It was the worst I’ve heard since I started tagging along with Liz to the Phoenix Symphony in the mid 1990’s. (Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind, Osvaldo Golijov.)
The most embarrassing performance, however, was several years ago and it was due to a similar misguided attempt to combine musical styles.
The guest soloist was a operatic singer and the director at the time had talked her into singing a blues or jazz piece. She did well as an operatic singer as far as I could tell but when she did the blues/jazz piece you just cringed. You could see in her face that she knew full well how bad it was but she had to go along with the director’s failed experiment. It felt a bit like the director was humiliating her in public. That had to be one of, if not the, most embarrassing performance of her life.
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, on the other hand, was spectacular last night. You needed a seat belt to ride the third movement.
I just wanted to drop a quick note to Kelly and Dave in Tucson to mention that the ASU Sun Devils beat the UofA Wildcats in basketball TWICE this year and, of course, the Sun Devils were able to squeak a victory against Tucson in football as well.
Just a friendly note to point out that this was the first time since 1981-82 that ASU has won both basketball games and the football game against UofA.
His birth in Paris 18 years ago was a very emotional time for me.
When Liz was pregnant with our older son, John, we really didn’t know what we were doing… or that we would end up with a perfect new life in our lives.
It was different the second time around. I knew full well the complete miracle of life that was coming into ours.
At that time, I worked at the American Embassy in Paris and a popular French singer, Francis Cabrel, had just come out with a new album that included a song about a child’s birth.
I listened to the song over and over while Liz was pregnant. The song is about the birth of a daughter, but for me, it will always be Chris’ Song.
The part that choked me up, even today, were these lyrics.
First the hours, the days, the weeks, then the years of love.
You may have noticed that I’m shifting content from the Home Sale News zip code newsletters as much as possible onto the zip code real estate pages here on Arizona Real Estate Notebook. I’m doing this because of the constant problems I have with delivery of the Home Sale News email newsletters.
They are blocking your emails from Home Sale News
I receive several emails each and every week from subscribers complaining that they are not receiving the Home Sale News newsletters that they used to receive or that they just signed up for.
Nearly always, the person is indeed subscribed and I am dutifully sending them the newsletters each week. They, however, are not receiving the newsletters because their internet service provider (for example, Cox.net) or their online email company (for example, Yahoo.com) is blocking the Home Sale News newsletters before they reach the person’s email inbox. Cox or Yahoo or whoever is mis-identifying Home Sale News newsletters as spam and stopping them before they hit the person’s inbox.
I’ve been sending out the Home Sale News newsletters since 2001 and the problem is worse now, at least for my newsletters.
Double Opt-In
Home Sale News is, in fact, a double opt-in email newsletter which means 1) you have to subscribe at HomeSaleNews.com and then 2) you have to respond to a confirmation email message before you will receive any newsletters.
The New Strategy
To partially get around this problem, I am shifting content online to the zip code real estate notebook pages here at Arizona Real Estate Notebook.
This has 2 advantages.
The less content in the newsletters, the more likely the spam filters will let the newsletters through to your inbox. In addition, I can add as much content as I like to Arizona Real Estate Notebook (for example, the new trend charts) with few problems, whereas if I added that same content to Home Sale News, it would lower the email delivery rate.
More importantly, even if Cox or Yahoo or whoever is blocking your email from Home Sale News, you can get the information you want right here online at Arizona Real Estate Notebook.
The only downside that I can see is that here online only the most current week of home sales data is displayed for each zip code. I know many Home Sale News subscribers like to save the newsletters. If that is what you want and they are currently blocking your emails from Home Sale News, you’ll have to work it out with Cox or Yahoo or whoever to stop blocking your emails from Home Sale News.
Read this
If in the future, your Home Sale News newsletters suddenly stop arriving in your email inbox, you can always come here to get your information.
In a previous life, I had a mail order business along the lines of a mini Harry and David. My signature product was Black Sphinx dates, although I called them “Celebration” dates, a name I trademarked for marketing reasons.
The dates got rave reviews from food editors all across the country - Dallas, Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Phoenix and others.
[Unfortunately, the business was a financial disaster for me so for mental health reasons I expunged anything to do with it from my computers years ago and don’t have any glittering newspaper quotes handy to show you.]
Black Sphinx dates are spectacular.
Black Sphinx dates are one of life’s great little pleasures.
Would you like a fresh date?
Americans know dates as a dried fruit. Black Sphinx dates are a fresh fruit.
It’s like the difference between a grape and a raisin, or between a plum and a prune. The fresh fruit is a totally different fruit.
For example, Black Sphinx dates have an amazing creamy, melt in your mouth texture. They are a true gourmet experience that shouldn’t be missed.
Why Black Sphinx dates are so rare
One problem with Black Sphinx dates is they are a fresh date. They require extremely delicate handling and they need to be kept refrigerated or frozen. Unrefrigerated, their quality will remain excellent for only a week or so.
