(Warning: Graphic pictures of ex-guinea pigs at link. Heavens, it does look tasty at the end).
4.
Pom
Thanx Tattoo:
Going out to buy beer. I would have gone with a merlot were it not for your link/help.
5.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: I don’t think I’m gonna click thru here because I adore guinea pigs.
Happy 2009, Padre de Pedro! Did you boys make it a memorable one down there?
Because no holiday would be complete without the obligatory Joni Mitchell reference and link, I had this on today and it reminds me a lot of some of the threads here. One of my top 10 fave Joni tunes ever.
6.
South of I-10
I was inspired by the earlier cooking thread to do some cooking myself. I am making vegetable soup and red beans. I will have a freezerful of both.
7.
robertdsc
Passerby sez in the new year thread:
[confession: I want to sit down with Tunch and sqwish the fur on his belly. good good boy]
We all feel the same, even as we note that census takers are going to give Tunch his own Congressional district.
We had my parents and one of my brothers and his family over, and managed to get though the whole day without the usual fight-about-what-Elizabeth-said-to-Norm-in-1985 debacle. We survived mainly by starting on the champagne at 9am on Christmas morning. Pedro tried to bite my brother (which was nice, and earned him a special doggy treat once the family had left).
I roasted a ham in stout, brown sugar and cardamom, and we are still feasting off it.
I got lots of books – I’m working my way through the new Sebastian Faulks’ James Bond novel (which is surprisingly good).
How was yours?
9.
Pom
Awesome Laura W.
Thank you. Been years since I listened to Joni Mitchell.
I cooked yesterday so that I could goof off today. Split pea soup with the remains of the Christmas ham. Just dried split peas, chicken broth, water, ham bone, and a pinch of Rosemary. The meat goes in after the soup has simmered for a while. Best after it’s set up for twenty-four hours.
3 or 4 cuys
50 grams of ground toasted corn, or cornmeal
2 kilos of parboiled potatoes, cut in slices
8 cloves of garlic
6 fresh hot peppers, either red or yellow
½ cup oil
½ cup water
salt, pepper and cumin to taste
Rub the cuys with a mix of the pepper, salt, pepper and cumin and bake. You can also skewer over a barbeque.
Prepare a sauce with the oil, peppers, garlic and cornmeal with the water from the potatoes or broth. Cook a few minutes until the peppers are cooked. When tender, place the meat in a serving dish and spoon the sauce over it. Serve with the boiled potatoes.
12.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney:
A lovely Christmas thanks.
How was yours?
OMIDOG! Is today the day after Christmas? I need to get off the Ketel One for a while, if so.
Are you guys a week behind us down there? Do you give presents at NYs too? I’m so confused.
I’ll pretend that we might both be talking about New Year’s, just to keep the convo moving.
Love the family story. Good boy, Pedro! Leah’s very impressed.
My NY’s Eve was really good, actually. Except for the part about having to protect my feeble, aged, defenseless, elder cats from The Wrath of The Tunchster. But even that was fun. I love this freakin’ holiday!
13.
AhabTRuler
@Pom: I think that is the only thing that they are good for. They are simply "Mobile, Self-Governing Temporary Energy Storage Devices"
for condors and the like.
Brrr….we’re still in the middle of this snowstorm, and it’s so windy that it’s making the house hard to heat. Thank goodness for the wood stove in our living room.
I was just watching the news, and it’s showing those crazy fuckers who do the Polar Bear Dip thing every Jan 1st. Anybody here participate in that insanity?
Foodie thread oh good! I am making a huge Lancashire Hot Pot this weekend, thanks to Food Lion selling off their semi-boneless legs of lamb at half price on Monday. (The one I got had an original price of $39.00 I paid $13.00). Gonna slice some up for chops and freeze them, dice some more for the hot pot and the freezer. Lancashire Hot Pot (ambrosia for us Lancastrians)
New Years was very nice – we spent a fortune for dinner here, then went to a friend’s house for midnight (If Sydney can do anything well, it’s fireworks)… then it’s a bit of a blank until we got home at 8am…
23.
Punchy
I cant fucking believe I have to listen to Brent Fuckberger doing this Rose Bowl telecast. Way to kill an otherwise great broadcast, you ABC jackasses.
24.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: EIGHT course meal with EIGHT wines. (Wiping spittle off keyboard.)
Makes my trout dip and boucheron on rice crackers (gluten free!) washed down with non-vintage sparkling brut rose from Napa sound like….dirty beets?
25.
South of I-10
@Reverend Dennis: That sounds tasty. I haven’t tried that before, I may need to give it a shot. I got a roast too, but I am going to wait and cook that tomorrow. I love having meals frozen so I don’t have to cook after work.
We had some people over last night to watch the Peach Bowl (okay, the Chick-Fil-A Bowl). A friend brought a warm onion dip that was so delicious. It had cream cheese, mayo, parmesan and a finely chopped onion. I would think you could add any number of things to that to make some really tasty dips.
26.
passerby
South of I-10 :
I was inspired by the earlier cooking thread to do some cooking myself. I am making vegetable soup and red beans. I will have a freezerful of both.
I am in full Monkey See/Monkey Do mode. After reading this I took out the beef bones and started the stock to make a big veg soup. I will add rutabaga and half a large beet (red hands now) with the other usual suspects but I think the magic ingredient is cabbage about 20 minutes before the end.
Freezerful indeedy.
Oh, and p.s., the supermarket meat sections occasionally have what they call "doggie bones", scrapy beef bones, that they sell for 49 cents a pound. I stock up on these to make soup–lots cheaper that ox tail or so-called "soup bones". Works like a charm.
27.
Punchy
Makes my trout dip and boucheron on rice crackers (gluten free!) washed down with non-vintage sparkling brut rose from Napa sound like….dirty beets?
Because it was New Year, it ended up being ten courses with ten wines… Mind you, I haven’t needed to eat since.
30.
Adolphus
I was inspired by a recent thread on BJ to watch Heroes. I am about half-way through season one and I have a question for fans of the show.
When the scene is in Japan or just with Ando and Hiro everyone speaks Japanese. But when Mujinder (sp?) is in India talking to family and friends and even children and strangers in the poor section of Madras everyone speaks English.
Am making bbq chicken and black eyed peas with a tasty spinach salad, followed by brownies and ice cream for dessert.
We had an amazing hike along a creek here in Austin (visiting family), everyone is tired and ready to have a LOTR marathon tonight.
32.
South of I-10
@passerby: We have very different soups! Mine has black eyed peas, lima beans, green beans, corn, carrots and peas. It is really smelling pretty good now.
33.
Reverend Dennis
@South of I-10:
The nice part is that there’s practically no way to do it wrong.
34.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Adolphus: Adolphus, I don’t watch Heroes but I can answer that. In India, everyone speaks English. It’s the only way the entire country can communicate with each other because of all the various dialects. Unless my Indian overlords lied to me.
Yum-num! We did that for our wedding supper — the eight-course traditional tasting menu at Babbo. Needless to say, I was utterly smashed by the time the meal was over, as they were not skimpy with the wine servings. The food was absolutely phenomenal, though.
36.
passerby
brownies and ice cream for dessert.
Monkey See/ Monkey Do continues unabatedly. I found a box of Jiffy Brownie Mix (not bad actually) in my pantry. I’ve got walnuts to add and I’m gonna pop down to the corner gas station for ice cream.
If my stock pot wasn’t already in use, I’d be makin split pea with ham!
Oy! I’m outta control.
On another topic, I just watched the Coen brothers’ "Burn After Reading" last night and must say I enjoyed it. Cast and plot were great, well maybe Brad Pitt’s comedy was a little over played but I laughed out loud at this dark comedy.
I haven’t seen the Big Lebowski yet but it’s in my Netflix cue now.
37.
Laura W
@Punchy: You know, I don’t know. A friend suggested I might be ‘cuz of some annoying symptoms I’ve had the last year or so, and I meant to google it so I could self-diagnose and get all OCD about it, but I forgot. I do know that I feel better when I eat low carb, for sure, and I also know that I feel pretty crappy when I eat wheat.
Is that part of the qualification?
@passerby: It is really just mean of you and Dewberry to continue to talk about your brownies and ice cream. Maybe if I walk to the store it will balance out?
Will it make you feel better if I mention that I’m not having any ice cream? I gave up dairy about 2 months ago and without getting all old-lady & her symptoms about it, I feel much much better. So much better that I am usually fine about the whole deprivation thing, although I must say I looked longingly at everyone else eating tasty queso dip last night.
42.
South of I-10
@dewberry: Maybe a little. But your whole meal sounds really good. I think part of my problem is I am starving and all this talk of food is not helping! Maybe a glass of wine would help.
43.
passerby
@passerby: It is really just mean of you and Dewberry to continue to talk about your brownies and ice cream. Maybe if I walk to the store it will balance out?
I’ll be doing some walking as penance, no question about that. I was extremely well behaved over Christmas, so the… unmentionable treat won’t put me too far BEHIND. : D
mmm, mrs. skippy is cooking some turkey soup w/the carcass from our christmas dinner, some celery and carrots and a handful of fresh herbs grown in our kitchen bay window.
boil up some noodles and mm, mm, that’s good eatin’!
I got a little concerned about the whole 22 August 2006 worries, which fortunately turned out to be a non-event. But anyway, I bought 30 cans of Chef Boyardee ravioli for it, just in case. There is an expiration date on these cans of August 2008. In case anybody has ever wondered about these expiration dates, they seem to be conservative as the ravioli still tastes great, even in 2009.
When the scene is in Japan or just with Ando and Hiro everyone speaks Japanese. But when Mujinder (sp?) is in India talking to family and friends and even children and strangers in the poor section of Madras everyone speaks English. Why is that?
Well, the reason why it’s in Japanese is that Masi Oka (the guy who plays Hiro) is bilingual and can speak Japanese fluently. However, the guy who plays Ando (Jason Kyson Lee) is Korean American, I believe…
48.
Punchy
@Brick Oven Bill: Absolutely true story: I had Kraft Mac n Cheese last year that had a "sell by" date of June 1996. Since there wasn’t any actual expiration date, I said fuck it and cooked it up. Tasted fine.
49.
South of I-10
@Laura W: Thanks and same to you! I went ahead poured a glass.
There seems to be a lot of soup cooking going on, I guess it is just the time of year?
50.
Laura W
Here you go, John. Doctors Without Borders in Gaza, too.
Helping two nightmares for the price of one easy contribution, made from the comfort of our own couches.
51.
magisterludi
Carbonara with grilled shrimp and caesar salad for late night Christmas Eve. Cholesterol heaven! Cranberry pear tart to finish.
In the morning, blueberry creme brulee french toast and link sausages.
Dinner: prime rib, bacon and onion scalloped potatoes, green beans in shallot-lemon butter, tomato parmesan puffs and yorkshire puddings. Dessert was double chocolate ganache cake with cinnamon-chili whipped cream AND grand marnier sponge custard with orange candy glass and cream.
Today, ham, cabbage and white bean soup and homeade refrigerator yeast rolls (so so so easy) and walnut toffee crisps.
I must have used ten pounds of butter and a gallon of heavy cream, not to mention about 4 dozen eggs. And there were only four of us.
I always like to cook soup on Sundays and this sort of lazy holiday day. Or really, anytime there’s a cold snap. Which in Houston is when the thermometer hits 40 degrees.
I really, really like soups and stews and things that take forever to cook and can just gently simmer as you go about your day.
Sorry I don’t know how to insert the link or do the block quotes, I rarely post but always read this blog. Also my apologies if someone has already noted this. Cheers.
54.
burnspbesq
In Gainesville and Norman, Urban Meyer and Bob Stoops are each thanking their lucky stars that they don’t have to play USC for the championship.
Fight on!
55.
EddieInCA
There is no college football team in America that can beat USC after January 1. That goes for the last three years, and most certainly this year. They’re dismantling a very, very good Penn State team. Demolishing them, and taking their manhood.
After what the Pac 10 has done this bowl season, there is no way USC shouldn’t be playing for the title.
Wow – Kraft Mac-n-Cheese still good after 12-1/2 years? Maybe you should send this story in to Kraft: they might send you some more of their more recent products – from 1998 or so….
@ Brick Oven Bill:
Umm, for the denser among us: what was the problem (or not) on 8/22/06?
