Today’s Earworm
Posted by daddybear71 on January 8, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/01/08/todays-earworm-458/
News Roundup
- From the “Wackos Behaving Badly” Department – Two men have been arrested for illegal possession of explosives in the past few days. One in suburban Maryland had 100 pounds of bomb making materials, while the other was arrested in Ohio with 48 bombs in his car. Personally, if they’re convicted, I hope they have the book thrown at them. Dirtbags like this are used to tar those of us who disagree, no matter which side of the political argument we sit on, as dangerous individuals who need to be watched. They will be used as an example of why the government needs to monitor us even more closely, and will be an excuse to intrude on our rights. These two ought to share a cell in the sub-basement of a supermax penitentiary in an area with a high water table.
- From the “March of Freedom” Department – Chicago mayor Emmanuel is a sad panda today, as a federal judge has ruled that Chicago laws, which prohibit the otherwise legal transfer and sale of firearms, unconstitutional. Apparently, all of the crime problems in Chicago are caused by those who are willing to go to a retail establishment, fork over hundreds of dollars, and go through a NICS check, and not those who are prohibited from having a gun in the first place, buy or steal a gun on the street, and use the guns in a crime. The judge has stayed his decision to give Chicago a chance to appeal, which I expect it will. I look forward to the day in which a free citizen can simply walk into Mordor while legally armed.
- From the “Dumbasses of the Week” Department – A couple in Oregon were arrested recently after they used methamphetamine as a tip after eating at a restaurant. Officers later searched their hotel room, and found a meth lab. Apparently Mr. and Mrs. Einstein thought that the waitress would like a little of their stash as a gratuity, and that led to their downfall of their criminal master plan to turn a Holiday Inn Express into a pharmaceutical hobby house. Maybe they can stuff these two nincompoops in the same cell as the bluntskulls with the bombs.
- From the “First Runner-Up Dumbass Award” Department – The New York state director of homeland security has been accused of using the laser sight on his handgun to point out things during a presentation in front of foreign dignitaries. Apparently he made the Swedish delegation a tad nervous when he muzzled them with his pointer. Remember, kids, only government officials have the training and knowledge to safely carry firearms.
- From the “I Got Nothing” Department – A woman in New Mexico was arrested recently for pointing a Smith and Wesson handgun, which she had been carrying in her underwear, at her boyfriend during an argument over space aliens. I’ll just leave this one here for you all to make your own snark with. I like to keep the blog PG.
- From the “Business as Usual” Department – Emails from the staff of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie seem to indicate that an unannounced lane closure on one of the busiest bridges in the country was not done due to a need to study traffic patterns, but rather as political payback against the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey. The good mayor had taken the reasonable and sensible action of declining to endorse Governor Christie’s re-election. In other words, life goes on as it always has in American politics. Inside sources say that President Obama cut his golf game short to call Governor Christie and congratulate him on his technique.
- From the “Good Government” Department – A sheriff in North Carolina traded two Thompson machineguns and several old .38 revolvers for patrol rifles and Glock magazines, rather than destroy them. Good for him. It’s not often that we see government officials using their heads when it comes to finding creative ways to get the things they need to do their jobs. Of course, the need for civilian law enforcement to use Bushmaster rifles is debatable, but if he’s got to have them, this is better than feeding antique, collectible guns into a log chipper and asking for a bond issue.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 8, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/01/08/news_roundup-2/
Movie Quotes – Day 8
You know how Sister Berthe always makes me kiss the floor after we’ve had a disagreement? Well, lately I’ve taken to kissing the floor whenever I see her coming, just to save time. — The Sound of Music
There’s nothing wrong with making sure you’ve done what you need to do in order to be able to do the things you have to do, even if it’s having a knock-down-drag-out argument with a superior. Having the unpleasant part of work out of the way quickly will make the rest of a task a lot more fun.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 8, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/01/08/movie-quotes-day-8/
Thoughts on the Day
- The only good part of finishing a jar of moonshine is realizing that now you have an extra pickle jar for next summer.
