__
__
The Battlefield Band does a version of ‘Fortunate Son’ with bagpipes, but I can’t find it on YouTube, and besides, there’s no sound on this old laptop. So y’all get the Braille version.
The Spousal Unit and I are gonna watch the fireworks over Lake Champlain tonight. We first started dating over a Fourth of July weekend thirty-two years ago, so we’re sentimentalists that way.
Kered (formerly Derek)
Where the hell is it early evening?
Mnemosyne
Ten years ago on the Fourth of July, I was totally miserable and alone — literally sobbing during the fireworks — because I’d just been dumped for the second time by the same guy. Via e-mail, no less.
Less than 2 weeks later, I met G for coffee, and we’ve been together ever since. So I guess I have more affection for Bastille Day. :-)
Hamilton-Lovecraft
Where the hell is it early evening?
Where the hell is it the fourth of July?
QuaintIrene
Where are the old-fashioned values. Doesn’t anybody set off fireworks on Fourth of July anymore>
WereBear
Howdy, Neighbor! We’re in the High Peaks of the Adirondacks, and will be watching ours over Lake Flower.
Happy Anniversary!
abo gato
Ahhhh, that’s sweet.
I’m sad today. My son and his girlfriend left to move to Austin this morning. I officially have an empty nest now and it actually made both of us cry when we closed the door after they left.
I know we’re only 70 miles south, but still…..the house, it is empty!!!
PurpleGirl
QuanitIrene: Macy’s annual fireworks show is tomorrow on the 4th. This year the show is on the Hudson River, so I’ll only see the very high explosions from my terrace. When they’re on the East River I see most of the fireworksmid-high and high. I saw the first Macy’s fireworks display ????? years ago with friends, after having a picnic in Riverside Park. (We’d spent like 6 or 7 hours in the park holding a place to see the fireworks from. If you don’t claim a space early you can’t get near enough to see them well. My sight line from the terrace to the East River was an unexpected bennie of my apartment.)
dmsilev
I’m looking forward to the fireworks tomorrow evening. I’m visiting the parents in Boston, and we head down to the riverfront every year for the show (Mass Ave bridge is the place to be for the best views). Got my camera and a tripod with, so I’ll have a go at photographing the pretty lights…
dms
Violet
Fireworks tonight? On the 3rd of July? Blasphemy! Clearly the people who are putting on this fireworks show are not Real Murkins.
licensed to kill time
The best fireworks display I ever saw was in Washington, D.C. during the Bicentennial. We were at (well, near) the foot of the Washington Monument. It went on for what seemed like hours and at the end they did a cannonade with those things that explode with light before they make a huge boom. Hundreds of them. Our friend’s dog bolted out of the car (I know, dumb to bring him) and was lost for 3 days before he returned, bedraggled and hungry. My ears were ringing for hours, I think I fried a bunch of those cilia dealios.
lamh32
Nothing much to do today. I wanted to see a movie today, but thanks to the crap that is Twilight, I would have to put up with a bunch of stupid and silly teenages. So I”m debating what to do today. Until I decide, I’m watching the original Home Alone movie. Damn if that Macauley Culken wasn’t a cute little kid!!!
I swear there is this guy in Engineering where I work who looks like a grown up Macauley Culken, pale skin, red lips and all. Every time I see him, I start to giggle.
abo gato
Oh yes, LTKT, the fireworks in DC are the best! We were there for the 4th in 2002. I think they really went overboard since it was the first fourth after September 11th, because the show was just amazing. Like you said, it went on and on and on. We were near the mall, but sitting in grass by the river. We could see the Washington monument and the reflection of the fireworks in the river was beautiful.
It was hotter than shit though and we thought, hey, we’re from South Texas, how hot can it be?
It was hot.
me
And I heard it in the wind
And I saw it in the sky
And I thought it was the end
mr. whipple
That is wonderful! Good for you!
IndyLib
My husband and I also started dating over 4th of July weekend. 14 years ago if I am remembering rightly. I’m looking forward to 32 – congrats AnneLaurie.
We are staying home and setting off fireworks in our back driveway this year. We usually go to whatever base my husband is stationed at to watch the fireworks, it’s usually a really good show. But we decided not to fight the crowds and traffic this year. So, home it is – backyard pool, gallons of mosquito repellent, homemade Mexican food, firecrackers and sparklers.
