Archives for 2022

I am grateful to Sarah from The Woks of Life Asian cooking site for sending me this explanation that appears to solve all my problems with regard to magic potions.

I didn’t actually read the article, (who has that kind of time?), but considering the problems I have sourcing ingredients for the spells in my Hogwart’s Potions Primer it seems Cornstarch, the truly magic ingredient,  will save me from failure.  
So far I have determined that cornstarch can be used as an adequate substitute for the difficult to find ingredients critical to mixing Professor Severus Snape’s revenge potion:

• Billywig Wings
• Flobberworm Mucus
• Ashwinder Eggs
• Shrivelfigs
• Puffskin Hair

Now that I have the recipe (Thanks again to Sarah) and the necessary ingredients, I have a message for the lady that cut in front of me at the self-check stand while I perused the candy rack: “BE VERY AFRAID!”

Come along with me on a wondrous journey of imagination.
Just suppose there is a parallel universe, almost exactly like ours with the seemingly minor difference, that being that once a month, randomly and without visible cause, skipped a day on the calendar.  So today, although ostensibly the 14th might actually be the 15th? 
Think about the consequences.  What if you are paid on the 14th?  What if it was your birthday on the 14th or you had a scheduled colonoscopy that day?  Can your brain even begin to fathom the chaos that would ensue???

Try going to sleep tonight with that thought rolling around your brain!  It will make the monster under your bed seem like a welcome visitor.

Not Just a great film but so many firsts and “teachable moments.”  A few examples:

• Mike Damone taught us how to be classy and order for our dates: “The lady will have the linguini with clam sauce and a Coke with no ice.”
• Gritty American history lessons from Mr. Hand and Jeff Spicoli’s insightful explanation of how Thomas Jefferson’s leadership prevented our country from becoming “Bogus.” Please show it to congress, it might help.
• Life wisdom from Brad Hamilton: “Learn it, know it, live it!”
• Relationship gold from Mark Ratner: “I mean, you put the vibe out to 30 million chicks, something is gonna happen.”
• Hollywood Royalty in infancy: Forrest Whitaker, Sean Penn, Phoebe Cates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Eric Stoltz and the more seasoned Ray Walston and Vincent Schiavelli.
• Phoebe Cates teaching technique to Jennifer Jason Leigh using a carrot, (you figure it out).
• A one-time flash of Phoebe Cates and the first of many flash-related scenes for Jennifer Jason Leigh.

I hope someone thought to put a copy of this into the time capsule so its wit and wisdom shall forever be imparted to adolescent generations thirsting for knowledge.

That’s how Teri Turner’s recipe is being hyped by Katie Couric Media.  “…the red sauce of your dreams!”

Oh it’s good, but for my money the recipe Pete Clemenza taught to Michael Corleone when they gathered at Don Corleone’s home after that filthy scumbag Virgil Sollozzo tried to kill the Godfather (unsuccessfully, thank heaven) was by far the tastiest marinara sauce that ever kissed a piece of al dente spaghetti.  That is a sauce worth going to the mattresses for!

Spoiler Alert:  Tattaglia is a pimp, it was Barzini all along!

In a famous passage from Charles Dicken’s classic “A Christmas Carol” Scrooge is having dinner at a local restaurant when he stops the passing waiter:
“Waiter, more bread!”
“It’s a ha-penny more sir” the waiter replies.
After thinking for a second Scrooge says: “No more bread.”

The less insightful reader is left with the impression that the refusal is yet another example of Scrooges extreme frugality.  But the erudite bibliophile understands that the subtext is a message to a nation rocketing toward obesity.  You may have noticed any depiction of Mr. Scrooge shows him to be lean and mean.  Scientists have determined that, for a man of his age, he had the remarkable calculation of 9% fictional body fat.

The message is clear: one piece of bread is sufficient.  It was never about money, it was always about the carbs.

Nicknamed “Granny Jordan” by TikTok users, a video showing Lopez lighting up the court in her small remote town of San Esteban Atatlahuca in the southern state of Oaxaca has been viewed over 1 million times since it was uploaded by her grandson.

It has been estimated that signing her to a WNBA team might double current in-person attendance; the figure possibly exceeding 100 people per game!

The night sky will be putting on quite the show in the next few days. Thursday, the fourth and final full supermoon of 2022 — the sturgeon moon — will reach peak illumination at 9:36 p.m. EDT. And that spectacle coincides with the Perseid meteor shower, the most popular annual meteor shower. The Perseids are typically active from July to September, and this year will peak August 11-13.

Alternatively those of you that know someone named Perseid Meteor can simply go to their home and ask if you can watch them shower.

The answer to your next question is: “Yes, this was the dumbest, most inane post of the year,” although the meteor shower information is accurate. 
It’s called desperation.

From what I’ve heard, most men prefer tulips on an organ over roses on a piano bench.
I disagree.  I feel the roses are much more beautiful than tulips and a Steinway Piano more elegant than a Hammond organ.

What am I missing?

On Saturday, August 20, 10–10:30 AM, join Met experts online to explore the history and modernization of the Japanese kimono. Learn about Japan’s famed weaving, dying, and embroidery techniques along with discoveries from new scientific research. 

So if you know anybody that gives a rat’s ass about such things, be a pal and let them know.  Might be a fascinating 30 minutes on par with watching paint dry or listening to a sermon on abstinence. 

If you have not read an Erik Larson book you need to correct that mistake immediately.  Erik is a journalist and writes non-fiction books in novel form.  The result is a fascinating historical account of past events and eras.  A few examples: an account of the U.S. Ambassador to Germany during the rise of Hitler; the sinking of the Lusitania, Winston Churchill and the London Blitz; and the invention of the wireless.  

The events are often paired with a sensational crime taking place at the same time.  Having grown up in Chicago I was particularly interested in “The Devil in the White City” which details the crimes of serial killer H.H. Holmes against the more interesting planning, building and opening of the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.

The Good News:  Hulu has acquired the rights and it will be an 8 part mini-series starring Keanu Reeves due out in 2024.  We are hoping Keanu, known as one of the nicest and most generous people in Hollywood, will invite us to the premier party.   His agent has not yet responded to my request.  I bet Keanu would be really mad if he knew I was being ignored!