Pic a Day in May - 20

Swimmer

Yes, these were the stress "balls" given out at CLAW.

Other known bloggers participating in Pic a Day in May: 

Erik - gambrinous with griffonage

Patrick - Pac's Pad

Mad About You

I don't know if Mad Men was one of those shows you loved or hated.

I do know it seemed to be one of those shows you've seen every episode, or none at all.

While 710 was a viewer from the beginning, I came late to it, though I eventually caught up.

Rarely did we watch it real time. With the advent of the DVR, there was zero need.

But with the now final episode, we stayed up past our bedtime to watch - so we didn't have to hear how it all ended - the speculation, analysis and recaps - the following day on-line.

Note: there might be spoilers in here if you have not yet seen the last episode. 

While I suppose many feel that potential sociopath, Don Draper is the star / focus, I always saw the compass to be either Peggy Olson or even Sally Draper. Those two women, at very different stages of their lives, showed the most grown and progress.

Don, if possible, was a complex, yet almost one dimensional character. While it could be argued he experienced turmoil and change throughout the seven season, basically, he never changed. Not truly. The surface was booze, women, cigarettes along with some advertising which in itself was a metaphor for not seeing the real product underneath. But that surface never truly seemed to be hiding much of what was bellow. I think it hid more of what wasn't there.

And that is a testament to Jon Hamm's acting - he can pull all that off and you still kind of care about him.

Even in the last few episodes, while on some kind of search to find himself (again?), it could be construed that Don was just morphing into someone else....yet again.  Or he could have centered himself and returned to his NYC life. His last conversation with Peggy was regarding the Coke campaign. I don't think it is an accident that Don "found himself" and the show ended with possibly the iconi Coke ad. Either he truly found himself - or ended up back at the agency creating that ad. Or both?

You can take from the ending what you want.

I will give the final episode this: it churned out two of the most nuanced performances from Jon Hamm and January Jones regarding Betty Draper and her health. Neither of these characters seemed to dare show much real / true emotion throughout the run of the show (save some resentment and anger) and with that one all to brief (but perfectly timed) scene - they nailed it.

For the vagueness of what happens to Don, creator Matthew Weiner almost all to easily wraps up the other storylines, but it doesn't seem too forced.

For the last year or so, anytime I'd see Stan (who was always kind of funny and cute-ish) and Peggy - I'd turned to 710 and say "oh come on - just do it already'. And while they didn't, we got an even better thing.

But Peggy is possibly the most developed character in Mad Men. From secretary to creative executive, she's come the closest to having a true and honest relationship with Don - even more than either of this two wives. And certainly more than the 184 women with which he's slept.

Pete, Roger, Joan all have tidy endings wrapped up in a bow - however loosely tied.

Only with Sally Draper do we have somewhat of a downer.

In certain ways, she was the only grown-up of the show, even as a child. She saw more and learned more than any of the other characters - peering into most of that adult world and leaving with take-aways: more of what not to do, than with how one does / should behave. Even with her last conversation with her father, when he tries to assert the parent role, Sally is clearly more the adult.

In certain ways, Sally fulfills her destiny of truly becoming the adult in the Draper household, just as Betty had done before her after watching her mother die.  Sally, like Betty, becomes an adult much too early in life and no doubt unfulfilled and possibly not that happy of a person - just like her mother, the woman she rebelled against for so long.

I really had no idea on how the show would end. I thought maybe Don would fall out of a window, as the opening of the series shows implies (or that silhouette could just be falling through life). Even a few episodes back, Don rattles the window in his new office, but I'm sure that was more a nod to people who thought it might end that way.

Mad Men was a good ride, yet I'm not unhappy it's over. The timing seemed right and it never overstayed its welcome. And usually every episode was very well done. And you can't say that about most television shows.




Song by: Belinda Carlisle

Pic a Day in May - 19

Scissors

Sculpture at Hobart and William Smith Colleges - allegedly to represent the dual nature of the men's college (Hobart) and the women's (William Smith).

Other known bloggers participating in Pic a Day in May: 

Erik - gambrinous with griffonage

Patrick - Pac's Pad

My Music Monday

I picked Nickel Creek song for one of my 2014 best songs.

