This vivid pink carnation was among other carnations and stargazer lilies in the boquet that I got today.
January 2006
Football and BBQ Day
After a few chores in the morning and a run to the local discount goods outlet, Damsel and I settled in to watch NFL Wildcard Sunday. As an adjunct to that, we also decided to prepare Mexican-style grilled chicken breasts, Mexican rice and (of course) Mexican-style pinto beans. All this enhanced by salsa and tortilla chips. The chicken is sliced and served in rolled-up tortillas with rice and beans (salsa optional).
The secret to this great meal is the marinade prepared the previous day; the chicken breasts are marinated overnight, turned over in the morning and prepared in the afternoon.
These are the ingredients in the marinade:
- 2 lemons juiced and zested
- 2 limes juiced
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon powdered turmeric
- 1 large clove garlic – minced
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Marinate 3-4 chicken breasts in a large plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.
Transfer the chicken breasts to a shallow baking pan. Reserve the marinade for basting later. Bake the chicken for 30 – 40 minutes at 400°, turning once about halfway through. Crank up the gas BBQ to high when you turn the chicken. Remove the chicken from the oven and place on the grill. Be sure to spray or otherwise apply oil or a non-stick product to the grill first. Baste the chicken breasts on the grill, and turn basted side down. Baste the top side after. In about five minutes or so, turn the chicken breasts one more time. The idea is to get the basted marinade to infuse and get those nice grill marks on the chicken breasts. Damsel snapped the shot of the chicken during the last stages of cooking. Click to enlarge.
This is quite a delicious and healthy meal. I keep a couple of Coronas or Pacificos in the little fridge to enjoy with this sumptuous treat.
Football, grilling, eating and lifting a brew (or 2) makes for a very enjoyable Sunday Football afternoon!
I almost pity PETA and the vegetarian and vegan loonies who never get to enjoy the magnificence of meals like these.
The Ultralight Flying Scooter
A local entrepreneur, Don Shaw – a Torrance, California resident, was featured in several news outlets with his latest invention: a flying scooter – really – check it out.
The Ultralight Flying Scooter (TUFS) is the world’s first flying and driving motor scooter! The most amazing aspect of TUFS is its combination of a 2006 Honda Ruckus scooter with the most popular, top of the line and up-to-date ultralight paraglider flight equipment. It encompasses the long time dream of a flying and driving machine. This uniquely handcrafted flight kit is revolutionary to the powered paragliding world, pushing the simple joy of flying to the next extreme.
Because TUFS is considered an Ultralight Aircraft in the USA under FAR Part 103 (http://www.ulflyingmag.com/regs.html), a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (http://www.faa.gov) pilot’s license is not required to operate this single-seat aircraft. TUFS is also Department of Transportation (DOT) (http://www.dot.gov/) approved. This permits the scooter to be driven on highways and streets when the vehicle is configured to road/ground-mode.
The 42 m2 tandem-rated paraglider wing that gives TUFS its flight capability has a comfortable lift capacity of 508 pounds during flight. This weight includes the weight of the pilot, fuel and oil, extra carry-on payload, scooter, and TUFS flight kit. The maximum pilot weight should be under 210 pounds.
Lou Rawls, 1935-2006
We’re sad to report that this instantly-recognizable voice has fallen silent today. Damsel and I have always loved and enjoyed Lou Rawls’ style and music. Rawls was a veteran of the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Paratroopers. He had an extraordinary gift as a performer. We have all benefited from that gift.
From Wikipedia: Lou Rawls
Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1935 – January 6, 2006) is a Chicago-born American soul music, jazz, and blues singer. Known for his smooth vocal style, Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had “the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game.”
