Most of the people I know are out of town, so not doing much of anything. Plus, my allergies have been AWFUL today. Must be the humidity.
Made myself some broiled sea scallops with a touch of lemon and kosher salt, a tomato and onion salad with a touch of oil and vinegar, and I steamed some kale, then sauteed it with olive oil, shallots, and at the last minute added a little bit of crushed tomatoes and then topped it with some parmesan. Turned out really well.
What are you all up to tonight?
Yutsano
Brisket and ribs at the ranch, then figuring out what the hell I’m going to do for a car for at least the next week. I’m checking the finances cause I may just need to replace that old beast. And there’s a Saab convertible teasing me…
Corner Stone
What, no cucumber?
General Stuck
I plan to stream Serenity, broil some salmon and brussel sprouts, and figure out the meaning of life. Roughly in that order
arguingwithsignposts
I am awaiting the start of the fireworks and concert in philly with the somebody. We walked around the party on the parkway earlier, but it was pretty lame. The Roots are headlining the concert. I’m wearing my BJ t-shirt.
Lolis
I work till 10:30 PM Central time. I will probably see fireworks as I am driving home from work. It is too hot in Austin to be outside, anyway.
Valdivia
plan to watch the fireworks with some friends who came into town. no yummy food because being laid up with zero movement means my caloric allowance is now so low I am done eating for the day. But I get to indulge vicariously through you all!
Cat Lady
Pan seared scallops with roasted corn and fresh tarragon risotto, with sauteed pea sprouts and sweet peas in sweet butter. (Ladies, if you ever get a chance to marry a man who can cook, DO IT!) Half a million people going to watch the fireworks live, I’ll have a front row seat on my couch.
Zandar
Catching up on my DVR. True Blood, Leverage, Falling Skies, Mythbusters.
Oh, and rereading Song of Ice and Fire books for next week.
Martin
Off to the evening potluck in a few hours, then grab the dog and walk over to the fireworks, then walk home. Haven’t needed to touch the car all day. Makes it easier to maintain a steady + level throughout the day.
TaMara (BHF)
I swear, 4th of July is my favorite holiday. I’m heading out to a potluck picnic. My contribution is Macaroni Salad with sharp cheddar, bacon and chipotle/adobo mayonnaise.. Then fireworks downtown.
The day would be perfect if I didn’t have to work tomorrow….
Happy 4th everyone.
jeffreyw
I made a pasta salad that worked well.
SIA
Worked several hours to minimize tomorrow’s stress. Now getting ready to meditate, then watch a movie. Super storms all around Atlanta.
Watched inception last night. Flawed but very thought-provoking.
Where do you guys buy your scallops and other seafood?
Violet
Burgers for dinner with sweet potato fries. Followed by brownies (making those too). Then riding bikes to see the fireworks. Figure it’s a good idea to work off a little of the dinner before bed.
Feeling very proud of myself because I went through a bunch of stuff in a room that’s served as a storage room since the move a year ago. Got rid of a bunch of stuff, put a lot on the garage sale pile, and found proper homes for the stuff that’s being kept. Now there’s a lot more room there. That’s the project for the summer, to clean out that space. It’s too miserably hot outside to want to do anything outside, so it’s a good time to year to do it.
MattR
Just learned of a dog park about a 15 minute drive from here. Gonna eat dinner and then take Ellie to check it out (have not been outside recently, but hopefully it will be a bit cooler than at 2pm)
ABL
you need to find you a lady to cook for.
kdaug
Firefly marathon on the Science channel. (Habenero & chile sausage grilling done this AM.)
Saw Serenity, but never caught Firefly, so I know the characters – it’s like bite-sized Serenity with commercial breaks.
JPL
SIA, We’ve had thunder on and off for the last few hours. I’m hoping for rain later. Whole Foods sometimes have pretty good scallops. Scallops should smell sweet when you purchase them, not at all fishy.
Violet
@SIA:
I like Whole Foods for seafood because I think they’re fairly ethical with their seafood. They have a rating program that explains whether or not the seafood is responsibly harvested. I’ve found the quality to be pretty good too.
Where I live, there are a couple of other dependable seafood options, including one larger, local supermarket and at least one small fish market. You’d probably need to look around wherever you live to find a similar small market.
Edit: I’ve bought scallops at Kroger and honestly, they’re not worth the money. They’re usually previously frozen and very watery once thawed. They almost steam rather than pan-fry when you cook them. Just no.
Valdivia
obviously the whole vicarious foodie living on this thread is killing me :)
SIA
@ efgoldman – Atlanta
PanAmerican
Hippie punching.
Violet
@SIA:
Atlanta’s Chowhound has a thread on best seafood markets.
