Raven Jake Dawes

Where's George?

Here's a nerdy pastime for y'all: tracking cash as it moves through the economy. I got this greenback in change for a breakfast burrito at the Glendale Community College cafeteria. Where does it go next? I don't know, but if it falls into your hands you can see where it's been at Where's George?

First time I met a "George," it was at an art gallery in Santa Fe. Bought a Guadalupe/Santa Muerte tank top and got it in change. Fiver. I guess it was really a Where's Abe? although George W. was the president at the time. That fiver had started out in Hawaii, and I don't know where it ended up after it went towards the margarita fund at the Cowgirl on Guadalupe Street. But it had traveled far and gone through many hands.

Now this "breakfast burrito George buck" originated in Cedar City, Utah and has spent the last three years edging closer to California. So we've ordered a Where's George stamp (the treasury dept takes a dim view of defacing currency, but a lawsuit came to the conclusion that it's ok, so long as you don't go overboard with the modifications) and plan to track some greenbacks this summer. See where we spend our money and where it ends up. Now of course, this only works if everyone plays, so if you find a George, make sure you check in - it only takes about two minutes and it's pretty fun.

Red-Shouldered Bug: Jadera haematoloma

Finally - a bug with a name that's what it looks like. In this case, the Red-Shouldered Bug aka Jadera haematoloma. This amorous couple was cruising past, and I figured I ought to find out a little more about them. Apparently, they're bad news for your orchard and there isn't much to commend them, but other than that they aren't dangerous. Here's a fact sheet, in case you're beset.

Garden 2012: Week 8

Gettin' into week 8 now. Rodent predation is way down; still having some leaf-eating bug issues. They've been decimating the tomatillos pretty regularly, and the salsa verde forcast is looking grim. We ate two little teeny crookneck squash yesterday and a couple of green onions, so it ain't just the ground squirrels who are eating good. Actually, I think I may have ended their reign of terror permanently, but we'll see - in a garden things are changin' all the time. For example - the corn's starting to tassel and the cucumbers are really coming along. And using discarded carpet as a ground cover is the best idea ever, so big thanks to Mel Bartholomew and Square Foot Gardening for that one.

Rodent Jihad

That's right, folks - due to recent terrorist activity, I've been forced to declare a holy war against yard rodents, specifically ground squirrels. Here we are at week six and three of the corn plants were sucked underground, some of the beans have been decimated and all of the young squash have been chewed right off the vine. The tomatilos are recovering from the grasshopper predation, the radishes are coming along nicely and there are lots of tomato blossoms, but no little tomatoesyet. In the meantime, ground squirrels have overrun the yard, setting up a base of operation under the woodpile. While we were sitting out by the garden the other afternoon, a rat ran out of the garage and along the fence.

Now I've got no great love of rats, but they freak Jane right out. She sees them as scuttling plague vectors, so it doesn't take much to get her goin'. Ironically, we were reading Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitantsby Robert Sullivan at the time. It's quite a page-turner. I thought Jane might be a little too fragile to handle a whole book about rats, but she seems to be coping nicely. On the other hand, those rats better watch out. Same with the gophers and the ground squirrels. Y'all mind your own business, and we'll get along fine. Mess with my garden, and suffer primate wrath.

Garden 2012, week 2

Well folks, I promised regular reports and here's week 2 of the garden!

See? Everything's just a little bigger.  Some horrible insect chewed the leaves on the tomatillos, cutworms got a couple of the cucumbers, and birds have been getting into the sunflower/bean row. No serious damage done, though, and the radishes are starting to come up. I love radishes, but Jane says they taste like dirt only more bitter. Whatever. We got a bunch of rain in the last couple o' days, which is especially welcome.

Sweet Honey in the Rock - Ballad of Harry Moore

I don't usually get political, but I want to send a shout out to voters in Florida. You've got problems getting counted, but stand fast. Here's Sweet Honey in the Rock, featuring Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, singing about the murder of NAACP organizer Harry Moore:

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

And wouldn't you know it, I plumb forgot to celebrate what with all the other stuff going on. I'm going to have some carrots for dinner, 'cause better late than never.

Here are the stats: Approximately 140,000 new cases of colorectal cancer will be diagnosed and 56,000 people will die from the disease this year. Surpassing both breast cancer and prostate cancer in mortality, colorectal cancer is second only to lung cancer in numbers of deaths in the United States.

Colorectal cancer strikes men and women with almost equal frequency. In addition, it is often a silent disease, developing with no symptoms at all.

The ad over on the right got banned for being "in poor taste," but if it saves lives, I'm all for it. So don't smoke, get a colonoscopy, and let's all live to die from something less preventable like the Mayan Zombie Apocalypse or whatever they have planned for November.

Berzerker!

Now you all know me as being that folksy guy always ready with a song or a story or some grooming tips. But that ain't the whole story. I'm also a part-time Berzerker, as the photo at right clearly attests.

Just kidding. I made the little dog sled there for a movie I was working on; I was just in the scene there for  scale; the actor who plays the Iditarod dwarf stands about even with the top of the sled. I also made a small, old-timey boxing ring for another one of the little people from the project, which  turned out great. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of myself as the Boxing Giant, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Garden 2012: The journey begins

Folks, here's Day 1 of the new garden. Which was Sunday, actually. We didn't get one in last year, and the 2010 garden was pretty well gophered out of existence. No matter: it's the dawning of a new day.

We decided to re-read "Square Foot Gardening," get some pointers and came up with this modified plan of attack. One tip we took to heart was using an old carpet as a weed cloth / mulch. That seemed crazy enough to work, and when Jane found a couple off on the side of the road, it seemed like a Sign.

Now Jane's one of those people who don't think you can have too many tomatoes. My opinion is that a raw tomato is the most disgusting thing you could possibly put in your mouth. It's a point of contention. We also went for sunflowers, cucumbers, corn, Brussels sprouts,  zuccini, acorn squash, crookneck (wasn't my pick), eggplant, cilantro, nasturtiums, salad greens, onions and tomatillos. Later we'll add pumpkins, maybe some beans and chard and a whole lot of peppers.

For good or ill, I'll be keepin' you posted on Garden 2012!

Culinary Historians of SoCal on April 14

It's going to be a busy month what with animals getting blessed and different lectures and Heritage Day and whatnot, but this one looks pretty promising too: 

The Cookbook Family Tree

 Saturday, April 14th, 2012, at 10:30 AM at the Los Angeles Public Library

Mark Taper Auditorium, Downtown Central Library, 630 W. 5th St.

Free and open to the public

Anne Willan speaking on…

“The Cookbook Family Tree”

Before 1501, the first four printed cookbooks were written in English, Latin, German, and French in four European countries. Who wrote these early cookbooks? Who read them? Who used them? Anne will explain the origin of these books and those of the centuries that follow. For her talk to the Culinary Historians of Southern California, Anne will be sharing her “cookbook tree,” a unique visual guide she has created to demonstrate how all the genres of food book we know today, such as recipe books, dining guides, gastronomic memoirs and more can be traced back to these early volumes.

Anne Willan Anne Willan has over 50 years experience as a teacher, cookbook author, and food columnist. The founder of famed French cooking school École de Cuisine la Varenne, Anne’s accolades include the IACP Lifetime Achievement Award, James Beard Award, and Bon Appétit Teacher of the Year Award. The author of over thirty cookbooks, Anne’s long-awaited The Cookbook Library: Four Centuries of the Cooks, Writers, and Recipes That Made the Modern Cookbook will be published in April 2012. The book is based on the extensive cookbook collection Anne and her husband Mark Cherniavsky have amassed through years of passionate collecting. Anne is also working on a memoir.