I haven’t shared a wine foil sculpture with you in a while, but this one seems appropriate given the upcoming holiday in Christendom. In case you can’t tell, it is a representation of the Most Holy Grail:
I freely admit it’s not my best work. To make up for it, here’s a Grail-related clip:
I’ve undertaken many quests in my life, but most revolve around food, e.g., find the best panini in the North End of Boston, develop the optimal method of making iced tea, create a BBQ sauce with the right balance of sweet and heat, etc. Most remain unfulfilled — or rather, they’re ongoing.
Have you ever undertaken a quest? If so, what was the object, and did you succeed?
Open thread.
Epicurus
Not much since I quit playing WoW. I absolutely love your contributions to this blog and your artistic talents are more than self-evident. Thanks, Betty.
WaterGirl
Yes! We called it The Quest for the Pink Dress!
7-10 years ago when my older sister got married, the females in the wedding party were allowed to find their own dresses. The rules were that it had to be full-length and pink and clearly wedding level fancy.
My friend Tina and I went store to store to store and began calling it The Quest for the Pink Dress.
In case anyone is worrying, we did eventually find the pink dress. whew!
Belafon
New Years Eve, 1990. A bunch of us were staying at a friends house in a suburb of NYC and we decided, about 7pm, to make a cheese cake. Had to go to multiple places to find the ingredients, during which we ran over an uncovered manhole and the car got bumped by another car from behind. No one stopped. Eventually we made it home and made the cheese cake.
catclub
Best Vietnamese eggrolls. Stuffed with sausage. Went to every Vietnamese restaurant that we could reach on one Saturday, in Seattle’s International district. Still found nothing better than the one at a street vendor/street fair that instigated the quest.
Mid 1980’s . there may be a different selection of restaurants there now.
Shana
Getting reading copies of all P.G. Wodehouse’s books. He wrote 97 if I recall correctly. This was in the days before the wonders of internet book stores like Amazon and all the others that specialize in used books. I succeeded.
Calouste
I see via the Wonkette that Peggy Noonan is now defending Muammar Gaddafi:
I’m not always keeping up with the news, so I might have missed the current folks in charge of Lybia blowing up an airliner or a nightclub.
WaterGirl
Betty, the chalice is lovely! If it’s a religious crew that is celebrating Easter, you could take it as a centerpiece.
P.S. We
wantdemand photos of the butter lamb.Violet
@WaterGirl: Seconding want demand photos of the butter lamb!
nodakfarmboy
Meanwhile, in North Dakota…
“ND House kills bill outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation
BISMARCK – For the third time in six years, North Dakota lawmakers have killed legislation that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, despite warnings from some Democrats and Republicans that it could tarnish the growing state’s image and attract backlash similar to what Indiana and Arkansas have faced in recent days…
House Majority Leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo, opposed the bill, saying existing state law provides sufficient protections and the bill’s definitions were too vague and would have unknown consequences for businesses.
“I think there’s an unending list of ramifications for doing this,” he said.”
http://www.inforum.com/news/legislature/3713656-nd-house-kills-bill-outlawing-discrimination-based-sexual-orientation
On the bright side, the state’s biggest newspaper, the Fargo Forum, devoted their entire frontpage to running pictures of all of the Republican legislators (and they were ALL Republicans… what a shock) who voted against the bill under the headline “ND denies protections for gays: These are the members of the house who voted against legal protection.”
http://www.scribd.com/doc/260748399/The-Forum-Friday-April-3-cover
Not surprisingly, the Republicans are now whining that they are being “bullied” for their vote. One almost wonders if they’ve retained the capacity to feel shame.
Belafon
@Calouste: Noonan could get alcohol from Gaddafi. The current leaders are prudes.
Xboxershorts
Brooks House of BBQ on Rt 88 just south of Cooperstown, NY.
http://www.brooksbbq.com/
Their BBQ sauce is delicious. Some tang, some sweet, but they have a hot sauce that isn’t really hot on the scoville scale but it complements the BBQ sauce incredibly well.
I stop there EVERY time my work takes me to Boston and make sure I buy some (after I enjoy a perfectly cromulent BBQ dish)
Yatsuno
@WaterGirl: She chose well…
Pogonip
Cute!
Happy Easter! I wish everyone jellybeans and chocolate bunnies!
Oh grave, where is thy victory? Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh Cole, where is thy pupdate? You are running out of time to show us both pups playing with Steve.
Bruuuuce
Yes, I’ve quested, while doing self-awareness seminar work. Can’t really share the details, other than to say I really had to push myself and learned a great deal in the process.
