Pot Luck

Oregon wins comfortably... (0.00 / 0)

35-17.  It wasn't a blowout, but the result was never really in question.  Oregon went up 15-0 early, and owned this one from kickoff to final whistle.

So when do they get to play for the national championship?

Oh that's right, they don't.

(This Ducks team would beat either of those overrated pretenders playing on Monday, by at least two touchdowns.)

---

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Fri Jan 04, 2013 at 05:09:08 AM UTC

Ah, and... (0.00 / 0)

...since Stanford actually beat Notre Dame twice on the final drive of their game, yet didn't get the call on either of those touchdowns, I'm gonna go ahead and say that the Pac-12 clearly has the best two teams in the country this year.  And Stanford's only real loss came to another Pac team.

I'm just gonna go ahead and say it.  The Pac-12 is obviously, clearly, the best conference in college football.

There it is.  :)

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Fri Jan 04, 2013 at 05:15:40 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

It was a sweet win for the Ducks. (4.00 / 1)

Now I understand why Bill Snyder cancelled K State's regular season game with Oregon. The Wildcats never would have gotten to  BCS Bowl Game if they had lost to Oregon in September.

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by: caseyOR @ Fri Jan 04, 2013 at 05:48:23 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ducks'll finish number 2... (0.00 / 0)

...in all polls, right there in the middle amongst the three 1-loss teams (yeah, I think Alabama's gonna win, sigh).  Oh, well actually Stanford is a one-loss team, too, but hey.

There's the playoff!  Oregon-Notre Dame; Stanford-Alabama.  Oregon beats Stanford 34-31 for the national championship in one of the greatest games ever.  But we won't have that.  Sigh.

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Fri Jan 04, 2013 at 08:10:33 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Alabama... (0.00 / 0)

Hey, and any time you can come out of a conference whose second-best team got slaughtered by a Big East team (ha ha ha, LOLFlorida!) in a bowl game, I mean, come on now!

At least their fans know three letters of our alphabet.  So they have that going for them, I guess... ;)

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Fri Jan 04, 2013 at 09:13:58 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I learned something new watching last night's game. (4.00 / 1)

Apparently, there is something called a "one point safety." Who knew?  

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by: caseyOR @ Fri Jan 04, 2013 at 21:21:16 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I did. ;) (0.00 / 0)

One of the many useless bits of information I store in my head, so that by the time I begin forgetting things, hopefully it'll be stuff like that, rather than the things that really matter!

At least, that is the plan.  We'll see how it goes.  Heh.

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Fri Jan 04, 2013 at 21:43:39 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I hate to tell you this, Jay, but the useless bits of (4.00 / 1)

information are the last to go.

I, too, filled my head with trivia hoping for much the same outcome as you. Now I have discovered that while I still know the names of all of Joe and Rose Kennedy's grandchildren (don't ask) and I can sing all of the lyrics to "I Got You, Babe," I cannot tell you the names of the books I read last week.

---

by: caseyOR @ Fri Jan 04, 2013 at 22:07:14 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Dude, you areway too young... (4.00 / 1)

for curmudgeon.  

---

by: Eddie C @ Fri Jan 04, 2013 at 19:24:05 PM UTC

It's never too early... (4.00 / 1)

...to get a head start!

---

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Fri Jan 04, 2013 at 20:54:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

What is a Genuity soybean system... (0.00 / 0)

...and why on earth does Gmail keep trying to sell it to me?

That's one of the weirder Gmail ads I've seen yet.  And I've seen it like 7 times the past few days, too.  Google must think I'm a soybean farmer, for some reason.

---

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Fri Jan 04, 2013 at 21:02:49 PM UTC

Jay, when do you start your two-city life? (4.00 / 1)

Have you found a place in New Jersey yet?

