I suppose this is a kind of variation on the famous omelette Arnold Bennett, which was made with smoked finnan haddock.

2 large baking potatoes
200g smoked haddock
enough milk to poach the haddock
100g butter
30g flour
1 tsp English mustard
3-4 tbsp double cream
1 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the potatoes on a tray and bake for about an hour or so until soft. Leave to cool a little then halve them, scoop the potato into a bowl and mash with 60g of the butter.

Meanwhile place the haddock into a saucepan and cover with the milk, season lightly, bring to the boil, simmer for a couple of minutes and remove from the heat. Take out the haddock and put to one side. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the flour, and stir on a low heat for 20 seconds. Return the haddock milk to a low heat and whisk in the flour mixture and mustard. Simmer on a very low heat for about 10 minutes, then add the double cream and continue simmering for 5 minutes or so or until the sauce is the consistency of thick double cream.

Meanwhile, remove the skin and any bones from the fish and flake into chunks. Mix the fish with the sauce and fold half into the baked potato mixture and spoon back into the skins. Put potatoes back in the oven for about 10 minutes, heat up the remaining fish and sauce with the parsley; then, to serve, just spoon the fish and sauce on to the potatoes.

Wind’s blowing like a vacuum; no wind. The weather is really weird. It’s one of those about to rain type of sky but where are the clouds? It couldn’t be haze could it? This time of the year? Don’t think so. Spooks me. It’s about mid evening now, 5.30 p.m. Wheres the nice shiny evening sun? Where are the bird chirps that used to bring music to a perfect evening?
I suppose it’s raining some where in this island. Besides,  weather forcast on my sidebar states that Singapore is experiencing thunder storms right now. All in for, waiting patiently for the storm to come. 
    Come, come, thou come and thou go.

I’m tortured, at least that’s what I’m feeling. It’s like nobody drinks the milks stored in the fridge and guilty consience keeps telling me,     “Hong Wei, finish it! Don’t waste! Don’t waste! Don’t waste! Besides it’s good for you! “.
Even time is telling me to finish the milk.
“Finish it! Finish it! Or I will finish it with an expiry date!”.
Gosh, 3 bottles of 1.5 litres low-fat milk. Each with an expiry date of 2 days interval. Question is : Does milk still do me good at this age?
I had 3 glasses already. Barely finished the first bottle of milk. It tastes good if any one with a right mind have only a glass a day or two. 3  glasses? Too much that ; I hope not, it will make me feel sick of it and the other two bottles will go to waste. Is milk still good for the bones? Will I grow any taller by drinking milk? Things like this are hard to notice. Maybe next year when I get back to school, I’m a head taller than Beatrice. Kidding. Two more bottles to go, can I make it? Oh God. I’m going to grow big boobs. HELP!

I looked back on my NewZealand pictures. I found :
Melissa, Claudine, Me, Jimi, Yuka
(Interesting though, Yuka spends 6 months in Japan and 6 months in NewZealand depending on the seasons)

Who remembers about a guy named Harvin?! I talked about him once on this blog.

                                   

 Notice something?
Is he gay looking or handsome?

Updates!
I added more links already. Don’t bother clicking any of the ones on -Chained- , their BORING! Some are privated anyways. I strongly recommend clicking on top picks. I enjoy reading them and I’m sure other people would too. It’s fun.

about a month ago (31 October) i started to write a new post publicly committing to join in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) for the month of November. After a paragraph was finished I got distracted by who knows what and never finished the post. I also never participated in the month long novel writing challenge, wherein the challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. do i regret this? yes-and-no. i think this would have been good for me, i have wanted to write a novel, but have a hard time committing to things and had a lot of school work during November. but now, i am going to publicly announce my prospective commitment.

i know i have mentioned giving up meat before, becoming a vegetarian, reducing our negative impact on this place we call home. the reasons for which i advocate these things is not because i believe humans are the enemy, it’s because i believe we could live our lives in a wholistic way and they could be better: mentally, physically, psychologically, socially (etc.) and this is why i (and hopefully my parents) am/are doing the “go dairy free” challenge. the challenge is 10 days with no dairy-no cheese, no yogurt, no milk, no ice cream, no chocolate, etc.-unless it has some sort of dairy substitute.

