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First Lady Michelle Obama Graces Season Premiere of Iron Chef America; Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford Will Compete

audiegrl — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:11:34 +0000

Posted by Audiegrl

Another first from the Obama White House Kitchen…First Lady reveals “secret ingredient“

First Lady Michelle Obama, Flay, Comerford, Brown, Batali and Lagasse
Obama Foodorama—First Lady Michelle Obama will make a special appearance on the season premiere of the popular Food Network show Iron Chef America in January, in a savvy move to extend her healthy food messaging to a new audience. Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford will compete on the show in a special two hour “super chef battle.” Comerford’s teammate is grill master Bobby Flay, who guest-cheffed at the White House for the Father’s Day event in June, when he cooked up some lovely steaks with President Obama. Spoiler alert: Mrs. Obama will be revealing the “secret ingredient” that the chefs will use in their televised cook-off, which is a hallmark of the Iron Chef America series. The “secret ingredient” in this case is anything that grows in the White House Kitchen Garden, which leaves things wiiiide open, because the Kitchen Garden has produced a stunning variety of crops this year. Comerford and Flay are competing against the highly competitive team of celeb chefs Emeril Lagasse, who specializes in Southern/New Orleans cooking, and Mario Batali, an Italian cooking superstar.

Comerford in the Kitchen Garden during the Iron Chef America filming, harvesting with teammate Flay
Scenes for the show were already shot at the White House, with Comerford and the three other chefs harvesting crops from the Kitchen Garden, and Mrs. Obama having face-time with the guest chefs and discussing the importance of getting kids to eat their veggies. In her onscreen cameo, Mrs. Obama will discuss her campaign to reduce childhood obesity through better school lunches, community gardens, farmers’ markets and exercise, which is now known as the Healthy Kids Initiative around the White House. The show’s January air-date is timed perfectly to be right before Congress comes back into session, when legislators will ostensibly be addressing the re-authorization of the Child Nutrition Act, which provides federal funding for school feeding programs. Better school lunches are one of Mrs. Obama’s priorities, and President Obama’s too; Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack frequently notes in his public remarks that this was the very first subject President Obama discussed with him during their “job interview.”

More @ Obama Foodorama, where you can find White House Food Initiatives…And Other Bipartisan Bytes of Food Politics

China city government opens gay bar to fight AIDS

nealbinnyc — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:24:26 +0000

From http://www.reuters.com:

BEIJING (Reuters Life!) – A Chinese city with one of the nation’s highest rates of AIDS has opened a government-funded gay bar in an outreach effort that has stirred debate over the use of taxpayers’ money.The health department in Dali, a picturesque city on a lake in southwestern Yunnan province, funded the bar to reach out to China’s increasingly open gay community. Dali is one of the 10 cities in China most affected by AIDS.

Same-sex transmission accounts for about one-third of new HIV infections in China, the minister of health said this month.

“Some readers think that it’s a waste of taxpayer money, or an indirect endorsement of homosexual behavior,” the Beijing News said in an opinion piece on Monday, citing letters to the editor after it ran an article on the bar over the weekend.

“They think if there were another way to reach out to the gay community, it wouldn’t be necessary to open a bar.”

Founder Zhang Jianbo hopes that the bar will be a public gathering place for gay men, especially from rural villages, who used to gather in a patch of woods near the historic town.

The bar offers sex education and free condoms, in addition to companionship, Zhang said in an interview with the newspaper.

Though funded by the government, the bar is staffed by volunteers from a local non-government organization that works to prevent AIDS.

“Each year, the Dali city government spends 20,000 yuan ($2,929) on treatment drugs for AIDS. So if our bar succeeds in reducing transmission, our 120,000 yuan will be well-spend,” Jiang Anmin, deputy director of health in Dali, told the paper.

China’s gay community for decades lived in fear of discrimination and prejudice, with the earliest gay bars often the targets of police raids and closures while homosexuals often married women to avoid family and social pressures.

China now has about 100,000 known AIDS cases, but some health experts worry that HIV could spread easily among migrant workers and other hard-to-reach sectors. The government has switched to a strategy of outreach to the gay community, as part of efforts over the past few years to fight the spread of HIV.

