As someone who finds State spending interesting (comical, deplorable, you choose), I had to share this piece from the Winston-Salem Journal. This story is about the infamous "poster child of pork [barrel] spending," the NC Teapot Museum:
(version taken from the News & Observer.com)
SPARTA, N.C. - Organizers of a teapot museum in the North Carolina mountains to house a Los Angeles millionaire's unusual collection are scaling back their plans because of financial concerns.
The Sparta Teapot Museum was intended to bring tourism money to this small town near the Blue Ridge Parkway. But its board of directors cut the project from $14 million to about $6 million, which the town manager said could jeopardize an agreement to display more than 7,000 eclectic teapots collected by Sonny Kamm.
Bryan Edwards, town manager and a member of the museum board, said scaling back the museum would mean fewer teapots on display and "it is unclear at this time what level of involvement we will have from Mr. Kamm."
Museum officials had raised $4.2 million by summer, including private donations and $1.1 million in public money, but couldn't raise enough private money to pay for a proposed 30,000-square-foot museum. Officials said they plan to display regional crafts if they lose the teapot collection.
"Of course, our first plan was a wonderful dream. It was an absolute dream museum. The problem was we just couldn't afford our dream," said Sandy Carter Herndon, a member of the museum's board of directors.
Some local and state officials said the museum - scheduled to open in spring 2008 - would create spending and jobs in an area hit by plant closings and layoffs.
The project received $500,000 in federal money and was cited as an example of pork barrel spending. The Citizens Against Government Waste included it in an annual list, calling it a "poster child for pork" in 2006.
(Full story here)
Booo hooo!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Weekend chow review
We had a very tasty weekend and even though it's already Tuesday, I have to share our GOOD EATS from last weekend.
Friday night - Mizu (sushi)
Oh how I crave sushi but hate having to drive into Raleigh (way into Raleigh) for good sushi (Harris Teeter sushi doesn't always cut it!). We've tried to dine here previously, but decided that it was a bit more expensive and had a longer wait time that we desired. Thankfully, we had time and were prepared to lay down the cash for a tasty dinner.
What we ate: the menu is not all sushi; they also offer chicken, steak and even lamb entrees, but we came to eat sushi! We sat at the 'sushi bar' - a u-shaped arrangement that took up most of the restaurant. It was a great choice as we were entertained by the sushi chefs, the case of various seafood awaiting its chance to become sushi and watching the 'sushi train' go 'round and around. We ordered "sushi for 2" and enjoyed every bite! Amongst the 14 pieces and 3 rolls,the plate came with a 'spider roll' (Soft shell crab, kani, masago, cucumber & avocado, served with eel sauce). Once again I came face to face with soft shell crab. I didn't enjoy my previous encounter with this crustacean (at our first anniversary dinner at the Fearrington), but this roll was DELICIOUS! The sake wasn't bad either ;) We'll definitely be back!
Saturday - we had some quick bites out, Chick-fil-a for breakfast (mmm, chicken biscuit) and a nice 'post mountain bike ride' snack from Backyard Burgers. I love, love, love their blackened chicken sandwiches! Eating one brings back great memories from Asheville.
Sunday - the afternoon plan was to catch Harry Potter at IMAX (with scenes in 3D no less) then try our luck with Spanish tapas. Amazingly, the afternoon and evening showings were SOLD OUT (just as we walked up) and even though they had one more showing at 9:30pm, we opted for an early dinner in lieu of an early Monday morning. Since our movie plans were out and an early dinner was in, we headed out to "Glenwood South" to eat at Red Room. The Red Room has an awesome outdoor seating area, but we opted for inside as it was quite breezy. The interior was sleek but comfortable and the service was outstanding (well, it didn't hurt to be the first, and only customers, as well as newbies!)