On the lines of the Monty Python grail, though, is that made from a red wine, or a white wine, foil? (And what IS its airspeed? :-D )
germy shoemangler
Lifelong quest to see every Robert Benchley short subject. Rented 16mm films in 1974, borrowed a projector. Only saw a few. Wrote to various rare video stores in the 1980s, ended up finding a rare U.S. Navy sponsored short featuring him and a pre-fame Hugh Beaumont in a cameo. Early 1990s visited the film forum in NYC for a weekend festival. His grandson Nat gave a presentation.
Finally, two years ago, was able to purchase all of the MGM and Paramount shorts on DVD, as well as his first two from 1928 and 1929.
Unfortunately there are three or four that are lost forever. I will never see them.
Violet
@Pogonip: Are you feeling any better?
jl
My thanks to several commenters for good links on the Iran agreement framework last night. I also heard a good interview with an arms control expert late last night on actual substance (only one I have heard so far, and that was put on by a local station).
The arms control guy expressed surprise about the level of detail that seemed to spring form out of nowhere. But after thinking about it moment, why would that be so surprising? Unless you thought the Iranians were complete BSers, they have been thinking about a deal since the one they offered the US ten years or so ago was summarily rejected by the geniuses of the Bush II administration. And it was in the interest of all parties to high risk talks to underpromise rather than overpromise results.
Josh Marshall has a good summary of the antics being put on by the warmongers (which appears to be the whole GOP now) with some good links,
The Emerging GOP War Platform
” One way to look at this is that they will simply commit the country to war. But I don’t think that’s the most likely option. More likely, they will copy the policy most associated with George W. Bush’s first term, and ‘stand tough’ while Iran does whatever it wants. ”
…
” All of this stuff is just talking out of a place that is not your mouth. About as dangerous as it is stupid. ”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-emerging-gop-war-platform
Emphasis added.
germy shoemangler
@jl:
From Israel’s oldest newpaper Haaratz
“Iran nuclear framework agreement: Not a bad deal”
Israel will have a hard time fighting this agreement, or portraying it as bad; if Iran upholds the terms, its nuclear threat will be severely mitigated.
Eric U.
@germy shoemangler: I never really understood what the benefit that Israel was supposed to achieve by starting a war with Iran. My understanding is that they are fairly good at fighting wars. The U.S. was obviously not going to get anything from such a war, but republicans don’t seem to care about that minor issue at all
eta: is this just Cleek’s law then?
Brother Maynard
My quest is to find a copy Skinny Puppy’s Last Rights that contains the song “Left Handshake” and lists the song on cover.
Rumor has it that some of the initial pressings of the album have if. So far, I have failed to find one.
Jacks mom
I’ve been on a quest to find crab cakes that taste like the ones I could get at the airmens club at Sheppard AFB back in 1973. I had some like them at the restaurant in Pirates of the Caribbean in the 1990s but have never found them again……..and I always order the crab cakes but alas they are never like those
JPL
Message to self, don’t buy chocolate from out of state without gel packs. Through amazon, I ordered four chocolate eggs, each with a different filling. Three arrived Monday when it was cool and the other yesterday when it was not cool. Needless to say one son is getting an egg that is as deflated as a Patriots football.
Warren Terra
Can’t fool me – I saw the third (and I will insist final, and frankly mediocre even at that) Indiana Jones movie, and that there fancy-schmancy goblet isn’t the real Holy Grail, it’s one of the decoys.
the Conster
Quest to see Pueblo Alto at Chaco Canyon fulfilled in 1996. Decided I would like my ashes spread there.
PhoenixRising
Just after I was diagnosed with cancer, I sent myself on the quest to find out my (adopted) child’s accurate histroy from before we met.
And if you’ve read the book (linky above) you know that I did find something, and that as with all true quests, the mystery only deepens when you find what you thought you sought.
I learned that if you seek, you shall find…and then interpretation is the work of a lifetime.
Just before the events described in the book, my then-12yo & I went on a quest for a bacon-maple donut in Manhattan, ended up crying together at Ellis Island instead, and found our object…in the lobby of the oncologists’ practice in Philadelphia. Because that is how quests work.
Pogonip
@Violet: Sort of, thanks!
aimai
Not a quest. Don’t think I’ve been on one or not one that had a definitive end to it other than to achieve a good life, in an ethical and moral and human sense.
Right now I’m puttering and cooking the seder meal for tomorrow. Puttering and cooking, ritual observances, caring for family and friends, participating in the life of the community, are a much underrated part of leading a good life.
germy shoemangler
@Eric U.: I’m guessing it is Cleek’s law. Which is why I wish Obama would sign legislation banning RW internet trolls from refusing to breathe air.
gogol's wife
Did I hallucinate a thread about molding a lamb out of butter? I added a comment to it (including video of someone’s pet lamb bouncing on a bed as well as reminiscence about the great MASH episode in which they molded a lamb out of Spam because they didn’t want to kill the lamb), and when I wanted to go back and read the whole thread, it had disappeared. This is in line with other hallucinations I’ve been having, so I’m hoping someone can dispel my fears that I’m going completely nuts.
