What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?

broderic on July 3, 2020

Frederick Douglass asks in a speech in 1852, is this America for everyone? Is this America? This isn’t. It was never, and it will never have been.

#BlackLivesMatter

Now, we are no closer to the promise of America as it was back then. Even now white people are asking themselves that. The injustice upon which America was born has never been eradicated. It still exists and it ropes in everyone.

We must fight for it. We must fight for ourselves. For America. To live for the ideas. To fight for the ideas. Let’s remember this is ours, too. It’s their’s as well.

Link of the Day [3.01.15]

broderic on March 1, 2015

I wear boxers.

I switched from the “tighty-whiteys” in high school.

Now should I switch to the boxer-briefs?

I have a couple boxers made with jersey style fabric, but they have the boxer silhouette.

At this moment, my weight is getting such that my underwear is almost too small now. If I have to go up a size and get new underwear, should I follow the crowd and go with boxer-briefs?

Maybe. I should try on a pair.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-26/how-the-boxer-brief-got-into-america-s-pants

Can A Soup Be Chilli?

broderic on January 19, 2014

I distinctly remember saying that I was worried that my chilli was going to be too thick when asked why I bought tomato sauce instead of paste. The last time I had made chilli, it was pretty thick, and I was worried that it wasn’t going to be runny enough. Boy did I have it wrong.

I used a can of beer as the liquid base, but there were also plenty of tomato-y liquid going in as well. Along with the tomato sauce, I added the liquid from the canned whole tomatoes and another cup of water as well.

It simmered all night long. In the morning, I took one look at it and realized I had soup instead of chilli. I quickly went about thickening it up by adding corn starch, but that’s not doing it any good.

Lesson learned. Forget about the water. Use tomato paste rather than tomato sauce. Thicken it with corn starch if necessary.

Anyhow, here’s what went in the slow cooker last night to make chilli soup:
3/4 lbs. ground beef browned
2 andouille sausages browned as well
2 jalapeños diced
2 cans green chilis
1 can whole stewed tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 yellow onion diced
1/3 cup of white beans

For seasoning: cumin, paprika, mexican chili powder, texas chili powder, black pepper, salt, pinch of cinammon

Liquid: can of beer, a cup of water, and a dash of patis.

Throw in a slow cooker, and next thing you know you’ll have chilli soup. Next time replace the can of tomato sauce with tomato paste and forget the cup of water

Gravity

broderic on October 12, 2013

What’s driving the hype behind Gravity? It’s a spectacle, but is it as good a film as advertised? Will you vote for it when it’s one of the few to get an Oscar nod?

Gravity is about an astronaut, Sandra Bullock, trying to make her way back home to Earth after space debris has destroyed all orbiting space vessels.

That’s it. That’s the plot.

Pacfic Rim was castigated because it was all action and no depth. What’s the difference in this case? Why is there such a rush to anoint Gravity a best film of the year? I still don’t understand.

It’s not that good, but it isn’t terrible. Just a film that makes most of what it is meant to portray: the harrowing hell of space. The end results is a fun ride with great spectacle.

The ISS? Didn’t Michael Bay blow that up real good in Armageddon? Plus I miss the real Russian space hero.

3 of 5 stars.

The Ska Flames

broderic on June 29, 2011

Why are Japanese ska bands so ridiculous? Is this how ska would’ve sound like if everyone still loved listening to it?