As I cleared out some old papers from my “archives” this weekend, I came across a recipe for pesto.
As I cleared out some old papers from my “archives” this weekend, I came across a recipe for pesto.
Enjoy.
PESTO
2 cups fresh basil
1 cup olive oil
4 medium cloves garlic
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Romano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Rinse leaves and pat dry
Combine ingredients in blender or food processor
Refrigerate
The sauce freezes well too and lasts up to a year in the freezer
Romney’s tax returns / Why we love Picasso / Appreciate the introvert / Love and Islam / Final JFK tapes unveiled
Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.
1. Mitt Romney’s tax returns shed some light on his investment wealth
By Lori Montgomery | PostPolitics :: The Washington Post | Jan. 23
“Mitt Romney offered a partial snapshot of his vast personal fortune late Monday, disclosing income of $21.7 million in 2010 and $20.9 million last year — virtually all of it profits, dividends or interest from investments.”
2. The Rude Welcome That Awaits Rick Perry Back in Texas
By Erica Grieder | The New Republic | Jan. 21
“According to Public Policy Polling, his approval rating in the state now stands at 42 percent. Surprisingly, that is lower than Barack Obama’s, at 44 percent.”
3. JFK library to release last of his secret tapes
By Bridget Murphy | Associated Press | Jan. 24
“The tapes include discussions of conflict in Vietnam, Soviet relations and the race to space, plans for the 1964 Democratic Convention and re-election strategy. There also are moments with his children.”
4. Nerve Endings: Female, 19, New York
Nerve | Jan. 24
“He was taking it well, until he showed up at my door, drunk and sobbing into the buzzer …”
5. Obama can win big with FDR formula
By Robert S. McElvaine | Politico | Jan. 23
“No president for more than 70 years has been reelected with unemployment above 7.5 percent — as it is likely to be in November. If we go a little further back, however, unemployment was at 16.9 percent in 1936.”
6. Lifting Veil on Love and Islam
Ny Neil MacFarquhar | The International Herald Tribune | Jan. 23
“Even as the editors, both American-born daughters of immigrants, sought to fight society’s tendency to consider all Muslims extremists, they also struggled with the cultural proscription against describing private lives in public.”
7. Time for introverts to get some appreciation
By Sharon Jayson | USA Today | Jan. 23
“Because introverts tend to be more socially aloof … introversion is related to certain types of disorders, such as social anxiety or depression.”
8. Why we love Picasso
By Blake Gopnik | Newsweek | Jan. 23
“Pablo Picasso was the most inventive artist the West has ever known, and his drawings let us watch him inventing.”
9. This much I know: Kazuo Ishiguro
By Chris Sullivan | The Observer | February 2011
“As the film adaptation of his bestselling novel Never Let Me Go hits the screens, the author reflects on past passions, fatherhood and critical abuse”
10. What Makes Teeth Chatter
By C. Claiborne Ray | Q&A :: The New York Times | July 2011
“What might cause teeth to chatter other than the cold?”
Cut back on non-friends / What Obama knew / Future of OWS / New treasures in Istanbul / Why do we yawn?
Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.
1. Unfriend Everyone
By Sam Biddle | Gizmodo | Jan. 20
“You have too many Facebook friends. You’re following too many people on Twitter. You’re connected to too many people who don’t care too much about you. Get rid of them. Get rid of all of them.”
2. Courts Moving Too Slow for April Primary Elections
By Ross Ramsey | The Texas Tribune | Jan. 20
“The Democratic and Republican political parties hold their state conventions June 7-9.”
