Can recommend it

That's why there are so many good reviews http://explore.goodvacay.com

 

 

Kevin Mcleod

 

David Brooks Dissects Obama's Personality?

In today's New York Times, David Brooks writes an article on Obama's emotional state. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/opinion/17brooks.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Go read it & come back here.

I'm no fan of David Brooks. He regularly dry-heaves opinions from a stomach empty of facts. This week, he's trying to convince us that McCain's violent temper isn't actually a liability but a sign of passion. To make that argument, he twists the fact that Obama is a calm, stable, and reasoning man into a suggestion that he would be a dispassionate and unengaged president. He can't come out and praise McCain for being passionate (everyone would just laugh him off the page) -- he has to leave that inference to the reader.

Brooks is not qualified to draw a direct causal relationship between Obama's upbringing and ambition driven by a need to satisfy some unfilled need. Even if everyone with such an upbringing had the "scars" Brooks describes (a point I'm not ready to concede), how many have been able to get where Obama is now?

More importantly, what's the difference between someone being driven to fill a "void" and being driven by a "desire to realize some capacity in their nature"? Aren't "fill a void" and "desire to realize" essentially identical objectives? He's created a dichotomy where none exists.

I think Brooks reads too much into the fact that Obama doesn't telegraph all his emotions during debates. Brooks sees a candidate that doesn't express every emotion as it strikes him (like McCain's furious blinking and grimacing) or get angry when attacked (which at this moment would turn off voters) and decides that Obama is a cold, dispassionate observer rather than an engaged participant. Brooks confuses Obama's control over expressing his emotions with a lack of passion.

Obama is a normal, emotional father and family man when he's playing basketball or interacting with his family. He's not a robot. But neither, thank god, is he a violent, angry, uncontrolled man who is unable to control himself. Don't forget that we've already had 8 years of a spoiled, petulant brat as president. It's time for a change.

Live Music in San Antonio!

Last night, the spouse & I went to see live music in San Antonio. You have no idea how unusual that is. This is the least live-music-friendly city I've EVER seen, and we were very suprised to find one of the best venues I've been in, Casbeers at the Church. This post is about the venue -- I'll discuss the artists in separate posts.

You'll notice at the bottom of this page I've included a link to the Salty Dog Blues & Roots Podcast, an outstanding two hour podcast of blues & roots music from Australia. Well, I was listening to the June episode and listened to an interview with Kara Grainger, a blues/roots singer/songwriter from Sydney now working in L.A. I liked her style, so I checked out her website and discovered that shae was playing that night in San Antonio, opening for Mary Cutrufello.

Casbeers at the church is just what its name implies: it is a renovated Methodist church that was converted in to a dinner theater and music venue. It has a full service restaurant downstairs offering some hometown classic food, like award winning enchiladas.

Upstairs, it's simply magic. Kara and Mary played solo acoustic sets, and the sound in that space was fantastic. It is a large & roomy space, but really intimate. Mary commented that it was just as impressive for her as a musician -- she revelled in being able to hear the silence in her songs.

What was unusual about the show was that the Spouse and I were almost the only members of the audience. I think the total audience maxed out at 13 people. Though it wasn't unusual for the artists, it was unusual for me. We basically chatted with the artists between songs, and considering the following they have outside San Antonio, I felt it was quite an honor.


Casbeers at the Church had only been open for about two weeks, so lack of familiarity with the new location was certainly to blame, so I'm hopeful that as others learn about Casbeers they'll become a popular destination for live music in SA. If you're in the area, I strongly recommend you catch a show there whenever possible, both to enjoy the excellent acoustics and to support live music in town.

One Reason No Thinking (Wo/Hu)man Should Vote for McCain

Just the tip of the iceberg.



Visit http://www.therealmccain.com/ for more reasons.

Health Care Ad

The Rockridge institute closed in April of this year, but they did some fantastic research and writing on articulating progressive values. Here's an ad they put together for healthcare:

Demo-Cats?

I read a blog post today on the Houston (Texas) Chronicle website about a man whose 13-year old cat died after receiving three vaccinations at one time. Losing a pet is always a tragic experience and I can sympathize. However, this dude couldn't stop there. Much of his post expressed frustration at having a vet violate protocol and overload the cat's system with several vaccines. Then, he concluded his missive with the following spew:

Beverly indeed slept most of the time, and during waking moments was incurably lazy. She mewed whenever she wanted something, depending wholly upon others for everything she needed. Embracing an entitlement mentality, she exerted no effort whatever to become self-sufficient. Yep, Bev was definitely a Democat.

