Pride of Winder.......

From the Athens Banner Herald, ( via B.Day.)

Winder embracing its checkered past with first New Year's Eve jug drop

In New York, New Year's Eve revelers watch a glittering ball drop. In Atlanta, it's a glowing peach. This year, Winder will mark the new year by dropping a clay jug from the hanging tower of the old Barrow County Jail.
The inaugural Jug Drop celebration will kick off at 8 p.m. New Year's Eve at the Barrow County Museum, 74 W. Athens St., and will include live music, dancing, food and drinks and the Miss Jug pageant, in which men dress as women and compete to see who gets to lower the jug.

Read the rest... or don't.

Its actually pretty funny. Winder and Barrow Country are brand new places, at least from when I grew up there. All new people, all new places, Atlanta just got that much bigger. I grew up in a very small Southern town, kids growing up there today, are going up in a suburb of Atlanta, all fast foodie and strip malled. Not a bad thing, just a different thing. So, a little dose of JUG TAVERN and especially my childhood favorite THE WOG will be good for all the folks from someplace else.

Now, if someone on that New Years Eve will say the word : Kodz.

Both seen campaigning at The Colonnade on Sunday Night

The run-off to be mayor of Atlanta is tomorrow.

Off year election, mayoral run off.... it's ALL about the turn out!

From of all places the L.A.Times ( via JMG ):

Atlanta mayoral candidates appeal to gay vote.

"Reporting from Atlanta - A neck-and-neck mayoral runoff pitting a black man against a white woman has spurred some intense discussions about race and politics in the South's most important city.
But in recent days, the two campaigns have also turned their attention to a demographic beyond race that may ultimately sway Tuesday's election: the gay vote.
The support of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, or LGBT, community has been a coveted political prize for some time in Atlanta, a bastion of live-and-let-live progressivism in the heart of the more censorious Bible Belt.
But the wooing of LGBT voters here has become particularly intense since the Nov. 3 general election, when Councilwoman Mary Norwood and former state Sen. Kasim Reed earned spots in the mayoral runoff." REST OF STORY....

This could be a really good thing for the glbt community in Atlanta. Flex some real power.

Dreaming of a Brown Christmas.....

The weather guy tonight said " this is the third longest period of time between the last snow of Spring, and the first snow of fall". I don't remember, but we must have had an early last snow. We have had no really cold weather...

Dinner

This was tasty.

Pork loin cooked with cranberry and red onion.

BBQ beans /brown rice w/

some of the onions and cranberries

lemon pepper broccoli

November Koda

The Feast of Saint Tebow.

In honor of his holiness Tim of Tebow, I went to church this morning

Crazy beautiful day here in upstate New York, we are starting to wonder if we are going to be paying for all this nice, non Winter weather.

Dahn asked her Dad and Joyce to light the first advent candle....
Three John's in a church yard. Ok, Tim was not the only reason to go to church this morning, not really the reason at all:

ITS DAHN'S BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!

Dinner

Moe's to go. Art Vandalay w/ black beans and everything except fresh jalapenos, pickled, yes, but not the fresh.

FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL!

GAME ONE:

South Carolina Gamecocks

v

Clemson Tigers

Kyle, Chip and Rick inside Death Valley, 2000? 2001?

So far this one is all Great Satan. I was rootin' for the Clempsons. The game is in Columbia. I've only been to a football game there once, and am pretty darn happy there are no photos of that night.... Lots of rules in that stadium...

Looks to be a Gamecock BLOWOUT... moving on

GAME TWO :

Tim Tebow

Florida Gators

v

Florida State Seminoles

Not much hype here, cold fusion, Middle East peace, Saint Tebow's last game. I am totally buying into it, even me , proud member of the spanked Bulldawg Nation got a little weapy as Gameday - from Gainesville - was wall to wall Tim. ( but really Tim, third world orphan circumcision for spring break??)

Some sort of odd throw back day and The Boys From Old Florida are wearing these helmets today. Should be fun. I was only in Gainesville one time, ΔΤΔ pledge trip, fall of 1980. Ummm... my overall zeal for life was not really appreciated on that trip. BUT, oddly enough, I very recently re-connected with the great guy I drove down there with ,on the facebook!

The GatorNation responding to Tim Tebow taking the field in a few minutes should register on the Richter scale.

Hebrews 12:1-2 (King James Version)

1Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. ( the explanation..)

Damn, but it is hard , HARD to root for these jort wearing, mulleted folks.

End of the third, all Gators:

Bye-Bye TIm.... Hello Halloween Weekend 2010 !

GAME THREE

( The Real One )

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA BULLDOGS

V

GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS

Grant Field at Bobby Dodd Stadium, or is it Bobby Dodd Stadium at Grant Field ??

I have had some darn good times here! I don't think I've ever been to a Georgia - Georgia Tech game that we lost here.. I could be wrong, they used to have VERY liberal alcohol policies. Plus, I have been to Tech games that were not UGA games. Jill's parents had fantastic season tickets.

