It’s hard not to laugh.  One fiasco after another, this Knicks organization just can’t seem to get anything right.  Is it just me or have the Gods of Basketball seemed to have put some kind of curse on this team?  There have been so many problems with the Knicks that it doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to stop.  What kind of player would want to play there?  Especially if that player is a superstar free agent hungry for a ring?

This all began with Isiah Thomas.  The guy was a fantastic player, but he was a hothead and made many poor choices as coach and executive of the franchise (this combination never works: just look at Mike Dunleavy in Clipperland) .  Thomas sold away most of the Knick’s future draft picks for the likes of Eddy Curry (came with a lot of baggage) and Zach Randolph (a locker room nightmare).  He signed fringe players to mid-level exceptions.  And worst of all, he coached the New York Knicks to some of their worst seasons in franchise history.

So Isiah Thomas was fired after much public pressure from the fans, and former Phoenix coach Mike D’antoni was hired.  But it almost seems like Thomas left a legacy behind.  A beloved point guard of Thomas, the talented but troubled Stephon Marbury butted heads with the franchise and was eventually told to stop coming to practice.  This fiasco gained much publicity in the press throughout the 2008-2009 season.

Even now, the Knicks are in a sorry state.  Right now they are 3-10, and at this rate it would surprise a lot of people if they won more than 25-30 games this season.  Their source of hope right now is a still out of shape Eddy Curry, who is coming back from a sore knee.  The Knicks even thought about signing the extremely troubled Allen Iverson, a sure sign of desperation.  But to me, their biggest problem is their players themselves.  Most of them are in a contract year, and they all know that to get better contracts next year they need good stats.  As a result, a lot of players are extremely greedy with the ball and there is just an overall lack of cohesiveness and team spirit.

The franchise is resting its hopes on next summer, when there will be enough money to sign one or maybe even two max contract players.  But what player would actually come to this sorry franchise?  Lebron James, arguably the most coveted of the free agents, flirts with the Knicks relentlessly, wearing NY caps and shoes to games, dropping subtle hints here and there (at least he used to), etc.  This is a losing franchise that is a soap opera of fiasco after fiasco, and there’s no end in sight.

Lebron won’t come to the Big Apple.  They have nothing to offer him.  Even from Cleveland he’s gotten so many endorsements that he is already a household name.  Neighboring franchise New Jersey Nets are just as bad of a team as the Knicks but without all the drama.  One of his close friends, mogul rapper Jay Z, is a minority shareholder for the Nets and has been courting James for months.

Yes, the Knicks can offer money.  But James seems like the ambitious type and it’s doubtful that he will spend the next few years of his career rotting on an embarrassment of a team.  For the New York Knicks, yes they will probably get a big FA or two who’s in it for the money, but the ultimate prize, the best player on the market, stays out of their grasp.

This franchise, starting from the bottom up, needs to get its act together.  The fans deserve it.

November 2009 Exercise – Kelly G. Mullarney, Owner, Chef Innovations, Inc., Orange, CA

Pan-Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Braised Celery Hearts, Oven-Dried Heirloom Tomatoes and a Celery Leaf Salad

To participate in the next exercise, please send an e mail to: jeffrey@bauscherinc.com

See all your favorite chefs’ collections of past submissions at the Deep Plate page on Facebook.  Please become a “Fan”. 

http://deepplate.wordpress.com and “Deep Plate” on Facebook

Brandon Jennings

Brandon Jennings.  This kid is good.  No, let me rephrase that.  This kid is really, really good.  For christ’s sake, right now he’s averaging 25 points, 5 dimes, and 5 boards per game.  A 20 year old rookie coming out of Europe to play ball in the NBA, he garnered quite a bit of attention entering the draft this year for good reason.  Last summer, Jennings became the first rookie to enter the draft by bypassing commissioner David Stern’s age restriction rule that stipulated a mandatory one-year as a collegiate player.  He instead chose to play for a year in Europe in an Italian league.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love this story.  Young, talented basketball player sticks it to the man and jumps overseas for a year, and comes back to the United States taking the basketball world by storm.  The kid’s so good, not to mention confident, that he has the words ‘Young Money’ tattooed across his back.

Before we all jump on his proverbial dick however, I would like to say something to all his worshipers.  It’s only been 11 games into the season.  How many games are there in a season again?  Oh yeah, 82.  The kid may be averaging all-star numbers, but he’s only played 11 career games in the league.  Now, I’m not saying he’s not gonna be good.  He could even be great.  All I’m saying is that we need to be patient.  The NBA is a whole different ball game.  The pressure of a grueling 82 game season wears down a lot of rookies really fast, and Jennings’ slight 6′1″ frame only weighs 169 pounds.