Edit: Another Chowhound thread on Atlanta seafood markets: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/448886
SIA
@ Violet and JPL. Whole Foods! Now I should have thought of that. Even though we’re in town it’s not really close, but after reading some of the menus I’m seriously jonesin’.
ETA @ Violet – good idea thank you!
JPL
SIA, I grew up in MA and haven’t found a good fish market around me. Kroger’s and Publix are awful for fish and the only option I know of is Whole Foods.
realbtl
I drove 580 miles across Montana today. Another 70 tomorrow to pick up a rescue Weimaraner and back to Helena and a doggie friendly hotel tomorrow, then 180 miles back home Wed. Our GSP rescue passed last week and my wife, myself and the English Lab all need another dog. It’s a good thing I like road trips. I drove along the Yellowstone River for about 350 miles this afternoon and it is full full full.
Kobie
Happy Fourth, all! I’m stuck at the paragraph factory once again.
Hunter Gathers
Celebrating the birth of our nation by blowing up a small part of it.
robertdsc-PowerBook
Playing the original Infamous on PS3 right now, then watching Battle: Los Angeles later tonight.
PeakVT
Decline and fall of the empire, railroad edition.
kdaug
@Lolis #5 – Best not – we’re under a burn ban. I’m hoping that either A) the neighbors got the fucking message, or B) Austin Fire’s running extra shifts tonight.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@2 Corner Stone
Cherchez la eemom.
.
.
SIA
JPL, you’re in north Atlanta, right?
mildlyagitatedwhiteguy
Worked, worked some more, did some shopping, came home and as I was just about to order my Independence Day General Tso’s chicken, witnessed the aftermath of a dog get hit by a car outside my house. Now I’m gonna get drunk to forget that while curling up with my own two pups and giving them all the treats I can find.
JPL
SIA, Roswell Home of Tom Price.
abo gato
mmmm, kale. I made a kale salad a couple of weeks ago. Really good, and easy:
2 bunches kale
1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c cider vinegar
1/2 c canola oil
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 T sesame seeds (I toasted mine briefly)
Wash and dry the kale well, remove stems and tear into bite-sized pieces. Place in a serving bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, oil, brown sugar, red peppers and sesame seeds. Whisk thoroughly. Toss the kale with the dressing, making sure the greens are well coated. Let sit at least half an hour before serving.
Good the next day as well.
Oh, drinking a Dark and Stormy now, have a brisket in the smoker and grilled corn, grilled cabbage and a grilled fennel salad waiting along with a big pot of pinto beans. Gonna be a lot of food to eat shortly.
JPL
mildlyagitatedwhiteguy …How sad. It’s sounds as though you have a good plan though.
burnspbesq
@Yutsano:
Dude, don’t do it. Driving a Saab, even a convertible, does not increase your chances of shacking up with cute Swedes.
True story: in 1997, we had to replace a car, because a Miata was impractical with a four-year-old to schlep around. I got the hand-me-down and spouse got to pick a new car (don’t ask). It came down to Saab 9/3 vs. Audi A4. She picked the Saab, and it was not a pleasant experience; in terms of total cost of ownership, the Saab was even worse than my Boxster. She knows she fucked that one up, especially now that we have an A4 in the driveway (the kid’s car).
If you have to have a convertible, find a used A4 or 328i (or even better, an older Benz CLK 320).
birthmarker
Did the celebrating thing last night, and now I am home alone and happily chilling.
Last night my neighbor shot off the most awesome fireworks I have ever seen. There was a large burst, typical but nice, then a smaller burst, still nice, but then the thing shot off about 50 large starbursts. It was huge and filled the sky. The neighbor shot off 4 of them in a row. It was like something you would see over the Statue of Liberty or over the Washington Monument. I am sure it was somethng he bought locally. (Legal here and lots of stands about.) All the neighbors started yelling and clapping. Really beautiful.
Mnemosyne
We got uninvited from my brother’s — apparently he and his wife actually want some alone time since they don’t have the kids this weekend and they’re in final preparations to take an almost three-week trip with the kids. So I’m doing massive amounts of laundry (four loads) and finishing some craft projects. We’re too lazy to cook, so G went to Vons and picked up hot dogs and potato salad.
We’re having a post-Fourth party at work this week and I’m considering making one of my all-time crowd favorites, Caesar Potato Salad.
geg6
Baby arugula and fresh tomatoe with creamy white wine vinaigrette. Herb rubbed tuna steaks, baked potatoes, and garlic roasted Brussels sprouts all done on the grill. Lemon merangue pie. Oh, and a couple bottles of Reisling. Who knows what on tv. Good day.
jeffreyw
Mrs J assembled a few cannolis for you BJers.