What we ate: we decided to go with their "Sunday special" and take their "tapas tour" with 8 courses. I also choose their wine tour of 4 Spanish reds (no worries, they were 1/2 glasses, shared with Paul no less). From the Spanish deviled eggs, to the oven roasted duck to the root beer float with a twist, it was delicious! We added onto our 8 courses (we're not pigs, tapas are small bites - even smaller in the 'tour'), Ceviche de Gambas (Shrimp ceviche with mango, avocado with yucca and plantain chips), Atun con Caponata y Banana , y Balsamico Blanco (Seared tuna with apple and banana caponata, and white balsamic syrup) and their chocolate espresso fondue. I can't wait to return and try their paella - hopefully we'll be back before too long.
Friday night - Mizu (sushi)
Oh how I crave sushi but hate having to drive into Raleigh (way into Raleigh) for good sushi (Harris Teeter sushi doesn't always cut it!). We've tried to dine here previously, but decided that it was a bit more expensive and had a longer wait time that we desired. Thankfully, we had time and were prepared to lay down the cash for a tasty dinner.
What we ate: the menu is not all sushi; they also offer chicken, steak and even lamb entrees, but we came to eat sushi! We sat at the 'sushi bar' - a u-shaped arrangement that took up most of the restaurant. It was a great choice as we were entertained by the sushi chefs, the case of various seafood awaiting its chance to become sushi and watching the 'sushi train' go 'round and around. We ordered "sushi for 2" and enjoyed every bite! Amongst the 14 pieces and 3 rolls,the plate came with a 'spider roll' (Soft shell crab, kani, masago, cucumber & avocado, served with eel sauce). Once again I came face to face with soft shell crab. I didn't enjoy my previous encounter with this crustacean (at our first anniversary dinner at the Fearrington), but this roll was DELICIOUS! The sake wasn't bad either ;) We'll definitely be back!
Saturday - we had some quick bites out, Chick-fil-a for breakfast (mmm, chicken biscuit) and a nice 'post mountain bike ride' snack from Backyard Burgers. I love, love, love their blackened chicken sandwiches! Eating one brings back great memories from Asheville.
Sunday - the afternoon plan was to catch Harry Potter at IMAX (with scenes in 3D no less) then try our luck with Spanish tapas. Amazingly, the afternoon and evening showings were SOLD OUT (just as we walked up) and even though they had one more showing at 9:30pm, we opted for an early dinner in lieu of an early Monday morning. Since our movie plans were out and an early dinner was in, we headed out to "Glenwood South" to eat at Red Room. The Red Room has an awesome outdoor seating area, but we opted for inside as it was quite breezy. The interior was sleek but comfortable and the service was outstanding (well, it didn't hurt to be the first, and only customers, as well as newbies!)
What we ate: we decided to go with their "Sunday special" and take their "tapas tour" with 8 courses. I also choose their wine tour of 4 Spanish reds (no worries, they were 1/2 glasses, shared with Paul no less). From the Spanish deviled eggs, to the oven roasted duck to the root beer float with a twist, it was delicious! We added onto our 8 courses (we're not pigs, tapas are small bites - even smaller in the 'tour'), Ceviche de Gambas (Shrimp ceviche with mango, avocado with yucca and plantain chips), Atun con Caponata y Banana , y Balsamico Blanco (Seared tuna with apple and banana caponata, and white balsamic syrup) and their chocolate espresso fondue. I can't wait to return and try their paella - hopefully we'll be back before too long.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
July - afternoon storms and green!
So, we're 1/2 through July and in the middle of a hot, fairly dry summer. Thankfully, our garden and flowers are doing 10,000 times better than our lawn. Honestly, when it's 90+ degrees for 30+ days in a row, fescue is toast and wasting hundreds of dollars on watering it seems silly.
This summer Paul and I got creative with the garden. Ok, it was mostly Paul, I'm there for support (he's an engineer which shows in his calculated plans whereas I'm more attuned to how pretty it looks). Anyway, after last season's fight with crabgrass and other weeds in the garden and its near impossibility in keeping it watered just right, he came up with a 2 part plan.
First we covered the entire garden with awesome landscape fabric. This made planting seed pretty impossible so we bought all our plants in pots from various places (Lowe's, Home Depot, local herb festival). Next year I hope to start some seed indoors and transplant... hmmm, that requires some advanced planning, effort and timing. We'll see. So, the garden was covered in lovely black fabric, the veggies and herbs planted. It's so nice & neat - weeds be gone! (and no more kittie poo surprises, ewwww!)
