Erythronium umbilicatum
Trout Lily
Part Sun to Light ShadeZone: 6-9, at least 4" tall Origin: USA
(2nd photo is Spring Beauty which was everywhere, as well)
"This Southeast US (WV south to FL) native spring ephemeral is a prized woodland wildflower. The 2" long ground-hugging, light green, freeze-resistant leaves are heavily covered with chocolate blotching. In early March, the clumps are topped with 4" stalks, each ending with large downward facing bright yellow flowers with a chocolate back. Although they go dormant by late spring, trout lilies continue to grow underground, and in a few years you should expect a 10" wide patch. Evenly moist woodland soils are best, although some drought in the dormant season isn't deleterious."
It may have been a misprint, but we have a 10 FOOT wide patch! I can't tell you how excited this makes me to learn more about the flora flourishing at the new house!
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Trout Lily! Everywhere!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
New Food Pyramid
My Pyramid.gov
gives you a personalized breakdown of your weekly allotment of each food category
Global Seed Vault: Fort Knox of Food
At the end of February, The Global Seed Vault received its first seeds, millions of them. It is housed in a silo bored into the side of a mountain the The Artic. The vault’s goal is to store and protect samples of every type of seed from every seed collection in the world. Are they hedging their bets on global disaster?
Seed Vault Silo Near Artic
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
"Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia.."
I can't find this video separate that I can post but i wanted to share how the Dalai Lama is with his followers - and an update on what's going on:
Dalai Lama calls for free hand for journalists in Tibet
This is an LA Times article from Beijing correspondent with good links alongside
Protesting monks embarrass China during press tour
Quote of the Day
Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient.
There's a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.
~Bill Gates
Beef Recall Proves System Is Broken
It proves not only system is broken, but society's desire and ability to affect change has taken a backseat to apathy. It doesn't help that Big Interest is in charge of the hen house.
"...USDA is supposed to be ensuring the safety of our food, it is also charged with promoting the interests of agriculture.
The final link in this broken chain: The USDA also runs the nation's nutrition programs, including the National School Lunch Program.
From the feedlot to the lunch tray, it's a system designed more to serve the interests of an industry than the interests of the public.
One lawmaker, Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut who chairs the House Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration Appropriations Subcommittee, has called for an investigation into the USDA's ability to properly ensure the safety of food served in schools.
But don't expect any real change any time soon. The public isn't clamoring for a fix.
Michael Swanson, an agricultural economist, pinned the problem in an interview with Reuters: "It has to be in the first five minutes of a newscast and they have to have a picture of somebody suffering for it to register. Until that happens, it is a nonevent."
Monday, March 24, 2008
Triangle Modernist Houses
"It's all computers. No one can draw anymore." ~ Brian Shawcroft
My dear friend Brian seems to have gotten his designs compiled onto a site that tracks the architectural style of him and his colleagues. I remember how he showed me page after page of his designs, often commenting "and that one's been torn down" or "and now that's a McMansion".
John Holloway, another modernist architect, even has his personal residence torn down for a rebuild (see the bottom of his link).
I also love the design work of Frank Harmon who focuses on function as well as form. You can see by his design in the Bahamas and Laurel Ridge Dr. design that works with the slope above Crabtree Valley in Raleigh.
Papa Spuds Delivers Produce To Your Door
Papa Spuds brings rural food to your urban door.
Organic produce orders placed today delivered to you tomorrow afternoon!
“Our mission is simple: offer the highest quality produce, make fresh food shopping fun, and promote sustainable agriculture in the area.”
Triangle Lunch
A review of places to lunch in the Triangle
"..In the deep South, old timers still call the midday meal “dinner,” and it remains the most important meal of the day. As in many European countries, it is followed by the most civilized of customs, a nap. It’s a proven fact that people from cultures that support an extended lunch are happier and live longer than stressed-out American workaholics.
We have something to learn from the places that still enjoy a guiltless comida, dejeuner or pranzo. We, too, can choose to abandon a compulsive work ethic, look past the perfectly good jar of peanut butter, round up a friend and savor a leisurely midday meal at our favorite restaurant … before that restaurant abandons us."
Lunch with Ambiance
Feeding the eye and the palate.
An (Cary)
The Blue Ridge at the North Carolina Art Museum (Raleigh)
Fins (Raleigh)
Herons at the Umstead (Cary)
Midtown (North Hills)
The Nasher Café at the Nasher Art Museum (Durham)
Parizade (Durham)
Spice Street (Chapel Hill)
Top of the Hill (Chapel Hill)
Vivace (Raleigh)
Business Lunch
The best way to seal a deal.
Bentley’s (Cary)
Caffé Luna (Raleigh)
Carolina CrossRoads (Chapel Hill)
Duck and Dumpling (Raleigh)
Glenwood Grill (Raleigh)
The Mecca (Raleigh)
18 Seaboard (Raleigh)
Tupelo’s (Hillsborough)
The Fairview at the Washington Duke Hotel (Durham)
Winston’s Grille (Raleigh)
Lunch and Shop
These eateries either have a store attached or are within a short walking distance of retail stores.
Azitra (Raleigh)
blu seafood and bar (Durham)
Bella Monica (Raleigh)
Nordstrom Café Bistro (Durham)
Neo-China (Durham, Raleigh, Cary)
Gianni & Gaitano’s (Raleigh)
Midtown (Raleigh)
Nofo (Raleigh)
Weathervane (Chapel Hill)
Zest (Raleigh)
Lunch Escape
For a leisurely European-style meal.
