I know many of you probably don’t feel the tragedy of Saturday morning’s post. Something like 80 percent of Michigan’s tree-fruit crop was KO’d by the two weeks of summer we had in March, and when it means you’re deprived of cherries and peaches a few months later, well, that hurts.
Nevertheless, I made m’self a pie. And none other than Hank Stuever and his partner Michael were here to help us eat it. What a weekend. It was well-spent.
Hank and Michael are en route up north, and wanted to see the infamous city along the way, so we entertained them, cobbling together a two-day schedule that included a sail, dinner, a drive out Woodward and through some of the worst blight in the city (Robinwood Street), then into Palmer Woods, across Eight Mile and all the way up to Cranbrook, where we beheld where the Demon Barber of Bloomfield Hills performed his most famous haircut.
And then, because it’s required of all out-of-town visitors, we went to Slow’s. The meal was, conservatively, two million calories. I may not eat again for a week.
The weekend was capped by fireworks. So you could say it was a good one.
And because I spent so much time away from the keys, I don’t have a great deal of bloggage. This is sort of grimly amusing: Home prices in the city of Detroit are now below $10,000. So what can you get at what price? Some jaw-dropping bargains.
One weekend with you: Republicanpalooza in Utah over the weekend.
Do you know how rare a true tie is in track and field? Too close to call.
The week awaits. Summer in the city.
Dan B said on June 25, 2012 at 12:42 am
I have never had fresh fruit as good as the stuff from Michigan. It’s the highlight of any trip up to Leland (we were there too early for anything but rhubarb this year, unfortunately). Some of it makes its way to farmers markets further afield; we could find it sometimes in Indiana and now in Chicago. I remember some years back getting some Michigan peaches and thinking “Oh yeah, THIS is what a good peach tastes like.” Rana was amazed by strawberries being red all the way through. It puts the crap from California to shame.
So I fully appreciate the tragedy. Apparently the Traverse City area was hit by a triple whammy- very high winds over the winter, the warm weather followed by a late frost in March, and some sort of disease. The local newspaper headlines compared it to a tsunami.
Fantastic as Michigan tart cherries are, it’s hard to top Virginia, where you could routinely buy tart cherries in season in the supermarket. I’ve never seen that anywhere else.
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Dexter said on June 25, 2012 at 2:01 am
It seems every town and city has its own Robinwood-like area, and I have taken many train trips over the years and the tracks run through a lot of run-down areas, but damn…Robinwood takes the cake.
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basset said on June 25, 2012 at 9:24 am
Dan, apparently you have never had a South Carolina peach. Way better than Georgia.
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2012 at 9:36 am
Speaking of “too close to call”…
http://www.supremecourt.gov/
and THIS time, before the moring is over, we will indeed be treated to an Alito/Scalia-palooza! (Maybe this could be the name of a special plate at Slow’s, someday…depending on the outcome, either lots of meat or lots of bone)
What have they wrought?
We shall see
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 25, 2012 at 9:46 am
Driving through rural Ohio & West Virginia is basically a slow-motion, widely dispersed Robinwood. It’s the concentration that makes it worthy of note, and even at that, you can drive past clumps of this at regular intervals almost anywhere within a fifty mile radius of my house. And the ones that still have some roof, let alone a working water supply, make great meth prep sites; out in the country around here, lots of farms have gas wells for “free” natural gas to the house. Once, it had a tap to a shed for cooking down maple syrup (and many still do), now lots of those lines are used for a different sort of cooking, with a whole lot more volatility. This time of year, with such heavy foliage (grapevine, poison ivy, Virginia creeper, etc.), you don’t need drapes to obscure your activity from the nearby lightly traveled gravel road.
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2012 at 9:51 am
And speaking of healthcare, Alex Trebek had a heart attack, but the good news is, he’s said to be still in Jeopardy!
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/24/showbiz/alex-trebek-heart-attack/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
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Deborah said on June 25, 2012 at 9:52 am
Best berries I’ve ever had were in Finland at the Helsinki market on the waterfront. Amazing wild strawberries. The berries were in piles on cart, they scooped them up, bagged them and we’d walk around the city with stained fingers and lips.
