Spinach Enchiladas with ranchero sauce

I recently posted about making quesadillas for the first time after being inspired by a Public Television cooking show. The TV chef (TVC) was really into shredded chicken and cream, but he cooked enough stuff that I was able to take a little of this and a bit of that and concoct my own version of his dishes. One of the things he made was ranchero sauce. He used the ranchero sauce for a spinach-stuffed poblano pepper dish, but I decided to stuff corn tortillas with spinach and use the ranchero sauce (no cream) to make enchiladas.

I try to stick to a theme of "easy vegan cooking" when I prepare food for these posts. This doesn't always translate to "fast" vegan cooking. This dish truly is easy, and can be made faster with jarred ranchero sauce, but I was staring at a giant bowl of plum tomatoes just picked from the garden, and was not about to go buy a tomato-based sauce. So I'm going to give a recipe for the sauce and then the enchiladas, and anyone who wants to make this can make or buy whatever. However, if you have access to fresh, ripe plum tomatoes, please make this sauce.



TVC said to use 3 pounds of roasted, peeled and cored tomatoes, but he didn't say how to roast them. I love roasted veggies and make them often, but would you believe I've never roasted just tomatoes for the purpose of making sauce? I tried to find a recipe, but all the ones I saw were for slow-roasted and reduced tomatoes. I filled a 9 x 12 pan plus a 9 x 9 pan with tomato halves drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with oregano. These I put into a preheated 400˚ oven for about one hour. (Cooking time will vary with the size of the tomatoes. Larger tomatoes will take longer.) Maybe because I used plum tomatoes which have a much lower water content, or maybe because I didn't slow roast them for hours, my tomatoes really didn't reduce much. The picture you see is how they looked when I removed them from the oven. Although they didn't reduce, the flavor was intensified to the woohoo stage! I let them cool a little and started to remove (and eat) the skins but the skins were so tender and delicious that I abandoned that idea and decided to just puree the whole lot.

After pureeing, I froze one pint unseasoned, and used the remaining 2 to 2-1/2 cups for the recipe below.



Ranchero sauce

• 3 pounds ripe, roasted tomatoes, peeled if the skins are tough (see above text)
• 2 serrano chiles or jalapeños (or unidentified medium hot peppers!) I used 2 jalapeños and the unidentified choice
  
• 2 large cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (TVC used 1/4 cup)
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• fresh black pepper
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon sugar

1. Puree the tomatoes, peppers and garlic until smooth.
2. Cook onions in oil until translucent (about 4 minutes) and add to tomatoes.
3. Stir in salt, cinnamon and sugar.
4. TVC said to simmer the sauce 30 minutes until slightly thickened. Since I was planning to bake my sauce, I skipped this step. Besides, my sauce was already really thick and delicious beyond belief.

Now for the filling. Normally I use fresh vegetables but TVC suggested using frozen spinach to save time. He said it would take 2-1/2 pounds of fresh baby spinach and you'd have to wash, chop, steam and squeeze it. This sounded like a lot of work so I decided to make the project seem more manageable by taking his advice and using frozen spinach. My bags of frozen spinach were from Whole Foods and really, when it was cooked, I couldn't tell it wasn't fresh. Anyway, the spinach was supposed to be defrosted and squeezed out, but of course, I planned poorly and was faced with using the spinach frozen or not making the enchiladas. It worked perfectly so I don't know what to say about this step. Here's what I did.



Spinach with pine nuts and raisins

• 20 ounces frozen chopped spinach
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup plain unsweetened soy yoghurt (optional but recommended)

1. Sauté the pine nuts and raisins in the oil until the pine nuts begin to brown and the raisins plump up. BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN THEM. Stir in the spinach and cook until fully defrosted and dry.
2. Season if desired.
3. Stir in the yoghurt if using.

We're almost done. And really, I think it's taking longer to write this post than it did to make the enchiladas. The last part involves softening corn tortillas, stuffing them with the spinach and baking them. TVC used 1/4 cup of oil in a skillet to warm each side of the tortillas before draining them on paper towels. I sprayed them with a little olive oil, heated them in a small cast iron skillet, flipping them over until they were pliable. If you know a better way to soften corn tortillas, please let me know.

Assembly

• 12 softened corn tortillas
• spinach filling
• ranchero sauce
• vegan cheese
• plain unsweetened soy yoghurt (optional, but creates a sour-cream-like effect)

1. Divide the spinach filling in the pan into roughly 12 parts.(you know, spatula lines)
   
2. Place the ranchero sauce in a 9" x 12" heavy baking dish.
3. Soften, then fill the tortillas with spinach and roll up.
4. Place the tortillas in the dish and spoon a little sauce over them.
5. Place shredded or thinly sliced vegan cheese over the top.
6. Drizzle soy yoghurt here and there.
7. Bake at 350˚ for 30 to 40 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.

Post Script I mentioned before and I'll mention again that we just had our first taste of Teese. That's what I used on the enchiladas. I sliced rather than shredded it and it didn't quite melt all the way but it was totally my fault. I probably should have waited a little longer or covered it for a few minutes. No matter. It's really in a class by itself as far as vegan cheeses go. It's scarily like the real thing. I was actually a little embarrassed at work when I reheated my lunch and it smelled like actual cheese!

On the other hand, the nutritional value of Teese is somewhat suspect in my mind. According to their Web site, there is zero protein, 9 grams of fat and zero everything else, per serving. I see it as a condiment rather than an actual food. Kind of like drizzling olive oil on hummus. It does taste great though!

Paul Newman: A Rare Breed of Hollywood Icon

Paul Newman came from my parents' generation of movie stars. Oh sure, there was The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Verdict, and that hustler flick with Jackie Gleason -- movies that came out on my watch -- but by then Newman's matinee idol days were long gone. He had matured into icon.

And then he became "King of Salad Dressing."

Okay, he was more than just a master of mayonnaise and paprika. Paul Newman, who passed away from cancer at the age of 83, was legend. One of the great stars from Hollywood Heyday and in the league of Bogie and Brando, yet a tad too old to tilt my wheel.

"Oh but those dreamy blue eyes," my mother would argue in protest, "they make me melt inside. How can you not get all tingly thinking about him?"

Well, it's like this. Imagine me asking my teenage daughters whether they would swoon over someone like say, oh... Paul McCartney. Now there's a dreamboat to die for. Who cares if he's past 64, the cute Beatle still has a way with sexy. Of course my teenagers would glance at the turkey neck and say, "Yeah, right, Mom." Which is exactly how I felt whenever Mom sat transfixed by the television, another old Newman movie reeling her in. Meh.

Newman endeared himself to a new generation as the voice of Doc Hudson in the animated feature, Cars, but will always be remembered as heart stealer of a certain demographic, the same aging white women who form the current core of support for presidential hopeful John McCain. I'm not sure what the connection means, just felt obliged to mention it.

In his later years, Newman seemed to pass on the glitterati. His icy blue eyes still smoldered, but the aging fan base had to be getting to him. Besides, he could afford to leave the red carpet behind. Race car driving became his passion. He always seemed happy to lend his star power to NASCAR.

Now that I'm no longer repulsed by turkey neck, I can finally appreciate the idol worship of the big band generation. Paul Newman was that rare breed of Hollywood actor who didn't need clamoring masses to reaffirm his self-worth. For that, he stands head and shoulders above what generally passes today as megastar.

