Musings from Sumigirl

The Show Must Go On

Check out this great spot on Woods Tea Co (my brother is on the left) from WCAX-TV in Burlington, VT. They talk about the loss of member Chip Chase and founding member Rusty Jacobs. The page has a link to a video spot so you can hear some of the interview as well as some performing.

Tags: music, band, performance, interview, VT, Woods Tea Co

There are two official Christmas trees in Washington DC: the US Capital tree and the National tree at the White House. Here they are:

Capital Tree is on the left; National (White House) tree on the right.

Which do you think is nicer? I like the Capitol tree – and not just because it’s from Vermont. It looks like a real tree not a fake tree like the White House tree. They both use LED lights to save energy but the Capitol tree is decorated with ornaments from Vermont and it has the right shape – one made from nature. And what’s with all the bows on the White House tree? It looks like a big glow stick.

technorati tags:Washington DC, lights, LED, White House, US Capitol, christmas, Vermont, tree

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NPR : Crumpet the Elf Reads from Santaland Diaries

If you haven’t read or heard David Sedaris, get ready for a real treat. Please (I beg you), click on the link and listen to the excerpt from his 1992 “Santaland Diaries”. The adventures of Crumpet the Elf (Sedaris) is a complete scream. Hearing him sing “Away In A Manger” in the style of Billie Holiday is priceless.

I read “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim” this summer – mostly while walking the cat outside – and I nearly fell down a few times while reading it.

Below is a clip of a reading on David Letterman on the “Stadium Pal” accessory for men.

Enjoy!

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Tags: davidsedaris, humor, essayist, culture

Like Charlie Brown, Christmas depresses me on the whole. Perhaps because the build-up is so long and disappointment is practically guaranteed by the time the day arrives. I agree with Loudon Wainwright III on this one:

Outside it’s positively balmy
In the air nary a nip.
Suddenly it’s Christmas
Unbuttoned and unzipped.
Yes, they’re working overtime
Santa’s little runts.
Christmas comes but once a year
And goes on for two months.

I’m not complete humbug about it all. I love buying, wrapping and giving gifts. I love getting them all the more. However, it’s just the length of the holiday that gets me down and know that a long winter is about the begin. Too bad Christmas doesn’t come in the middle of winter – something to look forward to during the long, cold, dark days.

I’m not a Christian but I do appreciate the wonderment of the occasion.

Merry Christmas. “God bless us every one.”

Tags: life, christmas, commercialism, holiday, Loudon Wainwright III, pop culture, Charlie Brown, depression, cartoon

D.C. Gets 25 Cents’ Worth of Respect – washingtonpost.com

But after nearly 10 years of fighting, the city finally won a new mark of respect this week.

“Can you believe it? How many years have I tried to get that?” exulted the city’s congressional delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), who has repeatedly introduced bills to get the District a place on the quarter’s flip side.

Despite Norton’s vigorous lobbying and arm-twisting, it was not the District’s quest for equality that ultimately carried the day.

It was Puerto Rico’s.

Yes, the District doesn’t get any respect. People in and outside of the region belittle it everyday. I don’t think that most Americans know that it’s a city without true representation that must endure indignities no state would tolerate.

So what should be on the DC Quarter? Evidently, portraits and flags are not allowed or else I would say Frederick Douglas. I’m certain they will pick something safe like the Capitol, the Washington Monument or some cherry blossom trees. I think it should be simple: “Taxation Without Representation”.

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Tags: DC, quarter, money, design, coin, us mint, respect, politics, washington

Development puts squeeze on Orleans House – – The Washington Times, America’s Newspaper

This isn’t some great gourmet find but Tom Sarris’s Orleans House has a 43-year history at it’s current location. It has a massive salad bar and serves the best Prime Rib for the money in this area. I came here often with my parents when they visited me. It has some of the most garish interiors but the food has always been good – the Prime Rib great.

What kills me is that they will erect another ugly high-rise building on this spot. Right, we really need another one of those.

Sigh.

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Tags: orleans-house, DC, development, restaurant, food, life, architecture, closure

I work in DC where there is a Starbucks on every corner (so it seems). While I was out in the distant burbs of DC (near Leesburg, VA) I saw this Starbucks drive-thru – complete with 6 cars in line. I hate to think of all the emissions being released as these cars are idling in line. It’s just a coffee, people! Get out of your car and walk in. Or just make it at home, huh?

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Tags: Starbucks, coffee, drive-thru, culture, life, environment, suburbs

San Francisco sprouts a “Chia” nightclub | Crave : The gadget blog

A San Francisco nightclub installed on Monday what it’s promoting as the city’s first vertical garden. Several plant-filled boxes turned on their sides and bolted outside near the entrance are the first step in the Zen Compound‘s plans to cover the facade of the building in greenery.
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For now, the Zen Compound serves organic spirits with corn-based cups and straws that get composted rather than trashed. Club marketing is moving away from using paper fliers, even if recycled, to online-only promotions with Flash animation.

This story comes via crave.cnet.com. I do think it’s a great idea even if it’s just a gimmick. The more green space in any city is a good thing.

Tags: green, club, San Francisco, Zen, environment, chic, tech, building, architecture

Guyliner. The new catchphrase for boys behaving girly, joining last year’s manbags (handbags), mandals (sandals), mannies (nannies) and himbos (bimbos). It’s the lexical equivalent of making pink hammers for women.

Eyeliner For Men?! Pencil These Guys In. – washingtonpost.com

It almost always starts with the concealer. The skin-colored glop is the gateway drug of men’s cosmetics. But don’t call it makeup.

“You mean our enhancing and correcting line?” interrupts Marek Hewryk when asked about his men’s makeup line, 4VOO (pronounced “for-vou”).

“Enhancing and correcting line?” – talk about denial.

I don’t care that guys wear makeup (it all started with skin colored Clearasil in the 1960s) but call it cosmetics or make-up. I don’t call a baseball cap a “dirty-hair-hider”.

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Tags: guyliner, cosmetics, make-up, men, life

Cupboards Are Bare at Food Banks – washingtonpost.com

The Capital Area Food Bank, the region’s primary distribution center, reported that it had about 230,000 pounds of goods on its shelves this week, down from 570,000 pounds at this time last year, officials said.

The short supplies, which are hitting food banks and soup kitchens across the nation, stem from a combination of factors: Federal supplies of excess farm goods have dropped, in part because of the summer drought and because farmers are selling more of their products internationally. Donations from grocery stores, a major source for food banks, have fallen as supermarket chains consolidate, increase efficiency and tighten inventory controls.

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America’s Second Harvest, the country’s leading hunger-relief charity, is projecting a shortage of 15 million pounds of food this year at its more than 200 network food banks. That would be enough food to serve 11.7 million meals or fill 400 trucks.

At food banks from Maine to Florida to California, “demand is up, and food is flying out the door faster than ever,” spokesman Ross Fraser said.

“Our inventories are as depleted as they’ve ever been before,” Fraser said. “Our food banks keep calling here saying, ‘My God, you’ve got to help us. We desperately need help.’ “

The above text are just excerpts from the linked article. During this time of holiday giving, please help your local food bank if you can. I donate to America’s Second Harvest – they are a great group.

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Tags: food, giving, holiday, food-banks, donation, Washington-Post, hunger