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Expedition Cuisine
Crabs from the Amazon, algae from the depths of the ocean, clay from the Andes: In the quest for new ingredients, Peruvian cooks explore the country's riches – their culinary creations are conquering the world.
On the other side of the windows, the waves roll in toward the misty coastline, but Jonas Kecskemethy-Vass is oblivious to the natural spectacle. He is standing in the kitchen of his restaurant with skewered livers frying nearby and coworkers filleting fish, while he himself coats hare schnitzels with breadcrumbs; the hare was shot in the mountains yesterday.
The Peruvian capital, Lima, with its freshly acquired reputation as a culinary melting pot, attracts people like Kecskemethy-Vass, a cook and musician from Berlin, whose father is Peruvian, and who spent his teenage years here in Lima. When it's summer in Europe, the 34-year-old travels the world with his band, Feathered Sun, and the other half of the year he spends working as a chef in Peru. Two years ago, Kecskemethy-Vass left the German winter behind for the first time and made his way to his old home country, where he founded the restaurant concept 5p. He has been returning regularly ever since. This year, his pop-up restaurant is in Santa María del Mar, an hour's drive south of Lima.
Indian traditions and customs play into Peruvian cuisine, which is also enriched by Spanish flavors and African slave influences. Migrant workers coming in first from China, then from Japan, also influenced Peruvian cooking with their own food culture – and now along comes Kecskemethy-Vass with schnitzel and pancakes! For a long time, the many different culinary traditions wanted to have nothing to do with each other, and each continued to simmer quietly in its own juices.
But then, ten years ago, a man came up with a project that has since become a real gastronomic revolution. That man was Gastón Acurio, 49, who trained at the famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris and had already run a first-rate French restaurant in Lima back in the 1990s. Now he decided to focus on Peru's culinary potential.
So Acurio took a good look at his country. He saw three climate zones and 83 ecological zones, a coast rich in fish, the Amazon jungle, the Andes. He saw blank spots on chefs' maps: thousands of unknown ingredients that were freshly available all year round. Many hundreds of varieties of potatoes grow in Peru, and the same applies to corn. Acurio saw a land full of incredible flavor possibilities. With his wife, Astrid Gutsche, who has German roots but was raised in France, he opened the Astrid & Gastón and ventured onto new paths, combining the gourmet cuisines he had learned in France with recipes and ingredients from all over Peru.
He soon found like-minded culinary pioneers. A group of internationally trained Peruvian top chefs soon came together, including people like Rafael Osterling, for instance, and together they proclaimed their Cocina Novoandina (roughly: New Andean Cuisine) and combined the traditional fare of their native country with new techniques and flavors.
Cocina Novoandina is the biggest unifying factor in Peruvian society. Just a short time ago, no one in Lima would have dreamed of bothering with ingredients or traditions from, say, the Amazon rainforest. Thanks to the culinary connection, the peoples living there and the inhabitants of the big cities are coming closer together again, both intellectually and culturally.
And the cooks? They are now celebrated like pop stars in Peru. They have become public figures, role models, and people hang on their every word. They are socially engaged, opening cooking schools for the underprivileged and inviting people from the neighborhood to their restaurants.
In the past few years, restaurants have emerged that are places of pilgrimage for international food tourists. The most famous is the Central, a veritable temple of fine dining and possibly the best restaurant on the continent – number one on the Pellegrino List (The World's 50 Best Restaurants) for South America, and fourth in the world.
The restaurant is run by an old skater friend from Kecskemethy-Vass's teenage days, Virgilio Martínez, a tall, rangy man with the look of an artist. The 39-year-old Peruvian has already worked in the kitchens of an array of Michelin-star restaurants in New York, Singapore, London and Madrid.
Three times a month, food hunters make a foray into the jungle
When he saw what was emerging in his native country, he returned to Peru and spent a year traveling the country from north to south, from east to west, on foot, by car, donkey, and boat. That's how he came up with his "Expedition Cuisine," which is all about the history of the dishes and the different cultures from which they come."
A two-story city villa in Miraflores, one of the trendy districts in Lima. There's no nameplate proclaiming the restaurant Martínez designed with his mother, just a great, heavy cedarwood door. Inside simplicity prevails – clear lines, clear light, and a clear focus on the food. "Virgilio never lost his skater mentality," says Kecskemethy-Vass, when we visit his friend, "whenever he sees something, he starts thinking of ways to use it outside of its usual context.
When a skater looks at a terrain, he doesn't see something he can hold on to, but something full of trick potential." It's along these lines that Martínez cooks, says Kecskemethy-Vass, taking a sip of the Pisco Sour with which our host welcomed us. No exponent of New Peruvian Cuisine is as radical in his interpretation of his country's species diversity as Martínez. Three times a month, he sends expedition teams into the mountains, into the jungle and out onto the ocean, and quite often leads the forays himself.
He meets with members of tribes living in remote corners of the country, has them show him barks and berries, and forages in marshes and on mountainsides. He finds and uses herbs that have never before found their way into a cooking pot in Lima: new potato varieties, fruits, leaves, bacteria and even clay. He creates his menus according to altitude. His taster menu starts at 25 meters below sea level – a deep-sea algae soup with anglerfish, an ungainly, bony fish of the Lophiiformes order – and ends at 4200 meters, the peaks of the Andes.
That's where Martínez discovered the cushuro bacteria, which he uses to create chlorophyll-filled bubbles reminiscent of caviar. He serves them on dried tunta potato foam and creamed isco potato.
Peru offers practically no restraints to Martínez' quest for discovery. And so guests at his restaurant should not be puzzled to find themselves presented with what appear to be three stones, when the Dry Andes course comes along. At 3900 meters, Martínez came across a clay with a very distinctive flavor, in which he now serves a particular variety of high-altitude potato. Shock-frozen foam coated in gray clay, these edible stones melt in the mouth like tangy, earthy ice cream.
"Most of our work is concerned with redrawing the culinary and cultural map of Peru." That is how Martínez his "modern wonderland." In the same vein, Pedro Miguel Schiaffino, the famous chef of the Malabar, opened another restaurant a few years ago, the Amaz, which is devoted entirely to Amazonia. At the Amaz, which is done out in the style of a river landscape but never descends to kitsch, you can sample Amazonian snails, jungle fish and rare cocoa varieties in a variety of forms.
Still other cooks are using foreign influences to enhance Peruvian cuisine. Probably the best-known exponent of that school is Mitsuharu Tsumura, founder and head chef of the Maido. Peru's emergence as a culinary wonderland encouraged him to open his own gourmet restaurant. At the Maido, Peruvian and Japanese cuisine merge to become a single culinary entity, which has already established a name for itself: "Nikkei." His success proves the 35-year-old right. His restaurant is usually fully booked, and 70 percent of his diners are gastronomic tourists who have traveled in especially for the experience.
Nikkei cuisine is more than fusion food, says Tsumura. He takes Japanese flavors and techniques and combines them with local dishes with a Peruvian focus: The result is a completely new culinary art form in its own right.
Even the Peruvian national dish, ceviche – raw fish marinated in lime juice – has a Japanese flavor here. Today, ceviche is no longer marinated for several hours, but prepared fresh and served almost raw. Tsumura is regarded not only as one of the most important chefs in Peru but also on the international scene, he writes books and has his own television show.
As part of his menu "The Nikkei Experience," he puts "sushi of the earth" on the table, a Nigiri version of classic Peruvian steak and egg dishes, in which Japanese citrus sauce is injected into the egg yolk. Guinea pig is also served in a Japanese guise, as are classic Peruvian stews and ribs. And so Lima's chefs continue their culinary expeditions – may their curiosity be never-ending.
This story first appeared in Lufthansa Exclusive, the frequent traveller magazine. For more information about Lufthansa Miles & More offers, please click here.


