Hard to Find a Good Man

And on the home front - I found this trifle on another blog this AM. It is an actor and his "dramatization" of how uncomfortable the world of gay dating can be. But I can say from past experience, I totally get where he is coming from and how it does indeed play out. His name is Robbie Joe Banfitch and I am guessing he has absolutely no trouble finding a date on a Friday night.

Too Painful To Watch

More Olympic fodder - as I'm sure it will be continue the next few weeks.

Today it is the viral video of Aly Raisman's parents as they watched their daughter compete, and ultimately do very well, on the bar in her all-around gymnastics competition. Not being a parent, I can only partially understand the nerves of watching your child at such a monumental time. But watching them writhe, squirm and murmur is pretty silly and amusing.

Damn NBC - they took it down. More minus points for the network and their coverage on the event :(

Olympic Oversight?

Or Mainstream Media censoring?

I was just shared this fabulous clip via Facebook. It is a stunning tribute to the London subway terror victims from 7/7/05. Instead our NBC coverage chose to cut away to a mundane interview of Michael Phelps and why he was unable to make the opening parade of athletes.

On watching this short 5 minute number, sung hauntingly by Emeli Sandé from Scotland, it is one of the finest moments of the ceremony. There is no reason on earth why it should have been pre-empted and makes for a terrible lack of judgment on their part. Here is hoping it will find the audience it so rightfully deserved. Please take time to click the link as it is not available on YouTube or any other social media YET....

Emeli Sande - Abide With Me

Olympics Fashionista Police

Okay, the excitement and blitz of the Olympics has begun as it does every two years with opposite seasons; this year the summer in Lovely London. I am a sucker for both pageantry and sport, so I will be glued to my laptop streamlining highlights from the 200+ events. Wondering how many of you caught the spectacle of the Opening Ceremonies?

I loved the posh Brit humor present throughout. The Queen & James Bond parachuting into the stadium via helicopter. A clowning Rowan Atkinson upstaging the entire London Philharmonic during their Chariots of Fire homage. And dashing David Beckham motoring up the Thames in his speedboat delivering the torch. Kenneth Branagh anchored the first tableau with a reading from The Tempest that led a cast of 100s from the rolling farm hills of Scotland and the shore - into the Industrial Revolution with giant smokestacks, churning factory gears and the forging of the Olympic rings. A vast panorama. From there it got a bit muddy in a segment dedicated to children's' literature with trampoline hospital beds, jitterbugging nurses and nightmarish characters from Peter Pan & Harry Potter. This started to drift into carnival antics. Then went downhill even more so with a tribute to modern technology, unknown television "stars" and a messy dance salute through the last 4 decades of song. It basically became a Million Dollar dance recital.

All that aside, it was about the athletes and the lighting of the torch. Much controversy spilled out over the construction of our "designer" outfits manufactured in China. When it came down to it - they merely looked like flight attendants who forget their nice work shoes at home and had to switch over to white tennies. And berets..... only the French can pull that off. Who needs hats at the summer Olympics unless they are a Panama or maybe a straw boater??? So being the fashion maven I am; here is my list of the Top10 Runway trophies based on fashion and not athletic skills.

10) Sweden - Although it looked like something off an IKEA rack, they looked comfortable, all about summer and ready to play.










9) Slovenia - You can't tell by this photo, but the team wore tasteful grey linen fitted sports jackets that looked equally dapper on both the men and women. Simple white cotton jeans. Then they bumped it a notch with lime and teal sports polos underneath.





8) Cameroon - Wore bright woven traditional dress that seemed fitting for a celebration. Loved the color and patterns.

7) Fiji - Got bonus points for their flag bearer, Josateki Naulu. Not everyone in the contingent wore the same garb. But then no one else could pull off the look as well either. Olympic eye candy!













6) Jamaica - almost seemed to glow with their bright bumblebee yellow and lime green blazers. Against the dark print on the women's skirts and the glow or their dark skin, they looked radiant.
 

5) Poland - Made great use of both their heritage and national colors. The women wore beautiful skirts that brought out native poppies along the bottom hem. And the men wore lavender pinstripe shirts under their pressed white suits. Everyone's red shoes gave them all a finished ensemble top to bottom.





4) Czech Republic - I am guessing they got the most mixed comments of the entire evening. Eclectic to say the least. But I gave them mucho credit for pushing the envelope. Notice the playful concept of neon blue plastic rain boots and splattered blue umbrellas. The women had on leggings with the same pattern. Summer white shorts, navy blue jackets and smiles meant they were here to play and ready for London fog.

3) Portugal - Also looked ready for fun with a stylish granola feel. They were the ones to pull off a flat cap in slate green and make it look natural. Khakis, a loose sports jacket and red tie made them look entirely collegiate. But the dandy factor was a vibrant neck scarf that could either be worn or flashed as a patriotic banner. Tons of personality. Stellar!