Geeno
Sooooooooo-Uruguay is the only non-European team in the semis, and European Soccer is on the downfall. Yeh, right.
demimondian
Heh. I was starting to think “thirty-two years, wow! that’s a long time!”
And then I realized that FDDD and I met in 1978, too.
OriGuy
Is that even recorded anywhere? Allmusic doesn’t list it, and I have most of their CDs in my ITunes library, but no that song.
It’s not bagpipes, but how about Dropkick Murphys?
And if you’re yearning for bagpipes, how about Radar Love by the Wicked Tinkers?
Bob
That song is timeless.
dj spellchecka
happy 4th
online fireworks..
http://www.bored.com/cyberfireworks/
kommrade reproductive vigor
I can’t believe this post is 19 comments in and it hasn’t devolved into “Buy this laptop!” “No, that laptop sucks! Buy this laptop!”
Well done citizens.
James Hare
Ahh… Lake Champlain! Must get back there sometime soon. Last time I was out that way was riding the ferry across to go to Whiteface Mountain in New York.
My folks just went up to New England last weekend. I am a bit jealous. Never have seen that area during the summer. I’m sure it’s just as lovely in the summer as the winter.
James Hare
@demimondian:
Thirty-two years still sounds like a long time to this 31 year old!
burnspbesq
The Almighty Billable Hour has no respect for holiday weekends. Yesterday, I got a 3″ binder of background materials for a meeting on Wednesday. And I have to try to finish an article I’m writing for a professional journal.
Laettner is trying to rip the screen out of the window in my office. Quite amusing.
Svensker
@OriGuy:
Oooh, good one! And in my old hometown, too.
Halteclere
My wife and I were married four years ago on the 4th of July. But that was in Grand Caymans, so we aren’t real Americans.
The fireworks that are nothing more than a bright light and a wonderfully loud boom are called “salutes”.
Comrade Javamanphil
@Violet: Of course they aren’t real murkins, they are Vermonters! Burlington does their display on the 3rd so the small towns can have their displays on the 4th. I’m skipping Burlington this year but it’s always a good show (and a nightmare to leave.) The one day a year I really wish I had a boat.
And licensed to kill time? I was also at the 1976 Washington DC display and remember it being amazing. Seems like we were somewhere near the Air Force Band but I was young and it has been years…
QuaintIrene
Howz about ‘Big Country?’ Man, I’m really dating myself.
licensed to kill time
@Halteclere:
Salutes, huh? I did not know that. Frankly, they are about my least favorite firework, because they are all noise and no color. I have a built in cringe reflex when I see the light, because I know what’s comin’.
{{{{{BOOM!}}}}}
Mark S.
@Mnemosyne:
U can’t text message breakup!
General Egali Tarian Stuck
For those who are able to look past his surly owner, here is a sweet doggie pic.
It will be interesting to see how he responds to fireworks popping off. I have had dogs who couldn’t care less, and those like the last one an Aussie Shepard who totally frieked over them.
And whether or not the wars this country has fought have been justified, those sent to them by our leaders will get my respect. I usually watch an anti war flick to just remember what they must have felt on foreign sands in mortal jeopardy. The rest of you can do what you want.:)
Yutsano
@Mnemosyne:
SociaIist. :)
Need some advice from y’all. We’re having homemade pizza at my parents place tonight, so I’m trying to think of a good go-along to bring over with that. Salad will already be covered, and I don’t really want to d a veggie or a starch. Would bruschetta be too obvious?
eco2geek
This is the first 4th of July we’ve had Miss Alta doggy. She doesn’t like big booms so we may be staying home with her this year.
Funniest fireworks display I ever saw was at Fort Ord, with my wife’s family. The clouds were so low that you could only see splashes of color and hear the bangs, but they did the fireworks show anyway.
licensed to kill time
One more dog and fireworks story before I take off. We were in Mexico at our beach house and one night we went out for dinner with friends. We came back to find the screen door hanging on one hinge, screen ripped to shreds, and the wooden door itself covered in scratch marks. At first we thought the house had been broken into (presumably by Bigfoot) but the door was still locked and nothing was taken.
Our big German shepherd was nowhere to be seen, though. Turns out some folks had popped off a bunch of fireworks and she had just about torn the door down in a futile attempt to get inside the house. We found her later, cowering under a camper parked in the backyard. She shook like a tub of jello every time she heard fireworks, it was quite pitiful to see. I have no doubt that if she had been in the house she would have broken through a window to get out.
