In the Snow

Doggies. Doggies. Everywhere.  So let's all have a drink?   

I think that's how the phrase goes. 

We are still in the dregs of Winter. I believe yesterday, Cleveland broke the record cold streak last set in 1899 !!!!

Yesterday morning it was -2°F on my way out of the gym. On the way in 75 minutes earlier it was allegedly 6°F.  Anyway, our doggie time outdoors is limited. Even with his outerwear it's too cold, slushy, salty for dog paws. It pains Shep, so they are quick outings. He hasn't equated his normal routine and weather. 

So some images look the same:  brown dog against white snow. Same as it's been since Thanksgiving of last year. 

Blobby and Mr. Pickle rescue Shep from daycare. 

Bailey walking herself. Or she has my sister on a leash. 

Backyard snow zoomies. 

Dash is the Weimaraner. He always makes a beeline for me. I always accommodate him. 

When you want to be Gladys Kravitz, but you're also kind of lazy. 

Nothing about this pic says "happiest". 

Most vocal, probably. 

She was SO adorable. She got lots of love from me. 

We walked out into the middle of the lower Shaker Lake. 

The lake has deep ice at this point, we we were in little to no danger, but he was a little freaked out. 

Chest deep. He makes it work somehow. 

Me? My boots fill with snow. 

Song by: Red Hot Chili Peppers

Record of the Month

I figured I'd do a monthly 'what I'm listening to' kind of thing. This could be viewed as a lame placeholder kind of post. And probably it is. But it's my blog! So there!   

Lucinda Williams has a new disk out as of a week ago - World's Gone Wrong.

As spot-on as that title may be, I usually like to have more than a week's worth of listening to a disk before reviewing, but a) I had no other new disks to review. b) I don't set the release schedules - no matter how much I lobby. 

Williams has been pretty consistent in the last few years with output. Some stuff better than others, but all of it beating stuff from a decade ago. So I was semi-excited for a new disk. 

As the title suggests, it might not be an 'up' album. And it ways it is not. 

Since it was recorded in the Spring of 2025, we'd already gone through the election cycle and start of this administration. It would be difficult to believe that "How Much Did You Get for Your Soul?" isn't about you know who, when there is a lyric that is: "you sold the one thing given by God, ’cause you thought it would make you rich / You’re nothing but a worthless fraud, it was all just bait and switch.”

In "Something's Gotta Give" Williams sings of "we've lost our way".  But it's a good song and well done. 

Yeah - you could equate it to a relationship song, but again, the title of the disk. 

It's Lucinda, so it is roots oriented rock with an overlay of blues. Gritty guitars. Gritty vocals (still better than they were a decade ago). 

She teams up with Norah Jones for a piano driven closer with "We've Come too Far to Turn Around". I want their voices to work better together. Or at all. Their tones don't match or compliment each other. She does better pairing with Mavis Staples with "So Much Trouble in the World".  That is one of the highlights of the album - for me. 

I like "Freedom Speaks" too. 

There isn't a huge divergence in William's style here. The songs are clearly more protest oriented and that's ok. Any voice railing against what we've become as a country (or world) is fine by me. 

It's a good kick off to music for 2026.......I hope. 

Burning

I keep saying people should be doing more to protest. I think what I'm really saying is *I* need to get involved in protests. 

I mean, we all should, but I can only control me........................................for now!

There is a group here in Cleveland - the Burning River Brigade that puts in the time and effort and shows up. Not in great numbers, but in visible places. And that's more important. 

I-90 seems to be their big focal point, getting all the west bound travelers who hopefully look up. I mean, you almost have to see them. I don't think they cause accidents by their visuals, but if someone takes their eyes off the road to read their stuff - good for them. 

And they're out in all weather and year round. You gotta admire that.   ....and they make trips to DC to protest as well. 

I'm gonna have to reach out to them even if I can only do it once in a while. Community is where we are at. Community is what Minneapolis is doing day in and day out. 

Resist. 

Anyway - here is some of Burning River Brigade's handy work.  Enjoy. 

