SoINeedAName

Friday Fun: A Pizzeria Transitions from Pepperoni to PPE to Help Battle COVID

 Posted by at 3:16 pm  Politics
Jun 262020
 

For years, Chicagoans have been lining up outside Dimo’s Pizza on Clark in Wrigleyville (just two blocks south of the Cubs’ “friendly confines”) and the newer location on Damen in Wicker Park to get a slice of their great pies.

But when COVID-19 hit and Gov. Pritzker (D) responsibly mandated restaurants, clubs and bars shut their dining room doors, Dimo’s lost 70% of their revenue. They still did curbside pickup and added BYOP (Bake Your Own Pizza) kits, but income lagged and it would be impossible to keep their staff employed.

Additionally, they were shocked about the horror stories across America from Trump’s inept pandemic management that forced healthcare workers in the trenches to also deal with PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) shortages.

The owner, Dimitri Syrkin-Nikolau, started thinking about how to help protect healthcare folks AND keep his loyal staff gainfully employed. So he started calling everyone he could think of for ideas. He began by  talking with his sister, who is a doctor, and then added engineering friends and digital designers.

He learned his pizza ovens in the front (the pies are baked in wood ovens in the back and then reheated either by the slice or whole up front when ordered to ensure a crispy crust) could be easily repurposed to mass produce protective face shields!

He worked with Avenue Metal, Co. to make the molds to shape the shields, and in two weeks the prototype shield was made with a blow torch, some acrylic and the stainless-steel molds. In another week they had perfected the art (and right temperature and duration) for softening sheets of acrylic in their reheating ovens. They only stay in the oven for 30-45 seconds before draping them over the mold and then pressed down with a mirror-image mold on top – so it’s very fast.

Once cooled, the shields have foam forehead strips and Velcro securing straps attached. “It really is a very quick process,” Dimitri says. “Whether it’s slinging slices or slinging acrylic, it’s similar principles.”

Unlike wood-fired ovens to bake the pizzas, the Bakers Pride Gaslight Oven used upfront to reheat the pies is temperature controlled to assure quality control for the acrylic. And Dimitri adds, “Plus there are no ashes!”

It wasn’t long before Dimitri was fielding calls from pizzerias across America as well as from London and Kuwait on how they could replicate the process.

Dimitri shared that when he checked, face shield prices on Amazon typically ranged from $15 to $30. While Dimo’s is not able to economically give them away, they charge a nominal fee of $5 a mask. They can crank out 5,000 masks a week, and have been able to keep the entire front house staff employed!

It’s definitely been a Win-Win-Win: Dimo’s – the staff – healthcare workers.

And Dimo’s Pizza concern for the community didn’t end just with making PPE face shields – they’ve also donated hundreds of pies to hospitals and homeless shelters all across Chicago during the COVID Pandemic!

But currently, Dimo’s is the only pizza shop in Chicago where you can now get a pie with a Face Shield side order.

This is the best video I found with some background and showing how the face shields are actually made:

 

 

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Friday Fun: Dad “Adopts” 2.3 MILLION Kids! Happy Father’s Day!

 Posted by at 8:57 am  Politics
Jun 192020
 

Robert Kenney of Washington state never set out to have a large family – but he has one now!  Well, sort of.

Kenney was never close to his own Dad, even before he left the family when Rob was only 14 y/o.  He shares that without a Dad, the father-figure he came to rely on was his older brother, Rick.  So when Kenney married and started his own family, he decided to try to be the best Dad he could.

Rob with his wife, Annelli – Married 30 years

When he started getting a lot of “adulting” questions from daughter, Kristine, about how to solve practical issues around the house, he came up with an idea.  He asked Kristine what she thought about creating some videos for her, son Kyle, and hopefully his grandkids about gaining a few life skills.

Rob with newborn daughter, Kristine

Kristine’s response: “Dad – that would be brilliant!” Thus was born, “Dad, How Do I …?”.

It began with modest issues Rob was familiar with – how to tie a tie (his first video), how to jump start a car, how to fix a squeaky door.  He put the videos on YouTube believing this would be a permanent library for his kids and grandkids, and maybe a few of their friends.

