Scattershooting 9-1-13

by Bill Holmes

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to the great Sandy Koufax

Sunday's Summary

My incomplete recap of the week

Tactical error last night (8/25). I had a pound of sausage and a dozen eggs in the fridge that needed to be used. I also had bell pepper, onion & Swiss cheese plus the usual pantry spices. Perfect for a quiche, frittata or tortilla (Spanish, not Mexican). Same thing, different names. It turned out delicious but I may have made a cooking vessel error. I cooked the sausage in a cast iron skillet, drained (did not wipe) it then added the other ingredients and popped it in a 325° oven for 40 minutes. Although I could get the frittata out of the pan, enough had stuck to be a bear to clean. So, do I need to use a non-stick pan or much more oil/butter/lard/fat/schmaltz in the cast iron? The cast iron skillet isn't as seasoned as Grandma's but it is at least 5 years old and has never been washed with soap.

 










Sometimes it just works out. Tonight's (8/26) Reds @ Cards game on ESPN ended at 8:59. The Rangers @ Seattle game on FOXSW started at 9:00.

GO RANGERS!

Is the MLB schedule maker a masochist or just incompetent? The Rangers just played three games in Chicago then flew to Seattle for three. OK so far. Then they come home for three against the Twins. Still OK. Then they go to Oakland and Anaheim for six games in seven days. Stupid. If my geography is correct, Seattle, Oakland and Anaheim are all on the west coast. Arlington, TX is not. Why not just play nine games on the coast without the detour to D/FW? I'm sure you can find schedule faux pas for your favorite team too. I don't think jet fuel conservation is part of the scheduling algorithm.

Traffic jam tonight at the school. According to the new electronic sign it's Curriculum Night for K-4. I have no idea what that is but cars are coming and going. Parking lot if full, cars parked on Cummings & Simpson for blocks even a few cars in our lot under threat of a tow. Grades 5 & 6 do it Thursday.

It's Fall festival time here in Northeast Tarrant County. It starts Labor Day weekend with the Bedford Blues & BBQ Festival. This is a good deal if you like Blues &/or BBQ. My quick count shows about 90 BBQ teams from all over the country competing. The music should be great. Buddy Guy headlines Sunday night. I'm thinking Saturday night will be even better. John Mayall plays at 7:30 followed by Jimmie Vaughan at 9:15. Here's the best part, admission is only $5. I plan to be there Saturday night to see Mayall and Vaughan and have an ice cold beer or two. Come join me.

The Vaughan Brothers

OK, it's midnight:20 (8/28) and the Rangers are going into extra innings. Don't you just love these west coast games?

Turned out OK. Rangers win in 10 innings on a very questionable balk. Over at midnight:47.

GO RANGERS!

Watched some of the Orioles @ Red Sox game Wednesday night (8/28). It was almost like watching a Rangers game with all the former Texas players. Baltimore - Scott Feldman, Tommy Hunter, Darren O'Day, Taylor Teagarden, Chris Davis. Boston - Koji Uehara, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Mike Napoli. Did I forget anybody? We could use Chris Davis's 47 HR & 120 RBI here in Rangerland.

Chris Davis - Oriole

Chris Davis - Ranger

How big a Beach Boys fan are you? There's a new compilation album out. It's called "Made In California" and consists of 174 songs on 6 CDs. It has some rare stuff on it but it comes with some sticker shock. It's about $85 for the digital (MP3) version and $130 for the CDs. Think I'll pass for now.

Well, it has started. There is football everywhere. While the NFL is still playing pretend games, colleges and high schools are playing for real. A bunch of games on TV tonight. Local sports coverage of high schools. Let the games begin. (8/30)

GO Gators, Bulls & Frogs! and for high school - GO Crusaders & Blue Raiders!

A Hangover-proof Beer? Scientists say so. 

So now they figure this out. A variation that some of us used after a night of drinking was to take a couple of aspirin and a bottle of Gatorade before going to bed. It helped. The problem was you had to be sober enough at bedtime to remember to do it.

Well, it's a win but not very impressive (8/30). Gators win over the Mud Hens 24-6. GO GATORS!

Johnny Manziel proved two things today (8/30). 1 - he can play football. 2 - he's a jerk.

Johnny Jerk

It's almost time to head out to the Bedford Blues & BBQ Festival to see John Mayall and Jimmie Vaughan. At 6:00 it's still officially 102° at D/FW, Google says it's 104° in Bedford. The word of the day is hydrate.

Jimmie Vaughan

John Mayall

Bedford Blues & BBQ Festival with Tammy and Kyle. That was a great concert. Jimmie Vaughan was damn good but just like last year the opening act was better than the headliner. Jimmie's lead-in Saturday was the great John Mayall. John is almost 80 and is still getting it done. Former longtime Mayall lead guitarist and current Hurst resident, Buddy Whittington, joined the group onstage for the last few songs. Tight set, great musicians, a Blues legend who still has his chops. What more can you ask for? Admission was an outrageous $5. As a bonus, a hippie refugee from Woodstock was sitting next to us. Perfect. (8/31)

wjh