Super Bowl Mania !

SUPER BOWL LOGOS THROUGH THE YEARS

Daily Koda

WALKING ON WATER.

Little dustings of snow all day, tonight as well, but nothing major at all.

BOYCOTT BUDWEISER !

and during the SUPERBOWL no less ...

Dinner

White Beans w Ham

Brown Rice

( this was some much needed comfort food! )

Daily Koda

The bleakest of bleak midwinters. Grey for days with simi frozen mud instead of clean bright snow.

Hovering at or around freezing until today, when it got cold again. Maybe some snow tomorrow.

Stewed Rutabagas | A Chef's Life | PBS Food

Watch a timelapse of the National Mall on Inauguration Day

Sinead O'Connor - Ain't it a shame

Dinner

Chicken

Spaghetti Squash

Spinach

grumble

Woke up this morning with the stupid pink eye. Felt a little scratchy last night - I figured it was just computer fatigue, but no. I was not knowingly around kids or anything . It is not that bad, and hopefully will not last that long, but defiantly a grumble.

Daily Koda

 Our crazy winter goes on - snow snow, not snow - not even all that cold today

 still patches of snow around

 but mostly mud!

The Netherlands welcomes Trump in his own words

RESIST !

OSCAR OSCAR OSCAR

The awards were announce this morning!

THE GAY SUPERBOWL !

RED are movies we have seen

BOLD is who I want to win

We will try and see the ones that are black before the Oscars. Lion and Fences asap.

BEST PICTURE

• ARRIVAL
• FENCES
• HACKSAW RIDGE
• HELL OR HIGH WATER
• HIDDEN FIGURES 
• LA LA LAND
• LION
• MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
• MOONLIGHT

So, La La Land walked away with 14 Oscar nods this morning, the only two others to get this many were ALL ABOUT EVE and TITANIC. La La Land IS NOT in a class with its predecessors. It is a fine little movie, not that great of a story or that great of a musical. The two actors in the lead are as charming as they can be, but working with some pretty rote, basic themes. I am a big fan of Hollywood musicals, and even a fan of Hollywood musicals about Hollywood musicals. aka, I knew Singing in the Rain, sir.. and you are no singing in the rain. Folks out there love movies about themselves .

I am full on 100% team HIDDEN FIGURES. By far the best film I have seen this year. ( with Moonlight coming in second  )

DIRECTOR

• DAMIEN CHAZELLE - LA LA LAND
• MEL GIBSON - HACKSAW RIDGE
• BARRY JENKINS - MOONLIGHT
• KENNETH LONERGAN  - MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
• DENIS VILLENEUVE - ARRIVAL

This one just HAS to be Moonlight. It is a different kind of film making , something that you have never seen before. BUT KYLE! Mr Chazelle shut down an LA expressway.. yeah yeah yeah, Fred Astaire danced on the ceiling. MOONLIGHT !

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

• CASEY AFFLECK - MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
• ANDREW GARFIELD - HACKSAW RIDGE
• RYAN GOSLING  - LA LA LAND
• VIGGO MORTENSEN - CAPTIAN FANTASTIC
• DENZEL WASHINGTON  - FENCES

Not having seen a couple of these, I am going with VIGGO - yes, partly because of Brenda's feet, but also because I did not like Manchester by the Sea all that much. I don't do sadness, not even a little bit. Plus Casey was a bit one note.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

• ISABELLE HUPPERT  - ELLE
• RUTH NEGGA  - LOVING 
• NATALIE PORTMAN  - JACKIE
• EMMA STONE  - LA LA LAND
• MERYL STREEP - FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS

Logic time, head not heart. Natalie has one, and Ruth Negga was just outstanding in this movie that both Neil and I loved. I was just shocked to find out post movie that she has a strong Irish accent. But Natalie is just transcendent in Jackie.. the entire movie hangs on her. So, either really... but Natalie.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• MAHERSHALA ALI - MOONLIGHT
• JEFF BRIDGES - HELL OR HIGH WATER
• LUCAH HEDGES - MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
• DEV PATEL  - LION
• MICHAEL SHANNON  - NOCTURAL ANIMALS

