HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"

[bk]

Well, we had a few moments of blessed quiet, and then the rain just started pelting us again.

[JoseSPiano]

Re gross chocolate: It is politically correct fair trade chocolate, given to us by my politically correct in-laws

DRLaura,

You really worry me sometimes.  Next time (and soon I hope) we get together for coffee, you must explain this one to me.

If I may explain... And this is assuming I'm right about this.. and we all know what happens when you "assume"... In any case...

The term "fair trade" refers to goods - usually foodstuffs - that come from third world countries.  They are fairly traded in the sense that the people in these communities are paid a standard market value for the the goods that they are growing, producing, manufacturing.  They are not paid "third world" rates, rather they are paid something close to what the company who is buying their products would have to pay if they were buying them from a "first world" country/economy.  In short, they are not exploiting them.  There is a lot of "fair trade" coffee out on the market now.  I started seeing chocolate about a year ago in some fair trade stores - A Thousand Villages is one of the fair trade chains.

I have to agree, unfortunately, that some fair trade chocolate can be "gross".  However, some people like it.  The few brands I've tried tasted very earthy, mineral overtones.  Not necessarily bad, just different.

[S. Woody White]

Well, we had a few moments of blessed quiet, and then the rain just started pelting us again.

If they're beaver pelts, you should be able to keep dry.

[DearReaderLaura]

That is correct, DR Jose.

And I probably worry DR Kerry for more reasons than that.

[JoseSPiano]

OH!...

And I was reading on Playbill.com how Idina Menzel was injured during the matinee yesterday.  They even stopped the show, and Shoshona Bean ended up finishing the performance.  And going on last night.  And for today's matinee which would have been Idina's last performance.

I know there are more eloquent ways to say it, but... That totally sucks!

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/90501.html

[bk]

I think I shall take a nice long hot shower because I just haven't seen enough water today.

[Jay]

Good grief!  Until this evening, I last was at this wondeful site on Friday afternoon and it has taken me hours--hours, I tell you--to slog through every post and column that has come up between then and now.

My response to what I've read requires me to channel Mr. Bark Makalor from the time when he would appear here with some frequency:  You people are crazy!

[George]

I've been home for a few hours, getting some (unfortunately, not all ) CDs ready to be mailed tomorrow.  One is the interview that BK did a few weeks ago.  I'm sending a copy to JMK and I think Elmore wanted a copy.  Does anyone else want it?  Just let me know!

[Jay]

In honor of the top box office movie for the last three weeks running, I staged my own little version of Meet the Parent (and brother) last night.  All went well:  my Dashing Bulgarian (see posts of December 4 for a picture, thanks to Dear Reader Panni) and The Dear Mother and The Dear Brother and I had a very nice time and those who were meeting for the first time enjoyed making the other's/others' aquaintance.  

We went to the Daily Grill in Irvine and received some of the worst service I've received in a restaurant in ages.  Luckily, none of us were in a rush to get anywhere else and after a while it just became rather humorous and we all laughed heartily as things went from bad to worse (incorrect orders brought to the table, an obnoxious waiter who did not wait by the table for any response to the questions he posed, check delivery before we were asked if we'd like coffee and/or dessert, an ultimately delivered check that was incorrect in the restaurant's favor, etc., etc., etc.)

Beyond that, spent most of the weekend trying to stay dry and warm.  My heat went out on Friday afternoon and I could not get a repair person here until Tuesday morning.  Luckily, this round of relentlessly rainy storms has been coming from the south, with sub-tropical moisture, so it has not been nearly as cold as last week and the week before.

Oh yes.  Dear Reader Stuart sends his love and kisses to all you wonderful Hainsies/Kimlets out there in the dark.  He heads back home tomorrow and will likely return to HHW.com on Tuesday.

[JoseSPiano]

Good grief!  Until this evening, I last was at this wondeful site on Friday afternoon and it has taken me hours--hours, I tell you--to slog through every post and column that has come up between then and now.

My response to what I've read requires me to channel Mr. Bark Makalor from the time when he would appear here with some frequency:  You people are crazy!

Well, if by "crazy" you mean discussing such things as German cinema, Bacharach songs, the rain in LA, the snow in Indiana, "Lost Horizon", Diet Cherry Coke, Frances Farmer, underpants, dance crazes from the 60's - the limbo in particular, the letter "u", Kudo-Head and the Giant Green Blob, cotton panties, marzipan pigs, tree rats and other various and sundried topics until the wee hours of the morning... Well... Uh... Well...

...Nevermind.

