Classic - Revisited

Warning very hilarious, pull over if your driving, if on the T or in the office be prepared for those around you to look at you oddly in bemusement as you Laugh Out Loud.....

NPR Article- Beer Can House

For The Love Of Beer: How Empty Cans Made A House A Home

by NPR Staff

July 31, 2013 4:46 PM

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All Things Considered

4 min 30 sec

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The Beer Can House in Houston in 2011. It's estimated that more than 50,000 beer cans were used to cover the entire house.

Bill Rand/Flickr

At first, all John Milkovisch wanted in 1968 was a covered patio where he could drink his beer at the end of the day. But a bigger idea was brewing. For years, he had been saving his empty beer cans.

"While I was building the patio I was drinking the beer," he said in an interview in 1983. "I knew I was going to do something with them aluminum cans because that was what I was looking for ... but I didn't know what I was going to do." (Milkovisch died in 1988.)

Over time, Milkovisch's love of beer and work with his hands — he was an upholsterer — fused into one project. In his retirement, he covered his entire home with beer cans — all different parts, in various shapes and functions. It's estimated that more than 50,000 cans were used.

The Houston home is now dubbed the Beer Can House and is run by a local arts organization.

Ruben Guevara, head of restoration and preservation for the house, says what catches the attention of passersby most are the strands of can tops that hang outside the home.

The garlands are anywhere from 2 to 10 feet long, he tells Melissa Block, host of All Things Considered. The aluminum "just dances when the wind blows. And it makes this song, like this wind chime that never stops."

Can tops were strung into garlands that hang outside the house.

In some ways, it was a community project — Milkovisch and his wife needed help with the drinking, after all.

"It was a six-pack a day, him and his wife and friends and anybody who was passing by, wanted to stop by and hang out," Guevara says.

But the vision was all Milkovisch's. He worked on the house as long as his health allowed. Mary Milkovisch, his wife, lived in the house until 1996. She died in 2002.

John and Mary Milkovisch in front of their Beer Can House in 1987.

So after all that drinking, what was Milkovisch's favorite brand? "Whatever was on sale," Guevara says. "All beer was great. He enjoyed it all."



http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/07/31/207384768/for-the-love-of-beer-how-empty-cans-made-a-house-a-home
http://www.beercanhouse.org/about.php

NPR Article & Links

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55 Customers Pay For Next Car's Order At Mass. Doughnut Shop

by Mark Memmott

July 15, 2013 2:15 PM


Daniel Kalker /DPA /LANDOV

(Think of this as a coffee break from the day's serious stories.)

The standard may have been set back in December when 228 drive-through customers at a Tim Horton's in Winnipeg paid for the order of the folks in the next vehicle.

It was sort of a case of "pay it forward" by paying it backward.

This past Saturday at the Heav'nly Donuts shop in Amesbury, Mass., the number didn't come close to 228. But there was still an impressive string of random acts of kindness. "Fifty-five customers rolled through the drive-thru back-to-back, each one paying for the next order," reports Boston's WBZ-TV. And according to the station:

"Employees were stunned that every customer was so willing and eager to continue the chain, especially when orders ranged anywhere from $5 to $20."

What broke the chain? Wendy Clement, the shop's manager, tells WBZ that the good deeds came to an end only when there were no more cars in line.

We suspect that this will happen again in other places. Feel free to share any similar stories you've heard about in the comments thread.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/07/15/202365926/55-customers-pay-for-next-cars-order-at-mass-doughnut-shop
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/08/16/212620462/so-baaad-its-good-sheep-protest-video

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/08/16/212580352/you-cant-pay-it-forward-at-this-georgia-toll-plaza

NPR Article

Survival of the Urban Bee.......

JNZ
 

Food For Thought

Why Urban Beekeeping Can Be Bad For Bees

by Dan Charles

August 13, 201310:47 AM

Beehive designer Johannes Paul (right) and Natural England's ecologist Peter Massini, with a brood frame colonized with bees from the "beehaus" beehive on the roof of his house in London in 2009.

