My first trip to Washington was as a vendor at a library conference in Tacoma. I was working for Hispanic Books Distributors in Tucson and it was the first time they'd sent me to work a booth solo. I brought my two Mexican-embroidered dresses to wear during the two-day conference thinking that I would make myself part of the display. I remember nearby there was a booth hawking "clean books" - they had no profanity or sex - and noticing that the woman who ran it wore a conservative pin-striped suit, and had a very severe bun in her hair. The woman in the booth next to mine was selling children's books and she had on a fun, colorful apron. I realized that coming "in costume" was something others had thought of as well. In those days (early 1990s) round trip plane tickets were cheaper if you stayed over Saturday night and flew back on Sunday. My cheapskate boss made me stay over on Saturday even though the conference ended on Friday afternoon. Luckily, I had a friend in Seattle who picked me up on Saturday afternoon so we could have lunch together and see the city. My most recent trip to Washington was to the University of Washington in Seattle to attend a library conference, but this time I was simply an attendee. It was early August of 2008 and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. The conference organizers demonstrated how they had checked the weather over the past 20 years to determine that the first week in August was the least likely to have rain.
In Washington, its all about the vampires.
The Brief Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella by Stephenie Meyer
I read the four Twilight series novels, each over 700 pages long in about a two week period of time. (Mind candy? You betcha!) This short work though, I really had to work at. It took me about a week to get through this under-200-page volume. I had read that this book had no section breaks, or chapter breaks, so I assumed that it perhaps took place in "real time" - giving a blow-by-blow of Bree's vampire life - but indeed, I was wrong. it begins when Bree is already about 3 months old (as a vampire) and takes place over several weeks time. I also knew that it was based on a character who was briefly introduced in the third novel, but try as I might I could not remember her, in fact, as I thought about it, I realized I didn't remember the third novel at all. I do remember the basic plot lines of the first, second, and fourth books, but have been waiting for the DVD of the Eclipse movie to come out so I could refresh my memory of that one. Fans of the Twilight series will probably want to give this a read, but will not find it nearly as sexy as the others. For those who have not read the rest of the series and thought perhaps reading this short book would give them some idea what all the fuss was about, don't bother.
Watching Singles again after 18 years made me feel old. I didn't really remember the movie much, but I remember feeling that I was somehow "simpatico" with the characters, who live in grunge-era Seattle. The actors (Matt Dillon, Kyra Sedgwick, Campbell Scott, Bridget Fonda, Shelia Kelly, et.al.) were of my generation - born in the early '60s. And even though I was a married graduate student in Tucson, Arizona at the time, I still felt some connection to them. After all, I did know people who had real jobs, and dated. Watching it this time around I felt no connection with the characters at all. Going out to clubs, dating drama, and working in cubicles just aren't things I even think about any more. I don't even have friends who put up with that crap any more. Ahh... I do enjoy being 46. This movie has a lot of sub plots, but ultimately it is a boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back movie (x2).
I remember buying a bottle of Washington wine sometime in the past few weeks, but since I apparently did not put it in the "save for state day" department of our wine rack (yes, we really do have such a place) I guess we drank it. No matter Red Apple Martinis to the rescue. The recipe comes from a Washington bar. Tasty.
I had my doubts about Seattle Cream Cheese Dogs but decided to make them anyway. The recipe says the sauerkraut is optional, so we did opt out of that. Otherwise these were actually pretty good. I have always liked my hot dogs with mustard, the cooked onions gave it a bit of sweetness, and the cream cheese, was, well, creamy. James ate two.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Montana & the High Country of the Mind
It is probably a good thing I do not live in Montana, for if I did, I would have this earworm in my head all the time: Movin' to Montana soon ... gonna be a dental floss tycoon, by the incomparable Frank Zappa, who did for Montana what Tim Curry did for Transylvania.
