What I Heard This Week! 08-26-2021
A 30-year-old El Paso woman posed as her 13-year-old daughter and has been charged with trespassing on school grounds, supposedly to prove the vulnerability of the security at the school. She documented the day on social media and is now charged with criminal trespass, tampering with government records and an unrelated outstanding traffic warrant. In the video she is wearing a hoodie and a mask, so it is believable that she could get away with it.
July 2021 was the Earth’s hottest month ever recorded, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Mike Richards stepped down as the new host of Jeopardy, just days after it was announced that he had been chosen. The news came after past lawsuits of Richards’s alleged harassment and discrimination on The Price is Right resurfaced, though he denies the claims. Some of the host’s past controversial comments about women, Jewish people, and the disabled community made on a 2013 podcast, also made the rounds. I have always told my kids that you must be careful, because you never know who your next boss may be. Looks like the ‘people’ decided he wasn’t the right man for the job. Supposedly, Ken Jennings is now in the lead to replace Richards. Poor LeVar Burton.
At the start of the pandemic, McDonald’s took away some breakfast items, McMuffins and McGriddles. Then they started serving pastries all day, no breakfast sandwiches. There’s a blueberry muffin, cinnamon roll, and apple fritters. On September 1, they will add the Glazed Pull Apart Donut, large enough that you can share…fried dough, sugar glaze and…well, that’s it. Fried dough and sugar glaze. Just like a real donut. You may not want to share. Really. When is the last time you shared a donut? OREO just announced two new limited-edition cookie flavors. Salted Caramel Brownie, and Apple Cider Donut. Hmmm. At least it’s not Pumpkin Pie Spice. Mountain Dew VooDew 2021 is being released for the third year, just in time to be scary. You will always know when I am hungry, by what I write. I’m starving right now.
There was a very tiny bit of very hot gardening going on at the back of my office this weekend and while I was back there, I happened to see a longtime friend. Our conversation went from trivial to such hot weather, to climate change. When I mentioned to him that he needed to enjoy it, because it is the coolest summer of the rest of our lives, he said, “So, I’m guessing you believe in climate change.” I do believe. Yes, indeed, I do. He stated that he does not believe. This week, the world’s leading authority on climate change, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told the world our climate is dangerously close to a tipping point that would lead to climate chaos, and that human activities are to blame. Deadly and record-breaking forest fires, heat waves, floods and droughts occurring not only in the U.S., but around the world, are showing us the beginnings of extreme weather. They are calling this “code red for humanity.” There is a positive side to the report showing that we can change our course, but it can’t be left to chance. It will be determined by the choices we make from this day on. Not just a couple of people, or a couple of companies – every single one of us, in every community, in every country, as a common goal to heal our planet. So, I started thinking, after my friend left. “What if you’re wrong?” If you are wrong, then eventually and quickly, we destroy everything beautiful thing that we are so blessed to have in this world, leaving a very dangerous and threatening place for our children and grandchildren. If I’m wrong, we will simply be leaving a much prettier, cleaner, smarter world for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Your actions matter. You can make a difference. Why not start today.
The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left. Isaiah 24:5-6
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Actor Nita Talbot is 91. Hogan’s Heroes. Actor Dustin Hoffman is 84. Actor Connie Stevens is 83. Country singer Phil Balsley of The Statler Brothers is 82. Actor Larry Wilcox is 74. California Highway Patrol Officer Jonathan “Jon” Baker in CHiPs. Actor Keith Carradine is 72. Actor Donny Most is 68. Ralph Malph on Happy Days. News anchor Deborah Norville is 63. Actor Sam Elliott is 77. Singer Barbara Mason is 74. 1965 hit song “Yes, I’m Ready”. Today co-host Hoda Kotb is 57. Singer-flutist Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull is 74. Mandolin player Gene Johnson of Diamond Rio is 72.
Cartoonist Gary Larson of The Far Side is 71. Singer Sarah Brightman is 61. Actor Antonio Banderas is 61. Wrestler-actor Hulk Hogan is 68. Singer Joe Jackson is 67. Actor George Hamilton is 82. Actor Danny Bonaduce of The Partridge Family is 62. Singer Dash Crofts of Seals and Crofts is 83. Summer Breeze, Diamond Girl. Singer David Crosby is 80. Actor-musician Steve Martin is 76. Actor Antonio Fargas is 75. Huggy Bear in Starsky and Hutch. Bassist Larry Graham of Sly and the Family Stone is 75.
Charlie Watts, drummer for the Rolling Stones since January 1963 and one of the greatest in rock & roll history, has died at the age of 80. His first love was jazz, so he took the Stones to great levels. The news comes weeks after it was announced that Watts would miss the band’s new US tour dates to recover from an unspecified medical procedure. He had previously been treated for throat cancer in 2004. My son reminded me of a story. As the three of us were leaving the Rolling Stones 2019 Houston concert, my daughter remarked, “I wish Charlie Watts was my grandpa.” He was a sharp dresser, married to the same woman for 57 years, and as an artist, after their concerts he would go back to the hotel (while others partied) and sketch a picture of the bed. Watts told Rolling Stone: “I make a sketch of every bedroom I sleep in. I’ve sketched every bed I’ve slept in on tour since about 1968.” Perhaps it will become a best-selling coffee table book for all of his fans.