It wasn’t even the 4th of July, so hoocodanode?
Svensker
@Yutsano:
Bruschetta seems too much like pizza — wheat dough with topping.
How about antipasto? Like olives, pickled artichokes and mushrooms, some salami, etc. — whatever is available at the local salumeria or market. Or is anybody bringing dessert? Watermelon? Peaches and blueberries? Marshmellers for toasting? All of the above? :)
Yutsano
@Svensker: There is a TON of fresh fruit at the house right now, and shortly I plan on harvesting some raspberries to supplement that. A salumi plate sounds good honestly, I’ll mull that about some!
Halteclere
Licensed to kill time @29:
A former boss had dreams of being a professional fireworks displayer, and would set off his latest creations during lunch at the office. He was always careful how he handled the various powders, but not the quantities used. So there was always an element of unpredictability!.
PurpleGirl
@licensed to kill time: Awww, the poor doggie. One of my friends’ greyhounds didn’t like fireworks or thunder. She’d shake and shiver. Whoever was home would end up just holding her and trying to keep her calm. If no one was going to be home and a storm was expected, she’d be in her crate and with several blankets in there she could hunker down however she liked.
eemom
here in the Unreal Virginia town of Vienna, there was a mishap 2 years ago during the annual fireworks display and some people were injured. So last year they did a laser light show instead. Dunno what they’re doing tomorrow, I never go anyway.
And the other thing I have to say about this 4th of July is that whoever runs the the “ScyFy” channel now sucks big ugly rhinoceros dicks. They CANCELED the Twilight Zone marathon. : (
eemom
@demimondian:
wuzzat?
PurpleGirl
@eemom: That stinks. SyFy is owned by NBC-Universal.
debit
Well, the yahoos have started early with the firecrackers, so Chloe is cowering in the corner under the extra dining room chair. I cannot seem to console or comfort her, so I’m just letting her be.
Meanwhile, I’ve finished all the chores for today (lawn, dog walking, shopping, etc) and so am having a very tall, very cold vodka and ginger ale over ice. Rufus is doing his part to keep me away from the internet, so perhaps I’ll pop in a dvd.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@eemom: Years ago when I still smoked pot, I would curl up on the sofa with a big bag of reefer, a bottle of Kahlua, and pot of coffee and watch one TZ episode after another. After 8 or 10 hours, I was sure there was a portal to the fifth dimension behind the coach and if I rolled off, I could kiss my hippie ass goodbye.
Now I just follow politics, not much difference.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@debit: Awwe!! Rufus looks very responsible. and cute.
skippy
andrew breitbart owes me $100,000
debit
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: He is the cat who just walked in one day and pretty much refused to leave. He loves everyone and everything, except the Woot Screaming Monkey. Probably because I launched it at him one time too many.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@debit:
This is understandable, that thang is annoying.
SiubhanDuinne
@Skippy #44: That is frickin’ *brilliant*! I just embarrassed myself in public reading it.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
For fellow refugees of the 60’s
DPirate
How we know physics is some seriously messed up shit
Consciousness is everything.
Mark S.
My girlfriend showed me this: Why I Believe Printers Were Sent From Hell.
The shit about the ink cartridges is the truth. We’ve used the printer we got a couple of months ago about four times before it was whining about being out of pink and cyan.
burnspbesq
@eemom:
Real Mericans call your hometown “Vy-Anna.” Which happens to be where you can get the best Mexican food in the DC area. Loves me some Anita’s.
capmarine
great song. I’m 62 and slowly dying from the effects of the vietnam war.
war sucks, it’s a racket. google Smedlay Butler. Meanwhile, enjoy your celebration.
burnspbesq
@skippy:
You know he’s going to welsh on the debt, don’t you. You’re going to need lawyers, guns, and money.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjVbypiUOHA
Mnemosyne
@Yutsano:
It’s not quite true, but I like to pretend our cat Charlotte is named after Charlotte Corday since G found her and her sister in the parking lot at work and brought them home one year ago on Bastille Day.
To sound more literary, I could say she’s named after Charlotte Corday Rowbotham, a minor character in one of my favorite PG Wodehouse stories.
(She is, in fact, named after Charlotte “Chuck” Charles on “Pushing Daisies,” but Chuck didn’t stick as a name once her sister Olive was adopted out, so she reverted back to Charlotte.)