63.
passerby
homeade refrigerator yeast rolls (so so so easy)
Magisterludi, wonder if you can direct me to a reliable recipe? I enjoy baking but a few failures with bread have put me off using yeast. But your triple "so" easy makes me think it’s worth another shot.
22AUG06 was the date in some Shiite book that Ahmedinejad was quoting from where there was supposed to be a bright flash over Baghdad, and then the Mahdi was to arrive, and we would all be happy. I judged that he was serious and might have had the capacity to pull something off. So I bought some canned food and stuck it in the cellar.
My 2006 purchase of Chef Boyardee was before the construction of the brick oven. This is a recommended backyard project. There were around $500 in materials used, this is in comparison to probably $10k if you were to hire a guy to build one for you. Be sure to use refractory bricks and refractor mortar in the zone of the bricks.
Our ancestors worked out that the optimum door opening height to main chamber height is 0.62. This traps heat in the main chamber, and allows enough air to enter to keep the fire burning well. You will find that the oven becomes a wind machine with air getting sucked in one part of the opening, being consumed by the fire, with the exhaust gases shooting up the chimney and out the door, if your chimney is undersized, as mine is.
The oven can achieve temperatures well in excess of 600F, that temperature required to induce pyrolysis in oil shale, so not only does it reduce the price of food storage requirements, you can use it for energy and organic chemistry research. The way I see it, approximately 5 billion people exist today only because of the internal combustion engine. That is like one hundred WWIIs, which is a lot of people.
@EddieInCA: The Pac 10 is a joke and the weakest conference in football. When USC plays in a real conference and has a schedule worth mentioning, then they can play for the title.
67.
gwangung
The Pac 10 is a joke and the weakest conference in football.
Which is why they’re going undefeated in bowl games…
68.
Adolphus
@Just Some Fuckhead
@Adolphus, I don’t watch Heroes but I can answer that. In India, everyone speaks English. It’s the only way the entire country can communicate with each other because of all the various dialects. Unless my Indian overlords lied to me.
I thought that might be it, but, according to several sources I found online Tamil is the overwhelming language in Chennai, the town where parts of the show take place. English is sometimes used in business or education, and Hindi is known by educated people, but some Tamil consider it insulting to address them in Hindi. So that would explain why English is spoken at the University of Chennai, but not why English is spoken in the slums. It should be Tamil. My guess is gwangung is closer to the truth. It is more about who the actors are and what they can speak. I guess Asian looking actors who can speak Japanese are more plentiful and cheaper in LA than Indian looking actors who speak Tamil.
Or maybe they couldn’t find anyone to write convincing Tamil dialogue.
Some friends of mine who are huge fans of not just Heroes but also Lost are convinced that everything in both shows has deep meaning and air tight continuity. I am still not convinced and think most details like this are at the whim of the reality of production on a budget.
then it’s a bit of a blank until we got home at 8am
Oooh, been there and done that. Nothing like having to ask your companions next day to tell you how much fun you had the night before.
70.
Montysano
@ Laura W: If you’re a Joni fan, go to Youtube and search "Joni BBC". There are about 6 songs from a live BBC concert, probably ca. 1970, mostly from her 2nd and 3rd albums. At her peak, her talent was just astounding.
71.
Nicole
Why, oh why will my champagne headache not go away?
My New Year’s resolution is to watch Against All Odds. I made this resolution at 2:30 AM when the Phil Collins video for the song came on VH1 Classic and my friend and I both said while we’d seen the video a hundred times back in the ’80s, we never saw the movie.
I am sure I will regret this resolution only slightly less than I am currently regretting drinking three glasses of champagne.
72.
Laura W
@Montysano: Wow. I even stopped eating dinner for this.
The beauty is that I’ve already linked to that precise version of "California" (I think maybe one night when TZ (or HatCat, etc.) and I were comparing notes on being born at St. John’s Hospital, Santa Monica, CA). And I posted another version of "Cactus Tree" in another thread, but now I’m gonna go watch this version you reference. Also a song high up in my Top Ten!
Like I said to Tatoosydney on the (other) Christmas thread…it pains me to hear her sing now since she’s ruined her perfect instrument with the decades of smoking.
Maddow’s sparky enthusiasm at being the new kid on the block stood in marked contrast with the granitic monotone of Fox News hosts such as Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, who tried to gin up scary-Obama controversy with their customary one-two of jabbing fingers and gritted dentures, relying on a right-wing playbook from the Clinton-bashing era that’s as stale as one of Roger Ailes’s old stogies.
"Customary one-two of jabbing fingers and gritted dentures" LOL
@gwangung: Um…only 2 of those games are worth mentioning. OK State was pretty good this year, as is Penn State. Seriously…Brigham Young…Miami…you’re gonna brag about that?
it pains me to hear her sing now since she’s ruined her perfect instrument with the decades of smoking.
But it was perfect for a good while there. Besides, if the smoking thing had been different, other things might have been different as well.
I just checked the folder where I saved them: there are actually 8 or 9 videos from that show, but not all show up on Youtube at all times.
76.
South of I-10
@Dewberry: I understand. I’m only 3 1/2 hours east of you. Gumbo weather!
77.
The Moar You Know
While Auschwitz Crematory Bill sits in his mother’s basement, flirting with botulism, crying about Obama’s birth certificate and shivering in anticipation and dread of the eventual attack of the Caliphate, I am eating some sweet pork chops, black-eyed peas, and broccoli.
Now, I’m a Southerner by birth, not by choice, and this is a little bit different than the way it was done by my parents as a kid. As a child, I would have had greens, cooked with a lump o’ pork fat, black-eyed peas, also cooked with pork fat, and pork chops coated liberally in salt. Since I am a Californian by the grace of God, I skipped the greens for broccoli, did the peas in chicken broth, and topped the pig with a glaze of minced peaches, honey, a hint of cheyenne pepper and a sprikle of ground pepper and basil. Simply wonderful.
78.
The Moar You Know
I am sure I will regret this resolution only slightly less than I am currently regretting drinking three glasses of champagne.
@Nicole: What has been seen cannot be unseen. You’re going to regret watching that shitty film for the rest of your life.
79.
reality-based
Among other Xmas extravagances at my sisters (truly GREAT Prime rib, garlic mashed spuds, maple-pecan pie, etc. ) –
I made my best strata ever for Christmas brunch
Butter 9×13 cake pan
Cube up around 8 cups stale bread.
Put half of bread cubes in bottom of pan, pat down to an even layer.
Sprinkle evenly on the bottom layer of bread cubes:
Two pkgs of defrosted frozen artichoke hearts
3 or 4 chopped shallots, sauteed (or green onions)
about a cup (or more) of small cubes of cooked ham
*about a 9 oz chunk of Jarlsberg cheese, grated: (reserve about 1/2 cup or more to put on top of the final layer)
Now put the rest of the bread cubes on top, and smooth out to an even layer.
Drizzle 1/4 to 1/2 cup melted butter over the whole concoction.
In a large bowl, Beat 8 eggs well, then beat in four cups of whole milk. (Don’t use nonfat or lowfat).
Beat in a couple of squirts of Dijon mustard, (probably about 1 1/2 tbsp, salt, and pepper
Now pour egg/milk/mustard concoction slowly and evenly over the bread layers in the pan. Sprinkle the reserved Jarlsberg on top.
EITHER: cover with plastic wrap, let sit in the fridge over night. Take out of fridge around 1 1/2 hours before you want to eat.
OR: let sit out on the counter for about 45 minutes, squishing the bread into the egg mixture with a spatula if you think about it.
Anyway, preheat the oven to 350. Butter the underside of a piece of Aluminum foil, and cover the pan loosely with the foil.
Bake for 30 minutes or so, then remove the buttered foil, and bake for another thirty minutes or so – till it’s puffed up, and a knife stuck in the middle comes out clean. (if you bake it right out of the fridge, it will take longer)
If you can’t find Jarlsberg cheese, Gruyere or Swiss would work – but I think it was the Jarlsberg that made it so nummy.
Delicious brunch fare – especially when served with my sister’s famous Winter Salad of Radicchio, Endive, Arugula, Pecans, Pears, and shaved Parmesan.
and Mimosas.
Happy new year to all –
(and yes, I know that Strata figured heavily in that sappy Christmas movie with Sarah Jessica Parker and Diane Keaton – "The Family something-or-other." – but I’ve been making it for Christmas brunch for years, I’m DAMNED if I’ll let the coincidence make me stop. "
Given Rove’s profound involvement with the Bush White House, which wrecked the country’s image abroad and plunged the nation into an economic abyss (Great Depression II: Jurassic Edition), he’s the last person to be lecturing anybody about governance. It’s like putting Sarah Palin in charge of sentence construction.
And I can see myself quoting the Hewitt paragraph repeatedly.
81.
reality-based
Among other Xmas extravagances at my sisters (truly GREAT Prime rib, garlic mashed spuds, maple-pecan pie, etc. ) –
I made my best strata ever for Christmas brunch
Butter 9×13 cake pan
Cube up around 8 cups stale bread.
Put half of bread cubes in bottom of pan, pat down to an even layer.
Sprinkle evenly on the bottom layer of bread cubes:
Two pkgs of defrosted frozen artichoke hearts
3 or 4 chopped shallots, sauteed (or green onions)
about a cup (or more) of small cubes of cooked ham
about a 9 oz chunk of Jarlsberg cheese, grated: (reserve about 1/2 cup or more to put on top of the final layer)
Now put the rest of the bread cubes on top, and smooth out to an even layer.
Drizzle 1/4 to 1/2 cup melted butter over the whole concoction.
In a large bowl, Beat 8 eggs well, then beat in four cups of whole milk. (Don’t use nonfat or lowfat).
Beat in a couple of squirts of Dijon mustard, (probably about 1 1/2 tbsp, salt, and pepper
Now pour egg/milk/mustard concoction slowly and evenly over the bread layers in the pan. Sprinkle the reserved Jarlsberg on top.
EITHER: cover with plastic wrap, let sit in the fridge over night. Take out of fridge around 1 1/2 hours before you want to eat.
OR: let sit out on the counter for about 45 minutes, squishing the bread into the egg mixture with a spatula if you think about it.
Anyway, preheat the oven to 350. Butter the underside of a piece of Aluminum foil, and cover the pan loosely with the foil.
Bake for 30 minutes or so, then remove the buttered foil, and bake for another thirty minutes or so – till it’s puffed up, and a knife stuck in the middle comes out clean. (if you bake it right out of the fridge, it will take longer)
If you can’t find Jarlsberg cheese, Gruyere or Swiss would work – but I think it was the Jarlsberg that made it so nummy.
Really Nummy brunch fare – especially when served with my sister’s famous Winter Salad of Radicchio, Endive, Arugula, Pecans, Pears, and shave Parmesan.
and Mimosas.
Happy new year to all –
(and yes, I know that Strata figured heavily in that sappy Christmas movie with Sarah Jessica Parker and Diane Keaton – "The Family something-or-other." – but I’ve been making it for Christmas brunch for years, I’m DAMNED if I’ll let the coincidence make me stop. "
82.
Iowa housewife
My husband got into Joni Mitchell in college because all of the chicks, I mean young women, were into it and it helped him get laid, I mean, dates!
Now, I’m a Southerner by birth, not by choice, and this is a little bit different than the way it was done by my parents as a kid. As a child, I would have had greens, cooked with a lump o’ pork fat, black-eyed peas, also cooked with pork fat, and pork chops coated liberally in salt.
At our favorite soul food joint here in Red State, a vegetable plate is just as artery-clogging as a slab of ribs. Vegetables make a wonderful Butter Transport Device.
84.
gwangung
@Cassidy the Racist White Man: Well, that just belies the statement that the Pac-10 is the weakest football conference; can’t be the weakest if the conference goes undefeated…
Now, if’n you’re arguing that Florida or Texas or Oklahoma could mow down USC, I couldn’t argue too strenuously about that…(I might not agree, but I can see it happening….).
85.
The Moar You Know
At our favorite soul food joint here in Red State, a vegetable plate is just as artery-clogging as a slab of ribs. Vegetables make a wonderful Butter Transport Device.
@Montysano: Don’t get me wrong; I love traditional Southern food. The preferred desert would have been pecan pie. But I’m twenty-five pounds overweight, and far worse, my family has a nasty history of heart disease.
California cuisine does have a way of keeping the weight off if you keep your quantities down.
Besides, if the smoking thing had been different, other things might have been different as well.
Well, sure, that can be said existentially about any life, I suppose.