They are back on my radar, well.....yours. They've never really left mine.

Today's track, "Helena" is one song to which I keep coming back. It comes from an album released in 2005. A decade later, it still never gets old.

Nickel Creek would normally be considered a bluegrass band. Bluegrass, does not incorporate much other than acoustic stringed instruments. There is no electric anything, and no real drums or percussion.

So with that, "Helena" kind of breaks tradition, especially in the last third of the song. But that's ok, I don't hold it against them.

For me, I'm probably more of a lyrics man than one of music. It's hard for one to exist without the other - at least in popular music, which is probably why I stay away from most radio. The songs are soooooo poorly written in terms of the lyrics.

There is a joke in Pitch Perfect 2 regarding songs about butts......to which the character Beca replies: "so, that is basically any song on the radio, right?"

Truer words were never spoken.

So with "Helena" you get a story. A least kind of. About a guy, a girl.........and another girl. Back in the day, the male in the song would be called a 'cad'.

Of course, this is assuming one listens to the words being sung. Some people don't. But the music here is good too. It starts sparse and builds and builds.

Have fun with it.


Nickel Creek - "Helena"

Pic a Day in May - 18

Patrol

Other known bloggers participating in Pic a Day in May: 

Erik - gambrinous with griffonage

Patrick - Pac's Pad

Shopping with Blobby

Yet another installment in the drudgery that is everyday shopping. The camera-phone makes it a bit more fun - though I get looks whenever I take pics of products. Like I care what people think!

Yes, normally I do a funny named product...........or just a weird-ass product. This kind of isn't either. Just an observation while at the Try N Save.

I use Glide. And I'm an inquisitive guy. So, I passed by this display and though to myself - 50% more easily than.........what?

Luckily for me, there was an asterisk.

Of course, their "answer" only brought up more questions than it answered.

First off, Glide makes many different kinds of dental floss.  Some are thicker and wider. Some are extremely thin. I go back and forth between the two types, as I do like their products the best when it comes to stimulating my gums.

But every brand - Colgate, Crest, etc. - makes multiple types of floss.

So what is 'regular floss'?  And who determines this?

And it still goes back to my original questions:  how does one determine and measure the ease of slide, let alone the percentage of improvement in said 'slide'?

There are a lot of factors - including, and especially, tooth positioning.

Honestly, I have a decent set of chompers, but some are tough to get in between. And then you know, some people - well you can drive an El Dorado between a bicuspid and incisor.

See - I want too much information they're not willing to give, because, they don't really have it. And honestly what are the chances that the percentage ends in 0?   I'd be more likely to believe them them if they said 46%.

At least then, they pretended like they did their math.

Pic a Day in May - 17

Pokey

Loved this display at the National Air & Space Museum in DC.

At first, my thought was that Secret Asian Man was shooting lasers out of his eyes. But then I thought he might be about to get his eyes poked out by a satellite.

Other known bloggers participating in Pic a Day in May: 

Erik - gambrinous with griffonage

Patrick - Pac's Pad

Honky Cat

We here at Blobby's Blog have been a little Sophie-lite as of late. This oversight cannot continue, so we've taken great pains to try to include her - as she is not one for posing in the slightest.

Soph is more likely to be in a Photography Safari:  elusive, quick and sometimes just never seen.

But we have guest stars this week as well.   Enjoy.

My niece's cat, Pippa checking out Petey. 

She's only seen him once before. She wasn't unfriendly. Definitely curious. Petey could not have cared less about her. 

Sophie waiting for me at the front door to come home. 

Breaks my heart. 

A few minutes later, she decided to conk out on me. 

Totally good with this. 

My brother-in-law picking up Wally. 

Before you get all up-in-arms about it. Wally comes by for this twice a day. He insists upon it. 

Boomer & Petey - together again.  

 The kids relaxing after a long day of being treated like royalty. 

Petey - Man About Town. 

Song by:  Elton John

Pic a Day in May - 16

Cut / Uncut

....and with a title like that, here you were hoping this picture would be about dick.