Nellcote
Our five baby chicks are having their first day in the sun. Adorable and hilarious!
Mustang Bobby
I’m listening to the local classical station in Miami play all sorts of American music (they just did Paul Robeson singing “Ole Man River”), working on a new play (yea, I broke my writer’s block!), and waiting for my neighbors to come out with the heavy artillery fireworks.
I posted the Boston Pops playing “Stars and Stripes Forever” for a little red, white and blue nostalgia over at my blog.
Linnaeus
Unpacking in my new apartment. Maybe taking a walk later, since it’s rather nice out, then eating something (probably leftovers, as all my kitchen stuff isn’t unpacked yet) then going over to my friend’s place tonight.
Brachiator
Celebrated Saturday and Sunday, so am recovering today.
From the Daily Mail: Extraordinary Library of Congress pictures chart Independence Day through the centuries
wonkie
I am sitting at home aloe except for three dogs while my husband is out kayaking. I have one of the worst colds ever, sinuses full of concrete, chills, acheyness, …my only comfort is my Kindle. And the local ban of fireworks which I deeply appreciate.
srv
Now that y’all got me hooked on the Beeb’s Luther (Season 1 on instant at netflix), I regret to tell you that Season 2 has started and you are missing out on the biggest thing since Breaking Bad’s last episodes.
I suggest you forwithly sign up for a UK VPN account and stream the Beeb. Last episode arrives tomorrow night.
And don’t move on Episode 1 until the credits roll. You’ll be out of the couch at that point anyway.
SIA
@ JPL at 6:33 pm. Oh dear. I AM sorry.
trollhattan
The 4th is going something like this:
* Walk dog in triple-digit heat to try and wear her out so she’ll crash through the fireworks, which she fears/hates/panics over. (check)
* Prepare this ‘n that for potluck swim party. (check)
* Go to party and drink Belgian ales in triple digit heat (what can possibly go wrong?).
* Leave family unit at party once fireworks begin, to go home and try to distract terrified dog until they finally end (usually sometime after eleven). I plan on listening to the new Gillian Welch & Madeleine Peyroux & Tedeschi Trucks Band albums at concert level while watching this morning’s Le Tour stage.
* Congratulate myself for being clever enough to take Tuesday off to recover.
[edit] Whoa, dig that crazy formatting.
burnspbesq
@Mustang Bobby:
Sounds great.
I’m about to cue up a find from yesterday’s trip to the record swap meet in Pasadena: “Lambert, Hendricks & Ross Sing Ellington.” This could be fun.
trollhattan
Hey Yutsano, you still looking at that salvage ‘vert?
eemom
@ Uncle 32
leave me out of your sicko fantasies, you freakazoid — lest I tell Ginni where you spend your time while she’s off 69ing with Grover.
bkny
40. Mnemosyne …
saw your comment below. the ‘private investigator’ who did it is in prison; there’s a huge investigation/scandal of rupert’s operation that i’ve read could take down some very high level executives.. not rupert though; but maybe one of his kids…
funny how there’s no coverage of that here. you’d think with as influential as murchoch is, there’d be some interest…
MikeJ
I will be convincing a certain young woman that the most patriotic thing one can do is ride the rocket.
JCT
Boy is back home after a few days away playing baseball — don’t even mind the shaggy beard he grew. Going to miss the big lug after he goes off to college. So the better half made his favorite food — beef ribs and corn bread. Nom Nom as my eldest would say…
Of course we warmed up with my specialty — way too strong margaritas + guacamole and home made tortilla chips.
Good top off to a day spent switching off between writing a grant and cleaning out my house before getting it on the market. Whoa, amazing what you can amass over 20 years!
Yutsano
@ burns:
I’m weighing two options right now. One is get something okay but not too sparkly and avoid financing anything. The other is taking what I would have shelled out for the first choice as a down payment and get something that should last me awhile. One of those options is a ridiculously low priced Audi for the mileage and year (2007 with 78K only $10K) but that would be financing about half. Hopefully I can push things back until August which is a three paycheck month.
General Stuck
American Legion baseball?
Yutsano
FYWP.
Nyet. I think it sold, plus they wouldn’t finance and I didn’t have as much cash as I do now.
cathyx
@55. Mike J.-
Is your real name Hugh Hefner?
Mnemosyne
Also, for any other movie fans out there, the Warner Bros website is putting a whole bunch of DVDs on sale this weekend, including the Made to Order ones of pre-Code movies. I got 6 and it was really hard to restrain myself to just those.
