Dear folks,
I finally got my very own Genesis Teether in the mail from the States. It's really cool. It's a pink rubber ring (I could have gotten blue, but . . .) - it looks sort of like the Mercedes hood ornament, about four inches across, and spells out the word, JESUS. Apparently, you give this to your toddler to chew on - but I could never do anything so obscene. (I prefer to chew on it myself - sort of like a strange Christo-Rubber fetish worry beads kind 'o thing.) You will most likely see me wearing this thing at live shows. Hey! If hip-hop guys can wear those gold hubcaps hanging from their necks, I can wear my Genesis Teether. (Sounds like the title of a StarTrek Movie, doesn't it?) There's a picture of it on this site.
Speaking of Pacifiers, here's a nice note I got last week:
" Thanks Joe,
I am enjoying your newsletters. 'Shaddupa Ya Face' was the first song I ever recorded (as a two year-old) and now I'm plugging away recording my own. I found it quite funny to somehow start getting your emails. All the best, Ross C. "
(Ross, you little duffer, it's good to know that I was being used as one of your dummies back in the days when you were chewing on furniture legs. I'll be your ol' Dummy-for-Peace anytime.)
-------- Joke
George W Bush was stranded on a desert island for five years. After his rescue one of the men who found him noticed three huts lined up in a row and asked him about them. Pointing to the first hut Dubya said, "That's my house." Pointing to the second hut he continued, "That's my church." Then the rescuer pointed to the third hut and asked about it. "Oh," said Bush, "that's the church I used to go to." (thanks to Billie Ray) ------------
Code-Pink Alert
In case you haven't discovered it yet, on Code-Pink Alert, Maireid Sullivan, and her partner Ben Kettlewell, are doing the much needed service of archiving all the best anti-war and pro-peace articles and speeches that are flying around the internet. It's a good thing, too, because quite often, they are removed from the websites where they first appeared and are gone. The good ones deserve to be saved. Code-Pink
Maireid is also one of the finest Celtic singer-songwriter-songfinders that I have met and she and Ben, a super multi-instrumentalist who has a very unique and beautiful guitar style, are doing a rare mixed-media concert in Melbourne next Friday at the Trades Hall in Carlton:
Celtic Epiphany - New Music from a Celtic Heart Maireid Sullivan and Ben Kettlewell, with special guest Matthew Arnold on violin.
Friday Nov 14 8pm Trades Hall 54 Victoria St Carlton, VIC Tickets at door: $22 and $18 For more info, email contacts, CDs and stuff: www.maireid.com -----------
Ugly News Serial Killer Record Broken
SEATTLE (AP) - Gary Ridgway, the former truck painter long suspected of being the Green River Killer, pleaded guilty Wednesday to 48 murders, more than any other serial killer in U.S. history. Story
(Or is this the current record holder?)
Bush Hides War Dead; Body Bags now Called 'Transfer Tubes' Tim Harper Toronto Star (Canada)
Summary: As the saying goes, if you can't convince them, confuse them. With more lies told each day by President George Bush, here is yet another one. The US Department of Defense changed the name from "Body Bag" to "Transfer Tube" to describe how the bodies of our young warriors are returned home in the dark of night, with no official count of their growing numbers, and no solemn public ceremony to honor their proud service ... Story (Thanks to Caroyn Kaye) -----------------
The acronym U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T Act stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism"
My mate, Jerky, suggests this instead:
The "Useless Shitheads Advocating Police-state Anti-terror Tactics Resulting In Outrageous Tyranny" Act.
(Sounds a lot easier to remember to me.) -------------
Urinals of the World Unite
This is a weird but interesting site. Someone has categorized the Top 100 Greatest Urinals of the World and takes you on a guided photographic tour. Some of my favourites are:
No. 1 Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station South Pole, Antartica
No. 5 Women's Urinal at Dairy Queen Port Charlotte, FL 'The Urinette'
No. 7 International Space Station (in Space!)
Come on kids, collect them ALL (Thanks to Mark Morford) ----------- I'll Bet You Didn't Know That . . . . .
The Texas Rangers were the main peace keeping force in Texas - but disbanded when the American Civil War broke out, its members joining up and fighting for the South. After the war, they reformed to stem the rising anarchy sweeping southern Texas. ---------------------
Is He the ONE?
You know that irritating phrase they all keep saying about Neo (Keenu Reeves) in The Matrix: 'Is He the ONE?' Well, that's completely ripped off from 'Dune'. I watched the atrocious Special Edition of Dune, re-edited for television with an extra hour of footage. (David Lynch, the original director, had his name removed from the credits - that's how much he hated it.) Every 10 minutes or so, someone asks, 'Is He the ONE?' So . . . .what's with all these Messiah films lately, anyway? What ONE? Are we collectively missing our Daddy or something? Haven't you noticed - the Patriarch George W has stepped up to claim Daddy's chair at the Table of Our Real Life Movie. What goes around comes around, folks. Carl Jung mentioned somewhere that movies are our present civilization's communal DREAMING. With Little Georgie and now Big Arnie, we're getting the ONES we've been dreaming about, fellow film goers, so let's choose our dreams a little more wisely in the future. ----------------------- Nancy and Charley by Stefan Abeysekera
" I met Nancy and Charley, a very pleasant, down to earth American couple in Fitzroy last night. They belong to bringthemhomenow.org. Their son was a soldier in Iraq and they are travelling around the world telling people about what's really happening there.
A few points I noted down -
Double any U.S. death statistics because suicide figures are not included.
Latinos and blacks are specially targeted for recruitment.
Soldiers are told before they get to Iraq that they will be sent to town X or Y. Most of them end up guarding oilfields.
