I scared Adam off that post about how if you buy seafood you are subsidizing North Korea through the six degrees of Kevin Bacon. I’ve been in a bad mood today from the news.
I had another idea for a post, but now that I’ve criticized Adam, the post I was thinking of is also sorta two-sided. So I won’t do that one. Maybe tomorrow.
So here’s something light: Explore the ultimate Wisconsin corn maze.
Explore the Wisconsin corn maze featuring a trilobite, an ammonite & more https://t.co/fYHvTbCKoI pic.twitter.com/LLR13ZaLr7
— Alexandra Witze (@alexwitze) October 4, 2017
Or how about a Twitter fight among English cathedrals? This one’s a thread.
Today is #WorldArchitectureDay.
The Cathedrals of England have got this well covered!#DropsMic pic.twitter.com/f1k18e0Ui2— St Paul's Cathedral (@StPaulsLondon) October 2, 2017
Open thread!
Adam L Silverman
Thanks!
Major Major Major Major
So, wait, can I buy seafood or should I just send my checks straight to North Korea?
Shit, I shouldn’t have said that last part out loud.
Mike in NC
News also reported that 38,000 pounds of ground turkey from Publix and ALDI was recalled due to metal filings contamination. Yum.
mainmata
Of course, trilobites and ammonites were amongst the original seafood probably for some Cambrian Era predators if such existed. But even those simple creatures likely had more common sense than Donald Fucking Moron Trump.
Amaranthine RBG
thing and thing plus food double equals anti-good politician.
eta: I should add, I agree whole-heartedly.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mike in NC: Heh, a new way to get your iron.
Major Major Major Major
That is a seriously cool corn maze though.
I would never do it, I hate mazes, and cornfields.
Major Major Major Major
There Are So Many Butterflies in Denver They Showed Up On Radar
Davebo
Catherdrals are lovely. The Shard… Not so much.
Steeplejack
What’s the consensus thinking on electric skillets? I had one 40-odd years ago in my first crappy apartment with crappy appliances and did most of my rudimentary cooking on it, but I’ve always thought it was kind of low-rent or 1960s Midwestern mom.
Then the other day on some cooking show the host said that he really liked his for “shallow frying” chicken and for the exact temperature control. That got me thinking that probably, as with everything else, electric-skillet technology has really improved over the years, and I looked around on Amazon a bit. Don’t really know that I need one or how exactly I would work it into my routine, so I was wondering what other people’s experience is.
Oh, and the cooking show guy said it doubled really well as a buffet warmer. (Can’t remember the last time I needed a buffet warmer, but whatevs.)
SWMBO
I am on the desk computer. Using Internet Explorer. And every fucking time I open Balloon Juice, I get a The identity of the web site or the integrity of the connection cannot be verified. Further one it says The name on the security certificate is invalid or does not match the name of the site.
It doesn’t do it on my phone, just the desktop.
WTF?
Mart
@Davebo: Did they finally finish the Shard?
jl
We’re going to throw Adam into the corn maize? See if he can get out?
Achrachno
@mainmata: Ammonites were the predators!
Achrachno
@mainmata: But I do agree about Donald Fucking Moron Trump.
Achrachno
@Adam L Silverman: I missed this whole seafood fight. Is that because it never got past the draft stage?
burnspbesq
@Mart:
Yup, and the developers claim that the office space is fully leased. The kid has been up to the observation deck.
Mnemosyne
@Steeplejack:
FWIW, Alton Brown loves them. Apparently they’re also great for poaching since you can keep them at an exact temperature.
My mood was improving until I went on Facebook and saw that a friend of a friend was approvingly posting some bullshit from Julian fucking Assange, and then the idiot’s friends were responding with pictures of Democrats because Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker are personally responsible for the war in Afghanistan, don’t’cha know.
Fuck these fucking fuckers.
dlwchico
A local business put up this billboard here in Chico, CA. It’s bringing out all the Trump fans on FB, calling for boycotts, lawsuits and a few geniuses trying to organize a billboard burning on Facebook.
https://i.imgur.com/XYib4fF.jpg
Mnemosyne
Though I suppose the seafood post would have made me feel justified in my dislike of it. I like fish and other aquatic life. In fact, I like them so much that I’m reluctant to eat them. My cats eat a lot of fish, tho.
Major Major Major Major
@Steeplejack: When I was a youngling, electric skillets were invaluable for exactly that sort of frying. Nowadays I’m allergic to chicken and don’t really fry meat that way any more and don’t have one. The in-laws use them though, I think it’s a Vietnamese thing.
