Where Are the Salutes?

I see this happen throughout society, of course, but it deserves mention (complaint) when it happens at the Olympics. The first medal ceremony I saw this morning was for women's fencing in which the USA swept all three medals -- an amazing accomplishment, and hats off to these three talented young women.

But when they played the gold medal winner's national anthem (in this case it represented all three winners' country -- the US) none of the three girls placed their hands over their heart during the playing of "The Star Spangled Banner." (See the last photo in the series of photos at the link.)

I don't think most young people today realize that the American tradition is that every U.S. citizen salutes the flag during the playing of the national anthem. There are two kinds of salutes: one for persons in uniform (military, police, Boy Scouts, etc.) and one for civilians. The uniformed salute is what we typically see military people do -- hand raised to the hat visor or eyebrow -- but the civilian salute is the hand placed over the heart.

In the case of Olympic athletes, excuses like, "Well, I don't really respect America" seem out of place. They are personally entitled to that view, of course, but by representing the US at the Olympics you would think that respect for country and flag is a given. If a civilian in another non-representative context chooses not to salute the flag, that is their Constitutional freedom-of-speech right, which I respect.

The three young fencers almost looked like they had been told not to salute the flag with their hand over their heart -- they looked like they were doing something official since not one did it. So maybe there is some new Olympic rule that podium placers are excused from this show of respect. I don't get it if there is, but I say it just to acknowledge that I may be wrong about the lack of respect shown by the fencing winners.

These young women were very polite and well-spoken about their pleasure in winning a medal for their country, so I assume no disrespect was intended. I think they're just like a lot of young folks today who have inherited a waterered-down tradition. But having been a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, and member of the military, I've been saluting the flag all of my life in and out of uniform. Just not sure why that respectful tradition shouldn't continue.

Parasitized Tomato Hornworm

Summer and tomatoes wouldn't be complete without the familiar tomato hornworm. When the systems of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) are working as they should, the hornworm, which is destructive of tomatoes, will be parasitized by a tiny wasp that lays its eggs on the back of the hornworm. As the eggs become tiny cocoons containing wasp larvae (the little white objects) they draw sustenance from the body fluids of the hornworm, eventually sucking it dry and killing it. So, no spraying is necessary to control the hornworm as long as the little wasps are present to do their thing:

New Source for Rain Barrels

I was driving near my house this week when I saw an elderly gentleman putting gas in his pickup at a quickmart -- and he had three barrels just like the one above in his truck. I whipped in and asked him where he got his barrels and he told me he paid $2 apiece at the AutoBell car wash on Monroe Road -- but he got the last three they had. The car wash receives their soaps, etc., in these barrels.

I came home and contacted the parent company of AutoBell in Charlotte to see if they had any barrels that had not been filled with chemicals. They didn't, but said to check with individual AutoBell locations for used ones. On my way back from Waxhaw this afternoon I passed a new AutoBell that has opened there, so turned in and the manager had two barrels he offered me for free. I had my bike in the trunk so could only fit one barrel in the car -- but that's really all I need for the moment so I can connect one more barrel to my existing one. Thankfully it's white -- identical to the ones Daniel got from Pepsi, so it will match the one I have perfectly. (It's all about the look, right?)

So -- car washes are a source of barrels on an ongoing basis. The manager said that all of AutoBell's chemicals that come in the barrel are "eco-friendly and nontoxic to the environment" -- so I'm hoping that if I give this one a good wash it will be okay for catching rainwater.

Finally

It's August 6 and I finally picked a tomato. I'm obviously not the only one who was interested in this 'mater.

Going for the face look here:



Not sure who or what I'll find beneath these holes:



At last count, there are now 18 (updated correction: 20) avocado trees growing in the front beds. Given our warm winters, there's a possibility I can save a couple. If not, it's been a fun experiment to watch them sprout and grow.

