Daily Martini, Milky Way

I am having a PMS day... for those of you who can relate, this may
just be the cure.

The Milky Way Martini

1 1/2 oz. Vanilla Vodka
1 1/2 oz. Godiva, or Chocolate liqeuer.
3/4 oz. Bailey's Irish Cream
1/4 oz. Frangelica

Chill cocktail glass. Sqeeze chocolate syrup along the inside rim
while turning the glass slowly to get a drizzle effect. Pour martini
mixture into chilled glass.

Enjoy.
--
Cheryl Ellis
Power is only important as an instrument for service to the powerless.
cell: 818.326.7350

Advice for j-grads.

Ran into a little gem from around my way, well, San Jose... it's the West Side, okay.
(Wow! That all rhymed. Perhaps I'm missing my calling)

Anyway, (here I go again, and its really not funny anymore... get to the point, right?)
Ryan, author of Invisible Inkling and fellow journalism student posted this. I hate links to other links, but I had to give due credit.

It's amusing and credible.

Stay on your toes.

As much as the people complain about media bias in America, there remains the startling reminder that people throughout the world face far more censorship and progandizing. With the death of prominent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, we should take a moment to be reminded of the First Amendment and the quality of balanced journalism produced in this country.

Although American media outlets often place an undue emphasis on profits, an content does suffer as a result, the fact remains that places such as China, Russian and Iran do not have access to information as we do here in the States.

In Russia, a journalist was just shot for her coverage of human rights violations. Ted did an excellent write-up on it. In China, to mention criticizing the government is taboo, even for a media scholar. In Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began, in mid-September, filtering the Internet in an attempt to cease all "citizen reporting" via blogs, and return the country to a more controlled state as it was under the Shah.

But, let us not forget the responsibilty we hold in preserving our rights to free speech in the US. And, let us not become apathetic in our pursuit of informed news. As al-Jazeerah pointed out in an opinion article, the United States is guilty of censorship of a different kind: sanitation. Let us not forget that it was the credulousness of the American media that allowed us to go to war in Iraq. A tenacious media would have doggedly pursued the claims of the Bush administration. Instead, propaganda was taken at face value, until it was too late.

stay on your toes.

Wiki becoming socially conscious.

LONDON - Larry Sanger, the co-founder of Wikipedia, is launching a social media encyclopedia that will attempt to balance the original's democratic principles, allowing anyone to add content, but with much greater editorial control.

Read more!

Gay Marriage: A threat to the family?

According to Stuart Laidlaw, the Faith and Religion Reporter for the Toronto Star, same-sex marriage has become a threat to the foundation of society.

Giving him the benefit of the doubt, the comment was framed as paraphrase of the Catholic church. However, Laidlaw made an unattributed reference to same-sex marriage being harmful to "the very foundation of society - the family." Check it out. It's in the second to last paragraph.

Let us reflect on why this statement is out of line:
1. It is unethical to editorialize in a piece written as news.
2. A news piece should include responses from more than one stakeholder in order to
provide balance.

Maybe Laidlaw should give a stab at The Kid by Dan Savage, a lesson in Savage Family Values. He just might find a more, shall we say, academic undestanding of marriage.

Marvin Harris, the late professor of anthropolgy at Columbia University, studied what he called "cultural infrastructure," a term that is, in the philosophical sense, close to Laidlaw's "very foundation of society". Harris taught practical ways of viewing sociological devices. On marriage, he said that its universal application is the creation of "affinal ties" (in-laws).

According to this view, same-sex marriage is healthy for society because all individuals are linked to one another through affinal ties, creating an increasingly vast network throughout the society. The focus then becomes on social, political and economic strengths built through a marital union rather than sexual behaviors.

I am certain that Harris' theories would be dismissed as he was a Marxist.

Daily Martini, Hawaiian

This is one I haven't made in a long, long time. But, it was always a hit. Absolutely fail-proof.

