Monthly Archives: November 2008

Gone, man, solid gone

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My favorite Disney movie has to be The Jungle Book. The story is great, the animation is lovely, the characters are memorable (Shere Khan, voiced by George Sanders, is among my favorite movie villains), and the music is jazzy perfection.

With so many great songs it might seem hard to choose a favorite one, but mine is definitely “I Wanna Be Like You,” which you may know as The Monkey Song.

Bonus musical history fun: The head orangutan, King Louie, is performed by the great band leader and trumpeter Louis Prima. In the DVD extras for the movie, there’s a bit of footage of Prima and his band dancing around the sound stage as they recorded “I Wanna Be Like You” — very like the monkeys in the clip.

A tale of two business books

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Two business books I’m reading: Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath and Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin.

It’s a bit unfair to compare the two, because Purple Cow was published in 2002 and Godin has gone on to create other new ideas since then. But I am still struck by how little value I’m getting from Purple Cow compared to how much I’m getting from Made to Stick.

Purple Cow is full of case studies and examples, and questions from Godin. The goal seems to be to get a business person to ask why he is doing things the old way, and to try to shake up his company to create new value. And the overall sense is that the person reading the book hasn’t quite bought into the idea that being remarkable is the path to success, doesn’t quite get it.

All well and good.

Made to Stick is full of case studies too, but the authors have taken the examples and created frameworks and guides to help a business person apply the lessons of the case studies. The overall sense is that the reader understands that sticky = good (at least, after the first chapter’s persuasive argument), so the bulk of the book is devoted to figuring out how to make ideas sticky.

I read Seth Godin’s blog, but sometimes I kind of hate it. I feel scolded by it, although I think I do "get it." I keep reading because I think he offers good ideas on creating value through community — and because I worry that I’ll miss something of value.

I’m pleased though to add the Made to Stick blog to my feedreader. Seems both friendly and informative.

The Deadliest Pecan Pie in the South

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Pecan pie

For Thanksgiving, I was a baking fool. I made bread (using the no-knead recipe I blogged a while back) plus a nice pecan pie.

For pecan pie, I use a recipe from Comfort Food by Holly Garrison. Mom gave me this cookbook years ago; it’s my go-to cookbook for really rich desserts and classic American recipes. It includes a great recipe for scones, the right ratio for ingredients in lemonade, the most outrageously rich chocolate cheesecake, and more.

Including the recipe for “The Deadliest Pecan Pie in the South.” Which I will share with you now:

The Deadliest Pecan Pie in the South

1 9-inch unbaked pie shell (I use Julia Child’s tart crust recipe)
1 to 1.25 cups pecan halves (or more)
4 eggs
1 cup firmly packed, light-brown sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons good brandy or cognac
lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Scatter pecan halves in the bottom of the pie shell.

Beat egs, sugar, and syrup together in a medium bowl. Add butter and mix thoroughly. Stir in brandy. Slowly pour over pecans. Let stand until pecans rise to the surface. (The pecans will become beautifully glazed as the pie bakes.)

Bake for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until the center is nearly firm.

Cool pie on a wire rack.

Serve while still slightly warm, topped with whipped cream or ice cream.

Or, invite me to dinner and ask me to bring dessert, and this is what I shall bring.

(Photo credit: Pecan pie, originally uploaded by cynthiacloskey.)

The best blog without an RSS feed that you may not be reading

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I love mimi smartypants.

She’s on Diaryland, which seems not to have discovered feeds or comments or many other widely-used blog elements. One signs up to receive email when new posts are posted.

Those are emails to which I look forward with great anticipation:

BACK TO THE SEXY GRIND

I
am actually excited about going back to the office, because I am in the
middle of a required online sexual harassment “refresher course” and it
is so freaking AWESOME. I keep getting interrupted with real work, and
then I count the delicious minutes until I can go back to it. The
sexual-harassment-refresher company did not want to spring for
streaming video, so what you get is a series of hilarious still shots
of actors telling dirty jokes in an office setting and other actors
standing around making exaggerated “oh no he DIDN’T” faces. Of course
there is also the tedious interactive portion, where you have to choose
the “correct answer” to whether it is appropriate to grab ass, mock
foreign accents, call the secretary “sugartits,” etc. But the
overacting and the cheesy set-ups make it all worthwhile, I seriously
love it. Thanks, HR! You’re the best! And did I mention your booty is
FINE?

