adore your props as always dear Rhonda - you have such a good eye for styling your photo shoots.

    Enjoy your garden - I do hope you have some 'quiet' time too!

    Shane x

I hope you found some inspiration today.
Rhonda of A Little Bit French


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Thursday, February 9, 2012

Maximilian & the Mystery of the Guardian Angel

Maximilian & the Mystery of the Guardian Angel: A Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller. Written and illustrated by Xavier Garza; Spanish Translation by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite and Carla Gonzalez Campos; El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press, 2011. Ages 8 - 12.

When I was in junior high I was a professional wrestling FANATIC. I do not use all caps lightly so believe the intensity with which I loved my wrestling. I read the magazines. I watched about nine hours of wrestling every weekend, from the big organizations like the N.W.A. and the WWF to the smaller wrestling organizations based out of Texas and Florida. I even attended a live professional wrestling event where I managed to get the autograph of my very favorite wrestler at the time Kevin Von Erich. Yes, I still have that autographed picture in my possession. But even before that, as a child, I watched movies that featured the masked wrestler known as Mil Mascaras--One Thousand Masks! His movies took place in a world of Mexican villains and heroes, something I didn't see too much of in the American wrestling of my junior high years.

Imagine my surprise when I first came across the work of Xavier Garza several years ago. His picture book Lucha Libre: The Man in the Silver Mask was not only like a blast from the past, but such a breath of fresh air in the world of children's books. From the red end pages covered in images of masked wrestlers and stars and into the story of a little boy who attends a lucha libre event for the very first time and ends up having an ever bigger adventure than anticipated, Garza managed to create a book for younger readers that is action packed, pitting the good forces of wrestling versus the evil, as well as a colorful feast for the eyes. Who can resist getting caught up in the excitement and cheering on the technicos (good guys)?

Now Garza has done it again. In Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel Xavier Garza has created a unique middle grade novel that pays homage to the Mexican tradition of masked wrestlers. Maximilian is a fan of lucha libre and especially of the Mexican luchador known as the Guardian Angel, one of the technicos who fights rudos (bad guys) like Vampire Velasquez and Diablo Rojo. One day he has the good fortune to attend a wrestling event featuring the Guardian Angel in his hometown of San Antonio. Like Carlitos in Lucha Libre, Maximilian unexpectedly finds himself in the middle of real life wrestling drama!

One of the enduring mysteries of masked wrestlers is, of course, that of identity. Who is it beneath that mask? There is speculation, but not until a face is revealed does one truly know.  There is the neighbor who is convinced that under the Guardian Angel's mask is Pedro Infante, the Mexican singer and actor who died in a plane crash in 1957. But it is Maximilian (or Max, as he prefers to be called) who is about to set his eyes on who lives under those flamboyant masks, to learn family secrets, and in the process, to discover a little more about himself.

When I think of words that describe this book I see them inside the kind of "bubbles" used to highlight action in comic books:  Exciting! Fun! Suspenseful! Pow! With his illustration style that has a sort of old school comic book aesthetic to it, I could see this as a comic book series and as the type of book that would appeal to readers of action or superhero comics. Garza draws from Mexican culture as well as that of his native San Antonio, like the legend of Donkey Lady Bridge, and weaves these elements into his story and his illustrations.

The book, as mentioned in the subtitle, is bilingual. Spanish text is laid out parallel to the English. We don't often see middle grade novels that are bilingual and that include male Latino protagonists. Garza and Cinco Puntos Press have really outdone themselves in hitting on all of these areas that are lacking in the world of children's books. Fortunately, the Pura Belpre Award committee thought so too as the book was selected a 2012 author honor book. Here's to more books like this in the near future!

Friday, February 3, 2012

Ethnic Studies and Why We Need Them

In case you haven't heard, there is some serious business going down in Arizona. In 2010, the state passed a bill calling for the dismantling of ethnic studies programs. Last month, in compliance with the state ban on ethnic studies classes, the Tucson Unified School District began removing books found on the reading lists of Mexican American Studies courses from classrooms. The list of books includes textbooks, award winning books and classics. Debbie Reese, a former school teacher and a scholar who studies American Indians in children's literature, has been closely following what is happening in Arizona. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I'll point you to her blog in which she includes a chronological list of stories and posts related to the events.

Needless to say, it is disheartening to read about what is happening in Arizona. A 2009 Pew Hispanic report (based on the 2009 American Community Survey) found that 31% of the state's population is "Hispanic" with 91% of that group being of Mexican descent. But we didn't need to look up that information to know what Arizona is like, right? Those in opposition of ethnic studies courses argue that they distort history, stir up anti-Caucasian sentiment (though I'm not sure if they ever actually name which race is being targeted by these angry mobs of Mexican American kids) and basically get  "minorities" riled up. Books can be powerful and scary, yes?

