It's Friday and I HAVE to mention what happened yesterday!

🎉🎉🎉

34 for 45 and TFG was found guilty! 

The sad truth is coming out

Yesterday supernana wrote about the "below-the-line" crews that make TV and movies possible and how they are rarely credited publically. The news has been about how since the strike, work has not resumed at the speed many people outside of the entertainment business had assumed would happen.  There are many reasons why this hasn't happened, but that's not the truth today's post is about.

Today I'm talking about how once again unpopular political opinions, this time about Gaza, are being used to deny employment and causing what amounts to the same sort of "blacklisting" that came about in the McCarthy era. At some point, we are going to have to recognize that support for Palestine is NOT anti-Semitism and is NOT support for Hamas or terrorism.

It is important to remember that while we must be ready to accept the consequences of our actions, it is never right to punish someone for their political beliefs because we disagree with them. 

I have an opinion-The Supernana surprise guest post

 Seriously, Savvy doesn't even know I'm posting. She gave me access years ago and never revoked it. I imagine she will now. I'm sitting on the xxxx Lot today where many famous and wonderful films and TV series have been made. I'm thrilled as this lot is the last one in Hollywood and one of the oldest. It never gets old being able to work here. However, there was a recent article in the LA Times about Hollywood's "below-the-line" workers. To everyone else, that's the crew. It's only Hollywood types that say below the line and above the line because they are elitist. Anyway, crews have been the most affected by COVID and the dual strikes last year. There are so many people who work on television shows and movies. At least 200 more than you think. And while I'm glad that the strikes got some results for writers, particularly lower-level writers, and put in some protections for actors, they really hurt the MAJORITY of workers in Hollywood.

I could go on and on about this, but I really want to say this: watch the credits, commercials, and regular network TV. People work really hard to give you a half-hour show once a week, or a binge-able show on a streamer. The credits are important because you can see how many people it takes to make a thing. Plus, it's the only time people get any recognition. Commercials, while annoying, are the way we get paid. Shows keep getting canceled because we are losing ad money. Yes, it is pleasant to skip them, but man they keep all those people you just saw on the credits employed. Network TV- live watching is so important. I don't think y'all realize how important the 22-episode network model is. Without it, people can't work, shows can't get made and most importantly, people can't learn how to make more TV. The only way to learn how to make TV is to make TV. The streamers have changed this model so no one is learning how to make TV. Anyway, rant over. Just make sure you keep watching and going to the movies. We love what we do and want to keep doing it. Rant over. 

When you write a post and then decide that it's far too opinionated to share, so you have to write another one

 Or you remember that on Wednesday, you can post a picture without comment.

I bet you thought I was going to miss today!

 Nope, I didn't wake up early today,  BUT I wouldn't let this day go by without a post! Sadly, while yesterday's dinner was fantastic, we didn't take pictures of the finished dish or the delicious tacos we made because we were all too busy eating!

There might be a photo added after lunch since there are leftovers and I'm the only one home today.

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I just started reading Erik Larson's latest book, The Demon of Unrest. It's a work of non-fiction and is "A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War" to quote the book cover.

I found his Note to Readers particularly intense and too close to our political truth here in America. The following is just the last paragraph.

"I invite you now to step into the past, to that time of fear and dissension, and experience the passion, heroism, and heartbreak-even humor-as if you were living in that day and did not know how the story would end. I suspect your sense of dread will be all the pronounced in light of today's political discord, which incredibly., has led some benighted Americans to whisper once again of secession and civil war."  ~ Erik Larson, New York, 2023

Memorial Day in the USA

 Today I'm sharing an interesting piece of American history that was lost after the Civil War. This event took place in Charleston, South Carolina in 1865 after the bodies of 260 Union soldiers were discovered in a hastily dug mass grave at the site of the Washington Race Course and Jockey Club.

I hope that my readers will take a moment to read this history lesson and remember that while we now celebrate Memorial Day as a tribute to all servicemen and women who've made the ultimate sacrifice, there was a moment in time when Americans came together to honor the men who died to preserve the Union from those who would dismantle it.

 

OMG! she's really going to do it, at least today anyway.

 Today is Doughnut Day around here, so no fancy breakfast or Mimosas for us. BUT, the MITM aka CreoleBeBop will be making Linguine and Clam Sauce for dinner tonight, so I am not complaining. He also has plans for Memorial Day's dinner, so my only job will be scullery maid! We have a dishwasher, so clean-up is fairly easy since I'm a "clean up as the chef cooks" gal. 