Just no with very sweet and I am sure lovely Lucah.. but he is a cardboard orphan. Not at all sure why he is on here . Mahershala Ali was just outstanding in Moonlight AND in Hidden Figures.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• VIOLA DAVIS  - FENCES
• NAOMIE HARRIS - MOONLIGHT
• NICHOLE KIDMAN  - LION
• OCTAVIS SPENCER - HIDDEN FIGERS
• MICHELLE WILLIANS  - MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

Taraji P Henderson NEEDS to be on this list, and jangle Monae as well , for either Hidden Figures or Moonlight. Really she should be in the Leading Role category, leaving the French woman out. but that said.. Team HF all the way. But from just the previews I am guessing this is Viola #2 to lose. Michelle Williams, who I do like, is in MBTS like 5 min, tops.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• 20TH CENTURY WOMEN 
• HELL OR HIGH WATER
• LA LA LAND 
• THE LOBSTER
• MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

THE LOBSTER, because it is Original - its on Netflix.. see if you can get through it.

ADAPTED SCREEN PLAY

• ARRIVAL
• FENCES
• HIDDEN FIGURES
• LION
• MOONLIGHT

Bucking my trend and going with Moonlight over Hidden Fences.. just because.

HAPPILY, BACK TO REALITY

 It came a little later in the day than they said it would, but the lovely icy white of winter came back to the Finger Lakes over night. This is what we woke up to and it kept gently snowing pretty much all day. When I went to the train station to pick up Neil around 7 tonight, things were a bit of a mess . But we made it all safe and sound.

 A very clingy pretty snow, the big flakes of just cold enough, not the baby powder fine of near zero

 Koda loved it, could not wait to get out in it and did not want to come in.

 Looking for the partially eaten frozen dead turtle that he has been after for a while now.

IT'S ATLANTA !

The Atlanta's are going to the SUPERBOWL! 

A week from Sunday against the New England's in Houston. Lots and lots of geography.

I'm not going to lie and go all fair weather on the team - Ive never been a fan of pro football, but I am very happy for some of my pals that are BIG fans of the Falcons.

My hometown is not well versed in Championships, really one ONE in 50 plus years, the '95 Braves.

So, BOSTON with its zillion in like every sport is not that impressed . Rude Yankees.

IT'S HARD TO GET PUMPED UP ABOUT A SUPERBOWL AGAINST ...

ATLANTA.

A RAY OF LIGHT

From out of the darkness that was the horrible " American Carnage " lies, lies, lies filled Friday came this atom bomb of home. I had not fully engaged in any way on this. It was in my periphery but that was it. Gloom and doom... and I even liked her dresses. 

But them we woke up Saturday to this historic event. Women, mostly , with lots and lots of men and children out in the streets, shoe leather to power. The power of nameless millions. I hope you followed this on Saturday and saw the photos from literally all over the world. Even the women at some base in Antarctica chiming in on social media. 

Loud and clear the people of the US and the world declared that Trumps brand of drama , self grandizement and division will not work. He won the electoral collage, and that is all. Every day, every day every day.

It also appears that I have become a raging bore on the Facebook, just pissing off the one or two flat earthers that are still my fb pals ( you can't help who you love ) with my posts on actual things that he or his brown shirts have said or done. Just give him a chance....day one.

ATLANTA REPRESENTED !

 DUNWOODY in the mix as Susan and Reid took to the streets to let King Cheeto know that not all of Georgia was his. Jane was there too, but did not post any photos of herself.

Even the King and Queen of Dunwoody donned pussy hats for the start of the revolution 

Brenda was lighting the fires in LA.

The color of the sky as far as I can see is cold grey.

