The ABC Life Blog

New Documentaries:

Laura:  I’ve always thought of the kangaroo and the koala as adorable and well-loved animals. What I didn’t realize is that they are both marsupials (koalas are not bears) and that both these animals are dying off in record numbers. I chose to watch two films on these animals, thinking I would be treated to delightful scenes of animals playing and living a comfortable life in Australia. The two films, “Kangaroo: A Love-Hate Story” and “Koalas: The Bare Facts”, proved me wrong and horrified me. So depressing!  Experts believe that koalas could be extinct within 20 years, mainly because although they are protected, the environmental conditions that they depend on to survive are not. Wildfires are not helping. And the fate of the kangaroo is even more horrifying. The kangaroo population is being slaughtered in record numbers, primarily because it is considered a pest by farmers and ranchers. Plus, with all these dead kangaroos, it’s not surprising that they are being turned into a range of marketable products: fashion, pet food and gourmet cuisine. I love documentaries…you learn new things and gain new perspectives. Unfortunately, it’s not always what you wanted to know.

LEARNING CENTER

Barbara: I tried to find a fact that would make us feel a little better after this, so perhaps if it’s the eucalyptus trees in the environment that aren’t protected it’s not as dire as thought.

According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica eucalyptus leaves are full of toxins dangerous to baby koalas. Mama koalas feed their babies microbe-rich poop instead to help them develop immunity.

Luckily for my kids, I am not a koala.

Sometimes things we want to do for a letter work out really well and sometimes they don’t. That was the case for us this month as two activities did not meet our expectations.

New activity – Wanda KING Blues Band

The Allen Library has a very active event schedule for kids and adults alike and it’s always worth checking out their schedule. This past Friday they had Wanda King and her band playing. Wanda is the daughter of blues legend Freddie King. The band was very good and Wanda has a terrific voice but it was a bit of a disappointment as she came out, sang one song, left and the band played the entire remainder of the hour alone with the exception of one more song from Wanda. Could be she had a good reason, but it still left us wanting as we prefer blues singing to blues band by itself. On the plus side, we got out of the house and listened to some good live music.

New activity – KNOX HENDERSON

Barbara had been to this area a long time ago and remembered it having very funky, unique shops and so since Laura hadn’t ever been we decided to take a drive. First, we looked up several vintage shops, one cute sounding store called Froggie’s Five and Ten and an interesting shop called Art is Art. Both wound up being gone from the location we copied from the website and lots of the existing vintage stores were either closed or very high priced.  

BUT although the day wasn’t exactly what we had expected, we decided to reward ourselves with a bunch of K delights from our Kopel childhood memories: we bought knishes, kasha varnishkes and kishka at Deli News and the day ended with a killer blast from the past.

New City: KELLER

It would have been very easy to sit indoors this weekend since it’s been so darned hot, but since it’s “K” month we felt drawn to the Keller Farmer’s Market. On the close to an hour’s drive, we had time to reflect on the pull of K. We were both born Kopel’s and now one of us is a Kroeger and one of us a Katz. The Seinfeld show could have been created for us as we find delight in talking about nothing.  For example, who but the sisters could find Rufe Snow Drive the source of a good ten minute Konversation. Barbara posited that while discussing the name of the street as it was being designed perhaps the person dictating the name had a slight speech impediment and the street was meant to be called Ruth Snow Drive. Laura thought perhaps the designer’s 4 year old son had looked out the window and said, “Daddy, there’s snow on the rufe!”. Kindred spirits indeed!

But on to the farmer’s market. It was located in a pretty area and was of a good size so we had high hopes.

And while the produce was nice, we know for next time that an hour to drive necessitates another sight to see and there was none. But we did come home with some very tasty peaches, blueberries and strawberries so not a total loss.

New restaurant: Purple KIWI

After the exhausting task of shopping for a bathing suit, we were both in the mood for a bit of ice cream but trying to be good. What luck that we happened upon a frozen yogurt shop with a nice selection of non-fat flavors and since it had a K word in its name…well, we just had to, didn’t we?

Purple Kiwi is a delightfully designed shop with purple chairs and kiwi-colored walls.  

We both tried the nonfat, cholesterol free Dreamy Dark Chocolate and dreamy it was! We’ll definitely be frequenting this establishment!

New author: Sophie Kinsella

Barbara: I’ve seen the name Sophie Kinsella on book covers in the past and have skimmed right past them, thinking they were just “fluff” – something to read at the beach when you just want to not have to pay attention. But along came “K” month and I decided “what the heck,” I’d give her a go. And sometimes it’s just good to take a break and not have to analyze the book I’m reading. Well, I’m glad I did because while “My Not So Perfect Life” still isn’t a “book discussion read,” Kinsella’s writing is enjoyable with clever dialogue, not the “fluff” I was expecting. I found myself looking forward to the next chapter and it kept me going till the end. I’ll definitely try her again.

