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Tuesday, 23 December 2008
Apricot, Berry and Bran Muffins
Actually, quite a bit of tweaking took place to suit our whims. E wanted choc chips as well as berries. I just wanted fruit so I made the first couple of dozen without choc chips and threw a handful in the mixture for the last dozen. I also reduced the sugar in the recipe as we had enjoyed the previous batch so much with minimal sugar. And I included some light sour cream in place of milk.
Unfortunately the shelves overflowing with fresh fruit can be a little deceptive in the supermarket. The raspberries I bought were the best I could find on display and yet I still had to pick through them and discard some mouldy bits. How disappointing at the height of the season! Makes me wish I could get myself organized to go pick my own berries. Just now sure I can manage it this year!
Substandard raspberries aside, these muffins were lovely. We have enjoyed them at home and at work. Although they might linger in the freezer this week while we enjoy a few festive treats, it is good to know there are some healthy snacks at hand for when we need something a little lighter. These muffins are a little tart and seedy from the raspberries and studded with juicy sweet chunks of apricot. Makes me wish it could be summer all year long!
Apricot, Berry and Bran Muffins
(adapted from Family Circle's The New Muffin Cookbook)
Makes 36 mini muffins
1 cup (70g) processed bran
1 cup (250ml) light sour cream
½ cup (125ml) milk
2 ¼ cups (280g) self raising flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup (90g) honey
60g butter, melted
125g apricots, stoned and diced (3 or 4)
100g raspberries
(handful of choc chips - optional)
Preheat oven to 200 C. Grease your mini muffins pans (or a regular 12 hole muffin pan) or use silicone pans which don't need greasing.
Place processed bran (I used AllBran), sour cream and milk in a large mixing bowl and set aside for 5 minutes (which gives time to chop the fruit or get the remaining ingredients together.)
Add flour to bran mixture. Mix egg, honey and melted butter in a small bowl or jug and add to bran mixture. Stir until just combined. The mixture will be a little lumpy. Gently fold in berries and apricots (and choc chips if using). Ideally the berries are meant to stay whole but mine fell apart and that was fine.
Spoon into muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer comes out cleanly when inserted into the centre of the muffins. Stand for 5 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack to cool.
On the stereo:
Cavalcare La Tigre: Various Artists
9 comments:
- Anonymous23 December 2008 at 23:39
Those are absolutely bursting with fruit! It's nice to see so much juicy, fresh fruit at this time of year. . . helps me remember that summer will once again return to these parts, too!ReplyDelete
Have a wonderful Christmas, Johanna!
Those look wonderful. I have to remember about this post for when they come in season here. In the meantime I had LOADS of fun with your hedgehog fudge, so thanks.ReplyDelete
Wishing you a great Christmas.
Mmmmm they look fabulous!ReplyDelete
Thanks Ricki - summer will come again - hope you can enjoy the snow a bit and have a lovely christmasReplyDelete
thanks flower
Thanks Nathalie - glad you enjoyed the hedgehog
thanks Vegetation
i love the combo of fruit in your muffins. i make muffins ALL the time, so i will be trying these eventually. great recipe!ReplyDelete
thanks Joanna - hope you enjoy themReplyDelete
Mmmm Muffins! They sound a fab flavour combo. I wrote about muffins as my welcome back to blogging post today!ReplyDelete
thanks Hippolyra - yes I would recommend these flavours - and nice to have you back!ReplyDelete
Thanks for dropping by. I love hearing from you. Please share your thoughts and questions. Annoyingly the spammers are bombarding me so I have turned on the pesky captcha code (refresh to find an easy one if you don't like the first one)


