Music Friday: "Got to Give"

I've been listening to the new Pearl Jam album all week. 

Here's one of my favorite tunes on the new album. 

Musing of the Moment: Tottenham's 24-25 Kits

Footy Headlines is at its usual work. Tottenham's home, away, and third kits were leaked by them here. 

Let's take a look. 

Alasdair Gold and the fellows at WeAreTottenhamTV weighed in on these, but I'll do so also. 

There's not much a designer can do to jazz up a team that wears white for its home jersey. It's safe to assume we're going back to navy shorts instead doing the all white kits like they did this season. 

I like this jersey with the navy sleeves and piping down the sides. 

I'm fond of the away kit. I like the lighter blue with navy, and I prefer football jerseys with a v-neck rather than a crew look. If I were to get a jersey, I'd probably get this one. 

As for the third kit, I like the old-school logo and Nike logo facing downward for whatever reason, but I'm not fond of this mint-green look. If Spurs is going to go with green, I'd prefer they go back to the forest green look we had a few years ago. 

What I really want for an away or third kit is a purple one. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Here are some interesting factoids from the Harper's Indexes from March and May: 

• Percentage of Americans who say that the nation's crime rates are getting worse: 77
• Who say that crime is an "extremely serious" or "very serious" problem in their local area: 17
• Percentage decrease in murders in the United States in the past year: 12
• Percentage change since 2009 in the portion of white evangelical Americans who say that gay people face discrimination: -34
• Who say that white evangelicals face discrimination: +43
• Portion of Americans who say they would not vote for a presidential candidate who has been charged with a felony: 2/3
• Percentage of Americans who say that the United States should spend more money on assistance for poor people: 72
• Percentage who say so when this assistance is called "welfare": 29
• Factor by which low-income Americans are more likely than others to identify as vegetarian: 2
• Percentage decrease in the number of Americans who identify as vegetarian since 2018: 20
• Percentage of Americans who believe they will be harmed personally by climate change: 45
• Percentage change in the total net worth of white Americans since 2019: +26
• In the total net worth of black Americans: -4
• In the total net worth of American adults under 40: +76
• Percentage by which employees who work in person are more likely to be promoted than those who work exclusively from home: 45

Steven Pinker's book, Enlightenment Now, connects to the point that people automatically think crime is always getting worse. 

White evangelicals are the worst. 

We'll see if voters follow through on not voting for a felonious, narcissistic, pathological liar. 

The difference in attitudes about "assistance for poor people" and "welfare" is a classic case of framing language. 

I find it odd that there are fewer people identifying as vegetarian. Perhaps those vegetarians are turning vegan? 

It makes sense that people who actually work with others in person are more likely to be promoted. 

Music Friday: "Wishlist" & "In Hiding"

Pearl Jam came out with a new album today. It's titled Dark Matter. 

I'm not featuring a song from that album because I haven't listened to it yet. 

So here's a couple of songs from Yield that I'm very fond of. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Baked Penne with Marinara-Meat Sauce and Cheese

I made this recipe after scoping out some recipes on the Interwebs, and I modified it according to how I wanted to do it. 

Ingredients

2 28oz. cans of crushed tomatoes (I prefer the ones at Aldi because they seem sweeter than other crushed tomatoes I've used.)

Extra virgin olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped finely

1 stalk of celery, chopped finely (optional)

1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped finely (optional)

3 TB of minced garlic

3-4 TB of dried basil

2-3 TB of dried oregano

1 TB of dried red pepper flakes

2-4 TB of butter (optional)

Kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste (I like a lot of black pepper)

1 lb. of ground beef

3-4 TB of beef broth (optional)

1 box of penne pasta

9 slices of provolone cheese

Sour cream

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Parmesan cheese

Finely chopped Italian parsley 

Process

The celery and carrot are optional. Sometimes I make my basic marinara with them. Sometimes I don't. 

Coat a Dutch oven or large pot with olive oil over medium-high heat. Dump in the onion, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and saute until well cooked. Reduce to medium heat and put in the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. 

Add in the crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Set to low and cover the top with a crack on the side to let the sauce breathe. 

I watched a cooking show a while back, and they advocated for putting butter in a marinara sauce because apparently it's a move some Italians make. It adds some complexity to the sauce. Take it or leave it. 

As the sauce is churning away, brown the ground beef on medium-highish heat. Once fully cooked, drain the beef on a plate lined with paper towels. And then add to the sauce. Add in some beef broth is so desired. 

