Makes you proud to live in North America

Remind me again. Which one is Moe?

One of these guys needs to fire his event manager.

Rick Mercer plays with fire

Based on what our family's Firefighter-in-Training has told me, Rick Mercer's day with the Toronto FD is a pretty accurate portrayal of the life.

On Pots, Kettles and Bushes

"I don't see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country as part of your platform. And I know you can't be a partner in peace if your party has got an armed wing."
-- George W. Bush, commenting on Hamas' unanticipated victory in Palestinian election, at White House News Conference, 26 Jan 06

Uh, excuse me, Mr. President, but aren't there a few people around the world who might question the United States' suitability as a partner in peace, using these same criteria?

In case you missed this

It's remarkable how the North Korean media all speak with the same voice. Which sounds remarkably like the one that wrote this press release! "Immortal feats"? Sounds like Kim Jong Il needs definitely should try out for the touring company of Cirque de Soleil.


January 21, 2006 Saturday 4:37 AM EST
KIM JONG IL'S CHINA VISIT HAILED

PYONGYANG, North Korea -- The government of the People's Democratic Republic of Korea issued the following news release:

Newspapers here today come out with editorials saying that spectacular successes and immortal feats registered by leader Kim Jong Il during his visit to China will shine long along with the history of the DPRK-China friendship.

Rodong Sinmun says that Kim Jong Il's recent China visit offered a momentous occasion as it provided a new landmark in boosting the unbreakable friendship and solidarity and developing the sincere and comradely cooperation between the parties and peoples of the two countries despite the whirlpool of the turbulent 21st century.

It goes on:

The visit also offered a significant occasion in further deepening the mutual understanding and friendship between the top leaders of the two parties and the two countries and strikingly demonstrated the good tradition and solidity of the bilateral friendship that has been brought into fuller bloom in the new century.

Kim Jong Il's visit bore a good fruit and it marked an important occasion that recorded a brilliant chapter in the history of the bilateral friendship. His visit powerfully encouraged the two peoples in their struggle to build socialism and reunify their countries and made a great contribution to ensuring peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and other parts of Asia and giving an impetus to the unity of the anti-imperialist independent forces and to the building of a just new world.

The friendship between the DPRK and China that has grown generation after generation is a common treasure of the two peoples. The Chinese party, government and people have always set great store by the Sino-Korean friendship at a strategic level and rendered disinterested support and aid to the Koreans in their struggle to defend socialism. The Korean people are sincerely thankful for this and will always remember it. Particular and invariable are the feelings of friendship and trust between the peoples of the two countries. The party and the government of the DPRK will as ever make every possible effort to consolidate the ties of fraternal friendship deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples and inject fresh vigor and vitality into this traditional friendship.

This friendship that has stood all tests and tempests of history will come into fuller bloom thanks to the concerted efforts of the parties, governments and peoples of the two countries under the deep care of the top leaders of the two countries.

Minju Joson notes that the servicepersons and people of the DPRK will remain true to the Workers' Party of Korea's Songun revolutionary leadership, with high honor and pride of being led by Kim Jong Il, and make a fresh leap forward in the building of a great prosperous powerful socialist nation with the might of Songun and boost the traditional relations of DPRK-China friendship this year.

Rick Mercer is Very Funny

One of North America's funniest people is hardly known outside of Canada. Here's one of his commentaries on CBC, especially apt for those of us south of the border.

Best Instructions of the Week

Off the Core

Purchased a set of three santoku knives at Costco today. They are made in China for NapaStyle, a U.S. company, and NapaStyle's attorneys receive my award for best instructions of the week.

The instructions include the following:

General Safety

. Always use caution when handling cutlery items. Misuse of cutlery may result in personal injury.
. Ensure that cutlery blades are always sharp. Dull blades ... may cause personal injury. Do not test sharpness with your hand or fingers; test on a food item.
. Do not allow children to play with cutlery.
. Always carry cutlery items with the blade pointing away from your body.
. Always cut or slice away from your body.
. Never try to catch falling cutlery.

To these very insightful tips, I would add (at no charge to NapaStyle, I will point out):

. Do not practice juggling with cutlery.
. Do not wear cutlery.
. Do not shave your neck, legs or other sensitive body parts with cutlery.
. Do not use cutlery as a substitute for your toothbrush.
. Place food items to be cut or sliced on a hard surface, such as a cutting board, rather than on your abdomen (see bullet point 4 above for more detail on this issue).
. If using cutlery as a substitute for lawn darts, do not look up to watch its trajectory.

Thank you NapaStyle. I hope your knives ... excuse me, cutlery ... give me as much pleasure as your instructions.

Let them eat cake ... they are underprivileged anyway

By PAM EASTON
Associated Press Writer
Published September 6, 2005, 4:59 AM CDT

HOUSTON -- Former Presidents Bush and Clinton got smiles, hugs and requests for autographs when they met with refugees from Hurricane Katrina -- but it was Bush's wife who got attention for some of her comments.