What was really galling was how this douchebag made that spasmotic cognitive leap and decided that a cat's behavior was typical of a Democrat (meaning someone who votes with the more liberal of America's two political parties). Entitlement mentality? IT'S A GODDAMN CAT! It's been trained - for 13 years - that if it performs certain behaviors it will receive a reward (food). How could a cat be more self-sufficient? Would he prefer that it learned to operate a cash register and work at a convenience store? That's a night job a nocturnal cat could excel at, except for the slight communication barrier.

It is clear that someone who still believes in the myth of the "entitlement mentality" is not accustomed to doing much independent thinking and would much prefer having their opinions given to them in a nicely-packaged form. This clown has overdosed on racist talking points from Rush Limbaugh, no doubt.

The Reagan surrogates dreamed up the myth of the "welfare queen" in the 1980s to erode support for social programs such as medicare, medicaid, and WIC. The image they wanted to create was an unemployed black woman with multiple kids who defrauded the welfare system to buy luxuries rather than essentials. This was a political fabrication designed to trigger the racist instincts of the general Republican base and drive a wedge between the "haves" and the "have-nots." Nixon used this same technique successfully in his election in 1972.

My cats have their own opinions and are quite independent. They can think for themselves, though thankfully they don't share their opinions with me (unlike the moron who wrote the Chronicle post).

My beloved cat got cancer (injection-site fibrosarcoma) from a vaccine she received. The vaccine formulation used a metal-based adjuvant and the link has been fairly well established. When our vet found out, he felt horrible and immediately changed vaccines.

I would hope that you'd take two things from this post:

1. If you have a cat, make sure that the vaccines they get won't cause cancer (don't accept the "low probability" argument -- go to a different vet).
2. Democrats believe in giving everyone a level playing field, raising the standard of living for ALL Americans. Laziness and welfare fraud are no more acceptable to us than to Republicans.
   

Updates

Sorry, friends, I've been slackin' big-time. Sincerest apologies for the cobwebs.

I'm outta school, raisin' hell, and we've got a little election coming up in a few months, so I'm going to have a few things to say between now and then.

Until then, if you want some shamelessly-cute merchandise created from my stockpile of animal photos, go check out my cafepress site, http://www.cafepress.com/kevdiver.

Kinda weak selection right now, but I'm working on learning the intricacies of Photoshop so I can make my animal pictures perfect.

FOOD REVIEW -- Ellie's Kitchen & Catering, Friendswood, TX

You asked for it, and here it comes: Restaurant reviews!

The first installment highlights a restaurant I just found rather than one of my old favorites. I'll come back to them later. Watch this space.

I was told of a new Greek restaurant slightly off the beaten path in Friendswood, and since I loves me some Greek food I was all over it.

Ellie is the owner, and she has created a masterpiece of neighborhood dining with this little hole-in-the-wall gem. When you step inside, the walls are painted with images from the Greek isles, with plenty of white stucco and blue highlights. The atmosphere, overall, is warm and welcoming. When Ellie greets you and talks about her food, her home in Cyprus, and the restaurant, you immediately know that she's the source of that welcome feeling. She is absolutely charming. Regulars abound, as it really is a neighborhood restaurant.

But enough about people. We're here to discuss food.

Most of the Greek eateries I've been to in the US have a fairly predictable menu: Gyro meat, chicken, pitas, Greek salad, dolmas, and various other items based on apparently random factors. The flavor tends to be the same, too: dolmas in most Greek places are the same ones I get out of a can from the local middle-eastern grocery. In fact, they're often served right out of the can: cold, clammy, and oily.

Ellie's was a really nice change. Her dolmas are made in house (as is everything she serves), and they are fantastic. Served warm with a tangy, slightly spicy flavor, it was the perfect entre into the rest of the meal. An order of dolmas (choice of meat or vegetarian) includes two plus a tzaziki sauce cup.

