Oh, let’s change it up a little this week. No music, but a clip of stand-up comedy. Here, John Mulaney tells the story of the greatest meal he’s ever had…and at no point does he tell us what he ate. (This is clean, safe-for-work, and hilarious.) Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….
Time to ditch a few tabs: :: We watched Smokey and the Bandit not long ago–it’s a comfort food movie–and I found myself wondering, after the scene in which the Sheriff bursts into a diner and orders a “Diablo Sandwich” which he consumes in about four bites, while chatting with another patron and never realizing that it’s the Bandit himself. I always figured the Diablo Sandwich was just one of those kinds of truck-stop things you order when you’re in a hurry, and you’re better off not really knowing what’s in it, because it’s probably tastes amazing but is also going toDown the rabbit hole….
It’s the end of the week, so here’s some linkage that I’ve been sitting on all week (or even longer): :: Urban explorers of Buffalo. I read this article with great interest, as it combines a bunch of interests of mine: photographers, old buildings, and the sense of adventure in getting the shot. These are people who venture into abandoned buildings, sometimes skirting legality to do so, in order to chronicle the ongoing decay of many buildings in the region. (No, I haven’t done anything quite like this, but…I’m not sure I completely rule it out.) :: The money isDown the rabbit hole….
I mean, seriously. Tabs are like rabbits in the way they proliferate across the top of my browser window. :: Skyline Chili explained by a local. Skyline Chili is a perfect food and I will tolerate no slander of it. We can agree that sauce-like clove-nutmeg-cinnamon-and-god-knows-what-else-infused Cincinnati chili bears little resemblance to the bean-studded or beef-chunked stews that other regions of this great land might recognize as chili. But that’s no justification for the torrent of bile Cincinnati chili receives from those unaccustomed to its pleasures. (Deadspin notoriously called it “the worst regional foodstuff in America or anywhere else” and “abominableDown the rabbit hole….
Hello, everyone! As noted several days ago, we have company from out of town and we’re having a good time doing the usual “cheerful visit from out of town” stuff, hence the lack of posting. Things should start normalizing tomorrow…but meantime, some stuff and a clearing of the open tabs: :: My newest Substack newsletter is out! It’s about baseball in the movies (and a couple of teevee episodes). And see if you can spot the glaring error in my first few sentences! Oops! :: Variety did a wonderful profile of John Williams a while back: Over the decades, he wasDown the rabbit hole….
Time to clear out the open tabs! Yay! :: Yes, changing the clocks is bad for you. :: If you’re like me, you see all the reports of business closing locations and locking down security measures due to massive increases of theft through a rather skeptical lens. There is always theft, but the discussion always takes on a kind of racial tone, especially when it becomes the “suburban stores” dealing with “thieves from the city“. That’s particularly interesting when you read about the woman who might have spearheaded one particular shoplifting ring. :: Trickle-down was always bullshit. This is not news, butDown the rabbit hole….
Specifically, 10,000 marbles and 32,000 dominoes. Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….
Clearing out some thoughts from the increasingly convoluted and cobwebbed corners of my crainum…. :: The other day I saw one of those prompts on social media: “The title of your memoir is the last text message you sent.” I saw this at the end of my day of shoveling snow to get to work to shovel snow at work and then come home to shovel more snow so I could get into my driveway. At that point, I had been texting a friend about how I had no mental energy to make dinner, and that text turned out toDown the rabbit hole….
Here’s some stuff that’s been lingering in open tabs that I’d like to clear out! :: I love this video. It’s a history of burgers. I love a good burger, and looking at all of these…in honesty, I would eat and enjoy every single one, regardless of the opinions shared by the tasters here. Especially that Oklahoma one that’s nothing but onions and a beef patty, or even that first one, which is a beef patty on toast. (I’ve come to a more minimalist position on my burgers; I don’t need a giant pile of stuff on one to beDown the rabbit hole….
Once again I have a big pile of tabs open, so here’s some stuff! :: A Highwater Mark in American Mass Culture An article about the comic strip Nancy. Perhaps because of this reputation, Nancy has not been preserved the way other strips across its many eras, such as Peanuts and Krazy Kat, have been. This can partly be explained by the uncomplicated nature of Nancy’s characters; even though Bushmiller drew thousands of strips across decades, you don’t get to know Sluggo over the course of a Nancy bender the way you do Charlie Brown. But beyond that, many comics scholars, notably Bill Blackbeard, arguably the single most effectiveDown the rabbit hole….