messages and musings

Coming to the manger… and finding the Cross in Christmas.

2011-12-26T17:22:00.001-07:00

the cross in christmas from tammi dryden on Vimeo.

Soundbites? We teach LIFE, sir!

2011-11-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

Aurora Borealis

2011-09-29T23:13:00.001-06:00

Aurora Borealis in Finnish Lapland 2011 from Flatlight Films on Vimeo.

Imagine | Playing For Change

2011-07-08T21:38:00.002-06:00

For several years now I've loved what Playing For Change (PFC) does.
It's so beautiful to see and hear musicians on many continents performing together.
"Imagine all the people living life in peace. . .
sharing all the world. . ."

Miss Representation

2011-06-22T17:13:00.004-06:00

Find a local screening of this movie at the link in this title. View it. Then converse with me about it.

Trump for President - "You're Fired, America!"

2011-03-30T20:00:00.002-06:00

The Daily Show
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Blackberry, Apple, Eggs Box 360

2011-01-07T21:55:00.005-07:00

for no particular reason. . .

2010-11-15T22:54:00.002-07:00

I have no good reason for posting this other than it reminds me what it would be like to have tough hands and resilient knees.

Amazing Parkour Skills from Biertijd on Vimeo.

How Many Millions of Gallons of Oil are in the Gulf?

2010-06-03T21:18:00.000-06:00

Is it just me or do you think this "plume" of oil look worse with every attempted new method to fix it?

Live Broadcast by Ustream.TV

LOST - The End (Beginning)

2010-05-24T18:13:00.000-06:00

I admit that I have been a LOST fan-addict. I dreaded Tuesday evening events during the last six years that took me away from the only thing on TV that I couldn't wait to see.

Move Over Oprah - It's the Sarah Palin Network!

2010-04-11T13:47:00.001-06:00

Families of Abraham

2010-02-26T10:17:00.003-07:00

I was 19 years old, living briefly in Jerusalem a year after the Yom Kippur War (otherwise called the 1973 Arab-Israeli War), when I was first introduced to "Father Ibrahim" by my Palestinian Christian and Muslim neighbors. My Jewish professor also spoke of "Father Abraham" and I realized the different paths we've taken away from God have taken us away from each other. Instead of obeying God's law to love, we find ways to be separate and at war.

Become a Winter Olympic Athlete

2010-02-12T11:24:00.004-07:00

What a dream - to be an Olympic athlete!

But only Stephen Colbert would be audacious enough to actually try to get on a team.
:D
Here is his attempt to join the USA Curling team.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Skate Expectations

Is it time for a new job?

2010-02-05T20:28:00.001-07:00

1 Mile Walk at Your Desk

2010-01-29T23:36:00.002-07:00

Baaa Studs with too much time on their hands

2009-11-03T21:48:00.002-07:00

The National Parks: America's Best Idea

2009-09-29T22:29:00.003-06:00

Writer and historian Wallace Stegner called national parks "the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst."

Watch Ken Burn's six-episode documentary, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, every night this week on your PBS station: http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/

These are some of "my" national parks that I have already visited (at least once) . . . .

This is What Happens When You Have a Melting Pot

2009-08-16T17:37:00.002-06:00

The Stew Gets Darker!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Reform Madness - White Minority

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Spinal Tap Performance

2009-08-15T15:09:00.009-06:00

You Can Help Hummingbirds by . . .

Making Your Backyard a Hummingbird Restaurant

The life of a hummingbird consists of a relentless search for food. In areas settled by humans, the flowers that hummingbirds have evolved to hunt down and suck dry often disappear.

The good news is that the lost natural food sources can be easily replaced by planting the right plants and providing sugar water* in hummingbird feeders.

