Saturday, January 25, 2014

Cats


Me: Aww... look at the cute kitty!

Ocelot: Mmmm... you look nice and plump and juicy!

Palazzino di Caccia: Hunting residence

Now, if I were to imagine a hunting lodge for an escape for a few days or weeks in the country, I'd imagine a rustic, rough hewn log cabin-style place with a small stream nearby and fend-for-yourself accoutrements regarding one's "les affaires de toilette". Not so, apparently for the Dukes then Kings of Savoy as you are about to see. From Wikipedia:

The original castle was owned by the Acaja line of the House of Savoy, Lords of Piedmont until 1418, and was sold to marquis Rolando Pallavicino in 1493. It was then acquired by Emmanuel Philibert in 1563, when the ducal capital was moved from Chambéry to Turin. 

The new palace was designed by the architect Filippo Juvarra to be used as a palazzina di caccia ("hunting lodge") for Victor Amadeus II, King of Sardinia. Works started in 1729. Within two years construction was far enough advanced for the first formal hunt to take place. Juvarra called upon a team of decorators, many of them from Venice, to carry out the decor of the palazzina interiors. In the reigns of Carlo Emanuele III and Victor Amadeus III the palazzina and its formal park continued to be extended, at first by Juvarra's assistant, Giovanni Tommaso Prunotto, then by numerous North Italian architects, such as Ignazio Birago di Borgaro, Ludovico Bo, Ignazio Bertola and Benedetto Alfieri. The final building has a total of 137 rooms and 17 galleries, and covers 31,050 square meters. Polissena of Hesse-Rotenburg, wife of Carlo Emanuele III also carried out improvements.

The original purpose of the hunting lodge is symbolized by the bronze stag perched at the apex of the stepped roof of its central dome, and the hounds' heads that decorate the vases on the roofline. The building has a saltire plan: four angled wings project from the oval-shaped main hall.

Et maintenant, La Palazzino di Caccia di Stupingi

The Palazzino is just outside Turin
Pretty spectacular for a "weekend place"
The gates and main entrance to the Palazzino
The stag atop the dome of the main salon tells us that this is a hunting lodge.
Inside the domed main salon
A salon in the Appartemento della Levante
Detail of a chandelier and a painting of a Savoiarde
A bedroom in the Palazzino
A beautiful example of cabinetry in one of the Palazzino's salons
Detail of the cabinet showing panels made by the Josiah Wedgewood Company in England

Frenchy's Saturday Night Movie - Tonight: Fatso

This charmer was was written and directed by Anne Bancroft who also stars along with the incomparable Dom DeLuise, Candace Azzara, and Ron Carey. It is an hilarious look at the consequences of being a little overweight and the effect it has on the "fatso" and those around him (or her). Enjoy!


Today's Recipe: Butternut Squash, Bacon, Arugula and Feta Quiche

I found this recipe online (afraid I don't remember where, oops!) and gave it a try today. I made it with feta although the recipe calls for Bleu or Gorgonzola. It's very tasty but I thought it was under seasoned for me. I left the recipe alone so you can adjust the seasoning as you like. 


Butternut Squash, Arugula and Bacon Quiche

Ingredients
1 pie crust
3 slices bacon, diced 
2 cups chopped butternut squash 
1 small white onion, chopped 
1 clove garlic, minced 
6 eggs, whisked 
3/4 cup milk 
3 Tbsp. flour 
1/2 tsp. baking powder 
1/2 tsp. salt 
1/8 tsp. black pepper 
3 handfuls fresh arugula, whole or roughly chopped 
4 ounces crumbled gorgonzola, blue or feta cheese (or any cheese you'd like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Lay prepared pie crust in an ungreased pie plate. Bake for 5 minutes, then set aside. 

Cook bacon in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until crispy, stirring occasionally. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, leaving grease in pan. Add butternut squash and onion and sauté for 8-10 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and the squash is tender. Add garlic and sauté for an additional minute. Remove from heat. 

In a separate large bowl, whisk together eggs, flour, baking powder, milk, salt, and black pepper. Stir in the sautéed vegetables, arugula, cheese, and cooked bacon, and stir until well combined. 

Transfer the quiche filling into crust, and use a spoon to smooth the surface. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Quiche will rise while baking, but should settle back down once you remove it from the oven. Remove from the oven and allow the quiche to rest for at least 5 minutes. Slice and serve warm.

Swedish Marines in Afghanistan do "Greased Lightening" number from Grease.

Good looking men in uniform wiggling around with grease and guns.... what's not to love?