I feel like a lot of the people who are talking about how he’s the next Tiny Archibald or even Nick Van Exel are the same people who were calling him a bust this summer.  While playing in Europe, Jennings averaged a pedestrian 8 points, 2 boards, and 2 dimes a game.  This was the same kid who averaged 31 points and 7 assists on his high school team.  People thought that the European Brandon Jennings Project was a bust, and this showed as his stock plummeted to 10th pick in the 2009-2010 draft.  These are those same people who watch the stats and judge accordingly.  For example, the European game is a lot slower which accounts for sub par stats, and if anyone watched the work Jennings put in Europe they would understand his talent better.  At the same time, the Milwaukee Bucks are playing without starter Andrew Bogut and all-star Michael Redd, who are extremely valuable contributers to the team.

What I’m trying to say is that this kid is special.  He can be good.  Hell, he can be great.  He seems to have the drive, and he certainly has the talent.  How else was he able to make it through a year in a men’s league in a foreign country while his peers drank unfathomable amounts of beer and lived it up in with the sorority girls?  But at the same time, we can’t all jump to conclusions.  It’s a long season.  It’s a tough league.

But damn, he can be good.

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Ik hou van de stijl van Ashley en af en toe hou ik een post over haar kledingstijl. Nu vind ik

haar op de foto’s hieronder niet er geweldig leuk uit zien, maar het past wel bij Ashley.

Ik hou van haar blonde haren. Ik vraag me af hoe ze het zo glanzend krijgt, op de kappersbezoekjes naar natuurlijk.

De foto hierboven vond ik erg leuk. Het is een nieuwe fotoshoot gemaakt door Stephan Pick.

Het is nog wel uit haar tijd met bruin haar. Overigens vind ik de all-stars erg schattig bij haar staan.

Ik moet ze ook maar weer eens aanschaffen, ze zitten wel erg lekker en zijn gemakkelijk. Tot zover Ashley’s stijl.

Elindult a december 30-i nyíregyházi Kézilabda Gála All Star-szavazása. Ismerd meg a jelöltek névsorát és szavazz Te is! – írja a kezi.hu

A Kézilabda Gála programjában korábban már többször is nagy sikerrel szereplő Királyok-Ászok All Star-mérkőzés idén is a show csúcspontja lesz. A szurkolók által beszavazott legjobb magyar női és férfi játékosok egy nem mindennapi gálamérkőzésen lépnek pályára.

Posztonként a legtöbb szavazatot kapó 2-2 játékos vesz részt a Prexton Kézilabda Gálán.

A Bundesligában szereplő magyar játékosok a német bajnokság december végi fordulója miatt nem szerepelnek a jelöltek között.

A szavazás december 5-én, a női világbajnokság rajtján zárul.

AZ ALL STAR-SZAVAZÁS JELÖLTJEI:
NŐK
Kapusok: Herr Orsolya (Vác), Pálinger Katalin (Győri Audi ETO), Pastrovics Melinda (Alcoa-Fehérvár), Triffa Ágnes (DVSC-Korvex)
Jobbszélsők: Bódi Bernadett (Mondi-Békéscsaba), Csáki Viktória (DVSC-Korvex), Kovacsicz Mónika (Viborg), Orbán Adrienn (Győri Audi ETO)
Jobbátlövők: Bulath Anita (DVSC-Korvex), Herr Anita (Oldenburg), Hornyák Ágnes (Győri Audi ETO), Sopronyi Anett (ASA-Consolis-Hódmezővásárhely)
Irányítók: Görbicz Anita (Győri Audi ETO), Kovacsics Anikó (Győri Audi ETO), Orbán Annamária (DVSC-Korvex), Szucsánszki Zita (FTC-RightPhone)
Beállók: Mayer Szabina (Győri Audi ETO), Szabó Valéria (DVSC-Korvex), Szamoránsky Piroska (Buducsnoszt Podgorica), Tóth Katalin (Mondi-Békéscsaba)
Balátlövők: Szűcs Gabriella (Valcea), Tomori Zsuzsanna (Győri Audi ETO), Tóth Tímea (Vác), Zácsik Szandra (Krim Ljubljana)
Balszélsők: Juhász Gabriella (DVSC-Korvex), Kenyeres Fanni (FTC-RightPhone), Vérten Orsolya (Győri Audi ETO), Vincze Melinda (Alcoa-Fehérvár)

