The Return To Honor Rally: A Little Filler c/o timheidecker

OK. For starters I am ambivalent about Twitter. I am trying to use and embrace and it has some nice aspects but... I don't know. Additionally i have no idea who Tim Heidecker is. One of the musicians I follow started to retweet his coverage of the "Restoring Honor rally in DC. Now to be fair, I hate Glen beck. I feel like he divides, his speech is hateful and it speaks to the worst in all Americans that somehow they are victims and society, politicians and the liberal media have "taken" something from them and from America. He is a demagogue. he is an entertainer but 10-20% of our population hangs on every word he says and urges me to "get educated". Whatever. I do not care a wit that he held the rally on the anniversary of King's speech. If it is a holy day and a holy place (see 9/11 Mosque) then let Al Sharpton reserve the day and place for the next twenty years for his band of haters and idiots. Dr. King provided a brave and valuable service to our country, not just blacks or minorities but the whole country. An idiot pissing on where he did it and "reclaiming" the civil rights movement" for over weight, white middle class people is not even a joke. Still.... these Tweets...several of them made me laugh out loud. I give you....The Tweets of Tim Heidecker:

Wonder if anyone ever named their dog Mark


Who's watching lunaticfest 2010

I am at "restoring honor" rally. Tv not covering this but there are mass drownings occurring in the reflecting pool.

In line waiting to get into the crucifixion tent. Grown man naked, covered in blood, screaming right in front if me #restoringhonor

Holy shit! Just saw my first crucifixion! No pics allowed :( It was a dishonorable Chinese woman #restoring hono

Buying one of these "hope" medals for $75 at the merch tent. Also picking up a gallon of oil for the boiling rally later. #restoringhonor

Beck just awarded the charity medal to himself and announced that he is is a "proud pedophile" #restoringhono

ALOT of people are leaving #restoringhono

Beck strongmen have created a perimeter. No one is allowed to leave the area. #restoringhonor

special operations goons wielding swords! Let the beheadings begin!! #restoringhonor

I've been handed a sword and asked to show my loyalty by beheading a dishonorable child. Should I do it?? #restoringhonor

There are free t-shirts at the Boiling tent. Also, I've been poisoned. #restoringhonor

Brody Stevens to take the stage any moment #restoringhonor

@neilhamburger to receive comedy medal. Beck giving him 20 minutes #restoringhonor

Just had a funnel cake. Now at the castrating tent. It is hot, busy and slippery. #restoringhonor

hollaback_girl
@timheidecker You dishonored the rally by abusing the free shirt tent. Seriously, how many eagle flag shirts do you need? #RestoringHonor

I've been given a lottery number. The "winner" will be impaled atop the Washington monument. Energy getting weird here #restoringhonor

Beck had me until he called for the "end of all the animals on earth and in the sea!!" what are we supposed to eat, glenn?? #restoringhonor

Oh shit! Beck just plucked out his own eye balls and swallowed them. Stunned silence sweeps over crowd

OH MY GOD!! HES EATING HIMSELF PIECE BY PIECE!! WHAT A SHOW!! #restoringhonor

Limbless Beck rolling around in pool of his own blood. His mic has cut out but I think he's screaming "you'll die tonight!"

Patrick Stewart in Scrooge makeup doing scenes from Christmas Carol on top of Beck corpse. Confusion.

40-50 children in Alf costumes have been dropped from a helicopter onto the mainstage. What a pile! #restoringhonor

Surviving cast of Star Trek II reenacting final Spock death scene. Moving. #restoringhonor

Did you happen to notice Stephen Baldwin walking around wearing a druid robe, holding a bag of live rats?

Some kind of "priest" just set a match to a gasoline drenched (and grammy award winning) JEFF Beck! Cleansing!

True heroes: DC's sanitation dept who must clean up all the blood and guts spilled today in Lord Beck's Honor

Lord Beck asking ALL Americans to "stare at the sun this afternoon and wait for further instructions." #restoringhonor

"good night everybody" *glenn beck twirls cape, disappears into puff of smoke*

BEWARE OF THE ANCHOR BABIES!

