Re fantasy-killing bodily functions: I remember an interview with Melania Trump in which she said she was sure her husband had never seen her using the bathroom.
Oh, I think he cares; he's a rapist and a pervert. He's just too busy fomenting treason and trying to replace democracy with oligarchy. That's what he's 'otherwise occupied' with.....
There is one picture that I really regret not taking. My wife and I were on one of our drives to nowhere while vacationing in the Shenandoah Valley when we turned onto Rt 720 in Meems Bottom and decided to just follow it. Eventually, we came across the hulk of a car sitting in a field, weeds slowly consuming it. It must have spent its last drivable days competing in a demolition derby, as it was painted purple with the words “Fear This!” in large, white brushstrokes on the side. We agreed that we should return with the camera at some point (pre smartphone days) but never did.
“Fear this” did enter our private lexicon, used whenever we saw something that tried to be imposing, but was just the opposite. I still say it even though she’s no longer here to hear it. Or maybe she is. We’ll never know.
I think there's some important context re: The Kiss that leads me to say that Rubiales must lose his job. The Spanish women's national team has been locked in a dispute with their federation for a few years because they allege mistreatment by their head coach, and the federation has backed him unreservedly. 15 national players wrote a letter in 2022 refusing to be called up if the coach (Jorge Vilda) did not at least address their concerns. That's why, when he refused to resign at the "extraordinary meeting," Rubiales said he was giving Vilda a 4-year, multi-million euro extension. Most women's national teams around the world are dealing with persistent lack of support (at best), misogyny, graft--national teams have not necessarily paid team members what they are owed, to the extent that the international soccer union, FIFPRO, has asked FIFA to ensure payouts go to the players and not the federations--and abuse. Weed them all out.
Your instruction to put the grill on high tells me that you use a gas grill. This is unacceptable. Grilling with propane is not grilling. Grilling requires charcoal.
Get a charcoal chimney to start the charcoal. Stuff a couple of sheets of newspaper underneath and light it off. In 15-20 minutes you are ready to cook.
Yes, please! We got our (noisy, AH) neighbors a charcoal chimney after they polluted the neighborhood one too many times with their overuse of lighter fluid. Everyone's windows are open in summer (no A/C here in Seattle) and we got tired of racing to close them before our homes were made uninhabitable. They used the chimney for a while but then went back to the lighter fluid. Finally, blessedly, they moved away. I like to think we ran them off.
If you don't have the newspaper to use in a charcoal chimney, I recommend Rutland fire stater squares. I've used them for years. Easy starting, with lighter fluid smell or taste.
Depends on what you’re doing, I keep both on hand. Briquettes burn slower and less hot, so they’re the only thing for real barbecue. Lump is great when you want to cook something hot and fast, which will be most of the time on the grill.
I don’t contest it either. Working full time, and having four or five people waiting on you to finish grilling so they can eat? Propane is the no-brainer. I may switch to charcoal after I’m retired.
When all the drippings from a gas grill flare up, you ARE grilling. Just last week I watched some sausages go from looking great at 5 minutes to crispy all the way through in less than the next 5 minutes. Taste the meat, not the heat!
Yes, but you don’t get the flavor of charcoal, it’s a huge difference. I think people really overestimate the work involved in charcoal. As Mr. Turnbull pointed out, a chimney and some charcoal and you’re done.
I didn't submit this as I don't know if it is so popular that my distaste would rank as a proper sosumi, but -- even though I am a fairly serious sports fan, I can't stand non-sports sports coverage, such as pre- and post-game shows, call-in shows, draft coverage, and so forth. I don't understand sports fans who invest so much time and energy watching not-sports, especially when most of the information is available elsewhere to peruse on one's own time. And anyone who enjoys sitting and watching multiple days' worth of live draft coverage is someone I never ever want to find myself trapped in a conversation with in my life.
Eh, professional sports in general. When the Seahawks won the Superbowl in 2014, they gave the kids a school holiday so they could go downtown for the big celebration. They didn't consult the parents or make sure the kids had a safe way to get there, they just set 'em free. And they didn't have to make up the day! Sorry, ridiculous. A bunch of guys on anabolic steroids, risking C.T.E. every time they play, and the kids are encouraged to emulate them because one day they may too be multi-millionaire players. Really? Do you have any idea of the odds of that happening? Our school made a much bigger deal of the athletes who were recruited directly to national teams than of the straight-A students. MUCH bigger. Sosumi.