Rumsfeld had his own troops guarding him when he was in Iraq. The regular army was moved away from key positions. As in Vietnam, it has very rapidly reached a stage where the leaders are afraid of the resentment building up amongst their own troops. Soldiers who have returned home are displaying post Vietnam trauma symptoms, because after the killing they now know why they were in Iraq - Empire and Oil, and realize that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.
The election of the Terminator is not something that has pleased decent Americans, to state the obvious. The aura and mystique of guns and violence and unthinking warped patriotism still has a hold on a large proportion of the population, patterns that Bush and co. perpetuate by demonising Iraqis, Iranians, Syrians etc.
Iraq is ravaged with the dumping of depleted uranium.
The latest state of the art brand of napalm was and is being used in certain areas (under another name of course). And so on...
It was refreshing to meet Americans who counterbalance the image we are presented within the media - ignorant, belligerent, incapable of self-analysis or having a laugh at their own foibles. A timely reminder - there's always hope. " www.bringthemhomenow.org ---------
Casualties in Iraq
The Human Cost of Occupation (This is the site to keep abreast of the current war figures on dead and wounded.) Site ----------------------
FOX NEWS (Or Else!)
"Editorially, the FNC newsroom is under the constant control and vigilance of management. The pressure ranges from subtle to direct. First of all, it's a news network run by one of the most high-profile political operatives of recent times. But the roots of FNC's day-to-day on-air bias are actual and direct. They come in the form of an executive memo distributed electronically each morning, addressing what stories will be covered and, often, suggesting how they should be covered. To the newsroom personnel responsible for the channel's daytime programming, The Memo is the bible. At the Fair and Balanced network, everyone knows management's point of view, and, in case they're not sure how to get it on air, The Memo is there to remind them." - Former FNC employee Charlie Reina Story ---------------------------
What have They Been Smoking in Canada?
Inside Dope " ..Much of Canada (is) covered with thousands of small, high-tech marijuana "grows," as the indoor farms are known. Small-time marijuana growing is already a big business in Canada. It is likely to get bigger, despite all the efforts of the anti-drug crowd in Washington, D.C. On Oct. 14 the U.S. Supreme Court, by refusing to disturb an appeals court ruling, gave its stamp of approval to doctors who want to recommend weed to ease their patients' pain or nausea. In the U.S. nine states have enacted laws permitting marijuana use by people with cancer, AIDS and other wasting diseases. The Canadians are even more cannabis-tolerant; although they have not legalized the drug, they are loath to stomp out the growers. This illicit industry has emerged as Canada's most valuable agricultural product--bigger than wheat, cattle or timber.
Canadian dope, boosted by custom nutrients, high-intensity metal halide lights and 20 years of breeding, is five times as potent as what America smoked in the 1970s. " Story (thanks to John Jacobs)
CANADA DEFIES THE BIG DRUG COMPANIES
" Oct 22, 2003 will go down in the annals of world history. The day that Canada spoke out and altered history forever...
Yesterday Bill C-420 (A bill to amend the Canadian Food and Drugs Act) was voted on in the House of Commons - That dietary supplements, botanicals, herbs, and other natural health products are not drugs, but rather are foods. . . "
Friends of Freedom have provided support for this bill and have one of the most effective organisations going. Check out their site: Site (thanks to Maireid Sullivan) --------------------
I have two wonderful dishes for you this week. The first one is so bloody simple and obvious that I kick myself for not having thought of it before. Try it and you won't go back to eating POLENTA the old way:
Polenta with Roasted Corn Kernals
1 cup of cornmeal 4 cups of boiling water 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese 50-75 grams butter salt 2 fresh ears of corn
You can prepare the ears of corn in several ways. Either cook them on a charcoal grill or completely in the oven, What I do, if I don't have the inclination to start a charcoal fire is to place the 2 ears of corn in a small pan and roast in a very hot oven until the kernals just start to to brown. I finish them off on top of the stove by just placing them on the open flame of the burners until they get nice and slightly char-grilled. Don't let them dry out. Keep turning them. When they're done, hold them over a large plate with a pair of kitchen tongs, and slice all the kernals off. Set aside.
Add the polenta slowly to the boiling water, stirring over medium-low heat until a wooden spoon can stand up in it unassisted. Warm up the corn kernels, in a little butter, and add to the polenta along with the rest of the butter and the parmesan cheese. Stir well. Correct seasoning with a little salt and black pepper. Serve hot and soft from the pan or else turn out onto a wooden board and let cool a little and firm up and then cut into serving slices. -----------------------
For seafood lovers, this is one of those can't-stop-eating-the-damn-thing dishes:
STEAMED CLAMS AND LING WITH DRY VERMOUTH AND CREAM
4 dozen clams 1 large fillet of Ling cod 4 tbs butter 1 large onion, diced 5 cloves garlic, chopped finely 1/2 cup fish stock 1 tbs fresh lemon juice 3 tbs fresh parsley, chopped 1/2 cup dry vermouth (or dry white wine) 1/2 cup cream Freshly ground black pepper salt to taste
To make the stock, cut the ling into four pieces and simmer, covered, for fifteen minutes in just enough water to cover the fish. (You only want 1/2 cup of stock from this.) Turn off heat. Take the fish out, remove the skin. Strain the stock and set the fish and stock aside.
Scrub and rinse the clams in cold water. Place in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Allow to soak for one hour; drain.
In a large and deep pot, melt the butter over low heat. Add the onion and saute for 4-5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, the 1/2 cup of fish stock and lemon juice. Simmer, covered 3-4 minutes. Add the drained clams, fish segments, parsley and vermouth. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered for 2 minutes. Add the cream and black pepper and continue simmering until the clams are fully open. Season to taste, if necessary, with a little salt. Serve piping hot immediately in bowls with plenty of broth and bread for dipping. 2 main serves (or half dozen first course appetisers.). ------------------