“In the past the government relied on NGOs to reach out to the gay community,” Bing Lan, director of outreach organization Aibai, told Reuters.

“Now there’s a change, in that some local health bureaus feel they are able to reach out to the community themselves.”

But one unintended consequence of outreach efforts in parks, bars and bathhouses frequented by gay men, Bing said, is that some gay men now avoid those haunts for fear of being found out.

“Today I saw a blog, saying that when the bar in Dali has its official opening on World Aids Day, no-one will dare to go because there will be too many reporters there,” he said.

National Equality March

vjnet — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:50:46 +0000

Watch National Equality March on VJnet.org

On October 11, 2009 I went to Washington DC for the National Equality March Rally with David b and Brian G from TheOccasionalFag.com podcast.

equalityacrossamerica.org

Soundtrack
Fragile Day by A Northern Chorus
This Is Modern Love by Bloc Party
Part of the PodsafeMusicNetwork.com

Blowin’ In The Wind by Jay Brannan

Lady Gaga
Cynthia Nixon
Judy Shepard

29 women got prognant after our acupuncture treatments since 2007

arthuryinfan — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:50:23 +0000

Last Saturdy, one patient came to our office for treating her stress and low back pain, she is in 38 weeks pregancy.
She reported to us, she got nature pregant in second month after our 8 sessions’ acupuncture last year.

This is our 29 pregant reports in 35 months, we don’t know exactly how many women actually got prognant because some of patients forgot to report, and they moved.

Entertainment Biz and Battling Cancer

newleafrob — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:39:54 +0000

I felt that kidney stones were the culprit causing me so much pain and the fever. I was adamant that these were the worst stones I had ever had. Finally, my road journey had ended and arrived at the hospital. Being a part of a small town in Branson and owning my business there, much to my surprise word had spread about my illness quickly. During my intake at the hospital, over a dozen people were there waiting at the hospital for me to get home to Branson. I knew when the doctor told me that the waiting room was full of people praying, God had sent them to lend support because of the obstacles I would face.

Searching for answers and leading the doctors in the wrong direction telling them about kidney stones almost took my life. Multiple tests were run and the pain was so extreme I could only sweat and pray for God to take me home. After several hours of suffering and dozens of people holding my hand and praying for me, the time came when I was all alone. Honestly, I was feeling better and knew God had given me the relief that I desperately had prayed for. At that moment, my doctor rushed into my room. He explained that I had an abscess in the colon. The reason I was feeling relief was it had started to burst. If I did not have surgery I was going to die, and he was very concerned if I would make it through the surgery. If I did pull through, it was now evident that I would have a colostomy at 35.

I was devastated. The only thing I knew to do was to start getting my affairs in order. Immediately, I contacted my business partners, public relations people, and show promoters to let them know the situation at hand. The hardest task was calling my parents and telling them, knowing they would not get to Branson before the surgery and that I might not see them again. I had no idea that the storm was not over we had just barely begun.

47 visitors had registered at the nurses’ station that day. People from all walks of life, including celebrities praying for my future and God’s will. Some people that I barely knew, they maybe had performed or worked on one of my shows. With only an hour from surgery the social worker and my pastor started praying with me, knowing that the odds are not in my favor to pull through. At that moment the reality of a colostomy hit me like a rock. I was 35, never married, and no kids. No one would ever want someone with a colostomy. Little did I know how God would humble me to my knees and rebuild my whole life through a stomach wafer and a bag we call a colostomy. Still an hour before surgery the uninvited guest had not shown itself to me. I just wanted to give up and go to be with Jesus. Little did I know I was still on a mountain top and the valley had not even approached me.

The attitude we have when we face a challenge is what gets us through life. Did I ever stop to think how lucky I was to live in a country that had medical technology? Did I think about how blessed I was to have the ones who loved me there reaching out to help me? Did I think about others who have it so much worse than a colostomy? Sometimes we are selfish in the storm and forget how good we have it.

