Friday, June 30, 2006

Score!


On my front porch when I got home this evening:

  1. Autographed copy of Snake Farm (Ray Wylie Hubbard)
  2. The Money Pit (Tom Hanks (1986)...broken down house...if you haven't seen this one, you should)
  3. Mother Night (Kurt Vonnegut - the book, not the movie)
  4. Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook

    I love the internet.
I also love Ray Wylie Hubbard, Tom Hanks, Kurt Vonnegut and Anthony Bourdain. Do you see a pattern there? I evidently have a weakness for smart-ass men, especially smart smart-ass men. Who knew?

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Hunger Strike

I receive CNN e-mail news alerts throughout the day. Between the alert and the unsubscribe information is always an ad.

This morning I received an alert about a hunger strike planned by Susan Sarandon and Cindy Sheehan for July 4th.

The ad was for Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

Holiday Prophecy?

Right before I woke up this morning, I had a dream. The dreams I have right before I wake up have more of a tendency to actually happen than the strange dreams I have during the night. The dreams that actually happen are very mundane and have nothing to do with earthquakes or plane crashes or the like.

My dream this morning is that my office will close at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, 7/3, letting us out early for the Fourth of July holiday. In the dream, I will have work to do that has a deadline of 7/10 which I will leave on my desk to take care of on 7/5. It was pretty specific.

I'll let you know if it happens. If it does, I promise to try to use my powers for good.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Want to Hear Something Weird...Again?

As Bonnie and I were driving into Houston Saturday, I called my son and asked if he wanted to meet us for lunch somewhere around Baybrook Mall (which is on the way to his house) or if we should drive to his house and go to lunch from there.

He gave me directions to Café Express which I repeated to Bonnie and promptly proceeded to use in order to get us lost. At least, I thought we were lost. When we got to I-45, I made the northerly turn as instructed and drove and drove and drove. I couldn’t see the traffic light ahead which Cory said I was supposed to use to make the turn to Café Express. So, in fear that I would end up in Dallas before realizing I had gone too far, I pulled into a parking lot and called Cory.

I told him I thought I was lost and that I had just passed Pappasito’s. He told me I was going in the right direction. Still amazed that I actually possessed the willpower to pass up Pappasito’s, I stayed on the phone with him. As I began to exit the parking lot, he said, “Are you behind a red car?” I looked in front of me and, sure enough, I was behind a red car. I looked at the access road in front of the red car and there was Cory, zooming by.

To put it into the Texas vernacular: I tell you what, that’s weird right there, I don’t care who you are.

Food Note:
Café Express was delicious. I got a grilled shrimp Caribbean salad which had jicama, fried plantains, green onions and sweet carrots in a lemon mango vinaigrette. To kick it up a notch, I walked over to the *extras* bar and added roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and capers. I had a little party of flavors in my mouth and it was fantastic.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Proof That God Hates Motorcycles

Associated Press Jun. 22, 2006 10:00 AM
Westminster, Colo. - A motorcyclist died after he was struck by lightning while riding in rush hour traffic between Denver and Boulder, police said. Witnesses reported seeing a flash of light shortly before the motorcyclist struck the center divider on U.S. 36 Wednesday, police spokesman Tim Read said.Gary Missi, 46, of Longmont was pronounced dead at the scene.

A coroner's investigation was under way to determine whether the lightning bolt, the collision or something else caused his death, Read said. The lightning blasted a 4-inch-deep hole in the highway and sent chunks of asphalt hurtling across the highway.


Also...


Kuala Lumpur - A Malaysian man who was talking on a mobile phone while riding his motorcycle was killed when struck by a bolt of lightning, news reports said Wednesday.
The man, 39, was believed to have lodged the phone between his ear and helmet and was speaking on the phone.

Passersby said he was thrown from the motorcycle after being struck by bolt, the New Straits Times daily reported.

The victim was immediately sent to a nearby hospital in the southern Seremban city, but was pronounced dead on arrival, a police spokesman was quoted as saying.
Police are investigating the accident.


Vic motorcyclist struck by lightning
A motorcyclist has been struck by a bolt of lightning at a property near Warragul in Gippsland, Victoria. The 20-year-old woman suffered minor burns when the lightning hit her on the head and then exited through the chest and thigh. Rural Ambulance officer Warwick Bone says she was in a lot of pain.