In addition, Black Sphinx dates do not dry well. They have very thin skin which tends to crack when dried exposing the fruit.
Another problem is the demand for dates is extremely seasonal. In the United States, dates are mainly a Christmas food. It is tough to sell dates after Christmas or before Thanksgiving.
Also Black Sphinx dates are extremely rich. Only one pound is enough for most date lovers to get through the holidays. It’s not a reoccurring purchase.
Black Sphinx dates are smaller then Medjool dates. Americans prefer big dates like Medjools.
Further, dates are out of style. Baby boomers, for example, don’t eat dates.
Loved by the WW II generation
The World War II generation, however, loves dates but they are now fewer and fewer in number.
Many in the World War II generation have extremely fond memories of Christmas dates from their childhood.
Back before candy was everywhere, and especially during World War II when sugar was severely rationed, dates were their candy. A healthy candy but a candy nevertheless.
I’ve heard many fond stories of waking up on Christmas morning to find dates and tangerines in their Christmas stocking… and they were thrilled! Baby boomers will absolutely not believe this but these storytellers were actually thrilled to find dates in their Christmas stockings.
By the way, if you are Jewish, Italian, Greek or otherwise of Mediterranean heritage, it has been my experience that you are far more likely to love dates than the average American.
Where did Black Sphinx dates originate?
They originated in Phoenix, that we know for sure… but not much more.
One likely legend is that they originated from a rogue date that had fallen from a tree and taken root. Date seeds have a mother and a father so each date seed in genetically unique.
A date that falls from a tree and takes root will be very different from the mother and it will be very different from the father.
To reproduce date palms that are identical to the mother, you cut an offshoot from the mother and plant it in the ground. It’s quite a trick to cut out an offshoot from the mother date palm without damaging the mother.
The rogue date
Okay, now back to the story. It’s likely that a rogue date palm grew up in an unattended area around someone’s home in Phoenix during the 1920’s. It was common back then to have a few date palms around your house.
In this particular case, the area had to be unattended for quite a while because it would take a few years before the rogue palm would be old enough to produce fruit. Eventually, someone discovered the amazing fruit, took offshoots and planted them and Black Sphinx dates slowly became a local delicacy.
One legend has it that Mr. Brophy of Brophy Prep fame, a large farmer, promoted the serendipitous date variety.
One local date aficionado, Scott Frische, says he occasionally finds single Black Sphinx date palms, as well as other rare varieties, growing next to old homes in the older parts of Phoenix. It reflects a time in Phoenix when people would plant dates as well as citrus around their homestead.
For the Arabs and date connoisseurs out there, it’s likely that at least one parent was a Hayani variety date palm.
The Date Grove in Arcadia
There was only one commercial grove that I know of. It was probably planted in the 1940’s and was developed into a housing subdivision in the late 1950’s.
It’s the “Date Grove” neighborhood in the Arcadia area of Phoenix. The grove with houses underneath, is located just south of Lafayette Blvd on either side of 47th St.
[Real estate digression: There was a packing shed and retail store on Lafayette Blvd. It was zoned commercial. After the date operation was closed, the owners wanted to put in a market. To avoid having a commercial facility in the middle of residential Arcadia, Phoenix eventually allowed condos to be built on the site, still today the only condos in Arcadia proper.]
Harry to the rescue
The Arcadia date grove was not worked for several years. Then in the 1970’s, Harry Polk, one of the first managers of the Gentle Strength Coop in Tempe started to work the trees and sell the dates.
As the decades went on, the trees got taller, greatly complicating working the date palms and increasing the cost of producing the fresh dates.
In addition, Phoenix got hotter because of the heat island effect. The Black Sphinx dates that once ripened slowly in the Fall started to ripen earlier - and very quickly - in September and August. The shortened harvest season complicated the harvest, increased the quantity of dates lost to over ripening, and generally raised the cost of production.
In 1992 Liz and I bought a home in the Date Grove and became familiar with the whole story. For working our trees, Harry gave us Black Sphinx dates and they were a sensation with my friends and relatives. I was a date sharecropper! We moved to McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale in 1997 but we still love the dates.
Will Black Sphinx dates be lost?
Today, Harry is in his mid-50’s. This week Harry told me that 2007 was the last year he would work the date trees.
It was always amazing to see Harry up in the trees working the date palms. It seemed very dangerous. Each tree has to be climbed several times each year from pollinating the flowers to harvesting the fresh fruit.
When I called Harry, he had already sold his last supply of fresh dates.
Fortunately, a former neighbor living in the Date Grove bought 1,000 pounds of dates from Harry. She was selling them locally to test out the market and whether she should work a few trees herself next year.
I sure hope she does.
One of life’s great, little pleasures
Black Sphinx dates make a fantastic snack if you have a sweet tooth. [Don’t tell anyone that dates are healthy. It will just ruin it for them.]