Other known bloggers participating in Pic a Day in May: 

Erik - gambrinous with griffonage

Patrick - Pac's Pad

This Perfect World

You might remember my initial reaction to seeing Pitch Perfect - somewhere over the Rockies.

I have to say, over time, and multiple rotations of it on HBO, my take on it evolved just a little. Don't get me wrong, I can still shoot cannons through some of the holes that are in that movie, but I can also appreciate some of the performances more than I did at 32,000 ft.

It was easy to make fun of the Bella's early performances. It was fun to watch Adam Devine. It was more fun to watch Adam Devine and Rebel Wilson. But you saw the ending coming a mile away.

So, yes, we were awaiting to see Pitch Perfect 2. It's not like we were going to stand in line to see Mad Max.  ....and we got in a day earlier than the official opening date. And it seems no one else knew - as there were a total of eight of use in the theater.

....and we were the only white gay men there. Actually we were the only gay men there. ...and the only white folk too. We were a triple minority.

I think this is the first movie I've been at opening night since the Temple of Gloom.

I have learned not hold out high hopes for most sequels. The original film was only better than average. I've seen great films have their sequels turn to crap.....and I'm not touting Pitch Perfect as a great film, so it could fall......and fall hard.

It is safe to say that they tread no new ground here - be it the writers, director or stars. The only big difference is the cameos - of which there were zero in the first film. This time you get Snoop Dogg....errrr Lion, Tobias Fünke David Cross, Clay Mathews and Keegan-Michael Key (plus the cast from the View and the Voice). Most of them don't distract from the movie.

I miss more who is not in the movie.  No "Donald" or "Unicycle".  Barely any "Jesse". I do believe the Treblemakers only had one song. I get it's not the same story as the first, and it's set three years later, but........    And let's face it, the musical performance  - the good ones - were fun to watch. There are fewer of them this time around, or at least it seems, though the Riff Off lasts longer.

While giving no true spoilers, once again, you can see the ending coming from very early in the movie - and on multiple levels.

That doesn't necessarily make it less enjoyable. But to truly appreciate the movie, I might need to see it 3-4 dozen more times on cable.



2015 Movie Count / Goal:  4 of 12



Song by: Freedy Johnston

Pic a Day in May - 15

WTF

Other known bloggers participating in Pic a Day in May: 

Erik - gambrinous with griffonage

Patrick - Pac's Pad

Cooking with Blobby

I think it's been a while since I've cooked anything for you. Well..........anything new.  Newer, that is.

It's been over a year since I made an attempt at Sesame Chicken, and while it wasn't bad, it needed to be improved upon. And I did, though I think next time it can be tweaked a bit more.

The ingredients are few - though more than are shown here, as I forgot to fetch the broccoli and scallions from the icebox.

Actually, neither of those two items were in the recipes I'd seen, but I wanted them in, so I made accommodations for them to be included.


Chicken breasts - 3 skinless / boneless
Soy Sauce - 1/2 c  (low sodium)
Honey - 1/2 c
Corn Starch  - 2 T
Water - 1 c
Red Pepper Flakes - 1 t
Ginger - (grated) 1t
Sesame Seeds - 1 T
Olive Oil - 2 T
Garlic - 3 cloves (minced)
Broccoli - one head of florets
Scallions - 2 (chopped)

Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. I cooked them in the olive oil with one clove of garlic. Because I really like garlic. 

While chicken is cooking, in a bowl put in garlic, honey, soy sauce, water, red pepper flakes, ginger and corn starch. Whisk together until corn starch has no lumps. 

At this point, I also used a skillet to cook the broccoli in some olive oil and yes, a clove of garlic. I cooked it enough to warm it through, but it was still crisp. 

Add whisked mixture with the chicken, bring to a light boil, until the sauce thickens. Add sesame seeds.  

And I added the broccoli too. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes for the sauce to incorporate into the chicken and it will soften the broccoli a bit too.  

Over some rice (or not, if you don't want the starch) dish up the chicken and broccoli. Garnish with the chopped scallions.


It has flavour and 710 really liked it. I liked it but didn't like it, like it. I still think it's missing a little umph. 1 T of red pepper flakes is a lot and it provides a slow burn as you eat - which was fine, but I still wanted something else.

