Random Notes from a Crank

There's an extensive article in The New York Times about carbon-capture technologies that are being backed my large conglomerates. It's titled, "Can We Engineer Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis?"

The short answer is No. But you can mash the link and read for the various opinions on these ventures. 

Here's a noteworthy statement about these moves: 

“This is a new wave of denial, deception and delay,” said Lili Fuhr, director of the fossil economy program at the Center for International Environmental Law. “You have the fossil fuel industry trying to say we can engineer our way out of this without any major changes to business as usual.”

I discovered that Hulu now has the MLB Network. I'm watching baseball like a drunk on a bender since I haven't had the network since we switched from DirectTV many years ago. 

Of course, I still can't get Marquee Network to watch the Cubs because of Ricketts working with the evil Sinclair Broadcast Group to create the Marquee Network. If I ever switch allegiances to a National League ball club, it'll probably be the Brewers. They were one of my favorite AL ball clubs back when they were in the American League.

Or I guess I could just more closely follow AL teams I like: the Royals and the Twins.

It's hard to switch from the Cubs for me though because I've been so emotionally and intellectually attached to them for so long.

Being a Cubs fan brings with a certain mindset, what one might consider a positive fatalism. You have hope, but you're realistic. The mindset fits with me being a highly skeptical agnostic.

Based on this article in The Washington Post, "Cancun, Cabo, or Puerto Vallarta: Which Mexico Resort Is Best for You," if we go to Mexico again, I'm thinking Vallarta is place to be.

Music Friday: "Fuck and Run"

I've always been a fan of Liz Phair. 

Here's one of her most famous songs. 

Music Friday: "Finest Worksong"

Man, I'm usually more productive on my blog during spring break, but that trend hasn't been the case this year. 

Regardless, here's the opening track on Document, R.E.M.'s commercial breakthrough album. 

Music Friday: "Northern Attitude"

I've been on a Noah Kahan kick lately. 

So here's "Northern Attitude."  

Musing of the Moment: Interesting Facts/Trivia

For the holidays I got book of factoids titled Interesting Facts for Curious Minds: 1572 Random but Mind-Blowing Facts about History, Science, Pop Culture and Everything in Between. 

As I read the book, I noted these facts/trivia I found most interesting, and I'm sharing them in this post. 

They are below, and I'm quoting the author, Jordan Moore, word for word. 

