talbotlucas.org: a word to the wise is sufficient

GO ERWIN!

On yesterday's Huffington Post blog, Erwin Chemerinsky encouraged readers to support the Campaign to Defend the Constitution. I, for one, will be paying close attention to their site and their efforts.

When it comes to matters of constitutional law, Professor Chemerinsky has few peers. If he and his DefConAmerica colleagues can educate more Americans about their rights under the Constitution, they can count me an avid supporter.

I'm shocked almost daily by what I read--statements by members of the media (right and left), assertions by elected officials, claims by religious leaders--and still surprised by how often what gets blasted to the public differs dramatically from the tenets of constitutional law that are taught in the most basic Con Law classes in law schools across the country. Do grammar or high school students still get civics lessons? Or did those classes get left behind?

squid in the news

The big squid news is that Japanese researchers finally caught one on tape, and literally caught one of its tentacles. (Their paper is available online here if you must know all the details.) The squid was estimated at 26 feet in length, which is pretty damn big. The way I picture this in my mind: The depth of the swimming pool at the local park where I grew up was 12 feet. Double that. And add 2 more feet. Now put in a squid, that reaches from top to bottom. That is one big squid.

Supposedly they get even bigger, equal in length to the height of a five-story building.

Just knowing they're out there makes me happy. To me, squid (and octopi) are like sharks and crocodiles: They've been around a long time, pretty much as they are. And if humans don't screw things up for them they'll likely be around long after we're gone. Rats, too. And cockroaches, I suppose, but I really can't muster any affection for them.

the peculiar form of stupidity known as rebranding

From today's online edition of the Chicago Tribune:

Marshall Field & Co., a name long venerated in the history of Chicago retailing, will disappear in the fall of 2006, to be replaced by Macy's.

All 62 Field's in Illinois and seven other states will be converted to Macy's, according to today's announcement by Federated Department Stores Inc., Field's new owner.

While Federated had "great respect for the legacy and traditions of Marshall Field's," the decision to drop the Field's name was made after Federated "carefully researched customer preferences and studied alternatives," Terry J. Lundgren, Federated's chairman, president and chief executive, said in a news release.

"While the store's name will change, much of what customers love will stay the same, including Marshall Field's traditions and its outstanding record of community and charitable giving," Lundgren said.

"From a shopping standpoint, customers will have the best of both worlds in major markets like Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit," Lundgren said.

"They will continue to benefit from regional buying that remains attuned to local preferences and lifestyles plus enjoy the distinctive merchandise and shopping experience that's part of the Macy's brand," Lundgren said.

"As part of this name change process, we will do everything we can to honor the Marshall Field's heritage, particularly in its Chicago birthplace."

"The distinctive merchandise and shopping experience that's part of the Macy's brand"? Um, what's that? I haven't found anything distinctive about Macy's merchandising or the experience of shopping in their stores. In fact, I've found that it's pretty blah. NYC is different--it's the flagship--but in the rest of the country, Macy's is just another retailer. No reputation for particularly good service, or distinctive merchandise. When I think of distinctive merchandise I think of Barney's. Maybe Neiman Marcus. Henri Bendel--even when there were multiple locations--was distinctive, and the NYC store still is. But Macy's? Give me a break.

I don't doubt the power of a strong brand to influence consumers. But corporate types who get sucked into rebranding campaigns are, in my limited experience and humble opinion, often delusional and usually soft-brained, swallowing the focus-group-speak and PowerPoint pablum that their overpaid marketing consultants feed them. The result: They poop out plans like this one.

At a minimum I hope the organizations that are pressing for Field's State Street location to be designated an historical landmark are successful, and that such a designation carries with it a prohibition on changing the Marshall Field's signage. It won't change how Federated chooses to gut the store's spirit, but that's probably unstoppable.

wallace is four

Happy Birthday, Wallace. We hope you have many more to come.

archiving errors

I know, I know: the monthly archives work; the category archives do not. A casualty of a recent upgrade--who knows which one?--and one that I cannot fix on my own.

I've not pressed Terrence to help me because I have a new site design percolating. And he doesn't exactly have oodles of free time on his hands. (See talblog if you don't know why.) All will be repaired. Soon. Keep your pants on in the meantime (and use the search box if you're really looking for something and can't wait).

saving tomato seeds

Last night I was gripped by a fear (prompted, I think, by acute homesickness brought on by watching scenes of Hyde Park and the University of Chicago campus during a preview screening of Proof at LACMA) that I would be back in Chicago and that Evan's tomatoes would become nothing more than a memory.

What to do with fear? Take action! I will collect seeds from Evan's tomatoes when we have the saucefest this weekend, and lovingly preserve them in the hope of growing them myself, here or elsewhere.

How to do it? I've found some advice here and here. (n.b.: Terrence dislikes this here and here way of displaying links to different pages, but it works for me.)

