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Very scary out there boys and girls….
1
Nov
“MF Global Holdings Ltd. acknowledged to federal regulators that money had been diverted out of customer accounts in violation of futures rules and law, according to a federal official.
The Wall Street brokerage, which filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, acknowledged the shortfall amid mounting questions from regulators as they went through the firm’s books while trying to facilitate a sale to Interactive Brokers Group Inc., the official said. Regulators still don’t know where the customer funds went, who directed the move or how widespread the practice was, the official said.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204394804577012061970129588.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
What a dumbass.
As someone who worked at a hedge fund, and handled portfolio accounting for some of the funds, you NEVER touch the client’s money. Not to save another client. Not to save yourself. This is so, so dumb and such perfect fodder for the Occupy losers. Gah.
I guess he got so used to spending other people’s money as a politician, he forgot it really wasn’t his.
Dumb ass.
But then there is this theory too:
http://www.tfmetalsreport.com/blog/2840/mfing-global
Why I buy physical gold and silver. More hoarding commencing…
29
Oct
November is here in a couple days. I am not a fan of November. My mom died in November a few years ago. 2 years ago my brother ended up in a coma in November. Last year we had to rush Storm in for emergency surgery to remove a cancerous tumor and I almost lost him in November. And then a week later my brother died.
Pretty much not a fan of November.
I AM going to keep it together. I plan on taking my brother’s ashes up to a mountain top and letting him go next week. I will cry. And be sad. But I will be OK.
Yeah, not a fan of November.
Dinner tonight….
- 6 oz Crumbled Feta Cheese (I used the fat-free President Herbed w/tomato & basil)
- Uncured Bacon, cooked and crumbled (I bought the pre-packaged stuff – can get at Trader Joe’s or most grocery stores)
- 6 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, pounded flat (I bought the chicken breast steaks as they are already thinner)
- Toothpicks or kitchen twine (or whatever you can find in your kitchen drawer)
- 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tsp (each) Dried Oregano, Dried Basil
- 1 can (28 oz.) Diced Tomatoes & Juice
Combine feta and bacon in a mixing bowl. Place 1/4 cup of the cheese/bacon mixture on the center of each chicken breast. Fold breast over to enclose mixture; fasten with a toothpick or kitchen twine.
Heat a large sauté pan and add oil. Heat oil to medium and add stuffed breasts; turn breasts while cooking to brown on all sides. Add tomatoes and seasoning to pan. Lower heat to a simmer; cook about 15 – 20 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°. Place chicken on a serving platter (remove toothpicks or twine) and spoon tomato sauce over.
I served with quinoa and some sauteed zucchini and mushrooms.
YUM!
I found this recipe at Trader Joe’s. Obviously they had all of their barnded ingrediemts but I didn’t want to drive over the hill to go to Trader Joe’s. See TJ – you should have opened up where the New Leaf is now (old Albertsons) and then I would have one. But nooooooo…our market is too small for you on the coast. Whatevs. Excellent recipe though! :)
I’m wondering where is the outrage for stuff like this when it is finally ferreted out? So “we” (the “99%” which I would never be part of no matter how much I had or didn’t have) are supposed to be so outraged because the evil rich people: banks, Wall Street, corporations, etc are so horrible and evil and bad and how they have ruined the world? But stuff like this is OK?
The level of corruption that is rampant in unions and government is WAY more egregious in my opinion. Disgustingly so. There are tons of stories like these. TONS. Just read a little about the boondoggle that is the California Teachers Union. Good grief. But hey – no big deal. Right?
Where is the outrage for things like this? Where are marches on Washington? Or your local governments? Or your corrupt unions? Oh wait…those are the same people currently occupying or supporting (and dirtying) Wall Street and other cities with their tent towns.
You want to protest? Fine. Go ahead. That’s a right granted by this GREAT nation (you know, the one you want to ruin.) But where does it say you have the right to camp out on city streets that are maintained for with tax dollars? And keep the police occupied so crime can be committed elsewhere? No – you are not entitled to that. Go home. And then come back. This isn’t Woodstock. And it’s not Motel 6.
The fact that MTV is going to capitalize on the Occupy Wall Street BS by making a “True Life” reality/news segment for it shows this “movement” for what it really is – a circus sideshow. Awesomely, MTV is owned by Viacom. You know, a big media conglomerate. Undoubtedly run by more of those evil rich people from Corporate America.
And President Obama? What Presidential campaign received more Wall Street dollars than any other in history? He might as well have run with a Goldman Sachs stamp of approval on his forehead. So where is the outrage OWSers? Just can’t reconcile protesting against all that “Change” you voted in? Change my arse.
But why protest that.
This year’s champagne event was fun! Last year’s was rainy and freezing. This year’s was HOT! Crazy bay area weather. Kinda perfect for bubbly tasting though.
They had a few new ones to the event this year such as Bollinger, Salon and Charles Heidsieck. And a few smaller, lesser known ones as well. I didn’t get to the Salon before they ran out but we have several bottles at home so no big deal. The line for it was ridiculous. I wanted to make sure to get to the ones I have never had before (and the Veuve Brut Rose of course) instead.