How to Shoot Action Photos

lblanchd123 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:55:41 +0000

Action photography. It doesn’t have to be limited to sports photos. It can be of you and your friends running through a field while goofing off. It can be a photo of a train rolling through a station. It can be a photo of your dog chasing a squirrel or cat playing with a toy.

The funny thing about action photography, and photography in general really, is that it is very unnatural. Life is constantly moving and flowing. Even at rest we still have things going on around us.

There are two basic ways to take an action photos: Freezing the Action and using Motion Blur.

FREEZING THE ACTION

This is more or less pretty straight forward. It’s where the image is crisp and you don’t let the any of the movement into the photo.

It is done through using faster shutter speeds. Usually a shutter speed of 1/100th is a good starting point. Granted, the type of action you’re shooting also will change the speeds you want to go with. So you will want to play around with it.

Remember, the faster your subject is moving the faster the shutter speed will need to be to freeze the image. Also, the faster the shutter speed, the less light will reach the sensor. You get around the image being dark by either increasing the ISO levels or lowering the f/stop. I would recommend only raising the ISO marginally because the higher the ISO is the grainier the photo will be. But like I said, you’ll want to play around with it.

MOTION BLUR

The way you create motion blur is by slowing down the shutter speed. Then you pan your camera to keep your subject sharp while everything else ends up becoming blurred. One nice thing about using motion blur in your photos is that it doesn’t really matter what f/stop you use.

You mainly just need to practice panning with how slow the shutter is. The slower the shutter speed the further you will have to pan. Not only that, but you will have to be steadier with your panning in order to keep your subject sharp.

Another thing you could try with panning would be to set up the photo so that you compose the background and let your subject move through the photo. That way the background is sharp and your subject is blurred moving through the photo.

Whatever style you try, be sure to TAKE LOTS OF PHOTOS! If your camera can do photo burst, then use it. It’s such a great tool to use. It will allow for you to capture more of the action as it’s unfolding. This will allow you more usable photos when you edit them afterward.

As always, the only way to get good at these techniques is to take more photos.

What are you waiting for? Go take some action shots!

And NOW You Know... The Rest of the Story.

DangerB — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:21:54 +0000

When in trouble, whether it’s over a sinking economy, a highly unpopular health care plan, terrorist attacks on our own soil, climategate, spending us into oblivion, and countless other instances of fraud, deceit, and failure…

CREATE A DIVERSION! Enter: Tareq and Michaele Salahi… AKA “The Party Crashers”.

“Party Crashers” had five-year relationship with Obama before state dinner
Article: Canada Free Press

While the big gun media and American Secret Service are out there investigating “party crashers” Tareq and Michaele Salahi, no one’s telling the truth: Obama knew the Salahis when he was still an Illinois senator.

Polo Contacts Worldwide could make it easy for the investigating Secret Service by brown-enveloping them this picture:

Oh my God. He’s holding a Gobson Les Paul. It says “ROCK THE VOTE”. This disgusts me.

Hey Secret Agent Man, here’s Obama, the senator flashing his pearly whites with Randy Jackson, better known as a judge on American Idol. “Others pictured are Black Eyed Peas Rock Band; Tareq Salahi the President of the America’s Polo Cup; President Elect Obama, Fergie from Black eyed Peas and Michaele Salahi, posing this time as a former Miss USA and SuperModel.”

Interesting little detail for White House gumshoes: As the above photo was published in June 2005, Barack Obama was still Senator Obama and not the President Elect.

And with Michaele Salahi yesterday having been caught out—Facebook pompoms notwithstanding—as a bogus cheerleader for the Washington Red Skins and not a model for Victoria’s Secret as claimed, Canada Free Press (CFP) leaves it to FoxNews.com to find out if she ever was a “former Miss USA”.

We do know for a fact that among the slew of memberships on charitable boards, Tareq Salahi is a former member of The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP). The only way to know for a fact is because even though ATFP scrubbed all references to Salahi as a board member, he can still be found on Google cache. (Canada Free Press)

Sad that White House Secret Service are looking like Keystone Kops in the aftermath of Obama’s very first state house dinner in the tent.