ETA I mean the thread had disappeared, not just my comment
PhoenixRising
@the Conster: I’d be scared to do that even if I were already dead at the time. Sprinkling corpse powder is the most powerful method of cursing that area and its residents, according to the Dine (Navajo).
If you don’t know, now you know.
Snarkworth
@WaterGirl: Glad I wasn’t in that wedding. Being pink myself, a pink dress would have made me look naked and ruffly at the same time.
jeffreyw
Thread needz moar kitteh: I’ll cut you!!
Betty Cracker
@Epicurus: You are kind to say so. Thank you!
@gogol’s wife: This thread contained the discussion about the butter lamb, plus your link to that adorable video.
germy shoemangler
@gogol’s wife: No, I remember reading that comment about the spam lamb. You are not hallucinating.
the Conster
@PhoenixRising:
Yikes! Plan B: family members burning sage there in my memory. Thx for the heads up. Jeez that would suck. Now I know why I always read BJ.
Roger Moore
My perpetual quest is for the perfect Reuben. The Reuben is a wonderful sandwich, but it’s very hard to get right, so the quest for a perfect one is never ending. Of course it’s the journey that make it worthwhile, not the destination.
Amir Khalid
@gogol’s wife:
I think we’re sharing a hallucination telepathically. I imagined that thread too: I dreamed that I asked if butter lambs were purely decorative, and to my surprise Frau Cracker said no, people actually do eat the butter. (Not in big chunks, I would hope; that sounds rather unhealthy.)
Roger Moore
@nodakfarmboy:
Shame, no; criticism, yes. Their very sensitive feelings are hurt when they’re criticized for their actions.
Mike J
My quest: trying to be nice to my mother and fix her web site. The difficult part: asking a goddamned question to get the info I need to fix it without being interrupted with the answer to a question I wasn’t asking. Grrrrr. Shut the fuck up and let me talk while I’m talking and don’t try to guess what I’m going to say. If you could guess, you wouldn’t need me to fix it.
jacel
@germy shoemangler: A very worthy quest to see all those comic shorts.
Going on a quest makes me think of the time a college friend was going on a trip to Europe. She asked me if she could look for and bring back something for me. I tried to think of something, because it looked like she would enjoy the hunt, so I asked for a little wooden toy train.
By the time we talked again, over a year later, she mentioned that she had brought back a little wooden toy train for me. I thanked her, but before we would have a chance to meet up again, I was leaving to travel on the cheap for about half a year. I asked if I could bring back something from my trip for her. She said, “Well, I’ve enjoyed looking at your little wooden train, so I’d like to receive one as well.
In France I found a very little wooden toy train. About five cars each little more than half an inch long, with little brass wheels. Sadly, this little wooden toy train was in my bag when it was stolen out of a locker in Prague. In the remaining days of my trip, I kept looking for another little wooden toy train. I spotted one in Vienna that was larger than the one I lost, but still with charm.
When I flew back into Los Angeles, I visited my friend. We arranged to reveal the little wooden toy trains we had found as gifts for each other at the same time. When we counted off and held them up…they were exactly the same little wooden toy trains.
Calouste
@Eric U.: The goal of Netanyahoo was never for Israel to fight a war with Iran. Even though Israel isn’t bad at fighting wars, Iran has a population about 10 times as large and there is two countries and about 250 miles between Israel and Iran. Netanyahoo’s goal always was, and still is, to have the United States fight a war with Iran on Israel’s behalf.
Betty Cracker
@aimai: Leading a good life is a quest of a sort! Happy Pesach, Aimai!
@the Conster: I never saw that place, but I did go to Mesa Verde, which is amazing.
germy shoemangler
@jacel: That’s such an excellent story. O’Henry-ish.
And toy wooden trains are cool. Classic stuff.
germy shoemangler
@Mike J: Reminds me of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6A331B1oq8
Southern Beale
Some Tennessee gun loonery, here.
Roger Moore
@Calouste:
Nah. His real goal is to use the threat of Iran to scare Israeli voters into reelecting him. With an actual war, there’s always the danger of winning and eliminating the threat.
gogol's wife
@Amir Khalid:
I think my (our?) problem is that I thought the stuff about the butter lamb was the front-page story, so I kept looking for it on the front page. Now I have to go to church, so I’ll have to read the thread later.
gogol's wife
I once was on a quest to collect the entire recorded works of Alfred Drake. I came close.
burnspbesq
Ongoing quest for the best possible on-the-go audio experience.
Currently settled on the Pono Player (forget the Neil Young foolishness, it’s a great piece of gear and a great value at $399) and Noble PR in-ear monitors.
Listening to Paul Lewis’ recording of the “Moonlight” sonata right now. Yummy beyond describing.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Nice wine foil chalice up there. It’s not really a quest, but now I’m determined to make a butter lamb. I hope you’re happy.