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"Seek Ye First the Political Kingdom"? Learning from Kwame Nkrumah's Failures in Ghana
west africa | history | opinion / analysis Monday April 04, 2016 22:10 by Tokologo African Anarchist Collective - TAAC tokologo.aac at gmail dot com
TOKOLOGO: Newsletter of the Tokologo African Anarchist Collective # 5/6
Ghana, West Africa, was a British colony called "Gold Coast" until 1957. It became the first independent country in "black" Africa after reforms and struggles in the 1940s and 1950s. The new president, the brilliant Kwame Nkrumah, and his Convention People's Party (CPP), had fought for independence. Now they aimed at major changes in the society, even speaking of socialism. And Nkrumah proposed a united African government for the continent: Pan-Africanism.
"Seek Ye First the Political Kingdom"? Learning from Kwame Nkrumah's Failures in GhanaCONTRIBUTORS: LUCKY, MTHAMBEKI, NKULULEKO, NONZUKISO, PITSO, SIXOKA, WARREN
Ghana, West Africa, was a British colony called "Gold Coast" until 1957. It became the first independent country in "black" Africa after reforms and struggles in the 1940s and 1950s. The new president, the brilliant Kwame Nkrumah, and his Convention People's Party (CPP), had fought for independence. Now they aimed at major changes in the society, even speaking of socialism. And Nkrumah proposed a united African government for the continent: Pan-Africanism.
But by the mid-1960s, hopes were fading. There were good reforms in education and services and self- respect for Africans that helped remove colonialism's damages. But the CPP has become a dictatorship, with a personality cult around Nkrumah. Unions and struggles were suppressed. The economy was in trouble. A new elite hijacked independence and resources. When the military seized power in 1966, people celebrated in the streets. Today Ghana is one of the poorest African countries.
What went wrong and what can we, anarchists in Africa, learn from this experience? Nkrumah's is the key model for African nationalists, and the test case showing the strengths and limits of African nationalism as a project - a project based on building multi-class parties, to capture the state, with the enemy seen primarily in terms of imperialism, and colonialism, with the solution seen as an independent state.
So, the lessons of Ghana are essential and remain widely applicable to countries like South Africa, where African nationalism has been and remains a very powerful current. We can learn, most of all, that revolutions and struggles are easily hijacked by elites for their own purposes. These purposes always go against the interests of the masses.
Using the state is the sure way to create a new elite. Nkrumah's slogan, "Seek ye first the political kingdom and all things shall be added unto you," is not useful. We say instead: All power to the working and poor people.
BRITISH COLONIAL GHANAThe Gold Coast colony included African societies like the Asante kingdom (empire), which had class divisions, a ruling elite, and a history of slavery and slave trading. The colony was ruled by British officials, African kings and chiefs, and the small African educated and business elite linked to mission and state schools.
But Britain was in charge. Society was top-down. There was no pretence of democracy. Although the British provided railways and hospitals, there was much poverty and racism. The economy was based on selling raw materials (metals and cash crops) to Britain. This meant it depended on British prices, and these were often low and there was always pressure by the British state to produce more.
DECOLONISATIONAfter World War Two (1939-1945) there was massive unrest by the unemployed in the in Sekondi-Takoradi (Tadi) port zone and Accra, by farmers and black ex- soldiers.There were riots in 1948 after 3 people were shot at a march in Accra. The Trade Union Congress (TUC) formed 1945, called a general strike in 1950.
Britain started political reforms in the 1940s, allowing unions (1941) and then allowing more elected representatives in the Legislative Council (1946) but these were elections by chiefs
The elite-led United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) (1947) wanted electoral reforms, moving the chiefs aside, so the businessmen who led UGCC would have more say. Like the ANC and other South African parties, UGCC was formed and dominated by the frustrated African elite. It kept its distance from the unrest, and from Nkrumah's calls to use mass action ("positive action") to win more radical changes. Nkrumah had 4 university degrees earned in the USA, where he lived from 1935- 1945, and returned to his homeland in 1947 after 2 years in Britain.
This led to the formation of Nkrumah's breakaway CPP (1949), aiming to ride the mass struggles to full state independence. In 1951 there were the first parliamentary elections (the country was still ruled by Britain), which the CPP won, making Nkrumah Prime Minister. After more elections, the CPP led Ghana into independence.
CONSOLIDATION OF NEW ELITEBut the new CPP government developed into a one-party state. The state became a hothouse for a new elite. The old elite, the chiefs, were either marginalised or pulled into the CPP. A law in 1958 allowed detention without trial. By 1962 the state controlled the main newspapers, and could censor news.
Access to state power was key to the growth of the new African elite: frustrated under colonialism, it used state salaries, contracts and corrupt deals to enrich itself. Reports of wrongdoing were widespread.
The more that state wealth helped the elite, the more the elite clung feverishly to office, suppressing rivals and protests, and pushing for more state ownership of resources.
1964 saw the CPP became the only legal party, centred on a personality cult and network around Nkrumah, now President-for-Life. CPP party branches and related organisations like youth groups enforced control across the country. The CPP ensured its people were in key positions in various government agencies.
As anarchists we know the state cannot be used by the mass of the people. It is a top-down institution that always puts power in the hands of a small elite. As the old British elite and African chiefs moved out of the new state, the CPP-centred new elite moved in. The nature of the state meant that the new elite, just like the old, looked on the people as a source of labour, money, and taxes - and a threat to be controlled, with guns if needed.
MOVING TO STATE-CAPITALISMNkrumah correctly saw Ghana would remain an economic colony of Britain (or the USA) if its economy did not change. He started efforts to industrialise the economy (building factories and infrastructure) so it could move beyond raw materials and create jobs. At first this meant encouraging foreign (mainly British and US) investment, but this left colonial-era relations in place, and did not work.
The difference with the past was that the new Ghanaian political elite benefited more. But the effects on industry were small.
So Nkrumah's CPP started to push state-led industrialisation. This included efforts like setting up a massive hydro-electrical scheme at Volta dam, state-run industries, and trade protection, called "import- substitution-industrialisation."
But although Nkrumah called the system "socialism" (and was partly inspired by the Marxist system in Russia), the reality was the new state industries were, as elsewhere, just state capitalism. They were based on wage labour and on producing goods and services for sale. And, again, the new state elite milked the new projects for its benefit.
The growing role of the state was not socialism, it was just the expanding grab of the new elite to access wealth and build capitalist industries. The top-down approach in state industries was the same as the topdown system in the state and the CPP.
WORLD ECONOMIC CHAINSAlso, independent national capitalist development in a world dominated by international capitalism was unlikely. To fund the new system, the CPP-led state relied on money from exports, especially cocoa. Cocoa prices boomed in the 1950s and early 1960s. The money went to the state through "marketing boards." This meant farmers sold to state boards at low prices, which then sold the goods overseas at much higher prices, making big profits.
But the price of goods like cocoa started to fall in the early 1960s, and the state lost money. It then borrowed heavily, going into massive debt.
ATTACKING THE PEOPLEThe new system did not put power in the hands of ordinary people. The CPP-centred new elite in the state controlled it, decided priorities and targets. The role of the working class and peasantry was to provide labour, funds and raw materials. The radical language and even the genuine socialist views of some CPP leaders (like Nkrumah who was himself generally free of corruption, unlike his followers), did not change this.
The new elite exploited the people, and the new state relied on the repression and control of the working class.
The 1958 Industrial Relations Act centralised unions into a single CPP-run body, with the only negotiating and legal rights. Urban workers were increasingly called a selfish elite ("labour aristocracy"), sabotaging the nation with wage demands. Almost no legal strikes were arranged by the CPP-run TUC. In many sectors all strikes were banned.
In 1961, a huge strike spread from Sekondi-Takoradi, including the railways, against rising taxes and a "forced savings" scheme. It drew in the unemployed and the small traders in the markets: the "common folk" against the CPP elite. After the strike, Nkrumah arrested leaders and politicians involved.
END OF AN ILLUSIONMany people had great hopes in Ghana and Nkrumah. The victory over Britain was inspiring and the "black star" of Ghana seemed to show the light to a new, prosperous Africa, free of the legacy of colonialism, racism and strife.
But using the state and a political party led straight to the opposite: a new elite captured decolonisation, for its own benefits.
Working class and poor Ghanaians continued to suffer while the new local elite and its foreign partners (initially Britain and the USA, later the Marxist USSR and its colonies) became wealthier. Mass support was built through a personality cult, with Nkrumah treated as Superman.
In 1966, the military led a coup against Nkrumah. He was out of the country. There is no doubt that the American CIA helped the military plot.
But this does not explain why people danced in the street with happiness when Nkrumah was overthrown.
They included Sekondi-Takoradi workers, who had been staunch CPP supporters in the 1950s. The masses had no more illusions and did nothing to stop the coup. Nkrumah left office in disgrace.
Everything had become managed by the party and the state, not the people. And that was where the problems started. Imperialism and the CIA played a role in undermining independent Ghana, but the local elite, which hijacked the decolonisation struggle, is just as guilty of destroying it.
And Nkrumah's nationalist vision, even in its Marxist phase, despite its heroic intentions, helped pavetheway, with its statism, authoritarianism and multi-class capitalist project.
Comments (1 of 1)
by Alternativa Libertaria/FdCA - Ufficio Relazioni Internazionali Tue Apr 05, 2016 06:38
"Per prima cosa prendere il potere politico"? Lezioni dal fallimento di Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana
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Here's The Easiest Way To Boost Your Creativity
That's what Stanford University researchers Marily Oppezzo and Daniel L. Schwartz found in a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition.
Study participants who went for walks saw an 81% increase in tests measuring divergent thinking, a thought process associated with creativity in which you generate lots of ideas.
But they saw a decrease in tests measuring convergent thinking, a more linear method of arriving at one solution.
The study lends some empirical validation to the long-held wisdom of the walk.
Aristotle, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Virginia Woolf all made walks a part of their creative routines. In the business world, innovators like Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jack Dorsey have favored the walking meeting. What's more, President Obama ends many of his work days with a walk around with White House grounds with his Chief of Staff.
Fittingly, Oppezzo and Schwartz had the idea for the study while they were walking. Schwartz likes to go for walks with his students when mulling over ideas; together they wondered if the practice had empirical validation.
"It's not a new idea," Oppezzo says. "We just couldn't find any empirical evidence showing this."
In one experiment, participants took an alternate usage test, where they had four minutes to name as many new uses as possible for everyday objects, including a newspaper, a tire, and a button. You could say that a tire could be used as an inner tube, for example, but not a pinky ring.
In another creative experiment, participants were asked to think of analogies. Their goal was to find analogies with a similar "deep structure" in meaning. One example was a robbed safe. An empty wallet was a poor analogy, Oppezzo says, since that's so specifically similar. A better — and darkly poetic — analogy is a soldier coming home from war with post-traumatic stress disorder. "The soldier's role is to protect us," Oppezzo says, "but their mind was robbed by the experience of war, thus making it impossible to fulfill that duty," just like the safe was violated.
However, the effects of walking didn't help with more precise answers.
In a different experiment, participants took the remote association test. In this test, they were given three words (cottage, Swiss, and cake, for instance) and were asked to find the word that fits with all of them. (Cheese!) People did worse on that test after walking than if they sat beforehand.
While Oppezzo and Schwartz didn't test for the mechanism behind why walking leads to more ideas — that's for another study — they did form a few hypotheses. It might be that walking takes a fair amount of attention, so you don't have as much mental energy available to filter out uncommon ideas. It might also be that walking lets you make broader associations or spreads your area of focus.
How to walk more
Thankfully for us office workers, the positive effects of the walk aren't reliant on trotting around an idyllic California campus: The Stanford researchers found the same creativity-inducing effects when people walked on a treadmill in a dark, windowless room.
So even if you're stuck in a cubicle, you can insert walks into your workday.
"Given what we found, if you have a task that requires many ideas, going for a walk — even around an office — appears to give you a fresh perspective," Oppezzo says. "Also, if you can't do a walking meeting because it's awkward or you need to take notes, going for a walk beforehand seems to be a good prescription."
See Also:
- 7 Psychology Tricks To Influence People And Get Exactly What You Want
- How To Pull A Productive All-Nighter
- 7 Tips For Making Meetings More Efficient
- The Fascinating Reason Your Facebook Profile Can Predict Your Job Performance
- 10 Strategies Quick Learners Use To Pick Up Anything
SEE ALSO: 9 Tricks Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, And Other Top Execs Use To Run Meetings


