JOE DOLCE NEWSLETTER
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Friday February 5th, 2010
SABBATICAL
"Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do."
William Safire
Hi folks,
My newsletter is going on an extended break – a sabbatical – mostly because I have become involved in projects I would like to finish this year (so I can cross the bastards off of my goal list once and for all). I hope I don’t let too many of my longtime readers down. Come and hang out with me on Facebook. More down below about that.
Here is a little of how my next couple of months will look:
- Lay-up on inDesign, publish and launch my first poetry book, ‘Hatbox,’ at the Salt on the Tongue Poetry Festival, in Goolwa, South, Australia, in April.
- Help my partner, Lin Van Hek, do the same with her upcoming new 500 page stunning hardback novel, ‘Katherine Mansfield’s Black Paper Fan.’
- Make ready-for-recording demos of four albums I have been tardy in completing: ‘Narcissus,’ ‘Tales from Painesville,’ ‘The 35 Song Leadbelly Ballad Novel,’ and my CP Cavafy poetry songcycle, ‘When the Lips and the Skin Remember, ’ which was begun in 1970! - (demo recording is 50 percent therapy, folks, I go for a lot of walks between takes.)
- Hands-on involvement with the Facebook campaign-lark in the UK to ‘beat’ Ultravox and ‘Vienna’ to the Number One internet download chart position with ‘Shaddap You Face’ in late March. (This last one is mostly for fun as I love messin’ with the heads of the Ultravox fans but there are business implications as in the case of the recent Rage Against the Machine campaign over there which attracted 750,000 members and out-raced the X-Factor winner to the top of the charts. Yea! for real music!) We are the underdogs in this race, believe it or not - for instance, ‘Shaddap You Face’ doesn’t even have a single download site in the UK, as of this writing – but I am seeking to remedy this situation at the moment.
I encourage the fun-loving amongst you to come and join these Facebook sites that are involved in this friendly – but sometimes outrageously funny – back-and-forth banter. Whenever I am not touring, I will be active on my Facebook site as I find it a rewarding and time-efficient way to stay in touch with many friends all over the world. By the way, there is also a brilliant and graphically beautiful Facebook app for the iPhone which is a free download. Here are my Facebook tags:
Joe Dolce Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=722963487
Let's get Shaddap You Face by Joe Dolce back to number 1 on 4/4/2010!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=273265227216
Let's get Vienna by Ultravox to number 1 on 4/4/2010!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=90410227602
Joe Dolce Appreciation Society
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=mf&gid=2230777008
So until the next time we meet, thank you for reading all these years and do go back through the Newsletter Archives on my homepage if you need a ‘newsletter’ hit or want to access the hundreds of recipes I have documented there. (Mainly for myself so I can remember them.)
If I have an inclination, I will put together the odd mailout for you every now and then.
Live-a long and-a prosper as the pointy-eared Italian bloke said.
xx and much love,
Joe
Ps Two Gifts:
Have you ever liked a YouTube video and wanted to download it? Try this app:
http://download.cnet.com/Wondershare-YouTube-Downloader/3000-7970_4-10859184.html
You probably don't clean your computer screen very often, and it is really hard to do the inside, so here is my present to you. Click on the word "here" above and wait for a few seconds and the inside of your screen will be cleaned for you! Feel free to forward on.
http://www.raincitystory.com/flash/screenclean.swf
(thanks to domenica Leone)
LEGAL NOTICE
* Don't Bother Entering
- If you are not legally old enough to view porn online where you live.
- If you would be breaking your local, state, or federal laws.
- If you are easily offended by strong sexual adult content.
- If you are easily offended by anything.
- If you eat boogers when you aren't really hungry.
- If you think cornhole has something to do with agriculture.
- If you still think MJ is not a Pedophile.
- If your gerbil hates it when you get drunk.
- If you think the Hershey Highway sounds tasty.
- If your congregation thinks you're straight.
- If you are a Congressional Page.
- If you own OJ's new book.