I definitely had a few favorites. The entire 3 tastings of Laurent-Perrier were fantastic. Also Baron Fuente. And of course the flight at the Louis Roederer table was great (although I did spit out the 2004 Vintage Blanc de Blancs.) This year, I don’t think the Cristal was my favorite of theirs (even though the 2004 Cristal was very delish.) They also recently bought another vineyard – Duetz – which was FANTASTIC. Highly recommend.
I also loved the entire flight from both Taittinger and Moet & Chandon (their was combined with Ruinart which was SO YUM!)
It was fun to be able to speak with the actual winemakers from some of the small houses that all flew out from France for both today’s event and yesterday’s in LA. The French will be invading Alcatraz and SF tomorrow :)
This event is always so much fun. Although I do have to say the first year I went it was combined with a charity auction that benefited a local animal rescue organization. I wish they would do that again. That was super fun. Last year’s was at their SF location. I much prefer the Redwood City one so I am glad they moved it back here (last year it was in SF due to renovations in RC.)
The people watching is also fun. Most people are your standard Menlo Park crowd. But you do get a few different ones :) I also liked “bag watching.” So many cool bags were being paraded around. A LOT of Chanel and LV.
I debated on outfits because I had no idea how hot it might be in the tent. It was HOT. And I finally wore heels again! 4.5″ heels – not wedges. Real heels! I knew I didn’t have to walk around too much :) Was good to wear again!!
The key to tasting is keep drinking water in between (although it was room temp so I couldn’t drink as much as I should have – I need ice water people!) and snack on the appetizers they had floating around. I was good to do both this year!!
Writing some of my favorites down for future purchasing (in no particular order):
Baron Fuente “Grand Reserve” Brut
Baron Fuente “Espirt” Brut
2004 Louis Roederer “Cristal” Brut
2004 Louis Roederer Brut
Deutz “Brut Classic”
2006 Fluteau Cuvee Prestige Brut Blanc de Blancs
Ruinart Brut Blan de Blancs
Ruinart Brut Rose (very, very good)
2002 Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage Brut
2000 Moet & Chandon “Dom Perignon” Brut
2004 Taittinger Brut
Taittinger “La Francaise” Brut
Taittinger “Prestige” Brut Rose
2000 Bollinger “Grande Annee” Brut
Fleury Brut Rose
2005 Elisabeth Goutorbe Brut
2002 Laurent-Perrier Brut
NV Laurent-Perrier Brut NV
NV Laurent-Perrier Cuvee Rose
Charles Heidsieck “Brut Reserve”
2000 Charles Heidsieck Brut
NV Veuve Cliquot Rose
1999 Pol Roger Brut Chardonnay
1999 Pol Roger Cuvee Winston Churchill
Interestingly, I liked the Dom better than the Cristal this year (and it’s cheaper!) The past 2 years it has been opposite. Perhaps bad years for Dom? Or maybe my taste buds are changing :) Although I just looked at the price list and the Salon was the most expensive being served. That explains why everyone was in line for it. They had the 1999 Salon. We have several bottles of the 1988 – I guess I better get on drinking that ASAP!! K&L is selling the 1988 for $400 per bottle. So maybe I should drink it to celebrate something….like Halloween. Or the huskies doing well. Or the nice weather! :)
I might have missed a good one, or mis-labeled one (doubtful though – I was determined to note every one I tasted.) My “rating” system as I taste is a star, 2 stars, an X (for yuck), or a circle (for uber fantastic) – highly technical :) No notes on oaky, toasty, peachy, dry, sweet, good for apertif, good for meals, drink now, drink in 2 years, etc, etc. That’s for the pros. I just note down if I will like to buy or NEED to buy :)
I have to say for the price, the 3 from Laurent-Perrier were awesome. I will definitely be buying some. We have a wine cellar in our new house and 1/2 of it will be dedicated to bubbly. So I need some good ones to fill it up!!
21
Oct
Today started with some stress. Just usual stress, nothing unusual. Storm did want to go on his walk, but didn’t really want to eat breakfast. No big deal except he didn’t really want much dinner either. Although he did eat his previous night’s dinner since I bought him some McDonald’s cheeseburgers. But he can’t really eat those every day!
Pretty much every day I have husky stress. I imagine this is how it is for people with human children. Yikes. It’s back of the head stress. Like you are always worrying, wondering, etc. Not forefront of the brain crying stress. But it’s always there. Stormy has been a trooper. He has gone through so, so much in the last 2 years. It’s truly not fair. But he does it with a smile pretty much every day. And he is doing really well! And I know that every day since his 2nd surgery is a blessing. It’s funny when he goes in for his check-ups – the doctors, nurses and admin staff are all so happy to see him. He is a smile maker :)
But the past couple days he has seemed a bit down. This stresses me out. Even though he has been growing his fur back at a crazy rapid rate! And I know this actually burns tons of calories (when huskies blow/re-grow their coats) so it’s no wonder is seems more tired! And he looks so cute! And happy and healthy! We get stopped on every single walk by people who ask if he is a puppy or (if they see us regularly) who comment on how awesome he looks. What a bud.
