Ks Are Wild

There’s a dozen or so movies that I can think of that I would always watch when they came on tv.  Not that I planned it out and checked the tv guide or anything, the ones that are cyclical or seasonal that the basic tv stations would air every so often.  Didn’t matter how many times I’d seen it or even if I owned it, it was a guilty pleasure thing that would suck me in and I’d watch while doing some task.  Splash comes to mind and Swiss Family Robinson, pretty much any musical ever, and Babes in Toyland starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon from 1961.  It’s a musical of all the characters from Mother Goose’s book of rhymes and tales.  The scene with the talking moving trees used to scare me but I’d still watch it.  Mainly, I’d just watch the first half of the movie for my favorite part; a song called “I can’t do the Sum” by Annette Funicello.  Remembering how much I enjoyed this movie, I knew Kosette would like it too.

Well, watching this particular scene, and hearing the lyrics to this song, I was appalled at its message.  I have never been terrific at math (understatement of the century).  At my tutor’s house, I was mortified that her 1st grader could do what I couldn’t at 4th grade.  And a very sharp memory, that still pains me and probably would make my mom cringe if I refreshed her memory, was when I was in the car on the drive home from 6th grade, excited, because I’d finally figured out what I wanted to be —– a zoologist.  And you want to know what my mom said dismissively, “You can’t do that, you suck at math.”  Now I know, and I can recognize that my mom’s tone of voice, and technique, showed that she was using a bit of reverse psychology.  But it backfired.  Even though I protested, I did so weakly, because there was this little bitty part of me that just gave up hope, “Well, if my own MOM thinks that I’m bad at math, I really must be.”  Completely unintentional on my mom’s part….it’s just one of those learning curves as a parent I guess.  Something I’m going to try to avoid with my own kids.  There’s a whole mess of other mistakes already made and waiting to be made.  Sometimes I feel, I’ve been searching for a profession ever since.

So then I had a choice to make.  Should I donate the movie to someone else because it doesn’t fit my feminist standards?  Especially when I still sorta like it?  I opted to keep it, as I have others, to use it as a prompt for discourse with my children about messages they’re getting.  She’s going to ultimately come across stuff like this, does so on a daily basis.  I want her to be able to recognize it for what it is.  The movie is now in the category of “with adult supervision and dialogue ONLY”.

The total bummer…Don’t know why I never noticed it much before but most musicals are absolutely horrible in they’re gender messages.  I have to completely suspend that part of my brain and stay in complete denial now, when I, and we, watch them.  Like Twilight.  Don’t think about it from a Feminist perspective, it’ll kill the books I so guiltily love….they are the ultimate guilty pleasure for me.  When I was in college I took a Gender and Feminism in Film class.  That would’ve made my perfect final paper – sexism and gender roles/identity in the American musical genre.  Instead I did something based on all of the Alien films.  Betcha didn’t know I liked those did you?  They’re very different from Babes in Toyland and Beach Blanket Bingo side of me.

What do you think?  I wish I could’ve found the lyrics somewhere.  Looks like I’m going to have to sit down and write them out myself one day when I have all the extra time in the world – yeah right.

After all the anticipatory hype for The Flight of the Conchords concert in Portland, how can I not tell you how it was?  Frackin’ Awesome!  You know, the kind where your cheeks hurt from smiling so much.  It didn’t matter that I was still sick with a cold, drinking throat coat tea, blowing my nose a bunch, I still screamed my lungs out and sang when it came time for the ladies in the audience participation.  Yes, there was a requested audience participation – remember the Exgirlfriends song with all the exgirlfriends singing like a choir in Season 2 called “Carol Brown (Choir of the Exgirlfriends).”

