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Letters to Santa are down, as they have been the past few years, and now most of the mail received at the North Pole, including email, is unwanted spam. The board of directors (elves) are restless and antagonistic, and worse, a modern business practices consultant has been called in to try and turn things around. Toss in old-fashioned betrayal and greed, and you have the makings of a modern day Christmas epic.
From Mary Ann Johnson, via our Aunt Adelia (both from Lindsborg, KS) comes this excellent recipe for Swedish Pecan Cookies. A big hit when first served at a family gathering in October, it's now been reported by relatives across the country that they are equally good when baked for the holiday season!
1 C butter
1 C sugar
1 Tbs Karo syrup
1/2 C pecan meal *
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 3/4 C flour
pinch salt
Cream butter and sugar, then add syrup, pecan meal, soda, flour and salt. Form into small balls and flatten with glass or fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are light brown.
*pecan meal may be made by grinding pecans in food processor or blender
From Mena's dollarshort site comes an excellent link to a site that has over 30 different full-screen panoramic photos (Quicktime required). Many of these rich, beautiful, inspiring images rotate up and down in addition to the expected side to side movement. Explore the paintings on the ceiling of a church, look out from high up on the Eiffel Tower or check out this view of the Golden Gate Bridge from Land's End.
A variety of things had to come together to realize this dream, but once they did, the results are amazing! You can easily spend hours looking at these fascinating arial photos of the California coast, looking for well-known landmarks as well as your own special places.
Here's a random thumbnail from the site; it's different each time this page is reloaded (and will eventually show up on the side nav along w/the other decorations :-)
That's Yoko Ono's advice to Sir Paul McCartney, who is keen to change the song writing credits on songs he primarily composed. He recently released an album of songs performed during a 2002 US concert tour, and on 20 of the 36 songs he transposed the credit line to "Paul McCartney and John Lennon" from the well-known "Lennon-McCartney."
The full list of songs so changed, as well as more background info, including details of Yoko's advice, are available here.
66 years young is too young to die. Yet, that's what happened to my mother, Pat. After fighting cancer for 2 years she passed away on December 9th.
Though we lived half a country apart (mom in kansas, and us in california), circumstances worked out such that my wife and I were able to spend 5 of her last 7 weeks of life with her, in Kansas. During our first trip, still in denial that the cancer had progressed as far as it had, she decided that it was time to put some content up on her personal web site. I'll keep that site up for at least a few months in her honor.
If there was any good that came of this, it's the fact that I've started growing closer to my siblings. All but one of them live in Kansas, and over the past 25 years we have drifted apart to some degree. The hours we spent together, first on the phone and then in person, have provided a strong foundation for the renewal of our relationships, and that's a good thing.
Rest in peace Mom.
Remember the Rubber Biscuit song that Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi performed in the Blues Brothers movie? Who knew that the hard to understand, seemingly nonsensical song had real lyrics!?
The Chips - Rubber Biscuit
written by Nathaniel Epps, Charles Johnson, Shedrick Lincoln, Samuel Strain Jr., Paul Fulton
Cow cow hoo-oo
cow cow wanna dib-a-doo
chick'n hon-a-chick-a-chick hole-a-hubba
hell fried chuck-a-lucka wanna jubba
hi-low 'n-ay wanna dubba hubba
day down sum wanna jigga-wah
dell rown ay wanna lubba hubba
mull an a mound chicka lubba hubba
fay down ah wanna dip-a-zip-a-dip-a
...
mm-mh, did you ever hear
of a wish sandwich
well that's the kind of a sandwich
that is supposed to take
two pieces of bread
and wish you had some meat
doo doo boooh
According to the USA Patriot Act, librarians face criminal penalties if they inform their patrons that they are under investigation by the FBI.
While this prior restraint on free speech is categorically unconstitutional, (as are many other aspects of the act), the courts have not yet recognized this fact, thus making it risky for well-meaning librarians to do the right thing w/out risking their own freedoms.
What to do?
An enterprising, free-thinking, occasional librarian, Jessamyn West, has come up with a pretty ingenious solution. Here's an example:
See the rest of her technically legal signs at librarian.net. Thanks to Boing Boing and The Shifted Librarian for this gem.