I had the pleasure this week to watch Jeff Sessions pontificate on the intent of the founding fathers when they passed the 14th Amendment and was shamed again by our leadership. Obviously this was a gaffe. Certainly the man has to know that the 14th Amendment was adopted by vote of the country in 1868. It was enacted in response to the some misguided southern States denying emancipated slaves citizenship. The portion relevant to the current discussion states:

"Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

I assume that Sessions knows that this was about 100 years after the hallowed "founding fathers" did their handiwork. Yet he has joined other angry politicians decrying "Anchor Babies". Now I know we have had a hot, hot end of the summer. I know heat wave's make people act crazy but does crazy have to encompass mean and stupid. Anchor Babies? Who comes up with this type of evil bullshit? We don't want them having anchor babies? Would we be happier with Mexican mothers crossing the border and burdening our health care system with their abortions? What we mean is WE DON"T WANT THESE PEOPLE HERE! They are taking all of the good fruit picking jobs and jobs at chicken processing plants and we must SECURE OUR BORDERS!

I am told that a great country has secure borders. I guess that means, sadly that these people believe we have never been a great country. I am a really strong, pro-immigration American. My ancestors were immigrants. I assume they were legal but I don't know and if your honest you do not have any idea either. My ancestors could have snuck in, forged papers and identities and have established a total lie for our family in America. I do not know. I know we have the greatest country in the world because we are a nation of immigrants. I know that even if we seal off the border, right now we are likely to become a primarily Catholic, nation of primarily hispanic decent. This is not a bad thing. I know the best way to moderate that is to welcome people and figure out how to raise everyone's life style because as incomes and education go up (everywhere, every time through out all history) birthrates go down.

So seriously, we have the Missouri Sheriffs lining up with the citizens of Arizona once again proving that the further you are from the problem, the more you will take other people's problems to make them work for your own perceived, angry, political agenda.
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/08/11/update-missouri-sheriffs-back-states-immigration-efforts/
Brilliant stuff. This despite the efforts that the law enforcement that actually has to deal with has serious questions about how it will effect their efforts at enforcement.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63T5G220100430
Now we are supposed to feel sorry for the people on the border because there is so much lawlessness and mass kidnappings and violence on the U.S. side of the border. All the madness in mexico is bleeding over and we need these new laws to keep the people on the border safe. Arizona's Governor in support of her political efforts whips people into a frenzy with lies according to her own law enforcement:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/09/AR2010070902342.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/03/us-mexico-border-safety-a_n_598825.html

The point is that we panic about anchor babies because of fear. Fear is the result of stupidity based on our crappy economy and so we line up behind Nazi phrases like "Anchor Baby" to whip people into fear and loathing.

Facts:

1. Immigration is not a problem in our State (Missouri).
2. Arizona's new law violates the constitution. if they tried to do this during the Bush administration everyone would have said they were psychos.
3. We need to a better job keeping people from coming in illegally. It has been this way for at least 40 years.
4. St Ronald Reagan understood that there is no way to enforce our laws and send illegals back when there were millions already here.
5. Reagan did NOTHING to further secure the border because our business interests needed the labor then.

Tell me any of those things are wrong. If we cannot send them back we need to secure the border AND we need to deal with the folks that are here. We literally do not have the resources to track them down, hold them and send them back. In the mean time we have tens of millions of legal American citizens of hispanic descent being treated like criminals because they look different. We should be ashamed and we should wake up and take control of our borders, our futures and our souls by acting like the greatest country on earth and cherishing our founding father's values and for some of us, our Christian heritage.

God that is preachy but this "anchor Baby" hate speak makes me sick.

Ground Zero Mosque And Our Love Of Being Angry Victims

Soooo.... THE GROUND ZERO MOSQUE HAS PUBLISHED IT'S PLANS FOR LOWER MANHATTAN! It looks like the thing will take up about 20 square blocks with minarets extending up to the exact height of the downed World Trade Center. Residents will be forced to listen to the call for prayer 5 times a day and all women in lower Manhattan will be required to wear burqas. Liberal Democratic Progressive Mayor Michael Bloomberg is considering making the area a Moslem Principality and installing Sharia as "the law of the land". Hand less small children (shoplifters) are expected to over run the unaffected portions of Manhattan and the other 5 boroughs and between beheading and stoning of adulterers in the area the local health care systems and morgues are projected to be totally overwhelmed. The HUGE facility will be used for the training and encouragement of terrorists and the planning of the killings of Americans. it is projected that there will be large diamond vision screens showing the towers falling repeatedly, mocking the 2000 American dead under a constant barrage of millions of united, angry voices screaming ALLUAH AKBAR!