I have actually visited Montana -- once in real life and countless times in my imagination, with the help of Robert Pirsig's hippy classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Pirsig himself was probably no hippy, but generations of radical seekers have found both challenge and refuge in his autobiographical road story. Much of what I know about writing came from this book -- and only in part because I read it myself so many times. I eventually figured out that one of the two teachers who had really taught me how to write had been devoted to Pirsig. When I read Pirsig's descriptions of composition assignments he gave as an instructor at the University of Montana, I suddenly understood my own ninth-grade English teacher much better! Those who want to explore the geography of Pirsig's journey through Montana and the rest of the West will enjoy Mark Richardson's Zen and Now. I find that Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones captures the spirit of his thoughts on writing, though I do not know whether the connection is intentional.
As I've already mentioned in my Wyoming post, that brief foray into Montana was part of a cross-country drive in which my buddy -- and fellow geographer -- Mike and I did not stop for much. Even in Bozeman, I have to admit that I did not get much beyond McDonald's, where I remember Mike and I first started to think seriously about how to ration out the rest of our cash. We had about $600 for an 8,500-mile journey, with no plastic money of any kind, and we were down to a thin stack of dollars with a couple thousand miles to go. Not that we cared much; in fact, Mike has perfected this mode of travel into an art form in more than 50 countries, sharing a $2 room, for example, in Bombay.
Our drive through western Montana (which is the relatively populous part) took us through what might have been the longest stretch of Interstate highway without all-night gas stations. Running very close to "E" in a 1960 VW with no real gas gage, we wasted a few miles searching for stations off the main road. We finally got gas before dawn at a station we had decided would be our last hope -- we were going to simply park there and wait if it had not been open.
I have actually visited Montana -- once in real life and countless times in my imagination, with the help of Robert Pirsig's hippy classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Pirsig himself was probably no hippy, but generations of radical seekers have found both challenge and refuge in his autobiographical road story. Much of what I know about writing came from this book -- and only in part because I read it myself so many times. I eventually figured out that one of the two teachers who had really taught me how to write had been devoted to Pirsig. When I read Pirsig's descriptions of composition assignments he gave as an instructor at the University of Montana, I suddenly understood my own ninth-grade English teacher much better! Those who want to explore the geography of Pirsig's journey through Montana and the rest of the West will enjoy Mark Richardson's Zen and Now. I find that Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones captures the spirit of his thoughts on writing, though I do not know whether the connection is intentional.
As I've already mentioned in my Wyoming post, that brief foray into Montana was part of a cross-country drive in which my buddy -- and fellow geographer -- Mike and I did not stop for much. Even in Bozeman, I have to admit that I did not get much beyond McDonald's, where I remember Mike and I first started to think seriously about how to ration out the rest of our cash. We had about $600 for an 8,500-mile journey, with no plastic money of any kind, and we were down to a thin stack of dollars with a couple thousand miles to go. Not that we cared much; in fact, Mike has perfected this mode of travel into an art form in more than 50 countries, sharing a $2 room, for example, in Bombay.
Our drive through western Montana (which is the relatively populous part) took us through what might have been the longest stretch of Interstate highway without all-night gas stations. Running very close to "E" in a 1960 VW with no real gas gage, we wasted a few miles searching for stations off the main road. We finally got gas before dawn at a station we had decided would be our last hope -- we were going to simply park there and wait if it had not been open.
Montana - November 8, 1889
Montana - Alas, yet another state I have not been to. I am pretty sure I knew someone in library school who was from there, though. I have this feeling that I might like the "big sky" and the wide spaces. James has been there and will write a separate post about his trip, as well as some Montana pop-culture references that are near and dear to his heart.
Montana Justice: Power, Punishment & the Penitentiary by Keith Edgerton appealed to me mostly because it was slim, and I only had to go up one flight of stairs from my office to get it since it was available in "my library". This history of prisons in Montana begins with the stories of J.A. Slade and George Dixon. Slade was the victim of early vigilatism in the Montana territory - lynched for not much more than public drunkeness. Dixon, a freed slave, became one of the first inmates of the federal penitentiary in Deer Lodge on a trumped up murder charge. He narrowly escaped a lynching, ironcially, by confessing to a crime he did not commit. The book tells the story of the Deer Lodge peniteniary, its prisoners, staff and wardens. Once the need for the penitentiary was clear, it was built, but not funded, for staff. Anecdotes tell of inmates chained to the sheriff's bed at night because there was no place to house them. Cover pictures show a turreted building, and a before and after picture of an inmate - one in street clothes with a thick head of hair, the other in sterotypical striped prison garb and a shaved head. One can almost believe from the position of the inmate that one is a "photoshopped" version of the other. One chapter of the book profiles warden Frank Conley whose corrupt practices would be the envy of some of today's politicians. Corruption sure is nothing new. The final chapter is a "tough on crime" chapter with history of the 20th century through the present. The depictions of solitary confinement, substandard food, and straw bed furnishings do a superb job leading up to the final chapter. It is true, though, that even here in east coast, pointy-headed intellectual New England no sheriff can get elected without a "tough on crime" stance. This book includes one mention of a prison library!