Friday, January 24, 2014

Florida: Perv Central

Here's a look at some of the denizens of The Sunshine State via RawStory.com:

Florida cop arrested for sexually assaulting passed-out woman after detaining her boyfriend

A Florida sheriff’s deputy has been arrested after a woman alleged that he groped her and made inappropriate comments during an otherwise routine traffic stop on New Year’s Day. According to an affidavit acquired by WESH Orlando, the victim and her boyfriend had been ringing in the New Year at a local bar.

The boyfriend flagged the deputy, Matthew Donnelly, down when he noticed that the victim had passed out and may require assistance. Donnelly placed the boyfriend into the back of his squad car and then went to assist the victim. The affidavit states that the victim woke up when she heard a male voice that didn’t belong to her boyfriend tell her she was “[expletive] sexy,” and that he “has a wife.”

 and this little item...

 Florida pastor loses job after arrest in prostitution sting


A northwest Florida pastor was  arrested earlier this month as part of a prostitution sting. Michael Steven Ward, of Molino, was arrested Jan. 3 after contacting an undercover officer and offering to pay for a sex act during an arranged meeting in Pensacola, authorities said.

Ward was charged with procuring for prostitution, a second-degree misdemeanor, and released later that same day on $500 bond.
He was dismissed from a leadership position at Atmore (Alabama) Apostolic Church, where he’d been pastor for several years, after his arrest.


Ward also managed a tire shop in Molino.

The Escambia County sheriff’s office arrested 51 prostitutes and customers during the sting, which began at the end of December.

 

Thursday, January 23, 2014

From the Wayback Machine: Frenchy reviews 10 Tables in P-Town and Fin Seafood in Dennis, MA

Here's the audio of my review of 10 Tables in Provincetown as well as a review of Fin Seafood in Dennis originally aired on September 20, 2011 on Anne at Night.


The Future of the Republican Party

From TPM:

GOP House Candidate: God created autism, dementia and tormadoes to punish the Gays

"God is angry," Atanus told the Chicago Daily Herald during an endorsement session with the paper earlier this week."We are provoking him with abortions and same-sex marriage and civil unions,” she said. “Same-sex activity is going to increase AIDS. If it’s in our military it will weaken our military. We need to respect God.”

Atanus is seeking the GOP nomination to challenge Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) in the Ninth District of Illinois.

Silly, Dish-pan Blonde Actress Golda Hawn Makes a Fool of Herself at Davos, Switzerland Confab

Listen Golda dahlink, you're getting too old for this. Stay in Malibu or Aspen where you belong and stick to the shopping. Leave the activism to those that are paying attention for heaven's sake.

Tweet_hawn

Yesterday, actress Goldie Hawn tweeted a photo from the World Economic Forum at Davos in which she shook the hand of Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan.

Said Hawn in the tweet: "Met the wonderful President of Nigeria".

Hawn was quickly informed of the heinous anti-gay oppression Jonathan has inflicted on the country's gay and lesbians population with his signing of a new law criminalizing gay unions and gay organizations. Dozens have been arrested across the country and are facing trials in Shariah Courts, where homosexuality is a possible death sentence.

The tweet has been removed amid a flurry of responses from Hawn expressing her regret and embarrassment over the photo.

Drunken, Self-absorbed, Teenage Douchebag Justin Bieber Arrested for DUI and Drag Racing in Miami

Perhaps now someone will be placed in charge of this asshole. Where the fuck are his parents???

Updated with mug shots below

Monsieur Le Douchebag, Justin Bieber
The Miami Herald reports: Bieber
After allegedly smoking pot all day, drinking beer and popping anti-depressants, bad-boy pop star Justin Bieber went on a wild pre-dawn drag race in Miami Beach that landed him in jail Thursday morning, police said.

When stopped by police in his Lamborghini, Bieber barraged officers with a string of F-bombs, babbled incoherently, refused to get out of his car and, when he finally stepped out, declined to take his hands out of his pockets, police sources told The Miami Herald.

He was booked at Miami Beach police headquarters on DUI, resisting arrest and drag-racing, a police spokesman said.

J. Bieber charged in Miami with being a drunken douche in charge of a car

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

The Queen shows us some of her stuff...

Puppy discovers snow


Today in History

1506 – The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrives at the Vatican. This coincides with the 1st Mr. Gay Vatican City Contest at the Upper Room Bar & Grille in Pope Julius II's private apartments.

Today's Photo Dump

Obviously not

I can see that

No prob!

Pray for corrective lenses Doll

Very creepy guy

Look up "fool" in the dictionary. I got this photo there.

No fucking way!


My mom's such a prankster

I imagine he is...