Il Palio (Chapel Hill)
Rue Cler (Durham)
Saint-Jacques (North Raleigh)
Bistro 76 (Raleigh)
Nikos Taverna (Morrisville)
Papa’s Grille (Durham)
Piedmont (Durham)
Xios Authentic Greek Cuisine (Apex)
411 West Italian Café (Chapel Hill)
518 West Italian Café (Raleigh)
Exotic Lunch
Curry, tamales, pad Thai and sushi
Akai Hana (Chapel Hill)
Azitra (Raleigh)
Chosun OK (RTP)
Jibarra (Raleigh)
Jujube (Chapel Hill)
Mura (North Raleigh)
Red Palace (Raleigh)
Sitar India Palace (Durham)
Sono (Fayetteville St., Raleigh)
Thai Café (Durham)
Twisted Noodles (Durham)
Fast Lunch
Immediate gratification via buffet, counter service or drive-up window
Char-Grill (Raleigh)
The Roast Grill (Raleigh)
Saffron (Morrisville)
Sara’s Empanada’s (RTP)
Serena American Restaurant (RTP)
George’s Garage (Durham)
Mad Hatter (Durham)
Dalat Oriental Café and Deli (Raleigh)
Neomonde Bakery and Deli (Raleigh and Morrisville)
Whole Foods Market buffet (Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham)
Comfort Lunch
’Cue and Fried Chicken
Allen & Son Barbecue (Chapel Hill)
Big Ed’s (Raleigh)
Bon’s (Chapel Hill)
Bullock’s Barbecue (Durham)
The Barbecue Joint (Chapel Hill)
Hawg Wild Smoke House & Grill (Cary)
Mama Dip’s Traditional Country Cooking (Chapel Hill)
Q Shack (Durham, Raleigh)
The Pit (Raleigh)
Rub’s Smokehouse (RTP)
SPECIAL EVENTS FOR FOODIES
Spring is busting out all over with food and wine events benefiting good causes. Make plans now for:
A Taste of the Triangle, March 8 — “The ultimate food and wine extravaganza” benefits the Tammy Lynn Foundation. Call 919-832-3909 for information.
Taste of the Beach, March 6-9 — A weekend of events, cooking classes and incredible meals on the Outer Banks. For information, link to www.obxtasteofthebeach.com.
Blue Ridge Food & Wine Festival, April 10-13 — Wine tasting, vintners’ dinners, cooking classes and a chefs’ cooking challenge in Blowing Rock. For more information, go to www.blueridgewinefestival.com or call 877-295-7965.
Beaufort Wine & Food Weekend, April 23 -27 — Celebrity chefs, dinners, wine tastings and dancing. Call 252-728-5225 or go to www.beaufortwineandfood.com.
R.I.P. - FRESH GRAVES IN THE CULINARY CEMETERY
Several Triangle dining establishments shut their doors by the end of 2007. They will be missed.
The Rathskeller
The last remnant of the Danziger era bit the dust after 60 years in downtown Chapel Hill. Its closing came as a shock, yet not really a surprise, for diners who had noticed a decline in quality over the past few years. On what turned out to my last visit a few months ago, the famous Gambler hanger steak was tough, the peas overcooked and the expected generous pile of sautéed onions had dwindled down to a spoonful. But the sweet tomato salad dressing on iceberg lettuce tasted exactly the same as it did 30 years ago — as did the frosty mug of Bud, and the funky atmosphere had blessedly never been face-lifted.
Underground, not the most auspicious of names, is now six feet under. Low visibility and a small plate concept just didn’t attract enough of Charlie Goodnight’s patrons in spite of gifted Chef Daniel Taylor’s impressive tapas. Goodnight owners Brad and Shannon Reeder will transform the space into The Old Bar Restaurant.
Starlu’s closing is another instance where the talent and amiability of Chef Sam Poley and an attractive setting couldn’t overcome an awkward Durham location.
JK’s, North Hills’ second restaurant to close (after Savannah) makes way for another steakhouse, Ruth’s Chris, which will open its second Raleigh eatery this spring.
Nana’s Chophouse closed in November, now replaced by The Pit, the new ‘it’ hangout in downtown Raleigh.
Taverna Nikos, longtime anchor of Durham’s Brightleaf Square, shut its doors last year. But there’s good news … it will be revived next month under the direction of a new chef, Giorgios Kastanias.
Flying Burrito, a 20-year-old Chapel Hill favorite, has been deserted for months but will undergo reincarnation under new management by this summer.
Verde, one of George Bakatsias’ Durham establishments hasn’t exactly died, just morphed into a different concept and renamed Vita. Pizzas, pasta and other classic Italian dishes have replaced Verde’s American contemporary menu.
The much-anticipated Revolution Restaurant should open by mid-May 2008 in the old Baldwin Building in downtown Durham. Meanwhile, chef/owner Jim Anile (formerly of Il Palio) and partner Teresa Anile are available to cater private events. To contact the Aniles, visit www.revolutionrestaurant.com/community.
NIBBLES
Nancy McDermott, author of Southern Cakes, appeared recently at Quail Ridge Books for a book signing and a cake baking contest. It was my honor to join prolific cookbook writers Jean Anderson, Debbie Moose and Fred Thompson in judging the cakes. Between bites, I got the skinny on their latest projects. Debbie is putting the last touches on Wings; Fred, the poor thing, is working hard tasting for his latest book, Bourbon; and Jean’s article on Vietri founders, Susan and Frances Gravely, (both from Chapel Hill), will be out in More magazine this spring.
