Music Friday: "Mudfootball"

On one of my walks of the dog this week, "Mudfootball" came across on my iPod shuffle. 

The song made me think about how when I coach Junior Football League games and the typical tunes they play at such activities. 

If I had my druthers, I'd like to have this song played at such venues. 

So I hereby present "Mudfootball." 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Cilantro Chicken Salad

I like chicken salad, but I don't like when people make it with all kinds of stuff in it like grapes and whatnot. 

This recipe isn't that fancy. It's for folks who like an uncomplicated version of of chicken salad.

Ingredients
One large can of chicken or two regular cans
1-2 tablespoons of mayo
2 teaspoons of soy sauce
A small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped finely
Salt and pepper to taste
Smidge of cayenne pepper

Process
Drain the canned chicken and use a fork to crumble up the meat. Add the may and other ingredients and mix.

Music Friday: "Flint City Shake It"

I got around to purchasing the new Justin Townes Earle album, The Saint of Lost Causes. 

To my ears, it's his best album since Harlem River Blues. 

Here's a fine tune from the new album. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Moscow Don's racist twitterstorm about the Squad shouldn't surprise anyone. 

"An Oral History of Trump's Bigotry" in the June issue of The Atlantic does a fine job of showing how his "go back to their countries" idiotic comment is par for the racist course. 

People need to read "12 Facts That Show Why Bottled Water Is One of the Biggest Scams of the Century" from Business Insider. 

A friend on FB shared an image about hemp that I found interesting. Here are the points:

• "Anything made from plastic can be made from hemp.
• Hemp requires about half the amount of water that cotton needs.
• 1 acre of hemp produces the same amount as 4.1 acres of trees.
• 1 acre of hemp produces more oxygen than 25 acres of forest." 

I'm told all that is true. 

America needs to start growing lots of damn hemp, people. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Of all of the op-ed writers out there, Greg Sargent of The Washington Post is one of the strongest ones writing right now. Check out these two fine columns for your edification:

• "The Big, Ugly Lie at the Core of Trump's Latest Surrender" 
• "Trump Just Denied His Attacks Are Racist. He Only Confirmed the Worst"

Today I was reminded of this fine scene from Blazing Saddles. 

HARUMPH. 

Music Friday: "Shame" & "Misunderstood"

I featured "They Don't Shine" a while back for a Music Friday post, but here's another fine song from the new album by the Tedeschi Trucks Band. "Shame" is a live performance from 2018.  

For a bonus, I am featuring another live performance of a great song, "Misunderstood." 

Random Notes from a Crank

I hate bottled water. It's such a scam. Most of the plastic bottles don't get recycled, and if they do, there's a problem because China is no longer taking our plastic recycling. 

If you haven't been paying attention, look into what plastic is doing to our waterways and oceans. 

The height of stupidity is what I've witnessed this week. My in-laws bought bottled water. So I went down to the ice machine at our resort and got ice. These people then put ice in a glass and pour bottled water into it. The ice cubes come from the local water supply, and then they pour bottled water with the ice cubes. If you're going to use locally sourced ice cubes, why the hell would you not use the damn tap water? 

Over the vacation I've read two books by Neil Gaiman: Anansi Boys and Neverwhere. Both were outstanding. And I'm wondering if the BBC series Neverwhere is on Netflix or Amazon Prime. 

The next book I'm off to read is White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America.

Random Notes from a Crank

The Nasty family is in the midst of a vacation. 

We first started in the monstrosity that is the Smoky Mountains Recreational Complex. 

While it's easy to disparage the typical tourist trap nonsense in that area, the Smoky Mountains are quite beautiful. We went zip lining above the tree line in the mountains, The next day we did white water rafting, which was fun as hell. And the final day we partook in the obligatory go-kart racing, which was a good time. 

Vacationing in that area does become an exercise in eating food that isn't good for you. 

On the way from Tennessee to my daughter's dance competition in scenic Sandusky, Ohio, the drive was beautiful, but the selection of music stations sucked. We rented a vehicle for the trip, so we didn't have our regular SiriusXM stations to choose from. Gosh, the selection of radio stations in Kentucky, in particular, is horrid. Absolutely horrible. 

On our way over from the interstate going to Cleveland, we had to take some two-lane roads. So I got to take in the scenery of upper Ohio, which reminded me of certain parts of Missouri. 

We drove through the hometown of Thomas Edison: Milan, Ohio. Factoid alert. 

On one patch of road, I encountered a sign stating "Rough Crossing" before railroad tracks. I've never seen that sign before. 

I want one. It sums up a lot about life. 

Music Friday: "Light On"

I'm late again. We're in the middle of a vacation in the Smoky Mountains. After driving most of the day Friday, then zip lining in the mountains on Saturday, and doing various activities today, I have all kinds of excuses, but in reality, I could have posted on Friday. 

My bad. 

I dug this song by this young lady, so I bought her album a while back. 

I guess her music might be considered as alternative pop?