@SWMBO: I think something’s ill-configured on the server somewhere. Happens to me sometimes too, on Chrome.
burnspbesq
There are some ghastly looking office buildings in London—by comparison to the Gherkin, the Shard isn’t all that bad.
http://www.thegherkinlondon.com
Beautifulplummage
“I like big buttresses and I cannot lie”
Cathedral thread is well worth the time IMO
Steeplejack
@dlwchico:
Heh, I like the swastika-esque “45.”
Adam L Silverman
@Achrachno: No I pulled it. The tweet it was based on was whacky, the actual story kind of a bait and switch grimdark tale of indentured servitude.
Adam L Silverman
@jl: He who walks between the rows…
jl
@Adam L Silverman: Why did I type ‘corn maize’? That was pretty sad.
But, good luck. Send us a report. Why is Cheryl being mean to you?
Steeplejack
@Major Major Major Major:
Yeah, a lot of the comments on Amazon seemed to be from people doing Asian dishes and sort of wok-adjacent techniques.
Adam L Silverman
@jl: Department of Redundancy Department comment.
I’m fine thanks. Going to bed soon.
Roger Moore
@mainmata:
They certainly existed. Shells like ammonites and trilobites had were there as protection against predators.
The Dangerman
I’ve always thought Vegas Casinos had some serious, heavily armed, security teams in place, 24x7x365. After all, there are a lot of people, is a lot of money, a lot of alcohol, and a lot of testosterone in the mix there.
Apparently, the only Hotel security that showed up on the 32nd floor was unarmed.
Strange to me.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Latkes.
’nuff said.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@Steeplejack:
My mother always had one in the 60s – lots of one-dish meals, along the lines of Hamburger Helper but more homemade, for our large, poor-ish family. She also used it to make doughnuts and that’s almost all I use mine for now. Having temperature control is critical for that. I’ve also made fried chicken once or twice, and it works great for that but frustratingly refuses to finish the job by walking around afterward wiping grease off every surface in my house.
If I had a critical shortage of kitchen storage space it would not be among the things I retain, but it comes in pretty handy at Hanukkah.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
I can see how I could use one for certain things, but I’m not sure I could justify it, in the sense of yet another appliance taking up precious space. And it seems like it would pressure you to consciously “cook all the things with the electric skillet” to justify having it.
I think I may just be having a mild attack of consumer lust.
Steeplejack
@Beautifulplummage:
Funny. I tried to think of something with “x got back” or “baby got x,” but I’ve got nothing. Need to bone up on medieval architecture. Sad.
BC in Illinois
Didn’t Jephthah defeat the Ammonites?
CapnMubbers
@dlwchico: Where? I’ll drive down from Paradise to see that! (Yeah, I don’t get out much.)
Gian
my 8 year old daugher is in a children’s theater group. K-8
she went to a memorial today for a 20 year old graduate of that group.
the young lady volunteered for the theater group, my daughter remembers her for making her feel brave to go on stage, and pretty eyelashes, and always being nice.
it was her first trip to vegas, she was shot in the arm, and her boyfriend caught her, then shot in the chest.
she just started working as a nurse.
yet Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones and Hannity draw breath.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Like a waffle iron, it’s handy to have but not a necessity.
Handier, actually, because it doubles as an electric griddle and also can be used to keep stuff warm without firing up an entire oven.
Steeplejack
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice:
My mom, who was an excellent cook (she’s still alive but doesn’t cook much any more at age 87), had one, and I seem to associate it with cranking out a full breakfast for three kids before school. Also, good temp control for grilled sandwiches and pancakes (and latkes, as NotMax mentioned, although that didn’t really come up in my Tennessee country mother’s repertoire).
Mart
@burnspbesq: Meant that as a joke. Took the London “El” past the shard and the base looks good. From a distance, what a mess. Never should have lifted the ban on nothing taller than the old buildings.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
Yeah, I was thinking of it in the same space as a waffle iron (which I don’t have). But it would be more versatile, which is what I was thinking when I mentioned the possible pressure to use it a lot. Like you said, handy but not necessary. I guess I was looking for some handiness that I hadn’t thought of to push me over the edge.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Bet if your mom made hash browns, it was her go-to for cooking ’em.
frosty
@Steeplejack: Electric skillets are handy during kitchen renovations, which is the last time we used ours. A Coleman stove also substitutes and as a bonus you can use it while camping.