Ash Can
My husband and bro-in-law used to love to spend 4th of July evening at their late father’s house in a nearby suburb, blowing shit up. Mortars, mums, Roman candles, whistlers, pinwheels, firecrackers, rockets, sparklers, you name it. One year we even had some goofy little cardboard circus seal that shot out a bunch of sparks and then blew up a little balloon on its nose. Having already had a few beers, we of course all got hysterical over it. Good times.
PurpleGirl
I luv Turner Classic Movies this year. They are showing two of my favorite movies tomorrow: 1776 and Yankee Doodle Dandy. Here’s to the 4th of July and staying home with AC and favorite movies.
Mnemosyne
@PurpleGirl:
G is already planning our annual viewing of 1776. He has it on DVD and insists on watching it every year.
The weird thing is that he hates musicals … except for 1776. He’s such a nerd sometimes.
demimondian
@eemom: Frau Doktor Doktor Demimondian. (Yes, technically, it should be Doktor Frau Doktor, but DFDD doesn’t work as well as FDDD in English.) My spouse of twenty-five years.
fucen tarmal
does that song from the jeans commercial mean brett favre is unretired?
eemom
@demimondian:
oh. That’s interesting, I thought you were the Frau for some reason.
That is a fun subject — guessing or misguessing the genders of people with gender-neutral screen names. I think I’ve been wrong more often than right.
Though there are some who provide certain testosterone-related clues.
Svensker
@Mark S.:
Working on a deadline Sunday night in the middle of deepest darkest suburbia and the stupid cyan ran out, shutting down the entire printer. No way to get a replacement. I was printing in black, had no need for colors, and the black cartridge was full, but nope, no printee. I called the manufacturer and screamed at them rather hysterically for a while. The next day I went out and bought a laser printer. It prints only b&w and the cartridges cost about $100, but you only have to replace them about once a year. And your whole flippin’ project doesn’t depend on a teeny tiny cartridge of cyan that you don’t even want. Assholes.
Svensker
My dad had a beautiful little brass canon for a while and he and my BIL used to love to shoot it off on the 4th. It made a really satisfying “whumpf” sound with lots of black powder bang and flash. Then one of the balls landed in the neighbor’s shrubs and the shrubs caught on fire. Total pandemonium ensued. We did manage to put out the fire before the entire shrub area was totally destroyed, but my dad had some ‘splainin to do when the neighbor came back from his weekend away.
Good times.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Svensker:
LOLWut?
slag
@DPirate: You think physics is bad? I just watched a documentary relating to economics. Once again, I am reminded that we know next to nothing about anything.
James in WA
@Svensker:
Yup. That’s why I used only a B&W laser printer at home for the last ten years. I just bought a color laser printer and am hoping against hope that the same stupid issue doesn’t rear its head in the next month.
mclaren
Since innocent women and children in the world’s poorest countries are being murdered in our name with our tax dollars, it’s time to talk about the World Cup and pictures of pets!
The constitution has been shredded and we’re living in a sadistic police state, so let’s get drunk and watch fireworks!
Jee-zus.
demimondian
@eemom: Yeah, lot’s of people get my gender wrong. If it bothered me, I’d pick a more stereotypically male screen name, I suppose.
Then again, I do confess to enjoying the revelation of my actual chromosomal complement to poster exhibit intense testosterone poisoning towards the putatively female demi…
demimondian
@mclaren: Sorry, dude. The self-absorbed emo-kid display is down the hall, to your left.
debit
@mclaren: If you want to control the conversation, start your own blog. If you don’t like the conversation here, leave. Seems simple enough to me.
Also, you picked a bad night to throw a tantrum in a bid for attention. Everyone else is out having a nice time. You should do the same. Seriously.
Ahasuerus
@skippy:
and you owe me a cleaned keyboard. Well done.
Jenny
@mclaren:
Since innocent women and children in the world’s poorest countries are being murdered in our name with our tax dollars, it’s time to blog!
The constitution has been shredded and we’re living in a sadistic police state, so let’s blog!
Jee-zus.