---

by: caseyOR @ Fri Jan 04, 2013 at 22:04:19 PM UTC

Soon... (0.00 / 0)

The process officially begins next week (government job, so it's all about The Process, heh), and it should be no longer than 3 to 6 weeks now.  Although possibly even sooner, as, unfortunately, somebody who already works there in that department passed away this week.

Haven't even really started seriously looking for a second place yet, though I suppose I should soon!

It's gonna be Newark rather than Jersey City, I've decided, since I'll be working on the Newark side of the bay, and Jersey City is a densely-packed peninsula which is kinda rough to get into and out of.  And these days, almost as many people commute to Newark as to NYC from Jersey City (which is right in the middle of the two cities).  If I have the choice this far ahead, I'd rather not spend any more time riding trains, buses or biking than I have to.

I'll see how this works out for the first few months (my lease here expires in April), and there's an outside possibility that if I don't like the back-and-forth every weekend and whatnot, I may just (sniff!) leave Philadelphia for now (but I'll be back one day!), and with just one apartment I'd be able to afford a decent place in Brooklyn.  Probably Bed-Stuy or Crown Heights.

That is probably the smart thing to do right from the start anyway, but the only thing keeping me back is that it would suck to leave my favorite city after only finally being here for less than a year!

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Sat Jan 05, 2013 at 01:07:30 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Watching "The Brink's Job"... (0.00 / 0)

First time I've seen more than just a few minutes of this film.  Not even really paying attention to it, as I'm doing something else and it's just on in the background.  But this has gotta be the single film with the greatest amount of mid-last-century urban scenery, ever.

Eye candy everywhere.

---

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Sat Jan 05, 2013 at 08:30:07 AM UTC

So of course... (0.00 / 0)

...I now went looking for some vintage Philadelphia photos.  This site is a great one.

Not Philadelphia (just over the border in Upper Darby, at 69th Street Terminal, the west end of the Market-Frankford line), but this is probably my favorite photo there.

The trolleys (the Media streetcar still runs as a streetcar, and not a bus!  Media, PA claims to be the only suburban town in the US with streetcars still running on its main street), the station entrance sign... and that Wawa billboard is just all kinds of awesome.

The 1938 Broad Street Line subway cars in 1962.  They don't regularly run anymore, of course, but a few are still kept in the Fern Rock yard for special occasions.  I need to check them out one day.   Shame on me for not having done so yet!

---

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Sat Jan 05, 2013 at 09:26:46 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Totally random earworm... (0.00 / 0)

Not sure how this came to be, but I've had REM's Shiny Happy People stuck in my head for about a week now.  So I just went back and watched the video for the first time in like twenty years.

And then I watched it a dozen more times.

Because it is just fantastic.  Even though it came out in 1991, it's probably the last truly so-bad-it's-actually-great, 80s-style video.

And yet in a striking contrast, I do believe Kate Pierson, therein, may be the single most beautiful woman to ever appear in a music video.  In my opinion.

Also, this video is old enough to drink.

I never fail to be amazed by those "Unless you were born before this date in 1991, we will not serve you" signs (it's now 1992!) in bars.  People born in the 90s are drinking now?!  Shit, I was almost graduating high school then!

At least my daughter can't (legally) enter bars for another 5 years.  So that's good!

---

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Sat Jan 05, 2013 at 10:59:58 AM UTC

Of course... (0.00 / 0)

...it's nowhere near as great as this 80s classic, as deconstructed by a Grantland writer born after it came out.

---

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Sat Jan 05, 2013 at 11:05:57 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Food for thought (4.00 / 1)

Leading Environmental Activist's Blunt Confession: I Was Completely Wrong To Oppose GMOs

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by: Eddie C @ Sun Jan 06, 2013 at 07:10:54 AM UTC

good lord (4.00 / 1)

He "Discovered science"? Honestly, it really amazes me how little so many people - even well meaning people - understand about the science underlying agriculture.