It began with their entrance in the tin foil box robot head costumes from season 1,  progressed into the “Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor” complete with the discoball collander codpieces, and was filled with the typical banter of their characters making fun of the random audience screams, squeezing in a “congratulations you pregnant bitches” in the middle of a song, an outrageous dance to “Sugarlumps” that women went wild for (even a drunk lady in front climbed on stage to maul Bret with a hug and security had to be called in), a couple of “pussy palace” pet store comments and other such jokes poking fun at Portland’s largest number of strip joints per capita and Oregonians love of nature.  There was also a lot of physical comedy with large flowers thrown by an audience member trying to be stuffed and stay upright in teeny water bottles on stage.  The running gag of trying to find a suitable container or decoration spot on stage continued throughout the show.   They also had a really cool, and might I say pretty handsome cellist that accompanied with them through much of the concert.

But the best moment of the entire show hand’s down was an impromptu performance of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird.”  Well, not really impromptu, the guy who yelled it out was a plant, and those guys were just too skilled at its comedic rendition and I was able to find it in some YouTube clips of previous concerts.  Bret even jumped over to the drums to further rock out, Jemaine’s vocals were perfect, and they broke into miscellaneous bird trill noises – hysterical.  Based on the YouTube clips I did see, I think they worked out all the kinks and practiced more because by the time they hit our Portland concert in MidMay, it was killer.  I’m amazed anybody got any footage because security was pretty on the ball in grabbing people’s cameras throughout the performance.

In short, they are not to be missed.  I would TOTALLY see them again, only next time I hope Kham is able to come with me.  They were a great cure and distraction for someone with a nasty headcold.

And by the way, I LOVED Portland!!!   I can’t wait to see more of it.  A big city that is beautiful.  Go figure.  There are so many mature trees.  Didn’t dig driving around it though.  I would much rather be taking public transportation, which I should be doing anyway.

Beforehand, we grabbed pizza at a place called Hot Lips Pizza amidst Portland State University buildings.

It uses all local, organic ingredients and I must say the zucchini, cilantro pesto, feta cheese slice I had was absolutely delicious; very zingy – even with a cold.  Afterward, we nabbed unique donuts (Captain Crunch covered was the one I wanted) at a local sorta underground spot called VooDoo Donuts where “the magic is in the hole.”   Next time I want to try the maple bacon kind that people rave about.

The concert itself was held at “The Schnitz” as the locals call the “Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.” I really liked the theatre.  And our seats were great – the first row center of the mezzanine.

Thanks Kriste for inviting me!

Happy   Double 18th Birthday!!

Years ago, when Kosette was an infant and I often laid around nursing watching the Food Network channel on cable, I saw a Jamie Oliver “The Naked Chef” Christening episode where he made his guests a champagne jello with berries set in it.  It was gawgeeeeus!  And looked mouth-wateringly good to boot.  But come on, it has champagne as the main ingredient, so it’s already automatically a winner in my book!  That recipe idea has lingered in the recesses of my brain, waiting, waiting, for the perfect moment.  That moment came last weekend when, at a wine tasting at my work, I sampled an especially scrumptious Semi-sparkling Muscat by Noble Estates 2007.  (Award winning, local Eugene, OR vineyard http://www.nobleestatevineyard.com/local.php, sold for $13-17 a bottle).  Soooooooo good with aromas of peach, pear, apricot and orange blossom.  The peach was the strongest taste to me.  But it was lightly flavored; not the heavily, over flavored dessert type.  But one that would lend itself nicely to the champagne gelatin dessert idea.  So, when I tasted that my brain went ZING!  That’s it, that’s the perfect champagne for that recipe.  Now I just have to wait until our local fruits and berries are in season to try it out.  What visitor will be my trial subjects?

Here’s the recipe from The Naked Chef.  English guy with English measurements.  I’ll need to find out the equivalents.  It looked like this:

Jamie’s recipe for Summer Fruit, Elderflower and Prosecco Jelly from his book “Happy Days with the Naked Chef”  -  serves 10.

This is a great dessert that is really tasty.  It refreshes the palate and you can make it in a tureen mould or dish, or you can do individual ones.  Use any combination of fruit, but not pineapple or kiwi fruit, as the jelly won’t set if you do.

