Kombucha Tea

Kombucha - Soft Drink for the 21st Century? Popping the cap off a bottle of Kombucha — or "mushroom tea" as it’s known by some — is a complete sensory experience. There’s the snap, crackle, fizz of carbonated bubbles, the mysterious slimy globules that slow-float like a psychedelic lava lamp throwback, and the sharp vinegary tang that hits the nose like a slap.

While fizzy, vinegary and slimy are not exactly the most tantalizing food descriptors, this trendy tea has a peculiar allure that’s winning devotees nationwide. At Google’s California corporate headquarters, the cafeteria slings upwards of 100 cups of homemade brew a day, and GT Kombucha, one of the most popular bottled brands on the market, reaps annual sales in the millions.

To clarify, Kombucha is not a mushroom at all, but a symbiotic colony of yeast and beneficial bacteria that grows in sugar-sweetened black tea.

Long used by bo-hos and hippies, mushroom tea finally reaching the Google cafeteria, but actually "jumped the bong" when it became corporate several years ago. This concept has a lovely synchronization widely appearing in the news.

Related:
The Hippies Were Right / via

link

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Blood Tea and Red String

"a David Lynchean fever dream on Beatrix Potter terrain as lovingly crafted as it is unsettlingly sour-sweet" - Dennis Harvey, VARIETY

Equally obsessive if far more oblique, Christine Cegavske's Blood Tea and Red String is the fruit of a 13-year process, a stop-motion fable as beguiling as it is baffling.

Crammed with overdetermined images of birth and death, Blood Tea concerns the struggle between a trio of grasping albino mice (done up like the coachmen in Alice in Wonderland) and a group of half-bird, half-wolf critters known as The Creatures Who Dwell Under the Oak. Cegavske's debt to Jan Svankmajer is obvious, but the film more closely resembles one of Alejandro Jodorowsky's psychedelic vision quests as re-realized by Ladislaw Starewicz.

Cegavske's ultra handmade style (she did the menacing crows in The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things) is the opposite of every trend in contemporary animation, and worth lauding for that reason alone.

The DVD was released this month and I am very curious to see it.

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Pure Unadulterated Rambling

Each year on this day I always think of when I was bartending and how it's a major day in the booze business. Lots of green stuff to drink and lots of green cash to be made.

We served green beer. The distributor for the "King of Beers" brought beer on tap to us already green. And we made up some mixed drink specials. Long Ireland Iced Tea was made green by NOT adding a splash of cola (secert to making it 'tea' colored) and adding a bit of Midori -- a green liquor. A Greentini was a regular vodka or gin martini with food coloring added.

It was great fun to work this holiday and after closing time, there were other bars to close. I was a loyal party girl. And I didn't know how to stop.

I made it through to the other side and many of you know that I am a recovering alcoholic. Even though I don't totally abstain now, I don't believe I'll ever be in that shape again where alcohol had so much control over me and I had to check in to dry out.

So I say, "Drink less and enjoy it more". Enjoy the celebration, enjoy your weekend and I'm sending love to my Irish friends.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day

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Supreme Court Sides With Church On Hallucinogenic Tea

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that a small congregation in New Mexico may use hallucinogenic tea as part of a four-hour ritual intended to connect with God.

The tea, which contains an illegal drug known as DMT, is considered sacred to members of O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal, which has a blend of Christian beliefs and South American traditions. Members believe they can understand God only by drinking the tea, which is consumed twice a month at four-hour ceremonies.

Excellent news!

[MORE...]

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Re-Blogging

* John Lennon Day Dec 8 - 25th anniversary of his death.

* Captain Beefheart and his mother, an elf or a freak, and the plastic, horned devil.