"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

---

by: Jill Richardson @ Sun Jan 06, 2013 at 09:47:01 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I think that the problem with agriculture (4.00 / 2)

and the science underlying it, is that agriculture is, at least in my opinion, the most diversified activity that humans engage in. There are litterally as many different ways to do things and things to do in agriculture as there are people doing them.

There are systems that are scalable and systems that are not. There are some systems that are incredibly productive on a large scale, but won't work on a small scale, or with anykind of crop diversification in a given planting area. There are systems on the small scale that can have incredible yields, but are absolutely not scalable into larger systems. At least not without an incredible and for countries like the USA, increase in farm labor and a commensurate  increase in the cost of production. And all of these different systems are based in science.

The problem, as I see it, is when we try to apply one system to an environment that it's not really suited to. So a system that's based in science can be incredibly successful and productive in one environment, but when it's applied to another, it may be a total or near total failure. Yet it's all 'science based'.

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

---

by: JoanneRigutto @ Sun Jan 06, 2013 at 17:50:06 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

This. (4.00 / 1)

it's all 'science based'.

It's not like our community gardens here in Kensington are reliant upon medieval sorcerers or Haitian voodoo priests.

To claim that there is only one 'scientific' way to do agriculture is, as you point out, highly misleading.  To say the very least.

Perhaps I'm just being a stickler for language at this point, but I don't think I'd have much of a problem with what he said, were he to have said he just "discovered current cutting-edge technology," or something more like that.  I'd still disagree with him, and I'd still be wary of him, as I tend to be of all people who completely flip from one extreme end of any given spectrum to the other, but at least his statement would have been more accurate, and it also wouldn't have been nearly as insulting to so many people, I'm sure.

---

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Sun Jan 06, 2013 at 23:15:42 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Wow, he trotted out all the Monsanto canards (4.00 / 2)

Like, it's so totally altruistic. Must feed 10 billion people and Monsanto will do it. Like I've seen before, they tell us about the huge yield increases under Green Revolution technology (dwarf plants plus fossil fuel products) and makes the claim that GMOs increase yield.

He trots out the yellow (golden, they named it) rice PR stunt and claims it was a useful crop. He calls for 'peaceful coexistence' between GM crops planted next to organic fields.

"It turned out that pest-resistant cotton and maize needed less insecticide." Shilling for Bt GMOs, but never mentioned RoundUp Ready.

Made the oft-repeated Monsanto claim that GM crops use less water & fertilizer (in addition to fewer pesticides)

One whopper I've never read before. Perhaps he invented it: "organic is also likely worse for biodiversity"

I got into it on DailyKos last night with some pro-GMO asshole who claimed he had a PhD and GMOs were good and since I don't have a PhD, I'm wrong.

Back to Lynas' lecture. He even made the claim that organic is dangerous because of the use of animal manure. And therefore GMOs are safe! "So my conclusion here today is very clear: the GM debate is over. It is finished. We no longer need to discuss whether or not it is safe - over a decade and a half with three trillion GM meals eaten there has never been a single substantiated case of harm."

---

by: Crider @ Sun Jan 06, 2013 at 18:39:14 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

But Why Oh Why? (4.00 / 2)

One thing I forgot to mention is that right now, the Tories in the UK government are pushing for GMO adoption. From three days ago:

The Government will promote the benefits of genetically modified crops as part of the drive to modernise farming in the UK, Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, has said.

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by: Crider @ Sun Jan 06, 2013 at 18:44:20 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Excellent argument (4.00 / 2)

Good work getting into it at DailyKos. It's a dirty job but someone has to do it. Who got the most recommends, you or the pro-GMO asshole?  

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by: Eddie C @ Mon Jan 07, 2013 at 01:33:57 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Oh me, me! (4.00 / 2)

I got an 18. My opponent got one 8 though. We devolved into the subject of GMO labeling on a diary entitled, "President Obama's FDA Moves to Implement Sweeping New Food Regulations".

The diary was actually about how great these new regulations are because the Republicans opposed them.