Go read and sign up.

A typical case of American blind justice

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There are many Christmas songs but few Thanksgiving songs. In fact the only one I know is "Alice’s Restaurant Massacre" by Arlo Guthrie. It’s 18 minutes long, so I think that makes it count for five songs. (A big Thanksgiving thank you to Uncle Crappy for reminding me about the song, which seems to slip my mind from time to time.)

The song was such a success that they made a movie version as well. The movie has a rambling 1960s style, loosely edited and strange and goofy in a good-natured hippie style. If you know the song, you know most of the plot; the additional plot points don’t contribute much. But if you’re curious to watch you can fast forward through the dragging bits.

Below: Arlo and his friend, who dumped garbage off a cliff, are brought to justice.

Love, love is a verb / Love is a doing word

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I enjoy the TV show House, largely because I like watching Hugh Laurie.

One of the small but pure joys of watching the show is watching the opening credits — or rather, listening to them. The music used in the credits comes from the song “Teardrop” by Massive Attack.

The House credits use only instrumental portions of the song. But for me, the vocal is the really stunning part. See the eerie video above to appreciate the full combination. Lyrics to “Teardrop” are here.

Holiday gifts for Star Wars fans

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Bantha craft

There’s a section of the site StarWars.com devoted to Star Wars crafts projects. It’s supposed to be for kids, but I imagine many grown-up kids would find it appealing.

One of the cooler ones is making this stuffed Bantha toy — not too difficult if you’re handy with a needle and thread.

Or decorate for the holidays in Star Wars style by turning broken or excess action figures into a wreath.

(Photo credit: Bantha craft, originally uploaded by bonniegrrl.)

Whaddaya think?

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I’ve been planning for some time to revamp the layout of this website.

The BlogHer ads are going to go, for example. I don’t think they’re tuned to the readership of this site, and they come loaded with stringent requirements that make it hard to do many other things. The sidebar needs an overhaul, and maybe there should be two sidebars, and so on.

While the BlogHer ads aren’t interesting, I think there may be some other ads that would be of interest. But then again, maybe ads — even well-tuned ads — would just clutter up the site.

Ultimately, what I think about the site matters much less than what you, Dear Reader, think of it. So now is the time for me to ask your opinion.

Can you imagine any ads that would provide value for you?

Or maybe a list of recommended books/music/films/etc. with my notes and links to buy them? Or do you get that kind of information elsewhere?

Google does send a lot of people here, so maybe I should post some ads/links to send those people to the items they actually want (apparently: 80s style workout attire, information about Drambuie and Frangelico, and info on how to make really strong coffee, plus of course information on pretty hats; also today someone arrived here from the search "are all of the good men taken?" which is kind of heartbreaking).

And aside from ads, what else would you like to find on this site?

Fever dreams

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It used to be that, when I had a fever, I would have this dream:

I’m in the family station wagon in Exton, PA (we lived there until I was 5). I’m the only one in the car, which is parked at the end of the driveway of friends of ours, on the opposite side of our block. I don’t remember what their driveway was actually like, but in the dream it slopes away from the road down to the backyard, and a small forested area.

The car starts rolling down the hill to the forested area. My parents and maybe their friends are in the yard, and they’re watching me roll down the hill, but no one is too upset. Also, there are three or four lions in the forest.

The car rolls very slowly, and I’m somehow both in the car and then over with the lions, and also yelling to my parents to stay away from the lions.

***
This weekend when I had a fever, here’s what I dreamed:

Chris Brogan posted something on his blog about social networks, and I commented on his post and then wrote a guest post. I don’t remember whether I was agreeing or disagreeing with Chris, but I was very concerned that I didn’t have enough time to respond.

***

I can see several possible conclusions to draw from these contrasting dreams:

  • I used to have much more dramatic fevers.
  • I used to have much more creative dreams.
  • I have been working too much.
  • I should write a guest post on Chris’s blog.