As you can see from the label, whenever you buy this brand/package of pasta, you must give five ravioli to me. I prefer them to be cooked and covered with an Alfredo sauce. A chicken-based broth is acceptable too.
In all seriousness, formaggi is the Italian word for ‘cheeses’ so this is five cheese ravioli my friends buy from their Dutch grocery store.
Still, it would be great to have a guarantee like this. I do love pasta as my girth can demonstrate.
I grew tired of watching The Mandolorian on my portable and the Disney+ App hasn’t been created for Vizio-brand TVs. Given my profession, you need to watch the hit Star Wars-based show immediately because co-workers are bad at withholding spoilers!
Hooking the device up went more smoothly than last time but for some dumb reason, Somara’s Apple ID showed up as the default. Then it kicked in my free one year of the Apple TV network and picked up all the shows I paid for!
Hard to believe a Christmas Special starring the characters from the interstitials on The Tracy Ullman show would lead to a 30-year run on network TV in America. Well, years later James L. Brooks and Matt Groening would reveal how the original plan was to launch The Simpsons during the Fall of 1989 but miscommunication with the Korean animators led to a delay until January 1990. The Christmas episode was ready so they rolled the dice with it first (several others were go to go too but a holiday story has better odds of getting a strong draw).
Anyway, on this great anniversary, once again another pundit wants to talk shit about how the show isn’t as good as it used to be…blah blah blah.
Firstly, all TV shows evolve and change for the better, worse and somewhere in between. Case in point, SNL. When it debuted in the mid Seventies, it was edgy, revolutionary and the guests were esoteric but relevant to the comedy it promoted. Today, it’s an institution and the hosts are often flavor-of-the-month types. The Simpsons wouldn’t be any different, especially when viewed through Marx’s still valid theory of history (shortened); something new, daring is the antithesis colliding against the thesis; in the early Nineties, it would be Cheers, SNL, Married…with Children and The Cosby Show. Should this survive and prevail, as the show did, the result is a synthesis; its elements are combined with the opposition forming the new thesis. Repeat. Or in more plain language, The Simpsons became the establishment.
Secondly, I don’t buy into the complaints involving the dated references. I wouldn’t say the constant nods to Citizen Kane in the first eight seasons were exactly something Gen X understood easily then. The author’s argument would be an utter failure if applied to another well-loved franchise…Mystery Science Theater 3000.
I for one am looking forward to getting through all 30 years on Disney+! Once they put the earlier seasons’ aspect ratios back into place.
One odd habit my best friend José had in college was dipping his fries in a mix of mayonnaise and catsup/ketchup (I don’t care which). He really liked it too. He’d fill up a salad bowl with this gross concoction! The clique we belonged to figure it must’ve been some weird European influence on him and/or it was a Puerto Rican thing. In the last decade, I have come around to trying mayo on my fries. It’s not as disgusting as I feared, just not good for weight loss and “light” mayo tastes awful.
Fear no more José and those who are like-minded! Now you can get the two condiments in one bottle. The only concern? Is this the right ratio of the two substances you prefer? I need to ask José if the mix is 50/50, 60/40, what?
Last night was my employer’s end of the year party. I had a pretty good time and took a plus-one guest since I didn’t want it to go to waste. This person was pretty cool, hope we get to hang out some more in the near future.
It’s to believe how much better I feel these days. If my future (or current) self told the 2018 or earlier version of me, “Hey around this time, you’re going to be divorced and get this, you will be happier! No shit!” I’m not exactly ecstatic or jumping for joy, it’s more along the lines of a great weight being removed from my shoulders. Then again, it could be the additional $30K I have to hand over to Somara in the near future.
I honestly, think, feel and know, the upcoming 2020 is going to be a pretty good year filled with changes for the better.
Meanwhile, the story gap will keep getting closed.
Last night, the UK decided that they want to give another dictator a go, quickly forgetting the damage caused by St. Thatcher, the racist Churchill or the murderous Cromwell. Buffoon Johnson has such a bulletproof majority, for now, he’ll obviously exceed the green light he received about Brexit and proceed with the true One Percenter agenda: widening the wealth gap, dismantling the NHS (calling it reform, very Orwellian), in short, Americanization and being Putin’s other bitch nation.
There are two silver linings.