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Last week I mentioned that I usually found Don's romantic relationships with women not named Betty among the less interesting aspects of the show and a couple of commenters took me to task for that opinion, one of them referring to it as "more strains of sexism from this site." The notion of sexism at The A.V. Club is a bigger topic than this post. (Briefly: As editor I guard against it so complaints like that particularly trouble me.) But I did want to clarify that comment to make it clear that I found the women Don sleeps with among the less compelling aspects of the show particularly in comparison to the care and complexity it invests in its other female characters. Exhibit A: Tonight's episode.
Let's start with the worst good example: Miss Blankenship. R.I.P. She's been a divisive character amongst Mad Men fans. I know some of you found her a one-dimensional punchline machine, and you're not necessarily wrong. To be fair, she provided several different types of punchlines, but she was undeniably there for comic relief and the show made her death into another sort of joke. (And a funny one, too. The sight gags going on behind the Fillmore family as the staff tries to dispose of Don's secretary and her belongings were especially inspired.) And yet death gave her some dignity. Roger, who shared a past with her, looked especially stricken, but it's Bert Cooper who waxes lyrical at her passing. "She was born in 1898 in a barn. She died on the 37th floor of a skyscraper. She's an astronaut." In other words, she came a long way, baby.
Some of that, of course, was the way history swept her along. Miss Blankenship was born into a very different world than the one she left. So are we all, but "The Beautiful Girls" puts a special emphasis on the way things have changed for women in 1965, and the ways they'll continue to change in the years to come. We never learn why Miss Blankenship ended up alone and in contact with virtually no one outside the SCDP staff—beyond Roger's Queen Of Perversions line, I guess—but she was doubtlessly given a different set of choices than those presented to other women on the show, and different from those Sally Draper will face when she grows up.
Maybe "choices" is the wrong word. It's the one Fay uses to describe how got to her late thirties childless but accomplished. But where Fay talks about choices, Peggy talks about limitations. After Joyce leads her into an unexpected date with Abe, she at first recoils at the notion that the nice Fillmore family could be racist then turns the discussion to women. "Most of the things Negroes can't do, I can't do either," an opinion that takes Abe by surprise. It's a false equivalency for the reason Abe points out, and for others. But her gripes are legitimate, even if downtown progressive types like Abe—and the counter-culture of the later parts of the decade—couldn't see them at the time. (We're still seven years away from the first issue of Ms., to choose one landmark.)
Peggy's often tough to read and she's especially tough this episode. I get the feeling that she was as naïve as she seemed about Fillmore Auto Parts—a fictional company the best I can tell—when talking to Abe in the bar. But where is she at the end of the episode? She drops Harry Belafonte as a possible jingle-singer just to see what reaction it raises and gets treated with condescending chuckles that suggest she doesn't know how things work in the South or Boston, for that matter. But does she accept Don's line about their business being to support Fillmore? And should she? Clearly, on a moral level Don's wrong in every way. But I'm not even sure he's making good business sense. Boycotts are bad publicity and it's not like public awareness of the Civil Rights Movement is particularly low in 1965. Then again, that Dean Martin quip is the effort of a man grasping to come up with any point where black musicians and white musicians intersected. Here's a question: Would consciousnesses be higher at SCDP if Paul Kinsey worked there?
Meanwhile, Joan faces some contemporary problems of her own with Greg shipped off to Vietnam, which, as Roger succinctly puts it, is not good. All the women are aware of it while the men, if Roger is representative, don't seem to notice and Joan, as always, puts on a brave face. "People love to say that," she responds when Roger says it will be okay. (We'll get an echo of that line at the end of the episode when Sally offers an even less tactful rejoinder.) Her guard down, she goes out for dinner with Roger at the diner they used to go. It's now catering to an older clientele—to their eyes at least—in a neighborhood that's been hit hard since the last time they visited.
They get mugged—Roger knows exactly what to do—and make love in a tucked-away corner. Having nearly died, witnessed death, and sent a spouse off to war they grasp at a little bit of life. I don't think Roger necessarily planned that. Of course he didn't plan the mugging, but while I doubt he would have turned down a chance to sleep with Joan again if it presented itself, I don't think that's what he was after that evening. There's something deeper between them, even if it's been put in dry dock by their marriage to others.
The final shot of Peggy, Joan, and Fay (who is starting to develop into a more interesting character, let me add), says it all without any dialogue. Here are three women of roughly the same generation, all in quite different places in their lives and careers, each of those places more or less unimaginable to the generation before. (Joan's would be most imaginable. Though a married woman of her age, particularly one with some obvious, if undefined, power around the office would have been even more of a rarity.) And what's to become of the next generation?
Maybe Sally's not the best example. She's got some problems specific to her own life. Despite the levity that preceded it, everything about Sally's sub-plot is a heartbreaker, from the willfulness she's developed as a defense mechanism against her mother—and by extension, the world—to the smile she wears while curled up on the couch. But nothing's so heartbreaking as her explosion in the SCDP office. She wants to stay, but she can't stay. But because she's still a kid, and a kid in the middle of a terrible situation, all she can think to do is scream and run and, inevitably, fall, a fall witnessed in horror seemingly every female SCDP staffer, who then group around her in concern. Here's a girl getting a bad deal, and however different they might be from each other, they feel for her. At one point or another, they've been her.
Stray observations:
• Until the end of the episode, Don remains clearheaded and good-humored throughout the episode. He's swimming. He and Fay are getting along. Though he's angry at how she got there, he's happy to have Sally with him. Then it all goes to hell and he takes a drink.
• "That's not a strategy. That's two strategies connected by an 'and'." True enough. But was anyone else surprised by how mouthy Ken felt free to be with Don in front of clients? And, even though he had a series of understandable distractions, did anyone else think it odd that Don signed off so quickly on the campaign? It's a good compromise. Maybe he just saw that and wanted to move on.
• How long will Megan last as Don's secretary? Should we take some bets?
• "Do you remember me from yesterday?"
• Does Peggy really have to worry about anyone publishing, or even reading, "Nurmeberg On Madison Avenue"?
• Off-topic but tangentially related: Here's an artifact of unabashed institutional sexism I found on Buzzfeed while writing this.
• Things I love about this show, item #53: The way it lets Abe witness Don's brusque treatment of the woman who brought Sally to the office. That's Don at his worst, but of course it confirms every awful opinion Abe has of Madison Avenue and all it represents. These characters' paths may never cross again, but they've got that meaningful moment.


