GRABBINGSAND

The High. Initially, I didn’t want to go. Try as I did, I failed to keep the metropolitan gasoline panic from leeching away my common sense and goodwill. All the same, after watching a little television and hearing something that sounded remotely positive concerning little pipelines that might and other pipelines that could (albeit at 25% capacity), we picked ourselves up and set off for trivia. After all, wasn’t this the night to return to Mellow Mushroom in Buckhead? After suffering through a summer of sub-par questions and below-sub-par hosting in East Cobb, didn’t we deserve an evening that was fun and challenging?

The first quarter was rough. Missed all but one question. But in the second quarter, things started to shift. By the third — an unexpected all-college-football round — we were rocking like that one-armed drummer from Def Leppard. Thanks for that goes to Darcey and the Jaguar King. And in the fourth, we emerged as we did when first we arrived at Bustin’ Heads Trivia way back when: First Place. It was, in a word, szhpectacular.

The Low. As we drove home, almost every gas station we passed was dark, their hoses bagged. The Shell at Collier & Peachtree was lit up like Sunday afternoon. At 11pm, they had lines out into the street. Their prices? $4.09 for midgrade. That’s $1.30 more per gallon than what I paid just this afternoon. Hopefully, Gov Perdue noticed. We had a small empty gas can in the trunk, one we keep for the lawnmower. I suppose we could’ve stopped, but that would’ve been more gas burnt for the waiting.

All the way up Peachtree, to where it splits underneath The Roxy, the story was the same. Some had yellow CAUTION tape. I guess they didn’t have enough bags. Construction on the bridges above GA400 was not detered, giving the overpasses an odd white glow as we approached. Traffic was heavy on each of them. When we exited at Mansell, I didn’t want to look left at the Shell station, but I did. Dark. Same at the BP at Haynes and Old Alabama. But then at the corner, at the very same corner where we tried to wait some six hours earlier, the lights were on. People were still in line. We could’ve filled up the little can, but if we were going to wait, we should really wait for what we need. So we went home, got Nikki’s car and left again.

As before, we got into the turn lane. We even moved about half-a-car-length. But then I saw him. There he was, a BP employee, standing on the sidewalk in front of his store. He was doing semaphore, waving his arms into an X, into a Y, and into an X again. Immediately, the cars in front of us started to peel away. One by one, we got closer to the man, now accompanied by a female employee. I rolled down the window and she said, “That’s it. It’s all over!”

So as before, we turned around and left.

Here’s hoping for tomorrow.

Related Flickr Photo Set.

Everyone’s Favorite Executive Transvestite gets more honest work:

Eddie Izzard is to play a villain in the forthcoming comedy Super Ex, about a man (Luke Wilson) who breaks up with his superpowered girlfriend (Uma Thurman) only to regret it when she unleashes her powers on him. He will play Professor Bedlam, the jilted girlfriend’s nemesis. Filming of Super Ex, with Ivan Reitman behind the camera, is to start in New York this autumn.*

Ought to be a cakewalk for Eddie. After all, he’s played a villainous henchman, a (charmingly) lecherous movie-star, and a mercenary Q-for-hire.

Then there’s the whole bit about “evil herbivores” ….

(Thank you, Cinematical.)

We’re smart.

We know.

We realize that Comcast only lets us keep this DVR atop our television because they can monitor our choices and determine how better to aim their marketing. Of course, I doubt they can make heads or tails out of our recorded selections.

The West Wing.
Wire In The Blood.
Town Haul.
Miami Ink.
Angel.

And, of course … Justice League Unlimited.

(Hey look, the new season of JLU starts on September 17. Sweet.)

Nikki did it, so I did it. Now all of you must do it.

Basically, go here, search for your year of high school graduation, find the “Top 100″ list for that year, and copy it. Original instructions for what to do next are on Pandagon (Though it looks like they found it here, and before that, it was here, and before that, it was here. Dang.). That being linked, I’ve modified said instructions to suit my purpose. I’ve ignored what I don’t know or know and don’t care about. I’ve bolded what I know and liked. I’ve bolded and italicized what I know and really liked.