Only funny if you know it's a medication to slow down Alzheimers 

Bernis is our immigrant Senator who ironically wants single citizenship for anyone entering the US. 

Song by: the War on Drugs

What Goes Up

Today is 40 years since the Challenger ka-boom disaster.  

It's one of those 'remember where you were' moments, right? I mean, at least for certain generations. 

I had been working night shift at the hospital and got home and could not sleep so was watching the launch. They were still fairly new but they were broadcasting live because of Christa McAuliffe.

She was to have been the first citizen in space - a teacher - but two politicians bumped her two different flights, sealing her fate instead of theirs. 

I happened to be on the phone with my mother while watching - she was not. And said, "I think the space shuttle just blew up".  We both hung up to watch TV.  

I never did get to bed that day. 

Last year, Morty recommended the book Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space. I think it was only one of two non-fiction books I read last year. 

In its own way it is amazing. Long, but amazing. And horrifying.

And F-R-U-S-T-R-A-T-I-N-G. 

You go into the book knowing the outcome (oh, Spoiler Alert for Gen Z'ers who actually don't read this blog or know it exists) but as the story is told - starting decades earlier - you see and feel each mistake made along the way. The inevitable. Cringing when you get to the chapter that IS launch day. 

Actually, you don't know the outcome. Yeah - of the shuttle and its crew, sure. (or do you??*), but not so much of the aftermath. 

Frustrating. Infuriating. Dumbstruck. 

I know I am easy to anger, which is why my news is nil, but reading the book just flabbergasted me. I'd get angry and have to put it down.

Not one person lost their job. Not one. Zero.  That a few people who felt guilty (but weren't the real culprits) didn't take their own lives was kind of a surprise.  Oh - that's the Spoiler Alert(s). 

It is government and contractor fuck-uppery on every level. I'm not generalizing this either. Honestly, in its own way, it is an excellent book. 

40 years. No more shuttles. The ISS, which the shuttles helped build, is on its way to being decommissioned. We'll just be left with Elon or Katy Perry's Lyft to rely on space exploration / travel. 

* my favourite review

Song by: Alan Parsons Project

Baking with Blobby

Honestly - all this baking. 

Yes it is a distraction and it is me eating my feelings. I'm kind of afraid to get on the scale next week. My white sugar addiction and my decrease in running due to the weather can't be me showing positive results with my poundage. 

710 mentioned peanut butter cookies the other day. I've never made them - though let's be honest, I haven't made a ton of cookies - period. And while I love love love peanut butter, their cookies have never been my go-to. 

I know some have chopped nuts in them, but I didn't have any peanuts on hand - and it's really really really cold out, so I wasn't going out to get any.  And I still have a thing about nuts in food, though I can probably deal with peanuts in these cookies............to a degree. 

But what else is there to do when you're literally stuck in the house due to sub-zero temps and the threat of a foot of snow? 

Fire up the oven and Kitchen Aid mixer - that's what.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 180g 

1/2 cup butter unsalted, room temp 113g 

1 cup peanut butter 250g 

1/2 cup brown sugar 100g, lightly packed 

1/2 cup sugar 100g 

1 tsp vanilla extract 5mL 

1 egg large, room temp 

3/4 tsp baking powder 3g 

Instructions

Preheat over to 350F 

Sift flour and baking powder together then whisk to combine. 

Cream butter and sugars in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. You can add an optional 1/4-1/2 tsp sea salt. 

Add peanut butter and mix until incorporated. 

Mix in egg and vanilla extract then add flour mixture and beat until incorporated. 

Roll dough into one inch balls and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 

Flatten cookies with a fork in a criss-cross pattern. Bake cookies for about 10 minutes. 

Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet, they need to set up before being transferred.

All of this was fairly easy to do. It comes together quickly. The dough isn't sticky and while I always struggle with dough / serving size, you'd think I'd know what a "one inch ball" looks like........as opposed to me thinking they're just unfortunate. 

