peanut butter etouffee...

...and other food oddities. an exercise in food blogging undertaken by my mom, my aunt and myself, in which we generally provide a transcript of a one of our typical family gatherings (make food, eat food, talk about food we've eaten, talk about food we've made, talk about food we'd like to make, talk about food we'd like to eat, etc.). check it out.

Peanut Butter Etouffee

the cleptocracy

i have been saying it for months, maybe years: the only difference between the current bush administration and the ferdinand marcos administration in the philippines is laura bush probably doesn't have 3,000 pairs of shoes. well, that and george (the tanned vampire) hamilton doesn't seem to be hanging out with dubya all that much. anyway, the current administration is nothing but a bunch of crooks that are in it to make money for themselves and their giant corporation friends. case in point: halliburton. 'nuff said.

so, ever since this dubai ports debacle broke in the news, i have been asking, "where's the money? what fobs (friend of bush) are getting rich off this?" well, i think i just found them, and they're all related to treasury secretary john snow and railroad and shipping conglomerate, csx. here's an interesting blog post or two pointing out the connection between snow, csx and dubai ports world, who just bought p&o.

in february 2005, csx sold their ports business called, csx world terminals, to dubai ports international for more than $1.1 billion, see page 3 of csx's 10K.

dubai ports world was later formed from the dubai port authority and dubai ports international terminals.

a dubai ports world executive was appointed by dubya on january 24, 2006 to be our country’s maritime administrator, in charge of our nation’s ports, among other things.

dubai ports world just purchased p&o on february 13, 2006. snow’s treasury department just gave the ok on the p&o sale to dubai ports world. john snow, current treasury secretary, was chairman and ceo of csx until he took the treasury job in january 2003.

so, basically, you work for a big company, then you get put into a position of power in the administration where you can use your power to do favors for that company and its friends. that’s how it works. at the very least, you have a glaring conflict of interest.

there’s also an interesting carlyle group connection, although they don’t seem to be directly related to the dubai port deal. interesting to note that csx is also in bed with the carlyle group, which is, in turn, in bed with the bush family. it’s how dubya will make all his money...when daddy bush shuffles off this mortal coil. you will remember the carlyle group from the infamous michael moore movie, Fahrenheit 9/11, they are longtime fob's. in fact, dubya used to sit on their board (until he was asked to leave) and daddy bush was a “senior advisor” until he retired in october 2003 and is still a shareholder. in addition to the substantial saudi connections to carlyle, the group is also making a ton of money off the united arab emirates, who invested about $8 billion in the carlyle group in 2005, through the uae government backed company, dubai international capital. in february 2003, csx sold the majority interest of their container shipping lines, called csx lines, to the carlyle group, forming a joint venture called horizon lines, which was later sold. see page 4 of csx’s 2004 10K.

have you heard anything about this on the msm? no. only knee-jerk, racist hysteria about arabs being in charge of american ports. and the msm and republican lapdogs are doing exactly what bush’s handlers want. they don’t want you looking at the real issue, which is how the bush administration are using our government to make themselves and their friends rich. wake the fuck up, people.

settle any argument

http://www.googlefight.com/

suprisingly addictive

happy mardi gras

in the immortal words of the radiators (who are probably still on stage from last night): "party til the money runs out."

in other news, the cioppino gauntlet was thrown down at the weekend and, within hours, the challenge has been accepted from tombstone tumbleweed. someone please buy her house.

better late than never

finally got around to converting the pics i took of my dia de los muerto altar...last november 2. the altar was my best ever, with marigold garlands added to the mix. the photos were not so good, though. here's the best wide shot. two other pics up on flickr.

a cioppino challenge...

...from tombstone tumbleweed, as found in one of the comments on my blog...

"But I thought I made the best cioppino in the world. Mine does rival those made in the finest joints in SF. We should have a cook-off once I move closer to you."

bring. it. on.

day job

normally, articles in the msm about immigration are barely researched, poorly written and, often, just plain wrong. however, i found an article that is actually pretty good, about a top indian scientist who was given all kinds of grief at the u.s. consulate in chennai. as background, his field of research (chemistry) makes him eligible for something called the technology alert list but any consular officer worth her salt would be able to review his c.v. and previous visa history and see that there are no weapons implications and issue the visa without having to get a clearance from department of state. at any rate, it is a good example of how the consular officers treat applicants: they start with the assumption that everyone is lying and go from there. and if that's is how they treat a distinguished scientist, imagine how they treat the average person. this is why i hate my job.