- If you think Britney is sexy and cute bald.
FAVOURITE LETTERS OF THE WEEK
Hi Joe,
RE: Where the bloody hell are ya?
Though I would voice the concern for your cyber-minions as to your wherabouts, health and general state of music-mind . . . . . . . . You ok man?"
Steve Johns: musician, composer, engineer, producer & Jedi knight.
(Note: I trust this newsletter explains all. Sorry for the delay.)
Joe Dolce,
You just don't know how BAD I want to meet you!
Name the time and place and I'll be there!
Crushing on you BAD! ninfan4ever
(Note: Ok. This was just a scammy generic porn spam email but it still made me feel special.)
Hi Joe,
RE: New fan from Cleveland
My son, Tommy, and I just discovered your marvelous talants on You-Tube "Shaddup Your Face". You are fantastic. We also noticed you are from the Cleveland area. What we really want to know is WHY are you living in Australia and not America. Your song should be a hit over here. I have let so many friends and fellow workers aware of you and lauging out loud hysterically to your song. Do you still have family here? Do you ever perform in the States? It is so sad you are not here. My son put your video up on his face book page for all of his "brethern Italians" to read. Would really love to hear from you. We would definitely come see you anywhere in the USA if you came back home. Best regards, Christine Gallucci
Joe,
when are you going to tour in the US again I love your songs now my kids are hooked on your stuff. Thank you so much for giving us so many entertaining songs.
Daniel Gonzalez Aggadan General Construction
Joe,
The JoeDolceWeeklyNewletter wrote:
‘He would sit me on a seat near him while he steered the train.’
Joe, I believe the tracks "steer" the train. The engineer "runs" the engine, but doesn't steer it. But it really doesn't matter; what matters is that you got to ride with him in the cab while he was
running the beast. I envy you. . . . Newt Wayland
Judge finds 'Men at Work' Ripped Off Folk Tune in Flute Riff in Hit Down Under
The Herald Online
AUSSIE pop group Men at Work ripped off an Australian folk tune in their 1980s smash hit Down Under, a federal court judge has found. Justice Peter Jacobson said the famous flute riff from the pop hit was unmistakably the same as the children's tune Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree, penned more than 75 years ago by Toorak teacher Marion Sinclair for a Girl Guides competition . . . Larrikin Music's lawyer Adam Simpson says EMI and Down Under may be forced to hand over as much as 60 per cent of their earnings from the international hit record. (article)
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/judge-finds-men-at-work-ripped-off-folk-tune-in-flute-riff-in-hit-down-under/story-e6frf7jo-1225826673826#site-search
(Note: ' You better run, you better take cover.")
Strike a Chord for Health
Music Matters for Body and Mind
Music can lift you up. It can bring tears to your eyes. It can help you relax or make you get up and dance. You probably hear it several times a day—on the radio or TV, in the supermarket, at the gym or hummed by a passerby. Music’s been with us since ancient times, and it’s part of every known culture. Music strikes a chord with all of us.
“There’s something about music and engaging in musical activities that appears to be very stimulating for the brain and body,” says neuroscientist Dr. Petr Janata of the University of California, Davis. Singing favorite songs with family and friends, playing in a band or dancing to music can also help you bond with others. “It’s a way of synchronizing groups of people and engaging in a common activity that everyone can do at the same time,” Janata adds.
NIH-funded scientists are exploring the different ways music can influence our bodies and minds. Their research may also shed light on creative processes. Ultimately, scientists hope to harness the power of music to develop new treatments for people with stroke, autism and many other conditions.
Several well-controlled studies have found that listening to music can alleviate pain or reduce the need for pain medications. Other research suggests that music can benefit heart disease patients by reducing their blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety. Music therapy has also been shown to lift the spirits of patients with depression. Making music yourself—either playing instruments or singing—can have therapeutic effects as well.