LEARNING CENTER – “K”

Before alarm clocks became popular, British workers called “knocker uppers” were hired to tap on windows to wake people up in the morning.

Can you imagine the great stories they had to tell when they got home? Who wore what to sleep, who was sleeping with whom, who looks absolutely awful without makeup, etc. That would have made a cool part time job; that is, unless the knocker upped knocked out the knocker upper!

New activity – Jelly Bean shopping

Laura: Although there are millions of jelly bean fans, I’m not one of them. Not that I don’t like them, I just wouldn’t go out of my way to get them. But my hubby loves them, so when Barbara and I passed an old-fashioned candy store in McKinney, I wanted to check out their jelly bean options. Bingo! The shop had an amazing selection of, well, everything! I concentrated, however, on these colorful bins of jelly beans:

This shopping experience triggered a curiosity in both of us to find out more about this little bean of distinction. Here are some fun facts:

1. Back in the 1910s and early 1920s, people called a young man who dressed fashionably but had little else going for him a “jellybean.” In fact, F. Scott Fitzgerald published a story about such a man called….you guessed it: Jellybean.

2. In the U.S., fans of the Beatles threw jelly beans at the band, imitating fans in the UK who threw the British candy Jelly Babies at George Harrison, who loved the candy.

3. Ronald Reagan began eating jelly beans to kick his pipe smoking habit. He became so enamored with them, he ordered three and a half tons for his inauguration.

4. There are more than 100 flavors of jelly bean, from normal (cherry, lime) to eccentric (pancakes, maple syrup, ginger ale) to outright gross (vomit, dirty socks).

New movie theme: JAPAN

Barbara: Ever since I graduated from college and went to work for a Japanese company, I had dreams of visiting Japan. Fast forward – I won’t tell you how many years – and I’ve finally planned a trip for 2024. While in the Japanese frame of mind, I thought I’d watch a film that took place there and hit upon the Oscar winner for Best International Film in 2009, Departures. I absolutely loved this movie about a cello player whose orchestra needs to dissolve and who applies for a job that he thinks is for a travel agent or tour guide as the ad mentions “Departures”, but is actually for an undertaker. It provides a bit of humor at first but quickly becomes a drama and by the end of the film I was entranced. What really struck me was how what they call “casketing” was done with such tenderness, while the family watched. It was really quite moving and highly recommended by me.

On that vein I found this lovely (sarcastic) piece of trivia about the burial business in modern day Japan: Japan has the world’s highest rate of cremation—more than 99 percent. Because of the long wait lists at crematoria, a cottage industry of “corpse hotels” has sprung up.

I think I’ll vet my hotels very carefully!

Movie theme: Incarceration

Laura:  Prison Break was one of my favorite tv series, so I always pay attention to when movies or documentaries focus on the topic of incarceration. Recently I noticed that singer/songwriter John Legend was associated with the 30-minute documentary Home/Free and decided I needed to check it out. The film is about what “freedom” looks like to those newly released from prison. Under constant surveillance and being denied access to employment, education and voting rights, the deck is immediately stacked against their successful re-entry into society. No job means no money. No money means no housing, no food and no health insurance. Plus the consequences and devastation to other family members often multiply the risks of eventual imprisonment for those left behind. Legend narrates the stories of three people, so these issues really pack a punch. Also, his experience as a child surviving his mother’s imprisonment lends this documentary an unexpected air of authenticity. I thought the film was succinct and powerful and I admire that John Legend is advocating for change in the public’s attitude toward re-entry and redemption and working toward passing new laws that will change the system now in place.

New cuisine: Indonesian food

We’ve sampled many different Asian cuisines but never yet had a meal from Indonesia, so we grabbed a friend and went off to The Koi Way in Allen. We were a little anxious since we were the only ones in the restaurant but the food did not disappoint. Their take on egg rolls – Kroket/Risoles – was very tasty. Our friend had their satay and we shared a delicious soup called Mie Ayam: Indonesian chicken pho topped with mushroom, chicken, herbs and spices, a green vegetable, and pork wonton. All we can say is YUM!

New activity: Irish music

Extending our enjoyment of Irish entertainment, we headed off to The Celt Irish Pub in McKinney to hear the TIMES (Traditional Irish Music Education Society) Session Players perform. The afternoon we were there they had a fabulous quintet, consisting of a fiddle, banjo, guitar, Irish flute and a bodhran.