If you don’t know what a pre-Code movie is, take a look at this clip from Barbara Stanwyck’s Baby Face (1933). They’re not all great (what “golden age” is?) but they’re fascinating to watch and see just how much got repressed in American films from the mid-30s to the late 60s. Those good ol’ days that conservatives remember so fondly never existed outside of the expurgated stories that were allowed to be told by Joe Breen. TCM’s “Forbidden Hollywood” collections are a good place to start.
BO_Bill
I am going to exercise my Privilege and sell sex toys all night long. Holiday pay baby.
JPL
Ah..the firecrackers are starting. In less than two hours the fireworks will start. I can actually see them through the trees in my backyard. At that point, the dog will start shaking and roaming the house for a hiding place. The cat thinking he is about to be attacked will hiss. Fun times.
Corner Stone
Man, I hope the idiots here respect the burn ban in place.
But we all know Real Murkins(tm) value their freedom to light Chinese fireworks more than they respect private property rights.
JCT
@General Stuck 58
That was actually his original plan but the only local AL team filled before he finished school.
He’s spending the summer playing for a county showcase team instead — traveling all over the Northeast and Midwest. Some serious players, he just showed me his nice bruise from a HBP — lace marks and all. Yuck.
Corner Stone
What the hell just happened in that Hillshire Farm commercial?
Have I finally reached peak drunk?
Phyllis
Watching Braves v. Rockies; dinner is sauteed turnip greens, broccoli/carrot/purple cabbage slaw with a vinaigrette dressing and ribs slathered with Sticky Fingers mustard sauce. I’ve got to run back out to the 4th celebration in a minute to snap a pboto of one of the musical acts. Fireworks at 9-ish. Rain showing on the radar should hit us about 10 or so.
JPL
Corner Stone, Maybe I need a drink cuz I have no idea what commercial you are talking about.
General Stuck
Sounds similar to AL. It sounded like the summer life I had all through HS playing AL baseball. Where we would pile into cars and take off and be gone a week or two at a time, playing Baseball all around the Ohio Valley and southwards. It was a riot, and some of the best memories of my life.
One year, we all piled into an old school bus and took off for Florida, to barnstorm that state playing games for over a month there.
nancydarling
Sarah, P&T, If you are out there I could use a little 4th of July fable from you. We had a little dust up on that other thread about strokes, fat people, black people, the South, loss of cognitive abilities, and other stuff. Someone called me a “stupid fuck” but he apologized later, as it was a misunderstanding. There were hissy fits and hurt feelings and lots of bravado, but all is well now. Please tell us a story.
I’m going to neighbors to watch fireworks at the fair grounds. It’s about 2 miles from their front porch, so the view should be nice. I have to wash bed linens first. It thundered and lightened last night and Mijo, the 90 pound yeller dog is scared shitless by storms and insisted on sleeping on the bed.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
Finished up steaks and baked potatoes on the grill, corn on the cob, and salad (some stuff from the garden). Harvested at least 4 pints of raspberries from the thicket the previous owner planted, and there’s more for the pickin’ soon.
About to go haul out the National Style O and see if I can remember to play after setting it aside for almost a year.
Brachiator
That’s a long way from the starchy matriarch of The Big Valley.
Yutsano
WyldPyrate calls that “civil discourse. YMMV of course. You should wear it as a badge of honor.
gogol's wife
Mnemosyne #61: I live for pre-Code movies.
Mnemosyne
@ Brachiator
After we watched a couple of her pre-Code movies (Night Nurse is another terrific one that’s available on DVD), G turned to me and said, “You know, I never understood what people saw in Barbara Stanwyck, but now I get it.” When you see her in the pre-Codes, you can see how confined she was by the Code.
She was one of the lucky ones, though — a lot of actresses’ careers didn’t survive the transition. Nobody remembers Ann Dvorak or Kay Francis today, but if you watch Three on a Match or Trouble in Paradise, you’ll see why they were stars.
WaterGirl
@ violet’s question about loud parties in a previous thread
yearsdecades ago i lived in a house where we had loud parties into the wee hours, but all our neighbors loved us because we would always let them know in advance when we were having a party.we learned to do this after the first party where the cops came to the door. cops at the door + people smoking dope inside the house was a bad combination. :-)
i think you could ask your neighbor if they would mind letting you know in advance when they will be having a loud, late-night party.
p.s. congratulations on getting such a good start on “the room”!
nancydarling
Yutsano, Metaphorically speaking, I have very thick skin. The real skin is turning into the old lady variety— sorta like a ripe peach. I am forever bumping into wild roses, barbed wire, etc. and tearing it. Does anyone know of a nutritional supplement that helps the condition?
Happy 4th to all of you, and you, especially, Wyld.
JCT
Gen Stuck @69
Awesome! That’s exactly what my boy is doing, he’s been bumped up to the 17U team and is having a blast. He was in Kentucky last week.