Scientists have long known that when music and other sounds enter the ear, they’re converted to electrical signals. The signals travel up the auditory nerve to the brain’s auditory cortex, which processes sound. From there, the brain’s responses to music become much more complex. (more)
http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2010/January/feature1.htm
(Thanks to Alicia Bay Laurel)
Exploding chewing gum blows off student's jaw
A chemistry student has been found dead with his jaw blown off by what is believed to be exploding chewing gum, reports have said.
The remains of Vladimir, 25, were discovered at his parent's home in the northern Ukrainian city of Konotop, reports in the Eastern European country said.
The young man, who studied at Kiev Polytechnic Institute, was working at a computer late on Saturday when the alleged explosion happened.
"A loud pop was heard from the student's room," the ukranews.com website said, citing an aide to the city's police chief.
"When his relatives entered the room, they saw that the lower part of the young man's face had been blown off."
A forensic examination established that the chewing gum was covered with an unidentified chemical substance, thought to be some type of explosive material.
The student apparently had a bizarre habit of chewing gum after dipping it into citric acid, Russian news agency Ria Novosti said.
Officers found both citric acid packets and a similar-looking unidentified substance, believed to be some kind of explosive material, on a table near the body, the agency continued.
Investigators suspect that the student simply confused the packets and put gum covered with explosive material into his mouth.
Forensic experts were to travel from Kiev to investigate the substance, as local authorities feared it may explode if transported.
Thyroid disease linked to use of Teflon
By Danny Rose, Medical Writer, AAP
Scientists have drawn a link between chemicals used in the manufacture of non-stick pans and thyroid disease.
When elevated levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanoic sulfonate (PFOS) were found in a person's blood, it was shown to more than double their risk of developing the condition.
Commenting on the British research, Australian toxicology professor Chris Winder said it had raised "another flag" about man-made chemicals now suspected of having a cumulative and toxic effect on the body.
"Plastics made of PFOA, this time Teflon, have been around since the 1940s," said Prof Winder who is Professor of Toxicology and Occupational Health at the University of NSW.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/6706877/thyroid-disease-linked-to-use-of-teflon/
MUSIC
JONATHAN EDWARDS, SERAH AND GRACE
Back in the 70s, I was in a band with JONATHAN EDWARDS, an American singer-songwriter, best known in the popular music charts, for his hit song ‘Sunshine.’ Our band was called ‘The Headstone Circus’ and Jonathan was called simply John back then. As some bands do, we broke up after a few years and went our separate ways. John went on to become Jonathan and record ‘Sunshine’. I went on to stay . . . well, Joe Dolce, and recorded ‘Shaddap You Face.’ The two songs, although quite different, have much in common. First, both are considered by the pop music industry as one-hit wonders. That’s despite Jonathan Edwards having recorded 15 fine albums. (I won’t even go into what I’ve been doing.) Secondly, both songs voice grievances about something not right in the present but with an optimistic hope for the future. ‘Sunshine’ says: ‘some man’s gone and tried to run my life . . he don’t know what he’s asking . . Sunshine come on back another day . . I promise you I’ll be singing.’ Shaddap You Face says: ‘ mama said: always love to dance and sing, itsa not so bad, its a nice place, ah shaddap you face.’
Jonathan and I are still friends after 40 years, despite some differences of opinion now and then about how much of our backsides to show, but we seem to resiliently bounce back to getting along again. Like Bob Dylan once wrote: ‘Two mules braying in the rain.’
I lost touch with his personal life for about ten years while I was busy getting in touch with mine and heard that he had married a folksinger and had second daughter. When I saw him at the US Folk Alliance some years ago, he briefly mentioned how that relationship had ended, and he had lost touch with this daughter whom he missed terribly. I felt for him. There was never anything else mentioned on his bio or CV about this. Jonathan is a very private person. Not like me. You can do my laundry and I’ll do yours anytime.