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Google is releasing a new feature on its home page—a Share button with your Google Profile avatar next to it. I find it distracting. But you can at least make it less garish, if not disappear.
Danny Sullivan reports that this new feature marks the first time you can do something other than search on its home page. If you don't already have it on your signed in Google homepage, you soon will.
And while the Share button is annoying to me, seeing my photo is worse. It's clutter on a clean surface. It always draws my eye, and not in a good way. If it annoys you too, there's a super easy hack to make it at least slightly less bad. This trick won't help with the Share button or that equally annoying red box with the Plus nag, but at least you can make the avatar image disappear.
Click on your avatar in the upper right hand corner of Google's new homepage and select "Profile." Next, click the Edit Profile button. Just below your profile picture, click the "Change Photo" link. Upload a plain white image, and set that as your profile photo.
Presto! You're done.
The annoying Share button will remain, but at least the annoying photo is gone, and you've reclaimed a tad more whitespace. Check out the cleaned up version below.

subset: commoncrawl


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November 6, 2012
Megan Callahan, a registered dietitian with the Shawnee Hy-Vee store, is pictured in the cereal aisle, where a NuVal score of 91 is posted for Shredded Wheat with wheat and bran and score of 32 is posted for Lightly Frosted Shredded Wheat.
Stories this photo appears in:
Five questions: Nutrition scores
Megan Callahan, a registered dietitian at the Shawnee Hy-Vee, explains NuVal, one of the nutritional scoring systems grocery chains are using to help customers buy healthier products.
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Pizza Girl: What Pizza Delivery Drivers Listen To While on Duty
Every week, Pizza Girl (Diary of a Pizza Girl) stops by with insights and a behind-the-scenes look into the world of pizza-delivery drivers. Take it away, PG! —The Mgmt.
It inevitably happens that, every once in a while, I'll have a shift that I just can't seem to get started. My energy drags, and as I slowly transfer my pizzas from the hot-rack to the bags, slowly stack the bags, and slowly drudge them to my car, I know that there is one thing that can make this better, that can get me pumped for delivering.
I don't do this every shift because it might lose its magical ability to pull me out of even the lowest slump, and I can't risk that. I pull out my phone (handily doubling as MP3 player), plug it in, turn up the volume, and flip through to the I's.
I lean back in my seat, close my eyes (before I start driving), and as the opening drums wash over me, knocking on the door of my brain asking if anyone's home, I'm home.
Open my eyes, back out of the parking space, and throw it into drive just as I get to start singing along at the top of my lungs, "IT'S CRIMINAL! THERE OUGHT TO BE A LAW..."
At my new store it takes exactly the first verse to get from the storefront to out on the street at full speed. I likely to hit full speed just as I'm singing, "IF YOU WANT BLOOD, YOU GOT IT!"
Yes, my get-pumped-for-delivering song is AC/DC's "If You Want Blood (You Got It)." Something about it makes me feel like a brave pizza girl venturing out into the cruel bloodthirsty world of customers who are just waiting for an excuse to stiff me. OK, maybe I've been reading Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, where the pizza chain is owned by the mob and delivery drivers have 30 minutes to get a pizza there or they forfeit not only their jobs but potentially their lives (but that's a subject for another day).
Somehow toughening up by screaming that they can have my blood if they want it (and secretly imagining using samurai swords as robbery and scamming deterrents) gets me excited to deliver.
I took an informal poll of some of the other delivery drivers on Twitter and here were their answers to what they listen to get pumped for delivering:
- @ChadTaylor: I usually deliver to Ani DiFranco and Depeche Mode, but I admit I'm weird. Oh, and I usually start each shift with "I Don't Like Mondays," but that probably sends the wrong message.
- @deliverawaydebt: "Heaven's a Lie" by Lacuna Coil. I love the strings in it. ;)
- @ajathefairy: I like "The One" by Mary J. Blige at the start of every shift.
- @freakpirate: Song, no. Album, yes. Planes Mistaken For Stars, Up In Them Guts. Or Godspeed You! Black Emperor, F#A#∞
- @JesseNobody:
- @thisisbree: Hmm... I listen to a lot of Rilo Kiley and the Donnas on delivery. Anything by the Donnas, definitely.
I normally go with the Ramones to get me going. "Commando," "Warthog," and the staples "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "I Wanna Be Sedated." Cheers!
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


text: A penny saved is a penny earned, but in these cases, a penny spent is a whole lot earned. By Justine Rivero, credit advisor, CreditKarma.com June 7, 2011 [Editor's note: Our regular KipTips columnist Cameron Huddleston is taking a deserved vacation, but has solicited the help of her favorite personal-finance bloggers to guide KipTip readers in her absence.] How can you spend $1 to get $2 back? Investors, venture capitalists, and magicians know, and you too can spend in practical ways to earn more back (without resorting to the stock market or a magic wand).I picked up investing at 8 years old. I gave the cafeteria lunch lady my extra 50 cents change after buying my usual pizza and chocolate milk, and she always gave me an extra large piece of chocolate cake in return. Maybe it was just good karma, but I like to think I was a savvy second grader who knew to give a little extra to get a lot more in return. Sponsored Content If you have extra money, consider taking a detour from your savings account and spending it on a great investment, and I'm not talking stocks. Here are three worthwhile ways that spending can be worth more than saving: Advertisement Spend on career-advancing moves. While a master's degree can earn you $200,000 more over the course of your work life than having a bachelor's degree alone, not everyone can afford the $150,000 grad school price tag. Instead, level up your earning power by spending on smaller career-related expenses, such as buying a new suit for meetings, taking seminars in related skills, attending career-related events and conferences, or simply subscribing to an industry magazine. You may even get some of these expenses subsidized by your company. Spending on career-advancing moves will deepen your job skills and widen your industry knowledge and network, which is as valuable as a higher degree. Demonstrate your increased value to the boss and boost your overall job performance, and your salary will follow. Spend on your highest APR debt. More often than not, the money you are paying in interest charges on your highest interest debt will outpace what you earn on your highest-yield savings account. Meaning, you are losing more on your debt than you stand to gain in your savings. For example, let's say you have $1,000 to either pay down your $10,000 credit card debt with an 18% APR, or stash it in your $10,000 savings account earning the national average of 0.69% APY. If you put your money in savings, you'd earn about $76 in interest over the year. If you put it toward debt instead, you'd save yourself almost $170 in interest charges. Your money will go farther if you spend to pay off your debts first before saving. Spend on your quality of life. The biggest commodity you have is time, not money. It's the currency we use to earn our paychecks, and we have very finite amounts of it. Spending your hard-earned money to gain fulfilling experiences can be far more worthwhile than your money sitting in a savings account. In fact, recent reports show that spending for experiences makes you happier. So go ahead, go on vacation. Cross things off your bucket list. Splurge on once-in-a-lifetime experiences. You spend 40 hours a week to earn your salary, so spend money responsibly to make what free time you have more satisfying -- it's the ultimate return on investment. Going back to high school physics, money is like energy: It is never created or destroyed; it's merely converted from one form to another. Spending can be worth more than saving when you measure it in value and not just dollar signs, whether that means the chance to climb your company ladder, finally be debt-free or hop a cruise to the Caribbean. Justine Rivero is the credit advisor and resident credit rockstar for Credit Karma, the pro-consumer credit advocate that helps more than 2.6 million consumers realize the everyday cost savings of having great credit health. Check out Credit Karma on Facebook or Twitter.