8 punnets of mixed soft fruits (blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries)
4 leaves of gelatine
140mls / 1/4 pint elderflower cordial
2 heaped tablespoons caster sugar
425mls / 3/4 pint Prosecco (sparkling Italian wine) chilled

First of all decide whether you want to make one big jelly or small individual ones.  If you are making a big one, it’s a good idea to line the dish with clingfilm.  Put your ripe fruit into your mould or moulds and refrigerate.  Put your gelatine leaves into a bowl with a little cold water to soak for a minute, then drain and add the gelatine back to the bowl with the cordial.  Heat above a pan of water over a medium heat and stir constantly until the gelatine and cordial become a syrup.  At this point you can add your sugar, stir till dissolved, then remove the bowl from the heat and let it sit at room temperature for a minute or so.

Take your fruit and Prosecco out of the fridge.  The idea being that your fruit moulds and Prosecco are all chilled, so the bubbles stay in the jelly when it sets and they fizz in your mouth when you eat it – beautiful.  Pour the Prosecco into your cordial mix and then pour this over your fruit.  Some of the fruit might rise to the top, so using your finger just push the fruit down into the jelly mix so that it is sealed and will then keep well in the fridge.  Put back into the fridge for an hour to set.

To serve, dip your mould into a bowl of hot water to loosen the outside of the jelly, then turn it out on to a plate.  Great served with a little creme fraiche, but just as good on its own

Here’s a comparable looking recipe that’s a bit more basic:

Champagne jelly makes for a sophisticated dinner party dessert. In this recipe the jelly complemented with luscious blueberries and juicy pomegranate seeds.

The jelly can be made with champagne or for something more economical, use sparkling white wine.

This is a dessert that can be made the day before and should be served chilled. Please note that it takes 3 1/2 hours for the jelly to set.

I use powdered gelatine in this recipe however it also comes in the form of ‘leaves’. If you’re using leaves, then the measurements will be slightly different so make sure you follow the instructions on the packet.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of champagne or sparkling white wine
• 1 Tbsp of powdered gelatine
• 3/4 cup of castor (berry) sugar
• 1/2 cup of pomegranate arils (seeds)
• 1/2 cup of blueberries
• Serves 4

Preparation:

1. Boil some water. Place gelatine powder in a small bowl. Add 2 1/2 tablespoons of boiling water to the powder and stir to dissolve completely.
2. Heat castor sugar and champagne in a small saucepan over a low heat. Stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve sugar completely. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Stir dissolved gelatine into the champagne mixture. Stir over a low heat for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and leave mixture to cool for 5 minutes.
4. Divide half of the blueberries and pomegranates amongst 4 serving glasses. Pour a little of the jelly mixture over the berries in each glass. Place in the fridge and set for 1 1/2 hours. Make sure you keep the remaining jelly mixture at room temperature while the jelly glasses set.
5. Once jelly glasses are set, pour remaining jelly mixture evenly into each serving glass and set for a further 2 hours.
6. Serve chilled.

So what does it mean when your daughter sees the Eye of Sauron everywhere?  Cuckoo goth chick in the making?  I prefer to think it means you’ve succeeded in molding your child into the Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, worshiping fans that you are.

Here is the “real” one as shown in the film.

Here is an instance where she’s seen the shape in other things.  It’s a local sculpture on the riverfront in downtown Corvallis.  You walk by it during the Saturday farmer’s market.  It is called “The Heart of the Valley” as in Corvallis is the heart of the Willamette Valley.  Something to that effect.  Or the Willamette river is the heart.

She even doodled it the other day, to our dismay and amusement.

While I’m at it, anybody seen this hysterical video of how The Lord of the Rings should have ended?!

That’s us.  At least Kosette and I.  Some of you may know that I used to be a Faire Freak, as in Renaissance Faire freak.  There were always some customers that banded about in their fairy costumes.  Some were flipping awesome!  Many booths sold fairy like items, including wings.  Well, when my daughter was 3 or so, my sister bought her her first pair of fairy wings.  This was no cheap dollar store/Michaels set.  They were variable green, woodland fairy, with comfy arm straps, adhered flowers and leaves and such.  Very cool.  They are in tatters now so I’ve been thinking about trying my hand at making her a new pair.

