Deep Thoughts~whats in ,on my mind and whats out there. - sagefever's Blog - Bakersfield.com

Murder, Madness, Garlic and Snails

An untrue story of madness:

Hello, my name is sage and I am a snail murder.

I started small, as most mass murders do. The first time was an accident; I heard the squish of shell underneath my boot before I even saw the creature. The joy it gave me was indescribable, a thrill rushed up my spine, some small part of me knew it was sick, but who would miss a snail? Thus began a never-ending quest, my desire to save my petunias at any cost. That is right~ my murder spree began as the simple human need to have a few flowers, some small vegetables, but inextricably grew into madness.

At first, the occasional “accident” would keep me satisfied, but the need kept growing for more and darker thrills. I have used beer to lure the hapless creatures into the nightmare of addiction and early death. I have placed traps, wooden boards, large rocks, to supply the unsuspecting snail what appears to be a safe haven for rest~ but in reality was a one way trip to the bucket of death .I have laid alluring bait, a veritable snail feast to their senses, but it will be the last meal they ever have. I have gone alone on a moonlit night to gather the oblivious snails~ sometimes even whole families~ on my relentless killing spree. Repeatedly I convinced myself my lust for snail death was under control, that I could quit anytime. Nonetheless, I would soon develop the need for a new thrill to satiate my taste for slaughter.

I descended into insanity after a month of snail free beds, my flowers bright, my vegetables thriving ~ and no sign of snail tracks or their scat. The moon was near full, so I went to the yard to moon bathe…there they were! Hundreds of them emerging from my peaceful neighbor’s yard ~ the coward let them thrive! They slowly came towards my plants, inching towards me, their little stalks waving …my mind whirled and it hit me…salt. A quick sprinkle from above and they oozed, bubbled, twisted in agony, the slime turning into a horrid shade of green. Like some vengeful god, a snail Shiva goddess of death, dancing madly across my own personal killing fields, I sprinkled and gamboled about, as hundreds met their genocide. My mad cacophony of laughter and shrieks of sick perverse giggling awakened my husband. The porch light snapped on, there I stood, caught shaker in hand, dead twisted bodies surrounding me. I could not hide my lunacy any longer.

I spent some weeks in treatment; it was hard but the thought of exposure to the world as a snail sociopath kept me there. My family needed me a wholeperson again, not always in a semi-dazed state between desire for my drug of choice and their needs. I graduated, came home to my precious family, finally sane and to find I had a gardener, thoughtfully provided by my husband.

One bright sunny normal day I was reading a seed catalog, my eye caught an article all about escargot~ imagine my delight to see our very own common snail was the base for this gourmet delight. I justified, rationalized and finally convinced my husband that this was normalcy! Now I could simply switch from murderess to “cook”…
The End ?

Inspired by recent comments about waiters, garlic, France, and snails. Now for the “rest of the story”,the true story.

While I am no sociopath, I do not have an affinity for snails, they seem to know just when I have planted what they consider fresh tender snacks. I did read an article about escargot and promptly sent off to the Farm Home Adviser for instructions. One needs a bucket, a mesh cover, around 5lbs.of cornmeal and of course, snails, the larger ones work best. For a period of two weeks feed them the cornmeal, provide them with some water and remove any sluggish or dead snails. They do climb to the top to expire and to try to escape. Freshen the cornmeal as desired; as they consume the meal they are purged of any toxins, poisons and what have you. If you are suspicious as to a snails health ~ toss them out!

Then you simply boil them, about 10-15 min., skimming the scum that forms on top of the water until no more appears. If you want to go all out boil them in a broth of onions, carrots, celery and a bouquet garni. They usually come free of the shell when cooked; the stubborn few can easily be pulled out. Save the shells. Dice the meat, and then mix with some minced garlic, chopped parsley, a bit of butter and a slash of good olive oil. Spoon the mixture back into the shells and bake until bubbly. They do have special baking dishes for this, but I find a pie tin works fine.