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Why Condi Will Fall for Hamas' Taqiyya
Why is this? Condi has never studied Islam. If you asked her about the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, she would say 'what's that?' If you asked her what is the 'universal message of Islam', a term I have seen several times lately, she would say "Peace and justice." She couldn't be more wrong. I don't even think she knows what the 'ummah' is and what its global concept means. It means NOTHING for a Muslim to lie and make committments they never intend to keep. Especially with infidels.
Dhimwits like Condi cannot grasp that the laws and goals of Islam overrule everything. She cannot grasp the concept of taqiyya and strategic retreat to jihad another day. She does not know what 'jizya' means, much less what dhimmitude is. She does not understand that returning the land Israel occupies to the Dar al Islam is paramount and never, ever will be compromised or forgotten. This concept Condi cannot understand.
Hamas' charter is Islam focused. They are fighting the jihad in every way. Hamas will tell Condi and the EUdhimmis 'sorta' what they want, but it will have so many exit clauses and conditions, it will be meaningless except to Condi and the EUdhimmis. For example, they will say we will recognize Israel if Israel returns to the 1967 'borders', give up East Jerusalem, and do this and do that. Amazingly, Condi and the EUdhimmis will take this meaningless piece of paper, and, like PM Neville Chamberlain before them, wave it in the air and say 'See, see, see, peace in our time.'
Many will say I am cynical and pessimistic. But I know Condi has not studied Islam beyond some Armstrong-Esposito romance novel, and in her own words after the Hamas victory said '"I've asked why nobody saw it coming...It does say something about us not having a good enough pulse."
You see, Condi thinks there are two Islams, good Islam and bad Islam. If only.
Another problem is inability to think out of the box. Fact: Palestine is a cesspool of terrorists, tribal warfare, and deep cult penetration. False Assumption: If the West does not finance the Palestinians, they will turn to Iran. What is wrong with that? Right now, Iran just has to finance terror runs and weapons. The West is doing the food and drink and spending money. I say let them have all the re$ponsibility. This isn't some vast geographic landscape like Afghanistan. Give it a chance. Israel may suffer horrific suicide bombings you say? Would they not if we continue to supply the food, drink and spending money. I say give it a go. But not Condi. She can't see that because she is islamo-ignorant. I know what you are thinking, 'She is not ignorant, she's smart.' Is she? If you understand all the items above, and you were Condi, would you fall for this 'Hudaybiyyah Treaty'.
I may be wrong. She won't fall for it. We can always hope. If I am wrong, I will admit it gladly.
In case you don't know, for Islam, peace will be achieved when the world is for Mohamedans, and Mohamedans only. Infidels are to be converted, enslaved (dhimmitude), or murdered. That's the justice part. Not exactly what Condi thinks,is it?


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Situated in Pithoragarh, it is also known as 'Little Kashmir'. A paradise for nature lovers and adventurous souls, Munsiyari is the base for trekkers to Milam and Ralam Glaciers and Nanda Devi Peak.Munsiyari is a town as well as tehsil located in the Pithoragarh District of Uttarakhand. Surrounded by snow-clad peaks, the name of this town literally means 'a place with snow'. Munsiyari serves as the base camp to glaciers like Ralam and Milam for trekkers.
It is also home to many scenic locations, like Vrithi Falls or Birthi Falls, where tourists can relax after rafting in the Goriganga River or skiing at Khaliatop and Betulidhar.
The forests located in the region are filled with wild animals and birds, such as whistling thrush, wagtail, falcon, serpent eagle, leopard, panthers, mountain bears and musk deer.
The newly developed skiing locations are Khaliya Top and Betuli Dhar.
Best time to Visit
Is from March - June and September and October. The hill station has a pleasant climate for many months of the year. However it is advisable to avoid visiting dutring the monsoon season as the conditions can be wet and activities such as trekking will not be possible . Winters are cold and woolens are required while travelling during this season.
Share your experience
State: Uttarakhand
Distance From Dehradun: 450 Km.
Min Temp: 4.69℃
Max Temp: 16.3℃
Weather: OVERCAST THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
Altitude : 2147 Meters
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How To Communicate With Russian Women
There are three primary ways to contact Russian women: By mail. By telephone. And in person. Each has its good points and bad points.
About the Author: John has been married to a Russian women for over five years. He has travelled the path from finding her, to traveling to Russia, to bring his wife to America, and adjusting to married life. He will show you step by step how to do this yourself.


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Well here we are the last day of the month, again. LOL I have a couple little things to share. First here is Frank n Boo Photobooth by Bent Creek. I pulled him out of my wip basket to get moving on, it shouldn't take me long if i just sit down and stitch him, right? LOL and being in the Halloween mood, I also started working on Halloweenies by Plum Street Samplers.
Also, I started and finished Land that i love by BOAF this month, it was a fun quick stitch. I also couldn't wait to stitch up the cute design Jester Jack that was in the JCS Halloween book that just came out the beginning of the month. So i stitched him twice. LOL And i stitched it on aida that i found buried in my stash. Now I don't stitch on aida at all, but this halloween color was perfect for it and so so soft to work on, i have enough to stitch a couple more and probably will. I am thinking of giving a couple of them eyelashes to make them girls too so I can have couples. :)
So Christmas ornaments decided to call my name while watching the Olympics and I am almost finished with Merrily on High by LHN. I did pick a "new" design to work on during the Olympics and that was The Weathervane by LHN. I am stitching this on 40ct Sand Dune using the CC in the chartpacks. So far loving it, but haven't gotten very far due to the ornament calling my name.