Sang Tan/AP

Beehive designer Johannes Paul (right) and Natural England's ecologist Peter Massini, with a brood frame colonized with bees from the "beehaus" beehive on the roof of his house in London in 2009.

Sang Tan/AP

Two British scientists are dumping cold water on campaigns to promote urban beekeeping. They say that trying to "help the bees" by setting out more hives is naive and misguided if the bees can't find enough flowers nearby to feed on. You'll just end up with sick and starving bees.

Francis Ratnieks and Karin Alton, from the Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects at the University of Sussex, say that this is already a real problem in London, where the number of hives has doubled over the past five years. There now are about 25 honeybee hives for each square mile of the city. Businesses have installed hives on rooftops as a way to demonstrate their environmental concern, or even to "boost office morale." (Loyal NPR listeners, in fact, may have heard that we, too, have two hives on the "green roof" of our new headquarters in Washington.)

According to Ratnieks and Alton, there now are too many bees in London, chasing too few flowers. The scientists are urging well-meaning bee defenders to change their focus: "To have bees you don't need a bee hive," they write in The Biologist. "Just plant bee-friendly flowers such as marjoram ... and lavender in your garden."

Marla Spivak, a specialist on bees at the University of Minnesota, says she hasn't yet seen, in the United States, a situation similar to London's, but the danger is real.

"I think the alarm was a good one," she says. "If you're a beekeeper, you need to be concerned about what they're going to eat."

Fortunately, many American cities still do offer a reasonably good buffet for bees. Think of all the tree pollen that torments allergy sufferers. "Bees love it," says Spivak

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/08/12/211413350/londons-urban-beekeepers-are-bad-for-bees-scientists-say

NPR Article; California Raisins

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The Raisin Outlaw Of Kerman California

by Zoe Chace

August 09, 2013 2:42 PM

Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.

• Transcript

Raisin farmer Marvin Horne stands in a field of grapevines planted next to his home.

Gary Kazanjian/AP

Meet Marvin Horne, raisin farmer. Horne has been farming raisins on a vineyard in Kerman, California for decades. But a couple years ago, he did something that made a lot of the other raisin farmers out here in California really angry. So angry that they hired a private investigator to spy on Horne and his wife, Laura. Agents from a detective agency spent hours sitting outside the Hornes' farm recording video of trucks entering and leaving the property.

What did the Hornes do to become the subject of a surveillance campaign? They sold raisins. More specifically, they sold all the raisins they produced.

In most other industries, selling all the goods you can make is just good business, but in the raisin world, things are different. In the raisin world, this can be illegal.

The decisions about how many raisins should be sold to the public aren't supposed to be made by individual farmers working on individual farms across California. They're supposed to be made by a group — the Raisin Administrative Committee. The committee gets together regularly to decide how to market the raisins of California, and they set grades and standards for California raisins. Another, more unusual part of their work is determining how many raisins to sell to the public.

Each year the committee uses an equation to decide just how many raisins to release out into the world. If they don't think the demand is high enough for all the raisins made that year, they tell raisin farmers to turn over or divert some of their raisins into something called the raisin "reserve."

Generally, the committee only holds back raisins, when there's a big crop. If lots of raisins are coming online, the committee worries that the price could collapse, and farmers could go out of business.

Now once the Raisin Administrative Committee decides on the number of raisins to release to the public, it becomes the law of the land. The raisin committee gives a recommended number to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the department typically approves it.

If the committee recommends a lower number and any farmer tries to sell 100 percent of their raisins, it's against the rules and against the law.

Raisin farmer, Marvin Horne, and his wife Laura used to follow these rules, abide by the committee decision, but something happened more than ten years ago, that made them decide to go outside the system. In 2002, the Raisin Administrative Committee voted for a particularly big diversion. Instead of letting the farmers sell all their raisins, they decided to divert a ton of them into the raisin "reserve" — 47 percent.