We’re in Santa Fe getting the place here squared away. Two and a half days sitting in the cab of a Uhaul truck. Never again. Right now I’m sitting outside of the water division waiting for them to open so we can get the water turned on. I go back to Chicago Friday but Little Bird stays here for at least the next two years. I’ll go back and forth. Before I leave I plan to have every box unpacked.
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2012 at 10:14 am
Two decisions listed; Affordable Healthcare Act decision still in the wings….
But the Supremes struck down Montana’s 100 year old campaign finance law; so much for Federalism
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coozledad said on June 25, 2012 at 10:20 am
The whole “states rights” thing was always bullshit with these hucksters. Working class Tories sure seem to like it up the ass.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/supreme-court-knocks-out-montanas-challenge-to-citizens?ref=fpblg
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Jolene said on June 25, 2012 at 10:29 am
No healthcare decision yet. Today is the last day the court was scheduled to be in session. They will add another day to announce decisions, but not clear yet which day.
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beb said on June 25, 2012 at 10:32 am
LGM (Lawyers, Guns and Money) has been arguing that if the Supreme Court overturns the ACA Justices Roberts and Scalia open themselves up to impeachment for lying to congress. The argument is that both men, during their confirmation hearing, declared themselves big fans of stare decisis , meaning settled law and precedence. But settled law says that Congress has the right to mandate that people buy health insurance before they need it. So if they throw out settled law to rule as they please they stand revealed as perjures. Sadly, Impeachment proceeding begin the House which is controlled by the Republican party so nothing is going to happen. But seriously, those two guys need to be thrown off the court.
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Sue said on June 25, 2012 at 10:42 am
brian stouder and beb:
There has been speculation that Roberts is becoming concerned about his ‘legacy’ and a ruling in favor of Montana’s law would be a back door way for Roberts & co. to reopen C.U. and fix a couple of things. ACA is another supposed issue that will tarnish Roberts’ ‘legacy’ if a strike-down ruling results in a large and painful object lesson to enough Americans.
So, ruling against Montana seems to indicate that the Supremes are quite comfortable with the job they’re doing. Possibly doesn’t bode well for ACA.
And what is taking so long to announce the decision? Are they still hashing it out, or is this theatrics, or are they giving their BFFs in congress time to get their press releases in order?
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2012 at 10:43 am
So the Special Plate for Slow’s, based on this case, would be the Supremely Slow: You order it, and the wait-staff keeps telling you it’s coming, and you watch as other diners get served; and your Supremely Slow just never comes.
PS – Cooz – I’m STILL laughing about your champaign fountain-in-the-bathroom ditty!
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Jolene said on June 25, 2012 at 10:44 am
Thursday will be the day for the healthcare decision. The NYT has a brief article on the drama of waitingfor this decision.
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Dorothy said on June 25, 2012 at 10:45 am
Deborah I hope you are able to fly home or at least return to Chicago in a rental car instead of the UHaul. I hate riding in those things. I’ve done it too many times and hope I never have to again. I hope Little Bird has an easy transition into life in New Mexico.
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Judybusy said on June 25, 2012 at 10:46 am
You are a good mom, Deborah!
The Court just announced the decision on the Arizona immigration law, striking it down, but leaving the door open for future rulings regarding having to show papers to local law enforcement. I am anxious about the other rulings!
If anyone needs a 6-minute palate-cleanser, here is a documentary about my co-worker building an ice palace in his backyard. I haven’t watched the whole thing, but heard about THE PROCESS while he built it. At the time, he was with us temporarily, but joined us full-time last fall. I couldn’t be happier. He’s super smart and we have the best, most wide-ranging conversations.
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2012 at 11:03 am
Jolene, that was an excellent article. And now, I have bookmarked SCOTUSblog, so as to be a more-informed drop* of water in the tidal wave that will sweep in over there, when this decision finally comes to pass.
*My wife would say “drip”, but who asked her, eh?
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alex said on June 25, 2012 at 11:26 am
If Condoleezapalooza was closed to the public, how did word get out about the condescending twit trying to blow sunshine up Condi’s butt?