Montana Justice: Power, Punishment & the Penitentiary by Keith Edgerton appealed to me mostly because it was slim, and I only had to go up one flight of stairs from my office to get it since it was available in "my library". This history of prisons in Montana begins with the stories of J.A. Slade and George Dixon. Slade was the victim of early vigilatism in the Montana territory - lynched for not much more than public drunkeness. Dixon, a freed slave, became one of the first inmates of the federal penitentiary in Deer Lodge on a trumped up murder charge. He narrowly escaped a lynching, ironcially, by confessing to a crime he did not commit. The book tells the story of the Deer Lodge peniteniary, its prisoners, staff and wardens. Once the need for the penitentiary was clear, it was built, but not funded, for staff. Anecdotes tell of inmates chained to the sheriff's bed at night because there was no place to house them. Cover pictures show a turreted building, and a before and after picture of an inmate - one in street clothes with a thick head of hair, the other in sterotypical striped prison garb and a shaved head. One can almost believe from the position of the inmate that one is a "photoshopped" version of the other. One chapter of the book profiles warden Frank Conley whose corrupt practices would be the envy of some of today's politicians. Corruption sure is nothing new. The final chapter is a "tough on crime" chapter with history of the 20th century through the present. The depictions of solitary confinement, substandard food, and straw bed furnishings do a superb job leading up to the final chapter. It is true, though, that even here in east coast, pointy-headed intellectual New England no sheriff can get elected without a "tough on crime" stance. This book includes one mention of a prison library!
A River Runs Through It
I watched this movie for the third time. This is the truly magnificent story of brothers Norman and Paul Maclean growing up in Montana with their mother and minister father. Norman is down-to-earth, and rather cerebral, while Paul, the younger brother, is more of a rebel. A love of fly fishing is what binds the brothers together. James and I are especially drawn to this movie because it reminds us so much of James and his brother - preachers kids who grew up in rural Virginia, one of whom (James) left home to become a professor, and the other (Bob) staying close to home. The music and scenery in this movie are both majestic and soothing. The sheer perfection of this film made me cry.
After watching the film, I couldn't resist this Montana Trout recipe, although I wasn't at all sure I would be able to get trout. James took the request to a local fish market Fresh Catch and the fishmonger assured him that Steelhead Salmon was somehow related to trout. According to sources I found it appears to be a rainbow trout. Anyway, the meal turned out to be sublime. I do love salmon - such a rich flavor. It felt like a holiday, but I guess it is!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
South Dakota Dessert
Our oven mended we were able to enjoy our South Dakota fare.
I used this recipe for my kuchen, and used fresh apples rather than canned peaches. The recipe calls for use of a springform pan, so I dug mine out and followed the directions to "spread dough with hands over the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of prepared springform pan". There was not enough dough to go up the sides, so I only covered the bottom. I think I could have accomplished the same result with a regular cake pan, or even better still, my indespensible cast-iron skillet. The dough was quite dense, but nevertheless formed a rather thin layer, so I was surprised that it did take 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven to cook, just as the instructions said. This warm dessert was most welcome on chilly fall evening. It is more cookie like than cake like and best eaten immediately. I tried microwaving some of the leftover for lunch today. Rather unsatisfying.