Mike in NC
@Calouste: I certainly don’t claim telepathic powers, but I’m 99% sure all of the network Sunday morning talking heads shows are busy lining up McCain, Cotton, Graham, and sundry other Republicans eager to piss and moan about how Obama is betraying our very special friend Israel.
Calouste
@Roger Moore: Nah. The America is only going to fight a war for Netanyahoo if a Republican is President, and if that happens it will make Dubya adventure in Iraq look like it was executed by Alexander the Great. The only way Netanyahoo has to worry about the elimination of the Iranian boogie-man is exactly what is happening now, via negotiations.
raven
I’m on a quest to win a ride in a Cobra gunship in a auction benefitting academic scholarships! So far in 4 days I’m the only bidder and I think I have a great chance since everyone I know thinks I’m nukinfg futs.
burnspbesq
@Roger Moore:
Doesn’t Langer’s make an awesome Reuben? Cantor’s is OK, but not nearly as good as Stage or Carnegie.
Greengoblin
An office, which finally came to an end last week after 16 years, two promotions, three company presidents, and two bosses.
My new quest is a white board!
WaterGirl
@Snarkworth: At least when you get to select your own dress, it doesn’t have to have any ruffles! So there’s that.
Redshift
I once went on a quest for a particular magical sweater, and succeeded. The details are too complicated to explain, but it involves Ed Wood.
VFX Lurker
My quest is to find a certain kind of deep-dish pizza in or near Los Angeles. The edge has to be at least one inch high, the crust has to be thin, and the middle must be a small sea of cheese.
A co-worker recommends Masa in Echo Park. Here’s hoping they have what I seek.
raven
@burnspbesq: Try this
Mose Allison Trio 1968 ~ Everybody Cryin’ Mercy
WaterGirl
@jacel: goosebumps!
KS in MA
@aimai:
Beautiful.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@raven: I like your quest. I’d bid too, but I don’t know about the auction. And I think many folks assume I’ll stipulate that I’m nuts.
Redshift
@jl: I think it was considered surprising because the talk a day or two beforehand was that there were central issues they were still having trouble resolving, so an expectation developed they would put out a framework that was more framework-y, and kick more of the details down the road.
I was quite pleasantly surprised by the details of the announcement. I read some articles a week or two ago on the major sticking points, some of which one party or another was completely blocking (e.g., shipping nuclear material out of the country for Iran, sanctions snapping back without a veto-able Security Council vote for Russia.) Then the agreement was announced and they appear to have agreed on all of the ones I’d read about, on the terms the US was seeking.
I also loved the stories that came out today about Obama’s personal involvement at a very detailed level. I am so happy to have a president who is capable of understanding nuclear negotiations at a technical level!
catclub
@Roger Moore:
Some may say that you’re a dreamer, but you’re not the only one.
Joy in FL
I just checked on the fundraising page for the dog Nya. She was $35 short of reaching the goal with 2 hours left. So I had the pleasure of putting her over the top (by $1). Not wanting to brag– just happy with some good news.
jl
@Redshift: I can see your point. I guess both parties had thought things out as the negotiating positions developed and had a whole list of prioritized and very detailed alternative offers and asks lined up ahead of time before the final crunch. The stakes are extremely high, and the costs of mistakes will be dire politically for those responsible in both countries. So probably that is the way serious grown-ups go about such business.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Betty Cracker:
Last attempt at lamb butter humor.
MomSense
I went on a quest to find the family of an elderly relative (by marriage). My journey started in Bayonne, France and took me through the Pyrenees to San Sebastian, Spain. Along the way I met a lot of incredible people who took me into their homes and told me the most amazing stories. The food was some of the best I have eaten. Sitting at a table with four generations of a farm family eating Basque peasant food is near the top of my list of great experiences. I found the familial home but didn’t find any surviving family members. People were a bit secretive as things were tense with the Basque separatists at the time.
Anyway I returned to Bayonne in time for the Fetes and met a group of older gentlemen dressed in their berets and sashes at a hole in the wall restaurant and they invited me to watch the parade with their families who were all meeting at a bar one of them owned. We all sat outside drinking sangria and watching the festivities. It was a tremendous night. I learned to drink out of a cask to cheers of elle est Basquaise! They invited me to stay with them so one of the granddaughters gave me a bed in a room above the bar. I stayed for about a week and traveled the whole area during the day. At night we would meet at the bar to watch the parades.
About two years later I got a letter from the granddaughter (who lived above the bar) and my relative’s gr. grandson visited us in the states. He was in Boston for university. So quest was successful but not the way I had planned which I guess is very quest like.
jl
Oh right. My sad and and pointless quist is rcedcued tpyos.
Elizabelle
Sarah Brady has died. Aged 73. Pneumonia.