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MarkH said on June 25, 2012 at 11:35 am
beb @ 11 — Your reference to LGM displays a complete misinterpretation of stare decisis. Laws passed by congress and the senate are NOT settled law under this term, and are always subject to being heard in the courts. Stare decisis refers to settled law through the courts, however far a case goes in an appeal process. Once a case gets to the Supreme Court, if it does, and a decision is rendered, then you have “settled law”. But it could be settled earlier if lower appeals courts refuse to hear a case. If Scalia and Alito were to go after Roe v. Wade, then you have a point, but it does not apply to ACA which is still a congressional act. I know we have attorneys that post here occasionally who can expound on this in more detail.
EDIT — I should clarify that it’s your reference to LGM and its argument that shows the misinterpretation.
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MichaelG said on June 25, 2012 at 11:37 am
Dan B, easy on the “crap from California” cheap shot. What you see in Michigan is stuff that is grown on industrialized strawberry farms and shipped a very long distance. Shelf life is everything. What we eat here are strawberries grown on small patches by Hmongs and sold both at roadside stands and in supermarkets. Fresh grown local produce is always going to be superior to produce shipped thousands of miles.
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LAMary said on June 25, 2012 at 12:00 pm
What Michael said. We get amazing produce here at our farmers’ markets. This weekend I had strawberries, peaches, nectarines, avocados and blueberries that would be very hard to beat. We ship the unripe crap to you guys.
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2012 at 12:10 pm
What the Supreme Court decision will look like:
http://www.chem.info/News/2012/06/Safety-Three-People-Missing-after-Trains-Collide/?et_cid=2713808&et_rid=44004269&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.chem.info%2fNews%2f2012%2f06%2fSafety-Three-People-Missing-after-Trains-Collide%2f
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Prospero said on June 25, 2012 at 12:39 pm
Mark H: The ACA lawsuits were not heard at seveveral lower courts along the way to the SC, and found wanting in several more, with any number of GOPer judicial appointees along the way. The DC Circuit (as conservative as courts get short of Scalito and Thomberts) upheld ACA in two instances. For some reason, the “liberal media” have treated the upward mobility of the challenges as some sort of split decision, while, in fact, the challenges have taken a severe beating all the way up:
http://www.hfma.org/Templates/Print.aspx?id=24263
And from serious conservative judicial minds that are acknowledged right spectrum experts (particularly, Judge Sutton in the Thomas More appeal) on the Commerce Clause. Remember, the individual mandate was born full-blown out of the forehead of the American Enterprise Foundation, and no GOPer questioned its Constitutionality for 20 years. In fact, right wingers loved the personal responsibility aspect of the mandate so much that Mittens wrote it into Romneycare. Problem is, a brown-skinned uppity Democratic Party President coopted it to get the universal coverage camel’s nose in the tent, and that just won’t do. GOPers like to call the opposition “flip-floppers”, but the entire right end of the American political spectrum is doing a 180 on the individual mandate on this subject, and the American Press is letting them get away with it, or actually abetting the U-turn. Every GOP opponent of ACA should be required to explain why the tenets of the law were their whiz-bang health care go-to idea for two decades but now it’s unconscionable and unConstitutional. Aside: As a Catholic, I am appalled and disgusted that a group attempting to interfere with universal health care coverage would usurp the name and reputation of Thomas More. Anyway, in fact, the sad record of the appeals would suggest that the highest court would just have refused to hear the challenges, but that would have brought out the torches and pitchforks, and Scalia will leave no activist judicial stone unturned in fucking with the USA.
We have no Hmong community of small farmers here on the Carolina coast, but we do have old-timey Gullah family farmers, and spectacular local produce. We’ve also got local managers of big chain groceries smart enough to buy local produce. Unlike Californians, our roadside stands also offer local brown shrimp at incredibly low prices, but why buy ’em when I can just gather ’em free with a cast net out of my kayak, with only a rare gator scare? They are generally intimidated by the length of my boat (ocean kayak) which parbly seems like a much larger gator to the beasts.
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MarkH said on June 25, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Thanks for the political primer, Prospero, and your points are well taken. But my post dealt only with the accurate definition of stare decisis. Congressional bills signed into law are not “settled law” until the court upholds.
EDIT — IF those laws are challenged in the courts.
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Prospero said on June 25, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Sue @12: That is a states rights issue, right?