The first is Scotland. They voted vociferously against Brexit so this will bring back their independence vote. Allegedly, Buffoon can disallow it since he wants to plunder the taxes the Scots pay to reward his corporate cronies. I doubt he’ll keep the Scots at bay for long. They’re a tough bunch and after reading a book called The Genius of Geography, the bad publicity Scots received via Trainspotting appears to be a blip. I look forward to a new EU member.
The second of course is the EU. They’ve had enough of the UK’s (really English) bullshit. I will readily admit it’s an imperfect organization but contrary to the Economist‘s frequent shit talk, what can you expect when several dozen nation states with centuries of existence, try to iron out the kinks to make a federation on par with the US? The Europeans will be laughing for years at the UK’s economy shrinks and they shrivel back into the backwater island they always were. Beyond entertainment, what export products do the English have beyond their condescending attitude?
We truly live in the Stupid Ages. Now I must see the Centrist/Right Wing, dishonest warnings of how Corbyn’s loss should tell the Democrats to continue backing NeoLiberal shitbags like Mayor Butt-Head or Clueless Uncle Joe.
Congratulations to T-Shirt Hell for this great joke!
That stack of 62,500 punchcards represents 4.5 MB of data circa 1955. I remember my dad doing his CS homework/projects on those things in the early Seventies! Today, my current iPhone Xs holds over 14,000 times that much information and it’s the size of a pocket calculator, keeping up those Seventies’ references. I was going to say a cigarette pack but I don’t smoke and I think those are shorter.
All those punchcards! Must have been hell keep them all in order and moving them about or worse, imagine a bug hunt with them!
The article from the History Channel gives a list of reasons but I go with the more realistic one purported by Adam Ruins Everything…women had the power to get it through the world’s oldest profession and I’m not talking about farming. As the saying goes…women who think the fastest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach are aiming too high.
I’ve never been to Wyoming nor is it on my list. I’ve been to North Dakota, Montana and Manitoba, those count given how boring, desolate and stupid those places are. When the ratio of women to men was 1:6, getting the vote couldn’t have been too hard since most of them living there thought with their junk.
Today it’s a state which gave us the shitbag family known as the Cheneys. Gives you a better idea of the caliber of voters Wyoming has.
Another little piece of my childhood fades away yet I’m still happy because Carrol brought Brian and me joyous hours with his Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird work. Neither character would be the same without Carrol’s energies. Thanks to his work, Sesame Street became the worldwide success it remains today. He may not have gone on to be as famous as Jim Henson or Frank Oz but he was a critical element to teaching children the little lessons the program set out to do.
Thanks for all your work, especially Oscar’s cranky demeanor.
Sad to hear this great character actor passing away but he brought scores of great memories for his comedic and dramatic acting. On the comedic side, my generation mostly knew him for being the foil on Benson, the guy advising the clueless governor to do the safe or cynical thing. René also made numerous appearances in SitComs: Bob’s French peer who brought his mistress with him on The Bob Newhart Show, an aging drama teacher on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. For Disney, he was the chef’s voice in The Little Mermaid. On the drama side, he played multiple characters for Star Trek (Enterprise and Star Trek VI) and to younger audiences he was Constable Odo on Deep Space Nine. I was surprised to see him teamed up with Burgess Meredith as card sharks in The Hiddenberg starring George C Scott.
René had a great run and thank you for everything you did!
Hard to believe they made an American movie about auto racing that didn’t stoop to NASSCARR “Dads.” Thusly, I was actually interested in seeing it because Le Mans was the contest, a very historic track in France which isn’t an oval.
Ford is the Hollywoodization on how Shelby (his name is on certain Fords resembling Mustangs) formed a team to take on European sports car royalty. Why? Originally it was an effort to get Boomers to buy Fords (and other US brands) with their parents’ money instead of Ferraris, Porches, BMWs, etc. As if the Greatest Generation could afford real sports cars to give their spoiled brood‽ Again, this would’ve been a great episode for History vs. Hollywood to find out how much of the film is bullshit to ratchet up drama. Sadly, the History Channel showcases Rednecks arguing over crap in a pawn shop because real history/research costs money.
Anyway, you’ll quickly see Henry Ford II’s desire to compete transforming from a marketing campaign proposed by Lee Iacocca into a grudge match when Enzo Ferrari insults him. Something involving how Henry isn’t his grandfather, he makes ugly cars and all his executives are SOBs. Being a One Percenter with thin skin, Henry gives Shelby the go ahead to build a car capable of competing at Le Mans.