I first had these locally, a tasty dish but expensive (for snails!) and they were definitely canned. Fresh they are still chewy; hence, the dicing of the meat, but like most things fresh is better. If you like parsley, garlic, butter and olive oil, you may well enjoy escargot. In these hard economic times, it is good to have survival skills! LOL

Some quick movie suggestions

I have not written a movie review in weeks, it seems like they would just get lost in all the verbiage that has been flying lately. Nonetheless, I have been watching a few that merit a quick recommendation.
First, as we all know my love of Shakespeare: the restored 1935 version of Warner Brothers presents a Max Reinhardt Production, a Midsummer’s Night Dream, delighted me as a child. Now I recognized the butcher job done to the words, but still the imagery delights and the music transcends. The DVD has some interesting special features, a window into our past.
Rendition~ I see why this one did not do so well, yet for the type of person who views film and is a “thinker“, it is worth a look. Layered on top of the classic tale of a Romeo and Juliet love story, this case of mistaken identity, coupled with the questions of how far is too far, at what point is safety simply too costly, offers the viewer no simple choices or answers. These characters, and there are many of them, are very real~ conflicted agents of power. No real “bad guys”, no real hero’s, you must find your own answers. The DVD has a short documentary about the victims of rendition that inspired the film.
Regret to Inform~ A short documentary about the American/ Vietnam conflict, this time from the widow’s viewpoint. We follow a woman who years later goes back to Vietnam to see where her husband died, meeting several other widows from both sides. Excellent archival footage of the war, beautiful photography of a beautiful country, this begs the viewer to consider war from a grieving woman’s perspective.
Waitress~ a sweet quirky film written, directed, acted by Adrienne Shelly. Great performances by Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion (Firefly), Cheryl Hines, Jeremy Sisto and as always, the wonderful Andy Griffith, the cast makes these characters real people. “If only life were as easy as pie”~ this is a fun movie with a great message, be proud of who you are. Tragically Shelly died before she could see this film’s success, but left a love letter to her child with this little gem. Justice was served, her murder was sentenced to 25 years this March.

AP:Palin gets zoning aid,free gifts.

"By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE, Associated Press Writer Sun Sep 28, 11:58 AM ET

WASILLA, Alaska - Though Sarah Palin depicts herself as a pit bull fighting good-old-boy politics, in her years as mayor she and her friends received special benefits more typical of small-town politics as usual, an Associated Press investigation shows.

When Palin needed to sell her house during her last year as Wasilla mayor, she got the city to sign off on a special zoning exception — and did so without keeping a promise to remove a potential fire hazard.

She gladly accepted gifts from merchants: A free "awesome facial" she raved about in a thank-you note to a spa. The "absolutely gorgeous flowers" she received from a welding supply store. Even fresh salmon to take home.

She also stepped in to help friends or neighbors with City Hall dealings. She asked the City Council to add a friend to the list of speakers at a 2002 meeting — and then the friend got up and asked them to give his radio station advertising business.

That year, records show, she tried to help a neighbor and political contributor fighting City Hall over his small lakeside development. Palin wanted the city to refund some of the man's fees, but the city attorney told the mayor she didn't have the authority."

Read the rest of the article here

Guesstimate Your Taxes under both Candidates

Estimate your taxes under both candidates plans here .Caveat: I saw this in a Yahoo news article and know absolutely nothing about this site. It is a ,com~ so I kept any info I gave very general.The only personal question was the day,year I was born.

Kung Fu Hustle~ a great film

Though I am not usually a fan of Kung Fu movies, much to the dismay of Mr. Sage, there are times in life that call for inspiration on regards to a fight, a bit of stylized violence and a hearty laugh.

Scene: Canton China,sometime in 1940
An old man, clad only in boxers, a “wife beater .and plastic sandals, surrounded by well-dressed gang members, watches warily as a gun holding hood approaches. The hood towers over the old man for a moment, and then the old man, now in possession of the gun asks inquisitively “Do they make this for men?” Mayhem erupts.

Martial arts films are thought by many to be violent, some are but this one, to quote Roger Ebert “…the best ones have the same relationship to violence that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers do to romance: no one takes it seriously but it gives them an excuse for some wonderful choreography.”

R-rated for stlized violence, a too short 1 hr. 39 min. flies by as the bumbling wanna’ be bad guy is transformed into the hero. .Amazing wire work (the genius behind the Matrix), comical Kung Fu moves, with concise witty dialog it unfolds with a wink and a nod to both old school King Fu, Hollywood classics, and American film scores. You could spend hours spotting these homage’s and really test your knowledge of film. I spotted nods to Ghostbusters, The Exorcist, The Shining, and LOTR: Return of the King and many classic American movie lines. Naturally, there are also nods to the Shaw brothers, Bruce Lee, and Jackie Chan.