"The Ground Zero Mosque" is not at ground zero, nor is it what must of us infidels would think of as a Mosque. According to Hendrik Herzbergh of The New Yorker (Main Stream media) the building will be on Park Place, about two blocks from the site of the tragedy. It will not be visible from the site of the World trade center. The development, known as Park-51 will include a large prayer room (I guess that qualifies as a mosque), classrooms, a swimming pool and an auditorium as well as (misguidedly in my mind) a 9-11 Memorial. It sounds kind of like a Y.M.C.A. and evidently Jews and Christians will be welcome. The developers are a husband and wife from Kuwait who have lived in our country for 30 years.

Evidently the further you are from this development (and logically less likely to deal with it, be confronted by it or have repercussions from the "sort of people" it might attract) the more you object to it. The local counsel for lower Manhattan voted for it 29-1. The New Yorker alleges that Manhattan is for the project, Staten Island against it but what is important is that we all listen to the opinions of Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin who oppose it vigorously. Our President felt obligated to weigh in on behalf of the Mosque saying all kinds of self righteous proclamations at a White House Feast celebrating the end of Ramadan. I was kind of shocked by that personally but I am told there is some past history of this. Still, Barack dropped the ball here by allowing this battle rise to a Presidential forum. Lets let the New Yorker's and their elected leaders take care of New York's hallowed ground. This is not a national referendum. this is people playing politics with the tragic, tragic memories of that national trauma known as 9-11.

I have an opinion on this, only because it has been elevated to a national conversation. At this point the building should not be built there because of the uninformed public outcry that has been whipped up. It has become another divisive issue so, if I were the developer I would use it as a platform to say, "I respect that some people view this building as an offense. I respectfully disagree and think you should consider whether these are the values of a great and free country". Then I might also ask, how far is far enough? 3 blocks? A Mile? Do we really want to bar mosques being built anywhere? Those are more interesting questions but please, think about this a little before you get righteous indignation up on wither side of the discussion (argument).

I live in the midwest. I believe it is the best part of the country with some of the best people in the world. BUT, the anger and stupidity of these arguments is a hateful comment on our ability to personalize every decision as one that effects AND offends us. When did it become so dishonorable to act with honor and courtesy towards others, and their ideas, and play nice. Didn't we learn that in kindergarten? If not why not...oh I know, we did not learn it because lazy, liberal teachers and their unions promote mediocrity and DUMB DOWN OUR KIDS! Ooops... did it again.

***

Elizabeth Cook: Off Broadway

So what can I say about Off Broadway. The newest owners are doing right by me. Earlier show times are a huge, huge, blessing. I cannot recount the amount of times I had gone down there on a school night and got there for doors at 8 and waited... and drank... and waited... and drank...until the 9:00 show time came and went. Then at 9:30, like salvation the band came on except it was the opening band... so I frank... and the opener was ok. I watched them break down and then watched.... oh shit... another band that was not the headliner set up. It was already 10:30 by the time they go on and then they played their 45 minute set, broke down and somewhere around 11:30-11:45 the headliner would come on...getting me home around 1:00 A.M. drunk and tired and more importantly drunk driving AND drunk driving at that bad time of night when I feel like a target. So that was bad. A lot of great bands, a lot of good times.

But new management has made some changes. They cleaned the place up. I am ambivalent about the changes but they are good ones. They tore down all the kitschy crap. The wagon wheel light fixture that had graced the place, forever, gone. All the garbage on the walls, gone. The place is all cleaned up. The long bar left in tact. Everything else cleaned up, stripped down and hosed out. Awesome. They set a few chairs out and a couple of tables and what looks like a new dance floor. It all opened up. It is a prettier, better lit space with slightly better site lines...and a patio area you can easily access to smoke. Nice.

And show times are earlier. Caught an early show a few months ago and now they seem to be starting a lot of shows at 7:30 or 8:00 with doors at 7:00. This is brilliant for the old crowd and I think the old crowd is THE crowd as far as going out and seeing live music in a small venue. At least in our town. Anyway...

Showed up at 7:00 and there was an opening act called Porter Hall Tennessee. They were a surprisingly good trio with a chick and three guys playing drums bass and electric guitar. The bass player had a big old "dog house" bass and it was a very tight show. they sang nice alt country with the guitarist playing a style that reminded me a lot of Brent best from Slobberbone. A personal favorite of mine. The female lead was working the leopard mini and she had some nice pipes with a little trace of Lucinda as they did country gospel and bar room brawl. It was extremely satisfying for an opening act and set a nice tone.