Rawls has released more than 70 albums, been in movies, television shows and voiced-over many cartoons. A high school classmate of soul giant Sam Cooke, Rawls sang with Cooke in the Teenage Kings of Harmony, a 50’s gospel group. Rawls enlisted in the US Army as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division in 1955. He would leave the “All-Americans” three years later as a Sergeant and hook up with a group he had sang with before enlisting, the Pilgrim Travelers. In 1958, while touring the South with the Travelers and Sam Cooke, Rawls was in a serious car crash which claimed the life of one person. Rawls was actually pronounced dead before getting to the hospital where he stayed in a coma for 5 1/2 days. It took him months to regain his memory and a year to fully recuperate. Rawls considered the event life-changing.
Clooney Tunes
Damsel and I are inaugurating a new category to highlight entertainment icons who use their notoriety to promote left-wing ideology. We call this category “Star Whores.”
Today we recognize George Clooney for his hack at portraying the US government and the CIA as bad guys in the film “Syriana.” Clooney is either ill-informed or is part of the complex web of left-leaning organizations who seek to blame America for everything in an attempt to discredit the administration and freedom in general. I prefer to think of Clooney as stupid and not evil – but I could be wrong. Clooney has often been critical of the administration, as is his right, but when cross-examined, he shows a dearth of factual material to back his statements.
From the Monterey Herald:
George Clooney wants ‘Syriana’ to challenge its audience
George Clooney is opting for transparency when it comes to “Syriana,” opening Friday.
“It’s complicated, confusing even. And it’s political. I’m not trying to sidestep that. I’m pleased about it.”
Clooney, who plays a veteran – burned out, worn down, distrustful – CIA agent frustrated at the way the agency has become politicized, is also the film’s producer, along with Steven Soderbergh. “Syriana” was inspired in part by a book by former intelligence agent Robert Baer, a Mideast specialist who is the basis for Clooney’s character, Bob Barnes. But Stephen Gaghan, the Oscar-winning writer of “Traffic” who directed and wrote “Syriana,” says the movie is “pure imagination – based on fact.”
How’s this for transparency? I speculate that there is 90% imagination and 10% fact – maybe less – so thin, it’s nearly transparent. Clooney and Soderbergh have clearly done no research other than to present their own biased take on the book by Baer, who is probably a malcontent ex-CIA agent with an axe to grind (like Valerie Plame perhaps). Clooney seems to bias the film’s message against America in the hope that the audience will will be indoctrinated – not challenged.
And, of course, a payoff from the box office: George Clooney – Star Whore.
Top Ten World’s Worst Dictators
It’s disturbing, that at least one of these is an “ally” in the war on terror (hint – Pakistan):
The Top Ten World’s Worst Dictators
Hopefully, the State Department is watching Pervez Musharraf and his forces
Update: Club for Growth has an article on this topic.
This is our “Freedom Fighter” Enemy
Michael Moore Moron and other moonbats on the left think that the Taliban and Al Qaeda are like “minutemen” merely fighting for their freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is an example of the freedom they seek:
FOXNews.com – U.S. & World – Taliban Beheads Teacher for Educating Girls
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Officials on Wednesday blamed Taliban militants for beheading a teacher in a central Afghan town, the latest in a string of attacks against educators at schools where girls study.
Armed men decapitated Malim Abdul Habib in his home in the town of Qalat late Tuesday and forced his wife and children to watch, said Ali Khail, a provincial government spokesman. The assailant did not harm the other relatives, he said.
The attackers then fled and the wife called the police, Khail said. Police are questioning three people who were guests in the victim’s home at the time.
Habib was the headmaster of Shaikh Mathi Baba high school, which is attended by 1,300 boys and girls.
The insurgents claim that educating girls is against Islam and they even oppose government-funded boys’ schools because they teach subjects other than religion.
Zabul province’s education director Nabi Khushal blamed Taliban rebels.
“Only the Taliban are against girls being educated,” he said. “The Taliban often attack our teachers and beat them. But this is the first time one has been killed in this province.”
The militant assholes that did this will never stop. They not only want to impose their insane ideas in their land, but they want to kill you – all of us, and rule an Islamic world. If you have any doubt about that, then you are part of the problem. The only thing that can be done to curtail an infestation of global magnitude, is to exterminate it.