My point was more along the lines of thinking of her contemporaries: Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Carole King, Carly Simon. Listening to them today is not too different than listening to them back then. Joni is very different. Sad different, for me. Seeing Carole King on Colbert last year doing whatever #1 hit she performed…hardly a thing about her had changed, but a few more lines in the face, I guess.
Anyway…
Long live Joni. At the very least, she is still with us, creating! Mira, Amelia!
87.
reality-based
sorry, no idea how the (lengthy!) double-post happened – or how to fix it.
Ok, I’m gonna SLOWLY – put down the wine glass – – and back away from the keyboard.
oops, again.
88.
Laura W
@reality-based: You’re among friends. Happens all the time, especially over the holidays (debates, primaries, generals, inaugurations!)
While we are talking about voices, I wonder if you have heard of Mariza?
This footage is from a concert near the Tower of Belem in Lisbon. I think she was as surprised at her crying as anyone else, but it secured her place as Portugal’s foremost singer (and the Portuguese take their fado seriously). Wait to the end, when she really unleashes the voice.
Well, I just have to sigh when all of you describe your favorite holiday wines. All alcoholic beverages give me fearsome headaches these days, so I just stick with the kiddy beverages. OTOH, I can handle the wheat and the dairy, so yesterday I bought a frittata from the organic market and a little loaf of fresh sourdough for my dinner. It was very good, almost like a custard. Then I bought some fresh shortbread holiday cookies from the best bakery in town. Those were for my movie-watching adventures later on. I’ll worry about my cholesterol again tomorrow.
And for anyone who still wants quick mac ‘n cheese but can’t stand that electric orange stuff from Kraft: Look for Annie’s. It’s an organic brand that actually tastes like something. Of course I add actual cheddar cheese whenever I make it, so that makes a difference.
91.
South of I-10
@LauraW: Joan Baez made a surprise appearance at an event here called the Medicine Show held at Grant Street Dancehall about a week ago. She played a 5 song set. This is something we usually go to, always around Christmas. Of course we didn’t go this year, so Joan Baez showed up. Word on the street is she is here recording at Dockside Studio.
92.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: She is gorgeous, and so ethereal and elegant, in an Annie Lennox kind of way. Only prettier. And her voice is exquisite.
But do you know what she is saying, TS? I am all about the lyrics when it comes to songs, and I speak only one language (barely). So I’m really handicapped when it comes to a full appreciation of such talents. Does she ever sing in English, cuz I’d love to hear that!!
If I had a Facebook account, I would ask ‘The Moar You Know’ to be my friend.
On the December 29th open thread, we discussed the 2.1 trillion barrels of oil shale Kerogen that exists in North America, comparing it to ‘virgin fuel’. There were questions and comments made following the introduction, which I failed to address, but which are nonetheless important. I would like to take this opportunity to address these questions and comments, in order to improve the general human condition:
My existing friend ninerdave asked: “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Response: 300 years of domestic liquid fuel at current rates of domestic consumption, extractable at probably $25/bbl. This can sustain somewhere near the existing volumes of human biomass on earth for a while longer. Sometimes I wonder if we deserve it.
‘Tenguphul’ commented that oil shale yields only heavy crude. This is false. The ‘virgin’ nature of Kerogen allows it to be processed into any form of fuel, from aviation gas to home heating oil. Theoretically without downstream refinement. Kerogen, in my opinion, is far superior to the fuel reserves in the Middle East. It is a better resource.
‘Another Bruce’ noted that I wanted to “blow the Rocky Mountains to shit”. This too is false. The entire operation can be carried out underground with no visible disturbance to the surface. There would be far less impact on the environment than with these windmills, which never go away.
‘4thehulz’ noted that I wanted to “Rape the Rockies in the ass.” More falsehoods. I have no desire to rape the Rockies in the ass. Call me a traditionalist.
94.
Montysano
@Laura W:
I found "Shine" to be tough to take, less because of her voice and more because of her tone. It was almost accusatory. She has obviously given up on us, and rightfully so. We’re not going back to The Garden, at least not for a while. It’s a tremendously dark album, right up there with Dylan’s "Time Out Of Mind".
É meu e vosso este fado (This Fado is both yours and mine)
destino que nos amarra (The destiny that unites us)
por mais que seja negado (No matter how much it is denied)
às cordas de uma guitarra (By the strings of a guitar)
Sempre que se ouve um gemido (Whenever one hears a lament)
duma guitarra a cantar (Of a guitar’s song)
fica-se logo perdido (One is instantly lost)
com vontade de chorar (With a longing to weep)
Ó genta da minha terra (Oh people of my land)
agora é que eu percebi (It is now that I have perceived)
esta tristeza que trago (This sadness which I carry)
foi de vós que a recebi (it was from you that I received it)
E pareceria ternura (It would seem a kindness)
se eu me deixasse embalar (If I left myself be soothed)
era maior a amargura (The greater the anguish)
menos triste o meu cantar (The less sorrowful my song)
Ó genta da minha terra (Oh people of my land)
Ó genta da minha terra (Oh people of my land)
agora é que eu percebi (It is now that I have perceived)
esta tristeza que trago (This sadness which I carry)
foi de vós que a recebi (it was from you that I received it).
————–
Primavera (Spring)
Todo o amor que nos prendera (All the love that had tied us)
como se fora de cera (as if it was made of wax)
Se quebrava e desfazia (was breaking and crumbling down).
Ai funesta Primavera (Ai, tragic Spring)
quem me dera, quem nos dera (how I wish, how I wish that we)
ter morrido nesse dia (had died on that day).
E condenaram-me a tanto (And I was condemned to so much)
viver comigo meu pranto (to live with my crying)
viver, viver e sem ti (to live, to live, and without you).
Vivendo sem, no entanto, eu me esquecer desse encanto,
(Living, however without forgetting the enchantment)
que nesse dia perdi (that I lost that day).
Pão duro da solidão (hard bread of loneliness)
é somente o que nos dão (that’s all that we are given)
o que nos dão a comer (that’s all we are given to eat).
Que importa que o coração (What does the heart matter)
diga que sim ou que não (whatever it says, yes or no)
se continua a viver (if it keeps on living).
Todo o amor que nos prendera (All love that had tied us)
se quebrara e desfizera (was breaking and crumbling down)
em pavor se convertia (was turning into dread).
Ninguém fale em Primavera (No one should talk to about Spring)
quem me dera, quem nos dera (how I wish, how I wish that we)
ter morrido nesse dia (had died on that day).
————–
Fado is mostly about suadade (hard to translate, but mostly regret/yearning/longing), but there are some happy songs – just not many).
96.
pinksmear
i rode the train to family in ct yesterday and some asshole hedgie was sitting in front of me talking about some $133 mm deal he’s making (are they still making those? where DO they get the money? oh, right? from our treasury. silly me.) i asked him civilly to tone it down a little and he didn’t. so i stuck my head over the seat and told ’em "you’re just lucky we don’t have your head on a spike. now, would you tone it down already?" man, did that feel good. got a few winks from the folks sitting nearby too. happy new years!!!!!
as for culinary delights, my sis-in-law made brie-bittersweet chocolate-and-fresh basil crostinis, mushroom-sherry ragout on polenta, and gorgonzola-and-honey on wheat crackers. all that with some delish sauv blanc. oh yeah – and key lime pie. my blood feels like petroleum today, but it sho was worth it!
p.s. one fellow bj post-er knows exactly who this is. pleeeez don’t out me.
This is something we usually go to, always around Christmas. Of course we didn’t go this year, so Joan Baez showed up.
We have about 1/2 dozen I’m-a-moron-why-didn’t-I-go moments from our years in New Orleans in the ’80’s.
98.
Laura W
@Montysano: I LoVE "Night Ride Home"! On my iPod. Get to walk to it a few times/ week. I love every song, as a matter of fact, and have linked "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" more than twice on B-J in the last two months.
Once in a while
In a big blue moon
There comes a night like this
Like some surrealist
Invented this 4th of July
Night ride home
Hula girls
And caterpillar tractors in the sand
The ukulele man
The fireworks
This 4th of July
Night ride home
I love the man beside me
We love the open road
No phones till Friday
Far from the overkill
Far from the overload
When asked how they feel about President-elect Barack Obama as commander in chief, six out of 10 active-duty service members say they are uncertain or pessimistic, according to a Military Times survey.
OK, let’s look at that poll:
How do you feel about President-elect Obama as commander in chief?
One could just as easily look at those numbers and write an article headlined "Confident About Obama"
"When asked how they feel about President-elect Barack Obama as commander in chief, six out of 10 active-duty service members say they are uncertain or optimistic, according to a Military Times survey."
or…
"Only one in four active-duty service members voice pessimism about President-elect Obama as commander in chief."
or…
"Active-duty service members poll more positive than negative on President-elect Obama as commander in chief."
or… well, read the whole article. After several scathing paragraphs, the column then spends the rest of its space backtracking and admitting that; a) it’s an unscientific poll, b) it skews over 50% conservative, c) minorities and women are underrepresented, d) Democrats account for only 13% of the respondents, e) etc, etc, etc…
But, Drudge will tout it. So will all the Usual Suspect in Conservative Blaghistan, knowing that their readers will only skim the first couple of paragraphs where the "military hates Obama" message is conveyed, and skip the rest of the article where the fuller picture is exposed.
100.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: Wow! Did you do that off the top of your head? Thanks so much for taking all that time!
I am going back tomorrow (when I’m more fresh and alert) and listening again with your translations in another window. I love her voice and her presence. I just get nuts if I don’t know what people are saying/singing.
I cheated and copied most of it from various web sites, although I fixed some of the less accurate translations… My Portuguese is developing, but to translate those myself would have taken about five times as long… it’s a hard language, and it makes my brain hurt.
103.
Laura W
@South of I-10: Well, since we seem to be in hog link heaven….this is for you. I’ve just watched about 10 versions of this song, and couldn’t decide which to post. There is one from 2007 at Camp Casey, Crawford, TX, which is quite funny and illustrative of my point about how you can hardly tell that decades have passed…but she breaks up the song a lot laughing and playing with the crowd, which is cute and fun, but it breaks up the song, damnit!
104.
rachel
@Pom: They were originally domesticated to be a food source, not pets.
…Guinea pig meat is high in protein and low in fat and cholesterol, and is described as being similar to rabbit and the dark meat of chicken….
…Peruvians consume an estimated 65 million guinea pigs each year, and the animal is so entrenched in the culture that one famous painting of the Last Supper in the main cathedral in Cusco shows Christ and the twelve disciples dining on guinea pig…[
You know, everybody always says how dark Dylan’s "Time Out Of Mind" is, but it’s one of my favorite albums. If I’m feeling depressed I like to listen that. It makes me think, "he knows exactly how it feels." And it actually makes me feel better.
106.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: This is freaky. I just posted Joan Baez singing below for South-of-I-10 and I think the subtitles are in Portuguese?
Enjoy!
The birthers, the pumas et-al are taking this as a SIGN a SIGN I tell you that the military are not going to take orders from a damn muslim, alien, usurper, illigitimate president and are going to RISE UP, RISE UP I TELL YOU, and take back the United States on Inauguration Day and put Hillary in the Whitehouse where she belongs, GOD DAMN YOU! Rise Hillary Rise!
Brought to you by sooutoftoucheventhevastrightwingconspiracywebsiteshavedisownedyou.com
I decided (for some reason that I have yet to fathom) to attempt to learn Portugese once, and yes, it does make the brain hurt, I quickly gave up and stuck with French and Spanish, followed later by Cantonese, all of which my memory has since ditched in favor of retaining images from Lolcat and Get Fuzzy.
109.
Laura W
@Delia: "Blood on the Tracks" is my favorite Dylan. Also on my iPod. "Tangled up in Blue" and "Shelter from the Storm" are great power walking songs.
Although I recall being really freaky about "Planet Waves" when it came out in high school.
110.
Iowa housewife
Hey Laura W.
Diamonds and Rust has always been my favorite Joan Baez song. Thank-you
Sim, as letras são em Portugués. É uma canção muito belo.
112.
South of I-10
Blood on the Tracks is my favorite Dylan album. I saw him touring with Paul Simon a few years back, it took about 30 seconds of every Dylan song before I had any idea what he was singing. Paul Simon was great.
I find reading it and writing it relatively easy – it’s when the Portuguese speak that my brain shuts down. They get rid of the first and last letters of almost every word, and squash it all up together, so it sounds almost eastern European or Arabic, so I tend to stand there dumbstruck, having no idea what was just said…
114.