I also got 10 recommends for saying as part of some info on how to avoid GMOs, "Obama's FDA is a neoliberal cesspool that has been captured by big ag." But that comment wasn't during my discussion with Mr. PhD.

---

by: Crider @ Mon Jan 07, 2013 at 04:08:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Interesting reply (4.00 / 1)

My first thought was about how most of the GMO's I read about are about resistance to certain herbicides and those herbicides ending up in our water supply. Needing to feed 10 million by poisoning 10 million? When someone starts off arguing "as an environmentalist" I'd question the motives being environmental when washing petroleum based fertilizers and chemicals into the oceans and waterways have suddenly become the answer.    

But due to a lack of knowledge on the subject, I'm not in a position to argue against his point about embracing science and denying the benefits of GMO's is like denying global warming. I will question and have my doubts that the percentage of scientist who claim that global warming is real is anywhere near the number who believe GMO's are the one true answer.

No I didn't conclude that this Mark Lynas is "a turncoat shill for Monsanto" until I got to this;

Lynas concludes that people who want to stick with organic are entitled to-but they should not stand in the way of others who would use science to find more efficient ways to feed billions. "[T]he  GM debate is over. It is finished. We no longer need to discuss whether or not it is safe. ... You are more likely to get hit by an asteroid than to get hurt by GM food," he says.

Perhaps Monsanto talking points should start with where all that Round Up is going and consumers should at least have the choice to not support that. But a former anti-GMO's activist missing that point entirely has got to be a sellout. going from demonstrating against to "You are more likely to get hit by an asteroid than to get hurt by GM food," there has got to be some cash coming his way.

But what I would really like to know is the scientific community really in favor of Monsanto owning the world's food supply and not concerned with the aftermath? I don't think so but I just don't know.      

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by: Eddie C @ Mon Jan 07, 2013 at 01:30:00 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

"The one true answer" (4.00 / 1)

That's what sticks out to me most, too.

I will question and have my doubts that the percentage of scientist who claim that global warming is real is anywhere near the number who believe GMO's are the one true answer.

Very well said.

It always pays to beware of those who claim to know "The One True Truth."  Particularly when those very same people, not so long ago, loudly claimed to know "The Exactly Opposite Other True Truth."

Also, everything else you said, as well.

---

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Jan 07, 2013 at 02:23:00 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Will he or won't he? Chip Kelly's future still undecided. (4.00 / 1)

He interviewed briefly with the Bills who hired another guy. He interviewed extensively with the Browns who are now "going in another direction." He interviewed with the Eagles who are still interviewing other guys.

The word is Chip seems to be uncertain about a move to the NFL. Indecisive was the word I heard on the news tonight. If Chip stays at Oregon, and I think that would be fine, this will be the second year in a row he has flirted with the NFL only to change his mind at the last minute.

Maybe Chip doesn't really want to coach in the NFL, but, since people make such a fuss over him and keep touting him as a potential NFL coach he thinks he should do it, but his heart isn't in it.

That is all speculation on my part as Chip does not confide in me.

We should know soon.

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by: caseyOR @ Mon Jan 07, 2013 at 03:07:05 AM UTC

Eagles need to go elsewhere. (0.00 / 0)

Like maybe me?

I mean, I'm not technically committed to anything yet, and I could start the job down there at The Linc tomorrow.

I would have, of course, vastly preferred the Temple job, but the Iggles could work as well!

After all, I could have just walked down the street to my office at Temple; while I'd have to take the subway down to South Philly for the Eagles job.

;)

Ah, but anyway.  Yeah, I now hope Chip stays at Oregon, too.  He seems to be a great fit there.  And some people really are better at the college game than the pro game.  They are, after all, two different tasks, ultimately.  One is more about shaping men for successful futures (college), while the other is mainly about... well hell, I really don't even know.

Winning a Super Bowl within two years or getting fired?