Shelby has the people to create a feasible car, what he doesn’t have is the driver. Since he can no longer drive due to his precarious health, he recruits Ken Miles (Christian Bale playing his ill-tempered self!). The story carries on, blah blah blah, etc. Then the big test, Le Mans as Shelby has three cars built to take on the European teams.
Ford did remain a compelling and interesting movie even though I wasn’t really cheering for their car to win. Fords suck and the letters stand for “fix or repair daily.” Shelby I did like if Matt Damon was portraying him accurately. The real person sounded cool. They should make a bio picture about Shelby next, every other major character was a prick.
Overall I would say see this. The Sixties were a pivotal moment with cars. The last decade in which we could spoil ourselves on building something impractical, before the first major oil crisis hit it 1973. Le Mans takes real skill to drive unlike NASCAR and Indy’s mastering of turning left every 20 seconds.
Alamo Extras: Dr. Brule talks about cars; Trailer for Le Mans starring Steve McQueen; a little documentary footage about Le Mans; Mattel toy commercial for power shifters; a Matt Damon trivia round; a presentation about true rivalries and what is Hollywood embellishment or bullshit:
I don’t have to worry about any cats trying to climb the tree. It’s portable. It’s easy to put away when the season is over (January 6). I’m also amazed at how the LEGO employee(s) forged the design from dozens of the little pieces to make a tree, model train and ornaments. I’m more accustomed to the damned things rolling on to the floor, resulting in an annoying search through the rug.
The LEGO store gave this out to us VIPs as a gift after spending a certain amount, I can’t remember how much. This set which creates a model of the core 2 x 4 brick (it doesn’t work like one though) celebrates the construction toy’s 60th birthday!
A coworker recently borrowed the instructions. Hunted down all the equivalent parts via Brick Link (or LEGO.com?). Then built his own version of this in blue. Pretty funny and impressive.
Given how LEGO is now the number one toy company in the world after almost going under in the Aughts, I hope the iconic brick carries on to be 100!
In an attempt to recapture the “magic” of Woodstock (an overrated event) but on the West Coast, the Rolling Stones ended their tour by having a festival with CSN&Y, Santana, Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead as openers. It wasn’t thought out very well which is more evidence of why Boomers aren’t capable of long-term planning as a generation. The venue, a race track, wasn’t decided upon until two days before the concert. Hiring the Hell’s Angels as extra security was another demonstration on how drug-addled the Stones and their handlers were.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for decades, we all know how it ended. One of the bikers killed audience member Meredith Hunter during the Stones’ set. Mick Jagger was pretty lucky too. Hunter was aiming a gun at the stage so the biker was acquitted of murder or manslaughter. You can see the whole thing play out in the documentary Gimme Shelter. Many pundits (a polite word for overpaid blowhards on TV and radio) say it brought the Sixties to a dark ending. No shit! To quote a lesser-known Eighties band, the Rainmakers…
The generation that was supposed to change the world,
Is still looking for its car keys.
A decade which started off optimistically closed with violence, cynicism and Tricky Dick in the White House. I’d say it was thanks to the Boomers being a spoiled bunch of pricks who really just wanted to get high and laid while they attended practically free college before entering an affordable Economy. At least the Boomers got to own houses and had little student loan debt before they kicked down the ladder on Gen X and the Millennials. But hey, we younger people should revel in their old music to soothe those economic injuries that will never heal.
Today, the Rolling Stones still exist as a lucrative touring enterprise because they haven’t made a decent album in 35-plus years (my vote is Tattoo You is when they last bothered to try). One critic called them Rolling Stones, Inc. as they charge hundreds for nosebleed seats. I believe they’re flogging their dead horse some more as Mick recently fathered an eighth kid. Now Austin has a disgusting race track which doubles as an overpriced stadium venue (thanks Gov. Goodhair and failed Energy Secretary, a chimp could’ve done a better job), the Stones can rip off thousands there as other overrated bands have since it was completed. It’s a better alternative to them and their moronic fans destroying Zilker Park as they did in 2006.
Given this is Texas, a place filled with ammosexuals, booze being served, weed is a given, IQs always drop in huge crowds and the show is at a race track, I hope History doesn’t repeat itself minus a biker gang composed of mentally damaged WW2 vets.