Back in May of 2010 when the Arizona ban on ethnic studies classes passed I wrote something for another blog I was keeping at the time. So, I thought this a good opportunity to repost this piece about the role ethnic literature and ethnic studies played in my own life as the child of immigrants and the first and only person in my family to graduate from college:

I was, in many ways, lucky enough to grow up in a neighborhood that was all brown all around. With the exception of some of my teachers, I can recall having one White (Anglo, non-Hispanic) classmate during my elementary and junior high years--hi, Marsha Hoover, wherever you are! Aside from any interaction I had with White adults in, say, a store or at the library--and this rarely happened because my neighborhood branch was predominantly staffed by African-Americans and we did our shopping in neighborhood stores owned and staffed by Latinos--I didn't interact with Whites. When I went on to high school we had less than twenty White kids in our school. So when I left home for a small college town a six hour drive north of Miami, I suffered major culture shock. College culture in itself was something foreign to me, and something that kids with college graduate parents knew as second nature. There was a language and way about it I wasn't familiar with. Nevermind the fact that after growing up a majority I was suddenly a minority. Despite having graduated in the top ten of my class, I struggled for most of my undergraduate years. I had no support system. My fellow high school classmates who were with me at the same university were all kind of flailing for a lifeline too, and it wasn't like we could call home and get words of comfort and encouragement since most of our parents didn't really even get why we felt the need to leave home for college. I felt like an outsider. I didn't feel engaged. Perhaps, if I were a different kind of person, my experience would have been different too.

During my third year of college three things happened that were huge for me. First, I read Sandra Cisneros' Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories. I grew up a reader, and I was an English major, but the first time I saw myself in a book it was in this book that I read during my summer break (thanks to a Sassy magazine review of all things!) The second thing that happened was that my work study brought me to the Office of Minority Affairs and Special Programs (which has since been renamed, no longer reflecting its role in the college life of underrepresented students) where I worked as an office assistant and, later, as a peer counselor. The department housed the offices of the Associate Dean of Minority Affairs for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the head of the Afro-American Studies Department (who was one of the first two African-Americans to be hired as faculty in the Department of Liberal Arts and Sciences), and the Upward Bound program. The office also provide peer counselors for students who came in on probationary status to help them transition into college life. Many, if not most, were from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. The third thing that happened was that I took an Ethnic Literature class, taught by the aforementioned head of the Afro-American Studies Department (which is now called the African American Studies Program) where we not only read about the African-American and Mexican-American experiences, but also about the Jewish and Japanese-American experiences, among others. My Ethnic Literature professor went on to become a good friend and mentor. These three things were instrumental in my finding a sense of place as a college student and as a person caught between worlds.

Being away from home and a stranger in a strange land prompted me to learn more about my own history and culture. It suddenly became very important for me to hold onto something I took for granted growing up and, oddly, something I felt like I didn't know enough about. My parents, being from two different countries, never really immersed us in their own cultures. We got a little bit here and there, probably more of my father's Cuban culture because he was the bread winner and made most of the household decisions, and because I grew up in a city heavily populated by Cubans. The fact that my mother came to this country from Mexico in her early teens and never expressed much desire to be near her family or her native country or rehash old times and traditions ensured that we were raised in a household that was more Cuban than Mexican. Decades later, I still feel like I walk the tight rope not only between what my world was like growing up (and what it is like when I return home to visit) and the mostly White world I now live in, but also between my parents' cultures. I never feel enough of anything. My Spanish isn't Mexican enough. My ways aren't Cuban enough. I'm quite obviously not White. Quite honestly, I still often still feel a bit confused and lost. With a little one who is half White, I struggle to figure out what cultural practices to pass on to him. What is my culture? It's a lot of things that often feel like they don't quite mesh. And yet, they do, in me.

Did I get off on a tangent again? I think I did. My initial reason for this post was as a reaction to the madness that is going on in Arizona. The anti-immigrant law hurt, but the anti-Ethnic Studies law feels like it hits a lot closer to home for me because as a college student it was my ethnic literature class and my involvement with the OMASP that made all the difference in my ability to stick it out. I've seen a number of articles where it's pointed out that the law prohibits Ethnic Studies classes that promote hatred of other races and segregation as a form of see-not-ALL-ethnic-studies-classes! But who determines what falls into these categories? It's so much easier to make a full on clean sweep, right? Tom Horne compares ethnic studies classes to the "old South." That seems to be such an extreme and inaccurate comparison. To compare a group that has always run the show to one that can barely find enough books that represent their place in this country? I wonder how many elementary and secondary schools even offer ethnic studies classes, especially in light of the fact that public education today is mostly about teaching to a test. Is there even time or money for these types of classes? Perhaps this law doesn't even mean much of much, but what nags at my thoughts is: what goes next?

The locked books image comes from this story on the Colorlines Website.


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Preview: Archie #661

He knows if you are sleeping, he knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good… but he doesn’t know what it’s like to be a teen, for goodness sake! When the jolly fat man in red starts feeling like he has lost touch with the modern teenager, he’s not sure what he should do! Enter: everyone’s favorite holiday pest, Jingles! The tiny elf with the big attitude suggests that Santa spend a week with the hippest teen of them all: Archie Andrews. But with St. Nick living with him and his family, how can a klutz like Archie keep the presence of both Santa AND Rudolph a secret? And will he manage to stay off the naughty list?

