Musing of the Moment: Russian Aggression & Memories

When I was a kid, I worried about a lot of things. In particular, I followed politics closely. During high school, for example, I subscribed to The New Republic, and that interest in national and global politics carried on into college and thereafter. 

So as Putin directs Russian troops to take over Ukraine (that's what he's really wanting to do), I'm reminded of the many nights I laid in bed not sleeping because I was worrying about nuclear annihilation because of the Cold War with the US and the U.S.S.R. aiming missiles at each other. 

The difference between then and now is that Republican leaders didn't actively praise Russian autocrats. 

I've called the former president #MoscowDon over the years for a reason. 

Music Friday: "Call Me"

One of the current books I'm reading is A Meditation on Fire by Jason Allen. 

I usually read books of poetry from start to finish, so I've been reading two or three poems a day to bask in the hot-blunt, gritty-lyrical quality of Allen's verse. 

But I was lying on the couch on Wednesday after walking the dogs and reading a couple of poems, and I opened up the collection to a poem titled "Blondie and Me." I was intrigued by the title. 

It's a wonderful poem that recounts the persona's memory of watching The Muppet Show when he was six when Debbie Harry was on it, specifically her performance of "Call Me." 

So, of course, I had to check out the video below because I didn't remember that episode of The Muppet Show, and the poem is an artful rendering of being entranced by a beautiful woman. 

I've been there many times. 

Music Friday: "Under the Milky Way"

An album I had way back when on cassette was The Church's Starfish. 

It's a classic album from late-80s-era alternative rock. I bought the digital album this week because I missed the dreamy wondrousness of the album's songs.

Here's one of the more popular songs from that opus. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Non-Sugar Ketchup

I'm not a huge ketchup snob like some people. I use it when I eat fries, and I like it slathered on my tater tot casserole. But even when I dip fries in it, I typically use a 50-50 mixture of ketchup and yellow mustard because ketchup is typically too damn sweet.

And I never use ketchup on hot dogs because I'm not a child. 

So I've recently become obsessed with making non-sugary, homemade ketchup, and I took a recipe for Keto ketchup and modified it a bit.

Ingredients

• 1 6oz. can of tomato paste
• 1 cup of water
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar alternative (I used Sukrin Gold)
• 2 TB of apple cider vinegar
• 2 TB of white vinegar
• 1 Ts of onion powder
• 1/2 Ts of garlic powder
• 1 Ts of kosher salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• A healthy shake of Penzey's Chicago Steak seasoning

Process

Put all the ingredients together and heat on medium-high until it starts simmering. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir constantly for approximately eight minutes. Take off the heat and let it cool for an hour or so. Transfer to your condiment dispenser of choice.

Future Thoughts

Next time I make it I plan to add in some smoked paprika and maybe bump up the garlic powder to a full teaspoon. 

Musing of the Moment: Stop the Idiotic Parental Overreach

Leonard Pitts Jr., the renowned columnist for The Miami Herald, has a great opinion piece that everyone who cares about K-12 education should read: "Let's Respect Teachers as the Trained Professionals That They Are, Shall We?" 

As he states, "So here’s my modest proposal: How about we respect educators as the trained professionals they are? How about we trust their judgment? How about we stop requiring them to reach consensus with those who have not the first clue? If a parent feels their child can’t handle some challenging material, fine: empower that parent to opt the child out of the lesson — not to deny the lesson to everyone else."

I am so tired for ignoramus parents and dumb-ass school boards trying to dictate what is and what is not being taught in schools because of their snowflake sensibilities or idiocies. 

The extreme example of parental and politically motivated overreach is the idiotic proposal in Iowa that proposes to put video cameras in every public classroom. 

Big Brother wants to watch. 

If you think there's a teacher shortage now, if more of this nonsense about banning books and doing surveillance on teachers continues, the problem is only going to get worse. 

Music Friday: "Hard to Handle"

No, not the Black Crowes version. I'm featuring the original. 

Of all of the R&B artists of all time, I would have to say Otis Redding is probably my favorite. 

But if you consider Sly & The Family Stone as R&B (I don't. I consider them Funk), it would have to a tie between Redding and Sly. 

Anyway, enjoy the original. 

Music Friday: "Testify"

I'm late, so this is a belated Music Friday post. 

I had thought of doing "Hurt" by NIN, but I featured that recently. 

Thinking of the 90s, an album that I haven't listened to as much from Rage Against the Machine is The Battle of Los Angeles. 

Here's the opening track on that album.