The Hawaiian Martini, (version 1)

1 1/4 oz. Southern Comfort
3/4 oz. Vodka
3/4 oz. Amaretto
1/2 oz. Orange Juice
1/2 oz. Pinapple Juice
1/4 oz. Grenadine

Serve in a cocktail glass with an orande wedge garnish, or over ice with a cherry and an orange.

It sounds complicated, but its truly worth it.
Enjoy.

Lessons in postmodernism, 1.1

"A generation raised on channel surfing has lost the capacity for linear thinking and analytical reasoning." - Chuck Colson.

My hope is that this post is neither too academic, nor too philosophical for the average reader, but rather an exploratory journey into the way the collective American psyche is affected by the media - my outlet.

Who is Chuck Colson, and why does this quote have a significance? Let us consider the source. Wiki, our favorite public encyclopdia - which in and of itself is a postmodern creation - tells us that Colson is one of the Watergate Seven. Colson spent four years in prison for his participation in the presidential campaign fundraising scam. He emerged with a hardline evangelical Christian message and a mission to promote prisoner rehabilitation (which, I feel, is an excellent cause).

However, Colson's efforts are destined to fall on deaf ears, because he does not understand the minds of the generation to which he is speaking. He has spoken out against same-sex marriage, argued that Darwinism is an attack on the sanctity of Christianity and the ability of God to create, and he has said that postmodernism is anti-Christian because it preaches a message that is void of hope.

This is where the quote becomes relevant.

The postmodern mind is one that pieces thoughts and belief systems from a collection of pre-existing ones. For example, the postmodern musician crafts music from a compilation of other works. The creativity of form is derived from the way in which the pieces are compiled, thus making it new and original. George Barna, a sociologist and postmodern theorists out of Santa Barbara, CA, calls this the "mosaic."

Postmodern creation is non-linear in its construct, just as Colson described.

The reason why this is threatening to people of Colson's belief is that it implies the need for unique approach for every individual. The message is recieved in a unique way, therefore it must be tailored in a unique way for "salvation". The development of a personal understanding of God leaves the Christian faith with a dilemma. How does a pastor or a preacher address such an audience?

Not buying it yet? Allow me to pose another example.

Postmodernism opposes the concept of the meta-narrative, a cultural schema which defines experience and knowledge. In other words, Postmodernism rejects the idea that every person within a culture will have a specific worldview as a derivative of the culture itself. One more time. Everyone in America does not define their cultural identity on the basis of football, cheeseburgers and George Orwell's Animal Farm, simply because those were part of the common American adolesence. Have you ever known an American who was also a vegetarian, pacifist and a communist? I have. He was my sociology teacher freshman year at Pierce College in Los Angeles. But, he was as American as they get. Fact of the matter is, Postmodernism recognizes the beauty in all of the differences in people. It elevates the importance of the individual experience, and it breaks down the limitations imposed by grand narratives.

Convinced?

Colson claims that he was not, but let us revisit his statement.

"A generation raised on channel surfing has lost the capacity for linear thinking and analytical reasoning."

I would like to introduce Chuck Colson to this amazing new invention called the Internet. Members of this generation that lacks the ability to reason are developing it and using it for new and amazing was to communicate, non-linearly.

Bucs Win!

Betsy Winter Hall, my magazine article writing professor told me that I am only entitled to three exclamation points in my career. Well, I'm using one of them here.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers win!

Controversy surrounded two calls on the final drive that brought Tampa Bay its winning touchdown. The first was a "roughing-the-passer" call on Bengals Defensive End Justin Smith. Smith sacked Tampa QB Bruce Gradkowski at the Bengal's 40 yard line, and was charged with roughing. Official Michael Carey explained after the game that the call should have been unnecessary roughness, as Gradkowski had not yet released the ball.