Elizabelle
@Joy in FL: Wonderful news about Nya; also that she’s on the mend. Lovely dog.
Patrick
@Mike in NC:
I fully expect Dick Cheney and Bill Kristol to be on as “experts”.
SiubhanDuinne
@Redshift:
Glen or Glenda?
Gravenstone
Quest: the great brownie raid of 1984. A couple of friends and I were in the TV room of our dorm, when we smelled brownies being carried from the kitchenette up into girl’s side of the dorm. We looked at each other, jumped up and ran after them. Only, we couldn’t just ask for brownies. No, we had to be all tactical and shit, “clearing” each floor of the stairs as we went (our “guns” were the old standby, pointed fingers). Floor after floor, we’re leap frogging past each other, giving cover as we pass. First floor, nope. Second floor, uhuh. Round the corner onto third floor … and come face to face with the RA on duty. Everyone quickly holstered their weapons and tried to act all natural, while the RA was looking at us as if we’d all just lost our damned minds.
Gravenstone
@raven: Since those were only two place helos, I’m guessing you’d get the gunner’s seat?
satby
It was the 70s, it was 3 am, we had been partying, and the nearest White Castle was 45 miles away.
joel hanes
a representation of the Most Holy Grail
That is not the kind of cup that would be used by an itinerant preacher and son of a humble carpenter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puo1Enh9h5k
NotMax
(Strictly personal, your mileage likely varies.)
Bestest thing about the holidays when families traditionally get together is that I’m 6000 miles away.
Shudder at the memories of being forced into all those inevitably joy-killingly awful, good food/lousy ensemble obligations when growing up.
OzarkHillbilly
Many quests. Some I succeeded at, most I failed. A few almost cost me or someone I was with their life. We are all still breathing. My only quest now is to find peace, and I am close. Very close,
ThresherK
@Mike J: “Stop inputting, please, you’re overflowing my buffer” often works for me, as it has just enough techtawk to it to make most people not want to have an explanation, but they get the gist anyway.
joel hanes
@NotMax:
when families traditionally get together
Best times of my life. I only wish it were so for you too.
srv
None of your grails will profit like this:
1. Hate Teh Gheys
2. ?
3. Profit!
David in NY
Sort of intermittent quest, begun 1979, still going on — to walk the French link of the medieval pilgrimage route from Le Puy (France) to Santiago de Compostela (Spain). This has become a Big Deal since we began, but was not at the time. Got a big start back then, but the intervention of kids, bad joints, etc., and the need to do it all on relatively short vacations, has meant we’re only about 2/3 the way to the Pyrenees. That has been in just three stretches, about one link a decade. Doing another 50 miles in the fall (social plans preclude longer), but maybe can finish the last 130 miles or so when the lovely wife retires. By the way, there is something to be said for hiking when there is a French restaurant at the end of every day.
@MomSense: Just noticed your post. We won’t get all the way to the southwest this time, have to stop in the Armagnac, but another day maybe.
germy shoemangler
@srv: They’ll retire and never make another pizza again!
They should send a “thank you” card to the reporter who came looking for their opinion.
JPL
@Elizabelle: That is so sad. She was a such a strong voice for gun control. rip
Mandalay
The SF Police Chief is (rightly) planning to fire some cops who “allegedly exchanged racist and homophobic text”. And public defender Jeff AdachiAnd explained why they need to be fired:
Well said.
Meanwhile in NY, the Detectives Union is whining that a psychofuck meltdown from an abusive cop that was caught on video was merely “verbal discourtesy”. Police Unions have completely lost the plot.
Violet
@Joy in FL: Aww, that’s great! So happy for little Nya. She looks like such a sweet dog. Facebook update on Nya. And a post from today–it looks like you got entered in a raffle, as is everyone who donates today!
NotMax
@joel hanes
Shall partake of your enjoyment vicariously.
jl
@srv: Kind of like the Dutch tulip mania. What are people thinking?
Did the Indiana kerfluffle somehow, mysteriously land that pizza joint in a situation where their entire business was delivering pizzas to gay weddings?
Until a few days ago I never heard of pizza joint pizzas being served at weddings, or wedding receptions. But maybe it is an Indiana thing.
Tree With Water
What’s wrong with this picture:
“Angels team president John Carpino sided with MLB and was upset that the league is unable to take any steps to reprimand Hamilton”.
Why on earth aren’t the Angels happy to have Hamilton back, instead of his being on suspension? Unless they felt they had him set-up for a fall, one that would release them from having to fulfill the terms of his gargantuan contract. That must be it. But if not, what does account for the Angels surly reaction?
Mandalay
@srv: Donations are now at $824,295!!!
