Sain't Christopher

Sweet

For the Boone, who sat next to me while I was slightly hungover the day after X-mas and narrated a film to me.   Here's a link to Napoleon Dynamite's ads for the 150th Utah State Fair.  On the left hand side toward the bottom, click on Napoleon's Sweet Ads. 
My fav is TV 3.

Go in Peace

Pointers and such!

Three people who've been to Stewie Live have missed out on the best feature, the KILL button.  If you notice, and I didn't for quite a while, the slide thingy on the right of the screen goes up when you type in the more responsive commands (i.e. fart, sing, dance. . .).  Once the thingy gets all the way up, you can click the KILL button and what a wonderful thing it is.

Oh, and for further kicks, go to the Pimp My Stewie section.

Go in Peace

Repeat

Same joke, two years later:

Bossperson:  I don't want anyone signing their name in the cement.
Me:  What, but I've been holding it in all day to build up pressure!

Go in Peace

Slurp and Chow

This is what migratory superstar LJR and I ate and drank while watching Make-A-Mild-Attempt-To-See-TV on NBC.

2002 Coppola Merlot California Blue Lable $17
Modest but tasty, with huckleberry pie, French vanilla notes and a firm cedary finish. (87pts WS)

Miles was wrong, there is nothing wrong with a good Merlot.  And this is a fine, fine drinking merlot.  Not something I would get invested in, but something that from time to time I would happily drink.  This was also my take on My Name is Earl.  If I had TiVo, I might record it.  Since I don’t I’ll probably just be happy when I stumble across it.  Part of what made it so enjoyable was having LJR making funny, poignant commentary.  See, it’s about pairing.

So what do you eat with a good bottle of slurp?  Good chow.

Prosciutto di Parma 18 Month
prosciuttoPARMA HAM is the true prosciutto, although others are also now made in the United States. Italian prosciuttos are designated prosciutto cotto, which is cooked, and prosciutto crudo, which is raw (though, because of its curing, ready to eat). This type of Italian ham is also labeled according to its city or region of origin, for example prosciutto di Parma and prosciutto di San Daniele [proh-SHOO-toh]
The Italian word for "ham," prosciutto is a term broadly used to describe a ham that has been seasoned, salt-cured (but not smoked) and air-dried. The meat is pressed, which produces a firm, dense texture. Italy's

My first experience with Prosciutto was a Hormel product that tasted like salty leather.  It would be like introducing an alien to a Yugo and saying This is what a car is!.  Two years later I had a real parma and was in heaven. Then I was introduced to 18 month-old and I was in love.  It is tender, complex, and compliments food in crazy ways.  Traditionally, the Italians serve with sweet ripe melons or figs.  There’s a big O in the mouth on a warm summer’s night.  I picked us up a quarter pound and since it has been a shit year for figs and melons, I went with Del Cabo Sweet 100 tomatoes.

Del Cabo Sweet 100 Tomatoes
These are very small cherry tomatoes and they are usually the first to hit the market each year.  Even in an awful year for tomatoes, these are still champs as they require less to reach maturity.  Each one was a little bite summer.

Rogue River Blue, Rogue Creamery, Oregon
The Rogue River Blue is naturally rinded. This aging process imparts flavors from the Rogue River Valley. These naturally occurring molds from our terroir impart flavors of wild ripened berries, hazelnuts and pears. To preserve this wheel we wrap it in grape leaves from the Applegate Appellation. The grape leaves are soaked in Pear Brandy and tied with raphia.  This Cheese won “Best Blue Cheese” at the World Cheese Awards in 2003.

Last summer the Divine Miss L got me into a private tasting up at Copia.  They were tasting Oregon wines, reserve labels only.  That was enough to make it one of the best night’s I had that year.  Standing in front of the Willakenzie table, I met this guy I thought to be one of the disenfranchised DeadHeads you see every so often.  Turns out he is the cheesemaker for the Rogue Creamery.  We end up talking and he tells me about his Rogue River Blue and all of its awards.  I then spend 3 months trying to track it down.  Finally finding a supplier who had mislabeled a case and was able to ship me 6 wheels.  I have trouble explaining how good this cheese is, just trust me and head out to your nearest whole foods and get a wedge.  Then you can salaam in my direction every day at 4:15pm (local) to show proper respect for the food god that I am.  And if you really want to have the full experience, have it on a loaf of good rustic bread with Port.