FÉRFIAK
Kapusok: Fazekas Nándor (MKB-Veszprém), Liszkai Szilveszter (Pick-Szeged), Mikler Roland (Dunaferr), Tatai Péter (Dunkerque)
Jobbszélsők: Gulyás Péter (MKB-Veszprém), Harsányi Gergely (FTC-Cityline), Iváncsik Tamás (MKB-Veszprém), Szalafai Gábor (Dunaferr)
Jobbátlövők: Balogh Zsolt (PLER), Milorad Krivokapics (Pick-Szeged), Laluska Balázs (Cimos Koper), Nagy Kornél (Dunaferr)
Irányítók: Császár Gábor (Chambéry), Ivo Diaz (Tatabánya-Carbonex), Nikola Eklemovics (MKB-Veszprém), Lékai Máté (PLER)
Beállók: Gál Gyula (Tatabánya-Carbonex), Herbert Gábor (Pick-Szeged), Schuch Timuzsin (Constanta), Zubai Szabolcs (Pick-Szeged)
Balátlövők: Grebenár Gábor (Aragón), Katzirz Dávid (Pick-Szeged), Lendvay Péter (PLER), Putics Barna (Cimos Koper)
Balszélsők: Halász Máté (Tatabánya-Carbonex), Iváncsik Gergő (MKB-Veszprém), Törő Szabolcs (Arrate), Vadkerti Attila (Pick-Szeged).

A Gála programja
Jegyinformáció

(kezi.hu)

November 2009 Exercise – Brian Jones, Corporate Chef, TurboChef Technologies, Carrollton, TX

Yellow Curry Confit Chicken Wings with Lentils and Coconut Milk Reduction

To participate in the next exercise, please send an e mail to: jeffrey@bauscherinc.com

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http://deepplate.wordpress.com and “Deep Plate” on Facebook

061109 // Así dice una canción de Elton.

Si mis All Stars blancas fueran el rock, cuando eran jovenes se veian así. Ahora pasaron algunos meses y literalmente las hice pelota. Pero se que hay peores. Las mias solo estan sucias y un poco gastadas pero nada que una buena lavada no solucione.

Ahhh…las amo. ^^

bueno, para empezar, radiohead es una de mis bandas favoritas, cuando escuche airbag (del ok computer) en regue… me quede atonito, simplemente eran muy buenas, me puse a buscar y encontre el disco completo:

easy stars all stars fueron los responsables,para los que los conozan, sabran que el disco salio hace mucho,pero hace poco lo en contre y no podia perder la oportunidad de postearlo, asi que disfrutenlo.

antes, hablemos mas de ellos, para empezar no solo le hacen este magnifico tributo al ok computer, le han hecho a pink floyd  y a the beatles,  tienen unos sonidos muy buenos, ahora espera un disco de ellos, sin tributos ni nada, de ellos por completo. ya sin mas demoras aqui esta: easy stars all star presents a tribute to radiohead

ya huele a petate quemado

Curse or Blessing? Predictability in Reality TV

November 6th, 2009

It’s been a while since I’ve stopped in with a Reality Roundup, which is symptomatic of the fact that my opinions about these three shows haven’t really changed. Survivor has been dominated by a single team to the point of proving downright uninteresting, Top Chef is still being dominated by the same four chefs, and Project Runway is something I didn’t even bother watching for a few weeks, choosing to read recaps instead. This hasn’t been a great season for any of the three shows on the level of really surprising me: in fact, they’ve all to different degrees become predictable (whether in which team will win, which chefs will dominate, and whether the show will be boring, respectively).

All three shows, however, feel ready to confront that sense of predictability in this week’s episodes, as Survivor rushes into a merge and Top Chef present a “volatile” Reunion special in an effort to shake things up a bit. And while Top Chef’s reunion show is predictably dramatic, Survivor’s merge episode is perhaps one of its best ever, unpredictable to the point of having no idea who is going home in the end.

And yet this leaves Project Runway, which has been predictably boring but almost entirely unpredictable in terms of the lack of consistent judging. As such, while the uncertainty of Survivor’s finale is downright exciting, the uncertainty surrounding who will be going to Bryant Park is actually problematic, and the end result dissatisfying if not necessarily wrong.

I’m going to start with Runway, which was actually one of the season’s most interesting episodes. The challenge was at least vaguely interesting (especially since I was at the Getty in April and was totally in all of those locations and remember Carol Hannah’s bed particularly…which sounds dirty), we got an enjoyable amount of Tim Gunn, and we’re finally leaving Los Angeles. However, the problem with the episode came to its ending, when five rather boring and uninteresting garments were sent down the runway and the judges were forced to make a decision. In that moment, the show got caught up in a difficult position: the three most consistent designers on that stage were Carol Hannah, Althea and Irina, but Althea’s outfit was a complete and total mess and the judges clearly liked Gordana’s dress better even with its ugly zipper. I really had no idea what decision they were going to make because of how poor all of the outfits were, none of which seemed to be separating any one designer from the others, and that sort of unpredictability on a show where I have about as much (if not more) evidence of their talent as the judges is kind of concerning.