WaterGirl
@Mike in NC: I’m shocked that they haven’t invited the president so he can take a victory lap.
schrodinger's cat
My quest: Finding my place in life, a place where I belong and the other quest would be knowledge.
jl
@Mandalay: Those texts were more than racist and homophobic, they were full of violent and murderous fantasies. I tend to hang back and suspend judgment when people might lose their jobs because of some speech, at least until everything is all analyzed and discussed and whatever, and due diligence, yada yada yada. But in this case, no way. Whoever wrote them has to go.
I sure as hell don’t want to run into those cops on the street (and I could since I live in SF Bay area) and I am a straight white guy.
Steeplejack (tablet)
AeroSteep reporting in from north of the Texas panhandle in eastern Colorado. Altitude 35,000 feet, airspeed 656 mph. Riding the jetstream, much faster than going west (usually ~500 mph). Wheels up in LAS at 1410 PDT, ETA at Dulles 2055 EDT.
Took a while for the the sky-high wi-fi to come on line. Deployed the Bombay Sapphire drip, had the Cobb chicken wrap—pretty good, but not the other chicken wrap with the awesome Mediterranean sauce. Made a start on the crossword in the new (since I flew out last week) Hemispheres magazine. Damn you, gone forever SkyMall catalog—I miss you!—and your shady corporate merger partner. (Thanks to somebody for the link to that story.)
To Violet and WaterGirl from downstairs: Hell, yes, the Glock was loaded! Those home invaders aren’t going to take a timeout for you to load up before swapping hot lead. Also, what about “NJ” in “RWNJ” are we not clear about? In brother’s defense, Glock was in a holster, and as a former cop he probably didn’t have a round chambered. But I wouldn’t want to bet my ass to find out. (Humor intentional.)
Violet
@Mandalay: From the gofundme writeup about the pizza place:
Really? “Prefer”? I don’t think so. They can “prefer” not to cater a gay wedding but refusing to cater a gay wedding because it’s a gay wedding is the actual issue, and that’s what they said they’d do.
Bunch of fucking liars.
WaterGirl
@Mandalay: I’m sure those nice Christian pizza place owners will give all that money to the poor.
JPL
@WaterGirl: hahahahahaha
ThresherK
@germy shoemangler: “Pizza”, it’s called?
Apropos of nothing, who else saw the new Dominos ad campaign, “We’re removing pizza from our signs”, without immediately thinking, “In order to comply with the Pure Food and Drug Act“?
Amir Khalid
@srv:
Just what does the pizza joint need all that money for? Why don’t they just reopen and make pizza? If they’re getting harassed online, they can just shut down the FaceBook, the Twitter, and the website until it blows over.
Joy in FL
@Violet: Thanks for the links– Nya has the sweetest, intelligent expression on her face in the photo link. And I had no idea about the raffle.
Pogonip
@schrodinger’s cat: Try my method. I feel anyplace I park my oversized butt is where I belong. Except once. I was walking around downtown Columbus, Ohio, and noticed a 19th-century capitalist’s palace–there are a bunch of them there–with people going in and out, so I went in to check out the museum. I went around all the rooms and when I left I said to the guy at the front desk, “You know, this is the only museum I’ve ever been in that didn’t have those little placards in front of the exhibits.”. “Actually,” he replied, “It’s a private club.”. Admittedly, since I was not paying the membership fee, I didn’t belong there. Nor do I park myself in private parties or other people’s religious services. Other than that, I’m pretty happy anywhere.
The Golux
This probably doesn’t qualify as BBQ, but we got this recipe from the Faith Middleton show on the local NPR affiliate. Once a week, her show is called “The Food Schmooze”; I don’t know if it was called that when we got this, because it was close to 30 years ago. Anyway, we’ve been making it ever since, and it’s good on anything. Throw a dollop of it in your kohl slaw; you won’t regret it.
~~~ Mop Sauce ~~~
In a saucepan, heat until bubbly, then simmer for
30 minutes:
4 oz. butter (1 stick)
6 cloves garlic, minced, or more to taste
2 cups ketchup
5 oz. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup prepared mustard
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Frank’s Louisiana hot sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. black pepper
Amir Khalid
@Steeplejack (tablet):
I take it your brother’s gun-safety training in the police was a long, long time ago.
Pogonip
@Amir Khalid: If somebody gave you a million dollars, would YOU keep on making pizza, or would you sell the place and head for Tahiti?
WereBear
My husband and brothers (this was a while ago) were once waxing eloquent about a series involving a samurai wandering the countryside with his child in a baby cart. That was all they remembered.
Of course this is obviously Lone Wolf and Cub but even with the help of the Internet it was not as simple as I had assumed. So my joy at finding some VCR tapes for his birthday was quite the Quest.
MomSense
@David in NY:
Well you will be in a beautiful area. I would love to do the Camino. I thought I would have done it by now–but life has a way of changing your plans.
