As aired-
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
It was obvious that he was a man who marched through life to the rhythms of some drum I would never hear.
September 2012 archive
Sep 01 2012
Herman Cain: Singer
Sep 01 2012
Tampa- The Greatest City In America
Who knows? If there is in fact, a heaven and a hell, all we know for sure is that hell will be a viciously overcrowded version of Phoenix & a clean well lighted place full of sunshine and bromides and fast cars where almost everybody seems vaguely happy, except those who know in their hearts what is missing… And being driven slowly and quietly into the kind of terminal craziness that comes with finally understanding that the one thing you want is not there. Missing. Back-ordered. No tengo. Vaya con dios. Grow up! Small is better. Take what you can get…
Sep 01 2012
What’s Cooking: Clambake
Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette
Labor Day weekend is here, for some too soon, for others not soon enough. It has been a long very hot Summer. It is still time for celebration and breaking out Summer’s traditional recipes. Many of us have been to the traditional Clambake at the beach when we were kids. But since regulations at most public beaches prohibit open fires, the clambake has been relocated to backyard grills and the stove top. Actually, it’s easier and a lot less work and can be done indoors anytime you get an urge for the taste of Summer.
This recipe is an adaptation one one I found on line. You can modify the ingredients to suit your own taste and budget. The recipe serves four but can be easily doubled for more guests. I use andouille sausage for its spiciness. Kielbasi or pre-cooked Italian sausage are equally good. Lobsters can also be added. This season the market price is at a record low.
To remove the sand out of the clams, take the tightly sealed clams and soak them in water for about 20 minutes. A quick trick to make sure the clams are alive and safe to eat, if the clam is partially open, tap the shell, if it closes, the clam is alive. I go to a market where I can hand pick the clams. After cooking, discard any clams that have not opened.
Equipment:
- 8 in x 8 in Disposable aluminum pans
- Aluminum foil
- Tongs
- Heavy oven mitts and/ or thick towels
Ingredients:
- 1/2cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/3cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 4 medium red potatoes, halved and sliced into 1/8-inch half-moons
- 3/4 pound jumbo shrimp (11/15 count), peeled and deveined, tails left on, cold
- 2 pounds littleneck clams, rinsed and scrubbed
- 1 package (12 ounces) andouille sausage, thinly sliced
- 2 ears fresh corn, each shucked and cut into 4 pieces
Preparation:
1. In a small bowl combine the butter, lemon juice, seasoning, garlic, and thyme.
2. Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium heat (350° to 450°F).
3. Cut eight sheets of aluminum foil, each about 12 by 20 inches. Line an 8×8-inch cake pan with two sheets of aluminum foil, arranged in a crisscross pattern. Layer the bottom of the foil-lined pan with the sliced potatoes (this will help insulate the shellfish and keep them from overcooking). Top the potatoes evenly with the shrimp, clams, sausage, and corn pieces. Drizzle each packet evenly with the butter mixture. Close the packet by bringing the ends of the two inner sheets together, folding them on top of the filling and then bringing the ends of the two outer sheets together, folding them down. Repeat this procedure with the remaining packets.
4. Grill the packets over direct medium heat, with the lid closed, until the clams have opened, the shrimp have turned opaque, and the potatoes are cooked, 20 to 25 minutes. To check for doneness, using tongs, gently unfold one of the packets and carefully remove a potato, being careful not to puncture the bottom of the foil. Using a knife, gently pierce the potato to ensure doneness. When everything is cooked, remove the packets from the grill. Carefully open each packet to let the steam escape and then pour the contents into warm bowls. Serve immediately.
For larger crowds, I use the big disposable aluminum pans used for buffets and cook the potatoes, corn and sausage separately from the clams and shrimp.
Enjoy
Sep 01 2012
The American Taliban
Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette
HBO’s series The Newsroom debuted ten weeks ago. Written by Alan Sorkin it is a fictional behind the scenes look at a cable news network, Atlantis Cable News (ACN), its star, Will McAvoy, the Republican anchor for its premier news program, News Night and his staff. Each episode has focused around a major event in the recent past, such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the killing of Osama Bin Laden. In the last episode of the season, the News Room took on the issue of voter ID laws and the non-issue of voter fraud.
Sometimes it takes a fictional character to poke the hive.
The American Taliban cannot survive if Dorothy Cooper is allowed to vote
Ouch
Sep 01 2012
Cartnoon
Charlie Chaplin– The Goldrush (1925) (1:11)
This is the film for which Chaplin said he wished to be remembered. It was the 5th highest grossing silent film ever and in 1958 was named 2nd only to The Battleship Potempkin at the Brussels World’s Fair. This and the other Little Fellow films are why Chaplin was allowed to be as political as he was (which made him more popular too), but also to continue producing silent films long after most stars had stopped.
Even the Great Garbo gave in to sound though by that time in her career she was pretty much done with Hollywood and did her talkies mostly to prove she could.
Sep 01 2012
Post News
This weekend I’m going to be featuring some of the analysis and interviews from The Daily Show and The Colbert Report related to the Republican National Convention.
You may think it’s odd that an old greezer like me (and at 120, I’m much older than Clint Eastwood) gets his news online from a basic cable comedy show. Well let me tell you Emily and Richard are so old that they got their news from the Post Office Gazette.
In colonial times overland communications was just beginning to get established and even before Ben Franklin an enterprising man named John Campbell had set up a delivery service from Boston to New York. Local Postmasters, who were frequently Innkeepers too, would scan the letters before passing them on and print up the juicy bits which they would sell as newspapers.
The sudden popularity of sealing wax led to more formal arrangements for obtaining content, but the tradition was well established. Indeed one of the onerous (and intended) effects of the Stamp Act was to penalize the publication of information and restrict communication as well as raise revenue. Fortunately the alternative press had not been forgotten and soon ‘British’ Postmasters were under a serious commercial threat.
Oh and sometimes the boys at the bar would get all liquored up on Sam Adams and bust the place up a bit just for fun. Our founders were Revolutionaries, dont forget that.
So yeah, I consider it as newsy as anything else on basic cable.
The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason.
Journalism is not a profession or a trade. It is a cheap catch-all for fuckoffs and misfits — a false doorway to the backside of life, a filthy piss-ridden little hole nailed off by the building inspector, but just deep enough for a wino to curl up from the sidewalk and masturbate like a chimp in a zoo-cage.
There are 3 basic divisions in content- Interviews, Commentary, and Correspondant Reports. I’m going to try and highlight some of the web-exclusive material, but I’ll not attempt to be comprehensive. Visit their sites for complete episodes.
Ayn Rand in 10 pretty painless minutes
I have always believed that a man can fairly be judged by the standards and taste of his choices in matters of high-level plagiarism.- Stockton
Sep 01 2012
On This Day In History September 1
Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette
This is your morning Open Thread. Pour a cup of your favorite morning beverage and review the past and comment on the future.
Find the past “On This Day in History” here.
On this day in 1897, the Boston subways opens, becoming the first underground rapid transit system in North America. It was the inspiration for this song by the Kingston Trio.
Sep 01 2012
A father joins his child
Here’s a great story. Before I delve into it, I’d like to point out that there is some controversy over it. At base it is about a boy who likes to wear skirts and the actions of the boy’s father. Now, the story is in German at the feminist magazine EMMA. oneandonlygabriel has provided a rough translation. Then Gawker picked it up. And Aravosis added his two cents about whether or not the child is transgender.
In my view, it doesn’t matter whether or not the child is transgender. Because the child was born with a boy’s body and likes to wear dresses, the child is gender-variant. And the father in question still gets my applause.