I think I'll make a flan for dessert tomorrow since he's making Carne Adovada and it will be a great complement to the dish's heat.

It just hit me that this 10 Day Challenge is turning into a"WTF is Savvy having for breakfast/lunch/dinner today" blog which wasn't my intention, but I'm blogging. I'm pretty certain I'll have something else to talk about tomorrow. Wait, I won't because tomorrow I'll probably post about the dinner the MITM made along with pictures because that's what we do around here, talk about what we're going to eat, and then take photos of what we've cooked.

I feel like Forrest Gump right now...

           And that's all I have to say about that.

Day 1 or Let's see what Savvy can come up with! PHOTO UPDATE

 It's Saturday and I am making breakfast (for a change) today. 

Of course, because it's ONLY Saturday there will be no Mimosas (that's for tomorrow when the MITM is in charge). I found this great (and really easy) recipe for an oven-baked blueberry pancake! One bowl for mixing and one cast-iron skillet for the oven! If you want the recipe, here it is! I'm seriously thinking that I might need to ask the MITM for a Mimosa after all my hard  serious efforts today! I mean, it's early and I am awake and no one has made coffee yet! Or maybe, I'm supposed to do that, too. 

I'll add a picture* to this after it's done and before it's consumed! 

*Unless it doesn't look as good as the picture Martha posted!

The Baton has been passed...

Tomorrow will begin my 10-day attempt at posting EVERY.SINGLE.DAY  as Scarlet did whilst Jon was away!

*come back tomorrow because this one is not part of the 10 challenge*

Next Question

 Here it is:

Can you drive from Stockholm to Paris with a European passport? (Swedish, Norwegian?) What route do you take? How many ferries are needed? How long would it take? Where would you stop overnight? Would there be security issues?  If so, what?

A Call for Help - Needed, an Art Detective

CreoleBeBop here.

Here's the gist of it - George Peter Alexander Healy, a renowned portrait painter circa the mid-1800s, painted a portrait of John Hewlett, an entrepreneur and aging businessman in New Orleans. The portrait was displayed at a Louisiana State Fair in New Orleans in 1868. It is referenced in a Times Picayune newspaper article. I would like to locate this painting.

Link to George Healy bio

Excerpt from Times Picayune article Jan 1868:

Saturday at the Fair Grounds

"Then there was an admirable picture of the noble Hancock, the man who Robert E. Lee characterizes as the first one in power who has raised one corner of the sombre pall which hangs over the Southern country. And there was the stern old sea-dog Farragut, his lips compressed, and giving evidence of his inflexible and dauntless spirit. The portrait of the illustrious Beauregard is a very fine and life-like one; and everybody who frequented The City Hotel ten or fifteen years ago will recognize the genial face of  John Hewlett as he looks kindly but seriously down from the canvas. This picture is by Healy, and an excellent one it is."

John Hewlett was a made man in New Orleans. He arrived in 1804 from "somewhere in England", of Celtic extract. He was a hustler who became a slave owner, a slave auctioneer, a French wine importer, a hotelier, a restaurant and bar owner/operator, a soldier who fought in the 1812 Battle of New Orleans, and the father of ten children in a placage arrangement with a free woman of color - Adele Liotau. I am a descendant of this union. He died in June of 1863 so I assume the portrait was late 1850s or early 1860s.

I know a lot about my third great grandfather, but don't know anything about him prior to his arrival in New Orleans or what he looked like. Hence my desire to find this painting.

How does one do this?

The floor is open for suggestions, guidance, and help. I've tried, believe me, but no luck.

Yes, this is post about whining, so skip it if you aren't inclined to indulge me...

 It's absolutely fine if you stop reading now because you know I can rant and rave like a banshee when I'm aggrieved. I won't hold it against you, in fact, I won't even know you've done so. Besides, I love all y'all no matter which way it goes.

*Thus endeth the caveat to proceeding*

And so it begins...

WTF is wrong with damned insurance companies when it comes to dealing with covered claims? WTF is the MITM aka CreoleBeBop having to call THEM about when contractors are supposed to arrive? WTF is it our responsibility to make them do their fucking job and stop inconveniencing us? Everything from the laundry room is now in the kitchen and hallway, the dryer is outside, BGM's room has the entire content of her closet on her bedroom floor and NOW our planned Mother's Day Breakfast is in fucking Limbo????

 (I just read this to the MITM and he said, "There's a lot of fucking in there so far" and then wondered if I was going to continue or if it had, indeed, purged my soul of anger?)

Yes, I'm done seething. 

I think I'll have a yogurt. 

(don't ask)