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Vicki Briganti – CW50 Writer / Producer / Editor
In honor of the last day of Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, here I am posing on my Yamaha Riva 125. Posing. I'm not even riding the scooter. See what I'm wearing? A helmet.
This picture was taken in the summer of 2001 when I first bought the scooter and riders were required to wear helmets. But guess what? Even though a Michigan law was passed revoking the helmet law, I'm wearing my helmet. Always.
According to the law signed by Gov. Snyder in April, motorcyclists can forgo a helmet if they are at least 21 years old, carry at least an additional $20,000 in medical insurance and have either passed a motorcycle safety course or had their motorcycle endorsement for at least two years. Passengers also must be 21 or older to go helmetless, and there has to be an additional $20,000 in insurance for the passenger, bought either by the passenger or the motorcycle driver. (The Detroit News)
Part of me is torn by this law. I support individual freedom. The government shouldn't impose limits on my choices. Many motorcycle riders enjoy the wind in their hair (or on their bald head). It's much like the feeling you get riding on a speedboat. But. The reality is: accidents happen. Maybe it's your fault; maybe it's not. It won't matter when your helmetless bald head is dragging across the cement.
When riding in a car, you're protected on all sides by metal and airbags, yet there are many rules to follow, especially involving children's safety. A cop pulled me over for slinging my seat belt under my arm. Yet, on a motorcycle, I not only don't have to wear a seat belt, I don't have to wear a helmet. Seriously? I can get a ticket in Kensington Metropark riding on my bicycle or inline skating on a paved path if I'm not wearing a helmet. It's less restrictive to jump on the back of Spike's new BMW sans helmet and race down I-696 at 70 mph. With Spike, it'll likely be 140 mph.
Roll Me Away
Everyone knows someone who knows someone who was hurt or killed in a motorcycle accident. What if tragedy could be avoided with a helmet? In some cases, it wouldn't help. But what if in some cases — like mine — it could?
I was in a motorcycle accident. I have permanent scars. It was a warm Friday night. We were on a residential Royal Oak side street, not going very fast, but I was thrown off the back of a Honda Shadow. My jeans were torn. I had road rash. I thought my leg was broken. The bike was in the shop for a month. What if we'd been going faster? We both fell off and rolled in the street. What if we hadn't been wearing helmets? We were lucky we weren't rolled away on a stretcher.
Don't get me wrong. I love the feeling of freedom when riding. Nothing says "Michigan summer" quite like cruising the back roads at sunset on the back of a Harley listening to Seger's Greatest Hits. "Gotta keep rollin', gotta keep ridin.'"
I hate to think cyclists need the experience of falling off their bikes to decide to wear a helmet. Some have fallen and will ride without a helmet. In the end, the change in the law doesn't matter. You can still make the choice to protect yourself. "It's all up to you to decide."
Motorcycle enthusiasts: How do you want to "roll away tonight?"
>> More Motor City Musing With Vicki Briganti
*lyrics in quotes from Roll Me Away by Bob Seger


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Bridges, Tunnels, and PATH Fares Are Raising! Will You Still Drive into NYC?
Higher taxes. Higher gas prices. It seems more now than ever everything is just getting more expensive by the minute! Being residents of the NYC Metro Area, many may have already heard about the recent toll and fare increase that was approved for the bridges, tunnels, and PATH trains. In case you may not know, here are some key facts so you will be prepared in the hike in tolls, set to begin on September 18, 2011:
Toll/PATH Fare Increase
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved the toll hike. Increase will begin on September 18, 2011.
Tolls for cars with EZ Pass will increase $1.50 in September and 75 cents each December from 2012-2015.
Drivers without EZ Pass will pay an additional $2 surcharge that will be rounded up to the nearest dollar to reduce the burden on toll takers fumbling with quarters and to encourage EZ Pass use.
Trucks with EZ Pass = additional $2 per axle in September from 2012-2015.
Non EZ Pass trucks = additional $3 axle cash penalty.
PATH fares currently $1.75, will increase 25 cents per year for four years.
(all statistics were obtained from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey website, www.panynj.gov)
So if you don't have an EZ Pass, good luck! Will you still drive into the city? If so, you may want to reconsider other options!
When we ask our NY Waterway riders why they don't drive into the city, we always get the similar responses about traffic congestion, tolls, finding convenient parking and PAYING for parking once in the city, gas prices fluctuating close to $4 per gallon, and over all wasted time! Why would you want to put yourself through such a hassle of driving? Now with the increase in taking the PATH and bridge and tunnel tolls, why WOULD you want to go through such an aggravation?
Here at NY Waterway, we pride ourselves in being 98% on time. We know how valuable time is to our commuters, and we continue to provide you with the best transportation service out there.
If tolls and traffic have you down, we may have the solution for you! We realize you have many choices in commuting in/out of NYC and NJ, and are thankful for those who choose, "The Better Way to Go!"
In previous newsletters, we have highlighted our Park and Sail initiative. We felt that now was the perfect time to bring this subject to light again! Park your car at our Port Imperial terminal, and take the smooth ride over to Midtown or Downtown! Save money, save time, and commute with ease! Avoid those spikes in tolls, traffic and other transportation fares, and make the switch today with NY Waterway.
For our full Park and Sail Newsletter Article, please continue on to this link: http://www.nywaterway.com/Newsletter.aspx?aid=17
For more information and full article on the TOLL and PATH FARE HIKES please continue on to the following link: http://www.panynj.gov/press-room/press-item.cfm?headLine_id=1401


text:
... it seems like chaos, but there's opportunity for those who know how to take it.
"Café" = open thread. And if you happen to have any shopping you need to do, entering Amazon through this link is a way to send me some love... for what I've done for you. Have you noticed? You've noticed! Haven't you?