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Today's Items:
Baltic Dry Index
The Baltic Dry Index, admired when rising and ignored when it drops, has collapsed by over 50% from its December highs and is back to August lows. This global trade barometer is simply tanking!
Losing Confidence
Officials in a certain government announced that the Chinese currency will now become legal tender. So, what country did that? Zimbabwe! Yes, the country that was the poster-child for hyperinflation and the butt of jokes in economic circles is now dropping the U.S. Dollar for something more stable. Adding to this is the fact that the dollar's share of global reserves has slowly fallen from roughly 75% in 2001, to just over 60% today.
Home Sales
Pending Home Sales collapsed 8.7% month-over-month – which is the worst since May 2010. So, what are the so-called experts blaming? The cold weather. Who would have imagined that global warming was needed to improve the economy? Where is ole 'man-bear-pig' Al Gore when you need him?
Established By The State
A provision in Obamawreck says that subsidies shall be available from exchanges established by the states. Since 34 states have not established exchanges, the IRS is spending federal tax dollars to create Federal exchanges in those states. If the courts rule against the IRS, then the Obamawreck scam dies. If the courts rule for the IRS, the IRS will be allowed to spend tax revenue without congressional authorization.
Top Health Care Source
It turns out that 50% of physicians reported that they have consulted Wikipedia. Yikes!
California Navigators
It turns out that 43 Obamawreck Navigators in California are convicted criminals. Three of them with records of significant financial crimes. Navigators also are likely to work with a population that is more vulnerable than average. Of course, this was expected since Obamawreck was passed by un-convicted criminals without reading it.
Eric Holder publicly states that he regrets not releasing pictures of the slain children at Sandy Hook Elementary. At the same time, he states he knew nothing about the Obama supporters involved in the IRS investigation. This is the chief law enforcement officer of the U.S. Government?
DHS On The Job
In their never ending job to terrorize err… safeguard Americans, Department of Homeland Insecurity agents seized counterfeit NFL Jerseys. Yes, they have saved America from fake Jerseys!
Finally, please prepare now for the escalating economic and social unrest. Good Day!
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It's Okay to Say "Merry Christmas," Charlie Brown
- Alan Sears Alliance Defense Fund
- 2005 19 Dec
Recently, I sat down with my family to watch the classic Christmas special, "A Charlie Brown Christmas."
I had not watched it for years, but I was intrigued after reading an article earlier in the day in USA Today 1 about the history behind this special – along with the recollections of a fellow Alliance Defense Fund team member who, as a child growing up in Santa Rosa, California, knew Peanuts creator Charles Schulz.
The article talked about how much this special continues to touch hearts 40 years after it first aired in 1965.
Why? Because when you hear Linus read Luke 2 at the end of the program, it is one of the very few times you will hear the real story of Christmas proclaimed on network television.
But it almost didn't happen – and wouldn't have – unless Charles Schulz, a quiet, unassuming, man of faith, hadn't stuck to his beliefs.
Schulz was told by Lee Mendelson, the producer of the program, "Look, you can't read from the Bible on network television." The same producer said, "When we finished the show and watched it ... I said, 'We've ruined Charlie Brown.'"
But Schulz insisted that the New Testament quotation regarding the birth of Christ remain, and he would not back down. On its first airing, over 50 percent of the viewing audience tuned it in, an amazing accomplishment, and the special went on to win both an Emmy and Peabody award. Forty years later, it remains one of the highest rated programs on network television when it airs. Mendelson now admits that he was dead wrong.
Why has "A Charlie Brown Christmas" endured all these years? Some of the reflections reported by USA Today article are illustrative that Americans today are yearning for a return to a time when the real meaning of Christmas could be openly proclaimed – free of interference from the forces of political correctness.
One parent, who planned to watch the program with her six-year-old daughter talked about the show's appeal: "It's the values. Would there be any programs for children on today that could get away with talking about the real meaning of Christmas?"
Peter Robbins, now 49 years old, who provided the voice for Charlie Brown, said, "This show poses a question that I don't think had been asked before on television: Does anybody know the meaning of Christmas?"
And another parent put it succinctly: "This is one of the last shows that actually comes out and talks about the meaning of Christmas. As a society, we're taking religion out of a lot of the trappings of the holiday. This one is different."
But perhaps the most touching comments come from Christopher Shea, now an adult, but at time was the 7-year-old boy who provided the voice for Linus' touching reading of Jesus' birth.
When asked about the show's impact, Shea said, "It's the words. People kept coming up to me and saying, 'Every time I watch that, I cry.' But as I got older, I understood the words more, and I understood the power of what was going on. Now I cry too."
Charles Schulz was not an activist. At the time the special was produced, he was more concerned about how the true meaning of Christmas had been lost in a sea of materialism. He was a quiet man with a wry sense of humor who shunned the spotlight. But he knew that the world was hungry to hear the real meaning of Christmas (even 40 years ago before Christmas cleansing began in earnest), the story of a little child born in a manger who would be God's greatest gift to the world.
When the head of Americans United for Separation of Church and State or someone from the American Civil Liberties Union threatens to silence the public celebration of Christmas, they are silencing something – as voiced by a small boy – that millions of Americans hold near and dear to their hearts.
Charles Schulz left this earth five years ago, but his legacy of faith lives on through the words of an animated character who, with just a few words, proudly proclaimed what has been called "the reason for the season." They are a lasting testimony to Schulz's faith and willingness to take a bold stand for the Gospel.
Merry Christmas. It's okay to say it, Charlie Brown.
Alan Sears, a former federal prosecutor who held various posts in the departments of Justice and Interior during the Reagan Administration, is president and CEO of the Alliance Defense Fund (www.telladf.org), a legal alliance defending America's first liberty – religious freedom – through strategy, training, funding and litigation. He is co-author with Craig Osten of the new book "The ACLU vs. America: Exposing the Agenda to Redefine Moral Values" (www.acluvsamerica.com). Learn more about ADF's Christmas Project at www.saychristmas.org.
1Bill Nichols, "The Christmas Classic That Almost Wasn't" - USA Today, December 6, 2005.


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Matchmove Artist – MPC LondonPosted in: The Job Lot
The Matchmove Artist is responsible for reproducing the geometry, camera movement and object movement of a live action shot in a 3D environment.
Primary Responsibilities:
* Supervise the tracking of CG elements, both camera and objects to match live-action footage in a 3D environment and to maintain consistent shot quality
* Work with production and Matchmove HOD to create matchmove schedules and project targets for your show
* Work with the Matchmove HOD to define any specific matchmove tools required for the show and identify any additions or modifications to our existing toolset required to realise this pipeline
* Set up and participate in matchmove dailies and desk rounds, providing feedback and guidance to Matchmove Artists
* Monitor daily progress to ensure targets are being met, adjusting the pipeline and schedules as necessary
* Act as the point of contact between Matchmove Artists and the show supervisors
* Conform any Lidar scans, Survey Data or matchmove specific geometry for Matchmove Artists prior to starting a sequence
* Report on the progress of the matchmove work on the show to the Matchmove HOD, with particular regard to the following:
* Whether the team is on target to meet their deadlines
* Technical issues
* Production issues
* R&D requests
* Team morale
Knowledge and Experience:
* Must have thorough knowledge of software based object tracking and 3D rotoscoping of a digital model to a live action background
* Proven Matchmove experience in a large feature-film VFX production environment
* Must be proficient in: 3D Equalizer, Maya and Boujou
* Knowlege of Shake and tracking in Shake an advantage. Experience with other tracking software (eg Matchmover) taken into account
* Must be able to model and manipulate geometry for scene reconstruction and to aid tracking
* Candidates should demonstrate a good eye for detail and precision with strong problem-solving skills
* Must have a solid understanding of camera moves and filming techniques
* Excellent team-leading abilities
* Excellent communication skills
* General understanding of linux/unix-based operating systems
* On set experience an advantage
Salary: Competitive remuneration package
Location: London


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SEC Employees Were Masturbating to Kiddie Porn While Your Economy Tanked
Over the past two years, more than a dozen Securities and Exchange employees and contractors have tried to view pornography on government computers at least 8,273 times. Here's what they were looking at while the global financial system cratered.
The Washington Times broke the story of the SEC's porn problem, which became the subject of numerous inspector general investigations, last month. And Dealbreaker subsequently published one report of an inspector general investigation into an SEC regional supervisor who viewed transvestite porn at work as stress relief.
Now we've obtained reports of 16 investigations into porn-surfing by SEC employees and contractors (one of them is a woman!), including one man who said his daily porn viewing at work was limited to "no longer than an hour and a half a day." The man told investigators that his porn habit grew out of looking at photos of men in bathing suits, which is sometimes known as "gateway porn":
It's unclear from the investigation report precisely what the man did (or does) for the SEC, but it's clear from the context of an interview transcript that he attended graduate school and works in a professional capacity. Two video files found on his computer were referred to the FBI because investigators suspected that the men depicted having sex in them were underage:
Anyway, here's the full list of sites referenced in all the investigations. Enjoy!
UPDATE: While the Washington Times was the first place to obtain detailed investigation reports into the SEC porn issue last month, the good people at ProPublica noted the existence of the investigations last year.