Script: Angelo DeCesare
Art: Dan Parent, Rich Koslowski, Jack Morelli
Cover: Dan Parent
Holly Jolly Variant Cover: Ramon K. Perez
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.


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RUMBLE Means War! A New Ongoing from Arcudi, Harren & Stewart

A new ongoing action/adventure series about a warrior god wrecking havoc

Co-creators John Arcudi (writer of BPRD, Savage Wolverine, A God Somewhere and the Eisner-nominated The Creep), James Harren (artist on Conan, BPRD, and cover artist for Hawkeye vs. Deadpool) and color master Dave Stewart (BPRD, Conan, Hellboy) team up once again for the launch of an epic and bizarre action/adventure series filled with fantasy and page-turning thrills arriving on December 17.

In RUMBLE, a scarecrow—a warrior scarecrow god called Rathraq, that is—walks into a bar…and it’s all downhill from there. After a long absence, Rathraq is back and very unhappy. This is bad news for his old enemies, yes, but even worse news for everyone else, including bartender Bobby LaRosa who finds himself caught in the chaos.

0a46abcf-8205-4b8b-b7d3-1aef46bf7a77RUMBLE is an eclectic mix of tone and genre, something that Arcudi commented on as adding depth and a dose of reality to the story. “Rumble is not just fantasy, not just action, not just drama, or not just humorous, you know? That’s too limiting. That’s not how we live. You wake up happy, then something happens that messes up your whole day (of course, in the case of Rumble, that ‘something’ just so happens to be a giant sword-wielding scarecrow and some monsters), but you still manage to have a laugh that night. What I like about this book is that any character can have a day like that. Any of them, human and non-human.”

Arcudi also cited Harren’s flexibility in art styles as allowing for smooth transitions throughout RUMBLE. “James’s art allows us to go in all the directions the story needs to go. Nobody draws ferocious action the way James does. Monsters smashing each other’s heads in, that’s in the book, and James kills on it! But he also can set a spooky mood, and while his idea of what’s ‘funny’ is rather bizarre, that’s exactly what the book needs!”

The characters of RUMBLE must adapt along with the readers and will go through various transformations along the way. Arcudi added: “What I hope will be entertaining to readers is Bartender Bobby’s unique way of adapting to his new and rapidly changing world. That’s also true of Rathraq, the warrior scarecrow. He has to adapt to his new world as well, but in a very different way and for very different reasons. From those kinds of perspectives grow all kinds of interesting plot lines and stories! And they’re just two of the many characters we’ll be playing with.”

RUMBLE is a modern-day action fantasy series where rundown dive bars, undead kitty cats, psycho skinheads, and giant mummies run amok. RUMBLE #1 will be available on 12/17, and can be pre-ordered with Diamond Code OCT140580.

Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit


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Batman Eternal #46

By Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Tim Seeley, Ray Fawkes, Kyle Higgins, Alessandro Vitti, Christian Duce, Ronan Cliquet, Romulo Fajardo, Matt Mila

“Anyway, it’s been a bit, Bats. How’s Mrs. Batman? And your daughter, Sally Batman–?”

“I don’t have time for you.”

“So mean! I’m all like ‘Say hi to your grandma for me’  and you’re all like ‘I hate knees!!”

Tim Seeley is scripting this week, hence the awesome lines seen above…in case anyone was wondering.

Batman faces his demons in this week’s issue of Batman Eternal, and Tim Seeley scripts along with consulting writers Ray Fawkes and Kyle Higgins. The cover depicts one of Batman’s biggest enemies, and it is this enemy that will force him to face his past, present, and future-self! Also Penny-Two calls Hush a bloody mummy bastard, which is pretty important.

On artwork duty this week are artists Alessandro Vitti, Christian Duce, Ronan Cliquet, with colors by Romulo Fajardo and Matt Mila – they’re all assigned to certain pages. A fantastic page comes from Batman’s first encounter of Ra’s trick against him – page 10, so let’s see…that’s Vitti, and colors by Fajardo. The page features Batman in a blue/greenish hue looking upon another version of Batman in an orange/redish/on fire hue. The detailing by Vitti is impressive, and the color work on the page will ensure you set this as your new phone background, at least until next week’s issue (currently my new background). The amount of Batman’s iterations that come into play during this scene from page to page is quite fun, and only adds to Batman’s maddening rage.

This week brings Batman to his knees! He also breaks a knee!  But while Batman was out looking for clues…what was happening in Gotham? Christmas time is coming!


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Filipino Catfish Adobo (Adobong Hito) Recipe

Serves/Makes: 4

  • 2 pounds catfish (hito)
  • 2 tablespoons finely minced ginger
  • 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
  • 1 cup white vinegar
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 4 tablespoons vegetable or corn oil
How to cook Filipino Catfish Adobo (Adobong Hito):
  • Marinate the catfish in ginger, garlic, vinegar, salt and pepper for 3 hours.
  • Take the garlic bits from the marinade and fry in oil until golden brown.
  • Add the fish and the marinade.
  • Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes, turning fish several times.
  • Serve the Filipino Catfish Adobo with steamed rice.