Last year, I saw a mention of a French singer on the ‘links’ page of his website who was simply named ‘Grace’, and who looked remarkably like Jonathan. After some web-surfing, I pieced together that this was indeed his long lost, and quite beautiful daughter, now living in Africa and France and building quite a successful life as a roots-oriented world music singer and performer. And an active humanitarian! I also learned that her mother’s name was now Serah (previously known as Carolina Edwards) who was also an established world music singer and hands-on humanitarian. How thrilling!
I refrained from writing this piece at the time as I was respectful of the privacy that I known Jonathan holds dear and also I assumed there was a good reason why none of them mentioned the others on their webpage bios.
But just last month, Grace and Jonathan Edwards performed together for a show in Florida, they are celebrating their relationship now publically, so this being my last newsletter for awhile, and to fulfill a promise I made to Grace, here is the article I told her I would write. I will conclude with her beautiful email to me and links to everyone’s webpages and some YouTube videos.
‘I promise you I’ll be singing. . . . . Hey.’
“ Greetings Joe,
Thank you for your emails! What an interesting person you are, so prolific too! Its funny, I just spoke to Jonathan yesterday who proudly told me more about you... So its a pleasure for me to get your message.
Lets see, my mother's name is Serah, she's never really stopped writing songs and doing what she can to help the world through various different projects including world hunger projects, women & children's rights, and world water awareness projects and tons of other things I'm sure... In northern Kenya, when I was a child, my brother and I followed her as she worked in the Turkana country in a drought area to find sustainable homes (within the Turkana community) for displaced orphaned children. It was hard at times but also a deeply enriching experience for us all... We went on to live all over the US, then in France -where I did some elementary school, Denmark - where we lived some time with Karen Blixen's family (with the love of Kenya and music in common), for me there was lots of back and forth between continents, California, NYC, Boston, Cape Cod, Amherst Mass, (5 colleges - Dance studies)(Montana State University -mestudying Native American studies) Paris, Santa Barbara, San Francisco... There was so much moving that I tend to forget certain chapters and remember others at different times...
I've been traveling and writing songs all my life, guess its cuz of my folks... :-), my mother was always really supportive of my music and art... I was called back to Africa (some years after I first lived there as a child), doing various musical projects there, living in both Senegal and Ethiopia... (and back n forth all over the Carribean as well) Then I lived a bit in India as well studying Ayurveda, Yoga, Sufi music, and other things... At a certain point I realized I needed to put my feet on the ground and stay in one place if I wanted any of my projects to come to fruit... So I set my bags down in Paris, hooked up with some wonderful musicians, recorded an album of my songs (Hall of Mirrors) in Senegal/San Fran/Paris and have been touring non stop since the release last year... Consequently I've become more involved in some great projects like "Aquaverde" to help protect and reforest the Amazon and empower their people... As well as "Survival" who work all over the world with Indigenous people, with particularly good work all over Africa... I'm very grateful to have been given all these wonderful life experiences and even more grateful to be able to share them with others, doing what I do...
It seems like you are doing a lot of good around you too and that makes me happy... Thank you very much for contacting me. I'm curious what you'll write? Please do let me know if you need other info.
Infinite Blessings, Namaste,
Grace
http://www.aquaverde.org/en/grace.shtml
GRACE MYSPACE
http://www.myspace.com/graceinmusic
‘IMAGINE ONE DAY’ CLIP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncYXDRlHHkA
SERAH HOMEPAGE
http://www.serah.com/home.htm
JONATHAN EDWARDS HOMEPAGE
http://www.jonathanedwards.net/
Video of Jonathan Edwards and Grace performing ‘Imagine One Day’ live in concert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyihylH8B9U
VARIATIONS OF MY SONG ‘MY HOME AINT IN THE HALL OF FAME’
1. JONATHAN EDWARDS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyHDBJRy5cA
2. THE DEUCES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fedHLZbmt7w
MY SONG, ‘ROLLING ALONG, ’ PERFORMED LIVE BY JONATHAN EDWARDS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KGkpCmUMxU
AWESOME NHANCED AUDIO VERSION OF THE MODELS SONG, ‘I HEAR MOTION’
(featuring my son-in-law Andrew Duffield)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw7VyqDK3Wo
Thank You, Howard Zinn
by Matthew Rothschild
Thank You, Howard Zinn, for being there during the civil rights movement, for teaching at Spelman, for walking the picket lines, and for inspiring such students as Alice Walker and Marian Wright Edelman.
