We are staying in a hotel in a town called Seilh on the outskirts of Toulouse. The hotel is a sort of golf resort, and out of our window we can see several holes of the course and the practice green where a lot of the instruction happens.
Talking with Boof over breakfast it's difficult to avoid cynically pointing out how masturbatory golf, and in fact most "sport" is. This was highlighted this morning by one of the breakfast-appropriate podcasts to which I subscribe, the NPR On Technology podcast. If you like the bits from NPR reporting about tech better than other bits then this is for you...it's not it's own original material, just a collection under a theme.
Farmville is a game on Facebook, but apparently that's old news since, according to this podcast some 60 million plus "active monthy users" already know about it. WTF!
(Here I will pause for you to change your shitfilled pants.)
In the process of discussing Farmville, the host editorialized about how this might be reflective of the fact that people fantasize about farming, and so few of us actually farm.
It's funny how NPR will editorialize about inane things but give uncritical, "equal time" for people to refute "controversial" topics like global warming or evolution. Anyway,
I think there's something to that idea, that people are on there to fantisize, but I would take it a step further and say that they are on there to exercize a need to contribute to society, and that the majority of them are doing what I call "made up" jobs.
In our culture there are those that produce and then there is the ever growing periphery. I am part of the periphery, too, so I'm not making fun, but it is interesting. This large group that services the people producing by selling for them or selling to them, and then someone in turn services that group and this goes on in massive concentric circles until you get to a huge group of people so distanced from actual productivity that they "play" Farmville.
Again, I'm not trying to go after these people. These days it's pretty necessary to masturbate to exercise unmet needs. If we all tried to produce or make a difference at once it would be like two fat people trying to get through a doorway at the same time. We are too rich, and these golfers are too rich. What they are doing is playing pool, but with more expensive equipment, and laid out over a hundred acres or so, likely employing dozens of grounds keepers etc. which makes a great euphamism for jizz moppers.
If your husband mops jizz all day, and comes home and wants to bitch about how the golfers get in his way....you have to take the edge off with a martini, I mean valium, I mean...Farmville.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Poulet Fricasee France
I started craving chicken and dumplings a few weeks ago. I'm not sure why. It was a rare dish around the house when I was a kid, so I don't think it was nostalgia. It was more like an odd subconscious fixation on the idea of a soft dumpling floating in a creamy rich chicken sauce.
I don't measure when I cook, and if you write a real "how to" it takes (me) a long time, so I will just throw it out there and if you have any questions I will deal with that then.
I cut up a whole chicken into pieces...it's not that hard and in the end you get ALL the bits to make broth.
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/how-to-cut-up-chicken2.htm
Make a mirepoix, which I make like this: (all diced small) 3 parts onions, 1 part celery and 2 parts carrots fried in olive oil. Crush and roughly chop (meaning kinda big) 1 clove of garlic. When the onions are clear, but before anything is brown add a largish glass of dry white wine (if it's sweet add less). Add a few bay leaves and some (maybe like half a teaspoon) thyme. This is going to make you hungry so start before you're ready to eat. Add some a lot of salt and a little pepper (remembering to leave room to add at the end).
Add the chicken and fill with hot water until you cover the chicken, add about 8 medium carrots, and bring it to a near boil for at least an hour, but not more than an hour and a half.
Take the chicken out, put it in a bowl to cool. Put the carrots to the side. Take the bay leaves (and thyme stems if you used whole thyme) out. While the chicken is cooling you raise the temp on the broth to a boil, and make the dumplings.
2 cups all purpose flour mixed with a tsp of salt, and then slowly incorporate 2/3 cup of cold water, mix by hand until you have a stiff dough. Flour the shit out of the counter or large cutting board and roll out. Here we don't have a roller so I use a bowl bottom.
When it's 1/8 inch thick let rest for 10 min while you pick every piece of meat off the chicken and discard the skin and bones. Make the pieces small and toss them in. Then cut the dough into 3/4 to 1 inch squares and toss them in making sure you don't stir them too rigorously after this.
They need only cook about 3 or 4 minutes.
Thicken sauce with bread crumbs, and once it's a thick sludge add one last badass ingredient...
a few heaping tablespoons of sour cream.
Put the whole carrots on the side. Garnish if you like with chopped parsely. Serves 4 to 6 depending on the size of the chicken and the appetites of the eaters.
C'est tout!
I don't measure when I cook, and if you write a real "how to" it takes (me) a long time, so I will just throw it out there and if you have any questions I will deal with that then.
I cut up a whole chicken into pieces...it's not that hard and in the end you get ALL the bits to make broth.
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/how-to-cut-up-chicken2.htm
Make a mirepoix, which I make like this: (all diced small) 3 parts onions, 1 part celery and 2 parts carrots fried in olive oil. Crush and roughly chop (meaning kinda big) 1 clove of garlic. When the onions are clear, but before anything is brown add a largish glass of dry white wine (if it's sweet add less). Add a few bay leaves and some (maybe like half a teaspoon) thyme. This is going to make you hungry so start before you're ready to eat. Add some a lot of salt and a little pepper (remembering to leave room to add at the end).
Add the chicken and fill with hot water until you cover the chicken, add about 8 medium carrots, and bring it to a near boil for at least an hour, but not more than an hour and a half.
