(sigh)
I just had to take a minute to write this. I spent today in West Virginia with Bill and have decided that SOME (not ALL) of the jokes about our neighbor state may just be for real.
While driving through the tiny town of Inwood, we passed the "Gentleman's Club" (a misnomer, perhaps?) that advertised the best daytime nude dancers. (I'm interested in whether they have dancers in the evening as well.) From there you can patronize "Slightly Sinful, An Adult Erotica Shop." But hold on. It's not ALL bad. Just a block away is the United Methodist Church which on ITS sign says "Tickets to heaven here." So in just a couple of blocks you can ogle, purchase and be saved.
And you know you're in West Virginia when apologies like "I'm sorry, Sheila" are spray painted on concrete bridge abutments. Trust me. There appears to be much going on in Inwood.
Poor, poor Sheila.
(sigh)
Friday, July 27, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
PAULA DEEN AND HER "INTERNATIONAL" RECIPE
(sigh)
I love Paula Deen, she of the Food Network's popular show and owner/chef/manager of the famous Savannah restaurant, "The Lady and Sons." But Paula should stick to what she knows best, which is traditional recipes for southern comfort foods.
I was watching an old show of hers recently where she was making several "international" dishes. I had to laugh. The Cuban sandwiches she put together were hysterical -- French bread, Dijon (French) mustard, prosciutto (Italian ham), Swiss cheese. An authentic Cuban sandwich uses mostly organic artisan breads, three different meats, one of which is roast pork which has been marinated in a wide array of tropical citruses. They also include a rosemary sun-dried ham, which is a staple of these sandwiches. Usually the cheese is a goat cheese, not the Swiss or Provolone that Americans slap on a CUBAN sandwich.
There are many recipes for these sandwiches, and as usual we have abominated them with ingredients the Cuban people would never put on theirs. I've even seen them referred to in this country as Cuban paninis, which is, OMG, Italian!
(sigh)
I love Paula Deen, she of the Food Network's popular show and owner/chef/manager of the famous Savannah restaurant, "The Lady and Sons." But Paula should stick to what she knows best, which is traditional recipes for southern comfort foods.
I was watching an old show of hers recently where she was making several "international" dishes. I had to laugh. The Cuban sandwiches she put together were hysterical -- French bread, Dijon (French) mustard, prosciutto (Italian ham), Swiss cheese. An authentic Cuban sandwich uses mostly organic artisan breads, three different meats, one of which is roast pork which has been marinated in a wide array of tropical citruses. They also include a rosemary sun-dried ham, which is a staple of these sandwiches. Usually the cheese is a goat cheese, not the Swiss or Provolone that Americans slap on a CUBAN sandwich.
There are many recipes for these sandwiches, and as usual we have abominated them with ingredients the Cuban people would never put on theirs. I've even seen them referred to in this country as Cuban paninis, which is, OMG, Italian!
(sigh)
Friday, July 20, 2007
CONTROL, REMOTELY
(sigh)
What IS it about guys and the remote control? Do they have some strange anatomical
parallelism with the damn thing? Is it an extension of their personalities, a machismo they derive from having their fingers on the buttons? Since the true nature of men is to strive to control whatever situation they're in -- and from a distance, at that -- does this device afford them the opportunity to do just that? And with hundreds of channels to surf, their virility must be upwards of the Sears Tower (no phallic metaphor intended).
Most women have been subjected to a man's control over the remote and his constant surfing up and down the channels, regardless of whether we're watching something else. They have no shame. OUR interests are totally unimportant when the remote is in their possession (which is virtually always); therefore, our interests are pretty much ignored most of the time. I know of men who actually HIDE the damn thing so as not to have to wrest it from another family member. I wonder, truly, if fathers aspire for the remote to be their legacy to their sons. There's a distinct demarcation line with remote controls, and they definitely are colored blue instead of pink. Gender expectations are written on the instructions.
There is much scholarship on women, but I don't believe this remote control issue has been studied. It needs to be. There's a new "chick" drama premiering in the fall and I don't want it interspersed with Nascar and pro football.
There's a principle here.
(sigh)
What IS it about guys and the remote control? Do they have some strange anatomical
parallelism with the damn thing? Is it an extension of their personalities, a machismo they derive from having their fingers on the buttons? Since the true nature of men is to strive to control whatever situation they're in -- and from a distance, at that -- does this device afford them the opportunity to do just that? And with hundreds of channels to surf, their virility must be upwards of the Sears Tower (no phallic metaphor intended).
Most women have been subjected to a man's control over the remote and his constant surfing up and down the channels, regardless of whether we're watching something else. They have no shame. OUR interests are totally unimportant when the remote is in their possession (which is virtually always); therefore, our interests are pretty much ignored most of the time. I know of men who actually HIDE the damn thing so as not to have to wrest it from another family member. I wonder, truly, if fathers aspire for the remote to be their legacy to their sons. There's a distinct demarcation line with remote controls, and they definitely are colored blue instead of pink. Gender expectations are written on the instructions.
There is much scholarship on women, but I don't believe this remote control issue has been studied. It needs to be. There's a new "chick" drama premiering in the fall and I don't want it interspersed with Nascar and pro football.
There's a principle here.
