Saturday, December 11. 2021
Our Lab did not perform perfectly, but we three guys had a wonderful day in the field anyway, chasing pheasants.
Funny thing is, I didn't really care that the Lab flushed birds out of range. I just love to get out all day in a fine drizzle with pals hiking over hill and dale, far from civilization with the wind blowing through the trees and fields with dog and firearm (I used my s/s 20 ga today - just lighter to carry. Made in Italy for Abercrombie and Fitch, no idea how long ago. A pretty firearm with 2 triggers. 2 triggers just come automatically for me. I don't know why.
!2 or 16 ga are better for pheasant, but what the heck. I like to use that gun.
Cool idea from our friend: Load the first barrel with lighter bird shot, like 7 1/2, the second with #6. That gives you a better chance if you miss the first.
Next October I'd like to get back to Maine for grouse and woodcock, but I wonder whether, now, I'd just rather see 'em than kill them. (Yes, my T level is at the max limit - it's not that.)
Via American Digest, Long Read of the Week: The Turn by Liel Leibovitz. It begins:
You might be living through The Turn if you ever found yourself feeling like free speech should stay free even if it offended some group or individual but now can’t admit it at dinner with friends because you are afraid of being thought a bigot. You are living through The Turn if you have questions about public health policies—including the effects of lockdowns and school closures on the poor and most vulnerable in our society—but can’t ask them out loud because you know you’ll be labeled an anti-vaxxer. You are living through The Turn if you think that burning down towns and looting stores isn’t the best way to promote social justice, but feel you can’t say so because you know you’ll be called a white supremacist. You are living through The Turn if you seethed watching a terrorist organization attack the world’s only Jewish state, but seethed silently because your colleagues were all on Twitter and Facebook sharing celebrity memes about ending Israeli apartheid while having little interest in American kids dying on the streets because of failed policies. If you’ve felt yourself unable to speak your mind, if you have a queasy feeling that your friends might disown you if you shared your most intimately held concerns, if you are feeling a bit breathless and a bit hopeless and entirely unsure what on earth is going on, I am sorry to inform you that The Turn is upon you.
The Turn hit me just a beat before it did you, so I know just how awful it feels...
Friday, December 10. 2021
Via Schneiderman (altho I doubt the provenance - too many typos)
Finishing up my documentation of some real Italian food from our trip last month. This was a cool supper in Siena. (as I have said, Mrs. and I split each course. We want the tastes.)
We observed that when guys go out for a fun supper together, they have Tuscan steak, cooked rare. They dig into it with gusto, sloshed down with Tuscan wines. Then gnaw the bone. I've had it twice over the years, and it does not compare with a Costco ribeye.
Our Primo: Poached egg on a cheese fondue with crispy leeks - and a fried pumpkin blossom:
A second primo: Chickpea puree with a chunk of cod, and pancetta. Pancetta is good with cod.
Secondo: Roast Pigeon with foie gras. A little bed of potato puree in the middle. Wow - pigeon is good. It is red meat, like goose.
 Yellowstone appeals to a nation of soft hands. The show reminds us of a time when men knew how to do more
Two all-purpose pieces of advice: small groups and mentors
Oregon school forcing kindergarteners to eat lunch outside in the cold due to COVID
The Anti-Israel Movement on U.S. Campuses, 2020-2021
CAIR’s Antisemitism Fails to Draw Media Scrutiny
Well, it turns out that Americans are getting wise to fake hate crimes.
ABIGAIL SHRIER: What I told the students of Princeton: Show some self-respect and reclaim your freedom.
Kamala Harris Blasts America at Biden's "Democracy Summit"
The 'Woke' Got What They Wanted -- And Then What?
The Conventional Wisdom on Hispanic Voters Was Completely Wrong
America’s Seventies Show—the Sequel. The stage is set for an economic replay.
Thursday, December 9. 2021
Why the Russiagate Scandal Outranks the Rest
Journalist-Authors Isikoff, Corn Fell For Danchenko's Mythical Dossier Source
Wednesday, December 8. 2021
In parts of Italy (northern, mainly) mashed potatoes are a common accompaniment. I happen to be a big fan of them. Anyway, we happened to have a lunch on the Campo in Siena with some mashed with both courses by happy accident. Classic Italian food:
Primo: Artichoke Pie (wow-good) which came with a little side of mashed. That's pancetta on top of the goat cheese on top of the pie.
Secondo: Cinghiale stew with a side of mashed
Nice lunch. Yes, we share them so it's not as much as it seems. Whatever we order, we split each course. Restaurants are fine with that.
Photo above is Edith Traina at age 97. A youthful 97 for sure due to many years of fitness pursuits. I think those are 50 lb. plates so she is lifting 145 lbs. Not bad for 97.
You can join that organization AARP at age 50, so I guess that's "mature." Another measure of seriously "mature" is if you remember Jack LaLanne - the Godfather of American Fitness.
Should "mature" people (50-80+) do powerlifts? Of course, and should push the weight as possible. The Maggie's General Fitness protocol calls for heavy weights only twice weekly but that's partly because it's designed to fit in all of the other aspects of fitness.
