Coffee News + Iowa + Bonus Features + Politics

whimsical wednesday

Wednesday Whimsey

I may have made my last visit to Starbucks on SUN 8/14. We were in Omaha for Fishfest. [SEE mental health MON 8/15 blog.] On Sunday we stopped at a mall so Lois could do some shopping. I went for a walk, then stopped at Starbucks for a dark roast coffee w/1/2 & 1/2; also a vanilla/almond biscotti. I was using up a gift card that I've been working on for maybe two years or more. I like Starbuck's coffee, especially their latte's, but I am boycotting them now because of their corporate support for legalizing same-sex marriage.   [I am NOT a hater.] *
* I may be a hypocrite, because I still "obtained" products there. I justified it to myself, because I was using a gift card that was purchased w/someone else's money . . . except now that I think about it, there wasn't quite enough left on the gift card to cover my products, so I had to spend another $2.15 of my own money. **
** Yes, now that I think of it, I am a hypocrite.

There Is No Place Like . . .  Iowa!?

Special State Fair Feature

From Omaha World Herald (8/8):  "Get set for concerts, midway--and bacon. As families gear up to send children back to school, the IA State Fair is getting ready for last-minute summer fun. The fair kicks off THU in Des Moines & ends SUN 8/21. The Grandstand, the fair's primary entertainment venue, will feature . . . the Newsboys . . . Jeff Dunham . . . Joan Jett & the Blackhearts . . . 
      "No state fair is complete without food. The fair's line-up will feature 26 new items this year, including fried cheddar bacon cheese on a stick, bacon friend in funnel cake batter & Hawaiian pineapple bowls, which are half pineapples filled with rice, pineapple & a choice of meat . . . "  [Why promote the Iowa State Fair? {1} My family has roots in Iowa. {2} Newsboys & Jeff Dunham . . . "I keel you!" {3} Food items.]

From Des Moines Register (8/10):  "Legacy of lawn parking endures near State Fair. This many shaggy lawns being mowed all at once in the neighborhoods around the IA State Fairgrounds is a sure sign that something strange is happening. I'm kidding:  I'm not here to crack jokes at the expense of the east side of Des Moines & its congenial folk who welcome an invasion by the rest of the state for 11 deep-friend days of summer. But the frantic lawn care is real, if only so all this neatly trimmed green grass can be smashed beneath thousands of car tires:  Preparation is nearly as palpable here as on the 445 acres of the fair-grounds proper . . . " [Neighborhoods cashing in on state fair parking? Capitalism at its finest. Do we live in a great country or what?!]

Also from OWH (8/17):  "Family was born for this game. "A woman stopped next to the red outhouse at the IA State Fair & read the words written on the side. The Real Deal. 'What's the real deal?' Jan B. asked a man standing near the small wooden structure. The man, who is in fact named Les Outhouse, then explained to Jan. B. what makes his family of outhouse racers the real deal.
      "On TUE, the IA Outhouse family--yes, that's their real last name--competed for the 3rd time in the annual outhouse races at the IA State Fair. The races have become a tradition for the family--an excuse to drop everything, come together & embrace their unique surname by earning it prestige on the racetrack. And, of course, making a few poop jokes along the way . . . One team is named 'Game of Thrones.'"  [Way more entertaining--in my humble opinion *--than a float w/a "She-Who-Should-Be-Convicted" look-alike inside a prison cage.]
* Maybe not so humble . . . you have the right to question my humility. We live in a great country, which I mentioned before . . . you know, Freedom of Speech . . . A country that has room for political floats AND outhouse races.]

On the Other Hand . . . 

Headlines from DMR-State Edition (8/10): 

• "Woman gets 15 years for IHOP shooting." [Didn't bother to read the article.]
• "Mom: Fight over pitcher of beer led to shooting." [Sorry, Iowa . . . If you're going to expect accolades from me, you better expect "On the Other Hand."]
• "Mom arrested after tot is alone, eating chicken." [I read far enough into the article to find out that the 2-year-old boy was left alone in the back yard, & he was eating RAW chicken.]