I'm a big fan of Spanakopita, or spinach pies as they are listed on Ellie's menu. Light fillo pastry triangles filled with feta cheese and spinach and served hot. Ellie said she thought that most Spanakopita were too tart, so she buffers the tang of the feta by mixing it with ricotta. The result is pure magic. She warned me that I would have to wait about 10 minutes for her to chill the pies before baking, but it was definitely worth the wait. I would have waited 30 minutes and made a meal of them (well, I would have needed more than the two pies that comes with an order, obviously).

Between the appetizers and the main course we got a small Greek salad. It consisted of the typical Greek salad ingredients, but was noteworthy in that they didn't overdo it with the dressing. It had a great tart flavor without the oilyness you get some places.

Main course: Moussaka. Wonderful. It's kind of like a Greek (or middle eastern) lasagna. Also reminiscent of shepherd's pie, only with vegetables and flavor. A baked casserole of seasoned ground beef layered with potato slices, eggplant, and yellow squash (!!), and topped with a creamy, whipped-cheese meringue (well, meringue-like). The serving size was on the large end of the scale, leading to a discussion of whether we'd be able to finish it. Of course, your humble servant had no such reservations. I would order it again the next time I eat there, but alas, there are other entrees I must try.

The sad consequence of my gluttony was that I was unable to try the desserts. After what she created with the spanakopita, I can only dream about what her baklava must be like.

I had to ask the waitress to refill my water. That's a pet peeve of mine.

Overall, excellent value. Great food, tricky to locate if you're not from the area.

Ellie's Kitchen & Catering
102 S. Friendswood Dr.
Friendswood, TX
281-648-2973

Way Overdue

Once again I'm way overdue in posting something to the old blog. Sorry about that -- there's just WAY too much stuff to write about to fit in one post, so I'll shotgun a few posts with my top thoughts.

Let's start with the syphilitic elephant in the room: healthcare. An innocent girl recently died because nobody would assume the financial burden of performing a liver transplant and committing to the long-term care of a transplant recipient. Most are blaming Cigna for her death, and that's appropriate because insurers are nothing more than parasites on the healthcare monster. However, I've heard at least one commenter ask why the hospital (UCLA, if I remember correctly) couldn't proceed with the operation and fight with Cigna over the costs later.

The very discussion of who should pay and how illustrates the problem with the US healthcare system in general. We're spending our time worrying about who's profiting or losing money while the clock ticks on someone's life. Healthcare and corporate profit/loss have no business being in the same discussion. You end up with criminal decisions like whether it's cheaper to redesign the Ford Pinto or pay the damages caused when they explode.

As I've said before, the best solution is to spread the risk of loss equally among the entire population rather than throw us into a feeding frenzy of profit-hungry corporations. We've got a model (medicare) that works. Let's spend our energy expanding that program and fixing its flaws instead of continuing to let Americans die so that some CEO can afford to upgrade his BMW.

Best. Wedding. Ever.

An informal poll of the attendees I was with yielded a unanimous vote that the wedding in PV, MX was absolutely the best wedding any of us had ever attended.

It wasn't one of those "coronation ceremonies" that some girls like, with hundreds of guests and tens of thousands of dollars spent on decorations. It was a family-oriented, fun-filled vacation that culminated in the joining of two wonderful hearts. The bride and groom seemed as interested in having fun as they were in getting married, but the ceremony was an emotional, meaningful one that did not dilute the significance of the event.

The setup for the wedding itself was conducted in "local time," meaning the guests were assembling while they were still fitting the covers on the seats at the starting time. It didn't bother any of us (non-family guests), but I can imagine that the bride was anxious. The groom confided to me that she was a little nervous about the details during the lead-up, but every time I saw her she was happy and excited. Oh, yeah, and she looked absolutely gorgeous during the ceremony.

The bride and groom made certain that everyone was well taken care of -- nothing was left to chance, and they helped us maximize our enjoyment. The hotel arrangements were fantastic, the weather could not have been better, and the Spouse and I made some new friends that I hope to keep in contact with. We had a lot of laughs, saw some beautiful scenery, and just relaxed and enjoyed being with our friends (old and new). A few days in paradise.

I know we all told her how great a time we had. I hope that meant something to her, but most of all I hope she has as many wonderful memories of that day as we do. It was her day, and of course it was much more than a vacation to her – it was the start of what I hope will be a long, happy, and loving marriage. It couldn't happen to a better couple!

We asked her to please consider renewing her vows next year, but she wouldn't commit.