for me this is not an animal rights issue, it is a health issue. milk is one of the most common food allergens in the western world. lactose intolerance is very common, and some people may not even realize that milk is the problem for digestive problems. we are the only species to continue to drink milk after weaning. there are greater chances to having diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, and ironically osteoporosis, which all but osteoporosis runs in my family. milk is not the only place you can find calcium, to name a few you can get calcium from soy milk, asparagus, baked beans, green beans, sesame seeds, almond butter, oranges, etc. the milk we drink from the stores is from a cow no longer with a calf that needs milk. in most scenarios the cows are given rBGH(recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone) which stimulates the production of the IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor) hormone which helps produce milk. (the science of it.)

really, who knows what will happen if i give up milk. maybe my allergies will get better, or maybe i won’t have heartburn anymore. maybe nothing will happen, but with all of the potential side effects and the knowledge of the prospective health benefits, why not try it.

i haven’t decided when i’m going to start, but i want to do it with my family, so whenever they are on the same page-hopefully before christmas.

http://www.godairyfree.org/

http://www.alternative-healthzine.com/html/1200_2.html

But dude has balls.. and he also knows how to sell his ‘villian’ role. People may think he is a jerk and an asshole but dude is laughing all the way to the bank:

This is the first 10 minutes of Lil Wayne’s new flick “the carter”. I defiantly will be checking this out when it comes out in its entirety. I dont care what anyone says dwayne is one of my top 5 favorite rappers. Heres a clip from the new doc:

As you may know from listening to the “Milktape” the mixtape Milk put out last year Pauly Shore likes to make a few guest spots on Milk’s cds. He kicked off last years mixtape with a classic intro you can hear here at http://myspace.com/buythemilktape. This year he is back at it again. Pauly made the intro for his good friend Milk Tyson, and you can hear the exclusive track free below:

Pauly Shore Intro to Grey Goose W/Klonopin

Happy Black Friday!

Who went out early this morning? Like wicked early? I know I didn’t, and wasn’t plannin on going out either, I rather be in my warm cozy bed then camping out at 5 AM in the Wal Mart parking lot! lol. To me its  not even worth it, I rather get my Christmas shopping done at the last minute. There is too many people on Black Friday, there will be rude people grabbing stuff (possibly even risking getting injured), crowds overwhelm me, to me its just not worth it. Boo ya to last minute holiday shoppers! lol.

Besides the fact that today is Black Friday, many people still had to go out and go to work. (me being no exception). I did my usual thing this morning, got up, ate breakfast while on Facebook, accomplished a little bit of hw, ate lunch, and left for work. I was shocked to see how empty the parking lot was at Shop Rite, in a way I was kind of relieved it wasn’t packed, but in a way I was kind of bummed because I knew the less crowded, the fewer people there, the slower the time will go!!! (and it truly does goes slow! UGH!) Today went alright, not too bad. I got my schedule for next week, and I approve! For once (since probably a month and a half ago or less idk it was a really long time since) I have Sunday off! (such luck, I know, lower paycheck the next following week, but who cares I can catch up on school work!) YAY! That made my day as you can tell! lol. Other then work, and hw, that’s pretty much what I did today, and today (Friday) felt more like a Saturday today for me, idk why, but it did (had to keep reminding myself that it’s only Friday! don’t want to be speeding up the weekend, that be bad!)

Here is what I ate today:

BREAKFAST: A bowl of America’s Favorite Cereal, Cheerios:

LUNCH: A Chef Boyardee Mini Bites Beef Ravioli (I guess they are meant for little kids/babies but the portion size is great for adults, at only 180 calories! not bad!)

SNACK: For break I brought in a Fiber One Oats & Chocolate Bar

DINNER: The fams were shopping at my work so I was on my own for dinner, so I picked up a Smart One’s Orange Sesame Chicken. It was really good, tasted similar to the Oriental Chicken Salad at Friendly’s! Buying this again for sure!

DESSERT: Finished the rest of the Edy’s Mint Cookie Crunch Ice Cream ( =(  ) need to buy  more ice cream! lol.

LATE NIGHT SNACKS: Jello Pudding and a gala apple

That’s it for black Friday! Hope you all had an excellent one (especially those who had an extra day off!).