There aren't many people in Hollywood who can command universal respect and admiration, but Newman was one of them. Many will remember him as a talented actor, devoted husband, loving father, political activist, and philanthropist, but most of all, a man who lived life on his own terms.

And we are poorer for his loss.

No Hijab on the-Job

The Philadelphia Police Department has a series of dozens of what are known as 'Directives' which govern nearly every facet of a police officer's work. From their uniforms to their firearms, from the proper procedures for obtaining warrants to the proper procedures for recording daily work assignments. Every single person who signs up to become a police officer is aware of these directions, qualifications, and restrictions. The uniform serves a couple of specific purposes. Not only does it identify each wearer as a police officer, but it also engenders respect. It's formality let's those who come in contact with an officer know that they are dealing with someone who reprsents their municipality in an official capacity. The uniformity shows that all those wearing the particular uniform are parts working together as one entity in carrying out their respective individual duties. The Philadelphia Police Department is a para-military unit, which means that they are a group of civilians organized in a military fashion. Much of the uniformity, weaponry, and tactics of being a police officer are drawn from the military services. Today, the uniform of the Philadelphia Police officer is under assault by a handful of special interest and religious groups. A female officer from North Philly's 35th District, publicly identified in the local media as officer Kim Webb, claims that she became a muslim after being hired for the police job, that her faith requires her to wear a 'hijab' at all times in public, and so now wants to wear this garment along with the rest of her police uniform. This article of clothing is completely religious in character, and has nothing to do with her police job, and is nowhere to be found on the list of proper uniform items in the PPD. Bottom line, P/O Webb is not allowed to wear the item while in uniform. But that is not good enough for P/O Webb, just as other officers in the past have not been happy with the department's policies on beards, piercings, tattoos, and other items. The fact of the matter is that these people all know what they are getting into when they sign up. If the don't like the rules, they shouldn't become a cop. If something about their lives changes, such as a religious awakening of some sort, and it triggers a conflict with their departmental assignments or standards, then that person needst to either find a way to conform to the work requirements during on-duty hours, or they need to resign their position. There is no constitutional 'right' for me to tattoo a crucifix on my head, or wear crucifix earrings or pins, or a Jewish officer to wear a yarmulke, or any officer to wear a beard in uniform, as there is none for this officer to wear a hijab. As a Catholic, I have received 'ashes' on Ash Wednesday and left them on during work hours. Of course, they were gone the next day. I wasn't looking to wear ashes every day, or wear a crucifix on the outside of my uniform around my neck. Now Webb has filed a law suit, and has been joined in it by another muslim female and a handful of ethnic and religious organizations. What we are seeing happen is the attempted opening of Pandora's Box, and what the history of this liberal city and it's cop-killer releasing judiciary has is a strong liberal record on these types of things. Courts in the past have ruled that as long as an employee has a sincerely held religious belief, they should be accomodated as well as possible. This horrible ruling, allowing for any manner of possible abominations, has killed morale in a number of companies and municipalitites. It is long past time for the judiciary to backup the legitimate standards, structure, and morale of the Philadelphia police department and other employers before those things become a thing of the past. The courts should absolutely say no hijab on the-job. And Philadelphia police supervisors and commanders should solidly enforce the uniform regulations as regards items such as religious or ethnic organization pins, hijabs, yarmulkes, hair lengths and styles, piercings, tattoos, beards, and more.

Rally on the River JFXtival Sure Beats Driving

A week ago, on a gorgeous Sunday, anywhere from three to five thousand men, women, children, dogs, and miscellaneous "amphibiai" traversed a section of Baltimore rarely seen on foot. A long stretch of highway forever dumping vehicles into the city, I-83, or as we Baltimoreans like to call it, the JFX.

The Jones Falls Expressway takes its name from the winding body of water lying underneath. Some call it a stream, others call it river, but whatever its moniker, the winding stretch of flora and fauna used to be pristine. Now, it's just a muddy slick of its former self. Tomorrow it could be a contender.

And that's exactly the point of the annual "Rally on the River." Last Sunday, people came from far and wide to soak up the sun, walk, bike, run, kayak, moon bounce, hula-hoop, skate board, scooter, play chess, eat, drink, laugh, dance, you name it, they came to have a good time.

And the JFX did not disappoint.

For a mere five bucks and the cost of a rental, one could leisurely bike down the usual site of rush hour purgatory. The Jones Falls Watershed Association closes its southbound lane for a fundraiser to help clean up and protect this secluded patch of nature and give people a reason to let loose.

The Rally was a blast. Lots of fun activities, things to see and do, stuff never shown in the local paper. For some odd reason, it usually depicts the event as a walk down a lonely highway. The Rally is anything but.

This was my first time playing next to traffic (the northbound lane remains open to vehicles) and I have to admit, it was an eye opener. "Rally on the River" must be the best kept secret in town. Look for it next September.

The Church and the Death Penalty

It might seem to some that a topic as fraught with controversy as the death penalty might not be the best topic for this 'Sunday Sermon' series that I have going as a regular feature here at the website. However, these are not normal times, and these times have resulted not only in my own personal re-evaluation of the issue, but also have resulted in my own increased research into the topic.

These 'times' that I am speaking about involve the murder of four on-duty uniformed Philadelphia police officers within the past calendar year, including last week's cold-blooded assassination of P/O Pat McDonald. This follows on the heels of another similar murder of P/O Gary Skerski just 2 1/2 years ago.

Gary was the only one of these recently murdered officers whom I knew personally. He was alternately gruff and gregarious, but if you knew him well enough to be taken into his inner confidences it was usually the humor that you were exposed to: Gary was quite simply a very funny guy.

He also was a man who cared a great deal about supporting his family, and although his career had taken him to a relatively safe position in community relations, he would go back onto the often hard streets, making overtime as a part of the 'Safe Streets' effort to lower the drug trade in Philadelphia. While working this detail one night, Gary was gunned down by an armed robber.

When Gary Skerski was murdered, I lost someone whom I had laughed with, ate meals with, even worked a few shifts on the same details and in the same vehicles with. For some reason though, throughout the entirety of my police career, even through most of these recent murders, I maintained my status as one of the few police officers who were not in support of the death penalty.

I believe that these are personal, individual decisions that each of us has to make, coming to peace with the decision in our own hearts and minds. I fully understand why police officers in particular support the measure as a legitimate penalty. Without opening up to the details of my feelings, they were based on an opposition to retribution in the form of vengeance, as well as an inability to reconcile the killing of many guilty murderers with the death of even one innocent man.

I believe that killing other human beings is the single worst thing that any of us can do, be that by abortion, homicide, accident, capital punishment, what have you.

Sometimes it is justified, such as our actions as police officers in trying to save our own lives or the lives of others that are in immediate mortal danger. For these same considerations, I see the justification during times of war, when an enemy is trying to kill you and your forces, and will do so if you don't get them first. And of course accidents, as long as they are truly that and not the result of our negligence, such as in a DUI, are unfortunate and should result in our sorrow, but certainly nothing that we should be or feel guilty about for long.

But to kill a person just because they killed someone else always seemed to me to be a simple 'tit for tat', a product simply of vengeance that lowered us as individuals and as a society to the original murderers level.