- Girlie Bear is in a funk because she has to go back to school tomorrow. Her carefree, sleep in until after sun-up, stay up until midnight vacation is at an end.
- Going back to work after a week and a half off isn’t as much fun as it sounds.
- My mood has recovered to my normal sunny outlook on life. I may even smile at some drooling yokel who comments on how cold it is tomorrow.
- One of my mentors had his retirement get together today. It’s going to be strange not having him around.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 7, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/01/07/thoughts-on-the-day-202/
Quote of the Day
Irish Woman, while we are discussing how the CDC considers people who drink regularly a problem, such as men who have four drinks in a sitting: Well, I guess it depends on the size or the drink. If you’re drinking four 32 ounce Big Moose cups of bourbon and coke, then you might have a problem.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 7, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/01/07/quote-of-the-day-131/
Movie Quotes – Day 7
My pet, resting’s the sort of thing you’ve got to work up to gradually… very dangerous to rest all of a sudden. — Topper
Tonight is the end of my end-of-year vacation, and I’m exhausted. We took one overnight trip, but I feel like I’ve been on the move for two weeks. For some reason, I just can’t seem to relax and recharge this time around.
What’s funny is that when I was younger, even after the kids came along, a long weekend of working or playing hard would leave me feeling rejuvenated and motivated. Now, a week and a half of playing with Boo, reading, and helping Irish Woman clean out the basement have left me spent. One day we need to take a real vacation, long enough that even if I putter around for a week, I still feel justified in just sitting and watching the world go by for a few days.
Hey, a man can dream, can’t he?
Posted by daddybear71 on January 7, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/01/07/movie-quotes-day-7/
Movie Quotes – Day 5
Paco Hernandez: This whole thing is racist. Abscam? “Arab-scam”? It’s completely racist!
Richie DiMaso: So what do you have to worry about, Sheik? You’re Mexican.
— American Hustle
Is it correct to be offended for another group, or is it just silliness? Should team names and mascots that are arguably offensive to a group be lumped in with those that merely use the name of that group? Do people who are not part of the group in question have standing to be offended?
From where I sit, if members of a group complain that a name is offensive to them, then their objections should at least be considered. And yes, there are some terms that are blatantly offensive, and their use should get maximum discussion and scrutiny. But going to the extreme where calling your team “Seminoles” or “Sioux” gets you in trouble with the NCAA is taking things too far. And if you have no connection to the group that the name refers to, then do us all a favor and develop other hobbies than being professionally offended.
Honestly, don’t we have better things to argue about?
Posted by daddybear71 on January 6, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/01/06/movie-quotes-day-5off/
Recipe – Hillbilly Schnitzel
Irish Woman bought what she thought was half a boneless pork loin the other day, but it turned out that it had been cut into chops. Those would have been tasty, but putting them in the crock pot with the package of fresh sauerkraut that she also bought would not have worked. So, I tried my hand at making schnitzel.
Ingredients
Pork loin chops, 1 inch thick.
3 to 6 eggs, beaten. Number of eggs will depend on the number of chops
4 cups of seasoned flour, either store bought or homemade. I used Kentucky Kernel
4 tablespoons of seasoned flour
1 large white onion, finely chopped
2 cups chopped mushrooms
Bacon grease or butter
1 quart of beef broth
Using a meat hammer, pound each chop until it triples in diameter and is between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch thick.
Heat up a large skillet. Melt enough of the bacon grease or butter to cover the bottom of the pan. Equally divide the seasoned flour into two shallow dishes large enough to hold one of the flattened chops. Coat a chop in one dish of flour, then dip it into the egg, then coat it in the other dish of flour. Pan fry in the grease until both sides are browned and the chop is barely cooked through. I was able to do two chops at once in my pan, but your mileage may vary. Put cooked chops into a covered baking dish and place in a warm oven to keep hot. Melt more butter or bacon grease in the pan prior to cooking each round of chops.