• • • •
Jean was raving about a new restaurant in Clayton, Festejos Mexican Bar & Grill, owned and operated by the Flores family from San Diego. “A different kind of Mexican restaurant, well worth driving all the way from Chapel Hill for a meal there,” Jean promised.
• • • •
Kim Sunée, co-editor of Cottage Living’s food section, along with Durham’s Sara Foster, will be at Quail Ridge for a reading of her new book, Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home on Tuesday, March 11. Kim is a regular visitor to our area and has featured many local chefs and cookbook writers — among them, Bill Smith, Marcie Cohen Ferris and Karen Barker — in the magazine.
• • • •
For authentic crawfish étouffée, gumbo and cochon de lait, head straight to the brand new Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse at Greenwood Commons near RTP. Newly arrived from Lafayette, LA, “the zydeco chef,” Mel Melton, brings authentic South Louisiana cuisine and his own harmonica music to the Triangle. Link to www.papamojosroadhouse.com for information. Be warned — you may need earplugs when opening this Web site.
• • • •
Pie lovers will appreciate Scratch Seasonal Artisan Baking (www.piefantasy.com). For $60 a month, you get one large or three small pies each week for four weeks. Made by Phoebe Lawless, Karen Barker’s right hand at Magnolia Grill, Scratch’s pies, cakes and custom desserts are made from the best local ingredients available. Moore Square Farmers Market regulars will be familiar with Lawless’ desserts, sold there throughout the market season.
• • • •
In Cameron Village, Nelsons, renovated in 2006, is now open only Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings for the late-night crowd. Owners plan to re-open for lunch and dinner in early March under its former name, Foster’s.
• • • •
Mobil Travel Guide, originator of the prestigious Mobil Star ratings and certifications, has bestowed its prestigious four-star rating to three Triangle restaurants: Carolina CrossRoads at The Carolina Inn, Chapel Hill; Herons at the Umstead in Cary; and Fearrington House in Pittsboro.
• • • •
The Chapel Hill Restaurant Group (who brought us 518 West, Squid’s, Spanky’s, and 411West) will open a new gourmet eatery on Page Road just off Interstate 40 called Mez Contemporary Mexican Restaurant. The first Triangle “Certified Green Restaurant,” Mez will offer south of the border specialties made from fresh local ingredients and will feature outdoor dining. It should be open for lunch and dinner by mid-spring.
• • • •
In downtown Chapel Hill this season, restaurants are popping up like daffodils. Scheduled to open this month: Baba Ghannouj Mediterranean Bistro, Buns (gourmet burgers), The Crunkleton Bar (which will showcase and sell the artwork and furniture inside the business), and Cluck University Chicken.
• • • •
Wake Tech’s culinary school will send six students to France in March for a life-changing experience. The students will work in a restaurant, spend a day with a starred chef, tour a cheese-making facility and enjoy a weekend in Paris. The trip is subsidized in part by participants in a five-course “American Classics” dinner held at Enoteca Vin, which raised nearly $3000 for the project. While Lycée d’Etat Hôtelier du Touquet, a culinary school in Le Touquet, France sends 10 students to work in the Raleigh area each year, this is the first time in five years that a group from Wake Tech will travel to France.
The Department of Homeland Decency
I think this is the department that interviewed Horsley for 8 hours...
Join us as we march proudly backwards to the future.
THE DEPARTMENT'S MOTTO
"You have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide. You have nothing to hide if you have nothing to fear. So fear nothing and you need not hide. Hide nothing and you need not fear."
Tintin
What a great comic book cover!
Tintin will become a live-action movie from Spielberg next year.
Herge', the artist, unfortunately died before he was able to complete his little redhead's adventures. I'm looking forward to see how the movie interprets the series.
I think they should have cast Sean in the role....
Is The Drought Centered Around I-85?
Is it me or does it look like this drought is centered on I-85?
Using the Drought Monitor's statistics, the graph shows while the percent area in the Southeast that is in an exceptional drought has dropped in recent months, the % area in the Southeast with some level of drought is relatively constant.
Have we experienced such an explosion of growth that we're literally sucking the land dry? Or have we created an incredible greenhouse with the amount of travel and pollution emitted?
Current Drought Links
Drought Mitigation Center
Other Sites
Drought Impact Report
>click on NC!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Sebastian Horsley - Update To 11Mar Post
I'm SHOCKED! Entry to the US can be denied for "moral turpitude"???!!
"The real problem, though, was not one of moral turpitude but shamelessness. In this hypocritical age, it is those who refuse to play the game of the moment – sin, grovel and repent – who are most suspect."
Oscar Wilde said it best...
'America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between'Sebastian couldn't have thought of better publicity himself...
"God bless America, land of the free, but sadly not the home of the depraved," the writer said after being sent back to London.
NYT article
NPR article
LAT article
THEY had the party anyway :D
Independent opinion piece
"...America has a President who has taken drugs. Many of its most elevated public figures will think nothing of availing themselves of the services of prostitutes. As a nation, it ranks high among the superpowers when it comes to drug use, violence and every type of sexual peculiarity.
In America, as in this country, all that is just fine, so long as it is accompanied by an appropriate degree of secrecy and guilt. It is honesty that is alarming and should be suppressed, particularly among those who are rebelliously dysfunctional in print as well as deed. Banning an inappropriate writer from speaking in a country is but a small step from banning inappropriate books."