"A lot of we all jumped up and yelled and said 'No, it's crazy. What's the matter with you guys?', " says Marvin Horne. "It was no avail and that's when I came home, and I talked with my wife, and we said 'No we're not going to deliver.'"

The Hornes knew if they didn't deliver to the raisin reserve, they might be breaking the law so they started researching. They got a hold of the actual legislation where this is laid out, Marketing Order Part 989, and they say, they found a loophole in the law. Loophole in hand, they set up their own packing operation a couple years ago and started selling all their raisins.

The Raisin Administrative Committee does not agree with the Hornes' legal interpretation. They say the Hornes are breaking the law and should be punished. The committee even hired a private investigator to watch the Hornes and collect evidence against them.

What happened next is proof of how upside down the world of raisins is. For not agreeing to participate in behavior that in many other industries would be considered collusion, the federal government sued the Hornes for hundreds of thousands of dollars in uncollected raisins and fines. The case went all they way up to the Supreme Court before being kicked down to a lower appeals court.

The Hornes are awaiting a decision.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/08/09/210490760/the-raisin-outlaw-of-kerman-california

Mangini & Cleveland Browns Per Nate Jackson

Pretty interesting;
JNZ

http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/manginis-mess-sent-to-save-the-cleveland-browns-eric-mangini-instead-put-on-a-clinic-on-how-to-drive-a-teams-morale-into-the-ground/Content?oid=3625467&showFullText=true

Old Article/ESPN; Bill Belichick: Everybody's critic

Commentary
Bill Belichick: Everybody's critic
Patriots coach teaches through humiliation during Monday film sessions
Updated: January 30, 2012, 6:20 PM ET
By Jackie MacMullan | ESPNBoston.com

Dec. 12, 2011

New England Patriots safety James Ihedigbo crouched in his seat, attempting to make himself as tiny and as indistinguishable as possible.

He knew what was coming.

Coach Bill Belichick clicked off the lights and rolled the film.

[+] Enlarge AP Photo/Rich LipskiJames Ihedigbo looked bad in his matchup against Santana Moss in December ... and he's still hearing about it.

"So now we're going to watch a double reverse," said Belichick, launching into his weekly film analysis, which former linebacker Mike Vrabel gleefully revealed earned the coach the nickname "The Belistrator."

The play on the screen was painfully familiar. Just one day earlier, the Patriots slipped past the Washington Redskins 34-27, but not before Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan suckered the Patriots by calling for a double reverse. Quarterback Rex Grossman handed off to running back Roy Helu, who pitched it to receiver Brandon Banks, who tossed a 49-yard touchdown pass to an untouched Santana Moss.

"As you can see clearly here," said Belichick, slowing the game action to an excruciating crawl, "this is where Ihedigbo gets beat."

Ihedigbo, slinking farther down in his chair, squirmed uncomfortably as his coach skewered his performance.

("They ran the double reverse in Cover 2. I bit on it, and got caught. I blew the coverage," Ihedigbo later lamented.)

"So this is how you DON'T defend the double reverse," Belichick said as he showed it again.

And again. And again and again.

"Well, at least that's over with," said Ihedigbo, in his first year with the Patriots, when Belichick finally moved on.

His friends in the secondary erupted with laughter.

"James," one of his teammates informed him, "it's just beginning."

"They were right," Ihedigbo later confirmed. "Bill ran that play for weeks. He kept bringing it up: 'Now see, this is where Ihedigbo got caught deep.'

"After a while, it became more generic. It was, 'Hey, we might see a double reverse this week like we did against Washington.' And there I am, up on the screen, in the wrong place all over again."

No one is safe

The Belistrator is an equal-opportunity humiliator. He doesn't care if you are a young safety or a first-ballot Hall of Famer; if you mess up, he's going to hold you accountable.

And then he's going to degrade you.