"She did get some minor burns from studs that she had in her clothing as the lightning had passed down through the body," he said."It looks for a way to get out and metal's a good conductor of electricity, so it comes out through the studs and burnt her around the waist."


One killed, two hurt by lightning

PETALING JAYA:

[edited out part about two construction workers hurt by lightning because this post is about motorcyclists and it's my blog]

This is the second reported incident in as many days of a person killed by lighting. In Seremban on Tuesday, a motorcyclist was killed when he was struck by lightning while riding his motorcycle. Mohd Faiser Baharin, 39, was on his way to his Felda Sendayan home when he was killed.

Monday, June 26, 2006

We Interrupt this Self-Indulgent Blog...

...for even more self-indulgence.

Stuff I bought at Border's while in Houston:
Princess Bride DVD
Michael Buble (Michael Buble)
Heart Shaped World (Chris Isaak)
Nimrod (Green Day)
The Very Best of Meat Loaf (Meat Loaf)

(Be thankful I'm not boring you with my Bed, Bath and Beyond purchases.)

Pictures of Cory and Jamie's New House





Oakley

Cory and Jamie's lovely dog...


Sunday, June 25, 2006

Guess What

Cory and Jamie are pregnant!

That means I'm going to be a, what's the word, grand-something? I think I won't be grand. I shall be fabulous. The trend starts here. Feel free to have your children and grand-fabulous-children call you grand-fabulous-mother. It's my gift to the world.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

See Ya

I'm off to Houston for a day or two of shopping and margaritas and Chianti and food and, perhaps, some live music if we can find it (?), oh, maybe Karaoke (!) and whatever else strikes the fancy of me, my sister Bonnie and my daughter-in-law Jamie. It turns out my son, Cory, is working most of the weekend which makes it a girl's weekend.

I think I've mentioned this before, but, if you read my blog so you'll know when I'm leaving town so you can rob me, the jokes on you since your stuff is probably already better than my stuff.

Lock up after you stop laughing and be a dear and bring in the paper.

Friday, June 23, 2006

Wonderful, Beautiful Caffeine Talk

One of my favorite Simpson episodes has Homer pondering the magic of “drunk, talk…wonderful, beautiful drunk talk.” The same can be said for “caffeine talk.”

As I sit here taking my last sip of my Rao’s Caramello (compare to Starbuck’s Caramel Macchiatto, only better), I am pondering the wonders of caffeine. How can something that makes us feel so good not be illegal or bad for us?

Although the medical establishment has run test after test trying to find something bad about caffeine, they keep coming up empty. The latest news is that caffeine might actually protect the livers of heavy drinkers. The worst side-effects researchers can come up with are irritability and insomnia.

Since I’m so laid back I’m practically laying down and I sleep so hard that I actually didn’t wake up when there was a train wreck practically right outside my front door (I remember bouncing about an inch off my bed and going right back to sleep), I don’t see either of those things as a problem.

Mmmmmmmm, caffeine.

Best Laid Plans

Monday
I sent an e-mail to my lunch friends saying that we should walk to the Wellness Center (about 2 miles from the office) for lunch at least one day a week and eat a delicious healthy lunch and walk back to the office. My friends agreed and the lunch walk was scheduled for Friday.

Thursday
My friends and I began e-mailing each other saying things like, “Are we still on for lunch Friday at the Wellness Center? Or, we can do something else. It really doesn’t matter.” Thank, God. I had talked myself out of the torturous walk in the 90 degree heat myself but didn’t want to be the first one to back out.

Friday
I purposely wore inappropriate walking shoes for the death hike to the Wellness Center. Instead, we walked across the street to the new resale shop which is in the same quaint little shopping center as a new, very New Orleans-ish, antique-ish sort of home accessories shop and which is also the location of the best bakery in town. We shopped and ate lunch under the covered patio.

Conclusion
We’ll give healthy another shot next week...or maybe the week after that.

Edited to add at 3:15 p.m.:
We just went back across the street to Rao's for a hot Caramello (my office is cold so that really does make sense). I wonder if anyone at work has noticed that I've pretty much taken a day of vacation at the office today. I just love walking into my office and seeing shopping bags strewn about. It feels so festive.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Miracles...the other kind


In 1975, Marty Balin of Jefferson Starship wrote the song Miracles. I still remember the day, about ten years later, when I actually caught the lyrics to the long version of the song. Radio stations had been prohibited from playing the longer version because of suggestive lyrics and quite suggestive they are. I don’t know if the disc jockey played it by accident that day or on purpose, but I like to envision him getting a frantic call from the station manager and chaos ensuing in the control room.