Towards the end of their set a guy dressed in over-alls with slicked back hair game in looking like L'ill Abner with a little blond in fishnets, boots and a mini who was playing the roll of Daisy May. Interesting. The opening act ended and they set up, guitar, slap bass and acoustic guitar. No drum, no organ, no gimics. Elizabeth started to talk with her southern twang and we settled in for a nice set made up primarily of songs from her new CD "Welder". Sadly I heard of her through NPR (How sad is that) and she is one of 11 kids and has a pretty wild and varied upbringing with upbeat, true to life personal experience songs like "Heroin Addict Sister". She reached back and did some of her "old" songs like "Sometimes It Takes Balls To Be Woman" and pleased the crowd greatly.

A lot of unexpected pleasures for this show. First was just how authentic and rich her voice was. The songs were all pretty simple and paired down. The second was that her lead guitar player is evidently her husband. I was admiring his guitar which was really a little too good, almost distracting from her voice and songs. The she she said his name and it turned out Li'l Abner was Tim Carroll, an alt-country guy I have admired for years. he is a great song writer and singer in the Bakersfield style of a Robbie Fulks or Buck Owens. Really good stuff, nice harmonies and great guitar. The third was when they played one of his songs and she took off her boots and put on some taps for percussion. She explained to the crowd that it was not tap but "cloggin". "Tap is for rich people". She really put on a charming show and seemed very authentic.

this was their first show back in the States after a European tour and she said "God Bless America...so hard". I love that type of authenticity. She also said that Faith Hill was possible going to cover one of her songs and that "she would have to stop talking bad about her". The only disappointment was that she did not sing "Follow You Like Smoke" which might be the most nuanced song on "Welder". Show ended and they came out and did two encores. I got home by 10. I did not drink too much. I had a great night and she put on a great show.

Coming up....LOUFEST Preview: http://www.loufest.com/

The Zen Of Bacon

As part of this spaces continuous, ongoing, relentless praise of bacon I am compelled to say a few a words regarding the Zen of bacon. Obviously there are a lot of aspects to bacon that are by definition "zen". This morning however I was cooking bacon for Laura, Pat and I (because only three of us I deemed 1 lb to be the correct amount. I was using a large, deep, rounf teflon skillet. Teflon is the simplest way to cook, though obviously iron has more Zen like characteristics. On the other hand iron sticks (even if well seasoned" and should never (ever) go in a conventional dish washer.

Thus I immediately sacrificed Zen.

I like to cook on a medium heat. Which is the second way that I sacrifice Zen because as we all know, the only true way to cook anything, especially bacon, is over a pure natural gas flame.

Secondary sacrifice of Zen.

I lay out about 7 strips across and then on across the top. As the skillet heats and you begin to get that Zen like sizzle then i begin to assess the heat distribution across the skllet because depending on quality of pan and quality of burner and of course positioning of said skillet... heat distribution can vary. As the bacon cooks you move the pieces from one side to another. This is orderly... and feels...Zen-Like.

But what is Zen you might ask.
One way to think of zen is this: a total state of focus that incorporates a total togetherness of body and mind. Zen is a way of being. It also is a state of mind. Zen involves dropping illusion and seeing things without distortion created by your own thoughts.

I enter this fugue state as the pieces being to get fully cooked. Many prefer their bacon limp which is...so un-Zen. Unforgivably so. So as the bacon crisps up i am always disappointed with the few first strips. There is never quite enough grease in the skillet. This leads to burning of the first few pieces where after you get them going you have a nice even layer of frying bacon fat. This is where I truly become at one with the skillet.

At this point.... the bacon basically cooks itself. Then we are left with a fully cooked pound of bacon...minus two or three slices which is the Zen cooking fee. Look it up.

Related Post: The Bacon Pigs http://stldinerreview.blogspot.com/2009/05/truth-about-bacon.html

Fozzies Sandwich Emorium: The Review....