Former linebacker Don Davis was a popular and revered figure in New England's locker room. He was a pastor who coordinated Bible study groups for the players and proved to be a tireless worker on the field and in the weight room. He even earned the offseason conditioning award.

"So there's this one play that made Don look really bad," Vrabel recalled. "Bill showed it a few times then said, 'Offseason award winner, my ass. You look like a cow on ice.' Tedy [Bruschi] and I were in the back laughing our butts off.

[+] Enlarge Elsa/Getty ImagesEven superstars like Tom Brady can be frequent targets of Bill Belichick's film-room barbs.

"Of course, it's only funny until it happens to you."

Belichick's current and former players and coaches say his vicious film critiques have been part of his motivational arsenal for as long as they can remember. The roots of the tactic are murky -- Belichick declined a request to be interviewed for this story -- but the desired impact has been well documented.

"It was very, very effective," said Brad Seely, the former Patriots and current San Francisco 49ers special teams coach. "Just look at the former players who have been gone a few years and can still describe it in vivid detail."

Seely said he rarely knew in advance what Belichick had prepared for the dreaded Monday meeting.

"We all were as anxious as the players to see what Bill came up with," Seely said. "Those sessions were always quite enlightening."

Past Patriots veterans fondly remember the time Tom Brady uncharacteristically threw a weak, fluttering pass. As they left the stadium, Brady announced, "Bring the popcorn. I'll be the star of tomorrow's show." Sure enough, when the lights were dimmed and the film began rolling, there was Brady in technicolor, tossing a wounded duck up for grabs -- over and over again.

In that instance, the coach let the picture tell the story. Then he clicked on the lights and announced, "I've seen better passes thrown at Foxborough High School."

The Brady lowlights have been frequent and biting through the years. Belichick stresses the need to never leave points on the board and whenever his quarterback does, he's treated to his own personal film festival. The clips include bad reads, interceptions and poorly timed bombs, such as one in 2009, when Brady overthrew Randy Moss as he streaked toward the end zone.

"As you can see," the Belistrator pointed out, "Randy is wide open. The defense let him go. Not that we can hit him, though. Right, Tom?"

Picking on Ihedigbo is one thing; embarrassing the face of the franchise would seem to be another matter entirely.

It isn't.

"The message was always clear," Bruschi said. "No one was off limits. That's why you had to respect it."

"None of us are immune from his coaching," Stephen Gostkowski added.

Not even the kicker. In Super Bowl XLII against the New York Giants, the Patriots had just scored on a Laurence Maroney 1-yard run when Gostkowski kicked off -- and the ball sailed out of bounds.

That critical error gave the Giants optimal field position at their own 40-yard line. Gostkowski had to sit through weeks and weeks of replays of his stray kick, as well as Eli Manning's ensuing 38-yard pass to Amani Toomer that placed the Giants inside New England's 20-yard line. New York did not score on that drive because Ellis Hobbs picked off a Manning pass, but footage of that play is never shown. The Belistrator always ends the clip with the Giants seemingly ready to cash in on Gostkowski's miscue.

For a split second, Gostkowski actually thought he might escape the humiliating film sessions, since his mistake occurred during the season finale.

Ah, no.

"Bill teed it up the first week the following season," Gostkowski said. "He reminded me of that kick almost every day. He has a way of putting pressure on you so you accept any challenge he puts out there.

"He never forgets anything. He still brings up plays from when he was a coach with the Giants and the Browns. Those meetings are like an NFL history lesson."

Oct. 7, 2001

In the waning seconds of the first half, the Miami Dolphins were in the red zone, threatening to score. The job of the Patriots' defense on third down was clear: prevent the touchdown, force the field goal.

Belichick's 10 most unconventional moves

Some were proved to be brilliant, others not so much -- but all bucked the status quo. Mike Rodak »

"The tight end [Jed Weaver] split out wide," Bruschi said. "I wasn't even sure if he was supposed to be my man, but I jumped out to cover him.