British writer denied entry to US
By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 24 minutes ago
LONDON - British writer and self-styled dandy Sebastian Horsley was denied entry to the United States after arriving to promote his memoir of sex, drugs and flamboyant fashion.
Horsley said he was questioned for eight hours Tuesday by border officials at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey before being denied entry on grounds of "moral turpitude."
The 45-year-old author was traveling to New York for the U.S. launch of "Dandy in the Underworld," his account of a life dedicated to sex, drugs and finely tailored clothes.
"I was dressed flamboyantly — top hat, long velvet coat, gloves," Horsley said. "My one concession to American sensibilities was to remove my nail polish. I thought that would get me through."
According to Lucille Cirillo, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Horsley was traveling under the CBP's visa waiver program, which entitles citizens of some countries — mostly in the European Union — to enter the United States for business or leisure without applying for a visa. Travelers can be refused entry if they admit on a customs form to being convicted of a crime or to being addicted to narcotics, Cirillo said.
She declined to specify what responses Horsley listed on the form.
"We interviewed the individual extensively and the CBP officers decided he was not admissible under the visa waiver program," she said.
Horsley can still apply for a visa to return to the United States, Cirillo said.
"They knew more about me than I did," Horsley said Thursday in an interview from his London home. "They said, 'We know you're a heroin addict, we know you're a crack addict, we know you're involved in prostitution.'"
Horsley's book — billed as an "unauthorized autobiography" — vividly recounts years of heavy drug use and frequent visits to prostitutes. He says he has been drug-free for three years.
He said his only conviction stemmed from an arrest 25 years ago for possession of amphetamine sulfate, for which he was given a conditional discharge. He said he has visited the United States seven or eight times without incident.
"Dandy in the Underworld" was released in Britain last year to good reviews. Carrie Kania, of the book's U.S. publisher Harper Perennial, an imprint of HarperCollins, said the book was "a cautionary tale of a life lived vividly."
"It is unfortunate that his voice, in person, is being stifled. But the book will live on," Kania said.
Horsley achieved his greatest notoriety in 2000 when he had himself crucified in the Philippines as part of an art project.
***
Much like one of his heros, Baudelaire, his publisher, and the printer were successfully prosecuted for creating an offense against public morals.
In the poem "Au lecteur" ("To the Reader") that prefaces Les fleurs du mal, Baudelaire accuses his readers of hypocrisy and of being as guilty of sins and lies as the poet:
- ... If rape or arson, poison, or the knife
- Has wove no pleasing patterns in the stuff
- Of this drab canvas we accept as life—
- It is because we are not bold enough!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Happy Eostre!
This year, Easter falls on the earliest weekend it can - the Sunday, two days, after the vernal equinox.
"The word "Easter" is derived from Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, to whom Eostur-monath, corresponding to our month of April, was dedicated. The modern English term Easter developed from the Old English word Eastre. The Old English term Eastre ultimately derives from ēast - meaning the direction of east. This suggests it originally referred to a goddess associated with dawn. Corresponding traditions occur with the Roman goddess Aurora and the Greek goddess Eos.
In olden time the English people..calculated their months according to the course of the moon. Hence after the manner of the Hebrews and the Greeks, [the months] take their name from the moon, for the moon is called mona and the month monath. April, Eostur-monath has a name which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honor feasts were celebrated in that month. As a goddess of spring, she presides over the realm of the conception and birth of babies, both animal and human, and of the pollination, flowering and ripening of fruits in the plant kingdom. The Anglo-Saxon month name equates to an Old High German equivalent, Ostara. Ostara is also one of the names of the mother-archetype noted in the psychology of Carl Jung and a neo-pagan ritual in celebration of the vernal equinox.
Many ancient cultures have a strong association with animals. The forming of candy into the shape of rabbits or chicks is a way to acknowledge them as symbols; by eating them, we take on their characteristics, and enhance our own fertility, growth and vitality. The dyeing of eggs is from a Greek tradition where they were painted red and given as gifts. And in the Celtic traditions of giving gifts to faeries the night before, this equinox is honored with sweets and honey. The only Easter custom mentioned from ancient Germanic traditions are Easter Bonfires (Osterfeuer).
"This Ostarâ, like the AS [Anglo-Saxon], Eástre, must in the heathen religion have denoted a higher being, whose worship was so firmly rooted, that the Christian teachers tolerated the name, and applied it to one of their own grandest anniversaries."
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Cooperative Extension's March Gardening Guides
Gardening Tips for March
Average Last Frost Date
* We have had plenty of warm weather lately but don’t let it fool you into thinking it is spring. Unless you are on the outer coastal plains, the average last frost date hasn’t arrived yet. For much of the state the average last frost date is April 11. That means that 1 out of 2 years there will be a frost later than April 11. Most gardeners don’t plant tomatoes or other tender annuals until after the 90 percent frost-free date. That gives them odds of 9 out of 10 that a late frost won’t kill the plants. For the piedmont, the 90 percent frost-free date is April 15. In the mountains it may be as late as mid-May.
* In the mountains, mid-March is a good time to start tomato transplants indoors for planting in early May.
* Piedmont gardeners can plant potatoes, onion sets, beets and radishes now. You should be able to transplant cabbage, broccoli and similar members of the cabbage family but a temperature below 20 can still hurt them.
* Fertilize berry plants and fruit trees.