3. Italy Finds a Heroic Foil for Its Scorned Captain
By Elisabetta Povoledo | The New York Times | Jan. 19
“Easily adapting to the national propensity for dualism, Italians have got themselves a hero to play against their antihero, a champion to their villain …”
4. Obama warned about skyrocketing debt before he took office
By Donovan Slack | Politico 44 :: Politico | Jan. 23
“Economic advisers warned President Obama before he took the oath of office that he would have to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to help right the economy and such spending could run up the highest national debt since World War II. …”
5. What Future for Occupy Wall Street?
By Michael Greenberg | The New York Review of Books | Feb. 9
“Occupy Wall Street’s expansion to many other cities seems to have been preordained, but at the time it caught even its most committed supporters off guard.”
6. After Being Stricken by Drought, Istanbul Yields Ancient Treasure
By Jennifer Pinkowski | The New York Times | Jan. 23
“In the last dig season alone, the archaeologists uncovered port walls, elaborate buildings, an enormous cistern, a Byzantine church and stone roads spanning more than 1,000 years of occupation.”
7. Too many tests? Routine checks getting second look
By Lauran Neergaard | Associated Press | Jan. 23
“The worry: If given too often, these tests can waste time and money, and sometimes even do harm if false alarms spur unneeded follow-up care. It begs the question: Just what should be part of my doctor’s visit?”
8. Confident Obama Knows Wild Cards Can Loom Large
By Jackie Calmes | The New York Times | Jan. 23
“Democrats are enjoying the show, though mindful that much could change in the nine months before Election Day — as it often has in Mr. Obama’s term, and not for the better. ”
9. This Much I Know: Robert Duvall
By Tony Horkins | The Observer | February 2010
“The Hollywood legend, 79, on football, Brando and the tango”
10. The Yawning Gap
By C. Claiborne Ray | Q&A :: The New York Times | June 2011
“Do people yawn when they are asleep? Why do they yawn in the first place?”
Inside the Costa Concordia / What women want / Army recruits lose the BCGs / Confederate Heroes Day / Easing combat stress
Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism.
1. Military dumps infamous ‘BCG’ eyeglasses
By Patricia Kime | Army Times | Jan. 20
“Military recruits who wear glasses no longer will have to endure the embarrassment of sporting BCGs — those beloved standard-issue specs, technically called S9s, which are universally known as ‘Birth Control Glasses’ because they’re supposedly so unattractive.”
2. Today’s Women: Newfound Power, Persistent Expectations
Schawk | January 2012
“[W]omen still feel the age-old pressure to do it all, look good and be liked. Anthem’s original research suggests that this creates a tension in women’s lives, and that traditional marketing messages that leverage these pressures might not be as effective as marketers think.”
3. Inside the Wreck of the Costa Concordia
By Alan Taylor | In Focus :: The Atlantic | Jan. 20
“Rescue workers have spent the past seven days rappelling from helicopters, scaling the hull, scrambling inside and diving beneath the wreckage, racing against the clock to find anyone alive inside the massive wreck.”
4. Celebrating Confederate Heroes Day in East Texas
By Forrest Wilder | The Texas Observer | Jan. 20
“The official state holiday is a day for Confederacy apologists to strut their stuff.”
5. Diagramming the Costa Concordia Disaster
By Heather Murphy and Vivian Selbo | Slate | Jan. 20
“An annotated look at the cruise ship fiasco.”
6. Wars lessons being applied to ease combat stress
By Julie Watson | Associated Press | Jan. 18
“When the Marine unit that suffered the greatest casualties in the 10-year Afghan war returned home last spring, they didn’t rush back to their everyday lives. Instead, the Marine Corps put them into a kind of decompression chamber. …”
7. Famous Photogs Pose With Their Most Iconic Images
By Jakob Schiller | Raw File :: Wired | Jan. 20
“Many of us can automatically recall these photos in our heads, but far fewer can name the photographers who took them. Even fewer know what those photographers look like.”
8. This much I know: Robert Harris
By John O’Connell | The Observer | April 2010
“The novelist, 53, on Polanski, his Hitler house, and Bob Monkhouse”
9. Flies in the Dark
By C. Claiborne Ray | Q&A :: The New York Times | June 2011
“Where do flies go at night? In summer in Australia, flies are everywhere in the daytime but seem to disappear at night.”