Until tomorrow goodnight everybody!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Since I headed home for the holiday this year, I had to make my Thanksgiving-type foods for myself a week or so earlier.  So, I chose to experiment with dessert, making a new recipe for a Jell-o pudding pie.  I found it in the grocery store, next to a display for the new seasonal flavor of Jell-o instant pudding:  Pumpkin Spice.  It’s very easy, basically Jell-o instant pudding, milk, spices, and Cool Whip layered together in a vanilla wafer crust (or graham cracker crust).  It came out perfect and delicious, and held up for over a week of leftovers.  Here’s my version:

Triple-Layer Pumpkin Spice Pie

2 cups milk

2 pkg. (4 serving size) Jello Pumpkin Spice flavor Instant pudding

¼ tsp. cinnamon

1 tub (8 oz) cool whip

[sugar and dash nutmeg for seasoning up Cool Whip, optional]

Graham cracker pie crust (I used a vanilla wafer crust, see recipe below)

½ c. pecans

1 T honey

Beat 1^st 3 ingredients together, put half of mixture in bottom of crust.  Mix rest with half of cool whip, put on as next layer.  Use rest of cool whip as topping.  Refrigerate 1 hour.  Garnish:  cook pecans and honey in skillet on med. Low until caramelized, about 2-4 min.

Vanilla Wafer crust:

6 T butter, melted

1 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

[dash cinnamon or nutmeg, optional for this pie]

Mix together and press into pan.  Prebake:  8-10 min. at 350 degrees.

I prefer the vanilla wafer crust over graham cracker because it holds together better and is more solid as a crust than graham cracker, which tends to crumble apart.  Of course, you’ll need to put the wafers in a food processor or blender to break them up; unlike the soft graham crackers they won’t be crumbled up by a rolling pin.  I put in a bit of spice to the crust this time, just because of the pumpkin pie flavor.

I also seasoned up the top layer of pure Cool Whip; but that’s pretty much because I think Cool Whip tastes bland and awful otherwise.  I put a big tablespoonful of sugar and a shake or two of nutmeg to help cut the blandness.  It really helped.

I’m not sure I did the garnish right, as the honey-covered pecans always stuck to everything.  I had to peel (and hopefully not tear) them off of the wax paper they were cooling on, and then they stuck to each other, stuck to the dish I kept them in, etc.  Kind of annoying.  I’m not sure I’d do that next time, unless I chose maple syrup or brown sugar/butter/karo to caramelize the pecans with, as the honey taste doesn’t completely go with pumpkin.  In all, this was an awesome dessert, plus it looked really impressive too.

As Depeche Mode once sang: ‘words are very unnecessary..’

This post was sponsored by the Milk Bottle Manifesto.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone

Today is usually a very busy day but It was actually really relaxing today didn’t do much though.

So after I finished my second post I fell asleep which was around 5 AM by the time I was done, I woke up at 1 today I woke to nothing, well it wasn’t really nothing actually I woke up to about 20 messages saying happy thanksgiving from people but I accidently deleted them, so smart of me, so I sent everyone a Happy Thanksgiving Message to everyone in my contacts. I was hoping for pancakes again this morning, bummer there were none. I woke up just on time to leave with my family to Wal-Mart which actually ended up to be more than just Wal-Mart we want to all these dollar store looking for type so that part of my day wasn’t really interesting was it?

I got to Wal-Mart at around 3 PM yes we were looking around for 2 hours and we didn’t find anything we were looking for, although we did get some pretty decorations for our Christmas tree. I like the colors it’s like gold and brown. I like the colors they remind me of chocolate bars wrapped in gold wrapping, for the people who don’t know me well, I love chocolate. Anyways back to Wal-Mart we were there for about another 2 hours didn’t really leave till 5 PM but it was fun oh and I bought a shirt because I really liked the design and I bought Cheetos. I really didn’t buy much we were mainly just looking around for stuff to go and buy on Black Friday; tomorrow is going to be a very interesting day.