Barbara Bush, who accompanied the former presidents on a tour of the Astrodome complex Monday, said the relocation to Houston is "working very well" for some of the poor people forced out of New Orleans.

"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality," she said during a radio interview with the American Public Media program "Marketplace." "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.

New front in "GSAVE" -- Virginia Beach?

By all accounts, we are now marching in a "global struggle against violent extremism" (GSAVE). Apparently, this means we root out all people advocating the violent overthrow of elected governments...wherever and whomever they might be.

So, when Pat Robertson says, "If he [Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez] thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop," does this mean the good people of Virginia Beach, VA, should fear our resolve to seek out and destroy violent extremists? Will the Virginia Beach headquarters of CBN be surrounded by Special Forces troops protecting freedom?

Shouldn't our government at least address the issues raised Bernardo Álvarez, the Venezuelan ambassador in Washington, who said: "Mr. Robertson has been one of the [U.S.] president's staunchest allies. His statement demands the strongest condemnation by the White House."

Nah. According to White House Stalking Horse Donald Rumsfeld, Robertson's "a private citizen. Private citizens say all kinds of things all the time."

GSAVE us. Please.

Been Off the Off the Core

Off the Core

A whole variety of issues have kept me from posting anything here for a while. I've resolved to change that. Stay tuned...

A shoulder to cry on for Easter

Off the Core

I am happy to report that my momentous undertaking -- smoking a giant pork shoulder for Easter lunch -- yielded some excellent results this weekend. Considering that it was rainy all day Saturday and Sunday until about noon, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s, I think it turned out spectacularly well.

The "giant shoulder" indeed turned out to be two boneless shoulders placed end to end in the cryovac -- a good thing, since I decided I would cut it in half if it weren't.

I dry marinated the meat with a pretty standard paprika-based rub while the meat warmed to close to room temperature. Knowing we were going to have the barbecue for a late lunch Sunday, I decided, based on the weather, to begin the smoking at 2 on Saturday afternoon. I used a combination of Royal Oak charcoal (for predictability) and hickory logs (mostly branches with bark, because that's what came in the one 60-pound bag of hickory I could find Saturday morning).

I kept the smoker temperature between 220 and 250 until about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, then added a full load of fuel and closed the vents. I awoke about 7 on Sunday, went out to the smoker immediately, and found the top grate temperature hovering around 100 -- not bad for 6-1/2 hours on one load of fuel. I stoked the fire again and continued smoking at about 250 until 1:30 p.m. At that point, the internal temperature had been hovering around 160 - 165 for close to an hour, and I had several mouths around me that were beginning to look hungry...so I decided to take it indoors and finish it in the oven. another 45 minutes at 350 brought the internal temp to 195. The shoulders had a good 1/2- to 3/4-inch smoke ring and the meat was springy and moist with most of the fat rendered into the meat.

I chopped/shredded the meat, added some barbecue sauce and served it on Texas' own Mrs. Baird's hamburger buns with North Carolina cole slaw. I had made Western NC barbecue sauce, but my guests and I opted for Stubbs, which seemed to add a sweetness that offset the intense smokiness of the meat.

The barbecue was deemed to be delicious by everyone at the table, although I admit that I found it better reheated today at lunch than I did yesterday. Then again, yesterday I was pretty tired out by the time the food hit the table, and I also smelled like I had been fighting a five-alarm fire all day thanks to my smoker-tending duties. We've had the windows open all day to try to air out the smoke smell that permeated the house thanks to the oven finishing of the shoulders.

I've still got one of the shoulders left, if anyone wants to stop by!

Sandwich du Jour

GLOBAL TUNA
 
Toasted Russian Rye Bread
Can of Tuna Guys' White Albacore
approx. 3 Tbsp Mayonnaise (full strength, Sir Gawain)
approx. 3 Tbsp Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (gives the sandwich about three chiles on the five chile scale)
approx. 1 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce (next time I will use nuoc mam)
 
Blend ingredients with a fork until the mixture takes on a salmon color. Serve and feel the glow.

Hopkin Green Frog

Him name is ...

One of the funniest -- and most zen -- websites I have seen in a long time. The syntax will stay with you forever!

http://lostfrog.org

Off the Core

Off the Core

A bit of scripture for those who purport to know the will of God and impose it on others.


"If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."

Matthew 15:14

Yuck...

Four more years of bluster, bravado, bile and backstabbing.

Buckeyes...what is WRONG with you?

A Banner Week!

Two posts in one day...

But that's not the reason this is a banner week. No, this is the week that we have had two GREAT names in the news.

First, the ammunition dump named "al Qaqaa."

And now, the following from the Chicago Tribune:

FBI agents this week sought permission to interview Bunnatine Greenhouse, the Army Corps of Engineers' chief contracting officer who went public last weekend with allegations that her agency unfairly awarded KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary, no-bid contracts worth billions of dollars for work in Iraq, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Bunnatine Greenhouse. Gotta learn more about her!

Quote of the Day

From The New York Times, October 28, 2004, regarding al Qaqaa:

"This investigation is important and it's ongoing," [Bush] said, "and a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your commander in chief."

