I've bloggered my last blogging time

Hello everyone--

If you want to continue following my escapades (and honestly, WHY would you) I am now officially doing the deed at:

http://floogee.wordpress.com

Come away from the emerging darkside which is quickly becoming Google and follow there.

Bye bye Blogger (soon)

So, I’m pretty sure I’m switching from Blogger and its AWFUL iOS app over to WordPress. Their app is fully formed and includes lots of great options.

Like, for example, video. You’d think mobile Blogger, being owned by the Google conglomerate, would allow simple adding of YouTube video ….. um, nope!

This is my first page published through the app. Lessee how it looks.

The wordpress address is: http://floogee.wordpress.com/

Lady Finger pudding for a Lady

With Thanksgiving now over I really wanted to come see Mom and sit with her for a spell. Kelly told me that we had a little bit of Icebox cake left over and that I should take it with me and give it to her.

When we were kids we only had Lady Finger pudding (Mom's name for it) twice a year. Thanksgiving and Christmas so it was a really big deal.

As a child I imagined it must have had some really expensive ingredients in it or was really hard to make when in fact it is incredibly simple.

Anyway, when I got to the care facility I spooned a bite into her mouth and her face LIT UP. Who knows what intimate memories with her past she may or may not have had but she sure connected with the taste.

After 10 spoonfuls or so she started to drift off so I stroked her hair and kept whispering that I loved her over and over till she finally fell asleep.

Today was both sweet and kind of hard and I'm glad I went. Thanks for the idea, Kel.

Leftovers!

So, tonight I cooked like I used to when I was Kitchen Manager for the Dinner Program for Homeless Women, something I did for four years during the Reagan/Bush 1 days of overlapping joy and prosperity.

Like most people, we had lots of Thanksgiving leftovers but small amounts of each so I took what we had and threw together this Turkey Tetrazzini for everyone as well as the neighbors. Seconds were eaten by a few so I guess I still have it.

Love among friends

Tonight, Kelly, Heather, Amy and myself met up impromptu with our good friends Abigail and Heather over an awesome dinner at Sticky Rice.

The original plan was for dinner and boobs at a Black Friday burlesque show but everyone had different reasons for needing to be awake early the next morning so we settled on just dinner and a couple of drinks.

I decided to try and create something personal by photographing a panoramic from the chair I sat in.

Here you go!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I had one of the best Thanksgivings in quite awhile. Kelly's sister Heather came down from New Jersey with her partner Amy and the next door neighbor came with her three kids and joined Kelly, Thea, Liam, me and Todd.

I was the primary cook and made the traditional dinner my Mom would have done:

Turkey with Sage dressing
Mashed potatoes
For dessert, Icebox cake.

Other contributions included Kelly's amazing Cranberry "relish"
Saira (from next door) slow braised a Leg of Lamb
Sweet Potatoes
Heather and Amy brought a slew of various Vegan dishes
Corn on the cob and Rolls

It was a lot better than yesterday's dinner, that's for sure.

Afterwards, the kids treated us to a dance and fashion show that was a blast to watch.

Lastly, I just wanted to say thanks Mom. You weren't there but your years of slaving in a hot kitchen and what I learned by watching (and eating!) were enjoyed by everybody. Happy Thanksgiving Ma!

Pre-Thanksgiving feast

What says that more than a six-pack of ......

What are the purposes of Art?

Roughly six months ago Steve Reich announced a new music project simply called WTC 9/11. The piece uses actual voices recorded (Air traffic, police, etc) as melody points that he then constructs the music around. None are victims of Ground Zero.

It is a beautiful piece and was the only thing I did on the 10th anniversary to honor that day. All of the 24/7 pieces on TV showing the actual events of that day are considered appropriate ways to "remember." By that I mean all of those horrific images and video. I even saw teasers a month before advertising these shows. Who here thinks that companies responsible for broadcasting them had in mind the premium advertising bucks that could be made that day by "honoring the memory." I do.

The new Reich piece was previewed on NPR and showed the manipulated image below that was originally intended for the cover.

Listen to short snippets of the piece at Nonesuch records.

Almost immediately there was huge backlash for the choice of the image. Here are some of the "nicer" comments:

I am in total agreement with Mr. xxxxx. I think you may have broken new ground. This is the first truly despicable classical album cover that I have ever seen.

Seems appropriately shoddy and exploitative to me.

You can't be serious Mr. Reich. Shame on you, the Kronos Quartet and Nonesuch for capitalizing on this. It is truly vile.

Even worse, the label that Reich is on caved into this idiotic chatter and changed the cover before it was released. In my iTunes library I replaced the new one with the original.

For me, Art serves many functions and one is shared catharsis. When I played this CD on 9/11 I was taken to a place of personal reflection and emotion over that day. Personal.

Had I turned the TV on and been spoon fed the actual images of that day I would have been no different than the idiots who slow down on freeways to get a glimpse of an accident.

This CD allowed me to move ahead, to better understand, to buffer the rawness. Television would have only reopened old wounds. That is what Art can do.