I just finished reading Snow Crash, and it’s time for agonizing over what next. Snow Crash is a wildly entertaining novel. Like William Gibson collaborating with Groucho and Harpo and Chico, with the Wonderbread bro playing the RMoney role. Frequently hilarious, very well written, and some wild shit about ancient Sumerians that reminded me of all the Gilgamesh and Book of the Dead stuff in The Sunlight Dialogues. Anyway, I’m leaning toward finishing up the Stieg Larrson so I can go ahead and watch the rest of the movies.
Here’s a brief history of Romneycare:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/24/massachusetts-healthcare-reform-model-romney?CMP=EMCNEWEML1355
How Willard runs away from his history should be interesting. Should he get a pass from GOPers, it’s a virtual imprimatur on the basic idea is that the basic problem these people have with Obama is melanin.
Mark H. I understand stare decisis, but it’s also true that the vast body of work of Congress never undergoes judicial review. And I was not trying to be pedantic. Historically, the Supreme Court has considered the appellate history of legal challenges in deciding what appeals to take on. In this case, ACA, it was always going to Scalito no matter what the lower courts said or did. That would seem to play havoc with the history of stare decisis. Considering the appellate history en toute, the appeals faired very poorly even in the most promising judicial settings. Historically, the poor lower court record would have led the SC to dismiss the appeals. Should the court be considering the undeniable beneficial effects of ACA already in the works? “Necessary and Proper”, so yeah, they should. Anyway, with regard to your comment on stare decisis, that’s got nothing to do with the SC, when the appeals have been roundly trounced in lower courts. So SCOTUS taking up the appeals at all is an overtly political act, which is unseemly.
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Dan B said on June 25, 2012 at 1:13 pm
Michael and Mary- you’re right that I was unfairly tarring California with the brush of supermarket stuff. And I fully agree that local is always much, much better. (I was unimpressed with the South Carolina peaches I’ve had, but they were bought from roadside stands in Indiana. I’m fully prepared to accept that in the Southeast, they’re amazing.) But I still was not impressed by fruit in California.
I lived in San Diego for ten years. I went to farmers’ markets. Some of the worst peaches I’ve ever eaten were purchased there, and I don’t think I ever found a really good one. And yes, I think that the Michigan fruit has been consistently better. Yes, there are some places growing on the small scale for local consumption that make for actual flavor. But where I was, at least, you couldn’t find them easily, even in farmers’ markets (unless you paid through the nose for stuff from Chino’s). It may be better now (I moved away about 7 years ago, before the current fetish for farmers’ markets really took off), and it may be better in LA or Northern California, but I still find produce from areas that have less connection to industrial agribusiness to be, by and large, superior. More likelihood of growing varieties that haven’t been bred for supermarkets, perhaps? Less dependence on irrigation?
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MarkH said on June 25, 2012 at 1:22 pm
Propsero, it has EVERYTHING to do with the SC, if the court decides to take on the case, whatever it is. If lower courts make a decision, and SC says, “we’re not going to hear it (further appeal)”, it’s over. Stare decicis in place from the lower courts. And let’s not take this too far here: you are correct that stare decisis is rarely applied to congressional law, because, as you said, the vast majority never undergoes judicial review. The website cited by beb, LGM, misapplied the legal term, that’s all.
EDIT — The appeals were not roundly trounced in the lower courts, it was a mixed bag. Regardless of anyone’s political views, it is proper for the SC to hear the arguments and settle the issue.
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Prospero said on June 25, 2012 at 1:36 pm
JCBurns:
My brother has a Kindle that’s been replaced. Can I use it? Can I transfer the ownership? Can I actually set up a new account?
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Prospero said on June 25, 2012 at 1:38 pm
Mark H: It’s what I said. Scalito and Thommbers intende to take to cas from the get-go. And they are phony-originalist Conservatives when they are actually radical rat bastards that want to frack the Constitution.
Atttempting to defend any conception of originalism in deciding that Knox Gas and Oil has something to do with the Constitution is the absolutely lasst bastion of a scoundrel.
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Prospero said on June 25, 2012 at 2:02 pm
JC: Can I alter the account to my card etc.? Y’all are nuts. Them obvious liars and bastards on the SC. Nobody ever thought them bastards would tell the truth. They are stinking old man assholes that would lie to run over therir own grandmas.
