Posts tagged with "The Four Seasons"
Monday, 13. July 2009, 21:08:21
The Four Seasons
To my Opera friends I would like to say that over the past three
days or so I've been as busy as a bee making honey.
As a consquence I've fallen a bit behind in visiting your blogs.
I promise over the next few days to make up for that. One flower
at a time, of course.
Monday, 13. July 2009, 19:46:07
The Four Seasons
Yesterday Richard (musickna) and his wife Ruth and their son David
came into town for a visit.
In person, Richard turned out to be the same intelligent, creative,
funny, and charming person that he comes across on his blog as being.
And Ruth and I had a couple of conversations together, including one
on 19th century British literature. At the end of that I was happy to
find all three of us found ourselves in agreement about the quality
of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work. During our brief time together we
also managed to touch on Indian food, cricket, depersonalization in
the fast food industry, computer hardware and software, issues dealing
with putting one's work out on the net, health care, Ruth's canoeing
incident, Greenland, British explorers, town fires in St. Louis and
Spokane, local insects or the lack thereof, as well as some speculation
about a mysterious artifact we discovered lying on the stairs leading
down to the Falls -- the opinion being that it was a piece of a broken
cup or perhaps a piece of some children's toy. And I'm sure we talked
about a few other things too which I don't remember.
I would like to thank Richard and Ruth for extending their trip a
little farther Westward than they originally intended in order to hit
Spokane and visit me. I would also like to thank them for lunch at
D'Lish Hamburgers, and also for their kind patience as I made my
way back up from the Falls.
It was a great time.
Saturday, 11. July 2009, 18:05:57
The Four Seasons, Sasha
Yesterday was my dog Sasha's first birthday. I invited
Charisse and "the girls" -- her dachshunds Annabelle
and Lexie -- over for a birthday party. Charisse brought
Sasha a new toy as a present, a Squeaky Chipmunk. She
also brought some 100 percent natural doggie treats
that Sasha didn't like at all. But all the dogs liked
the cheese cubes that I served. You betcha.
We also had party balloons up, which my mom blew
up herself and tied. Then we both put them together
with string and taped them up.
Linda from upstairs gave her a new purple squeaky bone.
Unfortunately, Linda couldn't make it. Me and my mom
gave Sasha a new Sqeaky Piggie to replace the old one
which is on its last days.
The party was scheduled for 3:00. Beforehand I gave
Sasha a good brushing and she was looking very beautiful
and shiny for her party. Charisse and the girls arrived
almost exactly on time. Annabelle mostly just laid on
the couch, whereas Lexie took a liking to Sasha's
old Squeaky Fuzzy Bone and tried her best to rip the
thing apart. As for Sasha she was very excited not to
say manic throughout the event. At one point she did
a little bit of wrestling with Charisse and the rest
of the time just ran around all over the couch and
loveseat with her new Squeaky Chipmunk. Towards the
end we sang Happy Birthday to her.
Dealing with 3 dachshunds is quite the challenge. And
afterward I was exhausted and definitely needed lunch
and then a good nap.
I apologize for the crappy photos. Taking decent
pictures of constantly moving dogs and people really
requires a good DSLR where you can set Shutter Priority
to a fast shutter. So pretty much all the pictures are
blurry. And in fact the only one that didn't come out
blurry, by sheer coincidence, was one that I took with
my cell phone camera.
It's hard to believe my little girl is 1 year old
already. It seems like only yesterday I was taking
her home, so tiny and hugging my shoulder.
The only halfway decent picture of Sasha I got
on her birthday, taken just before the party.
Charisse and Annabelle.
Lexie.
The birthday presents, l. to r.,
Squeaky Chipmunk, Purple Bone, and
Squeaky Piggie #3.
Saturday, 4. July 2009, 18:34:08
The Four Seasons
Well, it's the 4th of July.
So break out the beer and the fried chicken
and the fireworks and the redheads and have
a great holiday weekend!
Friday, 3. July 2009, 22:08:20
Bloody Marys, Spokane, The Four Seasons
Thai on 1st.
There must be more diversity in terms of the various recipes for Bloody
Marys than any other drink out there. Different bars use different
recipes. And sometimes even at the same bar it depends on who is making
the drink. Over the past months I've drank a Bloody Mary at about six
different bars in downtown Spokane and Browne's Addition. And I didn't
like any of them.
Last night I went to town and made my way to The Satellite. I was a
little leery of ordering a BM there as I figured the probability was
that I wouldn't like theirs either and then have to buy another drink.
As it turned out though the one I had there was the best one so far
(although I have to emphasize that wasn't really all that difficult).
Since I was curious the bartender showed me how she made them. She
used some pre-made mixer (which surprised me, most mixers taste like
crap) and showed me the hot sauce they use, which they evidently make
themselves. I didn't even mind that they put vegetables in it (see
below), olives and asparagus, as well as a lemon slice, inasmuch as it
did taste good.
After consuming let us say X number of Bloody Marys it was time to eat.
So I called up my favorite Thai restaurant, Thai on 1st, and placed an
order for some spicy noodles with shrimp. After 30 minutes or so I left
The Satellite and walked the block or so to the restaurant. The noodles
weren't ready, in fact they hadn't even started making them yet (Thai
on 1st is kinda quirky in many respects), so I drank a beer and waited.
And while I waited I talked with the manager and eavesdropped on a large
table of people behind me, with one stout fellow telling some tale that
began "When I was in Hong Kong..."
There was a photo of some Buddhist monk on the wall. The only Buddhist
monk I would recognize would be the current Dali Lama, and this picture
wasn't the Dali Lama. So I asked the manager who it was. The manager
told me it was Loung Poo Wan, and he said that he was well-known in
Thailand. I had him write down the name for me to look him up. But I've
come up with a complete blank finding any information about him on the
internet. Too bad.