The second consideration, the innocent man, is also strong with me. If we eliminated all the problems with the death penalty as currently constituted, if we made it swift, sure, and certain, we still would put innocent people to death from time to time. The deterrence produced by numerous executions would not reconcile for me if we put even one truly innocent man to death, and the odds are that it would happen over time.

But then this series of police murders happened, and when Pat McDonald was killed it was too much for me. The last straw had finally broken this camel's back.

In my research, it turns out that the Catholic Church is not in opposition to the civil authority of the State in carrying out capital punishment, as I always believed it was. This power derives much of its authority from scripture itself, though the advisability of executing that power depends on all the circumstances around a particular case.

I do not know what the magic answer might be, but we as a society need to come up with a way to make the punishment meet sure, certain, and swift criteria. If we can do that, then I have reached the point where I personally am willing to support the death penalty. Perhaps such swift executions of cop killers, spousal murderers, neighborhood drug-related killers, serial killers and others will indeed prove to be a deterrant, and maybe they will result in fewer police funerals.

The Church is not in opposition to the idea of capital punishment, with the Catechism stating that it is allowable in situations of extreme gravity. With that being the official position of my Church, which matters to me and which should matter to all Catholics, then neither am I against the death penalty based on the individual situation.

NOTE: This is the continuation of a regular 'Sunday Sermon' series, each topic of which can be read by clicking on to that below "Label"

JRollin' Into the Playoffs

The 2007 National League Most Valuable Player had certainly not played up to that standard during the 2008 campaign. Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies multi-talented shortstop and that '07 MVP struggled with the bat through the majority of the first five months of the season. His numbers were nowhere near those of that magical season which he fashioned just a year ago. In 2007, Rollins led the Phils to their first division championship in 14 years with his .296 batting average, 30 homeruns, 94 rbi, 139 runs, 41 steals. This came on the heels of a 2006 year in which he had 25 homers, 83 rbi, 127 runs and 36 steals, and seemed to signal a progression that placed the player known as 'JRoll' among the elite at his position. At age 29, he seemed a regular strength that the Phils would be able to count on for at least the next few years. Instead, he pretty much crashed and burned statistically and production-wise in 2008, in which he would finish with just 11 homers, 59 rbi, and 76 runs scored, numbers that are completely unacceptable as the leadoff man in one of the most offensively solid lineups in baseball, playing his home games in a hitters paradise, and coming off an MVP year. But one thing that Jimmy Rollins never, ever let happen was that he did not take those offensive struggles out to the field with him. When JRoll took up his position at shortstop for the Phillies, he was again that Gold Glove Award winner. His range into the hole and up the middle, his mastery at turning the doubleplay with keystone partner Chase Utley, that rocket arm, his athleticism in going back on balls into the outfield or over by the 3rd base line, all of this remained. Jimmy Rollins bat might not have been much this season, but his defense at shortstop was a key reason that the Phillies went into this weekend in control of their own destiny, trying to clinch a 2nd straight division title. On Saturday afternoon it would all come together with a highlight reel play that will stand forever in the minds of the fans who witnessed it, either in person or on television. The Phils had a 4-2 lead and handed the ball to closer Brad Lidge for the 9th inning. Lidge was a perfect 40 for 40 in Save opportunities, and the Phils' NL East title seemed all but assured as he struck out the leadoff batter. But then things got hairy as a walk and a couple of dink hits allowed the Washington Nationals to creep within 4-3, with the bases loaded and just one out. An inning earlier the Nats had challenged again, cutting a 3-1 Phils lead down to 3-2, but Rollins had helped put out the fire with a sensational ranging play into No-Man's Land in centerfield. But he saved his best for this 9th inning drama. The Nats talented young leader, 3rd baseman Ryan Zimmerman, stepped in with those bases loaded, the tying run just 90 feet away with just one out. That close to Lidge losing his season-long perfection. Zimmerman got a pitch he liked and drilled a ground ball back up the middle that appeared for a second that it would roll into centerfield for a 2-run hit and a Nationals lead. But suddenly there was the speedy JRoll, slide-diving to snare the seeing-eye grounder. In the same motion that he speared the ball, he fed it to Utley at 2nd. Chase took the perfect feed for one out, turned, and fired a laser to 1st baseman Ryan Howard that beat the hustling Zimmerman by a couple steps for the game-winning double play. The Phils exploded onto the field to mob one another as the Citizen's Bank Park crowd, and fans watching everywhere, erupted for joy. The Phillies are National League East Division champions for the 2nd straight season, and will open the playoffs at home against the wildcard Milwaukee Brewers. And although he had a down season, they simply would not be there again without the efforts of Jimmy Rollins, both in that clinching game, and in the field all season. Thanks to the gifts of his glove, arm, range, and speed, the Phils are once again JRollin' into the playoffs.

Quesadillas stuffed with eggplant

I watched a cooking show on public television last weekend, and there was a Mexican cook making all sorts of stuff. First he made adobo sauce which looked fantastic, until he added cream. Then he made enchilladas stuffed with shredded chicken (Yes, this is a vegan blog. I won't be using chicken.) and covered them with the adobo sauce and cheese. He made spinach- stuffed poblano peppers and baked them with ranchero sauce and more cheese and cream. Then he used more shredded chicken to make quesadillas.

I am sheepishly admitting that until I watched this show, I never really knew what a quesadilla was. I had been planning to cook some eggplant from our CSA for lunch and when I found some leftover whole wheat tortillas in the refrigerator, I knew this would be the day I prepared and ate my first quesadilla. Do traditional quesadillas have eggplant inside? Can't say. But quesadillas are basically a sandwich, so the fillings probably vary widely.

My husband had also just purchased our first roll (it comes in a long roll) of Teese, the much acclaimed vegan cheese from Chicago. This stuff actually tastes like real cheese. There's honestly no comparison with any of the other fake cheeses we've tried. I popped a piece in my mouth and WHOA. Couldn't believe it. So it was quesadilla time in the cookeasyvegan household. I only made one so I'm not giving ingredient quantities. Make as much as you need.

First I dredged 1/4 inch slices of baby eggplant in potato flour* and sautéed them in a cast iron pan with just a little olive oil and a little extra spray oil when I turned the slices over. I cooked the eggplant until the slices were browned and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I added fresh ground pepper and a tiny sprinkle of salt. As I've mentioned before, I don't like to salt vegetables when their incredible fresh flavor is so intense anyway. In this case, I also knew I'd be using other non-homemade ingredients with added salt (tortillas, salsa, cheese) and that the salt content would be on the heavy side. I prefer to make my own tortillas and salsa but this was a quick dish and I didn't have time.



To assemble the quesadillas, spread grated or thinly sliced vegan cheese on a large tortilla. Next place a layer of cooked eggplant. I think the TV chef used a top layer of cheese on the chicken quesadillas but I didn't. Cover with the second tortilla and press down to seal the edges. (This part is theoretical—my edges didn't seal but this wasn't a problem because of how I cooked them.)