Anselm Kiefer at the Louvre

My friend's Brian and Heather are spending this Thanksgiving week in Paris and I was surprised with this series of emails from him showing a site-specific series of work by one of my favorite artists, Anselm Kiefer and I had to share them.

From Brian: "At the Louvre, there isn't any modern art, but in one corner there's a site-specific installation by Kiefer done in 2007 that was a cool surprise. All by itself in a staircase. Gotta be 20 ft. tall. On either side, there were two smaller sculptures he also did"

My first panoramic image

Microsoft has a free app for the iPhone called Photosynth that allows you to stitch together panoramic images just by moving the phone side to side. Very powerful and very cool.

Satyagraha

I have been a devoted fan of Philip Glass since I first saw he and his ensemble perform "The Photographer" back in 1982. Right after that I saw Koyaanisqatsi in it's first theatrical release and was blown away.

I've seen him perform with symphonies, collaborate with Allen Ginsberg and been witness to the ensemble play live to both the aforementioned Koyaanisqatsi as well as Powaqqatsi and although I would have LOVED to have seen Einstein on the Beach today I got closest to experiencing one of his operas, namely, the Met in HD performance of Satyagraha.

Kelly says it best as far as how the Met is advancing opera into the digital age so I'll just say that it was a moving and at times tear jerking experience. Later, I found out that the Baltimore Symphony is performing the music he wrote to accompany a multimedia show called LIFE: A Journey Through Time and we are most definitely going to attend.

My only wish is that, at 75, he tours one more time with his ensemble. Pretty please!?

Happy birthday Liam!

Today was his sixth birthday. Amazing, he was two when I first met him and it's been an extreme pleasure watching him grow. Here he is being measured. He grew over two inches since last year!

Tonight, Kelly took us all out for sushi. I am so impressed at how adventurous both kids are when it comes to food. I certainly wasn't when I was his age. Props to her for exposing them to what the world has to offer.

I got him a skateboard and it will be interesting to see how he progresses. That reminds me, before he starts getting serious I need to get him some kneepads for when he falls (yes, WHEN he falls Mom) ;)

Happy birthday little man.

The lost interview with Steve Jobs

Last night we went to a one time showing of a 75 minute interview writer Robert X. Cringely did back in 1995 with Jobs for a three part series he produced called "Triumph of the Nerds." It's an interesting look at the shape shifters form the beginnings of the personal computers days but only 10 minutes of the interview was used. Then, the master copy was lost and a new VHS copy emerged not too long ago. That full interview is what we saw last night.

Since his death I've been going to You Tube and watching old interviews but this one was, by far, the best I've seen.

I recommend watching it on Netflix when it comes out.

Amazing show!

For such a small assembling of musicians Tinariwen really has developed its individual voice. I guarantee that if you ever get the chance to see them you will be hooked by the third song.

Seductive trance is really how I would describe them. Hoped to have some audio of the show to post but I unfortunately messed that up. Here then are three pics I took.

Tinariwen tonight!

Last year Kelly and I were totally surprised and blown away when we saw this band of Tuareg nomadic musicians play at the 9:30 club. Tonight we get to walk into the show having a clear sense of what it is we will be witnessing.

Tinariwen plays a hybrid of traditional African desert music mixed with American blues and the result live is a trance type music that heavily relies of subtle yet powerful grooves.

Unfortunately, there are three bands preceding them and only one that is remotely interesting which means they aren't scheduled to come on till 10:45pm. We've got our plan and it involves one thing. Seeing them! If we miss the others, eh....

Hopefully, I'll have some pics from the show tomorrow to post, perhaps even a little audio snippet if the recording I plan on doing turns out.

Either way, if you're in DC and don't mind a late night you should really consider coming along. It really was one of the best shows we saw last year (and we saw many!)

So here's what happened

Kelly, being the ever thoughtfully thrifty one, suggested we play the penny slots. Given we were both dressed better than 90% of the people there I LOVED the irony of how we looked vs. what we were playing.

Having said that, I was a little like "Really?! You don't make any money off the penny or nickel slots" but Kelly was just into having fun.

SO, I put a penny in. Yes, ONE penny and this what happened:

$184.00 on a penny bet. So, should I listen to Kelly more? What do YOU think? ;)

Bond, James Bond

When Kelly and I were planning our trip to Atlantic City we decided we would dress things up a bit. When we were visiting friends in Cleveland I found this 1950's vintage white Tux jacket and bought it immediately. The rest I bought from a traditional tux store.

What happened the night I wore this will be the subject of another posting.

Living in DC

There are lots of great reasons living here but, I think for me, the best is that it's a magnet for art, most of it free.

Over a period of months Kelly and I had the privilege of seeing Chuck Close and then Philip Glass, the subject of one of his more popular pieces, at the Corcoran.

I love sandwiches

Some people takes pictures of beautiful scenery or tourist attractions when they are on vacation. Me?

Train kept a-rolling...