One day when you do get to Bayonne, try and catch the fetes. So much fun. Five days of music, dancing, food, and parades. The whole area is interesting and, of course, the Pyrenees are incredible. I enjoyed San Sebastian, too.
ThresherK
@The Golux: Ahhh, good ol’ Faith Middleton. She seems to drink more wine on radio than anyone I’ve ever heard pop a cork. Yet somehow it always sounds like a classy cocktail party that I want to go to.
Pogonip
@The Golux: MOP sauce? Will it come out right if you ate dressed while you cook it?
Steeplejack (tablet)
My daily quest, and the three pillars of Steepletonianism:
1. Embrace the love.
2. Increase the peace.
3. Keep it real.
dexwood
@the Conster:
Chaco Canyon is a fantastic place. Site of an annual father & son camping trip while my son was growing up. One night, our neighbors in the small campground were members of an Albuquerque astronomy club. They had some great telescopes and generously shared with all. What a great night sky there.
As for Pueblo Alto, great hike and what a view from the mesa. I once flew over Pueblo Alto in a hot air balloon designed by my wife called the Anasazi. It was owned by a friend. We were not allowed to take off from or land on park grounds. One of the highlights of my life.
PhoenixRising is right about the Navajo and their taboos regarding death. People attempt to spread ashes there all too frequently. Park staff remove personal memorials all the time.
germy shoemangler
Saw this line on twitter:
“Those first two guys who thought Superman was a bird or a plane, what were they so excited about?”
Not sure who came up with it first. Multiple comedians have said it, stealing it from each other.
WereBear
@Steeplejack (tablet): Makes me wish you had a newsletter!
Because I so subscribe to that ?
germy shoemangler
“The campaign of likely U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has signed a lease to house its headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, a source with knowledge of Clinton’s plans said on Friday.”
shell
@Warren Terra: Yes, but this is a bit afterward, when the ‘cup of a carpenter’ got covered with gold and jewels as a holy relic. Just ask Sir Gawain.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Amir Khalid:
His gun-safety technique is good at the micro level, but since he crossed over into full nut-job territory he has too many of them in too many places. IOW, the Glock is not his only firearm, and that is a vast understatement.
Mandalay
@Mandalay: Donations are now at $832,932!!! That pizzeria has pulled in over eight thousand dollars in the past half hour.
Mandalay
@Violet:
Bunch of rich fucking liars now.
David
I’m on a quest for the best Chile Verde.
Roger Moore
@Redshift:
I am glad to have a president who is interested in negotiations at any level. 8 years of W sure reduces your expectation level.
ThresherK
@efgoldman: Heehee. I guess when I live by the grammar sword…
Of course, I meant “removing the word Pizza“.
I didn’t come here with an incredible quest of my own, but: My quest is to find a theater, somewhere, which has ironed out the kinks to make Chess the great musical it can be, rather than just “that troubled cult show with a wicked smart plot idea and some great songs”.
muddy
@Mandalay: Next the crying about having to pay taxes will commence.
Steeplejack (tablet)
Just crossing the Mississippi in northern Missouri; altitude 35,000 feet, airspeed 676 mph. Aargh, steady as she goes, cap’n.
J R in WV
@PhoenixRising:
@the Conster:
Guys, ever if you believe that corpse powder would be a bad thing to spread at Chaco Canyon, cremains is not the same thing as corpse powder at all.
Corpse powder would have to be made using special evil rites known only to specialist-in-evil shamans using things like incest and murder of relatives, and making sand-paintings using ashes instead of real colorder sand.
Funeral homes, on the other hand, use natural gas and christian prayers when cremating a corpse in an act of love and affection.
So even if you believe in skinwalkers and evil magic, there is none of that involved in creating ashes from a deceased member of your family.
@the Conster: Get real! Don’t ruin people’s quests, don’t bum people out, dont let your family vote for Republicans! That is all.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@WereBear:
It’s easy to remember and covers pretty much every situation.
Howard Beale IV
I retired (i.e., traded in) my faithful Prius and replaced it with a new RAV4. Can’t beat 0% APR.
Then I saw what they’re selling my old Prius for. Ugh.
Howard Beale IV
@ThresherK:
Ah yes-Murray Head’s one-hit wonder.
ms_canadada
@Pogonip: I second that emotion…I mean the puppies.
Betty Cracker
@Steeplejack (tablet): Oh, I saw it! Just waiting to prove you SO wrong!
ThresherK
@Howard Beale IV: Yes, but…Murray Head?
Have you stopped to consider how we got the strangest triumph of putting a play’s concept album’s lead single, a rap written by the ABBA team and the “Jesus Christ Superstar” lyricist, in the Top Ten?
That’s just the gravy on top. Musicals are not supposed to hit the Billboard Hot 100. (Of course in England there were more hit singles, because they love Elaine Page and Barbara Dickson.)