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BONUS:  Reading List

Here's what I wrote in my mental health MON 8/15 blog:  
From Norfolk Daily News (8/11):  "Library lists summer's honor readers. Norfolk Public Library's 2016 summer reading program, 'On Your Mark, Get Set...READ!' ended 7/29. A total of 1,890--1,224 females, 666 males--readers were registered . . . " [I am a reader. My wife is a reader. She mostly reads using e-devices. I'm an old-fashioned, hard-copy reader. I'm disappointed that females doubled-up the # of male readers; also mildly alarmed at the "666" reference. Maybe males, like me, were more apt to forget to register. Maybe males, like me, are more apt to read two newspapers per day, like me. In any case, I'm going to try to remember to publish a list of my summer reading selections in my next whimsical WED blog. [Can you stand the suspense? Will I actually remember?]

And here's the list of my summer reading selections, although I may have started--& finished--some of these books last spring while I was recuperating from my hip replacement. I didn't bother putting them in chronological order. 

• Battlefields of Nebraska:  I bought this book at the gift shop in the Lodge at Mahoney State Park while Lois & I spent a few days there with our grand-daughters. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I'm a fan of historical non-fiction, especially of The West, especially of Nebraska . . . & I learned a lot that I didn't know . . . for example, a major battle fought between Pawnees & Otos and a Spanish expedition in 1720, in a location very close to Columbus.
• Jurassic Park:  I picked this book up at a book sale to benefit the Norfolk Rescue Mission . . . seen the movie at least twice & may have read the book many years ago . . . mindlessly entertaining.
• The Gates of the Alamo:  Also picked up at the same book fair . . . it caught my attention because I had read--& thoroughly enjoyed--Lonesome Dove. It wasn't quite up to that caliber, but it was very enjoyable & a reading of the author's notes revealed that he had referenced very recent historical documents, which explained elements of his historical novel that differed from traditional accounts.
• Eighty-One Seconds:  This book chronicled the "Attack & Aftermath as Tornadoes Hit Pilger, Stanton, Wakefield & Wisner, Nebraska on 6/6/14" . . . fascinating because of the familiarity of the locations, events, & many of the names.
• A Rough Business:  Fighting the Civil War in Missouri:  I had bought this book at the visitors' center at the Battle of Lexington, MO, State Historical Site. I acquired it because it had information about partisan massacres by Bushwackers of German Lutherans in & around Concordia, MO, my hometown. Many of these victims were members of St. Lutheran Church--my home congregation. Two of the articles documented these massacres . . . describing details that differed markedly from accounts I had previously learned.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls:  My brother Mark loaned me this book, published by The History Channel, I think. I picked it up the weekend Lois & I were in Garrison, IA, joining with his dual congregations, as they celebrated his 20th year of ministry there. I knew virtually nothing besides the rudimentary accounts of how the scrolls were discovered. Plenty of intrigue! Very readable.
• A History of China:  This is the most recent book I've started. It will be a ponderous book to read, undoubtedly taking weeks to read. However, after reading only the first 27 pages--mostly the introduction--I've already learned things I did not know. Example:  the Great Wall of China is NOT contiguous, has been rebuilt as a "tourist attraction" in many locations, & was not necessarily built to deter invaders.  

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BONUS HOTEL REVIEW

Lois & I spent the night at the Holiday Inn Express Ralston Arena when we attended Fishfest on SAT 8/13. Here is my review, for which I received no remuneration or promotional considerations. CAVEAT:  If your reading this from the NDN web site, you probably aren't seeing my first attempt at using emoji's. Sorry IF this offends you.

