To add a little to (e:tinypliny,48229) ...

A law school friend said she had been to Merge twice, had the opportunity to sample several dishes and her analysis was "The food was bland." The polenta squares themselves were a little bland, but the sauce & onions were really good, and the one I had that was drenched in balsamic vinegar was yum. Everything else was really delicately flavored - the broccoli with "liquid aminos," the kale with pine nuts and cranberries, they let the natural flavors of the green stuff shine. The apple pie was very very good.

Merge advertises as "comfort food" and it's kind of modeled on the standard diner menu - french fries, mac & cheese, lasagna, grilled cheese - similarities but new interpretations. Jicama on grilled cheese? Hell, yeah. And really, how spicy or intense is diner food?

The Francis Bacon Players (improv troupe) were lots of fun. The cell phone company that has only one tower... on Mars... was my favorite skit. The power charades we lots of fun, too. The crowd filled in Mad Libs, two people acted out the concepts and the one guessed. Watching her guess this stuff so quickly really helped diffuse my stress about the oral argument hazing ritual I had the next day - if she had to guess skiing using french fries as poles, with ducks strapped to her feet in place of skis on the spot, I could discuss the first amendment rights of high school students - at least I got to prepare and use cheat sheets! She also guessed blowing up marshmallow peeps using crayons instead of dynamite and a pogo stick for a detonator. Another involved drooling while watching penguins have sex but I don't remember the rest. I think they're at Staples on Allen the 3rd Thursday of the month or something.

(e:tinypliny), I had a most wonderful awesome time with you, too! We have to do it again soon!!

--
I made Tops-brand Texas Garlic Toast with cheese as part of my dinner tonight. I think it's the only product I've ever seen that has a baking temperature of 420 degrees F. Hmmmmm....





--

Some posters I've seen along Allen St. recently:

In Full Swing, an interdisciplinary performance - poetry by Shawnell Tillery and jazz by the Clarence Lott Sextet - BYOP (poetry). This Saturday, 8pm, Colored Musicians Club.


Stephane Wrembel & The Django Experiment @ Nietzsche's 4/11, Babik opening. I love Django Reinhardt and I'm really annoyed that I can't go.


Dining Out for Life, 4/28, fundraiser for AIDS Community Services of WNY


--
I've introduced China Cat to the windowsill. I've also started teaching her to work for her treats but so far no acceptable photographic evidence.


Gorgeous foyer @ the Stillwater (but they need to windex the door)

Ya know those cool "Nonviolence begins with me" yard signs? Well, here's your opportunity to know more about the project behind them.


Alternatives to Violence Project Level I Workshop
Positive * Productive * Experiential

April 3 -- 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
April 4 -- 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

$30 - Scholarships may be available
Dinner, snacks & lunch provided

Workshop is held at and sponsored by the SSJ Sister Karen Klimczak Center for Nonviolence, 80 Durham Ave., Buffalo, NY 14215. Make check payable to AVP Niagara Frontier Council and send to the Sister Karen Center. For more information, contact Audrey Mang at peacemanga@aol.com or 716-633-1140 (or me). Scholarships may be available.

Advance registration is required. Please contact Vivian at 716-362-9688 at minimum!

I saw this mini iris on my way to school this morning (sorry, I didn't realize it was out of focus until i transferred it from my phone. here's a better picture that someone else took ) I love irises especially this color.



(e:tinypliny) and i had a WONDERFUL time at Merge last night - we met at 6:30 and didn't leave Merge until 10! We have pix and review coming up soon...

(e:TinyPliny) and I are going to Merge tonight (http://www.localrestaurantweek.com). We're meeting at the convenience store corner of Delaware & Allen at 6:30 if anyone would like to join us :-)

In general, I strongly dislike the architecture of O'Brian Hall where the law school is located. The room I spend the most time in has brown brick walls set in a gapped pattern. My school friend Nick's glasses distract me because they distort the pattern.

Thanks to (e:PMT) for hosting yet another fabulous party! (e:Matthew), I hope you enjoyed it!

(e:lilho) had "My Humps" playing on the stereo upstairs - i asked if anyone had seen the Alanis Morrisette version... here it is...