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As we (ahem) get older, our body sometimes acts as though it's been possessed by an alien being. We put on weight that we can't lose. We feel tired all the time. Our skin gets dry. Our hair thins. The list goes on. Plenty of people, especially women, blame these changes on their thyroid. And in an effort to reclaim their waistline and vitality, many are turning to over-the-counter thyroid boosters, a move that has doctors concerned.
A study published in the November 2013 issue of the journal Thyroid found that self-treating with OTC thyroid support supplements may cause thyroid levels to climb to abnormal levels, putting people are at risk for serious problems.
Thyroid 101
The thyroid, a tiny butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the neck, secretes a hormone that controls our metabolism, including our energy level; our weight; our body temperature; our mental health; and our muscle strength. It affects each and every cell, muscle and organ in our body.
And when it slows down, typically as we age, we develop hypothyroidism, or an underactive thyroid. Symptoms include weight gain; constipation; joint pain; fatigue; dry skin; brittle nails; hair loss; and even problems such as high cholesterol, a slow heart rate, carpal tunnel syndrome and depression.
While an underactive thyroid is easily treated with prescription thyroid medication, many people are trying to jumpstart their sluggish gland, or supplement their thyroid medicine, with thyroid "boosters", without medical supervision.
Researchers recently analyzed 10 commercially available dietary thyroid supplements marketed for "thyroid support." Half were sold as herbal-based preparations and half contained "raw thyroid" bovine tissue, concentrate or powder. The researchers found that most of the OTC supplements contained measurable amounts of two thyroid hormones—called T4 and T3. (T4, or thyroxine, hormone is prescribed to people with hypothyroidism. T3, or triiodothyronine, may be prescribed as well, though different organs naturally convert T4 into T3.) In fact, some of the supplements contained amounts of T4 or T3 that equaled or exceeded the dosage found in common prescription doses.
"It is horrible," says Stephanie L. Lee, M.D., Ph.D., director of the thyroid health center at Boston Medical Center. "Patients are taking these medications without knowing what's in them.
Supplement Risks
This is a concern for several reasons. Since the FDA doesn't evaluate or approve dietary supplements, consumers have no way of knowing if a product contains the ingredients or dosage listed on the label. What's more, manufacturers of supplements don't have to submit safety information to the FDA, so there's no way to track problems caused by the products. And since people may take supplements along with OTC or prescription medicines, they're at risk for potentially dangerous drug-supplement interactions.
According to Dr. Lee, thyroid medication has a narrow therapeutic index. Because of this, people need to have their thyroid levels measured before their doctor writes a prescription. Then the dosage of the medication has to be precisely calibrated to raise thyroid levels to a healthy level. What's more, each patient's levels need to be monitored to make sure they stay within a healthy range.
If you don't have a thyroid problem and take a thyroid supplement, your thyroid levels will climb. Ditto if you are taking prescription thyroid medication and a supplement. The result: Hyperthyroidism, or an overactive thyroid. People with this condition may experience symptoms such as heart palpitations, trouble sleeping, anxiety, excess sweating, weight loss, insatiable hunger, an intolerance for heat, hand tremors and diarrhea. That's not all.
Excess thyroid hormone can cause bones to lose calcium, according to Dr. Lee. "That's a known risk factor for osteoporosis," she says. Another risk: "Hyperthyroidism makes your heart beat harder and faster," she explains. That could affect blood flow to the heart, upping the risk for a heart attack.
The good news: Once you stop taking thyroid support supplements, your thyroid levels will drop and these symptoms should ease.
So-called thyroid support supplements have experts concerned for another reason. The study researchers found that some contained iodine-rich seaweed such as kelp or bladderwrack.
While the thyroid needs iodine to produce thyroid hormone, we get plenty from our diet. "If you get four cups of milk a day, you get all the iodine you need," says Dr. Lee. That's also the case if you use iodized salt sparingly when you cook, she adds. The extra iodine found in supplements may be enough to put you in the too-much-iodine range. "A little bit of iodine is good for you but a lot will shut down the thyroid if you have mild hypothyroidism," says Dr. Lee.
These supplements may also affect your thyroid treatment. "I have some patients whose thyroid function is never in the normal range and I never know why," says Dr. Lee. She suspects they may be taking thyroid support supplements and not telling her. "A patient's thyroid levels will be too high and I will adjust her medication," she says. "Or a patient will stop taking the supplements and her thyroid levels will go down."
To lose weight or boost energy, Dr. Lee recommends lifestyle changes, not supplements. "I do a lot of weight and fatigue management," she says. "If your thyroid function is normal, you are not tired and not losing weight because of your thyroid."
"It is part of natural aging to gain weight if you don't reduce calories and increase your exercise," she explains. And, she adds, if you don't make sleep a priority, then you are going to be tired.


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Detroit . . . it's international and freshwater, although a number (anyone KNOW that number?) of saltwater vessels pass through for such still-distant "ocean ports" as Chicago and Duluth.
Vessels in the race below are, l to r . . . Sheila Kaye, Josephine, Elmer Dean, J. M. Westcott II, and Sindbad. By the way, J. M. Westcott II could also go by the "floating zip code" of 48222. I'd love to see a floating post office take part in NYC's 2011 tugboat race . . . you mean the "sixth boro" does not have its own zipcode?? I wonder if the Terreform ONE folks anticipate a zipcode in their visions? Then again, will the USPS even exist in 2050 or 2111? Anyhow, more Westcott pics soon.
Again, Sheila Kaye, Josephine, Elmer Dean, and Marvin O.
Sindbad was the overall winner in the race from the Ambassador Bridge
to the Dieppe Gardens. If the info in this article is correct, Sindbad was built in 1925 in Buffalo, but I haven't corroborated that. It's not on the Buffalo DryDock site.
Elmer Dean . . . pretty . . . can anyone confirm that it was built in 1998?
An international race implies vessels from more than one country. You might not have suspected that Josephine began life as Wambrau, 1956, in Den Helder. In 1987 she became Sea Driver II, out of the VOC city of Enkhuizen, and at some point after that, became the Toledo, OH Josephine.
I'd wager Josephine is the only Toledo tug powered by Werkspoor. Here's an English language site on the company.
after portion of the house. The engine room must be light and airy with this many port holes in a hatch over the engine
All fotos come thanks to Jan van der Doe, frequent commenter who watched the race from the Ontario side. Thanks, Jan.
And I'm supposing that some of these tugs may have passed through the sixth boro at some point in their careers.


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Astropy Documentation¶
astropy package contains key functionality and common tools needed for
performing astronomy and astrophysics with Python. It is at the core of the
Astropy Project, which aims to enable
the community to develop a robust ecosystem of affiliated packages
covering a broad range of needs for astronomical research, data
processing, and data analysis.
If you use Astropy for work presented in a publication or talk please help the project via proper citation or acknowledgement. This also applies to use of software or affiliated packages that depend on the astropy core package.
Getting Started¶
User Documentation¶
Data structures and transformations¶
- Constants (
- Units and Quantities (
- N-Dimensional Datasets (
- Data Tables (
- Time and Dates (
- Time Series (
- Astronomical Coordinate Systems (
- World Coordinate System (
- Models and Fitting (
- Uncertainties and Distributions (
Files, I/O, and Communication¶
Computations and utilities¶
Nuts and bolts¶
Developer Documentation¶
The developer documentation contains instructions for how to contribute to Astropy or affiliated packages, install and test the development version, as well as coding, documentation, and testing guidelines.
For the guiding vision of this process and the project as a whole, see Vision for a Common Astronomy Python Package.
- How to make a code contribution
- Python virtual environments
- Try the development version
- When to rebase and squash commits
- Coding Guidelines
- Writing Documentation
- Astropy Narrative Style Guide: A Writing Resource for Contributors
- Testing Guidelines
- Astropy Testing Tools
- Writing Command-Line Scripts
- Building Astropy and its Subpackages
- C or Cython Extensions
- Release procedure for the astropy core package
- Workflow for Maintainers
- How to create and maintain a Python package using the Astropy template
- Full Changelog
There are some additional tools, mostly of use for maintainers, in the astropy/astropy-tools repository.


