Spam Of The Day

hooray; your writings on theater and writing much missed!

Um, why yes, they have been, haven’t they?

Would That Be…

“Eric, don’t call my bluff. I’m going to the American people with this.”

…the same “American people” who handed you your ass this past November?

Oh, hot dawg, I hope so!

Lamb Juicy Lucy

Yeah so I’m eating lamb again. But dang it’s good!

I just made a simple meal last night, a couple of Lamb Juicy Lucy’s

What, you ask, is a Juicy Lucy?

Well, it’s an inverted cheeseburger: the cheese is on the inside.

Make four patties of ground flesh, and put the cheese (in this case I used Gorgonzola) on two

then take the other two patties and seal the cheesy deal inside

and garlic salt and pepper generously

On to the grill!

The white smoke means there’s a new Pope.

Or that the lamb is fatty and delish.

Why is my drink making me lose focus?

No matter! Time to check the flames!

A few more mintues than it’s off to the potato rolls for you, my pretties!

This, Dear Readers, is the full glory of a Juicy Lucy

I highly recommend that you give them a try.

Holy

Crap.

“Kiss a wookie, kick a droid“

Oh, my God. The kid’s a genius.

Hotter Than A Pepper Sprout

I Can’t Excerpt a Single Bit

…because it’s ALL brilliant and ALL absolutely SPOT ON. He makes me weep for the joy of reading him.

ths **hearts** Mark Steyn.

For the Children

…in the slope-head, 24% fly-over country: precepts to live by, on YOUR dime.

… American government and institutions create advantages that “channel wealth and power to white people,” that color-blindness will not end racism and that educators should “take action for social justice.”

… teachers should acknowledge historical systemic oppression in schools, including racism, sexism, homophobia and “ableism,” …

…Only those educators who acknowledge the existence of white privilege in America, that “white” is a culture in America and that race “is a definer for social and economic status” can reach proficiency,… …Those who score poorly on the worksheet are asked in the book what they will do “to align yourself with the values expressed.”

We try to be good, but we’re born so bad.

For the Want of $30?

Dude.

Minnesota’s government shutdown–the longest in history–has some unexpected victims. Sure, people living on feeding tubes in taxpayer-funded facilities are being taken care of. Janitors are still cleaning the prisons. Police are still protecting the public. But in all this budget-cutting madness, everyone forgot to ask: What about the bros? And now that negligence has taken its toll: Because MillerCoors didn’t reapply for its $30-per-brand license to sell beer, bro classics Miller Lite and Coors Lite, among others, must be pulled from the shelves.

KSTP reports that Minnesota “officials have told the company, it must come up with a plan to remove it’s 39 brands of beer from shelves and in bars in a matter of days. The company failed to renew it’s brand license with the state before the shutdown. …Without the license, Miller-Coors cannot sell in the state.” The company tells the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Don Walker that it’s “working with the state to clear this up.”

I’m sure there’s a conniving, thieving villain in this somewhere…

Boy, Oh, Boy

Somebody must really be sweating the idea of Rick Perry running…

Rick Perry’s Confederate past
Salon Exclusive: The Texas governor’s uncomfortably close ties to groups that glorify the Lost Cause

And…

…What about the Sons of Confederate Veterans? Founded in 1896, it offers genealogical services, sells Confederate memorabilia and literature, and has lobbied to make Confederate flag license plates available around the country, and to keep the Stars and Bars flying at government buildings.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the group experienced years of internal conflict between moderate and radical factions, essentially between those who wanted to focus on maintaining historical sites and supporting research and those who were committed to glorifying the Confederacy — in some cases, out-and-out white supremacists.

The latter faction seems to be in the ascendancy these days.

It must be getting warm in liberal leaning newsrooms…

Besides the Obvious Rush of Acid Reflux-Like Material to the Top of My Esophagus

…the only other noteworthy thing this fatuous Esquire piece does is make me smile.

…We love Obama — even those who claim to despise him — because deep in our hearts and all over our lives, we’re the same way — both inside and outside our jobs, our races, our cities, our countries, ourselves. With great artists, often the most irritating feature of their work is the source of their talent. Obama’s gift is the same as his curse: He’s somehow managed to be like the rest of us, only infinitely more so.

“Why?” you ask.

Because it brings to mind a much loved line from Eddie Murphy’s The PJ’s, where the local addict bids adieu to friends on a doorstoop with:

“Well, time to go. Crack don’t smoke itself!“

No. No, it doesn’t.

Hat tip to Treacher.

