A Bloy and his Blog

A few weeks ago Ryan Adams & the Cardinals released some new music, a seven song EP called Follow The Lights, which I have been listening to a LOT lately.

A perfect companion to their excellent disc Easy Tiger (released this past summer), Follow The Lights features two brand new songs, a great cover song, and four live studio performances of songs the band has been playing during their recent tour.

The two new songs, “Follow The Lights” and “My Love for You is Real” are ballads, the latter makes a beautiful statement without being too sweet.

read the rest of: Ryan Adams: Follow The Lights

I recently added some excellent photography websites to my links page, and I thought it would be worth mentioning them here as well. Most of the following sites have tips & techniques, and a few just show great pictures.

• Digital Photography School
• iDigital Photo
• Epic Edits Weblog
• Photojojo
• Andre Gunther Photography
• PhotoCritic
• Photodoto
• Visual~Voice
• JMG Galleries

My family had a couple of get-togethers over the past few weeks.

From left: my brother Steven, my sisters Barbra and Christine, and myself.

read the rest of: Family photos

It’s been pretty cold here in Madison for the past week, and this morning our first big winter storm of the season began.

Today I’ve officially gone into Winter mode. I put a batch of chili in the crock pot, and dug my humidifier out of the closet. While those shocks from static electricity are fun at first, it gets a little old after a few times. I also took my first pictures of snow for the season, from the warm side of my patio door of course.

Yes, winter has arrived.

Now open for tours, A Christmas Story House. “Restored to its movie splendor… Directly across the street from the official A Christmas Story House Museum, which features original props, costumes and memorabilia from the film, as well as rare behind-the-scenes photos and a gift shop.”

I wonder if the museum has an ice-cold flag pole you can put your tongue on? Go ahead, I triple-dog dare you!

From the African country of Senegal, Youssou N’Dour is perhaps the most widely known afro-pop musician performing today. He has achieved superstar status virtually everywhere outside of the United States. I have been wishing to hear him perform live since 1990 when I first read about him, and purchased his new CD at the time, Set. Last night, Youssou and his band, the Super Etoile of Dakar, finally played a show close enough for me to attend. Seventeen years of anticipation is a lot to live up to, but the charming master of mbalax (a blending of traditional Senegalese music/rhythms, afro-cuban music, and popular western music) exceeded my high expectations.

read the rest of: Youssou N’Dour performs in Madison

A Barracuda Networks study, based on an analysis of more than 1 billion daily e-mail messages sent to its more than 50,000 customers worldwide, found that 90-95 percent of all e-mail sent in 2007 was spam.

Wow. I knew it was bad, but not THAT bad.

And in case anyone doesn’t know how email spam got its name…

Monty Python: Spam sketch

I got a kick out of this.

Stairway To Heaven by The Beatnix

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is considering granting a permit for a developer to place a luxury resort on 62 acres along the Lower Dells, right next door to the Wisconsin River State Natural Area. The D.N.R. is accepting written comments from the public until Friday, December 28. Below is the letter I just wrote. If you’re a concerned Wisconsin citizen, I urge you to write as well. Be sure and reference Docket Number IP-SC-2007-11-2032LW and IP-SC-2007-11-2033LW in your letter, and send it to Dan Hunt, N 7725 Highway 28, Horicon, WI 53032.

Dear Sir,

I am writing to you regarding the development project proposed to be placed on the banks of the Wisconsin River’s Lower Dells (Docket Number IP-SC-2007-11-2032LW and IP-SC-2007-11-2033LW). I believe the proposed development would be a bad idea for a number of reasons, and I urge your agency to deny the permit for this development.

read the rest of: State Natural Area threatened

Several years ago, I wrote about how much I enjoyed my Grandmother Bloy’s Pfeffernüsse when she was still around to make them. When I was a kid, it just wasn’t Christmas time if I didn’t have some of those small, crunchy, spicy cookies.

Also several years ago, I got a copy of my grandmother’s recipe from my mother, with the intention of trying to make them myself. This year, I finally did. I should probably mention, these are not the same pfeffernüsse you often see in the grocery store this time of year (which are much larger and covered with powdered sugar). Apparently my Grandmother followed a different traditional German recipe.

read the rest of: Grandma Bloy’s Pfeffernüsse recipe