Noodles in hand (so to speak) I headed back to the Satellite. Having
drank a beer at Thai on 1st I decided to keep with the beer. I drank a
Corona and then headed to the city bus station. Downtown was like a
ghost town. Even the Transit Center was strangely empty. It was creepy.
Finding out I had missed the last bus back to Browne's Addition I had
no choice but to call a cab. Luckily is was easy with the new phone --
Sprint Navigation gave me a whole list of cab companies and I simply
selected one and called.
The STA bus plaza, night.
Once home I immediately started work on the noodles. I was a little
disappointed when I opened up the styrofoam box and found that the
noodles were spaghetti type noodles instead of the normal flat noodles
I always had there with that particular dish. And they tasted slightly
different too. Stil very good, but not the stellar noodles that I've
always gotten from them. I'll have to be sure to ask them about that
next time I go in.
Okay. Now since I don't go out very much, if I drink at all these days
it is usually at home. And even then I've been so tired lately that I
don't even do much of that. But having problems finding a good Bloody
Mary over a span of months I decided to have them at home and come up
with a formula that I liked for a Bloody Mary.
ED'S BRAIN DAMAGED BLOODY MARY RECIPE
- 1 jigger Stolichnaya vodka (or another good quality vodka)
- vegetable juice (such as V8)
- Red Devil Cayenne Pepper sauce or other tabasco sauce
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (1 tbls. for a large drink)
- ice cubes
- a glass, I prefer a regular short stubby cocktail glass that you might
use for bourbon. But I've also drank them in thin Collins glasses or
even in big 16 oz. beer glasses when I'm drinking out -- it's really
just the bartender's decision on that one.
As far as putting the thing together goes I have a specific sequence:
Put the ice cubes in the glass. Add in the teaspoon of Worcestershire.
Now add the tabasco, shaking vigorously for about 10 to 15 shakes. Pour
in the jigger of vodka. Fill the glass to top with vegetable juice and
stir a bit.
That's it. If you are using a large glass such as the beer glass you
might put in a little more of everything -- especially vodka (ahem!)
Don't go berserk on the Worcestershire sauce though or it will screw
things up.
Now here's the radical thing, and the thing that gives my drink the
"brain damaged" epithet:
I don't put salt or vegetables such as celery in mine. I keep it simple.
Very simple. No celery, no horseradish, no jalapena pepper, no olive...
I should mention too that these taste SUBSTANTIALLY better when you use
good vodka. BM's made with the cheap stuff aren't drinkable IMO.
Having had some back and forth over that past few days with Star and
Linda I should mention too that if you don't drink alcohol that I've
made these using the same recipe but without the vodka and they taste
pretty good. After tossing around several good names for the non-alcohol
version I've decided to call it a Brain Damaged Virgin.
Well have a great 4th of July folks. And if you are outside of the U.S.
I wish you a great weekend too and hope that you can join with us here
in spirit in celebrating, well, something or other.
My Bloody Mary.
Incidentally, that cocktail glass is one of
a set of 12 monogrammed "ECP" glasses that
my father received as a gift back in the
mid-1950s. It's the only one left.
Thursday, 2. July 2009, 11:04:21
The Four Seasons
It's dark. I'm back in The Cave. The sound of the air conditioner
and the fan. Cool air. Woke up with mild edema and had to sit
up and breathe. A little bit of coughing loosened it up. But
mercifully short this time. Sitting in bed and the ghosts of the
past whoosh in once again. Oh I have prayed to be free of
them, have imagined the feather on the one end of scale, prayed
that my earth-bound soul would be so light as that feather.
But then bad dreams. She is leaving me behind, she cares not.
I reach out for some sort of comfort, feel the smooth cool sheets
beneath my fingertips. Alone, forever, amidst cold beauteous
stars. But for now I sit here in the dark. It is 3:59 p.m. And I write
this.
Wednesday, 1. July 2009, 16:15:07
The Four Seasons
Actress Jane Birkin
in a long-sleeved mini-dress.
Something like 98 percent of the girls I
went to high school with wore this kind
of dress. It was like the school uniform.
Saturday, 27. June 2009, 22:32:56
Movies, The Four Seasons
(Just click on the pic to play the video on youTube.)
When I was a young teen our television went out. Until it was fixed we
had to watch this little crappy television that only got 2 channels. One
night me and my sister were sitting around watching an old Gunsmoke
episode when I got bored. I started making jokes about the show and adding
my own dialog to the thing. It was fun. And it started a habit that I
continue even today if I happen to find a bad movie which is particularly
good for that kind of thing.
In 1988 a show came on called Mystery Science Theater 2000 (later
3000). In case you've never seen it, the set-up is that a man and his two
robots are trapped aboard a spaceship and forced to watch bad movies.
And as they watch them they poke fun of them.
The guys that did MST2000 were to my mind the masters of that type
of thing. I didn't start watching the show until 1991. But I became
immediately addicted to it. And I continued to enjoy the show until I
went back to school in 1998 and time became a premium commodity.
Last night I happened across this particular MST clip. Unlike the norm
it isn't a movie they sit through, but a very odd short. Wishing that
he would never see another spring in his life when his wife wants the
couch fixed, the main character in the short gets his wish. And let's
just say that when things reverse themselves and get back to normal
that the man becomes a little on the Obsessive Compulsive side about
the whole spring issue.
"That damn spring loving bastard!"
LMAO.
This post brought to you by the
International Spring Cartel.
And Bass Ale.
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