Category Archives: Fine arts

Fine arts

Old Madison Photos

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I am fascinated with photographic history, especially from the era of the 30’s to 50’s. Theaters, old buildings, architecture, cars, and life in general from this era is very fascinating to me – especially in b/w. Just about any old building in any city in America would be interesting, but here I focus on Madison, WI. Links to a few interesting images are given below.

Classic shot of the two theatres on State: https://www.facebook.com/LostMadisonWisconsin#!/photo.php?fbid=357207731020639&set=a.339946906080055.77992.339942466080499&type=1&theater

Majestic Theatre: https://www.facebook.com/LostMadisonWisconsin#!/photo.php?fbid=354604221280990&set=a.339946906080055.77992.339942466080499&type=1&theater

Badger liquor 1941: https://www.facebook.com/LostMadisonWisconsin#!/photo.php?fbid=352076778200401&set=a.339946906080055.77992.339942466080499&type=1&theater

State St. old cars around 1938: https://www.facebook.com/LostMadisonWisconsin#!/photo.php?fbid=346061765468569&set=a.339946906080055.77992.339942466080499&type=1&theater

This is nice with cable cars, etc. you can recognize many of the old buildings here. https://www.facebook.com/LostMadisonWisconsin#!/photo.php?fbid=382831325124946&set=a.382831311791614.90436.339942466080499&type=1&theater

  • Strand [1, 2, 3]
  • Head of State St. – 1, 2.

If you “click around” on the above links, you can find much more. Many more images are also found at the State Historical Society.

 

Cooking, Photography

Yerba Mate in soups

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Some of my previous posts have discussed yerba mate. It is a neat food to experiment with. I find myself using it to make teas, and it can be put into almost any food. Sometimes I put it into vegetable dishes. Here in the photos below, I am putting it into Campbell’s soups. First I have added 2 tbsp. of yerba mate (with stems) to chicken noodle soup.

And the picture below shows yerba mate in Campbell’s tomato soup.

I had both of these soups together and it made a nice meal. The total of 4 tbsp. of yerba mate is a healthy addition that has many excellent health benefits.

Cooking

Yerba mate tea

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Here I am having a yerba mate tea as shown below.

This tea is easy to make. I put a tablespoon of stem less yerba mate into a cup and fill with water. Then microwave it for around 1:20. It makes a healthy and tasty tea.

One can also use a tea bag, although I ingest the tea directly. To me, this adds to the overall effect.

Yerba mate is healthy in many respects, and it is especially good for making teas. Read up on yerba mate on Wikipedia to learn of the many health benefits.

 

Cooking

A chili with greens and vegetables

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This is a chili that I made fairly recently maybe around two weeks ago. A usual scenario is that I have just gotten back from the local farmer’s market, and want to make a nice vegetable dish.

This is a “robust” chili where there are many kinds of ingredients. There are two kinds of kale, two kinds of onions, peppers, hot seasoning peppers, and beans. When all done, this is a really tasty meal.

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music

Two songs by George Frederick Schils

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Hi everyone. It has been a while since I have posted. Ya know, one can get pretty busy with lots of things. Even though it doesn’t show, I have been working on other portions of my website.

My “profile” box mentions that guitar is one of my interests. So, welcome to my foray into the world of music. This post presents and discusses two songs in mp3 format.

First, the Roy Orbeson Pretty Woman song is a favorite of mine. This arrangement and guitar playing was done by myself.

A second song is a lamentation song. It is an instrumental version of a song whose lyrics I had written around two to three years ago. The words go something like this …

Your take out order finally came in
  and you thought it wasn’t a sin.
Your plane dinner finally arrived
  and then the stock market dived
…
(etc.)

This song is a lamentation over the 911 event, and the above is a brief excerpt of the lyrics. I had written and performed this song before the real stock market trouble and banking reform occurred, and it seemed kind of radical at the time, because it sounds kind of anti-system and anti-banking. I was a little shy to perform it for this reason. But now in retrospect it seems ok and makes more sense.

Maybe sometime there will be a voice version mp3 of this song but for now it’s just the instrumental. I have sung this song with words on State Street. I have also performed this song with accompaniment by the excellent Boo Bradley Band at Open Mike at the Steep and Brew Coffee House on State Street. This song along with the lyrics was written, arranged, and performed by myself.

You may download these two songs onto your mp3 (or equivalent) device and play these songs for personal use. Personal distribution is not allowed. Commercial use and/or distribution without written permission is not allowed. At some point I will state an “official” music download policy, but it’s kind of pointless at the moment.

Please see my main music page for other music offerings.

Cooking

A fairly standard chili with cheese

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Well I just blogged a chili yesterday and here is another one today. I am quite a bit behind in my blogging and I am still publishing work from months to half a year ago (and more). I am probably never going to get caught up, and maybe don’t even want to.

This chili is fairly standard (at least for me) and uses beans, chopped onions, and slices of American cheese.

The onion itself is an amazingly important ingredient. This is present in nearly every one of my chilies.

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Cooking

Chili with papperjack cheese

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I am a chili guy and enjoy making chilies, and also enjoy eating them. The chili below is another of the nearly endless variety of things that you can do with this relatively simple hamburger dish. It’s almost not a chili though. It is more like a fried hamburger dish with melted pepper jack cheese, chopped tomatoes, chopped onions, and cream of mushroom soup, and some other things. I also mixed in some chopped greens since it is good for the eyes. This time, I also put in some chopped tomatoes (real tomatoes) instead of canned stuff. It’s more expensive, but the end result is a little better. The results with pictures and some discussion are given below.

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