Finland’s new coalition government announced that their country has jumped aboard with an ambitious plan and will become carbon-neutral by 2035, setting one of the world’s earliest timelines for reaching that mark. This is the kind of target that needs to be met across the entire world if we are to have a chance of keeping global heating under 2° C because there is no safe amount of carbon left to emit. According to climatechangenews.com, “We are perhaps a decade away from losing any chance to limit global heating to under 2° C. We are in a state of climate emergency. We cannot afford to run the risk of a slow transition – we are headed for a brick wall at full speed and the only responsible thing to do is slam on the brakes.” The more countries that ban together to meet a shared deadline the more likely it is to actually happen.
What is carbon-neutral? According to Webopedia, carbon neutral, also called carbon neutrality is a term used to describe the action of organizations, businesses and individuals taking action to remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as each put into it. The overall goal of carbon neutrality is to achieve a zero-carbon footprint. For example, a business may plant trees in different places around the world to offset the electricity the business uses.
Two Ebola patients in the city of Goma in eastern Congo have been treated with new drugs, declared cured and have returned to their homes. The drugs are antibodies that block Ebola.
At our Source Weekly office, we have for the first time in 20 years, tiny little roaches. They call them German roaches (I’m sure that’s politically incorrect now, but that’s what they call them when you Google ‘tiny little roaches.’) I have wiped down cabinets, sprayed ‘tiny roach killer’ in the drains, put out secret boxes of roach ‘candy’ but I still see an occasional roach. I just went back to the kitchen to put my leftovers in the microwave for lunch and dang, I thought I saw another one out of the corner of my eye. Nope, upon closer examination, it was determined to be ‘just’ a floater. Now if you don’t know what a floater is, then you’re not old enough to read this column. 😊
Opinions don’t affect facts. But facts should affect opinions, and do, if you’re rational.” Ricky Gervais
How many of us have used the term “Taco Tuesday?” I know that the kids and I had Taco Tuesday quite often. It is still one of their favorite meals. Bet you didn’t know that Taco John’s (nearly 400 locations in 23 states) in Cheyenne, Wyoming, put their trademark on these two words nearly 30 years ago, in 1989. But wait, the trademark applies in every state but New Jersey, where another restaurant had already secured the right to Taco Tuesday. Oh, my.
Saturday August 24th is National Waffle Day. At our house, we have been using Kodiak Cakes Waffle mix. This brand makes their mixes with whole grains and rolled oats rather than bleached white flour. I promise you, if you use this mix, real butter and bourbon barrel aged organic Crown Maple Syrup that is so good you won’t believe it…you will be having ‘breakfast for dinner’ way more often than just National Waffle Day. I promise.
There’s a new cereal in town – everyone’s favorite, Baby Shark. If you haven’t heard the catchy tune of the ever-so-popular song, then I can’t help you. Kellogg’s will sell the berry-flavored, marshmallow-ed cereal through retail stores like Sam’s Club (now) and Walmart (in September) and says it “was created to expand on the joy families feel in a tasty way.” The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in January at No. 32. (PS – Baby Shark is also coming to Nickelodeon with an animated TV series.) There is so much trash in the world, we must embrace something as sweet as this.
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: College Football Hall of Fame John Brodie is 84. Comedian actor Steve Martin is 74. Basketball Hall of Fame Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson is 60. Actor screenwriter Julian Fellowes is 70. Downton Abbey (New film release date is September 20th). Former first lady Rosalynn Carter is 92. Olympic gold medal decathlete Rafer Johnson is 84. Actor comedian Martin Mull is 76. Mary Hartman Mary Hartman.Actor Peter Bonerz is 81. Dr. Jerry Robinson on Bob Newhart Show.
Peter Fonda, son of Henry Fonda and brother of Jane Fonda, died at 79 of lung cancer. He received his place in popular culture with Easy Rider which just celebrated its 50th anniversary. When his father, Henry Fonda, left the showing of his son’smovie in 1969,it was said that “he came out a confused and puzzled man.” He had worked in movies for 35 years and made some great ones, and now his son Peter was going to be a millionaire because of a movie Henry couldn’t even understand.The movie was shot for only $350,000 and grossed more than $60 million.
The guitar that Duane Allman played on Derek and The Dominoes’ classic “Layla” recently sold at auction for $1 million. In 2003, Allman was ranked #2 on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists list, second only to Jimi Hendrix. In 2011, he ranked #9. Allman died from massive injuries in a motorcycle crash in 1971 at age 24.
Typically, my birthday is ‘just another day’ and I like it that way. I don’t either need or want a bunch of fluff. I’m just happy to be here. This year I delivered my paper route because we were short a delivery person, but after that, the moment just grew into days and days of celebration. Thank you to everyone for a wonderful birthday and I truly mean that. It was just a super day. Flowers and cakes from ‘the girls’ at State Farm, a campechana cocktail and special-made martini from The Local. Thanks, Joshua. I love ice slivers. Luncheon with homemade pizza, banana pudding and ding-dongs at my office. Sweet gifts, funny cards, pretty cards, an ad from my friends, Duckie and the Grackle (cute), musical cards, singing cards, notes, texts, Facebook posts and phone calls for days. Everyone at office brought a little canned kitty food for the SPCA. I am so lucky to have such great friends. Thank you all.