The very first freezing cold college football game I ever went to was here. A couple ON Thanksgiving day. I lived right across the street for a while, and after that just a train ride away. NO TRAFFIC is a godsend!

For years and years they hated us much more than we hated them. We had all those Orange teams to worry about, not those pesky little North Ave. Gnats. Not so much this year with us , well, sucking , and them being the highest ranked one loss team in the country!

GO DAWGS !!!

Seriously, they do this:


My home town looks so pretty at night from the blimp!

WE WIN 30-24 ......SEC RULES!

I love these days. I am plugged in for 13 straight hours..... get the countdown clock set:

September 4, 2010 !

The Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Dinner

Day Two, the gift that keeps on giving.

We gathered together....

THANKSGIVING '09

Most Thankful for friends that are family....
Roasted Turkey, Fried Turkey, Dressing, Sweet Potatoes, Corn Pie, Collard Greens, Green Beans, Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Joyce's famous Cranberry Relish, Hot Rolls.
A choice, I am a traditional roasted kind of guy, but the fried was very good. Cranberry sauce that looks like the can, a holiday must have.
This Corn Casserole was one of the first things to go! Dahn did a wonderful job on just everything! There was a bottle or two or fifteen of wine.
There is a turkey in that pot.
a Pumpkin Pie Martini!!!

pre game cheese and fruit and cracker sort of thing.

Long time readers will recognize the tiny tiny poodle from many Summer adventures
David gets his daddy on!
Steve, Joyce and Rachel
Dave , Darcy and Neil
THIS is a Thanksgiving Plate!!
We ended up with 20 people, including the three free range young ones.
During
Koda had his Thanksgiving .
The two tables idea worked out really well.
Many hands made fast work!

Pre Game

Best laid plans of mice and turkeys!

We jumped up to 17 big people late in the ballgame, function in disaster , finish in style. ( then shoot Herman Tawnower) I have travel plate for 16, and we can wing one. Had to go to two tables, but that was fine.
Joyce pics a turkey neck.
Dahn zests an orange.
Food to come, yellow roses for all the Texans in the house!
The wine will help me get over folding chairs.
A pumpkin table and a leaf table..... many more to come.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

A day where we wish we could be many places at once, but very happy where and with what we have. Wishing the same for everyone.

A little reading for when you take a break from basting:

• FURMAN BISHER ( come on it's Thanksgiving... he is like turkey! )
• Bill King ( Bullpups v Baby Jackets )

and our yearly re-p0st:

Perfection......

and three others came with her....
Mrs. Obama's dress is designed by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan.

More photos HERE.

STATE DINNER - UPDATE! and then updated some more.

A BIG NEWS PAGE on the DINNER FROM

Huffington Post.

The Reagan China

The first of many to come...

THE MENU

Potato and Eggplant Salad
White House Arugula w/ Onion Seed Vinaigrette ( arugula grown in the White House garden)

2008 Savingnon Blanc, Modus Operandi, Napa Valley

Red Lentil Soup w Fresh Cheese

2006 Riesling, Brooks "Ara", Wilamette Valley

Roast Potato Dumplings w Tomato Chutney Chick Peas and Okra or Green Curry Prawns w caramelized Salsify w smoke Collard Greens and coconut aged basmati

2007 Granache Beckman Vineyards, Santa Ynez, CA

Pumpkin pie tart

Pear tatin

Whipped Cream and Caramel sauce

Sparkling Chardonnay, Thibaut Janisson Brut, Monticello, VA

Petits fours and Coffee

Cashew Brittle

Pecan Pralines

Passion fruit and vanilla gelees

Chocolate dipped fruit

THE TABLES!!!

Vibrent Color ! I love it, and very much a nod to India. Someone went off on these chairs, but these are the White House chairs that have been used for ever and a day.
The Clinton China. I think it is one of two that there is enough for this large of a crowd. The other would be the Reagan, but red and green....

THE GUEST LIST

HERE.

Some of the highlights :

Turns out David Geffen HAS a boyfriend.

Michael Bloomberg

Deepak Chopra

Katie Couric

Lots of Guptas including Sanjay

Governor and Mrs. Jindal of Louisiana... who you know, are not really South Asian, but Cajun Catholics.

Gayle but NOT her girlfriend!!!!

The Powells.. always fun at parties

Robin Roberts, Cate Clinton and Urvashi Vaid.. a little L word action out in the tent, and I was with the Mses Clinton and Vaid backstage in Washington!

Jeff Immelt AND Brian Williams... are the dating now?

M. Night Shyamalan

WHO SAT WHERE ?

