Ms. Xeno's Remainder Bin

BAR Nails It

2009-11-08T17:01:52Z

"...In the year since the last election the president has made concession after concession to drug and insurance companies, to private health care providers and their lobbyists. The White House, establishment Democrats and their echo chambers in the corporate media and even on the internet have worked hard to suppress voices advocating the simple, practical and elegant solution of single payer Medicare For All, which is still favored in polls by a substantial majority of Americans..." -- Bruce A. Dixon at Black Agenda Report, 11/4/09

The rest is here. I've been generally grateful for BAR's stalwart coverage of this farce, at a time when there's little connected with "healthcare" that requires any link-up with the word "grateful."

The only people who could possibly be surprised that poor women got yet another slap in the face from the "public servants" who brought us welfare "reform" in the 1990s are people who aren't smart enough to tie their own shoes unassisted.

But remember: if you don't like this plan, you're an icky evil Right-winger who watches FOX! Just like anyone who didn't like the war on the last go-round was an icky terrorist-hugging smelly hippie! Wheeee!!

Death By Pumpkin

2009-11-01T17:50:11Z

Homemade treats, better late than never, yes?

Spicy Baked Pumpkin

You will need:

1 cooking pumpkin. (The kind marketed as "sugar pumpkin" is what I usually use. It's the traditional shape but about as big as a toddler's head. Make sure you buy a pumpkin that's meant for cooking, not decoration.)

1/2 cup pepper jelly

1/4 cup cooking oil (almost any veggie or nut oil will do. Olive oil is okay, too.)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly butter or oil a large glass pan, or two small ones.

Rinse the pumpkin and pat dry. Use a heavy, sharp knife to split the pumpkin lengthwise. Cut into quarters, then scrape out the seeds and strings. (Rinse the seeds and roast them later, if you like. See below.)

Cut the quarters into eighths and then cut the eighths again, crosswise. Set aside.

Combine the other ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Add the pumpkin wedges and toss lightly to coat them with the mixture. Remove them to the baking dish and pour any remaining mixture over them.

Bake about 1/2 hour, turning at least once halfway through. (You can add a few tablespoons of water during this time if the jelly looks like it might burn.) Pumpkin is done when a wedge falls easily off a fork's tines and/or peels easily away from its rind. (You can eat the rind, or not. It's strictly a matter of preference.)

Serves 2-4. A great side dish with your favorite poultry or to contrast with the pungency of your favorite stewed greens. Leftovers (if any) will keep covered in the fridge a couple of days.

***

"Fire" Pumpkin Seeds

For each 1/2 C of raw pumpkin seeds, you'll need:

1 1/2 tsp. olive or other vegetable oil, plus a little extra for oiling the baking tray

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1/8-1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper, depending on how hot you wanna' go...

1/4 tsp. Coriander

1/2 tsp. ground Cumin

After you've scooped the seeds from the pumpkin, put them in a strainer and rinse under cool water to remove most of the strings, etc.

Shake off the water and spread the seeds out on a big plate or tray. Let them dry for at least an hour or two or overnight (ideally).

When ready to roast the seeds, preheat oven to 300 F.

Lightly coat a large baking tray with oil or non-stick spray. In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil, salt, and spices. Stir well to combine.

Add the seeds and stir well with a spatula or wooden spoon, so they are coated thoroughly with the oil-salt-spice mixture.

Spread them out on the greased baking tray and bake for about 1/2 hour, turning them every 10-15 minutes so they roast evenly. Seeds will turn golden brown on the outside, and the inside will change from green to brown as they bake.

Remove from tray to a large plate to cool the seeds before eating. (About 5-10 minutes.) Store any uneaten (ha!) seeds in an airtight container or zip-up plastic bag.

As a post-holiday bonus, Astropuppees sings "Orange."

Catch Those Pigeons-- Now!

2009-08-11T23:18:23Z

Dear Megalocorp HMO and/or Private Insurer Corporate Slimeball Pig-Dogs,

Thanks for being there. I see that your ongoing snog-fest with the good-looking stooge that everyone around here voted for except me just isn't enough. No, it's very important that you also continue to provide lousy service, while keeping me so deep in Debtor's Hell that I can't even access those lousy services most of the time.

The final cherry on the ever-flowing garbage sundae, though, is the patronizing radio and mass transit ads you continue to run gently suggesting to me that if I just threw out the bacon and took more walks, I'd be transported to a magical happy land where I'd never, ever get sick. Oh, Thank You. Really. How much do these obnoxious and unnecessary lectures cost on a yearly basis? What percentage of them are purchased with my damn money? Seriously. Just do me a favor and eat a fist, all right?

