Monthly Archives: April 2008

Watermelon!

This passed the House Of Representatives, yesterday:


110th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. RES. 578

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that there should be established a National Watermelon Month.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 26, 2007

Mr. PUTNAM (for himself, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. BOYD of Florida, Mr. BUCHANAN, and Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform


Whereas watermelon production constitutes an important sector of the agricultural industry of the United States;

Whereas, according to the January 2006 statistics compiled by the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States produces 4,200,000,000 pounds of watermelon annually;

Whereas watermelon is grown in 49 States, is purchased and consumed in all 50 States, and is exported to Canada;

Whereas evidence indicates that eating 2.5 to 5 cups of fruits and vegetables daily as part of a healthy diet will improve health and protect against diseases such as cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease;

Whereas proper diet and nutrition are important factors in preventing diseases such as childhood obesity and diabetes;

Whereas watermelon has no fat or cholesterol and is an excellent source of the vitamins A, B6, and C, fiber, and potassium, which are vital to good health and disease prevention;

Whereas watermelon is also an excellent source of lycopene;

Whereas lycopene, an antioxidant found only in a few red plant foods, has been shown to reduce the risk of certain cancers;

Whereas watermelon is a heart-healthy food that has qualified for the heart-check mark from the American Heart Association;

Whereas watermelon has been a nutritious summer favorite from generation to generation;

Whereas it is important to educate citizens of the United States regarding the health benefits of watermelon and other fruits and vegetables; and

Whereas July 2007 would be an appropriate month to establish as National Watermelon Month: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that there should be established a National Watermelon Month to recognize the health benefits of watermelon and the importance of watermelon to the agriculture industry of the United States.

Kickass!

WooHoo!

Second-row tix for Wilco! And all hail the power of serendipity, which told me about the show at 9:45AM today, and also told me that pre-sale tix were available from the Wilco Fan Club starting at 10AM today, which I then joined.

Upon hearing this exciting tale, Mrs Cleek said "You're so cool".

Which is certainly true, but I think she was mocking me.

Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Elizabeth Edwards is pretty tired of the media's fundamental un-seriousness:

Who is responsible for the veil of silence over Senator Biden? Or Senator Dodd? Or Gov. Tom Vilsack? Or Senator Sam Brownback on the Republican side?

The decision was probably made by the same people who decided that Fred Thompson was a serious candidate. Articles purporting to be news spent thousands upon thousands of words contemplating whether he would enter the race, to the point that before he even entered, he was running second in the national polls for the Republican nomination. Second place! And he had not done or said anything that would allow anyone to conclude he was a serious candidate. A major weekly news magazine put Mr. Thompson on its cover, asking — honestly! — whether the absence of a serious campaign and commitment to raising money or getting his policies out was itself a strategy.

I’m not the only one who noticed this shallow news coverage. A report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy found that during the early months of the 2008 presidential campaign, 63 percent of the campaign stories focused on political strategy while only 15 percent discussed the candidates’ ideas and proposals.

Merlefest 08

Another year, another first night at Merlefest:

First up, for us, Blue Highway:

Nikon D100, 70-300mm VR

Then, a band from Australia, The Waifs:

Nikon D100, 70-300mm VR

They were the first bluegrassy band we've ever seen where the singers do doo-wop finger snapping.

Then, country music fixture Marty Stuart & his Fabulous Superlatives:

Nikon D100, 70-300mm VR

Nikon D100, 70-300mm VR

I thought they were good, though some of the rest of our group did not. He was very professional, you can tell he's been doing this for a while. They did a mixture of old-school country, rockabilly and bluegrass.

Then, the final act of the night, Old Crow Medicine Show:

Nikon D100, 70-300mm VR

... joined eventually by Marty Stuart for a couple of songs...

Nikon D100, 70-300mm VR

They were good - high-energy, young, raucous, a very different attitude from most of the acts at the festival. We heard three mentions of "cocaine" in their lyrics, in the first five songs; and that's without playing "Cocaine Habit Blues" (a.k.a. "Take A Whiff On Me"), which they do on their Big Iron World record (on which Gillian Welch plays drums and which was produced by David Rawlings (Gillian Welch's partner)).

Then Friday came. The mimosas started at 10AM, followed by endless Coors Lights. So, I missed all the daytime bands. By nightfall, the best I could manage was sitting by the fire, taking pictures like this:

Nikon D100, 28-80mm

... I have dozens of these.

So, no bands on Friday.

On Saturday, we got ourselves together enough to head over for the afternoon shows - I wanted to catch Tift Merritt, who was doing a couple of indoor shows. But, as soon as we got off the shuttle bus from the campsite to the festival grounds, a strong thunderstorm came up and trapped us in the ticket-taker tent. A band called Scythian, who was playing outside the entrance until the rain started, moved into the tent and did a short set for the people trapped in there. They were good, though I could barely hear them because the noise of the rain beating on the giant plastic tent was deafening. By the time the rain let up enough for us to move into the open air, we were cold, wet and defeated. So, after a quick trip to the hot apple pie vendor, we headed back to the campsite.

We did listen to a lot of the bands on the local radio station, which broadcasts the show live. So, we got to hear it, at least. And after hearing them, there are a few bands I wish I would've seen: Ricky Scaggs & Bruce Hornsby, The Waybacks (who played all of Zeppelin II), Levon Helm, etc.. Alas, the folding camp chairs proved too comfortable. So, for me and Mrs Cleek, it was a pretty meager Merlefest, as far as music goes. The camping part was fun, of course.

Sunday we packed it up and headed home.

Start Your iPods

Job = Ass

  1. Andrew Bird - Yawny At The Apocalypse
  2. Viva Voce - Down Them Out
  3. Devandra Banhart - I Feel Just Like A Child
  4. Smaller Animals - Vermin
  5. Paramore - We Are Broken
  6. Tugboat Annie - You Want It To Be Bad
  7. Colorblind James Experience - Fledgling Circus
  8. Radiohead - Blow Out
  9. The Bealtes - Hello, Goodbye
  10. Rogue Wave - Man-Revolutionary!

Ass = Job