Perhaps next time I might use sesame oil to cook the chicken and / or broccoli. That might give it a little more of a punch in flavour.

For us, this made three decent sized servings (one each for dinner, and one for someone's lunch). Adjust your recipe depending on how many folks you are serving.

Pic a Day in May - 14

Safehouse

Well it could be where the Order of the Phoenix meets!


Or it's just a mural on a wall at Nighttown.

Other known bloggers participating in Pic a Day in May: 

Erik - gambrinous with griffonage

Patrick - Pac's Pad

12 of 12

So I'm doing my 63rd 12 of 12. 

Normally it is 12 pictures taken on the 12th of the month. Since I only post once per day, you get my images the following day. All pictures taken with my iPhone. Click images to enlarge, if you choose.

Created by Chad Darnell and picked up from, what I can tell, any number of random bloggers who then link back to him and vice versa. Chad is no longer doing this, nor is successor coordinating the linking of other 12 of 12'ers anymore. Now it's just Erik (and sometimes Jim) and myself - that I know of. 

I still continue to do this, because of all my consistent post topics, I actually like this one the most.

 01:35.  I'd been up since 00:40 (yes, you read that correctly) - not feeling well.
Just leafing through the new Consumer Report. 

05:40.  Started 710's coffee for him.  (note to self: clean those icky knobs)

I had already let Petey out and fed him. I tried going back to bed but that didn't really work. 

06:45. Time to shower. 

And yes, it takes two hands to cover Blobby Jr. 

07:10.  May as well throw in a load of laundry too. 

I'm like a Marine. I get more done by 08:00 than most do in a day. 

09:25.  Walking with Petey. New house getting a staining / protective coating. 

12:00.  On a work call.

1:10.  Lunch. Tuna and tomato. No bread. Lesser carbs. 

17:05.  2nd doggie walk. 

Yes, I have sandals with black socks on. Like Tracy Turnblad, I'm at the height of teen fashion. 

....that and in the last 24 hours the temps dropped 35 degrees. 

17:40.  Took out (some of) the trash for next day pick-up. 

The stuff the animals can get into doesn't go out until the morning. 

18:20.  Grocery shopping. 

Someone's gotta do it. 

19:30.  Making dinner. 

Someone's gotta do it.   (psssst.....a possible Cooking with Blobby segment coming your way.)

20:55.  One pretty kitty cat, lounging as she pleases. 

Pic a Day in May - 13

Rescue

A bad t-storm and speeding drivers resulted in multiple accidents on "our" hill.

None ended up in our yard. I went to check, only because we wondered if one of our trees fell into the road during said storm. They had not.

Other known bloggers participating in Pic a Day in May: 

Erik - gambrinous with griffonage

Patrick - Pac's Pad

Beach Baby

Yoga at the Beach was promoted on Facebook.

I'm not sure how it came my way, but it did. I didn't know the instructor or any of the attendees who said they'd be going. Still, I said I would "go".

....and then talked David into it - not that he needed persuading.

The practice was free, or donation-based (yes, we donated), but it was at Edgewater Park. And while it said 'beach', I assumed they'd have it in a grassy area. But I was wrong.

The morning of (just two days ago), double-checking the specifics on the FB invite before we were to leave, I noticed that 1.1K (or 1,100) folks said they were attending. I kind of went ' fuck'.

We really left no earlier, but David and I are usually early arrivers anyways - to most things, which is so not our family trait - we didn't dawdle too much (well, he had to play with Petey, of course). As we approached the lot, there were a bunch of cars, but plenty of parking....and lots of folks doing a 'walk'....as it turns out for Weight Watchers.

When we got to the location, we finally found the masses.

Even with the fog over the lake, it was not too difficult to see that there weren't 1,000+ people here...or coming.

Nor do I think the event originator was amused when I said, "so, are we the 1,100?".  But it was all in jest........right?

Honestly, we were only there 20 minutes before the alleged start, and two of those four in the pic were the instructor and her assistant. But we picked out our place up front and went for a walk.

I didn't do a count (IKR?), but 150 people might have eventually showed. And David and I agreed that this was possibly the first yoga event we attended where we knew no one else....which is not a bad thing in the slightest.

