Christmas is already upon many of us.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas!

There is a beautiful song that we really need to play, dedicated to the composer (who has recently died).  As you might have guessed, the song is "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen.  We can't overlook this.

This is a beautiful tune, and very popular, but the lyrics delve into S&M, how love turns into something else, and stuff that we really don't want to perform in front of an audience that will include children.

I had considered playing it as strictly instrumental, but that does not really cut it.  Much of the melody is going back and forth between two notes.  This beautiful and dramatic tune is really carried by the lyrics.  We really cannot and should not do this as strictly instrumental.

I needed to find or make alternate lyrics.  Fortunately, Don McLean came to the rescue.

Has anyone ever heard of the tune "Halleluljah" played to the lyrics of "American Pie"?  This does take a little bit of a shoehorn, but it can be made to fit.

- A

We went to Mexico, with mixed results.  We saw some incredible things, and we also saw the worst of the "ugly Americans".  This was also an exercise in sleep deprivation.

My initial plan was not to speak Spanish.  My wife does not speak that language, so it would be very rude to speak over her head as if she were a child.

That plan did not last very long.  Not speaking the language, they treated us like stupid Americans.  We had enough of that.

We got a little better service after I started speaking Spanish.  I am not talking about the "me Tarzan you Jane" level of Spanish.

I also showed respect for their people, and showed respect for their culture.  They were a bit surprised, which really is a shame.  They were not used to this.

After a couple days of speaking their language and acting like human beings instead of shaved apes, we were more welcome at that resort.  Go figure.

No, it was not rude to speak Spanish even though my lovely wife could not understand it.  She enjoyed hearing me slide from one language to another and back again, translating as needed.

- A

Mrs. A mentioned that one of her friends had a series of posts regarding "can you remember and/or have you ever used this".

He posted photos of a rotary phone and an outhouse and what not, then he posted a photo of some pseudo cave men trying to work with a pile of rocks.  My immediate response was "Oh, Hell yes!  I have done that at work!  Stone tools?  Been there, done that!"

Several years ago we had a major layoff, about 70%.  There was a rumor that some of the departing employees were taking their tools with them.  One of the remaining employees had the bright idea to take all the tools from every work station and from the workshop and hide all of them so they would not be stolen.

I had a project on a short deadline.  Long story short, I had to make stone tools to get the job done.  I needed a hammer.  Moderately big rock tied to a stick by shoelaces.  Some friends noticed, and wanted to put this in our "engineering hall of fame" as if that mattered.  I told them no, I needed the shoelaces.

That's not the only time I used stone tools at work, but that's the most memorable.

- A
(sorry, but Alan does not yet have a smiley for a troglodyte)

It's been almost 3 months since I have played with our fiddler.  Scheduling is a pain.

We both had a visceral need to get together and catch up and (more importantly) make some music.

We caught up on what's new, played a few tunes, and then I casually interjected a baroque tune I had learned at the festival.

It was a tune he had learned many years ago but had forgotten.  We noodled it out for a bit, then I downloaded the score, then we had some fun with it.

We played it straight for a little while (so he got a solid footing) and then I shredded the harmonies.  Double the tempo but add other stuff while he continues to play the melody straight and normal.

We will see what we can make of this.  So far so good.

This Friday Mrs. A came in from a work trip.  I knew she would be tired and hungry and also tired of eating out (would want home cooked food).  I did not know what she would want to eat.  I had a variety of dishes ready to go, with food ready to eat in at most a half an hour.  I asked her what she wanted, and gave her a list of what was ready to go.

We could have had a nice hot curry (chicken and veggies), stuffed baked potatoes, burgers, queso dip and chips, a few other things that do not come to mind, or artichoke and spinach dip on fresh bread.  She chose the artichokes.  I had everything ready to go into the oven.

Ten minutes into the twenty minute cook time, she mentioned that she didn't like artichokes or artichoke dip.  She asked me where I got the dip from, or is it my own.  I told her that this one is mine, that this might be something like the gumbo or the pralines.  She might not have liked what she has had, but please give the benefit of the doubt in tasting mine.

She tried one.  She tried several more.  It was great to watch her ravenously eating the food she said she did not like, then eating more because it tasted so good.

Here's the basic recipe:

• 1 can artichoke hearts
• 3/4 to 1 cup mayo
• 3/4 to 1 cup grated or shredded parmesan cheese

As you can see, the exact proportions are a matter of some debate.

Rinse the artichokes; they come in a brine that is very salty.  If you like salt, rinse them less.

Chop the artichokes.  How finely do you chop them?  Depends.  How large a chunk of artichoke would you like to see in the dip?  This is a matter of taste.

Use only good mayo for this.  Bargain basement will not do.

Combine the ingredients and put into a baking dish.  I use a pie tin.

Bake at 375F for about 20 minutes or until it has a nice bubbly cheesiness.  It's also good to leave it longer to get a bit of a brown crust on the cheese.

This is very good, but the real magic is how you dress it up.  Please don't use all of the following suggestions in the same batch.

These suggestions are combined with all else before it goes into the pan.  Press a couple cloves of garlic into it.  Finely mince a jalapeno into it.  Sprinkle some ground cayenne.  Shred some spinach.  Shred some fresh basil.  Add a little shredded mozzarella.  Take a leek.  Horseradish?  Do something unexpected and see if it works.  Keep in mind that there is not much cooking time, and not much time for flavors to meld and equalize.  Ingredients with strong flavors need to be minced very finely so the flavor is well distributed.

Please excuse me while I polish off the leftovers!   

As of today our work site is closed.   :'(

We had a "going away party" on Wednesday with some BBQ and some beer.  I had the BBQ.  It was great to see old friends who had been let go over the last 20 years.  That part was good.

This evening at the pub we had a proper send off for my best friend.  We had a good turnout, including half of the drum corps that RM heard.  We had not seen each other in several years.

It's good to catch up with old friends, but I sure wish it were under better circumstances.

- A