He’s about to apply to college and that whole process has turned into such a horror that I told him to just concentrate on baseball and enjoy himself this summer instead of getting a job. His smile lit up the sky when I made that deal.
Plenty of time for working….
Mnemosyne
@ gogol’s wife
You should try to track down Mick LaSalle’s two books, Complicated Women and Dangerous Men. They’re out of print, but they really make a good case for pre-Code films being more important than they’re usually given credit for. And he smacks Joe Breen down harder than I think I’ve seen any other popular author do.
PurpleGirl
Will watch the Macy’s fireworks from my terrace, but the friend I asked to join me for the show decided not to come over. The first July 4th I was in this apartment I had a party with 10 people or so.
The show is on the Hudson River this year, so I’ll only see the very high shell bursts; I have much better view when the show is on the East River. A lot also depends on if the sky is cloudy or clear.
ETA: I’m confused: TCM seems to be showing Yankee Doodle Dandy this evening but the one line description of the story is in what looks like Spanish…
lojasmo
@nancydarling
Fish oil and vitamin D3. Swear by it.
AS for me, I stupidly volunteered to work 2-10 tonight, then I have to come back in a 6 am to try to ride the bronco that is our cardiac cath lab.
Yuck.
JPL
It’s raining here. The animals are thrilled because the firecrackers stopped but I feel sorta sad for all the folks waiting for the fireworks to start in another hour.
The Braves are winning but I expect they will have a rain delay shortly.
Paddy
@ srv 6:55 pm
Bless your butt, I thought Luther was done for, I had no idea they decided to do a second season!! I’m not sure I understand the whole VPN thing, which one would you rec?
nancydarling
Thanks, lojasmo. Interesting because my MD checked me for Vitamin D and thought I was low, although my research showed my numbers were the low side of normal. I took D3 for a while and then stopped—not a very compliant patient here. I will give it a try. The problem is only my arms, which is the part that gets the most sun I guess.
Phyllis
@JPL #82: They’ve played through some pretty heavy rain the last couple of nights; looks like the stuff on the radar is breaking up before it gets to us. Bummer.
JCT
@lojasmo
Ah, cath lab memories — the worst on-call of my entire career was as a cards fellow on a July 4th Monday.
It was so legendary that it was a source of Divisional skit fodder for years…
Hope yours is better.
David Brooks (not that one) is a dickhead
Watched the picture-perfect Americana parade in Carnation, WA (home of contented cows). Now sipping wine and snacking at the home of our daughter’s in-laws overlooking the Puget Sound, on a glorious day. Pretty good.
Violet
@nancydarling:
Dry skin can be a sign of a thyroid problem. Get your thyroid tested and INSIST on seeing the bloodwork results yourself. Don’t just take the “you’re normal” result from the nurse. If your TSH is above 3.0, consider finding a competent Endocrinologist and have a complete thyroid panel done, including both anti-thyroid antibodies.
If you are currently taking thyroid medication, go back and get yourself re-tested. Things can change with your thyroid for various reasons and sometimes seemingly for no reason. It’s important to follow up.
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne:
That’s funny. Kay Francis is one of my favorites, and Trouble in Paradise is a flat out masterpiece. The director of that film, Ernst Lubitsch, was a huge influence on the great Billy Wilder. Lubitsch also directed the sparkling comedies, The Shop Around the Corner and To Be or Not To Be.
There is a wonderful Criterion Collection version of Trouble in Paradise, crisp video transfer of the film, and insightful commentary track.
At one time, Kay Francis was one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood. It is said that her lisp inspired the voice of cartoon character Elmer Fudd.
Stanwyck, of course, kicks major butt in the screwball comedy, The Lady Eve, with Henry Fonda.
A great New Yorker profile of Barbara Stanwyck may still be available here.
Several years ago, the LA County Museum of Art ran a film series of some pre-Code films, including a minor film with Kay Francis. She was hot stuff. A biographer included a great deal of her private diary in a work about her. Her life was even hotter than a pre Code movie.
Oh yeah, Miriam Hopkins, the other female lead in Trouble in Paradise, is also largely forgotten today. Very sad.
Litlebritdifrnt
I seriously miss an honest to goodness fishmonger, like we have in my home town over in England, seriously fresh fish, of all types, beautifully potted Morecambe Bay shrimp. Pickled cockles and whelks. Sigh. All I get here is saran wrapped fish on polystyrene slabs. As a substitute Fresh Market has really nice fish, sold the way it should be.
The Pale Scot
Anyone know how to remove aluminum foil from a glasstop stove?
Jeez did I frack up.