I used this recipe for my kuchen, and used fresh apples rather than canned peaches. The recipe calls for use of a springform pan, so I dug mine out and followed the directions to "spread dough with hands over the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of prepared springform pan". There was not enough dough to go up the sides, so I only covered the bottom. I think I could have accomplished the same result with a regular cake pan, or even better still, my indespensible cast-iron skillet. The dough was quite dense, but nevertheless formed a rather thin layer, so I was surprised that it did take 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven to cook, just as the instructions said. This warm dessert was most welcome on chilly fall evening. It is more cookie like than cake like and best eaten immediately. I tried microwaving some of the leftover for lunch today. Rather unsatisfying.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
South Dakota & North Dakota - November 2, 1889
Although November and December represent only 1/6 of the year, we are left with 1/3 of the states still to celebrate! I normally do not write about two states in the same post, but since North and South Dakota became states on the same date from the same territory, since they are states that I have on my "yet to visit list", I decided to make an exception. James, however, has been to South Dakota.
South Dakota's state fossil is the Triceratops - my favorite dinosaur!
Since I have so much reading to do before the end of the year, I worked on it during the long hiatus between California day and Nevada day. I attempted to read a young-adult novel about South Dakota, A Year Without Rain by D. Anne Love, figuring, since it was short, it would help me keep up, but I didn't get very far before I put it down and started looking for something else. It seemed that most of the action actually took place in Georgia, rather than South Dakota. Fortunately, this NPR story clued me in to The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weisgarber. Set in the Badlands in 1917 (the "year without rain") readers learn about the especially harsh life the homesteaders faced that year. The DuPrees, one of very few "Negro" families to homestead, watch as their crops wither, their animals die and, their well runs dry. Meanwhile Rachel's memories of her previous life as a cook in a Chicago boardinghouse, and before that as a girl in Louisiana are jogged. Rachel faces her own prejudices against the "agency Indians", and begins to question her husband's loyalty to the land, and desiring a better life for her four daughters than an arranged marriage, she makes a difficult decision. Weisgarber describes some extremely cruel life experiences for these homesteaders, nevertheless, I couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous of Rachel's life - a hermit...with benefits.
As always, any mention of a library gets special recognition in my blog. In the case of Rachel DuPree the library passage couldn't have been more dear to the Hayes-Bohanan hearts. In a one-page passage Weisgarber manages to weave coffee, geography and libraries all into the narrative. "Every morning, Samuel, the delivery boy brought two five-pound sacks of dark beans to the kitchen door. Those beans...had traveled all they way from South America. I tried to picture South America from my geography lessons, but I couldn't place it...I took the streetcar and went to the free library. There I rounded up my courage and asked the white man behind the counter if he could tell me where South America was...He stopped at a table where there was a big globe of the world..."
The title The Plague of Doves (my North Dakota choice) piqued my interest because my daughter's name (Paloma) is Spanish for dove. It turns out that the "doves" to which the title refers, however, "were surely the passenger pigeons of truth and legend". Louise Erdrich's story has many narrators, which I sometimes could not keep straight, and the story jumped around in time, which also sometimes confused me. There were some "magic realism" moments that reminded me of some of the Latin American literature I've read. The narrators included members of the Ojibwe tribe, anglos, and those of mixed blood, giving the reader a sense of the variety of experiences. Ultimately, I was able to sort out the story and there is some resolution at the end.
There was one mention of a college library from the narrator named Evelina Harp who claimed to spend most of her time there.
Dances with Wolves (a rather long film!)
At just under four hours long, this one took us three nights to watch. We had seen it before, probably 20 years ago, but had forgotten most of it. Kevin Costner plays Lieutenant John Dunbar (a.k.a. Dances with Wolves - his Sioux name). When Dunbar is sent to a fort the Dakota territory during the Civil War he finds the post abandoned. He eventually befriends the Sioux tribe living nearby, and discovers that there is a young "white" woman, called Stands with a Fist, (played by Mary McDonnell) living with them. Through her, he is able to communicate with his neighbors.