Laura W
@Litlebritdifrnt: I think LOLcat is the new Esperanto, anyway, don’t you?
You know, everybody always says how dark Dylan’s "Time Out Of Mind" is, but it’s one of my favorite albums.
Oh, I love "Time Out Of Mind"; I like dark music. Lately, I’ve been binging on Nick Drake and Alice in Chains. Esp. Drake, who I didn’t notice the first time around.
I’m never quite sure if Dylan’s lyric have deep, almost prophetic meaning, or if he’s just screwing with us. "Ain’t Talkin’" from Modern Times sure does bring the goosebumps, though.
As I walked out in the mystic garden
On a hot summer day, a hot summer lawn
Excuse me, ma’am, I beg your pardon
There’s no one here, the gardener is gone
Ain’t talkin’, just walkin’
Up the road, around the bend.
Heart burnin’, still yearnin’
In the last outback at the world’s end.
Has anyone else seen those Starz 30-second re-enactments of movies done by animated bunnies? Most were moderately amusing, but the Casablanca one was hilarious.
118.
Laura W
@Montysano: In the rare event that you’ve not seen this, or missed it the previous two times I’ve posted it, check out Joni’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem.circa 1998.
119.
bago
@Brick Oven Bill: So you’ll just rape them in the face. It’s nice to see a pandemic bed-wetting chefboyardee eating traditionalist.
120.
South of I-10
@Montysano: Love Rhythm of the Saints, but I think I prefer Graceland. My little girl knows the words to That was your Mother.
That is pretty much like Lancastrian so you would think that I would find it relatively easy :) In other words a classic Lancastrian response would be "havvenyougorrenyonyou" (quick translation in response to a question "would you like a cigarrette Lancastrian responded "haven’t you got any on you") And yet I found it utterly incomprehensible, however having said that I was trying to learn it after taking four years of French at school and trying to self teach spanish (which, for some reason I always manged to speak spanish with a French accent), I think I was doomed to failure simply because I was trying to overload my brain. Cantonese however came much easier simply because trying to do ANYTHING in Hong Kong when living there for two + years is pretty much impossible without a basic knowledge of Cantonese. I think that I could have learned Portugese overnight had I lived in Lisbon (pretty city by the way).
122.
bago
@Litlebritdifrnt: RISE! Above the standard and the norm. It’s time to be a part of the ultra-heavy beat!
That RISE! bit is a link, but apparently the blog software has a problem with its regex for doing parsing of multiple tags with quote marks.
I think so, I think everyone now refers to Humans as Hoomins, doggies as goggies and cats as, well god. I am posting this as the GOS is STILL living in the bedroom (and to be honest stinking the place up fit to drive me and the DH into living in the car) he has ventured as far as the edge of the bathroom door but has yet to venture into the living room, at which point of course DH and I can reclaim our bedroom. Until such time however, we will have to live with his highness stinking up the place and me sticking my head under the bed on a daily basis to clean up his mess. I am simply owned by a cat, I have to admit it.
Then I think about the people FDDD and I left behind, along with her accent, and I think that we’re better off here. Even if the food is an insipid as the weather.
When I was there (sheesh trying to remember now had to be in the late 70s early 80s before I joined the RN) it was shortly after there had been some sort of uprising, and all of the magnificent monuments and buildings were covered in political graffiti, however I shall never forget walking down the "posh" shopping street and being totally befuddled at the utter decadence of the prices in the shops there, these people had just risen up against the evil "capitalists" and yet the jewelers had items in their windows at the equivalent of 10,000 pounds, it was, to be honest bizarre.
My existing friend ninerdave asked: “What the fuck are you talking about?” Response: 300 years of domestic liquid fuel at current rates of domestic consumption, extractable at probably $25/bbl. This can sustain somewhere near the existing volumes of human biomass on earth for a while longer. Sometimes I wonder if we deserve it.
I’m lazy and don’t feel like looking it up. Where did you get the cost of extraction? And, if it is so cheap, why aren’t we getting half our petroleum energy from this source now?
This is false. The ‘virgin’ nature of Kerogen allows it to be processed into any form of fuel, from aviation gas to home heating oil. Theoretically without downstream refinement. Kerogen, in my opinion, is far superior to the fuel reserves in the Middle East. It is a better resource.
What a load. Oil shale has about 1/10 the energy density of crude oil. It’s a joke. Teddy Roosevelt established the Oil Shale Reserve in 1912, but even during the oil embargo of the ’70s, oil companies couldn’t find a way to make it pay.
If someone finds a way to make oil shale pay without creating an environmental nightmare, fine by me. What I’m opposed to is any energy conversation that has as its basis We Must Keep Things Running The Way They Are Now. We are going to have to radically change the way we use energy, and by deluding ourselves we’re just delaying the inevitable.
130.
Laura W
@Iowa housewife: I do not grok the UTubez. Sometimes links come up, sometimes they do not. Confusing series of damn tubes!
Anyway, glutton for punishment that I am, had to go back and look for more. Check this one out from Germany, 2008! It’s a crappy shot from the audience, so you get no close-ups, but the sound is really good, and her voice is perfect. And sadly enough, dating herself, Dylan, and the two of us: 40 years ago I brought you some cuff links.
Ugh.
We are so old, IowaHW.
It would have been after their Carnation Revolution on 25 April 1974 – so called because the population came out in force with carnations in their hands and peacefully overthrew 40 years of military rule.
Although it’s now a successful democracy, the gap between the very very rich, the average punter who is pretty poor, and the very very poor is still very significant – beggars with no legs in front of boutiques selling Prada. We even saw people living in shipping containers on the outskirts of the city.
Still, despite the low incomes of most of the population, they are among the happiest people I have ever met – welcoming, charming, a little bit cynical and self effacing.
@gwangung: Not really. Out of 5 bowl selections, only two are playing major teams. I would even go further and say that Oregon was an underdog to Oklahoma State ( I don’t know the spread, but just guessing). If the Pac 10 was a strong conference, they’d have more than 3 teams in the top 25.
134.
Laura W
Iowa House Wife:
OK, forget it. Don’t watch that one. WATCH THIS ONE!
Damn you utubez!
That would make sense, I was crusing with my parents from about 1974 through 1978 when I joined the RN. I think the first cruise we went on was about late 1974 or early 1975 when Portugal was the first or last stop on our way to the Azores, and the Canary Islands. (Tenerife, Lanzarote, Maderia), as well as Cadiz (which I hated). P & O Ship if I remember rightly.
I have to agree, I cannot wait to show this to my DH’s kids, you know the "oh he’s the fat kid that plays the tuba in band and the cello in jazz band" kids, the kids who try hard, who are brilliant at their craft but cause they don’t play a cool instrument like the trumpet or something are somehow "lesser" I am so going to love to show this to them. Thank you so very much for this. I love it. The cello is cool. (Which of course I have thought for an age ever since wotshisface brother of the composer did variations which I fell in love with)
The reason oil shale has lower energy density than oil is because it contains a thing called ‘shale’, in addition to the thing called ‘oil’. The yield varies, but the stuff we have can yield 27 gallons per cubic yard.
Time to lift the oil shale ban. But there are forces that like expensive oil. $30/bbl from Shell’s Colorado pilot project. There just might be other ways.
That Army Times poll is interesting if you look into the raw data. The polling people apparently asked the race of the troops and it is interesting to read the responses. I’m still trying to figure out what a ‘White-fuck answering Hispanic’ is.
I’m a huge Dylan fan through most of his eras. You pretty much have to like dark, sardonic lyrics to be that way. One of my favorites is Blind Willie McTell which he unaccountably left off the very uneven "Infidels" album in the early 80s.
Dylan is another one who has lost his voice to way too many cigarettes over the years. Sigh . . .
146.
Laura W
@The Grand Panjandrum: Wow. Sometimes I wonder why I am still here, dawdling, listening to Joan Baez do Diamonds & Rust for the 98th time tonight, and not in bed…and now I know.
Holy shit that was funny.
You know how sometimes when you laugh out loud, really loud, you startle yourself and realize you’ve not done so all day?
That is what just happened.
Thanks!
but the stuff we have can yield 27 gallons per cubic yard.
I’ll eagerly await your links to peer-reviewed research to back this up. In the meantime, you really ought to wander over to The Oil Drum and regale them with your "oil shale is superior to Saudi reserves" BS. Be forewarned: they’re sticklers about facts over there. But do let us know how it works out.
148.
iluvsummr
@Tattoosydney: Damn, she’s good. Thanks for sharing that — I actually just went and put one of her CDs on my "to buy" list at Amazon.
Don’t speak any Portuguese, but since I already have music by Cesaria Evora, Lura, and Cidade Negra, I guess one more album I don’t understand won’t kill me :).
Thank you for that 1/10th datapoint; I had not heard it. The math checks and we agree upon reflection after a glass of beer. There are 202 gallons in a cubic yard. I argued 27 theoretical gallons of oil per cubic yard, which is around 1/9th by volume. But since oil is probably less dense that spent rock, 1/10th fits. Oil floats, after all. And rock is heavy.
150.
Montysano
Well, Johnny Walker Black has gotten the better of me. Hasta la manana, all.
151.
demimondian
Oh, B.O.B.’s numbers are pretty good. He does use the most optimistic estimates of products from the Green River Basin, uses unconfirmed numbers from companies with processes to sell, and ignores the arsenic contamination of the resulting synthetic oil.
And he ignores the fact that coal liquifaction has a much higher yield per unit volume, and that we have more coal. And that oil shale mining has all the drawbacks of coal mining.
But other than that — which is to say, other than everything important — he’s right.
152.
Litlebritdifrnt
And at that, I am going to bed, ya’ll (getting southern and drunk), it has been a wonderful thread and a delight to be a part of, but me old eyes are getting weary and I need someone to "show me the way to go home"
Let’s just say that there are some things you do not want your peers to review. As Citizens, what we should be asking is:
Why are we banning ourselves from exploring our own resources?
154.
robertdsc
Let’s just say that there are some things you do not want your peers to review. As Citizens, what we should be asking is:
Why are we banning ourselves from exploring our own resources?
One day in and 2009 is a fail for you.
155.
bago
Why are we banning ourselves from exploring our own resources?
I’ve only had one 10-course meal and it was very annoying since I was on a date and every time we started talking, we had to be interrupted by the server to describe exactly what the next dish was and how it was made, blah, blah. Also, they served foie gras which was disgusting. At the time I didn’t know how it was made, but I still found it to be pretty gross and couldn’t eat it.
That said, I seriously doubt I’ll ever meet another man with that much money to blow just on dinner, at least not on a dumb hick like me!
While Oregon may have been a 3 point dog to OKSU, we can all see how that worked out for them.
Media and fans from other regions always seem to underestimate the Pac-10 (I’d say yourself included). That goes a long way in determining rankings and perpetuates the myth. If the Pac-10 were so weak, they would be getting blown out in their bowl games. Didn’t happen.
@alhutch: Bullshit. The media is supremely biased towards the SEC. They love them some Pac 10, though. Don’t get me wrong. I think that USC, Oregon, Oregon State, and (occassionally) the Arizonas are decent teams, but that’s it. The rest of the conference is fluff. USC would not be nearly as successful if they had to compete in the Big 12 or SEC.
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Pom
My house is infested with Guinea Pigs. Are they edible?
John Cole
@Pom: Depends. How hungry are you?
Tattoosydney
@Pom:
Yes.
(Warning: Graphic pictures of ex-guinea pigs at link. Heavens, it does look tasty at the end).
Pom
Thanx Tattoo:
Going out to buy beer. I would have gone with a merlot were it not for your link/help.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: I don’t think I’m gonna click thru here because I adore guinea pigs.
Happy 2009, Padre de Pedro! Did you boys make it a memorable one down there?
Because no holiday would be complete without the obligatory Joni Mitchell reference and link, I had this on today and it reminds me a lot of some of the threads here. One of my top 10 fave Joni tunes ever.
South of I-10
I was inspired by the earlier cooking thread to do some cooking myself. I am making vegetable soup and red beans. I will have a freezerful of both.
robertdsc
Passerby sez in the new year thread:
We all feel the same, even as we note that census takers are going to give Tunch his own Congressional district.
Give that cat a big hug, John. We love him so.
Tattoosydney
@Laura W:
Better not to click though then.
A lovely Christmas thanks.