Once all of the chops are cooked, melt more grease in the pan, then add the onions and mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms are cooked and the onions are soft and translucent. Sprinkle in the four tablespoons of seasoned flour, and stir to allow it to soak up all of the fluid in the pan. If you like, you can allow this mixture to brown a bit in the pan. Deglaze the pan with the beef broth, and stir until the flour is dissolved into the broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the gravy is just about as thick as you like. It will thicken a bit more after you shut off the heat, so don’t overcook it. Season to taste, but make sure you taste. The flour will add a lot of salt and other flavors.
Serve your schnitzel with the mushroom and onion gravy, mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut, along with your favorite vegetable, a good crusty bread, and your favorite beverage.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 5, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/01/05/recipe-hillbilly-schnitzel/
Movie Review – American Hustle
Short version – A well made movie that I didn’t enjoy much.
American Hustle is a fictionalized telling of Abscam, the FBI operation to entrap politicians into corruption charges in the late 1970’s. It tells the story of Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), a small-time con-man, Sidney Prosser (Amy Adams), his mistress and business partner, and Richie Dimaso (Bradley Cooper), an FBI agent who forces the other two into his schemes. Jeremy Renner plays Carmine Polito, a New Jersey politician who is the first victim of DiMaso’s megalomania, and Jennifer Lawrence plays Rosalyn Rosenfeld, Irving’s wife.
The casting for this movie was excellent. There was no real effort in believing that each of the characters were portrayed exactly the way they should have been. Cooper’s DiMaso is the perfect over-reaching government goon, high on power. Lawrence’s portrayal of a manipulative wife is spot-on. All of the actors in the movie are established and talented, and I don’t think anyone gave less than full effort.
The soundtrack for the movie, done by Danny Elfman, is mostly popular music from the 1960’s and 1970’s. Some of it gave me that “Hey, I like that tune” feeling, while others made me cringe. However, all of the music fit perfectly with the scene and direction in which they were used.
Costumes were actually a high point of the movie. Every inch of cloth was used to show just how cheap and tacky the characters wearing them were, and where the clothes were tasteful, so were the characters.
As for the plot and pacing, it could have used a bit of work. The movie comes in at 138 minutes, and there were a lot of scenes that I think could have been trimmed. The movie starts slow, and while there is quite a bit of tension after the mid-point, it’s a thinker, not a doer. After an hour, I was looking at my watch and wondering how much longer the movie would last.
Like I said before, I didn’t really enjoy this movie, but it was a good movie. The only character that I connected with was Carmine, the New Jersey politician, and that was only because he was basically a good guy who let himself get mixed up in something smarmy and I pitied him. The rest of the characters were pathetic. Honestly, I was hoping for some sort of catastrophic die-off in the end.
If you’ve seen Goodfellas or Summer of Sam, you’ve seen the look and feel of this movie, and if you liked them, you should at least find this movie interesting. Just like those two movies, however, this is an adult movie for adults. I wouldn’t suggest this movie for even teenagers, unless you want to explain some of the more sordid details. There is a lot of language in this movie, and a few sex scenes, but other than extremely low-cut blouses made with thin, sheer material, I don’t remember any nudity.
I’ll give this one a B-. It’s a good movie, it just wasn’t for me.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 5, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/01/05/movie-review-american-hustle/
Movie Quotes – Day 5
I love em’, but one day I’m gonna knock him on his ass. – Johnny Dangerously
Like I said, I’ve been like a bear with a sore head for the past couple of weeks. It finally took a multi-hour ‘discussion’ between Irish Woman and me to get me to start on the way to being human again. My loving wife doesn’t understand why I’ve been in such a bad mood since Christmas, and to be honest, I’m not sure myself. Her version of tough love is exactly what I need at times like this. It’s somewhere between “I love you so very much” and “If you don’t pull your head out of your fourth point of contact, then I’m going to be forced to terminate your existence”.
It’s the same successful approach she takes, to varying degrees, with all of the mammals in our home. She has a strong hand and a gentle touch, and she’s a lot better than I am at this.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 5, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/01/05/movie-quotes-day-5/
DaddyBear
DaddyBear’s Den 