SNAP! BRITANNIA!

Spent a few hours on and off today listening to the House of Commons debate same sex marriage, which in the end passed 400 - 175. Now, this was the second  reading of the bill, like I knew/know what that means. JMG has had brilliant coverage today and comes to the rescue with British Parliament for dummies:

Before becoming a law, a bill goes thru these stages:

1st reading – effectively announcing that the bill has been published.

2nd reading – at which a substantive debate takes place on the principles underpinning the proposed law; a yes vote at this stage typically means that the bill will become law in a form somewhat close to the draft. [JMG: Today was the second reading.]

Committee Stage – a small committee of members of Parliament reviews the law, makes amendments; typically this is where bad drafting is fixed but also where lobbying really makes a difference.

Lords stage – the House of Lords votes on the Bill and sometimes has its own committees. If they vote no, the Bill goes back to the Commons. The Commons can insist on their own version and overrule the Lords but it’s a big pain to do it.

3rd Reading – once the Lords’ have passed the bill, the Commons votes one last time on the final amended version.

I am sort of skipping around a bit, and yes, the accents do have a lot to do with it, but the total lack of big time bug eyed crazy is just a little bit shocking to me. I have and do watch Prime Minister's Questions often but never really cared that much about the out come. Lots of " RIGHT HONOURABLE FRIENDS "....

Labour 217 Yes, 22 No
Conservatives (Tories) 136 Yes, 144 No
Liberal Democrats 44 Yes, 4 No
Plaid Cymru (Wales) 4 Yes, 0 No.
Democratic Unionists (Northern Ireland) 0 Yes, 8 No
Alliance 1 Yes, 0 No
SDLP (Northern Ireland) 1 Yes, 0 No
Independents 2 Yes, 0 No

There is just all kind of wack-a-doole [ to a wack-a-doodle colonist ] and seemingly arcane rules in Britain. Church wrapped up in State, State wrapped up in Church AND all under the umbrella of the E.U.....

LOTS of great coverage over on JOE'S BLOG.

and IF for what ever reason you want four hours of debate hit the BBC Page.

Coca Cola Security Cameras new commercial

I did not see many of them tonight but REALLY liked this one

SUPER BOWL

My Imaginary boyfriend is very happy.

We left the party right after the lights came back on, I was / am just beat after two long days of feeding people. Neil flew in around five and we just went straight back to the party. Fine game. I was rooting for the Balitmores for Governor O'Mally and the out and proud pro gay player. 

The half time concert was just fine.. but NOTHING like last year. We came home and got into Downton Abbey already in progress, clicking back over to the last 4 seconds.

Wegman's Wing Bar!

Koda helped many red headed children with very clean hands

 make little pigs in a blanket

 Non white dog, who is just such a very good/sweet dog

takes a spot

 CHILI BAR

1. Super Meaty not really spicy. I thought it was a little bit dull, not enough spice but people loved it. The many toppings helped 
2. B.Days White Chicken Chili, which we have posted here before. I added celery and hominy. Very good and plenty spicy.

The Boys of Warwick Drive.

wing man

According to the 2013 Wing Report, Americans will eat 1.23 billion wings next weekend. If laid out end to end, they would "stretch from Candlestick Park in San Francisco to M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore 27 times."

In an odd twist, the once-cheap wing has become the most desirable and expensive part of the chicken. Per pound, chicken wings are now pricier than bone-in chicken breasts, perhaps inspiring this epic wing heist.

"People say, 'You ought to produce more wings,'" says Roemigk. This year's Wing Report lays out the crucial obstacle: "A chicken has two wings, and chicken companies are not able to produce wings without the rest of the chicken."

There's such a demand for wings, Roemigk says, that some restaurants actually are selling strips of chicken breast meat as "boneless wings."

A chicken's wing actually consists of three parts. Americans eat the first two segments — known as the "drumette" and the "flat" — but the wing tips, known as "flippers," are generally exported to Asia, especially China, where they are consumed with gusto. (Chicken feet go across the Pacific, too, in case you were wondering.)
FULL STORY

David made some tonight from scratch that everyone just gobbled up .. I'm not really a wing guy...

Another Winter in A Summer Town

Awfully hard to dislike someone who was so darn fond of Hodding Carter III. ( see  " drinking pants" ) But, I just can't help it. I do wonder where the two of them will Summer this year as Harry and I come up with 125k to hob nob with the Hamptons crowd. Our goal : to reintroduce raccoons.

ANOTHER SUMMER IN A SUMMER TOWN

( go here, if only to try and figure out what the hell Sally Quinn does for a kitchen )

The legendary Grey Gardens estate in East Hampton is now available to rent this June and July for just $125,000.

 Although the home was built in 1897, it was made famous by a 1975 documentary starring then-owners Edith "Big Edie" Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale. They went a little crazy and the film includes a famous pop in by one of their relatives, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The former first lady was horrified to discover the Beales were hoarders and living with numerous cats, raccoons, garbage, decay, other detritus.
 Eventually, the 6,000-sq-ft home set on 1.7 acres finally ended up in more capable hands and was lovingly restored and renovated. Today, it includes 10 bedrooms and 6.5 baths, a heated gunite pool, a Har-Tru tennis court, and of course, those famously lush gardens.

AH! to be there on the Fourth of July!

daily Koda

Weird weather Winter rolls right along with what looks like from the facebook  more snow in parts of Georgia than here in Lower Ontario. I will have to sometime next week do another primer on lake "snow and you " or " why Mendon is magic."

busy blogger

 I did the Kyle and Roja roadshow again today 

Indian feast for a 100+ all for a good cause, but now I am a tired little mongoose with a Superbowl party to do tomorrow. Learned a new trick with the eggplant curry, looking forward to trying it out!