THE ORIGINAL SPAM

Long before electronic spam . . .

. . . long before Monty Python's spam . . .




. . . long before Spamarama,

    . . . long before Spamalot,

there was simply Spam, a spiced meat product invented by the Hormel company in Austin, Minnesota. 



It is a canned precooked meat product.  The name Spam came from a combination of the words "spiced" and "ham".  As of 2007, seven billion cans of Spam have been sold.  3.8 cans are consumed every second in the United States.  You can read a lot more about Spam here.

It is actually quite fascinating, including the surprising information that Spam is sold in many varieties of flavors . . like Spam Hot and Spicy, with Tabasco flavor added; Spam Oven Roasted Turkey; Spam with Bacon; Spam Garlic; and many others.

Spam is on the menu at McDonald's restaurants in Guam, Hawaii and Saipan, and on Burger King menus in Hawaii.  In fact, it is so popular in Hawaii it is sometimes referred to as The Hawaiian Steak.

All of which is to tell you that . . . wait for it . . . I like Spam.  SWMBO and, I'm sure, a lot of other people think I'm nuts.  She can't even stand the smell of it.  But I like it.

Take a big hamburger bun, slather some mayonaisse on the bottom half, some margarine on the top and insert a couple of slices of Spam.

Top the Spam with a slice of American cheese.

Top it with the other half of the bun, add some potato chips and . . voila!  A sandwich fit for a king.

Or a Viking.  (see previous Monty Python video)

THE PATIO'S DONE

Regular readers of this blog may recall that SWMBO decided our front patio looked like the dickens and needed some work.  If you hadn't heard about it or can't remember, here's a link to that story.

Well after the power washing, here is what she had left.

It stayed that way for quite a while as she contemplated it and discussed various ideas for what to do with it.  Then around the middle of May we went to Phoenix and stopped in at a house party.  The host and hostess have a lovely back yard, much of which was covered in a patio of the same hue as ours used to be.  SWMBO chatted with the hostess about it and got some tips on what to do.

When we came home she bought several cans of Rustoleum paint.  But by then it was too hot to work outside.  Finally she knew it wasn't going to get any cooler until the monsoon blew in and it would bring rain so it was "now or never".  So on a couple of mornings she rose at some obscenely early hour and worked on the patio.  Here is the result.

She wanted that sort of mottled look, not just solid reddish-brown like it was the first time.  I think it looks pretty darn good.  And I was warned more than once to stay away so my investment in sweat equity is ZERO!

Oh, and by the way, happy Fourth of July!



WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST?

I'm a very light eater in the morning so this is fine with me.

A toasted and buttered English muffin, topped with Blackberry preserves.

Thank you, T.J.

HAPPY HALF YEAR DINNER

Yesterday was the first of July . . another hot day in Arizona.  But a few clouds in the sky presage the upcoming monsoon season and some cooling rain.

Meantime, SWMBO fired up the grill yesterday evening and threw on an abundance of veggies.

You can't beat fire-grilled veggies.

Once the grilling was done, the vegetables joined a couple of slabs of oven roasted beef brisket and dinner was served.



Yes it was hot outside but it was worth it.  I kept the cook and myself supplied with drinks and cleaned up afterward, like a good boy.

I can hardly wait for leftovers tonight!

THE SUITED SUTTON (DOESN'T SUIT???)

The world of sports (or sport, to put a Continental swing on it) has fathered some pretty weird stories but this is one of the strangest ones I've ever heard.  The television broadcast voice of my beloved Arizona Diamondbacks, Daron Sutton, has been suspended for about a week now for an undetermined reason . . . characterized as "insubordination".  But comes word today that the bone of contention between the brass hats and the broadcaster is his custom of wearing a suit when he announces the games.

Now I remember a former boss I had when I worked for a RADIO station who insisted his employees wear suits and ties.  Once in the early 70's when neck scarves were in vogue, I came in to work wearing one.  The boss turned red as he told me to go home and get a necktie on.  I was expecting that and pulled one out of my pocket as I said, "right here, boss."

Sutton and his color man on the broadcasts, former baseball star Mark Grace, usually are attired the same way.

Now, I don't know about you but I think they look pretty sharp.

But the team brasshats (there's another way to describe them by just taking the br off the front of that word) reportedly feel that Sutton and Grace should wear polo shirts with the team logo on them.  Which they do some times.

If the story is to be believed, "some times" isn't good enough for the bosses.  So . . . why wasn't Grace suspended, too?  Like I said, this is a very strange story.

Meantime, here's a picture of Sutton with his dad, Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton.  Both wearing suits.



POLITICS

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) affirmed the constitutionality of the Affordable Health Care (OBAMACARE) act today.  That is, of course, the law offered by President Obama (POTUS).  About half of the citizens of the United States (COTUS) applauded, the other half - including Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (LOONEYBIRD) of Minnesota were apoplectic.  (Hmm, I wonder if apoplexy is treatable under the new law.)  The noted Supreme Court expert (SCOTUS-EX), Jeffery Toobin, apologized for his earlier prediction that the law would be found unconstitutional and his criticism of the government's attorney.



The House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor, (SMIRKER), who wears a snide expression on his face when he's announcing his totally political acts, said there would be a vote in the House on July 11th to repeal the law.  That is headed for failure, even if the radical Tea Party Republicans do vote to repeal.  It probably will not even be brought to a vote in the (thankfully) Democratic Senate.

The Republican candidate for President, Mitt Romney (CLUELESS) misstated many aspects of the bill and said he would repeal it on his first day in office if (and today he did say "if") he's elected.

Meantime, some of the loudest opponents of this so called "socialized medicine" turn out to be folks who've been cashing in on Veterans Administration healthcare (socialized medicine) for decades.

As the comedian Yakov Smirnoff is fond of saying, "what a country!"

MOURNING

I'll just bet you've missed the bird pictures, haven't you.  Well here's one of two.



This is a pair of Mourning Doves.  We seem to live in the midst of a covey (?) of them.  They are all over the place.  I sort of like them but then they don't perch right over my bedroom window.  SWMBO says their mournful but monotonous call drives her crazy.

Incidentally, note the spelling.  Some people refer to them as Morning Doves.  Uh-uh.  Not correct.  I don't know why they seem so mournful but I have described them previously as one of the stupidest birds around.  Maybe they know of their reputation and are expressing their unhappiness.  Whatever it is . . here is a video of one "cooing."



Like I said, I kind of like them.  But when you've heard that sad cry perhaps a couple of hundred times, it can get on the nerves.