Photobucket

La Vida Locavore
 Subscribe in a reader
Follow La Vida Locavore on Twitter - Read La Vida Locavore on Kindle

Pot Luck

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Mon Sep 24, 2012 at 16:08:36 PM PDT


Bookmark and Share
Pot Luck is an open thread...
JayinPhiladelphia :: Pot Luck
Tags: , (All Tags)
Print Friendly View Send As Email

Pot Luck | 72 comments
Taking back our streets! (4.00 / 1)
Locally, a bit of news this week is that the Philadelphia Police Department's 26th District is sending officers out to walk around our neighborhood (East Kensington and Fishtown) on foot.  There's been a bit of an uptick of blatant open-air drug dealing and robberies over the past few months, above our already sadly high 'usual' level of same, so this is a very welcome development.

It really isn't that complicated - when cops walked beats in our big cities, our cities were safer.  This is because the possibility of a police officer walking around the corner at any given second will give pause to those who'd like to set up their corner as a regular heroin, meth and cocaine version of the farmers' market.

Other advantages include the fact that we'll get to know our local officers by face and name, and vice versa; as well as being able to reduce and reverse the negative effects of the windshield perspective.

Philly's getting this right, as a district in West Philly with similar problems is also having beat cops reintroduced to their streets.

I hope this isn't a brief interlude of sane and (4.00 / 1)
sensible policing, but instead a long-term change in the way the Philadelphia PD does business.

As you may know, here in Portland we have had a series of boom-and-bust cycles of community policing. What usually happens is some event, a new chief or a bad spate of crime, inspires a turn to community policing. Precincts gear up. Police walk a beat. Neighbors start to develop relationships with the beat cops. Crime goes down a bit. Things are looking up. Then the chief gets the word that the budget must be cut. And out goes community policing.

The truth is, it does cost more budget dollars to have cops on the beat instead of cruising in cars. What no one ever does, though, is compare the budget dollars spent to the very real costs of the higher crime that inevitably follows.

I hope Philly avoids that pitfall.

[ Parent ]
Agreed. (0.00 / 0)
And great comment.

Outside of Center City, this is also the first time police officers will be continuously walking regular beats in residential inner city Philadelphia neighborhoods since like the 1960's, as far as I'm aware.

Commissioner Ramsey had a bit of a spotted history in DC before he came up here in 2007, but since then it looks like Mayor Nutter (who I like more and more every day - this man needs to run for governor in 2014!) made a damned good choice.

We also have quite a large number of bike cops in Philly these days, too.

One way to solve the problem you mention, and another one regularly brought up ('beat cops can't respond to emergencies quickly enough'), is to have police cars parked in convenient central locations to be used by beat cops in the case of emergencies, or another is to have enough in any given neighborhood that any time backup is required a beat cop can be notified by radio that he's being picked up by a cruiser to respond to an emergency, and as long as the driving cop knows the neighborhood well enough (if he walked it, he certainly would!) he'd be able to reach backup in a matter of seconds at any time.

[ Parent ]
Ha, cops on the beat (4.00 / 1)
I work two blocks away from the studio where "The View" comes from. I saw a thousand cops on the beat today and there must have been another thousand over at the Clinton Global Initiative. Across town at the UN Building the "show of force" was even greater.  
[ Parent ]
A thousand cops at the UN... (4.00 / 1)
Understandable.  Ahmadinejad is there right now, after all, so it's always a good thing to make sure he doesn't try to hang any gay people from cranes like he does back home, or have any of his Hezbollah minions fire Katyushas into Grand Central and whatnot.
[ Parent ]
Obama is in New York, too, as are many world leaders (4.00 / 1)
for the opening of the U.N. session and the Clinton Global Initiative.

I bet NYC is teeming with cops.

[ Parent ]
As is... (0.00 / 0)
...at least one war criminal. Bashar Ja'afari.

In a just world, those cops would take him in to answer for the crimes of his evil regime.  While in the real world, Syria seeks a spot on the Human Rights Council while slaughtering thousands of their own citizens every month.  The UN, ladies and gentlemen!

[ Parent ]
And more Kensington... (0.00 / 0)
McPherson Square Park, a classic beautiful old Philadelphia public square built around a Carnegie Library in its center, is on the police priority list again, too.  This is the 24th District, on the other side of Kensington Avenue.

"It's zombie land in the park," she said. "They buy the drugs - mostly heroin, some crack - on Kensington Avenue and come here to sit on the benches and shoot up. There are so many of them. It's hard to believe."

Careful to avoid false promises, Managing Director Rich Negrin said, "I'm under no pretense that we'll wipe out drugs in Kensington. But for God's sake, we can own this park.

"To make it safe for kids, we have to take the park back and let the drug dealers know: 'You're not going to wear us down. We're here to stay.' "

Negrin is relying on 24th District Police Capt. Charles Vogt, who is aggressively taking back the park with cops on foot, on bikes and in patrol cars 24/7, plus a mobile ministation he set up last week near the library.

