Lady Bird Kept Her Silence

Disapointing (sigh)

I found this worthy of mention - the Ark was built by amateurs but professionals built the Titanic

 

A Voice In The Night But Not Richie or me

 Not last night, but the night before ...I was woken by a soft but articulate voice saying, "Take care; Grim Reaper Grim Reaper."  It was our cockatiel Lady Bird with her dulcet little voice!

I was hoping she'd do it again with another of her sayings last night but apparently she wasn't in the mood for a concert. Grim Reaper in the middle of the night is disturbing on some level...

When in the mood to use her soft voice she also says:

Drink your beer!

Be a bird!

Take care!

Grim Reaper !

Which use of her linguistic skills is rather disconcerting! 

But her "voice" is soft and lulling and I drifted back to sleep.  Richie was sorry he'd missed it but not enough to berate me for not waking him up.  Himself likes a good rest.

To avoid confusion - an explanation - her name Lady Bird has nothing to do with the late Mrs. Johnson and her equally dead husband Lyndon.

Rest up today Lady Bird - your fans await you.

I started out writing largely about restaurants.  In the passing years the focus began to change its  place   "Incidents in life,"   would now describe it better.

Shrimp boats are a'comin'; their sails are in sight...Shrimp boats are a'comin there's dancing tonight a hit for Jo Stafford in 1951

Here followsa list of local places who have mastered shrimp dishes.  In no particular order:

Charlie's,( a New York joint ) .  I go there for their Shrimp Scampi which is a combo of six big fat shrimp in a generous olive oil bath which is delightfully garlicky.  They bill it as an appetizer but it's heaven to me.  Sadly they're renovating and will be otherwise engaged in that project.  But when you do go - Caesar salad and (personal favorite) 10 in. light crust pizza with pineapple and pepperoni.

If you want to return to the '50s Old Tony's on the Pier has on offer batter-fried shrimp with the obligatory tartar sauce side and the usual red cocktail sauce.   

Bonus: views   rows of condos lining the shore, couples strolling along the beach and last not least, the open ocean below where you are sitting.  Old Tony's is more about the ambience than the food.  My always  order is the battered fried  shrimp .  Be sure to get the house salad or you could have clam chowder    Rock n'roll is here to stay!

Phuket Thai -Poo Kett  I was told ph is p in Thailand.  But of course the natural thought is quite different from that.  For all I know it's the same in Thai or in English. We haven't been in a long time but I'd go back tonight for the five or six shrimp dishes on their menu.  There's one you can make at home.  Buy a jar or Trader Joe's Yellow Curry Sauce, cook a bunch of shrimp and dump in the yellow curry.  We did go there often enough for me to remember the curry is #68 on the menu.

Maderos Cuisine Mexican for cheese-stuffed, bacon -wrapped shrimp.  They do a version of this classic with a great wedge of lemon squeezed over each shrimp.  A zesty surprise for the tongue.

Maderno's  424 350 7031

Phuket Thai - 310-374 9598

Las Brisas 310 376-6884

Old Tony's on the Pier  310 374

Say It On A T-Shirt

 Mom didn't raise any dummies and if she did, it was my brother.

I thought growing old would take longer.

Sometimes I pretend to be normal, but that gets boring so I go back to me.

Fun-cle - similar to Dad but 'way cooler

Don't be a Richard; you're already a Dick

Potatoes make fries, chips and vodka - it's like other vegetables aren't even trying

Warning - those of us who are in their 60s have no business wearing printed t-shirts

COMMENT:  Richie's cousin wrote to say that her daughter, who lives in Northern Calif. has a closet with easily 100 funny t-shirts - and she's 50 years old! 

2/22/2022 Two major events occurred

  Historical:  1630.  Yeah we pretty much missed it excepting for the possiblity that my old  history teacher might have actually been there.  I meant it when I said old.  )  

So what did we miss?

 Massachusetts Bay Colony residents were the gleeful recipients of popcorn!  Their donor was a  "Native American" which phrase didn't even exist back then.  His name lived on and it was: Quad equina  Given I took Latin in Highschool, Many moons ago.  This might translate as four horses. highschool wKeep  it in mind as long ago and far away for me..I bet the Bay Colony collectively  totally lost it if old Quadequin to a popped it then and there.  Indians couldne't get a licence to carry  but they didn't have guns anyhow

  NEED TO PROOF yhis AND COVER THE OTHER EVENT BUT HAVE APPT TO BUY NEW GLASSES

Didn't need new glasses - go, titanum frames!