J.W. Hamner
Sounds like a lovely meal Mr. Cole, and I mean that sincerely. Myself, I’m a bit bitter to be stuck in Cambridge because my professor gave us our take home midterm over the 4th. I’ve heard that my better half is enjoying Maine though. *sigh*
Nicole
Watching Jaws.
South of I-10
We just finished dinner, BBQ chicken, baked beans, fresh corn and potato salad. I’m looking forward to calming my panicky dog once the fireworks start.
JPL
The Pale Scot ,,,uhoh… Call the manufacturers help line.
aimai
Had my parents over for dinner and grilled swordfish and bluefish in ras al hanout and grape leaves, grilled eggplant, peppers, and zuchhini. Made a quick salad of shaved zucchini, lemon, and mint. Boiled new potatoes. boiled corn. Served everything with home made harrissa and pomegranate mollasses. Dessert of fresh strawberries and blackberries. And so to bed.
aimai
Mino
Made a Food Channel cucumber soup with lychees. At first, I wasn’t too sure about it, but after it sat in the fridge awhile, it tasted pretty good.
Phyllis
@Cornerstone: Do you mean the one with the blonde that you think is twins, but it’s really just the one woman? I think, anyway, ’cause we hit the mute for commercials. Most of them you can suss out anyway, but that one? Not so much. Actually, no way in hell.
Corner Stone
@Phyllis
Yes! The “two” blonde women who turn into “one” when she dances around the back of the original one. She’s really energetic and does some nifty dance moves.
Thank FSM. I thought I was more fucked than possible.
Of course, I still may be but at least sausage has less to do with it than a couple minutes ago.
JPL
Anyone else notice that baseball umps appear to eat to many hillshire farms sausages? Braves are up by one.
edit..braves up by two
Mark S.
I found this passage pretty funny:
(cause I always fuck up multiple paragraph blockquotes)
birthmarker
Pale Scott-Can’t speak specifically to aluminum foil, but Cerama Bright and Weimans have taken off everything we have gotten on ours so far. Got one at Target, and the other at Publix. With the Weimans you also purchase a little pad that helps to kind of abrade the mess. Some people use razor blades to scrape also. First, I would check with the manufacturer, as suggested above.
CaseyL
I’m spending the evening doing nothing because I spent the day checking out what has to be one of the most glorious mountain trails ever.
Mt. Rainier, Emmons Moraine Trail. On the Sunrise side of the mountain, accessed via the White River Campground. It’s 1.5 miles each way, 700 foot elevation gain (practically all of it in the first switchbacks: this trail starts out hard and then settles down to easy). The last half mile is up a slope that overlooks the largest glacier in the Lower 48 and its stone-strewn bed (the “moraine” part). The view includes, besides the glacier, two glacier-fed lakes (both milky jade in color, one a startling green and the other pastel), forested mountain slopes with snowy caps, and (if you look back the way you came) a glacier-carved valley ending in yet another snow-capped peak. Plus the waterfalls-of-increasing size on the way up, as snowmelt runs down the mountain.
I didn’t want to leave. I have never felt the slightest urge to go back-country camping, but the opportunity to camp out on the moraine of that glacier – to spend a night in what has to be among the loveliest places on the planet – is awfully tempting.
I got back a couple hours ago. Now I’m exhausted, with a sun-induced headache, and body stiffening up, just waiting for the dishwasher to be done so I can use up what’s left of the hot water for a good long soak… or else I might not be able to move tomorrow!
Will be going back there, though, with a meetup group that I’ve just become an Assistant Organizer for. Whoo hoo!
A happy and safe Fourth to everyone!
PanAmerican
Ben-Hur
1926
Cecil B. Demille
I believe the kids refer to this as fan service.
The Pale Scot
Thanks guys, already emailed the manufacturer, I tried low heat and a razor, but I’m hesitant to push until I get an idea of whether it scratches easy or not, (ain’t my stove). got all these mad chemist’s ideas bouncing around my head concerning Ai’s reactivity but I’m finally old enough not to act on them.
Svensker
Pre-dinner wine spritzers with some goat cheese aged with grappa (has a fresh goat taste mixed with a bleu zingle). Grilled sirloin with devil sauce, roasted asparagus, hearts of palm salad, and some fresh berries for dessert. Everything except the hearts of palm from the local farmers’ market. Nice. Perhaps a walk up to see the protest at the Greek consulate tonight (the Greeks are blocking the flotilla ships from sailing to Gaza).
freelancer (iPhone)
Marinated, grilled chicken breasts, garlic bread with homemade Bruschetta, corn on the cob, summer salad at my brother’s new in-laws. Good day so far.