Oh, an aside to your minions who seem to think I'm not paying down my medical bills fast enough, despite the fact that I've only been able to get temporary work now for over a year: Eat the other fist. The money I owe you is negligible compared to how much your bosses spend per year on

A) Your wages

B) The cost of running the aforementioned cringe-worthy self-help lectures on the public airwaves, and

C) How much you'll pay a collection agency just to get what you're still owed out of my ever-degenerating hide

Soon, you will have a kajillion more sparkly-fresh pigeons directed into your nets, for the same ritualized plucking and gutting to which you've already subjected me and so many others. All thanks to the man in charge. You paid for him fair and square, after all. So I'm not really interested in your ersatz concern for my well-being. I hate sore winners with a passion.

I'm so glad that we could have this little chat. Now shut up and go away.

Sincerely,

ms_xeno

I Have No Idea What I'm Talking About...

2009-06-30T18:09:44Z

...So here are Thomasina Winslow and Marco Haber covering an old song by The Steve Miller band.

Also, I'm really glad to see that my old pal Alan Smithee is back after a too-long absence.

As you were.

Cough Drops For The Soul

2009-04-03T16:24:18Z

The score currently stands at Allergies: 5, ms_xeno: 0. I can't afford to go hit up my doctor for more generic antihistamines at the moment. On the bright side, I still have some prescription Sudafed [tm] left. Unfortunately, it's not the thing to take when the twin hellbeasts of Barbed-wire-throat and ZOMFG-what's-this-ten-ton-weight-lodged-a-foot-North-of-my-right-nostril wake you up at 4 AM and you can't get back to sleep. I considered employing vodka for this purpose, then thought better of it. Red eyes kind of ruin the overall effect when you're in Outer Suburbia at 9:30 AM for another stirring round of "Screw A Total Stranger Out of Their Remaining Cash For 9.00 an hour ? No benefits !? Why, I'd love to !"

Anyway, this at least is turning out to be a good day to clean out my sundry mailboxes. Thanks, riseup dot net.

"...Workers need a fighting party of their own. In addition to mishandling the budget crisis, Democratic legislative leaders have used their power to block almost every piece of legislation supported by labor and to advance all sorts of anti-union legislation, including privatizing child welfare services.

If there are any Democrats out there with a conscience and a sense of accountability--and I know there are, particularly amongst the ranks of labor--they need to mobilize to challenge the actions of this politically bankrupt leadership.

Rank-and-file Democratic Party legislators, instead of following in lock step, voting overwhelmingly for one bad bill after another, should be walking out of the party in protest, in my opinion. They should keep on walking and break with the party, controlled by political opportunists whose true loyalties are for sale to the highest bidder, and help to form a Labor Party that can withstand the lure of corporate corruption.

In the last 30 years, I have attended dozens of labor conventions as a member of Washington Federation of State Employees. Over and over again unionists have endorsed the idea of calling for a workers' party and have passed resolutions calling on the AFL-CIO to do just that. State Labor Council leaders often met my arguments for independent political action with the retort that "the Democratic Party is Labor's party." There is just one problem with that: the Democrats have divided loyalties and business has the upper hand when it comes to buying candidates and elected officials.

-- Fred Hyde, UnionBook, 4/1/09.

Twice-Burned

2009-03-26T17:42:33Z

Alternate Title: Livejournal, Ain't Never Gonna' Give Up On Your Love

Huzzah ! No more vague recollections about how much time has passed between the last near-destruction of the house and the current one. Instead, you can just look it up via Calendar.

See ?

Anyway, a few days ago there was a kitchen fire here at Chez Xeno, which resulted in my burning a rather impressive hole into the linoleum floor. It's okay, though. The 5-lb box of baking soda and my ordained spirit guide (a large roll of duct tape) fixed everything. I even managed to salvage the cooking pot, thanks to an extra-large supply of cleansing powder.

Maybe the lingering aroma of near-death would have smelled more savory if I'd only splurged on those leather floor tiles* a few years back, though.

Of course, the big question is, does this merit a special new Tag, or do I have to wait for Near-Escape No. 3 ? [ponders] What do you old-timers think, hmmm ?

*Link kind of swiped from the inimitable Madman at Mcat's blog.

Trompe L'Oeil Is Delicious and Nourishing

2009-03-18T21:22:19Z

Search your feelings. You know it to be true.