I'm not sure anyone was serious about wanting the molasses crinkle cookie recipe, but here it is...

3/4 c. butter (1 and 1/2 sticks)
1 c. brown sugar (I prefer dark)
1 egg
1/4 c. molasses (darker the better, IMO)
2 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
2 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. ground cloves
white sugar in a bowl for dipping

Cream butter & brown sugar, add molasses, spices, salt. Beat in the egg. Add the baking soda and flour, stir until mixed.

Chill dough for at least 20 min.

Roll dough into small balls, about the size of a shooter marble. Dip in the white sugar. Place on cookie sheet. (I strongly recommend using parchment paper.) Bake at 350 degrees F. for 8-10 min. Don't over cook!

--

I stopped at PriceRite. Holy produce! Wow! I really need to learn some more mexican & south american cooking. I want to know what to do with all those root veggies.



The place was insanely busy.

Happy 28th birthday, (e:Matthew)!

Thanks to (e:libertad) and (e:lauren) for trying to coordinate hanging out - I had no idea of the scale of the parade, and then the cell phone network crashed. I eventually found (e:lauren) & (e:felly).
I got a txt from (e:terry) at 7:30 that he had sent at 5! (must be before he passed out?)

Since the parade has been well covered by several others, I'll just post a few shots that I really liked.

I stood next to this sweet dog for much of the parade. I was in front of 570 Delaware, just north of Delaware & Allen on the west side. (There was room to move around and I could see the parade really well.)













After the parade, we were feeling left out because we had nothing to drink, so we visited the old pink for a beer



then went to the convenience store and got 40s and some sunchips. We're so cool.



We did finally figure out that we should be outside with our discreet paper bags.



and we watched the scenery from my sunny front stoop





(e:Felly) thought this was the best Guinness hat of the day.



But wasn't so impressed with this one.



My classmate Paul stumbled by


And this pretty one gave us a nice homecoming queen wave.


Thanks to (e:paul) & (e:matthew) for letting me hang out for a bit, much after the party had ended.

I had a lovely spring break last week and spent time here in Buffalo and at home. (e:Janelle), thanks again for taking care of China Cat. I have to post these pix before I can get to the St. Pat's pix.

Nisha was a grubby, stinky mass of poodle fur - her last haircut was 9/28 ((e:heidi,45816))


She's much cleaner now


My dear Uncle Dudley ((e:heidi,46397)) and her boyfriend have started a company that makes decoration holders for headstones. They're called Headstone Halos (TM, patent pending). Eventually I will need to make a website for them, so I took some pictures this weekend.





I've passed by these signs several times, the last time I was home - in JANUARY, and several times on this trip. There is a pair of them just south of the Presho exit on US Rt. 15, one for northbound traffic, one for southbound traffic. This isn't anywhere near the Canadian border, the near-unanimous language of choice in the area is English, and even though the sign reads KM/H, it's tracking in MPH. WTF??





A's gig was pretty successful. They opened for a popular Corning-based blues-rock band, the Brainbell Janglers.



And finally, the sunset Saturday on my way back to Buffalo was gorgeous.



I was reading (recently, not while driving) about taking great sunrise/set photos and the author suggested turning around. Here's what i saw


Okay, prolly shouldn't be taking pix while driving, but it was just so pretty... notice the star (planet) in the middle. [edit: okay, you can't see it in the shrunken version, but trust me, there's a cute little white dot.]

Saturday March 14, 2009 06:19 EDT
The success of drug decriminalization in Portugal

In 2001, Portugal became the only EU-member state to decriminalize drugs, a distinction which continues through to the present. Last year, working with the Cato Institute, I went to that country in order to research the effects of the decriminalization law (which applies to all substances, including cocaine and heroin) and to interview both Portuguese and EU drug policy officials and analysts (the central EU drug policy monitoring agency is, by coincidence, based in Lisbon). Evaluating the policy strictly from an empirical perspective, decriminalization has been an unquestionable success, leading to improvements in virtually every relevant category and enabling Portugal to manage drug-related problems (and drug usage rates) far better than most Western nations that continue to treat adult drug consumption as a criminal offense.

by Glenn Greenwald

Read more