Thank you, Howard Zinn, for being there during the Vietnam War, for writing "The Logic of Withdrawal," and for going to Hanoi.
Thank you, Howard Zinn, for always being there.
Thank you, Howard Zinn, for being a man who supported the women's liberation movement, early on.
Thank you, Howard Zinn, for being a straight who supported the gay and lesbian rights movement, early on.
Thank you, Howard Zinn, for being a Jew who dared to criticize Israel's oppression of the Palestinians, early on.
Thank you, Howard Zinn, for being a great man who didn't believe in the "Great Man Theory of History."
Thank you, Howard Zinn, for taking the time to write your landmark work, "A People's History of the United States," and for educating two generations now in the radical history of this country, a history, as you stressed, of class conflict.
Thank you, Howard Zinn, for grasping the importance of transforming this book into "The People Speak," the History Channel special that ran in December and that should be used by secondary, high school and college classes for as long as U.S. history is taught.
Thank you, Howard Zinn, for opposing war, all wars, including our own "good wars," our own "holy wars," as you called them-and for pointing out that a "just cause" does not lead to a "just war."
Thank you, Howard Zinn, for pointing out that soldiers don't die for their country, but that they die for their political leaders who dupe them or conscript them into wars. And that they die for the corporations that profit from war.
Thank you, Howard Zinn, for urging us to "renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed. We need to assert our allegiance to the human race, and not to any one nation."
Thank you, Howard Zinn, for stressing that change comes from below, and that it comes at surprising times, even when things seem bleakest, if we organize to make it happen.
Thank you, Howard Zinn, for stressing the value of engaging in action to make this world a better place, even if we don't get there.
Thank you, Howard Zinn, for this amazing, inspiring paragraph, which I've had on my wall for years now:
"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places-and there are so many-where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."
Thank you, Howard Zinn, for recognizing the beauty and power of culture, and for exalting the poet, the singer, the actor, the artist.
Thank you, Howard, for being kind enough to write your columns this last decade for a relatively obscure magazine called The Progressive, and for doing so with the utmost intelligence and grace.
Thank you, Howard, for calling me your editor.
Thank you, Howard, for your wry and self-deprecating sense of humor.
Thank you, Howard, for your kindness.
Thank you, Howard, for your friendship.
Thank you, Howard.
Thank you.
2010 The Progressive
(thanks to Annie Fiume)
Super-Toys Last All Summer Long
By Brian Aldiss
Though Brian Aldiss bristles at being pigeonholed as a sci-fi writer, the British author has won every major science fiction award. He has also sparked director Stanley Kubrick's imagination with the short story "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long." First published in Harper's Bazaar in 1969 and later anthologized, this tale of humanity in an age of intelligent machines and of the aching loneliness endemic in an overpopulated future is the inspiration behind Kubrick's ongoing A.I .project which eventually turned into the film, ‘A.I.’ directed by Speilberg. Aldiss's story offers richly suggestive details - read the original.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.01/ffsupertoys.html
AFGHAN LEARNING ENGLISH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW64XVlHniM
What I’m Reading
The New Oxford Book of Australian Poetry, edited by Les Murray. Les is the best poetry picker in the world. He gives you a free pass into the work of people you have never understood before.
What I’ve Watched
(too many to go into with too much detail but I have given a brief synopsis and a 1-4 star personal rating.)
**** Loved it! will watch again sometime.
*** Liked it. May watch again sometime.
** Good, but not likely to watch again.
* Ok, didn’t like it or the jury is still out.
Hilary and Jackie * * * - Tragic but inspiring story of cellist, Jacqueline Dupree. Like true great artistic bio-films should do, it made me go out and learn more about her work.