PRESIDENT'S TABLE
Mrs. Gursharan Kaur, the wife of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass)
Ambassador to India Tim Roemer
Mary Johnston, Roemer's guest (likely a relative of his wife, Sally Johnston Roemer)
Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Paul Pelosi, her husband
David Geffen, the Hollywood titan
Jeremy Lingvall, Geffen's boyfriend

FIRST LADY'S TABLE
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Amrit Singh, the prime minister's daughter, an ACLU lawyer in New York
Upinder Singh, another daughter, a professor at University of Delhi
Dr. Amartya Sen, Nobel-prize winning economist, now at Harvard
Emma Rothschild, Dr. Sen's wife, economic historian, now at Harvard
Gen. Colin Powell, former Secretary of State
Alma Powell, his wife
Rep. Howard Berman, (D-Calif.)
Janis Berman, his wife

O.k..... So, David Geffen did not call.....

The Clinton China

"The President and Mrs. Obama request the pleasure of the company of Mr. _____ at a dinner in honor of His Excellency Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of the Republic of India, and Mrs. Gurshran Kaur, to be held at The White House on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at seven o'clock..........."

From ABC News : Obamas' First State Dinner to Honor India PM .

From The Washington Post : The Obamas' first state dinner

From the Huffington Post : The Welcoming

Is anyone surprised that I am more than a little bit obsessed with any White House State Dinner? I will go mano-a-mano with the bluest haired Washington doyenne in the " name the White House China Quiz", and ya'll know, that whole past lives thing kicks in when it comes to the sub-continent. Not that I was expecting to be one of the 320 invited, but come on, you invite the richest gay man on the planet, and he does not call me to be his date? Bill is not going, I could have gone with Hillary...I do have a great beat, and I am easy to dance too...

Once upon a time, when C-span got some new small cameras, they broadcast live a few of the opening ceremonies of a couple of Clinton /Bush era dinners. I guess they stopped because the Bush White House stopped . ( George just could not stay up that late, or could not miss Idol or something...)

Speaking of the Idol, Miss Jennifer Hudson is going to be part of the entertainment tonight. The Indian First Lady is a massive Dream Girls fan, but like us all , really prefers Jennifer Holliday. I am guessing that Sasha and Malia had a little input in this.

One of my Dream Girls, Head Chef Cristeta Comerford will be getting a little assist from the most Obama of all chefs, Aquavit NYC's Marcus Samuelsson. This is a huge honor for this young man. Ethiopian born, Swedish raised hot, hot , hot new Chef about town is set to really make his mark. The Indian P.M. and First Lady are vegetarians!, so I am SO, fired up to find out the entree. I would have LOVED it if Mrs. Obama would have gone with an all vegetarian menu, but I guess that would be rude to the rest of the guests.

The tent is set up in the backyard, Mr.Samuelsson , is getting the charcoal ready. Let's just all sit back and watch the show.

If there is any live coverage I will be live blogging. Who is on the guest list? Who will wear what? The china, flowers, seating chart.... the Washington Post usually has wonderful coverage in their style section. Kyle is in high cotton today! Much, much more to come.

( yes, I know that picture is the Kennedy's at their first State Dinner almost half a century ago, but come on, LOOK at that picture, can you same timeless? I could not let it pass...)

Good Clean Living OR A Good Doctor?

Or Both?

It's your Music Monday Report!

First, I am crazy about David Gray, just love his voice, BUT look at Annie Lennox! Damn, she looks better in 2009 than she did in 1983! " I will have what ever she is having".

He's Alive!

Blue skies shinning on me, nothing but blue skies do I see!

AND, it is looking like I may live.. still touch and go with Neil who is still slung up in the bed with it.

So , so, so rare for this to happen this time of year, warmish, BRIGHT and sunny...
A little Thanksgiving week dip!

Wig Wearing, Christ Denying, Deist , Nancy Boys....

Send out your dead....

We are a full blown plague house right now, both of us down hard with the crud, so may be light blogging for a while....

Over the river and through the woods.....

From Todays NYT :

NOVEMBER 20, 2009, 10:38 AM
Complaint Box | Picky Eaters

By SUSAN GOLDBERG
P.C. Vey
Having friends over for dinner used to involve a minimal and fairly unremarkable to-do list: There were groceries to buy, along with flowers and a couple of bottles of semi-respectable wine. I would put out some guest towels and a collection of fancy soaps that were off limits to blood relatives, and then — voilà! — dinner was served. Preparing for a dinner party these days is far more complex, thanks to a vast and bewildering array of dietary needs that seem to have suddenly overtaken everyone I know.

An unscientific survey of family and friends turns up one acquaintance who is kosher, two who are more like kosher-style, in addition to two vegans, a smattering of lacto-vegetarians and a couple who cannot digest gluten of any kind. Accommodations must be made for my mother-in-law, who is lactose intolerant, and a friend who is dangerously and inconveniently allergic to peanuts. I must know at least a dozen women who have declared lifelong war on complex carbohydrates. And then there’s my daughter, a wispy and tender-hearted flower child who prefers not to eat “anything with a face” (although she will sometimes make random and completely unreasonable exceptions for hot dogs and pepperoni).

THE REST OF THE STORY.....