Probably that. It's an ego game, mostly.  That's likely why Pete Carroll went back to the NFL again, I'd say.  Chip seems to have a bit of an ego, as well, but it appears to not be all that drives him.

I dunno.

We'll see, like you say.

As for me, I want the Eagles to go elsewhere now.  I don't want a guy who took over a week to decide.  I want somebody who wants to win in Philadelphia, now.

And to win with My Man Nick Foles.

We deserve it!  :)

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Jan 07, 2013 at 04:06:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

And sources say! (0.00 / 0)

Kelly will stay.

Chip Kelly considered the Eagles' offer to be their next head coach, but ultimately decided to stay at Oregon, a source close to the situation said Sunday night.

It seemed initially as if there was going to be a showdown between the Eagles and the Browns for Kelly. But when the dust settled after the Eagles' nine-hour interview on Saturday, the Browns stepped out and Kelly's two choices were down to leaving for the Eagles or staying with the Ducks.

The Cleveland contingent, headed by owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner, jetted back to Cleveland on Sunday morning to reboot the team's head coaching search without Kelly, an NFL source said.

That left the Eagles as the only NFL team still interested in Kelly, but he was also strongly considering staying with the Ducks. As of early Sunday evening, several sources close to the situation expected Kelly to stay in Eugene, Ore.

A bunch more interesting stuff in the article, at least for anyone to whom this kind of stuff is interesting... ;)

Even as recently as about a week ago, I would have bet he was going to be the next coach of the Eagles.  Now hmmm, I don't really know.  I like going the route of giving someone new a shot.  After all, Reid is (or was) the best coach on the market after we fired him, so might as well take a shot on someone new?  Maybe?

I think so!

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Jan 07, 2013 at 04:25:06 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Chip is staying in Eugene. (4.00 / 1)

It's official. KGW just told me that Chip is staying with the Ducks. The NFL teams with whom he interviewed did not offer him a situation with which he felt comfortable.

What we are hearing is that neither the Browns nor the Eagles would give Chip the total free rein he enjoys at Oregon. He wanted pretty much complete control, which he has at Oregon.

I cannot imagine that any NFL team will ever offer Chip the nearly total control he has with the Ducks. The NFL doesn't work that way, at least not with new coaches who haven't won a couple of Super Bowls.

People here are a little nuts about him staying. I like Chip, but my world does not turn on whether or not he stays with the Ducks. Apparently, it does for some fans.

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by: caseyOR @ Mon Jan 07, 2013 at 07:09:52 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Joe Becker, sports reporter at KGW-TV, says Kelly (4.00 / 1)

was offered the head coaching job by both the Browns and the Eagles. he turned them both down because he couldn't get the terms he wanted.

Thank god our long statewide football nightmare is over.

---

by: caseyOR @ Mon Jan 07, 2013 at 07:30:16 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

39 years old... (0.00 / 0)

...and still the greatest song ever.

It just don't get any better than that.  And never will!

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Jan 07, 2013 at 07:23:09 AM UTC

And the greatest opening scene... (0.00 / 0)

...of any film, ever.

Never gets old.  Broad Street kinda looks the same, in some spots.  And of course, the iconic shot of City Hall from South Broad does, and always will!

I love those buses with the back windows.  SEPTA's New Flyer trackless trolleys (delivered in 2007-08) actually have open back windows, now, btw, and I see them often on the 75 and 59 lines from Arrott Transportation Center, where I often catch the 89 bus home from the Margaret-Orthodox El in Frankford.

All of those 70s-vintage buses in that video are now retired, though SEPTA ran some of them well into the mid-90s.  I still wonder whether some of the older operators I ride with today ever operated one of those buses.  I'm sure they did.  I love those things.  I really need to grab hold of an historic PTC (Philadelphia Transportation Company) / SEPTA bus and trolley roster one of these days...