Tonight we have the inestimable of joining Mouton and Dee whose birthday it is at the Charterhouse.  Study the menu - some new stuff as well well as old favorites

Bye, bye Grannie - Your flight is loaded and ready to go.

You'll be up in the wild blue yonder before you know it.  Or maybe you're already there?

Yes, we followed your instructions and booked American.  You never DID fly any other line.

Yes, I know - American or nothing.

Yes, I'm sure, I watched them, uh, "board" you.  You don't remember?  Not surprising - you did die of Alzheimer's disease.  

My source is a retired crew member of the baggage bunch and  he has loaded more than several

But you wanted to know how staff at American receive the plain cardboard? box and where they put it. The box is loaded head first "Because that's how you'd be if not dead.  Dead is a great deal more expensive than a live passenger $10,000 to $20,000  and you don' even get a get a window seat.  Start a Funeral Fund tomorrow - ya think?  

If your flight attendant, addresses you by saying Tom Cruise,?  he/she was asking you if you wanted Tea or Coffee.  Little Sidebar here

First You Kill the Lobster

How to kill a lobster - using a dagger-like knife, stab straight into its head.  To make sure it's dead, then toss it into boiling water.

My source - The Irish Cook Book $34.79;   480 recipes  Published Feb. 26, 2020  "Consider it a course on Irish cuisine.  There are 5 lobster recipes but that's not all!

Scallops in brown butter as well as mussels,  sea urchins.   Cockles and bread crumbs  

Crab with curry and pineapple   Charred  Octopus with  a seaweed glaze

Potted Shrimp which is basically cook, the shrimp blender it and packed in Irish butter becoming a cocktail dip for toast points to scoop.  The spices used are vinegar and dill.

I was amazed to find venison  dishes are often on menus.  Where do the Irish hide them?  The Aran Islands?  What we ate during a tour in 2006

Full English breakfast of a pair of strips of bacon, fried tomatoes, black pudding, buttered toast, eggs sunny-side up.  All of this was served buffet style.  Pub Lunch - plowman's lunch - big chunk 'o cheese inside a couple of slices of bread with a big slice of sour pickle.  Dinner one night was shrimp in rosemary sauce - very similar to tartar sauce.  I got the impression that the cook (not chef level) ground up a bunch of fresh rosemary and mayonnaise. 

An Irish drink - "Dublin Lawyer"

1/4 cup Jameson's Irish whisky    4 cups of heavy cream    white pepper to taste and one dead lobster

This can double down as Dublin Lawyer ice cream. when frozen 

If, after reading this you may be wondering "ta f--k???'  Cockle?  If you just want to see one pay Cap'n Kidd a visit and ask about any exotics.  His fish market's goods are delicious - the shrimp cocktail is 4 great big shrimp, sauce on the side for $6.  Harbor view from the outdoor tables.  Cap'n Kidd's is located at the north end of the Redondo Beach Pier.  Hidden from the street behind the condos.

The irish Cook Book

I was aghast!  The Irish were once known for NOT being  able to cook so this big fat book should be of great help. 

They have an ingredient that doesn't  com easily to an American kitchen - lobster.  I think the first 5 or 6 recipes call for it.  Give me the chance to delve into them and then give samples to you.  We may not able to use lobster, but we can dream, can/t we?

Things We Think Silly - Until We Need Them

Visiting my sister in Libertyville, IL some 20 miles North of Chicago I went out to the garage for a cigarette - At -5 it was 'way out of my comfort zone.  But, what is this?  The garage wasn't freezing, but with a thick sweat shirt on it was actually quite comfortable.  In fact, compared to outdoors it was quite cozy!

When I teased her about being so rich they heat their garage, she sister said (sardonically) have you seen the weather headlines?  Would you want to try to start your car in a drafty uninsulated garage?  At - 5?  They  have to heat their garages.

Southern California doesn't have COLD that bad.  If we ever do, the prices to heat your garage range from:

$80.74  to  $1,196.46*

Go 'head on - you're rich!

A REPORT

Anderson IN Doug weighs in with this from a garage heater guy. " The garage heater is a ceiling furnace.  It's 220 volt and is running about twice an hour in this weather.  The electricity bill runs $22 - $25 per month.  It's necessary because the well tank and water heater would freeze." 

Humph.

Hellfire and damnation re yesterday's football game. 