text:
Bowdlerizing Huck
by Allen Mendenhall | Posted June 08, 2011
Professor Alan Gribben, who teaches at Auburn University in Montgomery, has introduced a sanitized version of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Controversy has gathered around this latest incarnation of the novel because of its substitution of the word "slave" for the "n-word." Somehow lost in the controversy is the editor's decision to change "Injun" to "Indian." At any rate, Gribben's book has become a media sensation and has resurrected long-buried arguments over the legacy and import of one of American literature's greatest works.
So much has been made of the words "political correctness" that it is difficult to know just what meaning they retain. If they mean anything, surely they apply to Gribben's editing, which seeks to satisfy modern taste and decorum at the expense of accurate knowledge about the past. Of course the novel is problematic — American history is problematic — but erasing problems of the past will do little to aid our understanding of history and culture in the present and future. In light of the number of scholars working at the intersection of race and culture, America today hardly risks, as it once did, suffering from historical amnesia. Yet bowdlerizing texts could affect the way we remember racial history.
One thing that Twain probably wanted his novel to do was address the multivalence of racism by viewing it through the eyes of a young boy. Doing so would allow him to critique Southern race relations while avoiding offense. This unfortunate edition undercuts Twain's critique.
None can challenge the idea that the "n-word" is hurtful and strong. But editing it out of Huck Finn, however understandable and well-meaning the effort may be, simply removes the book from its social and historical context. It is an historical text — not just a delightful work of fiction. It follows that reading the actual text can give us insights into the past.
Twain's prose mimicked the vernacular of folks in the Mississippi valley. What other word than the n-word would someone in Huck's time and place have used to refer to black people? Apparently the editor thinks the answer to that question is "slave." But of course, this is nonsense, as even a cursory acquaintance with contemporary documents will show. Like many if not most of Twain's contemporaries, the characters in his novel use the n-word casually. Examining its use is more than an exploration of authorial intent. It is studying a way of life in a world in which some people are grappling to overcome the racism that others casually accept. Twain's book has that overcoming as its goal. Twain's use of the "n-word" is ironic. He isn't endorsing the word. He's criticizing it. The way the n-word is used in Huck Finn shows very clearly Twain himself never would have applauded that word in "real" life.
Of course the novel is problematic — American history is problematic.
If Huck Finn is a narrative seeking out racial understanding — and this is a plausible and common reading — then Gribben's editing undermines themes of racial and cultural understanding. Jim, a black slave and a principal character in the novel, is a courageous and complex figure. His place in Southern culture — both the fictional culture of the novel and the real one upon which the novel was based — is critically compromised by a whitewashing of the offensive diction that he is forced to confront.
Huck is also a complex character. The n-word may mean one thing to Huck at the beginning of the book, but it means something different to him at the end. At first, Huck never considers what the word might signify to Jim, but as Huck himself develops as a personality, and as his bond with Jim grows stronger, he begins to think, well, differently. Huck decides to "steal Jim out of slavery" despite his belief that he'll go to hell for doing so ("All right then, I'll go to hell," he says). That grave decision seems less morally significant when Huck's culture becomes, with the sweep of an eraser, less racist than it actually was.
It will not do to pretend that distasteful epithets did not exist in history. Nor will it do to sugarcoat history or historical texts in order to validate one man's legacy, even if that man is a cultural and literary father figure (Faulkner called Twain the "father of American literature"). Twain hardly needs us to validate his legacy, especially since his sophistication is apparently far beyond that of today's editors, who seem to miss the irony and criticism with which he loads his words.
I suppose the editor has a point when he claims to want to avoid teaching children that the n-word is OK, because Twain used it. But this little touch up — substituting "slave" for the n-word — risks undoing the racial tension in the novel and in the culture that influenced Twain. The deepest understandings come from investigating tensions. Even Huck learns that, as he challenges racism in subtle and nuanced ways.
We are not products of culture, but we are, all of us, influenced by it. Culture does not excuse our actions or beliefs, but it does help to explain them. Readers of Huck Finn would benefit from understanding the culture of the novel and of the novel's author. How can we understand the present if we don't understand the events and attitudes that shaped the present? Rather than altering Twain's text, we should teach the novel, with all its fraught diction intact, to students who are mature enough to handle it.
The edited version of Huck Finn forces young students to skip over critical thinking about race relations in America. Yet the classroom is the very place where students are supposed to confront harsh realities and to learn from them. Isn't it the point of critical learning to hold social and cultural phenomena under a microscope, so as to understand them better? If students in schools or universities are not allowed to consider harsh truths about the past, even truths about offensive lexica, where will they learn about truths? Contemporary and popular film, television, and music are rarely good sources for learning about the past.
Changing the "n-word" to "slave" does not redeem Twain or Huck Finn — not that they need redeeming — but it does rob students of the opportunity to learn from history. Worse, it robs students of the opportunity to become, like Huck, more racially sensitive as they experience, withHuck, life on and around the Mississippi — as they read, in other words, about Huck's gradual coming to "terms."
That's what this whole debate is about: coming to terms. The particular term at issue is the "n word." The larger issue is American history. I'm not sure I would say that the bowdlerized novel sets us back, because I'm not convinced we're moving in the right direction anymore, but I would say that blotting out history never lends itself to social progress.
Allen Mendenhall is the author of Literature and Liberty: Essays in Libertarian Literary Criticism. His website is AllenMendenhall.com.
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Rodney C.
To echo one of Mendenhall's points, if we think that certain words, or topics, are to strong or complex for school age people, then simply don't make them required reading. Teaching young people HOW to think is a neglected task, and doesn't require the reading of any particular work of fiction. Censoring the original work isn't the answer to any problem. On the other hand, some of those pushing Huck Finn on school children may indeed be guilty of trying to force black kids to read the "n-word".
I notice that while Mendenhall argues for keeping the "n-word" in Huck Finn, he doesn't bring himself to use the word in its full in-glorious form either (as do not I). I'm not criticizing this- only point out how we just are not allowed to use the actual word. I will never "just get used" to that self censorship.
When a racist used the "n-word" 100 years ago was it not the same thing as when a racist uses "black" or "African-american" or "whitey" or "honkey" today? As Mendenhall pointed out, the "n-word" was used casually then- there was no other word in common usage. One would like to think that if we all just got over our racism we could then joke with the word, as black people do amongst themselves today.
I am from South Louisiana, of French heritage. Do you know what we have called each other in fun? Coon-asses. And that term is not referring to the rear end of a racoon. "Coon" was slang for "n-word". So when one coon-ass referred to another in that way he was simultaneously poking fun at his friend and insulting black people (in a way).
An old black woman once delivered pizza to my sister and they got to talking. One thing led to another and my sister realized that the old lady had the "choate" face. It turns out that some of my ancestors had the old woman's ancestors as slaves and sired some children with them. According to the old woman, the legend in her family was that the old slave owner "took care of them". That piece of information had indeed been passed down. I would like to find that old woman today and give her a hug.
Sat, 2011-06-11 23:10
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text:
Preparing your pool and yard
Preparation can help prevent damage
MIAMI – Taking time to prepare your pool and yard when a storm is coming can save you headaches later.
- Do not lower the water level in your swimming pool excessively, or it may pop out of the ground if there is flooding with the storm (softened ground can literally "float" a pool). If flooding is expected, you can lower the water level by up to a few feet, depending on the depth of the pool.
- Add extra chlorine to your pool to fight off contamination. (3 gallons of chlorine per 5,000 gallons of water). Some pool companies recommend that you give your pool a "shock treatment" before the storm hits. (Don't let anyone use the pool after adding the additional chlorine.)
- Turn off electricity to all of the pool equipment at the breaker.
- Remove pumps from underground pits after all valves have been closed and the electricity has been shut off. Wrap any exposed pool equipment that you can't remove in plastic and secure it tightly with tape/rope.
- Don't throw patio furniture in the pool unless you are willing to have it damaged/bleached by chlorine.
- Secure anything that might tear loose or blow away, including garbage cans, grills, potted plants, garden tools, toys, signs, porch furniture, awnings.
- Check trees and shrubbery, and remove limbs that could damage your house or utility lines.
Copyright 2012 by Post Newsweek. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
Experience the Deep Sea Wonderland
Aitutaki's beautiful lagoon measures 12km long by 15km wide, with numerous sandbars, coral ridges and 21 motu (small islands). The warm, clear waters offer superb snorkelling and diving, with an array of coloured corals and tropical fish.
Snorkelling is available from the beach or on lagoon cruises. Snorkelling gear is available from some hotels and on lagoon cruises. We recommend that if you have snorkelling gear that you bring it with you.
There are several lagoon tours available that all include snorkelling and lunch. Costs range from $100-$125 with a choice of large to smaller boats. There is information in the diary in the villas as to what other guests have enjoyed.
A tour guide, who runs a diving tour business out of Britain and who has led diving tours all over the world, describes Rarotonga and Aitutaki as some of the best scuba diving locations he has ever come across.
John Byatt believes the Cook Islands is completely undiscovered as a diving location. The year-round warm water with temperatures of between 23º and 30º, the easy accessibility and the circular shape of the island of Rarotonga allows divers to go out in virtually any weather to take advantage of shelter from rough wave action.
There is a huge variety of coral and splendid visibility of 100 to 200 feet. There is a wide range of diving sites including caves, wrecks and simple submarine terrain for beginners such as sand rivers.
The Aitutaki lagoon has an average depth of 35 feet and has an array of coloured corals and tropical fish. The shipwreck of the Alexander, which sank in the 1930s is also of interest.
Baxters are the local dive company.