But he had no idea they would become so popular.

In trying to explain his overwhelming success, Rob admits he is not reinventing the wheel: “There are 500 other channels that will tell you how to tie a tie.”  But he believes what has led to his gaining 2.3 MILLION subscribers is kindness.  He feels he talks to the camera like he would to his own children.  Besides, the internet, “doesn’t have an algorithm for kindness.”

He sprinkles his folksy “How To” videos with lots of corny Dad jokes (“I was going to go on an all almond diet. But then I thought, that’s just nuts!”) and common sense with a huge helping of compassion and caring.  From the comments he gets on the YouTube videos, he believes that lots of younger folks are missing having connections with their parents – and he hopes he’s helping fill that void.

To enjoy a sampling, just head to his YouTube library of “Dad, How Do I?” and settle back for some fatherly know-how along with some good advice.

Practical “Dadvice” for Everyday Tasks

But be sure to watch his most popular video – “I Am Proud of You” – that didn’t teach a thing … other than how to be a mensch.

“I get emotional…. I put out a video, and I basically just said, ‘I’m proud of you, I love you, God Bless you,’ and some comments said they’ve never been told that someone is proud of them,” recalled Kenney.

Oh, to put your minds at ease … he did reconcile with his own Father shortly before he passed.  So it looks like the Circle of Life was completed.  So here’s the happy Kenney family:

SOURCES:

https://headtopics.com/us/how-this-handy-dad-became-the-internet-s-dad-with-his-how-to-fix-it-videos-13679867

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/18/879892191/dads-youtube-channel-advises-how-to-change-a-flat-other-life-skills

 

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Friday Good News We Can All Enjoy: RNC Approves Best GOP Platform EVAH!

 Posted by at 3:16 pm  Politics
Jun 122020
 

Today’s article will be different than the usual “Friday Fun” because of a major snafu on the part of the GOP.  Rather than actually do the hard work of sitting down and drafting a new Platform for 2020 – they decided to just recycle the old 2016 one.  And it’s the most truthful thing the Repubicans have ever published!

Because of the kerfuffle over Trump demanding to relish the adulation and genuflection of his mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging Trumpkins at a GOP coronation convention, combined with his being immune to Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D-NC) common sense efforts to try to explain to him that there IS STILL AN ON-GOING PANDEMIC, Trump demanded the convention be moved from Charlotte to Jacksonville.

In light of this fiasco and logistical nightmare, the RNC’s Executive Committee decided to cut corners and simply voted to keep the 2016 Platform.

In fact, a GOP Platform Committee spokesperson, Melody Potter, told the NY Times it’s “the best one we’ve had in 40 years, so I’m fine with renewing it and extending it to 2024.  As a matter of fact, and you can quote me on this, I think it is a ray of sunshine in this whole messy storm.”

Well, Melody is obviously not up to speed on what’s actually in the 2016 Platform …

“because there are more than three dozen unflattering references to either the “current president,” “current chief executive,” “current administration,” people “currently in control” of policy, or the “current occupant” of the White House that appear in the Republican platform.

So let’s enjoy a few of these gems describing what a disastrous president Trump truly has been.  In fact, in the Comments I hope you’ll select and share with us what you think the best paragraph is:

[1] “The huge increase in the national debt demanded by and incurred during the current Administration has placed a significant burden on future generations.”

[2] “The current Administration has exceeded its constitutional authority, brazenly and flagrantly violated the separation of powers, sought to divide America into groups and turn citizen against citizen.”

[3] “The next president must restore the public’s trust in law enforcement and civil order by first adhering to the rule of law himself.”

[4] “The current Administration has abandoned America’s friends and rewarded its enemies.”

[5] “The President has refused to defend or enforce laws he does not like, used executive orders to enact national policies in areas constitutionally reserved solely to Congress, made unconstitutional ‘recess’ appointments to Senate-confirmed positions, directed regulatory agencies to overstep their statutory authority, and failed to consult Congress regarding military action overseas.”

[6] “We further affirm that courts should interpret laws as written by Congress rather than allowing executive agencies to rewrite those laws to suit administration priorities.”