Next, we looked into irrigation. Paul invested a decent amount of time checking out the 'homeowner installed' irrigation options at our aforementioned local home improvement stores. I'm partial to Lowe's and thankfully that's where we found "Mister Landscaper" neatly organized on the shelves. Amazingly, it wasn't a huge investment and was really easy to use (no engineering degree required!). It took less than a hour to run the lines and start playing with all the configurations which resulted in us getting throughly wet (which was quite nice as day was exceptionally hot).
Both well laid plans have paid off! We've got more tomatoes than we can eat (no duh as we have 8 plants in several varieties). The peppers, squash, watermelon and cantaloupes are coming along beautifully (we've got blooms at least!). We're virtually weed-free, well watered and easy to maintain. It's amazing!
Check out all the green:
Squash blooms
Cantaloupe blooms
Sweet banana peppers (you can see one of the "Mister Landscaper" sprinklers in the lower right)
Cute little tasty tomatoes ("sweet 100s")
Basil (gotta have it with all those tomatoes!)
Not in the garden - but in the backyard...
Key Lime tree has made an awesome come back! Look at it's blooms - woo!
Bunch of roses (survivors of the Japanese beetles)
"Rose of Sharon" bloom
Gladiolas - last of the amazing blooms, but still beautiful
And my first attempt at growing Cana flowers. More than 1/2 didn't come up, but 3 did and have bloomed quite nicely)
Oh yeah, the title of this post includes "afternoon storms," of which we've had very few. Last week's rain dumping storm made up for about 2 weeks worth of rain in about 2 hours. We got between 1 and a quarter to 1 and a half inches of rain.
Hey look! We've got our own pond! Although honestly, it's just a tad bit too close to the house. (also note the 'swaying' willow tree in the back, windy? yeah.)
Water flowing under the bridge (thankfully, not OVER)
Hello waterfall from the upper neighbor's backyard (good bye mulch)
At least the elephant ears look happy (see water still flowing through the retaining wall, nice)
Bye, bye rain! Please come back soon!
This summer Paul and I got creative with the garden. Ok, it was mostly Paul, I'm there for support (he's an engineer which shows in his calculated plans whereas I'm more attuned to how pretty it looks). Anyway, after last season's fight with crabgrass and other weeds in the garden and its near impossibility in keeping it watered just right, he came up with a 2 part plan.
First we covered the entire garden with awesome landscape fabric. This made planting seed pretty impossible so we bought all our plants in pots from various places (Lowe's, Home Depot, local herb festival). Next year I hope to start some seed indoors and transplant... hmmm, that requires some advanced planning, effort and timing. We'll see. So, the garden was covered in lovely black fabric, the veggies and herbs planted. It's so nice & neat - weeds be gone! (and no more kittie poo surprises, ewwww!)
Next, we looked into irrigation. Paul invested a decent amount of time checking out the 'homeowner installed' irrigation options at our aforementioned local home improvement stores. I'm partial to Lowe's and thankfully that's where we found "Mister Landscaper" neatly organized on the shelves. Amazingly, it wasn't a huge investment and was really easy to use (no engineering degree required!). It took less than a hour to run the lines and start playing with all the configurations which resulted in us getting throughly wet (which was quite nice as day was exceptionally hot).
Both well laid plans have paid off! We've got more tomatoes than we can eat (no duh as we have 8 plants in several varieties). The peppers, squash, watermelon and cantaloupes are coming along beautifully (we've got blooms at least!). We're virtually weed-free, well watered and easy to maintain. It's amazing!
Check out all the green:
Squash blooms
Cantaloupe blooms
Sweet banana peppers (you can see one of the "Mister Landscaper" sprinklers in the lower right)
Cute little tasty tomatoes ("sweet 100s")
Basil (gotta have it with all those tomatoes!)
Not in the garden - but in the backyard...