Including Some Good Hummingbird Plants in Your Landscape

	Bee Balm Monarda didyma This perennial blooms in midsummer and grows about three feet tall. There are many varieties of colors and sizes available at nurseries. The variety Jakob Kline is resistant to powdery mildew.
	Cardinal Flower Lobelia cardinalis A red spike of flowers arises from the basal leaves of this perennial in late summer. This plant tolerates some shade and prefers a moist soil.
	Trumpet Creeper Campsis radicans A tall, vigorous vine, the large flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds. The pictured variety has yellow flowers but most often they have red flowers.
	Coral Honeysuckle Lonicera sempervirens This well-behaved vine flowers profusely in April and May and then sporadically throughout the summer. With the return of cooler weather in the fall, it flowers heavily again. The pictured variety has yellow flowers but they are usually pinkish-red.
	Columbine Aquilegia canadensis This perennial blooms from April to June and grows about one foot high. It tolerates some shade and likes to grow amid rocks.

*Making Safe Hummingbird Food

Hummingbird Nectar Recipe

Mix 1 part sugar with 4 parts water and bring to a boil to kill any bacteria or mold present.
Cool and fill feeder.
Extra sugar water may be stored in a refrigerator.
Red dye should not be added.

Be Environmentally Responsible. Save Water.

2009-08-06T01:10:00.004-06:00

You don't have to understand Portuguese to understand this message from a Brazilian nonprofit environmental group about saving water by . . .
well, watch the video.

(If you MUST know what the kids are saying, here's the translation: "Pee in the shower! We want everyone to do it! Men! Women! Children! Brazilians! Or not! Nobles! Commoners! Musicians! Sports stars! People half-human, half-monster. Twilight creatures! Brazilian legends. Greek legends. Good people. Not so good people. Art geniuses. Science geniuses Circus performers. Lovers! People from other planets! Movie stars!")

Apparently King Kong doesn't have to restrict his environmental activism to the shower!

Made in America

2009-05-28T23:55:00.001-06:00

Made in America

Shared via AddThis

Playing For Change

2009-05-20T22:23:00.000-06:00

If we can sing in harmony, we can live in harmony!

Since April when I first experienced Playing For Change (PFC), I've been trying to figure out how to share the love with you here on my blog. This little "Gydget" gives you access to some of my favorite videos. I would recommend "Stand by Me," "One Love," "War/No More Trouble," "Don't Worry," and "Chanda Mama." If you like what you hear -- and I can't imagine you won't -- I encourage you to support the concept and the artists by buying the CD/DVD "Songs Around The World."

What's Your NPR Name?

2009-04-15T19:05:00.004-06:00

I'm Martia SanCarlos thanks to Liana and Eric, who seem to have invented this game. . . .

"Eric and I recently discovered a shared fascination with the slew of impossibly named NPR hosts we listen to every day: Renee Montagne, Steve Inskeep, Corey Flintoff, Korva Coleman, Kai Ryssdal, Dina Temple-Raston.In fact, we’ve often wondered what it would be like to be one of them. A Nina Totenberg or a Renita Jablonski. A David Kestenbaum or a Lakshmi Singh. Even (on our most ambitious days) a Cherry Glaser or a Sylvia Poggioli.

So finally, after years of Fresh Air sign-off ambitions, we came up with a system for creating our own NPR Names. Here’s how it works: You take your middle initial and insert it somewhere into your first name. Then you add on the smallest foreign town you’ve ever visited.

So I’m Liarna Kassel. And Eric is Jeric Bath. I even have a new nickname for my little brother in Dylsan Rosarita."

2009-04-01T21:19:00.002-06:00

April 1, 2009

Click and Clack to Head Up GM Revival

Board appoints radio show hosts in surprise move

Story Highlights

Hosts of popular NPR Car Talk radio broadcast put in charge of automaker

Former critics now tasked with turnaround effort

Excess GM inventory headed to Cuba

Brothers unveil effort to end Cuban embargo

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) -- In a surprise move, the GM Board of Directors has appointed two radio talk show hosts to head up the company's emergency restructuring. The new GM Product Czars are Tom and Ray Magliozzi, also known as "Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers," who host NPR's Car Talk radio show. Former GM fans from the 1950s and 1960s, they since went on to become harsh GM critics in recent decades.