The TV cook used a heavy griddle, but I used my waffle iron. I reversed the plates so the smooth grill side rather than the waffle side was exposed. (My iron has reversible plates but I think most of them do.) I placed the quesadilla in the preheated iron and within seconds I heard a hiss. The Teese was melting and oozing out! How perfect. The tortillas were crisp on the outside, the cheese was melted and the filling was warm, just as the TV cook said it should be. He cut his quesadilla into eight slices and offered them with a choice of pico de gallo or guacamole, which sounded great, but all I had on hand was fire-roasted salsa, so I used that.
With a large spatula, transfer the quesadilla to a cutting board, cool for a minute and cut into eight wedges. Serve with the toppings of your choice.

My husband and I both agreed that the quesadilla was really, really good.

*potato flour. I've been experimenting with potato flour and potato starch. I've added the flour to bread to see how the taste and texture would be affected, and I've added the starch to cake to for the same reason. The flour will make baked goods more dense and the starch is used to lighten the texture of baked items. Potato flour is made from whole potatoes, and if you taste it, it tastes just like baked potatoes. It is gluten-free and can be used as a thickener in sauces and soups. You can also use it as a coating for sauteeing vegetables like eggplant. It enriches the flavor with a slight potato taste and helps create a crispy crust, much as flour would. Potato starch is made, as the name implies, from just the starch of the potato.

The Part of Chicken Little Will be Played by President Bush

We interrupt the nation's impending catastrophic doom for the story time minute. Today's tender tale is that favorite children's classic, Bush'n Little.

All around Bush'n Little there was nothing but ruin and collapse. One day, wayward debris plopped down on his feathered brain.

"Laura! Dick! Come quickly. The sky is falling!" he chirped.

"Better do something at once, Bush'n Little," chimed in Brother Dick. "Go agitate those big guns down in Congress or play in traffic. Leave us alone for a change."

And so, Bush'n Little picked himself up out of Pennsylvania Avenue and trundled down the road. He met Fallson Paulson and McCan't McCain along the way. The three of them happened upon Dosie Pelosi, a beguiling creature with her own agenda.

"Oh please, Dosie Pelosi, the sky is falling. Can't you see?," pleaded Bush'n Little. "We need huge wads of cash for my buddies back at the hen house so that they can build a bridge up to the sky. That'll keep it from falling down, for sure."

"I see nothing of the sort, Bush'n Little," snarled Dosie, "And even if I did, you chickens have made such a mess of things, what good would it do?"

Fallson Paulson dropped to one knee. "Fair and gentle soul, Dosie Pelosi, have pity on feathered friends flocking together," he pleaded. "We need your help to stop the sky from crashing over all of us. You must get on board behind our cash grab or the entire sky will collapse."

"Fallson Paulson! How you do make me laugh," Dosie replied. "The Kingship is now up for grabs and I would be a fool to enhance the stature of your contestant over my own." At that point, the wily fox keened her eyes on McCan't. "Pray tell, what are you doing here, McCan't? Shouldn't you be out campaigning?"

"I put that on hold along with today's scary debate to follow in the path of Bush'n Little," replied McCan't with more than just a hint of pride. "He flaps about in noble acts of selflessness, screaming and warning like a bat out of hell, yet proposes nothing worthwhile. Nada. Zip. I can learn much from his chicken ways."

"Speak up, McCan't," urged Dosie, "I must determine whether I should kiss up to you."

"Uh, nope, sorry," said McCan't. "No can do. I cannot speak up. Too political. Besides, Bush'n Little is the one in charge. What he says goes."

And with that, Dosie Pelosi turned her back on the motley crew to seek out her own source of sustenance. The sky and everything in it could rain down on the world, she didn't care. She had everything she owned tied up in off-shore bank accounts, private foreign investments, and a slew of other hedges against catastrophe. She would be just fine in her own little padded lair.

But Bush'n Little and company? Somebody's lunch. She'd make completely certain of it.

The One That Got Away

It was just after 1:00 AM in the typically freezing cold early morning hours of Friday, January 30th, 1970. It was just three weeks earlier that the Beatles had performed together in the studio for the final time, and since the new soap opera 'All My Children' had made its debut on television. The remnant of a previous snowfall still coated the ground as rookie Philadelphia police officer Fred Cione pushed his red patrol car around the corner and into the 1700 block of west Oxford Street in the city's 23rd district. My wife, the former Debbie Marshall Howe, grew up just two doors from the Cione family on east Huntingdon Street in the city's Kensington area. As a 14-year old budding adolescent at that time she already recognized that Freddie, a single Vietnam vet, was 'really handsome' and 'built'. As this handsome 25-year old rookie cop drove around that night he came upon three men walking the streets, and found something suspicious about them, or their behavior, or just the fact of them being on the streets in that location on that kind of night. In any event, the only thing we really do know is that Freddie got out and approached the three, and that one of them opened up on him with three gunshots, one of which went into this chest and another into his gut. The men ran off, and Freddie was left to die like a dog in a North Philly gutter. That was almost three full decades ago. Just last week I was teaching a CPR class at the department's Advanced Training Unit, and one of the cops in attendance wore the nametag 'Cione'. I asked if he was a relative of Fred's, and the young man responded that he was Fred Cione's nephew. I am quite sure that he has heard the story a number of times already in his life since his own father, Freddie's brother Nick, became a Philly cop after his brother's death, and two of Nick's own sons subsequently have become cops. The murder of Fred Cione on that cold January night came back to me in the past couple of days as we here in Philly suffered the murder of yet another of our young stars, police officer Pat McDonald, the fifth Philly cop to be murdered in the last 2 1/2 years. But there is one big difference between the murders of Pat McDonald and other Philadelphia officers murdered in the line of duty like Chuck Cassidy, Gary Skerski, Steve Liczbinski, Izzy Nazario, Danny Faulkner, Lauretha Vaird, Steve Dmytryk, Danny Boyle, and Leddie Brown and the murder of Fred Cione. The big difference is that the murder of Fred Cione is the only murder of a Philadelphia police officer that was never solved. Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo and his top investigators were never able to find anything to solve the case: no real suspects, no murder weapon, no motive. The police Homicide Unit has never let the case die, assigning top detectives to take a new look at it every so often, but no one has ever come up with any substantive leads. The only reliable witness, a female, was brought in to look at thousands of photos over the years, but was never able to identify anyone. The case remains the ultimate frustration for all of us as Philadelphia police officers. When one of us goes down on the job at the hands of a bad guy, the very least that we expect is that our brothers and sisters will hunt our killer down to the ends of the earth, and bring that killer to justice, one way or another. The three young men whom it was the unfortunate fate of Freddie Cione to run into on that cold, dark night so long ago now remain four ghosts that we need to exorcise. If we cannot ever solve Freddie's particular case, which we must always be open to doing, we must vigorously investigate all those that will come along in the future. Think about and remember Freddie Cione as you drive past his mural, painted on the Aramingo Avenue side of his neighborhood rec center just south of Lehigh Avenue. He shares the mural with Joey Friel, another neighborhood native killed on-duty. We not only must never forget Fred Cione, but we must specifically remember him and his case, and never allow justice to elude us again.

Road to White House Runs Through David Letterman

"The economy is about to crater."

"Now that I'd like to see."

"Crater? I barely know her."

Bada bum.

But don't blame Letterman for what passed as witty repartee on last night's Late Night With David Letterman. After scheduled guest John McCain cancelled at the last minute, Dave struggled mightily to go on with the show.

