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.