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Jan 07, 2013 at 08:01:13 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ha! (0.00 / 0)

And while looking up pics of old buses, I found this 1984 shot of a '76 AM General bus in Portland, running the 19 route.  Can't tell where it is, exactly, but I'm guessing it's downtown on the old / original Transit Mall.

Those colors are awesome, and of course I was intimately familiar with the 19 line for many years back there.  :)

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Jan 07, 2013 at 08:27:10 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yes, it is downtown on the old mall. (4.00 / 1)

You can tell by the reddish bricks that pave the crosswalk.  

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by: caseyOR @ Mon Jan 07, 2013 at 19:58:59 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

My dad worked on the crews that installed those bricks (4.00 / 1)

He ran also ran the crew that installed the bricks in Terry Schrunk Plaze in that circular public area. I remember going down with him, when I was a kid, and helping him lay out the circle for it.

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

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Tue Jan 08, 2013 at 00:31:59 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I've just spent 14 minutes... (0.00 / 0)

...staring at ducks (waterfowl, not University of Oregon athletes) on Pennsylvania Cable Network's rebroadcast of an earlier taping at the Pennsylvania Farm Show.

The "champion heavy duck" looks good (though I'll be damned if I can distinguish him or her from the other competitors), and is very very white.

There are also brown ducks, and black ducks.  As well as silver-ish ducks with green necks and other such similar flourishes.  I like those guys most, they have Style.  With a capital "S."  Also.  Panache.

This is what I do when I'm sick (again!), apparently.

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Wed Jan 09, 2013 at 02:17:10 AM UTC

Did you know that all domestic breeds of duck (4.00 / 2)

except the Muscovy, are thought to have been derived from mallards? That's why they all look (more or less) alike as far as build. Even runner ducks. I want to raise some ducks this year. I love me some duck. And rendered duck fat is to die for, especially if it's smoked.

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

---

by: JoanneRigutto @ Wed Jan 09, 2013 at 11:16:24 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I love ducks (4.00 / 1)

I looked at a duck site and decided I like Welsh harlequins best. But around here it's all trendy to get Khaki Campbell. I think since I live in the SW, it'd be best to get a muscovy though, even if they aren't my faves.

"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

---

by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jan 10, 2013 at 08:33:29 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

From what I've read (4.00 / 1)

Muskovies don't need water like most of the other ducks do. I've never raised muskovie ducks, but I have kept other kinds and those need a pond or some other contianer of water for bathing and swimming in. And boy do they foul it up in a hurry. You have to dump the water every day. Plus, ducks crap all over the place. Chickens are bad for that, but ducks are orders of magnitude worse. That's one reason I haven't had ducks in a while, even though I love 'em.

When I do eventually get some ducks, they're definitely going to have a pen of their own and will not be allowed out of it.

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

---

by: JoanneRigutto @ Thu Jan 10, 2013 at 15:27:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Whenever I ride... (0.00 / 0)

...NJTransit's RiverLine light rail, and the announcement "you must have a valid ticket to ride this train" plays after every station stop, that Huey Lewis & The News song from the film Back to the Future runs through my head.

"Don't need no credit card to ride this train..."

At which point in time I also often get the insatiable urge to detrain and hitch a ride on its back with a skateboard for a few miles.

If I had a psychiatrist, I suppose this is one of the first things I would discuss with him or her.

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Wed Jan 09, 2013 at 04:08:58 AM UTC

Regarding the latter thing... (0.00 / 0)

I would, of course, have to refrain from performing a soulful rendition of "Afternoon Delight" a la that one scene in my favorite movie of all time, Good Will Hunting.  ;)

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Wed Jan 09, 2013 at 04:12:01 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Now this I like... (0.00 / 0)

50 yesterday, 52 today, 62 tomorrow, 56 Monday.

A nice mid-January weekend and Monday, if I do say so myself...

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Fri Jan 11, 2013 at 09:58:33 AM UTC

You're lucky (4.00 / 1)

we had a warm front move through a couple of days ago with tempe in the mid 50s. This morning it was freezing fog and car wrecks all over the place.