I can only imagine the campaign's sorry cancellation call.

"Mr. Letterman? Uh, the Maverick has decided to suspend his presidential campaign to save our economy and he can't grace your show with his presence either. Make do with anything you can scrounge up around the studio (recently demoted MSNBC pundit Keith Olbermann was only too happy to oblige). Or suck it up, we don't care, there's work to be done inside the beltway." Click.

Yeah, buddy, well nobody puts Davey in the corner! Not even a powerful Senator of the U.S. Congress. We taxpayers don't care if we're about to take it up the wazoo for a gazillion dollar bailout or that Dubya's idea of saving the economy is to steal from the rich and give to the richer, we want our late night entertainment and we want it now!!

Clearly a bit of tension filled the studio as Dave's camera crew caught the GOP Nominee in a sit down with Katie Couric. You could have cut Dave's pride with a knife. Does McCain have any idea who he's tangling with?

At one point, Dave suggested McCain's surprise suspension of his run for the presidency was a ruse to counter sliding poll numbers, not a noble sacrifice to save the economy. He may have been joking, but the bite was unmistakable.

More so as he questioned McCain's failure to substitute "sexy babe" running mate Sarah Palin on the campaign trail. Gotta wonder what those two have been hiding. Heaven forbid the press should make mincemeat out of her before the election.

So, yeah, all the late night commotion got me thinking whether I want this sort of shoot from the hip style running the White House.

And here I thought Dave was a McCain supporter.

(video is over 9 minutes long but worth it. May disappear in foreseeable future)

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Point a Gun at a Cop, We Will Kill You

Today's online editions, and I understand the print edition as well, of the Philadelphia Daily Liberal Rag, er, Daily News quotes a 'nearby resident' in the area where police officer Pat McDonald was gunned down as saying "Cops are always using unnecessary force instead of trying to defuse the situation. That is someone's son that is lying dead there. We aren't ever told anything. All we know is that another young black man is dead and another cop is dead, too. They want us to give the cops respect, but the cops don't respect us." If I were the intrepid reporter interviewing this particular enabler my next question would be: "Who is us?" Who is it that the cops don't respect, first of all, and secondly, why should cops, or anyone for that matter, respect you? The fact is that from the families that raise them, or should I say frequently don't bother to raise them, to the neighbors who turn a blind eye, to the politicians that paint them as victims and perform the ultimate act of enabling, there is an entire community of people both in this city and around the nation whose off-spring are turning into animals. Not "someone's son", but someone's spawn. A 'son' is defined by Webster's as "a human male offspring, especially of human beings." The word to define Daniel Giddings, as well as Danyea Phillips who shot two undercover Philly Cops back in 2007, John Lewis who killed P/O Chuck Cassidy, Eric Floyd who was one of the killers of Sgt. Steve Liczbinski, Solomon Montgomery who killed P/O Gary Skerski, and many more including the young one who stole a car and smashed into P/O Isabel Nazario, killing her instantly, is simply 'animal'. These animals have an obvious common denominator that was covered in my November 1st, 2007 piece titled "Black Males Are Killing Us", but they are not the only big problem in and of themselves. The interviewee of the DN article today who attempted to pass off some of the blame on Philly Cops is a huge part of the problem. Also perhaps playing an even bigger role is the family, who showed up in the aftermath, many in muslim garb, as one person wailed "He was a muslim! They killed him!". My response to that individual would be "So what?" Who cares if the murdering animal named Daniel Giddings was a muslim, or a worshiper of the sun god Rah? What does that matter in any way? The guy is a lifetime cancer in the community. He has repeatedly committed numerous felonies, including while in prison. He was a menace to society who clearly practiced the anarchy that those around him preached. The 'us' likes to cry that the problem is with 'the Man', even though the real problem lies with the community itself. Well here is my answer to anyone else who chooses to draw a weapon on Philadelphia police officers. Just as responding P/O Rich Bowes deservedly did to Giddings in an outstanding example of police work, so shall we do to the rest of you: we will kill you. You might get lucky and either get the drop or ambush one of us, but you cannot escape us all. You aren't big enough to take us all, we have folks bigger and badder than the baddest you have to offer. Your gang isn't big or strong enough. Ours has over 6,000 members in just the local chapter alone, we wear and bleed blue, and we all legally carry guns and other weapons on us, as well as being all linked by high-tech radio systems. You can't run far enough if you do happen to initially slither away. There has only been one murder of a Philly Cop in our history who went without capture, and that one was well over three decades ago. We practice with our weapons regulary, the state mandates it. Our department guides us and trains us in how and when to use our guns as well. But one thing that is certain: if you point a gun at a Philadelphia police officer, you are pointing it at the entire city. And now, after a number of us have had to pay the ultimate price for the work that your family and neighbors and community were unwilling to do in your formative years, we will no longer hesitate. Many cops who are killed are ambushed by cowards like those listed here. But there have also been cops in the past who have hesitated to pull their guns and shoot. Some feared the simple act itself. Some feared the ramifications of desk duty, and ACLU or media or community protests and negative reporting. Some feared unfair treatment at the hands of overzealous and two-faced politicians who want to talk the 'tough cookie' talk, but never back up those of us who have walked the tough walk on a daily and nightly basis. But today there is no one who is in fear of using their weapon. We will use them within guidelines, but make no mistake about it, we will use them. You see, we want to return home to our family tonight. We want to go home and watch the Phillies pennant race, or the Eagles game. We want to make that class to obtain our college degree. We want to see our kids dance recital or ball game. Unlike these animals and most of their enablers, we care about our communities, our families, and our lives. We will not allow you to take them from us, or us from them, any longer. If you point a gun at a Philly Cop, plain and simple, we will kill you. If any politician or other 'leader' thinks that is harsh, then maybe you need to take our guns away from us. Because otherwise, we not only will use them to defend ourselves and the public-at-large, but we are required to use them for those purposes. We do not need to wait until a bullet is screaming on it's way towards our body before we pull the trigger. We do not need to 'wait until they get one off' first. We do not need to put our lives in mortal danger when someone pulls a gun and begins to point it at us. What we need to do is what we now will do, which is what we are trained to do with our guns: we will kill you. We are not trained to 'wing' anyone. We are trained to aim for center mass as best as possible. That is often a kill shot. That message needs not be sanitized. Instead, it needs to get out there in the community and reach the ears of the drug dealers, terrorists, lifetime felons, and other neighborhood cancers who would do us harm. Point a gun at a cop, and we will kill you. Plain and simple.

PENTAX booth @ Photokina

Very busy day at our booth today. This low res iPhone image is all I could take time to shoot.

(Photo and blog post from my iPhone)

K-m (K2000) Body Comparisons

I realize that sites like dpreview have already posted a few comparison photos showing the K-m body size vs the K200D. However, I thought a few more photos showing these two bodies, as well as comparisons with the K100D and *ist-D might be of interest to some of you.

Rice cooker revelation

The first time I ever saw a rice cooker was while visiting a friend whose husband was from Thailand. The husband was very particular about his rice and it had to be cooked in the rice cooker, just like the rice he grew up with in Thailand. This was about 20 years ago and I remember being surprised and intrigued by how perfect and delicious the rice my friend made was. I'd been making pretty good rice in a pressure cooker but this seemed so easy.