We had my parents and one of my brothers and his family over, and managed to get though the whole day without the usual fight-about-what-Elizabeth-said-to-Norm-in-1985 debacle. We survived mainly by starting on the champagne at 9am on Christmas morning. Pedro tried to bite my brother (which was nice, and earned him a special doggy treat once the family had left).
I roasted a ham in stout, brown sugar and cardamom, and we are still feasting off it.
I got lots of books – I’m working my way through the new Sebastian Faulks’ James Bond novel (which is surprisingly good).
How was yours?
Pom
Awesome Laura W.
Thank you. Been years since I listened to Joni Mitchell.
Happy New Year.
Reverend Dennis
@South of I-10:
I cooked yesterday so that I could goof off today. Split pea soup with the remains of the Christmas ham. Just dried split peas, chicken broth, water, ham bone, and a pinch of Rosemary. The meat goes in after the soup has simmered for a while. Best after it’s set up for twenty-four hours.
Tattoosydney
@Pom:
I also like the sound of this one…
3 or 4 cuys
50 grams of ground toasted corn, or cornmeal
2 kilos of parboiled potatoes, cut in slices
8 cloves of garlic
6 fresh hot peppers, either red or yellow
½ cup oil
½ cup water
salt, pepper and cumin to taste
Rub the cuys with a mix of the pepper, salt, pepper and cumin and bake. You can also skewer over a barbeque.
Prepare a sauce with the oil, peppers, garlic and cornmeal with the water from the potatoes or broth. Cook a few minutes until the peppers are cooked. When tender, place the meat in a serving dish and spoon the sauce over it. Serve with the boiled potatoes.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney:
OMIDOG! Is today the day after Christmas? I need to get off the Ketel One for a while, if so.
Are you guys a week behind us down there? Do you give presents at NYs too? I’m so confused.
I’ll pretend that we might both be talking about New Year’s, just to keep the convo moving.
Love the family story. Good boy, Pedro! Leah’s very impressed.
My NY’s Eve was really good, actually. Except for the part about having to protect my feeble, aged, defenseless, elder cats from The Wrath of The Tunchster. But even that was fun. I love this freakin’ holiday!
AhabTRuler
@Pom: I think that is the only thing that they are good for. They are simply "Mobile, Self-Governing Temporary Energy Storage Devices"
for condors and the like.
Krista
Brrr….we’re still in the middle of this snowstorm, and it’s so windy that it’s making the house hard to heat. Thank goodness for the wood stove in our living room.
I was just watching the news, and it’s showing those crazy fuckers who do the Polar Bear Dip thing every Jan 1st. Anybody here participate in that insanity?
Reverend Dennis
@Tattoosydney:
Who will be the first to observe that they taste like chicken?
AhabTRuler
@Krista: I’ve been swimming in the ocean in Maine (in Summer), but that’s about the coldest I would ever go.
Tattoosydney
@Laura W:
New Years Eve has happened?
Um. Oh, right…. I’m still processing New Years apparently…
harlana pepper
SERLING!
Litlebritdifrnt
Foodie thread oh good! I am making a huge Lancashire Hot Pot this weekend, thanks to Food Lion selling off their semi-boneless legs of lamb at half price on Monday. (The one I got had an original price of $39.00 I paid $13.00). Gonna slice some up for chops and freeze them, dice some more for the hot pot and the freezer. Lancashire Hot Pot (ambrosia for us Lancastrians)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lancashire-Hot-Pot/Detail.aspx
bago
Ketel One Martini. Straight up, with a twist.
Reverend Dennis
@Krista:
Went surfing in the Pacific this morning: that’s as cold as I care to get.
Tattoosydney
@Laura W:
New Years was very nice – we spent a fortune for dinner here, then went to a friend’s house for midnight (If Sydney can do anything well, it’s fireworks)… then it’s a bit of a blank until we got home at 8am…
Punchy
I cant fucking believe I have to listen to Brent Fuckberger doing this Rose Bowl telecast. Way to kill an otherwise great broadcast, you ABC jackasses.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: EIGHT course meal with EIGHT wines. (Wiping spittle off keyboard.)
Makes my trout dip and boucheron on rice crackers (gluten free!) washed down with non-vintage sparkling brut rose from Napa sound like….dirty beets?
South of I-10
@Reverend Dennis: That sounds tasty. I haven’t tried that before, I may need to give it a shot. I got a roast too, but I am going to wait and cook that tomorrow. I love having meals frozen so I don’t have to cook after work.
We had some people over last night to watch the Peach Bowl (okay, the Chick-Fil-A Bowl). A friend brought a warm onion dip that was so delicious. It had cream cheese, mayo, parmesan and a finely chopped onion. I would think you could add any number of things to that to make some really tasty dips.
passerby
South of I-10 :
I am in full Monkey See/Monkey Do mode. After reading this I took out the beef bones and started the stock to make a big veg soup. I will add rutabaga and half a large beet (red hands now) with the other usual suspects but I think the magic ingredient is cabbage about 20 minutes before the end.
Freezerful indeedy.
Oh, and p.s., the supermarket meat sections occasionally have what they call "doggie bones", scrapy beef bones, that they sell for 49 cents a pound. I stock up on these to make soup–lots cheaper that ox tail or so-called "soup bones". Works like a charm.
Punchy
Are you a Celiacer?
Tattoosydney
@Tattoosydney:
And because we Aussies really love fireworks, this is a link to footage of all 12 minutes of our NYE 2009 display.
Tattoosydney
@Laura W:
Because it was New Year, it ended up being ten courses with ten wines… Mind you, I haven’t needed to eat since.
Adolphus
I was inspired by a recent thread on BJ to watch Heroes. I am about half-way through season one and I have a question for fans of the show.
When the scene is in Japan or just with Ando and Hiro everyone speaks Japanese. But when Mujinder (sp?) is in India talking to family and friends and even children and strangers in the poor section of Madras everyone speaks English.
Why is that?
Just curious.
Adolphus
dewberry
Am making bbq chicken and black eyed peas with a tasty spinach salad, followed by brownies and ice cream for dessert.
We had an amazing hike along a creek here in Austin (visiting family), everyone is tired and ready to have a LOTR marathon tonight.
South of I-10
@passerby: We have very different soups! Mine has black eyed peas, lima beans, green beans, corn, carrots and peas. It is really smelling pretty good now.
Reverend Dennis
@South of I-10:
The nice part is that there’s practically no way to do it wrong.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Adolphus: Adolphus, I don’t watch Heroes but I can answer that. In India, everyone speaks English. It’s the only way the entire country can communicate with each other because of all the various dialects. Unless my Indian overlords lied to me.
Krista
Yum-num! We did that for our wedding supper — the eight-course traditional tasting menu at Babbo. Needless to say, I was utterly smashed by the time the meal was over, as they were not skimpy with the wine servings. The food was absolutely phenomenal, though.
passerby
Monkey See/ Monkey Do continues unabatedly. I found a box of Jiffy Brownie Mix (not bad actually) in my pantry. I’ve got walnuts to add and I’m gonna pop down to the corner gas station for ice cream.
If my stock pot wasn’t already in use, I’d be makin split pea with ham!
Oy! I’m outta control.
On another topic, I just watched the Coen brothers’ "Burn After Reading" last night and must say I enjoyed it. Cast and plot were great, well maybe Brad Pitt’s comedy was a little over played but I laughed out loud at this dark comedy.
I haven’t seen the Big Lebowski yet but it’s in my Netflix cue now.
Laura W
@Punchy: You know, I don’t know. A friend suggested I might be ‘cuz of some annoying symptoms I’ve had the last year or so, and I meant to google it so I could self-diagnose and get all OCD about it, but I forgot. I do know that I feel better when I eat low carb, for sure, and I also know that I feel pretty crappy when I eat wheat.
Is that part of the qualification?
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: pppppppppfffffffffffffttttttttttttttttttttttttt
South of I-10
@passerby: It is really just mean of you and Dewberry to continue to talk about your brownies and ice cream. Maybe if I walk to the store it will balance out?
Laura W
@Krista:
Well now damnit Krista you’ve convinced me to get married! (No offspring. I draw the line at offspring.)
dewberry
@South of I-10:
Will it make you feel better if I mention that I’m not having any ice cream? I gave up dairy about 2 months ago and without getting all old-lady & her symptoms about it, I feel much much better. So much better that I am usually fine about the whole deprivation thing, although I must say I looked longingly at everyone else eating tasty queso dip last night.
South of I-10
@dewberry: Maybe a little. But your whole meal sounds really good. I think part of my problem is I am starving and all this talk of food is not helping! Maybe a glass of wine would help.
passerby
I’ll be doing some walking as penance, no question about that. I was extremely well behaved over Christmas, so the… unmentionable treat won’t put me too far BEHIND. : D
skippy
mmm, mrs. skippy is cooking some turkey soup w/the carcass from our christmas dinner, some celery and carrots and a handful of fresh herbs grown in our kitchen bay window.
boil up some noodles and mm, mm, that’s good eatin’!
happy new year to all.
Brick Oven Bill
Re: Food
I got a little concerned about the whole 22 August 2006 worries, which fortunately turned out to be a non-event. But anyway, I bought 30 cans of Chef Boyardee ravioli for it, just in case. There is an expiration date on these cans of August 2008. In case anybody has ever wondered about these expiration dates, they seem to be conservative as the ravioli still tastes great, even in 2009.
Laura W
@South of I-10:
Maybe?
Happy 2009 to all of the South of I-10ers!
gwangung
Well, the reason why it’s in Japanese is that Masi Oka (the guy who plays Hiro) is bilingual and can speak Japanese fluently. However, the guy who plays Ando (Jason Kyson Lee) is Korean American, I believe…
Punchy
@Brick Oven Bill: Absolutely true story: I had Kraft Mac n Cheese last year that had a "sell by" date of June 1996. Since there wasn’t any actual expiration date, I said fuck it and cooked it up. Tasted fine.
South of I-10
@Laura W: Thanks and same to you! I went ahead poured a glass.
There seems to be a lot of soup cooking going on, I guess it is just the time of year?
Laura W
Here you go, John. Doctors Without Borders in Gaza, too.
Helping two nightmares for the price of one easy contribution, made from the comfort of our own couches.
magisterludi
Carbonara with grilled shrimp and caesar salad for late night Christmas Eve. Cholesterol heaven! Cranberry pear tart to finish.
In the morning, blueberry creme brulee french toast and link sausages.
Dinner: prime rib, bacon and onion scalloped potatoes, green beans in shallot-lemon butter, tomato parmesan puffs and yorkshire puddings. Dessert was double chocolate ganache cake with cinnamon-chili whipped cream AND grand marnier sponge custard with orange candy glass and cream.
Today, ham, cabbage and white bean soup and homeade refrigerator yeast rolls (so so so easy) and walnut toffee crisps.
I must have used ten pounds of butter and a gallon of heavy cream, not to mention about 4 dozen eggs. And there were only four of us.
When’s Lent start?
dewberry
@South of I-10:
I always like to cook soup on Sundays and this sort of lazy holiday day. Or really, anytime there’s a cold snap. Which in Houston is when the thermometer hits 40 degrees.
I really, really like soups and stews and things that take forever to cook and can just gently simmer as you go about your day.
For similar reasons, I love my crock pot.
ScreaminginAtlanta
John, you were quoted by James Wolcott in Vanity Fair in reference to Nate Silver:
“This uncanny accuracy is the equivalent of dropping a penny from the top of a 50 story building and landing it in a shot glass,” John Cole wrote at Balloon Juice. “This is sick accurate.”
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/02/wolcott200902?printable=true¤tPage=all
Sorry I don’t know how to insert the link or do the block quotes, I rarely post but always read this blog. Also my apologies if someone has already noted this. Cheers.
burnspbesq
In Gainesville and Norman, Urban Meyer and Bob Stoops are each thanking their lucky stars that they don’t have to play USC for the championship.
Fight on!
EddieInCA
There is no college football team in America that can beat USC after January 1. That goes for the last three years, and most certainly this year. They’re dismantling a very, very good Penn State team. Demolishing them, and taking their manhood.
After what the Pac 10 has done this bowl season, there is no way USC shouldn’t be playing for the title.
The BCS is a joke.
burnspbesq
@Brick Oven Bill:
Do people actually eat Chef Boyardee or Kraft mac & cheese after college?
Just Some Fuckhead
@ScreaminginAtlanta: John is kind of a big deal.
burnspbesq
@EddieInCA:
That one horrible half in Corvallis … fuck.