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BigFase 100 (The Game's Brother) - Block'D Up
BigFase100 takes to the mic with Greedy Da 554 Boy in the hood track :Block'd Up
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If you have a vehicle that you do not use on a daily basis, an outdoor parking rental is a superb idea. You will not have to worry about the safety of your vehicle while it is being stored, and you won't have to deal with the hassles of storing it on your own property. As long as you do your homework and choose a facility with ample security features, you won't regret renting an uncovered parking storage space.
Find North Bay Village vehicle storage near you. Compare North Bay Village car storage unit sizes, prices, amenities and discounts. View pictures, descriptions, and read customer reviews to assist you in making a selection, when looking for a location to store your automobile. Once you select a cheap vehicle storage space the in North Bay Village that best fits your needs, simply reserve online for FREE and lock in your car storage price, save money and time. If you prefer, you can call and speak to a friendly and professional customer service representative, who could answer all your questions and who could take a reservation over the phone for FREE. No credit card is required to reserve vehicle storage in North Bay Village online or by phone. A detailed confirmation e-mail will be automatically forwarded to your inbox. Your storage space will be available for you when you arrive at the self-storage facility on your move in date. Finding public storage for your vehicle in North Bay Village, or in nearby cities like Miami, Hialeah, Hollywood or Miramar is that fast, easy and affordable.
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text:
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
a hundred waves
If the conditions are good enough to keep me five hours in the water, it's automatically a five stars session.
This was my answer to Jeff, when he asked me why I wear a harness when I sail on the longboard: "'Cause I need it to rest my arms so that I can sail longer... You're either tougher than me, or I got more spare time than you, brah"... eheh...
A new NNW swell arrived and kept building all day long. At sunset it was often mast high at lower Kanaha.
I had a hell lot of fun and I was trying to take as many videos as possible with my helmet cam, but unfortunately I ended up taking a bunch of photos instead. Most of them are bad, because taken thinking it was the start of a video... Still practicing with the sequence of keys to push. Can't blame the camera ... it's a simple, cheap and fun toy.
When I got out of the water, the display showed 101. That means 101 between videos and photos. Even though I'm mildly disappointed by the result, I just realized a fact.
OK, a little number of shots were not shot on the wave. Like this one showing the beauty of the new Hot Sails Fire (team rider Jeff Sutherland is backwind slogging on the outside).
But I rode a way bigger number of waves without taking any shots (no time to shoot).
That means that I caught at least a hundred waves today.
Not that it changes the stoke level... I'm so stoked that you guys can't even imagine!
It just gives me a measure... don't forget I'm engineer and as such I got to measure everything (QUOLI, stars, etc...).
A hundred waves... wow, that's something!
I might well be the person that rode more waves in Maui today... I might well be the person that rode more waves in the whole freaking world today!
Hey, I don't care if I was or not. I just feel like I was...
What else can I say after such a gorgeous day?
That tomorrow could be even better...
Even though the NW buoy has dropped from 16 to 12 feet (16 sec. period), the wind is supposed to be a little stronger, so maybe good for the 87l. And even if it's light like today, I'll go longboard sailing again. And if it's no wind, I'll go surfing instead.
Do you understand now why every single day I wake up stoked that I woke up?
Here, let me leave you with what it looked like today. The waves in these photos look a lot smaller than they really were. The West Maui Mountain looks a lot less green that it really was. The ocean and the sky are pretty close, though.
Not enough? I have a few more, but the dropshots site doesn't seem to work right now... Come back later, maybe I'll update this post tomorrow morning.
Just got to add that the last five songs that Radio Rock just played were:
The river - Bruce Springsteen
Watcher of the skies - Genesis
Pinball wizard - The who.
a song from an interesting new italian rock band called PFH.
Live from Rome into my studio in Kuau. Got to love the internet...
5 comments:
Brian from the PWA again here. Still amazed at the good work! We got a link through from a guy in Cabo Verde with another good blog. Maybe you two should get to together?
Fab delob
...great blog this is indeed, GP is a reel itatalian funny wuuderman, awesome pics on the flickr page the other days, keeps dreaming!
Snow covered north sea coast right now in benelux countries, great, so maybe longbording tomorrow.
Have fun with the rescued Drops!!!
Remaining impressed by your longboardsailing style... and level of stokedness in your stoked-wake-up-paradies!
Photos of the bread automat will follow, had to bring the camera back to the shop...
- PeconicPuffin said...
I don't know about this:
"If the conditions are good enough to keep me five hours in the water, it's automatically a five stars session."
...what if you're out there (I would do this) because you're "not coming in until I (fill in the blank)?
I respect your five star system, and I worry about the arithmetic confusing a workout with a great soul session. My .02
P.S. Love the longboarding!
Rock Radio is my new music provider at work now, thanks GP!
Heres what I listen too at the moment... http://abc.net.au/triplej/listen/
Great style on the long board as well GP, love it, might have to invest in one.
- cammar said...
Brian, I checked that blog, pretty cool. Thanks.
Oh, I forgot about the bread machine project... It's running at a quite low priority right now...
Good point Michael, but there's no risk of confusion in my body. As I said, if I stay out for 5 hours, it's because the conditions deserve...
Lano, I'm listening to your australian radio as I type... this is so cool!
Unfortunately they speak a little too much on Radio Rock. They read a lot of text messages they get in real time... I guess people like that... maybe not in your office, though!
Try to get the 7am hawaiian time dj. Prince Faster has always been my favorite. What time is that in Australia?
Had another great double sesh today. I may post something later, but right now I have Monica cooking me pasta with shrimps, so you will have to excuse me momentarily...
PS. Hey, they speak too much in Australia too!


