THE WEISS CHRONICLES

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Zero Motivation - an anti feminist file 

I saw this film at the Jewish Community Center with Ann. The film has won numerous awards.

It does have some funny moments (also a suicide which is in no ways funny and I didn't think it was crucial to the plot). 

For example, the image shows a woman soldier (who later successfully graduates from officer candidate school), threatening to kill herself with a staple gun. During their initial briefing the women are told that the staple gun is the most important thing in the unit and that if they are captured and tortured they may reveal anything about the base but not the location of the staple gun.

This same woman fantasizes herself in Tel Aviv (second image) as she is doing sit ups in training and eventually gets an assignment in Tel Aviv (to the IDF, a demotion, to the officer a joy) when she makes a mess of the administrative unit in the desert.
 

The film follows an administrative unit serving at a forward post in the desert. The unit is all female. The women are, in general pretty good looking. 

There is, what I would call an anti feminist theme to the film. 

The women in the unit are, in general, incompetent, lazy, ill mannered, obscene and skanky. The audience gave the film a big ovation at the end.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 11:31 PM

Worst Incentive Ever 

I was at the Red Cross today (March 31) giving platelets and plasma.

As it frequently does, the Red Cross had an 'incentive' to reward people who came in that day.  It was the coupon in the image. 

1. It was just a sandwich.
2. You had to donate $2 to a specific charity to get the free sandwich.
3. Only one store was participating and it was in Wheaton (30 minutes away by car).
4. The coupon was only valid on one day and that day was March 30 (and the coupon was given away on March 31).

.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 9:43 PM

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Two Notable BB games 

Back on March 27, the Golden State Warriors played the Philadelphia 76ers.  Going into the game, Golden State was 65-7 and Philadelphia was 9-64. This was the most lopsided win loss record match in NBA history.  The game was played in Oakland, CA.

Golden State took it easy and only won by 12 (117-105). The image is from the game with Draymond Green about to get the basket.

It was the 53th home victory for Golden State. Also, the Golden State backcourt became the first backcourt in NBA history to make 600 three point shots (at the 600 mark, Stephen Curry had 350 and Klay Thompson had 250). 


San Jose newspaper report on that game is here

In the NCAA Women's College Basketball tournament, the University of Connecticut beat Mississippi State 98-38. 

It perhaps could have been worse, Connecticut led at the end of the 1st quarter by 32-4.  


Mississippi State was seeded #7 in the tournament (24-7 in the regular season) and had a defense which held opponents to an average of 55 a game (before this game). In one of their earlier games this season, Mississippi State had beaten Savannah State 92-25.

The image shows the UConn coach Gino Auriemma with his team.


a USA article on the game is here.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 10:48 AM

Monday, March 28, 2016

Cherry Blossom Time 

This year was one of the best we've had for Cherry Blossoms. 

 
For one thing, the blossoms were on time as opposed to the past three years when they peaked either at the end of or past the end of the Cherry Blossom Festival. 

The second nice thing is that the trees at the Tidal Basin in Washington D.C. bloomed about the same time as trees in the suburbs.  This allowed us to get our 'fix' of cherry blossom viewing at the same time the news was making a big deal of the blossoms at the Cherry Basin.

 

It's relatively easy to get a 'fix' in the suburbs because cherry tree planting has been going on for some time. One neighborhood near us has some fairly strong ordinances which keep people from cutting them down or else its peer pressure or coincidence.


Anyway, the first image is from the Tidal Basin (a lot of petals blew off the trees today because of high winds).  

The second and third image are of Ann and I in a neighborhood near our house. 


.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 4:51 PM

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Cream vs Soy Milk vs Coconut Milk in Pastry Cooking 

 


Yesterday was difficult at the caterer. Although it wasn't an existential crises.

 






They were making a French Flan containing a brandy and fruit center surrounded by custard-like material. 



The caterer had the recipe from a non kosher source. It required cream.  

Since the meal was going to have meat, they had to use a substitute.



They usually one of the Rich's products for this. There is not an exact volume to volume substitute for cream but they know how to do it.


The customer (the ones that wanted the Flam) didn't want the amount of Soy that is contained in Rich's products so the caterer had to substitute Coconut Milk for the Rich's (a substitute for the substitute). 



It took several tries before they got the conversion formula for Coconut milk vs cream right and then some more experimenting because the oven time also varies between cream and coconut milk.



I was there at about 700am and we got done about 11:30 pm.  


.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 12:35 PM

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Metro Rail Shut Down 

It's a nice day. Some flowers are beginning to bloom (first image - not our flowers but its about the same flowering stage). 


No flood waters threaten.