In maybe-by-someone's-measure of connected news, there's a show starting soon at North Portland's Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center. I'll have one piece, an old one, hanging up there. So here's the link, for those brilliant enough to know that collages are better up close. Or just for those want free snacks badly enough to leave the house on a Thursday-- even in the probable sleet and/or hail.

IFCC Do North 2009, March 26th thru April 25th.

I Let Everyone Down, As Usual.

2009-01-29T01:18:39Z

I was supposed to fix biscuits and gravy for my entire Friends list, but mr_xeno didn't make it back with the groceries in time. I'd yell at him, too, if he wasn't the only creature in the house actually drawing an income this week.

In the meantime, just a little gift for my favorite blogger over the border.

"skycooperfan240" does a Weird Al song-- with LEGOS !!

For you traditionalists, there's also the McKenzie/Moore version. We're all about limitless blue horizons hereabouts, y'know...

"Soul Clap Its Hands And Sing"

2009-01-23T19:57:47Z

From the Stop Me... link about Gitmo:

...So Mr Obama has sorta-kinda fulfilled one campaign promise: the Guantanamo Bay concentration camp is to be closed. Within... a year. How we would laugh at some foreigner seeking our approval with this kind of initiative. Ahmadinejad: Okay, I'll stop hanging gay guys.... Next year. But this year -- hoo-ha! Line 'em up and keep 'em coming!

Why it should take a year is a question of some interest. I am not the greatest administrator in the world, but I do believe I could do it in a week, or a weekend, given the resources available to a president of the US...
-- Michael J. Smith 1/22/09

From a thread at The Distant Ocean:

Zionists would do well to consider that the loudest American exponents of zionophilia can and do switch over to judeophobic demonization without missing a beat. They'll do it en masse the minute their leaders no longer consider Israel useful. Those leaders care for nothing but power in their own bailiwicks. History is very clear on that and on the utility of one elite to another; in particular those elite who make support for them a galling, expensive proposition.
-- "Harold M., 1/17/09, from the comments.

I apologize for reverting to type like this, but the library didn't cough up anything good and sequential for me to read this week. You know how it is... :o

brokenworld

2009-01-20T18:06:31Z

Eyes to see, eyes to see
But I had to look away
Didn't want my eyes to see
Coming of Judgment Day
Judgment Day, Judgment Day
Time has come at last
Saying last shall be first
And first shall be last

First is last...

It happened oh so fast
Mean black crow, swooping real low
Ruination in its path
Ruination ruination
Raining ash and dust
Fell on my knees begging
Please please please
Could not stand back up

I fell right down again
Couldn't bear to stand up straight
The whole sky was cavin' in
Cavin' in, cavin' in
Lord, mercy it's gonna' go
Glass and steel I can see 'em still
Jumping from the windowsill
See 'em still, see 'em still
Floatin' on a cloud
A hundred bluebirds came wingin' by
Rescued 'em no doubt
No doubt, no doubt

They learned the bluebirds' song
'Bout rooftops and trees
Sunshiney breeze
We all can sing along
Little song, little song
Won't you soothe the hurt ?
Trembling voice, trembling heart
Ain't this a broken world ?
Broken world, broken world
Lord, this world is broke

Who's got the arms big and wide
To hold the whole world right close ?
Broken world, broken world
Just like a broken top
And it won't spin straight
When it's spun with hate
How we gonna' make it stop ?

-- Kate Schutt, 2001

The World Needs More Southpaw R&B

2009-01-16T19:28:10Z

Don't argue with me.

Barbara Lynn (born 1942 Beaumont, TX) "Misty Blue," 2005.

And BTW, we never got to see Alice Stuart last week. The roads were rained/snowed/iced out and she couldn't get to Portland. Another reason to hate climate change, in case anyone needed another reason. Thank You.

Can We Win The War On CUTE ?!

2009-01-08T03:35:10Z

Casey says, "Perhaps." Apparently the key to lasting victory is understanding why (cough) adult films are like B'way musicals, except when they're not.

Now that I know, it's a safe bet that everyone else already does, too. But WTF... it's the damn NEW YEAR, MAN !!

Thank You. My New Year's resolution is now... uh, resolved. I actually posted every day for a whole week in 2009. I'm now free to drift off in the aether again, spinning my wheels and accomplishing things only by sheer stupid luck. You've been a wonderful audience. Please remember to tip your server.

[smooch]

HE'S Not ! YOU Are !

