What I Heard This Week! 11-21-2019
Richard Jewell was a security guard at AT&T during the Summer Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 with plans to become a police officer. At around 1am in a crowded Centennial Olympic Park, he noticed an unattended green knapsack, alerted police and helped move people away from the area. The knapsack contained a pipe bomb which exploded, killing one person and injuring 111 others. In the first few days after the bombing, Jewell was considered a hero, then the FBI stated that he might have planted the bomb, but after questioning and a polygraph that he passed, Jewell was never charged. Attorney General Janet Reno refused to clear Jewell or apologize to him. Then, 88 long days later, the FBI formally cleared him as a suspect. The polite but tearful and painfully shy Jewell lived for months under a very dark cloud. He criticized the FBI and the news media for how his case was handled. In August 1997 Attorney General Reno publicly apologized to Jewell and deplored the leak to the media that made his name known as a suspect. Jewell eventually got a job with the police force in tiny Lutherville, Georgia. The FBI later charged a man named Eric Robert Rudolph with the Centennial Olympic Park bombing.Clint Eastwood is directing the movie that will be released by Warner Bros. on December 13th.It stars Paul Walter Hauser as Jewell, alongside Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm, and Olivia Wilde.
Adam Chandler, author of Drive-Thru Dreams was asked why the Popeyes chicken sandwich has been such a phenomenon and he offered this theory, “In the age of gimmicky, brightly colored, Instagram-friendly food items, there is also a literal and spiritual hunger for something relatable and familiar.”As of, November 3rd, the now famous chicken sandwich is back.
Taco Bell has a great new idea for your Thanksgiving meal. It’s called Rolled Chicken Tacos Bisque. You make bisque with ½ cup diced onion and a chopped garlic clove sautéed in vegetable oil until softened. Add a 14 oz. can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes, juice and all, 1 tablespoon chili powder, ½ teaspoon Mexican oregano, and salt to taste. Heat to boil then add one quart of chicken broth and bring back to a boil. Chop 4 Rolled Chicken Tacos (from Taco Bell) and add to mixture, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add a cup of cilantro, turn off heat and allow soup to cool for 5 minutes. Add one cup heavy cream and incorporate/blend all the ingredients to a consistency that you want with a handheld emersion blender (make sure that your pan is metal and not Teflon.) Serves 4. Top with cheese, Mexican crema, lime wedge and cilantro, then use cut pieces of Rolled Chicken Tacos for garnishment. Let it be known that I am simply repeating what I read…I have NOT tried this recipe myself.
The SPCA has an abundance of new puppies right now. Cute ones, tiny ones, big ones, but all of them are totally perfect; these babies just need a nice warm home, someone to lick on the face and love unconditionally.
Chip and Joanna Gaines will open a boutique hotel when they turn a 100-year-old building in downtown Waco, into a 40-room luxury lodge. I just love those guys.
Sometimes on the days that the office is closed, I still open the door and wait on customers. It’s the right thing to do – plus it keeps me grounded and I am much more appreciative of the job that everyone else does here at this office. Last week, Katiria Baez from Taco Cabana came by to invite us to use them for our next party or event. Truthfully, I would never, ever have thought about them for catering, so I’m glad that she came by. They will even prepare a “Build Your Own Taco Bar.” Or better yet, “Build Your Own Breakfast Taco Bar.” FYI. Just another tool to help make your life easier during the holidays when you have a houseful of company.
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Golf Hall of Fame Gary Player is 84. Rhythm & blues musician Ronald Khalis Bell is 68. Kool and the Gang. Rock singer Bo Bice is 44. He was the runner-up against Carrie Underwood in the fourth season of American Idol. Actress Suzanne Somers is 73. Singer Wendy Wilson is 50. Wilson Phillips. Actor singer Bill Hudson is 70. Movie critic Richard Roeper is 60. Singer Chris Kirkpatrick is 48. ‘N Sync. Actress Joyce Randolph is 95. Trixie Norton on The Honeymooners. Country singer Leroy Van Dyke is 90. Walk on By.
Singer Jay Black is 81. Jay Black and the Americans. Actress Stefanie Powers is 77. Hart to Hart with Robert Wagner. Movie director Phillip Kaufman is 83. The Right Stuff, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Movie director Ang Lee is 65. Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger – Hidden Dragon, The Hulk, Brokeback Mountain, Life of Pi.Weird Al Yankovic is 60. Rock musician Robert Trujillo is 55. Metallica. Actor Harris Yulin is 82.
Singer Peter Noone is 72. I’m Hen-a-ree the 8th, I am. Herman Hermits. Singer songwriter and local boy Robert Ellis is 31. Singer songwriter Neil Young is 74. He just married Darryl Hannah. Rock musician Donald Roeser is 72. Blue Oyster Cult. Actress Megan Mullally is 61. Baseball great Sammy Sosa is 51. Actor Ryan Gosling is 39. Actress Anne Hathaway is 37.
Ice calving, or glacier calving, is when giant chunks of ice break off from a glacier. Google YouTube, “Pine Island Massive Glacier Burst.” Wow, it’s amazing that someone was able to record this.