I find that Black Sphinx dates satisfy my sweet tooth much better than chocolate or ice cream. Black Sphinx dates are so rich that after eating a couple my sweet tooth is satisfied and I don’t crave more sweets.
[Dates are an excellent source of fiber which may partially explain why they make you feel so satisfied. They are a real food. They aren’t just sugar and flavor.]
And anyway, if you have several, who cares? They’re healthy.
Indulge yourself!
Save the date - Black Sphinx Dates
This may be your last chance to experience this amazing Arizona grown delight. You may not have another chance… ever.
Call Erica at her home for information on how to buy a 1-pound basket for $6. I suggest you buy a flat of 12, 1-pound baskets for $60 and use them as gifts when dropping by your neighbors or going to holiday parties. By the way, the packaging is NOT suitable for sending by mail.
If you live in Arcadia, Erica will actually take them to your home! [Obviously, Erica is doing this because she loves of this rare, heirloom variety of dates and wants to share them with you.]
The best way you can preserve Black Sphinx dates is to call Erica and buy some from her.
You can call Erica, the Black Sphinx date lady, at her home at 602-840-0622.
You can really get some fun effects when it’s 3 places off. Here’s a true life case from Minnesota.
Said the concerned public official: “This is not an ‘oops.’ I hate to differ, but yes, this is the technical definition of “oops.” This is the equivalent of thinking you won the Powerball and running up every credit card you have
“Lundgren said the trouble began in August when a clerk went into Mattson’s file to change the designation of the property, at 233 Lake St. E., from homestead to non-homestead to reflect its change in status after its sale.
“The clerk filled in the $18,900 proposed valuation, but then mistakenly hit the key to exit the program. The computer added four zeros to fill out the nine numerical spaces required by the software, thus indicating the value was $189,000,000.”
This generated new estimates of increased property tax revenues.
“Those three entities — which were counting on the $2.5 million in increased property tax collections — now face the daunting task of raising taxes or cutting budgets to make up for the shortfall.”
Here’s an idea, tendered by a rank amateur at these sort of things. Do they have last year’s budget? Yes? Okay. Use that one.
First it’s not a “rate freeze.” Don’t call it that. That’s going to cause a lot of confusion among the muggles.
A better handle is “subprime freeze” although that’s not accurate either.
There is a lot of think-talk out there about the world going to hell in a handbasket because some borrowers are going to be rewarded for their stupidity or their avarice, and what about personal responsibility, etc., etc., etc.
Hey, the lenders aren’t doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, they don’t have any, they are doing it to make more (lose less) money.
If it was in their best interest to stick it to those same subprime borrowers, they certainly would. It’s just business, madam.
I pretty much agree with this guy’s take on the subprime freeze.
If you change only one variable, and reduce the interest rate paid on performing loans from say 10% to 7%, then the model will spit out a lower valuation. On the other hand, if along with a lower interest rate you also put in a lower foreclosure rate, then you’ll probably end up with a higher valuation, especially if your loss given foreclosure was high enough to begin with. And if the general discount rate you use comes down on the grounds that the mortgage freeze has reduced downside risks to the housing market as a whole, then your model’s valuation will go up even further.
Another factor that may have been included in the lenders’ calculation is the political benefits of this plan. This action taken now might tone down the sweeping legislation that is winding it’s way through Congress during this election year.
This agreement won’t save home sellers but should take the top edge off of the future over-supply peak.
For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why I had 2 Southwest Airlines flights on my credit card. Is it early Alzheimer’s that I can’t remember an airplane trip?
One of the nice things about airlines, with all their security, is that they know who took the flight… and Gina Valadez certainly isn’t me.
Oh well. Canceled the card. Will be credited for the 2 flights. I hope there are no bombs on next month’s bill.
It was a little cool this morning so at Liz’s request, we turned on the heat for the first time this autumn.
It tickles me when we can go past Thanksgiving before turning on the heat!
I don’t think it was really necessary since it will warm up to shirt sleeve weather by late morning.
What the heck, it’s a lazy Sunday morning and Liz wanted it. Liz is from Iowa but she is very sensitive to the cold. And I’m fine with turning on the heat anytime after Thanksgiving.
I have this sore throat and cough that I just can’t shake. I think it’s going around because my older son at ASU had it in September and my younger son at Saguaro High School had it in October.
I got it a couple of weeks ago and it really didn’t bother me. I worked right through it.
I thought I shook it completely but it came back last Tuesday stronger than ever and cut my productivity in half, at least. I think there was a low grade fever involved - they don’t bug you at first but after several days, you’re wiped out.
Yesterday, I finally remembered the obvious. I got the large humidifier we haven’t used in more than a year out of the garage, and Liz bought me a hot humidifier for the bedroom.
Man, what a difference! Today, my coughs are… shall we say… a lot more “productive.” I feel better already, like this will be the last day of the cold, tomorrow will be the recover day and I’ll be back at full speed on Wednesday.
