Random Notes from a Crank

I'm both a fan of football and American football. 

In regard to the latter and in regard to the Super Bowl outcome, it's pretty simple. The team with the best line play is most likely to play. 

Use Occam's razor. 

What we saw in Super Bow LIX is that the Eagles have a great offensive line and a phenomenal defensive line. You win game at the line of scrimmage. It's that simple. 

Or I could showcase my old-guy self and simply say, "Defense wins championships." 

I was rooting for the Eagles because of Jalen Hurts, Devonta Smith, and Landon Dickerson.

I'm not a fan of the Chiefs, but I'm a fan of the Kansas City area. I lived there for a year and enjoyed it immensely. The metro area on Sundays is very much like a college football town. 

And the barbecue. People rave about the barbecue in Memphis, North Carolina, Texas, and various parts of the Deep South. But I prefer KC barbecue. 

As for the Royals, I've always liked them. I grew up as a kid loving the Royals when they were really good in the 70s and 80s: George Brett, Willie Wilson, Hal McRae, Frank White, Amos Otis, Bret Saberhagen, Mark Gubicza, Dan Quisenberry, et al. 

And one of my favorite small breweries in the nation is Boulevard Brewing Company.

Unfortunately, I don't see it around my parts here. 

With all these funding freezes of federal grants by President Adolf, a lot of farmers, some of whom probably voted for the autocrat, are going to get fucked financially. 

Check out the article from The Washington Post: "Farmers on the Hook for Millions after Trump Freezes USDA Funds." 

I don't know much about Kendrick Lamar, but I enjoyed his performance and the choreography of his dancers at the Super Bowl halftime show. 

The article, "The Subversive Genius of Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl's Halftime Performance," covers it well as far as I can tell. 

 

That image above is pretty straightforward and symbolic: the American flag created by the backs of black men. 

Pleased to Meet You, Hope You Stick Around

Okay, so I've co-opted a Rolling Stones song in my title.

But it's only because I went down to the crossroads and made a deal to get some barbeque joints in this town. And now I'm ungraciously mixing metaphors and ideas from separate songs, but what the hell.

While we've had a barbeque joint/resort east of town for a while that I wrote about a two summers ago, now there's a place here in the city limits.

Pop's Barbeque is a little shack-like establishment near uptown that purveys only in pulled pork, ribs, beef brisket, and occasionally rib tips. They also have a few sides. Their baked beans are really good, and that's coming from someone who doesn't really care much for baked beans.

The opening of this carry-out restaurant here in Chucktown has got me waxing nostalgic about barbeque places I've frequented in the past.

When I lived for a short stint in Kansas City, a town I consider the Capitol of Barbeque, there was so many places to choose from for solid barbeque. I lived in the suburb of Gladstone near the Smokehouse restaurant on N. Oak, so I fondly remember driving past that place and having my mouth water from the wonderful smoky smells. And then there's Arthur Bryant's and Gates, which are excellent.

Then when I made it down to Tuscaloosa, that area also has some excellent barbeque. Dreamland is famous for its ribs although I found it overrated. The decor and ambience of the restaurant was more interesting to me at least. And I always liked the barbeque place near me and Mrs. Nasty's first apartment together, the barbeque joint on 15th Street, which I think is called Thomas Rib Shack. That place would perfume our neighborhood with smoky goodness when the wind was blowing from the southwest.

That establishment's ribs were excellent. Now the ones I got the other day from Pop's were okay, not anything stunning but decent. But I think it's hard to find good ribs these days, or maybe my tastes have changed. I seem to gravitate to pulled pork nowadays. Perhaps it's another win for middle age or something.

The first time I went to Pop's, when I told the owner that I was excited to have a barbeque place in town, she informed me that another one was going to start up this summer in the "old Wendy's building."

I look forward to the barbeque wars of Chucktown, and I plan to be a double-secret culinary spy for both sides.

Games Over

I closed out the spring semester late this morning by finishing up some grading for my basic writing class. I'm glad to see this academic year put to rest ~ it's been a tough one. So that game is over, but I've decided to put a halt to another game after tonight's dinner.

I have vowed not to make ribs again. I'm just not good at it, and it's not like I haven't been trying for a while. What I need to a serious smoker to do it up right, and I'm not willing to go that far. I make a good rub for the ribs and for pulled pork, and I will continue to make that rub for the latter, but I either find mediocre ribs to work with, or I just can't seem to get them like I want to. It's been frustrating, and I plan to leave the ribs to people who have the wherewithal to make them effectively. I'm done.

I guess I've just been spoiled by eating good barbeque. Although I didn't find St. Louis to be a good barbeque town at all, my year of living of KC was wonderful with Smokehouse, Gates, and Arthur Bryant's. And living in Alabama put me in contact with all kinds of great barbeque joints. The South loves pig parts being cooked slowly over low heat until the end products transform to heavenly porcine goodness.