Eat at home.

Today's Tids Issue # 2,323
Opening Stuff:

Did you feel something special Yesterday? Did your heart fly to the moon. Did you walk on clouds? Did you drive out to the countryside for an ice cream cone? It was the first day of spring! The day ground rumbles from the energy of flowers ready to burst forth. The day the sun's warmth caresses your body a little differently than the week before. The day you slog through the mud from thawing fields. Happy Spring everybody.

Some of the best chefs I have ever encountered are people like you and me who are very adept at cooking great food in their own kitchens.

The Question:
What iconic Pennsylvania Company is poised to produce it's 500 Millionth product this year. (Hint product used for habit now in disfavor.)

The Headlines:

--Daffy Vows Long War; US Says Libya Forces In Disarray After Bombings.
--Stocks Expected To Show Healthy Rise; News Of AT&T Purchase Of T-Mobile Leads Positive News.
--Buffett Says Japan Tragedy Presents Solid Buying Opportunity; Good Companies Siffering Temporary Downturn Will Rebound Soundly.
--New Smoke From Japan Reactors Have Workers fleeing.
--Tanks Deployed In Yemen Capitol.
--Russia's Putin Says UN Action In Libya "Reminds Him Of Crusades".

Back to More Stuff:
It seems to me, if I remember correctly, that the substantive reason used by the US when finally attacking Iraq was because the outrageous dictator there snubbed the UN warnings. The WMD's were the fodder of late night comics, but the arrogance of the tyrant ignoring UN ultimatums was the legal reason, as it is today in Libya. The political powers are dolefully and sanctimoniously proclaiming that attacks on Libya are humanitarian. But, where were they during the slaughter in Darfur, or for that matter the carnage in China?

Where is it written that my obligation in life was to support over priced restaurants.

"What a Crock" Department:
I see where they are selling out the Charlie Sheen traveling medicine show. But, nobody knows what he is going to do. Will he go into a coma as fans blindly roar in approval? Will he trash the stage injuring some first row fanatics? Will we see EMC's rush on stage and perform lifesaving resuscitation?
Americans love to be taken.

Is it me, or do others think it's too much of "All Oprah all the time". And, when will it ever stop.

Almost There: Chapter 13. --"Dante Wallowitz?"
"Yes. Who is this?"
"Oh, Dante, you probably don't remember me.. I'm Samantha Wilcox!" Samantha listened to silence on the other side of the line.
After a nervous 2 or 3 seconds "Of course I do. Wow...Samantha. It's been, what fourteen, fifteen years.?"
"About fifteen. Well Dante, you have certainly done well for yourself. A lawyer!
"It's noce you think it's an honorable profession." Dante laughed putting Samantha at ease. "What brings you to town."
Samantha's initial reaction was to say "I don't know." But she answered, "I wanted to talk to you about my parents. Martha told me you handled their house closing."
"Yes I did. But, it was along time ago.."
Samantha interrupted before he could formulate an excuse. "How about it I come over in about a half hour. Are you busy?"
"I'm always busy or else how could I charge clients. But I have few free minutes left. I would love to see you." But don't count on learning much."
"You'd be surprised about how little can be a lot." Dante laughed as they hung up.

In case you were wondering, the Top Ten teams in the just completed NCAA Wrestling Championships are Penn State, Cornell, Iowa, Oklahoma State, American U, Arizona State, Minnesota, Lehigh, Boise State and Wisconsin.

Obama seems to be pretty good at playing the "rope-a-dope" game. He's not doing much, issuing a little boiler plate here and there in response to national and global emergencies. A master politician through and through. And, there isn't anything much lower than a politician.

NPR reporters are saying the real reason that NPR is sinking is because their management sucks and has no clue about how to survive. They are probably operating their company in that entitlement twilight zone.

The Answer:
Zippo is the product! For eighty years smokers relied on this flip top device, and even today the brand is considered ultra-cool. The company will produce about 12 million lighters this year but the future will rely on the successful application of their famous name to a variety of products like leisure clothing, watches and cologne. I'll believe it when I see it.

The End:
Actually I'm thinking Zippo Cologne Odeur de Fumee; Clothing reeking of stale cigarette; Watches showing years lost from smoking.

What's my angle?

Today's Tids Issue 2,078
The Opening Stuff

A day like to today here gives you some hope that perhaps by July it will stop snowing. It’s one of those days where you have to think that the little buds and roots in the ground are feeling the positive angles of the sun for the first time in many months. Do I feel any better? Nope. I still have to write this crap, and no angle of the sun is going to make it any more exhilarating.

Sid Crosby is a helluva player and his game winning goal was certainly exciting. But leave it to the media to lionize the star well beyond his overall contribution to that true, “team” Canada win. Almost at the expense of the other 22 winners.

The Question:
It’s Oscar time. Here’s some posers for you. Avatar is big, but what were the 2 most nominated films? The youngest Best Actor and Actress? The family with the most Oscars? There’s a lot of pre-show hoopla for Kathryn Bigalow and here blatantly anti war film Hurt Locker. Who was the first woman nominated for the best directing award?