It’s a sexy song anyway what with Grace Slick seductively echoing Marty’s words as he sings about love and what-not and her moaning and carrying on in the background but then I heard, or thought I heard, “…when I went down on you girl.”

“WHAT? What? What the hell was that?”

Marty went on to sing, “…when I start dancin’ inside ya…”

“Holy, crap.”

This was pre-internet, pre-Google, pre-All Music.com so there was no easy way to find out the story behind this erotic turn of events. When I got to work, I started asking people if they knew about this version of Miracles and nobody knew what I was talking about. I didn’t work with a very hip crowd at the time. It was also pre-Amazon.com and pre-Best Buy so I couldn’t just go out and find a Jefferson Starship cassette (yes, cassette) with the entire song on it. Life was certainly more complicated in the olden days.


But from that very first look in your eyes I knew you and I had but one heart.
Only our bodies were apart. That was so easy, so easy.
I had a taste of the real world when I went down on you, girl.

I can hear windmills and rainbows whenever you're talkin' to me.
I feel like swirling and dancin' whenever you're walking with me.
You ripple like a river when I touch you, when I pluck your body like a string.
When I start dancin' inside ya, oh baby, you make me wanna sing.

Baby, we're sure doin' it tonight.
Every time you come by, let me try.
Pretty, please sugar on it.
That's how I like it.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Leaf it to Me


Last night, I met some friends at Applebee’s for dinner and drinks. My drink of choice for the evening was the Mucho Mary. Depending on the restaurant or bar, Bloody Mary’s usually come with an interesting assortment of edibles impaled on tiny spears and stuck into your bloody (adj. British slang) Bloody Mary.

My favorite Bloody Mary toothpick treat is the hot string bean which is often served in your New Orleans variety Bloody Mary. The Bloody Mary at Ralph & Kacoo’s in New Orleans is so thick and delicious that it’s actually crunchy with tiny bits of onion and celery swimming among your vodka, tomato juice and Tabasco sauce. The Bloody Mary at Pat O’Brien’s is also outstanding with lots of skewered olives, cucumbers and celery.

My Applebee’s Mucho Mary had some unusual things on its little toothpicks. It had the obligatory stuffed olive along with chunks of apple which were surprisingly good soaked with spicy tomato juice. There was also a leaf. Since everything I’ve ever had stuck in my Bloody Mary in the past was edible, the leaf presented a dilemma. It looked like a tiny palm tree leaf but the tip of it looked sort of like a leek or green onion. If it was onion-ish, I definitely wanted to eat it. If it was just your garden variety (excuse the pun) leaf, I didn’t want to eat it.

So, I did what any good little Cajun girl would do. I bit it. It wasn’t onion-ish. In fact, it had no flavor at all. This leads me to believe it was either (a) a decorative garnish or (b) plastic. The moral of this story is, if you don’t want a Cajun girl to bite something, don’t stick it in her Bloody Mary.

It's That Time Again...

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Do You Still Want Your MTV?

This is great! This site has tons of the old videos we used to watch on MTV.

I remember turning on MTV and telling myself, "Just one video. Okay, maybe two."

Four videos later I would be saying, "One more, dammit. Just one more, then you're getting up and doing something constructive."

An hour later, "Crap! That's it. I'm getting up now...oh, wait. Have you seen this one by Ah Ha?"

Multiply that times three or four times a day. Loser.

(Thanks to Wang Chung's...I mean...Wang Chi's House of Pancakes.)

Monday, June 19, 2006

Low Spark of High Heeled Boys

I heard this song by Traffic today and realized I always wondered what it was about. While searching the internet, I found a new site (well, new to me) called Song Facts.

This is the Wikipedia link to the story behind the song Low Spark of High Heeled Boys because I couldn't make a Song Facts link work.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

ROAR!

I just got back from Houston after helping my son and daughter-in-law move into their new house. Next weekend, I'll be going back up there for fun stuff like shopping and decorating and having lovely patio-sitting, margarita-soaked luncheons. I'll take pictures.

In the meantime, I'm posting this quiz because Deadwood starts in six minutes.