You can blow the prisoner-class infrastructure out your ass, you keyboard-pseudo-insurrectionary-sectarian piece of shit.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
Dedicated to Mclaren — happy birthday America- warts and all
PurpleGirl
At the non-profit where I worked many people asked about getting a color printer. They wondered if the printers were expensive and then would bring us ads showing how “cheap” there were to buy. We (I and one other person) kept telling everyone “it’s not the purchase price of the printer… it’s the cost of the ink.” Eventually a new manager wanted a color laser and we got one and, yup, the color toner was expensive and she had the habit of using lots of reds/purples/colors based on magenta and we were running out of cartridges like mad. We had to keep two extra magenta cartridges on hand. One print job, she ordered so many copies of one page that when we went to replace the magenta, the machine was so hot, the new cartridge exploded on us and there was toner powder EVERYWHERE.
OriGuy
@Mark S.: Some inkjet printers come with cartridges have less ink than the replacement cartridges. I think they have a primer fluid or something that comes out first. I got an HP a while back that took the same cartridges as my old printer. I tried to use the old cartridges but the new printer insisted on the ones that it came with. After those were used up I could use the others.
eemom
@mclaren:
Fixt.
Here’s a quarter. Go start a revolution.
PurpleGirl
@PurpleGirl: The good thing about more recent printers with individual color cartridges is that they will keep printing if one color runs out. Colors needing the color you’ve run out of will print light and off-color but they will print the rest of the page, at least.
(For some reason I couldn’t edit my previous comment.)
General Egali Tarian Stuck
This has been shamelessly stolen for my personal bag of insults. that is all
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@demimondian:
so long as you keep your rhetorical testosterone levels up to snuff, you’re good to go.
fucen tarmal
@skippy:
i am otherwise sick of the weigeist, but that is hilarious.
suzanne
This is enormously random, but what the hell.
In Mesa, AZ, there’s been a man known as Diz-Z who, for at least twenty years, has ridden his bicycle up and down Main Street all day (and all summer, and in any kind of weather), waving his arms and singing, and preaching. Not preaching in the asshole way, either. He was a Vietnam vet, a recovering addict, and was living on disability, and he’d had a near-death experience that resulted in his conversion. Though he was poor enough that people would often give him money, he used to turn around and give it to someone else. When I was sixteen, I worked at a McDonald’s on his route, and he would often buy food for the poor who would come in. One of the genuinely kindest people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. Every time he saw me, he’d depart with, “God bless you, Sister.” He died today, and I’m really bummed.
I just see so many fake, lying, greedy, wrathful Christians that it was always so refreshing to see one who genuinely walked the walk. Good to know those people exist, even though we lost a good one today.
fucen tarmal
@suzanne:
cool story, its amazing how otherwise random people can affect us, and probably a lot of other folks.
this is by no means related or in any sense competition, but mclaren’s emo thing, which in fairness, is how a lot of people get about holidays. this song, moreso than anything by souza, is my 4th of july song
x 4th of july
holidays are often not about the original symbolism, but the meaning where you find it. if a fuck the establishment band like x can roll with it, mclaren can too.
Ash Can
@PurpleGirl:
So does that explain your handle?
@suzanne: You’re a better person for having known him. And I’m sure you’re not the only one. And that’s what it’s all about.
Ash Can
@Svensker: LOL!
ETA: I recall that one of the little rockets the husband and bro-in-law fired off flew across the street, landed on the hood of the neighbor’s car, and exploded. A grand flurry of buffing with paper towels ensued, along with a deeply apologetic explanation to said neighbor. Fortunately, said neighbor was 1) a good sport, and 2) firing off ordnance himself, so everything turned out fine.
Steeplejack
@Yutsano:
Too late to help, but, dude, the bruschetta is practically pizza itself. WTF?!
Weird thing that used to go well with pizza back at Rocky’s Brick Oven in Atlanta: cheap red wine with a canned peach slice in each glass. Don’t ask me why, but it was a Rocky’s tradition, and it kind of grew on me.
Steeplejack
@eco2geek:
Nice-lookin’ pooch.
asiangrrlMN
eco2geek, debit, and Mnemosyne, thanks for the animal pics. I love the collection of furries we have on this board (not THAT kind!).