But it worked out. Honestly, the hardest part was the criss-cross pattern after the tray was full as cookie balls. A lot of positioning to get it done. I'm not saying it was hard, just the hardest part - I mean, besides clean-up (which was all done before the cookies were ready to come out). 

It yielded about 38 cookies. 

My Music Monday

For whatever reason, I've had Suzanne Vega on my mind. 

While most people will know her from her two bonafide hits, "Luka" and a sampling / remix from DNA with her "Tom's Diner" back in the late 80s. In a way, both those songs encapsulated Vega. 

Both decent songs. Both overplayed. 

Vega started out firmly in the folk-rock genre. It was with DNA taking her a cappella "Tom's Diner" and adding electronic music to make it a hit. 

She slowly would break away from folk and delve more into interesting sounds - including electronic and jazz. Her then husband produced her fourth and fifth disks that had little in common with her first two albums - but not necessarily in a bad way. 

With 99.9F° it took me a long time to learn to appreciate that disk. Years.  I had been so wedded to her earlier style it just jarred me a bit. Maybe more than a bit. 

But I've come to like it - a lot. Her follow-up disk, Nine Secrets of Desire, still ranks in the upper reaches of the best albums I own. 

Still I'm pulling from 99.9F° with "Blood Makes Noise".  The percussion alone is cool. The juxtaposition to her vocal to the industrial sounds is so well done. 

On the traditional Billboard charts, the song (nor album) did very well. But it played well on their 'modern track' chart and even their 'club play' one.  I'm 99.9% sure I never heard it at any club I went to, but it would have been cool. 

Power to the People

I hate where we are in this country so fucking much. 

SO. FUCKING. MUCH.

One more dead in Minneapolis at ICE's hands. 

Allegedly Minnesota has 130k immigrants. Texas and Florida have over 1.5 MILLION - each. 

So this isn't about immigration. They are both red states who don't have a governor that criticizes the president. 

Plain and simple. 

This prick ran only for retribution. I honestly believe that. And he's getting it. DOJ. FBI. NSA. Treasury.  Everything. 

If they're going to be lawless, than maybe so should we. It is honestly the only thing I think they'd understand. 

While I know it's not really the answer, it might be a wake-up call. 

I'd say this won't end well, but that might be the understatement of a lifetime. 

But YAY for people showing up in huge numbers in Minneapolis in the frigid cold.  g-d love 'em. 

Song by: Patti Smith

Run Around

It's just been another cold week, so picture taking wasn't the best. And it's supposed to be low single digits as the HIGH today and a possibility of a foot of snow tomorrow.  

UGH. 

In theory, Winter is a third over. That is of little consolation. 

I gotta say, my running milage is way down this month. My outside runs aren't as long (or as many) and there are days that the snow won't even let me get to the gym. What's a boy to do? 

Anyhoo........limited shots this week, but it beats a blog entry about politics, right? 

Après daycare walk in the late afternoon sun. 

Stylin' in that coat by the lower lake. 

Bailey loves the snow. Good for her. 

My shot of the week. More snow, but it looks good on him. 

Semi-zoomies. 

He can go much much faster, but I'm happy to capture what I can. 

Song by: Jefferson Airplane

O Canada

As you are aware, the political landscape in this country (the U.S, that is) is horrific and has put me into therapy in perpetuity. 

There are days even without media or social media that are just abhorrent - you just cannot escape a crack, comment or text. Maybe that's the way it should be. I get I've been hypersensitive. I am. Not past tense. Well, yes, past tense too. 

Yesterday, for what little time I spent on social media, I kept seeing Mark Carney, Canada's Prime Minister show up. I scrolled right past any number of times just to get to cat, dog or bonkey videos. I do believe 710 and I are destined to have a bonkey!   ....but don't quote me on that. 

I finally stopped on a version that threw up the 'Holy Crap' text box over his image. It would turn out that box would stay there for the entire video. It also got me to hit 'play'. 

BT-Dubs, I took a screen capture (to your left) with this quote from his speech. After listening to it, I worked my way back to get it, as it just hit so fucking hard. 

