shaken & stirred

welcome to my martini glass

5.17.2004

cicada-crazy, sad books, news that is troubling, etc.

Let's get the depressing, alarming stuff out of the way first...

True cowards show themselves as such, in this WP piece about the lukewarm to ice cold welcome that Joseph Darby (the most prominent whistleblower on the Abu Ghraib abuses) has gotten in his home town of Corriganville, Maryland.

In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld praised Darby for his "honorable actions." But Washington is a universe away. "They can call him what they want," says Mike Simico, a veteran visiting relatives in Cresaptown. "I call him a rat."

The sentiment is so deeply felt that even those who praise him do so only anonymously, or with many reservations.

"That boy's got a lot of courage," says Alan St. Clair, who lives down the road from Darby's high school home. "But when you go against your fellow man like that, I don't know. Some people won't like it."

Some people. It's always "some people" you have to watch out for.

And, in further disturbingness, Howard Kurtz talks to various news organizations about how their Iraq coverage is being impeded by dangerous conditions.

In sad books news, disturbing in an entirely different way, the Boston Globe has various writers -- including the Kelvin-Grinks -- weigh in on the closing of Avenue Victor Hugo in Boston.

Gavin Grant and Kelly Link, writers and publishers in Northampton, met while they were working at the shop, and he even proposed to her there. (She accepted). They say the closing is a huge loss for Boston.
''It's incredibly sad," says Grant, 33, who, with Link, owns Small Beer Press. ''It's amazing that you would lose an intellectual space like that. . . . Boston will not be the same to us without Avenue Victor Hugo."

(Via Beatrice.)

Doing happy Wiscon dance now... Oh wait, that means we have to finish the magazine. Stopping happy Wiscon dance for a few days...

The only truly good news of the day being in Massachusetts, of course. Happy weddings, all! THe pictures are amazing, but hearing the cheers on NPR this morning was something even more special.

Does anyone actually care that Anne Rice is now Anne Surburbia?

Also, cautionary, big caution:

Do not eat cicadas.

A man who cooked and ate nearly 30 cicadas sought medical treatment after suffering a strong allergic reaction to the sauteed insects.

The man showed up at a Bloomington clinic Thursday covered from head-to-toe in hives, and sheepishly told a doctor he'd caught and ate the cicadas after sauteing them in butter with crushed garlic and basil.

And please, refrain from referring to yourself as a "cicadamaniac."

2 Comments:

  • At 2:46 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Weird about the cicadas -- apparently lots of people eat them. Maybe this guy just didn't prepare them right?

    --jed

     
  • At 9:13 AM , Blogger Gwenda said...

    It could be that he just ate too many -- since they can cause digestive problems for cats and dogs that eat too many, I'd assume the same would be somewhat true of humans. But it looks like he prepared them in line with what others do, based on this WP article about eating them.

    Apparently, getting them before their exoskeletons harden is the best, when they have a nice soft shell. Yum!

    Oh, and here's a somewhat clearer picture from cicadamania.com:

    Question: Are cicadas toxic or poisonous?
    Answer: No, but just in case, try not to eat too many. They will become toxic if you spray them with pesticides - so don't.

    Question: Is it safe for my pets to eat cicadas?
    Answer: Pets may choke on cicadas, or gorge themselves and become ill. Cicadas tainted with pesticide could kill your pets. Keep an eye on your pets -- don't panic if they eat a few, but check to see if they vomit or choke. Big stupid dogs love them.

    Question: Is it safe for my kids to eat cicadas?
    Answer: For legal reasons (so you can't sue me when your kid turns blue after eating a pail full of these bugs) I won't say yes or no. Asian peoples (and a few Cicada Mania readers) have enjoyed eating cicadas for centuries. Like pets, your children may choke on them or gorge themselves and become ill. Please consult your child's doctor if you're concerned.

     

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