"If we didn't have a steady police presence, could we really get something off the ground here?" Vogt asked. "I don't think so. There are hot drug corners at F and Clearfield, Kensington and Orleans, F and Potter - all facing the park."

But right after the ministation arrived, Vogt said: "You could look from 3000 Hartville Street down Clearfield Street and the only thing you saw was people with kids in the park. Not a drug dealer could be seen. To me, that's an immediate sign that something better is happening."


[ Parent ]
Oregon is #2! And the Beavers are #18 in the AP poll. (4.00 / 1)
Rutgers made the top 25, as did, you were right, Boise State.

If I ruled the poll LSU would have dropped out of the top 10 after that pitiful performance against Auburn. Sadly, I do not rule the poll.

Yeah, my ballot was pretty much spot on! (0.00 / 0)
I ranked Rutgers about 9 spots higher than anyone else, but I did get Oregon State about right (I had them at 17, they're 18 in the AP).  And of course, Oregon at #2!

LSU at 3 sounds about right, until they lose.  But when they do (at Florida in two weeks), yeah.  I'd drop them to about 20.  If they win, I still wouldn't rank them above Oregon though, assuming Oregon stays undefeated.

Florida State got a first place vote in the Coaches poll.  Nothing to say really, aside from "lol, what?!?"

[ Parent ]
Now who da thunk ther'd be a Pot Luck? (4.00 / 1)
I would have waited to post my Science Friday link. Look on that page and click on the "Hamburger Shower" link.

So when we throw out say a half a hamburger, according to and estimate by The Water Footprint Network, that's equivalent to taking over an hour shower from the water use that was required for that half hamburger.

Simple arithmetic, if that estimate is believable than a whole hamburger is equal to over a two hour shower!

Anyway my portfolio is up to three now;


Want to see 25 of my favorite 125 photos?

Want to see 25 more of my best photos?


How about another 25 of my best 125 photos?

Three down and two to go. I'm saving the best for last ;-)  

Good timing! (4.00 / 1)
I'm always down for that every once in a while.

Synergy!  Or something like that. ;)

Off to check your links...

[ Parent ]
"The water's fine..." (4.00 / 1)
I certainly remember this one, because I was standing right next to you when you took it.

;)

I think I was there for this one too, right?

~~~~~

Yeah, and I just had to go and listen to that Goo Goo Dolls song.  In fact, I want to watch City of Angels now, too...

~~~~~

I got kicked off of that site a year ago, apparently for not loving terrorists enough, so I can't rec your diaries, but great stuff.  And I remember many of those photos from the first time around.

If you want a total amateur who's bound to get better as he goes along, I'm with you on that site if you ever do set it up...

[ Parent ]
Yes you were (4.00 / 1)
Proving me wrong when I claim that I can't take a decent photo unless I'm alone because I'm too busy running my yap.

There is also one in the third diary that Jill was standing next to me for, a photo of a coffee joint called "Mud" on East Ninth Street and Second Avenue.  

[ Parent ]
Ground cherries... (0.00 / 0)
An interesting find at Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market - PA ground cherries.  Hadn't heard of them before.

I didn't buy them, but if they're still there next week I may go for it.  The sign says you can use them in salads, eat them raw, make sauces, etc.  They look just like mini tomatillos with their husk, and they supposedly have a bit of a pineapple flavor.

Found an LA Times article about them...

At Wattles Farm, the community garden in Hollywood, Gina Thomas pointed out a cluster of tiny, husk-enclosed ground cherries hidden among the foliage. Some were no bigger than marbles.

"It comes from South America," she said, adding that one Wattles gardener from Poland makes pies out of the cherries. "They look like tomatillos but are sweet and tart at the same time -- the crunchiness of a tomato with the sweetness of a cherry. The very yellow ones are the sweetest."

I think I missed out on pawpaw this year.  Bah!

went to an eating and cookng weed workshop (4.00 / 1)
at Cleveland Botanical Garden while I was visiting. We came in at the tail end, but we did get to taste some goodies like burdock root.
[ Parent ]
Greensgrow Fall Festival... (0.00 / 0)
It looks good.  Saturday, October 6.  I'm working the late volunteer shift, 2:30 to 7:30, helping close it up and doing teardown.

Are you gonna be around that weekend?

From about noon to 2:30 I'll be wandering around, checking out some workshops, taking pictures, eating (there's gonna be a bunch of food trucks, along with stands run by some local restaurants - I want to try the Local 215 truck and the taqueria from South Philly, as well as looking into maybe placing an order with Philly CowShare soon).

Expect a photo diary on it!

[ Parent ]
I'll go (4.00 / 1)
speaking of food trucks I ate rice and beans in Cleveland from http://www.yelp.com/biz/jibaro... :)
[ Parent ]
I'm so proud of myself (4.00 / 1)
I remembered to order French grey shallots before they were sold out. A whole pound for $20. Is that outrageous? I would never pay that kind of money for a shallot in the grocery store, but maybe they'll grow well and the investment will be well worth it. All I have to do is plant them like a fall bulb. Fall bulbs do outstanding around these parts.  
Hey, Casey... (0.00 / 0)
The Ducks' October 6 game against that school up north was just moved from 1 Pacific to 7:30 PM (10:30 Eastern, the late night East Coast game slot) yesterday, so that combined with last week's AZ game, this week's Wazzu game and the October 18th Thursday night game against ASU, will make four straight weeks the Ducks have been nationally televised on ESPN.