Beautifulplummage
@Steeplejack: Baby got brick?
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Mine (ancient one, with fabric-covered power cord) happily resides for the bulk of the year in a chest of drawers in another room entirely. Same with the waffle iron (equally as venerable).
Use it maybe twice or thrice in any given year but sure is nice to have it around when needed.
Does your no longer does much cooking mom still have hers? Grab it.
Steeplejack (phone)
@NotMax:
She used her trusty cast-iron skillet for hash browns.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Beautifulplummage:
That works.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@frosty:
THANK YOU. We are just about to start a kitchen renovation and I had a list of bare necessities to set up a temporary kitchen, but forgot all about the electric skillet.
@NotMax: Yup, the one I have is actually my mother’s (not the original of my childhood but a fairly new model), borrowed indefinitely. I keep it on a shelf in the garage most of the time. Every once in a while I think I could/should use it more often than just doughnut/latke season, but I feel too old to change my cooking habits.
Steeplejack (phone)
@NotMax:
I don’t know if she’s still got it.
My brother did appropriate her equally old hand mixer, which has a fabric-covered cord and which generates a not unpleasant ozone smell when it’s chugging away.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Heh. Recall well that aroma wafting from the innards of the incredibly heavy Sunbeam stand mixer.
Was as much a part of my childhood as the smell of burning leaves in autumn.
frosty
@Gian: I am so sorry to hear that. What a tragedy.
Millard Filmore
“Corker: Tillerson, Mattis and Kelly ‘separate our country from chaos'”. They know. They ALL know. The Republican leadership KNOWS the danger Dolt-45 is exposing us to. And they do nothing, gambling a few more weeks that the country won’t fall apart in the hope that … what? Pence will sign any bill the GOP traitors pass.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/04/politics/bob-corker-mattis-tillerson-kelly/index.html
There is a common assumption that there was a one way flow of kompromat into Putin’s collection. Has Putin shared some of that back to Trump, blackmail material on the GOP congress? Corker said it out loud, there has been no pushback from anywhere. They all know.
I don’t know why so many here are down on Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. The looter villains in her book are a rather good model for the conduct of the GOP. Even down to keeping their criminal enterprise running for another month, another week, one more day.
Cckids
@Steeplejack: In addition to the aforementioned fried chicken, etc, an electric skillet is excellent for making bacon, or searing meat for stew, carnitas or borgineon (sp?) Best part is you can take it OUTSIDE, whether to a patio or garage so as to leep the frying smell from taking over the house.
Origuy
I heard that the Moonies control the distribution channels for sushi quality fish in the US. This was a big thing about ten years ago, but I’m not sure how true it was then or still is.
SWMBO
@Gian: That is so awful for all of those kids. Have they set up counseling? It has happened so frequently that it is almost “thoughts and prayers” automatic in most cases now. Anything to keep from having to actually do something to stop the carnage.
opiejeanne
@Steeplejack: We use ours primarily for pancakes but I’ve made doughnuts and other savory dishes in it. Mine is about 47 years old and I think it was a wedding present; we’ve used it for meals when we’ve remodeled a kitchen or two.
opiejeanne
@Gian: That’s so sad. I’m sorry your child has been touched by this horror.
I just found out my cousin’s daughter was in Vegas for the concert, but was at that venue the night before. The night of the shooting she was at a different event, I think on Fremont.
opiejeanne
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: The other item that really helped with kitchen remodeling was a microwave. The last kitchen we did the fridge was in the entry hall all of our cooking gear was in boxes in the living room, and we cooked and ate on a card table upstairs in the area functioning as the tv/family room. We ate a lot of raw veggies from our garden as well.
rikyrah
@SWMBO:
Did you try it on Chrome or Firefox?
rikyrah
@The Dangerman:
You and I had the same image of hotel security. Seems that we were wrong. Big time.
zhena gogolia
Where were you when I needed the word “ammonite” for an acrostic late last night?
fergie
Watch out London.. there be Cybermen in St. Pauls!
(also Miss Kislet in the Shard)
fergie
J R in WV
@NotMax:
” that aroma wafting from the innards of the incredibly heavy Sunbeam stand mixer….” means the motor is burning up. Mine ( inherited from M-I-L’s kitchen when she went into an Assisted Living apartment ) was like that for a couple of years, and then failed with a spectacular shower of sparks and a tripped circuit breaker.