I wanted to share three different sites with you all who are crafters, costume lovers, love playing with makeup, etc. Faire folk.  The first is an awesome site, from a couple people in Portland.  It’s called Threadbangers.  They deconstruct sewing steps down with genius shortcuts that make you feel you could sew any crazy clothing thing.  I’ve lost myself wandering around their amusing videos before.  www.threadbangers.com

The next site is this English chic on youtube who just plays with makeup online while you watch and she tells you what product she’s using and how she’s applying it.  There are a ton of hers showing you every different inspired look under the sun.  Here’s just one fairy type one that she showed.

Lastly, as summer approaches and we discuss our plans, I think about my goal to make it to the Oregon Country Faire in Eugene finally (alot of our old Faire folk go to that and booth owners that used to work the Southern California faire, go to that one).  BUT there’s something I think Kosette and I would like even better.  I stumbled upon it last year online.  It’s called Fairy Fest and it’s in Eugene of all places.  They have a kickass website that you could check out.  There’s awesome music, dancing, and like I love, people go ALL OUT with their costumes.  If I were to choose anywhere in the world that I think Kosette would flipping FREAK out she was so ecstatically happy that the pleasure center of her brain would just explode it would be this event. http://www.faerieworlds.com/

There are some great photos of the event here: http://faerieworlds.smugmug.com/

This event is Faerieworlds 2007 and 2006 not FaerieCon.  Everybody looks so incredibly happy to be there and in the best mood and wanting to commune with others.  Unlike Disneyland, where you wonder if the characters are bitchy jerks behind the scenes hating their job and the parents look like they’re going to throttle their screaming children.

They do a gigantic spiral dance with all the guests even:

I simply must take her this year.  It speaks to her love of music, dancing, playing dress up, fairies, crafting….something we love talking about together.  Especially since she’s on that cusp where the older kids are trying to break down her imaginations with the “reality” and the “truth”.  It seems my neighbor boy is on a mission to destroy her belief in fairies right now.  She asked me recently if fairies were real and I had to answer honestly, “No less real to me than God.”  And we had that eerily similar discussion of “just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they don’t exist.  But you can see things in the natural world that seem like fairies were there, or helped them, or made a little mischief.  What matters is that you believe in them.  And fairies don’t appear to non-believers, that’s why John hasn’t seen them.”

You local friends, wanna go with us?  Auntie Julie or Jesse, wanna visit and come with us?  Anybody?

I was a weird youth; weird in that I liked things that were very unpopular with my age group, like KEarth 101 the 50s radio station, musicals, youth group, horse back riding (that only applies to Los Angelonians), and Little House on the Prairie and the Golden Girls.  I didn’t like New Kids on the Block – that was a big divider between myself and other girls my age – that one put me in the freak category.  Anyway, I loved the show The Golden Girls.  I even watched its spin-off Empty Nest.  I always used to quiz myself, “If I were a golden girl, which one would I be?”  Probably Blanche.  Hee, hee.  I bet a lot of my old High School friends would agree with that one.  Anyway, I felt more like the responsible Dorothy all the time.  I was the annoying goody-goody to people in H.S., or at least perceived that way, so I always thought people would answer Dorothy if asked about me.  She was played by Bea (or Beatrice) Arthur, who recently passed away at 86.

I bring this up why?  I guess to share that little  personal factoid that I had forgotten, but also to illucidate those who don’t know about Arthur’s other big television contribution as “Maude”, in the self-titled show.  It was a spin-off of the Archie Bunker show with Maude, being his liberal, feminist cousin and ran during the 70s.  I bring it up mainly for its landmark, two part episode in 1972, called “Maude gets an abortion.”  I saw a clip of it in some compilation show about most important tv moments or something like that.  Wow, in doing some research on this just now, I found out a lot more interesting info.  Go to the Series History and Topicality section here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maude_(TV_series)

This is the info. that I was specifically seeking though.:

Maude had an abortion in November 1972, two months before the Roe v. Wade decision made abortion legal nationwide, and the episodes which dealt with the situation are probably the series’ most famous and most controversial. Maude, at age 47, was crushed when she found herself pregnant, and everyone agreed with her that having a baby at her age was very risky and not a wise thing to happen. Her daughter, Carol, brought to her attention that abortion was now legal in New York state. After some soul-searching (and discussions with Walter, who agreed that raising a baby at their ages was not very wise), Maude tearfully decided at the end of the two-parter that abortion was probably the best choice. Noticing the wide controversy around the episode, CBS decided to rerun the episodes in August 1973, and members of the country’s clergy reacted strongly to the decision. At least 30 stations dropped the show.Future Golden GirlsSusan Harris was a writer on the episode.

“Maude” tv show lyrics:

Lady Godiva was a freedom rider
She didnt’ care if the whole world looked.
Joan of Arc with the Lord to guide her
She was a sister who really cooked.

Isadora was the first bra burner
And you’re glad she showed up. (Oh yeah)
And when the country was falling apart
Betsy Ross got it all sewed up.

And then there’s Maude.
And then there’s Maude.
And then there’s Maude.
And then there’s Maude.
And then there’s Maude.
And then there’s Maude.
And then there’s

That old compromisin’, enterprisin’, anything but tranquilizing,
Right on Maude.

For the record, I was not searching this info. out.  I was watching a video on recreating the coral reef through a highly mathematical process of crocheting (recommended by a fellow crafter on her blog).  I saw this in the sidebar and I was curious.  I first learned about this when I attended Humboldt during my zoology class – especially how pandemics can be looked at as nature’s built-in mechanism for a population purge for when we’ve hit or are near earth’s carrying capacity – which many argue is close or past (since we’re practically quadrupling in the amount of time we were hardly doubling).

“Carrying capacity” for you non-biology people is the term for:

• The supportable population of an organism, given the food, habitat, water and other necessities available within an environment is known as the environment’s carrying capacity for that organism. …
  
• The maximum number of organisms, in a given species, that can use a given area of habitat without degrading the habitat and without causing stresses that result in the population being reduced.

If there’s anything I learned from that zoology class, this was one of about four terms that made a huge impression on me, which is why I still remember the terminology.  Other words I liked were: oviviparous, genetic bottleneck, and sexual dimorphism.  Big pats on the back of you folks who can define those off the top of your heads.

We’re also WAY past our natural cycle of pandemics.  Overdue.  I feel sort of a weird connection and fascination with pandemics as my great uncle George Patterson, my dad’s namesake, died from the Spanish Influenza in 1918.  He was a very healthy 18 year old; a cadet at Westpoint (I think it was there – or some other high profile training place on the west coast).  His death and its suddenness devastated my family.  I rarely heard him spoken of by my grandma even though he was her best pal and she named her own son after him.   I caught a special on PBS years ago about the American Experience of the 1918 influenza.  It was fascinating.  Here’s its synopsis: “In September of 1918, soldiers at an army base near Boston suddenly began to die. The cause of death was identified as influenza, but it was unlike any strain ever seen. As the killer virus spread across the country, hospitals overfilled, death carts roamed the streets and helpless city officials dug mass graves. It was the worst epidemic in American history, killing over 600,000–until it disappeared as mysteriously as it had begun.”

Anyway, ever since that class and a terrifying special on PBS that came out around 2005 about pandemics and carrying capacity and the spanish influenza…, the idea of a pandemic, well, scares the bejeezus out of me.  Swine flu didn’t really scare me even though there was an outbreak not far from here and lots of people from Corvallis are in contact with that school.  But bird flu?  That does freak me out a bit.  Corvallis is a huge migratory corridor of birds; ESPECIALLY waterfowl because we have lots of wetlands.  It’s not like I’m losing sleep over this, but I do perk my ears up whenever pandemics are discussed that’s for sure.