Great for the program in terms of gaining exposure, but bad for local fans without cable who can't watch their games.

That sucks.  They should do something about this for youze!

Looking at the rest of the schedule... (0.00 / 0)
I'm gonna guess the Civil War and the USC game will almost certainly be on ESPN, too.  The Stanford game as well, if the Cardinal is still in the Top 10 by then.  That only leaves the Cal game and the Colorado game as those likely to be just local 1:00 games.  Damn.
[ Parent ]
The Beavers/Bruins game was on ABC. Why can't ABC (4.00 / 1)
broadcast the Ducks? Then I could watch. The college football games shown on ABC are actually ESPN games, with ESPN commentators. Why not the Ducks?

Did you know that Oregon is the state with the highest percentage of households that do not have cable or satellite? Seems tailor-made for broadcasting the state's college football on regular TV. Amirite?

[ Parent ]
Yeah, double-edged sword there... (0.00 / 0)
The Ducks are so good now, thousands of local fans can't watch them anymore becau$e E$PN apparently can make more $$$ $howing the game$ el$ewhere.

Bah!

[ Parent ]
Fishtown at night... (0.00 / 0)
Just for the hell of it.  Hit a little Irish dive bar in Fishtown to watch the Phillies game tonight, and I took some pics on the walk home to practice night time photos.  They suck, but at least I'm practicing!

Photobucket

Fishtown these days is an interesting combination of the old and the 'new.'  I passed by four hipsters wearing jeans so skinny they hurt just to look at, while a few seconds later I was propositioned by a Lady of the Night while taking this pic on Berks near Girard (one block from the Philadelphia Police Department's 26th District HQ), who somehow managed to see and follow me for two entire blocks despite not being able to lift her head, and having her eyes completely closed shut in some sort of drug haze...

Photobucket

The trolleys are back running on Girard below Front, but up through Fishtown and onto Port Richmond they won't be back online for another couple years because of I-95 construction a few blocks north.  Bus service until then, still.

Photobucket

Getting closer to home...

Photobucket

Photobucket

Sustainable 19125's Green Block program intrigues...

Photobucket

Coffee shop outreach center... (0.00 / 0)
Huh, I was always curious about this place, but I haven't stopped in to check it out yet.  It's on Kensington Ave under the El, just one block north of my stop (York-Dauphin), in the midst of a somewhat interesting mix of about half a dozen Christian missions and rehab / housing facilities, a few used appliance and furniture stores, a bodega and a bunch of abandoned storefronts.

What would really be great here would be to host some kind of fresh produce truck (or shop!  there's certainly enough currently vacant retail space on what was once one of Philadelphia's main commercial strips), like what People's Grocery in Oakland did years ago...

That was disappointing... (0.00 / 0)
The pink slime PR site, Beef is Beef (I don't want to link to it, but that's its name and Google will bring it right up as the first hit in a search), is just a plain blog-looking thing with a bunch of articles and YouTube videos.

I was expecting backgrounds and big pictures of happy children and dogs running around behind their perfectly fit and tanned, smiling parents working the barbecue grill and pouring big glasses of high fructose corn syrup from bright orange pitchers and shit like that.  Boo on not providing unintentional comedy!

Right in under the wire... (0.00 / 0)
Finally transferred my license, and registered to vote here.  With just 280-something hours to spare!  Glad that's the last time I'll ever have to get a new state's driver's license ever again... ;)

Teevee stations are at the PennDOT centers for stories on the Republicans' "Thwart The Vote!" law.  They're open nights every Thursday until the week before Election Day.  I didn't have any trouble with the license transfer, myself, but I had all my paperwork(s!) in a row for once.  Took about 2.5 hours.

Went to the South Philly location (which conveniently enough is a direct bus ride from Kensington on the 25 bus) because it's said to not be as busy as Arch Street in Center City is these days.  But damn, there were still a couple hundred people in there when I arrived, with at least one person coming in for every one that finished and left the entire time I was there.

I always work the polls (4.00 / 1)
I either run the machines or I'm the Judge of Elections. I don't think I want to be the Judge of Elections this election though.

I don't want to wake up to President Romney no matter how disappointed I am at BO.

[ Parent ]
Echoes of the Bicentenntial... (0.00 / 0)
I suspect I've found at least one other faded mural in Kensington not on this list.  Was about two months ago.  Now I just need to remember where the hell it was, argh.  I think it was just off Allegheny.  Or was it Lehigh?  

I've seen all of those on that list.  The first one in particular is really cool in person, at K & A under the El.  The 89 and 3 buses stop right outside the bar and apartment house it's on, though you can't see it from the El.

I was negative-3 in 1976, so I wasn't around for that, but I've always had a thing for the 70s.  And in particular, its music!  Philadelphia soul, hell yeah...