The deluxe DVD has all the features I like in foreign films, the options for the dialog to be Cantonese with English subtitles (think Lost in Translation), English dialog with English subtitles (more Lost in Translation). There is a director, actor commentary feature, a special behind the scenes feature that was shown on Chinese television and much more.

A final quote by Roger Ebert describing this film: “Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton meets Quentin Tarantino and Bugs Bunny.”

Go ahead rent this film~ I double dog dare you!

Sweat Shops right Here in Our Town:Life as it should not be.

Just read this article on about CAL/OSHA checking on working conditions for farm workers here at TBC site~ good. I hope they help them more than they help the folks in this story,that a friend of a friend of my cousins housekeeper told me. *Ahem*

It seems that towards the *westside* (edit),in one of those cement block constructed strip malls, workers have been toiling away for over five,count 'em five weeks,without any air conditioning. Two people have already suffered heat strokes,but apparently upper corporate managemnet just drags their feet.And shovels the blame downhill of course.

CAL/OSHA came out after mysteriously finding out about the situation. They took notes,with reported temps at 120 degrees, near the south facing unfilmed windows at the front of the store. Nonetheless, there is no relief in site yet.Customers also complained ,so the Company rented big expensive machines, placed in a insanely small cramped store, that "are not meant to cool the store" and also trip the eletricity breakers .The employees are drinking liquids like crazy but it sure seems like this company is risking much for little gain. What they expect to gain is anyone's guess. But hey it is a "beauty~ filled "day.

Yes I am "post happy" today.

PolitiFact~ another tool to cool the hot air and get the facts

This time seemed ideal to mention another great non-partisan site that lets you check ads,statements and...political speech claims.It is called PolitiFact and you may find the original article here . They also allow you to submit story ideas for them to analyze.Some fun features include The Truth-O-Meter,The Flip-O-Meter and The Attack File. Brought to us by the St. Petersburg Times and the Congressional Times.

FACT SHEET: Are you experienced?

By Angie Drobnic Holan
Published on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 08:33 p.m.

SUMMARY: We compare the backgrounds of the Democratic and Republican tickets.

Experience has been a popular issue this campaign season. Now that we know who all the players are on the Democratic and Republican tickets, we can tally up their backgrounds.

As we have noted in examinations of the candidates during the primary season, history doesn't provide a very clear record on the relationship between specific types of experience and performance in office. For our purposes, we'll avoid judgments about the value or relevance of the experience in these candidates' backgrounds and simply lay them out.

SEN. JOE BIDEN, Democratic vice presidential nominee

Biden, 65, was elected to the U.S. Senate representing Delaware at the young age of 29. He was not old enough to hold the office on Election Day, but he turned 30 before it was time to take the oath of office. This means Biden has been a U.S. senator for close to 36 years.

Prior to his service in the Senate, Biden was a member of the New Castle County Council for two years, and he was an attorney in private practice for four years.

Professional/legal experience: Four years.

County government experience: Two years.

Federal legislative experience: 36 years.

GOV. SARAH PALIN, Republican vice presidential nominee

Palin, 44, was elected governor of Alaska in 2006 and will have served two years by the end of 2008.

Prior to that, Palin was the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, for six years, from 1996 to 2002. She was on the city council for four years before that.

Wasilla has a strong-mayor form of government. The mayor breaks ties on the city council and acts as the city administrator. When Palin took office in 1996, the pay was $68,000. In 2000, Wasilla had a population of 5,469, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. It is located near the city of Anchorage.

During her tenure as mayor, Palin focused on increasing funding for basic infrastructure.

During her bid for re-election in 1999, the Anchorage Daily News reported that Palin "counts among her successes the recently opened Fred Meyer store, the passage of a $5.5 million road and sewer bond, and the near halving of property taxes from 2 mills to 1.2 mills, the equivalent of an $80-a-year drop in taxes on a $100,000 home." Palin also cut the budget of the city's museum, and all three of the museum's employees quit in protest.

Terms limits prevented her from running for mayor again in 2002. Instead, she ran for Alaska lieutenant governor and lost. In 2003, Gov. Frank Murkowski appointed her to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, where she served about a year before leaving the commission and blowing the whistle on fellow Republicans for conflicts of interest and conducting campaign work on public time.

In 2006, she ran for governor, defeating the incumbent Murkowski in a primary and then winning the general. She took office on Dec. 4, 2006, and will have held office for two years a month after Election Day.

