Sunday Hangover: Eastern Illinois

 

The photo above was our view from the visitors section in Bryant-Denny. We traveled down to Tuscaloosa for a college visit for my son on Friday and stayed for the game against EIU. 

My son predicted that the Panthers would get past midfield on offense, and they didn't. 

They did have a scoring chance early on in the game when Simpson threw a bad interception. But the defense pushed the Panthers back, and that was the only remote possibility of a scoring threat. 

Both Cuevas and Bernard weren't in pads for the game, so I'm assuming that they just held them out because they wanted to get other people reps in the game, which makes sense. 

The offense was rather vanilla for the most part, which is perfectly fine before they head to Auburn for the Iron Bowl. 

I thought both Mack and Russell looked good as the next quarterbacks up in the rotation, but with playing against such a weak opponent, it's hard to tell how they would do against stiffer competition. 

From our vantage point, Russell stood out more because of his pocket presence on a couple of plays when he had to step up in the pocket and makes passes. 

It's pretty simple. The Tide must win the Iron Bowl.  

Music Friday: "Ballad of the Devil's Backbone Tavern"

Unfortunately, Todd Snider passed away. 

One of his albums has one of the best titles of all time: Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables. 

But one of my favorite tunes of his is the "Ballad of the Devil's Backbone Tavern." 

RIP.

Musing of the Moment: Free Public Transportation

The New York Times has a feature going titled "50 States, 50 Fixes" that showcases what some places are doing to improve the environment and combat climate change. 

Today's article talks about Iowa City's move that made their public transportation free: "Iowa City Made Its Buses Free. Traffic Cleared, And So Did the Air." 

It was a good article that highlights how the free buses have been a huge hit because they have eased congestion in the college town. And well, they're free. 

Considering how much some of these colleges charge for parking passes, I would imagine students are also taking advantage of the public transportation. 

The article ended a little abruptly to my mind though. 

Regardless, I wish more cities made moves like this one. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Cheddar Cheese & Broccoli Soup

Today I made some soup from this recipe from The Washington Post: "Cheddar Cheese Soup." 

It was good, but I would make some modifications to it because I want broccoli in it and I didn't care for the crunchiness of the carrots and celery. I'd prefer those veggies to be cooked. 

I get why the cook who created the recipe wanted the contrast of crunchy carrots and celery with the creamy soup. But I'll just use crackers or pumpkin seeds if I want some crunch. 

So here's how I'm going to make a cheddar cheese soup in the future. 

Ingredients

1 medium onion, grated on a box grater

1 stalk of celery, chopped finely

1 stick of unsalted butter

1 small yellow onion, chopped finely

1 teaspoon of dried thyme

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup of AP flour

4 cups of chicken stock, hot

3-4 cups of grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup of half and half

1 package of streamable broccoli

1 teaspoon of ground turmeric

1 teaspoon of roasted garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Process

Cut up all the vegetables. In a large pot, melt the stick of butter on low. Add the carrots, celery, onion, bay leaves, and thyme and move the heat to medium-low. 

Add some salt and pepper and cook until the veggies are tender. 

In a pot nearby, make sure your chicken stock is hot. 

Down the heat to low and add the flour to veggie/butter mix and stir constantly to make a light-brown roux. 

Add the hot broth approximately a cup at a time. and whisk to make sure everything is fully incorporated. 

Steam the broccoli and drain. Cut the broccoli into small florets.

Add in grated cheese in about three to four batches and incorporate. Add in the half and half. Then add in the turmeric, garlic powder, and broccoli. 

Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Yet again this week's Existential Comic is great. It takes on AI and the hype machine behind it. 

Here are some gleanings from November's "Harper's Index":

• Portion of companies that report using AI in their business: 4/5
• Portion of those using AI for which it has not resulted in any "tangible bottom-line impact": 5/6
• Percentage change since 2023 in total U.S. investment in constructing housing: +5
• In total U.S. investment in constructing data centers: +115
• Portion of Americans with household incomes above $200,000 who expect AI to them more harm than good: 3/10
• Of those with household incomes below $50,000: 3/5
• Estimated percentage of ICE detainees who are held in private, for-profit facilities: 86
• Percentage of Americans over the age of 65 who say they can tell the time on an analog clock "instantly": 95
• Of those aged 18-30: 43

There are people who are worried about an "AI bubble" like we had with the dot.com bubble. 