maxwell's silver hammer

just listening to "abbey road" and remarking to myself, "damn, maxwell's silver hammer is such a good song!" it's so f'ing wierd, but then the music is all cute & poppy, which just accentuates the dark lyrics. i love that song. i guess that' s why i named my dog after it. no kidding, that's max's official registered name with the akc. here he is in all his extreme closeup glory (this is basically what i see when i first open my eyes in the morning).



p.s., i put up links to multy & max's dogster sites on the right...

what is this world coming to?

ok, so i'm at the movie theatre (to see syriana, by the way, and i'm still trying to figure that shit out) and the theatre has this pre-show "adver-tainment" that basically has all these ads that you aren't supposed to think are ads, interspaced with, you guessed it, more ads. annoying, but pretty easy to ignore. but at one point they have this really annoying ad for this ky 2-in-1 warming body massage and personal lubricant (it's a floor polish; no, it's a dessert topping). ok, there are so many things wrong with that, i don't know where to start. why do i have to see this uptight yuppie bitch talking about personal-f'ing-lubricant when i'm in a movie theatre!? but it's ok, this gets funny. the commercial cuts to a shot of the entire product line at the end and one of the products is called "paris twilight" and i wasn't exactly paying attention so i read it really fast and i thought it said "penis twilight" and i was all "no they didn't." then i realized that it said "paris" not "penis" and i totally lost it. i mean, totally lost it, laughing so hard i couldn't breathe or even sit up in my chair, tears running down my face, people looking at me, husband trying to pretend that he's not with me - that kind of laughing. so, thank you ky for that moment, but: one, please keep your ads out of the movie theatres (at least normal movie theatres); and two, you may want to rethink using the word "paris" in your advertisements. i'm still laughing.

new pics up on flickr...

...this is one of the cutest, if i do say so myself. check 'em out, flickr link to the right.

I hate it when...

...I hear a song I like playing in an elevator or in a supemarket or mall or something. It makes me wonder about my taste in music.

Sent wirelessly via BlackBerry from T-Mobile.

puppybowl

couldn't be buggered to watch the superbowl, but did catch most of animal planet's puppybowl 2. favorite part: the bowl cam, in which a camera is placed looking up from the bottom of the water bowl and you get to see puppies drink. least favorite part: kitten half time. and from what i've heard about the actual superbowl game, this was actually time well spent.

mustang sally

just found out that wilson pickett died today at age 64. so young! i first found out about wilson when i was in college and saw the movie "the commitments," which I credit as the beginning of my now lifelong appreciation for soul, r&b and the blues. so, "in the midnight hour" has a special place in my heart. and wilson is also responsible for another of my theme songs, "mustang sally," which is dear to my heart from driving around in a mustang for the better part of 10 years. but it really was my song of choice when i was fortunate enough to be tooling around town in this little sweetheart, my dream car and my future inheritance, during the summer of 2004. (as an aside, is it wierd to have theme songs? is it even wierder that i have theme songs only related to cars that i drive? i don't think i will have another one soon, though, unless someone rights a song about an acura. i also suspect this may be my aunt's theme song, too, and i'll hope she'll put a picture of her rad fastback up on her blog. anyway, back to wilson...)

so, in honor of wilson, get "mustang sally" rockin' on your cd player, ipod, or whatever, at top volume and have a good jam to send wilson off:

Mustang Sally, think you better slow your mustang down.
Mustang Sally, think you better slow your mustang down.
You been running all over the town now.
Oh! I guess I'll have to put your flat feet on the ground.

All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.
One of these early mornings, oh, you gonna be wiping your weeping eyes.

I bought you a brand new mustang 'bout nineteen sixty five.
Now you come around signifying a woman, you don't wanna let me ride.
Mustang Sally, think you better slow your mustang down.
You been running all over the town now.
Oh! I guess I'll have to put your flat feet on the ground.

All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.

thanks, wilson!