You Were A Lion




You have a lethal combination of strength and energy.

You have strong family ties, and close friends are like family to you.



Saturday, June 17, 2006

Sexual Healing

My sister's gynecologist recently asked her if she has had a new sex partner in the last couple of years because that could change the results of a pap test.

Knowing my sister's recent lack of bedroom activity, her friend said, "You should have asked him if changing the type of batteries you use would have the same effect."

Friday, June 16, 2006

I am scum

I had to have some blood work done this morning so, off to the lab I went. As I walked toward the building, a car pulled up in front of me and dropped off a couple of people who made it clear that their mission was more important than mine. We got to the lab about the same time but the sign on the door said it wouldn’t open for another thirty minutes.

I am scum. Part 1: I noticed a separate sign indicating that there might be another entrance to the lab and headed that way. I didn’t tell the people about the other lab entrance.

I am scum. Part 2: Eventually, they found their way to the second lab entrance and started to go up to the window ahead of me. I told them I hadn’t been waited on, yet, and proceeded to get my paperwork from the clerk.

I am scum. Part 3: The people I was jockeying for position with were a mother/daughter team. The mother was an older lady. Why didn’t I just let them go ahead of me? So what if I was five more minutes late for work. I was going to be late anyway.

Karma. Part 1:

The technician took me into the little room which was adjacent to the waiting room and didn’t close the door. He also didn’t ask my name or for any sort of identification. He tied off my arm and said, “So, you’re having your potassium checked?” I said, “I’m not really sure. The doctor checked off all sorts of things on the form.” For some reason, I decided to ask, “Is that the paperwork for Anderson?” Guess what, it wasn’t. It was for the people I was trying so hard to beat to the blood letting finish line. I said, “That’s probably for the lady in the waiting room.”

I am scum, scum, scum. Part 4:
Since the technician didn’t bother to close the door, the daughter heard everything and said, “I bet that’s for my mom.” The lady and I traded places as the daughter stood in the doorway between the waiting room and the lab room. The daughter and I started talking and she told me that her mother’s potassium was through the roof so her doctor sent her to the lab for this emergency blood test because they had to leave right away to go to Arkansas because the mother’s uncle had died. The doctor would then call them on the road to tell them what to do next. I am scum, scum, scum.

Stupid, stupid, stupid:
When the tech finished with the lady, I wished them luck. I told the technician he needed to ask people their name and not what kind of test they were having because some people, like me, don’t know exactly what the doctor has ordered. His response: “When we’re at the hospital, the patients are wearing little bracelets.”

Irrelevant.

Idiot.

Dangerous idiot.

Karma. Part 2: On my way out of the lab, I saw a lady waiting patiently at the first door which had the sign wrongly indicating that the lab wouldn’t open for another ten minutes.

I told her about the other door.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Rockin' Rat


The above rat is a Laotian rock rat. It was thought to have been extinct for the last 11 million years. This lovely specimen waddles like a duck with its hind feet splayed out.

Sounds adorable.

The rodent (it isn't actually a rat) was originally thought to be a new species after biologists examined dead specimens found being sold in meat markets.

Sounds delicious.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

How My Cousin Came to Be


While my dad was in ICU in the hospital in Houston, only two of us could be with him at a time. While waiting for our turn to go in to see him, my dad’s cousin and I were rehashing old family stories in the surgical ICU waiting room. He asked me, “Did you ever hear about how I got here?”

I asked, “Here, here? Houston?”

He said, “No. Here…on earth.”

I said, “Do I want to hear about how you got here?”

“Sure,” he said. “It’s a good story.”

My dad’s cousin is my age and was born about ten years after his older brother and sister. In those days, Catholics were much more strict about following the rules regarding contraception. Aunt Gert was sure of two things. She wanted to go to Heaven and she didn’t want to have any more kids after the first two.

Being the good Catholic she was, she found a priest who didn’t speak English and would go to him for confession every Saturday and confess that she was using contraception. She would then pray whatever penance he gave her and, on Sunday, she would go to Communion sin free. Monday, the whole sordid process would begin again.

This went on just fine for many, many years until the priest who couldn’t speak English left the parish. Suddenly, one Saturday, Aunt Gert found herself in the confessional not only confessing about the contraception but about her weekly confessions to the Spanish priest. The new priest was not amused. He explained that when you confess, it has to be with the sincere intention that you will not commit that sin again.