10. People Power in the Philippines
Witness :: BBC News | February 22
“In 1986, thousands of peaceful demonstrators took to the streets of the Philippine capital, Manila. Just days later, President Ferdinand Marcos was forced from power.”
**************
TUNES
Tonight I’m spending some time with the blues, specifically with the Texas Blues Café. Check out the line-up and then listen here.
1. Kenny Wayne Shepherd — Everybody Gets The Blues
2. Mark Kerr — Every Dog Has It’s Day
3. Doyle Bramhall — Jealous Sky
4. The Mark Knoll Band — You’ve Got A Lot To Learn
5. Grady Champion — Policeman Blues
6. The Shawn Fussell Band — Tulia, TX
7. Too Slim & The Tail Draggers — Been Through Hell
8. ZZ Top — Just Got Back From Babys
9. Brian Burns with Ray Wylie Hubbard — Little Angel
10. Johnny Lang — Livin’ For The City
11. Bleu Edmondson — 50 Dollars and a Flask of Crown
12. Dennis McClung Blues Band — The Red Rooster
Iowa vote confusion / Europe’s future / Olympic sheep-shearing / Lovers exchange passwords / Preschool cuts
Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.
1. 2021: The New Europe
By Niall Ferguson | The Saturday Essay :: The Wall Street Journal | November 2011
“Niall Ferguson peers into Europe’s future and sees Greek gardeners, German sunbathers — and a new fiscal union. Welcome to the other United States.”
2. Sheep shearing an Olympic sport? New Zealand farmers hope so
By Matt Brooks | The Early Lead :: The Washington Post | Jan. 17
“With New Zealand hosting the world shearing championships in March, Federated Farmers Mean and Fiber chairwoman Jeannette Maxwell believes it’s time to strike while the clippers are hot.”
3. Countries consider time out on the ‘leap second’
By Frank Jordans | Associated Press | Jan. 17
“The United States, France and others are pushing for countries at a U.N. telecom meeting to abolish the leap second, which for 40 years has kept computers in sync with the Earth day.”
4. Password Sharing: For Teens, Access To Online Accounts Is A Sign Of Love
The Huffington Post | Jan. 18
“Would you want to share access to your email, Facebook and Tumblr accounts with the one you love? For more and more teens, the key to their heart comes with the passwords to their digital lives.”
5. Iowa Republicans to call caucus result split decision
Reuters | Jan. 19
“The Iowa Republican Party will certify this month’s presidential caucuses as a split decision between former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, citing missing data from eight precincts, the Des Moines Register reported on Thursday.”
6. Recession slows growth in public prekindergarten
By Kimberly Hefling | Associated Press | Jan. 17
“The expansion in public prekindergarten programs has slowed and even been reversed in some states as school districts cope with shrinking budgets. As a result, many 3- and 4-year-olds aren’t going to preschool.”
7. This much I know: Morgan Freeman
By Simon David | The Observer | October 2010
“The actor, 73, on wearing an earring, being a good sailor, and dreaming big”
8. As the World Turns
By C. Claiborne Ray | Q&A :: The New York Times | April 2011
“Do the shifts of the Earth’s axis produced by earthquakes alter world weather?”
9. Five myths about the American flag
By Marc Leepson | Five Myths :: The Washington Post | June 10
“Americans love our flag. … Yet the iconography and history of the American flag, especially its early history, are infused with myth and misrepresentation. Here are five of the most prevalent myths.”
10. Civil War women: Abigail May Alcott
Civil War Women Blog | Oct. 22
“Abigail ‘Abby’ May Alcott (1800–1877) was an abolitionist, women’s rights activist, pioneer social and one of the first paid social workers in the state of Massachusetts.”
Understanding SOPA / The 5-Second Rule / Looking back at Election 2012 / MLK papers now online / Romney’s faith issue
Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism.