Laura W
I see you found the direct link that I didn’t.
Never mind the Field then…
ScreaminginAtlanta
@Laura W:
Yes that’s where I saw it first, then wanted to read the whole Wolcott piece. Nice.
burnspbesq
@EddieInCA:
In the fourth quarter, USC’s backups will be dancing with the Penn State starters’ girlfriends.
Jay C
@Punchy:
Wow – Kraft Mac-n-Cheese still good after 12-1/2 years? Maybe you should send this story in to Kraft: they might send you some more of their more recent products – from 1998 or so….
@ Brick Oven Bill:
Umm, for the denser among us: what was the problem (or not) on 8/22/06?
passerby
Magisterludi, wonder if you can direct me to a reliable recipe? I enjoy baking but a few failures with bread have put me off using yeast. But your triple "so" easy makes me think it’s worth another shot.
Incertus
My brother-in-law bought himself an awesome Christmas present–a Broward county voting machine from Florida 2000. How do you top that?
Brick Oven Bill
Jay C;
22AUG06 was the date in some Shiite book that Ahmedinejad was quoting from where there was supposed to be a bright flash over Baghdad, and then the Mahdi was to arrive, and we would all be happy. I judged that he was serious and might have had the capacity to pull something off. So I bought some canned food and stuck it in the cellar.
My 2006 purchase of Chef Boyardee was before the construction of the brick oven. This is a recommended backyard project. There were around $500 in materials used, this is in comparison to probably $10k if you were to hire a guy to build one for you. Be sure to use refractory bricks and refractor mortar in the zone of the bricks.
Our ancestors worked out that the optimum door opening height to main chamber height is 0.62. This traps heat in the main chamber, and allows enough air to enter to keep the fire burning well. You will find that the oven becomes a wind machine with air getting sucked in one part of the opening, being consumed by the fire, with the exhaust gases shooting up the chimney and out the door, if your chimney is undersized, as mine is.
The oven can achieve temperatures well in excess of 600F, that temperature required to induce pyrolysis in oil shale, so not only does it reduce the price of food storage requirements, you can use it for energy and organic chemistry research. The way I see it, approximately 5 billion people exist today only because of the internal combustion engine. That is like one hundred WWIIs, which is a lot of people.
Cassidy the Racist White Man
@EddieInCA: The Pac 10 is a joke and the weakest conference in football. When USC plays in a real conference and has a schedule worth mentioning, then they can play for the title.
gwangung
Which is why they’re going undefeated in bowl games…
Adolphus
@Just Some Fuckhead
I thought that might be it, but, according to several sources I found online Tamil is the overwhelming language in Chennai, the town where parts of the show take place. English is sometimes used in business or education, and Hindi is known by educated people, but some Tamil consider it insulting to address them in Hindi. So that would explain why English is spoken at the University of Chennai, but not why English is spoken in the slums. It should be Tamil. My guess is gwangung is closer to the truth. It is more about who the actors are and what they can speak. I guess Asian looking actors who can speak Japanese are more plentiful and cheaper in LA than Indian looking actors who speak Tamil.
Or maybe they couldn’t find anyone to write convincing Tamil dialogue.
Some friends of mine who are huge fans of not just Heroes but also Lost are convinced that everything in both shows has deep meaning and air tight continuity. I am still not convinced and think most details like this are at the whim of the reality of production on a budget.
TheHatOnMyCat
Oooh, been there and done that. Nothing like having to ask your companions next day to tell you how much fun you had the night before.
Montysano
@ Laura W: If you’re a Joni fan, go to Youtube and search "Joni BBC". There are about 6 songs from a live BBC concert, probably ca. 1970, mostly from her 2nd and 3rd albums. At her peak, her talent was just astounding.
Nicole
Why, oh why will my champagne headache not go away?
My New Year’s resolution is to watch Against All Odds. I made this resolution at 2:30 AM when the Phil Collins video for the song came on VH1 Classic and my friend and I both said while we’d seen the video a hundred times back in the ’80s, we never saw the movie.
I am sure I will regret this resolution only slightly less than I am currently regretting drinking three glasses of champagne.
Laura W
@Montysano: Wow. I even stopped eating dinner for this.
The beauty is that I’ve already linked to that precise version of "California" (I think maybe one night when TZ (or HatCat, etc.) and I were comparing notes on being born at St. John’s Hospital, Santa Monica, CA). And I posted another version of "Cactus Tree" in another thread, but now I’m gonna go watch this version you reference. Also a song high up in my Top Ten!
Like I said to Tatoosydney on the (other) Christmas thread…it pains me to hear her sing now since she’s ruined her perfect instrument with the decades of smoking.
Montysano
From the Wolcott end-of-the-year article:
"Customary one-two of jabbing fingers and gritted dentures" LOL
Cassidy the Racist White Man
@gwangung: Um…only 2 of those games are worth mentioning. OK State was pretty good this year, as is Penn State. Seriously…Brigham Young…Miami…you’re gonna brag about that?
Montysano
@Laura W:
But it was perfect for a good while there. Besides, if the smoking thing had been different, other things might have been different as well.
I just checked the folder where I saved them: there are actually 8 or 9 videos from that show, but not all show up on Youtube at all times.
South of I-10
@Dewberry: I understand. I’m only 3 1/2 hours east of you. Gumbo weather!
The Moar You Know
While Auschwitz Crematory Bill sits in his mother’s basement, flirting with botulism, crying about Obama’s birth certificate and shivering in anticipation and dread of the eventual attack of the Caliphate, I am eating some sweet pork chops, black-eyed peas, and broccoli.
Now, I’m a Southerner by birth, not by choice, and this is a little bit different than the way it was done by my parents as a kid. As a child, I would have had greens, cooked with a lump o’ pork fat, black-eyed peas, also cooked with pork fat, and pork chops coated liberally in salt. Since I am a Californian by the grace of God, I skipped the greens for broccoli, did the peas in chicken broth, and topped the pig with a glaze of minced peaches, honey, a hint of cheyenne pepper and a sprikle of ground pepper and basil. Simply wonderful.
The Moar You Know
@Nicole: What has been seen cannot be unseen. You’re going to regret watching that shitty film for the rest of your life.
reality-based
Among other Xmas extravagances at my sisters (truly GREAT Prime rib, garlic mashed spuds, maple-pecan pie, etc. ) –
I made my best strata ever for Christmas brunch
Butter 9×13 cake pan
Cube up around 8 cups stale bread.
Put half of bread cubes in bottom of pan, pat down to an even layer.
Sprinkle evenly on the bottom layer of bread cubes:
Two pkgs of defrosted frozen artichoke hearts
3 or 4 chopped shallots, sauteed (or green onions)
about a cup (or more) of small cubes of cooked ham
*about a 9 oz chunk of Jarlsberg cheese, grated: (reserve about 1/2 cup or more to put on top of the final layer)
Now put the rest of the bread cubes on top, and smooth out to an even layer.
Drizzle 1/4 to 1/2 cup melted butter over the whole concoction.
In a large bowl, Beat 8 eggs well, then beat in four cups of whole milk. (Don’t use nonfat or lowfat).
Beat in a couple of squirts of Dijon mustard, (probably about 1 1/2 tbsp, salt, and pepper
Now pour egg/milk/mustard concoction slowly and evenly over the bread layers in the pan. Sprinkle the reserved Jarlsberg on top.
EITHER: cover with plastic wrap, let sit in the fridge over night. Take out of fridge around 1 1/2 hours before you want to eat.
OR: let sit out on the counter for about 45 minutes, squishing the bread into the egg mixture with a spatula if you think about it.
Anyway, preheat the oven to 350. Butter the underside of a piece of Aluminum foil, and cover the pan loosely with the foil.
Bake for 30 minutes or so, then remove the buttered foil, and bake for another thirty minutes or so – till it’s puffed up, and a knife stuck in the middle comes out clean. (if you bake it right out of the fridge, it will take longer)
If you can’t find Jarlsberg cheese, Gruyere or Swiss would work – but I think it was the Jarlsberg that made it so nummy.
Delicious brunch fare – especially when served with my sister’s famous Winter Salad of Radicchio, Endive, Arugula, Pecans, Pears, and shaved Parmesan.
and Mimosas.
Happy new year to all –
(and yes, I know that Strata figured heavily in that sappy Christmas movie with Sarah Jessica Parker and Diane Keaton – "The Family something-or-other." – but I’ve been making it for Christmas brunch for years, I’m DAMNED if I’ll let the coincidence make me stop. "
John Cole
@Montysano: This was better:
And I can see myself quoting the Hewitt paragraph repeatedly.
reality-based
Among other Xmas extravagances at my sisters (truly GREAT Prime rib, garlic mashed spuds, maple-pecan pie, etc. ) –
I made my best strata ever for Christmas brunch
Butter 9×13 cake pan
Cube up around 8 cups stale bread.
Put half of bread cubes in bottom of pan, pat down to an even layer.
Sprinkle evenly on the bottom layer of bread cubes:
Two pkgs of defrosted frozen artichoke hearts
3 or 4 chopped shallots, sauteed (or green onions)
about a cup (or more) of small cubes of cooked ham
about a 9 oz chunk of Jarlsberg cheese, grated: (reserve about 1/2 cup or more to put on top of the final layer)
Now put the rest of the bread cubes on top, and smooth out to an even layer.
Drizzle 1/4 to 1/2 cup melted butter over the whole concoction.
In a large bowl, Beat 8 eggs well, then beat in four cups of whole milk. (Don’t use nonfat or lowfat).
Beat in a couple of squirts of Dijon mustard, (probably about 1 1/2 tbsp, salt, and pepper
Now pour egg/milk/mustard concoction slowly and evenly over the bread layers in the pan. Sprinkle the reserved Jarlsberg on top.
EITHER: cover with plastic wrap, let sit in the fridge over night. Take out of fridge around 1 1/2 hours before you want to eat.
OR: let sit out on the counter for about 45 minutes, squishing the bread into the egg mixture with a spatula if you think about it.
Anyway, preheat the oven to 350. Butter the underside of a piece of Aluminum foil, and cover the pan loosely with the foil.
Bake for 30 minutes or so, then remove the buttered foil, and bake for another thirty minutes or so – till it’s puffed up, and a knife stuck in the middle comes out clean. (if you bake it right out of the fridge, it will take longer)
If you can’t find Jarlsberg cheese, Gruyere or Swiss would work – but I think it was the Jarlsberg that made it so nummy.
Really Nummy brunch fare – especially when served with my sister’s famous Winter Salad of Radicchio, Endive, Arugula, Pecans, Pears, and shave Parmesan.
and Mimosas.
Happy new year to all –
(and yes, I know that Strata figured heavily in that sappy Christmas movie with Sarah Jessica Parker and Diane Keaton – "The Family something-or-other." – but I’ve been making it for Christmas brunch for years, I’m DAMNED if I’ll let the coincidence make me stop. "
Iowa housewife
My husband got into Joni Mitchell in college because all of the chicks, I mean young women, were into it and it helped him get laid, I mean, dates!
Montysano
@The Moar You Know:
At our favorite soul food joint here in Red State, a vegetable plate is just as artery-clogging as a slab of ribs. Vegetables make a wonderful Butter Transport Device.
gwangung
@Cassidy the Racist White Man: Well, that just belies the statement that the Pac-10 is the weakest football conference; can’t be the weakest if the conference goes undefeated…
Now, if’n you’re arguing that Florida or Texas or Oklahoma could mow down USC, I couldn’t argue too strenuously about that…(I might not agree, but I can see it happening….).
The Moar You Know
@Montysano: Don’t get me wrong; I love traditional Southern food. The preferred desert would have been pecan pie. But I’m twenty-five pounds overweight, and far worse, my family has a nasty history of heart disease.
California cuisine does have a way of keeping the weight off if you keep your quantities down.
Fuck, I miss pecan pie, though.
Laura W
@Montysano:
Well, sure, that can be said existentially about any life, I suppose.
My point was more along the lines of thinking of her contemporaries: Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Carole King, Carly Simon. Listening to them today is not too different than listening to them back then. Joni is very different. Sad different, for me. Seeing Carole King on Colbert last year doing whatever #1 hit she performed…hardly a thing about her had changed, but a few more lines in the face, I guess.
Anyway…
Long live Joni. At the very least, she is still with us, creating!