Take the chicken out, put it in a bowl to cool. Put the carrots to the side. Take the bay leaves (and thyme stems if you used whole thyme) out. While the chicken is cooling you raise the temp on the broth to a boil, and make the dumplings.
2 cups all purpose flour mixed with a tsp of salt, and then slowly incorporate 2/3 cup of cold water, mix by hand until you have a stiff dough. Flour the shit out of the counter or large cutting board and roll out. Here we don't have a roller so I use a bowl bottom.
When it's 1/8 inch thick let rest for 10 min while you pick every piece of meat off the chicken and discard the skin and bones. Make the pieces small and toss them in. Then cut the dough into 3/4 to 1 inch squares and toss them in making sure you don't stir them too rigorously after this.
They need only cook about 3 or 4 minutes.
Thicken sauce with bread crumbs, and once it's a thick sludge add one last badass ingredient...
a few heaping tablespoons of sour cream.
Put the whole carrots on the side. Garnish if you like with chopped parsely. Serves 4 to 6 depending on the size of the chicken and the appetites of the eaters.
C'est tout!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Ultra-Normal's Greatest Hits
Hi folks...It's that time of year again! That's right! A recap of the best of the best blogs from the past year. Pouring through all the old blogs and whittling it down to just the highlights is tough, but you deserve it dear readers....dear dear faithful readers. Without you I'd just be talking to myself, just farting in print. Plurrt....'scuse me.
Introduction done I move on to the body of the blog, no doubt a familiar format to all.
With the body completed I have only to congratulate myself! Another year of blogging done, and another greatest hits show....wait, that reminds me, I never got around to the top 10 list!
10. The waffles, who could forget the waffles.
9. Should probably be the waffles too.
8. Uh...Gaddam Neighbor Kid! Wink wink.
7. SomabitchinNeighborKid! (shaking fist)
6. Blog doubt. Fuck that guy. What smartass wrote that one? Seriously fuck that guy. I bet he feels pretty small right now so I'll move on.
5. Untitled Draft TBA. Not the worst, not the best.
4. Did I say Neighbor Kid. He's the kinda kid who likes shit like bukakke and blogs like Blog Doubt. Fuck him too.
2. up up down down left right left right a b start.....not a blog, but damned useful in a pinch.
Seriously though, get the fuck out of my head....shitty cheat codes. They should have made cheat codes that were product endorsements not some quasi-directional nonsense.
For the record spell checker didn't catch quasi-directional, but played dumb about bukakke....typical.
And the moment you've all been shitting your pants about, the number one blog in our countdown,
1. The Waffle thing did have pictures, but then there was the prophetic abilities of the Blog Doubt guy, man that guy was smart, and who could forget the bukakke-loving Neighbor Kid, god damn it's a tough choice, that's why this year's winner is a boring-ass luke warm TIE! A three or four way noncommittal-ass tie!
Congratulations to everybody, and thank's so much for sticking with it. It was tough at first, but now that it's running smoothly, well....I just can't say enough to fill the word count about how much we really really really really appreciate your continued readership. Expecially (spell check let that one through too!) those of you who bothered to fucking comment. Given that that's not a sentence, and nevertheless exactly what I wanted to say, I'm not going to reread this one for mistakes. If you find some, just send us a quick comment, and fuck you, too. If you've been loyal enough you'll know that's my que, I'm outta here!
I may add a pic to increase production value.
Introduction done I move on to the body of the blog, no doubt a familiar format to all.
With the body completed I have only to congratulate myself! Another year of blogging done, and another greatest hits show....wait, that reminds me, I never got around to the top 10 list!
10. The waffles, who could forget the waffles.
9. Should probably be the waffles too.
8. Uh...Gaddam Neighbor Kid! Wink wink.
7. SomabitchinNeighborKid! (shaking fist)
6. Blog doubt. Fuck that guy. What smartass wrote that one? Seriously fuck that guy. I bet he feels pretty small right now so I'll move on.
5. Untitled Draft TBA. Not the worst, not the best.
4. Did I say Neighbor Kid. He's the kinda kid who likes shit like bukakke and blogs like Blog Doubt. Fuck him too.
2. up up down down left right left right a b start.....not a blog, but damned useful in a pinch.
Seriously though, get the fuck out of my head....shitty cheat codes. They should have made cheat codes that were product endorsements not some quasi-directional nonsense.
For the record spell checker didn't catch quasi-directional, but played dumb about bukakke....typical.
And the moment you've all been shitting your pants about, the number one blog in our countdown,
1. The Waffle thing did have pictures, but then there was the prophetic abilities of the Blog Doubt guy, man that guy was smart, and who could forget the bukakke-loving Neighbor Kid, god damn it's a tough choice, that's why this year's winner is a boring-ass luke warm TIE! A three or four way noncommittal-ass tie!
Congratulations to everybody, and thank's so much for sticking with it. It was tough at first, but now that it's running smoothly, well....I just can't say enough to fill the word count about how much we really really really really appreciate your continued readership. Expecially (spell check let that one through too!) those of you who bothered to fucking comment. Given that that's not a sentence, and nevertheless exactly what I wanted to say, I'm not going to reread this one for mistakes. If you find some, just send us a quick comment, and fuck you, too. If you've been loyal enough you'll know that's my que, I'm outta here!
I may add a pic to increase production value.
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