Last week, I put up a tight shot of a pink hyacinth, “up close and personal.” This week, the blue hyacinth takes center stage. I still wish you could smell the beautiful fragrance of these flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.
Damsel and I prepared our Superbowl Sunday meal today - we decided on pulled pork sandwiches served with blue cheese broccoli slaw and a dill pickle, a traditional Memphis pit BBQ meal.
I started the picnic roast (pork shoulder) in the crockpot early this morning, throwing in some pepper, fruit juices, chopped onion and garlic cloves. We let it cook all day. When I pulled the pork it was literally falling off of the bone. I used a couple of forks to shred the meat and separate the lean stuff away from the fat.
Damsel came up with a wonderful home made barbecue sauce with that tart southern cooked taste. She placed a scoop of the shredded pork on a bun and topped it with the sauce. It was the best.
We chowed down during the pregame show and took our after dinner walk at halftime. It was a great meal, a good football game and an all around great day - really a Super Sunday.
While most of the east is enjoying the biggest blizzards in 90 years (so much for that global warming crap), we had a gentle rain last night which this Christmas cactus seemed to enjoy. Click on Damsel’s image to enlarge.
Saturday, February 6, 2010 marks the 99th birthday of President Ronald Wilson Reagan, one of three great presidents whose birth is celebrated this month. Washington and Lincoln were born in February and it’s fitting that Presidents Day is also celebrated on the fifteenth of the month.
Image - President Reagan fielding questions from the White House press
Rather than trying to describe this great man to you on this anniversary, I’ll let him speak for himself by offering some of his most famous and endearing quotations.
On the second amendment . . .
“You won’t get gun control by disarming law-abiding citizens. There’s only one way to get real gun control: Disarm the thugs and the criminals, lock them up, and if you don’t actually throw away the key, at least lose it for a long time… It’s a nasty truth, but those who seek to inflict harm are not fazed by gun controllers. I happen to know this from personal experience.”
On entitlements and Government control . . .
“I would suggest that no one should have a vested interest in poverty or dependency, that these tragedies must never be looked at as a source of votes for politicians or paychecks for bureaucrats. They are blights on our society that we must work to eliminate, not institutionalize.”
“It is not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work - work with us, not over us; stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it.”
On conservatism in politics . . .
“Our people look for a cause to believe in. Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors, which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people?”
On American Pride . . .
“We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.”
“Why should we be frightened? No people who have ever lived on this earth have fought harder, paid a higher price for freedom, or done more to advance the dignity of man than the living Americans, those Americans living in this land today.”
And then there was always his sense of humor . . .
“Republicans think that every day is the 4th of July, while Democrats think it is April 15th.”
“You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.”
“Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.”
“Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born.”
“I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I’m in a cabinet meeting.”
“Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.”
“Détente is what a farmer has with his turkey until Thanksgiving Day.”
From the 1992 Republican Convention . . .
“And whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying your way. My fondest hope for each one of you — and especially for young people — is that you will love your country, not for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her idealism. May each of you have the heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works that will make the world a little better for your having been here. May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never lose your natural, God-given optimism. And finally, my fellow Americans, may every dawn be a great new beginning for America and every evening bring us closer to that shining city upon a hill.”
And Finally,
“I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph, and there is purpose and worth to every life.” — Epitaph, Tomb of Ronald Reagan
In addition to Toyota’s accelerator pedal vehicle recall, there may be additional problems in the Prius’ brake system.
From the OC Register:
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said today that it is opening a formal investigation into problems with brakes on the 2010 Prius hybrid.
The probe, the agency said, is “to look into allegations of momentary loss of braking capability while traveling over an uneven road surface, pothole or bump.
The news comes a day after the car’s brakes were put into question in several media reports and the Japanese government ordered the automaker to look into the issue. Of course, this latest news comes amid two recalls for millions of cars worldwide over unintended acceleration.
The guy in the cartoon (old hippie-lookin’ dude) reminds me of another Prius driver I posted about here for having an unusual paint job . . .
There are about a dozen of white and yellow daffodils blooming on the patio this week. Click on the image to enlarge.
EXPLOSION ON THE SUN
Coronagraphs onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) observed a bright double-ringed coronal mass ejection (CME) billowing over the sun’s western limb during the late hours of Feb. 1st. At present, the source of the blast is unknown.
The bright spot to the left of the sun is Venus. Click on the image for a slightly larger view.
Via SpaceWeather.com
Obama’s true inspiration to the congressional team . . .