Mira, Amelia!
reality-based
sorry, no idea how the (lengthy!) double-post happened – or how to fix it.
Ok, I’m gonna SLOWLY – put down the wine glass – – and back away from the keyboard.
oops, again.
Laura W
@reality-based: You’re among friends. Happens all the time, especially over the holidays (debates, primaries, generals, inaugurations!)
Tattoosydney
@Laura W:
While we are talking about voices, I wonder if you have heard of Mariza?
This footage is from a concert near the Tower of Belem in Lisbon. I think she was as surprised at her crying as anyone else, but it secured her place as Portugal’s foremost singer (and the Portuguese take their fado seriously). Wait to the end, when she really unleashes the voice.
This is my other favourite song of hers.
Delia
Well, I just have to sigh when all of you describe your favorite holiday wines. All alcoholic beverages give me fearsome headaches these days, so I just stick with the kiddy beverages. OTOH, I can handle the wheat and the dairy, so yesterday I bought a frittata from the organic market and a little loaf of fresh sourdough for my dinner. It was very good, almost like a custard. Then I bought some fresh shortbread holiday cookies from the best bakery in town. Those were for my movie-watching adventures later on. I’ll worry about my cholesterol again tomorrow.
And for anyone who still wants quick mac ‘n cheese but can’t stand that electric orange stuff from Kraft: Look for Annie’s. It’s an organic brand that actually tastes like something. Of course I add actual cheddar cheese whenever I make it, so that makes a difference.
South of I-10
@LauraW: Joan Baez made a surprise appearance at an event here called the Medicine Show held at Grant Street Dancehall about a week ago. She played a 5 song set. This is something we usually go to, always around Christmas. Of course we didn’t go this year, so Joan Baez showed up. Word on the street is she is here recording at Dockside Studio.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: She is gorgeous, and so ethereal and elegant, in an Annie Lennox kind of way. Only prettier. And her voice is exquisite.
But do you know what she is saying, TS? I am all about the lyrics when it comes to songs, and I speak only one language (barely). So I’m really handicapped when it comes to a full appreciation of such talents. Does she ever sing in English, cuz I’d love to hear that!!
Brick Oven Bill
If I had a Facebook account, I would ask ‘The Moar You Know’ to be my friend.
On the December 29th open thread, we discussed the 2.1 trillion barrels of oil shale Kerogen that exists in North America, comparing it to ‘virgin fuel’. There were questions and comments made following the introduction, which I failed to address, but which are nonetheless important. I would like to take this opportunity to address these questions and comments, in order to improve the general human condition:
My existing friend ninerdave asked: “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Response: 300 years of domestic liquid fuel at current rates of domestic consumption, extractable at probably $25/bbl. This can sustain somewhere near the existing volumes of human biomass on earth for a while longer. Sometimes I wonder if we deserve it.
‘Tenguphul’ commented that oil shale yields only heavy crude. This is false. The ‘virgin’ nature of Kerogen allows it to be processed into any form of fuel, from aviation gas to home heating oil. Theoretically without downstream refinement. Kerogen, in my opinion, is far superior to the fuel reserves in the Middle East. It is a better resource.
‘Another Bruce’ noted that I wanted to “blow the Rocky Mountains to shit”. This too is false. The entire operation can be carried out underground with no visible disturbance to the surface. There would be far less impact on the environment than with these windmills, which never go away.
‘4thehulz’ noted that I wanted to “Rape the Rockies in the ass.” More falsehoods. I have no desire to rape the Rockies in the ass. Call me a traditionalist.
Montysano
@Laura W:
I found "Shine" to be tough to take, less because of her voice and more because of her tone. It was almost accusatory. She has obviously given up on us, and rightfully so. We’re not going back to The Garden, at least not for a while. It’s a tremendously dark album, right up there with Dylan’s "Time Out Of Mind".
Here’s one more: Night Ride Home
Tattoosydney
@Laura W:
First song:
Ó genta da minha terra (Oh people of my land)
É meu e vosso este fado (This Fado is both yours and mine)
destino que nos amarra (The destiny that unites us)
por mais que seja negado (No matter how much it is denied)
às cordas de uma guitarra (By the strings of a guitar)
Sempre que se ouve um gemido (Whenever one hears a lament)
duma guitarra a cantar (Of a guitar’s song)
fica-se logo perdido (One is instantly lost)
com vontade de chorar (With a longing to weep)
Ó genta da minha terra (Oh people of my land)
agora é que eu percebi (It is now that I have perceived)
esta tristeza que trago (This sadness which I carry)
foi de vós que a recebi (it was from you that I received it)
E pareceria ternura (It would seem a kindness)
se eu me deixasse embalar (If I left myself be soothed)
era maior a amargura (The greater the anguish)
menos triste o meu cantar (The less sorrowful my song)
Ó genta da minha terra (Oh people of my land)
Ó genta da minha terra (Oh people of my land)
agora é que eu percebi (It is now that I have perceived)
esta tristeza que trago (This sadness which I carry)
foi de vós que a recebi (it was from you that I received it).
————–
Primavera (Spring)
Todo o amor que nos prendera (All the love that had tied us)
como se fora de cera (as if it was made of wax)
Se quebrava e desfazia (was breaking and crumbling down).
Ai funesta Primavera (Ai, tragic Spring)
quem me dera, quem nos dera (how I wish, how I wish that we)
ter morrido nesse dia (had died on that day).
E condenaram-me a tanto (And I was condemned to so much)
viver comigo meu pranto (to live with my crying)
viver, viver e sem ti (to live, to live, and without you).
Vivendo sem, no entanto, eu me esquecer desse encanto,
(Living, however without forgetting the enchantment)
que nesse dia perdi (that I lost that day).
Pão duro da solidão (hard bread of loneliness)
é somente o que nos dão (that’s all that we are given)
o que nos dão a comer (that’s all we are given to eat).
Que importa que o coração (What does the heart matter)
diga que sim ou que não (whatever it says, yes or no)
se continua a viver (if it keeps on living).
Todo o amor que nos prendera (All love that had tied us)
se quebrara e desfizera (was breaking and crumbling down)
em pavor se convertia (was turning into dread).
Ninguém fale em Primavera (No one should talk to about Spring)
quem me dera, quem nos dera (how I wish, how I wish that we)
ter morrido nesse dia (had died on that day).
————–
Fado is mostly about suadade (hard to translate, but mostly regret/yearning/longing), but there are some happy songs – just not many).
pinksmear
i rode the train to family in ct yesterday and some asshole hedgie was sitting in front of me talking about some $133 mm deal he’s making (are they still making those? where DO they get the money? oh, right? from our treasury. silly me.) i asked him civilly to tone it down a little and he didn’t. so i stuck my head over the seat and told ’em "you’re just lucky we don’t have your head on a spike. now, would you tone it down already?" man, did that feel good. got a few winks from the folks sitting nearby too. happy new years!!!!!
as for culinary delights, my sis-in-law made brie-bittersweet chocolate-and-fresh basil crostinis, mushroom-sherry ragout on polenta, and gorgonzola-and-honey on wheat crackers. all that with some delish sauv blanc. oh yeah – and key lime pie. my blood feels like petroleum today, but it sho was worth it!
p.s. one fellow bj post-er knows exactly who this is. pleeeez don’t out me.
Montysano
@South of I-10:
We have about 1/2 dozen I’m-a-moron-why-didn’t-I-go moments from our years in New Orleans in the ’80’s.
Laura W
@Montysano: I LoVE "Night Ride Home"! On my iPod. Get to walk to it a few times/ week. I love every song, as a matter of fact, and have linked "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" more than twice on B-J in the last two months.
Once in a while
In a big blue moon
There comes a night like this
Like some surrealist
Invented this 4th of July
Night ride home
Hula girls
And caterpillar tractors in the sand
The ukulele man
The fireworks
This 4th of July
Night ride home
I love the man beside me
We love the open road
No phones till Friday
Far from the overkill
Far from the overload
D-Chance.
There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.
From the Military Times:Wary About Obama
When asked how they feel about President-elect Barack Obama as commander in chief, six out of 10 active-duty service members say they are uncertain or pessimistic, according to a Military Times survey.
OK, let’s look at that poll:
How do you feel about President-elect Obama as commander in chief?
Optimistic – 33%
Pessimistic – 25%
Uncertain – 35%
No opinion – 8%
One could just as easily look at those numbers and write an article headlined "Confident About Obama"
"When asked how they feel about President-elect Barack Obama as commander in chief, six out of 10 active-duty service members say they are uncertain or optimistic, according to a Military Times survey."
or…
"Only one in four active-duty service members voice pessimism about President-elect Obama as commander in chief."
or…
"Active-duty service members poll more positive than negative on President-elect Obama as commander in chief."
or… well, read the whole article. After several scathing paragraphs, the column then spends the rest of its space backtracking and admitting that; a) it’s an unscientific poll, b) it skews over 50% conservative, c) minorities and women are underrepresented, d) Democrats account for only 13% of the respondents, e) etc, etc, etc…
But, Drudge will tout it. So will all the Usual Suspect in Conservative Blaghistan, knowing that their readers will only skim the first couple of paragraphs where the "military hates Obama" message is conveyed, and skip the rest of the article where the fuller picture is exposed.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: Wow! Did you do that off the top of your head? Thanks so much for taking all that time!
I am going back tomorrow (when I’m more fresh and alert) and listening again with your translations in another window. I love her voice and her presence. I just get nuts if I don’t know what people are saying/singing.
Tattoosydney
@Laura W:
She doesn’t sing in English very often, although there is a truncated version of "Summertime" on youtube (which I don’t really like)…
The best I can offer is songs with subtitles…
Tattoosydney
@Laura W:
I cheated and copied most of it from various web sites, although I fixed some of the less accurate translations… My Portuguese is developing, but to translate those myself would have taken about five times as long… it’s a hard language, and it makes my brain hurt.
Laura W
@South of I-10: Well, since we seem to be in hog link heaven….this is for you. I’ve just watched about 10 versions of this song, and couldn’t decide which to post. There is one from 2007 at Camp Casey, Crawford, TX, which is quite funny and illustrative of my point about how you can hardly tell that decades have passed…but she breaks up the song a lot laughing and playing with the crowd, which is cute and fun, but it breaks up the song, damnit!
rachel
@Pom: They were originally domesticated to be a food source, not pets.
But are guinea pigs kosher?
Delia
@Montysano:
You know, everybody always says how dark Dylan’s "Time Out Of Mind" is, but it’s one of my favorite albums. If I’m feeling depressed I like to listen that. It makes me think, "he knows exactly how it feels." And it actually makes me feel better.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: This is freaky. I just posted Joan Baez singing below for South-of-I-10 and I think the subtitles are in Portuguese?
Enjoy!
Litlebritdifrnt
@D-Chance.:
The birthers, the pumas et-al are taking this as a SIGN a SIGN I tell you that the military are not going to take orders from a damn muslim, alien, usurper, illigitimate president and are going to RISE UP, RISE UP I TELL YOU, and take back the United States on Inauguration Day and put Hillary in the Whitehouse where she belongs, GOD DAMN YOU! Rise Hillary Rise!
Brought to you by sooutoftoucheventhevastrightwingconspiracywebsiteshavedisownedyou.com
Litlebritdifrnt
@Tattoosydney:
I decided (for some reason that I have yet to fathom) to attempt to learn Portugese once, and yes, it does make the brain hurt, I quickly gave up and stuck with French and Spanish, followed later by Cantonese, all of which my memory has since ditched in favor of retaining images from Lolcat and Get Fuzzy.
Laura W
@Delia: "Blood on the Tracks" is my favorite Dylan. Also on my iPod. "Tangled up in Blue" and "Shelter from the Storm" are great power walking songs.
Although I recall being really freaky about "Planet Waves" when it came out in high school.
Iowa housewife
Hey Laura W.
Diamonds and Rust has always been my favorite Joan Baez song. Thank-you
Tattoosydney
@Laura W:
Sim, as letras são em Portugués. É uma canção muito belo.
South of I-10
Blood on the Tracks is my favorite Dylan album. I saw him touring with Paul Simon a few years back, it took about 30 seconds of every Dylan song before I had any idea what he was singing. Paul Simon was great.
Tattoosydney
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I find reading it and writing it relatively easy – it’s when the Portuguese speak that my brain shuts down. They get rid of the first and last letters of almost every word, and squash it all up together, so it sounds almost eastern European or Arabic, so I tend to stand there dumbstruck, having no idea what was just said…
Laura W
@Litlebritdifrnt: I think LOLcat is the new Esperanto, anyway, don’t you?