Not doing anything for the holiday–I don’t celebrate holidays at all. Plus, I’m on day five of a nasty migraine. I can take the headache (popping Excedrin Migraine-strength all day long helps), but the nausea is really bothering me.
eco2geek
@demimondian:
H’mm, barring any trademarks, I could use that as a pseudonym.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: You said Brick Oven, causing me to have a flashback. Thanks.
eco2geek
@Steeplejack: Thx. She’s a very good dog.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
Love Wodehouse. And–be still, my heart–I just discovered that Wodehouse Playhouse is available on DVD. How did I miss this for six years?
asiangrrlMN
@eco2geek: She is simply beautiful. Lovely. I hope she does well with the fireworks. My boys are NOT pleased with the noisy things come July 4th.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@asiangrrlMN: Hope your headache goes away:)
Steeplejack
@PurpleGirl:
I usually hate rah-rah musicals, but I like Yankee Doodle Dandy Joan Leslie is incongruously hot as Mary, almost derailing the vibe. Must check IMDB to see what else she was in. She would have been a natural for film noir.
asiangrrlMN
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: Thanks. Looking at Charlie helped. I left you a comment! He seems like a happy dog. How can you not just want to nom on him all day long.
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Whoa. Didn’t even think about that. Hope it’s not like Beetlejuice, where saying the name invokes the presence.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: Tell me about it. #Ptooey ptooey#. How you be? You have tomorrow off?
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@asiangrrlMN:
LOL, it’s hard not to. He is such a sweetheart. Thanx for flickr comment.
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Yes, I’m off tomorrow and Monday, my usual weekend, just in time for the return of the sweltering. Predicted high is 94° tomorrow, 96° on Monday, 99° on Tuesday and Wednesday. WTF?! And this after highs around 80° and lows around 60° since Wednesday (which is much closer to the historical average for late June/early July in NoVa). A week ago Thursday we touched 100°. ¡Caramba!
Had the shift from hell tonight, didn’t get home until almost midnight. The store has been running with a skeleton crew to “save payroll,” but then the few of us who close end up staying an extra hour to clean up the mess that didn’t get touched all day because we were running with a skeleton crew. Payroll savings? Not so much. But good luck explaining that to management. Who should be able to see it for themselves anyway.
God, ’nuff ’bout dat. Just glad to be home and off for a few days. Sorry to hear about your migraines. Hope you find some relief.
demimondian
@eco2geek: Feel free. I disclaim all rights.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: Stupid management. Can’t see the forest for the trees and such.
We had 90 degrees here today. 90. That’s just not right.
I am gobbling down the Excedrin Migraine like it’s candy. I think I may have to take some of my ginger pills for the nausea.
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: How long have you had him now? It seems like he’s always been in your life, but I know that’s not true.
asiangrrlMN
Speaking of emo, this is my theme song for the night. After I listen to it a dozen more times, I will switch to the JC version.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@asiangrrlMN: I got him toward the end of last January, so it’s been a little over 6 months.
The Other Steve
I’m styling with my Android.
asiangrrlMN
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: I’ve had my boys for three and a half years now. I can’t believe how quickly time has gone.
bago
It might be useful to ask these two questions:
How many Americans were killed on American soil by Iraqis?
How many Iraqis were killed on Iraqi soil by Americans?
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Hello there.
Steeplejack
@Tattoosydney:
Hello there. And good night. Shift change effected.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Hi, hon! How you be? I hope you’re all better from the recurring crap you were having.
@Steeplejack: Wait, huh, what? I thought you were late-night shift with moi?
Mark S.
No late night thread? Cole must be getting laid.
Tattoosydney
@Steeplejack:
Night Steep.
@asiangrrlMN:
I am well. My bug has subsided, and I feel almost human. It all just confirms me in my decision to get a different career.
I’m sorry to hear about your headache and the heat that cruel nature is sending to torment you.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
I have pictures of cute animals. The giraffe one is part of quite a funny series which I will post soon.
ETA: The image download version of the tree kangaroo picture is quite large, but the detail on his fur is just stunning. If I do say so myself.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: I saw the koala you posted the other day. So cute! The giraffe is funny, and I am in love with the tree kanga. So little and adorable and fuzzy! I want! His fur is so gorgeous. You did a great job on him.
When are you changing careers? I’m glad you’re over your bug. Stay healthy, please.
I think the heat is egging on the nausea. I popped more Excedrin Migraine and my ginger pills, so let’s hope that helps.
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Nothing was going on around here, and I found myself window-shopping at Amazon and catching up on crossword puzzles. Ngrr!
And I’m tired. Sometimes I don’t notice, but it feels like it would be better to pack it in now and feel fresher in the morning.