This movie had me thinking a lot about the concept of "the other" and how the government and the media manipulate the way people feel about others. In the case of this movie, we are made to feel sympathy for the Sioux tribe, and as James points out, as anglos we found ourselves in the postion of rooting for the Sioux and against the U.S. governement. It is only recently that I have heard the word "genocide" applied to the elimination the Native Americans during the 19th century, but it is accurate. The idea of "the other" in the film was evident in two interesting ways: one was that we felt no empathy for the U.S. soldiers - they were portrayed as bullying, illiterate idiots who didn't know enough to bring paper with them to wipe their asses; the second "other" we saw in the film was the Pawnee tribe who were only seen as violent. Whereas the Sioux were portayed more multi-dimensionally, anglos and Pawnees are seen as evil. We see the Sioux mourn their loved ones, making love, and watch as the women cry as their warriors take leave. While we can assume the whites and the Pawnees expressed some of these same emotions, they are absent from the film.
I did like the film, it gave me a lot to think about, the scenery was beautiful, and that Kevin Costner sure isn't hard to look at.
Jesus Camp
Becky Fischer is a children's pastor who runs an evangelical camp for kids in Devil's Lake, North Dakota. This documentary follows Pastor Becky as she works to create a Christian Army of children, some as young as six years old. She does not deny that she is "indoctrinating" the children, rather she defends it by saying that our "enemies" (other religions) are doing the same. She is trying to save America from itself. Footage from inside the camp shows dozens of children driven to tears when confronted with their own sins. I was especilly disturbed by the discussion of abortion with children so young. The film follows a few of the children closely. Levi, a 12-year old boy, is being groomed for the ministry by the adults around him. He is clearly charismatic. The film also goes to Colorado Springs to visit Ted Haggard's "mega-church". This film came out in 2006, just before allegations that Haggard had paid a male prostitute for sex. The allegations proved to be true, which make his comments in the film against homosexuality all the more troubling.
North Dakota "short"
Evidently, I have a lot of company among those who have not yet been to North Dakota. Back in the 1990s Michael Moore (of Roger & Me fame, see my Michigan post) had a television show called TV Nation. In which he explored some quirky things. In one segment he questions why North Dakota is the least visited state in the country. Watch this YouTube video to find out. I am surprised that there are not more people going to visit Rugby, North Dakota, which has the honor of being the geographical center of the country. I will definitely be going!
I imagine the Bauernmomlett (Farmer's Omlet), our North Dakota meal made with potatoes and bacon, was never intended to be made with "fake-in", but in deference to our vegetarian daughter we made the substitution. It was pretty good, and simple to make, and our oven, which has been malfunctioning regularly of late, behaved long enough for me to put the broiler on in order to cook the top of the omelet. If you don't have a cast-iron skillet, I recommend buying one immediately. They are essential for making fluffy, non-burnt omelets. I cook the omlet, covered, on low heat for about 7 minutes, until it is mostly set, then put it under the broiler for one to two minutes. Perfect every time. We also enjoyed nice cold glasses of milk - the North Dakota state beverage!
Unfortunately, because of the aforementioned oven malfunction we have to defer our South Dakota food choice until tomorrow, when, hopefully we will have it fixed. We will be preparing kuchen - the official South Dakota state dessert. We will write a supplemental post, and James will write about his trip to South Dakota as well. He is among the ranks of the many who have not been to North Dakota. We can't wait to become some of the few!
An interesting article about North Dakota agriculture from the New York Times: North Dakota cattle get a new home. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/us/13cows.html
North Dakota's press release on the occasion of its 121st birthday!
Since I have so much reading to do before the end of the year, I worked on it during the long hiatus between California day and Nevada day. I attempted to read a young-adult novel about South Dakota, A Year Without Rain by D. Anne Love, figuring, since it was short, it would help me keep up, but I didn't get very far before I put it down and started looking for something else. It seemed that most of the action actually took place in Georgia, rather than South Dakota. Fortunately, this NPR story clued me in to The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weisgarber. Set in the Badlands in 1917 (the "year without rain") readers learn about the especially harsh life the homesteaders faced that year. The DuPrees, one of very few "Negro" families to homestead, watch as their crops wither, their animals die and, their well runs dry. Meanwhile Rachel's memories of her previous life as a cook in a Chicago boardinghouse, and before that as a girl in Louisiana are jogged. Rachel faces her own prejudices against the "agency Indians", and begins to question her husband's loyalty to the land, and desiring a better life for her four daughters than an arranged marriage, she makes a difficult decision. Weisgarber describes some extremely cruel life experiences for these homesteaders, nevertheless, I couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous of Rachel's life - a hermit...with benefits.