It wasn't until years later that I finally purchased a rice cooker of my own, and although the rice tasted good, the cooking process was evil. As the rice cooked, starched-laden steam would spew from the lid vent and cover everything around the cooker—counters, cupboards, other appliances— with a goopy liquid coating. I could put a kitchen towel over the top, but then I'd be left with a sodden towel. We ate rice a lot and those towels could add up!

The rice cooker came with a stainless steel steamer-basket insert, and just recently I discovered that if I cook the rice with the insert in place, nothing comes out of the vent. Eureka! Did everyone already know this except me? And why didn't the little instruction booklet say this? So now you know. If you have a rice cooker with a steamer basket and a spewing problem, you can now cook rice neatly and perfectly. Whew.

Now, on an entirely different subject; the last time I mentioned my rain garden it was not in a positive light. I was weeding it and there were mice ... It's never been the most attractive of gardens, but at the moment it doesn't look so bad! Here are a few pics I snapped a couple of days ago. Now I just have to figure out what to plant that will be attractive from early spring to mid summer. I have columbines but they are so small.

Another Philly Cop Killed

P/O Patrick McDonald, a member of the Philadelphia Police Department's elite Highway Patrol unit, was gunned down this afternoon in North Philadelphia. Two officers in total were shot, with one of them in stable condition. This marks the 2nd Philly Cop in two weeks, the 3rd in four months, the 4th in less than a year, and the 5th in the last 2 1/2 years to be killed in the line of duty. A more lengthy article on the officer and the situation will come in the next few days. Please pray for the officers and their families. Pictured here are the previous four: Gary Skerski, Chuck Cassidy, Steve Liczbinski, Isabel Nazario (left to right).

AF160FC Macro Flash Kit

I thought some Pentaxians would like to see what's in the new AF160FC Macro Flash Kit. When viewing the opened kit, on the upper left is the macro adapter for D-FA macro lenses. The four slots in the upper middle section hold the threaded lens adapter rings for 49mm, 52mm, 58mm and 67mm.

Other key features include:
Guide No 16 at ISO 100/m providing ample lighting for small and medium size close focus subjects.
Modeling light with 4 white LED's which help preview flash exposure, while assisting autofocus operation.
Compatible with P-TTL and manual systems.
Manual flash operation at Full, 1/4 and 1/16 power.
The ring flash also can be rotated to allow control of light top-to-bottom and left-to-right.
Price in the US has been set at $499, and we expect to start shipping in Mid-to-late November.

$700 Billion Dollar Roller Coaster Quick-Fix

Our government is considering, is right at this moment negotiating, a $700 billion dollar package to 'rescue' the economy from what is being sold to us as certain ruin. This 'ruin', of course, was completely and totally self-inflicted. Interest rates at historic lows combined with a loosening of lending policies, especially by mortgage companies, resulted in a number of bad loans to poor credit risks that was inevitably going to come crashing down around many people and companies. Those who bet on an ever-expanding economy were right in the long run, because the fact is that over time the economy will likely expand, assets will increase in value, and investments will rise. But some people also forgot that the economy takes ups and downs, much like a roller coaster, on the way to the ultimate thrill of an ending. Some people are going to get caught in a 'down', they are going to lose in the market. That is the risk involved in the ride, that every once in awhile one is going to run off the tracks and crash. The ride is often a true thrill, because you have great highs where you soar, where your investments rise and you feel invincible as your account balances inflate. However, you also have to suffer the anxiety of the downturns. The economy will adjust from time to time, weed out the bad, and hit that roller coaster dropoff. Your stomach may rise into your throat at this point, and you may even scream out of sudden fear for your safety, the safety of your assets in this case. Thankfully on a real roller coaster, as on the roller coaster of life, we usually rise again. There are brakes and seat belts and safety bars to protect us, and there are also 'the odds', which say that the overwhelming majority of the time you will survive that dropoff and rise once again. Over time in the economic world, you will rise to a point higher than the point at which you started. However, like real roller coasters, every once in a blue moon one is going to go crashing off the rails. Often this will be as a result of poor maintenance, or a sudden brakedown in a normally reliable part. The same thing will happen with the economy. It will run off the rails, and those on the roller coaster are going to go down - hard - some to never get up again. It should never be the role of our government to bail out capitalist companies that live and die with their bottom lines. Individual investors, as well as companies big and small, take risks in order to experience rewards. Many will ultimately succeed. Some, and sometimes many, will fail and will collapse. It is these collapses and negative adjustments that the rest of us learn from, and that create opportunities for others to come in and build a better mousetrap. The government has no business bailing out this economy with our, you and me that is, tax dollars. The government does not have any money of it's own, it has only the funds collected by you and me in taxation, in taxing our businesses, our incomes, our investments, and in the interest they make on the investments they make with our money. Key words being 'our money.' Businesses, banks, mortgage companies, individuals were riding high on the upslope for years, and they also need to go through the downslope for the free market to naturally adjust at the bottom of its dropoff. It may be a long, hard, jaw-dropping, stomach in your brains drop, and some may not survive the scare. But the fact is that the real crash will occur by artificially propping up this economy with a bailout. It will have the ultimate effect of putting glue on a broken roller coaster rail. The force of the coaster will, sooner rather than later, overwhelm the glue. The rail may actually need to be taken up and replaced. The roller coaster may need to be taken off-line for a short period while true repairs are done. But in the long run, this will be best. The rail will be fixed, the rides will begin again, and the thrill will come back. The government needs to let the market do its work, and save us all the irresponsible $700 billion dollar quick-fix that it is trying to push on those of us who understand what riding a roller coaster is all about.

Top Ten Revealing Fashion Trends

(WARNING: Photos used in this article may be too revealing for children under 13-years old. Parental guidance suggested)

Gack! It's passing for fashion.... or worse ....political statement.

Starting with Kylie Minogue's Q Magazine cover, a fashion trend emphasizing previously unmentionable body parts is beginning to attract media attention and engulf runways. For now, cooler heads can breathe a sigh of relief. The trend doesn't appear to be spreading... yet.

Daring and shocking perhaps, yet unlikely to go mainstream. Which means most people have enough sense to gawk and LTAO before forwarding these pictures to friends. Then again, what do I know? Never thought pajama pants would become trendy and now the lady across the street wears them outside.

So, if you're someone who wants to be caught dead in any of these outfits, by all means, go to town. Just please snap a picture of yourself first. With any luck, someone will forward it to The Spewker.

We could use a good laugh now and then.