Life on Mars * - A detective from the present finds himself back in the 1970s on the trail of a serial killer.
The Day of the Triffids * - BBC re-make of the classic John Wyndham sci-fi story. A bit drawn out. They havent made the film version of this story properly yet. One day.
Law Abiding Citizen * * * - A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.
Battle for Terra * * * * - brilliant animated sci-fi film in the vein of ‘Avatar’. Loved it. Intelligent animation for adults.
Wiseblood * - American-German 1979 drama film directed by John Huston and based on the 1952 novel Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor.
Sicko * * * - I finally got around to watching Michael Moore’s scathing attack on the US health care system. Highly recommended. The health systems of Canada and France are practically free-to-the-public in comparison - including dental. Imagine that in Australia!
Whiteout * * - U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko tracks a killer in Antarctica, as the sun is about to set for six months.
Dorian Gray * * - remake of the classic Oscar Wilde gothic horror tale. Not bad. Not great. This story, too, one of Wilde’s best achievements, still has yet to be brought to the screen correctly.
The Hurt Locker * * * * - Brilliant film about the US army bomb disposal squad in Iraq, by director Katherine Bigalow.
Taking Woodstock * * * * - The real story about how the landsite for the Woodstock Festival came about through a series of common accidents. Who knew?
Pandorum * * * - eerie and gothic sci-fi tale that takes place aboard a long lost spacecraft. Great mutants.
Moon * * * * - With Sam Rockwell. tremendous sci-fi film directed by David Bowie’s son, Duncan Jones, about a solo worker on a mining colony on the moon. Unpredictably and very rewarding storytelling.
The September Issue * * * * - documentary about the Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. The real story behind ‘The Devil Wore Prada.’
Lolita (60s) * * * * - the original tale by Nabokov directed by Kubrick, with James Mason and Peter Sellers.
Lolita (90s) * * * * - the excellent remake starring Jeremy Irons. Pushing the boundary even more in the sex-with-the-underaged issue. But the most outrageous popular film to do this so far is ‘Great Balls of Fire,’ about Jerry Lee Lewis and his 13 year old cousin-wife, Myra, starring Dennis Quaid. They couldn’t make a film with bedroom scenes like this today. Too politically incorrect.
Letters From Iwo Jima * * * * - directed by Clint Eastwood. Second film in the Iwo Jima series, the first one: ‘Flags of Our Fathers.’ The latter was from the US point of view, the former is from the Japanese point of view in Japanese with English sub-titles. Same event – different perspectives. Original and stunning idea.
The Lovely Bones * * * - Peter Jackson’s ghost story. While it has some remarkable moments, something a little saccharin about the dreamy counterpoint throughout. Would have worked better as a straight thriller.
Sherlock Holmes ** - with Robert Downey Jr. Good cinematography and visual ideas, portrays Holmes as very virile and a bit of a martial artist – still, nothing touches Basil Rathbone and the original.
Golden Boys * * * - charming story of three old sea salt bachelors who decide, via drawing lots, that one of them has to get married to bring some womanness into the household. Some of my favourite character actors including Mariel Hemingway, Bruce Dern, John Savage, David Carradine, Rip Torn and a very fragile looking Charles Durning. (Either Durning is a brilliant actor or he really wasn’t well during this shoot.) The music is by Jonathan Edwards who also has a small but well-acted cameo as the Reverend. (Like his famous Puritan namesake.)
Time Travelers Wife * * * - entertaining sci-fi film, with Eric Bana, about a man who can travel back and forth through time, unable to control it, but meets a little girl whom he then catches up with as a grown woman and falls in love with. Back and forth he goes, providing clever and intriguing ideas about time and love.
Precious * * * * - magnificent film about a black teenager, who was raped and given two children by her father, beaten and abused by her drunken mother, but folks, this film is not a downer – it is an uplifting spiritual engine with loads of dark humour. A masterpiece of small budget film-making.