Metro Rail is shut down all day and will look like the second image.

Its a system wide safety inspection. In the past few weeks there have been a few electrical problems, stalled rail cars, smoke at stations and so on.

Ann had planned a short trip today but that will be postponed. 

Of course traffic downtown is a major issue today but my 'journey' to work is opposite the main commute stream and I won't be coming home until well after the p.m. peak.

Post Script: Traffic problems were not much worse than normal according to reports (telework was encouraged by several major employers, e.g., the US Govt, the DC Govt).

posted by Martin Weiss  # 9:44 AM

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

A Question of Sampling 

The Caterer was making cherry pie cookies which are essentially a cherry piece that is bite sized. 

They need 400 of them for an event.

They asked me to taste one. 

I asked jokingly if they wanted me to take enough cherry pie cookies to give a  conclusion that "none have a pit" with a 90% confidence (the ten pound cans don't promise 'no pits' but the picture on the can sure implies that). 

However, the first cookie I tried had a pit. 


The Pastry chef didn't believe me so he tried two cookies. The second one he tried had a pit also.


This is as close to an "Existential Crisis" as I've seen in this biz. The client didn't specify 'no pit' in their order but the caterer will probably have to make a 'may have pit' sign.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 8:09 PM

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Downtown Sunday afternoon 

Ann and I went downtown today.  

One of our stops was the National Gallery of Art where there was a collection of bronze statues (a few were marble or other material) from the period between Alexander the Great and Augustus. 

One of this is in the image. 

It is called "The Weary Hercules (or Herakles)" done in an era when divine and semi divine figures were, in art, becoming more human.

We also went to the Char Bar for a late lunch. 

Metrorail was single tracking and there was a problem train on the other end of the red line (near Northern Massachusetts Ave) so that delayed our journey home. 

Also there was a St Patrick Day Parade on 7th Street which was a bit noisy.

Otherwise it was a nice day.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 6:29 PM

Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Free Money From the U.S. Government 

A few weeks ago, we received a call from someone working for the U.S. Department of Commerce: Bureau of the Census.

Ann agreed to be part of a survey. Then nothing happened for several weeks.





Then we got a package in the mail from the Census Bureau. It had a 5 dollar bill, a cash card and a letter. The letter said that someone would call us and upon our answering some questions, we would get the number to activate the cash card.

Then two days ago we got another call. The Census Bureau had completed its survey but we would still get the activation number.



Its only $45 but still. Its government money and its free to us.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 4:34 PM

Monday, March 07, 2016

My fingerprint opens a door 

Our synagogue has been through a number of security upgrades over the past 15 years or so.  

Recently, they executed a fingerprint system. Your fingerprint is electronically digitized (sort of a pun) and opens one of the doors (except on the Sabbath or major holidays).


Today, I got my fingerprint digitized. This is justified because, for example, I sometime require access to supervise a delivery after normal biz hours.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 8:33 PM

Friday, March 04, 2016

This is the way all our snow events should be 

All the snow fell after peak pm commute time yesterday and before peak am commute today.

The street was clear. 



 The sidewalk is clear.  

The snow on the bare branches makes a nice canopy.

All snow events should be like this.


.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 7:44 AM

Wednesday, March 02, 2016

The Record Man 

Tonight Ann and I saw "The Record Man".  

It is a oral/audible history (a genre of documentary) of Henry Stone (first image shows Stone at about the age of 90 in 2011 - he died in 2014). The film was made in 2015.

Stone developed many musical talents, did distribution, promotion, marketing and so forth from his studio in Hialeah Florida (part of Miami). 

Among the early people he recorded and promoted were Ray Charles and James Brown and because Brown came to Stone so often for advice, Stone became known locally as "the Godfather to the Godfather". 

A continuing presence in Stone business was Harry Wayne Casey, known as "K.C." as in "K.C. and the Sunshine Band". 

A young K.C., circa 1968 is the second image.  For a while, the company hid the fact that he was white.


An older K.C., circa 2010, is the third image.

K.and C. and the Sunshine Band led to the Disco Era Stone's performers included the highest selling artists of that genre.

After the collapse of disco in 1979, Stone launched the Miami Freestyle sound which led to Madonna (who, however did not work with Stone) and eventually to others.  

This documentary has won numerous awards. I especially liked the way archival footage is used with the interviews with artists in 2010-2015. I also like the editing because they sometimes let, say, four different people participate in a single sentence, that is one person talks, another continues the thought, a third adds a bit and then another finishes (while some music plays in the background).

This was part of the Washington Jewish Film Festival (Stone was Jewish). 

 

posted by Martin Weiss  # 11:30 PM

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