"We know it's easy to criticize, so we think it's time we try walking a mile — back to a repair shop — in their shoes," says older brother, 72-year-old, Tom Magliozzi, with his trademark guffaw, as a General Motors PR executive cringes nearby.

The brothers acknowledge that the task of reinvigorating GM is a difficult one, but they also say they are uniquely qualified. "Having done our radio show every week for 23 years now," says Ray Magliozzi, 59, "we know what it's like to be selling something no one wants. We've done this before."

What may have convinced GM's Board of Directors to turn to the Magliozzi brothers is their bold plan for reviving the manufacturing giant. "Cuba," said Tom Magliozzi, his teeth clenched around a fat, smoldering Romeo y Julietta, while GM PR folks ponder whether to enforce the company-wide no-smoking policy.

"We've got an enormous number of GM cars we can't sell, right? And who needs an enormous number of GM cars? Cuba! Their GM cars are from, like, the 1950s!"

"In contrast, the cars we have sitting on dealership lots now are all 2007s, 2008s, and 2009s," adds Ray, "and they have all their original parts! The Cubans are gonna love these things."

"Plus, " says Tom, "they get 10% better mileage than those 1959 Bel Airs!"

The Magliozzi Brothers' plans are based on a Cuban population estimated at 11.5 million in 2008. After they negotiate the end to the US economic embargo (which they say they will handle personally), they figure that pent-up demand in Cuba will instantly translate into sales of more than half a million cars per year, of which the Magliozzi brothers anticipate GM will capture 95%. "That's not chopped liver," says Tom.

Asked how they can be so certain that GM will dominate the Cuban market in 2009, Ray explains, "These people have been cut off from the rest of the world for the last 60 years. They never heard of Ralph Nader, the Vega, the Aztek, the bean counters of the '80s, or the Cavalier. They've never even heard of Toyota! As far as they're concerned, GM still leads the world. We're gonna sell cars there like it was 1959!"

Part of the brothers' plan for GM also includes a concomitant increase in parts sales. "We're going to be supplying replacement parts for every one of those new Cuban cars. Right now, every Tom, Dick and Carlos is making his own parts in the basement, but you think he's going to make an electronic ignition module for an '08 Malibu out of a Coke can? I don't think so."

"Well, if he does, he's going to be our new supplier!" adds Tom, laughing.

In order for any of this to work, however, the Magliozzi brothers have to make good on their plan to break the longstanding US economic embargo of the Caribbean island nation. Trade is not currently permitted. "Not a problem," says Ray. "My brother is often mistaken for Fidel Castro. He's going to go and sit down with President Obama, introduce himself as Fidel, and work the whole thing out."

Tom interrupts, "Right. I'm just going to say, 'Listen, this whole communist thing... dumb idea. Sorry about that. How'd you guys like a nice Hyatt on the Malecon?'"

"And then Tom's going to go to Cuba," says Ray, "and show Fidel a brochure for an '09 Cadillac CTS. Dark Red. Premium Package. Air-Conditioned Seats. Trust me. We can make this work."

"We have a lot in common with Fidel," says Tom, "cigars... baseball..."

"...and they both like to store food in their beards," adds Ray.

"We may have to pull a few tail fins out of the design closet," says Tom, "but Cuba is going to lead GM back to the top."

Can you say it in ONE word?

2009-03-11T23:36:00.002-06:00

USING ONLY ONE WORD -- It's not as easy as you might think -- copy and change my answers to suit you. You may find some questions difficult to answer with only one word.
If you're willing, please leave YOUR ANSWERS in COMMENTS.