Google has a thing for scrubbing anything that might shine a negative light on BHussein. They even removed the term “climategate” from their drop down search menu. It was there several days ago.

While the media is fixated on the hitch in Michaele Salahi’s git-along, there can be no doubt that these recently minted “party crashers” really get around.

We take you back to June 9, 2005 when Tom Nelson, operating officer of AARP, was summing up the Rock the Vote Awards night. According to the Washington Post “everyone from Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama to “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson and R&B singer Mya gathered in the National Building Museum’s Great Hall:

“You were probably wondering, as you sat down at your table, ‘What the heck is the AARP doing in a Rock the Vote Event?’” Nelson noted.

Time would soon tell that the AARP would show up in other fishy places.

And if there is anyone who must know that this weekend’s party crasher story is a crock it’s John McCain who was at the Vote Awards Night, and who along with Barack Obama, was honored with the Rock the Nation Award, Obama “for forming a multiracial coalition in winning his seat”.

McCain was handed his award for “his work on campaign finance reform”. “Just call me Funk Master McCain,” he told the audience of 1,000 in accepting his award.: (washingtonpost.com, June 9, 2005.

Hey, McCain. How about you stop cheezin’ it up over an award and tell BHussein how to work on a GODDAMN BUDGET. Yeah, I get it. Fat chance.

Meanwhile, don’t know why Obama’s long time associates possibly could be mistaken for party crashers when they came into the tent with a Bravo Reality TV Show “Real Housewives of DC” professional camera crew and makeup artist in tow unless he was hoping for a Reality gig for wife Michelle, CBS celebrity Katie Couric or Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Well, at least they didn’t use their child as a tool in order to get a spot on a Reality TV show. We ALL remember BALLOON boy. Fucking idiots.

Obama could end the “party crasher” goose chase for White House Secret Service in a proverbial New York Minute by coming clean on his almost 5-year-old social/political relationship with Tareq and Michaele Salahi.

It could save money in these recessionary times and put an end to the drama of Washington’s “unprecedented” first state dinner in a tent.

Wait; did THIS CanadaFreePress journalist just use “Obama” and “save money” in the same article? COME ON, NOW.

Rob & MiMi on Tour! On the Bus!®

newleafrob — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:06:17 +0000

Rob & MiMi on Tour! On the Bus!®

Of God, workers and fowl

mikeoles3 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:51:19 +0000

Katy and I drove from Washington D.C. to Indianapolis and back this Thanksgiving. This morning as we drove through central Ohio on way back to Indy we listened to This American Life’s Poultry Slam 2008; their tribute to all things fowl as Americans prepare their holiday meals.

It was a great way to spend an hour and the stories, or acts in This American Life parlance, all centered around birds and God.

The story that stuck out to me most was the act called “A Pastor and his flock.” I’m a sucker for stories about the intersection of the labor movement and church and this was a powerful story. Rector Bruce Walker at Grace Episcopal Church in Morganton, North Carolina, was asked by organizers at the Western Carolina Worker’s Center to get involved in a struggle between workers and management at nearby Case Farms. The workers at Case Farms, a gigantic chicken processing facility, were organizing a union and Ken Wilson, the head of public relations and mouth piece for the vicious antiunion campaign for Case Farms, was a member at Grace.

(For more information about the struggle, check out Barry Yeoman’s Spiritual Union or read The Maya of Morganton, written by UNC Labor professor Leon Fink.)

Even though Walker was relatively new to town, none of the workers at Case Farms (mostly Guatamalan immigrants) worshipped at Grace and that Walker was part of the solidly middle-class congregation, the rector sided with the workers. He tried to get his congregant to start rethinking his stance and role. Wilson was a little angry when his pastor showed up on the day of the union election and he soon quit the church and moved out of town.

Though the church lost a tither that day, the low wage poultry workers of Morganton gained a friend and ally. When asked if he had any regrets, Rector Walker only regretted that he hadn’t done more.

Its a story every pastor and his or her flock should here. Hopefully, the members at Grace are proud of their pastor who knows the difference between cheap and costly grace.

