Miklb's Mindless Ramblings

I was a quasi punk teenager when I first traveled to Hyde Park to experience “art”. Sure, I’d done the Ybor thing, but this was high end stuff as far as I had experienced it. A live performance of actors was way more than seeing Black Flag do 3 songs then run off stage. This was School of Night. I honestly don’t remember the skits, but I do remember Jeff and another actor doing a scene from a Sam Shepard piece ( I think it was from True West).

As I grew older, I took advantage of the opportunities to experience Jeff’s larger performances with troupes like American Stage. During this time, I was introduced to Jeff through a mutual acquaintance. He was humble, brooding. Everything I had pictured an artist to be. I was jealous.

I thought him an older but kindred spirit, not a celebrity. He was an artist. I got a glimpse of a genius. Someone who was so comfortable with his art; perhaps tortured in the fact that he was such a craftsman of his art that he could perform it in a burgh such as Tampa. He trusted that there were like minded souls who also parked their tent in this god-forsaken mosquito ridden peninsula of peninsulas a genuine art scene would evolve. I know I cooked food with that same passion. I regret I didn’t stay true to my own passion…

I for one apologize for being so shortsighted I didn’t realize it sooner–yes, I wanted a dynamic, brilliant local scene. And there is one. Theatre, food, dance… it’s all there. Maybe not how I envisioned it because I wanted brilliance such as Jeff’s to be national news, and in my youth I lost my vision.

However, in the twilight of my own perspective, and in the sunset of the passing of Jeff Norton, I reflect on that first night in a little corner bistro at Howard and Azeele, and pray that the baton of pure passion and art will continued to be passed.

God speed Jeff Norton, god speed.

Austin: Why don’t you just try another neighborhood, all right?

Lee: What’sa’ matta with this neighborhood? This is a great neighborhood. Lush. Good class a’ people…”

From True West

Brilliance

Reuters.com
OK, so Big Oil said they didn’t need the subsidy, so Congress, trying to save some money here and there figured, hey, we’ll cut the subsidy then. Smart think guys. But then this comes along. Hastert, playing politics, pushes to extend an expired subsidy for dairy farmers. Granted, an International dairy board is against the subsidy, and there’s got to be something better to do than hand money over to dairy farmers ‘cause they can’t sell their milk, but, hey, when a Republican Congressman is running for Governor of Wisconsin, and Wisconsin was a “battle ground” state, it makes perfect sense. According to this fact sheet, The MILC (get it, milk)program is about giving milk producers money if the price drops too low. Why then, can a Republican government that argues about free trade, and capitalism, support such a program. Because it’s our food supply?? Not mine, I don’t drink milk. Will they start subsidizing organic produce? I’d much rather do that, to lower the cost to me, than give a billion dollars to commercial milk farmers.

From the Washington Post , and declaring it against the Constitution’s Commerce clause, wineries can now ship interstate. Soon, I’ll be able to get one of my favorite wines of all time, without hunting high and low.
Score one for the winos.

So I’ve had so much fun working with WordPress and this blog, that I’m putting together another. It’s a food oriented one, something I’ve wanted to do since I first surfed the web. Hopefully it will provide people with ideas for tasty, and usually easy dinners. Interspersed will be appropriate posts on food and nutrition. So do me a favor, bounce over to cooking with miklb and check it out, and see if it’s something you might find interesting. It’s still in the development phase, but it’s never too soon to get feed back.