As always, any mention of a library gets special recognition in my blog. In the case of Rachel DuPree the library passage couldn't have been more dear to the Hayes-Bohanan hearts. In a one-page passage Weisgarber manages to weave coffee, geography and libraries all into the narrative. "Every morning, Samuel, the delivery boy brought two five-pound sacks of dark beans to the kitchen door. Those beans...had traveled all they way from South America. I tried to picture South America from my geography lessons, but I couldn't place it...I took the streetcar and went to the free library. There I rounded up my courage and asked the white man behind the counter if he could tell me where South America was...He stopped at a table where there was a big globe of the world..."
The title The Plague of Doves (my North Dakota choice) piqued my interest because my daughter's name (Paloma) is Spanish for dove. It turns out that the "doves" to which the title refers, however, "were surely the passenger pigeons of truth and legend". Louise Erdrich's story has many narrators, which I sometimes could not keep straight, and the story jumped around in time, which also sometimes confused me. There were some "magic realism" moments that reminded me of some of the Latin American literature I've read. The narrators included members of the Ojibwe tribe, anglos, and those of mixed blood, giving the reader a sense of the variety of experiences. Ultimately, I was able to sort out the story and there is some resolution at the end.
There was one mention of a college library from the narrator named Evelina Harp who claimed to spend most of her time there.
Dances with Wolves (a rather long film!)
At just under four hours long, this one took us three nights to watch. We had seen it before, probably 20 years ago, but had forgotten most of it. Kevin Costner plays Lieutenant John Dunbar (a.k.a. Dances with Wolves - his Sioux name). When Dunbar is sent to a fort the Dakota territory during the Civil War he finds the post abandoned. He eventually befriends the Sioux tribe living nearby, and discovers that there is a young "white" woman, called Stands with a Fist, (played by Mary McDonnell) living with them. Through her, he is able to communicate with his neighbors.
This movie had me thinking a lot about the concept of "the other" and how the government and the media manipulate the way people feel about others. In the case of this movie, we are made to feel sympathy for the Sioux tribe, and as James points out, as anglos we found ourselves in the postion of rooting for the Sioux and against the U.S. governement. It is only recently that I have heard the word "genocide" applied to the elimination the Native Americans during the 19th century, but it is accurate. The idea of "the other" in the film was evident in two interesting ways: one was that we felt no empathy for the U.S. soldiers - they were portrayed as bullying, illiterate idiots who didn't know enough to bring paper with them to wipe their asses; the second "other" we saw in the film was the Pawnee tribe who were only seen as violent. Whereas the Sioux were portayed more multi-dimensionally, anglos and Pawnees are seen as evil. We see the Sioux mourn their loved ones, making love, and watch as the women cry as their warriors take leave. While we can assume the whites and the Pawnees expressed some of these same emotions, they are absent from the film.
I did like the film, it gave me a lot to think about, the scenery was beautiful, and that Kevin Costner sure isn't hard to look at.
Jesus Camp
Becky Fischer is a children's pastor who runs an evangelical camp for kids in Devil's Lake, North Dakota. This documentary follows Pastor Becky as she works to create a Christian Army of children, some as young as six years old. She does not deny that she is "indoctrinating" the children, rather she defends it by saying that our "enemies" (other religions) are doing the same. She is trying to save America from itself. Footage from inside the camp shows dozens of children driven to tears when confronted with their own sins. I was especilly disturbed by the discussion of abortion with children so young. The film follows a few of the children closely. Levi, a 12-year old boy, is being groomed for the ministry by the adults around him. He is clearly charismatic. The film also goes to Colorado Springs to visit Ted Haggard's "mega-church". This film came out in 2006, just before allegations that Haggard had paid a male prostitute for sex. The allegations proved to be true, which make his comments in the film against homosexuality all the more troubling.