Best Rock Ever

I burned an audio CD today of 19 of the best rock songs ever -- that is, the ones I could think of at the moment. I'll add to the list in iTunes as more come to mind and burn new CDs. Someday if I have a car with a CD player I'll be ready to groove -- but right now it makes for good cleanin'/cookin'/washin'/hangin' out music:

Hard to Handle -- The Black Crowes
25 or 6 to 4 -- Chicago
Make Me Smile -- Chicago (maybe the best rock song ever)
Sunshine of Your Love -- Cream
Crossroads -- Cream
Listen to the Music -- Doobie Brothers
Fire -- Jimi Hendrix
Love Revolution -- Lenny Kravitz
Love, Love, Love -- Lenny Kravitz
I'm a Man -- Spencer Davis Group
Gimme Some Lovin' -- Spencer Davis Group
Magic Carpet Ride -- Steppenwolf
Born to be Wild -- Steppenwolf
Back in the High Life Again -- Steve Winwood
Roll with It -- Steve Winwood
Every Breath You Take -- Sting
Dancing in the Street -- Van Halen
I Can See for Miles -- The Who
Simply Irresistible -- Robert Palmer

Based on the list above, I welcome your suggestions for additions.

Current Trends

The current issue of Back Home magazine has good articles on rainwater storage (large quantities) and using yards for food production. You can't read the articles online but you can order a single issue copy for $5.00 Would be a good introduction to the magazine as well as getting the value of the articles. These two trends are signs of the times -- preparing to become self-sustainable in terms of food and water.

Cuil (Cool)

A new search engine, Cuil (say "cool," old Irish word for knowledge) comes online today, developed by some former Google Ph.D's. Theoretically searches three times as many web sites as does Google.

Most folks know that Google returns search results ranked by how often the returned sites are linked to by other web sites. In other words, the web itself (web users) determine the ranking of results. Cuil supposedly has new technology that analyzes the content of web sites and ranks them in the returns on the basis of pure content, not popularity among other web sites.

When I tried Cuil this morning it was noticeably slow in returning results compared to Google's instantaneous feedback. I'm sure speed will improve over time. The returns are formatted totally differently from Google. Because it's different, it seems "strange" -- but that's just because we've been Google-ized.

One other good thing about Cuil: Searches are private. Unlike Google, Cuil keeps no record of search histories or information about users. And it has an optional "Safe Search" (turned on by default -- nice) feature that theoretically blocks pornography, etc., from appearing in returns.

Cool Kid

A friend sent a link to this story -- there are many of these out there, stories of people with handicaps who achieve great things. But this one had a great video available and it's about a tough little eight-year-old guy. Adam Bender had one leg removed due to cancer when he was one year old but is now a standout catcher on his Little League baseball team. In a game he mostly uses his crutches once he gets on base -- functions on one leg the rest of the time. A good reminder of what's possible and why there's no whining in baseball (and shouldn't be any in life). This is a cool kid. (If you have, or have access to, kids of your own, show them this video.)

I linked above (in the title) to the Lexington, Kentucky, news web site where the video and an audio interview with his parents are if you want to go there. But the same video is on YouTube, so here it is:

Final Tour Sweepstakes Key Words

The last three key words for the Fly to the Finish Sweepstakes are:

champagne
yellow jersey
paris

Enter here.

The Tour de France is over -- a worthy winner this year. Two or three dopers caught and quickly removed from the Tour -- it appears that the anti-doping system is working. After last year's sad experience with cheating everyone wondered if the Tour would make a comeback this year and it definitely appears to have done just that.

Bikes and Gardens

Three young women took a 2,000 mile bike trip from Washington, D.C., to Montreal and back to document community agriculture (garden) developments and efforts. Their web site is here and a short trailer (of a forthcoming documentary? -- not sure) is below. These young women are obviously amateur videographers, but their hearts are in the right place:

Wendell Berry

I joined the Wendell Berry Society on Facebook and came across this video of the man speaking at a February 2008 rally in support of the mountains of Kentucky (against the ravaging of said mountains by the coal interests). I have never seen him speak so was fascinated to hear the voice that accompanies the pen. Unfortunately, not all will know of Berry or why he is so important, but someday, when he is gone and his pen is silenced, these videos will be priceless. Amazingly, searching for "Wendell Berry" on YouTube turns up only this video. Is it possible, as much as he speaks, that he has not been video'ed?

Miso Happy

Back to the soy discussion -- one of the kinds of fermented soy that I've been interested in learning about is miso (pronounced mee-so). I stumbled across this tiny company in Massachusetts that makes small batches of organic miso in the Japanese tradition: South River Miso. Unfortunately, they don't ship products during the summer. There is quite a lot of information about miso on their web site. I plan to go back in "the fall" to check on prices and ordering (and getting a "Miso Happy" T-shirt).