Anyhow, here’s the great and captivating video clip by a Pultizer Prize winner and expert talking about the Bird Flu that I accidentally stumbled upon:

Laurie Garrett on Lessons from the 1918 flu

This is soooo not what I was going to blog about today.  Strange.  Let’s end this on more of a comedic note so I don’t look like a paranoid worry wart.  This is just an odd interest of mine as it relates to my genealogy.  Here’s a bit of black comedy for you then:

I’m so stoked!  Thanks to my new friend, Kriste, who has the same birthday as me, and who first introduced me to Flight of the Conchords, I’m going to see them perform LIVE tonight in PORTLAND!  Woohoo!!!!!   She bought the tix, I’m driving, and her friend who we’re going to pick up in Salem and whom I haven’t yet met is paying for dinner or at least part of it.  Anyway, I was so excited that she invited me and we’ve been counting down the days together for weeks now.  Of course, now I’m freakin’ sick with a head cold – figures- ARG!  Sometimes I feel like Charlie Brown you know.  It’s like a curse now – if I finally have some event or trip I get so excited it makes me sick?!  It doesn’t help that my kiddos are walking germ factories.  If the Swine Flu hit Corvallis we’d be screwed.  I was hoping to be over it by tonight since I came down with it on the 7th but no such luck.  I’m going anyway damnit.  I sure could use the real break.  Can you believe that I’ve lived her for 3 years now and have never been anywhere in Portland save the airport?!  No, I’m not exaggerating.  While I’m at it, same goes for Eugene.  I haven’t made it to IKEA in Portland or Trader Joe’s in Eugene.  It’s a travesty and something I MUST remedy this summer.  These kids and puppy are gonna be toted all around this summer because I’m getting out to see the area no matter what!  The nice thing about going to a concert in Portland instead of LA is that I don’t have to sweat the outfit.  I’m going to choose my lamest t-shirt ever like the character Brett, maybe a lame sweatshirt too or a polar fleece, and sneakers or clogs.  So, basically, my standard fare.

Now if only I could watch the entire second season this afternoon before leaving.  Don’t think that one’s gonna happen.  I had better clean out my car too so my guests aren’t sitting on spare doggie doo bags and army men.

Thanks again to Miss Jenny and her property full of inspirations; this one just happened to be calligraphied in a frame on her bathroom wall:

“Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.”

Albert Einstein

Not much to say about it yet…still mulling it over.  It’s definitely one that makes you think.

Check out this recent Saturday Night Live episode with Justin Timberlake singing a song called “Motherlover” also starring Susan Sarandon and Patricia What’s her name the aunt from Six Feet Under:

I have been sick and worked the entire weekend, finally nearly losing my voice last night.  I burned my hand rather badly yesterday with scalding water straight from the kettle.  It ran underneath my metal watch burning the top of my wrist and the entire back of my left hand.  Used a little aloe plant to soothe it, something I haven’t done in a long while.  Boy did it bring me back to my childhood in LA.  My mom had a gigantic aloe vera plant in a pot on our back brick patio that we used.  I guess I got burned frequently because I remember doing that a lot.  It always surprises me how smell can be such a memory trigger.  Evidently, to my brain aloe = summertime.  Anyhow, any plans of dishes or gardening are thwarted because my hand, in all its blisteredness, is extremely sensitive but thankfully, not as bad as yesterday.

Mother’s Day wasn’t a total wash as we ordered Indian food from Evergreen restaurant, put the kids down without a story as neither one of us were up to it, and watched the final episode of Battle Star Galactica Season 4 where they finally make it to earth only to find it completely ravaged.  I’m guessing we careless humans did that.  We’re totally bumming because the final season (4.5) isn’t out on DVD yet (unless you’re gonna buy it).  Who knows how long we’ll have to wait.  We might have to suffer through a combination of surf the channel and You Tube in order to satisfy our Battlestar cravings.  Next up in our Netflix Queu is The Wrestler.  Nothing sounds better than curling up in bed with a good movie and a cup of medicinal Throat Coat tea.

Mother’s Day Gifts?  Well, a strong show of support/touching gesture by Kham folding our monster pile of laundry while sick himself and watching our kids and puppy.  That was definitely a loving thing to do.  The big gift being the puppy (mother’s day and my birthday combined), who is curled up sleeping at my feet as I type.  More about her in another post all to her own.