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Cheesesteak Heaven

Every year, Philadelphia magazine comes out with a special edition highlighting the "Best of Philly" in which they rate the top local eateries, businesses, celebrities, watering holes, get-aways, etc. One of the most hotly debated categories each year here in the City of Brotherly Love is the 'Best Cheesesteak". You see, the cheesesteak is Philly's signature food. This delicacy of thinly sliced or chopped steak, normally covered with your choice of cheeses, smothered in whatever condiments you like, all served on a fresh, soft long roll is as much a part of our culture as the Mummers, the Big Five, left-wing newspapers, and entrenched politicians. The only problem with Philly magazine's picks is that they are, as much of Philadelphia media and politicians, far too politically correct. They spread the "Best Cheesesteak" title around among the leading contenders every year, once in awhile tossing in a surprise, when the fact is that year-in and year-out there are a handful of locations that simply offer the true best cheesesteak consistently. Now the term 'best' when judging a cheesesteak is a tough one, even for a connoisser such as myself. The fact is that the basic sandwiches served in some of the top spots are slightly, but significantly, different from one another. From soft Amoroso rolls to the seeded Sarcones roll, from chopping the steak to thinly slicing it, the differences are enough that to pick just one as 'best' would be to cheat yourself and the many and varied outstanding selections. So I am going to list for you one locals choices for the top cheesesteaks in Philly. Trust me, I have been to every one of these places any number of times, and am never, ever disappointed. You can go to any of them, year in and year out, no matter who wins what award or honor, and get yourself a delicious cheesesteak. My personal top four, in no particular order, are: Geno's Steaks at 9th & Passyunk in South Philly; Chink's Steaks at 6030 Torresdale Avenue; Steve's Steaks at Roosevelt Boulevard & Comly in the Far Northeast; and John's Roast Pork at Snyder Ave & Weccacoe in South Philly. Steve's is closest to where I live, so I have theirs the most. They make a great, classic cheesesteak, and a bonus here is that their fries are awesome as well, making for a nice combo. At Chink's, you have to get the famous 'Steak and Shake' combo of their tasty cheesesteak and a thick, frosty milkshake. At John's, also famous for their namesake pork sandwich, the cheesesteak comes on the treat of a Sarcone's roll, making for a massive feast for the biggest appetites. Finally there is Geno's, where Joey Vento supports his local cops and many other worthy causes while putting out an incredible cheesesteak that buries the competition from 'that other joint' sometimes considered more famous (okay, it's called Pat's Steaks.) If you are visiting Philly, go to Geno's, not Pat's, if you just must do the touristy thing. If you live here, or are adventurous, seek out the other places I mentioned and give them a try. But look them up in the phone book or online first, as each has different hours (Geno's is a 24/7 operation.) Philadelphia has many problems, but it is also Cheesesteak Heaven, one reason well worth staying close to the city. And these selections are sure to be on the menu when I reach the real Pearly Gates one day. If you have a place to recommend, feel free to post a reply here, or send me an email. Always open to finding a new contender. Stay tuned to this blog for future 'Philly's Best' on things like pizza, water ice, shopping, sports venues, and other items not motivated by politics but based on actual, frequent experiences.

New LBA Case (?)

Arrived in Frankfurt and boarding train to Koln for Photokina. Bringing a new polycarbonate "trolley" type suitcase on it's first trip. The LBA sticker made it easy spotting the suitcase at baggage claim. Had to go with a bigger case for all the Pentaxian gear that I will need for my meetings.

(Photo and blog post from my iPhone)

60th Primetime Emmy New Category Awards

The 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards did a night of firsts at the the Nokia Theatre in Hollywood. A preliminary list of winners is here.

I love how they call the winners "outstanding" whatever in their category. Not "best" just "outstanding." That gave me an idea. Why not make up some "outstanding" categories from last night's broadcast and crown my own winners? Better than writing a diatribe. For better or worst (this is really a late post), here goes.

Outstanding Hot Outfit: There was low, low cut, chic, and chic sexy. There was Christine Applegate looking radiant and oo-lah-lah (I hope she does kick Christian Slater’s behind in their time slot). And then there was Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In a smoke’n hot apricot gown, Louis-Dreyfus emanated from the stage of a New York diner reminiscent of a Seinfeld episode, "The Contest." She later lost in her category to Tina Fey who graciously mentioned her as comic inspiration.

Outstanding Surprise of the Evening: I strongly disagree that the evening held few surprises why, it’s hard to narrow them all down. For instance, I had no idea Lorne Michaels actually wrote for Saturday Night Live. I thought he just lorded over cast members. Rob Reiner writing for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour? I thought Meathead was his only TV credit. Who knew Tommy Smothers got high in 1967? Or that Martin Sheen would utter the least controversial political statement of the evening (everyone needs to vote)? And was that David Morse on stage with the winning cast of Mad Men? Didn’t he play some part in runaway winner John Adams? But to me, the biggest surprise of the evening was how Presenter Neil Patrick Harris and I thought exactly the same thing at almost exactly the same time. Howie Mandel’s yarblings and Steve Martin gushings were tremendous wastes of time, especially in light of presenters and winners being rushed off stage.

Outstanding "What’s YOUR problem?" Moment: This was a toss up. After accepting her award and making a nice short statement, Glenn Close had the gall to eat up more time babbling about some "Sisterhood of the Traveling Divas," ostensibly including the likes of her, Dame Judi Dench, and others (bet Dame Judi loved being included in that category). Still, the winner is Howie Mandel. After doing his St. Elsewhere rap, Howie asked specific members of the audience, "Why do you applaud?" The bit was barely funny. Degrading members of the audience for their polite reaction was downright rude.

Outstanding Presence of Mind During "Get the Hell Off the Stage" Music: Steve Colbert who won for best writer. As the music tried to shush him away, Colbert had the fortitude to thank Jon Stewart for humble beginnings and his wife and family for all their support.

Outstanding Production Gaffe: Mike flubbings for Vanessa Williams and America Ferrera and some nincompoop cut off Tom Hanks’ acceptance speech (don’t they know he is Hollywood royalty?). Perhaps winners Glynn Turman and Cynthia Nixon weren’t supposed to present three successive times. But, the home audience never saw the presenter for outstanding actor in a drama series (Keifer Southerland?) because production came back so late from commercial. Whoever is responsible for that idiotic move, you win.

Outstanding Presenter Who Couldn’t Get a Laugh if His Life Depended On It: No, it wasn’t Ricky Gervais trying to tickle his Emmy away from Steve Carell. Loved how Carell would not crack a smile. Tom Bergeron of Dancing With the Stars wins hands down. Hated that drama/comedy drop gag and the rest of his performance was as flat as toilet paper.

Outstanding "Wait Until I Get You Home" Look: Love the Rickles and love that he got two standing ovations. They tried to snuff out his line about the O.J. jury (all white front row) and "The Emmy goes to Herbie Dickman" line went right over my head. But the look on wife Barbara’s face when he said, "Today she sits in Malibu on the sand with the jewelry signaling ships," had me rolling. I imagine by now she’s used to the embarrassment.

Outstanding Cast in a Time Warp: They either have the best makeup artists, face lifts, and hair colorists in Hollywood or the fickle finger of fate has smiled on their saggy behinds. The five-member presenters of Laugh-In, especially Gary Owens, are amazingly well preserved. Jon Stewart leaning in for the French kiss win with Ruth Buzzy only to have her clobber him with that ratty brown handbag was one of the evening’s highlights.

Outstanding Cast in Time to Move On: Presenters Mary Tyler Moore and Betty White. If you’re going to do face lifts, you really should do them right. Are these grand dames of TV in their 80s? 70s? MTM’s face was so tight you could bounce a quarter off it. Don’t get me started on Betty White’s retirement colony pantsuit.

