Some of you already know that I think the best piece of classical/jazz ever written is Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin. Here are two versions: you decide. I love them both.
Pony Party is an Open Thread. Please bring your own thoughts, YTs, or whatever, and join the party.
A drive-by pony party tonight, I'm afraid: I can get the "new" computer next week, but for now this thing is going to overheat in about half an hour. So I'm reposting from elsewhere with apologies.
I went to my friend's pub today...and thought about their food.
Bell, Book, and Murder is an omnibus edition of three mysteries by Rosemary Edghill (the nom de plume of Eluki Bes Shahar), all with the same narrator: Bast, the goddess-name of Karen Hightower, a witch in NYC who works for a book paste-up operation just off Houston Street.
I've been rereading it today, and while nobody would call it "literature" in the same category as Joyce's Ulysses, the novels are very well-written and a lot of fun to read.
More below the fold; but: what do you read for fun? Please answer in the comments. And if I disappear, it's b/c I've been having major computer problems lately.
It's been coming down for almost 24 hours now as I type this...and the wind has picked up, meaning drifts.
There's a guy across the street with a snowblower, but from the way it looks right now, you'd have to shovel or snow-blow at least every hour to have any hope of maintaining a semi-clear sidewalk.
The road crews are out, but even the main streets aren't that great b/c it just keeps coming down.
South-central PA, just above the Mason-Dixon Line, isn't used to this. Snow, yes, but not this volume of snow.
Hello, all. I'm at work tonight & will check in as soon as I get home.
What is your favorite comfort food?
I like (s)mashed potatoes & gravy.
Ham steak & hominy (one ham steak, two cans of whole hominy, drained. Sear the steak on both sides, remove from pan. Add the hominy to the skillet & stir to scrape up the ham bits, then put the steak on top of the hominy & put the whole skillet into the oven [350] for about half an hour until the ham steak is cooked through and the hominy has browned a bit & absorbed the ham flavor. Serve with your favorite green veggie: I like spinach).
No, I have no idea what that means. But I do know about ham & hominy! The problem with ham steaks where I am is that they tend to be too wide in diameter & not thick enough. It's still possible to work with them, though: sear on each side, remove from skillet, put a couple of cans of (drained) whole hominy into the skillet, stir while sauteing, put the ham steak on top, and pop it into a 350-degree oven until the ham is cooked through.
Serve with a side of spinach or a salad or something like that.
That's comfort food chez Youff. What do you enjoy?
For everyone who just needs a break from the lousy politics of our time...and our so-called progressive politicians. I'm fed up, too: so I offer a distraction diary. Hope y'all enjoy it:
I will be at work tonight but will check in when I get home. Meanwhile, I hope you have fun with these, and as always, feel free to add your own lols, vids, or whatever in the comments.
Pony Party is an open thread. Please do not rec the party.
Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday! I'm working tomorrow, so I'm cooking tonight. So far, it smells really good.
Am workin' a 10-hour shift tomorrow, so: wishing you all a wonderful holiday. Tonight is my night to cook: no new schedule yet, so I'm cooking for the weekend: a baking dish of stuffing topped by chicken parts, with gravy on the side. I bought a stalk of brussels sprouts plus turnips (with the greens attached!) and a bunch of potatoes to mash up with the turnips.
Something different this week. The NYT always has some interesting stories in its travel section, and I'm going to post quotes & links to some of the more...adventurous...of them.
For example, there's whitewater rafting down the Nile:
WHEN I showed up to go white-water rafting in Uganda, Josh, the Canadian rafting guide who stood barefoot in board shorts and looked like a hardier, hairier version of Brad Pitt, greeted me with a simple question: Wild or mild?
My advice, if you're ever going to do this, is to choose wisely. Because the next thing I knew, I was upside down in an infuriated patch of the Nile River, a ceiling of white water above me, all those tranquil birds and flowers along the banks a violently disappeared memory and Josh screaming, "Dude! Watch out for the rocks!"
snip
We plunged. The curl of a wave lifted our boat straight out of the water and flipped us upside down like an egg in a skillet. But instead of immediately popping back up, a bunch of us got trapped under the raft, with the rapids pushing it down on top of us. It was terrifying, because there was no way out. I kicked. I thrashed. I felt as though I swallowed a gallon of river water. I started thinking of that scene at the end of "Titanic" in which Leonardo DiCaprio drowns. And then, pop, the raft shot away, and I broke through a fury of white water and feverishly gulped for air. That's when I noticed everything was a little fuzzy, which leads me to casualty No. 2, my right contact lens. Gone. I spent the rest of the trip squinting through one eye.
Please note: everything I'm linking to here has a sidebar with extra pics & slide shows for more vivid photos. (Can't post the photos here: they are proprietary of the NYT.)
Pony Party is an open thread. Please do not rec the party.
Reform Immigration -
March on Washington