It reflects a season long struggle with the judges, though, and it makes their final decision fallacious if not entirely wrong. I don’t disagree with the judges that Gordana lacked a clear vision, making a lot of fairly uninteresting but well-made dresses that in any other season would have had her sent home weeks ago (and while I could say the same about almost all of the designers, she and Christopher would be the first to go even in that scenario). However, the decision the judges make is that this challenge was ultimately pointless, and that Althea’s strong overall track record is more interesting to see at Bryant Park than Gordana’s boring aesthetic. However, as we’ve been pointing out all season, the judges haven’t been the least bit consistent, and when Nina suggests that she hasn’t seen anything from Gordana my immediate response is that it’s because she’s rarely ever been there. The lack of consistency in the judging, as Nina and Michael have been missing for most of the season, meant that the judges’ use of their overall impression from the entire season was in fact a fallacy: other than Heidi, who I’m now convinced has always been the panel’s loose cannon, no one could have truly constructed such an impression, so to use it as their reasoning is false.

But not, of course, wrong: I think the three who were through were the three who deserved to be there (out of this group, if not on their won merits), as Christopher has been on borrowed time and in poor taste all season and Gordana really did never show anything beyond competence throughout the competition. But I don’t feel as if any of the three finalists really earned their spot in Fashion Week with the judges so much as they were deemed the least offensive of the crop, and that’s a horrible thing to say about Project Runway. I just have no faith in the judges doing the right thing, making them unpredictable to a fault and becoming the only thing that’s had me the least bit engaged with the show all season.

Meanwhile, I’ve been engaged by the good chefs on Top Chef this season, but I’m still waiting for them to get to the Kevin/Voltaggios/Jennifer finale. I was going to write last week about how Jennifer’s fatigued state is something that she is capable of bouncing back from with the right type of challenge, but never got around to it, so let me just say that I’m not writing her off for having an off day in both the quickfire and the elimination challenge last week. But we have to wait to see how that goes down, for quite some time in fact: after November 18th’s episode, the show won’t be back until December 2nd. And it’s a delay that will feel particularly frustrating when you consider that this week we got only an All-Stars special.

As someone who just watched the first five seasons this summer, this is both engaging (since I know these chefs really well) and pointless (since the moments they’re reliving I just lived somewhat recently). Fabio stirring up tensions with Marcel and everyone else was predictably dramatic but also frustrating, since Marcel’s personality has always bugged me. The one moment in the episode that I was really intrigued to see, which was Carla choking out Casey for ruining her chances at winning Season Five, didn’t come to be as Carla seems to think that it’s entirely okay that Casey was such a pushy know-it-all. Yes, it was ultimately Carla’s decision to follow Casey’s advice, so I don’t blame her for forgiving her, but I have never particularly liked Casey and her attitude here wasn’t overly helpful to that. That being said, though, I thought little things like seeing Marcel freak out during the Judges’ commentary with the Season Five finale sous chefs (which is why we never saw it during the finale, I presume) was kind of fun, and the various groups did cook some impressive food (the most impressive being Marcel and Ilan’s salt-poached thai snapper, which seemed to taste as good as it looked crazy). So while it was predictable in the drama it stirred up, it was still definitely fun to revisit.

Meanwhile, Survivor: Samoa has finally started, albeit with a decision that actually in some ways makes the game less interesting. I really liked what we saw of Erik, as he was a master at manipulation and more importantly a master at communicating that manipulation in entertaining ways to us as an audience. I have to respect someone who ends up leaving the game because he was simply too cocky in presenting his strategy to the outnumbered Foa Foa tribe, and someone who never apologized about how hard he was playing this game. With Erik gone, things become inherently less interesting because Galu still has the numbers, and because with Erik gone Galu’s leadership is both less interesting (although John showed some intriguing shades in this one) and more likely to just chop off Foa Foa before turning on themselves, creating more predictability in the show’s future.

But this episode was simply a masterstroke of what the merge does to this game, something that in other instances just has not happened the same way. The episode had a number of montages where you saw people scheming, telling everyone about the scheme, and then the scheme basically disintegrating out from under them when it reaches certain people. The merge makes everyone paranoid, but what was interesting here is that it didn’t make everyone equally paranoid: while Russell tried to use the immunity idol promise (which we have, of course, seen used before) to bring people like Laura into the mix, at this point Galu’s numbers game is too strong for people to be that concerned with something like that. This episode was Russell losing all of his power, as the idol in his pocket proved worthless as a bargaining tool and then he threw away its one value (to save himself) by failing to trust that Natalie had effectively convinced the Galu girls about getting rid of Erik at this stage in the competition and wasting it at Tribal Council only to have no votes come his way. His experience shows how the unpredictability of the merge can screw over an individual game plan, and it’s amazing how Russell started as such a villain but seemed so gosh darn human here.

