And another...

... sound quality a bit murky, but hang in there for the awesome Hubert Laws flute solo. This may the all-time greatest TV theme song.

Here, have another...

... you deserve it...

Can Music Be Perfect? Vol. 30

"You get some uh, have you ever had any rozinrizin"... well, have you?

Oh golly...

The worst David Brooks ever! Men who can't find a good job are just like... John Wayne in The Searchers! "Surely, part of the situation is that many men simply do not want to put themselves in positions they find humiliating." But apparently that hasn't stopped Mr. Brooks...

Nuke it, Harry!

The American system of government has checks and balances up the wazoo. Already the Senate way over-represents lame states like Wyoming and Idaho. The filibuster gives even more power to the obstructionist dumb-ass minority. The argument against the nuclear option is that when the Repubs regain the majority there will be hell to pay. Maybe so, but if that's what the people want...

Trayvon Martin

Given the law and the evidence (or lack thereof), it seems unlikely that the verdict could have been otherwise, as Ta-Nehisi Coates cogently argues in this post. It's not even clear to me that "stand your ground" per se was necessary to Zimmerman's self-defense defense. No doubt we'll see more of the same.

It's the cheese

Joe and Mary Matos make one kind of cheese only, Saint George, a medium-hardness cheese based on the cheese of the proprietors' native Azores. A visit to their little cheese "factory" on the outskirts of Santa Rosa is for me always a highlight of a drive through Sonoma County.

From their sign on Llano Road, you head up a narrow gravel drive through the cow pasture, park, and enter the closet-sized front office. A loud bell announces your presence. Some minutes later, an oldish woman appears from the door to the aging room. I think it used to be Mary herself, but I believe it was someone else on my recent visit. She slices you a generous taste, and if you are like me you say, "I'll take a wheel" (the small size is ten pounds). She asks, in very halting English, "Want it cleaned?" The first time I bought a whole cheese I had no idea what she meant, but I figured it must be a good idea. "Sure." In the aging room, she takes a wheel down from the shelf, seats herself on a low stool, and with a large knife (small machete?), proceeds to scrape the entire surface of the cheese, white curls flying into a box between her knees. The sight and sound of this simple procedure justify going out of your way, regardless of any savings on the price of the cheese.

The price of the cheese... did I menton the price of the cheese? You can find St. George in a number of cheese shops around the Bay Area. At retail it runs between $15 and $23 per pound, usually around the middle of that range. Factory direct you can get as much or as little as you want for $7.50 a lb.

The cheese is very good. It has a pleasing, simple nuttiness and a little cheddar tang, and a wonderful airy texture. It is a great table cheese and would, I think, be great for cooking too. Trust me, you will want to buy a wheel and share some generous slices with your friends.

Your FSA/OWI Photo of the Day

Washington, D.C. Pete Seeger, noted folk singer entertaining at the opening of the Washington labor canteen, sponsored by the United Federal Labor Canteen, sponsored by the Federal Workers of American, Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Joseph A. Horne, 1944.

Note that other well-known pinko, ER, in the audience front and center.