2009-01-07T01:42:08Z

"...The Warren invitation is vintage Obama. Like Bush, Obama believes that he is the decider and that opinions differing from his own are to be ignored. Unlike Bush, he is savvy enough to pretend otherwise, and his smooth talking feel goodism fools many into maintaining a vow of silence about anything he does. The Warren invitation is yet another instance of the patronizing Obama telling the left that they shouldn't worry their pretty little heads about anything that he decides is inconsequential..."

-- Margaret Kimberley Black Agenda Report, 12/31/08

Yeah, I can't wait for the next bleating from wherever about how it's not Right-wing for Obama to pal around with this jaggoff. OTOH, it IS Right-wing of me to be less than thrilled about the impending coronation and what's likely to come afterward. Ho hum.

Meanwhile, play those Etheridge discs real loud, or whatever helps... I guess. :/

That Thing You Need...

2009-01-06T01:48:41Z

Classical Simpsons Theme

So nobody's going to try and figure out my New Year's Resolution, huh ? You dogs. Sure, I routinely vanish from this space for six months at a stretch with no explanation, but that's no excuse for you all to wander off without my permission. Shameful.

"Never Again..."

2009-01-05T01:02:29Z

"...Must be a cry in defense for all humanity.

If it is used to justify brutality against others, it makes us no better than our past oppressors."

-- Original source of quote unknown, but I borrowed it from a Gaza demo photo linked to here by sadie_sabot.

Thanks, Ma'am.

First Open Letter of 2009 !

2009-01-03T19:59:46Z

Dear F*ck-Happy Spambots/Purveyors of Fine Internet Viruses,

If you want to dupe me into opening that drivel you keep putting in my mailbox, you might want to use a more imaginative sender name than "me." Just a thought.

Really, I love the hell out of unbridled free enterprise and regressive visions of human sexuality. Not to mention endless garbled/misspelled/grammatically unsound euphemisms for sex. Not to mention secular humanist evangelicals doggedly trying to shove crap in my face that I don't want every twenty-four hours or so;Proving conclusively that what both religious and post-religious proselytizers have in common is that A) They have no respect for personal boundaries, B) They love money more than anything and C) They hate women more than anything else.

Still, you're not really putting your back into it, considering the overall competitiveness of your field, along with the ever-worsening economy.

Also, Paris Hilton deshabille' ? Please. That's so two years ago. Besides, Supergirl[tm] wears less than that on the JLU disc I just got from MegaMovieRentalsCorp. At least JLU has buildings exploding and warmed-over butt-rock guitar solos and stuff. Bet you don't, you pea-brained misers. [raspberry]

My feelings are hurt. It's like you're not even trying, anymore. :(

Sincerely,

ms_xeno

A Link Page Would Be Nice

2009-01-02T18:20:55Z

But I've never had one. It's probably one of those things that's painfully easy to do. So painfully easy that I'm embarrassed to ask how, when everyone else already figured it out on their own.

In the meantime, I do have one New Year's Resolution. But you'll have to guess what it is. Here's a hint regarding what it isn't.

Yesterday I fixed brownies for the New Year's get-together we had, and accidentally added too much butter. The results were sort of a modified death-by-chocolate thing. I just cut the pseudo-brownies to 1/3rd the size they normally would have been, and --bingo !-- healthy desserts !

It's true. I'm a genius and you are all privileged to be on my Friend's list. [smooch]

P.S.- busted_english, won't you please come home ? I has lemon pound cake, courtesy of the guy who used to co-own Hannah Bea's.

Nine !!!

2009-01-01T18:01:46Z

Is it wrong that even though I couldn't even pay the entire water bill for December, I still think that it would be cool to own a pinball machine-- oh, and a basement to put it in ?

Probably.

[shrug]

One Last Word From The Top Of The Stairs...

2008-12-31T16:48:06Z

...courtesy of Mike Flugennock.

Larger version via *Stop Me*

The last few weeks have been but the first wave of force-feeding, towards the cultivation of the perfect Prog-flavored pate'. Gulp every bit of hi-grade Goose Chow in the tube, my friends. Then take a deep breath and gulp some more. After all, it's what you wanted. ;)

Happy New Year !

White Woman Steals The (Country-Fried Electric) Blues !

2008-12-03T19:07:31Z

In under nine minutes !! (Complete with fake gunplay at the end.)

Aw, cram everything. Some days you've just got to have Alice Stuart jamming on "Wild Bill Jones." I hereby take back every rude thing I've said about Washington State since they booted me in the teeth six months ago.*

...So pass around your long-necked bottle
Let's all go out on a spree
Last night was the last of Wild Bill Jones
Tomorrow's gonna' be the last of me
Last night was the last of Wild Bill Jones
Tomorrow's gonna' be the last of me.**

*Until tomorrow, then all bets are on again.