* Check the asparagus bed and pull weeds if necessary. Asparagus spears should start coming up in a couple of weeks.
Inviting Bees to Your Landscape
* Don’t spray any flowering plant with insecticides when pollinating insects are present.
* Consider placing a block for orchard mason bees in your landscape. The orchard mason bee pollinates spring fruit trees, flowers and vegetables. They are nonagressive and one may observe them at close range without fear of being stung. Directions for making a block from scrap lumber are on the NC State Web site .
* Ground-dwelling bees are showing up in the coastal plains and most likely will show up in the piedmont and foothills in a week or so. They may scare people but are nonaggressive and beneficial for pollination.
Lawn Care
* Cool-season lawns should have been fertilized by now. They will not need additional fertilizer until September.
* Do not fertilize warm-season grasses at this time.
* When mowing fescue lawns, don’t remove more than one-third of the blade at any one mowing (when it’s 4 ½ inches high, mow to 3 inches).
* Grass clippings should be small enough to fall between the grass blades. Don’t collect clippings unless they are heavy enough to smother the grass.
Mulch
* When using mulch near your house foundation, use mulch that doesn’t contain cellulose, such as pine needles and pine bark. The less the cellulose in the mulch, the less termites are attracted to it. Never spread mulch so that it touches the foundation or lowest course of siding on your home. While it may have a nicer appearance this way, it can allow termites to use the cover of mulch to invade your house undetected.
* Fresh wood chips along with the sawdust can be used as mulch, but do not mix into soil. It ties up nitrogen and isn’t good for plants. Also, wood chips contain cellulose so it’s preferable to use them away from house foundations.
What to Prune Now
* Prune roses. Remove all except 4 to 6 canes for big blooms. Make your pruning cut above an outward facing bud.
* Remove any old camellia blooms to prevent the spread of petal blight. Clean any dead blooms off the ground around the camellias.
* Prune butterfly bushes or buddleias, rose of Sharon and crape myrtles.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Sebastian Horsley
Self-Proclaimed Dandy, Sebastian Horsley will be in NYC next Wednesday. For a glimpse at his form of Dandyism, check out his take on different subjects:
Where and what would you eat?
I cannot tell you how disinterested I am in food. The only thing I know about it is that, generally, the better food tastes, the worse it is for you. I personally stay away from natural foods. At my age, I need all the preservatives I can get. Health nuts are going to feel pretty stupid someday, lying in hospital, dying of nothing. And of course the trouble with eating food is that it doesn't work. Five or six days later, you're hungry again. The only case for eating is that the impact of the drugs is substantially enhanced.
What would you do for fun?
Most of the time I don't have much fun. The rest of the time I don't have any fun at all. It is ghastly. Middle age is the time of life when the most fun you have is talking about the most fun you used to have. When your medicine chest is better stocked than your drinks cabinet. What can you do? I don't know. If you can't laugh at yourself, make fun of cripples. I guess I would go off to the brothel to get a good housemaids wank. And then lose my penis to a whore with disease.
What kinds of shops are worth going to?
None of them. A shop is a place where people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't need, to impress people they don't like. I always enjoy strolling down Bond Street. I like being reminded of all the things that I don't want. Shops seem to me rather like charities (and, as you know I hate charities). They help the super rich (and the vulgar) to unburden themselves of their cash. They don't actually sell objects - lizard-skin cufflink boxes, gold plated noughts-and-crosses sets -- they sell more exclusive commodities: Aspiration, Smugness, Eternal Life. And you can take all that and shove it all the way up. I am sure there is ample room.
Boyle's Boy, earlier article on his love affair with Scotland's most violent criminal
Horton Hears A Who
Plan to see The Horton Movie this weekend w/O
Check out the trailers and games - even adopt a Speck!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Cochon Restaurant, New Orleans
Just voted in the Top Ten restaurants outside NYC by the NYT, I look forward to trying Cochon if we make it down to New Orleans for a dear couple's wedding next month.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Great American Wines Under $15
Food and Wine senior wine editor lists his favorites here
and a more extensive list here
I've found most of the reds at Whole Foods (though they're charging $15 for Castle Rock but the Hayman and Hill was $12)
Protect Profits At Tax-Time
Protect Investments at Tax-Time
some of my favorites:
Roth IRAs. There's no immediate benefit to putting money into a Roth IRA, but in the long term, they are golden. Money pulled out in retirement is not taxed. An early start allows you to compound more money in earnings than you contribute, and pulling it out tax-free allows for great planning opportunities in retirement. You can still put $4,000 in a Roth IRA for 2007 ($5,000 if you're at least 50) and $5,000 for 2008 ($6,000 for those 50 and older). Folks who earn more than $99,000 (single) and $156,000 (joint filers) make too much to contribute to a Roth IRA. They can consider plowing money into a traditional, nondeductible IRA so that in 2010, as current tax law allows, they can move that money over into a Roth IRA.
(note: does this mean we can rollover and IRA into a Roth IRA in 2010? I hope to open a Roth IRA Index Fund that either follows the S&P 500 or an International index or mix)
-- Individual stocks. The purpose of investing in individual stocks, of course, is to see them go up so that you earn money when you sell them. If it works according to plan, you'll have to pay 15 percent capital gains tax on the long-term profits you reap by selling a stock. That's instead of the 25 percent or higher rate you're likely to pay on ordinary income, so they're already a good tax deal. But individual stocks come with a tax bonus: If you find yourself losing money, instead of making it, you can sell your shares and use that loss to reduce the other taxes you owe. There's no better cost-efficient way to cut investment taxes than to carefully manage an individual stock portfolio so that you're always reaping your losses.