Well! (0.00 / 0)
lossington sure threw a monkey wrench into the works of the Pac 12 in beating Stanford last night, eh Casey?

I won't be able to watch the Ducks game (or any games, for that matter*) tomorrow, as I'll be up in North Jersey for my sister's wedding and reception.  But argh, let's hope the Pac teams don't start cannibalizing each other, so that we once again have a "championship" game involving the runner-up in the SEC Western Division.  Or some team like Florida State or West Virginia.  Yuck.

*Luck be a lady!  Temple has a bye this week.  :)

The Huskies stunned Stanford. (4.00 / 1)
So, tomorrow the Ducks play the Cougs in Seattle. The Beavers play the recently pummeled team from Arizona. Both Oregon teams should win. Careful, though. The conventional wisdom thought Stanford should have won over Washington. And that sure worked out, didn't it?

Barring any mistakes by Oregon, I expect the Pac-12 championship game will be fought by Oregon and USC. Of course, this being sports, anything can happen.

And if the Beavers continue to play well, the Civil War will be quite the game to watch.

[ Parent ]
And congratulations to your sister. (4.00 / 1)
Mazel tov to the happy couple.
[ Parent ]
Jay, both the Ducks and the Beavers were victorious. (4.00 / 1)
Ducks beat Cougars 51-26. Beavers beat Arizona 38-35.

The Ducks, despite the win, played a terrible game. Mariota threw 2 interceptions and many incomplete passes. The Ducks were forced to punt several times. The defense was weak. The Cougars should not have been able to score 26 points. Again the Ducks played a disappointing first half. They led by only 4 points at the half, and were able to score in the second so much because they are in better shape that their opponents, better able to keep up a brisk pace for the entire game.

At some point the Ducks will face a strong opposing team, a team that scores a lot in the first half, takes the lead in the first half, a big enough lead that the Ducks can't overcome it in the second half.  And when that happens the Ducks  lose.

On a cheerier note, how was the wedding?

[ Parent ]
Thanks, it was great! (0.00 / 0)
Had fun, and saw some family I hadn't seen in years.

The reception was at one of those halls, where the scam is that you have to supply your own beer and wine, give it to the bartender you've hired, and then tip them to give it back to you.  Quite a racket, eh?  If PA was a bottle deposit state, I'm sure they'd cash those in at the end of the night, too.  ;)

Anyway, I brought a variety case of Yards, which is a Philadelphia brewer I usually pass over.  I tried a few of their beers over the years, but didn't really think much of any of them.  I found that I like their IPA and their ESA though, and now I have to hit their tap room at the brewery (Fishtown / Northern Liberties riverfront area, not far from me) one day to try a couple two or three of their seasonals.

I was afraid there'd be a rush on my good beers and I'd be stuck with crap for the rest of the night, but my fears were unfounded!  Most people there drank the usual suspect beers that others provided, and I didn't need to cross paths with even one Coors Light.  Take that, Colorado!  Heh.

.....

I have to go look up the rest of yesterday's scores.  Just got home, and I didn't check any of them yet, so I hope there's a cool surprise or two waiting for me!

[ Parent ]
Oops, NJ... (0.00 / 0)
Make that "if NJ was a bottle deposit state."  Neither are, though, so the ultimate point remains... ;)
[ Parent ]
Yeah, that's how you beat them... (0.00 / 0)
Score early (preferably a lot), and keep the ball for long drives when you have it.  Like Ohio State and Auburn did in those bowl games.  Those two Boise games were just weird (and the 2007 game was before Oregon really became the team they are now) outliers that don't really apply to any template, imo.

I don't think Washington has the offensive talent to do that, so I don't think next week will be a problem.  I don't think Stanford does, either.  The only team that can really do that is USC.  Otherwise, the only way I see a Duck loss is if they shoot themselves in the foot.  Like, maybe a sluggish offensive game and three 2nd half turnovers against ASU or something, and they find themselves somehow down 4 with a minute to go.

The game at Cal would make me nervous, though, regardless.  Playing there is always rough, no matter how bad Cal is and how good the Ducks are in any given year.  The last time the Ducks played there, a bad Cal team almost ruined the Ducks' BCS run in that 15-13 game in 2010.

[ Parent ]
Oops, again. (0.00 / 0)
It's a day of oops.  ;)

I meant that 2008 Boise game, the first of that home & home.  And speaking of them, ha!  My favorite result of yesterday was their 3-point win over New Mexico (New Mexico?!), which led to them dropping out the AP poll.  Ha!

[ Parent ]
Civil War game could be dangerous for the Ducks. (4.00 / 1)
If the Beavs keep playing the way they have been this season the Civil War could decide who wins the Pac-12 North and goes to the championship game against, probably, USC.

And the Beavs will be very fired up for that game.  So, anything could happen. It is such an emotional game for both teams, hell, for the entire state of Oregon, that I never take the outcome for granted.  

[ Parent ]
Of course, Chip Kelly... (0.00 / 0)
...would say that every game is dangerous, and that's another reason Oregon fans should be confident.  They have a great coach.