**Take note, Portlanders. Alice will be at the Laurelthirst Public House on 1/7/09. You're going with me, aren't you ? Aren't you ?!?!

Peter Camejo 1939-2008

2008-11-27T16:20:05Z

"...You cannot do what he did for so many years, without burning out, or becoming discouraged, becoming alienated, unless you have an adaptable character and personality, suited for confronting abuses of power-- one might call it 'the civic personality...'" -- Ralph Nader, 11/21/08.

Thanks to Polidoc Productions and Vimeo.

The three-time CA Gubernatorial candidate and 2004 Green Party Vice Presidential candidate died of cancer on 9/13/08. -- Ballot Access News

Urgent Update !!

2008-11-11T06:45:13Z

No, I still don't give a damn about the dawning new age of greatness in American politics, what type of dog goes to the White House, what the hell the future First Lady was thinking when she wore that stoopid dress or any of that crap.

Yes, I will still slam back a shot of vodka and/or bourbon every time any of you earnestly insists that everything will be great with President-Elect Golden Man because we will "negotiate" with him and "hold his feet to the fire." Yeah, right. Those fake torches with a little light bulb in the middle and that mini-fan with the tissue-papery-cloth "flame" around the bulb-- those things have more "fire" at their command than you do.

Thanks for asking. Also, don't tell me all about how you were in tears of joy on election night because I'll just throw up on my shoes again.

Now I'm going back to checking superhero comics out of the public library. All things taken into consideration, I've decided to concentrate on cultivating a fantasy world that's not in denial about the fact that it's a fantasy world.

As you were.

A Woman's Place IS In The Groove !

2008-08-21T20:34:34Z

Tia Fuller on sax, w/pianist Shamie Royston, bassist Miriam Sullivan and drummer Kim Thompson.

Fuller's home page is here.

Judi Silvano's Women's Work Quartet: Silvano w/pianist Janice Friedman, bassist Jennifer Vincent, and drummer Allison Miller playing Abbey Lincoln's "Not To Worry."

Silvano's home page is here.

I am officially mad at no one today. 8)

Bergamo Lily

2008-08-14T15:21:26Z

I only read recently that Oriental Lilies are very subject to changes in light and heat. Possibly that would explain why these two pictures depict flowers that are only a few feet apart and yet look very different. One side of the walkway catches more wind and sun than the other.

I love the "tie-dye" effect on this one:

The scent is wonderful, too. More than makes up for the fact that I can't grow sunflowers here. And yes, I refuse to water the lawn. Who the hell would want to huff and puff with a lawnmower in 90+ temps, anyway ?

Fear For Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner...

2008-08-05T14:48:47Z

...and I'm still hungry, damnit !!

"...We are supposed to believe that if Senator McCain wins this election, we will be subject to another four years of Bush policies. I deeply believe that if we continue to support these two political parties that have worked together to eviscerate the 1st Amendment by setting up 'Free Speech Zones' for demonstrators and tasering people that ask questions of our politicians and gutting the 4th Amendment by passing the FISA law, things will indeed get worse. These are developments that happened recently, I could write pages on how our rights under the Constitution have been violated in the past decade. If we continue to support the duopoly, after all that has happened, what incentive will they have for listening to the people? They will see it as a green-light to continue their anti-democratic behavior."

"Even if McCain wins the presidency because of defections from the Democrats, once McCain realizes that it was a third party candidate that was responsible for Obama’s defeat, he must realize that the GOP will be the peoples next target. I believe that Cynthia McKinney, because of her ballot access in 40 States and possibly all 50 by the election, would be the best option. If the Democrats saw their loss as directly attributable to her, don’t you believe that the next Democratic candidate would be infinitely better than the corporate shill they are offering now?..." -- Timothy V. Gatto at LiberalPro, 8/4/08.

Personally I have my doubts about that second paragraph. Gatto maintains a steadfast faith that Democrats, decisively shown the error of their ways, will act to save their party by acting to save us. My own stance is that Democrats have zero interest in doing anything but expanding upon that corner of the trough which they have already carved out for themselves-- and beating the tar out of anyone who threatens it. Worrying about our feelings is not on their agenda, as we have long been regarded as their wholly-owned property. Since when did property have any feelings ?

But some good reading there, nonetheless. Borrowed from the feed at On The Wilder Side.