And with AI, the amount of energy these data centers use is massively unsustainable while working and middle-class folks are going to be negatively affected, such as losing their jobs. 

It's not surprising ICE is using private prisons because it's just another way for the plutocrats to make money. 

What is with the recent trend of players spitting on each in the NFL? I get that trash talking can get heated, but really, spitting on on opponent? That's just stupid. 

Sunday Hangover: Oklahoma

What a horror show of errors. 

The first quarter was a shit show of three and outs coupled with not wrapping up on a punt return and a pick six. 

Simpson did what he could, but he got sacked four times, one of which created a turnover that turned into a touchdown. 

It's clear that Hill has taken over as the number one back. I hope that continues because he runs hard, and Miller has had his terrible mishaps in pass protection from time to time. 

Alabama lost, but they are still in second in the SEC standings with this one loss. And Alabama beat Georgia, and the next one-loss team, Ole Miss, lost to Georgia. 

When a team throws a pick six and loses two fumbles, they are unlikely to win the game. 

But the Tide could have. They put up 406 yards of total offense compared to Oklahoma's 212. 

And if Talty makes that field goal at the end of the first half, possibly the final score is 23 to 22. 

Next up is a home game versus Eastern Illinois, a game I'll actually be attending because my son is going on a campus visit on Friday, and we're going to the game on Saturday. 

After that, the Tide needs to beat Auburn, which is almost always tricky. 

Music Friday: "Wish You Were Here"

I hadn't listened to a Pink Floyd album in a good while. 

Yesterday when I was doing stuff at work, I listened to Wish You Were Here. 

So here's the title track to that fine album, a tune I think is one of Pink Floyd's best songs. 

Random Notes from a Crank

The Washington Post has an interesting article about the concept of "gray rocking": "Gray Rocking Is the Way to Deal with Difficult People. Here's How It Works." 

I've been using this method for decades. In fact, I used it in a tense meeting this past week. 

It's been yet another day that the Democratic representative in the House Adelita Grijalva has not been sworn in because she will vote to release the Epstein files. 

Here's her opinion piece in USA Today: "I Was Elected 6 Weeks Ago. Speaker Mike Johnson Refuses to Swear Me In." 

She finally got sworn in. Finally.

South Park is doing some great work about the problems with AI. Part of the plot of this week's episode featured the kids generating videos of each other and the "national problem of AI-generated abuse," as an article in The Washington Post describes it. 

Check out "Louisiana Middle Schooler Charged with Sharing Fake AI Nudes of Schoolmate." Disgusting shit. 

The deal struck to reopen the government is simply a ruse used by the GOP, which now stands for Grand Old Pedophiles. 

Sunday Hangover: LSU

With Brian Kelly getting canned and the Tigers working under a longtime assistant coach who emphasized the importance of the players representing the whole state of Louisiana, yesterday was LSU's Super Bowl when they traveled to Bryant-Denny. 

Alabama's defense limited them to three field goals. 

Alabama scored 20 hard-earned points and had yet another quick drive with less than two minutes left in the first half. In fact that touchdown-earning drive took less than a minute. 

LSU's defense threw a lot of Ty Simpson. He was shaky at times early, but he had a good game. 

They stacked the box on a consistent basis, so the Tide had to pass the ball. 

I'm still concerned about Alabama's rushing game, especially with a very tough Oklahoma defense coming next on Saturday. 

Music Friday: "Snipe Hunt"

I got the most recent album by Tyler Childers recently, and I'm really enjoying it. 

Here's the "Snipe Hunt" to the album Snipe Hunter. 

Musing of the Moment: Election Results from Yesterday

President Adolf can spin the election results however he wants about last night, but he's clearly an albatross around the GOP's neck.

See Jamelle Bouie's "Make No Mistake: Trump Is an Albatross" in the New York Times.  

Mamdani work the New York City mayoral race. 

In Virginia, Dems won in the governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general races.

New Jersey elected a Democratic governor.

Both governors and the lieutenant governor are women. 

And California overwhelmingly voted to redistrict in direct retaliation to what Adolf told Texas and other states to do. 

Moscow Don made some stupid post on Truth Social that the Democrats won because he wasn't on the ballot. 

No.

They won because President Adolf and his policies were figuratively on the ballot. 

People are motivated to reverse the gross negligence and hatred of his administration and the complicity of the GOP. 

FDT.