Let's see ...

Saddam's "irrefutable support of al Qaeda"
"Weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq
Promulgation of the Patriot Act "solution to terrorism"

You know, for once, I agree with George Bush: "...a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts" is NOT a person I want as our commander in chief.

Hot Tamales -- Rio Rancho, NM

A few weeks ago, we were driving through Rio Rancho (don't ask...) before heading west to Gallup and decided to pull into Hot Tamales for an early lunch.
 
I'll admit that I was dubious. The name, for one thing, and the logo screamed "contrived." From the street, the restaurant looks like any number of small Tex-Mex chains in Texas, an impression that was only slightly improved once we were inside and realized that the servers were human rather than chain-trained waitrons.
 
But my concerns quickly vanished when the food began to arrive. Hot Tamales serves very creditable, verging on outstanding, basic New Mexican food. Their green chile stew and the green chile sauce on my combination plate were as good as any I have had. The chiles rellenos were also very good, although the restaurant uses pre-prepared chiles. The same is true (on both counts) for the tamales ... very good, even though the tamales themselves are prepared by a third party.
 
Hot Tamales is co-owned by Stephen Gallegos, who is also the chef. His partner, a woman whose name I didn't write down, was the house manager the day we were there. She was charming, helpful and eager to please.
 
If you are in the area, I highly recommend you check this relatively new place out.
 
Hot Tamales
1520 Rio Rancho Blvd.
Rio Rancho, NM
505/962-0123

New Indian Favorite in Plano, TX -- Chettinaad Palace

A post of mine from Chowhound.com...


A few weeks ago, I was waiting in the check-out line (which consisted of two of us) at my local Indian grocery (India Gate) when I struck up a conversation with a gentleman about which Indian restaurant in Plano was his favorite. He mentioned several, but he said that his favorite is Chettinaad Palace, located on the west side of Central Expressway (75), between Parker and Park in Plano.
 
This week, I finally got a chance to try the place -- twice -- both times for the lunch buffet ($7.95 weekdays and $9.95 weekends). Yes, I know that buffets are not the best way to judge a restaurant's food, but this buffet was so good that I decided I would post about it before trying their a la carte dinners and thalis.
 
Chettinaad (according to the restaurant's website www.chettinaadpalace.com) is a region in the Tamil-Nadu state in Southeast India. The food is not the run-of-the-mill "generic" North Indian food found in many of the Indian restaurants in the DFW area. To be sure, many of the "usual suspects" -- tandooris, chicken tikka masala, vindaloo -- are listed on the menu, and I am sure they are all competent preparations. But the food here includes regional specialties that really shine...13 varieties of dosas, for example, and vegetable curries like Chettinaad Kara Kulambu made with okra or eggplant. The Chettinaad preparations seem to highlight a different set of spices from those commonly found in North Indian dishes: curry leaves and bay leaves, for example, along with star anise, and coconut in varied forms. While the flavors are assertive -- you can definitely pick out the flavors of individual spices -- the seasonings aren't as pervasive as in many North Indian dishes. Also, the use of chilis and cayenne pepper seems to be very restrained. Even the dishes described as "spicy" are not in the same range as, say, an average rogan josh at North Indian restaurants
 
On both of my visits this week, there was a very large assortment of dishes on the buffet. The offerings start with sambar; proceed through steamed rice patties and (today, Sunday) lentil donuts for dipping; followed by at least six different vegetable dishes; then, naan, white rice and a vegetable biryani; and finishing with four meat/chicken/fish dishes. Today's meat dishes included curried goat liver, which I think must be one of the prime reasons Chettinaad is a heavily vegetarian region of the country. : ) (To be fair, I didn't try it. To be candid, I don't think I ever will!) There is a good assortment of chutneys, pickles and raita on the buffet, as well, and there were two desserts today -- mango ice cream and a whipped cream with citrus flavors. In addition to the food on the steam table, each diner is offered a freshly prepared dosa -- a thin, crispy crepe folded over a potato and onion filling. In my opinion, the dosa alone is worth the price of the buffet.
 
The restaurant is nicely, if simply, decorated. On the Thursday we were there, our water glasses were filled often and plates were removed promptly. At Sunday lunch, the restaurant was much more crowded (completely full around 2 p.m.) and busing was understandably slower. Service was friendly and polite at both lunches. The lunchtime crowd during the week seems to be a mix of Indians and non-Indians from offices in the area. The Sunday crowd was almost entirely Indian families or groups of friends. My wife and I were the only non-Indian diners when we ate there today.
 
Chettinaad Palace doesn't have a liquor license, but permits diners to bring their own beer and wine.
 
My favorite Indian restaurant in Plano is still Sitar, but Chettinaad Palace is a very close second. I'll be back to try the dinner menu soon.
 
CHETTINAAD PALACE
2205 N. Central Expressway (near the Original Pancake House and next to the unfortunate Cafe de France on the southbound service road)
Plano, TX 75075
Phone: 469.229.9100
www.chettinaadpalace.com

Note: Closed Tuesdays