* Tea Time and more to come soon from Lightning Is My Girl

* For a sleepy beach town known for having more white people with dreadlocks than any other place in the nation, Santa Cruz is a Mecca for the self-proclaimed ideological liberal. [More »]

* Students send chocolate vagina to douchebag Rush Limbaugh. [via]

* Happy Dreams Can Become Reality. So what are you all waiting for? Didn't you hear? You can make the choice, right now, this moment sitting in your chair reading this, to maximize your level of happiness for all time. And if it is my permission you are looking for, then yes, go for it!! Follow your bliss, be happy, and the universe will take care of you. Because that is what the universe wants more than anything else, for you to be truly and deeply happy for all eternity. [via]

Most definitely. We can choose to be miserable or choose to be happy. Totally up to you.

* Peace On Earth is a nice outdoor setup, if a wee bit chilly.

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SMM is back from the holiday last weekend. Is anybody committing to a New Year's Resolution? I don't know about that. The only ones I ever managed to keep were the: 'nod face first in the mashed potatos at the family reunion' resolution, and there was the 'late night call for wrecker fee & bail money' resolution, and the ever popular 'marry a knuckle dragger by the family christmas tree while my mother's still sleeping' resolution was a roaring success for about a week. And this was all in the same year. I generally find it best that I don't commit to a resolultion. It ain't pretty. Let's peer into the home version of Saturday Morning Me...

saturday morning me//
sipping green tea with mint/nibbling sunflower seeds/
shuffling slack-jawed in my old ballet flats/
long quilted skirt/black cloche with rhinestone pins/
background music: The Dresden Dolls/
shut up and pass the spliff, daddy/
so how about you?/

May the New Year grace you and yours with love, good health and peace of mind and fill your days with enchantment!

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Can I Get An Amen?
A New Mexico church will get to use hallucinogenic tea as part of its Christmas services, despite government objections. The tea contains DMT, a controlled substance and the Bush administration contends the hoasca tea used by the church is illegal and dangerous. [more...]

saturday morning me//
java #2/cinnamon toast crunch #1/splifferoo #1/
listening: River Guerguerian - The Courting/
long indian print skirt/denim shirt/tights/houseshoes/
dog at my feet/daughter asleep/
anticipating: our first snow tonight/
so how about you?/

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Today's Quote
Love the earth and sun and animals,
Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks,
Stand up for the stupid and crazy,
Devote your income and labor to others...
And your very flesh shall be a great poem.
~Walt Whitman

saturday morning me//
green tea with mint #2/tomato feta & crackers/
jeans/black tneck/old black ballet slippers/
bedhead & bedface, such a disgrace/
listening: badge by cream/
so how about you?/

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September 11

The Ghosts of 9/11 Still Haunt Us - Link
Memorials, scholarships, foundations for 9/11 victims - Link

My hope for 9/11 anniversaries is that they be solemn, understated affairs. No loud, ostentatious productions, please.

web trail::
sacredwhore
loveecstasycrime
slash
Love Parade
occult search engine
Help Beslan Victims

{Saturday Quote}
"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury; and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony." ~William Henry Channing

saturday morning me//
green tea/oj/morning splifferoo/
vitamins a-z, but never k/
hair down long & fluffy/candles glowing/
long batik dress/my mother's old shawl/
listening: positively 4th st/ positively my favorite song/
anticipating: cool weather & orange leaves/
so how about you?/

Proud graduate of the Dick Cheney Charm School. You gotta fucking problem with that?

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Spelling Fuck You For Peace
Last week, the FBI warned the major television networks about the possible threat of anarchists tossing Molotov cocktails at their media trucks. But the Feds didn’t say anything about those same anti-authoritarians singing, bike-riding, juggling, playing the guitar, eating baked beans, and offering free hugs during the DNC. But there they were milling around the Boston Common on Tuesday afternoon for the Bl(A)ck Tea Society’s REALLY really Democratic Bazaar -- anarchists, socialists, Greens, Nader supporters, and anyone else who felt disenfranchised by capitalism, the two-party system, or just wanted a free bagel -- all gathered together for an open-air market that demonstrated the consensus-based group’s "visions of a better world."

