From Eolake:
"Most hidden camera pranks are pretty dumb, but this one is ingenious. I could have thought of building the mirror room, but including the identical twin actress is just genius.
I would have liked to have seen how I would have reacted myself, and how soon I’d have figured it out.
I like the lady who in a depressed voice states: "Ich bin unsichtbar." ("I am invisible.")"
Penny-arcade.com is a very well laid out blog, archive, comic collection, and game review site. Check it out.
As a Facebook fan, I can totally appreciate this cartoon. :o)
Um, yes I’m on MySpace too. And LinkedIn.com. And my wife kicked me off SecondLife to this year because I spent to much time practicing my German and French language skills. Then there’s IMVU. What can I say, I try more social software experiments in a year than most people do in a lifetime.
When Suzy and I were in Germany we discovered Lebkuchen, these lovely Christmas cookies, at the Kris Kringle Marts in almost every German town described as a German tradition that began more than 500 years ago in Dresden as Christkindlmarkt," (Christ child market). The markets features vendors’ stalls in the town square and combine shopping, food, drink, various other holiday merriment. The opening of the market is usually at Advent and it doesn’t close until Christmas Eve. Some markets are graced by an evening appearance of the "Christkind," or Christ child, usually portrayed by a local child.
But finding Lebkuchen in the states (US) can be very expensive. So here is a recipe that shows a lot of promise:
Beat the egg and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in honey, molasses, juices,and lemon peel In another bowl, thoroughly combine flours, xanthan gum, and spices Blend into molasses mixture. Stir in almonds and candied fruits. Chill dough several hours or overnight.
The next day sprinkle some waxed paper with powdered sugar. Roll out dough to 14 x 9 inch rectangle and cut into 1 1/2 x 2 inch cookies. Bake on lightly greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees F. about 12 minutes. Cool slightly and remove remove the cookies from cookie sheet and cool on rack.
While warm, brush with lemon glaze Lemon Glaze: Combine 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and enough lemon juice (about 2 tsp) to make a glaze. We hear that the cookies are better if allowed to sit a few days before eating.
Don’t even get me talking about Bauer Schnitzel and Gluehwein. Enjoy.
WJE sax section, are you practicing this holiday break? ;o)
I’ve gotten so many e-mails about Theo and his recent disappearance I’ve decided to finish the story. After Theo showed up in the house looking so bad, Suzy called the vet and made an emergency appointment for that afternoon. So we went to lunch at a nearby place to try to calm down. When we returned home we found sweet Barb, a fellow musician, looking around for Theo in the neighborhood. It was pouring down rain, this is Seattle after all, so we asked her in for some hot cocoa and to talk. She had lost her cat and knew how much pain we were in. We were flabbergasted at her actions; what a nice friend.
The vet determined that Theo was severely dehydrated and gave him one of those shots that deposits a lump of water under the skin. She also gave him an anti-barfing med. The intestinal xrays were sent to a specialist for a reading but the doc said they looked fine. By the next day, Theo was starting to eat again. And now he is playing again and looks much nicer, having had the energy to lick his fur clean and shiny.
We want to thank everyone for their concern and best wishes. I didn’t expect this to hit us so hard emotionally, but I should have known. It’s one thing when a cat is approaching 20-years old and dies. But with Theo so young, well it did take it’s toll.
It’s sad day in the Gandalfe house. :o(
Leblanc Clarinet Factory in Wisconsin to Shut Down
December 05, 2007: 11:08 AM EST
NEW YORK (Associated Press) – The Leblanc Inc. clarinet factory will shut down, cutting 100 jobs at what once was one of Kenosha’s best-known companies, its corporate owners said.
Conn-Selmer, Inc. said Tuesday production would be transferred to its woodwind factory in Elkhart, Ind., over the next 12 months. The subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments has owned Leblanc since 2004.
"This very difficult decision regarding Kenosha reinforces our commitment to remain a profitable U.S. manufacturer of band instruments," Steinway CEO Dana Messina said in a prepared statement.
Leblanc came to Kenosha after city native and instrument repairman Vito Pascucci visited the firm and befriended Leon Leblanc while serving in the military in France during World War II. At Leblanc’s invitation, Pascucci made Kenosha the U.S. base for Leblanc in 1946 and eventually bought the company.
While best known for its clarinets, the company grew to manufacture other types of band instruments, acquiring and developing factories elsewhere in Wisconsin. But declines in school music programs and the introduction of inexpensive imports instruments would cut into business.
The Pascucci family sold the company to Steinway for $36 million in 2004.
Conn-Selmer said that as a result of the plant closure, it expects to incur charges of $800,000 to $1 million over the next four quarters, including severance costs, preparation costs at the Elkhart plant and costs for relocation of machinery and inventory.
Update, we found Theo, hiding in the house very sick, barfing, and tired. Suzy is taking him to the vet as we speak. Thank you everyone for your concern and words of encouragement.
Last night we had the normal gang over for music lessons with the always stellar Neil Proff. Somehow the cat must have gotten into the studio, because this morning we could not find Theo. We suspect that when one of the musicians left the house, lugging an instrument case, that Theo got out the back door.
I’ve been gnashing my teeth; I should have locked the music studio door to the rest of the house. This would have never happened. Suzy and I ran the neighborhood, hung posters, e-mailed the home owners’ association and started the process of talking to neighbors. Fortunately Theo is micro-chipped, but we are so upset about this. This is day one of the search.
Theo, missing in action.
Hey, We just made total elves of ourselves. Check it out by clicking this.
Quinn the Eskimo Vintage Horns
The Bis Key Chronicles 