The discussions of the two Kiss incidents remind me of this from comedian Jeff Dye:
I'm bothered by all the double standards. Like if a girl goes out and sleeps with a bunch of dudes, she's a "slut." But if a guy does it, he's a "homosexual."
The woman is the only other person, besides "the kisser" who knows what he whispered in her ear. It makes a difference in the intention behind the kiss that followed. Was it "Job well done. I'm so proud of you?" OR "You are so hot!!!"
The absolutist take on food is a bit surprising. It's reasonable to me that body chemistry varies by individual, and that a palate is developed and changes based on exposure.
With some things like steak, there are objective and dramatic differences between properly and improperly cooked, and I blame poor training.
But then there are things like cilantro, coffee, coconut, mushrooms or alcohol that are beloved by many and yet seem to be repulsive only to certain body chemistries.
I think the point is that although taste is subjective, there are limits. Everybody is entitled to their own taste in literature, but if a person tells me they think Harold Robbin’s is a better writer than Ann Patchett, they’re just wrong, I can’t believe they know anything about writing. Same thing with a well done steak. By overcooking it, you’ve destroyed everything that makes a steak a steak.
Re Bonfire of the Vanities, book versus movie: there's a fun book about the making of the movie - The Devil's Candy: The Anatomy of a Hollywood Fiasco, by Julie Salamon. Good read for those who liked the book & hated the movie.
Hot peppers ? Bring tears to my eyes. Either I'm one of those folks with genetically less sensitive, or fewer, capsaicin-detecting receptors (capsaicin being the chemical compound that puts the "hot" in hot peppers) or --- a masochist --- although the last I checked, there's no other evidence of self-harm. No, it must be the endorphin high we pepper poppers get, along with an adrenaline rush, which provides more or less the same effect as bungee jumping, but without the abject terror. We can also point to the fact of peppers' antimicrobial properties which made them an important food preservative in hot climates and which, as a result, became a key element in the development of spicy national cuisines down through the centuries. There's a variety of other purported health benefits linked to spicy food and hot peppers, if I ever need more justification. But the habanero at roughly 100K - 200K on the Scoville heat scale is my limit, however genetically receptive I might be. Nowhere near the ultimate test of capsaicin receptivity recently unleashed on the world with Pepper X, from Puckerbutt Pepper Company, Fort Mill, SC, outside of Charlotte, NC. While yet to be officially confirmed as the hottest chili pepper by several magnitudes, it tests at 3MM Scoville units compared to Puckerbutt's current record holder, the Carolina Reaper at 1.64MM units. By comparison the lowly jalapeño or serrano barely registers on the heat scale at 3K-25K. I don't believe the Pepper of Mass Destruction is yet on the market, but is described by the one or two foolhardy souls who have even dared be in the same room with one: "More than simple mouth burn, Pepper X singes your soul." Btw --- taste buds do regenerate.
Which of our fresh home-grown peppers would you care to sample? Our "lowly" jalapeno, which is twice as hot as any jalapeno you can buy in the store? One of our habaneros? Or one of our ghost peppers? If you need some heat to put into a recipe, I can supply any combination of dried habaneros, ghosts, scorpions or reapers. I grow these hot peppers for my wife, whose taste in hot peppers runs just below incendiary.
My Father raised hot peppers in Texas and even had some in pots he brought in when it was winter. I tell my cousin who likes hot peppers that if she ever runs out, she can put goat head stickers in her food. She just ignores me.
Steak and soy sauce and juice sounds great. Just new to me for the pineapple. Certainly, do not over cook. But it might even get close to well done and still be good. I will try this with round steak.
I've been using a recipe similar to this for several decades: Equal portions cheap red wine and soy sauce. If pineapple juice is available, use it. If you, stir a generous amount of honey into the soy-wine mixture. Add garlic powder. Grate a generous amount of fresh ginger root, Pour half of the marinade into a flat baking dish, add about half of the grated ginger. Place steak on top of the marinade. Pour the other half of the marinade on top of the steak, then add the rest of the ginger root. I use sirloin steak for this recipe and marinate the steak for a minimum of 24 hours, turning the steak at least once during that time. It's even better if the steak is marinated 48-72 hours, turning the steak once a day. Cook the steak over a hot charcoal fire, 3-3.5 minutes per side, for a rare-to-medium-rare steak.
