Crepe Myrtle

According to Tropical Trees (Dorthy and Bob Hargreaves, Ross-Hargreaves, publishers, 1965):

Speciosa comes from the Latin meaning “pleasing to the eye.” This beautiful deciduous tree, native of India, in certainly pleasing to the eye. It is valued for its tough red timber, medicinal use, and ornamental beauty. Many in South Florida, Jamaica, and other Caribbean Islands, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, South America and Mexico.

RATING (Out of 5 stars): ★★★★★

This is a primary election, but judges and school board members will be elected that day.  ALL voters can vote for the school board and judicial candidates, although those with no party affiliation cannot vote for Governor, U.S. Congress, State House and others in the primary election.   It is vitally important that everyone VOTE on August 24.

There is a voter registration form attached, which also serves as a switch and change of name/address form. Or get it here:

Broward County: http://www.browardsoe.org/VoterRegistration.aspx

Broward County Supervisor of Elections
115 South Andrews Avenue, Room 102
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
954-357-7050

Palm Beach County: https://www.pbcelections.org/VoterRegistration.aspx

Those in other counties can contact your local Supervisor of Elections.

Start studying the ballot now (you can see all the races online); there are lots of races and referendums!  Also, don’t forget to get an absentee ballot for those who need one.  This is a VERY IMPORTANT election!!

Here are a few facts, based on my personal observations:

Frangipani

• The tree loses ALL of it’s leaves in summer. You would be sure it was dead, if you didn’t know better.
• The flowers have a sweet fragrant smell
• The trees are extremely simple to propagate: put a broken branch in the ground. Keep it watered (or plant it in the rainy season)
• A sunny, well drained location works well.

According to Your Florida Garden, 5th ed.:¹

Size 10-15 ft. Several species of frangipani are common in all tropical countries, grown for their delightfully fragrant flowers. They are all short, stocky trees of spreading habit with thick, stubby branches of soft wood, milky sap, and large, leathery leaves. The species most often seen in Florida gardens are P. rubra, with broad leaves and purplish red flowers, and P. alba, with narrow leaves rolled at the margins and white flowers. Leaves are clustered near the branch tips and flowers are borne terminally all through late spring and summer.

FOOTNOTES

Smooth custardy recipe. Requires cooking. See the general instructions on making home made ice cream, previously posted on K_Line Christian Online

The movie reviewed here is definitely NOT for children. Please see my previous post on why films of this ilk are reviewed on a Christian website like K_Line Christian Online.

Carriers (2009), PG-13

• GENRE: Horror, Science Fiction
• ACTORS: Lou Taylor Pucci, Chris Pine, Piper Perabo, Emily VanCamp, Kiernan Shipka , Christopher Meloni, Dale Malley, Stacy Marie Warden, Dylan Kenin, Josh Berry
• RATING: PG-13
• PARENTAL NOTE: Not intended for children. Bad language and questionable situations. Violence.
• INTENDED AUDIENCE: This movie is intended for fans of the genre, and may not be appreciated by others.
• GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) Uncle Josh¹ once quipped that all paths lead to the grave. In CARRIERS, as in THE ROAD (another recently released on DVD end of the world story), it turns out that ALMOST ALL paths and/or roads lead to the grave.² However, ALL paths do seem to lead to the beach. The plot of CARRIERS isn’t so exceptional. Four people on a road trip to the Pacific Ocean try to avoid catching a highly contagious virus which has killed off most of the human population. Their adventures, reactions, and the folks they meet along the path make an entertaining tale.
• REVIEW: As stated above, the simple plot is not what drives this movie. This is a well stated tale of what could happen when the end of the world gets around to happening. Human nature being what it is, not all of the actions and reactions of the characters present the human race at it finest. Frankly some of the main characters’ decisions seem directly at odds with their stated goal of staying alive. Yet, I think most, if not all, of their stupid choices are completely consistent with how actual human beings would behave in like circumstances. But the really compelling behavior of these “survivors” involves the moral choices they make–whether they seem wise or stupid to the viewer. In fact, we are presented with apparently good people who react badly when confronted with life and death situations. Some people react more badly than others. From a Christian point of view, I’d caution you to not put too much weight on how well this movie matches up with Biblical prophecy about the end times. Rather, I think the better view is to concede that CARRIERS is fiction. CARRIERS follows in a long tradition of books and movies about the end of the world. I’ve read and seen quite a few of them. This film definitely held my attention. It’s well worth watching, if you’re not put off by the genre.
• RECOMMENDATION:³ This is a horror movie. Many people will be highly offended by every movie in this genre because of the graphic violence, gore, language and other questionable elements. However, if you are a fan of this genre–I recommend watching CARRIERS.
• RATING (out of 5 stars): ★★★★

See the instructions for making home made ice cream posted elsewhere on K_Line Christian Online.

Old style crank ice cream freezer

Many years ago, when I was a boy, we would make home made ice cream, in the summer. My folks had a freezer at home. My grandparents had one at their place too. The making of ice cream necessarily involved the children in the family, because of the need to crank the freezer. I’m not sure of the recipe used years ago. My grandmother sometimes used one that involved cooking the mixture before freezing it. Other than that, my job involved taking my turn at cranking the handle until the ice cream had hardened. We periodically added ice. No bags of ice in those days. We’d have big blocks of ice, frozen in a tub in the freezer. And we had to use an ice pick to chip out chunks of ice to chill the freezer. Frankly, I don’t know who has an ice pick these days. I don’t. We use bagged ice now. But I digress. How did you know when the ice cream was hard enough? When you couldn’t turn the handle any more.

The ice cream mixture is placed in this can

1. An ice cream freezer. I highly recommend the electric variety. Though if all you have is the crank model, I hope you have a strong arm, and/or plenty of help. Usual sizes are 4, 5 or 6 quart. You can buy smaller or larger sizes. Do a Google search to find one online.







Paddle that fits in the can, and mixes the ice cream as it freezes

2. Bagged ice. Two or three bags for a 6 quart freezer should be sufficient.
3. Rock Salt.
4. The ice cream mixture/recipe. This is a separate topic. There are lots of them, including the ones described on K_Line Christian Online.

Ice cream freezer in action

• Put the mixture in the can, position the paddle. Place the can in the wooden/plastic tub. Fasten the electric motor/crank mechanism on top of the can.
• Put the ice in the tub, surrounding the can. Add a bit of ice at a time, then pour on some rock salt. Repeat, until the ice is up to the top of the tub.
• Add ice and salt as needed while you or the motor turns the can.
  Crank until the motor strains and shuts off. Or until your arm strains and shuts off. In the case of the hand crank, switch arms a few times until both arms feel line you can’t move them at all. Hint: I use the ice cream freezer in a large laundry room sink. As the ice melts, salty water drains out of the freezer, so think about where you would like the water to drain.
• If possible, let the ice cream sit in the can for another hour, in order to harden up a bit.
• Remove the ice cream with a spatula or spoon it. Store it in your freezer, or eat it.