Acme Bread Company - Ciabatta
Steve Sullivan, founder and owner, says that after all these years Acme’s foremost goal remains the same— to bake outstanding bread. Acme uses only organic flour and works closely with farmers in evaluating and selecting the grain varieties for its flour each year. Three shifts of bakers work around the clock, seven days a week at the Berkeley bakery in order to meet customer demand.

In a post later this week I’ll go on too long about Chez Panisse.  The bread this company makes is as good as it gets.  All of that staff of life stuff, yeah, you start to believe it when you get a fresh loaf.  We are blessed here in the Bay Area to have at least 5 great bread bakeries and a dozen more that are known for their sourdough.  Personally, I hate sourdough.  It’s like they tried to make rye but without the flavor.  And here it is usually the bread on the table, the bread with the soup (yech!  It is awful with savory winter soups like Butternut Squash), the bread used for French Toast, and what makes our pigeons so fat and owning sour dispositions.  But this stuff . . .

And it was a great repast.

We watched the season opening episode of The Office and were in culinary bliss. 

p.s. I can't tell you how ready I am for the next upgrade to typepad's editing tools

Go in Peace

Yay!

This should make your day.  Hell, it might just make your week.  Kudos to Blanche* for sending this to me.

*Blanche is the artist formerly known as The Goddess Dawnami.

Go in Peace

Godlike Powers

A few weeks ago I discovered Wikipedia.  Just perfect for the reflective insomniac with a DSL connection.  At first I was drawn to my childhood TV shows, especially the psychedelic-surreal under-rated works of Sid and Marty Kroft.  And then I moved on to the nouveau slapstick of Sherwood Schwartz and his post-modern Keaton, Bob Denver.

Two days later Bob Denver was dead.

My attention wandered and I started looking up info about the Mississippi flood of '31; Hurricane Carla of '61; Andrew of '92; and of course I was following the aftermath of Katrina and the development of Rita.  It is amazing how Wikipedia's community has created such thorough entries about the last two hurricanes that are as immediate, or more, than TV, radio, or Yahoo.  So it goes.

Last night I was trying to find a website for lost friend the Reverend Dawn. E. Coyote (Genius), real name Dawn Addams.  And because of the free association that comes from sleep dep surfing I found myself back at Wikipedia looking up Don Addams.  And would you believe . . .

I'm sure you see where this is going.

In the name of theological and scientific research, please cast your vote for the former TV celebrity that I will look up on Wikipedia this coming Friday.  The choices are:

1.  Rip Taylor
2.  Nipsey Russell
3.  Jerry Van Dyke
4.  Jerry Van Dyke

Go in Peace

Your Government @ Work

And sometimes the word hubris just seems a bit lacking.  Here's an edited version of a Washington Post article telling us, yet again, that this administration's response to any problem sometimes involves them sticking fingers in their ears and loudly singing lally, lally, I can't hear you!

One week ago, the Office of Women's Health of the Food and Drug Administration sent an e-mail notice to women's groups and others announcing the appointment of Norris Alderson as its new acting director.

An FDA veteran trained in animal husbandry who spent much of his career in the agency's Center for Veterinary Medicine, Alderson quickly became the subject of active and largely negative comment on the Internet and elsewhere.

Three days after the Alderson announcement, the FDA main press office sent out a very different announcement. It said that 20-year FDA veteran Theresa A. Toigo would be the new acting director of the women's health office, and that she would be a champion for women's health inside and outside the agency. Alderson -- and the statement announcing his appointment -- was never mentioned.

Asked yesterday who exactly was running the office, FDA spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino said that Alderson had never been appointed acting director. She said that Toigo would take over from the departed Wood, and that her office knew nothing about the statement regarding Alderson, who is the agency's associate commissioner for science.

"There was no official decision made until we announced Theresa Toigo's appointment on Friday," Trevino said.

The seeming mystery thickened when several women's groups said that not only did they receive e-mails announcing Alderson's appointment, but also that he was listed on a Health and Human Services directory last week as the acting director of the office. In addition, people who have spoken with women's health office staff said that Alderson was introduced to the staff last week as the new acting director, and that he even had some one-on-one discussions with staff members about future plans.

The woman now in the position appears to be emminently qualified, so it all worked out. 

Go in Peace

Update

Okay, I've been out and about more than usual lately so expect that most of this week's posts will be about chow and slurp.