Skinless franks? The snap of the skin? Ew. Ew I say!
When I was a kid, my grandparents owned a farm. They had farm hotdogs (made from a neighbor's pig my grandparents bartered with the neighbor by providing them with pig feed) and the filling was encased in intestines. The tough exterior was chewy and turned me off of hotdogs for a long time.
I eat hotdogs for the way-too-bad-for-you chemicals, not the outer covering.
I’ve been listening to A Hard Days Night for 50+ years and I boot up an iMac every day. Those chords aren’t remotely the same. The Apple chord is conventional. The opener of A Hard Days Night has adds, accidentals, who knows what else, and on several instruments, and has been a topic of hot discussion ever since it came out. We still may not know exactly what it is. Here’s a good analysis: https://youtu.be/aP6daMR7Dps?si=bvRP5ZZX5jWQlBds
Right. It doesn't have anything to do specifically with Hard Days Night -- just the long-running trademark issues between the Beatles' Apple company (music) and the Apple Computer company. The argument that with the startup sounds the computer company was treading too close to the music business and impinging on the Beatles' trademark.
Re fantasy-killing bodily functions: I remember an interview with Melania Trump in which she said she was sure her husband had never seen her using the bathroom.
I suspect her husband has never seen a lot of things she does.
because he could not care less and is usually otherwise occupied.
Oh, I think he cares; he's a rapist and a pervert. He's just too busy fomenting treason and trying to replace democracy with oligarchy. That's what he's 'otherwise occupied' with.....
Funny, Waltine Nauta told prosecutors Trump never saw him use the bathroom either.
Unfortunately, until he was banned from Twitt....errr.....X, the world got to see what tRump produced while on the porcelain throne: covfefe.
I believe TFG forbids her to be around when either are using those facilities.
Those photos are great!
There is one picture that I really regret not taking. My wife and I were on one of our drives to nowhere while vacationing in the Shenandoah Valley when we turned onto Rt 720 in Meems Bottom and decided to just follow it. Eventually, we came across the hulk of a car sitting in a field, weeds slowly consuming it. It must have spent its last drivable days competing in a demolition derby, as it was painted purple with the words “Fear This!” in large, white brushstrokes on the side. We agreed that we should return with the camera at some point (pre smartphone days) but never did.
“Fear this” did enter our private lexicon, used whenever we saw something that tried to be imposing, but was just the opposite. I still say it even though she’s no longer here to hear it. Or maybe she is. We’ll never know.
"Ozmandias" in Appalachian form.
I think there's some important context re: The Kiss that leads me to say that Rubiales must lose his job. The Spanish women's national team has been locked in a dispute with their federation for a few years because they allege mistreatment by their head coach, and the federation has backed him unreservedly. 15 national players wrote a letter in 2022 refusing to be called up if the coach (Jorge Vilda) did not at least address their concerns. That's why, when he refused to resign at the "extraordinary meeting," Rubiales said he was giving Vilda a 4-year, multi-million euro extension. Most women's national teams around the world are dealing with persistent lack of support (at best), misogyny, graft--national teams have not necessarily paid team members what they are owed, to the extent that the international soccer union, FIFPRO, has asked FIFA to ensure payouts go to the players and not the federations--and abuse. Weed them all out.
If this is true, I'd like to change my vote from a longer suspension to fire the pompous SoB.
Here's one article from 2022 on the situation with the Spanish Women's National Team and their federation: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/23/sports/soccer/spain-soccer-women-jorge-vilda.html
Thanks much for the link to Michael Carlebach's photos. They are fascinating.
Your instruction to put the grill on high tells me that you use a gas grill. This is unacceptable. Grilling with propane is not grilling. Grilling requires charcoal.
I don't contest this. I don't have the time or patience for charcoal, but it's better. So is wood, I am told: Better than charcoal.
Get a charcoal chimney to start the charcoal. Stuff a couple of sheets of newspaper underneath and light it off. In 15-20 minutes you are ready to cook.
Good use for the Washington Post.