I got home at around 6 PM it was great I took a quick shower before I started making dinner, yes I made dinner I know its suppose to be someone older not me but I found it really fun. I made mashed potatoes and stuffing well I kind of cheated on it though, I used the box with the stuff in it already so it was pretty easy to do, and my mom just warmed up the corn which was the easiest thing ever. We didn’t have the traditional turkey since we are a family of 4 and well I am vegetarian so we had chicken for three and we didn’t even take the time to make it we bought one of those that are already roasted, our Thanksgiving dinner was done in about 20 minutes max and that was only because we had to go buy milk at Wal-Mart again to make the mashed potatoes. So we had dinner at the bar in my house, we didn’t feel like setting up the table, and we all gave thanks for something I gave thanks for another year of life and not falling for the temptation of chicken.

After dinner we all went upstairs to watch a movie in my mom’s room we watched Tinker Bell which is the best movie ever and right afterwards started watching Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure but that’s when we got the call that one of my aunts was at my other aunt’s we all went but only my brother the one that is just a couple of years younger than me we stayed over and played cards and looked through store catalogs for tomorrow it was really fun. I really like spending time with my Aunts. I left their house at around 11 PM and I still wanted to finish watching Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure and so I did.

Well after the movie was over I just turned on the laptop and started writing and I been here since that and talking to my friend Ruben from school

It was really cold last night and all I wanted was for time to hurry up so that I could make my Thursday night dinner! My favorite potato soup is from La Madeleine, believe it or not. I always ask for extra bacon and cheese.

[100% organic]

Ingredients:

• 6-8 slices of prosciutto
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 carrots, diced
• 1 lb red potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 4 cups chicken stock/broth
• 3 TBS butter
• 2 TBS corn starch
• 2 cups of milk
• 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Place 6-8 slices of prosciutto on a lightly greased
3. Bake at 400°F for about 10 minutes, until crisp. Set aside to cool. Break into crumbles
4. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot and saute onions and carrots until they start to soften, about 5 minutes
5. Add potatoes and enough chicken stock to cover everything. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes
6. While the potatoes are cooking, melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat
7. Once melted, add corn starch, whisking to combine. Allow to cook for 1 minute
8. Add the milk slowly, whisking constantly to smooth out any lumps
9. Continue to heat while whisking until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes
10. Once it reaches the desired thickness, remove from heat and stir in grated cheddar cheese
11. Once potatoes are tender, pour the cheese mixture into the potato mixture, stirring to combine
12. Heat to a simmer and cook until thickened
13. Season with salt and pepper to taste
14. Top with crumbled crispy prosciutto

*Adapted from Craving Chronicles.

I tried to pass for nothing
But my dreams gave me away

milk and apples

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

BLACK FRIDAY HERE I COME!!!!

Kriska Transportation truck at a back entrance to Neilson Dairy in Ottawa, Ontario.

Web site: www.robhuntley.ca
Click on the image to go straight to the same image on my website.

I am very grateful for the many blessings that surround my life. My children, my husband, family, friends and health.

This has been a tough year for our dairy industry. I am grateful to still be at it. I pray for the continued improvement of our economy.

I am grateful that I have been able to share myself with a few in attempt to put a face on the farmer.  I hope to be able to continue to reach out to others to show them what I know….that our nations farmers are hard-working humble folks that put muscle and heart in all they do.

God bless you all! Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Barbara Borges-Martin 

When you’re down and troubled
and you need some love and care
And nothin´, nothin´ is goin´ right…

Fall has begun – it’s grey outside, it’s getting cold, it’s rainy: the best conditions for being in a bad mood. Or for having hot chocolate.  But not any hot chocolate – for Spanish hot chocolate.
In Spain it’s served with churros – I don’t really need the Churros, I prefer the pure chocolate, which is thicker than a hot Chocolate as it is known in Germany. If you want, you can add spices – e. g. chili or ginger or cardamom; feel free to add what you want. (Even if it’s garlic, but don’t force anybody else to drink it then…)

For one big cup heat about 250 ml milk with about 25 g of dark chocolate. Stir well.
Mix thoroughly 1/2 tsp starch with a little bit of milk, make sure that you’ve got no lumps in this mix. When the milk-chocolate-mix is starting to boil, add the starch-milk-mix and stir well. Wait until it’s boiling once again, pour the hot chocolate in your cup, say hello to your sofa, curl up in a warm and cosy blanket, grab a good book and get in a better mood!

We have just been sent this and feels it needs a much wider audience, however if you are sensitive to bad language, then please do not watch. Complaints will not be accepted, watching is your choice.