1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. Your significant other? Rich

3. Your hair? thick

4. Your mother? gregarious

5. Your father? intense

6. Your favorite? harmony

7. Your dream last night? forgotten

8. Your favorite drink? lemonade

9. Your dream/goal? health

10. What room you are in? computer

11. Your hobby? gardening

12. Your fear? death

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? mountaintop

14. Where were you last night? home

15. Something that you are not? efficient

16. Muffins? poppy

17. Wish list item? retreat

18. Where you grew up? Colorado

19. Last thing you did? friends

20. What are you wearing? jammies

21. Your TV? overused

22. Your pets? cats

23. Friends? enduring

24. Your life? incomplete

25. Your mood? contemplative

26. Missing someone? children

27. Car? reliable

28. Something you're not wearing? makeup

29. Your favorite store? grocery

30. Your favorite color? green

33. When is the last time you laughed? tonight

34. Place you'd like to be right now? bed

'I Can Has Cheezburger" spinoff

2009-01-27T20:48:00.003-07:00

If you know of LOLcats.com or its spinoff icanhascheezburger.com or its spinoff book of the same title, you'll "get" this Obamicon.

Yes We Can!

2009-01-20T22:50:00.003-07:00

and, with our votes, Yes We Did!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Monday, January 19, 2009

2009-01-18T20:33:00.009-07:00

Thanks to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s activism and vision, America in 2009 looks far different than it did five decades ago.

Dr. King was assassinated the day after he spoke these words.

You may find more information on this great man who "fought" for freedom with weapons of peace at:

http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php
http://www.history.com/content/king/videos

Bye-Bye Bush

2009-01-17T22:33:00.003-07:00

1 president + 8 years = x damage

2008 in review

2009-01-03T16:34:00.002-07:00

Rhino charge

2008-12-31T20:05:00.004-07:00

Happy Start to Your 2009!

I've never had better moves! Must be something in the eggnog.

2008-12-31T19:11:00.005-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

This I Believe. . .

2008-11-29T15:47:00.005-07:00

The Importance of Singing with Others . . .
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97320958

Paperback Dreams

2008-11-23T23:11:00.003-07:00

A one hour public television documentary about independent booksellers and the people who love them

Independent bookstores function as literary laboratories, and publishers rely on them to champion new and controversial work. To passionate booksellers, selling books remains revolutionary. PAPERBACK DREAMS celebrates what these stores offer our local communities, and mourns the cultural loss that comes when a good bookstore closes its doors. Most folks don't realize how patronizing large chains and internet booksellers is adversely affecting our culture and our communities. What follows is an excerpt from the blog for PAPERBACK DREAMS.

Notes from the Road: Salt Lake City and Albuquerque

A few weeks ago, we kicked off the better part of two months of taking Paperback Dreams on the road. We’re screening at independent bookstores around the country, and I’m trying to make it to as many as I can in person. Check out the schedule here. Though there is a lot of sadness about Cody’s closing, and about the struggles of independent bookstores nationwide, it’s energizing to see how many great stores are still working hard, serving their communities, and even finding success in tough economic times.

About sixty people turned out for our first screening in Salt Lake City. We had an all-star panel, who together have been selling books for well over 100 years. It included Tony Weller, owner of Sam Weller’s, and the third generation of one of America’s preeminent bookselling families; Anne Holman, manager of The King’s English, which has occupied a corner of Salt Lake and the hearts of devoted readers for over 30 years; Ken Sanders, whose Ken Sanders Rare Books and counterculture legacy brings a shot of vibrancy that outsiders don’t expect in Utah; Patrick de Freitas, whose Waking Owl Books thrived just blocks from the University of Utah campus until Amazon went online, and took his core clientele with it; and Drew Goodman, who runs the trade books section of the University of Utah Bookstore, and who brought firsthand experience from working at both Borders and Barnes and Noble.

Even after spending three years talking to booksellers, there were some eye openers for me, like Tony Weller’s illustration of the 80-fold disparity between the growth of the chains in the 1990s, and the growth of the book market. That kind of speculation ultimately resulted in higher book prices for consumers, greater losses to small publishers, and more books going into landfills. I’ve also been quoting Ken Sanders’s short summary of the problem: “Endless growth for the sake of growth is the logic of the cancer cell.” You can read short interviews with most of the booksellers from the panel via the links in the previous post. . .