Yes, please! We got our (noisy, AH) neighbors a charcoal chimney after they polluted the neighborhood one too many times with their overuse of lighter fluid. Everyone's windows are open in summer (no A/C here in Seattle) and we got tired of racing to close them before our homes were made uninhabitable. They used the chimney for a while but then went back to the lighter fluid. Finally, blessedly, they moved away. I like to think we ran them off.
If you don't have the newspaper to use in a charcoal chimney, I recommend Rutland fire stater squares. I've used them for years. Easy starting, with lighter fluid smell or taste.
And get real charcoal, not briquettes.
Depends on what you’re doing, I keep both on hand. Briquettes burn slower and less hot, so they’re the only thing for real barbecue. Lump is great when you want to cook something hot and fast, which will be most of the time on the grill.
I don’t contest it either. Working full time, and having four or five people waiting on you to finish grilling so they can eat? Propane is the no-brainer. I may switch to charcoal after I’m retired.
I make charcoal starters. Let me know if you need some.
I just got a Mini Big Green Egg setup. I'd like to know what your charcoal starters are like. Thanks!
When all the drippings from a gas grill flare up, you ARE grilling. Just last week I watched some sausages go from looking great at 5 minutes to crispy all the way through in less than the next 5 minutes. Taste the meat, not the heat!
Yes, but you don’t get the flavor of charcoal, it’s a huge difference. I think people really overestimate the work involved in charcoal. As Mr. Turnbull pointed out, a chimney and some charcoal and you’re done.
I didn't submit this as I don't know if it is so popular that my distaste would rank as a proper sosumi, but -- even though I am a fairly serious sports fan, I can't stand non-sports sports coverage, such as pre- and post-game shows, call-in shows, draft coverage, and so forth. I don't understand sports fans who invest so much time and energy watching not-sports, especially when most of the information is available elsewhere to peruse on one's own time. And anyone who enjoys sitting and watching multiple days' worth of live draft coverage is someone I never ever want to find myself trapped in a conversation with in my life.
Eh, professional sports in general. When the Seahawks won the Superbowl in 2014, they gave the kids a school holiday so they could go downtown for the big celebration. They didn't consult the parents or make sure the kids had a safe way to get there, they just set 'em free. And they didn't have to make up the day! Sorry, ridiculous. A bunch of guys on anabolic steroids, risking C.T.E. every time they play, and the kids are encouraged to emulate them because one day they may too be multi-millionaire players. Really? Do you have any idea of the odds of that happening? Our school made a much bigger deal of the athletes who were recruited directly to national teams than of the straight-A students. MUCH bigger. Sosumi.
The discussions of the two Kiss incidents remind me of this from comedian Jeff Dye:
I'm bothered by all the double standards. Like if a girl goes out and sleeps with a bunch of dudes, she's a "slut." But if a guy does it, he's a "homosexual."
The woman is the only other person, besides "the kisser" who knows what he whispered in her ear. It makes a difference in the intention behind the kiss that followed. Was it "Job well done. I'm so proud of you?" OR "You are so hot!!!"
I've always thought mayonnaise looks like the white stuff inside a big pimple, but I like the white death term better.
I recall being told an extremely gross joke based on your perception. No, I'm not going to post it. Unless you ask nicely.
No, the white death is sugar. :-) Mayonnaise is the food of the gods.
The absolutist take on food is a bit surprising. It's reasonable to me that body chemistry varies by individual, and that a palate is developed and changes based on exposure.
With some things like steak, there are objective and dramatic differences between properly and improperly cooked, and I blame poor training.
But then there are things like cilantro, coffee, coconut, mushrooms or alcohol that are beloved by many and yet seem to be repulsive only to certain body chemistries.
I think the point is that although taste is subjective, there are limits. Everybody is entitled to their own taste in literature, but if a person tells me they think Harold Robbin’s is a better writer than Ann Patchett, they’re just wrong, I can’t believe they know anything about writing. Same thing with a well done steak. By overcooking it, you’ve destroyed everything that makes a steak a steak.
Re Bonfire of the Vanities, book versus movie: there's a fun book about the making of the movie - The Devil's Candy: The Anatomy of a Hollywood Fiasco, by Julie Salamon. Good read for those who liked the book & hated the movie.
I loved Bonfire the book, felt the movie really failed it. Just inexplicable casting. The Devil's Candy was fascinating.
Great book, even though I disliked both book and movie.
