herbiehancock

Judging by the number of pairs of shoes and flip-flops left by the front door, school is out for the summer and half the neighborhood has dropped by for a visit. Many of the flowers on my daisies have been eaten off by the squirrels living in our trees, but there are a few remaining that they have missed. At first I assumed it was the rabbits that were eating them until I saw a squirrel happily dining away on the white and yellow delicacies. Hey you, squirrel, PLEASE don't eat the daisies!! My morning glory seedlings have begun to poke their heads up out of the dirt. It was an absolutely gorgeous day with pretty blue skies, fluffy floating clouds, and grass and trees as green as God intended them to be. I took some cloud pictures in the park from my walk tonight. The sun is just starting to go down in these last two photos of clouds at the park. The last photo is my favorite of this group. I loved the brilliant color of this peony flower. There has been a bunny or maybe two ...

28:10. Yikes

Well, it's Friday, which, in and of itself, is a great reason to celebrate. What's more, today is my younger son's last day of school. So I am sure you know that he is feeling like celebrating. After today he is officially a freshman in high school. He has had a good week. Yesterday, his class voted, and he was chosen as next year's freshman representative on the student council. The day before that he received a letter from the Toledo Youth Symphony Orchestra . Based on his audition, he has been chosen to be one of their upright bass players in next year's youth symphony orchestra. Here is the mission statement from their website: " As part of the core educational mission of the Toledo Symphony, the Toledo Youth Orchestra brings together 100 of the most talented students from Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan in an atmosphere of musical excellence." My son is elated. His mom is pretty happy about this whole matter as well. So with so many r...

No 480 - The Son's Room (La Stanza Del Figlio ) Director - Nanni Moretti I knew that this film had done very well when it had been premiered at Cannes in 2001. That, however was the end of my knowledge. I didn't even know it was an Italian film until it began! It is a really brave film handling a very simple theme and the way that it handles the theme show all the differences between European and American drama. I have started this blog with two one sentence paragraphs... which is truly awful writing. I promise that I shall now get on with and discuss the film's theme. The theme is death. Not just the notion of death but a family's reaction to it. What I particularly liked about the film is how soft it is, how underplayed. We are never told what to look at, instead it feels like a very real exploration of real people. Nanni Moretti has not only written and directed this film, but he takes the lead role and he plays it beautifully.The film is set in two halves, both...

I eat Chinese food once or twice a year and that's plenty.  I like it but not that much.  Imagine moving last year from a place that had several excellent Chinese restaurants that served my favorite Salt and Pepper Shrimp to a place where there is one  Chinese restaurant and it pretty much sucks eggs (and don't even get me started on Mexican food up here)!   What was I going to do about my biannual Chinese food fix?  Make my own. I searched the internet for Salt and Pepper Shrimp recipes and found many, many variations, but none like the one I wanted. So, here is my version of Imperial Valley Salt and Pepper Shrimp.  There are so few ingredients that it's hard to mess up and it tasted excellent... right up there with what I could get in the Valley. Start by slicing up some green onions and hot yellow peppers into rings.  I imagine the Mexican influence in Southern California is how this dish came to be prepared with chiles.  Put them in a hot pan...

12:14

The most hilarious thing I've seen in a while . Thanks to the commenters to lead me to this . The guy in black at :33.... boy oh boy.

a long while. Really it is because I haven't bought anything worth writing about or showing off in quite sometime. I do have plenty to show that I haven't already, so I guess that isn't the greatest excuse. I still haven't painted either. Ruts...arent they the greatest? Maybe I should start posting some film reviews here... I've been watching tons lately... That could get things going anyway, onto the photos! Cap'n Bounch from Bounty Hunter! this is one of those toys that I have been wanting since it first dropped, but never really actively sought it out because of the aftermarket prices. But combine selling some stuff recently along with a nice deal from a fellow skullbrainer, and the good ol Cap'n is in my clutches at last! Hopefully I'll get off my ass and post some better photos and a little of my rambling soon. Stay tuned for some film reviews too. They are not necessarily kaiju related, but fuck it! It's my blog and I'll fuck it up if I wan...