FUCK $C - yeah, i said it!

proud to be a bruin tonight! proud to wear my "i heart vy" (vince young) shirt and rub some salt in $c's football wounds. and so proud to watch our team out score, out rebound, out run, out class and just generally humiliate u$c from jordan farmar's ice-water-in-his-veins 3 point shot literally seconds into the game to the crowning glory of seeing kelvin kim subbed in near the end (you know the team you're playing is bad when our scrappy korean walk-on and crowd favorite gets court time). it was a joy to watch arron aflalo's intensity on offense and defense. i couldn't have been more thrilled to see luc-richard mbah a moute (who else has royalty on their team?), alfred aboya and ryan wright pulling down rebounds, blocking shots, forcing turnovers and generally making huge plays. darren collison's quickness brings a tear to my eye as i recall the good ol' days of tyus edney! it was great to witness mike roll coming into his own and in the starting lineup again. and i practically fainted at ryan hollins' two, yes two, no really, i'm telling you, two dunks in one game! i know cedric bozeman, josh shipp, lorenzo mata and michael fey were dying to be on the court, too, and we really miss seeing them play.

so, here's to my bruins. thanks for that game, you made us proud. we really needed that win to remind us that we are indeed the mighty bruins!

and as for $c's coach, let me just tell you that his technical foul was not for crumpling up his game plan and throwing it to the ground, it was for kicking the basketball as it was rolling towards ref and he should have been thrown out for it instead of that cheap technical foul.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=260180026

scarf

scarf
Originally uploaded by lornababy.

this is what happens when you leave my relatives alone with my christmas present and a digital camera...

mlk day

just in case you have never heard or read the entire "i have a dream" speech by martin luther king, jr., here is a great link with audio and text:

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/Ihaveadream.htm

how would mlk feel if he were alive today? would he think that progress has been made in the areas of civil rights and equality? i'm tempted to think not, if we judge today's situation by the standards that he set out in his speech:

"There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until 'justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.'"

other than the desegregation of hotels and restaurants (thank you, commerce clause) and the fact that african americans can now vote in mississippi, but apparently not in presidential elections in florida, what has changed? this country has let dr. king down. this country has let itself down. we owe dr. king and ourselves much more.

I love to hate u$c...

...they make it so easy. Here's the latest: a photo from the Rose Bowl game showing a dumbass USC "Song Girl" cheering as Texas scores! Since the cheerleaders and football players are all "Exercise Science" "majors," you think that they would spend at least one class on the rules of the game. "OK, Buffy, don't make me go over this again. When the other team scores, you DON'T cheer."

(Thank you, Dean from KROQ for pointing me to the Wizard of Odds blog: http://thewizardofodds.blogspot.com/2006/01/those-brilliant-usc-song-girls.html#links)

theme song

i forgot that i had a theme song; thanks for reminding me, ipod. it's calld "bitchin' camaro" by the dead milkmen and it goes a little somethin' like this:

BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO
I ran over my neighbors
BITCHIN CAMARAO, BITCHIN CAMARO
Now it's in all the papers.
My folks bought me a BITCHIN CAMARO with no insurance to match;
So if you happen to run me down, please don't leave a scratch.
I ran over some old lady one night at the county fair;
And I didn't get arrested, because my dad's the mayor.
BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO
Doughnuts on your lawn
BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO
Tony Orlando and Dawn
When I drive past the kids, they all spit and cuss,
Because I've got a BITCHIN CAMARO and they have to ride the bus.
So you'd better get out of my way, when I run through your yard;
Because I've got a BITCHIN CAMARO;
And an Exxon credit card.
BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO
Hey, man where ya headed?
BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO
I drive on unleaded.

(i miss my bitchin' camaro.)

One and nothing equals one

This is for all of you U$C brats and bandwagon-jumpers who have been yelling all season long that you were going for the national championship "three-peat." I know that they don't teach you anything useful at the University of Second Choice, so here's a little elementary math lesson: one and one equals two, not three. You have to have won two previous national championships to go for a "three-peat" and, as the picture above so plainly demonstrates (thanks to Bruin Report Online poster "uclaxray"), U$C only had one. And, actually, after last night's game, one and nothing equals one! So, shut up about your football dynasty...one national championship is just, well, ordinary. Come back to me when you have ELEVEN and then maybe we'll talk!

LOOO-HOOO-SERS!

Texas 41
U$C 38

As my coffee mug says, "My two favorite teams are UCLA and whoever's playing U$C." I'd never thought I say this, but, man, I LOVE TEXAS right now!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Vince Young! $C's been walking around town acting like they've already won this thing for the past four weeks, so thanks for wiping that smug grin of Pete Carroll's face. Let's hope this is the beginning of the end for $C. Fuck SC! Here's a link to the t-shirt that I purchased last night to celebrate! http://www.cafepress.com/buy/university%20texas/-/pv_design_details/pg_9/id_9344146/opt_/fpt_/c_/hlv_t