Google?

Laura
Originally uploaded by basykes.

I used to work for her in a secretarial service. She's an interesting lady, who now owns an apple orchard and runs a fruit stand. She excelled in business in the pre-computer era, but did not handle modern technology all that well. I hadn't seen her in about 15 years. She still doesn't understand modern technology.

At one point this weekend she learned I had an on-line journal and couldn't quite understand how I could write things that anybody in the world could read. Someone else tried to explain that all you had to do was "google" my name and the site would come up.

I recognized that telling someone who barely knows what a computer is to "google" anything to find a "site" is like suggesting a Mountain Gorilla take a shopping cart and buy a bunch of bananas at the local Safeway.

I told her I didn't understand it either--that it all worked by "magic," and that it was the same magic that allowed me to put a piece of paper in a machine in Davis and have the contents come out on a piece of paper in Japan.

That seemed to make more sense.

"I always wondered what happened to the piece of paper," she said.

As I said, she's a neat lady, but technology is not her friend.

Murphy's Law

We are midway through the heat wave here, with temps having been in the 100s for about a week (6 days, I think) and predicted to be within 2 or 3 degrees of 100, if not over 100, up until the time I fly off to Washington on Thursday.

So what happens today?

The neighbor comes to tell me that our a/c fan is not working, which explains to me why it didn't seem to be cooling off the house all that efficiently yesterday.

I've left a message for the a/c guys and it's now just a question of whether they can get here tomorrow or not. In the meantime, I'm doing a lot of sweating and no wonder the puppies are so grumpy.

A sight to behold

A young Hispanic guy rang my doorbell this afternoon. I was expecting Ashley, from the SPCA, who was going to bring me more puppy formula, so I went to the door, even though I was in the middle of feeding Weasley. I wonder what this guy thought. Here's this fat lady in shorts and t-shirt (no bra) standing there with fly-away hair (I don't think I brushed my hair this morning) with sweat dripping down her face ('cause it's 102 outside). In the yard Sheila is barking her head off, Kimba ran out to greet the guy, who backed down the driveway, afraid she'd attack him. I have this fat, squirmy puppy over my arm and behind me two more puppies are yapping.

I don't think I want to think about what the total picture must have been. The term "trailer trash" does come to mind!!! (All I needed was a cigarette hanging out my mouth and a beer in the other hand!)

Everyone's a critic

I recently reviewed a production of "The King and I," a show which I gave a very good review, save for some constructive criticism about the need for make-up for two of the Siamese women. Today appeared a scathing review of my review, with follow-up note by my editor:

I take issue with BevSykes' review of the Davis Musical Theatre Company's production of "The King and I." To publicly single out any actor for not looking the part, only because of the color of skin and hair one happens to be born with, is offensive, unprofessional, and cruel.

Regarding Chelsea Betty (Tuptim) in her Siamese headgear, she states, "...made her look like Malibu Barbie on the way to a Halloween party." She compares Jennifer Bonomo (Ladn Thiang) to "...a woman who looks like my aunt Barb" only because they are Caucasian actors with Caucasian features. Apparently I "look the part," according to Ms. Sykes, meaning "Siamese or Burmese." I am of Mexican and Filipino heritage; so much for "authenticity."

As an actor of color, I would find it intolerable had my fellow Caucasian actors stopped to Ms. Sykes' vision of "make-up magic" to fit the part, especially in this day and age in DAvis, a bastion of tolerance and diversity. Why insult the intelligence of our audience? Director Steve Isaacson and the actors chose to rely on their talent and skill in their portrayals.

Ms. Sykes must have taken a potty break during the ironic "Western People Funny" number as the King's Siamese wives hobble around in clown-white makeup and "swollen skirts," bemoaning th3e futility of trying to look like a European lady. Duh!

Would Ms. Sykes have made a similar comment had the role of Anna Leonowens been played by an actor of color? Had Ms. Beatty chosen to "look the part," I sense Ms. Sykes' comments would have compared her to a Malibu Barbie dipped in a vat of caramel.