-- That 401(k). It's at the bottom of the list, only because you've heard it so many times before. It's hard to beat the advantages of a decent 401(k), especially if your company is matching your tax-deductible contributions. To maximize its tax-saving properties (and if you're investing elsewhere in staid, low-tax products), fill it with the kinds of investments that you'd otherwise pay high taxes on: real estate and bond funds and aggressive, high turnover stock funds.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
I Want To Believe: Cai Guo-Quiang at The Guggenheim
Cai Guo-Qiang Inopportune: Stage One - now suspended in the Guggenheim
slideshows/videos/links in article
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Psychopath and Sociopathology
An editorial in the Times (London) of 1877 quipped, "If lunacy continues to increase as at present, the insane will be in the majority, and, freeing themselves, will put the sane in asylums"
"Without Integrity, There Is No Love"
Psychopaths are described as incapable of empathy, guilt, or loyalty to anyone but themselves, individuals who take advantage of organizational systems and processes, exploit communication weaknesses, and promote interpersonal conflicts. "Another trait, important for everyone who deals with a psychopath, is their ability to evoke pity; the same kind of pity we feel towards invalids or experience for helpless and sick children. They seem completely helpless, lost in a world where they do not belong. Again and again they try to adjust and to cope, in a fashion that always falls a bit shy of the mark. They are eternal strangers, arousing in each of us a longing to help, a feeling we experience with helpless human beings. Often this pity creates difficulties, and many is the person who falls prey to it. We often try to be kind to these "poor" people, and they are "poor" people - our pity is justifiable. However the problem is that psychopaths readily manipulate those around them through just such pity. Women are often victimized: mothering instincts are aroused, or the Archetype of the Nurse is constellated. They want to protect and care for the poor, sick thing and understandably so, for psychopaths strike protective chords and speak to the desire to help and heal."
Completely lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please... glibness, grandiosity, lack of guilt, and shallow emotions, as well as social deviance traits. They are egocentric and have no feelings of empathy, guilt or remorse. They view others as potential victims, and they leave a trail of unhappiness behind them in those who have succumbed to their deceitful manipulations. Whether nature or nurture underlies their aberration is still uncertain; they are almost impossible to treat because they are convinced that they have no psychological or emotional problems.
A Sociopath has an often undetected mental disorder, the chief symptom of which is that that person possesses no conscience. He or she has no ability whatsoever to feel shame, guilt, or remorse. How do we recognize the remorseless? One of their chief characteristics is a kind of glow or charisma that makes sociopaths more charming or interesting than the other people around them. They’re more spontaneous, more intense, more complex, or even sexier than everyone else, making them tricky to identify and leaving us easily seduced. Fundamentally, sociopaths are different because they cannot love. Sociopaths learn early on to show sham emotion, but underneath they are indifferent to others’ suffering. They live to dominate and thrill to win. To arm against the sociopath, question authority, suspect flattery, and beware the pity play. Above all, when a sociopath is beckoning, do not join the game.
First is the charm. Second very seductive (too many compliments). Third the pity story. And fourth the anger when the sociopath was not able to manipulate and control. "I have crossed paths with many sociopaths because I believed that there was good in everyone...but there is not good in everyone. There are people who are clearly born without a consciousness."
most of us "instinctively" know when there is a sociopath in our midst, but more often refuse to intellectually or rationally call them for what they are...why? The reason is that we would prefer to believe that the human being is fundamentally good, and pure evil is something rare or something beyond our day to day reality. On the contrary, there are people who move through their lives without a hint of guilt for their acts of harm. The sociopath does not possess an aspect which most people have that make us legitimately human, and that is an actualized conscience - a voice, a feeling that guides us to do the right action, and not hurt our fellow human beings... the 6-7 tell-tale signs of the typical sociopath--the irresponsibility, a lack of social-conscience, the inability to accept blame ("Because I didn't know what to do at the time..."), a delusional and overinflated opinion of oneself, ("After me, no one will want you...") attitude, the need to dominate, inability to compromise, the continuous need of affirmation from others, the habitual lying and covering up, and, of course, the complete and utter lack of remorse.
We have to take responsibility for their own lives; since we aren't likely to change the perpetrators' behaviors; victims must change the pattern of interaction with perpetrators---and that's the key. Have you ever noticed how hard it is to think of what to say in the moment? How easily we can think of a perfect retort after the moment has passed? A great, simple suggestion to say, "Will you please repeat that?" works wonders. It's just the break one needs to collect thoughts. Simultaneously, it throws the perpetrator off-base. They don't want to repeat themselves, particularly now that others might be listening more closely. Insults never come out the second time with the same conviction. Next, we're advised to repeat back the insult, such as, "You feel I am _____. Do I understand you correctly?" Being certain you understand the intentions of alleged perpetrators is important. Sometimes words don't come out as intended. We don't need to do battle with those we misunderstand.
Once you grasp the accusation and have gathered enough facts to assess the situation, you offer the perpetrator the option of taking the discussion into a more private session. It's easier to settle differences when not performing before an audience.
"I grew up in the home of a woman who made it clear to me she didn't love me; I walked into a horrendously abusive relationship right out of high school, then I moved on to a controlling husband for the past two decades. For the first time in my life, I understand why I perceive people are "always taking advantage of me". I've let them. Since I've been speaking up, I feel empowered and alive. This book saved my perspective, if not my life, without encouraging me to swing the pendulum too far in the opposite direction."