So after our walk this AM, I went to the pet store and bought a new dry dog food. He has eaten the same brand for 9 years. It’s one of the kinds they feed the mush teams on the Iditarod. Angelus loves it and Storm always has. But after his tummy issues on his cancer meds, he has been a very finicky eater. Which is so, so weird for Storm. Storm has always been a vacuum. So I make him chicken, steak and cheeseburgers every night. Mixed with his dry food. And I’ve tried different flavors of our brand and then different brands. He nibbles at them a bit but never really eats much of them. But I realized he loves his lamb and rice cookies so figured I would try a simple lamb and rice dry food. of course, there are different variations and brands and do I buy the fancier brand with all holistic (of course only made in the US), etc etc. So I was in the pet store for like 30 minutes debating.
He does eat his treats with excitement so I don’t think he has any tummy issues anymore now that we took him off his chemo. But I need to make sure he gains weight. Which means he needs to eat!
So tonight when I gave him some chicken with his new dry food (Nutro Lamb and Rice) and he ate it – actually started eating his dry nuggets and not just the chicken with melted cheese. And didn’t require to be hand fed! I was so happy :)
It’s weird how settled my own body (and soul…and brain) becomes once I stop stressing for a minute. Stress is a killer. This is for sure. So the huskies and I need to keep each other calm :)
Tonight…I am calmer. The huskies are sound asleep – Angelus is racked out on the deck and Storm on his bed with feet in the air. Pretty sure they are too. He wanted to go on 3 walks today! Plus I think he likes when he gets to hang out at home with his Mom, and it’s sunny out. He very much prefers Mom’s new schedule. Such a funny husky that likes the sun! But no denying he is much happier today.
Who knows how we (Royal We) will feel tomorrow. But we all are happy, calm and stress-free tonight :)
21
Oct
So I DVRed and am finally caught up on 3 new shows this season:
Ringer
American Horror Story
Revenge
I caught up on Ringer first since I saw the panel at SDCC and thought it looked pretty good. Plus it has Buffy in it :) It’s quite addictive and has GREAT clothes.
I started watching American Horror Story solely based on the cast. I don’t really like horror stuff. Too many scary movies. Who needs it. But I love Dylan McDermott (sorry…he is HOT and 50!! FIFTY! Whoa!) plus Mrs Coach (from Friday Night Lights) and Jessica Lange who is truly fantastic. Plus the rest of the cast is great. All of them. Really. It’s disturbing. And creepy. I will not ever watch it when I am home alone. But it’s great writing.
After I got my 2nd spinal cortisone injection on Tuesday, and had to stay home resting, I watched the 4 episodes of Revenge I had DVRed. LOVED it! What a guilty-pleasure fun show! Of course I love the bad girl, Madeline Stowe – she is so much fun to hate :) Great show about getting revenge – nice!!! No BS moral quandary – revenge for a huge wrong! Muahuahauhuaha!!!
My problem with all 3 of these shows is that while they are all very entertaining and fun to watch, I have to wonder how long they can last. Can they go past 1 season? Shows like this need to be written for the storyline. Like Lost. Like X-Files. They should not be kept going solely because they become sensations. And they get popular with good ratings so they get written to drag on. It happened to Lost (although they redeemed in their last season.) And don’t even get me started on X-Files. Such a FANTASTIC show that was dragged on for no good reason when they should have wrapped it up on a high note.
We’ll see. Personally I do not see how any of these 3 shows can go past season 1. Their plots are written to be a great story told. And then that’s it.
I hope their season 1 is a crazy, high ratings whirlwind that the actors and writers and studios make tons of money, ratings and awards from. But please do not drag them on. Stay true to their currently awesomely fun plots/story lines. Or be really, really creative if you intend to continue. Because I do not accept a past season was a dream sequence. Or that a main character is kidnapped by ?aliens? (or someone) or that their are others spying on Others of relatives of others from an island that doesn’t even exist…..
Cuz I’ve been there and done that. Plus I’m still convinced it was Vincent’s dream all along…
20
Oct
20
Oct
Just received my new dish from Amazon! I saw it at Williams Sonoma last week and *almost* bought it right then BUT I knew I could find it online at a better price (at least the same price with no gouging CA sales tax! Ridiculous that I am highly taxed when I earn my money and then taxed AGAIN when I spend it – jerks!)
It’s so pretty! And I think the rooster handle is what sold me on it :) That and the awesome silver-gray color. Kinda Storm-colored :)
I bought it to braise short ribs in. Staub’s braiser is a bit smaller and doesn’t have the rooster handle. So got the larger Coq Au Vin dish instead. Plus, after making the mistake of making BBQ ribs to eat for dinner while watching the season 2 premier of The Walking Dead last week, I am off most meat for awhile. So the ribs might wait till winter but I’m sure I’ll come up with a good recipe to try in my new fancy dish!
But I think having more fun tools for the kitchen makes cooking a bit more fun. As does more bubbly or wine :) (Julia Child would approve!)