1. Concerns about Romney’s faith quieter but not gone
By Rachel Zoll | Associated Press | Jan. 16
“The second time around, the shock has worn off. The prospect of a Mormon president appears to be less alien to South Carolina Republicans who are giving Mitt Romney a second look after his failed White House bid in 2008.”
2. Peruvian food put back on the map in Britain
By Sam Jones | The Guardian | Jan. 16
“Restaurants will offer a taste of Lima — with the help of a ‘sacred quartet’ of chillies”
3. 200,000 Martin Luther King Papers Go Online
Open Culture | Jan. 16
“The documents give you a good glimpse of Dr. King’s role as a scholar, father, pastor and catalyst for change.”
4. 10 Important Life Lessons You Learn From Living Abroad
By Whitney Cox | BootsNAll | Jan 16
“It’s a world of implicit triumphs and it’ll-be-funny-later humiliations. Unpack your bags and look forward to these life lessons”
5. Analysis: Wannabe stars, failed hopefuls and the GOP drama that wasn’t
By Steve Krakauer | CNN | Jan. 16
“How did we get here? Where’s the drama, the intrigue, the subplots worthy of intense media salivation? Let’s take a look back”
6. Split by Race and Wealth, but Discovering Similarities as They Study Steinbeck
By Winnie Hu | The New York Times | Jan. 16
“Westfield and Plainfield are linked by a railroad line, but little else connects their residents.”
7. What Is SOPA?
By Brian Barrett | Gizmodo | Jan. 17
“SOPA is an anti-piracy bill working its way through Congress…”
8. This much I know: Tim Robbins
By Emma John | The Observer | September 2010
“The actor and musician, 51, on hatred, ice hockey, and winning an Oscar”
9. The 5-Second Rule
By C. Claiborne Ray | Q&A :: The New York Times | February 2011
“You know the five-second rule for dropped food? Is it really safe if you pick it up in time?”
10. The Krakow Ghetto
Witness :: BBC News | March 2011
“The city of Krakow in Poland was home to a large Jewish community before World War II. But with the arrival of the Nazis many of its Jews were deported, or fled. Then in 1941 a Jewish ghetto was built.”
One more excruciating torture to endure until the two-hour season premiere.
As I wait for the new season of “Mad Men” to begin, I’ll share a few of the more interesting links I’ve found. Read past entries in this series here.
There are some fans out there (not me, of course) who are literally counting down the seconds until the two-hour season premiere, and the sadistic AMC has decided to have a little fun with them.
The network, which recently announced that Season 5 begins on March 25, has created a countdown clock for all the impatient fanatics out there. Now you can watch irrecoverable moments of your life tick by, your brittle mind mesmerized, before you realize the insanity what you’re doing.
One more excruciating torture to endure until the two-hour season premiere. Sigh. Time for an Old Fashioned to numb the pain (and embarrassment).
(Photo from the soundtrack album)
How should we sleep? / Are cruise ships stable? / Obama’s long-term strategy / Dating Latinos only / Huntsman campaign, RIP
Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.
1. Obama Faces Challenging Re-Election Climate
By Lydia Saad | Gallup | Jan. 16
“January indicators mostly align with losing incumbents, but there is still time for improvement”
2. Huntsman quits GOP race
By Kasie Hunt and Philip Elliott | Associated Press | Jan. 16
“Huntsman’s resume had suggested he could be a major contender for the Republican presidential nomination: businessman, diplomat, governor, veteran of four presidential administrations, an expert on China and foreign trade.”
3. The Embarrassment of Riches
By Pamela Haag | The American Scholar | Summer 2006
“Do not pity me for having more money than anyone I know. Still, wealth does have its mild difficulties”
4. He Told the Truth About China’s Tyranny
By Simon Leys | The New York Review of Books | Feb. 9
“The Communist authorities unwittingly vouched for the uncompromising accuracy of his comments. They kept arresting him for his views — four times since the Tiananmen massacre in June 1989.”
