Random Notes from a Crank

It's that time of the year when the state track meet comes to town, so this week the town I live in has an influx of all kinds of people with high school students residing in some of the college's dorms. 

So the dorms' parking lots are full of high school buses that show the mascots of the high schools. 

Some of the most popular mascots are Bulldogs, Tigers, and Trojans. 

The high school my kids both graduated from had the mascot of the Trojans, which I find curious. 

They lost the Trojan War because of silly wooden horse. You would think people would use the side that won that mythical war, but they'd just have to call them the "Greeks." And that's not going to work. 

The closest moniker we got is the Spartans, but that was only a part of the Greek force in the Trojan War. 

I like entities that have interesting mascots, such as Crimson Tide, Wooden Shoes, Cornhuskers, Bunnies, Grey Ghosts, and so on. 

Here in Dumbfuckistan, The New York Times have a succinct article about about how the Iran War is MAME: Making America More Expensive: "What The Iran War Is Costing You." 

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert had its final episode on Thursday. I'm pissed off because that show was basically my form of therapy during the Trump administration and the pandemic. Check out "Stephen Colbert's Last 'Late Show': Laughing Well Is the Best Revenge." 

It looks like I'll be watching The Daily Show and Jimmy Kimmel from here on out. 

Fuck CBS. 

Music Friday: "Sunny Storms"

I watched a TikTok video a while back in which Bomani Jones was talking about how De La Soul's recent album was one of the best of 2025. 

 I took the guy's advice and downloaded Cabin In the Sky. 

There are tons of great songs on the album, but here's the third track. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Three-Bean Salad

At my son's senior night for the high school baseball team, one of the dads, who is a vegetarian, made a bean salad of sorts.

He made a huge version of it, so here's a much smaller version.

Ingredients

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed 

1 can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed 

1 can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup of cooked corn

1/2 cup of diced tomatoes with green chiles (or use the juice of one lime)

1/4 cup of jarred jalapeños, chopped finely

Healthy smidge of Penzey's salsa seasoning

Dash of Dan-Os seasoning

Process

It's pretty dang easy. drain and rinse the beans. Put everything into a mixing bowl and add the seasonings. One can alter this in a number of ways, such as adding bell pepper, scallions, and red onion if you like. 

Musing of the Moment: The Death of Schlitz

In some sad news for beer drinkers, Schlitz is going the way of the Dodo: "Once-Famous Beer To Be Discontinued after 177 Years." 

Back when I was drinking lots of beer when I was in college in the 90s, I would frequent my local Hy-Vee grocery store in Kirksville, Missouri and be able to get a twelve pack of Schlitz for an economical $5.99.

We discovered Schlitz on a pledge skip to Ames, Iowa. One of my fraternity brothers went out to get beer for a bunch a guys and came back with twelve packs of Schlitz. 

We initially started drinking Schlitz because people would not bum beers off you at parties when you were drinking the "Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous." 

It was better tasting than the regular Beast Light or Natty Light that people drank back then. 

But eventually people came around to bumming Schlitzes off we Schlitzophrenics, even girls. 

It's a sad day in the history of beer. 

Music Friday: "Juat the Way You Are"

For whatever reason, this song is one of my favorite tunes by Billy Joel. 

I heard it yesterday as I was listening to SiriusXM's The Bridge channel when Mrs. Nasty and I were driving back from a baseball game. 

Musing of the Moment: The Iran War Creates Inflation

As The New York Times is reporting, inflation has gotten even worse because of the gas prices soaring because of the pointless war in Iran. 

Check out "Inflation Accelerates after Weeks of War in Iran." 

The Democrats need to campaign with showing how the GOP is tied to President Adolf's dumbass policies and decisions. 

It's pretty simple. 

MAME: Making America More Expensive. 

Music Friday: "Dan"

 I've been listening to Noah Kahan's new album The Great Divide a lot since it came out. 

One of my favorite tunes on the album is the final one titled "Dan." 

Random Notes from a Crank

 

I got 100 of these stickers of President Adolf the other day. Every time I get gas, I will be affixing them to gas pumps. 

Other people need to do the same. 

It's been over sixty days since the lunatic started the Iran War. Congress needs to take away his wartime power. 

The New York Times has a great article about the end of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: "When 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' Goes Away, What Do We Lose?" 