Hot peppers ? Bring tears to my eyes. Either I'm one of those folks with genetically less sensitive, or fewer, capsaicin-detecting receptors (capsaicin being the chemical compound that puts the "hot" in hot peppers) or --- a masochist --- although the last I checked, there's no other evidence of self-harm. No, it must be the endorphin high we pepper poppers get, along with an adrenaline rush, which provides more or less the same effect as bungee jumping, but without the abject terror. We can also point to the fact of peppers' antimicrobial properties which made them an important food preservative in hot climates and which, as a result, became a key element in the development of spicy national cuisines down through the centuries. There's a variety of other purported health benefits linked to spicy food and hot peppers, if I ever need more justification. But the habanero at roughly 100K - 200K on the Scoville heat scale is my limit, however genetically receptive I might be. Nowhere near the ultimate test of capsaicin receptivity recently unleashed on the world with Pepper X, from Puckerbutt Pepper Company, Fort Mill, SC, outside of Charlotte, NC. While yet to be officially confirmed as the hottest chili pepper by several magnitudes, it tests at 3MM Scoville units compared to Puckerbutt's current record holder, the Carolina Reaper at 1.64MM units. By comparison the lowly jalapeño or serrano barely registers on the heat scale at 3K-25K. I don't believe the Pepper of Mass Destruction is yet on the market, but is described by the one or two foolhardy souls who have even dared be in the same room with one: "More than simple mouth burn, Pepper X singes your soul." Btw --- taste buds do regenerate.
Which of our fresh home-grown peppers would you care to sample? Our "lowly" jalapeno, which is twice as hot as any jalapeno you can buy in the store? One of our habaneros? Or one of our ghost peppers? If you need some heat to put into a recipe, I can supply any combination of dried habaneros, ghosts, scorpions or reapers. I grow these hot peppers for my wife, whose taste in hot peppers runs just below incendiary.
My Father raised hot peppers in Texas and even had some in pots he brought in when it was winter. I tell my cousin who likes hot peppers that if she ever runs out, she can put goat head stickers in her food. She just ignores me.
Steak and soy sauce and juice sounds great. Just new to me for the pineapple. Certainly, do not over cook. But it might even get close to well done and still be good. I will try this with round steak.
I've been using a recipe similar to this for several decades: Equal portions cheap red wine and soy sauce. If pineapple juice is available, use it. If you, stir a generous amount of honey into the soy-wine mixture. Add garlic powder. Grate a generous amount of fresh ginger root, Pour half of the marinade into a flat baking dish, add about half of the grated ginger. Place steak on top of the marinade. Pour the other half of the marinade on top of the steak, then add the rest of the ginger root. I use sirloin steak for this recipe and marinate the steak for a minimum of 24 hours, turning the steak at least once during that time. It's even better if the steak is marinated 48-72 hours, turning the steak once a day. Cook the steak over a hot charcoal fire, 3-3.5 minutes per side, for a rare-to-medium-rare steak.
No fresh sliced tomato on a hamburger done medium rare, just off a charcoal grill? Do you eat your hamburgers the same way you eat hot dogs?
Tomato can add great flavor and freshness.
Skinless franks? The snap of the skin? Ew. Ew I say!
When I was a kid, my grandparents owned a farm. They had farm hotdogs (made from a neighbor's pig my grandparents bartered with the neighbor by providing them with pig feed) and the filling was encased in intestines. The tough exterior was chewy and turned me off of hotdogs for a long time.
I eat hotdogs for the way-too-bad-for-you chemicals, not the outer covering.
Flesh is flesh is flesh. I do not care.
I’ve been listening to A Hard Days Night for 50+ years and I boot up an iMac every day. Those chords aren’t remotely the same. The Apple chord is conventional. The opener of A Hard Days Night has adds, accidentals, who knows what else, and on several instruments, and has been a topic of hot discussion ever since it came out. We still may not know exactly what it is. Here’s a good analysis: https://youtu.be/aP6daMR7Dps?si=bvRP5ZZX5jWQlBds
Right. It doesn't have anything to do specifically with Hard Days Night -- just the long-running trademark issues between the Beatles' Apple company (music) and the Apple Computer company. The argument that with the startup sounds the computer company was treading too close to the music business and impinging on the Beatles' trademark.
That makes more sense than the musical argument. Thanks.