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For the week of July 24-30
July 24
1651—Anthony (or Antonio) Johnson, a free Black man who had purchased freedom for himself and his wife, is awarded 250 acres of land in North Hampton, Va. Johnson was among the first group of 20 Black indentured servants brought to America in 1619. Indentured servitude was a form of slavery which allowed the person to either work for or purchase his freedom. After becoming free, Johnson became the first wealthy Black person in America. He even purchased five indentured servants of his own. He probably picked up the name "Johnson" from his original owner but in official records from the period he is simply referred to as "Antonio the Negro."
1802—Famed French writer Alexandre Dumas is born. He was the product of a French general and a light-complexioned Black Haitian woman. Dumas would go on to become one of the world's greatest and most prolific writers. He is best known for his classics such as "The Three Musketeers" and "The Count of Monte Cristo." His blackness caused him some problems in French society, but by and large his fame and the money from his books enabled him to live an extravagant lifestyle.
1904—This is the day it is believed that actor Ira Aldridge was born in Africa. He would come to America, learn English and German, and develop into one of the world's most accomplished Shakespearean actors. He played the role of the Moor Othello on many occasions.


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Find us at careers fairs and universities throughout the year, across Europe.
Our recruitment team and consulting staff will be on hand to chat to you about careers in economic consulting and life at Frontier, and to answer any questions you might have.
Keep an eye on the events page for updates on when and where we'll be at a university near you, or check out our careers page for information, vacancies and how to apply.


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Eric Louviere's flagship program is: http://ClientAmplify.com
Go check it out!
Eric Louviere is a digital marketer and peak performance business coach. He has helped thousands of businesses from around the world add more revenue without working more "crazy" hours.
Eric has 20 years in the advertising and marketing and entrepreneurship world. He spends most of his time now teaching and helping others achieve the freedom lifestyle. Eric has earned tens of millions online and as a "business coach"
Eric Louviere generously shares his insights, secrets and teachings on his podcast show: Eric Louviere Show! Be sure and give the podcast a solid review if you've found it to be helpful for you and your business!
PODCAST found here: http://ericlouviereshow.com/
Eric is well known for his famous coined phrase: #JustSellBaby! Or #JSB!
Be sure and check out Eric's blog and site found here:
Follow Eric Here:
Get his signature program and course here:


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BIO 401 Senior Seminar
A seminar course required of all majors. Critical reading of primary literature, oral expression and experimental design are emphasized. Students intending to be off-campus during the first semester of their senior year should take this course during their junior year. This course is offered in the fall semester.
Credits: 1


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Hi there! Today's post is about another mani that I'm doing for the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge. This is challenge #6 VIOLET NAILS.
For this mani I painted my nails with Miss Sporty Lasting Colour 500 (2 coats, middle and index fingers, thumbs). This is a gorgeous purple polish.
I used MoYou London's Orchid Chic stamping polish and Pueen's 77 stamping plate (which is part of Pueen's Buffet Leisure collection).
For the ring fingers and pinkies I used floral water decals and 2 coats of Jess Oxygen. Jess nail polishes used to be exclusive to Poundland, but the brand disappeared.
I really liked this mani. Purple is one of my favourite (nail) colours, and the decals looked very nice with the holo glitter top coat.


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Imagine being the first band on the planet—and quite possibly in the universe—to release an album for the 2020 decade. An amazing feat, right? Well, there's a band on the west coast of the US who achieved just that—I kid you not—and the name is Ward.
Initially I had the privilege to make the band's acquaintance in June 2017, via an interview with the band's vocalist, Ward himself. A gracious and interesting interviewee, it was such a pleasure to get to know him and his music in more depth.
Now, I'm excited to familiarize all of you with (the band) Ward's latest release. As I said, the band purposefully released this creative effort on January 1, 2020 at exactly 12:00AM (UTC+14:00), the dawn of the new decade. In addition to being a collection of beautifully crafted and executed tracks, Ward has designated proceeds from the sales of the album "Bring Me Low" to go to NAMI, a well-respected organization that helps individuals cope with depression and other bouts of mental illness.
"Bring Me Low," a compendium of songs carefully and concisely illustrating the struggles that creative people find themselves in when battling depression is available for download HERE.
So, here are my thoughts on this brilliant album. I've listed it out by title track, each title encapsulated by a few lines of streaming consciousness/impressions scribbled out as I listened. But, please don't take my word for it. Preview and fall in love with "Bring Me Low" for yourself. And, when you make this album a part of your music collection, feel proud in knowing that you are playing a major part to help musicians, as well as all the rest of us, battle mental disease.
Album Title: Bring Me Low
Artist/band: Ward
© January 2020
Drums: Ryan Dietzenbach
Bass: Chris Gongora
Guitar/vocals: Ward
Guitar: Mauricio Munguia
Photography by Warren DiFranco
All songs by Ward except Further From The Edge (Ward & Munguia), Leave It On (Ward, Gongora, Dietzenbach) and All The Things I Want (Ward, Gongora, Dietzenbach, Munguia)
All songs mixed by The Elk, except Swimming and Leave It On, mixed by Jason Haag and The Elk, and Whatever Takes You Home, recorded live in one take at the lovely Rev9 studio.
Leave It On—My first thought as the song opens is that the melody resembles a very welcome throwback to the post-punk era of the music that I adore. A seriously wild bass riff anchors driving guitars and a frenetic beat that eventually morphs into a slower pace. But, the vocals never quit/slow down. The frantic lyrics and passionate vocals make listeners feel as if the vocalist is taking us along an anxious journey to a destination unknown.
All The Things I Want—Even though the lyrics are dark and full of introspection, the melody/tempo of this track consists of uptempo rhythms and jangly guitars that perfectly complement the vocals. There's a definite urgency that is clearly conveyed, and yet the listener is given the sense that perhaps the desires/results the singer longs for have been placed out of reach and ultimately abandoned.
I Can't Fake It Anymore—The vocals make no bones about the singer/subject being at the end of his rope. We've all experienced this state of mind in some form or another during our lives and this song encapsulates perfectly the anger, frustration, and disappointment that result.
Bring Me Low—An angelic anthem that tears at the soul. As a title song, it bears the burden of the entire collection, from introducing the theme to setting the mood. This beautifully haunting song is a success on both counts. Backing vocals harmonize over a bluesy and emotional melody, which then segues into a graphic description of a low point in one's life and a plaintive plea for relief. It's a song rife with the struggles and obstacles encountered on the journey to becoming clean and sober.
Further From The Edge—Ward's range on this track truly takes us to the edge, then draws us slowly back into our comfort/safety zone. It's like a roller coaster ride that is both exciting and terrifying because we realize we are not in control. All of us, at one time or another, has felt as though life keeps us hurtling along at its own pace, not ours, and this song is a graphic picture of the emotional tumult.
Swimming—Aurally, we are caught in a whirlpool of emotions. If this is what confusion of thoughts and loss of control sounds like, this track facilitates what it's like to walk in the shoes of someone in the throes of mental illness. It's not a pretty place to be—this song eventually has an end, but for some who suffer from depression, it can seem like no end is in sight. The lyrics and Ward's vocals take us to that place so that we can understand it more fully.
Unsettled Souls—This is an unapologetic explanation of why the singer is who he is. What you see is what you get, and we are advised to deal with it. Most of this album lays bare the essence of a person in the midst of mental illness, but this one track sums it up concisely.
Dirt—The message here seems to be that we all have the ability to choose the path our lives will take—up to a point. That path, once chosen, means there is no going backward, only forward to deal with it the best that we can.
Whatever Takes You Home—The lyrics in this track tell us that it's up to us and us alone to figure out how to maneuver our way through life. It's difficult for each and every one of us, fraught with mistakes and bad decisions, and sometimes we have to fail before we can successfully reach our destination. This is an honest look at what we all face, and Ward's vocals pull no punches.
There are three bonus tracks/add-ons that are included with the download: Helter Skelter, Don't Be Scared, and Sober.
Whatever you do, don't miss out on the opportunity to experience this incredible album, as well as contribute toward a wonderful and important cause. Again, the album Bring Me Low is just a click away and can be downloaded HERE.
And finally, Ward is pulling together a music compilation of peers and other international musicians to raise money for the Australian firefighting efforts. 100% of proceeds will benefit The Trustee for NSW Rural Fire Service & Brigades Donations Fund. Do your part to support this important and heartbreaking cause. Download/listen HERE.
Ward ~ Swimming (Official)
Ward ~ Whatever Takes You Home (Live)