Having the honor and privilege of working alongside Ms. Beatty, Ms. Bonomo and all my other talented cast members, I can attest that the power of their performances transcends their skin color and inspires me to be a King of "commanding presence." Ms. Sykes' backwoods comments will only strengthen and solidify our remaining performances.

Juan Ramos (King Mongut)

Enterprise editor Derrick Bang replies:

Juan Ramos seriously overstates the degree to which Bev Sykes commented on the issue of color-blind casing, and he glosses over her key point: The issue is not (obviously) merely racial characteristics, but credibility and verisimilitude. Absent some effort to make an actor look or sound appropriate for a part which--as written--demans cultural specificity, the audience is, let's face it, robbed of a critical story element.

Ramos' precise heritage is inconsequential; what matters is that in this DMTC production he "sells" his part--which, if he's gifted enough, he could do were he purple with pink spots--and hence his King Mongut can be considered a successful portrayal. Alas, Bev could not say the same of other cast members.

Dismissing the potential advantage of makeup is disingenuous; why else would so many Broadway shows spend so much on this craft? I had no trouble with the African-American actor who played Schroeder in the 1999 Broadway revival of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"...but the Asian actor who played Linus left me flat. The former "caught" the character, the latter did not.

And "catching the character" certainly is within Bev's critical purview here at The Enterprise, as is exploring possible reasons for any failure to do so.

Hot

I don't know that I will ever adjust to hot weather. I guess after 30+ years of living in Davis and not adjusting yet, I'm not likely to. Last week was really rather nice -- mid-to-high 80s. But it has suddenly turned hot and surprisingly humid (my saving grace has always been that valley heat is a "dry heat"). I sit here with the air conditioning on in the house, a fan on my face, and my fingers on the keyboard are sweating. By the time I finish making dinner, sweat is pouring down my face and into my eyes and it takes a good half hour of doing nothing but sitting in a chair before I finish sweating.

I really have no cause to complain. So far it's been a pretty pleasant summer and it's half over... but the hottest part of the year is coming up. I look forward to fall. "Cold" is such a nice feeling.

Oh, Paula.....

These are the ingredients for Paula Deen's latest recipe for mashed potatoes:

4 cups frozen hash browns
1 (7.6-ounce) package butter and herb mashed potato mix
1 stick butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups boiling water
2 cups prepared French-fried onion rings

How can you not love a woman like that?

Squircles

CIMG4414
Originally uploaded by basykes.

I am obsessed with Squircles. Squircles are "squared circles." Find something circular, take a picture of it, and crop it into a square shape, and then post to the "squared circle" pool on Flickr. I'm always looking for circles to square wherever I am and found a wealth of them while in Santa Barbara.

The picture here is a piece of the linoleum at Albertson's. I was standing there waiting for them to finish decorating Tom's birthday cake and when I looked down, I saw circles. I had my little camera with me and next thing you know, I was set up to create a squircle.

Audio Manipulation

Have you noticed the sneaky thing that television networks are doing lately? I don't know if it's deliberate, but the suspicious part of me assumes that it is. You're watching a program and the sound is at a comfortable level and then commercial break comes and the sound goes through the roof, at ear-piercing level. You either turn it down or mute the TV and then when the show comes back on, you have to turn the sound up.

I can only assume that either the networks or the advertisers have figured out a way of making us look at the commercials, because if we can't exactly ignore them, since they are so damn loud.

That combined with the popups at the bottom of the screen that cover up the action on the screen in order to get you to watch an upcoming program.

What happened to the good old days when you just sat down and watched TV and didn't have to actually think about anything.

I suppose this goes along with the half hour of back-to-back commercials that you have to sit through in order to watch a movie. It's all well and good for theatres to advertise the real start time of movies, but if it's a popular movie, you have to get there for the commercials anyway if you want a decent seat.

I hate being manipulated like that, especially when I know I'm being manipulated and can't seem to do anything about it.

The human touch

"Hi, Bev," Chris greeted me as I walked through the door of Blood Source. I was there to donate my 12th pint of blood. I remember being surprised the last time I was there that she remembered my name. She's always been very friendly, but she must see hundreds of people a week.