The Filipino Catfish Adobo (Adobong Hito) recipe very easy to prepare and so good!

Adobo (a Filipino dish cooked in vinegar and soy sauce) is a Filipino food favorite. May the recipe be done with pork, chicken or a combination of both. It could be also good with beef or fish. There are lots of variations in cooking adobo recipe.

This recipe for Filipino Catfish Adobo (Adobong Hito) serves/makes: 4

The Filipino Catfish Adobo (Adobong Hito) recipe is adopted from The Philippine Cookbook by Reynaldo Alejandro.

Main Ingredient: Catfish (more Catfish recipes)
Preparation Method: Poached/Simmered (more Poached/Simmered recipes)
Cuisine: Filipino (more Filipino recipes)

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  • Georgian Catfish with Cilantro Sauce ~ Poached Flounder Recipe - Georgian recipe how to poach catfish fillets with onion, bay leaves, carrot, garlic, cilantro, and white wine vinegar. Loko Kindzmatshi. This recipe is perfect for hot sum...
  • Vietnamese Catfish with Tomato ~ Simmered Catfish Recipe - Vietnamese easy recipe how to cook catfish or basa fish fillets with chopped peeled tomatoes, onion, brown sugar, fresh thyme leaves, soy sauce, and olive oil.
  • Cajun Catfish Etouffee ~ Simmered Catfish Recipe - Cajun recipe how to cook catfish with fish stock, brown roux, onions, scallions, celery, green pepper, garlic, tomatoes, lemon slices, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, thym...
  • Fish in Tangy Sauce (Adobong Isda) ~ Simmered Catfish Recipe - Easy recipe how to simmer hito (catfish) fillets with garlic, vinegar, bay leaf, and cooking oil. Filipino recipe.
  • Indonesian Lemongrass Tamarind Fish ~ Simmered Catfish Recipe - easy Indonesian recipe how to simmer Patin Fish (Silver Catfish) with lemongrass, tamarind juice, candlenuts, turmeric, galangal, red chillies, onion, and garlic.
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Free Fish & Seafood Recipes

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Wednesday, November 3, 2010

# 96 When to let it go

I recently read a post on the blog slow love life ' a lost friend leaves an empty chair'.
It really struck a cord with me, I thought I'd share a little...

"Sometimes you have to get divorced from friends, just like you have to get divorced from spouses. Sometimes that is the more loving thing to do--it means you are protecting yourself, and removing toxic energy from your life. Sometimes you just need a separation, while each person cools, and grows. Some friendships evolve as your life changes; others hit the wall. It is a painful rupture, not entered into lightly. It doesn’t mean the friendship was wrong to begin with--it means it has reached an impasse, or died. It certainly feels like a death; there is an empty space where there once was someone sitting in a chair, chatting and laughing. So be it. We become more cautious about giving our hearts wing, as we get older, because we are aware of the potential for loss, and anticipate its heavy burden."

image via sunday supper

I love this part of the Auden poem "the more loving one'...

How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.

And here's the rest over at slow love life.

  1. ah yes - divorce the drama, you'll definitely be a happier person for it!

  2. This is a great quote, C! I'm just catching up on your blog now - I can't believe you are planning your wedding, raising your son AND have time to create two blogs! And such stylish blogs at that..... I like the cut of your jib, girl.... Oh, and I LOVE the save the date magnets. I saw Emily's today (along with your gorgeous invite). I am seriously impressed. x

  3. Oh you are too too sweet Astrid!!! Thank you so much :) I'm glad you liked them, & thanks for saying so! Such compliments coming from one of such stunning excellence as yourself x


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9 November 2014

Ibiza Party Shampoo

In all fairness, I didn't really know what to expect when the bottle of Ibiza Party Shampoo arrived on my doorstep a few months back. Although I was rather excited that I had finally been able to obtain an item I'd been looking for, for some time, I was equally intrigued to find out what it smelt like and how it would work in my hair.

Made using a combination of oat milk, jojoba oil, rose water and pimento berry, the shampoo's fragrance is hard to describe, and nothing like what I imagined it to smell like. Lush describe it as a shampoo for club-dwellers, hence it's name. However, I'm hard-pressed to explain what I imagined a clubber to smell like, so I cannot comment on whether it lives up to this or not.

Initially, I could detect the oat-milk and rose - a pairing that reminded me almost of my mother's homemade rice pudding that she used to make when we were little. A really strange comparison I know, but to me it smelt very similar to the layer of burnt sweetened condensed milk that me and my siblings would scrape off and demolish before consuming the rest of the desert.

Alongside this I could detect the pimento berries, jojoba and lemon - a fresh collaboration that adds a naturally sweet and very unique floral aroma. Together, these elements all bring something vastly different but surprisingly complementary to the table, and produce a scent unlike anything else I've ever smelt from Lush.

Ibiza Party is quite a light shampoo, yet you wouldn't think this from the consistency it holds in the bottle. White in colour and rather thick, I would suggest being very careful when you apply this. The first time I used it, I ended up pouring twice as much as I needed into my hand as the liquid came shooting out of the bottle before I had had a chance to stop it.