An Oregon man accidently put a shoebox containing $23,000 into his recycling bin. The man contacted the sorting company and almost all the money was discovered at a recycling plant in California.
French’s Mustard released a limited-edition (yes, you guessed it) mustard flavored ice cream in honor of National Mustard Day which by the way, has already come and gone. In certain locations, they were serving the ice cream with a pretzel cookie. The recipe calls for 2 cups heavy cream, 1 cup sweetened condensed milk, ¼ cup whole milk, ¼ cup light corn syrup, 2 TBSP sugar, 1/4 cup French’s yellow mustard, 1 TSP vanilla extract, 1 drop green food coloring and 1 TSP yellow food coloring, 1/8 TSP salt and is posted on French’s website. The reviews were pretty good, and it is a beautiful color.Oh, but I’m not done.Oscar Mayer has a new Ice Dog Sandwich. It’s described as “a hot dog infused ice cream with real bits of candied Oscar Mayer hot dogs served alongside spicy mustard ice cream, which is served between two buns, aka cookies.” So, is it considered dessert or dinner?
Top Two Reasons to Stop at Buc-ee’s: #1 and #2. (isn’t that cute)
United Airlines has tightened their alcohol-drinking rules and are now telling their pilots that they must abstain from alcohol for 12 hours before flights, up from a previous ban of eight hours. This change comes after two United pilots were arrested in Scotland and charged with suspicion of being under the influence before a flight to the U.S.
Walking into Hobby Lobby, I thought I would look to see if there might be some summer things on sale. Augh. Much to my surprise, I saw the Christmas trees up and lit. Isles and isles of Christmas ornaments. Fall decorations including Thanksgiving are on the rows closest to the cash registers. It was kind of scary. I forgot that I was there to get a picture framed. BTW, they have Pumpkin Spice Latte stacked in boxes in the isle at Target.(It’s only August!)
Burger King is now offering the Impossible Burger, a meatless sandwich that is said to taste just like the original Whopper. A report found that restaurants testing the Impossible Whoppers “experienced a noteworthy increase in foot traffic.” The beefless burger is a partnership with the startup company Impossible Foods, which supplies patties made with heme, a protein cultivated from soybean roots that mimics the texture of meat. Other fast-food chains offering meatless options are White Castle, Dunkin’, Tim Hortons, Carl’s Jr, and Del Taco.
Last week, Anne-Elisabeth and I moved her into the dorm at UH. Everything that we bought last year looked pretty good in the new room with the new double bed (vs. the twin XL from freshman year). New sheets, foam mattress pad, an end table and a bamboo stool for the bathroom shower, plus some odds and ends and we were set to go. So different than last year when we planned and shopped and taking months to get just-the-right pictures, posters, lamp, sheets, pillows and bedspread. So much cheaper, too. On Thursday, we approached it like a well-rehearsed tactical move…toolbox in hand. Everything out of the room, then we popped the bed as high as we could, put everything in its place and before long we were eating a late lunch at Seaside Poke with her roommate from last year, who was leaving for Georgia Tech. An acquaintance offered to sell Anne-Elisabeth a little retro mini-refrigerator for twenty dollars, so we jumped at the chance. Heavy emphasis on the word ‘little’ because I am here to tell you that pictures can be deceiving. When we went to pick it up, Anne-Elisabeth ran inside the house to pay for it and I opened the back end of my Enclave so I could help her load it up. Hmmm. She carried it out like a purse – a very cute, small purse with a missing hinge. When you look it up online, it says it holds 6 cans. Of what? Skoal? It absolutely will NOT hold 6 cans of coke or water. It might hold your lunch if you had a very tiny sandwich. It certainly would not hold my lunches. It IS cute. The story I heard is that the girls keep their make-up in these little refrigerators. Did I mention that it’s cute?
Later that afternoon, we headed to Central Market to pick up food supplies for AE. Imagine our surprise when we realized that it was the Hatch Chili – Wine and Stroll day. They met us at the entrance with Croque Monsieur with a Hatch Bechamel Sauce. Further on we had Mexican Street Corn with Hatch Chili Seasoning, Hatch Sausage Wraps (Hatch chicken sausage wrapped in puff pastry), Hatch-aritas, Hatch milk chocolate bars, Pulled Pork with Paulita’s Hatch Chile Marinade, Hatch Quesadillas, Hatch Scones and Brownies, Hatch Ravioli, Chicken and Hatch Rajas over Hatch Pepper Rice. We were so full when we left the store. It was all so yummy. I ended up buying roasted Hatch peppers, fresh peppers and a live Hatch pepper plant so I can start consuming earlier and continue later. When I got home, I made a meatloaf with three diced roasted chili’s, 1 lb. of grass-fed beef, one egg, four chopped green onions (green part too) and a little salt & lemon pepper. Delicious. Wild rice, roasted asparagus, sweet potato fries & Brussel sprouts made for quite a nice dinner when Gage got home. He stayed the night, then spent‘maybe’ 30 minutes the next afternoon packing up his stuff, then he was out the door to his dorm. I had asked if I could help him unload or hang posters…nope, he said that he already had them hanging in just the right places. Boys and girls are so different.
Thank you for taking the time to read The Source Weekly today. We appreciate you so much. Lisa