“The ruling on the field was roughing the passer,” said Carey. “Technically, it was unnecessary roughness because the pass didn’t get away. But in the tackle, the defender, stopped forward progress, drove him backwards, and then at the end gave him the extra effort and stuffed his head into the ground. We’re directed to protect the safety of the quarterback. Most people don’t understand [unnecessary roughness], so we just called it roughing the passer.”

In a post-game interview, Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer openly disagreed with the call. As a quarterback, he questioned how any sack could be ruled roughing, and how defenders are expected to tackle.

The second call was the challenged, game-winning touchdown.

With 34 seconds on the clock, WR Michael Clayton made a quick catch from a Gradkowski pass and lunged toward the end-zone, extending the ball passed the goal line. When he landed, the ball bounced out of his hands. Bengals fans thought it was an incomplete pass, but the final ruling on the play was that he still had possession of the ball when his feet had touched the ground. At that time the ball had broken the plane of the goal line, thus making it a complete pass and a touchdown.

Gradkowski, the replacement for my nemisis Chris Simms, completed 25-44 for 184 yards. Not bad. Cadilac Williams, showing off his bulk went 94 yards on 19 carries. That's not spectacular compared to the 1,800 yards he put up last season, but it tells me that the offensive line is stepping up, making holes and giving better pass protection.

Defensively, our secondary looked a little weak. Carson Palmer threw a stunning 261 yards (24/37), speading it out to six recievers. The d-line was able to maintain pressure up front, and that was the saving grace for the Bucs. The ability to shut-down the Bengals offense, one that has scored no less than 24 points in all of its appearences this season, and holding them to just one touchdown was vital. The two field goals scored by the Bangels were put up from no less than 34 yards, which means that the Buccaneers were holding the offense in the flat all day, a drastic improvement from the defense that coach John Gruden has consistantly criticized this season.

Defensive Tackle, Anthony McFarland, admitted to the St. Petersburg times that Gruden's complaints against the Tampa Bay defensive performance were valid and well deserved in an interview Sunday.

Now, let us see how the Bucs will fair against the Eagles at Raymond James. My hope is that the Eagles show up still stunned from their embarrassing loss against the Saints.

Go Bucs!

Source: Buccaneers News Detail

Daily Martini, Pink Lemonade

It may be a bit early in the day to be thinking about martini's... no, wait... its never too early.

My buddy Adam made me the most spectacular Pink Lemonade Martini the other night. It is girly, but its excellent. The center piece was this fantastic liqueur called X Rated.

Stylish, sleek and exotic, this hot new liqueur was rated "Best New Spirit" by Market Watch Leader. Added to a standard lemonade cocktail, this baby is absolutly scrumptious. It's a "fusion" of vodka, blood orange, mango and passionfruit guaranteed to tantilize the senses. Individual bottles will be found at liquor stores in most markets by the end of October.

Adam called his cocktail a pink lemonade.
Here is my rendition:

1 1/2 oz. X- Rated
1 oz. Grey Goose Le Citron
3/4 oz. Grand Marnier
1/4 oz. Grenadine
Splash soda

Serve in a chilled cocktail glass.

I wish Bill Murry would come to my college parties.

According to an Associated Press report, Bill Murry is still crashing college parties. Murry, 56, was spotted at the party in St. Andrews, Scotland.

Sources say that Murry met Norwegian student Lykke Stavnef, 22, at a bar where he was drinking with fellow golfers after playing in the Alfred Dunhill Championship in St. Andrews. When Stavnef invited him to a party, he agreed, attended and to the suprise of the other guests, helped do the dishes.

Read more.

I have to wonder if he stood in any bedrooms giving student lectures on how 'real' they were, if he flipped any light switches repeatedly or stood atop the roof of the house screaming "I am a golden god!"

Maybe Murry was a bit more like Wooderson (Matthew McConuaughey) in Dazed and Confused saying, "You know what I love about these [college] girls. I get older, they stay the same age."

Way to be Bill.