And it just shook up everything else at the same time as we saw the shifts within strategy have even Galu not sure what to do. We start with the plan to get rid of both Russell’s idol and Jaison, before it’s John who decides that this is a good time to weaken the female alliance of Galu in case they decide to do something like vote off Erik. As a result, Monica is the intended target, but then Erik’s cheerleading of that plan turns it into his, and puts his head on the chopping block with Foa Foa and then the girls. The moment where John latches himself onto Kelly and grabs her off into the woods to try to convince her that they’re not going through with this was literal panic mode, which is something we almost never get to see. That all of them but Shambo eventually got on the same page demonstrates that this game works in mysterious ways, and that John managed to both get rid of Russell’s idol (who was convinced that everything was just a plot to convince him he was safe before eliminating him) and Erik (a legitimate threat to his strategy) while never even planning any of it himself.

I’ll miss Erik’s witty banter (his suggesting that Shambo can vote for Probst for all he cares was worth a chuckle), but the sheer insanity of this episode was worth his departure – really intrigued to see where things go from here, especially once Foa Foa is gone and we see some more shakeups. It’ll never quite be this unpredictable in the future (a Survivor curse, where the show gets interesting in the middle only to peter off again), but it’s finally a bit of momentum for a season that was never bad but never quite clicked either.

Cultural Observations

• Project Runway
  • I loved the small moment where Christopher said he expected that Nicolas would be there with him at the end, as it was proof that his delusions extend beyond self-delusion.
  • The preview for next week shows just how interesting this season has been: rather than there being drama about the actual outfits, it’s about Carol Hannah catching a contagious disease.
  • I’m not going to go in search of them myself, since I want the finale to be as interesting as possible (aka not very interesting), but the fashion shows for this season were a whole lot earlier in the year so there’s probably pictures of the collections (that would likely be identifiable by designer although don’t quote me on that) floating around.
• Top Chef
  • It’s not coincidence that it was Dale who was the one person who legitimately botched their dish: I was perplexed that he ever became a finalist, and was kind of like “Huh?” when he showed up.
  • Note that the two winners we were missing (Stephanie and Hosea) are the two whose wins are somewhat less interesting and in some cases controversial. Considering that Runway just completely ignored a final challenge and went based on overall impressions, Top Chef has always been resistant to doing the same and it showed with Richard/Stefan went down at the hands of lesser contenders (if not “unworthy” ones).
• Survivor
  • Loved Shambo’s “Who’s Erik?” when she heard about the plan – either she doesn’t know anyone’s names or else she was just so perplexed that she believed there must be another Erik on Foa Foa she doesn’t know. Either way, it was hilarious.
  • It’s always impressive when an episode of Survivor can have a legitimately terrible challenge (it was T-Ball!) and still manage to be entertaining. They’re usually my favourite part of the show, so it’ll be interesting to see what goes on from this point on. Are they, as Andy Denhart argues at Reality Blurred, saving the good challenges for the All-Stars season coming in the new year?

November 2009 Exercise – Jason Reaves, Pastry Chef, Market Salamander, Middleburg, VA

Carrots and Oranges Torte – Carrot spice cake, orange curd, cream cheese buttercream, candied orange zest, cinnamon, spiced orange gelato, and an oatmeal tuile

Photos by Laura Luis, Three Lights Photo

To participate in the next exercise, please send an e mail to: jeffrey@bauscherinc.com

See all your favorite chefs’ collections of past submissions at Deep Plate page on Facebook.  Please become a “Fan”. 

http://deepplate.wordpress.com and “Deep Plate” on Facebook

November 2009 Exercise – James Fox and Kitchen Team, Executive Chef, Best Impressions Caterers, Charlotte, NC

“Coffee and Cream” Coffee – Kona crusted shortrib of beef on a carrot puree.  Cream – Confit of wild mushrooms with a porcini cream.  

To participate in the next exercise, please send an e mail to: jeffrey@bauscherinc.com

See all your favorite chefs’ collections of past submissions at Deep Plate page on Facebook.  Please become a “Fan”. 

http://deepplate.wordpress.com and “Deep Plate” on Facebook

If you want to attend, contact me at pamelajoan@theexecutiveglobaltravel.com!

We’re looking for 10 more teams of 4, it WAS 15! To be held at the beautiful Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona. It is a 1 day event, however, there’s a whole weekend before the event in which to enjoy discounted rounds of golf in Scottsdale and your luxurious rooms at The Westin, or The Xona, both corporate sponsors.