I usually cook down my marinara sauce for anywhere from 2 to 5 hours with me stirring from time to time. I let my sauce cook for a while and then added the beef and broth about an hour before I was ready to assemble everything. 

Cook the penne pasta and drain. Take all of the pasta and add it to the sauce and mix well. Combine it all together. 

In a large, deep baking dish, add half of the pasta and sauce mixture. On top of it create a layer of provolone slices and smear some sour cream on top of the cheese slices. Then sprinkle heavily with mozzeralla and then parmesan. Add the remaining pasta and sauce mixture and sprinkle the top with mozzeralla, parmesan, and finely chopped Italian parsley. 

Bake at 375 degrees on the middle rack for 20-30 minutes.  

Music Friday: "Mind Riot"

While working on Wednesday, I listened to a lot Soundgarden. 

Here's a song in their catalog that is underrated. 

Random Notes from a Crank

This past week's Kristen Wiig episode of Saturday Night Live was one of the best overall episodes in recent history. The opening skit was hilarious. 

Here's a great part of that episode's "Weekend Update."

"Weekend Update" has always been my favorite part of most SNL episodes. That feature was a template for The Daily Show. 

In good news on the environmental-issues front, the EPA passed a rule that chemical plants will have to curb the toxic chemicals they emit. The chemicals that are being more heavily regulated are carcinogenic and known for the area of the country called "Cancer Alley." Check out "Environmental Protection Agency Limits Pollution from Chemical Plants" in the New York Times. 

The opinion piece, "I'm Jewish, and I've Covered Wars. I Know War Crimes when I See Them," is a must read for what is happening in Gaza. To criticize what Israel is doing is not being antisemitic. It's being a human. 

Music Friday: "What about the Children"

I didn't realize Gary Clark Jr. had a new album until I heard him interviewed by David Fricke's "Writer's Block" program on SiriusXM radio.

I picked up the album this week and have been listening to it almost every day.

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.

Music Friday: "Grief Is Only Love" & "Cuckoo"

The lead singer of American Aquarium put out his top ten or twenty list of best albums of 2023 a while back, and the album that was number one was Steven Wilson Jr.'s Son of Dad. 

So I picked it up, and I like it. I'm not a person who automatically gravitates toward county-like music, but Wilson Jr. is more Americana music, and you can tell he has a wide background in types of music. 

Here are "Grief Is Only Love" and "Cuckoo." 

Random Notes from a Crank

Watching Northern Exposure with all its Red Hook beer advertising reminds me of one of my favorite breweries. I drank my fair share of Red Hook ESBs and Long Hammer IPAs. Strangely enough, I drank lots of Red Hook, a beer made in Seattle, when I lived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I've never seen it around these parts, unfortunately. And now they have all kinds of interesting IPAs that I can't get my hands on.

I searched for it on Binny's website, and all I got was squat.

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed that show, Northern Exposure. It has to be my favorite TV series of all time. I'm so glad Amazon made it available on Prime.

Because of a possible "wintry mix," the schools around here did not have have classes. All it did was rain. The silliness of people who aren't used to snow...

I've seen a trend recently of mid-size cities or larger cities making people their area's poet laureate. When did this move of laureating poets in places like Mobile and Mufreesboro start to happen? 

I'm not against it or anything. In fact, I like it because it supports the artistic community, but I'm just wondering when this trend started. 

Who started the laureating fire? And where else will it spread to? 

NPR has an interesting article out about the "Nones," who are apparently the largest group in the US in regard to religion. I fit into that group because I'm a highly skeptical agnostic.

The article is "Religious 'Nones' Are Now the Largest Single Group in the U.S." 

The good news to me is that this group is growing and they are likely to be liberal.  In addition, apparently Evangelicals is a group that's shrinking. More good news. 

Music Friday: Where You Lead

I'm working from home on this snowy Friday, and I'm listening to my iPod on shuffle. This song came up. 

So enjoy.  

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Beef Liver Pate

I got the basics of this recipe from the InterWebs, but I modified it a bit. I added juice from a couple of slices of lime to brighten it up a bit. 

Ingredients

1 package of beef liver

6 TB of butter

2-3 slivers of lime, squeezed

Salt and pepper to taste

Dried thyme to taste

Process

Wash the liver and pat them dry. Cut into smaller sizes and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Put a cast-iron skillet on medium-high heat and add three tablespoons of butter to it. 