For penance, the priest had her say about a million Our Fathers and Hail Marys. As if that wasn’t enough, as an added little bonus (we call it lagniappe here in Cajun country) God gave her Mark. That proves right there that God has a sense of humor. The silver lining is, based on my experiences growing up around Mark and his mom, I’m sure Aunt Gert earned her way into into Heaven with plenty of penance to spare.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

It's just a thought...


A few weeks ago, as my thoughts wandered hither and yon, as they tend to do, it suddently occurred to me that every living thing (animal, not vegetable or mineral) on the earth 125 years ago, with the exception of a few Galapagos tortoises, is dead.

That's right. Every single person, dog, cat, bird, lion, tiger, bear, (oh my) is gone. If it was alive in 1881, it ain't no more.

All dead. Dead, dead, dead.

Kind of puts things into perspective doesn't it?


Oldest Authenticated Supercentenarians
122 years, 164 days : Jeanne Calment (France) Feb. 21, 1875 - Aug. 04, 1997
119 years, 097 days : Sarah Knauss (U.S. (PA)) Sept. 24, 1880 - Dec. 30, 1999
117 years, 248 days : Lucy Hannah (U.S. (AL)) July 16, 1875 - Mar. 21, 1993
117 years, 230 days : Marie-Louise Meilleur (Canada (QUE)) Aug. 29, 1880 - Apr. 16, 1998
116 years, +++ days : Maria Esther Capovilla (Ecuador) Sept. 14, 1889 - fl. Jun. 2006
116 years, 175 days : Tane Ikai (Japan) Jan. 18, 1879 - July 12, 1995
115 years, 319 days : Maggie Barnes (U.S. (NC)) Mar. 06, 1882 - Jan. 19 1998
115 years, 252 days : Christian Mortensen (Denmark) Aug. 16, 1882 - Apr. 25, 1998
115 years, 228 days : Charlotte Hughes (England (UK)) Aug. 01, 1877 - Mar. 17, 1993
115 years, 192 days : Margaret Skeete (U.S. (TX)) Oct. 27, 1878 - May 07, 1994

Oldest Living Person
116 years ++ : Maria Esther Capovilla (Ecuador) Sept. 14, 1889 - [fl. Jun. 2006]

Oldest Living Man
114 years ++ : Emiliano Mercado Del Toro (Puerto Rico) Aug. 21, 1891 - [fl. Jun. 2006]

Progressive List of Currently Authenticated World Record Holders
Thomas Peters : 111 years, 354 days (06 April 1745 - 26 March 1857)
Delina (Ecker) Filkins : 113 years, 214 days (04 May 1815 - 04 December 1928)
Martha Graham : 114 years, c. 180 days (December 1844 - 25 June 1959)
Jeanne Calment : 122 years, 164 days (21 February 1875 - 04 August 1997)

Monday, June 12, 2006

Exercise TV


I hate gyms:
  • I'm uncoordinated so step class is out.
  • My boobs are too big for all the jumping around in aerobics class.
  • I hate the people who do an hour on the stair-climber at top speed.
  • I don't like sharing machines, floor mats or equipment that has been sweated on all day.
  • Gyms stink .


I read something recently that said if you try to lose or maintain weight by eating a low calorie diet and not increasing your activity, you are destined to fail and have setbacks because that's just not much fun. However, if you increase your activity doing something you enjoy, you'll be healthier, have more fun and, as an extra special bonus, you'll actually lose weight while still eating the foods you like. Duh.

What with being so uncoordinated and all, I haven't decided exactly how I'm going to increase my physical activity, but I've found something that most of you probably already have access to and don't realize. If you have digital cable and have Digital On Demand, go to Digital On Demand and click on Exercise/Fitness. You will be connected to the multitude of choices of Exercise TV.

These programs are all free and there are dozens of different types of exercise programs to choose from including tai chi, belly dancing, afro-brazilian dance, hula dancing, toning, Miracle Mile, cardio and kick boxing. The list goes on and on and changes constantly. The best part is, if I get bored or don't like the program, I quit doing it and switch to another one. I can't do that in the gym without people looking at me funny. Not that they aren't already looking at me funny anyway. Really. I'm a total klutz.

I think I'm also going to buy some sort of exercise/weight machine to install in my garage so I can sweat in private and I don't have to share. I guess I better get me one of those lovely "I've fallen and I can't get up" necklaces, too. You know...that whole klutz thing.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

New York City Taxi Shots

I found over at Holt Press.