Will you ever look at a chicken in the same light again, and did you really know that wheat grows in the ground?

You’d be forgiven at the moment for thinking we were nearing the end of a decade. The interwebs have been awash of late with more countdowns, best ofs, top tens and general reminiscences of the 2000’s then you could poke a digital stick at. Suddenly everybody is a critic, and while some of the countdowns have been insightful and thought-provoking, others have been….well, like this one. For the nostalgic, these countdowns are practically memory-heaven. But for those who don’t buy into that sort of stuff, it gets a little tiring. So, what better than to list some of the best (and worst) ‘best-of’ lists currently clogging up cyber-space?

Pitchfork: P2K

Over the past months American music site Pitchfork have taken an in-depth look at the decade in music. Way back in the dark ages of 2001 the site barely existed, but since then has grown to be one of the most formidable online music news and reviews sites on the net. Not only does P2K count down the best albums, songs and music videos, it also features a series of essays detailing some of the more interesting developments in music over the past ten years. Of particular note is the ‘Decade in Indie’ and the social history of the mp3.

Highlights
Best Album: Radiohead- Kid A
Best Song: Outkast- B.O.B.

Paste Magazine: The 25 best Album Covers

Slightly more obscure is Paste magazine’s countdown of the best album covers. It has been argued that as digital sales boom and physical CD sales decline, the quality of modern album art is going steadily downhill (as this cover would seem to prove). Regardless, Paste have put together an interesting countdown, which includes the likes of The Flaming Lips, Animal Collective, Arcade Fire and Lil Wayne. Whoever decided to award Neko Case’s Middle Cyclone cover as number 1 though needs to go back and re-take primary school art classes.

Highlights
Number 1: Neko Case- Middle Cyclone
Number 2: Animal Collective- Merriweather Post Pavilion (and rightly so)

The A.V. Club: The 30 best TV Shows

The problem with critics is often that their views on what is ‘good’ differs from the majority of the viewing public. Which is a shame, but it’s also the reason why most of the shows on the A.V. Club’s list of best TV shows of the decade have either ended or been cancelled. Still, it’s a formidable list. The top 3 (The Wire, Arrested Development and the Sopranos) are undoubtedly some of the finest productions since television’s inception, let alone in this decade. Other notable shows include Mad Men, Lost and The West Wing, just scraping in at number 30. The best part of this countdown though is the shitfight in the comments as to what constitutes a ‘decade’. Hilarious.

Highlights
Number 1: The Wire
Number 15: Veronica Mars
Number 22: Six Feet Under

News.com.au: Moment of the Decade

Oh, News.com.au. Purveyor of fine, quality journalism. Not content with simply telling Middle Australia what the best bits of the noughties were, good old Rupert has gone and encouraged everyone to name their own favourites! For anyone that’s ever read the comments to any article on the site, that should be enough to click your way on over. In case you need any more incentive though, today’s category is ‘Killers, Haters, Tools: Choose the Villian of the decade’. Apparently Kyle Sandilands and John Mayer are in the same league as Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Who would have thought? The fun doesn’t stop there. Oh no siree, it doesn’t. For you creative types, you can even have a go at naming what the next decade should be called! An issue of utmost importance, of course. Seriously, the sooner this site becomes paid-only, the better.

Lowlights
Pop Culture
Money
Sex & Life
…actually, just spend a good 15 minutes trawling through the site. It’ll make your day.

Times Online: The 100 Best Movies of the Noughties

Slightly more classy news outlet Times Online went all out and counted down the top 100 cinematic releases of the decade. With everything from political drama Milk to Roman-epic Gladiator to comedy Knocked Up, the list does well to cater for everyone…up until the odd choice of The Bourne Supremacy/Ultimatum at number 2 (So really it should have been the best 101 movies). And Team America World Police in the top 5? You must be joking.

In Brief
Number 1: Hidden
Number 16: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Number 34: Finding Nemo
Number 64: Anchorman

Well that’s about it. Some of the best (and worst) countdowns of the best (and worst) things to happen in the noughties. Of course, a quick google search will reveal thousands more best-ofs then the ones here. But really, is there much point? When it comes down to it, who gets to decide that Franz Ferdinand is better than Hot Chip? Or that Monsters, Inc. deserves to place ahead of Pan’s Labyrinth?