(more…)

Information:

• joshbritton.com - LA politi-blogger in Baton Rouge
• Paul2 - Katrina Blog
• Brendan Loy
• Jon Donley’s Blog @ NOLA.com
• The New Orleans Metroblog
• Katrina thread @ MetaFilter
• Flickr Tag: “HurricaneKatrina”

Donation:

• The American Red Cross - Even $5 helps.

Shrimp
2 lb. Large Shrimp (peeled and deveined)
4 Slices Thick Smoked Bacon, Cut into 1″ Pieces
1 clove, Elephant Garlic, Pressed
1/2 large Vidalia Onion, Minced
1 Jalepeno Pepper, Minced
1/2 cup Heavy cream
1/2 cup Milk
2tbl Flour
8 oz. Chicken stock
Cajun Seasoning to Taste

Grits
4 cups Chicken Stock
1 cup Grits (instant)
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Milk
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
Cajun Seasoning to Taste

1. Bring Chicken Stock to a boil, add grits and stir. (Start simultaneously with step 3.)
2. When grits thicken (typically, about 7 minutes, covered) – add cream, milk, cheese and seasoning.
3. Saute bacon until barely crispy in a large, deep pan. Remove bacon and put aside in aluminum foil. (Start simultaneously with steps 1 & 2.)
4. Saute onion and garlic in remaining bacon grease for about three minutes or until clear.
5. Add pepper, saute for another minute or so.
6. Add flour, stir until a roux forms on the bottom of the pan.
7. Lightly season shrimp & add; sauté until ~half cooked – just turning pink.
8. Return bacon to pan. Add chicken stock, heavy cream, cajun spice.
9. Simmer shrimp until cooked thoroughly.
10. Divide grits evenly, pour shrimp and sauce over grits with unslotted spoon and serve.

Trust me. It’s good. If you try it, let me know.

Shortly after he completed his masterwork, The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, Joseph Mallord William Turner took to time-travelling for the sake of making vanity portraits of individuals in the future. The money was good, the liquor was cheap and the women were easily impressed, but the pressure and paradox soon overwhelmed him. This temporal exhaustion forced Turner to give up his rollicking life of zipping from date-to-date and to return to his workaday life of landscape after landscape after landscape. Luckilly, one of the few pieces to survive — from what historians now call his “Timelord Period” — is the lovely work you see directly above: The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, Part II: The Revenge, starring Zip Rampy and his trusty sidekick, Demon Face.

(Now … go say “Happy 29th Birthday!” to the Almighty Zip.)

Life is finite no matter how comfy or secure or destitute or endangered. Me-the-misanthrope could use some damned private time (down days give me some distance, and time away from the old comrades-in-arms gives sanity), a little seclusion for oh so many reasons, but its becoming more important to be around those I love and miss.
- Sgt. Thomas J. Strickland, July 9, 2005

Sgt Thomas J. Strickland was from Douglasville, a town about 30 minutes south-and-west of our house. My extended in-laws live there. And if you live in Alanta, chances are good that you’ve been there. A half-an-hour means different things in other cities. In Atlanta, anything under an hour is still local.

Sgt Strickland died on August 15, 2005, in Al Mahmudiyah, Iraq.

When his name appeared in the news, several people mentioned it to me. For some reason, I just hadn’t heard. Every morning, there are so many numbers and not enough name. Some co-workers said they were momentarily shocked, but then reason and common sense reminded them that the Thomas Strickland they know isn’t on active duty with the National Guard.

I’ve been meaning to post something about this soldier that shared my name, but nothing seemed appropriate. I didn’t know him. I can only guess from the photo on television that he was a decent fellow. Nice smile.

It turns out that Sgt Strickland left behind a LiveJournal. If words are anything to go by — and in my opinion, there is often little else — Thomas was more than just decent. He had an orange cat named Punchy. He liked Dean Martin and Wilco. He was either a libertarian or a democrat or some combination of both. And he was a better-than-pretty-good writer.

My thoughts on this are unfinished … but I had to put them somewhere.

In the beginning, after all, were the words, and they came with a tune. That was how the world was made, how the void was divided, how the lands and the stars and the dreams and the little gods and the animals, how all of them came into the world.

A few weeks ago, Neil Gaiman was kind enough to provide electronically the first chapter (or most of it anyway) of his forthcoming novel. Yesterday, he posted a link to a 17mb mp3 of Lenny Henry reading this self-same excerpt (or most of it anyway).

It’s brilliant. Go get.