And all afternoon, one police helicopter kept buzzing by like a mammoth mechanized mosquito, often drowning out the sound system.

Finally, in between songs, Rovics summoned a call to action. Those of you who want to lay down on the ground and spell ‘Fuck you’ to the helicopters, head over to the medic tent. So 40 or 50 people leapt up from the grass, walked eagerly over to the medic tent, and arranged themselves from head-to-toe, forming seven letters on the ground.

Just one small Fuck You to the police state that tried to keep demonstrators away from Boston. I'm waiting to see the Fuck You they give them in New York. more »

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Daniel Martin Diaz is an artist that uses many mediums. Tea stains, egg tempura, graphites, watercolors and oils.

US media kills story that Iraqi PM executed 6 prisoners
Dr Allawi is alleged to have told those around him that he wanted to send a clear message to the police on how to deal with insurgents. Two people allege they witnessed the killings and there are also claims the Iraqi interior minister and four American men were present.
Link via Infoshop

{Today's Quote}
When I realize that there are only 3 colors, 10 digits, and 7 notes; I know I am capable of great things. ~Unknown

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{Protesting the RNC & DNC Conventions}

Black Tea Society - How do you protest the political maneuverings inside the FleetCenter that are meant to put your preferred candidate into office?

High Times Blog - magazine's Activist Guide to the RNC.

Missile Dick Chicks - Getting Their War Kix

Vomitorium 2004 - is a theatrical performance, modeled after the opulent parties of the Roman Empire. No, thanks.

Tompkins Sq. Park Campout - Organized by John Penley & Aron Kay ( aka the Pie Man)

Times UP! - The TIME'S UP! environmental group, (mostly cyclists) has a long history of promoting a positive message about our environment and non-polluting transportation.

*New Posts in my Side Bar
Testicle Theater via Asheville blogger, Jay
Magic Cow - 1000's flock to get licked by Magic Cow
Courtney Deserves Better - Margaret Cho Courtney Love post
Those of you reading in a newsfeed won't see new additions, so I'll start posting them, too.

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It's Stu's (not his real name) birthday. My husband. So I offer up birthday greetings to him today. I shouldn't say how old he is, but add five years to Wal-Mart greeter and you're in the ballpark. Since he asked me long ago not to use his real name and it starts with an "S", it's always an "S"-driven pseudonym. Long-time readers will remember the tales of Stan, Schlomo, Sylvester, etc.

Nice color palette creator I found at Joe's, or one of his many fine sites and he found it at ETC, a nice links blog slap full of Mozilla and Movable Type goodies.

{What The Font?}
I saw a font I liked but couldn't identify it. Happens frequently. After some investigation, I found this Font Identifier. You just type in the URL where you find the font. Works great.

{Local News}
Because of sentencing guidelines, a sexual predator convicted for his third time Thursday of fondling a 6 year old girl this trial, will only serve a 2-3 year sentence. On his third conviction. Our community is outraged. Heard on local news, can't find a link

{Do-Over}
The Faeries Oracle - Ask the faeries for an online reading. Link

saturday morning me//
iced tea (housewine of the south)/cheerios/
desk fan humming, stirring the thick warm air/
barrett ink pen holding up my hair/
oversized white gauzy dress/bare feet/
sky's going to a party/& we're staying home/
so how's about you?/

Have you crashed your Windows today?

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John Malkovich is thumbing a ride on "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," a Disney adaptation of the Douglas Adams novel. Malkovich will play a religious cult leader called Humma Kavula, created by the late author especially for the long-gestating film.