• Towels:    😃😃😃😃😃 Luxurious . . . Only required one towel to completely dry off after shower.
• Shower:  😀😃😃😃😃 Excellent! Controls were NOT of the "hair trigger" variety, i.e., microscopic differences between ice cold & scalding hot settings; shower nozzle @ convenient height & comfortable spray settings.
• TV:  😗  Just not relevant anymore, because Lois & I typically are more interested in using our iPads or laptop for You Tube, weather, Drudge Report, NRO, etc. [Would have been nice to have such a plethora of kids' programming available when we were on the road w/kids!]
• Coffee maker in room:  😃😃😃😃😃  Excellent. Keurig. [Coffee at breakfast downstairs was also very good, so we were in good shape anyway.]
• "Lounge" chair:  😃😃😃😃  Adequate. At least it was an actual lounge chair & not a "table" chair, doubling as a lounge chair.
• King-size bed + pillows:  😃😃😃  Adequate. Pillows just plain lacked that "fluffy" factor & mattress was a little too firm.
• Clock-radio:  😟  Did not work. Fortunately, {1} we didn't need to set an alarm {2} we can always use our e-devices to set an alarm, if necessary. However, it's nice to wake up during the night & glance over to see the time w/o having to grab for a cell phone & check it out.
• Lamp & night-stand on both sides of bed:  😃😃😃😃😃  YES!
• Convenient electrical sockets:  😃😃😃😃😃  YES!
• Charge outlets:  😯 Missing. We are always prepared for this eventuality, so no big deal. However, it "smelled" like a relatively new hotel, so we were surprised that we couldn't find any plug-ins for charge cables to power cell phones or iPads.
• Breakfast:  😃😃😃😃😃  Excellent! Biscuits & gravy...Warm cinnamon rolls...Those two items were enough to garner 5 smilies. Scrambled eggs & sausage were available, which I should have chosen as a healthier alternative. My complaint about many hotel breakfasts is the lack of protein & preponderance of carbs. Oh, & there was also a pancake maker, which I've only seen at one other hotel. I did NOT, however, take advantage of it.

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Political Whimsey

Re:  "He-Who-Became-a-Sell-out"

From Norfolk Daily News (8/12):  "Lakefront home. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an advocate for the working people, has bought his 3rd house for nearly $600,000." [emphasis added]

Also from NDN (8/11):  "Colbert at debates. Stephen Colbert, who capitalized on the political conventions with live airings of his late-night show, will do the same for the presidential & vice-presidential debates."  [Stephen Colbert . . . fair & balanced.]

From USA Today (8/12):  "Cowboys Can't Wear Decals Supporting Police. The Dallas Cowboys' plan to use a helmet decal as a tribute to the 5 police officers killed in last month's attack was denied by the NFL, according to a published report."  [Because police lives don't matter.]

Re:  "She-Who-Should-Be-Convicted"

Also from OWH (8/11):  "State-foundation links seen in Clinton emails. Newly released emails from a top aide to Hillary Clinton show evidence of contacts between Clinton's State Dept. & donors to her family foundation & political campaigns . . . " [And I threw up a little in my mouth & stopped reading."]

Taglines from Drudge Report (8/12): [I didn't bother to read the articles.]

• "CLINTON CASH:  $238 MILLION SINCE LEAVING WH 'DEAD BROKE' . . . "
• "CNN FEELS ANTI-MEDIA RAGE . . . ANCHOR:  'We couldn't help Hillary any more than we already have' . . . "

Also via Drudge (8/15):  "HEALTH WATCH: Hillary Clinton's 'Erratic Behavior Raises Eyebrows." [I actually skimmed through this article, which was originally posted by "Heatstreet," also on 8/15.]

Re:  "He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named" *

• "Letting Trump Run Wild Exposes GOP's Lack of Principles." [JG via Drudge (8/12), originally posted 8/10.]
• "Hillary's Advantage:  She's Boring, Not Shocking." [Also JG via Drudge, 8/12].
• "Does Sean Hannity Want Hillary to Win." JG's weekly "news" letter, the G-File, posted 8/13, via Drudge (8/14.

* You'll have to track these down yourself if you want to read them.