His mind was on the game, huh. Don't know about you, my fearless 10 followers but there are days when the train feels real and the game is anything but one.

My first virtual toast

Continuing the conversation from my last post my brother and I did go out last night and we showed our maturity. In fact, he didn't even have a drink.

Kelly, on the other hand, was so sweet and proposed a text toast. She took the second pic of herself and my brother took one of me.

Cheers, Dad. You would have loved Kelly.

Happy birthday Dad

93 years ago today my Dad was born. 63 years after that he flew away. On the first two anniversaries of his death my brother and I got together over drinks to celebrate him. We called it "creature night" because we learned one day that whiskey, being what it is, is known as the Devils drink so when one said in the old days "Give me a shot of the creature" it meant a shot of whiskey.

At the time neither one of us were big whiskey drinkers and our inexperience led us to two of the worst hangovers we've ever had ... or at least me.

There's one story about the first time that makes even the hardest person cringe when I tell it so I won't share it here. Suffice to say it was either one of my proudest drinking moments or one of my worst personal ones.

We haven't gotten together in many years to celebrate it but have decided to hook up tonight and lift one in his memory.

I said ONE, as in singular.

I'll let you know tomorrow how successful I was.

The coolest tribute to Steve Jobs when he died

Has to be what Boing Boing did. They took their homepage and designed it using the look of the old Macintosh desktop.

So cool and so thoughtful.

This is called cheating

In NaBloPoMo terms but I haven't got anything to offer today.

What's the message here?

And who is delivering it? Catholics (or their leadership) say that the distribution of condoms in school is against the Bible but here in this hispanic market near me I guess living practically and displaying ones love for Jesus can not only live together but both are equally for sale.

Coexist

On my way to work one day I noticed this and had to take this picture. Do I really need to say anything more?

Sinderella

Last Thursday my friend Brian from Cleveland came into town and after seeing Medeski, Martin & Wood with Antibalas kick an amazing musical storm up at the 9:30 with Kelly we set off to Brooklyn, U.S.A. to watch the Tiger Lillies perform with Justin Vivian Bond (see link below).

It was an amazing show and the venue (St. Ann's warehouse) is a must if you're ever in New York.

Review

My inner child

Caught on film when he made a random appearance a couple of nights ago.

Halloween alternative

One of my all time favorite movies, horror aside, is the Bride of Frankenstein. Besides being a beautiful and stylish movie it is also a subtle metaphor for what an outcast is "in God's eyes" and seen in that light becomes a wonderful description of exactly who the monsters are in life.

Hint: It's not the "monster."

Kelly and I were at the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, a favorite with us and the kids, and saw this. How can anyone who is a fan of "Bride" not love it.

Two days away

We just came back from a wonderful couple of days spent in a remote cabin in Hedgesville, W. Va about 15 miles from Berkeley Springs. No TV, very limited connectivity and acres of forest surrounding us.

It was awesome. First night we made a terrific meal of Rack of Lamb, Broccoli Rabe and Gorgonzola Gnocchi. Last night we had dinner at a mountaintop restaurant and watched the sunset.

There was a screened porch in front and an open deck in back. The weather was perfect and the stars were definitely out.

Hard to leave today so I guess we'll just have to go back.

The National Mall

Normally I get into work like a true 9-5'er but today was up early and decided to head into work. I get off at the Smithsonian metro stop on the Mall and walk with all the other bobbleheads to work. Today though it was a weird, misty ghost town of a place and the only other person I saw was this runner on the other side. 

I think I like getting into work early (but for how long!?)

You said what????

A couple of nights ago Kelly and I were sitting at the dining table talking to Thea about scary movies we had seen as kids and we both shared our experiences with Hitchcock's "The Birds."

I saw the movie for the first time on the ABC Sunday Night movie probably around 1966 or so and, of course, the movie terrified me.

Given that it was a Sunday night I went to bed right after the movie ended, full of potential nightmares of birds swooping down on me, clueless of the real terror I was to experience.

Somehow, on a Sunday night, my Dad found a few small stuffed birds, attached them to thread, and dangled them just over my face so the first thing I saw when I woke up Monday morning was a group of birds 6 inches from my face. Needless to say I freaked out and waved at the birds as my Dad stood in the doorway to my room laughing. 

Who needs emotional boot camp when you've got a loving Father?

So, fast forward to Sunday night and talking with Thea. Really this is about that classic "things kids say" more than anything so as I finish telling her about my Dad Kelly says, 

KELLY: "WOW. That's awful. Did you punch him in the face?" because that's her default response to terrible people doing terrible things.

MIKE, "No, he was too tall."

KELLY: "Well then did you..." and was going to say "kick him in the shins?"

THEA filled in the sentence with "Kick him in the nuts?

To which, our reaction was:

Web design on a Presidential level

If this were from some kids web site or even displayed on a more professional site as a way of conveying that the page wasn't completed before launch I MIGHT be OK with it but this is the "under construction" graphic that is on former President Bill Clinton's Library page.

W     T     F  !!!!!!!!!!!

(thanks Kelly)