And the Dragon has a blog now, as soon as I can figure out how to link it directy, without having to become a myspace enlistee*, I will hook it up.

We actually had a weekend of lovely weather AND I didn't have to work it.

The Dad had his half-knee replacement last weekend and it went well.

Here's a photo of myself and Vincent.  See, I am not dropping him.

Haven't bought the MP3 player or the TV yet- I don't consider this a failure.

That's all, I guess.

*It's so depressing when you go to myspace and it tells you "you have 1 friend."

Go in Peace

Quazy

I liked Quisp, my sister liked Quake.  Of course, they were the same cereal and we argued over nothing.  I remember how tied into Saturday morning TV the cereals were, that the commercials were just as important for entertainment as the cartoons.  One weekend the Dad was in charge of my sister and me and he let us eat our cereal in  the front room as we watched the Treasure Island segment of The Banana Splits show.  We had to eat the cereal then, we told him, because it was tied into the show (the box had photos of from the show and there was some sort of toy/prize that went with it). 

And to cash in on the nostalgia of me and my peers, products from our youth are now released in small, timely bits.  Two falls ago I was pleasantly surprised to see the shelves at Target stocked with Count Chocula and Frankenberry (only for the Halloween time frame, tho).  Tonight I find that Quisp has made it's little attempt.  There is, of course, a website that explains the whole history of Quisp.  This is how the absence is explained

1974 Running low on cereal, Quisp begins the long journey back to Planet Q to get more. Quaker company cuts back Quisp promotions and distribution to prevent riots when the supply runs out.

1977 As Quisp rushes back to Planet Q, humans crazed for Quazy energy turn to disco

1990 Lack of Quisp leads to depressing grunge rock proliferation

Yep, the internet is an amazing thing.  And this is why I need to start taking the trazadone for my insomnia again.

Go in Peace

Slurp

This is what I tasted today:

2003 Sidney Frank Syrah Rose $13
WINEMAKER NOTES:
Made from fruit grown in the cool southern end of Dry Creek Valley, the Syrah Rose has bright floral aromas with hints of cranberry and spice. Pleasant strawberry fruit flavors precede a crisp and luscious finish. It’s a perfect summer wine by itself or with lunch or just a nice cheese and fruit plate

2003 Sidney Frank Sonoma County Chardonnay $11
WINEMAKER NOTES:
The 2003 Sonoma County Chardonnay is made in a fruit forward style. By fermenting at very cool temperatures we are able to retain much of the intense fruit from the vineyards. A small amount is fermented in two year old barrels to enhance the middle body. The wine has some pineapple, pear and lemon citrus aromas. Tropical fruit flavors combine with a creamy middle body and a crisp, long finish resulting in a multi-layered yet balanced experience.

As the exclusive importer of Jagermeister, Sidney Frank is directly responsible for more post adolescent regret than any company since Merry-Go-Round clothing stores.  His new line of Estate wines are geared toward the $10-14 crowd (whereas his Italian imported line goes for North of $40).  And I'd have to say he hits his mark.  The Rose is bright, fruity, a little dry, and perfect for drinking outside on a warm night.  It would have gone great with the pasta or fish dish we served tonight.

The Chardonnay is a big hit for me because it doesn't taste like all the other damned chards out there. The fruit was fresh and crisp and it left a clean feeling in the mouth. The style both wines comes from the hired gun Paul Brasset who made his name at RoShamBo last decade.  We need more wines like this: interesting, tasty, and affordable.

This is what I was sent back a taste of today:

2001 Extant Napa Valley $75
Well-focused on a core of ripe, concentrated fruit, with a medley of currant, blackberry and wild berry flavors. Impeccably balanced, with firm tannins. Flavors run deep and are long and persistent on the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec. Best from 2007 through 2013. 392 cases made.  (92 pts WS)

The two guys who got together and produced it, both industry people with a ton of success and experience behind them, decided to make a single wine that they liked and everyone else be damned.  This is the story with a lot of the small wineries that we'll never hear of.  They only made 392 cases, barely enough to get through holiday gift giving and a family get together. 

I think this is great.  I wish more people would be satisfied with pleasing  smaller marke, one jus big enough to make a living off of, rather than shooting for satellites. 

I wouldn't spend $75 for a bottle of it, but I'd happily drink yours.

Go in Peace