TheHeadlines:
--Stocks Up On New M&A Activity And Better News About Greece.
--USPS To End Saturday Deliver; Americans Rejoice At Prospect Of “Bill-less” Weekends.
--GM Recalling 1.3 Million Small Chevy’s And Pontiacs Over Steering Problem.
--RI’S Central Falls High School Finds It Self At Center Of National Debate On Education.
--Senate Close To Passing New Regs That Would Limit Wall Street Activities.
--Senator Bunning Stops Passage Of Jobless Funding Bill; Senator Says He Is OK With Jobless Benefits But Wants Expense Matched By Cuts Or Funding From Previously Authorized And Unspent Stimulus Money; It’s Time To Stop the Runaway Spending.

Back to More Stuff:

I see where today the US Port Office has posted major losses. If the USPS could do for all what it does for Netflix it could be the most admired operation in the country. In fact, I find that for the price Priority Mail or in emergencies, Express Mail, are the best deals going. Far cheaper and as good as FedEx or UPS.

Based on a recent flurry of news reports, it’s starting to look like future seniors who complain about joints will actually be concerned about forgetting where they put their marijuana stash.

You probably don’t remember, but the Tids Political editor remarked after the Obama election that his first big mistake was appointing the highly partisan political operative Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff for is “No politics as usual” admin. From that point on, anything the Prez would say about unity would be clouded by his one dimensional choices. Today even Democrat operatives are beginning to call for the ouster of the unrelenting Emanuel as the reason behind the decline of the Obama presidency.

I don’t know about you, but I loved the heartfelt singing of O Canada by the hockey team and the 20,000 or so Canadians. I’ll take the joint effort of citizens singing over the latest rock or hip-hop sensation, any day.

24-Um: I enjoy watching it, but I keep looking for the surprise bad guy. It seems more obvious this year. Like, is this Dana thing more meaningful than it appears? Is she really in with the bomb throwers and does her fear over being outted come from wanting to maintain a subversive position at CTU. This Prez assistant has the making of a surprise evil doer, but right now he seems to be just another MBA type. And the daughter’s lover would be a great character if he was head of the bad guy group and actually in love with Dana. I like the way the Jack/Renee thing is going.

The Novel:
Through the Same Eyes: Chapter 56 continues. –Kent was silent, but not inactive as Isabelle filled me in on the day’s proceedings (Like I was really interested right now) and how much she felt the two of could produce so much going forward. It was actually very nice of her. In fact I liked her a lot. Actually, she is a lot like me. I hope Kent doesn’t discover that. Of course, at 43, she may be way too old for him. I laughed inside at my little joke at my expense!
“Kent, let’s let Sarah get a little rest and get out of here. I’m going to run down to the ladies room. Then we can leave.
Izzy was two footsteps beyond the door when Kent turned, looked deeply into my eyes and kissed me like hadn’t kissed in a decade. I felt his hand as it slipped under the covers and started caressing me everywhere. I responded immediately. I would be totally out of control in seconds, but where could we go with it. He moved his body up on the bed and I could feel his excitement. This is crazy, but I loved the excitement of this erotic adventure and that we might be caught at any moment. I turned my body towards his. Then I heard it. A heavy footstep, and, “Sarah, wait til you see what the chef did for us!”
Kent was half off the bed, but still semi prone by my side.
“What the hell is this”, I heard a startled Paul shout.
“Shit” was all I heard from Kent who was looking is ultra cool best. “They have to stop building hospital equipment with protruding legs, especially when old men are walking around. Then he stood up and pretended to test a “sore” ankle. Paul walked over to help. I just looked at Kent with more love than ever. My body was still on fire.

Back to More Stuff Again:

The news media is and will have a field day blasting the “heartless” Senator Bunning for temporarily stopping the funding of unemployment programs. If you think about it, Bunning is no different than teachers unions who strike the day before school opens.

There is a lot of gnashing of teeth over at ABC News after the word got out that the company will slash the division by closing most of the regional offices. The fact is that Nightly news as a news outlet is basically irrelevant as most know “waz happenin’ “ long before 6:30 PM from cable and wireless distribution. In fact, among the younger set, handhelds is the most important news reporting medium. The news gatherers have a future. The news reporters are exactly what they are -- “Anchors”.

Be Careful of the Web Department:
Scams abound on that faceless world that is the Internet. A FaceBook promotional effort advertised the worlds greatest bridal show to be held at the huge Hynes Convention center in Boston. 6,000 would be brides signed up at $15 apiece. Exhibitors flocked to get space, paying upwards of $4,000 for a booth. The scam fell apart when exhibitors started calling the auditorium about set up times only to learn that no such thing was scheduled. It never existed! -- except in the imagination of cyber space. By that time the site had been taken down and the money was long gone. We live in an illusionary world.

When walking around town it is virtually impossible not to catch snippets of cell phone conversations. I have found that most prevalent on Sunday morning among 20-30 something women is “Well…he’s like, well…” I’m not kidding.

The Answer:
With 14, the two most nominated were All About Eve and Cameron’s First giant, Titanic. The youngest Actor Winner was Adrian Brody (29) in Pianist. There is no youngest woman, since no actress would give her age! Just kidding…it was Marlee Maitlin at 21. The Family Q was a bit of a trick. The extended Newman (Not Paul) family had 81 nominations and 11 wins…all for music! The first woman director to be nominated was Sofia Coppola. She doesn’t seem to get much ink in the current PR push.

The End:
When I write about the Oscars I feel like just another media whore.

Actually, I woke up a little late this morning. I guess there's a different angle of the sun for humans.