Proof

denisemlee — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:38:54 +0000

My friend Susannah and I had our yearly birthday celebration and decided to go to Proof. This was almost a year in the making. Between both our nutty schedules, we almost never get to go out – except for our birthdays. We set our sights on Proof months ago so we were determined to celebrate there.

The entire meal was excellent. We followed the advice on the menu and shared the first two courses and chose a main entrée each. Throughout the meal, the standouts were the Chicken Liver Pate which was part of a paté and terrine assortment, the Spicy Little Meatballs which came with pillows of soft and flavorful goat cheese agnolotti. I had the Crispy Duck and Pork Confit with the House Made Lamb Sausage as my third course – it was delicious. The duck was nice and crispy but not dried out and the Lamb Sausage was had a nice subtle lamb flavor, nothing too overpowering. The absolute star of this dish was the accompanying portion of white beans served underneath the duck and lamb sausage. The beans were cooked to perfection, nice and creamy but still with a bit of bite to it. I didn’t finish the duck and lamb sausage but the beans were all gone.

We chose to have 2 ounce wine pairings with our meal and everything they sent out was on the money. My favorite wine of the night was something that the server placed before me and asked me to guess what it was. Pressure! My first guess was that it was a Cabernet Syrah and lo and behold - I was close. It was a Syrah from Frederick, MD. It was fabulous and if I just wasn’t so stinking full, I would have had a full glass. It was nice and smooth and complemented the duck perfectly. It was a 2006 Syrah from Black Ankle Vineyards, Frederick County, MD. As I calmly enjoyed the wine my mind is screaming “road trip!”.

I was so glad to just be out and I often say that as long as the company is good (and I am not the one cooking!) I don’t care where we end up. In this case, I am extremely happy to have celebrated our birthdays here. The food and wine were excellent and the company perfect. Can’t wait for next year!

Proof, 775 G St. NW, 20001 (202) 737 – 7663

Attention Sean Hannity, Fox, Obama not eligible, Billboard, November 30, 2009, Barack Obama not natural born citizen, US Constitution, Father Kenyan British, No birth certificate, MSM, Fox News, It’s the Constitution stupid

citizenwells — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:29:45 +0000

INTERNET BILLBOARD

Article II, Sec. 1, cl. 5 of the US Constitution

“No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President. . .”

From the 20th Amendment to the US Constitution.

“or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until
a President shall have qualified;”

November 30, 2009

Attention: Sean Hannity, Fox Network

It is not a conspiracy theory. Using the term “birther” in a condescending, Orwellian manner to discredit decent, hard working Americans who believe that the US Constitution is the law of the land, will not be tolerated.

1. Barack Obama has employed a legion of private and government attorneys to prevent revealing his country of birth. Innocent and eligible persons seeking the office of president do not do that.

2. Barack Obama’s father was a citizen of Kenya and a British citizen. “natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution” was explicitly written to deal with the issue of foreign allegiances at the time of the writing of the US Constitution.

3. Barack Obama’s citizenship and allegiance was further tainted when he was adopted by his stepfather Lolo Soetoro and Obama became an Indonesian citizen.

4. Some combination of the above allowed Obama to travel to Pakistan in 1981 when travel there was restricted to US citizens.

5. The only document presented by the Obama camp is a Hawaii COLB. There has been no substantiation that it is authentic and it does not establish country of birth. As Lou Dobbs stated, “It is a piece of paper that refers to another piece of paper.”

6. All other documentation, all school records, that would establish country of birth have been kept hidden and restricted.

7. No authentic documentation has been presented to establish that Barack Obama was born in the US.

8. The records of all hospitals in Hawaii have been searched. There is no record of Stanley Ann Obama ever having given birth to a child.

9. Barack Obama’s paternal grandmother in Kenya has stated on multiple occasions that she was present at Obama’s birth in Mombasa.

10. Others have stated, including multiple family members, officials and press, that Obama was born in Kenya.

This has been presented in a manner that a fifth grader can understand. However, if you have any questions, please contact me on this blog.

Failure to learn more about and understand this critical issue and take appropriate measures can only be construed as apathy, ignorance or having an un American agenda. This includes the Mainstream Media and the Fox network.