Don Everly, one-half of the pioneering Everly Brothers whose harmonizing country rock hits impacted a generation of rock ‘n’ roll music, has died. He was 84. The brothers began singing country music in 1945 on their family’s radio show in Shenandoah, Iowa. Bye Bye Love, Let It Be Me, All I Have to Do Is Dream, and Wake Up Little Susie. Child star Jane Withers died at 95. As a girl, she landed leading roles along with Shirley Temple. As an adult, she was known as Josephine the Plumber in ads for Comet cleanser. Nanci Griffith, Texas-born singer-songwriter celebrated in folk and country-music circles for her crystal-clear voice, and storytelling skills, died in Nashville at age 68.
In Fredericksburg, a Dalmatian gave birth to sixteen puppies. A typical litter is about around 6-8. Hmmm. Pongo and Perdita are the parents in the story of 101 Dalmatians, and they had 15 puppies. General Motors and Ford are locked in a trademark battle over which company gets to use the word cruise in branding for its self-driving vehicles. How about neither! Two customers at a North Houston McDonald’s drive-through were arrested after allegedly pulling a gun on the restaurant’s manager during a dispute over the amount of salt on their fries. One of the suspects was out on probation for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. Hmmm.
A dehydrated, underweight alligator was spotted basking in the sun on a Padre Island beach, 400 miles west of where it had been tagged in the bayous of Louisiana, puzzling National Park Service rangers. It was transported to a rehabilitation center, where he/she says you’ll have to read the book, to find out the real story. 😊 A 72-year-old Kingwood man, called the Tan Ben Franklin, has run races on every single continent and in all fifty states, finishing nearly 800 marathons. Serena Williams and Nike have launched a new line of women’s apparel and shoes. Some colleges are now un-enrolling students if they are not vaccinated or charging thousands of dollars in Covid testing fees to remain on-campus. It’s about time. In some cases, they are threatening to cut off their wi-fi. Bet that works better than anything else.
What’s more American than apple pie and hot dogs? Chevy challenged Guy Fieri to craft a recipe, with all the flavors we associate with baseball. Remember the Chevy jingle from the 1970s, “baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet.” Supposedly, Car & Driver named it the co-best car commercial of all time. Before you turn up your nose, read the ingredients. It actually sounds pretty good…handheld, savory, sweet, and quite pretty. This recipe is for just one single Apple Pie Hotdog, but I think you might want to at least double the recipe even if you’re by yourself this Labor Day, because all the reviews say they’re quite good.
Apple Pie Hotdog
1 packet pie crust dough
1 ¾ oz apple pie filling, lightly mashed with a fork
½ oz bacon jam
1 all-beef hot dog, dried off
2 tsp Demerara sugar (substitute: Turbinado sugar. Light brown sugar. Granulated sugar. Sanding sugar.)
1 egg beaten
Pinch apple pie spice
A drizzle of apple mustard (50/50 apple pie filling and yellow mustard) make extra, use to marinade chicken, in slaw, meatloaf, or ham.)
Instructions
Cut two 3” x 5” pie crust dough rectangles and place on baking sheet
Egg wash the pie crust dough edges
Spread apple pie filling down middle of rectangle, then bacon jam, place hot dog in middle
Cover with second 3” x 5” pie crust dough (stretch it)
Crimp edges with a fork to seal (it will stick out a little on one end)
Egg wash top of Apple Pie Hot Dog
Sprinkle with apple pie spice and sugar
Bake in over at 350 for 18-20 minutes until golden
Remove from oven, drizzle with apple mustard and top with crumbled bacon. If you aren’t a huge fan of mustard, you can just use a little for taste. The touch of spice balances all the sweetness. It’s so easy to burn the edges and get soggy bottom, so bake with care.
A Lake Jackson man recovered from a rare, flesh-eating bacteria that he caught in his right hand over the Memorial Day weekend. It is called Vibrio Vulnificus. He had been surf fishing near the free beach at Surfside. That’s pretty bad, isn’t it? Well, not as bad as deciding to go fishing again, in the same area, only to find that he had it again, in his left hand. He underwent two surgeries, but still isn’t sure how he contracted the bacteria since he didn’t have any cuts or open wounds. Galveston County Health Department has reported only cases in of Vibrio in 2021, one in Crystal Beach and the other was food-related. Hmmm. Stephen King said, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, shame on both of us.” Sir, stay out of the water, it’s not safe.
Have a great weekend. Thanks for reading us. I will leave you with the little thought that Connie sent me. If I have to stir it, then it’s homemade. Yes, indeed.
LISA