(sigh)
Thursday, July 19, 2007
NAVELS VERSUS IRAQ
(sigh)
Perhaps we should put aside contemplating our navels and instead contemplate Iraq. I'm afraid we'd have more luck growing turnips from those belly buttons than motivating the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds to step up to the plate and assume responsibility for their futures. The culture wars among those factions is not going to be resolved because the United States wants it, and I think the powers that be here underestimated the seriousness of those conflicts.
Unfortunately, we have been in deep doo-doo with this war for quite a while, but we can't walk away from what we started and leave the Iraqi people to resolve additional issues which we precipitated. On the other hand, perhaps our leaving would motivate them to find compromises and take steps toward a democracy. It's a hard call.
What strikes me as repulsive though is the Democrats' scurrying toward a pull-out when any other time their decision would be to keep the government fully involved. It's the antithesis of their overall philosophy of "save the world." Of course, most likely the reason for the party's stand on the war in Iraq is that it is a Republican president's initiative. With a presidential election looming, success in Iraq would most certainly ensure a Republican president in '08.
It's disturbing, frightening even, that politicians have become so enthralled with their own re-elections that they forego the security of this country for their own good. Granted, their mantra is that they're reflecting the feeling of their constituents about the war; but the American people for the most part are disinterested in the details of what's really transpiring on this issue and therefore are not informed. We need to assume that the President and his staff have more information than we do and are making the best decisions possible under the circumstances. To let politics play a part here is like "dropping the queen of spades on someone else's trick." (Crisp).
(sigh)
Perhaps we should put aside contemplating our navels and instead contemplate Iraq. I'm afraid we'd have more luck growing turnips from those belly buttons than motivating the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds to step up to the plate and assume responsibility for their futures. The culture wars among those factions is not going to be resolved because the United States wants it, and I think the powers that be here underestimated the seriousness of those conflicts.
Unfortunately, we have been in deep doo-doo with this war for quite a while, but we can't walk away from what we started and leave the Iraqi people to resolve additional issues which we precipitated. On the other hand, perhaps our leaving would motivate them to find compromises and take steps toward a democracy. It's a hard call.
What strikes me as repulsive though is the Democrats' scurrying toward a pull-out when any other time their decision would be to keep the government fully involved. It's the antithesis of their overall philosophy of "save the world." Of course, most likely the reason for the party's stand on the war in Iraq is that it is a Republican president's initiative. With a presidential election looming, success in Iraq would most certainly ensure a Republican president in '08.
It's disturbing, frightening even, that politicians have become so enthralled with their own re-elections that they forego the security of this country for their own good. Granted, their mantra is that they're reflecting the feeling of their constituents about the war; but the American people for the most part are disinterested in the details of what's really transpiring on this issue and therefore are not informed. We need to assume that the President and his staff have more information than we do and are making the best decisions possible under the circumstances. To let politics play a part here is like "dropping the queen of spades on someone else's trick." (Crisp).
(sigh)
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
PASTA AND MAYO
(sigh)
The world is in constant need of macaroni salad to feed 100.
Why IS this? Why have we not gotten away from the creamy, fat-laden salads of the 50s? You know why?
Because all us baby boomers are still stuck in that era, whether we admit it or not.
And what's even more interesting is that I was just asked to bring this dish to a luncheon, which was given by a 30-something young thing, who obviously had been brainwashed by her baby-boomer mother into believing that macaroni salad is still a mainstay at summer gatherings.
I just (pretended) to celebrate another birthday this week and had given serious thought to having a 50s/60s party complete with music from that time (which really WAS much better than the crap out there today), and foods from that era. Know what I came up with as baby boomer staples? You guessed it. Macaroni salad and (OMG) green jello salad! These to be accompanied by pigs in a blanket (which years ago was a Pillsbury bakeoff winner because it used their crescent rolls as the "blanket.") OMG again! We could wash all this down with Orange Crush and quarts of Grapette.
Except for fettucine alfredo, pasta is not MEANT to be doused with anything white. Therefore, the world needs to get over this macaroni salad thing. And we baby boomers need to pull ourselves out of the last five decades and land in the 21st century. I know, I know. Life requires triage, and macaroni salad is way down the line.
(sigh)
The world is in constant need of macaroni salad to feed 100.
Why IS this? Why have we not gotten away from the creamy, fat-laden salads of the 50s? You know why?
Because all us baby boomers are still stuck in that era, whether we admit it or not.
And what's even more interesting is that I was just asked to bring this dish to a luncheon, which was given by a 30-something young thing, who obviously had been brainwashed by her baby-boomer mother into believing that macaroni salad is still a mainstay at summer gatherings.
I just (pretended) to celebrate another birthday this week and had given serious thought to having a 50s/60s party complete with music from that time (which really WAS much better than the crap out there today), and foods from that era. Know what I came up with as baby boomer staples? You guessed it. Macaroni salad and (OMG) green jello salad! These to be accompanied by pigs in a blanket (which years ago was a Pillsbury bakeoff winner because it used their crescent rolls as the "blanket.") OMG again! We could wash all this down with Orange Crush and quarts of Grapette.
Except for fettucine alfredo, pasta is not MEANT to be doused with anything white. Therefore, the world needs to get over this macaroni salad thing. And we baby boomers need to pull ourselves out of the last five decades and land in the 21st century. I know, I know. Life requires triage, and macaroni salad is way down the line.
(sigh)
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