 
2) Slovenia - Who would have thought? Credit here goes to the men's uniform that could have been seen on an Armani runway. Perfectly fitted banana yellow blazers, grey linen pants and suede shoes. And it seemed most of the males looked like model material in their casually unbuttoned white shirts. Dashing.



1) and the grand prize - Germany. They dispensed with all formality and defied national colors. Instead they lit up the arena in bright pink and blue athletic jackets with accents of white piping. And if that wasn't enough, check out the matching print neck scarves that looked great on either sex as well as the beach hats (That were tastefully carried and not worn.) A +; Gold Medal.

and thank God for Spain making the USA look at least passable. Their attempt at using their national colors and parlaying them into sports wear made them look like fast food employees. The baseball cap and logo patch did not help the effort in the least. I'll have a shake with those fries :(

Best Kept Secret

For those not in the know.... When the heat gets too much to bear and you are looking for a savory, sweet and cool indulgence; check out the food window at Costco for one of these. A Chocolate Dipped Ice Cream Bar. A massive vanilla bar on a stick, hand dipped in chocolate (not pre-made then stored in a freezer.) Then, not rolled, but buried in a mammoth stack of roasted almonds. Far too much for one sitting and best shared. An Unbelievable steal for a mere $1.50.

Rob turned me on to these and yesterday we made an emergency run for a stash of 7, storing them in a cooler for the trip home. Don't have a Costco membership? No prob. Just enter in the checkout side of the store and head over to the concession kitchen where anyone is welcome to grab and go. Puts DQ to shame and bests anything you will find at the State Fair. Yeummmmmm!

Lighten up Already

 I cannot handle any more of the incessant Chick-Fil-A brouhaha. It goes on and on, the media keeps fueling the fire, and apparently some faction of the public continues to be interested enough in it. We have none here in MN, I have never eaten at one and could care less. In the midst of mass shooters, politicos, my continued unemployment and a raging heat drought I could give a shit! Here is a much needed parody stolen from a friend's Facebook feed. 

Artifacts

Now that I am almost done laying  the back deck patio, this is the menagerie of small wonders that I unearthed while digging. I enjoy the mystery of pondering whose hands they went through and how they ultimately ended up in that spot of the ground.

Glazed piece of clay pottery

US Penny - 1952

Bingo Marker - I 27

mysterious clay ball

tiny yellow Indian Bead

glass shard of a Pop Bottle

corner of plastic Plant Tag with red flower

Bullet Shell

piece of White China

aqua Glass Marble

Fanfare of Trumpets

I was very excited to see that my new trumpet vine had its first blossom open today after the rain. Finding one had a been a quest this spring after I bought my new arbor from Mexico. I wanted something big and showy that would be a great compliment to its strong iron frame and yet hold up to the hardy MN winters. They have huge, long 5" flowers, grow quickly and last for much of the summer season. I see a handful of them in neighbor's yards, and yet they were elusive to track down. Bachman's, Wagner's and some of the other larger chains did not carry them. I managed to snag one on a spring sale at a Linder's parking lot greenhouse. It came with a tag but no color description - Madame Galen. It had a few early buds that rotted off at transplant and I was thinking the first year would be a mystery. But they started reappearing with the heat rash a while back and had been growing to burst. First guess was a gold from the buds, but it shoots out in a bright coral.  Here it is in its full glory. Not one to disappoint.

The Hills Were Alive......

with the Sound of Music. Last night I took in a big-screen outdoor viewing of the musical classic with dear friend Jan Campbell. We are fortunate enough to have live music and movies in all our city parks every single night of the summer from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Last night was a perfect night at the Bandshell to watch this with a crowd of 100s. A rare cool outing, no mosquitoes, clear skies and great picture & sound. It was meant to be a sing-along with the complete lyrics in subcaptions. In typical MN fashion, the singing was reserved. Big "hits" were of course Do Re Mi & Lonely Goatherd. Poor Eleanor Parker was covered in such a gauze haze during all of her close-ups, I wondered if the projector had gone out of focus - Why did they used to do that? I had forgotten that there was also an intermission and how dashing Christopher Plummer was. Julie and the kids were a precocious  treat. The cinematography was stunning even by today's standards. Enjoyed by all.

Scott Gundersen comes Uncorked

I have several sites that I scour from day to day checking out technology, art, music and even some gossip. One is an Artist of the Day site and usually about once a month, something "pops." This was today's artist from Grand Rapids MI.

He does a unique thing where he makes a giant digital canvas of a photograph and then transforms it into an artwork using 1000's of wine corks in variations of hues to create a vast mosaic portrait. At first i thought it was sequins. Sort of like crop art on a much larger scale.

Grace

                  Artist a Day link

Jeanne

TC Cabaret Artists Network

I have taken a leap back into the performing world that I am very excited about!

