Seven gets caught behind the front door.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Blooms and Critters
After a few days of intense rain, the sun is coaxing out some impressive blooms and the local fauna are back to feeding....
Benched
We found a cheap teak bench on Craigslist yesterday and put it under the Tipu tree. Morning sun and some dappled light in the afternoon. Perfect for an afternoon G&T.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Winter
Awoke in Brooklyn this morning to a winter wonderland. More like a blizzard. But the effects have been marvelous. Big fluffy flakes have made the borough's trees magical.
Union Is The Measure
I've been wanting to post something about the outrageous happenings in Wisconsin. The Republican party's continued assault against working people and their rush to the bottom class warfare. A column today by Mark Sumner says it best in the context of history. A few passages below.
"There's a word in the very first line of the Constitution of the United States that describes the instrument through which freedom is held. It's a term for people acting in concert to secure their liberty and hold those rights against any opponent. That word is union.
From its founding, the story of this nation has been the story of union. It is the story of two centuries spent in building up the ability of ordinary citizens to treat with wealthy, powerful, politically connected entities. That story contains instances of tragedy. Thousands died in the struggle, many thousands more suffered poverty or were outcast from communities. But the story of union also contains far-reaching triumphs. Every paid vacation, every weekend, every overtime dollar, every protection from arbitrary dismissal and unfair treatment, everything that makes your working life tolerable, came because people stood together in union at risk to their own livelihoods and often their own lives.
When we talk about "the greatest generation" that brought the nation through World War II and built America into a post-war powerhouse, we're speaking of a population where nearly a third of workers were union members. It's no coincidence that the peak period of growth and progress coincides with the peak period of union membership. When people act in union, there's nothing they can't accomplish. When people cannot join in union, when everyone must face the powerful alone, all rights are nothing more than words.
The outlawing of independent unions is the clearest and most consistent marker of despotism around the world. When Gaddafi seized control of Libya in 1969, his first speech proclaimed the end of labor unions. No sooner had he secured control of Cuba than Fidel Castro banned the ability of unions to strike or to bargain over salary and benefits, saying such demands were detrimental to "the national economy." In Colombia today, right-wing militias work together with corporations to keep down costs and demands for decent working conditions in the most effective way they know–they execute union leaders.
There's a good reason why governments and corporations alike show trepidation when people are able to organize. Union is effective. For all the pretty speeches and all the ham-handed threats, the signal that the Iron Curtain was finally rising didn't come in Berlin or Washington, D.C., it came in the shipyards of Gdańsk, when men dared to wave the flag of an independent union. "
"There's a word in the very first line of the Constitution of the United States that describes the instrument through which freedom is held. It's a term for people acting in concert to secure their liberty and hold those rights against any opponent. That word is union.
From its founding, the story of this nation has been the story of union. It is the story of two centuries spent in building up the ability of ordinary citizens to treat with wealthy, powerful, politically connected entities. That story contains instances of tragedy. Thousands died in the struggle, many thousands more suffered poverty or were outcast from communities. But the story of union also contains far-reaching triumphs. Every paid vacation, every weekend, every overtime dollar, every protection from arbitrary dismissal and unfair treatment, everything that makes your working life tolerable, came because people stood together in union at risk to their own livelihoods and often their own lives.
When we talk about "the greatest generation" that brought the nation through World War II and built America into a post-war powerhouse, we're speaking of a population where nearly a third of workers were union members. It's no coincidence that the peak period of growth and progress coincides with the peak period of union membership. When people act in union, there's nothing they can't accomplish. When people cannot join in union, when everyone must face the powerful alone, all rights are nothing more than words.
The outlawing of independent unions is the clearest and most consistent marker of despotism around the world. When Gaddafi seized control of Libya in 1969, his first speech proclaimed the end of labor unions. No sooner had he secured control of Cuba than Fidel Castro banned the ability of unions to strike or to bargain over salary and benefits, saying such demands were detrimental to "the national economy." In Colombia today, right-wing militias work together with corporations to keep down costs and demands for decent working conditions in the most effective way they know–they execute union leaders.
There's a good reason why governments and corporations alike show trepidation when people are able to organize. Union is effective. For all the pretty speeches and all the ham-handed threats, the signal that the Iron Curtain was finally rising didn't come in Berlin or Washington, D.C., it came in the shipyards of Gdańsk, when men dared to wave the flag of an independent union. "
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Smoked
What a difference a little smoked Spanish paprika makes! I've been using the Hungarian stuff in my paellas so far but on saturday, bought some authentic Spanish stuff. I made a artichoke/tomato/kale/white bean paella that night and the taste difference was remarkable.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Weekend Dog
WL was working with some chopped beef the other day and Seven was very curious. At the end, he did a few tricks and got a bit. He seemed very happy afterwards.....
Monday, February 14, 2011
Arboretum
We were at the LA Arboretum this morning to do a bit of scouting for a commercial we are shooting next week.
Monday, February 07, 2011
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Party Time
The DP from the michigan film is out in Hollywood doing some post work so we had a little get together for him saturday afternoon. Everything went well and the hit of the party was WL's simple syrup concoctions. He made a brown sugar/honey one, a tasty mint one and we also squeezed some of our lemons and combined that juice with ginger. Inventive and delicious drinks flowed till the sun went down.......
SP sent over a pic of the night time table ablaze with candle light and libations.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Median
Last weekend, WL and I helped our neighbor till the median between our two driveways. I finished the tilling this morning and planted a few items towards the front. A few blooming aloe plants, a tall-ish rosemary and some ice plant cuttings from our yard.
We'll see in the coming weeks what she does with the space.
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