5. Am I a racist because I want to date Latino guys?
By Sara Ines Calderon | Pocho | Jan. 15
“Part of this is totally my fault and the result of my whining and chiflazón. There’s a misunderstanding about what motivates me and other people like me, who are interested primarily in dating other Latinos.”
6. How Obama’s Long Game Will Outsmart His Critics
By Andrew Sullivan | Newsweek | Jan. 16
“The right calls him a socialist, the left says he sucks up to Wall Street, and independents think he’s a wimp.”
7. Cocaine: The New Front Lines
By John Lyons | The Saturday Essay :: The Wall Street Journal | Jan. 14
“Colombia’s success in curbing the drug trade has created more opportunities for countries hostile to the United States. What happens when coca farmers and their allies are in charge?”
8. How stable are cruise ships like the Costa Concordia?
By Paul Marks | New Scientist | Jan. 16
“Why was this massive ship so close to shallow rock outcrops? Why might the Costa Concordia’s depth-sounding sonar have been ignored? Why was the evacuation, so close to land, seemingly so chaotic?”
9. This much I know: David Remnick
By William Skidelsky | The Observer | July 2010
“The author and editor of the New Yorker, 51, on his memories of the Kennedy assassination, meeting Bob Dylan, and the last time he cried”
10. Of Heart and Guts
By C. Claiborne Ray | Q&A :: The New York Times | February 2011
“Is it better for digestion to sleep on the left side and better for the heart to sleep on the right?”
Meryl the Great / The OWS revolution / The tech election / Swallowed by a whale / Why we cry
Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.
1. Deep Streep?
By Martin Filler | NYRBlog :: The New York Review of Books | Jan. 12
“Among the impenetrable mysteries of modern life is how Meryl Streep can be universally regarded as the greatest dramatic film actress of our time. In my opinion, Streep is easily at her best as a comedienne, not in the high-serious roles she has favored.”
2. Young women more involved in campaign coverage
By Ginger Gibson and Dylan Byers | Politico | Jan. 12
“As campaign ’embeds,’ they are the ones riding the candidates’ buses from state-to-state, event-to-event, recording every word out of the candidates’ mouths — good or gaffe — and filing endless daily stories about incremental developments.”
3. Revolution Number 99
By Max Chafkin | Vanity Fair | February 2012
“America was full of angry people in September 2011, when a few hundred citizens decided to make their anger count. V.F.’s oral history of Occupy Wall Street shows how the spark was lit in Zuccotti Park as a disparate, passionate mix of activists, celebrities, and accidental protesters changed the national conversation.”
4. Project Dreamcatcher
By Sasha Issenberg | Slate | Jan. 13
“How cutting-edge text analytics can help the Obama campaign determine voters’ hopes and fears.”
5. Swallowed by a whale — a true tale?
By Ben Shattuck | Salon | Jan. 15
“Everyone knows the story of Jonah. But my quest was to find evidence that man, gulped whole, had really survived”
6. My partner says I am too loud in bed
By Pamela Stephenson Connolly | Sexual Healing :: The Guardian | Jan. 15
“There’s nothing wrong with you, but you may want to explore some options that work for both of you”
7. The 2012 tech primary
By Kim Hart | Politico | Jan. 16
“The tech giants are offering candidates new ways to advertise — Mitt Romney has spots on YouTube and Rick Perry’s Facebook ads target Christian college kids in South Carolina — and hiring political consultants, sponsoring debates and poaching from each other’s ad sales teams to jockey for the top spot in political social media circles.”
8. Are Child Molesters Really the Most Hated People in Prison?
By Brian Palmer | Explainer :: Slate | November 2011
“They’re tied with snitches.”
9. This much I know: 50 Cent
By Luke Bainbridge | The Observer | December 2009
“The rapper, 34, in his own words”
10. This Vale of Tears
By C. Claiborne Ray | Q&A :: The New York Times | January 2011
“Is it true that women’s tears contain an enzyme that can be released only by crying, meaning they are quicker to cry under emotional stress?”