We were someplace over the weekend, coming home early evening and I commented that it had been colder coming home from Redwings games . Almost or 60 in the Finger Lakes of New York in the middle of January.  Mendon had this fog Sunday morning as the deep south got those horrible snows.

We are supposed to wake up to some dense heavy snow.

" the end is near ...."

WHAT I DO

No getting around this one.

Here is the thing about First Ladies - THIS , the FLOTUS game is not what they do, at least not in modern times. SO today, this day is special. But this sort of is what Melania does. She is beautiful and she is arm candy. ( there are some QCV baubles in there somewhere, but really - this is what she does ) And as much as I wanted to come out and rip this .... I can not. She looks fantastic.

 A Ralph Lauren powder blue /  Robins egg blue cashmere shift dress with a matching ....somewhat cowl neck, fitted bolero jacket with three quarter sleeves. Combined with matching opera length wool gloves  ( I think they are wool... maybe leather, I can't tell )  and some very tall , a tad bridemaidy stiletto pumps.

There is no doubt that it is a beautiful day time dress / jacket combo, but the matchy matchy take it straight into Angela Kelly territory. THIS IS ROYAL DRESSING.... a crocodile shoe, a green glove.. something to tear this out of Queen Elizabeth's wheel house.

You KNOW there is no tension here ... but one of them is staying in NYC.

 My Queenly quibbles aside, it really was a most appropriate dress for the day.

 strangely it looks like the fit got a little wonky once the jacket came off.

Now, the internets , including the New York Times, went just bat shit off the shelf crazy comparing this to another First Lady on Inauguration Day. No. Well, and yes. Why Why Mrs. Trump after the whole stealing Michelles speech this past summer did you steal Jackie Kenndy's sleeve length and gloves. Yes, the outfit could be an homage to Mrs. Kennedy, color, etc - but this is a coat over a dress, fur lined at that - and I will never ever ever mention these two in the same sentence . So everyone was wrong.

That was the appetizer, this is dinner.

and I can not make up my mind.

From Womans Wear Daily

 A collaboration coup! According to the office of First Lady Melania Trump, her gown for tonight’s inaugural balls was “designed by Hervé Pierre and Melania Trump.”

“It’s an honor to dress the First Lady,” Pierre said in a statement. “I was actually lucky because over my 20 years in the U.S., I dressed all the first ladies: Mrs. Clinton at Oscar [de la Renta], Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Obama at Carolina Herrera. So I feel lucky and honored to dress Melania Trump, but this time under my name.”

The gown, in six-ply vanilla crepe, is cut off the shoulder with a full-length gazar arc opening into a deep side slit. A red silk faille ribbon fastens the waist.

Pierre worked at Carolina Herrera for 14 years, ultimately becoming creative director, before leaving last February.

The designer called the process of collaborating with Trump “organic.” He noted that she has a very strong personal style and she “doesn’t plan to change it because of her new function. So it was fun to respect her very tailored sense of fashion and to translate it in a gown. The lines are sharp, the design has no fuss and reflects Mrs. Trump’s vision of fashion and the way she feels in a gown.

 😱

 It is pretty. And lets face it , you can not really say that about some First Lady Gowns. It is a pretty dress, and I am working this out , right now as I type, but it is not enough.  That is my issue with it, and we are just talking the dress here.. well the dress and the occasion , and the fact that it will be in a glass box for all time. There is just not enough to it, like her husband it lacks gravitas . It is also the wrong season. Not the color, white is not unusual - just the etherealness of it. Pretty, but just not special enough to join the others in the Smithsonian.

 First one with a slit like that as well.

gross.

The Gloaming or Send in the Clowns.

Today was better than yesterday. That's the way it always gone for me my whole life. The dread of the ______ is ALWAYS more frightening that the _____ itself. Yesterday I had that physical weight thing that I get. Fear, dread, anxiousness comes out in me rock solid - like I have said before , I am moving through water, the air has push back. That was yesterday, not a good one.

