b e e f e n c h i l a d a d o t c o m

I have bought some this week. None is made of glass. Go figure.

The stainless steel martini glasses, do, as Kobuster points out, have a thermal conductivity plenty higher than do the glass ones. Notwithstanding, they are substantive, pleasing in various tactile ways and shatterproof. Get the ones from CSI - the others are cheap and screw together. These are welded and heavy.

I also acquired silicone molds for making shotglass out of ice. Initial results are inconclusive. More later.

Also from world of silicone, "squishy shot glasses. Opaque, look more like rounded sake cups. But they fold nicely.

Once I get that SMLE for my trunk, I will be truly prepared...

The Boy has been asking on-and-off for ages now to be allowed to try sushi; I think he got the idea from the Madagascar penguins. Or from Mars. It’s hard to tell with him. Anyhow, we were out running errands and I decided to let him give it a try – I had originally bribed him with the offer of a Happy Meal to be good during errands, but he was willing to forsake that for sushi. We walked into a place in Green Valley and sat down sat down. I ordered four pieces of maguro sushi and we had a very nice talk about origami cranes and chopsticks while waiting for the food to arrive.

After struggling with the chopsticks he finally agreed that maybe finger-food was the way to go. He took a bite and got only rice, which he informed me he didn’t want to eat. I removed the maguro and explained to him that once you’re down to only the fish, it’s called sashimi. He took a bit, chewed thoughtfully and swallowed.

He then put the tuna down, looked at me and said “maybe we’d just better go to McDonald’s after all.”

Moral of the story: he gets credit for trying it and I get some nice sashimi as an appetizer to my dinner of crudo and manchego.

1. Of course it rained the whole time, turning it into a mudpit. Still, beats a hot day, I suppose. Except for the mud.

2. Every single goddamn carnie was missing at least one tooth. No shit.

3. Speaking of, one very loud and elderly Filipino carnie caught my attention. There was speculation 'twixt myself and the guy I was there with that said carnie probably long ago had an illustrious career as the House Hermaphrodite in one of Manila's seedier brothels. Once drunken sailors from the world's navies lined up to watch him/her/it perform its Ping-Pong Ball Floor Show. Now s/he/it is stuck in the ass-end of the desert, trying to entice inbred hayseeds to throw a ball and win a kewpie doll. How the Mighty Have Fallen.

4. No polygs (I guess they never come further west than Mesquite) but I saw one car in the parking area with a vanity plate what read "11KIDS." It might has well have read "WRECKT" or "STRETCHD."

5. Was pleased to find out on the way home that The Boy digs Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation. He was singing along at one point - making up the lyrics, but what the hell - it's more punk that way.

to a ridiculously busy March. April doesn’t look relaxing in terms of scheduling, but March – fuhgeddaboutit. Overall, it was a blur of too much work involving too many weekends. However, a few things stand out. To wit:

1. The Gun Show: I like to hit a gun show once every Presidential administration or so. More than that, I can’t handle. This isn’t because I don’t love me some guns (and Lord knows that I do); it’s because gun shows are creepy. This is especially true when there’s a Democrat in office, as everyone jacks up their prices by thirty goddamn percent and justifies it with a poorly-lettered placard that blames Obama or Slick Willie or the goddamned tooth fairy. Shit, even the beef jerky booth raises their prices. Clinton and Obama deserve a five percent commission on every gun sold – fear of them is the best way to part stupid rednecks from their money. They are the best salesman the gun lobby ever had – Charlton Heston ain’t shit compared with either of them.

Best sighting – the armchair militiaman who walked out with his camp pants, SWAT boots, right-wing t-shirt and commando backpack…with the two rolls of Shamwows sticking out of it like super-absorbent radio antennae. When the apocalypse comes, I know who’s going to be extra dry!

2. The End of 2/3 of Watchable TV. So I am totally not going to get into the Battlestar Hotnakedrobotchicks finale. Losers everywhere have done that. But, who the hell decided that Life on Mars should die and everything else should live? People who hate Harvey Keitel. Those people are also known as Al Qaeda. If Harvey Keitel is not on, the terrorists win. Plus, Gretchen Moll played Bettie Page in the move and was waaaaaay generous with taking her clothes off in that. If you didn’t like Life on Mars, you are a Communist. And not the good kind. Fuck you. The ending was contrived, but DID wrap up everything nicely. And, it was clever.

In other news:
Was going to take The Boy camping this weekend, but the weather conspired against me. The weather is a bit of a dick.

April Fool’s wasn’t.