• Cuban dictator Fidel Castro was a pragmatic leader. One of his best-known quotes is, "A revolution is not a bed of roses."
• Panama may be a small country, but Manuel Noriega was able to build a personal fortune of $300 million as its dictator from August 12, 1983 to December 20, 1989. He built his fortune through drug smuggling, CIA contracts, bribes, money laundering, and fraud.
• If you really don't care about something, you "couldn't care less," not you "could care less." The latter implies you still have some caring to do. 
• The once common dog name "Fido" came from the Romans. The name is derived from the Latin word, fidelis, which means "loyal." 
• An average dog's hearing is four times better than a human, but the part of their brain devoted to their sense of smell is about 40 time larger than ours. 
• Although the ancient Egyptians didn't name most of their breeds, their texts and reliefs show they had basenjis, salukis, and greyhounds. 
• When your dog kicks his hind legs after relieving himself, it isn't a weak attempt to cover the poo. No, Spot is merely marking his territory with the scent glands in his feet. 
• Although dice games preceded the Romans, the Romans were the first people to bet on dice. The Romans called double 'ones' -- 'snake's eyes' today -- a 'dog throw.'
• Up to 20% of the American population may be allergic to the chemical nickel. This could be big considering that nickel is a major components in smartphones. 
• The 1980 arcade game, Pac-Man, originally came out in Japan as Puck Man. The name was changed when it was realized how vandals could have fun with the word "Puck." 
• The Atari 2600 console hit the stores in 1977. It was a big step up from previous game systems because it used separate cartridges for each game. 
• The lyrics of the nursery rhyme "Ring around the Rosie" are a bizarre mystery. Many believe it refers to a bout of the plague where people carried bouquets of flowers and herbs to smell while walking in public, while others think it refers to a pagan ritual. 
• The bean bag chair was invented in 1968 by Italian Piero Gatti, Cesare Poolini, and Franco Teodoro. Its popularity peaked in the late 1970s. 
• As Charles Darwin (1809-1882) developed his theory of evolution, he also invented the modern office chair by adding wheels to make a swiveling chair. 
• The Ancient Greek mathematician Pythogoras (ca. 570-495 BCE) is best know for his theorem but he was also a mystic who led a commune. 
• The opposite sides of traditional dice always add up to seven. You can throw the dice as much as you want, but it's always the case. 
• According to the "birthday problem," 23 random people can be placed in a room and there's a 50% chance two of them will have the same birthday. 
• Tamales are an ancient dish dating back at least 5,000 years in Mesoamerica. The word "tamale" is derived from the Nahuatl/Aztec word, tamali.
• The Carthaginians reportedly catapulted pots filled with venomous snakes onto the ships of the Pergamon navy during a battle in 184 BCE. 
• Greek Fire was an incendiary, napalm-like weapon used by the Byzantine Empire from 672 to 1453. The ingredients and process to make Greek Fire remain a mystery. 
• In  the 500s BCE, the Greek colony, Sybaris, in Italy, passed one of the earliest known noise ordinances. It prohibited tinsmiths and roosters form the city limits. 
• Hallucinogenic psilocybin mushrooms were taken by many different American Indian peoples as part of religious rituals. The Aztecs even referred to one species as the "divine mushroom." 
• In the 1980s, ethnobotanist Wade Davis claimed that Haitian Voodoo zombies were created by a combination of tetrodotoxin from a pufferfish and bufotoxin from a toad. They were then "reanimated" with a natural drug, datura.
• Englishman Thomas Crapper (1836-1910) didn't invent the toilet, but he did improve plumbing by inventing the "U-bend" trap. It prevents liquids and gasses from flowing back into the toilet. The actual invent of the flush toilet can be traced back to a British man named Sir John Harrington who, in 1596, devised a mechanism with a cord that, when pulled, flushed away waste with a rush of water. 
• A survey revealed that the average woman hasn't worn $550 worth of clothing they own or about 20% of their wardrobe. Interestingly, shoes are the number one unworn item. 
• Islam has traditionally viewed dogs as "unclean," so they aren't very common pets in the Middle East. Cats were kept by Mohammad and considered "clean." 
• Contrary to common media portrayals, most burglaries take place between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Professional crooks strike when homeowners are at work or school.
• "Molly Pitcher" is the legendary name of either Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley or Margaret Hays. The story is that "Molly" carried pitchers of water to Patriot troops to cool the canons during a battle in the American Revolution. 
• Warrior goddesses were not uncommon in the ancient world. The Greek goddess Athena, the Assyrian goddess Ishtar, and the Egyptian lioness headed goddess Sekhmet, were all martial dieties. 
• No US state uses wind as its primary source of electrical power. But it's the second source of power for Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Kansas. 
• "Forest bathing" is a form of natural mental health therapy where a person simply spends time in forests. The activity is officially sanctioned by the Japanese government, which calls shinmin-yoku.
• A single cottonwood tree can release 40 million seeds in one season. The seeds can then float through the air for days, much longer than any other type of seed. 
• In the Keynesian view of modern economics, low unemployment is more important than low inflation. Government spending is encouraged to keep employment levels high. 
• Simon Bolivar (1783-1830) was South America's George Washington. Bolivar drove the Spanish from northern South America to become the father of the nations of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Bolivia. 

Music Friday: "This Ain't It"

Weathervanes is one of Isbell's best albums. Back to rocking out. 

And here's one of the many fine tunes on that album--video and live from Des Moines. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Spinach Artichoke Dip

This is a variation of a recipe I got from The Washington Post. It's damn good. 

Ingredients

• 2-3 TB of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 can of quartered artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1 package of frozen spinach, thawed and chopped
• 1-2 TB Dan-Os garlic seasoning
• 1 ts red papper flakes
• 1 TB of Smoked paprika
• 1 package of cream cheese (8 oz.), softened to room temperature
• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup of sour cream
• Salt and pepper to taste

Process

Heat the oil  in a cast-iron skillet on medium-high heat and add in the chopped spinach and artichokes. Add the seasonings with some salt and pepper. Saute for 8-10 minutes until most of the liquid is sweated out of it. 

Turn off the heat and add in the the cream cheese and cheeses and stir thoroughly, so it's evenly combined. Add in the sour cream until it's evenly combined. Taste the mixture and add in salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed. 