This shampoo was created for two different purposes - to leave your hair looking and feeling shiny before a night out, and much like Happy Happy Joy Joy Conditioner, add a lasting fragrance to make you the best smelling person in the club. While the oat milk and rose water gently cleanse and moisturise your hair and scalp, the pimento berry and grapefruit add an uplifting fragrance to comfort you when the weariness begins to set in.

I discovered that Ibiza Party didn't heed as much foam as I would normally expect from a liquid shampoo, and I found myself adding more than I usually would - which would work out quite expensive if I used this regularly.

Normally I apply my shampoo and then leave it for a few minutes to work it's magic. With most shampoos, solid and liquid, I find that I can still see and feel the foam on my head. However, with this product, it acted like a conditioner, in the fact that the product was absorbed into my hair really quickly and left no trace that it had even been applied.

Furthermore, after I had rinsed it out, my hair did feel rather rough to touch and I found myself applying more conditioner than I normally would, in fear that my hair would look terrible when it had dried.

Despite this, my hair did feel rather soft when it had dried naturally, and I could detect a hint of it's wonderful smell, although it's nowhere near as potent as Happy Happy Joy Joy. I wouldn't say that it made me want to go dancing after using it, but it did make me swish my hair around a little. I also got a few compliments from work colleagues about the wonderful smell I was 'radiating', which was nice.

Overall, it does possess a wonderful smell and I would definitely be interested in a body lotion or cleanser with the same fragrance. However, I don't think it really suited my hair type, and it didn't make my hair feel or look as glossy and well-nourished as other shampoos have done in the past. For this reason I would not purchase again, although that's not say it wouldn't suit other hair wonderfully.

Quantitative Ingredients: Oatmilk (Avena Sativa), Rose Water (Rosa Centifolia), Sodium Alkyl Sulfate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Lauramide MIPA, Cocamide MEA, Glycol Cetearate, Propylene Glycol, White Wine Vinegar, Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia Chinensis), Lemon Oil (Citrus Limonum), Pimentoberry Oil (Pimenta Officinalis), Grapefruit Oil (Citrus Grandis), Carnation Absolute (Dianthus Carophyllus), Perfume, Methylparaben, Propylparaben.

Vegan?: Yes.

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Sunday, February 3, 2008

The Littlest Martini: A Six O'clock Fable

Once upon a time there was a little Martini who always wanted to be a Mai Tai.
“I’m too short,” he cried to his parents one day. “Mai Tais are tall and elegant. I’m a squirt!”
“You’re young,” his daddy said. “Some day you’ll grow from a single to a double. Just give it time.”
“Mai Tai is young too,” the little Martini said, “and he’s already tall.”
“It’s just his mix,” his mommy said. “Some drinks are just naturally taller. But that doesn’t mean you’re any less important. Be proud of what you are.”
“You’re a Martini!” the daddy said proudly “We have a honorable history! Franklin D. Roosevelt favored us and so did Winston Churchill, two great leaders of the free world! We helped win the war! You have nothing to be ashamed of, Little Martini.”
“Remember Shot?” mommy said. “He certainly wasn’t tall! And now he’s a Double Shot and the star of some very sophisticated cocktail lounges. And you’ve got a lot more growing to do.”
Little Martini wasn’t satisfied. “Even when I grow up I won’t be tall,” he said. He turned to his daddy: “You’re not tall and mom isn’t tall! You don’t even look alike. How, come you don’t look alike?”
The parents glanced at one another. Their little Martini had reached the age when he was asking questions. They knew it would happen. It was time to tell him.
“Son,” the mommy Martini began hesitantly…
“Let me tell him,” daddy. “Son, your mother and I fell in love when we first met at a disco club in L.A. We knew our love was wrong, but the attraction was so strong that we…well…ignored the differences between us.”
His voice was beginning to choke, and he didn’t want to break down before his son so he gestured to his wife to take over.
She took a deep breath and said, “You’re the result of a mixed marriage.”
The husband spoke: “I’m gin and you mother is vodka. I’m straight up with a pimento olive, she’s on the rocks with a lemon twist.”
Little Martini stared at them open-mouthed. “Does that mean I’m going to die? My mixture is wrong?”
“No, of course not,” daddy said. “It only means you’re…well…different.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being different,” mommy said. “But others may not accept you. Half gin and half vodka just don’t mix.”
“Why did you do this?” little Martini demanded in tears. He turned to his father. “Why didn’t you just marry that tonicy woman you’re always talking about! She was our kind! Then I could be just straight gin!”
“It was your mother I loved, son. I never thought I’d feel that way about vodka, but I did. And I hear that there are more mixed marriages being performed across the country. Someday, no one will notice the difference between gin and vodka. We’ll be equals in the Barnes & Noble Book of Cocktails.”
Little Martini gave up trying to be a Mai Tai. Rum just wasn’t in his blood. But the realization that he was different altered the course of his life. During his wild teenage years he turned into the worst kind of screwdriver. He was picked up twice for harassing martinis that favored onions and called themselves Gibsons. He served jail time for beating up a Cuba Libre.
His life was a mess. Both parents tried to get him into a psychomixologist but he refused, preferring instead a dissolute path toward self-destruction, loving and leaving a series of tawdry mixes and garnishes, never happy with anyone, spurning those who cared about him. Then one evening while working as a well drink in a Montana cowboy bar he spotted a Beer shooting pool. He was a tall, cool lager. It was love at first sight.
It was the kind of love that must not be spoken, but clearly it was deep and abiding. They moved in together in a duplex just outside of Butte and Little Martini openly declared himself a Cosmopolitan. His parents accepted his decision, glad that he was finally settling down, and loved it when the two adopted three babies also of mixed gin and vodka marriages that they called Betwinis, and they all lived happily ever after.

