Letters to Holly

Friday, August 25

Cooking with Villainy: Dr. Doom 2

It's one of those run-around days, so I asked my pen pal Dr. Victor Von Doom to fill-in with another of his cooking entries. His first one was a smash hit, bringing in unprecedented hits to this blog. So now as I head to Greenville on an airport run, I leave you in the iron fists of Dr. Doom:

For too long, even in the glory of Latveria, the home oven has been reduced to a simple function by the peasantry. They mindlessly use it to bake. Latveria virtually drowns in a sea of casseroles, for which assuredly The Accursed Richards is rightfully to blame. Doom shall not suffer another casserole. This swears Doom! I bid all my subjects to behold the wonder that is the broil function. Observe how it quickly heats your meager sustenance with an exquisite char, especially those Doom has bless with gas ovens. No, no, not those gas ovens, my fellow Latverians. Fear not. Doom seeks to grill, not to kill. This night, anyway. I bequeath to you the miracle of Doom's Lemon Pepper Garlic Chicken Alfredo with Red Peppers. Attend me!

First, Doom commands you to bring a pasta pot to a boil. Doom uses his mighty power gauntlets for this task as Doom will not bide his time for boiling water.

Doom then commands you to baste two chicken breasts in a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, cracked black pepper, and two minced cloves of garlic. Adhere the glaze with a pastry brush.

Doom commands you to set the broiler on high and insert the chicken in a drip-pan. Doom bestowed to you all these drip-pans for Christmas so there are no excuses for you to lack them. failure to use drip-pans will be met by my Doombots.

Doom commands you to put three cups of penne pasta into the boiling water. Add salt, curs!

Doom commands you to flip and baste the chicken after seven minutes. Stir the pasta lest it adheres to the pot.

Doom commands you to chop one red pepper into bite-size chunks and simmer over low heat with olive oil and kosher salt.

Doom commands you to heat up one half jar of alfredo sauce on low heat. Do not allow sauce to boil. That Accursed Richards somehow made Doom lactose intolerant, and only retail brands allow Doom his beloved alfredo sauce without committing him to hours upon to Doompotty. RICHARDS!!!

Doom commands you to mind the pasta. When it reaches peak density, drain. Add pasta to alfredo sauce, close lid, and shake to coat noodles.

Doom commands you to remove the chicken when done and plate. Cover in noodles. Add last the peppers.

Doom commands you to savor.

Doom prefers to quench his thirst with Flying Dog beer, and you would be wise to follow in Doom's path. Very wise indeed.

Thursday, August 24

Mushroom Trivia

We met with Angela and Dan at Mellow Mushroom for a bar trivia night. I hadn't done this since my Spartanburg days. I regularly went to a downtown bar called RJ Rockers for trivia. Sometimes on Wednesday night, sometimes on Saturday night, sometimes both. I would go with Debbie's co-workers or my comic gang. It was always a blast, and we would either place respectably or lose spectacularly. RJ Rockers, sadly, closed and became a lame Irish eatery, and I hadn't played a beer-supported trivia game since.

Last night was fun, and the game format resembled Rockers' contest. We whiffed on the capital of Maine (Augusta) and the number of minutes in an NBA quarter (12). But the second round featured questions about GI Joe (my favorite 80s cartoon) and Burgertime (my favorite video game). We placed fifth, which isn't bad for the first time. I'm not sure if the winners receive anything, but if not, no loss. We had fun eating and drinking. Angela and Dan just got satellite TV, and we exchanged notes on our favoite shows. They also told horror stories about buying Dish TV, cementing my belief that DirecTV was the better purchase two years ago.

Your Sis talked with the co-chair and things are presumably going to run smoother now.

Picture of the Day
NASA hopes the new Orion capsule will transport us to the moon and maybe Mars.


In the News
The bastards downgraded Pluto from its "planet" status.

+ + +

The NY Times reports the FDA approved an over-the-counter "morning after" pill. Customers must be 18 and older.

