Music Friday: "The New Year"

I'm late I know, but for the past three days Mrs. Nasty and I have been renovating our downstairs common area, which entailed stripping wallpaper, painting wood paneling, and putting in new chair rail boards. 

It's still not done. Finishing will take another day or two. 

I'm not going anywhere for New Year's Eve this year. And as I've done before, here's that tune from Death Cab for Cutie. 

I will drink some Asti Spumante later though. 

Music Friday: "Up All Night (Frankie Miller Goes to Hollywood)"

I haven't featured Counting Crows in a good while, and this song came across my iPod shuffle when I was making pancakes for my family this morning. 

Random Notes from a Crank

If Twitter declines dramatically in use and influence because of Musk's negative influence, I wonder which online platform/s will fill the vacuum for quickly sharing information in a non-cesspool like setting? 

Well, Twitter has been a cesspool for quite a while, but at least they seemed to be taking steps to quash lies and misinformation during the previous organizational regime. 

Based on some cursory research done via the InterWebs, some of options look like Mastodon and Counter Social. 

I joined Mastodon to check it out. If you are on the platform, my handle is Quintilianw@masto.nu.

My daughter, who is home from college, asked me the other day if I went to Woodstock. My immediate answer was, "How old do you think I am?" 

I was confused obviously because she was asking about the one in 1999 because she watched the documentary Trainwreck: Woodstock '99. Mrs. Nasty and I got married during the summer of 1999, and that was the summer before my second year in my Ph.D. program. No concert-going was happening. 

I was at my local CVS, and they had a manner of bourbon called Jethro T. Boots for sale for $7.99. Hell, at that price, a fifth of that bourbon is cheaper than a six pack of craft beer. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Golden Chicken Vegetable Soup

I found a recipe via "Our 10 Most Popular Recipes of 2022" from The Washington Post, and I modified a bit to fit my tastes. 

Ingredients

1 lb. boneless chicken thighs (I used three of them), cut into small pieces

1 yellow onion, diced

2-3 carrots, cut thinly into full and half moon slices

1 stalk of celery, chopped

1 half of a bell pepper, diced

2 quarts of low sodium chicken stock

1-2 TB of freshly ground ginger

1-2 TB of turmeric

1 can of chickpeas, drained

2-3 cups of baby spinach

1 teaspoon of roasted garlic powder

1 TB of smoked paprika

Extra virgin olive oil for sautéing aromatics

Salt and pepper to taste

Process

In a Dutch oven, season the chicken and brown for ten minutes or so on medium-high heat. Remove the chicken to a plate and let rest. The chicken doesn't have to be cooked thoroughly through. 

Heat the olive oil on medium and dump in the onion, carrots, celery, and bell pepper. Add salt and pepper and sweat them down for five to ten minutes. Add the chicken, stock, ginger, turmeric, other seasonings, chickpeas, and half of the spinach. 

Partially cover and simmer on medium low heat for an hour. Then add the rest of the spinach and simmer for another 20 minutes or so. Check on the taste and adjust seasonings as needed. 

Music Friday: "The Perilous Night" & "Billy Ringo in the Dark"

The Drive-By Truckers are touring this spring, and I might finally go to either their rock show in St. Louis or Champaign. 

In anticipation of that event, here are a couple songs from two of their more recent albums. 

Music Friday: "Heartbeat of America"

It's Sunday I know. But here goes a Music Friday post nonetheless. 

I had heard good things about Billy Strings for a while now, so I downloaded his Renewal album from last year. I've only gotten about three-quarters of a way through listening to it, but this song stood out to me from a first listen. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Since I watch We are Tottenham TV and Alasdair Gold videos on YouTube, I've gotten used to some of the words British folks use when talking about world football. 

One that doesn't make any sense to me is the when they say that someone is playing really well, they describe the player as "unplayable." The prefix "un" is typically used in a negative way, so if a player were truly unplayable, it stands to reason that person is not playing well in that one shouldn't play him. 

On a more positive note, when someone is exhausted, folks like to use the term "knackered." Going by the dictionary, the word is classified as British slang. 

However, knacker also is a noun for someone who removes road kill that is not fit for human consumption. 

And apparently the word is also a derogatory term for someone from Ireland who is of lower class or from the hood who has a certain look and thick accent. At least that's what I found on Urban Dictionary. 

As many times as I see drivers in their cars with their phone in their hands, it's surprising there are not more accidents because of people's addiction to their phones. Dangerous. 

Speaking of dangerous: Herschel Walker.

As much as I am happy that Warnock beat Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff, almost half of the Georgians who voted did vote for a candidate who is obviously not fit for serving in the U.S. Senate. 

That's a dangerous sign. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Slow Cooker Cubed Steak with Mushrooms with Mashed Potatoes

I have some cubed steak in the freezer, and the last time I made it, the dish did not come out that well. So I found a recipe on the InterWebs and modified it.

Ingredients

2 lbs. of cubed steak

1 packet of Lawry's Beef Marinade

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 can of French onion soup

1/2 cup of water

1 cup of beef stock

1 package of mushrooms, sliced

3 TB corn starch

3 TB cold water

Freshly cracked black pepper

Process

In the past when I worked with cubed steak, it was just too thick, so I trimmed off any excess fat and tenderized it even more with a mallet, so the steak was super thin and tenderized. 