[7] “The survival of the internet as we know it is at risk. Its gravest peril originates in the White House, the current occupant of which has launched a campaign, both at home and internationally, to subjugate it to agents of government.”

All are taken from the 2016/2020 GOP Platform:

https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/7019-republican-platform/cc2c15a0e1b432d6964b/optimized/full.pdf#page=1

While they all have our heads nodding in agreement, I think we can also agree that a mistake of this magnitude is NOT your garden variety incompetence – this is incompetence taken to a whole new level … even for Trump & Repubicans!

Oh, and a heads up WRT the George Floyd demonstrations … I just want you to know that if Trump comes out of his bunker and sees his shadow, there’ll be six more weeks of protests.

 

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Friday Fun: He HATES Being Called “Bunker Boy”

 Posted by at 3:30 pm  Politics
Jun 052020
 

Hey, Ivanka – Where’s Your Pa?

Hiding in the Bunker! HA! HA! HA!

Turning off all the lights and heading down to the basement to avoid Trick-or-Treaters might work on Halloween. But when the country you’re supposed to be leading is facing a global Pandemic that has killed over 100,000 Americans, leading to near Depression level unemployment and economic catastrophe – hiding in a bunker will simply not work in trying to ignore the racial chaos that you yourself helped create.

And yet the man who thinks a mask makes him look “weak” is now cowering … errr, I mean “inspecting” the White House Bunker.

In fact VP Pence snapped a candid shot of him giving the floor a close-up examination:

It’s clear that this new “Bunker Boy” sobriquet is driving him crazy! So let’s give him a shove in that direction!

In heading down to the Bunker and turning out the lights in the White House, Trump was able to set a couple of records:

And who could imagine that the Simpsons TV show would be able to actually predict history? Other than for a president’s funeral, the lights of the White House remain lit all the time … except when Bunker Boy is cowering.

Fortunately, Melania was there to help him down those scary stairs …

And he at least did bring his Bunker Inspector hat with him …

But his only real concern was his own personal safety …

In fact, here he is peeking out to see if the coast is clear …

Looks like we’re not the only ones who got a good laugh from Bunker Boy’s cowardice …

And I think we can all imagine John McCain voicing these closing thoughts up in heaven …

BONUS

I’ve seen what’s described as a great song parody of Bunker Boy. Obviously I’ll have to take other folks’ word for it – but I’m sure you’ll enjoy it:

 

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Saturday Smiles: An Artist Who Found the Key(s) to Success

 Posted by at 2:38 pm  Politics
May 302020
 

Most of us have probably seen George Seurat’s well-known example of Pointillism: “A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte” (1884-1886).

Artist Erik Jensen has updated this process using computer keys from discarded keyboards instead of dots of paint. Employing a flathead screwdriver, he wedges it under the edge and then “peels” them off the board.

(He actually now pays his Mom to strip the keyboards.)

Jensen refers to his art technique as “Tech-Pointillism” with each key becoming a pixel, like on a computer screen. A single project can take up to 40,000 keys – that’s about 460 keyboards! But since he possess over 8,000 discarded QWERTYs, he’s pretty well set “paint-wise”.

He was inspired by a college art class assignment where students had to transform something nobody any longer wanted into something they did.  Realizing that we all are familiar with a keyboard and its myriad of applications, he decided to use old and discarded keyboards to transform them into a piece of art.

Since he doesn’t cut any of the keys, each piece must adhere to a strict grid pattern. This makes recreating curves and circles the most difficult part of the creation.

To begin, after stripping the keyboards, he soaks the keys in a soapy solution for at least 24 hours to get rid of dirt, grease, grime, food and cat hairs.  Then to stock his palette, he dyes the lighter colored keys in a multitude of colors and shades.

He has a secret dye recipe that the keys are soaked in for varying lengths of time. The longer they stay in the dye, the darker the shade of that color.  And he stores all the varying shades of that one color in a plastic bin.