But, it's supposed to be clear and sunny here for the next couple of weeks, so at least the tunnels will be warm. The long range models have one ridge building over us now and in 10 days it will have broken down and rebuilt for another spate of sunny weather. That if, is an inversion doesn't build and we're fogged in the whole time.  

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

---

by: JoanneRigutto @ Fri Jan 11, 2013 at 17:26:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Today is a good day to... (0.00 / 0)

...finally check out Port Richmond Books.  And then maybe wander the Korean business district up in Olney, and have lunch up there.  I feel I should be more familiar with Korean food than I am.  After all, I'd drink kimchi coffee if there were such a thing, so I believe it's time to dig deeper into the cuisine.

I need to make the most of this Spring-like weekend, before we return to winter for another couple months.  Let's do it!

---

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Sat Jan 12, 2013 at 14:00:20 PM UTC

Things Jay Loves. (0.00 / 0)

1. Philadelphia.

:-D

Sorry, I spent most of the day up in New Jersey, and I just can't help myself from being ecstatic every time I come back home!

~~~

I have also just hit upon an idea this past week which will allow me to continue to maintain primary residence here, even while working in North Jersey, so that makes me happy, too.

Even if I have to spend five days a week in NJ for the next few years, I will still be able to spend weekends and holidays and vacations here in Philadelphia; and also, I will definitely still be buying a $29,000 Kensington rowhouse in like three years, at which point I'll be able to come back here full time and work for (much) less, and spend seven days a week in the only place I ever want to be.

So.  I'm feeling even better than good these days!

---

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Jan 14, 2013 at 04:38:52 AM UTC

That's good news, Jay. What is the plan? (4.00 / 1)

Will you still be renting a place in New Jersey? And keeping your Philly apartment? Did something change there?

---

by: caseyOR @ Mon Jan 14, 2013 at 04:43:30 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Flipped the script... (0.00 / 0)

I figure if I'm gonna be up in North Jersey five days a week, and just down here on weekends and holidays and vacations and whatnot for right now, I'll (temporarily) have the main apartment up there, and will rent a weekly room down here to maintain residency.

Forget the Brooklyn thing.

Plenty of weekly rooms available in Kensington, right under the El, for $75 to $100 a week; while a studio w/ kitchen in Elizabeth or Newark (right near work) will run me around $700 a month.

So I'll just do it the other way around - I'll have all the regular living conveniences up there, internet and kitchen and cable and whatnot, while down here I'll continue to maintain an address while temporarily working up there, in order to save up for buying my home here.

And as soon as I scratch together the... scratch(!), I'm good!  By then, my daughter will be grown too, and I won't have to leave Philly more than once a month or so, if even that...

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Jan 14, 2013 at 05:56:55 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sounds like ya got a plan! (4.00 / 1)

That's the thing. Everyone has dreams, but it's the plan that makes it possible for the dream to come true!

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

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Mon Jan 14, 2013 at 06:04:40 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Indeed! (0.00 / 0)

And the plan is - okay, I'm 34 this year, and it's time to stop moving all over the place and finally settle down.  And where better to settle than my favorite city in the world?  Where I already live?  Okay, so let's figure out how to do it then!

I do believe I have a good plan.  For now, at least.  ;)

We'll see, I guess!

Btw, how are things going with you?  I hope the new place is turning out well?

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Jan 14, 2013 at 07:12:27 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Doing real well (4.00 / 2)

I got the spring plant catalog done today and posted to Google Docs. I've got it paired way down, but it's still 10 pages long.

I'm doing the layout for the late winter and spring plantings right now. I'll probably move my first trays of greens into a tunnel tomorrow. 4 weeks to first pea planting (seeding 2" band pots for placement in tunnels, which worked great last year), and begining the first week in March I'll go back to 16 hour days 6 days a week with one day to relax. I'm faunching at the bit to get going, but I'm also savoring these shorter days (well, except for today which was a 16, but at least is was all indoors and sitting down).