In the slow cooker on low, add the cans of soup, water, and beef stock. Whisk it all together and then place the cubed steak into the gravy. Cook on low for roughly eight hours. 

When it's around the last hour of cooking, make your mashed potatoes. I prefer Yukon gold potatoes. And then put in your sliced mushrooms. Liberally apply cracked black pepper. 

Toward the end pull out the cubed steak and mushrooms. 

Whisk together three tablespoons of corn starch and cold water and place that into the gravy. Set it on high to thicken, and the dish should be good to go. 

Music Friday: "Better Living Through Desperation" & "Learning While I Lose"

One of the three albums I bought recently is Extreme Witchcraft by the Eels. 

I like all the songs, but here are a couple I'm particularly fond of. 

Music Friday: Auburn

Another Iron Bowl win for Alabama. 

Even though Auburn tried its best with a running quarterback, which is typically the kryptonite for the Tide, the Alabama offense was just way too much for the Tigers/Plainsmen/War Eagles.

Young had a great game, which has become expected, and it's too bad we come to expect it all the time because without him, I suspect Alabama would have had more than two losses this season. 

From a media standpoint, the 2022 season for Bryce Young has been severely underrated. 

In yesterday's game, Young threw the ball to nine different receivers, so he spread the reception love around. 

The other standout junior Will Anderson Jr. had three tackles for loss and two sacks, and like Young, has been underappreciated for his stats this year. He wasn't as explosive as last year, but he had a solid season. 

Both players are likely to go in the top ten of the NFL draft. 

Alabama will have a lot of off-season work to do for the 2023 season with a battle for starting quarterback waiting for them (Milroe vs. Simpson). We'll lose a lot from a defense that had tremendous promise but often was leaky in certain games. We'll lose a lot of DBs to the draft and graduation I suspect. 

I think we'll be solid at running back again even if Gibbs decides to go out in the draft. 

There's solid depth at WR, but as always, line play is key. 

I'm not expecting some championship games shakeout in which Alabama gets into the four-game playoff. 

But if were to happen, I suspect Alabama would be up against Georgia. 

Sunday Hangover: "Don't Carry It All"

In the course of my interactions with my daughter today, I discovered that she's a fan of The Decemberists. 

Here's the opening song of The King Is Dead.  

Sunday Hangover: Austin Peay

For as long as I've had this blog, I don't think Alabama has ever played Austin Peay. 

Regardless, the Crimson Tide played just fine. A shutout was in order even though early in the game the Governors had a couple of chances to score. 

It was good to see both Milroe and Simpson getting playing time, albeit it was later than expected. As the announcers related, it should be a real battle to see who takes over for Young as the starting QB next year. 

We haven't seen much of Simpson this year, but he's got tremendous arm strength and looks the part of a solid QB. Unfortunately, Milroe threw an interception during his lone stint at playing. 

With Gibbs hampered by ankle injury, McClellan and Williams ran the ball well. I am thinking McClellan is future star at running back. He reminds me of past Alabama backs. 

Next up is the Iron Bowl. Throw out the records and all that. 

Music Friday: "Line In the Dirt" & "End Times"

No surprise here, but I'm in a cranky mood today. 

So I'm listening to End Times by Eels. Here are a couple of songs that are back to back on the album--tracks five and six. 

Random Notes from a Crank

In surprising news, the Democrats have apparently won back the Senate. Hopefully Warnock will defeat the woefully unqualified Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff. 

Why aren't people telling Walker to "stick to sports" like they did with Kaepernick and LeBron? 

I suspect the GOP will win the House with some manner of a majority, but it would be a major upset if the Democrats retain the House. I just don't see it happening. 

A man can dream though. 

Here are some interesting factoids from the November "Harper's Index": 

• Portion of Americans who say political divisions have worsened since Joe Biden took office: 2/3
• Who would prefer an alternative to the electoral college system: 3/5
• Percentage of U.S. adults who consume "severely problematic" amounts of news: 17
• Factor by which these individuals are more likely to have a serious mental illness: 9
• Percentage increase since 2019 in the number of children who are unvaccinated against polio: 35
• Estimated age at which adults are unhappiest: 48

The last estimate seems pretty accurate to me. 

I tried to see if any Forward Party candidates won election, but that party came together so recently that it seems they only endorsed certain candidates. 

Sunday Hangover: Ole Miss

It was not a convincing win, but it was a win, nonetheless. 

In the first quarter, I was worried because the Alabama defense was not getting up to speed with the Rebels' fast-paced offense. 

I have continued to be frustrated with the offensive play calling because the Tide needs to run the ball much more effectively. 

Gibbs did not tote the rock in the second half with Saban going with McClellan and Williams at running back. That move was a bit surprising, but Gibbs did not do much of anything in the first half. 

A pleasant surprise was the play of Byron Young. He tied with Hellams as the leading tackler on the team with six solo tackles and five assists. He also had two sacks and two tackles for loss. 

Lawson also played a great deal, so that work is building for the future. 

It appears Brooks and Latu have become Young's preferred receivers. 

Barring a miracle of disasters among the teams ahead of them in the rankings, this year will not see Alabama in the championship playoffs. 

Bummer, man.