JPL
Braves bottom of the sixth two outs and bases loaded and they are letting the pitcher bat. ugh
PurpleGirl
The Macy’s fireworks haven’t begun yet but there have been some fireworks sent up by neighborhood people and fireworks to the southeast in Brooklyn…
arguingwithsignposts
Michael mcdonald sucks. That is all.
jeffreyw
I am sitting here, amazed. I posted that busy hummingbird pic to reddit and it has been clicked on 7000+ times today.
ETA: Linky
CynDee
Grilled chicken with garlic green beans, loads of bright fresh vegetables, followed by homemade blueberry pie (with orange juice instead of lemon juice) and Ben and Jerry’s plain vanilla ice cream, followed by a 1 1/2 mile walk with Doggie, who found 9 people in the neighborhood to go up and greet; he has LOTS of friends. Now, like Americans everywhere, I will settle into bed with Jane Austen and Doggie snoring in his bed.
General Stuck
That is amazing Jeffrey. I keep thinking about getting my pics out more on the web, beyond just flickr, but just don’t end up doing it. My hummers are kind of slow arriving this year, only a few blackchinned, and that is all. Oh well.
Joel
@The Pale Scot
If you get desperate, something like concentrated lye should wipe out that aluminum pretty quick. I assume that’s what you meant when you were talking about “mad scientist” ideas. Pure base might etch your stove top though. Also, explosive hydrogen gas. Like I said, if you’re desperate.
The Pale Scot
I was thinking more along the lines of low PH, heck, just pour some ketchup on and go to sleep.
JPL
The Pale Scot – That actually sounds like a good idea but I still think I’d wait until you hear back from the manufacturer.
MikeJ
I’ve got the fire started, wood chips about to smoke, just about ready for the jerk chicken to go on, to be served with tropical fruit salad (papaya, mango, coconut, etc).
Jay C
Just cooling back on the Actual Fourth chez C – at our
palace compoundretreat here in the Scenic Berkshires. Had a nice weekend, though (barring the miserable rain all day Sunday). We were delayed getting out of NY on Saturday, and only got up by 7:00p – to find that our houseguests (plus an additional couple of friends who dropped by) had BBQ’ed dinner for all of us timed for (you guessed it!) 7:00. So: food was waiting, drinks were waiting (most of a magnum of Stoli had vanished by the time we got there) – friends were waiting (and happy to see us) – worse times have been had. No culinary tours de force, though: just good simple food, good friends, and a pleasant time. Oh, and illicit fireworks.America, F*ck Yeah!!!!
Jewish Steel
White Sox win on a balk. Wow. Never seen that before.
JPL
Braves win! My local town’s fireworks are going off as I type among showers. I can see the lights through the leaves.
hilts
Network is on TCM at 12:15 am
14 Propaganda Techniques Fox “News” Uses to Brainwash Americans
http://www.truth-out.org/14-propaganda-techniques-fox-news-uses-brainwash-americans/1309612678
MikeJ
hilts@121:DuckSoup, one of the finest movies ever made, on at 11:30. Why a duck? Whya no-a chicken?
burnspbesq
@ JCT:
Your kid his not hurting his college chances a bit by focusing on baseball for the summer.
A buddy of mine’s oldest daughter was a very good high school catcher, a borderline D1 prospect (was invited to walk on at UCLA). She wanted (a) a small school (b) far away from Newport Beach, CA, so she sent a DVD to Bowdoin, where her grades and test scores were a little marginal. A week later, she got an email from the coach, which basically said “I get one freebie a year from the admissions office, and if you’ll commit now I will use it on you.”
Five years later, she’s a cum laude graduate of Bowdoin, with a job in her field in Boston.
burnspbesq
@ Jewish Steel:
That’s the second walk-off balk this year. Mets lost a game (to the Giants, IIRC) about a month ago.
Of course. the Mets have won on a walk-off HBP this year, so the karma is balanced.
suzanne
This is gross, so consider yourself warned.
My husband and I decided to get some pizza and wings, but they, of course, galloped through my gastrointestinal tract like Paul Revere warning the British. After the damage was done, I, uh, surveyed the battlefield, musing on how I felt so much better after evacuating all that santorum-y business.
Then I realized that Dan Savage’s work truly is complete, and I was pleased.
srv
Paddy @83,
re streaming Luther via a VPN (sorry, took a nap). The BBC blocks some streaming outside the UK. So you get a virtual private network to a machine in the UK to watch.
Problem is, cheap way to do it reqiures installing a package I’m afraid of because for all I know it could have spyware/malware on it. But what we did for a PC serving as a video server:
1) create fake FB account
2) ukunlock.com, select free 3-day VPN trial, “like” their package (using your real FB account gives them your friend list), follow directions to install.