Frenchy "appears" on Anne at Night

Can we talk?
I stopped by the Anne at Night radio show this week and had a great time visiting with Anne and Michael. Take a listen at the link below. You should def listen to the whole show but my segment begins at about 1hr, 03 mins. Also, if you know what's good for you, don't miss the interview with Miguel too!

Anne at Night 1-21-2014

Other appearances by Frenchy:

Anne at Night 11-20-2012

Anne at Night 11-30-2010

Anne at Night 11-20-2011 (Including my review of Ten Tables in P-Town)

The view from our front door

I've always said squirrels were dangerous!


We can rest easy now...Swiss Cheese Pervert Finally Captured!

Christopher Pagano, Swiss Cheese Pervert
Police have stuck a fork in this dairy deviant. The so-called “Swiss Cheese Pervert” was nabbed by Philadelphia police at his home in Norristown, capping an extensive hunt for the cheese creep who exposed himself while wielding the food item, according to reports. Christopher Pagano, 41, was unceremoniously led out of his home on Noble St. by police with their guns drawn Thursday afternoon. Pagano faces a slew of charges including stalking, indecent exposure and harassment, according to Philadelphia police. Read more HERE.

A drunken pig walks into a fast food restaurant...

3-D Printer "Prints" a house in 20 hours!

Pretty amazing stuff! From HuffPost:



Imagine being able to lease a 3D printer to build your entire house. The technology, called Contour Crafting, is already here and can build a 2,500-square-foot home in 20 hours. The massive robot printer was invented by University of Southern California professor Behrokh Khoshnevis, who says that the technology is so versatile that it can be used to build homes in slums or human habitats on Mars.

The technology is ideal for the world's slums and areas destroyed by natural disasters, claims Khoshnevis, because the robot's construction is cheaper, stronger, faster, safer and more eco-friendly than manual construction. Khoshnevis also says NASA is supportive of using the technology to build lunar habitats, laboratories and roads on the Moon or Mars that could eventually house human life. NASA did not immediately respond to HuffPost's request for comment.

He points out that construction is far behind manufacturing when it comes to automation. “If you look around yourself, pretty much everything is made automatically today -- your shoes, your clothes, home appliances, your car," he said during a TED talk. "The only thing that is still built by hand are these buildings." Construction as we know it today is wasteful, costly and often over budget, he said. It is more dangerous for workers than mining and agriculture, resulting in 10,000 deaths a year, according to Khoshnevis. He says Contour Crafting offers construction with less waste, noise, dust or harmful emissions.

The technology also allows for unprecedented flexibility in architecture, Khoshnevis says. "They don’t have to look like track houses because all you have to do is change a computer program," he said during the TED talk. "The walls do not have to be linear. They can use any kind of curve. Therefore, you can really execute very exotic beautiful architectural features without incurring extra cost."

This is how Contour Crafting would work, according to the video above: “On a cleared and leveled site, workers would lay down two rails a few feet further apart than the eventual building's width and a computer-controlled contour crafter would take over from there," Brad Lemley from Discover Magazine explained to MSNBC. "A gantry-type crane with a hanging nozzle and a components-placing arm would travel along the rails," he said. "The nozzle would spit out concrete in layers to create hollow walls, and then fill in the walls with additional concrete… humans would hang doors and insert windows.” The robot can also tile the floors, install plumbing, install electrical wiring and even paint or apply wallpaper.

Khoshnevis disputes concerns about potential job losses from such technology. In fact, he says it will create new jobs that are safer and that will allow women and older workers to participate more in the construction industry.

Khoshnevis is planning to establish a company to commercialize the technology and hopefully make it available for purchase in a few years, he told the USC student newspaper Daily Trojan.
Ultimately, Khoshnevis thinks that Contour Crafting will replace construction as we know it, reduce costs and make construction accessible to anyone.

"Imagine a Contour Crafting machine for lease at you local Home Depot," the researcher's site reads.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

TV Deliciousness: Alexis Marries Cecil Colby and Alexis and Krystle at the reading of the will

Alexis marries Cecil Colby on his deathbed and Cecil shows us all just what he's made of.


 



After the wedding Alexis meets up with Krystle at the reading of the will...



Louis XVI

This is an exceptional picture. Click on it and take a look at the detail of the sleeves or the Fleurs-de-lis embroidered in gold.
King Louis XVI by Antoine-François Callet, 1779


New trailer for Disney's "Maleficent"

Angelina is a wicked scary bitch in this retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story.. She's sort of a cross between Lady Macbeth, Alexis Colby and Medea. Can't wait!