Moved by Moolaade

Last night I watched Moolaadé, a movie about female "circumcision" set in Burkina Faso. I sense you nodding nobly as your eyes glaze over. Yes, Moolaadé has a message, but it is more than a candidate for Netflix guilt. It's a moving film with fascinating characters and a gripping story.

Once I became accustomed to a few untranslatable words (I guess Moolaadé is some kind of powerful force that can be invoked to protect a sanctuary), I was totally engrossed in this portrait of women's lives in a small village.

TJ's Rice Tortilla Structurally Unsound

Warning: Trader Joe's Brown Rice Tortillas are structurally unsound. While they are plenty tasty, they are not flexible enough to function as burrito wrappers.

Belle Laide

What the hell is this?

Belle Laide
Originally uploaded by ashyknees

P.S.
I figured it out. It it in the passiflora genus, possibly a maypop a.k.a. purple passion flower or a passionfruit.

Goal Post

My goal is to set some goals.

Looking Forward to Passing

Dang! I missed another cool show in New York. Passing Strange closed. I guess I'll have to wait for the movie.

Dismal Knight

I saw the new bat dude movie on Saturday. It is well made over all, but it gave me a hangover. I guess I wasn't prepared to deal with so much misery and anxiety within a blockbuster entertainment. Also, the movie is rump numbingly long. If you plan on seeing this flick, don your most comfortable body armor.

Things Didn't Suck Too Much Today

What did not suck:
Today I acquired a new knitting skill, the Russian join. "The company" picked up the tab for lunch. I spent most of the day in air conditioned comfort. I like my new earrings.

What sucked:
I woke up feeling that I ought to be doing more to combat evil or at least take shorter showers. Some weak logic and sloppy file saving made a simple data management task take twice as long as it should have. I agreed to make Amish friendship bread again.

The Diego Apparatus

The Diego Apparatus
Originally uploaded by ashyknees

Pictured above are all the elements required to construct a "Diego," a tram-like transportation system for small plush passengers.

Fried and Self Satisfied

On Sunday, I dove into deep fat frying for the first time by preparing a mess o fried chicken for a gathering of the scrabble people. Even though my mom fried as if it was no big deal, I was intimidated by the technique and the potential hot oil spatterings and grease fires, so I did some online research in addition to checking a couple of cook books for recipes. As with many traditional and once common cooking techniques, there's a lot of sound and fury on the internet about the right way to fry chicken. I decided to go with a simply seasoned flour coating. No corn flake nonsense for me. Call it cheating, but a deep fry/candy thermometer will save beginners from the greasy soggies that result from cooking at too low a temperature, or the dreaded raw on-the-inside-burnt-on-the-outside that results from oil that is too hot. I went with Mark Bittman's recommendation of 350 degrees (He also says to serve lemon wedges with the chicken but I didn't hold that against him). Another good cheat is to use a timer to let you know when to turn the meat. I did 5 to 7 minutes on each side. Both Bittmann and one of my aunts said to cover the pan during part of the frying. I did that for one batch, but I didn't notice any difference.

Mom never used a timer or a thermometer and her chicken was consistently scrumptious, a heck of a lot better than the bird I served on Sunday. Still, I think my kitchen experiment was a success. When I fry chicken again, I will be more liberal with the seasonings and maybe try a buttermilk marinade.

In Praise of Family Advice Books

I've been reading a lot of books about family lately. I have a family. I know families. I have friends who grew up in different kinds of families. Why would I turn to some book for information on such a (sorry) familiar subject? I value these books because my personal experiences can't always be extrapolated to a clear understanding of someone in even a slightly different situation. Also, I don't feel comfortable going up to friends and acquaintances and asking, "So what's it like being one of you people?" I know from experience that this is the kind of question that can mark one as a jackass.

I think the key to using family advice books is to do what I try to do with any source of advice. Consider the author's motives, consider the soundness of the author's fundamental philosophy and methods, avoid easy formulaic answers, and in the end do what makes sense to me.

But Where Did They Come From?

". . . a woman asked me where my children were from and I told her 'they're mine,' and she said 'I know they're yours, but where did they come from?' So I said, 'They're from my uterus!'"--from Does Anybody Else Look Like Me?: A Parent's Guide to Raising Multiracial Children by Donna Jackson Nakazawa

Essay on Wall E and Some Guy

Toward Helhaven
By Scott McLemee

Humid Holiday Highlights

On Thursday everyone in the office was given "early dismissal" (yes, that's what the big boss calls it when we get the afternoon off before a holiday). I took this opportunity to volunteer to register voters at the Welcome America Fiesta on the Parkway Shindig. The volunteer group was organized by the Obama campaign, a fact that wasn't lost on a young man who was handing out coupons for a cellular phone company. He said that what we were doing was a "subliminal" message in support of a political candidate. I said, pointing to the Obama button on my t-shirt, there's nothing subliminal about it. This guy went on to challenge me with a few other "anti establishment," half baked libertarian questions about taxes and surveillance cameras. I wanted to say, dude, for a guy handing out glossy leaflets for a phone company at an event sponsored by an oil company that's supposed to be all patriotic and Hispanic loving, surrounded by giant inflatable corporate logos and booths with throbbing speakers, you picked a strange target for your subliminal big brother concerns--an unpaid lady with a laser printed register to vote sign taped to the back of a wooden clipboard. But I did not say that. I did my best to listen and nod. He said he believed that the founding fathers only wanted government to do what was essential for security. I said, "but what is essential? That is the question. Some people think surveillance cameras are essential." He didn't really have much to say after that, thank goodness.

Anyway, I did manage to register a couple of people. Hopefully, their forms will be accepted. Apparently, the PA voter registration forms are a bit tricky and many are rejected. I also ate some overpriced fried plantains and enjoyed the music.

That night, I relaxed with Yoko and Libpy at the movies. We saw Wall E. Stick a pair of eyes on anything and I'll be charmed. The robot Eve was the epitome of a geek boy's understanding of the female: rounded, sleek, advanced, inscrutable, deadly, moody, and irresistible.

On Friday, MJP and I enjoyed a 4th of July BBQ at my aunt's house in the burbs. There was an abundance of meats.

On Sunday, MJP went to the University Museum to check out the evolution exhibit and look at some ancient stuff. This museum still looks a bit tired, but they are trying to make the place more inviting. I felt up the giant see-through naked woman in the evolution exhibit and a museum guy prevented us from kanoodling in an out of order video screening alcove. But it wasn't all lurid sensation. I did learn some interesting facts about bones and life in Canaan/Israel.

On Sunday, I visited NJ and enjoyed a romp in the park, more grilled foods, and some videos with MJP and the kid. The kid insisted that it was Jesus who kept tapping the back of my neck. Semi-Pro was better than I though it would be.

Open ID Anyone?

Has anyone out there figured out how to make Open ID work? I can't say I've burned the midnight oil trying to make it work, but the whole thing is a big stumper.