01 February 2009

Tidbits From The Gumbo Pot

Another day of rest, supposedly, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to ease off the pedal and partake of some randomization. About time, I suppose. There seems to be a rash of that on this marvelous Interwebs of ours. So, let’s randomize, shall we?

ASIAN CHEESE
I have oftened wondered why, given the vast size of Asia and the existence of so many different types of cattle there, that cheese never gained the prominence in Asian cuisines that it has in European (and by extension, American) cuisines. I know that fermented bean curd could be seen as an ‘analog’ of cheese, but I have to believe that someone somewhere in say, China, must have noticed the phenomenon of curdled milk on its way to becoming cheese. Somehow the “meme” for cheese-making never took off in Asia the same way it did elsewhere. I have heard cheese described as “milk so rotten it turned solid”, which could explain it.

SOME FLUTTER IS GOOD
Through the wise and all-seeing direction of Vodka Mom, I had my wandering attention span directed to the blog of the lovely Flutter. She has some very interesting things on her mind, and some amazing photographs that you should see. As an added bonus, she recently posted a video for the song ‘Typical’ that reminded me to purchase the new album from one of my new favorite bands, Mutemath*. The song works on a number of different levels, the simplest of which is, it is a damn good tune. So herewith, for you audio/visual pleasure, MUTEMATH:


IN MY MIND, I’M A FREAKIN’ DECATHLETE!
Exercise. I know I should be getting it. But I just don’t. There is an elliptical trainer in my basement, which I used to use every single day during the week, and walking for exercise on the weekends, but something happened and I fell out of the habit. The weather here has been cold, windy and gray a lot, which doesn’t help with the outdoor activity. I likes my walks around the lake and the fresh air. The trainer is good, but boring. Maybe if I tied some wolves to the back of it that would give more incentive to work fast. Great cardio, I suspect. For now, I’ll content myself with exercise in the form watching my daughter run around in circles in the house. That’s a full time job in itself. Quite vigorous, too. My eyeballs are BUFF!

TAGGED: IT AIN”T JUST GRAFFITI ANYMORE
Well, it finally happened. I got tagged. The luscious Teri at Cold Lemonade (and a tall drink she is, mmm...) ambushed me with the “25 Random Things About Me” meme. Ordinarily, I have been avoiding tagging because I don’t want to make a busy schedule even busier for me or someone else, but in this case I made an exception.**

25 Things Floating In The Gumbo Pot:
1) My first name, Kevin, is derived from a Celtic language, and supposedly means “the beautiful offspring” or “pleasant, comely” or “noble, kind and friendly man”.
2) I love music, can’t carry a tune in a bucket.
3) At various times in my life, I have wanted to be a rock star, a monk and a research chemist with a concentration in brewing/fermentation.
4) A good song can make me cry from joy, sorrow or nostalgia.
5) The first dog I can remember having was a beagle named ‘Lucy’.
6) Somedays, all I want out of life is a bologna sandwich and a beer.
7) Speaking of sandwiches, my Mom makes the best grilled peanut butter sandwich in the Universe. I still miss those sandwiches. All hail the Moms!
8) I began blogging on October 5th, 2008, and have been fortunate to have not missed a single day of posting.
9) I used to have, and wear, a pair of black denim pants festooned with zippers all over, including the knees. I bought them in England.
10) I do not recommend sliding across the dance floor while wearing pants with zippers on the knees. It hurts. A lot.
11) I used to have a blond streak in my hair, on the right. I did it on purpose.
12) I once pierced my own ear with a short pin. After I finished bleeding and screaming, I installed a small gold cross earring.
13) Three weeks later, I had to take the cross out because league rules forbid playing soccer while wearing piercings or certain kinds of jewelry. That sucked.
14) Clip on ties used to be a part of my wardrobe. I am shamed.
15) My favorite malt beverage of the beer type is Guinness Stout draft, no contest.
16) Some days my eyes look blue, some days they greenish or grayish. I have not verified if that corresponds to moods.
17) Most people who know me would say I am moody.
18) The ‘Moody Blues’ would not show up on my list of favorite bands.
19) If I could form my own band, it would probably play some kind of Celtic funk-rock. Bagpipes would be involved, and possibly tubas.
20) I find tubas to be funny. Trumpets, not so much.
21) I used to be able to play the opening chords to Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” on guitar AND harmonica.
22) I wanted to be an architect starting in 7th grade, because I wanted to draw houses for a living. I was very naive.
23) Writing is what I really want to do, I just didn’t know until now.
24) The amount of things I know is miniscule compared to the amount of things I don’t know. This vexes me greatly.
25) Soccer (“footie”) is my favorite sport, hands down. I am still an American.

So there you have it, 25 random things about the mystery that is me. I’ll forgo the tagging of others. Just for shits and giggles, though, scroll through my blog roll and randomly pick some to visit, drop some comment love.