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- Current Team
Head Coach College: Liberty University
Head Coach
College: Liberty University
Start Date: 04/01/2011
I started playing Disc Golf in California in the early '80's at the age of 12. Our neighborhood had installed modified baskets to light polls throughout the streets in our community and I remember throwing discs for hours on end. My Mom and I moved to Lynchburg in '87 and my interest shifted to other sports since disc golf had not arrived in Lynchburg until the mid '90's.
Once a course was installed in Lynchburg, I'd play morning and night. I loved the challenge and competition that the game brought and I began competing in local tournaments and statewide venues. The best part was the relationships developed, making lifelong friends and sharing the love of the game with others. But one course in Lynchburg was not enough. My passion soon turned to learning more about disc golf and working with city groups and friends from our tournaments to help expand the game throughout central Virginia.
I have been blessed to design and help build 2 courses thus far in central Virginia – Falling Creek in Bedford, VA and the home course on the campus of Liberty University. It's been awesome to hear people get so excited about something that I've had a passion toward for such a long time. I am very thankful to have the opportunity to coach and help others see the affect that a simple game can have in others lives, both physically and spiritually.
Since 1999, I have been a full-time missionary with WHEEL POWER Christian Cyclists, working with my Mom and spreading the gospel message on bicycles (and recently motorcycles) across the United States. My wife Heather & I have been married since 1993 and are blessed with 2 sons who love to throws discs just as much as I do! I'm excited to see this level of play take place on the campus where I spent some time learning and growing in Christ. I look forward to passing on the passion and enthusiasm I have, both for the Lord and disc golf, to the Disc Golf Club Sport team at LU. I believe it's all about encouraging and training this generation of golfers to use their gifts and talents to honor Christ in all that they do and strive to bring a national championship to LU through Disc Golf!