They Just should not be overly confident.  Otherwise, Chip will scold them and give them the patented Chip Kelly Stare of Death. ;)

[ Parent ]
Chip and I agree on that. Every game is dangerous. Anything (4.00 / 1)
can happen. Fans should be confident, but not over-confident. :-)
[ Parent ]
Panic!!!1! (0.00 / 0)
Damaged former Blazers follower is damaged.

A healthy Bynum makes the Sixers a Top-3 contender in the league.  But knee problems?  Uh oh...

The knee problems are old news. (4.00 / 1)
The Sixers knew Bynum had shaky knees when they signed him. So, it seems reasonable to think the team has a plan for how to effectively use Bynum, bad knees and all. Or not.
[ Parent ]
Yeah... (0.00 / 0)
The problem here though, is that they seem kinda caught off-guard a little bit here.  Knees on big guys = giant red flag.  Although we knew something coming in, I'm getting a bit of a whiff here that the team is just as surprised as I am that he's going to have to sit for a few weeks now.

Which makes me a little nervous...

[ Parent ]
Day four with no power... (0.00 / 0)
Let's hear it for faulty fucking wiring in a 100-year old row house owned by a shady landlord!

At least there was no fire.  Yet.  I just wish they'd stop dicking us around already, and just kick us out and do what they have to do (which is rewire the entire building, tearing out walls and shit for a week), rather than waste yet another entire day with their thumbs up their stupid asses, trying 'fixes' that obviously don't work, and just delaying the inevitable.

Both of my hearing aids stopped working at the same time last week, my computer was hacked and hijacked for a day or so, I twisted my neck, and now this.

I'm not having a good week.  On the bright side, however, if this is still going on by next week I'm going to look and see if there's any way I can get out of my lease early, get my security back, and move into a place under the El on Kensington Ave.  Better location!

Wow, sounds horrendous, Jay. (4.00 / 1)
I would definitely check Philly's landlord/tenant laws. Here there is a basic level of services a landlord must provide to a tenant, including working utilities. Philly must have something similar.

You might be able to break your lease, or at least get a refund on part of your rent. And if the appropriate city department knows what is happening, that department might bring some pressure to bear on the landlord to fix it fast.

If you think the wiring is unsafe and the landlord's fix will not make it safe, you should report that and look for another apartment. I have lived through my house burning down. trust me, you do not want to go through that.

And I hope the other bad things end for you. What a bad week, Jay. :-(

[ Parent ]
Heh... (0.00 / 0)
The City will only take an interest if my two upstairs neighbors and I slip them an unmarked envelope full of $100 bills.  Then we'd get results fast!  Welcome to Philadelphia, the last big city bastion of good ole' Democratic Machine Politics in the country!

Chicago's got nothing on us these days.  ;)

Ah, but anyway...

The 'fix' came through today.  Which makes me nervous.  The outlets work again, although every.single.thing. which was plugged in at the time of the surge?  Fried.  Dead.

My teevee, the Comcast cable box, my microwave, my coffee maker, my fans, all need to be replaced.  Also, the thermostat.  That's unquestionable, the landlord has to fix that within the next week or so.  The rest, they're gonna claim I'm responsible and I should have had renters' insurance.

Yeah, I should have.  But shit.  Well, neither of my upstairs neighbors did either, so we're all three gonna band together to put some pressure on the landlord and try to get something back on this.  They lost even more than I did.  Computers, and everything.  So we're all pissed, to say the least.

My MacBook made it through, although it was charging in the wall at the time.  Let's hear it for Apple!  The charger had some kind of surge protector built in, and it popped out at the time of the surge and saved itself, and saved my laptop.

The refrigerator apparently had a built-in surge protector, although I lost all my food.  They gave me a $75 credit on this month's rent for that, although I doubt that really covered all my perishables.  And not to mention, having to eat out three meals a day, every day, this week.

I'm surprised the cable box didn't have a surge protector in it.  Fuck, Comcast is gonna kill me on that.  That, and the coffee maker, are what piss me off most right now.  Argh.

We're all three gonna have a conference on this next week, and reporting our concerns about the wiring job is definitely on the agenda.  I brought that up.  PECO was here (and as we all knew, they confirmed it was the building's problem, and not on their end), so I'm sure they reported it to the city, but just in case we're also gonna have to make sure the work was cleared through the proper channels by the landlord, as well.

Probably not getting out of the lease now, but I'm definitely not renewing again in April.  That's for sure, now!

[ Parent ]
Frankford Ave parklet... (4.00 / 1)
...is up!  I'm not much for ice cream, but I hear the new pizza place next door is actually pretty good.  I'll try both soon, I'm sure.

The parklet would be much nicer as a 'double-wide,' though!

Our County Supervisor (4.00 / 1)
She's really my only government representative of any consequence, being that there is no incorporated town of Lucerne. Rural California is much better than rural Red State.


Jay, both Ducks and Beavers won today. (4.00 / 1)
Ducks beat the Huskies 52-21.

Beavs beat the Cougars 19-6.