Watch Paperback Dreams on Public Television.
Paperback Dreams starts airing on PBS stations across the country.

We are The Change!

2008-11-04T23:25:00.005-07:00

perils of posting

2008-11-04T19:48:00.002-07:00

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Harvest time

2008-10-20T19:40:00.014-06:00

My friend Mindy has a blog (icantbegoodallthetime.blogspot.com) where she posts lovely photos & tales of good food. I was inspired by her as I was steaming the last of my grapes into juice this weekend. They were so vibrantly colorful in my sunny kitchen! My nighttime photography doesn't do their natural beauty justice. The brilliant purple of the concord grapes make them as much a pleasure to look at as to taste. The green "concord" grapes (I have no idea what varieties I'm tending to in my yard) created an opaque juice the color of pear flesh.

It makes me cry to think of all the many years that the birds, the wasps, and I consumed only a few clusters of grapes while the bulk of them just rotted on the vine. I didn't know juicing grapes was so easy (albeit time-consuming). I think a steamer will be my next purchase for the kitchen.

Palin Rap

2008-10-19T21:05:00.003-06:00

Ha! Ha! Pretty funny.

Water

2008-09-29T22:49:00.004-06:00

THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE ON THE PLANET THAT WE MUST FACE!
This documentary film "FLOW: FOR LOVE OF WATER" shows that the precarious relationship between humanity and water can no longer be ignored. For those of you in the Salt Lake City area, you can attend a free screening at the Post Theatre, 245 S Fort Douglas Blvd, University of Utah Campus on Thursday, October 2 at 7:00 p.m.

Political Parody (continued)

2008-09-28T20:06:00.005-06:00

So it appears that, in lieu making my personal statement(s) about the coming election, I'm just going to let the SNL gang help us laugh at the more ludicrous aspects of the campaign.

Palin/Clinton Message (SNL Parody)

2008-09-15T21:15:00.002-06:00

K & D, Happy Grandparents' Day!

2008-09-07T06:44:00.001-06:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

Welcome to the Twin Cities!

2008-09-02T23:30:00.009-06:00

Ha! You have to appreciate Jon Stewart.

Billboard on I-94 in the Twin Cities, greeting motorists arriving from the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, home to the Republican National Convention.

Large Hadron Collider

2008-08-31T15:42:00.011-06:00

I'm too simple to know whether I should be excited or frightened by physicists seeking the "God particle" and other phenomenal phenomena. Scientists reassure us that creating black holes with the LHC is nothing to worry about. What do you think? Is September 10, 2008 going to be doomsday?

You can learn more on NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89562587#share

Has the LHC destroyed the world yet?
http://hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com/

Large Hadron Rap:

Inklings

2008-08-21T01:02:00.001-06:00

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien

Why I Read

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read "The Hobbit" - my first foray into Tolkien - when I was about eleven years old. When reading this and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, I had the most fantastical and vivid dreams! I'm glad I discovered JRR Tolkien at this age because he fed my mind in such a way that I ever after approached all books with a desire to let myself fall into the world an author was creating for me with complete abandon. Certainly, not all writing is creating the kind of magical fantasy that Tolkien is. But cultivating this attitude relatively early in my reading life, has opened wonderful worlds to me beyond which even this incomparable author could not have envisaged. So, I thank JRR Tolkien for a book that sparked my imagination (and, I'm certain, the imaginations of millions!).

View all my reviews.

A GREAT WEEKEND

2008-08-11T22:33:00.001-06:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Baby Steps

2008-08-02T15:52:00.000-06:00

OK. So I'm admitting that I have no idea what I'm doing here. It just seems that this is the next method by which I am to communicate. Having long ago forgotten what a personal letter is, I'll just put myself out here for the whole world to see. Hopefully I'm banal enough that only friends & family care to linger or return. I've lost contact with too many of you and that makes me sad. I look forward to the possibility that we will reconnect out here in cyberspace (and then maintain our connections).

Just bear with me while I learn how to make this work.

Marti