Denise L said...

Gabriela Zabalúa-Goddard said...

I am in awe of you and your wonderful craft of telling "life". This little story is so full of wonderful meaning and images that put out the what is so hard for many to understand...diversity is beautiful! Loved it.
Gaby Goddard

Susan said...

If we could all just realize that we are ALL 'Betwinis', the world would be a much happier and peaceful place!
Cheers and Salute' to you, dear Al!
Best of luck with the new blog!

Kristene said...

Awww, Al. You know I'm a gin gal, cuz vodka leaves me cold, but Wally served me a Betwini one night (snickering all the while, since I couldn't tell the difference) and I must say...I'm still a gin gal.

But I have no objections to others who prefer vodka...or betwinis, for that matter. Not everyone can have good taste, after all.

- K.

Pat Garrett said...

Al, I am definitly along for the ride. As our family is a rainbow coalition, I especially liked your fable. I look forward to all your blogging. Thanks for the e-mail alert.

marilyn said...

Thank you Al! That explains everything. Now I know why I have to work so hard at my marriage!

Once a week, on Monday just wasn't cutting my "Al fix". Your blog will fill in those other times when you aren't in print. Your faithful fan base is very happy with this news. Who needs the LA Times, anyway?

don quixote said...

Great to see you here Al!

Down with mind control and the funneling of a talent such as yours into politically correct pablum for the masses.
I can hardly wait for you to get revved up!

Hey Al as an LA born Mexican American I am becoming pissed off at what many blogs and people are trying to pass off as the truth, with insinuations of political shenanigan's by Mexican Americans, who are being accused of renting bus's and filling them with "illegal aliens", who are then taken to vote illegally for other "Mexicans".
I have lived in LA all my life and I know it's hard enough to get native born Mexican Americans to vote let alone Mexican Immigrants.
I have never witnessed this baloney.
In response to a certain blogs continuous posting up of this alleged election fraud I responded with my own fictitious accusation (tongue in cheek of course)

Hey news flash from the LA Herald Express! There is an insidious Republican conspiracy to send dozens of bus's to old folks home's to gather up the old senile white people and hypnotize them to vote Republican, that or there Liberace music will be replaced by Tom Jones live from Las Vegas.
And thousands of absentee ballots will be taken along and filled out by ghosts during one of the bus's stop at Forest Lawn Cemetery.
It's a giant conspiracy ! Really!

Wini said...

At last I know the reason for all those signature "betwini" drinks ($12-$19) that are served and inhaled at the many concierge events I attend. Now I can pay those inflated prices with the sense that I am actually promoting tolerance in the world. Bravo, Al!

Ruthanne said...

And I thought he'd settle down with a Tequila Sunrise!

Aquilter said...

I love it!! Thanks for being the ONLY blogger worth reading!

Ed Padgett said...

Welcome to the Blogosphere Al, we are so happy to see you here.

Hope we can send many users your way.

Edward the Blogging Pressman from the Los Angeles Times.

H2U said...

Al, my advice is to refrain from insulting the blogosphere as you have previously done.

"I have learned that, with some notable exceptions, blogs are largely the habitat of unemployed writers, enraged misanthropes, retired teachers, aging journalists and people who normally pass their time doodling or making obscene telephone calls."
-Al Martinez on 10/6/2006

Harsh words, don't you think?

H2U said...

Whoops. Meant to date that quote 10/9/2006.

Joyce in Atwater said...

Art Hoppe would have been proud, Al!

Happy to add your RSS feed to my Firefox bookmarks!

lovechild said...

Al! I love your story! In 1967, in my senior year at University of Michigan, I wrote this same story!!! In French, for my class!The characters were a bit different--it was a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white wine that fell in love during the time that red and white wines were segregated...never served at the same table. Their passionate and uncorkable love produced Pink Champagne, the effervescent bubbles the joy of their love shared with us all. I am forwarding this to my daughter Sky who works for Skyy Vodka/'s a gem! xoPaula LaBrot

Daniel Olivas said...

Ah, welcome to the world of blogging. But be careful, it's almost as addicting as martinis.

Don said...

Ooops ... wait a minute ... is this just not a story of mixed drink? Would Al try and slip in a second storyline under his keyboard?

We play cards with some friend each week (not for money, just for fun) and something came up about mixed drinks (we don't drink either) and I leaned my head on the lady's shoulder next to me and make some mention of a slow screw up against the wall (a drink name I remember from years back). She's a good laugher and she just lost it. When the whole table was done with the one liners that followed, I explained to her the real contents of that drink. It was "ya had to be there" moment but one that life says you just must do.