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jcburns said on June 25, 2012 at 6:59 pm
I am honored that you asked, but my tech knowledge of the Kindle is, well, non-existent. It’s as if I live in some reality distortion field. But, y’know, I think Amazon content is linked to the account, not the device…
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nancy said on June 25, 2012 at 2:10 pm
Prospero, J.C. doesn’t exist to be everyone’s tech support person, but I think I can answer your question:
Think of your Kindle as an iPod. It mirrors the music/content you’ve paid for. In the case of the iPod, the music lives on your hard drive. In the case of Kindle content, Amazon knows what you’ve paid for. So if your brother gets a new Kindle, he scoops the content into the new device, and the old one is decommissioned, essentially — unlinked from his account. Assuming the old one is still in good working order, you can link it to *your* account.
As to whether the same books can exist on two linked Kindles at the same time, I’m not sure. Ask Amazon.
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beb said on June 25, 2012 at 2:12 pm
The Supreme Court’s decision against Montana’s campaign law seemed a foregone conclusion to me since the issue was whether a state could pass a law that contradicts federal law. The answer has always been ‘no.’
Sue,, it’s hard to imagine that Justice Roberts is concerned how his legacy since he continues to side with the most horrible interpretations of the law. Citizen’s United seemed premised on the idea that there is no appearance of corruption involved. We’ve seen already this year the extend that anonymous campaign contributions are buying elections .Montana’s law is preambled on the corruption of corporate campaign contributions. Between the two there was good reason to reverse course on Citizen’s United. But Roberts wasn’t interested. He also voted in favor of life-without-parole sentences for minors. If Roberts is concerned about his legacy it’s only that he doesn’t want his fingerprints on the shreds of the Constitution.
Alex, turns out there were two conferences in the same city(?)/state over the same weekend. The Koch’s ultra secret conference of billionaires and a very public met-and-greet for Romney. At the Romney affair White Republicans got their Mandingo on for Condeleesa Rice. Not much is known about the Koch affair.
MarkH, sorry but the settle law refers to, in this case, a 75 year old decision regarding seed wheat grown and used within the same state. The court ruled back then that the commerce clause allowed the Federal Government to regulate this activity. This seems no difference from the government mandating buying health insurance. Stare Decisis is not what Prospero is talking about at all.
While LGM has been talking about Roberts’ disregard for precedence, it appears that the article I was thinking about was from Americablog:
http://www.americablog.com/2012/06/did-justices-roberts-and-alito-perjure.html
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Mark P said on June 25, 2012 at 2:34 pm
I wonder why the “provide for the general welfare” clause never seems to be used in the ACA arguments …
Peaches. Once upon a time Georgia grew some really fine peaches. I remember summer days picking our own in an orchard not far from our NW Georgia home. Eat some as you pick. Hot, itchy, sticky, sweet. But then the market demanded peaches that could be shipped around the country without turning into dark brown mush. Thus we have a beautiful peach with the mouthfeel of a raw potato and no taste whatsoever. But boy does it hold up under shipping. If it weren’t sold in the produce department you would have no reason to believe it was an edible fruit.
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Dorothy said on June 25, 2012 at 2:47 pm
I’m going to make some of you jealous when I say that one of my co-worker’s sisters has an orchard just about 6 or 7 miles from my house; they predominantly grow peaches and apples. In about a week or 10 days I’m going to make me a peach pie and it’ll be scrumptious. I know this because we are regular customers there.
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Dexter said on June 25, 2012 at 3:05 pm
LAM: Avocados. When I was a young man, living for a year in California, I had not yet developed a passion for avocados , but when I vacationed in SoCal four years later, I had, and I had fresh-made guacamole daily and never got sick of it. There is nothing like fresh avocados, ripe and perfect, all mashed up into a great guacomole.
Artichokes are a different story…I can’t even remember what they taste like.
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Charlotte said on June 25, 2012 at 3:15 pm
Prospero — my stepmother gave me her decommissioned Kindle and I’ve been using it for several years. Go to “My Account” on the Amazon site and you should find the into you need.
I did my MA at UC Davis and it spoiled me forever for stone fruits. However, the white peaches from Paonia Colorado are also pretty stupendous (they lost their whole crop last year, kind of like Michigan).