There is a grassroots movement here in the Twin Cities to re-ignite the world of cabaret - assuming that it was ever here in the first place. Cabaret is its own mix of musical theater, storytelling and jazz gigging. It is definitely about song, but also aims to make an intimate connection with an audience in a small setting.

The group has been around for 5 years now and is building momentum with some very strong goals. It is a mix of jazz vets, radio personalities, musical geeks and educators. They share in salons every two months, promote their own showcases, mentor each other in workshops, and give a support platform for individual performances.

I am very excited about the collaboration and finding a new outlet that is of my own voice - literally and figuratively. Come to the Cabaret.

Twin Cities Cabaret Artists Network

Just Jammin'

Last night - with the slightly cooler temps, Jeff & I brewed a batch of red raspberry jam. The berries were a crop from my own side garden and a neighbor's.

Now I am not the type that is a Dolly Homemaker! But I am not above cooking a good meal and everyone knows that I love to bake. (I also threw together a great chocolate mousse cake.) Last year I was turned onto this great book of making preserves in small batches. This appeals to me since I have very limited kitchen space, and no need to can 20 jars of pickles, much less store them somewhere in the basement.

The recipes are both standard and inventive. So far I have made a plum ginger jam, strawberry fig preserves, apple butter, both dill and bread/ butter pickles, and a pineapple rosemary sauce (that was a difficult one with the addition of pectin) Stay tuned for further adventures and maybe a ribbon at the state fair...

Does Practice Make Perfect?

With this down time between "careers" I am spending a lot of time and mental energy deciding what it is that I will do next in my long life journey... I am now both old & wise enough to hopefully not just move on to the next job. But I am examining my skills, interests and intuition to lead me closer to my calling. This following quote presented itself to me over the weekend and it really resounds with me. Part goes back to my teen-age drum corps training which defines my work ethic to this day. Also, my theater craft of keeping it both honest and practiced speaks to me as well. I am fine tuning what this is that I must create.

    What we practice, we get good at. In fact, research now tells us very clearly what distinguishes amateurs from the pros, or the experts. It’s the amount of time that people practice what they do. In order to become exceptional at what you do, you have to do two things. 

    First, you have to practice with intention. That means that you have to put in your time with the intention of becoming very good at it. If your intent is just to know how to do something or do it “good enough”, that is what you’ll get. To become expert, you have to envision yourself being an authority of your craft.
    Second, you have to practice a lot and consistently. Studies show that amateurs practice about 3 times a week for about an hour per sitting. Those who go on to be experts put in 3 hours a day almost 7 days a week. They become consumed with their craft.
    Finally, there is a magic number. Everyone wants to know the magic formula. How do we open Pandora’s Box? Becoming an expert demands about 10k hours of practice! That’s about 20 hours a week every week for about 10 years.

Rev Xolani Kacela

Fix You

This was a clip shared on Facebook today friend to friend. And another reason why So You Think You Can Dance defies the odds of reality television and raises the bar to a true art form at times. Season after season these performances amaze me from dancers to choreographers. I wish they would release the dance clips as solo outings on their own. Please enjoy and share.

Bummer in San Diego

I was looking at my morning news and saw that poor San Diego had a fireworks malfunction and the computer set off their entire display in one detonation. Looks like a finale from a Jerry Bruckheimer action adventure. LOL

Ours in Minneapolis were modest but enjoyed from a nice balcony on the riverfront.

Myth America

In honor of our Independence Day, I found this list of tidbits last week and was saving it to publish.

Did you know that the 4th of July is not our actual birthday? The Declaration was never completely signed and enacted until Aug 2nd. Did you know that there were really only 12 original colonies? Delaware was part of Pennsylvania until a year later. Check them out for some useful American trivia:

Early American History Myths 

My Heirloom Garden

As always, I enjoy the garden, the time put into it and the changing landscape from week to week. The colors and shapes are constantly in flux which I love. I get many comments from people passing by and am eager to trade a plant or hand off a seedling to any kindred soul.

But I think most don't realize that it is much more than a collection of blooms bought from the local nurseries. Yesterday I got a small envelope with small root samples of yellow moonflowers from my mom's garden that were carefully wrapped in plastic. They are just the latest addition of heirlooms that have been either handed down to me or collected from my travels. Half the stuff in the yard is from places I have been or a memory of family and friends. So when they bloom and come to life each year, they bring a story with them just as a photo or a scrapbook would. Here are just a few shared.

Peonies from my great-grandfather's old farm in Western PA

Coreopsis from my mom's garden

Trilium from the woods at Linda's cabin

Giliea seeds smuggled back in a glove from Prague

Naturalized daffodils from the Pretak farms in the mountains of the Allegheny

Fireweed from Jesse's national forests in WA

Sunflowers from Corona Italy

Real California poppies

Gorgeous red iris from Albert Lea