chromedome

I remember an inflation-related joke from my 70s childhood (perhaps in a Reader's Digest) in which a robber stole $100 of groceries from a supermarket and made his escape in... (wait for it...) a VW. Oh, the hilarity! Here in Canada we had a legendary comedy duo named Wayne & Schuster (Americans of the correct age will remember their appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show), who did a sketch at around that same time on a similar theme. In their sketch straight man Frank Shuster is in a Rip van Winkle sort of scenario, finding himself living unexpectedly in the future. He walks into a supermarket, only to find that they've reverted to the old-school model of keeping all of the food behind the counter where it's safe from theft. The food is doled out by a haughty concierge, played by his partner Johnny Wayne. After balking at the price of his first few requests, he finally says "Well, maybe I'll just have $10 worth of cheese." The concierge looks down his nose in disgust (which takes some doing, because Shuster was the taller of the two) and says to an aide, "Marcel, wrap up three holes for the gentleman." (NB: this is a paraphrase drawn from memories 50 years past, so I probably have a few details wrong, but that was the gist of it)

Al'Fez brand "natural" tahini is being recalled nationally for salmonella. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/al-fez-brand-natural-tahini-recalled-due-salmonella?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23

Well, my daughter just turned 31 and she can quote extensively from that series. So there's that... (When she was 10, I saw here futzing at the computer one day with her little MP3 player plugged in; she was making a playlist of "a few of my favorite Cab Calloway songs" for her best friend to check out).

The solstice is almost upon us. Who's traveling to Sconehenge?

I'll be dining on Friday at Bessie North House in Canning, NS on Friday, thanks to the efforts of a cousin who lives in the area. It's a tough reservation to get: they do 12 covers, one seating, 3 nights/week, and the entire season typically books up in minutes. My cousin has been trying for three years to get a four-top and finally succeeded, and I'll be one of the party. Can't guarantee photos (or the quality of said photos, should they happen) but I'll do my best to offer up a description after the fact. https://www.bessienorthhouse.com/

I have some catching up to do, and will try to get back with a fuller post later on, but I've been up to my eyeballs in work for this past few weeks (a new and lucrative project, which will roughly quadruple my income until September...exhausting, but much needed!). The TL;DR version is that my experimental early plantings met with mixed success, but I am already harvesting copious quantities of kale and lettuce and my shelling peas are setting pods. Last year we experimented with mushroom spawn and had modest success, so we're trying again. We have shiitake and chestnut mushrooms as well as three kinds of oysters; of which we've so far seen a small flush from the blue oysters. Last year's success was the bed of winecap mushrooms, which gave us 25-30 pounds by the end of the season, and those are beginning to flush again as well. I didn't weigh my first harvest (2 nights ago) but I'd guess it to be in the range of 300-350g or about 3/4 lb.

That's equal parts jaw-dropping and hilarious.

If anyone's curious how Google got to that state with its flagship search product, this article from Ars Technica (and also the comments section as always) sheds some light. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/05/googles-ai-overview-is-flawed-by-design-and-a-new-company-blog-post-hints-at-why/

Saw this today on Wired, and couldn't agree more. I've said repeatedly (including here, IIRC) that aside from its other virtues induction would be a great technology as we age and become forgetful in the kitchen, because of the safety features, reduced risk of serious burns, etc, BUT... For the love of all that's holy, put knobs on the #*#!! things! https://www.wired.com/story/touch-controls-on-stoves-suck-knobs-are-way-better

It's all the white-haired seniors, I guess.

That's plausible. I'd have hyphenated it in that case, but (shrug) I'll give 'em the benefit of the doubt.

"Restauranter"? I know she didn't write the publisher's blurb, but how does a publisher not proofread its own promo copy?

At least a few brands were sold that way in Canada too, though I don't recall when I saw one last. It was probably the 90s, because I remember making that kind for my kids.

So we all knew we were overdue for another enoki mushrooms recall, right? ...right? https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/meta-brand-enoki-mushroom-recalled-due-listeria-monocytogenes?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23 Right.

One of my sociology profs and his wife (an anthropology prof) spent a year in the Soviet Union back in the 70s, teaching for part of that time but mostly doing research on the treatment of indigenous peoples there (indigenous studies was their area of shared specialization). He said that if he went back, he would fill an entire suitcase with peanut butter. Apparently it was unavailable there, and a leading example of "what the heart wanted" among the small community of Canadians and Americans living/working/studying in the USSR.

I honestly didn't know Tang was still sold. I haven't seen it in... I dunno, 40 years or so?

Check your cupboards, snack lovers: Frito-Lay is recalling Harvest Cheddar flavored Sun Chips, and one of its Munchies mixes, for salmonella. This one is national. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/frito-lay-brand-sunchips-multigrains-harvest-cheddar-snacks-and-original-munchies?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23