The latter was something new to us and we had to look it up to find out its name. Interestingly, the bodhran is a traditional Celtic frame drum considered to be the heartbeat of Irish music. We thoroughly enjoyed the music – and our food and beverages. We split corned beef and cabbage eggrolls (amazing!) and Barbara chose to wash it all down with a Guinness Irish Stout, while Laura went wild with a “Slippery Deck” (blend of spiced rum and coconut rum with fruit flavored schnapps and pineapple, orange and cranberry juice).  Topping off the experience was discovering that The Celt Irish Pub’s current location was actually a brothel in the late 1800s.

New activity: Personal Indulgences

McKinney has such a great downtown area that we just had to browse a few shops after leaving The Celt Irish Pub. Laura has a donkey hand puppet that always makes her smile (it’s his teeth) so she knew she had to buy the twin donkeys sketch and Barbara heeded her love of pithy sayings on towels. It was a fun way to indulge our idiosyncrasies!

New activity – Irish Step Dancing – Riverdance

Having never had the opportunity to see Riverdance, we were thrilled with our luck that its 25th anniversary coincided with “I” month. We decided to make it a sisters evening and shared it with a friend and her sister. First a yummy cocktail and dinner at The Porch in the Knox Henderson neighborhood. We had a second bit of Irish luck with our parking spot. The performance did not disappoint. But the funniest part of the evening was the lady’s restroom. There was a huge snake-line and we were surprised it moved so fast until we got inside. The theatre had hired 4 attendants who were like veritable drill sergeants, directing us sharply to an area and particular stall. We laughed so much it made our experience especially memorable. In the words of the Irish “the Craig was mighty Thursday night” (we had a great time).

New activity – DMA Exhibit: Saints and Sinners

We were disappointed that we missed going with our Art Appreciation group to see this exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art, but better late than never. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, the exhibit showcases Flemish artwork and in particular the themes of Sinners, Saints, Lovers and Fools. We noticed that the colors were very vibrant and Barbara felt that the religious characters were drawn much softer than some of those seen in the Italian religious paintings. We appreciated the explanations throughout the exhibit; for example in the gallery of “fools” paintings they talked about foolish games, in particular the rebus which was a pictorial image of a saying. How many can you guess?

A final explanation of the gallery was:  “The scenes in these paintings hold up a mirror to us. They are often full of jokes, pranks, and witty double-meanings. But the punchline is always deadly serious: don’t be like the fools and sinners in these artworks, otherwise you will never get to heaven.”

There is a test at the end of the exhibit that you can take to see which category you fit into and – no surprise – both of us fell into the “Fools” category. We were proud to wear our fool buttons the rest of the day.

New shop: Van Leeuwen ICE CREAM

One of our great weaknesses is Ice Cream. So since we were downtown we decided to try a new shop somewhere between downtown and home and came upon this one. We loved their tag line: “If you have a mouth, we have a flavor.” We sampled both Bigface Coffee Affogato and Double Chocolate Fudgy Brownie (not sure we got the name right here). Both of us opted for the fudgy brownie. Needless to say, we had chocolate grins when we left (especially when we realized we were still wearing our Fool buttons!).

May and June have been and will be heavy with travel, so we’ve decided to have the letters I and J span together across both months. In keeping with the above we set out to complete our reading challenges for I & J in the same day. We accomplished this in the city of Denton.

The first thing we noticed as we entered Denton was that they are very clever in their naming of businesses. Our all-time favorite was Stinky’s Smoke Shop. It immediately put us in a laughing mood and Barbara almost wanted to start smoking so she could patronize old Stinky. (Luckily, she held back the urge). Next came Arsenal Tattoo. We pictured the owners tattooing, not with an electric device but by taking a weapon from their Arsenal and shooting the ink pattern into the customer’s body. After passing Call to Arms Gun Shop and the Sleepy Lizzard we came to the runner up for best/funniest name at Big Fatty’s Spanking Shack. We hadn’t even left the car and we’re already in a great mood!

We arrived in time to eat an early lunch and found the perfect place.

New restaurant: The Juicy Pig

How do we resist that name? The owners had commissioned a mural in the parking lot and here are the results. The children sitting at the bottom of the picture are the owners’ kids and we got a kick out of the names of the actors once we realized they were More Love, Compassion, Tolerance and Joyfulness.

“I” Reading challenge: Find an independent bookstore in the city that we visit. Try to support the store.

We completed this by going into Patchoulli Joe’s Books & Indulgences. One thing we love about independent bookstores is that the people working there really seem to love reading and always can recommend something. We bought a couple of books to support them.

Last but not least….

“J” Reading challenge: Have a cup of Java and take on the identity of your favorite author or fictional character when asked for your name at the coffee shop. See if anyone notices or comments.

Our plan was for one of us to give the name Agatha and the next one to give the name Christie and see if they ask us about it. Our story was that Agatha Christie was our mom’s favorite author but it backfired because all we ordered was coffee and so no one asked our names!

All in all a delightful day.