January 20, 2009

Freudian slips by Obama and Justice Roberts? Fox opens eligibility door?
“Fox News’ Chris Wallace: Is Obama even president?”
“”Well, again, we’re wondering here whether or not Barack Obama in fact is the president of the United States,” Chris Wallace told Fox News viewers, well over an hour after Obama had taken the oath of office today.”

Commenter “What” takes cue and responds
“Well there are 20 or so other cases that have been or that are going to the Supreme Court asking if Obama is a natural born citizen. At this time we still do not know if Obama is eligible to be President. If not eligible sworn in or not he is not President. Cases are continuing to try and seek production of Obama’s records that he has sealed or tried to destroy. We have yet to see a copy of his birth certificate to confirm that he was even born in Hawaii. So regardless of being sworn in we still do not know if we have a President.”
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/01/fox-news-chris.html

Photos: A Week in the Life of US President Obama & The First Lady

pacificEyeWitness.org — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:19:46 +0000

WASHINGTON – NOVEMBER 28: (AFP OUT) U.S. President Barack Obama greets people before a college

マードックが FTC へ

Agile Cat — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:44:20 +0000

FTC’s “Journalism & Internet Age” Workshop To Feature Murdoch & Huffington http://daggle.com

Representative Peter T. King

taliesin2 — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:29:09 +0000

“The next time it will be a far worse reality than a reality TV show.” – Representative Peter T. King, who called for a Congressional investigation into how two uninvited guests appeared at the White House for a state dinner while aspiring to be featured on “The Real Housewives of Washington.

Here Comes Winter!

Tim — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:06:06 +0000

Major Storm will bring Heavy Snow and Rain to the eastern third of the Nation A major storm will imp

Thanksgiving Dinner at Blue Duck Tavern

lrfoodies — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:39:27 +0000

Blue Duck Tavern
24 and M Streets, NW
Washington, DC 20037

Nothing puts me in the Thanksgiving spirit quite like spending all week cooking. Last year I hosted Jay’s family for one of the best and most memorable Thankgivings I’ve had, and I spent a solid 2 days standing up in the kitchen cooking. Some might call this tiring, some might call it torture, but the days of non-stop cooking and preparing were some of my favorite. I could plan my own menu, roast my own turkey, bake my own bread, and gladly feed the results of my labor to my extended family.

Last year was my first turkey, but this year brought another first: the first Thanksgiving without any visiting family. It was hard, I didn’t like it, but it was decidedly more relaxing. It never really felt like Thanksgiving because I didn’t make anything, but it let me enjoy my couch a lot more, and I got to spend a lot of time with just Jay.

Rather than cooking just for 2 this year, I made reservations at Blue Duck Tavern after reading an article in Bon Appetit magazine about the best restaurants in the country for Thanksgiving dinner out. Jay and I had visited Blue Duck over the summer for an anniversary dinner, so I knew it was good, and I thought, why not? Already this Thanksgiving wasn’t going to be traditional, so why not let someone else do the cooking?

Blue Duck Tavern serves most of its dishes family style in large copper dishes, and you spoon your own portions onto your plate. This friendly and interactive mode of presenting food is somewhat reminiscent of a traditional Thanksgiving, so it was comforting to eat a dinner away from home in this setting. To add to the comfort and familiarity of the meal, the furniture in the restaurant is more rustic than fine, with thick wood tables and wooden Amish chairs. The kitchen itself almost merges into the dining room, with no walls to divide the cooks from their patrons. It’s almost if the cooking staff wants to include its diners in the preparation of their own meal, and remind them that a good Thanksgiving meal can be made by someone else.

My first course was a salad of sautéed brussel sprouts, mushrooms, and carrots in a creamy sauce with a parmesan crust. Although the sauce was rich, the vegetables were delicately prepared and cooked just enough to bring out their flavors without becoming mushy or bitter. The crisp on top was also very light, and the flavors of each component retained their independence while also working together with each bite.

Jay’s salad was a little more deconstructed: roasted quince, mix green salad, gorganzola cheese, and fresh-made brioche. Again, each element of the dish had a strikingly individual character, but brought together the flavors played one after the other in the mouth, starting with the sweet quince and rounding out with the deeply creamy Gorgonzola.