Toby MacFarlane, 56, a former California real estate executive and graduate of USC, became parent #13 to be sentenced in the college admissions bribery scandal that became public in March. He admitted he paid $450,000 so his son and daughter could gain admission to USC as fake soccer and basketball recruits. He has expressed remorse and said he agreed to the scheme at a time of “personal crisis” as his marriage was foundering. “I knew it was wrong,” he wrote in a letter to the judge, “but at the time I was feeling completely overwrought and all I could think of was not having to worry about my kids getting into college. Foolishly and selfishly, I took the easy way out.” He was sentenced to six months behind bars, the longest prison sentence so far. He also received two years of supervised release, $150,000 fine and 200 hours of community service. The judge decided to give MacFarlane a harsher sentence than was suggested in the sentencing guidelines (ahhh, so there are sentencing guidelines) because he viewed the crime’s nature as “fraudulent, deceitful.” MacFarlane must report to prison by January 2. Yikes. Is this a sign of what’s to come for Lori Loughlin who still maintains her innocence, but is supposedly weighing a new plea offer that would have her admitting guilt and hoping prosecutors might be willing to recommend a lesser prison sentence instead of the 50-year sentence that has been widespread speculation.
“Oh! What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” Sir Walter Scott
$26.6 million was paid at auction in October for a long-lost 13th century painting that was found hanging in a Frenchwoman’s kitchen for so long that she couldn’t even remember how she got it.
I used to think that the worst thing in life was to end up alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone. Robin Williams
On November 22, 1963, our 35th president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was assassinated in Dallas after spending a day in Houston on a planned two-day, five-city tour of Texas to prepare for his 1964 presidential campaign. Do you remember where you were?
The late musical icons,Whitney Houston and the Notorious B.I.G. are among the 16 acts nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 2020 class, along with Dave Matthews Band, Motorhead, Pat Benatar, Soundgarden, The Doobie Brothers, T.Rex and Thin Lizzy. Nine Inch Nails, Judas Priest, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, MC5 and Todd Rundgren make up the remainder of nominees for the 35th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony that will take place on May 2, 2020,but official inductees will be announced in January.Each year, five to seven acts usually make it into the Rock Hall after a vote by 1,000 people, including performers, music historians and industry experts. Fans can vote online. Acts are eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first commercial recording. Six-time Grammy winner Whitney Houston, who died in 2012, is known for “The Greatest Love of All,” ”I Will Always Love You” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.”
Kanye West, Joel Osteen, Kim Kardashian and Dan Patrick all hung out in Houston this past weekend. If I didn’t know that it really happened, I would say this has to be a typo. Vasari LLC, which operated about 70 Dairy Queens across Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, filed for bankruptcy and announced it was closing 29 restaurants. A Brookshire woman was sentenced to ten years in federal prison after she allegedly mailed explosives to Barack Obama and Governor Greg Abbott. She still denies committing the crimes,but was linked to the package by a cat hair taped under the box’s address label, which was consistent with hair taken from her cat. Hmmm. Two men and a woman were shot and killed at Walmart on Monday, this time in Duncan, Oklahoma, about 80 miles from Oklahoma City. What is it about Walmart and shooters?Pray for our country.
Delivering papers was my job again last week because we were short carriers. It was also a privilege, of course, because it means that lots of people are reading us. This time I visited the Alvin area which is, according to Google Maps, is only 29 miles from LJ to Alvin. It seems like it takes longer. Anyway, I decided to make the most of the trip by stopping by Froberg’s for eggplant, a cute little white pumpkin, corn on the cob, and tomatoes, then next door to Greak’s Smoke House where I just told him that I wanted the best thing he had in the smokehouse. He pointed to a bacon wrapped tenderloin stuffed with cream cheese and jalapenos. Good Lord, it was all I could do not to eat it raw in the car because of the beautiful smell and then for three days after, every single time I opened the refrigerator, there was the overwhelming fabulous smell again. I continue to be a firm believer that this very smell should be bottled and available in the male and/or female perfume section of all the nicer retail stores like Walmart, Target and Tractor Supply. 😊 It would sell like crazy. Back to my story. It was a very rich dinner that I pulled together with roasted zucchini, mushrooms, and Brussel sprouts. A feast. Would I recommend this tenderloin? Absolutely, but I don’t know how anyone could eat it often.
Hello. We have trusted you with the newspaper you have in your hand. We folded it down the middle very gently, so it’s easier to read and handle, then rounded the corners so you don’t get paper cuts. At this point we are passing proprietary ownership to you, therefore it’s your responsibility to dispose of this wonderful object in a way that is fair to all concerned. We want more than for it than to just sit around on your kitchen table or office desk, only to be tossed into the trash, so dispose of it gently after you have found joy and pleasure by reading to the very end. Then, please share it with someone you love.If you don’t love anyone enough to share, then love the Earth by recycling or reusing it in one of many different ways. You are a good person and you will find a way. We are so happy to have you as a customer. If you are reading us online, well, nevermind. Thank you. Lisa Baker
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