Eat, drink, golf and mingle with MLB Players, Hall of Famers, All-Stars, and Cy Young Winners!! Hang with your celebrity playing partner, enjoy a tremendous ONE-OF-A-KIND outing, all while supporting a great cause, the Miracle League of Arizona. “EVERY CHILD DESERVES A CHANCE TO PLAY BASEBALL!!”

October 2009 Exercise – Jason Reaves, Pastry Chef, Market Salamander, Middleburg, VA

Poached Pear Sundae

Vanilla bean poached pears, pear ice cream, toasted hazelnuts, caramel sauce, candied pear chip, and a mini dark chocolate tart with gold leaf.

Photos by Laura Luis, Three Lights Photo

To participate in the next exercise, please send an e mail to: jeffrey@bauscherinc.com

See all your favorite chefs’ collections of past submissions at Deep Plate page on Facebook.  Please become a “Fan”. 

http://deepplate.wordpress.com

Use promo code “Holiday” for 20% discount at  http://www.kaskeykids.com/ from November 1 to January 1.

In early 2010 Kaskey Kids will be kicking off Fan Photo all star voting, where visitors can vote for which pictures should be recognized as “All Stars”!

I’m always slightly dubious about “all-star” groups, for occasionally these assemblages of stellar soloists aren’t the most cohesive bands.  These performances can become a string of solos on over-familiar material. 

Not so at the International Bohem Ragtime and Jazz Festival, obviously.  Here are two delightful videos, just posted on YouTube, of two groups of international all-stars, producing very rewarding jazz at the 2009 festival.  Incidentally, even though these songs are from the last century, the Bohem Festival is as technologically sophisticated as anyone could wish — imaginative camera work here and the 2009 bash was the first jazz festival ever broadcast live on the internet, with 30,000 online visitors during the weekend. 

The first group features Matthias Seuffert on clarinet, Attila Korb on trombone and vocal, Herbert Christ on trumpet, on trombone and vocal, Paolo Alderighi on piano, Tamas Benyei on guitar, Ad van Beerendonk on bass, and Nick Ward on drums.  Without copying the Waller record, they get into a surging yet relaxed groove on LULU’S BACK IN TOWN — that last bridge, featuring Matthias and Nick, is priceless!  Some of the pleasure of watching / listening to this is, of course, finding more material by my heroes in top form — but there’s a deeper pleasure in meeting players previously unknown to me and savoring their mastery. 

Another, entirely different group, featuring Bria Skonberg on trumpet, Russ Phillips on trombone, Craig Flory, reeds, Morten Gunnar Larsen, piano, Stuart Zank, banjo, Janos Mazura, tuba, and Jeff Hamilton on drums, rocks through BLUES MY NAUGHTY SWEETIE GAVE TO ME — with perfectly-played riffs at the end.     

October 2009 Exercise – Kelly G. Mullarney, Owner, Chef Innovations, Inc, Orange, CA

“Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup” : Triple Cheese Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Tomato Bisque and Mixed Baby Greens

Honey Walnut Brownies

To participate in the November exercise, please send an e mail to: jeffrey@bauscherinc.com

See all your favorite chefs’ collections of past submissions at Deep Plate page on Facebook.  Please become a “Fan”. 

http://deepplate.wordpress.com

My friend’s sister, Anushka Mayne, makes some gorgeous, hand painted chucks.

Recently crowned Young Gaelic Footballer of the Year Michael Murphy is considering a move to the AFL, according to a report in the Donegal Democrat.

Murphy, who was Donegal’s top scorer and shining light in this year’s championship, reportedly met with AFL player agent Ricky Nixon earlier this week in Dublin who offered the youngster the chance to try his hand at Aussie Rules.

Up to five clubs are said to be interested in the services of the first-year DCU student, with Murphy reportedly taking time to discuss his options with his parents before making any commitment either way.

Laois’s Colm Begley has become the latest Irish AFL player to give up on an Aussie Rules career, with the news confirmed today that he has quit St Kilda to return to Ireland.

The decision comes in the wake of a raft of recent defections, with Martin Clarke and Kevin Dyas both recently quitting Collingwood and Brendan Murphy’s departure from the Sydney Swans over a month ago.

Begley made just one senior appearance for the club last season, although considering the fact that he was attempting to break into the best overall team in the competition, it could be argued that his year hadn’t been an entirely unsuccessful one.

Laois's Colm Begley pictured shortly after signing for St Kilda late last year. The former Brisbane Lion has quit the club to return to Ireland.

His form with the Saints’ feeder club Sandringham had been consistently excellent, while he had also made the team’s list of emergencies on more than one occasion.

However, despite all that, the club revealed today that Begley had decided to call it quits and head back home.

“It has been a mutual decision between the club and Colm for him not to be retained on St Kilda’s list. Colm has expressed an interest to return to Ireland to pursue additional interests and we appreciate his efforts at the club during the past 12 months,” St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said.