Montysano
@Delia:
Oh, I love "Time Out Of Mind"; I like dark music. Lately, I’ve been binging on Nick Drake and Alice in Chains. Esp. Drake, who I didn’t notice the first time around.
I’m never quite sure if Dylan’s lyric have deep, almost prophetic meaning, or if he’s just screwing with us. "Ain’t Talkin’" from Modern Times sure does bring the goosebumps, though.
As I walked out in the mystic garden
On a hot summer day, a hot summer lawn
Excuse me, ma’am, I beg your pardon
There’s no one here, the gardener is gone
Ain’t talkin’, just walkin’
Up the road, around the bend.
Heart burnin’, still yearnin’
In the last outback at the world’s end.
Montysano
@South of I-10:
"Rhythm of the Saints" is without doubt one of my top five.
Nicole
@The Moar You Know: Ow! Ow! Laughing makes my headache worse!
Has anyone else seen those Starz 30-second re-enactments of movies done by animated bunnies? Most were moderately amusing, but the Casablanca one was hilarious.
Laura W
@Montysano: In the rare event that you’ve not seen this, or missed it the previous two times I’ve posted it, check out Joni’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem.circa 1998.
bago
@Brick Oven Bill: So you’ll just rape them in the face. It’s nice to see a pandemic bed-wetting chefboyardee eating traditionalist.
South of I-10
@Montysano: Love Rhythm of the Saints, but I think I prefer Graceland. My little girl knows the words to That was your Mother.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Tattoosydney:
That is pretty much like Lancastrian so you would think that I would find it relatively easy :) In other words a classic Lancastrian response would be "havvenyougorrenyonyou" (quick translation in response to a question "would you like a cigarrette Lancastrian responded "haven’t you got any on you") And yet I found it utterly incomprehensible, however having said that I was trying to learn it after taking four years of French at school and trying to self teach spanish (which, for some reason I always manged to speak spanish with a French accent), I think I was doomed to failure simply because I was trying to overload my brain. Cantonese however came much easier simply because trying to do ANYTHING in Hong Kong when living there for two + years is pretty much impossible without a basic knowledge of Cantonese. I think that I could have learned Portugese overnight had I lived in Lisbon (pretty city by the way).
bago
@Litlebritdifrnt: RISE! Above the standard and the norm. It’s time to be a part of the ultra-heavy beat!
That RISE! bit is a link, but apparently the blog software has a problem with its regex for doing parsing of multiple tags with quote marks.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Laura W:
I think so, I think everyone now refers to Humans as Hoomins, doggies as goggies and cats as, well god. I am posting this as the GOS is STILL living in the bedroom (and to be honest stinking the place up fit to drive me and the DH into living in the car) he has ventured as far as the edge of the bathroom door but has yet to venture into the living room, at which point of course DH and I can reclaim our bedroom. Until such time however, we will have to live with his highness stinking up the place and me sticking my head under the bed on a daily basis to clean up his mess. I am simply owned by a cat, I have to admit it.
Tattoosydney
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I think it’s one of the most pretty cities in the world – old, a little shabby, and the Portuguese are almost as friendly as Australians…
Our five year plan is to move there permanently, rather than just visiting every year.
demimondian
@rachel: No. Guinea pigs are not kosher.
(Cloven hoof? Nope. Chew cud? Nope. Eat grass? Um…nope. Kosher? Nope.)
demimondian
@Montysano: Oooh. I do miss the food.
Then I think about the people FDDD and I left behind, along with her accent, and I think that we’re better off here. Even if the food is an insipid as the weather.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Tattoosydney:
When I was there (sheesh trying to remember now had to be in the late 70s early 80s before I joined the RN) it was shortly after there had been some sort of uprising, and all of the magnificent monuments and buildings were covered in political graffiti, however I shall never forget walking down the "posh" shopping street and being totally befuddled at the utter decadence of the prices in the shops there, these people had just risen up against the evil "capitalists" and yet the jewelers had items in their windows at the equivalent of 10,000 pounds, it was, to be honest bizarre.
TheHatOnMyCat
I’m lazy and don’t feel like looking it up. Where did you get the cost of extraction? And, if it is so cheap, why aren’t we getting half our petroleum energy from this source now?
Montysano
@Brick Oven Bill:
What a load. Oil shale has about 1/10 the energy density of crude oil. It’s a joke. Teddy Roosevelt established the Oil Shale Reserve in 1912, but even during the oil embargo of the ’70s, oil companies couldn’t find a way to make it pay.
If someone finds a way to make oil shale pay without creating an environmental nightmare, fine by me. What I’m opposed to is any energy conversation that has as its basis We Must Keep Things Running The Way They Are Now. We are going to have to radically change the way we use energy, and by deluding ourselves we’re just delaying the inevitable.
Laura W
@Iowa housewife: I do not grok the UTubez. Sometimes links come up, sometimes they do not. Confusing series of damn tubes!
Anyway, glutton for punishment that I am, had to go back and look for more. Check this one out from Germany, 2008! It’s a crappy shot from the audience, so you get no close-ups, but the sound is really good, and her voice is perfect. And sadly enough, dating herself, Dylan, and the two of us:
40 years ago I brought you some cuff links.
Ugh.
We are so old, IowaHW.
Tattoosydney
@Litlebritdifrnt:
It would have been after their Carnation Revolution on 25 April 1974 – so called because the population came out in force with carnations in their hands and peacefully overthrew 40 years of military rule.
Although it’s now a successful democracy, the gap between the very very rich, the average punter who is pretty poor, and the very very poor is still very significant – beggars with no legs in front of boutiques selling Prada. We even saw people living in shipping containers on the outskirts of the city.
Still, despite the low incomes of most of the population, they are among the happiest people I have ever met – welcoming, charming, a little bit cynical and self effacing.
Oh, and there is still LOTS of graffiti.
bago
You want youtube awesomeness? Headbanging Cellists doing "In the Hall of the Mountain King". This is six-ways-from-sunday retarded awesome.
Cassidy the Racist White Man
@gwangung: Not really. Out of 5 bowl selections, only two are playing major teams. I would even go further and say that Oregon was an underdog to Oklahoma State ( I don’t know the spread, but just guessing). If the Pac 10 was a strong conference, they’d have more than 3 teams in the top 25.
Laura W
Iowa House Wife:
OK, forget it. Don’t watch that one. WATCH THIS ONE!
Damn you utubez!
Litlebritdifrnt
@Tattoosydney:
That would make sense, I was crusing with my parents from about 1974 through 1978 when I joined the RN. I think the first cruise we went on was about late 1974 or early 1975 when Portugal was the first or last stop on our way to the Azores, and the Canary Islands. (Tenerife, Lanzarote, Maderia), as well as Cadiz (which I hated). P & O Ship if I remember rightly.
Montysano
@bago:
As is this.
Laura W
nite!
Tattoosydney
@Montysano:
So much win!
Iowa housewife
@Laura W:
Best one ever!
Tattoosydney
Via the Guitar Orchestra’s version of "Smell like Teen Spirit", I end up at Tori Amos’s version, for Laura W.
Litlebritdifrnt
@bago:
I have to agree, I cannot wait to show this to my DH’s kids, you know the "oh he’s the fat kid that plays the tuba in band and the cello in jazz band" kids, the kids who try hard, who are brilliant at their craft but cause they don’t play a cool instrument like the trumpet or something are somehow "lesser" I am so going to love to show this to them. Thank you so very much for this. I love it. The cello is cool. (Which of course I have thought for an age ever since wotshisface brother of the composer did variations which I fell in love with)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMCb90JpvxY
Brick Oven Bill
The reason oil shale has lower energy density than oil is because it contains a thing called ‘shale’, in addition to the thing called ‘oil’. The yield varies, but the stuff we have can yield 27 gallons per cubic yard.
Time to lift the oil shale ban. But there are forces that like expensive oil. $30/bbl from Shell’s Colorado pilot project. There just might be other ways.
That Army Times poll is interesting if you look into the raw data. The polling people apparently asked the race of the troops and it is interesting to read the responses. I’m still trying to figure out what a ‘White-fuck answering Hispanic’ is.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: Oh sure! You just knew I couldn’t log off and go to bed without watching them do Bowie! Fabulous!
OK, off to Tori.
The Grand Panjandrum
My friend Alf has his 2008 Husband of the Year Awards posted.
Delia
@Montysano:
I’m a huge Dylan fan through most of his eras. You pretty much have to like dark, sardonic lyrics to be that way. One of my favorites is Blind Willie McTell which he unaccountably left off the very uneven "Infidels" album in the early 80s.
Dylan is another one who has lost his voice to way too many cigarettes over the years. Sigh . . .
Laura W
@The Grand Panjandrum: Wow. Sometimes I wonder why I am still here, dawdling, listening to Joan Baez do Diamonds & Rust for the 98th time tonight, and not in bed…and now I know.
Holy shit that was funny.
You know how sometimes when you laugh out loud, really loud, you startle yourself and realize you’ve not done so all day?
That is what just happened.
Thanks!
Montysano
@Brick Oven Bill:
I’ll eagerly await your links to peer-reviewed research to back this up. In the meantime, you really ought to wander over to The Oil Drum and regale them with your "oil shale is superior to Saudi reserves" BS. Be forewarned: they’re sticklers about facts over there. But do let us know how it works out.
iluvsummr
@Tattoosydney: Damn, she’s good. Thanks for sharing that — I actually just went and put one of her CDs on my "to buy" list at Amazon.
Don’t speak any Portuguese, but since I already have music by Cesaria Evora, Lura, and Cidade Negra, I guess one more album I don’t understand won’t kill me :).
Brick Oven Bill
Montesano;
Thank you for that 1/10th datapoint; I had not heard it. The math checks and we agree upon reflection after a glass of beer. There are 202 gallons in a cubic yard. I argued 27 theoretical gallons of oil per cubic yard, which is around 1/9th by volume. But since oil is probably less dense that spent rock, 1/10th fits. Oil floats, after all. And rock is heavy.
Montysano
Well, Johnny Walker Black has gotten the better of me. Hasta la manana, all.
demimondian
Oh, B.O.B.’s numbers are pretty good. He does use the most optimistic estimates of products from the Green River Basin, uses unconfirmed numbers from companies with processes to sell, and ignores the arsenic contamination of the resulting synthetic oil.
And he ignores the fact that coal liquifaction has a much higher yield per unit volume, and that we have more coal. And that oil shale mining has all the drawbacks of coal mining.
But other than that — which is to say, other than everything important — he’s right.
Litlebritdifrnt
And at that, I am going to bed, ya’ll (getting southern and drunk), it has been a wonderful thread and a delight to be a part of, but me old eyes are getting weary and I need someone to "show me the way to go home"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw0XSkpHvBE
Brick Oven Bill
Let’s just say that there are some things you do not want your peers to review. As Citizens, what we should be asking is:
Why are we banning ourselves from exploring our own resources?
robertdsc
One day in and 2009 is a fail for you.
bago
Best euphemism for masturbation this year!
magisterludi
Passerby
This is a good refrigerator yeast roll recipe.
Put the dough in a oiled plastic storage bag with room for expansion. Takes up less room in the fridge.
harlana pepper
I’ve only had one 10-course meal and it was very annoying since I was on a date and every time we started talking, we had to be interrupted by the server to describe exactly what the next dish was and how it was made, blah, blah. Also, they served foie gras which was disgusting. At the time I didn’t know how it was made, but I still found it to be pretty gross and couldn’t eat it.
That said, I seriously doubt I’ll ever meet another man with that much money to blow just on dinner, at least not on a dumb hick like me!
alhutch
@Cassidy the Racist White Man:
While Oregon may have been a 3 point dog to OKSU, we can all see how that worked out for them.
Media and fans from other regions always seem to underestimate the Pac-10 (I’d say yourself included). That goes a long way in determining rankings and perpetuates the myth. If the Pac-10 were so weak, they would be getting blown out in their bowl games. Didn’t happen.
Cassidy the Racist White Man
@alhutch: Bullshit. The media is supremely biased towards the SEC. They love them some Pac 10, though. Don’t get me wrong. I think that USC, Oregon, Oregon State, and (occassionally) the Arizonas are decent teams, but that’s it. The rest of the conference is fluff. USC would not be nearly as successful if they had to compete in the Big 12 or SEC.