**************
TUNES
My soundtrack for today included:
1. SET ADRIFT ON MEMORY BLISS P.M. Dawn
2. SLOWMOTION Kinobe
3. MORE THAN THIS Charlie Hunter & Norah Jones
4. UNDERTOW Ivy
5. SUNLIGHT IN THE RAIN Kelli Ali
6. LETTING GO Nitin Sawhney
7. FUTURES Zero 7
8. CAN’T GET YOU OFF MY MIND Lenny Kravitz
9. SURE THING St. Germain
10. I’VE GOT A CAT Method
Military spouses / Recession’s mental toll / OWS adrfit / Obama at the center / Sex on a plane
Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.
1. Help for military spouses
By Laura Dempsey | Politico | Jan. 12
“Underemployment among military spouses, who are more educated on average than their peers, remains rampant. These are dismal numbers even in today’s struggling economy.”
2. Fighting the Last War
By Elizabeth Dickinson | Washington Monthly | Janurary/February 2012
“As president of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe triumphed over a fierce narco-insurgency. Then the U.S. helped to export his strategy to Mexico and throughout Latin America. Here’s why it’s not working.”
3. The depressing toll of the Great Recession
By Rob Waters | Salon | Jan. 11
“Mental health problems mount nationwide while budgets for treatment and care are shrinking”
4. After encampment ends, NYC Occupiers become nomads
By Meghan Barr | Associated Press | Jan. 12
“Amid accusations of drug use and sporadic theft, they’ve been sleeping on church pews for weeks, consuming at least $20,000 of the funds that Occupy Wall Street still has in its coffers.”
5. America and the Middle East: What Lies Ahead
By Ray Suarez | America Abroad Media | January 2012
“With American troops out of Iraq and leaving Afghanistan – what will America’s ‘strong presence’ in the region look like? ”
6. The center is back — and Obama needs to be there
By Mark Penn | The Hill | Jan. 11
“The center is back. After a year in which it looked like the Republican Party was headed to the extremes with Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Herman Cain and then Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney … took 49 percent of the Republicans who voted in the New Hampshire open primary.”
7. This much I know: Juliette Lewis
By Ben Mitchell | The Observer | November 2009
“The actress and singer, 36, in her own words”
8. Casting Inshallah
Al Jazeera World | December 2011
“An insight into life in a Moroccan town where many locals make a living as film extras for major Hollywood productions.”
9. The Water Cure
By C. Claiborne Ray | Q&A :: The New York Times | September 2010
“Why do they tell you to drink extra fluids when you are sick? Does it really do any good?”
10. ‘The Captain Requests That All Zippers Be Returned to the Upright Position’
By Brian Palmer | Explainer :: Slate | September 2011
“How are flight attendants supposed to deal with fornicating passengers?”
**************
TUNES
My soundtrack for today included:
1. SAMBA PARA TI Santana
2. BIRTHDAY PERFORMANCE Tito Puente
3. PUEBLO NUEVO Ruben Gonzalez
4. LA CUMBIA DEL MOLE Lila Downs
5. LA SOLEDAD Pink Martini
6. COMPOSITOR CONFUNDIDO Ibrahim Ferrer
7. LA RAZA Kid Frost
8. TI MON BO Tito Puente
9. ALMENDRA Ruben Gonzalez
10. EL CARRETERO Eliades Ochoa
Tabletop Games
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Observations on the Hudson River as it passes through New York City. The section of the Hudson which passes through New York is historically known as the North River, called this by the Dutch to distinguish it from the Delaware River, which they knew as the South River. This stretch of the Hudson is still often referred to as the North River by local mariners today. All photos copyright Daniel Katzive unless otherwise attributed. For more frequent updates, please follow northriverblog on Facebook or Instagram.
Stillness of Heart 
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