I'm also working on the design and placement of the aquaponics system. It's going to ROCK!

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

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Wed Jan 16, 2013 at 09:08:00 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

An announcement. (4.00 / 1)

I don't care if Monday's blue.  Tuesday's gray and Wednesday, too.  Thursday, I don't care about you.  It's Friday, I'm in love.

:)

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Jan 14, 2013 at 10:05:02 AM UTC

Coca-Cola Says . . . (4.00 / 1)

"Please don't run away. We are your friends!"

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by: Crider @ Wed Jan 16, 2013 at 01:02:52 AM UTC

Bein' Coke is hard work! (4.00 / 1)

Hard work...

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Wed Jan 16, 2013 at 02:36:24 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

this WILL be the topic of my op ed this coming week (4.00 / 2)

because it is sooo easy to go after them. I'm sorry but they just walked into this one.

"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

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by: Jill Richardson @ Wed Jan 16, 2013 at 07:49:24 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Eagles lure Chip Kelly to Philadelphia. (4.00 / 1)

Ducks fans plunge into mourning.

Yes, Jay, those damn Eagles finally made an offer Chip could not refuse. The search for Chip's replacement may not be as simple as many seem to think. The conventional wisdom is that OC Mark Helfrich is the annointed one. However, the state of Oregon has its own Rooney Rule for hiring college coaches. It was passed during that last legislative session. The Ducks must interview minority candidates, and it must not be a just-for-show sham.

It will be interesting to see how the U of O plays this. People will be watching to make sure the law is properly applied. Others will be frantic to just get Helfrich in place so damage to recruiting is contained.

Good luck with Chip. I think the Eagles have problems as a team that not even the Wizard can solve. But that is all Chip's problem now.

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by: caseyOR @ Wed Jan 16, 2013 at 21:58:23 PM UTC

I hope Chip is ready for the weather! (0.00 / 0)

Next week it's barely getting out of the 20s.  Yuck.  But at least it won't be snowing or anything.  Well, he spent a few years in New Hampshire so he should be okay.

His Hamlet act still worries me a little, but I guess starting a new job relatively 'late' is easier to do in the NFL than in college.  No recruiting worries and all that.

Next year's probably rebuilding for the Eagles, but we should have the defending Stanley Cup champion Flyers to keep us distracted next fall and winter.

;)

I think the Ducks will be okay.  Hopefully their system is stronger than one guy.  When Bellotti left, I recall a lot of people were worried too.  And that worked out pretty well in the end!

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Thu Jan 17, 2013 at 00:41:33 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

The word here is that Chip wanted Oregon to give him (4.00 / 1)

more money. His current contract calls for $3 mil. base salary. He wanted $5-$5.5 mil. Oregon said no, not right now. So, Chip called his agent who called the Eagles who offered Chip $10 mil.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

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by: caseyOR @ Thu Jan 17, 2013 at 02:10:37 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Kelly will be fine with the weather. He grew up in (4.00 / 1)

the Granite State. How he will deal with the over-sized egos prevalent in the NFL is another thing entirely. Chip doesn't have much patience for backtalk.

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by: caseyOR @ Thu Jan 17, 2013 at 02:12:40 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I wonder how... (0.00 / 0)

...the Chip Kelly Stare of Death will go over with the Philadelphia sports media?

Another Eagles-Patriots Super Bowl would be worth it just for the spectacle of watching Kelly and Belichick try to out-sarcastic-prick each other.

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Thu Jan 17, 2013 at 00:44:13 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Buying politicians isn't everything (4.00 / 1)

Farmers beginning to abandon corn and soybeans due to spurious and aggressive lawsuits by Monsanto over accidental cross-pollination of GMO seed DNA into adjoining acres.

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by: Eddie C @ Wed Jan 16, 2013 at 23:17:18 PM UTC