Key Lime tree has made an awesome come back! Look at it's blooms - woo!
Bunch of roses (survivors of the Japanese beetles)
"Rose of Sharon" bloom
Gladiolas - last of the amazing blooms, but still beautiful
And my first attempt at growing Cana flowers. More than 1/2 didn't come up, but 3 did and have bloomed quite nicely)
Oh yeah, the title of this post includes "afternoon storms," of which we've had very few. Last week's rain dumping storm made up for about 2 weeks worth of rain in about 2 hours. We got between 1 and a quarter to 1 and a half inches of rain.
Hey look! We've got our own pond! Although honestly, it's just a tad bit too close to the house. (also note the 'swaying' willow tree in the back, windy? yeah.)
Water flowing under the bridge (thankfully, not OVER)
Hello waterfall from the upper neighbor's backyard (good bye mulch)
At least the elephant ears look happy (see water still flowing through the retaining wall, nice)
Bye, bye rain! Please come back soon!
Thursday funny
(apparently I can post titles again, woo!)
In high school I was certain I wanted to become a teacher. I wanted to teach either English or History to high schoolers (or maybe even the 6-8th graders). I was determined to chase this dream until I started my first year of college and met my academic adviser who informed me that any attempt at becoming a teacher in the humanities was fruitless - schools need science and math teachers or coaches and I am neither! Anyway, I got a HUGE kick out of this list of "analogies". (my favorites in bold)
1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a ThighMaster.
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife’s infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.
10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan’s teeth.
16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.
18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long it had rusted shut.
19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
In high school I was certain I wanted to become a teacher. I wanted to teach either English or History to high schoolers (or maybe even the 6-8th graders). I was determined to chase this dream until I started my first year of college and met my academic adviser who informed me that any attempt at becoming a teacher in the humanities was fruitless - schools need science and math teachers or coaches and I am neither! Anyway, I got a HUGE kick out of this list of "analogies". (my favorites in bold)
1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a ThighMaster.
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife’s infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.
10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan’s teeth.
16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.
18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long it had rusted shut.
19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Tour de France 2007
Stage 1 - in London! They don't always race in France.
It's not July without the Tour!
My current obsession - reading updates on Velonews and on Versus. I wish I could listen to Phil, Paul & Bob - but I'll have to wait until the re-airing tonight.
Who's my favorite this year?
Honestly I'm a big fan of George Hincapie and would be just giddy to see him win (A stage, the Tour, I'm good!)! He's currently in the top 10 - sitting at #4 (George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, 00:00:23).
Quick funny - comic strip "Frazz" main character is a musician/bicycle racer/janitor, here's today's strip (from comics.com):
I also got a nice laugh out of his hate for bananas (3 days, July 3-5).
Hello July!
Seeing that it's already July 10th and I haven't posted any July 4th pictures I should probably just forget about it, but I have to share my fun fireworks video so I'm posting!
Since last week was a strange workweek - with the holiday falling on Wednesday and Paul starting his new job - we stayed close to home. I had the brilliant idea of buying tickets to see 'the great American pastime' - baseball! Not only did we see baseball, we saw the USA baseball team smack Japan (7-2) AND fireworks! Woo!
Here's what $14 (plus fees and parking) does for entertainment (click on the photo to see my pictures on google):
Ok, so I learned that I shouldn't take video holding the camera sideways. However, watching the fireworks shoot sideways is kinda cool. :) I've got lots more video where that came from although not enough patience to upload it...
Since last week was a strange workweek - with the holiday falling on Wednesday and Paul starting his new job - we stayed close to home. I had the brilliant idea of buying tickets to see 'the great American pastime' - baseball! Not only did we see baseball, we saw the USA baseball team smack Japan (7-2) AND fireworks! Woo!
Here's what $14 (plus fees and parking) does for entertainment (click on the photo to see my pictures on google):
 |
| July 4, 2007 |
Ok, so I learned that I shouldn't take video holding the camera sideways. However, watching the fireworks shoot sideways is kinda cool. :) I've got lots more video where that came from although not enough patience to upload it...
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