3) http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search?q=luther&filter=tv, install iPlayer and play episodes
more here: http://watchtvoverseas.com/bbc-iplayer-abroad/
I’ve met people who use strongvpn.com (~$10/month) for a lot of different reason so I’m thinking they’re a little more established and less chance of spyware/malware. But not an expert in the subject.
Suffern ACE
I went to watch Kobayashi eat 69 hot dogs today, which would be a world record but due to the straightforward rules of competitive eating, the effort will not be counted. That the most famous eater is barred because someone wants to squeeze money out of the circuit is symptomatic of something. Time for a free market solution?
Jay
Cole, you are absolutely right to flag the freakout over the Casey Anthony case. I agree with those who say race plays a huge role in the coverage. Indeed, having just watched a rerun documentary of the Atlanta Child Murders of ’79-’81, I got my first real look at that killing spree (It happened before I was born, although I knew James Baldwin put out a book about it, which I’ve been trying to get for some time.), and I have to say that, were it covered today like the Anthony case is, I’m sure ATL’s cops could close EVERY LAST ONE of those deaths.
The victims’ families deserve nothing less, and while I know the murders got national (as well as international) coverage back in the day, it goes without saying that today’s media has pushed crime reporting to a new level.
John Weiss
What’d I do today? Fixed up some fixin’s, went down to one of the prettiest beaches on the planet (Lone Ranch Beach) and hung out with fellow Brookings Progressives. Met a feisty Welshman (is there any other kind?) had some burgers and a bit of beer, salad and so on. We laughed quite a bit. Saw some of the fattest people I’ve ever seen. Flowers everywhere! Sweet Jebus, I don’t know what I ever did to get to live here.
Happy Fourth. Let freedom ring.
Cain
@Violet
Sadly I was diagnosed with a hyperthyroid.. now I gotta take pills every day. It’s past low normal and I was developing this dry spot on my left shoulder blade. It’s thankfully gone now. But I think I was also starting to have memory problems too..
I was most displeased to have any kind of problem.
CaseyL
I have had my soak, and feel much better. I want pizza or a hamburger pretty desperately, but am trying oh so hard to Be Good and Eat Healthier. No refined wheat, and no beef :(
However, I did eat mass quantities of cheese today (double cream brie and bosc pear for dinner!), and so have already blown the Eat Healthier thing.
Paddy
srv @ 126
Huge thanks!!! I’ll check out the freebie version first then hopefully get enough knowledge to figure out if I want to pay. I was mesmerized by the relationship between Luther
Paddy
srv @ 126
Huge thanks!!! I’ll check out the freebie version first then hopefully get enough knowledge to figure out if I want to pay. I was mesmerized by the relationship between Luther and Alice and knew it had way more potential.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
i saw the city’s fireworks display, synched to music i couldn’t care less about. i am sorry if this steps on toes, but i have to believe fireworks are and always were about “low art”. that is if you accept the premise that fireworks are art in the first place.
sorry any of these synched up displays cannot match the simple jackassery of lighting as many of them as you can in as short a period of time as possible. the fireworks in biloxi, along casino row as an example. a bunch of casinos trying to out jackass each other? more of that please…at least when it comes to fireworks.
occam’s brocade
RossInDetroit
Planted a Shasta Daisy plant from Grandma. Did a little light yard work but it was pretty hot. Napped. Walked Doglius up the block for ice cream. Watched 2 episodes of Burn Notice on Hulu. Yelled at computer for having no BJ Reply button. Time for sleep.
jimbob
This Is OUR Country!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB6KFa7-6B4
Groucho48
Took two kids and two grandkids to Darien Lake, an amusement park formerly owned by Six Flags. Perfect day for the water park section. Did the rides in the early evening and watched the fireworks after dark. A good time was had by all. There are few better moments then a drive home at night after a great day, with a car full of sleeping loved ones.
Got home and decided it was time to do my patriotic duty. Logged in to my home forum and joined battle with the right wingers who were claiming liberals hate the 4th of July because they hate America. Fired a shot across their bow by mentioning that it was the only day of the year in which the South flew more U.S. flags than Confederate flags and the battle was on.
I’d say I gave as good as I got but, with experienced trollers, no one wins a thread like that, We just get style points for a good troll. But, it was satisfying in a visceral way and made me pleasantly ready to go to bed. Which I am about to do.
FSM bless America!
James E. Powell
Before the fireworks. Watched my beloved Tribe beat the Yankees on MLB channel. Saw my brother and his wife in the stands just before the last out. Sweet. Happy Birthday America and FTFY!
H.E. Pennypacker, Wealthy Industrialist
Roasted rock cod in salt. It rocked!