text:
Umbria on a Budget: A Penny-Pincher's Guide
Let's face it: times are tough. We are all tightening our belts a little, trimming the fat, and watching our pennies. That said, a trip to Umbria may be more do-able than you think. Here are some suggestions to help keep your dream trip within reach (and without sacrifice!).
Time It Right
By choosing a low or "shoulder" season (those buffer months between high and low season), you will be more likely to find deals on flights, accommodations, and car rentals. This doesn't mean you are stuck with the dog-days of January; shoulder season for Umbria generally includes the months of March (and some or all of April) and November (and some or all of October). The weather is, of course, spottier than it would be at the height of summer, but generally has cool, crisp days interspersed with some showers…and gets steadily warmer and sunnier the further you push forward into April or back into October. Bring clothes you can layer, and make sure you have both indoor and outdoor sights on your itinerary so you can work around anything the weather might toss at you.
Aim Low to Fly High
With a little time and patience, there are good deals to be scored on airline tickets. Time, patience, and a little bit of knowledge, that is. For an overview on how to play the cheap airfare game, a good place to start is here. Once you have a handle on how to work the system, stop by the new Airfares & Airlines Forum at Slow Talk (the Slow Travel forum), where there is an ongoing conversation going on with travellers about where, how, and when to find the best prices on tickets…and a specific thread to compare what others have paid for their flights. Remember that to fly to Umbria, you have a number of airport options to comparison shop: Perugia, Rome, Florence, Ancona, and (in a pinch) Pisa are all feasible. Perugia has discount European carrier RyanAir flights from London Stansted, so another option is to purchase a ticket to London and connect with a dirt-cheap intra-European London-Perugia flight (make sure you read RyanAir's infamous baggage restrictions carefully!).
Stay in a Vacation Rental
Okay, anyone who has spent any time on this blog knows that I don't shill very often, so bear with me while I do here. A vacation rental can be a great budget choice, both for the simple price advantage (Figure Brigolante's rates average to less than €80/night in high season, which is €40/night per person for a couple and €20/night per person for a family of four. To put it bluntly, the Assisi campground charges more.) and for the added advantage of a kitchen to prepare meals and laundry facilities. When the timing is right, we also offer our guests free access to our vegetable garden and eggs, wine, and olive oil all year long. You do the math.
Get Cookin', Good Lookin'
While we're on the subject of the advantages of a vacation rental, let's talk food. One of the biggest budget crushers when travelling is the cost of eating out three times a day, every day. If you have access to a kitchen, you can dramatically cut down your restaurant expenditures by cooking at home and preparing picnics to take along on day trips. If you're worried about missing out on Umbria's fabulous regional cuisine, don't fret. Traditional Umbrian cooking is very simple–yet hearty–fare founded more on fresh, local ingredients than fancy preparation techniques. Take the time to wander through the region's farmers' markets, local butchers, specialty cheese, fresh pasta, and bread shops and pick up a little culture along with your dinner ingredients.
Sometimes The Best Things in Life are Free
Umbria is a particularly budget-travel friendly destination because so many of its sights are free of charge. The lion's share of her major artworks are in chuches, which are largely open free to the public. Much of the region's charm is in simply wandering the streets of its numerous medieval stone hilltowns, taking scenic drives through the rolling landscape, and walks in one of the region's parks. A stroll through sleepy Spello, a drive along the Nera river, gazing upon the iconic frescoes in the Basilica of Saint Francis, watching the sun set over Lake Trasimeno, a picnic on Mount Subasio: all unforgettable moments in Umbria that won't cost you a cent.
Cheap Thrills
Here is a bucket list of money saving tips for Umbria:
Purchase a Perugia Città Museo Card: €10/person buys you access to any five of thirteen local museums, monuments, and archeological sights for 48 hours from your first use, €20 (€35 for a family of up to four) buys you access all thirteen local museums, monuments, and archeological sights for a full year from your first use. A good deal.
Other cities in Umbria have similar discount card options (for example Spoleto and Assisi), which can be deals if you intend on visiting the participating museums and monuments. For more information, contact the Tourist Info offices.
The Ministry for Art and Culture has periodic discount days for State museums and monuments across Italy. Around Valentine's Day (for 2011 it's 12 and 13 February), museums offer two tickets for the price of one. On 8 March, all women enter free to celebrate Women's Day. And during the annual Culture Week (9-17 April in 2011), all State-owned museums, monuments, and archaeological sites are open free of charge.
Many music festivals offer some free concerts during their program (Umbria Jazz, for example, has free concerts in the public Giardini Carducci). See here for suggestions.
A great time to visit an Umbrian town is during their annual festival, which often includes costumed processions, concerts, crossbow tournaments and medieval reinactments open to the crowds. Just a walk through the town, all decked out with banners and flags and saturated with an air of celebration, makes for some wonderful memories.
Trawl for car rental deals with the same attention as airfare deals. I am a huge proponent of renting a car in Umbria, and, with some attention to detail, it is possible to shave quite a bit off your car rental price.
Groupon. Yes. Don't make that face. Groupon is divided by city in Italy (as it is elsewhere), so you can register for Perugia to see what local deals are coming through the pipe. I admit that many won't be of much interest to the average traveller (unless, of course, you are looking to get your teeth cleaned in Umbria), but there are often discounts on restaurant meals, accommodations, and spa treatments. You will have to sort through the Italian, but with a little work most offers are easily decipherable.
6 Comments
mary jane cryan |
Dont forget the inexpensive way we locals buy our "house wine" directly from producers and the cost is usually 1,50-2.50 per litre…a great savings .
Barbara Spies |
What a great website!! And your dragon story is adorable! Mi piace Umbria!!
Francesca |
Great info here, and I agree with you 100% about vacation rentals! It is the way to go, especially when traveling as a family with young children (my current situation). Can't wait to get back to Umbria next month!