Two words...OH MY GOD! I was leaving Clayton to head downtown and noticed a new place on Big bend, right before I got on the highway. it was called Fozzie's Sandwich Emporium. I personally was never a Muppets fan and spent a long time seriously concerned about the Fozzie Bear character. he was unfunny in a way that made me want to punch him. I do not know whether that was the intent, or whether it reflects more poorly on me, or Jim Henson. t looked like an old gas station, maybe a Clark station. I thought it looked like a typical "wraps" place or some other place that would serve veggie burgers and forgot about it. On a typical Friday, I have no friends who will break bread with me and have a lot to contemplate. Eating lunch alone (with my Wall Street Journal) has become a bad habit. So I headed out highway 40 on Friday and went to Fozzies for lunch. The place had ample parking although i could see people lined up inside.

I parked and immediately noticed that behind the place they have several large garden boxes filled with tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, cilantro, parsley and all manner of greens. Interesting. The door is a long way from the lot and you walk along the back of the place and they have several tables set out there and there is some shade available even at lunch. Still, on a 100 degree day you do not want to park your butt out there. The place itself is unimpressive with a small area to order before the counter, three tables offering minimal seating and space to wait for your order. The menu is displayed on large chalk boards and I immediately thought... uh oh!

Lots of offerings with V's before them. Veggie options. Should I just turn around? Should I spray paint markings on the building that it burned so as not to tempt little children down the slippery slope of healthy eating? But immediately I start looking at the other sandwich offerings and started to be impressed. Philly Cheese Steaks, hot dogs, Gyros, French Dips. Also they tout deserts, hand made shakes... and yes they do have all manor of salads. I think I counted about 20 sandwich selections. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful in the way that people who really like what they are doing and like what they are selling can muster. Think Apple Store. In preparing this post I tried to find a web site but came up dry. I will inquire on next trip there.

The cheerful guy at the counter was helpful and friendly and full of energy like only an employee who really loves his job and his project. Think Apple Store employee. He saw me looking at the options and could sense I was not that bright and said "The Big Bend Mafia is our best seller". The Big Bend Mafia is described as Italian Beef, salsiccia, giardiniera and provolone on a garlic hoagie. I was able to grab a table and sample with their home made chips. While the chips were a little disappointing, I knife and forked the rest of it with a great deal of pleasure. this was a succulent sandwich made better by the bread. the italian beef had a good flavor and the salsiccia was mild but flavorful. I had no idea what the gardiniera was but it was delicious and I have now learned the following from Wikkipedia:

"Giardiniera is an Italian or Italian-American relish of pickled vegetables in vinegar or oil. Giardiniera is available as either mild or hot. In the United States, hot giardiniera is often referred to as "Hot Mix".
Common vegetables in the Italian version, also called sotto aceti, include onions, celery, zucchini, carrots and cauliflower, pickled vegetables in red- or white-wine vinegar. It is typically eaten as an antipasto, or with salads.
In Chicago, giardiniera is a condiment, typically used as a topping on Italian beef sandwiches.[1] Giardiniera is commonly made with serrano peppers and some combination of assorted vegetables, such as bell peppers, olives, celery, pimentos, carrots and cauliflower and sometimes crushed red pepper flakes, all marinated in vegetable oil, olive oil, soybean oil or any combination of the three oils." Good to know. This really did make the sandwich.

I liked it so much I came back that night and treated myself to The Italian Grinder. "Capicola, mortadella, salami, provolone, lettuce, tomato on garlic hoagie. Wow. This was even better and the lettuce tasted like the tomatoes, right out of the garden in back. I do not know whether or not it was but the illusion was provided by their locavore garden. I took this one home, skipped the home made chips and once again knife and forked it. The italian dressing was great but very Wishbone-esque. It was all a messy, messy delight.

On saturday i closed out with Da Dip. Hot roast beef with debris onions, swiss cheese and tiger suce on crispy baguette. It too was outstanding as a carry out and traveled well back to my house. It was a good sandwich but i was slightly disappointed by the Tiger Sauce which i think of as a cajun sauce but from a little research on the web appears it can also be like a dill based white sauce. It was not bad, just was not what i expected. The bread again was outstanding. They really seem to pay attention to the bread.

I guess that is really the thing so far. Fozzies really pays attention to the details. I am told their Lamb Gyro is to die for and that will be my next attempt. They also have a "sweet side" which includes custom shakes with all sorts of ingredients like and toppings ranging from bananas and walnuts to granola and snickers. That will need to get a try as well. I would kill for a place like this downtown. try it now, before they screw it up and expand or get overwhelmed. They are a quality operation. Savor them, support them.