When she was in her 20s, Palin spent about two years as a TV sports reporter from 1987 to 1989. She has also been part-time small business owner with her husband while she held office in Wasilla, according to the Almanac of American Politics. The Palins had a commercial fishing operation and a snow machine, watercraft, and all-terrain vehicle business.

TV reporter: Two years.

Small business owner: Nine years, includes part-time work.

Municipal legislative experience: Four years.

Municipal executive experience: Six years.

State commission experience: One year.

State executive experience: Two years.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, Democratic presidential nominee

Obama, 47, has been a U.S. Senator for Illinois for the past four years.

Prior to that, he was a state senator for eight years, from 1996 to 2004.

He also was a civil rights attorney for four years full time, and he practiced law part time during the eight years he was in the state legislature.

Obama also taught law school part-time and wrote a couple of best-selling memoirs. Right after college, Obama spent three years working as a community organizer, a part of his history that is often highlighted on the campaign trail.

Community organizer: Three years.

Professional/legal experience: Four years full-time and eight years part-time.

Teaching experience: 11 years part-time.

State legislative experience: Eight years.

Federal legislative experience: Four years.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN, Republican presidential nominee

McCain, 72, has been a U.S. senator from Arizona since 1986, for a total of 22 years. Prior to that, he served in the U.S. Congress for four years, from 1982 to 1986.

He also served for 22 years in the U.S. Navy. Included in that time are the five and a half years he spent in a prisoner of war camp; the four years he served as the U.S. Navy Liaison to the Senate; and the 13 months he spent as the executive for the Replacement Air Group 174 in Jacksonville.

Federal legislative experience: 26 years.

Military experience: 22 years.

End of article~me talking now.

As this simply and easily shows some statements made lately from all sides are simply not true,but have been spread like some kind of,well,virus.Be passionate,advocate for your side,but do not spread lies and half truths.

David Hoffman on loss and gain

If you have not checked out the Ted Talks~ you should, they are endlessly varied. This particular talk is a short one, some 4 minutes but seems somehow appropriate today and tomorrow.

We have all faced varied losses, as has our country. This is the proverbial got lemons make lemonade talk, with interesting images and an interesting viewpoint.

Nine days before the 2008 Ted Talks were to begin filmmaker David Hoffman lost nearly all he had. Thirty year of collecting, his home, his films, office, photos all in twenty minutes. Here he looks back on a “life wiped clean” and looks to his lemonade.

His films include documentaries on everything from Amelia Earhardt to B.B. King, from F-15 fighter pilots and double dutch jump rope. From the ashes, the phoenix arises.

Here is the link

Searching Who to Vote For?

It is election time for those of you just tuning in. Most of us here are months into the back and forth of political backbiting, and our ideologies are firmly in place. This post is for those who may find themselves here, trying to get an idea of who the heck to vote for.

While there are some fine minds here on all sides and in between, and many great discussions (okay food fights might better term describe it) the posts can be confusing for the first timer and for the unsure whom to trust.

My advice is do not trust any of us~, we all have an agenda. I am an Obama Biden voter but my true agenda is to get you involved in the process. Your country needs you. It needs you to stop trusting those emails your “friends” send you, to stop simply accepting what the party you always voted for says, what your neighbor thinks and what you heard the lady say while picking over the onions in your grocer.

I will assume you have or can get access to a computer, use it. Several great organizations out there actually check the dogma and rhetoric that candidates spout. My favorite non-partisan ( that means really fair and balanced) site is the one brought to us by the Annenberg project: http://www.factcheck.org/default.html Today on this site the nomination speech of Obama is analyzed and found to be mostly true except were he stretched the facts. There is another fact check on McCain’s cherry picking Obama’s remarks about Iran. The truth about Obama and Infanticide, and an interesting bit of “truthiness” called Rezko and Reality, and another scorcher about Obama improperly linking Reed and McCain. This is just a sample.
If you run across a name you’re unfamiliar with, Google is your friend.

I know this might take time ~but it will be more productive than listening to us bicker here. Not nearly as entertaining, I must admit. However, I beg of you to spend the few minutes to better use the amazing process that got America here~ voting.

Dark Skies

I just got a great email from the folks at the Dark Skies Initiative~go to http://www.astroimage.info/images/deepsky/nebula/index.htm for some great pictures of what can be seen from Mt. Pinos. These photos show why we need to get behind this measure far better than any words could.