Get the broiler going in your oven and put the the skillet on the middle rack in the oven and broil for 5 minutes or so. 

Music Friday: "Doctor My Eyes"

Jackson Browne is such a great musician and songwriter. I got turned on to his stuff again after watching him perform on Austin City Limits. 

Also, I think this would be a good tune to play after an umpire makes a bad call. 

Music Friday: "Life Is Grand"

I listened to a lot of Camper Van Beethoven in the late 80s and early 90s. 

Here's what might be described as an anti-alternative anthem amongst the angst of the Reagan-Bush administrations. 

The second video has better sound quality, fwiw. 

Random Notes from a Crank

On Valentines Day, YouGov had its three daily questions focus on love and relationships and such. 

The first question was, "Throughout your life, how many people have you been in love with?" Here's how the percentages broke down when I took the survey:

• 0, 4%
• 1, 17%
• 2, 24%
• 3, 19%
• 4, 9%
• 5, 4%
• More than 5, 10%

60% of respondents said either 1, 2, or 3 partners. One factor I think in play is the first person you love and how breaking up with them makes you more rigorous in falling in love after the first person broke your heart. That's why I checked 2. 

As for these "more than 5" people, I think they need to be more rigorous with their loving. 

This week I finished rewatching all six seasons of Northern Exposure, which is now available on Amazon Prime. It's my favorite TV show of all time. At the end of every episode, you have a good feeling at the end--except of course the final episode when I was sad the series was over. 

The show was way ahead of its time. From my knowledge, the series has to be one of the first to have an openly gay couple in it. And the show started questioning Maurice's sexuality from the second episode after he gets mad at Chris for bringing up Walt Whitman's homosexuality. 

One of my favorite episodes is the one in which Maurice has a fancy dinner party for the 25th anniversary of his radio station, the one titled "The Big Feast." Ron, one of the gay men in the series, raises a toast to Maurice by saying, "You're a bigot and a homophobe." 

Music Friday: "Homesick"

After watching his performance on Austin City Limites, I've gotten into Noah Kahan's music lately.

Here's a great tune from Stick Season.

Random Notes from a Crank

In the February issue of Harper's, they provided some excerpts from The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins, the great jazz saxophonist. Here are some entries to spoke to me: 

• Another good day to think and be thankful for.
• Ask Charles: Is it about eating and putting a roof over your head? Is that what life amounts to?
• I have at times wanted and wished for time to stand still at particular moment. If it would all stay this way this would be heaven. But of course (reality) the other side of the whole soon reappears. Things are never constant. Disaster is coming. Disasters are coming. 
• Forgive everyone everything. 
• What other people think of you is none of your business. 
• No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up. 

Here's an interesting gifted article from The Washington Post: "The Remarkable Power of Holding Hands with Someone You Love."

The article reminds of a bit by Chris Rock in one of his more recent specials where he talks about how he'll do all kinds of sexual stuff with a woman with no personal attachment, but if he holds hands with her, then he gets emotionally attached. 

It's been a long time ago since I had gotten under the weather. I think the last time I got sick was maybe in 2018 or 2017. I survived the pandemic without contracting Covid (as far as I know), and this past weekend I got brought down by the common cold. 

Music Friday: "ICU"

I'm a big fan of Phoebe Bridgers. 

Here's a tune of hers. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Salmon Loaf

I found a recipe for salmon loaf on the InterWebs and modified it a little. It's pretty easy to make, but you need to create some kind of dill- or lemon-based sauce to put over it. 

Ingredients

• 1 can of canned salmon, drained and flaked
• 1 cup of dried breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1/4 cup of diced onion
• 2 eggs, beaten
• Juice of half of a lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Couple of dashes of liquid smoke (you could substitute smoked paprika)
• Smidge of Old Bay seasoning

Process

After draining the salmon and flaking it, cook down onions in a little bit of oil. In a big mixing bowl, add the everything and mix well. 

Grease down a sheet pan and with your hands mold the mixture into a loaf. 

Put it into a 375-degree oven on the middle rack and bake for approximately 40-50 minutes. The loaf should have at least an internal temp of 165 degrees. 

Music Friday: "Use Me"

This week I've been listening to this album quite often. It's Lean on Me: The Best of Bill Withers. 

Enjoy.