Later, all.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: Night, Steepman. Sleep well.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: @Tattoosydney: Koalas are teh awesome. That is all.
Hi folks. I’m home from what has turned out to be a great weekend with my family. Played pinochle with my brothers, won one game, lost one, got tons of Jack kisses, and the ultimate irony, the appetizer was bruschetta!
Wifey, I feel bettah and FH #1 feels bettah, so now it’s your turn. So please feel better fast.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
I’m going to take a month or so off at the beginning of next year, and work out what I am going to do with the next ten years.
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
Hello.
I’ve had a nice quiet weekend. Dinner last night with friends, and a game of drunken scrabble. Today, Bradley flew to Melbourne for a course, but it’s sunny and I’m cooking Heston Blumenthal’s Treacle Tart, so I’m feeling quite good all in all.
ETA: Oh, I forgot – i also went to the Asian grocery and bought lots of stuff I didn’t know what it was (odd minced stuff in jars) and odd jams (jujube) and tinned mangosteen (yum).
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: I m honestly considering a similar course, at least should I get offered a job next week. Since the job wouldn’t start until the middle of September, I have the option of resigning immediately, or waiting a few weeks until mid August, or even until September 1st. I haven’t decided how I’m going to play those cards yet until I know at least if I’m moving.
Mmm…treacle tart. Sounds quite delish!
Any names on the strange jars? Perhaps between wifey and I we can dissect their various culinary uses.
harlana peppper
Celebrate with James!
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
It’s a nightmare. You have to make the pastry by rubbing together a massive amount of flour with a massive amount of butter with your fingers until it’s like breadcrumbs, which makes you feel like your hands are going to explode, all the while ensuring the dough doesn’t get too warm, then mix in sugar and vanilla and lemon zest and eggs, then let it rest for three hours to relax.
Then I have to roll it out into the tins (without it getting warm, remember), let it rest again and then blind bake. However, after that the filling (basically butter, lots of golden syrup, lemon and brown breadcrumbs) is a bit of a doddle.
I worked out the pickled kaffir lime leaves (yum), but I am mystified by something called Mataram which I haven’t opened (to maintain the suspense). It is a tub with no particular information – brand name, ingredient list (all in (if I had to guess) Indonesian), containing minced brown stuff with light brown bits. I suspect it’s a sauteeing base (shrimp paste, spices).
However, I also think it looks exactly like a Portuguese fig and nut paste, so what do I know?
I could Google, but I’m enjoying not working it out that way.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: Well, I’m never above a good Google…which ended up revealing little other than Mataram is a city. So it could indeed a specialty to that particular region to Indonesia. Hard to determine with just that information. Does it have a particular seafood scent to it? If it’s something you integrate into stir-fry it might just be tasty with shrimp or possibly as a marinade base or chicken or beef. And the pickled kaffir lime leaves sound divine.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: I love the word treacle. I really wish we used it in America more often.
@Yutsano: Yeah, well, if I could just cut off my head, I would feel better. Sigh. Since that is not to be….
Tattoosydney
Heavens. I quite forgot.
Happy Fourth of July to all my American friends!
@Yutsano:
Yum. It’s this. It’s peanutty and dark and really dense.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Yeah, but imagine the cleaning bills.
It is a little odd that Heston’s recipe for treacle tart doesn’t actually have any treacle in it.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: Fascinating. Make a couple of small changes and you pretty much have pad thai from that sauce recipe there. It sounds wonderfully complex. I kinda like the marinade idea even more now!
@asiangrrlMN: Ki o tsukete kudasai. My recommendation is simple: pho. And lots of it.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: I’m allergic to wheat. So, rice noodles instead.
@Tattoosydney: True. Blood is not easy to get out of the carpet.
asiangrrlMN
All right, I’m outie. Night, bitchez. No canoodling without me.
Mnemosyne
@asiangrrlMN:
If you come back to the thread, see if you can find some Gin Gins Boost (I get them at Cost Plus World Market out here). They work great for all kinds of nausea, including motion sickness and migraines.
My most annoying migraine by far was the one that started with the nausea so I didn’t even realize what it was for two days until the headache part kicked in and I realized I should take some Excedrin. Aargh.
Another protip — regular extra-strength Excedrin and Excedrin Migraine are the exact same formulation. Seriously, read the label sometime. No need to pay the extra buck or two.
mtraven
I doubt any fireworks display will ever top this one from 1962.