We were prepared for the MT law to be shot down, but it’s still a blow.
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Sherri said on June 25, 2012 at 3:37 pm
“Stare decisis” means “we’ll let the precedents we like stand, but ignore the ones we don’t.” So, Citizens United is a precedent that stands, but we’re going to go back to a Lochner era view of the Commerce clause. Maybe Obama should pull an FDR and propose a Court packing scheme…
Of course, the Court indulges in judicial activism, both liberal and conservative. The difference is who benefits from the activism. With liberal judicial activism, the less powerful tend to benefit, while conservative judicial activism tends to protect the more powerful.
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Prospero said on June 25, 2012 at 4:02 pm
Mark, which part is the not obvious shit about how rightwingers loved this shit for years but they hate i when it might be a brown guy fo you not get. It’s obvious. All of this was fine when it was Wondrbread?
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Linda said on June 25, 2012 at 4:38 pm
Re: local fruits and veggies. In Ohio, it’s hard to beat the peaches they sell at roadside stands on Catawba Island (actually a peninsula jutting into Lake Erie, but that’s Ohio for you). They are incredibly hairy, but juicy and sweet. They explode in tasty juices that run down your chin.
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alex said on June 25, 2012 at 4:46 pm
So Hooters is getting beaten at its own game–in the niche that’s now being called “breastaurants.”
So what do they call the places with lap dances? Ass-n-Go?
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Linda said on June 25, 2012 at 4:47 pm
There’s a restaurant string in Toledo–Star Diner–with waitresses in hot pants. It’s a breakfast/lunch place, known locally as Eggs and Legs.
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coozledad said on June 25, 2012 at 5:01 pm
There ought to be a place where you can get some reheated frozen manicotti and a hand job. You could call it the Palmolive Garden?
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2012 at 5:15 pm
Cooz – all I can envision is Madge pulling her goopy hand out of the dish full of “DISH-WASHING liquid!!” and coming at me!
Sherri – just so.
Leaving aside Stare Decisis and other principles and nuances of Constitutional law, here is what I think I understand.
We elect presidents, who have vast power in some areas (for example, in their role as Commander-in-Chief), and a limited role in other areas (for example, advocating for a particular legislative agenda), and a very limited and proscribed (or non-existent) role in judicial matters.
Congress, on the other hand, has short elected terms and should be very attentive to what the public wants – while remaining wary of going too far and getting whacked by the voters in the next election.
And while the Supreme Court should be slow to strike down state laws (unless if a state law usurps or pre-empts a national law such as Arizona or [more questionably] Montana), they should be even slower and more deliberate about striking down national laws that our elected congress enacted, and our elected president signed into law.
But there’s really no check on the Supremes; if they become a runaway court (see: Roger Taney) the elected branches could ignore them, but that’s an extremely unlikely turn of events.
Justices could be impeached, but that, too, would be exceedingly rare.
I had thought that institutional prerogatives might inhibit the Court a bit – from clashing with the elected branches too readily; and indeed, historically that seems to be operative most of the time, and may well ultimately prove to be the case this time. But, at this point, I wouldn’t bet on it.
Maybe that’s why all the delay; maybe our revolutionary court wants to appear more judicially deliberative and less deliberately adversarial to the elected branches of government.
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LAMary said on June 25, 2012 at 5:16 pm
Charlotte, Western Slope CO. fruits are excellent. Last time I was there I just missed the peach season. The white peaches are like some gorgeous fresh tasting white wine.
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jcburns said on June 25, 2012 at 6:58 pm
“This isn’t happening.” “Not for nothing, but.” “Ya think??” Sorkinisms on parade.
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Prospero said on June 25, 2012 at 7:16 pm
Claiming fruit from one state or another as sweeter is monumantally stupid, as an orchard can run a state line, and weather sure as shit does. Tirst bloom peaches here ar gigantic and my idea is no way to make those pie.
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Kaye said on June 25, 2012 at 7:48 pm
The Sorkinisms link is fabulous, thanks for sharing. Now I am off to Netfilx to visit some old friends.