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Before we begin, I must confess I have a slight obsession with the fare I will be discussing today. I am drawn to the simplicity, the beauty, and the bold, yet refined flavors that exist within every morsel of this extraordinary gastronomic delight. The cuisine that I am referring to is none other than the versatile, yet humble Sushi.
For as long as I can remember I have been intrigued by all things Sushi and I am still entranced by it. As the world of food slowly delves deeper into the dark magic that is Gastronomy, Sushi remains steadfast in its straightforward approach of delivering savory, umami laden grenades of amazeballs. The skill and time it takes to become a true Sushi chef is tantamount to becoming a black belt in a martial art and I believe it is this dedication to deliciousness that has captivated my foodie soul.
Sushi is certainly not a new concept in the wonderful world that is the culinary arts. Hell, according to the Jewish Grandmother of the internet, Wikipedia, this particular form of food preparation started 2000 years ago. Furthermore, Sushi was one of the first "adventurous" epicurean eats to invade the foodie culture here in the states. Shit, it is now almost as mainstream as Chinese food, burgers, or pizza when it comes to takeout.
Taking this into consideration and the fact that if you are reading a food blog you are somewhat of a food connoisseur yourself, I am quite sure, like me, you have partaken in this form of appetizing, aesthetic food porn. More so, I am willing to wager that you believe that you have experienced the same level of sushi that is enjoyed by the citizens of its motherland. There is even a potential that you have reduced your feasting of this fabulous fish because you believe that you have, "been there, done that."
I blame seemingly every Chinese takeout restaurant on the planet to adding to the decline of the reverence that proper Sushi deserves. Every time a rouge untrained "Sushi Chef" butchers low grade fish and wraps it in sub-par rice, another member of the next foodie generation loses respect for this time honored tradition. As Admiral Ackbar once said, "it's a trap!!!"
After watching Jiro Dreams of Sushi on Netflix, my love for Sushi was rekindled and I felt the need to seek out an authentic Sushi meal. So, with a little help from my foodie friends Alex and Steph, and of course the internets I found the proper place to subdue the now burning desire in my belly, Sushi on Jones, located at 348 Bowery St. in New York City, NY.
I was immediately lured to Sushi on Jones because they only serve their sushi in the style of Omakase, a Japanese phrase that means, "I'll leave it up to you." In other words, the Chef selects the dishes you will eat during your meal. This style of eating is usually quite pricey and in the city it can run you hundreds of dollars per person, but much like Homey the Clown, Sushi on Jones don't play that! In fact, when I saw the price on their website, $50, they had me hook, line, and sinker. #NeverPardonMyPuns
There are a few things to think about if you decide to let Sushi on Jones rock your foodie world. First off, this joint only has six seats so you will need a reservation. You can Text (917)-270-1815 or e-mail email@example.com to score one. Secondly, you will be eating outside, yes outside, suck it up and dress accordingly. Finally you will be served 12 pieces of taste bud tantalizing; life changing Sushi that will make you rethink every piece of Sushi that you have ever put in your food hole.
I would imagine you want to know what the catch is, you cynical bastard. Well, the only catch is you have to eat all of it in 30 minutes. It sounds like you might feel rushed, but they have their service down to a science and you actually don't get that sense at all. Just don't be D-bags like the people that ate before us and linger like you are at a diner at 2 A.M.. Respect the process so everyone can enjoy the awe inspiring food that is being served at this fine establishment. Like their sign says, Less Talk…More Eat.
When we visited Sushi on Jones the menu was displayed prominently on the wall of the Sushi Bar. We were able to follow Jiro's lead and dream about Sushi while we waited patiently for our place at the bar. There is not really a waiting area so we tried really hard not to hover as the guests that were seated before us were receiving their sushi one piece at a time. This was harder than you would think, I assure you.
The bar was reset shortly after the lingerers ceased their lollygagging and we were invited to take our seats. We were offered hot tea or iced green tea which was served post haste and our experience at Sushi On Jones began.
A traditional sushi board was placed in front of each us complete with a pair of fresh chopsticks. A pile of extra potent wasabi and pickled ginger adorned the board, as well as a small bowl for the soy sauce, we soon learned we would not need.
Our first course hit the board and the moment of truth was upon us. I am not sure what was higher, our hopes that this Sushi was going to be what we were craving or our expectations of this Sushi thanks to my fellow food bloggers. We carefully picked up what we assumed was Fatty Tuna with our chop sticks and slowly brought it towards our mouths simultaneously. If I was a 13 year old girl, or my 45 year old friend that texts like a 13 year old girl, I believe that I would insert the bomb emoji here to indicate that there was a literal explosion of flavor in my mouth. From that first bite we all knew we were in for a treat.
As the second course was set in front of us, we had yet to stop talking about the first. Next up was the Salmon, we presumed, and with now even higher expectations we scooped it up with our sticks and chowed down. **Spoiler Alert** This time it was not only the fish that brought us to flavor country, but the burst of heat that the wasabi, which was hiding underneath, brought the table. After this course, I completely stopped adding any additional sauce or wasabi to the pieces that were being presented as I realized that the Chefs might know a thing or two more than the Chefs I am used to.
The third course was a wee bit scary, but Sushi on Jones had not steered us wrong as of yet, so we put our faith in them. Scallops, in general are not my favorite and the idea of raw scallops was not something I was really looking forward to. My instincts were bad and I should feel bad! The scallop was buttery, soft, and not overly fishy at all and the salty sauce that was drizzled on top only added to the allure.
While my compatriots and I were arguing about which course so far was the best, our chefs were hard at work preparing the next offering. This is the attention to detail I alluded to earlier, each piece of this fish is hand seared with a blow torch before being served.
We were jib jabbering too much about the good and plentiful bounty we were eating that when our fourth course arrived we missed the Chef's description. After a little bit of research, I believe it was the Hamachi. I may be wrong about the type of fish, but I am damn sure of one thing, it was freaking tasty. The small dollop of garnish that acted as a crown for the fish was somewhat sweet, yet vinegary and perfectly complemented the lightly seared flesh of the fish.
There was no denying what the fifth course was, and I was super excited to see it hit the board. Salmon Roe is what people would call an acquired taste, and I have acquired the hell out of it. Honestly, I believe that it is not the taste that is acquired but the texture, since each individual ball of amaze explodes in your mouth releasing a wonder of flavor and fishy goodness. Steph was not a huge fan of the zesty detonation that occurred during the chewing portion of this offering, as was apparent from the face she made while eating it. However, Alex and I were all in.
I believe our second piece of salmon graced our Sushi board next for our sixth course. To no surprise this piece was just as spectacular as the first.
Our seventh course sparked a conversation, which of course turned into a debate. This little pretty was presented to us as our second piece of tuna. The discussion that ensued was about what type of tuna we were looking at. You see as you dive deeper into the world of Sushi you soon find out that not all Tuna is equal and much like craft beer the hierarchy is based primarily on personal preference. In my humble opinion, they are all fantastic but this, which I believe is known as Blue Fin Tuna, is my favorite. It possesses the tenderness of the fatty tuna but a beauty unlike any other Tuna in the world. It is the Mila Kunis of Tuna.
Our eighth course was the often misunderstood and damn near always misrepresented Wagyu, meaning Japanese Cow. I was very excited to see that Sushi on Jones did not attempt to bamboozle their guests by calling their beef Kobe. In New York City this scam is constantly run on customers at high-end restaurants and often goes unnoticed. Kobe Beef is Wagyu that comes from a very specific region in Japan and is insanely rare in the states. Think about it like the square/rectangle comparison, as in, all Kobe is Wagyu but not all Wagyu is Kobe. Sorry for the diatribe but I feel like that is an important lesson for a foodie, like yourself, to know. Now back to our regularly scheduled program.
To quote the late great Harry Caray, HOLY COW! This Wagyu was skillfully seared and elegantly seasoned which delivered a punch of precision. It was not only juicy but the consistency of the meat was udder perfection. No, I did not spell that wrong. It is a thinker. I will wait. Give it a second. Wait for it. There it is. I knew you could do it.
As the ninth course was distributed to the three of us, we realized that our experience was almost up. However, even though this thought left us somewhat somber, the gigantic shrimp sitting in front of us raised our spirits. I am not going to lie, I was nervous about this one too, because I have not liked raw shrimp in the past. However, I should have known this late in the game that the Chefs at Sushi on Jones know what the hell they are doing and this piece made me realize I just had eaten the wrong raw shrimp!
Our tenth course was the Sushi version of The Durian Fruit. The ever potent and often avoided Uni, or Sea Urchin. Uni gets a bad rap in the Sushi game because most Chefs are not skilled enough to prepare it and when done wrong it is bad, and not like the 1980's bad that meant good, like the 2010's bad that once again means awful. The other problem is eating Uni is not a sprint, it is a marathon. Meaning the first bite is almost painfully powerful, but then each subsequent bite gets better and better. Sushi on Jones once again nailed the execution of this difficult dish and I was smiling all the way to the finish line.
If I was not already a fanboy of the Chef's dealing out Sushi through the small window in front of our seats, our eleventh course, made me want to ask them for their autographs. These mad sushi scientist decided to adorn our second piece of Wagyu with a hat made out of Uni. This decadent little slab of amazing was one of the best pieces that was served to us during our meal at Sushi on Jones. The juxtaposition of flavors and textures between the Cow and the Urchin were magical. So much so, I am convinced that this is what Unicorn must have tasted like, which is probably why they are extinct. Shut up! I said extinct! They are not mythical, they were real and their flesh tasted of Uni and Wagyu!
As our twelfth and final course of this outrageous omakase odyssey was placed before us I was not only surprisingly satiated but extremely pleased with what had just arrived. Eel and I have been friends for quite some time and I was very excited to try out the Sushi on Jones version. Lo and behold, I was not disappointed! Their eel sauce had all the components I look for when I order Eel, sweet, smoky, and slightly sticky and the meat itself was divine. It was the perfect way to finish our meal… Or so we thought.
Sushi on Jones has one or two off menu specials per day that looked too good in the market for the Chefs to pass up. Today they had Oysters and Alex, Steph, and I also just could not resist. We made the right choice as the sauce that these meaty mighty molluscs were bathed in was unlike any Oyster sauce I have ever tasted. Correction! This was the perfect way to end this opulent meal.
If you have not guessed from the verbose praise above, I completely fell in love with Sushi on Jones! This eatery combines a unique eating style, a laser focus on the remarkable food they serve, and an approachable price point. Much like the Golden State Warriors in 2017 that triple threat is unbeatable!


text:
An education which does not teach us to discriminate between good and bad, to assimilate the one and eschew the other, is a misnomer.
Education should be so revolutionized as to answer the wants of the poorest villager, instead of answering those of an imperial exploiter.
Education in the understanding of citizenship is a short-term affair if we are honest and earnest. Basic education links the children, whether of cities or the villages, to all that is best and lasting in India.
Is not education the art of drawing out full manhood of the children under training?
Literacy in itself is no education.
Literacy is not the end of education nor even the beginning.
Literacy education should follow the education of the hand—the one gift that visibly distinguishes man from beast.
Real education has to draw out the best from the boys and girls to be educated.
True education must correspond to the surrounding circumstances or it is not a healthy growth.
What is really needed to make democracy function is not knowledge of facts, but right education.
National education to be truly national must reflect the national condition for the time being.
The function of Nayee-Talim is not to teach an occupation, but through it to develop the whole man.
I believe that religious education must be the sole concern of religious associations.
By education I mean an all-round drawing out of the best in the child and man—body, mind and spirit.
By spiritual training I mean education of the heart.
Experience gained in two schools under my control has taught me that punishment does not purify, if anything, it hardens children.
I consider writing as a fine art. We kill it by imposing the alphabet on little children and making it the beginning of learning.
I do regard spinning and weaving as the necessary part of any national system of education.
The aim of university education should be to turn out true servants of the people who will live and die for the country's freedom.
A balanced intellect presupposes a harmonious growth of body, mind and soul.
Love requires that true education should be easily accessible to all and should be of use to every villager in this daily life.
The notion of education through handicrafts rises from the contemplation of truth and love permeating life's activities.
The fees that you pay do not cover even a fraction of the amount that is spent on your education from the public exchanger.
Persistent questioning and healthy inquisitiveness are the first requisite for acquiring learning of any kind.
If we want to impart education best suited to the needs of the villagers, we should take the vidyapith to the villages.
In a democratic scheme, money invested in the promotion of learning gives a tenfold return to the people even as a seed sown in good soil returns a luxuriant crop.
All education in a country has got to be demonstrably in promotion of the progress of the country in which it is given.
The schools and colleges are really a factory for turning out clerks for Government.
The canker has so eaten into the society that in many cases the only meaning of education is a knowledge of English.
The emphasis laid on the principle of spending every minute of one's life usefully is the best education for citizenship.