Thursday morning I had an echocardiogram. These have become fairly routine, every couple of years. My cardiologist seems to want me to have them for some reason. The procedure takes about a half hour and I try to estimate how much time has gone by, and I’m always wrong. This time I had gotten to … Continue reading The Allergist Echos
Humor
The Adventure of the Table Foot
Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, made his debut in Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887 and thereafter appeared in a series of short stories in The Strand Magazine. The character has been dramatized scores of times and imitated and pastiched and parodied both affectionately and otherwise. Apparently, it didn’t take long, as this story from … Continue reading The Adventure of the Table Foot
A Quick Word on Branding
In case you missed it, John Oliver had some thoughts on branding… On a completely different subject, I filed my income taxes, the federal a little over a week ago and the state yesterday. Each of them went fairly smoothly as for once I don’t have anything complicating the process, just my pension, Social Security, … Continue reading A Quick Word on Branding
Banana Muffins with Macadamia
I baked a batch of Banana Muffins with Macadamia the other day. The actual recipe called for coconut and macadamia but I loathe coconut. Whoever invented coconut ought to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. But it was easy enough to eliminate that foul ingredient from the recipe and proceed. I think these are especially healthful … Continue reading Banana Muffins with Macadamia
Three Things
Now that I know that measuring by weight rather than volume can produce better results, I want to convert my recipes to weights where appropriate. I found a very useful site from King Arthur that gives the equivalents for many ingredients: Ingredient Weight Chart It’s been awhile since I mentioned The Beatles, hasn’t it? So … Continue reading Three Things
Tattoos
If I keep referencing Graham and Maria Wanging videos, perhaps I need to make them a separate category. In any case, once upon a time, it seemed that about the only people who got tattoos were prisoners and sailors (assuming we include Marines in there as the Marines are part of the Navy). I didn’t … Continue reading Tattoos
Plowing On
Things haven’t changed much. Our street still hasn’t been plowed. I don’t blame the mayor for that, even though I don’t hold her in very high esteem. Cities plan their budgets for the kind of weather that they normally expect. We haven’t had a snowstorm like this in ten years, so naturally I don’t expect … Continue reading Plowing On
Wanging On with Graham and Maria
In addition to his television chat show, Graham Norton used to have a radio program; he’d interview guests, and he and his friend Maria McErlane would dish and answer listeners’ questions about nearly anything under the sun, even though they admitted they were not qualified to do so. Highlights from those shows were repackaged as … Continue reading Wanging On with Graham and Maria
Dial Seven for Agatha
Regular readers will note that there are certain recurring characters in this blog. It’s rare that I go more than a few weeks without a mention of Stephen Sondheim, for example, or Isaac Asimov. Not quite at their frequency but still an often mentioned personage is the Queen of Crime, Dame Agatha Christie. Hard as … Continue reading Dial Seven for Agatha
The Curious Thing About Sitcoms
Here are the climactic final minutes of the 17th episode of the first season of The Dick Van Dyke Show entitled “The Curious Thing About Women”. The story is about Rob basing a sketch on Laura’s habit of opening his mail and depicting her as a ridiculous snoop, so that even their neighbors are laughing … Continue reading The Curious Thing About Sitcoms