Saturday, May 30. 2015
The poem below is discussed in a review of Helen Vendler's The Ocean, the Bird, and the Scholar.
Somnambulisma
On an old shore, the vulgar ocean rolls
Noiselessly, noiselessly, resembling a thin bird,
That thinks of settling, yet never settles, on a nest.
The wings keep spreading and yet are never wings.
The claws keep scratching on the shale, the shallow shale,
The sounding shallow, until by water washed away.
The generations of the bird are all
By water washed away. They follow after.
They follow, follow, follow, in water washed away.
Without this bird that never settles, without
Its generations that follow in their universe,
The ocean, falling and falling on the hollow shore,
Would be a geography of the dead: not of that land
To which they may have gone, but of the place in which
They lived, in which they lacked a pervasive being,
In which no scholar, separately dwelling,
Poured forth the fine fins, the gawky beaks, the personalia,
Which, as a man feeling everything, were his.
Nathanael Greene Hereshoff, engineer, yacht designer, inventor, and all-round genius. A couple of his favorites:
The Herreshoff 12.5:
The New York 30:
Friday, May 29. 2015
As I have repeated said, exercise has many physical and emotional benefits, but unless you exercise 7 hrs/day you will not burn hardly any lard.
"A growing body of scientific evidence shows that exercise alone has almost no effect on weight loss..."
A book, Gary Taubes: Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It
When I was young, the Eagle Scouts were the guys all the kids admired. The Boy Scouts Continue To Devolve Into A Garden Club
The Law says that there always are some of those. People in business analyze them carefully, as do war-planners - in advance. Even so, many or most things do not work out as planned. When it comes to politicians and policy-makers, often-enough things that appear, in retrospect, as Unintended, were covertly intended.
From Overreaction syndrome:
Today’s political process tends to steer people away from thinking carefully about the many trade-offs in deciding public policy issues. This leads to a cycle of overreaction in which policymaking focuses on minimizing error in one direction, leading to worse errors in the opposite direction.
Thursday, May 28. 2015
 The most refreshing salad, especially with grilled meat. Watermelon, Feta, and chopped mint. Lots of mint.
Recipe here. It doesn't need the olives.
Every House series in 30 seconds. "Did you try the medicine drug?"
From the article:
A psychiatrist colleague recently retired but he turned to coaching as a second career because it emphasized the relationship he had valued most in his work as a psychiatrist. As an example, he finds that coaching is particularly relevant for dieting and exercise needed to reduce obesity. A late-career psychologist switched more and more to coaching techniques. Those who have had mental health care training can add depth to coaching that others may not be able to obtain.
Why the King James Version of the Bible Remains the Best - The 400-year-old translation is denigrated because of its archaic language. That’s one of its greatest strengths.
As it happens, I am reading this excellent book now: God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible.
Humblebragging doesn’t work. If you want to brag, just brag. Even better, just complain.
I plain brag because I am just not smart enough to humblebrag.
Wednesday, May 27. 2015
 I love regional Italian cuisine - all except the Neapolitan (except for their world-class desserts). We have dined on local fare in Italy from the Alps and the Veneto down to the southern tip of Sicily.
Sicilian fare is as different from Southern Italian as Southern Italian dialect is from Sicilian. Sicilian food was heavily influenced by the Greek invasion, the Moslem occupiers, then the French Norman occupiers, then by the real French, then the Spanish. Never was part of Italy until recent years and it still is not, really.
Raisins, pignolis, wild boar, sardines, risotto, couscous, eggplant of course, Pecorino, lemons, mint, and blood oranges, pomegranites... and octopus. Generally, lots of seafood and grilled meat. I love that Sicilian food but the real thing is hard to find outside that island.
You would be hard put to find this quality and variety of a Sicilian menu in a single restaurant in Sicily itself. Their Timballo looks amazing. Check out the menu just for fun. It's the real deal: Bar Eolo. 190 7th Ave.
An upcoming workshop scheduled to take place at the University of Wisconsin-Madison aims to teach campus radicals and socialists how to manipulate campus resources to advance their agenda.
What agenda? And do they call this education?
 I happen to love Borscht, but I never make it, Mrs. BD has never made it, and I've only seen it on the menu in the old Russian Tea Room. My Mom, Yankee WASP that she was, would make it to please my Dad. A refreshing cold soup.
Everybody knows how to make Harvard Beets. They are just sweet-and-sour beets, but on a bed of buttercrunch lettuce it's a salad.
Another one, to put on tasty lettuce: COLD BEET SALAD WITH GOAT CHEESE & SUNFLOWER SEEDS
And a final one today (as pictured): Roasted Beet Salad with Mint
Heading down to Georgia now for a few days on an island nature preserve to get away from civilization. Hiking, biking, swimming, birding, snake-watching, gator-dodging. I want to see a big Indigo Snake and a Pine Snake. Will see Diamondback rattlers for sure because they are always sunbathing on bike paths. No stores, no TV, no a/c, no cars, no roads, no amenities etc. which is why it is somewhat expensive - but they have some electricity. No tennis or golf, and no pool - just Atlantic Ocean and lots of it. They do have an on-site naturalist, which is good. With luck, some fine greasy Southern cooking. It's been a while since I have had good biscuits and gravy, and my soul needs some. Shrimp 'n Grits would be welcome too.
Mrs. BD just warned me that, rustic as this place is, jacket and tie for cocktail hour and dinner. Also, trousers. It's a small, historic place you get to on a little fishing boat, like Little Saint Simon Island. I appreciate the maintenance of standards, just as they do at Gwynnie's hunting lodges in the middle of nowhere. I think it never hurts to wear jacket and tie on the plane, so you don't have to pack them. Civilized, too.
Set a good example, ya know? Why dress like a teen if you aren't one? Adults must represent dignity and appropriateness - in attire if not in behavior.
Tuesday, May 26. 2015
University Administration Bloat: The Tail the Size of the Dog
When I went to boarding school, every administrator also taught (except the clerical staff). Even the head librarian taught (Russian). Every coach taught. The Headmaster taught. When I went to college, every dean taught. The college president taught.
Toon above via Theo
McInnes:
It’s not just good for the individual young person to live life to the fullest. It’s good for society overall. We need you out there buying clothes and going to shows and eating in our restaurants. Nothing stimulates the economy like a twenty something trying to get laid.
Your Brain on Sports - Neuromarketing and the race to unlock the science of fandom.
A Structural Analysis of Deli Sandwiches
Are Women and Corporate Cultures a Bad Fit?
O'Reilly tells the harsh truth about race in the US
Updated NASA Data: Global Warming Not Causing Any Polar Ice Retreat
If You Thought The Coast Guard Was Supposed To, Y’know, Guard The Coast… Think Again
Lyndon Johnson was adamant. The Great Society would cure poverty.
Couple convicted of child abuse during satanic childcare hysteria still not exonerated
Baltimore:
What no one wants to say, but everyone knows is that the cops are now in their cop houses filling out paperwork and doing as little as possible. They see no reason to risk prison for a city government that would rather arrest cops than criminals.
Let’s start with this fundamental observation: It is possible to reduce income inequality in one of two ways: lower the income at the top or
raise it at the bottom.
Milbank: Hillary Clinton’s hypocrisy
Top 5 Cover-ups Orchestrated by Clinton Consigliere Cheryl Mills
An Anatomy of Surrender - Motivated by fear and multiculturalism, too many Westerners are acquiescing to creeping sharia.
Some shocking trends pop up when nations' Muslim populations get high enough.
Why our prep-school diplomats fail against Putin and ISIS
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A Brief History of the Wristwatch - 
Scientists