Invictus * * * * - unusual true story of Nelson Mandala and the African Springbok rugby team. The team became a symbol of apartheid and Manada’s visionary idea of how to transform South Africa specifically via this rugby team. A sports ideal: sports as a humanitarian endeavour. If this was what sports was REALLY about, folks, instead of celebrity, product placement, endorsements, multi-million dollar salaries, beer and hooliganism, I would be an avid sports fan.
INVICTUS
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
William Ernest Henley
("Invictus" (Latin for "unconquered")
THE AWESOME LYREBIRD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IntRMVukrX0
WILLIAM SHATNER ‘CAPTAIN KIRK’ WORST FIGHT SCENE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1eFdUSnaQM
RECIPE
Kiwi and Elderflower Pavlova
Recipe to serve 6.
4 medium free range eggs at room temperature (this is equivalent to 4 fl oz of egg whites if you are using leftover egg whites or different sized eggs).
7 oz fine sugar (Iorganic cane sugar). If you sugar is too coarse you can whiz it in the food processor.
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced
10 fl oz heavy cream (I used Snowville)
2 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp St. Germain liqueur (divided)
Preheat the oven to 350ºF
Line a baking tray with a silicon mat or baking parchment. It is much easier to slide the finished pavlova off if you have a flat baking sheet with no sides, or you can use a lipped one upside down. If you are using parchment (and/or if you like to be precise) you can draw a 9 inch circle to use as a guide.
Place the cornflour, vinegar and vanilla in a small bowl and mix until smooth.
Separate the eggs (unless you are using up leftover egg whites). Make sure they are room temperature or wait for an hour. Room temperature eggs will whisk to a greater volume.
Clean out your mixing bowl with a lemon slice and then wipe with a dry paper towel. This helps insure that there is no grease.
Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff enough to hold their shape (Kitchen Aid speed 8). Slowly whisk in the sugar 2 tbsp tablespoon at a time, adding a teaspoon of the cornstarch mix in between each addition (Kitchen Aid speed 4 or slower). When all of the sugar and cornstarch has been added the consistency of the mixture should be thick and marshmallowy.
Using a spatula turn the meringue mixture onto the baking sheet and spread it out into a 9 inch circle. It should be indented in the middle with higher walls around the edge, so that you can fill the center
Put it into the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 280-285ºF. Bake for an hour (I turned my oven off at 55 minutes). Do not open the oven while the pavlova is cooking OR when it is done. Turn off the oven and leave it to cool inside. This is very important to get the correct texture. The finished pavlova shell will be crunchy on the outside and marshmallowy in the center. You can make the meringue the night before and leave it in the oven all night. Unfilled the shell will keep for up to a week in an airtight container.
St Germain is an elderflower liqueur and it is sweet and floral. It went very well with the kiwi fruit. If you were using berries you might want to use creme de cassis instead. You can also fold in lemon curd into the whipped cream. There are a lot of possible fillings.
When the pavlova is cool transfer it to a serving dish. Slide the parchment/ silicon out from underneath. Be careful as it is very fragile.
Whip the cream (Kitchen Aid speed 8) until stiff and then stir in the sugar and 2 tablespoons of the liqueur. Spread the cream in the center hollow of the pavlova. It doesn't have to be pretty, you are going to cover it with fruit. Just before you serve it, layer the sliced kiwi fruit on top of the cream and then drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of the liqueur on top.
(thanks to John Jacobs)
PINCE-ZEN
A pair
of the
deceased Dalai
Lama’s spectacles
pinched on
the end
of the
little boy’s
nez (that’s
french for
nose – spelled
backwards is
zen.)
He must
be the
One.
~ by Joe Dolce ~
(from HATBOX)
THE FINAL HURRAH
NOT MARY POPPINS
“ Did you know: if a woman releases two eggs during ovulation, then each of those eggs is fathered by a different man and non-identical twins are formed the process is called heteropaternalsuperfecundation?”
(thanks to Peter Demetris, Facebook)