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JWfromNJ said on June 25, 2012 at 8:02 pm
I’m generally going to agree with Prospero that fruit knows no boundaries but I’m going to stick up for Michigan Honeycrisp apples – there are none better – and my local Indian River County citrus.
It’s unique here dealing with citrus as a huge industry. But our Honeybell tangerines, various grapefruit, and like 7 types of juice oranges in the spring make for a nice bounty. Ever had pineapple orange juice, and not the mix, but the orange variety?
We have nice sweet corn here in that it starts in April, but it doesn’t compare to Indiana’s in June or New Jersey which I think has the best sweet corn and tomatoes in the country. But I can’t differentiate between Georgia and South Carolina peaches.
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Charlotte said on June 25, 2012 at 8:11 pm
LA Mary — I once fell in love with a Telluride chef in part because of a dessert he developed: half a Paonia white peach, on a disk of dark chocolate, with raspberry coulis. Sigh.
We have a friend whose sister lives in Paonia and has an orchard, we wait anxiously every summer for our fix …
So here’s a pet peeve — what happened to sweet corn? It’s all SO sweet now. When I was a kid, it still tasted like *corn* — now it just tastes like sugar. Makes me sad.
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Sherri said on June 25, 2012 at 8:22 pm
It’s too early for much fruit way up here at the 47th parallel, but the asparagus is good right now, and it’s Copper River (Alaska) salmon season. Salmon is like wine up here – distinguished by type and location. I splurged for some Copper River King salmon, and that’s going on the grill tonight along with some asparagus and some zucchini. It might not even rain on me.
Fruit will have to wait until we warm up. We’re stuck in the 60s. At least it’s light now. Sunset’s not until after 9 pm.
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basset said on June 25, 2012 at 8:24 pm
Prospero, good to see we finally agree on something. “Snow Crash” is one of my all-time favorite novels and definitely Stephenson’s best if you ask me; didn’t care for most of his later books, I refuse to read fiction which includes mathematical formulas.
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Jolene said on June 25, 2012 at 9:24 pm
jc, the Sorkinism video is hysterical. Of course, many of the phrases in it are things we all say (you bet, you bet your ass), so the recurrence makes sense. But still, the repetition and recycling of more distinctive phrases make it clear that Sorkinism is living a bit too much (maybe more than a bit!) inside his own mind and is overly impressed by what he finds there.
Can only guess at the effort required to find all the scenes in the video. Is there an archive for screenplays that one could search?
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Julie Robinson said on June 25, 2012 at 10:30 pm
Not as well known, but there was also a Republicanpalooza in Iowa, AKA the Hughes family reunion. No internet, because they live in the fifties. I had to leave the room a lot, but decided to fight intolerance with tolerance. Mom is radiantly happy, which was the purpose of the trip.
The best strawberries I ever had came from my Dad’s garden. Also the best everything else.
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Prospero said on June 25, 2012 at 10:42 pm
charlotte. How adult of you.
Basset, One thing I liked a great deal was the pseudo sex scene in snow crash and that the agressor was the victim ov vagina dentata. Very well played.
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Judybusy said on June 25, 2012 at 10:45 pm
JW, those Michigan honeycrisps got their start at the U of Minnesota. We look forward to them every fall. At one of our farmer’s market, there’s a man who sells about ten different kinds of apples, including heirlooms that you don’t find even at the co-ops. His honeycrisps (granted, not heirlooms) go for about half compared to elsewhere–folks charge a premium for them. I love trying all of his different apples.
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jcburns said on June 25, 2012 at 11:15 pm
Sorkinisms aside, I enjoyed The Newsroom, with a few asterisks, quibbles, and squirms.
And yes, editing is hard work–whoever put that Sorkin supercut together did a lot (days) of logging and clip-accumulating and most of that was AT LEAST DVD-quality, so it wasn’t like he pulled a bunch of crap off of the internet, clicked a few times, and called it a day. Just waiting for a disk to spin up inside your machine takes time. Eject it: wait another ten seconds or so. Where’s that jewel case? Where are my notes?
Again: video editing is hard work.
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Deborah said on June 25, 2012 at 11:36 pm
Water’s on, truck got unloaded and we’re about half unpacked. Not bad for one day. It was hot in Santa Fe during the day today but as usual cool at night. Very pleasant. Good sleeping weather.
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