Perhaps the best countdown of the decade should go to Hungry Beast. They look at the ten best years of the 2000’s. You can check that out here.

]]> http://christiansfoyer.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/review-milk/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:30:27 +0000 christiansfoyer http://christiansfoyer.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/review-milk/

Investment in agriculture is soaring. So, worryingly, is distrust of markets and trade

At the height of the food-price spike in 2008, many of the biggest food producers banned the export of crops (they sought to cushion the domestic impact of rising world prices). Most of these restrictions have been lifted and replaced by a variety of price and marketing policies. Many of them are sensible. Kenya, for example, improved peoples’ nutrition by removing restrictions on the sale of unpasteurised milk (milk is one of the most important foodstuffs in east Africa)…

Read more… (The Economist)

Please know you have profoundly helped me grow to who I am today (I hope that’s not a bad thing!). I apologize off the bat for the bad grammar. This is a very stream of consciousness letter. I am thankful for so many people this is going to sound like an acceptance speech. If only I had an award to go with it!For some reason, I feel more thankful than ever. Going through a transformation of sorts puts everything in perspective. When I lost my job this past June, I would have never guessed I would have felt more alive and have met some of the most amazing people. I never dreamed I would be on television/radio and also have a blog, which has had to date over 15,000 hits. I am grateful for EVERYONE who visits day after day!

Thank you for following the journey.

If I could tell you one thing –change the world. Go out and make a difference. Stand up for what you believe in. Change someone’s life. We all have amazing stories to tell. Share them.

My blog wouldn’t have gotten off the ground without a few people. My publicist, George, whose idea it was to really go forward and create the blog. He always has a way of staying positive. A special thanks to ALL the people I have interviewed thus far: the wonderful Marti C., single-licious Melissa B, exceptional Jerry Mitchell, incredible forced to be reckoned with Frenchie Davis, life changing activities Ryan Janek Wolowski and Randy Wicker, and uber talents Richard and Dana. Elisa, Will, Angelo and Renee thank you for one point or another for being my camera bitch! There are many more people, so I apologize if I have forgotten you.

Liz S, you are an amazing woman who constantly gives me the chance to do what I love! You always astound me by the types of events you have me cover. Thank you for taking a chance with me!
Julie H. you have such an amazing heart. I never thought in a million years I would be on the Pat Field website! You have really made my year. You see things in me that I have overlooked. I can’t thank you enough for the dream come true it has been and will keep continuing!
Meagan H. – WE WILL GET KATHY!! You are such a joy to know and you never make my crazy idea is well…crazy! You are a great visionary at what you do!

My family has always been my rock. A special shout out to my relatives in PA, who are not only amazing, but I am so blessed to have reconnected with them on Facebook. Though sometimes we seem miles apart, BENNINGTONS know we are NEVER that far. Thanks guys for all the kick ass support!

My other “family” -my friends who have seen my light and my dark, I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to see each of you grow and become individuals who make me proud in the way you contribute and choices you make. Each of you has such a special gift. I truly love you all and you have been a place to look for advice, support and unconditional love. You have no clue how much I value all of you (though sometimes my sarcasm may make it seem otherwise)

My Old Tappan friends, it’s been a while but let me know when you’re around the NYC/NJ area. For me to see us all grown up seems a little freaky! It was only yesterday we were singing to Mr. Boscia’s music, seeing Mr. Rossi throw a desk, cutting class, going to the prom. Now some of you have your own families. Keep me in your heart, as I do with you.

Wagner College gave me amazing inspiration to find myself and meet professors and life-long friends who inspire me daily. There are many ways you can gain an education as I learned in my years at Wager!

Thanks to all the RENT friends I have made. Measure in love. We can always be grateful for Jonathan Larson’s lasting treasure. Thanks for all the RENT road trips!

Thank you, all the new friends I have made. I look forward to knowing you more and more (that DOES sound kind of creepy)

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU OUT THERE WHO INSPIRE!

This year, remember those who are not as blessed and keep them in your thoughts and prayers. It’s important for us –as teachers, friends, parents, lovers, brothers, sisters,-you name it, to go out there and make a difference. Anything small can help. We can be the change.