April 27 - The Weather Underground
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, several hundred young women and men tried to spark a socialist revolution. The Weathermen waged a low-level war against the U.S. government: bombing the Capitol building, breaking Timothy Leary out of prison and evading one of the largest FBI manhunts in history. The Weathermen were a surviving faction of the SDS. (Where are the Weathermen now?) [link]

{Past Re-visited}
I recall Cliff Potts came by the university in his converted old bread truck and parked in front of the Student Center where all us 'ne'er do wells' were lounging. He set up a table with SDS pamphlets and we all signed up and discussed Nixon's pending visit to the campus and talked to us about the ROTC program and how to take over that building in protest of Vietnam. Within a year I was onboard with NOW, SDS, and for fun, Montrose, a performance troupe of drama and art majors and assorted strays named for the historic Montrose building that now housed many university students (read: freaks). I was eighteen and felt electrically plugged in, challenged and scared.

saturday morning me//
black tank top/aqua low waisted sweats/
barefoot/green tea #2/rye toast/oj/
good hair day/i'm wearing a hat/
good husband day/he's off running errands/
listening: shoutcast radio/
so how about you?/

Just a molotov cocktail missing a match.

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{bush's vietnam?}
What can you say about Iraq? That it's 'George Bush's Vietnam'? What's wrong with Ted Kennedy's statement?

Iraq is not war lite like Kuwait, Bosnia, Granada. It's shaping up to be a war of Vietnam proportions, Vietnam atrocities. Not a between-meal-snack or an Atkins or South Beach diet kind of war. A main course war with real butter and oil. A deep-fried, stick to your ribs, chicken-fried steak with gravy, mashed potatos, salad, mamma's homemade biscuits, and a glass of sweet tea kind of war.

{let the revolution begin}
After Steven Soderberg finishes filming Oceans Twelve, he'll reteam with Benicio del Toro (he directed him in "Traffic") for Che, the film about Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara. Filming scheduled to begin August 2005. [link]

{rumors of war}
The opposition is now rumored to have some of the coalition troops captured. [link]

{blog site of the week}
The Spiraling Cycle website has long been a major player and is divided sections with loads of great links. Social change, blogs/journals, book lists, and websites.

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Blog hit and run post for you.

Say it ain't so, Bobby. [link] via...gaping lotus


Joe Strummer film to premiere next month at Tribeca Film Festival.


PETA Protest over IAMS again today in Asheville.



I hate to sound off like a old doddering fool, but my hiatal hernia laid me out again. It was healing, coincidentally when I'd run out of espresso. Then it flared up again... Right after drinking another cup. Damn. Regular coffee and tea don't bother me, but espresso sure as hell does. Well, onward and upward to Plan B. Whatever that is.

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Bring Our Camel Fucking Troops Home! Well, as long as they're protesting against the war...
This and other T-shirts, guaran-damn-teed to piss somebody off.

Psliocybin Visions
via - burp
Retail Alphabet Game - Much harder than you'd think.
via - idletype

The 11th annual Music Midtown Festival, which takes over a 42-acre site between Midtown and downtown Atlanta, will sport a diverse lineup that includes the Foo Fighters, Story Of The Year, Wyclef Jean, Puddle of Mudd, The Offspring, Joss Stone over six stages. April 30 - May 2. Tickets on sale today. [link]

saturday morning me//
wheat bagel & warm brie/hot tea for me/
black velvet shirt/black jeans/black ballet flats/
black & white spotted glasses around my neck/
husband making quesadillas/
buddy (my dog) asleep by my feet/
sky sleeping off a late date/
so hows about you?/

Viagara to stop supersizing.

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{local news}
* TC Roberson High School closer to drug testing for students. If approved, Roberson would join a small number of North Carolina school districts that test some students for drug use. When the program began in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, 5 percent of the district's randomly drug-tested students failed. Last year, that decreased to 4 percent. President Bush has proposed giving an additional $23 million to schools for drug testing next year although recent studies have proved it's not working. I think this is the responsibility of the parents, not the school system. Another brilliant project suckling at the governmnet teat.