I wonder what Colbert is going to do next. 

Young Americans don't have a good opinion of the economy right now: "81 percent of Young Americans Say Economic Conditions Are Bad or Terrible."

With terrible gas prices and inflation happening on all kinds of products, the average person is getting screwed. 

Music Friday: "Spanish Castle Magic"

 I'm on time for a change this week. 

For whatever reason, I have this song rattling through my head today. 

Music Friday: "Down Home with Homey"

 I'm late again. Damn it. 

Here's a classic tune from Uptown Ruler Soul Gestures in Southern Blue Vol. 2 by Wynton Marsalis. 

Music Friday: "The Great Divide"

I got so busy with matters yesterday that I forgot to put out a Music Friday post. So here's a Music Friday post on Saturday. 

I watched the Netflix documentary on Kahan this past week. It came out a couple of weeks before his new album comes out. 

Here's the single that has been played quite a bit. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Apricot Banger

In my most recent Random Notes from a Crank post, I brought up the cocktail of the Baltimore Bang, and I mentioned I might play around with the recipe. 

I did. 

I cut the lemon juice and upped the sugar a bit to highlight the apricot flavor more. I also wonder if a half ounce or an ounce of triple sec might make it interesting because the original recipe calls for an orange garnish. 

Or maybe adding some bitters to the mix? 

So here it goes for now.  

Ingredients

1 1/2 ounces of bourbon (I use standard Evan Williams instead of crap like Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 or Jim Beam)

1 1/2 ounces of apricot brandy

1 teaspoon of sugar or half a teaspoon of simple syrup

Process

It's pretty dang simple. Put the ingredients in cocktail shaker, fill with ice, shake, and drain into a high ball glass or chilled cocktail glass. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I discovered a new (to me) cocktail that I'm taking a shine to. It's called the Baltimore Bang. 

I'm a huge fan of bourbon, of course. But I also love apricots. The current recipe includes 1 oz. of lemon juice, so I may experiment doing without the lemon juice to bring out more of the apricot flavor. 

But I'm also a fan of the classic Manhattan cocktail. 

I was recently alarmed by the high prices for blueberries. I was in my local supermarket, and a carton was over seven bucks. 

Apparently, there are a number of factors why they are so high right now: climate change, the lack of migrant workers, and shipping problems. This article from 2025 explains it all: "Why Your Blueberries Are Suddenly So Expensive." 

Also, a more recent article in Business Insider cites the Iran War as a major factor for higher grocery prices across the board.

And the New York Times has an article on just that issue because, as an expert says in the article, "Berries are often the first category where consumers notice fuel inflation. When fuel prices rise, those costs move through the supply chain almost immediately." 

Read all about in "Where Might the Iran War Hit Your Grocery Bill? Start with Raspberries."  

Other significant factors are President Adolf's stupid tariffs, a weak US dollar, and a lack of migrant workers to pick produce. 

The political cartoonist usually isn't this blunt with his work, but I like it. 

Jeff Stahler 4/9/26 GoComics.com

In what is great news, the dictator Orban lost his election to remain Prime Minister of Hungary: "Orban, Beacon to the Right, Concedes Defeat in Hungary Election." 

And the new PM Magyar plans to get back on the right footing and stop the propaganda machine that Orban created: "Hungarian Election Winner Magyar Vows to Rebuild EU Relationship after Stunning Defeat of Orban." 

Random Notes from a Crank

As expected, the Vice President's trip to negotiate with Iran was a total failure. 

And then President Adolf talked about blocking the Strait of Hormuz. How the Hell is that going to help anything? 

Meanwhile at home the cost of gas/diesel is driving everything up. 

Bill Bramhall 4/12/26 GoComics

In news not related to a stupid war the US is waging for no good reason, A-Day at the U of Alabama was Saturday. 

From the report I read from TiderInsider, the sophomore QB Keelon Russell had a solid day and stood out among the quarterbacks. 

I'm really interested to see which NFL team takes Ty Simpson. Will he be a first round pick? Teams have to love his footwork as a quarterback. He's so fundamentally sound but only has the one season to look at from a standpoint of experience. 

Music Friday: "One Thing At a Time"

I recently discovered that Courtney Barnett had a new album out this year. Its titled Creature of Habit. 

Here's the fifth track from the new album.