Spindletop Spin 2006

I don't like to get up early, especially on Saturday, I don't do nice things for the community and I'm not a big fan of nature. Yet, somehow, I found myself at the corner of Africa hot (yes, it is Africa hot even at 9:00 a.m. in Southeast Texas), mosquito infested, Martin Luther King Parkway and East Virginia at 7:30 a.m. as a volunteer traffic director for the first annual Spindletop Spin.

I was on the return path of the bikers and my job was to stop cross traffic at my intersection so the cyclists could make it safely home to live another day. I decided I would stand in the middle of the overpass above the parkway and watch for the riders as they made their exit onto the access road which runs beside the parkway. When bikers finally came into view, I quickly learned I had another job. A young boy, about thirteen or fourteen years old, missed the exit for the access road and was riding his bike down the busy parkway.

I had two fears. The first, and most important, was that the boy would be squashed. The second was that all of the cyclists behind him would follow him onto the parkway and I would be responsible for all of them getting squashed. Oh, the humanity. So, I started yelling at him from the overpass. Luckily, he heard me. He turned around, now going the wrong way up the parkway, and safely made it to the access road.

My friend Darlene, whose spot was on the outgoing leg of the bicycle route, joined me after the last cyclists passed her post. As we stood in the middle of the overpass I was gesturing like a good Cajun as I told her about the boy missing the exit and suddenly realized that the drivers below could see me wildly waving my orange flag above them. I can't imagine what kind of dangers they thought the girl in the Ramones cowboy hat and orange safety vest was trying to warn them about.

At one point a policeman came by and asked if we needed anything and Darlene said she needed to go to the bathroom. He told her to get in and off they went. Darlene looked oddly natural in the backseat of that patrol car and I told her so. After she went 10-20, she came back and helped me direct traffic. She was much better at it than me using crisp flag signals rather than my hesitant little hand motions and half-hearted flag wiggling. At one point, she even waved a patrol car, which had it's lights flashing (!), to stop. The girl has balls.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Woman Beat with Dead Chihuahua


A woman who was upset because the chihuahua puppy she bought died, went to the home of the breeder and beat her over the head with the dead dog.

I wonder what she does when she's unhappy with sex.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Update on Dad

Dad is getting a little stronger every day. He isn't crazy about my little blogger updates but I know some of you are wondering.

His official diagnosis is Classic Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He starts chemotherapy soon which will consist of two hours every other week for six months. He has had more CT scans, a bone marrow test and will have a PET scan to determine the staging.

The doctors are all still extremely optimistic about his prognosis even without knowing the staging, yet. Even though it sounds pretty nasty, they assure us this is a highly curable form of cancer.

Once again, mom and dad (and all of us) want to thank everyone for all of the prayers and good wishes and especially for the e-mails you guys sent when he was in Methodist Hospital. They were a real boost at the perfect time.

The Death Psychic

According to The Death Psychic, this is how I shall die:

While attending a horse show, you bend over to tie your shoe. Halfway though the brief process, you receive a deadly kick from a startled Clydesdale.

I actually do have a healthy fear of horses what with those huge hard feet and scary teeth. No good can come of them. Actually, very little good could possibly come from bending over in front of a Clydesdale.

I'm pretty sure Budweiser will have something to do with my premature demise by Clydesdale ass kicking.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Another Great Courville's Concert

Tonight was another great show at Courville's with Jack. As you know, Jack is the better reviewer of this live music obsessed duo so I will leave the meaty review to him. (I'm still waiting on his Hell's Bell's review but my guess is he can't read his notes.) In the meantime, following are my highlights of the evening.

First of all, this isn't exactly a highlight but I've added a link to Courville's over on my sidebar. Check it out regularly. For $30 you get dinner and a concert. The concerts are during the week but they always end at about 10:00 p.m. The acts are top notch and always include an entertaining opening act. Some of the better known performers who have played and are scheduled to play: Rusty Wier, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jerry Jeff Walker, Billy Joe Shaver, Hayes Carll. However, even if you've never heard of the scheduled performer, you should make your reservation early (the place is small) and just go to the show. It's always a great evening of live music and good food.

The opening act tonight was a girl who is originally from Beaumont named Glenna Bell . She had a great voice and was a genuinely nice person. That's a big plus in a small room.