- Sociopaths learn early on to show sham emotion, but underneath they live only to dominate others and win.
- They have a kind of glow or charisma that makes them more charming or interesting than the other people around them. They are more spontaneous, more intense, complex, or even sexier than everyone else.
- They crave stimulation and excitement, often showing brief intense enthusiasms that they later drop.
- They are seductive, encouraging others to take risks.
- They will tell you that you are just like them. Don't believe it.
- The first rule involves the bitter pill of accepting that some people literally have no conscience, and that these people do not often look like Charles Manson or a Ferengi bartender. They look like us.
- In a contest between your instincts and what is implied by the role a person has taken on -- educator, doctor, leader, animal-lover, humanist, parent -- go with your instincts.
Whether you want to be or not, you are a constant observer of human behavior, and your unfiltered impressions, though alarming and seemingly outlandish, may well help you out if you will let them. Your best self understands, without being told, that impressive and moral-sounding labels do not bestow conscience on anyone who did not have it to begin with. - When considering a new relationship of any kind, practice the Rule of Threes regarding the claims and promises a person makes, and the responsibilities he or she has.
Make the Rule of Threes your personal policy. One lie, one broken promise, or a single neglected responsibility may be a misunderstanding instead. Two may involve a serious mistake. But three lies says you're dealing with a liar, and deceit is the linchpin of conscienceless behavior. Cut your losses and get out as soon as you can. Leaving, though it may be hard, will be easier now than later, and less costly.
Do not give your money, your work, your secrets, or your affection to a three-timer. Your valuable gifts will be wasted. - Question authority.
Once again -- trust your own instincts and anxieties, especially those concerning people who claim that dominating others, violence, war, or some other violation of your conscience is the grand solution to some problem. Do this even when, or especially when, everyone around you has completely stopped questioning authority. Recite to yourself what Stanley Milgram taught us about obedience. (At least six out of ten people will blindly obey a present, official-looking authority to the bitter end.) The good news is that having social support makes people somewhat more likely to challenge authority. Encourage those around you to question, too. - Suspect flattery.
Compliments are lovely, especially when they are sincere. In contrast, flattery is extreme, and appeals to our egos in unrealistic ways. It is the material of counterfeit charm, and nearly always involves an intent to manipulate. Manipulation through flattery is sometimes innocuous and sometimes sinister. Peek over your massaged ego and remember to suspect flattery. This "flattery rule" applies on an individual basis, and also at the level of groups and even whole nations. Throughout all of human history and to the present, the call to war has included the flattering claim that one's own forces are about to accomplish a victory that will change the world for the better, a triumph that is morally laudable, justified by its humane outcome, unique in human endeavor, righteous, and worthy of enormous gratitude. Since we began to record the human story, all of our major wars have been framed in this way, on all sides of the conflict, and in all languages the adjective most often applied to the word war is the word holy. An argument can easily be made that humanity will have peace when nations of people are at last able to see through this masterful flattery. - If necessary, redefine your concept of respect.
Too often, we mistake fear for respect, and the more fearful we are of someone, the more we view him or her as deserving of our respect.
I have a spotted Bengal cat who was named Muscle Man by my daughter when she was a toddler, because even as a kitten he looked like a professional wrestler. Grown now, he is much larger than most other domestic cats. His formidable claws resemble those of his Asian leopard-cat ancestors, but by temperament, he is gentle and peace-loving. My neighbor has a little calico who visits. Evidently the calico's predatory charisma is huge, and she is brilliant at directing the evil eye at other cats. Whenever she is within fifty feet, Muscle Man, all fifteen pounds of him to her seven, cringes and crouches in fear and feline deference.
Muscle Man is a splendid cat. He is warm and loving, and he is close to my heart. Nonetheless, I would like to believe that some of his reactions are more primitive than mine. I hope I do not mistake fear for respect, because to do so would be to ensure my own victimization. Let us use our big human brains to overpower our animal tendency to bow to predators, so we can disentangle the reflexive confusion of anxiety and awe. In a perfect world, human respect would be an automatic reaction only to those who are strong, kind, and morally courageous. The person who profits from frightening you is not likely to be any of these.
The resolve to keep respect separate from fear is even more crucial for groups and nations. The politician, small or lofty, who menaces the people with frequent reminders of the possibility of crime, violence, or terrorism, and who then uses their magnified fear to gain allegiance is more likely to be a successful con artist than a legitimate leader. This too has been true throughout human history. - Do not join the game.
Intrigue is a sociopath's tool. Resist the temptation to compete with a seductive sociopath, to outsmart him, psychoanalyze, or even banter with him. In addition to reducing yourself to his level, you would be distracting yourself from what is really important, which is to protect yourself. - The best way to protect yourself from a sociopath is to avoid him, to refuse any kind of contact or communication.
Psychologists do not usually like to recommend avoidance, but in this case, I make a very deliberate exception. The only truly effective method for dealing with a sociopath you have identified is to disallow him or her from your life altogether. Sociopaths live completely outside of the social contract, and therefore to include them in relationships or other social arrangements is perilous. Begin this exclusion of them in the context of your own relationships and social life. You will not hurt anyone's feelings. Strange as it seems, and though they may try to pretend otherwise, sociopaths do not have any such feelings to hurt.
You may never be able to make your family and friends understand why you are avoiding a particular individual. Sociopathy is surprisingly difficult to see, and harder to explain. Avoid hi/her anyway.