Again, welcome to what should be a wonderful world of whimsey for all of us.

Don Leiffer (now retired from 40 years at the KVCR-TV programming desk)

Mary From Winnetka said...

Hi Al,
I am having a terrible time getting to sign up for putting in a comment to my favorite columnist. This is my first time on a blog thing. I wrote a whole comment and because I couldn't understand how to get on a blog, it disappeared.

So to make it short now: I do not think that a drink made with Vodka instead of Gin should even be able to be called a Martini. I find it necessary now when ordering a Martini to say: I will have a Gin Martini with an olive. I had to add the olive because one time my "Gin Martini" came with an apple slice even though it was definitely a Gin Martini.

Now let us see if I will be able to send this.

Al Martinez said...

This is a test by me to see if I'm doing this right.

dgayernionsin said...

I'm so out of it that I don't even know what an HTML tag is—and I can't even say "hello" i only 300 words, let alone 300 characters. Thanks for letting me know about your new blog . I'll enjoy reading Al Unedited.

Dixon Gayer

Elaine Williamson said...

We can learn so much from our alcoholic drinks. Tolerance, wisdom, and the value of ordering "a Bombay Sapphire Gin martini with two olives", so that life doesn't hand us a vodka martini, instead.
Elaine Williamson (Freezing cold in Anchorage and wishing I had some anti-freeze in me!)

Mind said...

You people like this stuff? What is the matter with you! Oh Al pen us another of your musings. I'll read your trash, your shopping lists too. Just post stories other people have written. Wow, what a bunch of fawning LA bozos.

Margaret Lindstrom said...

I do agree and wish you would explore more on this subject. When a 10 year old boy hangs himself after announcing to a very loving family that he want to be a girl.> We need to strive for more understanding.
Goldman Sachs, surprisingly, has stepped up to the challenge. It is time for more acceptance, compassion and understanding.

mettmann said...

hey al - anything new???

Karen N said...

I loved this story and am still laughing at 6:10am on a Monday morning. Where does the "bet" in "betwini" come from? My sister always said I was slow with jokes

Lynn C. said...

Al, As one of the gin martini holdouts in L.A., I loved your fable. My vodka drinking friends all keep a bottle of gin in their homes for my visits. The message about diversity and how we benefit from it was right on. Thanks, as usual.
Lynn C.

Rachel said...

YAY!!!! Let's here it for the gins and half gins of the world! Good thing he didn't get stuck in a bottle waiting for someone to rub him! ;-P

Duckie said...

I never thought I'd have to give up my beloved evening martini during our requisite smooze time (pant, pant…5pm precisely). The full gin and vermouth version had long ago been supplanted by the vodka version.. Recently that version had been adjusted to vodka over ice with lime or when out, Vox straight up, chilled (sans vermouth) with some olives. We even became so naughty as to carry in about a shot of vodka in a plastic medication vial to stretch what is now a very expensive drink. Remember when...

As final insult to maturity I am informed that belly fat (excuse the vulgarity) increases due to the release of a hormone that is encouraged by alcohol. In a struggle with the onset of diseases of age I have once again been forced to alter my martini. So, delighted to learn of the “betwini” I’ve created a new version… Acai over rocks with lime and a sniff of whatever bottle of alcohol is available I don’t think Little Martini will approve by my doctor and dietician will…

Thanks for extending your charm once again. Duckie

jeanzview said...

Sorry to be so out of it, but what is a Betwini? and how do you pronounce it. Is it like: be tween ee?

I want to learn so I can introduce this to my senior citizen friends.

Norma Jeanne

joe friday said...

yo, al, wassup? where the mcbush is,
young brother?

an whats about saray pay-lynn,
is she comin by again?

and che-nay, what's he doin
when he's not tellin his puppet
how to lead us all to ruin

don't hold back al, and make us suffer

tell us more about them muffaluckers!

chris wall


text:
Welcome To AlbumLinerNotes.com
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Your Subtitle text
Brahms Piano Quartets

Xiayan Wang & The Amity Players
Brahms: Piano Quartets, Op. 25 & 60

Johannes Brahms
Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor Op. 25

1. Allegro
2. Intermezzo: Allegro ma non troppo - Trio: Animato 8:13
3. Andante con moto 9:34
4. Rondo alla Zingarese: Presto 8:41

Piano Quartet No.1 in G minor Op.25
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) composed the Piano Quartet No.1 in G minor between 1857 and 1859 while he was employed as Director of Court Concerts and Choral Society for the Prince of Lippe-Detmold in Germany. His close friend and mentor Robert Schumann had died the previous year and Brahms, deeply saddened and affected by his death, continued to maintain along friendship with his widow, the pianist Clara Schumann. She became an emotional focus for Brahms, one that would last throughout his life, and the nature of their relationship became the subject of much speculation. The piano quartet was performed in Hamburg in November of 1861, with Clara at the piano and a select ensemble including the distinguished Hamburg violinist John Boie.