Today it just seemed settled - it was going to happen. The Obama's were going to be gracious, the Trumps would be over the top, and well, gross. Acting like this was a normal inaugural was not going to work - it has been a while since we had one of those. Obama got sworn in with the country on fire, and Bush II came in after the Supreme Court gave him the race like a day and a half before. But that was so not the only reason this one was not .. normal.

More that a little angst here with the choice of pastor to give the homily this morning in the Episcopal church right there across from the White House.. a vile anti everything man from Dallas. Betraying everything that the ECUSA should stand for. Had Neil very upset .

It is very much bashing your head on a brick wall - I can not for the life of me understand what these people see in this vile carnival barker. Why don't they see through him? I have tried - Ive read, Ive watched.. I almost tried and talk to one or two, but that was never going to work out with me. Where as yesterday I could not do anything at all, I was a little more productive today. I watched some of the ceremonies from the periphery. Online, tv with the sound down - at least until was a done deal. I watched the Obama's leave. I read his AMERICA SUCKS speech.

The man of the people billionaire populist drew a ridiculously small crowd for a day with no weather. ( JUST read that the Interior Dept - has had its twitter account banned indefinitely after the National Parks Service posted this picture - which they do for every large event ) That along with the AMERICAN CARNAGE speech and the eerily empty parade route ( some odd excuse about no buses to take the folks from the Capitol to the White House - that you could never walk on a not cold not rainy/snowy day ) just gave the day such a twilight zone vibe

We had to go out and by the time we were back it was the just odd parade coming out of the empty dark to the way over coked now President of the United States. A minute into his presidency and the new White House website  had srcubbed any mention of LGBT rights, or Civil rights or Climate Change. He signed a couple odd Paul Ryan propped up bills - that will WILL make life harder on his followers . Pushed some back alley legal reform that will get Texas off the hook for keeping people of color from voting. THEN IT WAS TIME TO PARTY.

How do we do this? Did get get spoiled by the last eight years, did we get lazy. I used to obsess over NY state politics , planning our action days in Albany, being real burr in the saddle for my local Representatives, after marriage equality , I let all that slide. That was my fault. ALL of LGBTdom got  complacent " gosh even Republican X said something nice about the gays " .. never in a million years thinking that Mike Pence would be coming into power.

These could be some very dark days coming over the horizon , or not. Maybe that is what it is for me - the dread, the possibility of things that could be done to me, us, BIG US. The not knowing - when it all , just a few months ago, seemed like we never had to be afraid like this again.

24 YEARS AGO TONIGHT

The night before Bill Clinton took the oath to become POTUS. The MTV Ball - concert before the big night. There was hope in the air, way way before there was hope on that poster.

Its very late Wednesday night / Thursday morning . I'm putting off going to bed - who wants it to be tomorrow, who wants the countdown clock that is on CNN and MSNBC. Dread is very not new to me.. but dread on this scale is.

I could be all the wrong. We could be all the wrong... " nothing really changes in Washington " , and for a lot of things that is true. Eight years ago tonight the Democrats were sitting with both houses with the extra bonus of 60+ Senators. The GOP was gone for a generation , if they were ever coming back. President Obama did not get all that he wanted with that.. so things are not, I am guessing as dark as they seem.

But for the next 48 hours... it certainly does seem that way.

Dinner

Roasted Things

Citrus Marinated ROASTED Pork Loin

ROASTED Cauliflower

ROASTED Butternut Squash

Sugar Snap Peas

HAPPY BIRTHDAY , FLOTUS

HAPPY 53rd BIRTHDAY, MICHELLE !

The slimmest of silver linings for this week is the knowledge that she is very much ready to move on, even if we are not.

From Harpers Bazaar: 

MICHELLE OBAMA'S BEST GOWNS

FULL BLOWN LOOKING GLASS aka meta, not meta

Dinner

The healthiest supper I have made in ages.