And I saw that Rutgers won today.

Oh no, Beavers QB out with knee injury. (4.00 / 1)
OSU just announced that QB Sean Mannion will undergo surgery to repair a injury sustained in Saturday's game. No idea how long he will be out.

The backup QB, Cody Vaz, last played in 2010. That season Vaz played five games, subbing for QB Ryan Katz.

Mike Riley is trying to put a good spin on this, but there is no way to view this injury as anything but bad news for both Mannion and the  Beavers.

[ Parent ]
Yay! I'm back! (4.00 / 2)
Been a long hiatus. I forgot my password (for both user names) and for some reason I couldn't get the email that was sent out when I tried to recover it.

Anyhoo, Jill just gave me a new one or sent one of the old ones and it works. Big that's Jill!

Missed y'all. Been reading the blog but just not posting.

Normal people scare me. But not as much as I scare them.....

Welcome back. I've been wondering about you. (4.00 / 2)
How goes the farm?  
[ Parent ]
Thanks Casey! (4.00 / 2)
Farm's going good. Been some ups and downs as usual. I've got over 150 chickens here, all but 4 are Cornish X for meat and grass/bug control. I'm going to be growing them through the winter and using them in tractors to prep the new beds I'll be planting come March. I'm getting pretty good at slaughtering and processing chickens by hand but I've got the barrel and rubber fingers to make a plucker so I can do more than 12/day.

I'm expanding the tunnels into the lower arena garden. I've got 13 in the upper arena garden around the barn now and in the lower arena garden I'm putting in 18 more.

I've got Rocky the gelding clearing out the pen next to Gizmo's day yard for the big greenhouse that will eventually house a large aquaponics system. He's actually got the ground down to almost dirt now, I'm just waiting until I have some other projects finished before I move him back to the pasture with the mares.

I'm down to 3 goats, but will be getting more in the spring I think. I've built a bunch of light stock panels and I'm doing mob browsing/graizing with the goats to clear brush.

I bought 2 Jersey steer calves to raise for veal and they're due to go to slaughter in mid December. And I had the cow slaughtered, so I'm set for beef for a while. I'll be putting half of one of the veal calves in the freezer too.

I have another greenhouse that will be 15' X 25' that's going in next to the tunnels in the upper arena garden.

I put up 10 ton of hay a couple of months ago and this week's priority project is building 50' of tents over that so it doesn't get wet when the rains come back at the end of this week.

Last week's priority project was to build the equipment to make apple cider. I built a press and a stand for grinding apples as well as putting new staves that a friend of mine made for me out of oak. Got all of that done and pressed my first apple cider yesterday and pressed some more today. Will be pressing yet more over the weekend and next week.

Been keeping busy!

Normal people scare me. But not as much as I scare them.....

[ Parent ]
Won't be around much... (0.00 / 0)
...for the next week.  Or maybe more.

My dad had a three-part, 12-hour surgery on Monday to fix his spine and back and nerves and whatnot from the fucking cancer.  Everything went perfect, they said, until the very end, right as they were closing him back up.  When his heart stopped.  He's in a coma now, with breathing machines and all kinds of shit.

Borrowed my mother's car, drove home to change and shower, now I'm heading back up to North Jersey again.

This makes all of last week's shit look like nothing.  Fuck.

Ah, geez, Jay. I am so sorry to hear this. (4.00 / 1)
Please know I will hold you and your family in my thoughts through this so very hard time.
[ Parent ]
I'm so sorry to hear this Jay (4.00 / 1)
I'll be keeping you, your father and the rest of your family in my thoughts. Hope he gets better soon.

Normal people scare me. But not as much as I scare them.....
[ Parent ]
Thanks, both of youze... (4.00 / 1)
Dad woke up today, but they put him back under as soon as he did.  They want to 'stabilize' him for 48 - 72 hours before they can run the tests and scans they want to.  See if he has any neurological damage and all.  He had a lot of fluid built up in his lungs as a result of the surgery, they said, but a lot of it's been drained.

He's still on the breathing machines and whatnot, but I saw him moving his arms and turning his head from side to side this evening just before I left.  He never opened his eyes, but my sister thought it looked like he was trying to talk.  He was squeezing her hand and pulling at her arm for a bit.  Blood pressure and some other stuff they were concerned about looks good, and they took him off one of the many drugs they had him on.  That seems to be a good thing.

I'm home now again for a couple days.  Heading back up there on Thursday night and staying at least through the weekend.  We'll know much more by Friday or so.

[ Parent ]
glad to hear he woke up nt (4.00 / 1)


"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman
[ Parent ]
glad to hear he woke up nt (4.00 / 1)


"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman
[ Parent ]
oh my god Jay (4.00 / 1)
My thoughts are with you and your family.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman
[ Parent ]
Jay, Oregon State football update. Beavers beat BYU 42-24. (4.00 / 1)
They did it with the backup QB, Cody Vaz, a kid who has not played in a game since 2010 and has not started since high school.

So, the Beavers are 5-0 for the season. They haven't started 5-0 since 1939.

