TBT: DOG GONE

 TBT: I used to say the dog doesn't understand why I was talking so much to him but now the dog is gone...

 

STATE OF THE UNION VS YOU PEOPLE

 

I don't know about y'all but I just didn't want to get more depressed listening to President Biden speak about the State of the Union so I opted for Netflix's new release. 

" You People." with a star-studded cast including  Eddie Murphy and Jonah Hill.

 It had to be funnier, right?

 I am not a gambling soul but my choice definitely did have more laughs and I enjoyed the one-sided characters as well their racism.  What could possibly go wrong with a Muslim - Jewish relationship?Yep, some uncomfortable moments for sure. 

Family members knowingly and unknowingly threw obstacles to hamper the new couple. What else are friends and family for but to undermine love in the name of love? 

Listen, I had some much-needed good belly laughs and I really can't say this NetFlix-produced movie created a 'good' movie but I liked it as a spoof and each of us deserves to smile during such serious times.  If two people fall in love,  heck let's celebrate with them and have a Hallmark moment. It was just what the doctor ordered. SWAK...

TUESDAY TUNES: BONNIE RAITT

TUESDAY TUNES with the grammys this past Sunday reflected back 50 years on hip hop but I am not choosing a tune out of that genre. 

 Imagine taking a grammy home when you are in your 70's. 73 to be exact for Bonnie Raitt and her 2023 Grammy winning song  of the year - Take a listen:JUST LIKE THAT. ( CLiCK ON HIGH LIGHTED LETTERS)

MONDAY MUSINGS:: INEQUALITY FOR ALL

 Last Thursday night I had the opportunity to join a local zoom talking about erasing racism. The economic reference reminded me of a Netflix film I had watched almost a decade ago by Robert Reich's : Inequality for All and the formula 1 Can of Soup =1 Yacht.

Reich, may be a man short in stature but with very big ideas regarding inequality and

his documentary certainly poised a passionate argument for the middle class in "Inequality for All."

Here's one fact listed on this film's site:

A CAN OF SOUP FOR A BLACK OR HISPANIC WOMAN, A MANSION FOR THE BUSINESSMAN

"That’s literally true. For every one dollar of assets owned by the typical single black or Hispanic woman, a member of the Forbes 400 has over forty million dollars.

Minority families once had substantial equity in their homes, but after Wall Street caused the housing crash, median wealth fell 66% for Hispanic households and 53% for black households. Now the average single black or Hispanic woman has about $100 in net worth. "

No matter what political bend you are, we are all in this country together and seeing this flick helps one understand what is going on economically and why.  Do invite your friends to see it/ rewatch it with you.  I never studied economics but it doesn't take an economist to figure out that something has gone terribly wrong in the middle class family's bank account. 

Reich takes us through the semester course he teaches at Stanford University with his standing room lecture hall, packed chock-full of our future generation of leaders, businessmen and community members. I sure hope they were listening all semester so they can help us back on the path to become the best middle class in the world. 

Thumbs up for a very important flick.

Here's a link for the trailer: Inequality for All

FOTO FRIDAY: WHAT'S GOING ON?

 

FOTO FRIDAY perhaps illustrates that art is in the eye of the beholder and as Mother Nature has demonstrated this past week in Arkansas and the States she has different mediums...

Do you have any pics to share? You can even add on to previous requests... Go for it.

Here's my newest temporary yard art.  And some music just cause it's the weekend ... Remember to also click on the colored type to listen... a lot of you couldn't open TUESDAY TUNES this week. Remember at

What's Going On?

Last week's FOTO FRIDAY was CUBBY ADDITION

TBT:FEBRUARY AN UNSUNG HERO?

 An Unsung Hero?

I have to admit to being critical that we have to have to mark a month to celebrate Black History Month as our history textbooks should include this part of our country's history. Yet as an adult I am learning something new all the time. So thank goodness that PBS shared a documentary in honor of Black History month  The Powerbroker: Whitney Young's Fight for Civil Rights. I learned about Whitney Young who played a major role in mobilizing the Civil Rights  Movement.

Whitney Young used humor to make change palatable to the white community.

Mr. Young's work with the Urban League brought capital investment to the inner city. "He turned a relatively passive civil rights organization into one that aggressively fought for equitable access to socioeconomic opportunity for the historically disenfranchised. "

Below of some of his famous quotes which sum up the essence of his being and his lifelong work.

"Every man is our brother, and every man’s burden is our own. Where poverty exists, all are poorer. Where hate flourishes, all are corrupted. Where injustice reins, all are unequal."

"I am not anxious to be the loudest voice or the most popular. But I would like to think that at a crucial moment, I was an effective voice of the voiceless, an effective hope of the hopeless."

"You can holler, protest, march, picket and demonstrate, but somebody must be able to sit in on the strategy conferences and plot a course. There must be strategies, the researchers, the professionals to carry out the program. That's our role."

"Black Power simply means: Look at me, I'm here. I have dignity. I have pride. I have roots. I insist, I demand that I participate in those decisions that affect my life and the lives of my children. It means that I am somebody."

"Liberalism seems to be related to the distance people are from the problem."

"I'd rather be prepared for an opportunity that never comes than have an opportunity come and I am not prepared."

"Pride and dignity come when you reach in your pocket and find money, not a hole."

He was criticized by many as selling out but his feeling was that you had to work from within the system to affect change.  What a smart man who accomplished so much and to whom we all owe a great deal ... Better to sing his praises now than to never have sung them at all...

FEB 2013

WARM THOSE INNARDS...

It has been a while since I shared a recipe but with this recent ice storm and cold nothing sounds better than a nice hearty soup. AND what beats an easy to make potato soup? 

You'll need :

Stock pot / Dutch oven I used my large electric fry pan.

Immersion blender, optional

Ingredients:

4-5 lg potatoes, peeled

2 sticks butter (1 c) –  cut butter in half  and use 1/2 c

1/4 c flour

6 c milk,  either 2%/ whole

2 c shredded cheddar cheese + some for sprinkling on top

*12 slices of bacon (turkey bacon/ none) cooked + 2 T of its grease

4 green onions, diced

1 c sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

Bread bowl, optional

*I didn't add meat

Instructions:

Peel potatoes

Cook potatoes in microwave  (microwave potato settings usually between 1-3 minutes per potato)

Cut taters into 1″ cubes, set aside

*Cook bacon to your preferred crispiness, set aside, crumble once     cooled

Dice 4 green onions, set aside

In a large pot, melt butter  low-medium heat

Add flour and whisk together with butter until smooth and bubbly. Cook for 2-3 minutes

Increase heat to medium and gradually whisk in milk. 

Cook until slightly thickened, ~ 14 minutes ***continued whisking is so important here! (Otherwise milk'll burn) 

Add potatoes and onions, stirring occasionally, until soup begins to bubble. Reduce heat, simmer gently 10 minutes.

*Stir in bacon, bacon grease reserves, and sour cream

Add in cheese and stir well

Use an emersion blender to blend everything up if you'd like. I like to do a couple of pulses so I have some chunks along with creamy potato!

Dish and serve. Top with crumbled bacon, cheese and diced green onions. 

Serve in a bread bowl if you’d like!

 Easy peasy and certainly hit the spot. I had plenty to share... 

If you make it , tell me what you think!