Once the butter is melted and sufficiently hot, add the liver and sauté each side of the liver for one minute. Move the cooked liver to a plate to cool. 

In a separate small skillet, melt three tablespoons of butter on low. 

Wait for about fifteen minutes, so the liver cools down. Place the liver, lime juice, melted butter, thyme, salt, and pepper into a food processor. Process till it's smooth and refrigerate. 

Music Friday: "Pictures of You"

As I was driving to my son's basketball games yesterday, I listened to the Life with John Mayer channel on SiriusXM radio. He has interesting musical tastes. 

One song that came one "Lovesong" by The Cure, and I was reminded how I like that band, but it's another one of those bands that I never really bought any of their albums. 

Here's one of my favorite tunes from The Cure, one with a long instrumental opening. 

Musing of the Moment: The Danger and Stupidity of Bottled Water

The Washington Post has a great article out today about the danger of not just microplastics but also nanoplastics in bottled water: "Here's What You're Really Swallowing When Your Drink Bottled Water."  

Bottled water is one of the biggest scams out there because a lot of bottled water simply comes from municipal sources. 

And then there's an old Penn and Teller bit on bottled water that you can watch below.

So people are buying water they can get from their faucet or filtered from a refrigerator. 

They are voluntarily ingesting microplastics and nanoplastics, which I would assume it bad for one's body. They are paying an exorbitant fee for the water they could get from their municipality. And because so few people actually recycle the bottles, the world is awash in plastic polluting the very water they want to drink. 

The stupidity of humans.

Music Friday: "The Man"

This song makes me grin. It kind of reminds me "The Dude" from The Big Lebowski. 

Here you go. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Lemon-Butter Fettuccine

I tried a recipe from The Washington Post a little while back, and I didn't like how it came out. So I modified it to my liking since I use the store-bought, cheaper parmesan cheese that mucked up the original recipe.

I like this version much better. 

Ingredients

1 stick of butter

2 lemons

1 regular box of fettuccine

1 TB of dried basil

1 Ts of dried oregano

1 Ts of minced garlic

1 Ts of Dan-O's seasoning

1 TB of Seasonello Bologna aromatic herbal salt

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Process

First cook the pasta to al dente and drain. Once it is fully drained and cooled, drizzle it with some extra virgin olive oil and toss. 

Halfway through cooking the pasta, melt the butter on medium-low and zest the two lemons. Add the lemon zest, seasonings, and minced garlic to the melted butter and adjust to low. Juice half of a lemon into the melted butter and add salt and pepper. 

Kick the heat of the butter mixture up to medium-low and add the pasta in to fully coat it. 

When serving, liberally apply lots of parmesan cheese on top since the reaction between parmesan and lemon is a delightful combination. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I saw this one ready-made shot that you can buy called "Porn Star." It's a half and half mixture of raspberry vodka and blue curaçao. 

If you were to make a shot called "porn star," don't you think it would be a different color, such as white like a pina colada to mimic the color of spunk? Just sayin'.

It's an old proverb from somewhere in Africa, but it rings true: Madness is hereditary. You get it from your kids. 

When I searched for that quotation, the search engine attributed it to someone named Sam Levenson. But I've always remembered it as a proverb that came out of Africa. 

A simple search found that Mr. Levenson was a white dude. Perhaps he stole it? 

I recently finished Nick Offerman's delightful book Where the Deer and Antelope Play. I highly recommend it. Straight talk, people. 

Another book I picked up last month was George Carlin's When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? It's typical Carlin diatribic humor, some of which hasn't aged well. Imagine what Carlin would have done with Moscow Don?

Another book I'm starting is Ned Blackhawk's The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History. I psyched about it. 

Sunday Hangover: Michigan

What a frustrating game. 

Alabama played so well in the second half until they didn't. 

I felt the offensive play calling was terrible. We have a highly mobile quarterback that terrifies defenses, and we rarely roll him out to take advantage of his skills. It's madness. 

The plays they ran in overtime were uninspired. 

The Tide can't win a national championship every year, but they were definitely in the hunt this year. I blame the coaching. 

The good news is that Milroe will be back, and he progressed a hell of a lot this season. 

We will lose some great players to the draft though, four of whom likely to be first-round draft picks: Latham, Turner, Arnold, and McKinstry.