Brahms' opening Allegro movement is powerful and passionate as he stretches the boundaries of the sonata form with his length, expansion and reshuffling of themes. The following scherzo Intermezzo: Allegro ma non troppo - Trio: Animato is specifically titled to reflect Brahms' gentle, introverted nature, and brings a sharp change of sound as the muted strings and sw~ng rhythms in duple and triple meter give the movement a mysterious texture. The Andante con moto begins as a slow full-hearted song and develops into a semi-military 3/4 meter march in C major. In the concluding Rondo alla Zingarese, Brahms alludes to his love and interest in Hungarian music as he saturates the vibrant finale with quick episodes and sudden tempo shifts, extending a musical tradition of 'gypsy' finales that goes back to the days of Haydn.

Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor Op 60
5. Allegro non troppo 10:37
6. Scherzo: Allegro 4:13
7. Andante 8:30
8. Finale: Allegro comodo 10:13

Piano Quartet No.3 in C minor Op. 60
Brahms loosely bases the Piano Quartet in C minor on his own personal life and the lives of Robert and Clara Schumann. He worked on the piece between 1854 and 1856, during a tumultuous season in the lives of the Schumanns. In 1854 Robert Schumann attempted suicide by throwing himself off a bridge into a river and soon after being rescued, he asked to be taken to an insane asylum. Schumann became severely mentally ill and died in the asylum in 1856 of the effects of syphilis. During these years, emotional conflict consumed Brahms as he was shaken by the terminal illness and ensuing death of his friend and bothered at the prospect of forsaking loyalry and friendship for love with Clara Schumann. Throughout the quartet he likens his own struggles to those of the protagonist in Goethe's work "Sorrows of Werther" in which the hero kills himself over the unrequited love for his friend's wife. Brahms abandoned the piece in 1856 and did not return to it until 1873. He then modified portions of the quartet by changing the key, adding a scherzo and writing a new finale. He did not, however, abandon its gloomy passion as Brahms is believed to have said to his first biographer to "Imagine a man who is just going to shoot himself, for there is nothing else to do". The sonata was premiered in Vienna on 18 November 1875, with Brahms at the piano, Joseph Hellmesberger on violin, and David Popper on cello.

The dramatic Allegro non troppo opening movement introduces a whirlwind of romantic desperation. The strings play a two-note phrase that seems to speak the name 'Clara', and then immediately lead into a version of Schumann's personal 'Clara-motif'. The Scherzo Allegro in minor resembles the first movement with its restlessness and suggestions of tragedy and the following Andante begins with a song-like cello theme in a rapt duet with violin, bringing an emotional peace and calm. A mood of anxiery and regret pervades the Finale: Allegro comodo and the curt final brings the quartet to a climatic end.

Xiayin Wang, born in China, began playing the piano at the age of five. She arrived in the United States in 1997, after completing her studies at the Shanghai Conservatory and pursued studies at the Manhattan School of Music. In China, Xiayin has garnered an enviable record of first prize awards and special honours for her performances and has been heard in many of China's most prestigious concert halls, and with some of China's leading orchestras.

In April 2007, Xiayin Wang released her debut recording "Introducing Xiayin Wang" on Marquis. During the 2006-2007 season Ms. Wang made her Carnegie Hall concerto debut with the City Symphony under conductor George Manahan at Isaac Stern Auditorium.

Xiayin Wang holds a Bachelor's, Master's and Professional Studies degree from the Manhattan School of Music, and is completing her Doctorate at that institution. She is represented by Gurtman and Murtha Artist Management.

Bela Horvath, born in Hungary in 1982, began studying the violin the age of four under the instruction of his grandfather. He studied at the Bela Bartok Conservatory with Istvan Kertesz and the Franz Liszt University of Music with Miklos Szenthelyi. Throughout his years of study in Hungary he has won numerous competitions and has received critical acclaim for his performances. Bela studied at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City in 2007 under the tutelage of Pinchas Zukerman.

Born in Paris in 1984, Raphael Dube has performed as a soloist, a chamber musician and an orchestra member throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He has studied with renowned cellists Walter Joachim, Carole Sirois and completed his Master of Music Degree with Timothy Eddy at Mannes College of Music in New York Ciry in 2007.

Raphael is a member of the New World Symphony directed by conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, and is the joint Artistic Director of Ensemble Chorum in Montreal. He also regularly performs with Les Violons du Roy.

Tom Palny, born in Tel Aviv, Israel, is an active soloist, ensemble and orchestra player and graduate of Manhattan School of Music. Tom began playing the violin at the age of nine and at sixteen began playing the viola. He has recorded many concerts for broadcast by the National Israeli Radio, and was privileged to playing his solo debut on a live broadcast to commemorate Israel's 52nd Independence Day.

Executive Producer: International Performing Artists, LLC
Recording and Mixing Engineer: Leszek Maria Wojcik
Cover Design: 12thirteen - Randal Boutilier
Photography: Sarah Shatz

Recorded on March 19, and May 1, 2007, at the Performing Arts Center, Purchase College, State University of New York, Purchase, New York.

T: 1-888-627-6165
F: 416-690-7346

®©2008 Marquis
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