Tonight's headliners were Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez. Chip is famous for writing Wild Thing, Angel of the Morning and for being Jon Voight's brother. Carrie has a great voice which harmonizes perfectly with Chip and she plays a kick ass fiddle. They were joined onstage by a guy who played a standup bass, a drummer and a guitar player. The guitar player was very talented and has also played with Van Morrison. They were all fabulous musicians and we had the best seats in the house.

Favorite moment of the evening:
Audience sing-a-long to Wild Thing (Jack, I always knew you were groovy.)

Favorite lyric (I'm paraphrasing because, although I tried so hard to remember it exactly, it's already gone from my Smirnoff addled brain):
Their hearts are so full of rain, I can't believe they haven't drowned.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Monday, June 05, 2006

Sufferin' Succotash

Why would someone hire an announcer with a lisp to read this commercial? If the guy doesn't have a lisp, it's the sound quality of the commercial. Whichever it is, this local southeaast Texas television spot is unintentionally hilarious...

For nearly thixty yearth, The Thkooner hath therved thoutheatht Texath the motht thucculent theafood delivered daily thraight from the Gulf of Methico, out of the net and thraight to the grill. The tathte of frethneth is unmithtakeable: thnapper, flounder, thrimp and crab. Remember, if it thwimth, you'll find it at The Thkooner. Tathte The Thkooner differenth on the corner of Highway Three-thixty-five in the Platha Thopping Thenter.

Mom, PLEASE! I'm not too old for a balloon...

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Another Jive Train Kind of Night

Last night was dinner and Jive Train.


Here's dinner...




Here are my beautiful nieces who happened to be in the restaurant at another table celebrating Aunt Susan's birthday...




Here's Jive Train...




Here is a perfect example of a post I did last year about men with white shoes...


Saturday, June 03, 2006

See ya, Tyler!


One of our runners, Tyler (sitting in front with his girlfriend), is leaving the firm to go to work for a big time delivery company. I don't know if there is any profession which teaches a young man how to deal with pressure and people (women in particular) than being a runner in a law firm.

If you can handle thirty stressed out women who are all working on different *emergency* deadlines and different menstrual cycles, this is the job for you. We're going to miss you, Tyler.

That's Mr. Bought-Me-My-First-Beer back there making the John Corbett-ish rabbit ears behind our receptionist's head. I guess this is the new hipster groovy thing to do these days.

This is also the night that became my big Jimmy Vaughan experience. I have two unbreakable rules about going out during the week, especially if we go out straight from work:
  1. If I'm going to stay out late, I don't drink...much.
  2. If I'm going to go in early (say 10-ish), I can drink more because I have more time to *sleep it off*.
These rules were learned the hard way a loooonnnnnnggggg time ago. On occasion though, there's a breakdown in the system (as in the Jimmy Vaughan night) and the combination of too much alcohol mixed with late hours (you know I can't leave a concert until it's over) makes for a looooonnnnnnggggg next day at the office which no amount of caffeine or quicky restroom naps can remedy. Damn Grande Suprema margaritas.

Friday, June 02, 2006

More John Corbett


Melissa sent me the pictures she took at the Boy's Haven Crawfish Festival. This is John Corbett making devil ears behind my head.

That means he loves me, right?

Thursday, June 01, 2006

For All My Lovely Sophisticated Friends



There are few things in this world that I find more disgusting than the dreaded nutria rat. In order to exorcise my inner demons, I felt that perhaps sharing my disgust with you, my delicate flowers, would lessen my revulsion.
It ain't working.



The dumbass above is even touching the horrible thing! You might be interested to know that, if you want to eat one of these delectable bastards, you can cook it like you would a muskrat. Let's hear Captain and Tenille sing a song about that.

I also found a recipe for barbequed nutria. Bon appetit, mes amies!


Barbecued Nutria
(compliements of Jo Reynolds)



Ingredients
1 large nutria, cleaned
1 bottle Kraft BBQ sauce
1 large onion, chopped
1 lemon, sliced
Salt and Pepper


Salt and pepper nutria. Stuff nutria body cavity with onion and lemon. Turn legs under and put in a large oven bag. Pour barbecue sauce plus one barbecue sauce bottle of water over nutria. Bake for one to one and a half hours in a 350 degree oven, or until done.

Take out and eat.