No offense to Justin Trudeau, but he could not have ever pulled off this speech. That he's allegedly fucking Katy Perry makes me question everything about him at this point. Carney is the guy. 

This is an almost 15 minute speech. ....and this is only the English portion. The first few minutes were in French. It is TOTALLY worth taking the time to watch. 

He's brutal without being so. Part of me wanted him to just call out the U.S., and he does, but without ever mentioning our country or "president" by name.  .....though it is all implied and / or inferred. 

IF BLOTUS stayed for this speech, and IF BLOTUS was awake during it, and then afterwards when his aides had to explain the speech to him, I bet he was pissed.    ......and you know it had to be explained to him. 

There is zero irony that BLOTUS couldn't give 1/100th of this kind of speech. He's a fucking neanderthal. ....and I'm being nice. Monosyllables are his friend. 

I implore to you to watch the video. It's important. I'm glad I finally succumbed to listening to something political. 

I won't say it's a silver lining and I would have like to hear raucous applause, but it wasn't quite there. While I'm sure the attendees all got the meaning of Václav Havel's quiet rebellion, but I wasn't sold they were going to be part of it.......at least yet. 

Still, it is the most positive thing I've heard - politically - in a long time.   ....and makes me want to be Canadian more than ever. 

Song by: any number of artists at any given hockey game. 

Cooking with Blobby

Lately, I think I've been saving Cooking segments when I don't have another blog topic. And I just don't want to talk about ICE or Greenland.  So you get salmon. 

We do salmon once a week and 93% I always do it the same. It's good, but I don't want to get boring either. So I happened upon an old episode of America's Test Kitchen where they made a glazed version. 

It was Elle's dish, and I was said to hear she passed away last week from ovarian cancer. I liked her over the years. 

I thought to myself - what the heck. Let's do it. 

Ingredients 

Brine

2-4 Salmon fillets 

2 quarts of water

1/4 cup of salt  

1/4 cup of sugar 

Glaze

4 T of soy sauce

1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice

3 T of water

2 T of sugar

1 1/2 t of corn starch 

a few springs of thyme

chopped parsley for garnish. 

Cook top

1T of vegetable oil

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 300°F  

For the brine, add the sugar and salt to the cool water. Stir so they dissolve. Place salmon in the water (submerged) for 15-20 minutes. 

While the fish soaks, make the glaze. This would be the lemon juice, water, soy and corn starch. Wisk till it is all combined, leaving no clumps of corn starch. Put it over a medium high heat and add the thyme (I didn't have any).  I guess I "ran out of thyme"!    Oh, I kill me. 

Also did you know that corn starch will not activate and start to thicken unless you bring the mixture to a boil?  I just found that out a few weeks back. But bring to a boil until it is thickened (about 1-2 minutes) and take off the heat. Discard the thyme at this point. 

Reserve two tablespoons of the glaze. 

Take fish out of brine and pat it dry. With a tablespoon of oil, heat the pan on medium high and place the fish skin side up.  Leave in place for three minutes. 

Flip the fish (mine broke apart a bit) and brush the filets with reserved glaze. 

Place oven safe pan in the oven (on an upper middle rack) until fish internal temp reaches 125°F *.  I think that took 8-10 minutes. 

Once out of the oven, use the remaining glaze to brush on the salmon. Sprinkle with parsley (I didn't have that either - and no bad pun with which to go along. 

*125°F is ATK's preferred temp on many (all?) of their salmon recipes. Personally, I think it's too low. I like it closer to 140°F.    That said, I took it out at 133°F.  It was cooked fine, but it wasn't 'hot'. It wasn't cold either, but I like the temp to be hotter when I eat. 

Maybe it was the cut. Maybe it was the brine, but the fish was super delicate, hence it breaking so easily on flipping. But it was flakey and tender. The glaze was good. The lemon didn't overpower the soy or vice versa. 

I'd probably do this again. I might try it in the airfryer applying the glaze halfway through so it doesn't burn.