If both the Ducks and the Beavers keep up their current level of play the Civil War will be an amazing football game.

I don't know where... (0.00 / 0)
...this whole "Oregon State is good at football" thing came from, but yeah.  ;)

Sooner or later, this season can no longer be written off as a fluke.  I think if they win at Washington in two weeks (assuming they beat Utah in Corvallis next week), then yeah.  They're definitely for real.

After that comes a bit of a brutal stretch, though - ASU, at Stanford (who scored twice on that OT drive against Notre Dame today, btw, on 2nd and 4th downs, but they didn't get those calls for some reason - I think it's because Notre Dame fans would have stomped the refs; while Stanford fans only would have displayed their superior mathematical prowess, but that's neither here nor there for now... the Pac really got screwed today in that game), Cal and Oregon.

So we'll see.  But yeah, OSU looks better than they have in years, at least so far.  And hell, like you said, they are better than they've ever been since 1939 right now.  At least record-wise.

.....

I watched the Rutgers game (they beat Syracuse to go 6-0, and get off to their best start since 2006) at a bar in Metuchen, NJ this afternoon, while waiting for a train home after visiting my father.  A classic little Main Street town about five miles from New Brunswick (the home of Rutgers).  That was a cool experience, and one I hadn't had in a while.

Temple keeps pulling off surprising wins (they beat UConn today in OT, after trailing for 59 minutes of regulation), so next week's game should be great.

.....

Good to see LSU beat South Carolina.  If The Other SC won, I bet they would have jumped Oregon on a bye week.  As it stands now, I'm still kinda waiting for Florida to do it after squeaking by Vanderbilt.  Because ummm, Ess Eee See!  Or something.  Ughh.

[ Parent ]
USC beat Washington. Too bad. :-( (4.00 / 1)
I don't really understand how the BCS rankings are calculated. So, I don't get why a team who won today would jump over Oregon just because the Ducks have a bye week. A bye week is not the same as losing.

Still, as you noted, it's always all about the SEC.

Oregon State has a very rocky football history. There are years of bad bad seasons, broken up by a decent run here and there. I remember when Dennis Erickson was brought in to "turn things around." Well, he got out of Corvallis just as soon as he could. And Mike Riley came back after a less than stellar time as an NFL coach. Riley does seem to have found his place in Corvallis.

I hope the Beavs don't crash and burn the rest of the season. It's nice to see them winning. They are such a scrappy team, not at all flashy like their brethren further south on I-5. Of course, they have really no chance of playing in the national championship game. So, I want the Ducks to win it all. My best outcome would be OSU losing only one game, the Civil War. And the Ducks going all the way.

Sounds like you had a sweet game watching experience today. Glad it you had that.

How's your dad? Are things better for him?

[ Parent ]
It's getting a little frustrating... (0.00 / 0)
They were supposed to do an MRI on Friday, then they postponed it until yesterday, now it's postponed until Monday.  I was there yesterday when they canceled it for that day, and it seemed like the department that had to do it just felt like taking the day off or something.  His main doctor wanted it done on Friday, but the hospital keeps pushing it back.  I don't really understand what's going on there, and it seems the doctor doesn't understand either.

Things were looking a little up for a while, but we still don't really fully know what's going on yet.  The main concern now is whether he has any brain damage, and if so how much.  We won't know until Tuesday now, what we were supposed to know on Friday.

The one piece of good news is that they may finally be taking the breathing tube out today.  He hates that thing, and even as he's sedated he still tries to pull it out or spit it out.

[ Parent ]
Dad update... (0.00 / 0)
The breathing tube was just taken out about twenty minutes ago, so that's good!  He hated that thing.  He was breathing on his own for a few days now, they said, but they kept the tube in because of some concerns about fluids possibly going back into his lungs.

He's nodding his head to answer questions, so that's another good sign.  He said "hi" to the doctor, too, but he's still really weakened from everything that happened over the past week.

I'm just trying to stay busy, because we really won't know anything else until Tuesday or so, but argh.  Every day feels like three right now.  I'm heading back up for a day again on Wednesday, and then next weekend.  Hopefully by then, he'll be in a regular room and out of the (extremely depressing) critical care unit.

[ Parent ]
Hey, good news about no breathing tube. (4.00 / 1)
And it is good that your dad can respond to questions with nods of the head.

I swear to god, the waiting is the worst with a sick family member. While you and yours need the info now now now, the hospital? Not so much.

[ Parent ]
Glad to hear they took the tube out (4.00 / 1)
And I hear ya on the waiting. I'll be keeping y'all in my thoughts.

Normal people scare me. But not as much as I scare them.....
[ Parent ]
Thanks... (4.00 / 1)
He might be moving to a regular room today, and though they now say they can't do an MRI for at least nine months because of something that was inserted in him during the surgery, the doctor isn't too concerned about any brain damage anymore since he's talking (though very low and very raspy as a result of having a tube shoved down his throat for a week), he recognizes everyone, he talks just like his old self (the first thing he said to the nurse, when she asked what she could do for him that day, was "get me out of here") and when they turned the teevee on Sunday and asked him what was on, he told them football and named the teams.  So everything looks good on that count.