At Home With the Super Bowl

Not having anything like $75,000 to buy a ticket for the Stupid Bowl - 75 cents being do-able am looking forward to relaxing in my own home (where the snacks and beer are and they're free, too)) watching what is all too often lamentable football 

A doctor recommends - take a water break when the players do - hydration is very important

Gulp the water and sip the beer.

Take a break from the snacks and walk around the living or house every quarter.  Helps digest the snacks.

I would counsel that you think of New Year's Eve and Super Bowl as equally lethal.  Stay off of the roads.  Especially in states that lost.  Distracted drivers mentally  replaying where it all went sidewise are just as dangerous as the drunk one lane over throwing beer cans at you.

Home safe.

No Blog Because No News for It

It's all Super Bowl, all of the time.

Anyhow, may your team win and you get the money without being mugged on the way home.   

                                                         GO BENGALS

Calling Bullshit

It seems unlikely - at 9:22 a.m., it's 66 degrees - and supposed to climb to 73 by 10 a.m.  This seems unlikely to say the least.  It wouldn't surprise me if parkers didn't make reservations for the next year.

Amusing - both the LA Times and Daily Breeze have feature articles on the parking situation near the stadium.  Driveway owners are whining that they can't park in their own driveways.  Have you never seen front yard signs offering Parking:  $50!  ?  I have.    

Super Bowl Tidbits

This is not a finished job because I have One More Thing to find out- who the hell paid $75,000 for a ticket to this ?  Previously highest price was $70,000.  The average cheap seats rose from $4650 to $5335.

We see this  upping the ante in the parking lot - the previous cost rise from $4650 to $5,335

But your ticket is good for the half-time show featuring Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg Eminem, Mary J. Blidge and Kendrick LaMar   None of whom have I ever seen.

Food?  None I could find as I trolled around, looking.  I don't need to find concession prices; I already know they'll be nose-bleeding expensive.  The 2010 event - beer was $25 a pop, ruinous for alcoholics - bring the pink slip to your car, guys. The #1 food is order-in sausage pizza  which is said to be the #3 most popular flavor.  Sausage?  I wouldn't eat that for love nor money.  Sausage is mainly a collection of gristle, fat and salt to me.  

Back to the $75,000 ticket.  If it was a corporate buy,  used mainly for entertaining possible future clients  and is a tax write-off it makes sense.

If it's some rich asshole showing off, flashing the box keys at some steel-bellied airhead and saying to her, "It's so loud here!  But, wait!  I know a great place!, grasping her moist little hand and tugging her gently off to his lair of mischief. 

TBC - if you find the $75,000 ticket buyer, contact me instantly - I have a couple of SINGLE friends.  One good turn deserves another - if all goes well, my butt will be in a $75,000 seat.

Would you eat peanut butter bacon- flavored ice cream?

 Taking a wild stab here -probably not  But your dog will!

You read that right - doggie ice cream!  Richie's niece got one for Duke or was it Dolly's birthday?

They had a variety of choices - prices range from $3.49 at Dogstar

Or Ben and Jerry's for $12.99 per pint, (PetCo)each which could backfire on you if some prankster puts one in with the human pints.  Be safe - make your own Nice Ice - take a couple of bananas and put them in a blender and freeze them.  I suggest mashing the finished product into an ice cube tray for a more or less portion-controlled serving.

Never give a pet chocolate and if your pet gets into the Valentine leftover candy get it to your vet on an emergency basis - it is.

Sidebar - Pantyhose stretched over your mask are said by experts (I couldn't find one)to be far more efficient in virus defense than any other - unless you're a sex pervert.  You do run the risk of arrest if spotted.  Or the luck of a good alibi.

Back Monday.

 

a Day In The Lifeof a rehabilation patien tPlus Sick Slow Computer

F11 a.m.  

wAs upi can see - computer problemsit for riday 2/4/22: 9 a.m. Home Caregiver arrives to dosekeeping - brooming, mopping, LAUNDRY

Damn! Snow Is Expensive

I have a cousin who has lived most of his life in Anderson, IN. He e'd us that there will be will be 3 to 5 in. of wet snow. He had been nattering on about snowblowers (passive) and I wrote back that  it was a job for a plow.

He replied that he'd just hired a guy for $3500and he added that he was really happy. I wrote back and asked if he hadn't meant $350? Back he wrote it's  $35 - case of a misplaced comma.

Film at 11

Back In February, 2018, with the Reader's Digest

 Ant:   a small insect that, though always at work, still finds time to go to picnics.

Turkeysare peacocks that have let themselves go.

Giraffe's were in invented  in 1780 when three horses accidentally ate a ladder.