Wednesday Dottles
1. Is she gone? Is it safe to come out? Please, please, please tell me Katie Couric's group hug is now over.
2. Ninety-five yesterday. Blech... that is too damn hot. Better today... Eighty-eight.
3. The good: The jury found sniper John Allen Muhammad guilty on all six counts of murder. I guess they didn't buy his argument - he represented himself - that the police were trying to frame him.
4. The bad: the federal government signed off on the Intercounty Connector or ICC. This is an 18-mile highway planned to connect Montgomery and Prince Georges counties. Naifs and wishful thinkers in the DC Maryland suburbs think the road will help with congestion. People like me think it's a road that will be born congested and only contribute to urban sprawl. The artery will exacerbate Maryland's already bad air and water pollution.
5. The ugly: The Orioles are 4 games under .500, the pitching coach questions the team's passion for baseball, the manager is pissed off at the players, and Kevin Millar just hopped over the finger-pointing line. Who'd have thought I'd ever be jealous of the Tigers, now on top of the AL-Central?
6. I finished A Tale of Two Cities last night. It is a truly excellent story. I highly recommend it. I decided to read it because the insufferably arrogant Jeff Daniels character in The Squid and the Whale called it "minor Dickens" and I just had to know what minor Dickens was. It's not minor Dickens at all and the story is so compelling I'm surprised it hasn't been made into a movie.
7. Conversation in an elevator between me and my son, D-, last weekend while at the shore. We had just come off the beach where we had dined on the usual beach food including a box of caramel popcorn. I guess the confusion arises from my still-evident midwest accent.
Me: I really like caramel corn.
D-: Carl Macorn? Who's Carl Macorn?
8. Preferred hamburger toppings: ketchup, horseradish, and onion. Preferred hot dog toppings: mustard, jalapenos, and onions (or sauerkraut when available). I can now personally recommend guacamole as an important new hamburger topping.
9. Observation: the U.S. Constitution does not mention the bible. Consequence: groups aspiring to affect public policy are not immune to close scrutiny. "We're being attacked" just won't wash.
10. Spiderman, Superman, Batman, or X-men? What... are you crazy? Spiderman. It will always be Spiderman.
K-
Regarding 6. ... My wife and I and a couple of friends read "A Tale of Two Cities" aloud last year -- our idea of Friday night fun.
As to the movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027075/
It's a classic.
Carl Macorn? Who's Carl Macorn?
I'm absolutely famous among our family members for doing just that. I repeat what I think I heard, not exactly what was said. I'm still laughing.
I hope your weather was better today. It's supposed to be better here, but somehow I doubt it.
Nice post - - I've never read "A Tale of Two Cities". Maybe I should consider it.
1) She grates after a few minutes. Thankfully, I didn't get to see it.
8) Mayo, ketchup, and cheese on hamburgers. I can take or leave everything else. On hot dogs, cheese and olive salad.
10) Absolutely.
1. My information needs outgrew the Today Show about the same time Katie came on.
2. Had four inches of rain in about two hours this afternoon, which brought with it a cool front.
4. I'm just surprised there's still room for any more highways out your way.
8. Thanks for the horseradish tip. I'll try it. But, if a burger is done outside on a charcoal grill to perfection, I actually prefer it plain. Otherwise, pickle, mustard, onion. To your hotdog list, might I suggest a dash if celery salt?
10. Pow. Thwack. (Hey, I'm still a 10 year old girl staring agape at Adam West in black tights.)
2. Four inches in two hours. That must have been some cold front.
4. They are going to codemn a number of houses to build the road. It's been on the planning books for 50 years.
6. Thanks for the tip, Dan. Netflix doesn't have it; I'll keep a weather eye out on TCM.
8. Marie, I wouldn't want to eat hamburger plain no matter how well cooked. Thanks for the tip on the celery salt; I'll have to try it.
8. Rob, what is olive salad? A New Orleans delicacy? I've never encountered it.
10. Needless to say I don't respond to men in tights quite the way you would, Marie.
K-
Olive salad is an Italian favorite. Sold in glass jars at most grocery stores these days on your olive and pickle aisle. When I was a kid, it used to come in those white cardboard containers normally associated with Chinese takeout. Olive salad has many uses but I like it on hot dogs, roast beef po-boys (Subs for you northerners), and muffulettas (A fabulous sandwich of Italian meats and cheeses).
Or more precisely
Kem, It occurred to me much later after my comment that you might be talking about the actual comic book characters and not TV or movie icons. But, glad to know you're not into men in tights.
Rob, that olive salad looks fabulous. I've seen something similar on grocery shelves here, but not with all those ingredients, or even olives. I think it was called pickled cauliflower. I do say "po boys" even though most people around here say, "poor boys."
They look somewhat similar, Marie, because of the bright vegetables but I think pickled cauliflower and pickled mixed vegetables are made with vinegar. I eat them occasionally but don't like them as much. Olive salad is made with extra virgin olive oil.