Song of the day

Posted on June 26, 2008 by pgold

One sad note about the White Album which thankfully is not too well known today is its use by Charles Manson.  I wont go into this more here, but you can read the Wikipedia article about it.

We are winding down to the end of this list of the best ten songs on the White Album.  So far we have:

  1. Back in the U.S.S.R.
  2. Dear Prudence
  3. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
  4. Happiness is a Warm Gun
  5. Martha My Dear
  6. Blackbird

Now for today’s additions.

  1. Piggies
    This song that appeared in the song of the day a while back.  As I explained there, George wrote this song as a social commentary on class and corporate greed.  Unfortunately, Charles Manson took the song to be an anti-police song.  The song is one of my favorite (and one of the least remembered of George’s songs).  The use of the Harpsichord is wonderful.
  2. I Will
    Paul wrote a number of songs for his wife Linda.  Two of them were Beatles songs and this is the first.  It is a beautiful ballad that is a foreshadow of what was to come for Paul and his music.

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEQeRLT1HNQ&hl=en]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EPmQwkeNCs&hl=en]

As an extra special addition, here is the first take of I Will from the Anthology Album.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V8eyCRQ6hQ&hl=en]

Posted in Music, The Beatles | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Cooking Class

Posted on June 25, 2008 by pgold

I have not posted any recipes in a while, and given that I am quite hungry right now, I thought I would post my recipe for Noddle Kugel.  To be fair, I got this recipe from my mother, so it is really not mine, but it is perhaps the best non-dairy kugel I have ever tasted.

The usual translation of a kugel in English is pudding. Not a pudding like a tapioca or a chocolate pudding, but like an English bread pudding. You mix your ingredients in your bowl, pour them into a casserole dish and then bake in the oven. What could be easier! Jews have been making Kugels for hundreds of years. No matter where you came from, there was always at least two or more kugel recipes. If you came from northeastern Europe you called them Kugels and if you came from southeastern Europe you called them kigels. No matter what you call them they are some of the best foods that Jewish cooking has ever created.

There are many different kinds of Kugels out there. The most well know of course is the lukshen kugel. Lukshen means noodles, so this is the ever famous noodle kugel or noodle pudding. If you have never had a sweet noodle kugel, I urge you to stop reading here and go directly to the recipe, make it and then eat! Those of you who have had noodle kugel know what we’re talking about.

Basic Noodle Kugel

1.   8 oz. wide egg noodles (the wider the better!)
2.   1/2 C Margarine, melted
3.   4 eggs beaten
4.   1/2 C Sugar
5.   1 t Vanilla
6.   8 oz. can of crushed pineapple with juice
7.   1/4 C raisins
8.   cinnamon/sugar

  1. Cook noodles so they are just a little bit under done.
  2. Drain noodles and rinse with water.  This will get rid of the extra starch and make them easier to work with.
  3. Put the noodles in a large bowl.  Add the melted margarine and mix well
  4. Add the eggs and mix well and then add the rest of the ingredients except the cinnamon/sugar.  When adding the pineapple, make sure to add the juice as well.
  5. Prepare 8″x8″ glass baking dish with non-stick spray.
  6. Pour mixture into dish.
  7. Generously sprinkle top with cinnamon/sugar.  Make sure to cover the entire surface.
  8. Place in pre-heated 350° oven for about 45 minutes.  The top should be nicely caramelized and brown.
  9. Let stand 5 – 10 minutes before serving.

We always double this recipe and you can also cut down by 1 egg and use only 2/3 of the margarine if you like.  I rarely do this though.

That is it!  You can take out the pineapple if you like but increase the suge by 1/4 C.  You can also make a savory kugel by taking out the sugar and fruit and adding a tsp of salt and pepper.  We also love to add sauted onions and chopped fresh spinach to our savory kugel.

Enjoy!