[P.S. I'm adding this note after posting the above. The Flock web browser I use has a built in blog editor which means you can post something that you find on the Internet directly to your blog without having to go through Blogger.com > new post, etc. When I first started using Flock a few months ago the blog editor never seemed to work well, so I stopped using it. But I tried it when posting the South River Miso info above directly from their web site -- and it worked perfectly. By that I mean that the formatting I use for my posts was duplicated -- it looks just like a post I would have made from blogger.com. For people who blog, use the social networking sites, etc., Flock has more built-in conveniences than any other browser.]

Saab Sweepstakes Key Words

Here are Saturday's Fly to the Finish Sweepstakes key words:

cadence
team director
time trial

Enter here.

Barring any catastrophe on the ride into Paris tomorrow, the podium will look like this:

1. Carlos Sastre (Spain - Team CSC)
2. Cadel Evans (Australia - Team Silence-Lotto)
3. Bernhard Kohl (Austria - Team Gerolsteiner)

An American, Christian Vande Velde (Team Garmin-Chipotle) came in 5th place overall.

Cancer and Cell Phones

This is not new news, but the cell phone = cancer connection got another boost yesterday from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. I saw this report on the TV news last night, but here's a link to the study. Here's a link to a February, 2008, study at Tel Aviv University in Israel showing a similar connection.

There have also been studies showing no link. People who use cell phones need to be aware of the growing concern. Suggested solutions are to use a cell phone with a speakerphone feature so you can hold the phone away from your head/face, or use an earpiece/speaker device with a long enough wire so you can lay the phone down away from your body. DON'T lay the phone in your lap when talking while driving using a wired earpiece!

Fly to the Finish Key Words

Friday's Tour Sweepstakes key words are:

off the back
pack
saddle

Enter here.

Fly to the Finish Key Words

Today's Tour de France Sweepstakes key words are:

polka dot jersey
white jersey
green jersey

Enter here.

Soy

Soy is surely hotly debated. I continue to err on the side of caution regarding consuming any soy that isn't fermented (tempeh, natto, miso). That's only because most of what I have read makes that distinction. This article by Dr. Mercola (of whom I am a lukewarm reader) provides an overview of why non-fermented soy is DANGEROUS to one's health. I can't verify the science, of course -- am just linking this article as part of the ongoing debate.

Kruidenier's Garden

As a contrast to Mr. Grier's garden, I update the growth of the lowly sweet potato I stuck in the ground the other day. Coming along nicely, I would say. (Compare with the original photo a week ago.)

Grier's Garden III

While running errands today I stopped by Mr. Grier's garden -- fortunately he was open so I got some corn, banana peppers, and two kinds of eggplant. Wanted to get more but I'm a little cautious about his use of chemicals -- though it's minimal. Following are some pictures:

The man, the legend -- James Grier. Does he not look like a good gardener?



In his John Deere Gator. I want a Gator. Actually, I want a reason to need a Gator (a farm, a market garden, an estate -- I'm not picky):



Flowers, yellow squash, and tomatoes:



His tomato plants just drip with fruit:



I was encouraged to see the tiny holes in his eggplant leaves that are caused by leafhoppers -- looks like an organic approach. I note, however, that only this one leaf shows signs of leafhopper damage. It looks like a large, original leaf -- probably attacked before he dusted the plants:



A wall of sunflowers:



On these next two pictures I'm standing in the same place on the back edge of the garden, first looking left, then right -- just to show the size of the garden. He even has other sections, along with huge mulch piles, etc., down behind his house. This is only a part:





Mr. Grier's son-in-law works with him on the garden -- but when I first started visiting a few years ago he managed all this himself. He's an amazing man. I think I mentioned in one of the earlier posts about his garden that it operates on the honor system. Either he or his son-in-law are usually around, but if they're not you just get your veggies (prices are posted) and put the money in a (locked, nailed-down) box with a slot in the top. I wonder if Harris Teeter has ever tried that?

Fly to the Finish Key Words

Today's Tour Sweepstakes key words are:

peloton
gap
soar

Enter here.

Today's Alpe d'Huez stage was awesome -- well worth watching tonight at 8:00 EST on Versus.