Someone new led me to the interview room where she proceeded to treat me as if this was my first time giving blood. She carefully explained everything in detail, including pointing out the "signature" line when I hesitated a split second before signing the form. The last time I was there, I remember having a nice chat with the intake person, while she very efficiently took me through the process.

By the time I was ready to have my blood drawn, I was feeling like #109 in a long line of faceless donors. As I got in the chair, the new person explained that Chris would be coming soon to take my blood and gave me more basic instructions, as if I had never been there before.

Chris chatted while she quite efficiently took my blood donation. When new people walked in the door she greeted them by name too.

When I left the blood draw station, I realized what a big difference it meant going that one extra step to be friendly to people and how much better it made the consumer feel when someone acknowledges them as an individual rather than just member of the faceless masses.

New Puppy

New Puppy
Originally uploaded by basykes.

Looks sweet, doesn't he? This is after five hours of crying. I never dreamed a puppy could cry so long. He had a brief break after he ate--15 minutes or so--and then went back to crying again.

We FINALLY got all 3 puppies fed and asleep and they were up at 1 and 3 for feedings again, but seem to have stopped the incessant crying

Ashley has taken them back for the weekend, while we are in Santa Barbara, but we will take them back on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Paula Deen again

God, Paula Deen is my kind of woman. I happened to tune in midway through a program. She apparently had made zucchini bread and it was Tasting Time. Now, most cooks who taste their own cooking, take a little nibble. Not Paula. She glopped a HUGE gob of whipped butter on it and stuck half the slice in her mouth. Again the orgasmic response and then while going to commercial, she stuck the other half of the slice in her mouth.

When she came back from commercial, she had another slice in her hand and said she just couldn't stop eating the bread, and as she began to talk about making crab soup, she was eating and talking with food in her mouth.

She did half the crab soup and then as she passed by the zucchini bread, she picked it up and started eating again, talking with her mouth full.

Paula does enjoy her cooking!

Sydney, Go Home!

I could learn to dislike Sydney. I love being outside sitting with the puppies and watching them play, but now that Sydney has discovered that I have bare skin, I can't stand to be out with him unless I can distract him. He played for awhile this morning and then attacked my foot, my leg, and even leaped up to grab the hem of my shorts. "NO!" did nothing at all. I finally had to come back inside. It appears that my two choices are to bundle up in long pants and socks when I go outside in the 95 degree weather, or sit inside and watch them through the window (or let Sydney inside to pee on the floor).

I'm really hoping he gets adopted tonight!

Trying something new

I'm just getting too high tech for my boots. Here is a link to a puppy playing movie.

If you click here or on the picture itself, it should bring up a brief movie of the puppies playing (I don't have a clue how long it takes for the movie to come up; if you have dial up, forget it!)

The puppies woke me at 3 a.m. this morning. Or rather, they woke up and Sheila, kindly, decided to wake me up. It was fighting with them until 4 when they got in, peed on the floor and tried to attack the bag of dog food, so I fed them outside and was able to close the door and try to get some sleep, but was unsuccessful.

Today they go to the Farmer's Market to see if there are any takers. Tomorrow evening, Ashley picks them up before we leave for Santa Barbara.

Really Stupid People

I suppose that in a country that will actually elect George Bush, I shouldn't be surprised to discover that out of all the people who have ever lived in this country, "the people" have voted Ronald Reagan as the "Greatest American."

Sheesh.

Even Ron Reagan seemed surprised and a bit nonplussed by it all.

Smart Puppies

Another determined puppy
Originally uploaded by basykes.

When I tried getting down to the puppies' level to take their photo, Sydney took that as an invitation to sink those razor sharp teeth into my toes, and if he couldn't get my toes, he'd chew up my Birkinstock.

At the same time, Friedman was absolutely determined that he WOULD have the strap to my camera. Needless to say "getting down at puppy level" didn't last long.

But these guys are so smart, I'm not surprised that by the end of day #1, Sydney had figured out how to get into the house through the dog door. I had to lock Sheila in and the puppies out so I could get some sleep!