If total avoidance is impossible, make plans to come as close as you can to the goal of total avoidance. - Question your tendency to pity too easily.
Respect should be reserved for the kind and the morally courageous. Pity is another socially valuable response, and should be reserved for innocent people who are in genuine pain or who have fallen on misfortune. If, instead, you find yourself often pitying someone who consistently hurts you or other people, and who actively campaigns for your sympathy, the chances are close to one hundred percent that you are dealing with a sociopath.
Related to this -- I recommend that you severely challenge your need to be polite in absolutely all situations. For normal adults in our culture, being what we think of as "civilized" is like a reflex, and often we find ourselves being automatically decorous even when someone has enraged us, repeatedly lied to us, or figuratively stabbed us in the back. Sociopaths take huge advantage of this automatic courtesy in exploitive situations.
Do not be afraid to be unsmiling and calmly to the point. - Do not try to redeem the unredeemable.
Second (third, fourth, and fifth) chances are for people who possess conscience. If you are dealing with a person who has no conscience, know how to swallow hard and cut your losses.
At some point, most of us need to learn the important if disappointing life lesson that, no matter how good our intentions, we cannot control the behavior-- let alone the character structures-- of other people. Learn this fact of human life, and avoid the irony of getting caught up in the same ambition he has-- to control.
If you do not desire control, but instead want to help people, then help only those who truly want to be helped. I think you will find this does not include the person who has no conscience.
The sociopath's behavior is not your fault, not in any way whatsoever. It is also not your mission. Your mission is your own life. - Never agree, out of pity or for any other reason, to help a sociopath conceal his or her true character.
"Please don't tell," often spoken tearfully and with great gnashing of teeth, is the trademark plea of thieves, child abusers-- and sociopaths. Do not listen to this siren-song. Other people deserve to be warned more than sociopaths deserve to have you keep their secrets.
If someone without conscience insists that you "owe" him or her, recall what you are about to read here-- that "You owe me" has been the standard line of sociopaths for thousands of years, quite literally, and is still so. It is what Rasputin told the Empress of Russia. It is what Hannah's father implied to her, after her eye-opening conversation with him at the prison.
We tend to experience "You owe me" as a compelling claim, but it is simply not true. Do not listen. Also, ignore the one that goes, "You are just like me." You are not.
- Defend your psyche.
Do not allow someone without conscience, or even a string of such people, to convince you that humanity is a failure. Most human beings do possess conscience. Most human beings are able to love. - Living well is the best revenge.
Four percent of Americans are sociopaths, meaning that they have no conscience, and this statistic probably gets larger as one goes up the ladder of success. At the top echelons of success in big business, sociopaths are probably even more plentiful. Most sociopaths in business are not physically violent, and they don't look like Charles Manson. They look like we do.
In your daily work life, how can you identify and cope effectively with such people? Here are some guidelines:
- SUSPECT FLATTERY. Sincere compliments from a coworker or a boss are nice, but outrageous flattery is often an attempt to draw you into a sociopath's snare. If you feel your ego is being massaged, you may be dealing with a sociopath. Be careful.
- TAKE LABELS AND TITLES WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. Just because someone is older than you, has a higher position or more degrees, or is wealthier than you does not mean his or her moral judgment is better than yours.
- IN YOUR ASSESSMENTS OF THE PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH, PRACTICE THE RULE OF THREES. (The author will explain what this is.)
- ALWAYS QUESTION AUTHORITY WHEN IT CONFLICTS WITH YOUR OWN SENSE OF RIGHT AND WRONG. This may be hard to do, but it is crucial to your own career and well-being.
- NEVER AGREE TO HELP A SOCIOPATH CONCEAL HIS OR HER SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITIES AT WORK.
- If you are afraid of your boss, NEVER CONFUSE THESE FEELINGS WITH RESPECT.
- NEVER HAVE A PRIVATE ARGUMENT WITH A SOCIOPATH AT WORK. (The author will explain why not.)
- REALISTICALLY ASSESS THE DAMAGE TO YOUR LIFE. If it's too great, you may have to leave. Remember that living well is the best revenge.
Tools for Handling Control Issues
Establishing Healthy Boundaries
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Monday, March 3, 2008
Playmobil's Newest Toy
Playmobil Security Check Point
frightening - but worth reading to see what additional items shoppers were buying - not to mention customer reviews are priceless!
"I was a little disappointed when I first bought this item, because the functionality is limited. My 5 year old son pointed out that the passenger's shoes cannot be removed. Then, we placed a deadly fingernail file underneath the passenger's scarf, and neither the detector doorway nor the security wand picked it up. My son said "that's the worst security ever!". But it turned out to be okay, because when the passenger got on the Playmobil B757 and tried to hijack it, she was mobbed by a couple of other heroic passengers, who only sustained minor injuries in the scuffle, which were treated at the Playmobil Hospital.
The best thing about this product is that it teaches kids about the realities of living in a high-surveillence society. My son said he wants the Playmobil Neighborhood Surveillence System set for Christmas. I've heard that the CC TV cameras on that thing are pretty worthless in terms of quality and motion detection, so I think I'll get him the Playmobil Abu-Gharib Interogation Set instead (it comes with a cute little memo from George Bush)."
Chavez Throws Down Gauntlet
Chavez comes across as approving of FARC's tactics and rebellious actions, continuing to incite war with his divisive words and moving troops to the border.