 

[JoseSPiano]

In honor of the top box office movie for the last three weeks running, I staged my own little version of Meet the Parent (and brother) last night.  All went well:  my Dashing Bulgarian (see posts of December 4 for a picture, thanks to Dear Reader Panni) and The Dear Mother and The Dear Brother and I had a very nice time and those who were meeting for the first time enjoyed making the other's/others' aquaintance.  

So, that begs the question:  Do they approve?

[bk]

That'll teach you to be errant and truant for that long.  Now, for your penance, get off your butt cheeks and LIMBO.

[bk]

Which begs the question: Should I have an English Muffin or a Lean Cuisine Pizza Bread?

[JoseSPiano]

Finally catching up on my NYTimes from the past week or so...

Interesting article from the January 2nd edition:

Let's Put on a Loser
By JESSE McKINLEY

Published: January 2, 2005

When "Dracula, the Musical" draws its last breath after Sunday's matinee, its bottom line will be blood red, with an estimated loss of some $7.5 million for its producers (led by Dodger Theatricals) after five months at the Belasco Theater. (Exact losses are hard to calculate because shows can continue to make money via tours and rights sales.) It will be far from the biggest money loser of the 2004 musical crop. ("Bombay Dreams," which closed Saturday, will lose the better part of $14 million.) Here are some of the other notable closings of 2004, with their estimated Broadway losses and quick looks at what went wrong.

The rest of article goes on with the tallies for Taboo, Never Gonna Dance, the revival of Little Shop of Horrors, and Caroline, or Change.

It's just amazing how fast a show can lose money compared to how long it takes to recoup it's initial investment.

[bk]

There are three huge trucks with flashing lights outside my house, and men with big flashlights.  I wonder if there's a problem with the power lines, although I have power and have had all day.  I don't like this.

[JoseSPiano]

There are three huge trucks with flashing lights outside my house, and men with big flashlights.  I wonder if there's a problem with the power lines, although I have power and have had all day.  I don't like this.

Hmmm.... Maybe something with the sewer lines...  Any trees fall down in your neighborhood?

Hope all is well.

[bk]

I haven't seen any trees down - they seem to be concentrating across the street.

[JoseSPiano]

Limbo party?

[bk]

The men and trucks are now gone.  Whew!  However, the rain is now pouring down again and I'm now very concerned about these moist spots appearing on the rug in the bedroom.  There is obviously flooding going on under the house and if this crap doesn't let up for a few hours I don't know what's going to happen.

[JoseSPiano]

The men and trucks are now gone.  Whew!  However, the rain is now pouring down again and I'm now very concerned about these moist spots appearing on the rug in the bedroom.  There is obviously flooding going on under the house and if this crap doesn't let up for a few hours I don't know what's going to happen.

Have you noticed any flooding in the backyard?  or on that side of the house?  how is the pool?  jacuzzi?

Seriously, I'd consider calling the men in the big trucks with the big flashlights...

[bk]

It's obviously really wet out there, but I haven't seen any evidence of the pool overflowing (I think it's got some built-in safety thing, or the Jacuzzi.

[Panni]

Coldwater Canyon is now closed. (Laurel is open again.)

I have a friend who lives in Colorado who was traveling a few weeks ago with some British journalists and rockers. They were in Bali together and invited him to go to Thailand with them. He decided to remain in Bali, as he had writing to do. Well, you know what he missed. (His friends survived, but it was a close call.) So guess where he showed up today? Timing is everything.

[Panni]

I'm on the second floor and it smells of damp earth in here. Go figure.

[Panni]

Welcome back, DR Jay!

[JoseSPiano]

It's obviously really wet out there, but I haven't seen any evidence of the pool overflowing (I think it's got some built-in safety thing, or the Jacuzzi.

Not trying to be pessimistic or anything...  But didn't you mention a few days ago you were noticing some leaks in the roof?  -I had an apartment once that had roof issues too, and when it rained really hard, the water would leak into the walls from the roof, and sometimes would then leak into the floorboards... Notice anything strange on/in/under your walls?

[Panni]

The rats are doing the Limbo.

G'night.

[bk]

The only leak I've found is this tiny one near the den.  I think if this keeps up and they don't do something, it could get worse.  That's the thing - I told them about this two weeks ago and they had three or four days of dry weather to come and fix it and they didn't.  I don't know what the deal with the floor in the bedroom is, but whether the rain abates or not tomorrow, my strong suggestion is that someone come out here and at least check out the problem.  

[S. Woody White]

BK, I think you should feel around the walls, to find out if there are any areas that feel damp.  What Jose posted is very true, that water can travel through the walls (generally via the vertical studs) and cause all kinds of havoc.  This can really be a problem if there is wiring in the area.

It wouldn't hurt to check.

[JoseSPiano]

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