North Dakota "short"
Evidently, I have a lot of company among those who have not yet been to North Dakota. Back in the 1990s Michael Moore (of Roger & Me fame, see my Michigan post) had a television show called TV Nation. In which he explored some quirky things. In one segment he questions why North Dakota is the least visited state in the country. Watch this YouTube video to find out. I am surprised that there are not more people going to visit Rugby, North Dakota, which has the honor of being the geographical center of the country. I will definitely be going!
I imagine the Bauernmomlett (Farmer's Omlet), our North Dakota meal made with potatoes and bacon, was never intended to be made with "fake-in", but in deference to our vegetarian daughter we made the substitution. It was pretty good, and simple to make, and our oven, which has been malfunctioning regularly of late, behaved long enough for me to put the broiler on in order to cook the top of the omelet. If you don't have a cast-iron skillet, I recommend buying one immediately. They are essential for making fluffy, non-burnt omelets. I cook the omlet, covered, on low heat for about 7 minutes, until it is mostly set, then put it under the broiler for one to two minutes. Perfect every time. We also enjoyed nice cold glasses of milk - the North Dakota state beverage!
Unfortunately, because of the aforementioned oven malfunction we have to defer our South Dakota food choice until tomorrow, when, hopefully we will have it fixed. We will be preparing kuchen - the official South Dakota state dessert. We will write a supplemental post, and James will write about his trip to South Dakota as well. He is among the ranks of the many who have not been to North Dakota. We can't wait to become some of the few!
An interesting article about North Dakota agriculture from the New York Times: North Dakota cattle get a new home. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/us/13cows.html
North Dakota's press release on the occasion of its 121st birthday!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Nevada - October 21, 1864
James and I drove to Las Vegas in the spring of 1993. We stayed one night and got to eat the the casino buffets pretty cheaply, and I won $5 in the quarter slot machine. We left after that. There would be more to say about the trip if I weren't trying to stick with writing only about positive experiences. (I used my "winnings" to do laundry). We made one other trip to Nevada during the 1990s while we were traveling around the Northwest. We made a quick trip across the California/Nevada border to pick up an additional county for our county map project http://webhost.bridgew.edu/jhayesboh/COUNTIES/County.htm
21: Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students who Took Vegas for Millions
I expect that to a gambler, professional or amatuer, this book would read like a fairy tale. I found it to be rather disturbing, however engrossing. The display of greed on both the part of the casinos, and the students, was what I found most troubling. How much is enough? When does winning money become more important than relationships? If casinos don't want gamblers to count cards why do they keep running games that can be beat in that manner? And why do they throw people out who have figured out how to beat the system if they haven't broken any laws?
The story followed Kevin, a member of an MIT blackjack team that traveled regularly to Las Vegas to count cards. The perspective of the story was decidedly male, although there were two women on the team. Kevin had two girlfriends, one for each side of his double life. Both were really made out to be accessories. His MIT girlfriend was described as someone who would be good to bring to Thanksgiving dinner with his family, whereas his LA Rams cheerleader girlfriend only ever met up with him in Vegas.
I was struck by the sheer genius of the students, which clashed with some typical adolescent mentalities. Although, given how dag-gone smart they were you'd think they would have caught on the the fact that their gambling days were over when the frequent casino bannings turned violent, but no, they still kept trying, thinking perhaps it was just a coincidence.
Of course any mention of librarians, especially sterotypes, must be given air time here: "Kevin didn't need to glance down the table at Cylan to see that he...was infused with good humor...he looked five years too young to know anything about card counting...He certainly didn't look like an advertising executive with developing marital troubles. And his wife...could have passed for a dowdy college librarian."
I think the book can be summed up with this comment from April, a dancer at the Crazy Horse 2 Strip Club: "Don't be naive. Nobody wins in Las Vegas. Kevin Lewis knows that better than anyone."
Pay It Forward
Most movies about Nevada are about Las Vegas, and Pay It Forward is no exception. What is different is that the movie doesn't focus on the glitz at all. The "Strip" is tangential to the story - it is simply the place where one of the characters, Arlene McKinney (played by Helen Hunt), works her two jobs supporting her son Trevor (Haley Joel Osment). At the behest of his teacher, Mr. Simonet (Kevin Spacey), Trevor attempts to make the world a better place by doing favors for three people, and asking that they, in turn, each do favors for three other people. The Pay-It-Forward experiment eventually takes on a life of its own, even as Trevor believes that it was a failure. This movie has terrific acting, a great plot, and is totally engaging, and has a good message without being too sappy. We even got our 13-year-old daughter to watch the whole thing. She said it was "pretty good". She doesn't readily admit that anything we suggest is any good, so this is high praise.