Please have a safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving this year.

The best is yet to come,

Neal B
www.nealbinnyc.wordpress.com

Hey everybody! What’s up? Sorry that I have been kind of lazy on my postings, its just that Ive been so busy lately!!! UGH! With working 6 days straight and never ending HW, I just got very tired, which lead to me forgetting to keep up with my posts! I seriously can’t wait until this week is over, and when the semester ends, then hopefully in between it will be a little quieter, more relaxful.

So anyway, what have I been up to these past couple of days? Well….I pretty much explained myself above, so don’t really feel like repeating myself over again. Today however was somewhat of a “catch up” day. English class was canceled and work was put for us online since so many of the kids in my class were not going to be in class today, so I decided to take the advantage and catch up on HW (English especially). In fact, that’s pretty much what I did all day, HW, HW, HW, school, Shop Rite, home, HW (sort of). I was very surprised when I saw that I had off today. Looking at the day’s date (the day before Thanksgiving) I was sure to be working today, just 100% positive I would be. HA! turns out that I was indeed proven wrong! and finally enjoy a day off! (Ive worked 5-6 days straight this week, so having today off was much, MUCH needed!) But however, I had to go there anyway. One, since Shop Rite is closed on Thanksgiving paychecks are distributed today (HELL YEAH!) so I had to pick up my paycheck, and two, do a little grocery shopping (yes…I know call me crazy for shopping on the day before Thanksgiving, but amazingly it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was, maybe it was horrible earlier because when I went it was crowded but not to terribly bad). After that went home and did some more reading (which I think I will do once again right before I head off to bed). Right now just chilling out……thinking about tomorrow (Thanksgiving!)

Here is what I ate (for today, not going to list what I ate the past couple of days, that would take forever! lol):

BREAKFAST: A Quaker Oats Oatmeal to go bar (always yummy and delicious, screw HFCS, the taste is awesome!)

LUNCH: A Smart Ones Creamy Rigatoni w/ Broccoli & Chicken (sorry for the poor quality, took by phone)

SNACK: A 100 Calorie pack of Emerald’s Cocoa Roasted Almonds

DINNER: Some chicken (which I thought it was turkey thank god it wasn’t because that’s what we are having tomorrow, and days to come!), roasted new potatoes, Asian Veggies (best ever!), and a glass of milk

DESSERT: A Luna Caramel Nut Brownie Bar

LATE SNACKS: A Jello Pudding and some Stauffer’s Animal Crackers

And I believe that’s about it! Tomorrow will probably be a lot, idk yet. According to my mom I am expected to eat on Thanksgiving, which I am getting anxious about! UGH! whatever I will survive. Hopefully. lol.

Until tomorrow (TURKEY DAY!) have a good night! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

]]> http://ostrichfeathers.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/milk/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:15:47 +0000 Dan http://ostrichfeathers.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/milk/

I recently watched the film Milk starring Sean Penn and directed by Gus Van Sant, a bio-pic about San Francisco’s first openly gay elected official Harvey Milk, on DVD. I was pleased I did as I found it very interesting and I’d not previously known much about him or his life. One thing did puzzle me though. In the 1970s in San Francisco there was a religious, marxist, socialist group calling themselves The Peoples Temple. Harvey Milk was a known and ardent supporter of the group, led by their ‘pastor’ Jim Jones. Jones billed himself as a humanitarian to the outside world and God to his followers. He was, infact, a maniac who led over 900 men, women and children to their deaths in the jungles of Guyana in 1978. Newspaper exposes on Jones’ brutal treatment of his followers and criminal activity had been reported as early as 1972 but were largely ignored until it was too late. Both Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, and other officials, were supporters of Jones and the temple and both were assasinated just over a week after the Guyana deaths by former SF City Supervisor Dan White. However, there is no mention of this in the film whatsoever. It’s not even referenced or alluded to. I understand that in a biopic it’s usually not possible to mention everything in a person’s life, however given the level of Milk and Moscone’s involvement in the temple, Milk wrote a letter defending Jones to then US President Jimmy Carter and Moscone refused to have Jones investigated even after his human rights violations became public knowledge. I really feel it should have been mentioned. Do check the film out just don’t expect to be getting the full story. Thanks for reading.