The special feature of his secret dye recipe is that it does not obscure the letters.  That’s important to Jensen because if you stand back, you’ll see a masterpiece reproduction.  But if you look closer, spelled out with computer keys, you’ll find quotes from the great masters.  Like Van Gogh’s quote of “I dream of painting and then I paint my dreams” found in Jensen’s “Starry Night”.  (There’s an example in the YouTube video)

Jensen was born deaf (he has since had a cochlear implant) and at one time taught high school art and American Sign Language (ASL).  He said that because of his deafness he learned to communicate through his art.  Consequently, he believes art is his first language, and English is his second.

He always turns his cochlear implant off when he’s creating: “I love silence. Silence is my music.”  And clearly he gets a big kick out of his unique brand of creativity.  Why, some of his creations are even edible – like this Pablo Picasso portrait:

To enjoy more of this unique artist’s work, take a look at his funky Facebook page – or his more serious website.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Erikjensenart/posts/

https://www.erikjensenart.com/computerkeyart

 

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Friday Fun: Life Imitates Art … No, Really!

 Posted by at 2:50 pm  Politics
May 222020
 

Like other similar venues across our nation, the world-famous J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles was closed to visitors because of COVID-19. So its staff decided to engage the public with an actual “Life Imitates Art” challenge. And the results were pretty amazing!

There were so many creative and wonderful ones it was hard to choose. Some of them were quite abstract, so I limited myself to ones that a non-arts aficionado could enjoy.

But even that left me with over 40 selections. So I decided to group them in very broad themes. There will be some overlap as one submission could qualify for more than one theme.

Let’s start with Animals. Proving yet again that cats are free-spirit critters (and confirming the old adage that they cannot be herded) there wasn’t one employing a kitty cat.  A ferret – YES, but no cat.

One popular painting was “Girl with a Pearl Earring” by Johannes Vermeer.  But I decided to go with “Male with a Pearl Earring”.

I was a bit surprised that Frida Kahlo self-portraits was such a popular subject. I thought these were the two best.

There were a few of the “Ugly Duchess” by Quentin Matsys which were quite well done. (One wonders if the subject knew the title of the painting they were portraying – although the two I picked were both males.)

Far away the most common theme simply involved people. Because there were so many, I made three GIFs; but I didn’t do a very good job dividing them up.

There were a couple cute Rockwell ones.

And I thought we should end with a selection memorializing what generated this “Life Imitates Art” challenge – the Coronavirus Quarantine. So the last one features artworks employing Toilet Paper and Masks.

I’m not sure if all those submitted are at the above Tweet – but there are quite a lot more there for your viewing pleasure.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: I always select “Do NOT Stack Frames” – but have never been successful in getting it applied.  So I apologize that there are remnants of previous ones that annoyingly hang around.]

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Saturday Smiles: The Mother of Invention

 Posted by at 11:17 am  Politics
May 162020
 

When China was the epicenter of the coronavirus, until Trump’s bungling mismanagement stole their title (“We’re #1! – We’re #1! – We’re #1!”) … like here in the USA now, masks we’re in short supply.

In fact they became so valuable, they took the place of poker chips!

But as the saying goes: “Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention!” And it appears that the Chinese were quite inventive.

Far away the most popular transformer was those giant water bottles:

Of course there always a show-off who takes the water bottle to a whole other level:

But not far behind water jugs was the Produce section of your local market, with cabbage, lettuce and oranges leading the way:

Then there always are those who follow the “Out of an abundance of caution” dictum, and take no chances:

Not sure exactly how this one functions, but it does look quite comprehensive – if a little too Tin-Foil-Hatish:

And there was one who compromised virus safety by accommodating his smoking addiction with a closable port:

I suppose anything in a pinch will do – I just hope it was a new sponge:

It seems that women’s products could also serve a double purpose. I thought I was being cautious by inserting a coffee filter between the layers of my homemade mask – but I guess you use what’s at hand:

And a farmer here in the USA used part of his wife’s bra:

In fact there were quite a few How-To videos on repurposing a bra for a mask. But sadly, this nurse’s efforts fell hilariously short:

 

And one just because I found it so cute:

Most of us are now weeks and weeks into self-quarantining, and are suffering from “Quarantine Fever”.  So I want you to be honest, and confess what stage you now find yourself:

 

 

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