"It was red zone situational football. With 20 seconds left, all I had to do is keep him out of the end zone. Conceptually, you want to stay off that player. For some reason, I played him tight at the line of scrimmage."

The ball was snapped. Weaver juked past Bruschi, then burned him for a 14-yard touchdown thrown by Jay Fiedler seven seconds before halftime. The Patriots went on to lose 30-10.

"I knew I was going to hear about it," Bruschi said, "but Bill was still showing that play five years later. By then it was no longer, 'Look at what Bruschi did.' It was, 'Here's an example of bad situational football.' By 2007 I was saying to him, 'Hey Bill, do you think we can find another example?"'

Bruschi admitted the repeated humiliation was, at times, infuriating.

"But I've got to tell you, it works," he said. "I made a mistake, and it was pointed out so many times I never made it again. It's like what Bill Parcells always used to say: 'Don't be that guy who ruins a season.'"

Point taken

After Patriots rookies are handed their playbooks, if they are fortunate, a veteran will pull them aside and prep them for the devastating beatdown that each of them invariably will experience.

Most learn to take it; some never can. Those players do not last in the Patriots' organization.

"The idea is to take it personally," Bruschi said. "Bill wants you to do that. You get angry, and you get embarrassed. But then you get to the point where you want to fix it, and fix it badly."

A number of former Patriots pointed to Adalius Thomas as one who struggled with those film sessions. In 2007, Thomas designed T-shirts and passed them out in the locker room. On the front, the shirt read "Eat it," and on the back it said "Humble pie." At the time, Thomas good-naturedly explained he was accenting the need to be able to react positively to criticism.

"But I think that stuff got to him," Vrabel said.

Two years later, Thomas was a healthy scratch for a game against the Tennessee Titans. When asked if he would use his inactive status as motivation, Thomas replied, "I don't need something like this to fire me up. This isn't kindergarten. I don't play those games."

The following April, Thomas was released.

Deion Branch said if you are looking for positive feedback to soothe your ego, New England is the wrong place to play. The idea, he said, is to push you to the brink, then reel you back in so "you can prove Bill wrong."

"He never compliments you," linebacker Rob Ninkovich said. "He'll throw you a little something once in a while, but it's never, 'Good job.' It's more like, 'Well, you did a little better with this.'"

Ninkovich experienced his own demeaning Belistrator moment following a Nov. 7, 2010, loss in Cleveland. Josh Cribbs lined up in the Wildcat formation, but instead of running it himself, he handed off to Chansi Stuckey on a "fumblerooski" play. Stuckey scampered past Ninkovich for an 11-yard touchdown.

"[Stuckey] was hiding behind the guard," Ninkovich said. "I saw everything. I knew exactly what they were going to do. But sometimes things are going so fast that you don't react the way you want.

"Instead of running behind the line of scrimmage and running across the ball and tackling the guy for a loss, I ran underneath. Cribbs was running the opposite way, and I was running the wrong way.

"When I watched it afterward -- about 100 times -- I said to myself, 'What the hell was I doing?'

"I can promise you this -- it won't ever happen again."

Oct. 10, 2007

The Patriots were ahead 3-0 against the Cincinnati Bengals and had advanced the ball to the Bengals' 1-yard line. They were trying to pound it in for the score, so Vrabel checked in as an eligible receiver, then turned and hauled in the touchdown pass from Brady.

Upon further review, the coach was peeved by the result. Belichick pieced together a montage of Vrabel's offensive forays, then highlighted the lowlights of his attempts to block in his role as a tight end.

"No wonder we throw to you," the Belistrator cackled when the lights came up. "Nobody in their right mind would run behind a block like that."

Even a successful touchdown is not immune from criticism.

There were days, both former and current players confess, when the humiliation was disheartening, even overwhelming. Often, players left the complex feeling angry and unappreciated.

That, said Vrabel, is part of the mental challenge.