Spring Summer On The Lamb

I was once again unable to resist the siren call of Costco last Sunday morning. I tried, feebly, to struggle in vain against the lure of the meat and produce sections. But I was in a weakened state, it must be said in my defense. Daughter was out of town, hell, out of the country, and my Bride was to flee head out the next day herself on a trip to once again leave Claude and my self alone and forlorn, surrounded by naught but, er, um many pounds of meat and gallons of wine with which to rejoice console our heavy heavy hearts.

And waists.

I really liked how the rosti I had made a few weeks ago turned out, but I wanted to jazz it up a bit in that true bold and daring Swiss style, so instead of using plain white spuds I got a mixed bag of the neat fingerling spuds that Costco sells

and set them a boil as soon as I got home. Again, you boil them for only 5 minutes and then drain and let them cool for hours (I cooked them at noon or so and let them cool until 6pm or so). I just love how the purple ones look and taste, so I thought they’d make a neat rosti.

Right after the spuds came off the heat I turned my attention to the lamb

I decided to go for a sweeter ham-like marinade instead of the more savory type. So I started with 1/2 cup of maple syrup

a healthy sprig of fresh rosemary and the zest of an orange

and put all that in the food processor along with some garlic (of course), a little salt and a little pepper and whirled away

then I took Fluffy out of the net and butterflied her just a little to expose more surface area for the marinade

and then trimmed off as much of the surface fat as I could

as there’s more than enough integrated in to keep things moist.

Then I droozled on a little marinade on the interior surface

and schtuffed her into a big ziplock, poured on the rest, massaged the marinade all around

and then put it in the fridge for a good 5 hours or so, flipping every hour and a half for even coverage

Fast forward those hours and out came Fluffy and I trussed her up, roast-like

and I generously salted and peppered her and put her on the grill to roast indirect between two banks of coals (I didn’t use any smoke wood) and let her cook for, oh, a half hour or so before I started the rosti.

The now cooled and peeled spuds were grated

(and I was very pleased with the color) and then pressed into the skillet atop the melted butter and crumbled bacon

for the first 15 minutes of cooking, during which I attended to two important duties. First, I rinsed and trimmed the asparagus, wrapped 3 spears with prosciutto and held them together with toothpicks

and then covered the plate with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge for later

and secondly I opened this

the Santa Ema Reserve Cabernet 2008. The Wine Advocate gave it 90 pts, and my liquor store only wanted $8.99 for it, so how could I say no? For the price it’s very good, with nice body and flavors which tend to the more austere French style (flint, tobacco, cedar, that sort of thing) as opposed to the more currant-laden fruit bombs that I prefer but again, for 9 bucks it more than fit the bill. So yay.

Now it was time to flip Mr. Rosti

and let it go for another 15 minutes or so. Out on the grill Fluffy was heating up nicely (but I must confess I let her go too high, 150º, which was too medium and not enough medium-rare. Mea culpa) and I took her off to set a spell

whilst I grilled the asparagus on the top rack

and the rosti finished up.

Soon all three met on the plate

and in the stomach. Pretty yum.

Another “No Child Left Behind” Failure?

Obviously can’t read at grade level and has developed no cognitive skills.

It’s never acceptable to judge a man by the color of his skin — but sometimes it’s wise to judge a man by the logo on his t-shirt.

Idaho police say a neo-Nazi picked a fight with an African American man and got knocked out with a single punch.

Not surprising, considering the man who threw the punch was wearing a shirt from a Spokane, Wa. boxing club.

I have yet to ascertain whether taxpayer dollars were spent righting said cretin’s pummeled proboscis, but that’s usually how it goes.

To Cut Through All The Noise From The MSM On The Debt Ceiling

via Insty read this and learn it

Q: In a given month how much does the Treasury owe as interest on its debt?

A: Roughly about $15–20 billion (more on this in a moment).

Q: How much revenue does the Treasury take in on average in a month?

A: Roughly about $200 billion.

Q: Are you saying the Treasury could pay interest on its debt 10 times over (or more) from monthly income?

A: Yes. Therefore the likelihood of not paying interest on its debt is zero.

Read the whole thing.

It’s vital.

Thank God The “Professionals” Are In Charge In DC

And they’ve been so busy “resetting” our image around the world and building bridges to our Partners

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan could pull back troops fighting Islamist militants near the Afghan border if the United States cuts off aid, the defense minister said on Tuesday in an interview with Pakistani media.

The United States Monday said it would hold back $800 million — a third of nearly $2 billion in security aid to Pakistan — in a show of displeasure over Pakistan’s removal of U.S. military trainers, limits on visas for U.S. personnel and other bilateral irritants.

Smart Power!