The news comes hot on the heels of the revelation that Kerry star Tommy Walsh has signed with the Saints, while Walsh’s Kingdom team mate David Moran is understood to be en route Down Under for a two-week trial.

Elsewhere, Begley’s county compatriot Zac Tuohy is understood to have signed a two-year rookie deal with Carlton, joining Cork’s Setanta Ó hAilpín who recently put pen to a new deal with the Blues.

Cork’s Ciaran Sheehan had also been offered a rookie deal at Carlton but turned it down to pursue a GAA career with the Rebel County.

Meanwhile, a raft of other Irish youngsters are understood to have had trials in recent weeks, with Donegal’s Sean O’Kennedy trying out with Collingwood and North Melbourne offering opportunities to Dublin’s James McCarthy and Cavan’s Barry Reilly.

Down minor star James O’Reilly has also signed a two-year deal with Richmond, becoming the club’s first-ever Irish recruit.

 by Aaron Dunne

Tadhg Kennelly has revealed that he is considering a return to the AFL amid a storm of controversy that has blown up in Ireland in the wake of comments in his autobiography.

An excerpt from his new book, Unfinished Business, which was published in last week’s Sunday Independent, indicated that Tadhg had intentionally struck Cork’s Nicholas Murphy in the opening minutes of the All-Ireland final. 

Kennelly received no punishment for the tackle at the time and was promptly cleared by a match review panel, but controversy has again reared its head over the incident due to the comments in his new book.

In a statement released on Monday, Kennelly claimed that the newspaper excerpt had been taken out of context, and that he had been misquoted in the book by Melbourne ghost writer Scott Gullen, but that he took “100 per cent responsibilty” for not proof reading the final chapter himself.

“I’m going to charge in and hit someone at the start,” he is quoted in the book as having said to room mate Paul Galvin on the eve of the decider, while the rest of the controversial excerpt read: “My theory was that I really wanted to set the tone for our side. We wanted Cork to know that we were a totally different animal to the one they’d faced three months earlier. 

“As we got to our positions, I looked across at [Paul] Galvin, who nodded, and then positioned myself on the line ready to race in when the referee put the ball in the air. My eyes were almost rolling around in the back of my head. I was like a raging bull.”

In his statement, however, Kennelly tried to distance himself from the remarks, putting the blame on Herald Sun sports journalist Scott Gullen, and the Sunday Independent newspaper for printing an excerpt he claims was out of context.

“The words, ‘while I hadn’t wanted to come in and seriously injure anyone, I was determined to make a statement’ were not included in the extract from the book, even though this sentence followed on. That one line would have clarified my intentions but it was not included in the piece,” Kennelly’s statement read.

The Kerryman also revealed how deeply the furore had upset him and his family, adding that the whole episode has been his worst period since his father Tim’s death in 2005.

“The controversy arising from the incident involving Nicholas Murphy in the All-Ireland final, and an account of which was published in the Sunday Independent, has devastated both me and my family. I have been publicly vilified and I want to tell the truth.

“I admit I have made a mistake and a big one. I should never have allowed the piece regarding the incident with Nicholas to be described in the fashion it was.

“I gave an interview to the Australian ghost writer Scotty Gallon just a couple of days after the All-Ireland. I didn’t read it over as I should have, and the first account I saw of the incident was on last Sunday morning.

“Scotty used an expression ‘cop that’ to describe my feelings immediately after I connected with Nicholas. I said no such thing.

“The Wednesday after the All-Ireland was a rush. We had a deadline to meet. Books don’t get formatted and printed overnight. I was on a high and the last thing I wanted was to talk to Scotty over the phone. Looking back on it, I should have read a proof of the finished chapter. I didn’t and I paid the price. My fault 100 per cent.”

The Echo has approached Mr Gullen for comment but is yet to hear back from him.

Meanwhile, the former Premiership-winning player’s return to the AFL may be just around the corner, as he revealed yesterday that he has just 10 days to make a call on his future. The list deadline for AFL club’s is October 31.

“The offer was always there [to return to the Swans]… It’s no secret that Sydney are looking to recruit and they see my experience counting with some of the younger players… It’s obviously a huge decision but it’s one I have to make in the next 10 days.”

Kennelly also revealed that a coaching role could be part of his brief if he did return.

“There would be a coaching opportunity there at some stage. I’d say at the most I’d have two years left in me as an AFL player, maybe three. There are a lot of things to consider and obviously financial security is one. My girlfriend Nicole is also living there. But I honestly haven’t made up my mind. I’m torn on it.”

Kennelly is due in Sydney in early November for the launch of the book at which time a decision on his future is expected.

what’s in a name???