* Anti-Gay Marriage Rally in Asheville today. (Saturday) - Of course, local and regional legislators are hopping on this rally hoping to feed on the growing paranoia. Over 50 churches will be represented. Local groups supportive of gays and lesbians said they had not heard of any organized effort to hold counterdemonstrations. Come on, Asheville. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a group of demonstraters in Asheville and no one's going out to protest?

{blogger news}
* Are they really wearing see-through skirts in Japan? With this unique and fun fashion trend, it's hard to tell.
[via - esotericbowl]

**Edited to add (12:44 pm) : I just discovered that the above pictures were a hoax, but they're still a fun idea.

* Annmarie visited the David Letterman set in NYC last week and has nice pics. Her good friend is Sound Engineer at the show.

saturday morning me//
hot, green tea/brie & crackers/
evil cigarettes by the score/
green & navy batik dress/socks/
sneaking up on the mirror/
hair combed with egg beaters & glue?/
anticipating: an uneventful day/
forecast: rain & slovenly behaviour/
so how about you?/

Thanks for visiting Verbal Bitchslaps à go go.

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[pic via: the always shiny and wunnerful chapel perilous]

»Good Morning to you. I've got an inch or two of lovely snow this morning. Very beautiful. Did my Canadian friends send it down to me?

»See Saddam Photoshop Entries - Very good. [via: jwalk]

»The Greatest Week In Rock History - 34 years ago today, Billboard Charts had a outstanding album lineup. This I'll have to agree with. Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Stones, Santana, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, and more. [via: mefi]

»{local} Warren Haynes, famed guitarist and Asheville native who splits his time between playing with the legendary Allman Brothers and the band he founded, Gov't Mule. Ebrahim and Rezvan Ebrahimnajad, an Iranian couple of the Baha'i faith came to United States two years ago with their two sons as refugees seeking religious and political freedom. They now have a new home from the money Haynes and his fellow musicians raised at last years Christmas Jam. The 15th annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam is at 7 tonight at the Asheville Civic Center. Maybe I'll see you there. I hear it's sold out.

»saturday morning me//
1 cup of joe/oj/1 nasty cig/black hat/
navy sweatshirt/black sweatpants i slept in/
moccasin houseshoes-i'm a vision I tell ya/
watching: flurries outside/
listening: husband picking out "Blackbird"/
did someone get tish some tea?/
who's wearing frogshoes this morning?/
so hows about you?/

I won't disclose my age, but let's just say it's between twenty and Wal-Mart greeter.

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Okay, let's Blog Around The Block
» Maggie May is maintaining her amazing 2 month success over nicotine. And making up her Christmas List for André.
» meg has great free images she'll let you use. If you've never visited her, you'll always find something useful here as well as fun and good conversation.
» I see The Other Side has one of meg's fine images posted today.
» Karen got Pirates Of The Caribbean and watched it last night. That oughta cure what ails you.
» Holy Blog Return, Batmam. Kane's back in great form. =) Live from Hawaii. Aloha Friday, Kane!
» Chapel-Perilous - bsti's take on the latest weblog popularity contest. But *we* all know their site is one of the best out there.
» Tish just found she has pleurisy; but somehow managed to make some yummy holiday cookies. Be well NOW, I say. And will someone please get her some damn tea?
» Weirdpixie mentions checking out Guerilla News Network for their videos and news. They've been a great mainstay in the liberal online community.
» Shawn saw the Dresden Dolls this week and has a picture and a review. Nice job.
» The 20 Most Annoying Conservatives Of 2003 - I found on By Sand And Sea. Several times a year Pandagon nails the shit out of it.
» Rhonda's MIL is very ill. Sending healing wishes to your family, Rha.
» Johnny B's been busy, but did manage to catch a Christmas play. His Haloscan comments were acting all funky.
Whew....That's all the time I have.

On Sunday evening, December 7th, 2003, thousands of people around the country will gather to watch and discuss the new documentary Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War. Find a party in your area.

Member of the clean plate society.

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