text: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/12/28/black-audiences-white-stars-and-django-unchained/ December 28, 2012, 11:02 AM ET Black Audiences, White Stars and 'Django Unchained' By Ishmael Reed I had a pretty good idea of where "Django Unchained" was going from the first credit. It went to the Weinstein Company. The Weinstein Company once fought a legal battle (settled out of court) over the right to distribute "Precious," which is, in my opinion, the worst film ever made about black life. The company's name in the credits for "Django" also meant that the movie was aimed at a mainstream audience. Though German, the bounty hunter character played by German-Austrian actor Christoph Waltz seemed to speak with a British accent, which is all the rage in the media, though I need subtitles to understand what Piers Morgan is saying half the time. The German dentist dazzles the screen with his eloquent talk and vocabulary and puts together constructions like "shan't." I would loved to have been present at the marketing meetings about this movie. The cynicism must have been as thick as cigar smoke. Jamie Foxx has been promoted as the star of "Django Unchained," and has assumed the role as movie defender–the same role played by Viola Davis in the promotion of the equally offensive "The Help." Foxx serves as a buffer between the producers and the wrath of blacks like those who attended a recent showing where the film's writer and director Quentin Tarantino reportedly faced hostile questions from a black audience. The real stars of "Django Unchained," however, are Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio is master of a plantation where Django's wife Broomhilda (seriously), is being held, and has apparently been passed around among the "Mandingos" who are trained to participate in slave fights for the entertainment of DiCaprio and his friends. The movie's "star," Foxx, is there for the audience that used to sit in the balcony at southern movie houses. He performs in a movie within a movie. A sort of "Harlem On The Prairie." This was an ingenuous bit of marketing. "Django" was the talk among blacks during two Christmas parties that I attended, lured to the screen because Foxx was featured in the promotion. One woman said that she couldn't wait to see the movie, which reminded me of a comment from a book called "When Time Ran Out: Coming of Age in the Third Reich" written by author and artist Frederic Zeller, who said that when he went to the movies in Germany, his being youthful and lacking consciousness led him to applaud the Aryans (he escaped the country in the 1930s and his parents died in a Nazi death camp). The middle of "Django" showcases Waltz and DiCaprio. They engage in a lengthy dialogue which includes references to Beethoven and phrenology, during which Foxx's Django alternates between scowling and looking completely dumbfounded by the civilized talk. The DiCaprio character believes that there are wrinkles in the brain that cause blacks to be docile. Tarantino's fictional blacks apparently lack that part of the brain that makes one compassionate. While some blacks are being brutalized other blacks go about their business. In one scene, a black woman is being whipped while nearby a black woman is enjoying herself on a swing. Foxx's role in the movie is confined to frowning and murdering lower class whites who, in this film, seem to be responsible for all of the brutality during slavery, while the planters stand by helpless and embarrassed by one of their number, the lone psychopathic, who, like the Nazi played by Ralph Fiennes in "Schindler's List," revels in cruel misdeeds. In one scene after two blacks have engaged in a brutal fight leaving one dead, one of the fiendish slave master's friends shows that he was really turned off by the exhibition and has to have a drink. You really have to suspend disbelief for this movie. The German bounty hunter promises to free an armed slave (Foxx) and promises him one-third of the bounties and the two go about killing people. Foxx is allowed to wander around the South without interruption, and even sit at a dinner table with a slavemaster's family. Yet, in real life, free Negroes were captured by slavers and returned to slavery. Somebody should have persuaded the writer to read about the experience of Solomon Northup, a Free Negro who was kidnapped by white slave catchers and returned to slavery (his story is being turned into a coming film). At least the blacks who are assigned to play sidekicks to white stars have some autonomy. In the recent movie "Safe House," which evokes the movie "The Defiant Ones," Denzel Washington has no love interest and sacrifices himself for the safety of Ryan Reynolds, who is assigned to capture him! But unlike Washington, who was a real star, Foxx is dependent upon his German master for guidance and at one point dictates the role that Foxx is to play in an effort to deceive the DiCaprio character. In the eyes of the German bounty hunter, Django isn't even one third of a human being but an "extension" of himself; the German says that he is "responsible" for Django. I wasn't surprised that Hillary Crosley of TheRoot "enjoyed" the movie even after describing a black audience's hostile questions to its white Negro director Tarantino. Throughout the movie,Tarantino reminds us that the Foxx character is unique. Comic book white racists, when reacting to Django, say things like "I ain't never seen a n—– like you."Or "I ain't never seen a n—– on horseback." In case you didn't get the message it's said twice in the movie that Django is "one in ten thousand" blacks. It might have been "Django" producer Reginald Hudlin who introduced Tarantino to the "Talented Tenth" concept originated by W.E.B DuBois. I wish that Hudlin had written the movie. As it stands, Foxx is chained to this stupid screenplay. Tarantino, despite the history of black resistance, apparently believes that progress for blacks has been guided by an elite, which doesn't explain the hundreds of revolts throughout this hemisphere which weren't guided by German bounty hunters nor Abraham Lincoln, nor a Talented Tenth Negro. Judging from his letters, the revolt in Haiti scared the blank out of Thomas Jefferson and his friends. Arna Bontemps wrote about the revolt led by the slave Gabriel in "Black Thunder," but this novel like most fiction written by black males, won't reach the screen nor will Margaret Walker's great "Jubilee." And if these classics did they wouldn't receive the kind of promotion this movie has received nor did Spike Lee's movie about the heroic efforts of black soldiers who fought in Italy in World War 11, "Miracle at St. Anna." It only played at one Oakland theater at a single 10:30 p.m. showing.Those who objected to a black soldier having an Italian girlfriend will probably "enjoy" the role played by Kerry Washington. Scant isn't the word. Her lines total about two paragraphs and she wanders through the film either grimacing in pain,weeping or modeling a yellow dress in Django's fantasy. A waste of talent. Also in this movie, we have black slavers, who are even lower than house slaves according to writer Tarantino. I don't know where Tarantino gets his information, but some of the great orators who argued on behalf of emancipation of their fellow slaves were from the house. They had their own ways of dealing with cruel slave managers in the house. Often they used poison. I saw the film in Berkeley where the audience was about 95% white. They really had a good time. A row of white women sitting in front of me broke into applause as Django blew away the white mistress of the plantation who was sort of silly frivolous set up like some of the blacks in the movie. Samuel L. Jackson, who starred in Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," plays himself. To compare this movie to a spaghetti western and a blaxploitation film is an insult to both genres. It's a Tarantino home movie with all of the racist licks that appear in his other movies. The debate about who should tell the black story is an old one. Benjamin Drew collected the stories of ex-slaves who had fled to Canada in an 1855 anthology. One section is entitled "As Told By Themselves." Black leaders have protested the films "Birth of a Nation," "Gone With The Wind," and the musical "Porgy and Bess," all of which, like "Precious," and this movie, have been praised by mainstream critics. W.E.B. DuBois once discouraged a white writer from writing about blacks. In a 1863 letter to Frederick Douglass, novelist and soldier Martin Delaney accuses Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," of plagiarism for lifting Josiah Henson's autobiography and the work of several other black writers. He writes, "She Cannot Tell Our Story." I think that some whites do very well when writing non fiction about slavery and have found the works of Litwack, Lowen, and Foner to be useful. Tarantino isn't one of those, but the business people who put this abomination together don't care what I think or about the opinions of the audience members who gave Tarantino a hard time during that recent q.and a. Earlier this week, the movie tracking site Box Office Mojo reported that "Django" was No. 2 at the box office on Christmas Day, earning just over $15 million dollars. Ishmael Reed's latest book is "Going Too Far." He is currently visiting scholar at The California College of the Arts.


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This was one (almost) full-time marathon WoW weekend! And the achievements I attained are both astounding and amazing. Ok.. enough of that! 🙂
We can go daily….
On Friday, our guild joined another guild for a run on Gruul's Lair. We provided 15 players and they provided 10. We had 6 Hunters (I […]


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I started getting serious about photography two years ago before heading to Iceland for a trip. I bought a D40 and a Tokina wide-angle for landscapes for a total cost of about $900.
I got some decent shots. For example,
Over the past two years I've added a Sigma 70-300mm 4.6f at about $250 and a Nikon 50mm 1.8f for about $225. Still getting some good shots including these from last month:
In November, I'm taking a trip to Africa and am considering upgrading. Right now, I'm sitting on the fence between upgrading the body to a Nikon D700 or keeping the D40 and getting a 300mm f/2.8 VRII. Either one of those options means spending as much or more on upgrading gear than on the trip itself.
So my question is, as a hobbyist with some semi-pro aspirations and a desire to enter serious amateur competitions, am I getting out of control with buying gear too early, or should I just keep getting better with what I have right now? Primarily, I just love taking photos. Making money and entering contests will always be secondary. I just wonder with where I am in my current abilities if so much money going into gear will bring an equivalent amount of satisfaction from something that I'm not really doing for the money or notoriety.


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It is the holy grail of many physicists. Nuclear fusion, the process of fusing two atomic nuclei together to form a single heavier nucleus, could turn the energy industry on its head. You see nuclear fusion everyday. Just look up at that bright ball of fiery gas in the sky and you'll see what I mean. The process that occurs everyday on the sun is called nuclear fusion and its by-product is enormous energy. The problem with trying to replicate the process here on earth is that we haven't been able to reach the "break even" point, which is the point where the amount of energy produced by the reaction exceeds the amount of energy it takes to start it. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have succeeded in a dry-run experiment that draws us one step closer to nuclear fusion power.
Pictured above, a cylindrical tube called a "liner" is subjected to intense electromagnetic pressure by the labs "Z" machine thereby causing it to implode. The process is called MagLIF (Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion). The tube is intended to eventually be filled with nuclear fuel called deuterium (AKA heavy hydrogen). In theory, if the liner can maintain its cylindrical integrity while being crushed by the incredible magnetic pressure, it should essentially squeeze these deuterium atoms in a manner that would create a fusion reaction. The problem is to find the sweet spot to make this happen. If the liner is too thick, then it will take too much energy to produce the reaction. If it is too thin, then the liner will be ripped to shreds before the reaction can take place. The cylindrical beryllium liners fared pretty well in the recent experiments. Researchers plan to perform a couple more MagLIF concepts in experiments this December, which will incorporate lasers to preheat the core fuel to put more energy into the experiment prior to the magnetic pulses, and additional coils at the top and bottom of the liner to keep possible fuel elements from leaking out. They hope to test the full concept by the end of 2013.
For more information, visit Sandia National Laboratories website at http://www.sandia.gov.