From Alton, Illinois, FINALLY off the road....
How to respond to the giant troll-fest on the Mall on Saturday? Why, in the traditional manner, of course:
Justin Wilson's Smothered Chicken
2-3 lbs. chicken
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
Louisiana hot sauce to taste
2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped bell pepper
1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
1 c. dry white wine
2 tsp. chopped garlic
Rinse chicken, pat dry, then season with soy sauce, Louisiana hot sauce, and salt. In a large, high-walled skilled, heat the oil, then saute' the onions, bell pepper, and parsley until the onions are clear. Add the white wine and stir, then add the garlic and stir. Add chicken, lower heat to low, cover, and simmer for 2 hours or until chicken falls apart. Serve over cooked rice.
This is some good eatin', I guarontee!
Doc's Cheers and Jeers begins below the fold, with news from around the nation, around the world, and up your alley! ("Up my alley?" Up yours!)
DISCLAIMER: AAbshier's Cheers and Jeers are not affiliated in any way, shape, or form, with Bill in Portland Maine's Cheers and Jeers. The use of the words JEERS and CHEERS , the swoosh/gong device, pie references, pootie pics, lusty wenches, mattress references, whomps, moist, kvetching over meta diaries, the heartbreak of psoriasis, and flicked peas are all used with permission of Bill in Portland Maine and the members of the C&J Café community. Any further resemblances to BiPM`s Cheers and Jeers are deliberately coincidental. So there.
NOTE: Last week in Normal, I passed a radio station studio for 107.7, The Bull. I tuned in and was surprised to get country music, instead of the rightwing talk radio that I was expecting.
Doc's Bad Joke of the Week
A precious little girl walks into a pet shop and asks, in the sweetest little lisp, between two missing teeth, "Excuthe me, mithter, do you keep widdle wabbits?"
As the shopkeeper's heart melts, he gets down on his knees so that he's on her level and asks, "Do you want a widdle white wabbit, or a thoft and fuwwy, bwack wabbit, or maybe one like that cute widdle bwown wabbit over there?"
She, in turn, blushes, rocks on her heels, puts her hands on her knees, leans forward and says, in a tiny quiet voice, "I don't think my python weally gives a thit"
Cheers to being off the road this week. My tentative job for later this week in Carbondale cancelled, so I'm only working 3 days at a local job and I get three weekdays off--my first non-travel weekdays off since early June. I'm actually looking forward to preparing actual meals instead of microwaving leftovers, actually. Also. Too.
Cheers to nuat Thai, or Thai massage. As a belated birthday present, I treated myself to this last week when I was in Normal. It was very intimate, soul-soothing, and deeply relaxing. I'm already saving my pennies for another one! (Video demonstration here--and yes, it's very SFW.)
Jeers to erstwhile St. Louis baseball heroes Albert Pujols and Tony LaRussa. They attended Glenn Beck's "I have a scheme" event on Saturday, and said they were going because the event "wasn't political." While their part turned out to be relatively innocuous, their presence nonetheless legitimized a charlatan and a huckster. (Pujols also gets an unrelated Jeer for helping bankroll the purchase of St. Louis's longtime classical station, KFUO, by Joy-FM, resulting in 63 years of broadcasting classical music coming to an end earlier this year.)
Jeers to giving bad ideas to cash-strapped Republicans. A Venezuelan politician is raffling breast implants as a means to raise money for his parliamentary campaign. Win or lose, his will be the breast campaign ever (yeah, I know).
Cheers to U.S. Army Colonel Lawrence Sellin, for his absolutely brilliant takedown of the bane of all of us who have to sit through presentations, PowerPoint:
For headquarters staff, war consists largely of the endless tinkering with PowerPoint slides to conform with the idiosyncrasies of cognitively challenged generals in order to spoon-feed them information. Even one tiny flaw in a slide can halt a general's thought processes as abruptly as a computer system's blue screen of death.
The writer points out that Gen. David Petraeus loves PowerPoint. Oh dear. (ASIDE: When I put together my grand rounds for my fourth year of veterinary school, I made a point of NOT using PowerPoint; my classmates appreciated it.)
And Now, a Word From Our Sponsor:
It doesn't exactly show the product, but it's still one of the funniest ads ever made:
Cheers to drawing a line in the sand. On Facebook, Michael Methot posted this as a status message yesterday:
If they come for the Socialists, I hope to be there, speaking out --
If they come for the Trade Unionists, I will stand in front of the union hall, and speak out--
If they come for the Jews, or the Muslims or the Witnesses I will be a jew or a muslim or a witness, I will speak out.
And if they come for me, I will stand with my brothers and sisters and our voice will silence their violence.
As we used to say in the Navy, fuckin' A. The way things are going, we may all need to man (and woman) the barricades soon.
Cheers to the editorial board at the Belleville News-Republican Democrat. Usually they take every opportunity possible to pound on President Obama, so props to them for recognizing a bullshit claim when they see it, by running this editorial originally published in the Los Angeles Times:
It's easy to sympathize with President Obama over the drumbeat of misrepresentations of his religion, place of birth and even the validity of his Social Security number. But in protesting too much that he is a Christian - and one, moreover, who prays daily - the White House may be encouraging the impression that there is a religious test for the presidency and that a Muslim would fail it.
Such defensiveness is unedifying in the context of a religiously pluralist society. Also, like the irrational opposition to the construction of an Islamic community center in New York City, it could confirm suspicions in the Muslim world that this country is hostile to Islam.
Damn straight. There should be no religious test for any elective office. Kudos to the BN-D for running this piece. (BTW, I checked the LTE section, and, thus far, no impassioned screeds against this editorial have appeared. Yet.)
Cheers to a special Katrina-versary. Five years ago, amidst the sheer horror of the devastation and the non-response to the thousands stranded in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, there was one very bright spot--eight of them, actually--the rescue of the dolphins swept out of the top deck tank by the storm surge at the Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport, Mississippi. Three of the dolphins--Jackie, daughter Toni, and Kelly--were dolphins I had worked with as a trainer; Kelly was one I was especially very fond of. I'm happy to report they are doing very well, and living in positively palatial digs at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas (link goes to video). Now to save up the small fortune required to go see them.....
Special guest cat Yoda from Brunswick Animal Hospital says, "Hit the reco button you must....then sit up and do cuteness moment I will!"
Floor's open! What's on your minds today?