So… I do lots of walking here (having no car and an annoying/dysfunctional bike encourage this form of transportation). Anyway, there is this one sidewalk that has some of my favorite names engraved in the cement… two of my sisters & my dog. I thinks it’s sooo cool and quite random that all three names are within 10 feet of each other.  Well, ladies this is my reminder of you while here in Australia.

clamming sammy

my little freshman

my german shorthairded pooch

After capturing two of my sisters, I went on a name hunt and found me!! Though the Jamie featured her is a naughty girl. I know… why did I put these pics up? I’ll save some of the other names I found for another day… some are quite unusual.

Moi

Yeah, Most Def NOT Moi

On Friday I went to the beach and found some great shells! Not to leave the rest of my family out…

shelly sells shells by the seashore

mama mia

mon père

my jazzman's twin

coolest guy i know

dave (bro-in-law) & 'shell (sis-in-law)

dog attack

Friday evening I went for a stroll and was “attacked” by this dog! It was yappin away and as it charged I didn’t know if it was going to bite me or lick me… so I captured my potential last moments. Later when talking to the owner, she called the dog Roxy. Ahhhh, I love it!! (Roxy is one of my best friends, so the fact that there is a chiwawa-looking pup down the street named after this spunky Persian woman makes my day!!!!)

lovely randomness

1>>I did some baking and was a “little” off (about 80 degrees too high…oops) with the Fahrenheit/Celsius conversion. Never having delt with Celsuis I did some simple math… my thought process is as follows: freezing is 32 degrees Fahrenheit and 0 degrees Celsius, so I assumed the difference was 32. For some reason (unbeknown to me) I subtracted 32 from 350 and set the oven to around 220 degrees Celsius (100 off), which I later found out is over 400 degrees Fahrenheit!!! This a VERY humble moment for me… I usually am pretty good at math, but my logic made NOOOOO sense! haha The loaf was black on outside, but perfect once I cut around it. eek! I wondered why it was already brown after 15 minutes!!! haha… oh my. I am pathetic! It was a double batch and I put the extras in a cake pan (below)… this survived the heat.

banana goodness

2>>Update: I don’t like flip-flops. They hurt my feet. Instead I prefer wear my chucks everywhere… even to the beach. Yep, I am that freak that wears tennis shoes to the beach. They are just so comfy (and now have a permanent layer of sand inside aka natural/free pedicure).

beach shoes

3>>I found some thrift treasures at the “Bargain Shed” including some fabric for a skirt and/or dress (can’t decide which) and this yarn.

bundle-o-vintage-yarn

Well folks, it is getting late and there is a spider zippin around the floor. I am paranoid it is going to run up my leg. I need to go home. Sweet Dreams.

All-Stars: Well, not bad with the football All-Stars team prediction. Team was as I predicted earlier this afternoon, except with Karl Lacey (Donegal) for Marc Ó Sé and Daniel Goulding (Cork) for Michael Murphy.

League Of Ireland: I did watch the second half of Bohs and Cork. Bohs were much the better team and deserved their 2-0 win. Good results for Pats with a win against Bray and Dundalk getting a 2-2 draw with Sligo. Dundalk had to play the last 23 minutes with just 8 against 11. A fair effort to hold on for the draw. Their manager, apparently, wanted them to walk off after the ref sent the third guy off! Where would get it?

Liverpool: Tomorrow is the return of the Premier League after the break for the internationals. I fear for Liverpool tomorrow away to Sunderland. Their form so far has been poor really. They have beaten the likes of Stoke, Burnley, Hull, Bolton and West Ham and the Hungarian team Debrecen but lost to Villa, Spurs, Chelsea and Fiorentina. That don’t read too good for a Liverpool fan. And there will be no Gerrard and Torres, unless Rafa Benitez is doing the old Loughnane dummy team trick. They did win a few games last year without Gerrard and Torres, so hoping for a good result.

Soccer Bets: As far as bets go this weekend go I think I will back Stoke at 11/10 to beat West Ham. Stoke are usually strong at home. So far this year at home they have 2 wins and 2 losses, the defeats being to Man Utd and an injury time Malouda winner for Chelsea. Reckon they are slightly overpriced against a struggling Hammers team. The other team to back tomorrow are Chelsea at 4/5 in the early match away to Villa. So, 10 win singles on each of Stoke and Chelsea.

Inglis Drever winning 3rd World Hurdle, Cheltenham 2008

Inglis Drever:Finally, on a sad note, I see that Inglis Drever, winner of 3 World Hurdles (the Stayers race) at Cheltenham and numerous other Grade One events, has been put down. He was such a gutsy horse. In a couple of those Cheltenham wins he looked to be out the race, being pushed along towards the top of the hill on the far side, but you could never write him off. He always battled on and on. A great horse.