However, a group of people, whether mature or youth, male, female or confused, care mostly about building or maintaining strength and physical sturdiness. Getting buff and sexy. Like people who only want to run, they are not after balanced fitness. To each his or her own although I will debate you on the value of the single road (and Mark Rippetoe and Glenn Reynolds might debate me back).
For mature adults who want to focus only on strength, 3 days/week of heavy weights is right with the emphasis on powerlifts. In fact, I can see some value in myself occasionally taking two months to do heavy weights 3/wk to see if I can get past my current plateau. Especially in winter when hiking on ice is not fun or even sensible. Hmmm. I have to mention, though, that I had a pal who climbed Mt. Washington in January. Kudos to him, for sure. Tough SOB, Vietnam vet. Once was enough for him to check that off his bucket list.
Powerlifting Workout for Old Guys
One cool sort of place they have in Italian towns are Bar Pasticcerias. A "bar" in Italy basically means a coffee joint like small Starbucks, but a Bar Pasticceria means they are serious about pastries. Besides outdoor cafes for watching the scene, I love the old, atmospheric Bar Pasticcerias where they do the usual, but also serve "light" lunches like a big tray of miscellaneous norceria with cheeses, wine, beer, and even cocktails. Some have a good selection of single malts. That's a 1 hr+ lunch, and you never want dinner. I can't remember the name of our favorite place.
You get to watch the old guys going in to pick up some dessert and having a glass of wine or some grappa while waiting. Also, elderly women with packages coming in to pick up some dessert, and having a glass of wine while waiting. Civilized. A place like that in Greenwich Village or Soho would be busy and make a lot of money.
Below a nice shop for Italian stuff. Remember that shops close during midday, then stay open until 9 or later. And restaurants don't begin serving dinner until 8.
Tuesday, December 7. 2021
Could Viagra reduce Alzheimer’s risk?
Correlation or causation, or just one of the 50+ percent of medical studies which turn out to be wrong?
Regardless of the above, Cialis and Viagra are good for guys who can use it. You are not dead yet. By coincidence, some might recall that Bob Dole did some of the first TV ads for Viagra. Good for him.
Politicians are the same all over: they promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.
Nikita Khrushchev, Russian Soviet politician
At Quillette, Work or Welfare?
As early as 1995, author Jeremy Rifkin suggested that automation would eliminate work for most and create the basis for a society where “large numbers of people could be liberated from long hours in the formal marketplace.” This would allow them to focus on “leisure activities,” a kind of technological utopia for the masses.
..It’s a compelling vision in some ways, but right now it looks dystopic...
Monday, December 6. 2021
Last time we checked (I do not know how we did it), our readership was 60/40% men/women. Also, but not relevant to the topic, our average age of readership was 45. I have no idea about how to get such stats now and it doesn't matter.
Let's say you are a guy, and you know your wife "needs" a Prada bag. Get her one. She can exchange it if she doesn't like it. Ha - reader reminds me that they are free in San Francisco. Cool.
Readers know from past postings that we prefer tickets and trips for presents (with the very rare exceptions of my birthday car and her birthday boat - no more of that is likely cuz her new bedroom fireplace is last on that list). Opening presents is mainly for kids except for diamonds and gold.
One thing anybody might like as a present is a hiking trip. Montana is great, so is Sedona or the Dolomites. Or just the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Backroads has tons of good hiking or biking tours ($), but we really got a kick out of our Wilderness Scotland Outer Hebrides trip. Small (10) group from all over the world, energetic people but not kids, superb Scots guide, semi-rustic places to stay. Kippers and Haggis for breakfast. Bring rain gear.
Carpe diem. Life is short.
An appreciation of Bob Dole
GETTING MINDS RIGHT AT YALE: THE AYRES REPORT
Attempts To Cancel Coastal Carolina University Prof Steve Earnest Were Worse Than We Knew
Bloomberg doubles down on his most important legacy: charter schools
Manhattan workers warned not to use public transit. Is this the new normal?
How looting turned the most upscale part of San Francisco into a ghost town
Chicago is what happens when a culture loses its moral grounding
Why Woke Organizations All Sound the Same - Understanding the sociology of organizations
Ilhan Omar part of 'systemic' anti-Semitism, a 'civil rights issue of epic proportions'
RUSSIA HOAX WHITEWASH ERA BEGINS
The Media Inverts Reality in the Kenosha and Waukesha Cases. They want to advance the narrative that white people hate black people.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., issued a warning to the Supreme Court days before oral arguments in a potential landmark abortion case, claiming that a “revolution” will take place if the high court overturns existing precedent.
Sunday, December 5. 2021
Via NYROB, a new, beautifully edited volume of Robert Frost’s letters finds him at the height of his artistic powers while suffering a series of losses almost unimaginable to the fortunate among us.
Would you ever stoop to using a pre-lit fake Christmas tree? I always felt that it was a sort of blasphemy, but those decorated trees are pagan anyway. Balsam Hill has the best. Very cheerful, if you want your house to look like a bank lobby.
But where do you store the darn thing? They are not cheap.
"Liberals have invented whole college majors -- psychology, sociology and women's studies -- to prove that nothing is anybody's fault."
P. J. O'Rourke, via Nothing is Anybody's Fault
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