Do You Want Other Wars?

This video is quite graphic because there are images in it that are from the Iraqi war...this is what war looks like and what we haven't seen very much of on American TV.

John McCain wants more wars--that is, he thinks they will be necessary. Many more wars. I think that's what he knows. War is his M.O., and is the starting point for him rather than a last resort, as Gen. Wesley Clark points out.

The background music in this video is very emotionally manipulative, but if you can look past that and see what people are saying and what war is, you might get something out of this video.

Do you want other wars?

My Husband Almost Made the Gymnastics Team...

My husband almost got a slot on the Men's U.S. gymnastics team. Almost. He trained relentlessly. We don't talk about it much--I don't like to brag on this blog, and frankly, he's a little bummed...

When he was in training, there was no stopping him. He trained for hours on the weekends and for several hours after biking home from work during the week. Any time during vacations was spent at the gymnastics academy. There really aren't many middle aged men who have ever come this close to making the team. Really, he's the Dara Torres of Men's Gymnastics. You probably haven't heard of him because we've been so lucky to keep publicity at a minimum. We just didn't want our family life to be even more disrupted than it already was by his grueling training schedule. Look for yourself.

Here, we see my husband working on the pommel horse. It's his favorite apparatus. See? He's smiling. He's always at ease while doing scissor kicks.

Next to the pommel horse, my husband loves the rings. He's like a monkey up there! He may not look like a typical Olympics bound gymnast, but there's a lot of power in those normal sized muscles.

Here, my husband demonstrates perfect form while doing the Iron Cross.

You can see the strain on his face--imagine holding that position. The mind boggles.

My husband missed out on being a member of the team because he's just not strong enough in the Floor Exercise. It's his weakest event, and unfortunately, if the U.S.A. has any hope of beating the powerhouse team of Uzbekistan, they would have to get a more competitive member.

Sorry, babe. Maybe in 2012. We can only hope...and train. Go get 'em Tiger!

I Love The Rite of Spring

This music is dramatic and so cutting edge and is from...1913. It's so modern and jarring and at times discordant. It is music that was composed for a ballet, the theme being Pagan ritual, but I find it frenetic and it evokes industrial machines spitting out metal parts and workers trying to keep up--kind of like the movie Metropolis.

Here's a bit from Wikipedia about The Rite of Spring and composer Igor Stravinsky's reaction to its reception.

The complex music and violent dance steps depicting fertility rites first drew catcalls and whistles from the crowd. At the start with the opening bassoon solo, the audience began to boo loudly due to the slight discord in the background notes behind the bassoon's opening melody. There were loud arguments in the audience between supporters and opponents of the work. These were soon followed by shouts and fistfights in the aisles. The unrest in the audience eventually degenerated into a riot. The Paris police arrived by intermission, but they restored only limited order. Chaos reigned for the remainder of the performance, and Stravinsky himself was so upset on account of its reception that he fled the theater in mid-scene, reportedly crying.^[3]

Can you imagine people's feelings being so inflamed these days at an orchestral concert that they would actually riot over the very notes?

Does this knock your socks off? It does mine...

Cooking With the Kids, or This is Homeschooling Too

I have recently discovered a whole bunch of cookbooks for the kids. My friend, Unnamed, has two girls who've been cooking up a storm and I was inspired. The last time we went to the library I checked out several cookbooks aimed at kids, and the one I like especially is Kids Cook 1-2-3 by Rozanne Gold.

The premise of the book is to use whole foods (mostly--the kids are not going to make puff pastry from scratch, you do have to buy that so it's processed, and it's white flour...but, it's puff pastry! Can that be so wrong, every once in a while?!), and use only 3 ingredients (salt and pepper excluded).

Yesterday, my daughter made a Frulotta--orange juice, a banana and sweetened condensed milk. The condensed milk was a fun discovery for my kids--they're kind of sugar deprived...although, I would call them raw honey enriched. Potato, po-tah-to.

My daughter cut up the banana, put it in the blender with the juice and I helped measure out the milk. She added 6 cubes of ice and let it whirl. We all agreed it was good, although my daughter thought it was a little too sweet! Amateur...

My son intends to make an evil thing called "Bacon Candy" which is strips of bacon, lightly sprinkled with a mixture of confectioners sugar and pumpkin spice (it's supposed to be 5 spice blend, but we don't have that--you gotta do what you gotta do) and then baked. The bacon is nitrate/nitrite free but that's about all I can say about it in regards to its healthfulness. We'll see how it tastes--I think we're going to like it.

I think I'm going to buy this book from Amazon--I saw there are plenty of used ones, in keeping with the Compact.

It's fun getting the kids in the kitchen to do what they would like to do and not just helping me in my projects. I think they'll grow more and more comfortable with food preparation and with experimenting with different ingredients and tastes and techniques.

Wait, this is homeschooling too?

Do you guys feel I'm too liberal with my Homeschooling label, or do you agree with me that all of these things are a means of learning and so are homeschooling? Is homeschooling only academic? Is learning your way around a kitchen homeschooling--Home Ec anyone? Do my kids have to wait until they're young teenagers to learn this, as they would in public school?

Discuss.