Elizabelle
@Steeplejack (tablet): Loved that. It was like “let’s model some roadkill.”
Did you give us your flight number so we can track your progress, while we imbibe with you?
I have to pop out to Trader Joe’s, but will be back and mix up a Good Friday cocktail on return.
Happy jet trails. Was watching your progress westbound, but kind of fell asleep about 53 minutes from touchdown.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Betty Cracker:
LOL. I know you can do it, Betty! But that was the first thing I thought of.
Zinsky
As a coin collector, there is always a quest to fill a hole in a coin album or get the last date and mint mark in a series. Of course, there is always an unattainable – like the 1894-S Barber dime.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Elizabelle:
United 487. Just left the blasted hellspace of Indiana for Ohio. Atmosphere outside porthole remarkably improved. ETA Dulles in about an hour. Final gin and juice before landing approach.
ThresherK
@Zinsky: As the saying goes, “Numismatry will get you nowhere.’
NotMax
@Steeplejack”
Don’t know if you’re aware that you can bring the airplane-sized little liquor bottles on board, so long as each is 3 oz. or less, and the bottles are put into a ziploc (or similar) bag in your carry-on
So can have your favorite brand and add it to the free beverage (I order the tonic water).
Howard Beale IV
@ThresherK:
I think Dreamgirls would disagree with you with their Grammies-Jennifer Holiday’s “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” is the Ultimate torch song of the 1980s. – and One Night Only from the same play isn’t that far behind. When she appeared on SNL (hosted by John Madden) she left nothing in her wake.
Steeplejack (tablet)
Turning southeast over Cole country. Touchdown in about 30 minutes. Speedy jetstream is speedy!
Steeplejack (tablet)
@NotMax:
Thanks, I was wondering about that. I fly only about two times a year, if that, so I just cheerfully overpay and try to enjoy the ride. Sky-high wi-fi is the best!
Okay, I might fade out pretty soon. Pilot is bringing us in like Steve fucking Canyon.
ThresherK
@Howard Beale IV: Hmm. But did that really go into the Billboard pop singles chart? (I don’t remember much of the original cast album at the time, the movie is fresher in my mind.)
The particular Motown-ish sound idiom, in a Broadway musical, is not easy to pull off, as they are two separate things. I always liked Dreamgirls for getting that right, without becoming some nostalgia-fest.
schrodinger's cat
@Pogonip: I am pretty much like that. But sometimes it hits me, that when you belong everywhere you belong nowhere.
ETA: Home is where Balloon Juice is. Last year when I was in India after nearly a decade, Balloon Juice was one place where I could rant about impossible relatives.
Steeplejack (tablet)
Last transmision from AeroSteep (8:20 p.m., failed):
On the ground at Dulles. Touchdown 8:30 p.m. Time in flight: 3h 20m. Shnikeys!
Off to get a taxi and make my way home for a joyful reunion with the housecat. Steep out.
germy shoemangler
@schrodinger’s cat:
“Home is anywhere you hang your head” – Elvis Costello
raven
@Gravenstone: Yea I think so.
Elizabelle
@Steeplejack (tablet):
And the Steeple has landed. About 8:39.
germy shoemangler
@Zinsky: I have a bunch of wheat pennies. Will they be worth millions in a few years?
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@ThresherK: If you love musicals, you’ll probably love this series of vids.
Omnes Omnibus
@Pogonip: Athenaeum or Athletic Club?
ThresherK
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Thanks so much!
I have a soft spot for 1776, simply because it’s able to make something we know the end of into real drama.
This Seth Rudetsky is the kind of geek I have to follow. (And one of these years I have to learn to how to read music.)
Scamp Dog
@Joy in FL: Yay Joy! Yay Nya!
Thanks–I’m one of the Juicers who kicked in, and it’s great to hear that such a sweet dog got the help she needed.
Howard Beale IV
@schrodinger’s cat: Life is a test.
Had this been a real life, you would have told where to go and what to do.
Omnes Omnibus
@Howard Beale IV: Vivre? les serviteurs feront cela pour nous.
NCSteve
The sculpture and topic are appropriate given that the corkscrew is the one kitchen gadget that is most likely to be the object of a long and tortured quest. I mean, I can’t be the only one who has several of the damn things because of all the times he’s screamed “fuck it!” and toddled off down to the nearest store to buy a new one.
Which, fact makes me realize that if only there had been a Holy Grail store where they could buy one, the Holy Grail they were looking for would have mysteriously appeared at the top of the tangled pile of things in their holy relic drawers (or in the holy relic washer) the as soon as they got the new one home and out of the packaging.
John M. Burt
Quest: Home (Corvallis, Oregon) after getting out of the Navy (Portsmouth, Virginia), 1982.
I succeeded, but then it was right where I’d left it.
Gravenstone @74: Looked at you as though you’d lost your minds? Whyever would she think that?