"I think if football is really important to you and you are mentally and physically tough, then it's not that hard," Vrabel said. "If you like putting yourself before the team, then it might be difficult. If you have a different agenda, it's going to be brutal.

"I liked knowing where I stood. I like that there wasn't a whole lot of gray area."

He critiques because he cares

New England's current two-way contributor, Julian Edelman, said he can't narrow his humiliations down to one specific film moment.

"There are so many of them," he said. "Mostly when I fumble the ball."

Edelman said he has learned to appreciate Belichick's film assaults, even if they are directed at him. He likes the idea of accountability and the reinforcement of fundamentals.

[+] Enlarge David Butler II/US PresswireSome players learn to deal with and thrive under Bill Belichick's sharp criticism; others not so much.

"It's kind of like Bill's signature thing," he said. "And besides, sometimes it's pretty funny. He has a good sense of humor."

The Belistrator loves to run a particular play when center Dan Koppen is supposed to be cleaning up the pocket, but is unable to make contact.

"We're waiting, Dan," Belichick delights in saying as the film runs. "Still waiting … still waiting …"

"Coach," Koppen finally responded after two years of seeing the clip, "no matter how many times you show this, I'm still not going to get there."

"Anybody, Dan? Anybody? Can you just hit somebody?" chortled Vrabel, in his best Belistrator voice. "That's one of my favorites.

"And don't forget the time he went to Willie McGinest and said, 'Hey Willie, if you were on the offensive line and I yelled, 'Screen left!' which way would you block?' Willie said, 'I'd go left.'

"Bill said, 'Well damn, that's right. See, Light [addressing tackle Matt Light]? Even a defensive guy knows which way to block.'"

Bruschi surmises the 2011 Patriots have been through hell as they approach their Super Bowl matchup with the Giants. The stronger the team, he said, the more intensely Belichick drives you.

"I look back on that '07 season, and that was the hardest he ever coached us," Bruschi said. "We were undefeated and he treated us like we hadn't won a game.

"I'm sure he was the same with this team after they beat Denver in their first playoff game. They killed the Broncos, but I guarantee you the entire meeting was about all the things they did wrong.

"In that way, Bill hasn't changed at all. He wants you on edge. He wants you uncomfortable.

"If I thought for a minute he had softened, I'd call him up and say, 'What's wrong, Coach?"'

Vrabel had one year left on his contract when he went to Belichick in 2009 and told him he'd like to redo his deal. Within weeks, he was dealt to Kansas City.

It was a shocking and hurtful development for the proud linebacker, who had enjoyed a tremendous relationship with Belichick. Vrabel didn't speak to his former coach for almost two years after the trade.

Time has softened Vrabel's stance. He's retired now and working as a defensive line coach at Ohio State, and hopes to pop in on a Patriots practice in Indianapolis.

"Bill and I are more than fine now," Vrabel said. "To be honest, I had this revelation. Let's say, for example, I stayed in New England and got old, and it got messy. Maybe I got cut. If that happened, we probably wouldn't have a relationship.

"Looking back, what Bill did made sense. I went to K.C., met a ton of people. Now Bill and I talk all the time. I get advice on my players. I check on his daughter, who is at Ohio State.

"We never talked about the trade. We probably never will. But I know this: Bill cares. He doesn't show it, but if you bust your ass for him, he's got your back.

"Now, that may not come across in August in training camp. But one day, these guys will be 36 years old and they'll understand what he was all about."

In the meantime, the Belistrator terrorizes them with their human foibles, cutting a franchise quarterback down to a high school wannabe, making his linebacker and his safety feel as though they still haven't made a single significant play in their Patriots careers.

Their coach wants perfection. He knows he'll never get it, because the film preserves each and every mistake. So he'll lower the lights, run the film and grimace through another flawed Sunday.

Even when it's Super Bowl XLVI.

Jackie MacMullan is a columnist for ESPNBoston.com.
http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/7518409/bill-belichick-everybody-critic-film-sessionshttp://