This is such a refreshing combination of flavors.  Ice cold cubed watermelon, slices of Vidalia onions, and fresh mint dressed in a vinaigrette and topped with feta cheese. Mmm! Paula Deen knew what she was doing when she cooked this up, y'all .  Take this dish to a potluck and surprise everyone who thought watermelon was just for dessert!

It's Wednesday... welcome back to our garden! We've been having some rain so our lawn is green and it's nice to look out in the country and see green hills that snow had covered just a few short weeks ago. This sun was here when we moved in last year. I painted it copper and hung it on the fence. We'll walk by the container plants first. These are lillies. Pansies, that always remind me of my grandmother. This is a peony plant and it grows so fast you can almost watch it as it grows! These are the most beautiful flowers. I can't wait for it to bloom. Our neighbor's lilac plant. I've already told him that anything that hangs over the fence is mine! They smell so good, I'm going to cut some and bring them indoors. Little irises are beginning to bloom. The geraniums in hanging baskets are off to a start. And here we are at the garden we planted a few weeks ago. Look closely and you can see the radishes and onions beginning to come up and see the zucc...

8:31

No 483 – The Big Red One Director – Samuel Fuller I went into this film with no expectations at all, in fact I couldn ’t really remember what I had read in Empire magazine – so I really had no idea what I was going to sit down and watch. I had hedged my bets and was pretty sure it was a war film. Turned out it WAS a war film! Hooray for me….. except…. I’m not the biggest fan of war films, they all have a similar message (War is horrible – a message I utterly believe) and they’re all very serious (again, entirely appropriate for the subject matter) which doesn ’t make it the most exciting genre in my books. It was therefore not a surprise to me when the film began with a beautiful, albeit somewhat self important, opening disclaimer (this is a fictional life based on factual death), an artistic palette (black and white and red – the War film colour scheme of choice ), religious iconography and a sense of po -faced fatalism on the battle ground of WWI. We follow a soldier as he hides behi...

I planted morning glory seeds in the pots on my front porch yesterday. The day before, I had to pull out all the little maple tree seedlings that were growing in the pots and remove any of the winged seeds that were lying on top so that they don't sprout later. That bit of green in the pot below is a sprouted maple seed that still has the brown "wing" attached to it. Before the seed there comes the thought of bloom. - E. B. White After cleaning out the debris and maple seeds, I added fresh potting soil to the top of the planters. Now seeds are just dimes to the man in the store And the dimes are the things that he needs, And I've been to buy them in seasons before But have thought of them merely as seeds; But it flashed through my mind as I took them this time, "You purchased a miracle here for a dime." - Edgar A. Guest, A Package of Seeds I bought several different colors and types of morning glory seeds hoping a variety of them will grow. One of th...

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart on June 2009 magazine covers of Life & Style and Girlfriend Australia Left: Bar Refaeli for Elle Italy June 2009 Issue Right: Reese Witherspoon in Elle UK June 2009 Left: Renne Zellweger in Marie Claire Czech Republic June 2009 Cover Right: Beyonce Knowle in Glamour Russia Left: Elizabeth Hurley in Tatler UK Right: Edita Vilkeviciute in Vogue Autralia

Most of the time I like to encourage people to dance. There are exceptions to every rule, of course. Here are a few of those exceptions.

Years ago, women were fond of accessorizing their wardrobe by wearing accents to match the pieces of their outfits. It has been noted that during 1950s, women acquired bags, belts, gloves, hats, shoes, jewelries and cosmetics in matching colors. They became so obsessed of this mix-and-match fashion statement that the legacy still lives on in today’s fashion trends. In addition, fashion styles in complementing colors is also a big hit nowadays. Here's some of the perfect mix-and-match of bags and shoes and sunglasses for this summer! Bags and Shoes from Instyle Bags and Sunglasses from Vogue