There’s nothing quite like my mom’s turkey and gravy, so it’s unfair to expect even Blue Duck turkey to live up to that near-perfect expectation. The turkey at Blue Duck was alright, nice and moist, but it wasn’t the rosemary and herb infused southern style turkey that I grew up on. At least the white meat. The turkey leg was presented almost like turkey bbq, pulled off the bone and minced, soaking in giblet gravy, and excellent twist on the tradition.

Rather than have two servings of turkey, Jay decided to go with the braised beef rib. Served on the bone, the rustic presentation was in contrast to the buttery, melt-in-your-mouth texture of the beef.

For the side dishes, we tried to stick to both the simple and familiar. Of course, at Blue Duck nothing is really “simple,” but for example we opted for garlic and chive mashed potatoes over a sweet potato gratin or fingerling potatoes with bone marrow (which part of me was screaming to order). Other side dishes included a tart and chunky cranberry and orange sauce, croissant stuffing with pears and sausage, and creamed spinach.

Cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes

Creamed spinach

Dessert also centered around the traditional and familiar: apple pie and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. It was almost as dessert should be, with simple yet powerful ingredients that brought back countless years and memories of family and other holidays. And, unsurprisingly, each dessert was phenomenal. The crust on the apple pie was so light it almost crumbled just by looking at it, while the apples were tart and firm. You can’t get much better than fresh made ice cream, and the chocolate sauce was so thick that you couldn’t pour it out, you had to spoon it onto your ice cream. Think less of sauce and more like viscous fudge.

Apple pie

Nothing can replace a Thanksgiving meal with family and time-tested recipes, but the Blue Duck Tavern did a good job of making us feel at home and giving us a good time.

INAS Season Finale!::RES

confessionsofacollector — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:29:59 +0000

Click photo to purchase tickets

INAS Season Finale!: In the Artist’s Studio feat. Res

Thursday, December 3rd

The final session of “In the Artist’s Studio” for 2009 returns with Res!

Res will perform an acoustic set and then sit down to chat with Rhome Anderson aka DJ Stylus about her music, the new album and much more. Space is limited and as always advance purchase is highly recommended. Don’t be left out in the Cold!!!

Doors open @9PM. Show starts @9:30PM

BUSBOYS & POETS
2021 14th Street, NW-WDC
9PM-11PM

Parade Magazine's Cowboy Stadium

bla2222 — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:55:51 +0000

Woke up this weekend and saw the article in Parade magazine on the cost of sports. Thought the piece was either about the high risk of injury or focused on the economics of professional sports.

The writer focused on the cost of attending a football game. Fair enough. Who can afford to get a good ticket for a NBA game ($150 face value). Even a good ticket for a MLB Baseball game runs ($40-60) and there are 81 home games a year!

The prices are amazing for a NFL game. “The average cost of attending an NFL game for a family of four is $412.64, it’s a staggering $758.58 to watch the Cowboys.” While mentioning that the new Cowboy stadium carries $1.15 billion price tag, the writer doesn’t mention who paid for that.

Just like I describe in Capital Sporting Grounds for Washington, DC, it’s the taxpayers. The total cost of Arlington’s share of the stadium bond debt, including interest, is expected to be $502.9 million. That’s about $44 million more than the city initially expected. At least in this case the team paid about half of the cost!

In the current economic times, who has the disposable income to attend games? Presumably only the top salaried individuals while everyone has to pay for the actual stadium.

Attention Glenn Beck, Fox, Obama not eligible, Billboard, November 29, 2009, Barack Obama not natural born citizen, US Constitution, Father Kenyan British, No birth certificate, MSM, Fox, It’s the Constitution stupid

citizenwells — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:13:39 +0000

INTERNET BILLBOARD

Article II, Sec. 1, cl. 5 of the US Constitution

“No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President. . .”

From the 20th Amendment to the US Constitution.

“or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until
a President shall have qualified;”

November 29, 2009

Attention: Glenn Beck, Fox Network