I think that about does it. Happy Sunday morning to all, I’m going to watch some cartoons with my Wee Lass, and see if I can rustle up a bologna sandwich.

*And a special thanks to my friend Wesley S. for layin’ the band on me in the first place. Dude, that dvd RAWKS!
**I admit that in this case, it did give me the opportunity to add to my post, ‘cause I’m tired and feeling a bit shagged out. But also, Teri is a force of nature, in a good way. And don’t mess with Mother Nature! I am terrible at following rules, though.

38 comments:

  1. Asians lack the enzyme that allows them to digest dairy products. So do we, but come on, cheese? Chocolate milk? Milkshakes? Ice cream? We pushed past it. They can too, but it doesn't work for everybody. Seriously, my sister in law has some milk, you do not want to be in the same room.

    Oh, and thanks. I grilled myself a peanut butter sandwich the other day because I'd heard about it on somebody's blog and I just realized it was yours. Previously, of course, since I would have had to travel forward in time to have seen this mention and that is not possible... heh heh.

    PS. Tomorrow when you and Wee Lass get in the car to go to school? Skip the first song that comes on. Trust me. It makes for an entertaining post but the long term repercussions aren't worth it.

    Didn't hear that from me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. IG, hate to point this out, but where are all those cows in Asia? That's apart from India, where you can't touch the damn things.

    Therefore, we see very little dairy food of any kind in Asian diets. There are some isolated pockets--condensed-milk sweets in South Asia, or the (relatively) newfound Japanese taste for ice cream.

    Cheese just smells rotten to Asians. And, as you may have heard, so do the people who eat it.

    Fermented bean curd is a good comparison. Have you tried it? Puke city. That's how Asians feel about, say, parmesan.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Grilled peanut butter sandwiches??? Never, in my life, heard of them. Will mom share the recipe???

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have tried to make a grilled peanut butter sandwich, but every time the peanut butter goos out all over the place. And yes, I just typed the word goos, it's a verb, in case there is head-scratching happening.

    I think you should share the how-to. Maybe a tutorial.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Would a grilled peanut butter sandwich turn even a peanut butter hater like me onto it?
    Is there banana in this sandwich?
    Hmm.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Captain: I had heard of the enzyme thing, forgot about that. Your welcome on the grilled peanut butter. My Mom is an expert. FCM? Wee Lass has not/will not see the video, and she is back to her Brass Monkey fixation. Except now she sings "that chunky monkey"...

    Sarah: I thought you'd dig it...

    Headbang8: I was thinking of water buffalo, yaks, oxen, that sort of thing. South Asia surely has the greater concentration, which I guess would explaining the condensed milks sweets, etc. I had heard of the smell question, too, in some anecdotes from an Asian person asking why we like cheese. The bean curd? I smelled it once, whuff...

    lizspin: Make a grilled cheese sangie, substitute peanut butter for the cheese, not too much. Use plenty of butter on the bread.

    Pamela: See above. My Mom is a little camera shy, maybe I can talk her into a video...

    SK: It's real good so it just might. And I bet some thinly sliced bananas would be an excellent addition!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Today seems like a good day to go random. Why? Because your randomness has infected me. I will tell everyone over at Fragrant Liar that you are the cause of today's random post.

    You're welcome.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Why, Fl, I'm delighted! I like to think I am the cue ball on the billiard table...or something like that...:)

    ReplyDelete
  9. wow. I never would have guessed you would have a blonde streak in your hair. OR like Mutemath.

    I guess from childhood all architects are like Mr. Brady from the Brady Bunch. So I just thought you were exactly like that :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh and the later Mr. Brady with the perm and mustache. Not the 60's side-part Mr. Brady.

    ReplyDelete
  11. You are random and wonderful. Thanks for the shout out

    ReplyDelete
  12. I hung out with more than a few blokes w/ blonde streaks and zippered jeans in the mid 80s... perhaps you were one of them. New Haven, NYC, Boston? :-)

    Thanks for the music intro. Happy Sunday.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Panic Room: I’m enigmatic like that :) If you want to see something really funny, check out my My Big Head. I’m the suave looking chap in the white. And definitely with the ‘stache!

    Flutter: That should be my new motto; random and wonderful! And you are most welcome!

    OAM: Alas, I was a lonely punkster in a land of southern rock metalheads, in SE Virginia. Boston and NYC would have been cool… You’re welcome!

    ReplyDelete
  14. LOL, at your BUFF eyeballs.

    I'm not so sure I can wrap my head around the fried peanut butter sandwich idea.

    Black pants with zippers and a blond streak, we must be of the same era.

    I used to have a single blond streak in my hair, it was intentional as well.

    Quite honestly, judging by your instrument choices, I'm not sure you should be trusted to put together a band, but as far as instruments go, I agree that Tubas are very funny.

