Thursday, August 13, 2009

Thursday Roundup

Yes, it's another roundup. I just have too many odds and ends to tie up the past couple of days!

R.I.P. Les Paul. Without you, the music that I love so much would not exist.

Les Paul Dan of The Wisdom of a Distracted Mind gets one of the Silver Squirrel awards for knowing that the no brown rats in the Alice Cooper python's bowl of rats was in reference to Van Halen's infamous tour rider, in which they specified that in their backstage bowls of M&M's, there were to be no brown ones. Ahhh, spoiled rock stars! Don't you just want to smack 'em? A few others had the correct answer, but Dan was the first.

Still no winner on the question about the TV miniseries. A couple of people did give the correct answer, but one admitted that she Googled it, and the other admitted that he saw her answer. (Both get an Honorable Mention for their honesty.) In light of that, I am throwing out that question, and the Silver Squirrel will ride again another day. The correct answer was "The Stand," the TV miniseries based on Stephen King's book of the same name. I don't think the critics liked it much, but I enjoyed it. I just wish it could have been gorier. They're doing a theater remake of "It," so I wish they'd do one of "The Stand." I'd love to see what they could do with it in a theatrical remake.

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I thought about reposting my entry about health care in its entirety, but I decided to just link to it. I wrote this back in January, and I still stand completely by the opinions I wrote of back then. Even the part about not wanting a national health care system. There are plenty of people who are happy with their health insurance. The concern is those who cannot afford it, and that's why I support a public option. (Key word there: OPTION.) Besides, the reality is that a bill with a national health care system would never get passed. Why push for something that has no chance of success? That's the pragmatic side of me.

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Thanks for the feedback on the suspicious Craigslist email. I think I was right to trust my instinct. The people who came to look at it last night bought it, so I took the ad down immediately. Now I don't have to worry about it.

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Sheeba Kitty Sheeba caught another mouse last night. It seems that our basement has turned into freakin' Disney World, and there are meeces everywhere, but I guess that's to be expected out in the country. I'm glad Sheeba is such a good mouser, and he got lots of praise and treats for his efforts. Good boy!

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I got to see my folks today when they stopped by and gave us another loaf of raisin bread [grin] and dropped off a bag full of--get this--empty journals. There was a big sale at a store they stopped at a while back, and they went back and got me a bunch. I'm still trying to decide what to do with them. Stay tuned....

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We got an email from our friend Kimberley, and it looks like her and Steve are on for Florida next year! Yippee! I'm already thinking about cookouts and taking them to our favorite places...they'll love the manatees! Especially Steve, because he's a science teacher and marine biologist who always takes his students on a field trip to the Monterey Aquarium. I will calm down about this pronto, since it's almost an entire year away. I was just really happy to hear that they can join us next year!

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Tonight I'm channeling New Orleans as I serve muffulettas for dinner. I'm not sure what made me crave them, but my mouth is already watering, and we're a couple of hours away from dinner! Muffulettas are big sandwiches with ham, salami, cheese, and olive salad. I made the olive salad this afternoon by chopping up black and green olives and a jar of giardiniera. The ones I make can't compare to Central Grocery's, but they're still pretty tasty!

Central Grocery

13 comments:

  1. When I was mowing on Monday, I came across two meeces running away, dragging babies on their teets. So Sheeba ought to be in hunter heaven for a while :o)

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  2. Another loss to good music. You just made me hungry and I just finished dinner.

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  3. hope that your dinner went well..glad that friends will enjoy your vacation with you....

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  4. Good for Sheeba! My cats go in the garage a few hours each night and I think they just play with the mice or fall asleep since they do nothing to control the population. LOL. We haven't eaten yet so your dinner sounds so good. Nice Kimberly can make it for vacation next year, it gives you something to look forward to now.

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  5. First, goodbye to Les Paul. I've had the good fortune to see him play many times in and around the Milwaukee area whenever he wandered his way back home. So, his loss is certainly something that will sting for quite a while, and as a musician, I can only forever thank him.

    In other news, I WON! I really won!

    I'd like to thank the academy, Diamond Dave and the rest of the most dysfunctional pile of musical drama in the history of Rock and Roll for giving me a chance to win a much coveted Silver Squirrel.

    The thing about those tour riders is that lots of people tuck some pretty insane stuff into those things as proof that the local promoters and venue heads actually read the thing. At least, that's how it originally started, and it was a neat trick.

    However, these days, people still use them for crazy requests, but now it's more about diva behavior and ego-fluffing than anything.

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  6. Another day passes without one of our own. Scary thing though. I had a dream two beautiful kittys brought me a mouses face in a comforter. Thank goodness I'm a lite sleeper.
    Take care of you and yours,
    Katie

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  7. Paul's seriously bumming about Les Paul. He saw him perform in NYC 4 years ago. The man played to the very end, at his age it's one hell of legacy. (Hugs)Indigo

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  8. I like muffuletta's and would like one now.

    My cat can't be bothered to catch mice but would bring one in the house to play with.

    I bought some raisin bread today at the grocery. Now I know why. Your mother planted the idea in my head.

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  9. Glad Dan got one... put up another question! I love trivia! Should I email instead of post answers? Jericho was right though? I love that song and the hilarious send-up of it. Funny story... we can BOC the Purple Lobsters in our house... my dad is horrible with names... he called them that when I was 16... it stuck... I may do a whole entry on some of my dads name mistakes...

    be well...

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  10. OMG! Central Grocery on Decatur! I love that place!!! They are the best! I have been known to stink up an airplane by bringing one home in the overhead bin!!

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  11. Sorry I'm a little late to the party, but I HAD to comment on the muffulettas. OMG - I ALWAYS get one from Central Grocery when I got to NOLA. But then I have to go and be a damn Yankee and put mayo on it...

    XOXOXOXOXOXO

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  12. I heard very recently that the whole Van Halen-brown M&M thing was something they put in to make sure that every part of the contract rider was read by the folks at the venue. If they saw a bowl of brown-less M&Ms in their dressing room, they felt confident about the show. If there were brown ones in the bowl, they made the venue go over the contract line by line in their presence.

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  13. I wish that I had gotten in on your challenge about 'The Stand' ... and I think I will post about the WHY to Van Halen's infamous rider ... it is a great story!!

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I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?