Dear Mr. President: SUCH a Frickin Phoney Fat Filled Baloney Should Just Go Peas Up a Rope

Even though it gave us LOTS of chances to be clever (via Instapundit), like the New York Post’s:

Bam: give peas a chance

…even THAT little bit of Obambi nannyism wasn’t original. Not even CLOSE. Our good friend spot_the_dog pointed out to me this morning that Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s administration is already known as the “Eat Your Peas Government”, thanks, in no small part, to her infamous utterance last month:

…Yesterday she insisted the carbon tax was the right thing to do.

“It’s the equivalent of saying ‘eat your vegetables‘, I suppose,” she told Sydney radio

Oddly enough, no one in Australia appreciates the sentiment either.

I’m assuming they’re absurd halfwitted racists in 24% flyover country as well.

When You Read This MediaMatters Headline, There’s the Immediate “Gag” Reflex

…and then the “gags” just write themselves.

Fox Hosts GOP Rep. Blackburn To Continue Absurd Attack On Energy Efficient Light Bulbs

Well, shoot. Here’s the Fox piece they’re poopooing:

Energy “efficient” bulbs are being attacked, as is our freedom to “waste our money” as we see fit.

“Absurd” doesn’t begin to cover it.

But that’s a pretty great start…

Coincidence?

Funny how all the talk today is of DOOM emanating from Italy now

In a bid to stop financial contagion engulfing Italy and Spain, officials promised to provide cheaper loans, longer maturities and a more flexible rescue fund to help Greece and other EU debtors.

(Italy and Spain being Greek colonies, let us not forget)

Yes, oddly strange that this DOOM talk appears in the wake of this.

On second thought, it surely is a sign of the Apocalypse.

Sorry I Had Bingley Handling My Light Work Today

I was busy.

It was awful.

The Religion Of Peas

What is it about Obama and various types of vegetables?

Candidate Obama was outraged by the price of arugula at Whole Foods in Iowa.

“Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?” the senator said. “I mean, they’re charging a lot of money for this stuff.”

Well, he would have been had they existed

The state of Iowa, for all of its vast food production, does not have a Whole Foods, a leading natural and organic foods market. The closest? Omaha, Minneapolis or Kansas City.

But that’s alright; things can get confusing when you’re all Super Geniusy or so I’ve been told.

And today we were told that

“I’ve been hearing from my Republican friends for some time it is a moral imperative to tackle our debt and deficits in a serious way,” Mr. Obama said. “What I’ve said to them is, let’s go.”

The president said today he would not accept a smaller, short-term deal. “We might as well do it now,” he said. “Pull off the band aid. Eat our peas.”

To his credit, Mr. Obama has tackled our deficits in a serious way

I humbly submit that no one has every put more hurt into the deficit than this man.

Debt Ceiling

You know, let’s pretend I want a higher limit on my credit card.

I think I’m going to tell Visa that unless they raise my credit limit I’m not going to pay the interest on the balance I’ve rung up (let alone begin to address the balance).

That should work, right?

I Agree With This

Via Maggie’s Farm, here’s a succinct post that talks about one of the biggest ‘silent’ problems our Republic currently faces: 50% of the population doesn’t pay taxes.

My Bride and I have been bothered by this for quite a while. Everyone needs to have some ownership, a stake in the game.

When A European Crowd Goes Nuts Cheering For The USA

You know something amazing is going on

As the lady said

“I just took a touch and friggin’ smacked it with my left foot,” Rapinoe said. “I don’t think I’ve ever hit a ball like that with my left foot. I got it to the back post and that beast in the air just got a hold of it.”

A thing of beauty.

Awwww…

Former First Lady Betty Ford Dies at Age 93

Former first lady Betty Ford has died at age 93, the Director of the Ford Museum and Library says.

Betty Ford was the wife of former president Gerald Ford. She married Mr. Ford two weeks before he was elected to his first term in Congress.

She was something, she was. Sweet dreams, sweet Lady. Thank you for the time you spent in our house.

Makes Things More Better

Thank god we have someone so eloquent in the White House for a change

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. Obviously, over the last couple of days, the debate here in Washington has been dominated by issues of debt limit, but what matters most to Americans, and what matters most to me as President, in the wake of the worst downturn in our lifetimes, is getting our economy on a sounder footing more broadly so the American people can have the security they deserve.

Er, ok.

And what the hell is this constant “headwind” crap that pops up in every DNC-scripted utterance?

I miss the good-old days of “focusing like a laser beam.”

Somebody’s “Greatest Hits” Album

…is gonna need an update after less than a month?

Jeez, these Obama guys DO work fast and furious!

Thanks to Geraghty for the reminders*.

*a late addition, since Jim so thoughtfully put them all in one place.