Since so much of what we ever hear about Nevada focuses on Las Vegas I wanted to find a recipe that would celebrate the more "western" aspect of the state. Nevada magazine provided this piece about chuck wagon cooking in dutch ovens. My daughter and I decided to try to make the doughnuts. The dough was easy to make, and otherwise the instructions seemed pretty simple. Unfortunately, I did not have a good way to test the temperature of the oil, which clearly was way too hot. The doughnuts became very crispy on the outside within about 10 seconds of being dipped in the oil, but remained gooey inside. We also managed to set off our smoke detectors. In a strange twist though, Paloma reported liking them anyway. James and I threw ours away.
21: Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students who Took Vegas for Millions
I expect that to a gambler, professional or amatuer, this book would read like a fairy tale. I found it to be rather disturbing, however engrossing. The display of greed on both the part of the casinos, and the students, was what I found most troubling. How much is enough? When does winning money become more important than relationships? If casinos don't want gamblers to count cards why do they keep running games that can be beat in that manner? And why do they throw people out who have figured out how to beat the system if they haven't broken any laws?
The story followed Kevin, a member of an MIT blackjack team that traveled regularly to Las Vegas to count cards. The perspective of the story was decidedly male, although there were two women on the team. Kevin had two girlfriends, one for each side of his double life. Both were really made out to be accessories. His MIT girlfriend was described as someone who would be good to bring to Thanksgiving dinner with his family, whereas his LA Rams cheerleader girlfriend only ever met up with him in Vegas.
I was struck by the sheer genius of the students, which clashed with some typical adolescent mentalities. Although, given how dag-gone smart they were you'd think they would have caught on the the fact that their gambling days were over when the frequent casino bannings turned violent, but no, they still kept trying, thinking perhaps it was just a coincidence.
Of course any mention of librarians, especially sterotypes, must be given air time here: "Kevin didn't need to glance down the table at Cylan to see that he...was infused with good humor...he looked five years too young to know anything about card counting...He certainly didn't look like an advertising executive with developing marital troubles. And his wife...could have passed for a dowdy college librarian."
I think the book can be summed up with this comment from April, a dancer at the Crazy Horse 2 Strip Club: "Don't be naive. Nobody wins in Las Vegas. Kevin Lewis knows that better than anyone."
Pay It Forward
Most movies about Nevada are about Las Vegas, and Pay It Forward is no exception. What is different is that the movie doesn't focus on the glitz at all. The "Strip" is tangential to the story - it is simply the place where one of the characters, Arlene McKinney (played by Helen Hunt), works her two jobs supporting her son Trevor (Haley Joel Osment). At the behest of his teacher, Mr. Simonet (Kevin Spacey), Trevor attempts to make the world a better place by doing favors for three people, and asking that they, in turn, each do favors for three other people. The Pay-It-Forward experiment eventually takes on a life of its own, even as Trevor believes that it was a failure. This movie has terrific acting, a great plot, and is totally engaging, and has a good message without being too sappy. We even got our 13-year-old daughter to watch the whole thing. She said it was "pretty good". She doesn't readily admit that anything we suggest is any good, so this is high praise.
Since so much of what we ever hear about Nevada focuses on Las Vegas I wanted to find a recipe that would celebrate the more "western" aspect of the state. Nevada magazine provided this piece about chuck wagon cooking in dutch ovens. My daughter and I decided to try to make the doughnuts. The dough was easy to make, and otherwise the instructions seemed pretty simple. Unfortunately, I did not have a good way to test the temperature of the oil, which clearly was way too hot. The doughnuts became very crispy on the outside within about 10 seconds of being dipped in the oil, but remained gooey inside. We also managed to set off our smoke detectors. In a strange twist though, Paloma reported liking them anyway. James and I threw ours away.
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