Outstanding Political Commentary: The award goes belatedly to Tommy Smothers. After accepting his long denied best writing award from 1968, Tommy had the best political lines of the night. "I can't stay silent when hearing peace is only attainable through war. Nothing is scarier than watching ignorance in action. I’m accepting the Emmy on behalf of other people who won't be silenced. Truth is what you get other people to believe." The audience laughed, but he wasn't joking.

Runners-Up: Laura Linny, lead actress in a miniseries or movie, saved time by thanking supporters privately and showed appreciation for "great community organizers who organize our country." Feigning disdain for political commentary, presenters Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert instead did a metaphor about prunes. Colbert said, "America needs a prune, granted shriveled and at times hard to swallow, but this dried up old prune has the experience we need," while Stewart countered, "After eight years, you would think America would have had enough." Kirk Ellis who won for best writing for miniseries John Adams had the grace to thank Tom Hanks and add "A period in our history when articulate men articulated complex thoughts in complete sentences. They used words ---" and yikes, got cut-off. Must have been a Republican in the tech booth.

Outstanding Imitations Making Gallagher Look Good: Josh Groban. Suicide was not painless as he sang theme songs from M*A*S*H to The Love Boat, to Mr. Rogers Neighborhood to the gospel style of The Jeffersons. Esther just Rolled over in her grave.

Outstanding Catch Phrase: Hard to pick just one. There was Barry Sonnenfeld who won best director for a comedy series, Pushing Daisies. "Love TV and fear the Internet." Tom Hanks acknowledged Presenter Sally Field as "Mom" and almost launched into a Forrest Gumpism. Guess he forgot about their roles in Punchline. Then there was Don Rickles, big winner after fifty-five years of no acknowledgments saying, "This crap got me no place." Paul Giamatti, best lead actor in a miniseries or movie, thanked "my fake wife, Laura." However, Tina Fey, big winner of the evening, also wins this category with the line, "Better to be a writer than an actor. At weddings, people are less interested in talking to you."

Outstanding Classy Remark: Even though they sat the cast of House way toward the back, Greg Utanes, best director of a drama series, thanked the Academy. And Presenter Sandra Oh acknowledged and waved hello to her parents. Winner? Seven times nominated first-time winner, Alec Baldwin, for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series. He was the first of many who was gracious enough to thank his co-nominees. Other winners followed his lead throughout the rest of the evening.

Outstanding Missed Opportunity: Presenter Bill Peterson, aside from wearing some questionable black number with velvet-looking lapels, let the biggest opportunity for a laugh slip right past his fingers. After accepting Tom Wilkinson’s award on his behalf, and hearing Conan O’Brien say he would hand an award accepted for someone else to Steve Carell, it would have been hysterical if Peterson had actually handed Wilkinson’s Emmy to Carell.

Outstanding Theory About Mad Men's Win: It was the only nominee in the drama category that had more than one word in its title.

Gone But Not Forgotten: George Carlin, Bernie Brillstein, Joey Bishop, William F. Buckley, Charlton Heston, Les Crane, Alice Ghostly, Ivan Dixon, Cyd Charisse, Mel Ferrer, Claudio Guzman, Barry Morse, Deborah Kerr, Larry Harmon, Estelle Getty, Roger King, Sydney Pollack, Ron Leavitt, Bernie Mac, Eric Lieber, Suzanne Pleshette, Abby Mann, Dick Martin, Delbert Mann, Harvey Korman, Jim McKay, Lois Nettleson, Mel Tolkin, Richard Widmark, Stan Winston, Tim Russert, and Isaac Hayes.

Outstanding Line of the Evening: Jeff Probst, first winner as outstanding lead for a reality program category. "G’night."

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

I was born and raised in the Two Street section of South Philadelphia, and during the late 1960's and into the mid-1970's my parents sent my brother and I to school at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a Catholic elementary school. The school provided me with a tremendous education, and my experiences there were some of the most memorable and valuable of my life. I'll get to some of them in a future post. But one thing that I can say for sure is that never during the entire eight years that I spent at what was known to us simply as 'Mount Carmel' do I recall being told just who or what was our namesake. So it's well past time to take a little trip to the web libraries and find out just what and whom the namesake of my original and still thriving parish is all about. Per Wikipedia, Mount Carmel is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel and the West Bank, stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. It is characterized by a 'richly fertile hillside', thus its name which means 'plantation of high quality trees' and its tradition of being known as 'the vineyards of God.' Israel's 3rd largest city of Haifa is located in its northern slopes. What is regarded as 'one of the most important human fossils every found' was located in one of Mount Carmel's caves during excavations there in the early part of the 20th century, in the form of the skeleton of a female neanderthal now named Tabun I. These excavations were able to trace human developments passage from hunter-gatherer groups to more complex agrigultural societies over what has been estimated as a span of roughly one million years of human evolution. In a key battle of World War I, General Allenby led the British in the Battle of Megiddo, which took place at the head of a pass through the Carmel Ridge, and which led ultimately to victory over the Ottoman Empire. The mountains have long been considerd sacred, with the great prophet Elijah being most associated there, and with a legendary altar to God having been built there as well. The Carmelites were a Catholic religious order founded on Mount Carmel in the 12th century at the site of what was believed to have been Elijah's own cave. A community of Jewish hermits was said to have lived at the site of the cave continuously since the time of Elijah, and the cave was situated at the highest natural point of the entire mountain range (pictured above.) The Carmelites founded a monastery there, and dedicated it to the Virgin Mary in her 'Star of the Sea' (Stella Maris, another South Philly parish) aspect, which was an ancient manifestation of Mary as a guide and protector to those who work and travel on the seas. The monastery changed hands many times during the Crusades, even spending time as a Muslim mosque, and Napolean even turned it into a hospital in 1799. The original monastery was destroyed in 1821 by the Ottomans, but a new one was later built by the Carmelites on the same site. The scapular, a religious artifact or collar consisting of a length of cloth having two pieces of material at either end, often with religious images, is the object most associated with the Carmelites and their relationship with Our Lady. It is said that the Blessed Virgin appeared to Saint Simon Stock, an English Carmelite, in Cambridge, England in July of 1251 and conferred the first scapular on him asking him to take "this scapular of thy order as a badge of my confraternity and for thee and all Carmelites a special sign of grace; whoever dies in this garment, will not suffer everlasting fire. It is the sign of salvation, a safeguard in dangers, a pledge of peace and of the covenant." It is said that if one faithfully wears the scapular constantly until death, they will receive eternal salvation, assuming that you receive penance for grievous sins committed. So the Virgin Mary in her manifestation to Simon Stock, and thus specially related to the Carmelite order, is the answer to the question 'who', and the scapular is the answer to the question 'what', in regards to the background of the namesake for my childhood parish. Founded in 1896, the church and school for Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish are still alive and well at 3rd & Wolf Streets in South Philadelphia. I was raised and lived most of my life until a little over a decade ago, over three decades in total, on American Street, a small street that looked out over the church, and I heard its comforting bells chime every Sunday morning. My maternal grandfather, Ray Gilmore, was active with the church for a long time, and my own mother, Marie Veasey, was a regular worshiper through her adult life battling illness. Thanks both to these direct examples and my schooling there, I will forever carry wonderful memories of a Catholic education and community. An education that gave me the foundational skills to be able today to create, write, and maintain this blog, and to research the very origins of the parish namesake, Our Lady of Mount Carmel.