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a lovely random post. :)
    Apparently we have the same color eyes.. though mine are mostly gray.
    And I make a mean grilled peanut butter sandwich.. ;)

    and my word verification today? 'surer'

    ReplyDelete
  16. Loved your random-ness Gumby!
    Can't believe your moody, and don't like the Moody Blues...that's funny!
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Rachael: My eyeballs are ripped baby! Not little girly-man eyes...and the blond streaks on the ladies, well, yeah, it's goood. When i say bagpipes, I mean like Dropkick Murphys, not Bugs Bunny...

    CPM: Lovely! and Ima wanting one of them sammiches...

    Sweet Cheeks: Thank you! Yes, moody, 'tis true. And the band, I don't NOT like them, they just don't grab me...:)

    ReplyDelete
  18. A monk? Seriously? Don't they have to take a vow of silence? I cannot imagine you being silent!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Please, please, please post a picture of yourself wearing those pants!
    I'll make you a bologna sandwich if you do!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I have noticed in my Japanese studies that dairy products do not figure in big in the Japanese diet. Part of this stems from centuries where by law the only animal they could eat was fish. Since it never really took hold, some of the Japanese I know only thought there was one kind of cheese, and to here them describe it makes Kraft American slices sound like aged cheddar.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Michelle: I would have been one of the monks that brews beer or makes cheese or trains dogs. Silence, yeah, that would have been hard. Oh, and the celibacy, too, not so good.

    Robin: (grin) Oh, my dear, I wish I could! I literally wore those pants out. Plus, I was a little slimmer back then...

    Grant: I didn't know about the law of the fish. And American cheese like cheddar? (laugh) interesting take on it...

    ReplyDelete
  22. That video was awesome! All I can wonder is if that guy had to learn his song backwards!

    Cool band....and here I thought all the bands out now were suck ass emo bands that all sounded the same.

    And yay for the meme tag thingy!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Teri: I thought you would like that. One of the reasons they are so good is that they are not and emo band. Thank the lawd!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Fried Peanut Butter Sandwich, can;t grasp the concept, still staring at peanut butter jar considering trying it or resisting the idea ....
    My dilemma for tonight he he he

    ReplyDelete
  25. I have a harmonica that I got in high school and have still never learned to play. I'm moody too, nice to meet ya.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I wanted to be an architect after reading Fountainhead until I realized what actually went into it.

    You can send ME your elliptical. I'll use it.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Love your randomness post, Irish!
    I'm glad you "just figured out" you like writing, because you're really good at it!

    ReplyDelete
  28. I like this song, i heard it at work and never got the bands name, thanks for sharing!

    My first pet's name was Lucy too! only it was a rabbit, and I named her after "I Love Lucy" cause I loved that show.

    One blonde streak, thats pretty gay. =)

    I used to have jeans that had pockets running up and down the sides and this huuuuuge zipper that went from the bottom to the top in front of my legs, I thought I was cool, I'm really not.

    Thats all I have to say.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Grilled... peanut... butter... sandwich?

    This I gotta try.

    And Mutemath is pretty sweet, thanks for the intro. I shall scour YouTube for more.

    ReplyDelete
  30. LOL to the sliding across the floor/zipper line. My eyes do the same and the guy I knew in high school who could play the opening chords to Stairway to Heaven, got to touch my boobs

    ReplyDelete
  31. Loved that post, Irish. Mum laughed and laughed and laughed about those black jeans with the zips. Her friend had a pair of those and got roughed up for wearing them. (Bless him, she says). She also laughed about you piercing your own ear and it hurting. I tell you, mum's a sadist.xx
    PS: A MONK??? WHA????

    ReplyDelete
  32. Captain beat me to it...he's a know it all when it comes to all things Asian so you gotta let him do his thing ... :) But yeah, Asians can't do it. India's big on dairy, but despite the fact that people call them Asians, they're really not in the same category. They do cheese but don't go as far as "cheese" does.

    Grilled peanut butter sandwiches. Oh YUM!!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thanks for the recommend on this band. I'm listening to it here on your blog and you're right...they are great.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I loved #s 3 & 6. But oh, Gumbo....a clip on tie?

    ReplyDelete
  35. To all: Thank you for some of the clarifications on the Asia/India/Cheese nexus. I learned soem new stuff, and was reminded of some old stuff.

    And grilled peanut butter sandwiches are DIVINE!

    SMB: Yes, clip ons *sob* Please, I am humiliated enough. I do not have them anymore, thank god. :)

    ReplyDelete
  36. 1. Lists are good.
    2. See point 1.
    3. Point 6 is pretty much every day. Except I'd rather have curry.

    ReplyDelete

"Let your laws come undone
Don't suffer your crimes
Let the love in your heart take control..."


-'The Hair Song', by Black Mountain

Tell me what is in your heart...