Read the recipe in the NYT this morning - the dal and the rice are both Nigella Lawson recipes.

RED LENTIL DAL

BRIGHT RICE

A quick vegetarian curry - the dal, lentils with sweet potatoes, is very easy to make once your mise en place is fixed. ( chop chop chop ) , when they were done, I bur mixed about a third of them " stew " and added it back in as a thickener. My Wegmans sold the red dal - but i guess you could use the easier to find green.  The rice was a bit of a harder sell - but still good, and a good sort of technique to know. The rice called for chicken stock, i used vegetable, just to keep it vegan. Also used a Serrano chili . The dish is not overly " spicy " .

Give this one a try - unless you would have to buy all the spices - then it would just cost to much  ( and as always, go to an Indian market to buy your spices!  ) Would be an interesting dish to take to a pot luck - so many people are not eating meat. And either dish would be fine on their own.

Daily Koda

Jan-u-what ?

Just like the rest of our current lives, we all just walk around pretending that this sort of weather in the middle of July is normal. ( it is not ) . A week above freezing in the deepest part of winter. But by all means, lets get that Exxon guy in at the State Department.

SUNDAY NIGHT TV !

Just in time for the depths of winter, good old Sunday Night TV is back with us. 

An ending and a couple of beginnings.

SHERLOCK - PBS

Maybe the last one ever of this quirky little story - that in the past, I have really enjoyed.

But the writers Steven Moffat ( of Dr Who fame ) and Mark Gatiss ( Mycroff on the show ) sort of took us down some dark dark rabbit holes this go round, that ... well, were just not that enjoyable.

It is almost like Moffat is shaking off some Dr Who lightness by just going for the worst humans in the world for Sherlock. Plus the show tonight , the finale, just made ZERO sense, going almost super villain in a " real world " show. 

 British " seasons " can be anything, and this one was only three cannon shows and one Christmas show set in Victorian London.

IF there is a 5th one, lets hope it gets back to a little more " buddies out solving crimes " and less murderama.

VICTORIA - PBS

I have been waiting for this one for a while! All the rage in Britain, the ITV history drama being out the BBC's sexy sexy Poldark. Debuting here tonight - I loved it, Neil not so much. This is not some cliff notes pretty dresses royal romp. This is some deep Whig/ Tory party politics, that most Americans would need a score card for. I live for this stuff. Politics of the Empire is just one of my favorite things so I really enjoyed it.

Jenna Coleman was just fantastic casting, as were really everyone else. I think that for Americans who know nothing of the horrible family situations of the Hanoverians , or poor Victoria's Kennsinston system... some of this seems odd. But there are some pretty dresses. This was just week one, next week : ALBERT! 

THE YOUNG POPE - HBO

This one is just strange, but very enticing .. you want to see more of this one. Jude Law is super sexy , super creepy as the title Young Pope. ( Pretty dresses here as well ) Is it a case of Absolute Power corrupting absolutely , or is he just evil.. or something else. Look forward to getting more of this one in. It absolutely looks like this series was filmed in the Vatican, but you know it was not.

BONUS

THE NIGHT MANAGER - AMAZON TV

Not a Sunday night, but one we are in the middle of simi binge watch of this . A darling of the critics and the award shows, its a BBC adaptation of an ( I guess ) famous John la Carre novel. Going over like a more cerebral James Bond - think lingering conversations rather than car chases. The acting is top drawer , with some  very scary things happening, and set very much in the real world, but I'm not a serious cloak and dagger spy novel guy. I like the suped up car and jet packs. We are not done with this one yet, and we will finish it. 

It is very good, if you like this genre.

Dinner

Roast Chicken

Mashed Potatoes 

w/ gravy

Greens

Delicata Squash

Daily Koda

Weird Winter Goes On ....

The Day They Took the Bigtop Down

 From CNN 

Famed Ringling Brothers Circus closing