Wednesday, August 23

Tension

Your Sis is having trouble crafting a feasible working relationship with her co-chair. She finds herself struggling to fit surprise plans into a schedule already packed with her own workload. Even though they share the chair position (nominally, anyhow) , they have yet to hammer out a plan of attack. The two have to sit down and discuss scheduling before Your Sis goes Tarzan and destroys a classroom. I've tried to calm her down by suggesting she imagine doing this and coaching volleyball. Nothing is helped by the almost slapstick technical failures in her district. The PCs were refurbished, but the techs failed to install Word, the key program for the schools. Also, Your Sister's wing has no network connection at the moment. Of course, it's two days before school starts. Something will be Bad Wrong. But she worked a lot this summer to have her shit together only to find she's asked to carry someone else's load to their standards and work around missing computer equipment. You wonder why teachers drink?

Picture of the Day
The poster for the upcoming magician thriller The Prestige.



In the News
There's a comic-book adaptation of the 9/11 Commission Report, and it's getting major news coverage. I'm not that curious about it nor any other dramatic interpretation of that day (this year's two 9/11 movies, the impending network recreations). I also believe that I, by now, have a pretty good idea of what went down that day: the dark stars aligned to craft a flat-footed federal reaction to a pie-in-the-sky terrorist plot.

Tuesday, August 22

Spiked

Your Sis was assigned the duty of selling tickets at the opening volleyball matches yesterday. She was concerned throughout the weekend about previously vocal (read: asshole) parents making comments. That didn't happen. Mainly she was worried about Angry Dad, the jerk who stormed the court and berated her during matches. He coaches his daughter and niece through the year in club teams. He and his sister were adamant about removing our gal from her job, since she obviously couldn't coach (even though her team only lost five times last year) . Your Sis learned that his daughter isn't playing for a full week because she went on vacation without informing the coach. As punishment, she can't play or suit up. Angry Dad had no reason to appear. But we also learned that because the middle school coach took Your Sis's former position, that school no longer has a volleyball coach, and Angry Dad's niece now can't play for the school. Also, the JV team lost yesterday. We don't take any joy in the girls' failure, but it made Your Sis feel somewhat better about handing over the job.

School officially opens Friday (yes, they're playing sports before school opens), and she's cramming to finish her work. She ran ragged and then had to fix the dislodged pantry door at 10:30 last night. She had a day.

Picture of the Day
Quick, approximate reference guide to the solar system by size:








In the news
Among the items now held as evidence against the British bombers: hydrogen peroxide. You can't even find that in a meth lab.

Monday, August 21

Partyversary

It was one year ago yesterday that we held the formal ceremony at Silvermont, and then we watched The Village and opened presents at 1 in the morning. Yes, it does feel like a year has passed; we've both been busy with work and hobbies. We ate Indian food using the curry you sent us and had Travis and Kathy over. The meal went over great, and we all took turns preparing the ingredients. We then watched a James Cameron-produced special "decoding" Exodus, hoping to prove scientifically when and how the events happened.

On Saturday, we watched V for Vendetta again, and it holds up, if not improves, with a second viewing. It's obvious they worked on this script before making The Matrix as that movie holds a number of similarities in themes and images with Vendetta. Your Sis stopped the film to bemoan Lucas's treatment of Portman's character in the third prequel as this film proves she's got real acting chops. If she isn't nominated for acting awards for the role, there is no justice. She carries the film.

My lawnmower seems to be in the last mow throes. If it can just last until October, I can junk it and get a new one next year. I've had it for, wow, about seven years now.

Pictures of the Day
One of Your Sis's teaching buddies asked for a mix CD of rambler songs. This is the CD cover art I made for it:


This is one I made for Travis awhile back. I use Photoshop and Illustrator for the art and labels.


In the News
In a rare news conference, Bush said, according to the AP, "the war was 'straining the psyche of our country.' " That's a different spin from what we normally here from him. I wonder how conciliatory we can expect him to be before November.