The only problem with the no MRI thing though, is that he'll have to miss his next regular screening to make sure the cancer's not back, which said screening is due soon.  I hope there's some other kind of test they can do for that this one time.  We just found this out yesterday, so another thing to wait and see on...

[ Parent ]
OSU has a pretty dismal football history. (4.00 / 1)
The Beavs had losing seasons from 1971-2000. In 2001, when Erickson arrived, the Beavers finally posted a winning record. The eleven season since then have been up and down, but I hope that 29 year drought is a record that is never broken.

And, to be fair, Oregon wasn't much of a team until Mike Belotti took over in 1995. His predecessor, Rich Brooks got the Ducks to their first bowl game in ages, and Belotti took it from there.

And it was during Belotti's time that Phil Knight started showering the Ducks football program with money.

[ Parent ]
Here's some poll goodness for ya! (0.00 / 0)
Texas Tech blew West Virginia out of the stadium yesterday, 49-14.  The game was over before half time, and it wasn't even as close as the blowout score indicates.

So, naturally, West Virginia is ranked one spot ahead of the team that blew them out in the current AP Poll.  I don't care about either team, but that's just ridiculous.

Though the AP poll isn't part of the BCS formula, still.  I don't know.  Even the playoff in a couple years is still gonna be based on polls.

Why not just form eight regional conferences, go back to an 11-game season, the top two teams in each conference play for the conference title, then the conference champions meet in an 8-team tournament to determine the national champion.  Maybe I am willing to support giving up the 'bowl traditions'...

[ Parent ]
First BCS poll is out. (4.00 / 1)
Oregon is #3, behind Alabama at #1 and Florida at #2.

How is it that Florida ranks higher than Oregon? The Gators barely won yesterday. I am stating to believe people who tell me the BCS is rigged in favor of the SEC.

[ Parent ]
Ughh... (0.00 / 0)
Ridiculous.  

And if LSU threw that game to SC btw, I would have called for a RICO investigation of the SEC as an organized criminal conspiracy... ;)

[ Parent ]
Pot Luck | 72 comments
Political Activism Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory
Menu

Make a New Account

Username:

Password:



Forget your username or password?

Notable Diaries
- The 2007 Ag Census
- Cuba Diaries
- Mexico Diaries
- Bolivia Diaries
- Philippines Diaries
- My Visit to Growing Power
- My Trip to a Hog Confinement
- Why We Grow So Much Corn and Soy
- How the Chicken Gets to Your Plate

Search




Advanced Search

Blog Roll
Blogs
- Beginning Farmers
- Chews Wise
- City Farmer News
- Civil Eats
- Cooking Up a Story
- Cook For Good
- DailyKos
- Eating Liberally
- Epicurean Ideal
- The Ethicurean
- F is For French Fry
- Farm Aid Blog
- Food Politics
- Food Sleuth Blog
- Foodgirl.ca
- Foodperson.com
- Ghost Town Farm
- Goods from the Woods
- The Green Fork
- Gristmill
- GroundTruth
- Irresistable Fleet of Bicycles
- John Bunting's Dairy Journal
- Liberal Oasis
- Livable Future Blog
- Marler Blog
- My Left Wing
- Not In My Food
- Obama Foodorama
- Organic on the Green
- Rural Enterprise Center
- Take a Bite Out of Climate Change
- Treehugger
- U.S. Food Policy
- Yale Sustainable Food Project

Reference
- Recipe For America
- Eat Well Guide
- Local Harvest
- Sustainable Table
- Farm Bill Primer
- California School Garden Network

Organizations
- The Center for Food Safety
- Center for Science in the Public Interest
- Community Food Security Coalition
- The Cornucopia Institute
- Farm Aid
- Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
- Food and Water Watch
- National Family Farm Coalition
- Organic Consumers Association
- Rodale Institute
- Slow Food USA
- Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
- Union of Concerned Scientists

Magazines
- Acres USA
- Edible Communities
- Farmers' Markets Today
- Mother Earth News
- Organic Gardening

Book Recommendations
- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
- Appetite for Profit
- Closing the Food Gap
- Diet for a Dead Planet
- Diet for a Small Planet
- Food Politics
- Grub
- Holistic Management
- Hope's Edge
- In Defense of Food
- Mad Cow USA
- Mad Sheep
- The Omnivore's Dilemma
- Organic, Inc.
- Recipe for America
- Safe Food
- Seeds of Deception
- Teaming With Microbes
- What To Eat

User Blogs
- Beyond Green
- Bifurcated Carrot
- Born-A-Green
- Cats and Cows
- The Food Groove
- H2Ome: Smart Water Savings
- The Locavore
- Loving Spoonful
- Nourish the Spirit
- Open Air Market Network
- Orange County Progressive
- Peak Soil
- Pink Slip Nation
- Progressive Electorate
- Trees and Flowers and Birds
- Urbana's Market at the Square


Active Users
Currently 0 user(s) logged on.

Powered by: SoapBlox