We started late, because, well, people are assholes and can't seem to be bothered to show up on time for a scheduled event. Their schedule is more important than others and they feel entitled that others should wait for them. I see it at almost each and every yoga practice. "11:07 is really close to 11:00....it won't be a problem", they think to themselves.

At least at the beach they're not continually pulling on a locked door, thinking it will magically open for them. At least on the beach, there is plenty of room where they're not stepping over people who are already in poses or asking them to move over to make room for them.

Yes, these assholes exist.  Many of them.

Anyhoo.....the day started of cloudy, foggy and with a threat of rain, but about three-quarters into a decent practice, it was mostly blue sky and sun.

It was a great way to start a Sunday, and it turns out there will be beach yoga most Sundays from now throughout Summer. Word may catch on and there might eventually be more people attending (though the instructor is going to have a better sound projection system if any others show up), but it will be a great break from our normal yoga routine.




Song by: Bon Iver

Pic a Day in May - 12

Snack

Best snack out there:  rosemary bread, avocado, sea salt. All while enjoying a Silver Needed tea - iced.  Thanks of Cleveland Tea Revival.

Other known bloggers participating in Pic a Day in May: 

Erik - gambrinous with griffonage

Patrick - Pac's Pad

My Music Monday

the Bangles get a bad rap - and at times they totally deserve it (like their last album).

Me? I was one who always wished they stuck to their first album style a little more. While their All Over the Place was compared a lot to the Beatles, I would go as far as to say it a Beatle-esque quality. After that, they just were mainstream pop.

Well, I shouldn't say that - (former) bassist Michael Steele had some of the less pop vibe and much more interesting voice and style. But Susanna Hoffs was straight up made for radio.

Still - if you look at the music on All Over the Place, it wasn't as commercialized as they'd attempt to become.

I'll even do a Hoffs song - "James". And you can probably hear the Beatles influence here.

There was no official video, but I went with one by a someone using the name Barbie Bangle Music. I mean - why not? Barbie is about the same height as Hoffs. It works.

I like the song. And it's really all about the music.

Pic a Day in May - 11

After

Other known bloggers participating in Pic a Day in May: 

Erik - gambrinous with griffonage

Patrick - Pac's Pad

Extraordinary Machine

The plan was to go see the new Avengers movie. But a low pressure system thwarted those plans. Honest.

My "bad" leg was acting up and walking far wasn't really on the table. So, we went to the local art house, as opposed to the multi-plex.

In one way, the multi-plex would have afforded a lot more leg room, but I traded a shorter walk and travel time for movie comfort.

We went to see Ex Machina instead.

I knew next to nothing about it. But it seems something like Westworld (for those of you of age) and Spielberg's AI with more than a touch of Kubrick.....and maybe even a touch of a Blade Runner replicant.

There is a science and psychological aspect to Ex Machina. In certain ways I knew how it would end, but not exactly (no worry - no spoilers here). I thought the three main characters did great jobs, especially the guy who played Nathan (and it doesn't hurt that he was kind of hot.....at least my kind of hot).

Actually, Ava, the AI machine, is very good at straddling the line of robotic and human aspects. She really carries the movie.

Oddly enough (?) the alleged protagonist is probably the weakest - though not bad at all. And since really there are only four cast members (and only three speaking roles), someone has to be the lower rung.

There was a physical aspect to the movie as well, that made me potentially squeamish where I had to look away - and trust me, I turned back too quickly. It's only one scene, but it's enough.

But the movie itself has a 'thriller' aspect to it, so you don't really know what is coming. As my predictions on how it would end were somewhat on target (but clearly, not wholly), the in between, I was as clueless as most.

It wasn't a bad choice for a movie. Both 710 and myself liked it, but I don't know you could call it a 'good movie'. I'm sure artificial intelligence is farther along than we know, and it might bring up a lot of philosophical and ethical issues, but this movie isn't truly tackling them.

...and if for nothing else you get to see, albeit briefly, Nathan (Oscar Isaac) tear up the fucking dance floor.   Worth it.








2015 Movie Count / Goal:  3 of 12




Song by: Fiona Apple