Posted in Cooking, Judaism | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Song of the day

Posted on June 25, 2008 by pgold

We interrupt One Hit Wonder Wednesday to continue the top ten songs from The Beatles White Album.  The list so far:

1.  Back in the U.S.S.R.
2.  Dear Prudence
3.  While My Guitar Gently Weeps
4.  Happiness is a Warm Gun

And today’s additions:

5.  Martha My Dear
I just like this song.  It was written by Paul, perhaps about Jane Asher (a longtime love interest of Paul’s) It has a great piano opening which appears throughout the song and a brass band as backup.

6.  Blackbird
Blackbird, also by Paul McCartney is probably my favorite song on the album.  Nuff said!

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTktu8TzB00&hl=en]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXiOwqMEUC0&hl=en]

Posted in Music, The Beatles | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Song of the day

Posted on June 24, 2008 by pgold

Today is day two of my tour of the White album.  As I stated yesterday I am presenting my top ten list from the white album, in the order the songs are heard on the album.  Perhaps on Friday I will rank them in some way.

So far we have:

1.  Back in the U.S.S.R.
2. Dear Prudence

and today’s picks…….

3.  While My Guitar Gently Weeps
This song is one of four songs by George Harrison that appear on the White Album.  Beginning with the Album HELP!, there would always be at least one Harrison song on each album.  This song is one of Harrison’s best known Beatles song (perhaps second only to Something).  The interesting thing about this song is that George decided to open up a book and write a song based on the first words he would see in the book.  Those were gently weeps.  This song is also the first time another artist is featured on a Beatles song (although uncredited).  Eric Clapton played lead guitar on this recording.  His being in the studio also brought a respite from the band’s bickering.

4.  Happiness is a Warm Gun
This is a John Lennon song and is a song about getting high.  The song is very complex in that it changes time signature at least 6 times during the song including 4/4, 3/4, 6/8, and 6/4.

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHChc2I7FKk&hl=en]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvV76jDZFyk&hl=en]

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Song of the Day

Posted on June 23, 2008 by pgold

Its Beatles week at My Kids Family again!  Yay!  This week I am going to pick some favorites from the album The Beatles which is more commonly known as “The While Album.”  This album is very significant in history of The Beatles.  First off, it is the best selling Beatles album and the 10th best selling album in the US.  It is during the White Album sessions that the group begins to fracture leading to the breakup of the group in 1970.

The Beatles did some of their best work on this album, but most of it was very individual.  Lennon and McCartney were not working together anymore, and although each song they wrote had both names on it, there was no collaboration.  Past albums were much more cohesive as a whole, and this album has many different musical genres on it.

I am going to present my top ten list from this album, in order that they appear on the album.  So today’s picks are:

Back in the U.S.S.R. and Dear Prudence.  Back in the U.S.S.R. is a parody of the Chuck Berry Song Back in the U.S.A. and the Beach Boy’s California Dreaming.  It was written by Paul.  The song segues into the next song Dear Prudence which was written by John.  Prudence refers to actress Mia Farrows sister who came with The Beatles (and her sister) to India to study Transcendental Meditation.  She stayed in her room for much of the time meditating.  John, fearing she was depressed, wrote this song for her.  It is perhaps the most beautiful of Johns songs.

Videos of The Beatles performing are rare (especially later songs).  These are audio only.

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-2LQGigK-0&hl=en]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5b2tbIr1e8&hl=en]

Posted in Music, The Beatles | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Favorite Lyric Friday

Posted on June 20, 2008 by pgold

We come, once again to the day when I get to pick a lyric that has some deep meaning to me and the world.

Ah, forget that, I just like the song.

Here is my favorite part

Home could be the Pennsylvania turnpike
Indiana’s early morning dew
high up in the hills of California
home is just another word for you.

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HJgNmOtVNY&hl=en]

Just for fun, click this link to see a version of the song from 1976!

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Flickr Game

Posted on June 19, 2008 by pgold

Wrekehavoc posted this meme that has been going around the blogs.  I thought is was fun.  Here is the game and I have a comment or two after.

The concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s Flickr Toys: mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food? right now?
3. What high school did you attend?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

I am somewhat of a photographer, so my coices, when possible, are of the best photograph even if it is not as descriptive.  Oh yeah, I am leaving out the actual answers for now, as I think it is more fun without.

Enjoy!

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Song of the Day

Posted on June 19, 2008 by pgold

I am way too addicted to television.  I watch a number of shows regularly with my wife and given that I have close to two hours of commuting every day for work, I watch tv shows on my computer while on the train.  I watch a lot of shows, and doing so allows me to see certain trends in tv programming.  This year, the trend seems to be 70’s nostalgia.  There are two shows, one that is on right now for the summer and one that will be on in the fall that take place in the 1970s.

The first is called Swingtown.  The show is about a family that moves to a nicer suburb in the Chicago area and they meet their new neighbors who are swingers.  The show is not about sex (although it is there, but mostly not seen) but about relationships and what keeps them together.  I definitely recommend this show.  The 2nd is called Life on Mars which is based on a British show of the same name.  A cop from Los Angeles is in an accident and wakes up in the 1970s.  It sounds silly, but judging from the pre-air screener I saw it will be a great show.

What is really great about these shows is that they get to hi-light some of the amazing music from the 70s.  In the screener from Life on Mars this classic was featured.

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5IVuN1N6-Y&hl=en]

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Where I’ve been

Posted on June 18, 2008 by pgold

When I began this blog my main intent was to have a place to write about my family in general and my children in specific.  Given my eldest child’s mental health issues, I have devoted a lot of space to him.  On top of that, I have given some space to small rants and political discussions.

Unfortunately in the past month or so I have been less able and less interested in writing.  Most of this is due to my sons ongoing care.  Everytime I would report a light at the end of the tunnel, he would take a turn for the worse (two steps forward, one step back).  I just lost the desire to write.

Now, as things are starting to look up again, I want to get back into writing.  And not just about Avi, but about all of my kids.  I will start with an update on Avi and then hopefully as the weeks go by, on my whole family.  At the end of the summer we are going to Disney, so I hope to do a lot of blogging about that (as we are all big Disney lovers!).

On to Avi.  Last time I wrote we were trying to get Avi into a partial hospitalization program.  This has happened, and he has been in this program for about three weeks.  At fist it was hard and he rebelled as much as he can.  This program, though, is set up for extremely oppositional children like Avi, and at this point, he is beginning to learn how to control himself (at least as the program) and he is even participating in his group therepy sessions (where he had not when he first started).

Our school district, in his IEP, stated that Avi should go out of district to a theraputic school that is set up to handel kids like Avi.  He is also supposed to get what they call extended school year, which essentially means that he will go to school 48 weeks out of the year, rather than the normal 36 – 38.

Yesterday Avi was accpeted into a school called Nu Vue Academy which is a public school run by our county education commission.  The social worker from our school district as well as Avi’s case worker from the hospital would like to see him there and soon after the meeting we were told that the school district as approved this.  On Monday, June 30, Avi will begin this program.

So, as the light come more into fucus, we are hoping that this next chapter will be what is best for Avi.

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One Hit Wonder Wednesday

Posted on June 18, 2008 by pgold

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, it’s back!  One Hit Wonder Wednesday!  So to get back into things, I am picking the number 5 One Hit Wonder in the US.

In the early 1980’s MTV was just beginning and it was due to songs like this that made MTV a big hit.  Before I reveal the song, you should listen to the following song on YouTube.  I think after you hear this, you will know the song.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAhuwfaU4vs&hl=en]

This song was recorded by the British group Racey in 1979.  It never went anywhere.  Later that year, Toni Basil recorded this song in the US (changing the title and the words to fit a femal singer) and it was shelved until 1982, when it was released and a video was filmed.  The song quickly jumped to the number 1 slot in America.

So without further ado, here is Mickey by Toni Basil.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULk30EEMIY4&hl=en]

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment