Southern PEOPLE 3.27.2010

Southern People

3.27.2010

“You must try the truffles, they are d-i-v-i-n-e”

This is one of those stories that may have become “bigger” over time … but after researching, I think my memory is true.   This is what triggered this  … I received a great present from my sister the other day, a set of recipes (see  Rich’s Cooking School ) from a cooking class we took together in the early eighties.  The class was held in the basement of Rich’s department store in Atlanta and the cooking instructor was Nathalie Dupree.  Mary Stewart and I were always partners.  Other pairs were couples or friends.  Later, my sister took additional classes, and Pat Conroy was in the class (my sister actually partnered with Mr. Conroy in my absence) … he describes the class and Nathalie in his cookbook … you can read excerpts at The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes and … – Google Books.   …. Pat Conroy is spot on! Before reading this, I had begun to wonder if my memory had been “improved” with years.  Pat Conroy is known as a great storyteller … but his recounting is exactly like I remember the classes and Nathalie Dupree.  So if Pat Conroy the storyteller and moi the realist (every other member of my family inherited the creative storytelling gene but me) remember the events, the class and Ms. Dupree in a very similar way, then they must be true?

You left the classes satisfied … no, full and then some … full of wonderful food and wine, a stack of xerox recipes and  overflowing with laughter.  And for that you paid $5!!

Nathalie Dupree was the Director of Rich’s Cooking School, a full participation cooking school in Atlanta, and stopped counting at 10,000 students.

via Biography – Nathalie Dupree. (If Nathalie Dupree’s picture is recent … she hasn’t changed in almost 30 years.)

Southern People … aren’t they/we great!

To see my daily posts from the last week … click “History doesn’t repeat itself–but it often rhymes.” – Week Ending 3.27.2010 « Dennard’s Clipping Service.

“History doesn’t repeat itself–but it often rhymes.” – Week Ending 3.27.2010

3.26.2010  beautiful day … march madness continues, Ann and Rob’s birthdays … reading …

March Madness: The answer was no … but love the nerdiness of this article.  Can Cornell Top Kentucky? It’s A Matter Of Style : NPR.

politics, health care reform:

‘And so when you walk into that ballot box, remember that it was my Democratic opponent who favored providing Viagra to pedophiles.”

That isn’t a campaign line any American has heard yet, but give it a few hours. The Senate this week took up its “reconciliation” bill, with its final changes to the law the president signed Tuesday. It wasn’t so much reconciliation as reckoning.

Democrats only got their ObamaCare victory by breaking every rule, and that was always going to come at a price. To lever the health bill through the House, Democrats used the arcane process of reconciliation. It got them a win, but it also meant Senate Democrats this week had to endure the political equivalent of water-boarding.

via Kim Strassel: The Senate Reckoning – WSJ.com.

politics: I really hate politics …

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow took out a full-page advertisement in Friday’s Boston Globe to rip Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown for suggesting she might run against him in 2012.

via Rachel Maddow: Scott Brown ‘made this up’ – Jessica Taylor – POLITICO.com.

firsts, places:

What’s the best thing to do with an old airplane hangar? Why, turn it into a giant trampoline park, of course

via San Francisco Airplane Hangar Transformed Into Trampoline Park | Sustainability | Fast Compan

random, Atlanta: Oops!

Marietta police are trying to determine how hundreds of pounds of marijuana ended up at bakery warehouse Friday morning.

via Marijuana shipped to Marietta bakery  | ajc.com.

music, art: Art history lesson … to music!

How do you add a little culture to pop music? How about a music video that apes a dozen classic works of art? Franco-American band Hold Your Horses has released the most cultured video we’ve seen a while with their clip for “70 Million.” How many paintings can you name?

via Hold Your Horses Art Video 70 Million – Video – The Daily Beast.

book club: Tonight is book club, and I have barely started Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.

Apple iPad:

First up: the freebie. Since the iPad supports the open standard epub format, we had assumed that there would be some way to get public domain books onto the device–and a screenshot of the iBookstore confirms that not only will it be possible, but, as reported by AppAdvice, Apple is simply popping the free catalog from Project Gutenberg into the store.

via Apple iPad’s iBookstore to Carry 30,000 Free Public Domain Books, Challenge Kindle on Bestseller Price | Dan’s FC Blog | Fast Company.

design:

The design for the outdoor memorial, selected by the Eisenhower Memorial Commission and unveiled Thursday for a site just south of the National Mall, calls for monumental columns and large memorial tapestries of woven stainless steel that will portray images from the late President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s life.

via Cityscapes: Gehry’s design concept for Eisenhower memorial unveiled.

places: We are planning a weekend with John’s parents … Naples looks fun! A Weekend in Naples, Fla. – NYTimes.com.

Library (RIP) Journal 3.20.2010

3.20.2010

“A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.”

– Henry Ward Beecher quotes (Liberal US Congregational minister, 1813-1887)

via quotes like a-library-is-not-a-luxury-but-one-of-the.

Libraries are  the “buggy whips” of the 21st Century.  Libraries are “luxuries.”  I personally think they are nether outdated or unnecessary.  Libraries are resources to information, available to all citizens. In this economic downturn, our libraries in Charlotte are packed.  Out of work citizens are using the resources of the library to get information, to access the internet, to have a place to go.  But because of the shortfall which is impacting every area of our local government, but most evidently our public schools and our libraries, the County Commission voted to close half our libraries in two weeks and our public school board is considering laying off 800 teachers.  This economic downturn/recession is real, and it is taking away what have for many of us has become “necessities of life.”  I  realize that education and other basic services such as public safety  and a functioning judicial system come first, but I pray that our libraries will be quickly restored when the economy recovers.  Libraries are not buggy whips … only the word “library” is outdated.  Public access to information is essential to a modern society.

So from this week’s clippings … I post this as the most important of my week.

Places, Charlotte, economy: Are libraries luxuries? modern-day “buggy whips”?

Brown said that would “decimate” the library system, leaving it capable of operating little more than the central branch on Tryon Street and the Imaginon children’s library.

via Library system will close 12 branches, lay off staff – CharlotteObserver.com.

The rest of my week is mostly banter … art, March Madness, etc.   … see  “All well and nothing in particular” – Week Ending 3.20.2010 « Dennard’s Clipping Service.

“All well and nothing in particular” – Week Ending 3.20.2010

3.19.2010 Last Day of Winter … March Madness Day Two/Round One

March Madness:  I think I completed the worst bracket EVER … I should just hand over $10 to my nephews.  As a general rule I am always the contrarian … If I took risk, I took it on the wrong team.  If I tossed a coin in an 8/9 ranking, I lost the toss … So far my final four teams are still in … but Villanova is not looking good!  And today is looking bad, too.  Cornell … where did you come from???  And Missouri over Clemson … ;(

– and –

Even though it is not good for my pocketbook … it is good for others … I do still love the season!

… And unlike the Super Bowl, which creates a windfall for a single city and a handful of prominent players, the college games spread the wealth all over the country.

via Slam Dunk: The Financial Impact of March Madness | The Upswing | Fast Company.

Random: Columbia University has a graphic novels page on its Libraries’ web site.  Very interesting … but I am not sure what it says.

“Graphic novel” is a term gaining acceptance that is used to describe bound narratives that tell a story through sequential art with or without text.  These may have been conceived originally as novel-length works or be compilations of previously serialized stories.

via Graphic Novels.

Children, movies, RIP:  When Jack was 5 and Edward was 3 and their favorite videos were Davy Crockett and Peter Pan, I spent days searching Charlotte and Atlanta for Davy Crockett coonskin caps and Captain Hook pirate gear for Christmas. I finally found them at Cracker Barrel! What a great Christmas and cheap, too!

RIP, Fess Parker … and thank you.

Fess Parker, whose television portrayal of the American frontiersman Davy Crockett catapulted him to stardom in the mid-1950s and inspired millions of children to wear coonskin caps in one of America’s greatest merchandising fads, died on Thursday at his home in the Santa Ynez Valley in California, where he ran a successful winery. He was 85.

…

Mr. Parker had brought a quiet, manly dignity to his portrayal of Davy Crockett. Paul Andrew Hutton, a historian at the University of New Mexico, said the character had given young children “an appreciation not only of history but of a kind of patriotism and self-sacrifice.”

via Fess Parker, Who as Davy Crockett Set Off Coonskin Cap Craze, Dies at 85 – Obituary (Obit) – NYTimes.com.

Art:  With the economy, it may be a long time before we see installations of public art, like this again …

“The viewer in some sense becomes the viewed,” Mr. Gormley explained. “Like a statue, they become static sculptures themselves looking up.”

via ‘Event Horizon’ – Antony Gormley’s Skyline Interlopers – NYTimes.com.

THE WEEK/My Week 3.13.2010

3.13.2010

This has been a fun week.  I enjoy architectural icons and how they evoke memories and symbolize a place.  So my favorite stories this week involved the demolition of the Gwinnett is Great twin water towers and the death of Bruce Graham, the architect responsible for many of Chicago’s icons, including the Sears Tower and the John Hancock Tower.

And next week … pi/pie day, and March Madness is beginning … got to love that!

Enjoy my week in review!

LIFE is good 3.6.2010

This was a week with lots of things I enjoy.  We had a touch of snow and then beautiful warm sunshine.  A friend lost and found her adored labs.  I enjoyed some intellectual nourishment and the company of good friends on two occasions. Edward and Molly, my son and daughter at home, seem happy and thriving, and Jack in Colorado is loving classes this semester and excited for spring break. And my husband was doing work for Davidson and seems energized.  Life is good.

So here’s the roundup  … there is a lot this week.