To The Powers That Be:

If you want all of us nice folks to continue to be honest, upright citizens of the world…..

Don't make it so damn difficult!

I understand that downloading copyright protected music, videos, whatever, without paying for it, is illegal.

I further understand that there are people trying to support themselves and others with the sale of said bits.

I completely understand that there are businesses in the business of distributing all this crap that have employees to pay, mouths to feed, yadda, yadda, yadda.

What I don't understand is why you are making it so hard for me to buy and pay for what I want.

It was a simple enough quest. 

A few years ago Enya released a 4-song cd with Silent Night in Irish as one of the tracks.  Mon mari particularly liked this version.

I, in a bit of overzealous cleaning (before packing) saw a cd with only 4 tracks, said to myself 'This is a waste / will be re-released on a bigger cd and, ahem, threw it away.

That particular song has never been released again and the cd is no longer available.

I decided (in order to stop the annual harangue about this issue) to buy that song for mon mari.

Two months ago I bought several individual songs on Amazon.com.  What a great way to get music, I thought.

Went on to Amazon.com, found the song, put it in my basket, and, upon checking out, was told I couldn't buy it because I lived in Europe.

Two months ago they didn't care; now they care.

Fine.

I can play by these rules.

I went to Amazon.fr (France).  They didn't have the song.

I went to Amazon.uk (Britain).  They had it, I bought it. 

I thought.

When I checked out I was told I couldn't buy it because I lived in France.

So, I can't buy it in France because that Amazon doesn't have it and I can't buy it from UK because I live in France.

I have now spent the better part of an hour trying to spend 99 cents to buy a fricken' song.

I'm getting just a wee bit irritated.

So….

I flirted with all of the illegal downloads offered to me when I googled the song.

That made me even angrier.

I kind of got into the 'I'm trying to do the right thing here, and, by God I'm going to do it the right way if it takes all night to spend the &*&*&*&* 99 cents.

I finally got on to iTunes.fr and, after a long search, found it there.

And bought it.

And so, Powers That Be, here is my suggestion:

If you want us nice people to continue to spend our 99 cents when we want to own something, maybe you and all the Powers That Be from other countries should work out your differences.

When you let us do it one week and not the next, you seem, well, rather petty and indecisive…. As if you're not quite sure what you're doing.

If you want us to buy it legally, and we want to buy it legally, please make it possible for us to buy it legally.

Without having to spend hours figuring out how to do it.

There just has to be a better way.

Speaking of better ways….

I've been on a meatball kick lately.  Instead of putting the ground beef in the skillet and 'breaking it up' I spend an extra minute and make meatballs.  

IMHO, one could substitute meatballs for any other cut of meat… 

Well, almost

Meatball Paprikas

The Meatballs
12oz (350gr) ground beef
2 tbs breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 tbs Dijon-style mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano

In medium bowl lightly beat the egg with a fork. Add remaining ingredients, except beef, and mix well. Add beef and mix well, (use your hands and knead like bread dough). Form into meatballs, about 1" (2.5cm) in diameter.

The Sauce
1 green pepper
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbs olive oil
1 can whole tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup Greek yogurt

Clean pepper. Open and drain tomatoes, reserving juice. Roughly chop pepper, onion and tomatoes. Finely chop the garlic. In medium saucepan heat the oil over medium heat. Add the paprika, chili powder, and sauté for 1 – 2 minutes. Add the pepper, onion and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and juices.
When simmering add the meatballs, being careful that they don't touch. Cover and continue to simmer until meatballs are done, stirring and turning the meatballs once or twice, about 15 minutes. Stir in the yogurt.  Serve over pasta or dumplings.

And, in case the PTB are monitoring my blog / my IP address / my thoughts….

I'm a good girl, I am…..