A new toy!

I just discovered (thanks to Steve), Our Media, which is a site where you can upload various bits of media--movies and the like. He's uploaded several, including "How Do You Fall Back In Love?" from The Big Voice (please watch it--it's wonderful!). I've been going through some of the snippets of movies I've taken on my digital camera and uploaded two. I added a movie from Australia of visiting the wildlife park--note the noisy crows that caw in the background. They caw with Australian accents, I swear!

I also put up that bullfight that I saw in the fields around Davis recently. Check them out and see if you can get them.

Vote

Vote
Originally uploaded by basykes.

How often do you get the opportunity to vote for Abraham Lincoln? Not much any more! Lincoln is one of the five "finalists" for "Greatest American." While I might not quibble with four of them--Lincoln, Washington, Franklin, and MLK, the addition of Ronald Reagan seems like one of those SAT test questions: "which one of these names does not belong in this list?"

For my part, I cast my vote for Martin Luther King, Jr.

Cell Phones

I came to appreciate cell phones this past week. I used mine to coordinate pick ups at the airport, to arrange for meetings, to check on items that needed to be purchased, etc. I did NOT appreciate cell phones when they interrupted the interaction between people in a group. I received a phone call when we were at a dinner. It was a message I had been anticipating. I took the call, received the information, said I was with other people and could have to get back to the caller later. To me, that's a reasonable use of a cell phone.

Conversely, there was more than one occasion when our group interaction was interrupted by a phone call from friend of someone at home, who was calling to chat. The receiver of the call then essentially turned the rest of the group off and continued to chat--loudly (I think we tend to speak more loudly on a cell phone than we realize) the the caller, who obviously was more important then the people in the group. In one instance, the member of our group receiving the call spoke all through a store, and while we were walking around admiring the scenery. There was no suggestion that the call would be returned at a more convenient (i.e., less insulting) time; instead we were made blatantly aware that whoever was on the other end of the line was so much more interesting than we were, that we could not only be ignored, but our own conversation could be hampered because we could not speak over the level of the conversation going on on the cell phone.

On a lengthy automobile trip, a cell phone arrived and all music, conversation, and anything else in the car came to a hault while the person on the cell phone carried on a chat with the person on the other end.

I think there is definitely a time and a place for cell phones. I can even see where receiving a call while you are in a social setting can be excusable. But when that call becomes the focus of your attention, to the exclusion of the people with whom you are visiting face-to-face, I think that's just plain rude.

Bird Watcher

Bird Watcher
Originally uploaded by basykes.

I think this was one of my favorite pictures from the weekend. We were sitting on the beach in Tahoe City and there were several mothers with toddlers there. I took lots of pictures with the 12x zoom. I think animals and kids are my favorite things to photograph.

There was one kid, though, who made me angry. It was an older boy who was throwing rocks at the Canada geese who were gliding by. He hit at least one of them on the backside. Nobody seemed to be paying any attention to him.

It's a good thing the geese swam slowly away out of rock reach because I was about to go down to the water and bawl him out.

Airport Security

I sure don't know what was up with Airport Security at the Sacramento Airport tonight. They wouldn't let cars in either of the two lanes near the curb, so we were all shuttled into the outside lanes, whether we were dropping off passengers or picking up passengers. When I slowed down to see if Walt had come out yet, a police officer came up and shined his flashlight in my face and asked me if I was dropping off or picking up. I said I was picking up. He gestured to me and told me I had to move to the outside lane. When I asked him how I was supposed to tell if the person I was looking for had arrived, because I was supposed to pick him up, he growled at me "I heard you the first time--now move along" and flashed the light in my eyes again.

Thank goodness for cell phones. I called Walt on the cell and found that he was still on the plane at the gate, but would be out soon. I directed him to a spot away from the building itself where I would have a chance to pull over and pick him up with being attacked by the security Nazi.

It was a first class mess. I forgot to watch the news tonight to see if there had been a bomb threat or something at the airport. I sure don't understand why it was so fouled up--or why the police couldn't at least be POLITE about inconveniencing us.

It's a new world and I hate it.