Don't get me wrong: I'm not trying to turn this into a major production. My experience with tomato seeds is that they're quite hardy: We used to have compost bins in our Chicago garden. At the end of the summer, the tomato vines (and any fruit that managed to hang on without ripening) would be cut and mashed and tossed in the bin, along with all the other clippings and appropriate kitchen waste. The bins would be filled to the brim. Come spring, the material in the bin would be reduced by two-thirds, all rich, good-smelling compost. We'd spread it around and then...voila! Little tomato plants would inevitably spring up here and there. I suppose some would cite this as a sign of incomplete or improper composting, but I liked seeing the little tomato plant sprouts in odd places. And I didn't see the harm of it. To me, tomato seeds are like the sparrows of the vegetable world: They survive outside during a Chicago winter and still flourish the next spring.

And...I braved the 405 South and the 110 South and made my way to Harbor City and La Espanola. The Spanish sherry vinegar is on our kitchen counter as I type, so gazpacho will be in the works shortly.

tomato sauce

We've been enjoying fresh tomato sauce--very simply, adding only garlic and olive oil to the tomatoes, and maybe fresh basil--since we discovered Evan's tomatoes. The tomatoes, available from Coastal Organics at the Hollywood Farmers' Market, were named after Evan Kleiman, the Los Angeles chef who tracked down the seeds after seeing the tomatoes in Italy, and who arranged for Coastal to grow them here in California. They're very meaty--not much pulp at all--and they seem to be made for sauce. The variety is, if I have this correctly, Costoluto Castrini. There appear to be a number of costoluto varieties, named after regions or cities--Genovese; Fiorentino, Catania--but so far the Castrini seems to be very hard to find, even on Google. No wonder Evan had such a time finding the seeds on her travels!

A few weeks ago, Evan used her eponymous tomatoes in a simple sauce that accompanied her ricotta gnochetti, and in a smooth gazpacho. Tonight we reprised the sauce (our third batch in a week or so). The gazpacho is next on my list--after all, we bought about 7 pounds of tomatoes on Sunday, so I can afford to experiment. I'm going to sneak away tomorrow to La Española to buy some Spanish sherry vinegar for the gazpacho and a few new salad dressing variations. And this weekend we may purchase a case of tomatoes to share with friends of ours. A saucefest will follow, with the results going into the freezer so we can enjoy the sauce when the tomatoes themselves are out of season.

And I'm already starting to plan Thanksgiving...but I promise it won't be tomato-themed...

[click on the photos above to enlarge, if you wish]

a few days late: 310g Day + 6

OK, so I missed the official BlogDay 2005 (310g kind of looks like the word "blog" if you read the "3" as a B without its spine...). I thought it was a fun idea, sort of, and then the day got away from me, and another, and another...

So here, six days on, are my blog suggestions. The goal was that everyone recommend five new blogs, but my list may be a bit longer because I may have mentioned some of these in the past, and I'm not about to review all the entries in this little monster to find out which ones I have. But there's sort of a theme, because I learned about the first group from reading dooce.com. For your reading pleasure:

dooce: If you haven't read it, or don't read it regularly, pick a subject archive and read it. I look forward to Heather's daily posts and photos--the dooce subscription in my NetNewsWire aggregator is the first one I check in the morning.

Time Goes By: I'm giving this one a try. The impression of blogging is that it's not yet been picked up by the older generation (who is that, really?). Ronni Bennett is 63 and writing about how her life and her impressions of things have changed and are changing.

Blurbomat: aka in some circles as "Mr. Dooce" because he's Heather's (of dooce.com) husband and resident geek/code whiz.

finslippy and Suburban Bliss: Is it possible? I'm not convinced, but like finslippy, a little slice of someone's life. I'm giving these a test run.

And then...

For any of you who followed the Julie/Julia Project and are looking forward to the release of her book, Julie Powell has started a new blog, What Could Happen?, to explore the weirdness of being a published author and finding her way through what's become a new life. Preorder the book from amazon.com. Or march over to your favorite bookseller on or around 28 September, when the book is supposed to be released.

Slashfood: I'm really enjoying the variety, when I can keep up with the rate of posts.

43 Folders: Merlin Mann's thoughts about Getting Things Done (the David Allen system), organizing life and work, and how to make technology work for you. Or not.

SlowFoodLA: Well, it's the web site for our local Slow Food convivium. And Terrence set it up. And I'm the blog mistress, so all those words you see are the result of my fingers flying across the keyboard of my humble but sexy 15" G4 PowerBook.

And last, but not least:

talblog: Because it's Terrence's new code/design/l.a. blog.

I could keep going but I've probably given you too much to chew already...

urbs in horto indeed

The bees may be the hardest workers at City Hall. They take the winter off to hibernate, then uncomplainingly and efficiently work seven days a week without pay, benefits or hint of scandal. This from the Chicago Sun-Times article about the flourishing beehives atop City Hall. I was thrilled when the City of Chicago planted the garden--even though I was no longer living in the city at the time--and to hear that it's doing really well is very good news.

If you're not familiar with the project, here's an overview from the American Society of Landscape Architects.

when an author would like someone not to read his work

Mark Kurlansky, the author of Salt, seems a little distressed by news that his book had made President Bush's summer reading list.

interview re the blogging life

A longer-than-usual and interesting interview with Heather Armstrong of dooce fame is on Rebecca Blood's site.