Five Things Make a Post

[capri0mni]

1. Back in 1971, Bud Lucky wrote a series of number songs for Seseme Street, including "Ten Turtles," which is built around the device of placing a phone order to your grocery store to have produce delivered (boy-- I long for this even more than a housecall from a doc!) And for the past week or so, it's been running through my head.
   
   One, two, three, four, five
   six, seven, eight, nine, ten:
   Ten tiny turtles on the telephone,
   talking with their grocery men.
   "We would like some Lettuce,
   Would you send us ten heads, please?
   And ten sweet potatahs,
   And ten rutabagas,
   with dimples on their knees.
   
   And we'd like
   One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
   Eight, nine, ten artichokes,
   Ten Eggplants, over easy!
   (that's one of our little jokes)
   Ten leafy, leafy collard greens,
   And please make sure they're washed.
   Light up our eyes, brighten our lives
   With Ten Banana Squash.
   
   And we'll need ten cans of black-eyed peas--
   They give you good strong muscles!
   Ten of those tasty sprouts--
   The ones that they call "Brussels"
   We'd also like ten mangoes
   (They're the favorite of our sister Gert).
   And one last thing: please do include
   Ten apples for dessert!
   
   Ten!
   
   And along with the tune getting stuck in my head, I've been puzzling out an acutual menu for a Vegetarian Harvest feast buffet that would use all of these ingrediants. I'd skip the quanities in the song, because, really: ten whole brussels sprouts are not an equal balance to ten whole rutabegas. Plus, I'd add extra things, like spices and flavoring, maybe rice, and/or other grain. But this veggie order would be the foundation.
   
   Okay, the black-eyed peas and collard greens go together, right off the bat. That's a classic combination* -- that can be our main protein course at the center of the meal.
   
   The lettuce and artichoke hearts would make a nice salad course, no? And as for the rest of the artichoke (are those called leaves, or petals?)-- how would they be, paired with roasted, garlicky eggplant, mushed up into a dip?
   
   Mother always mashed up rutabegas with onions, apples, and garlic, and served them in a mashed potato style. But, in this song, apples are reserved for dessert. So how about if we use the squash as a substitute for the sweet in that recipe?
   
   Now, since the mangoes were not reserved for dessert (and I can't get my head around apples and mangos together), how about making a spicy mango salsa/chutney to serve with the sweet potatos (instead of the usual horrid marshmallow topping)?
   
   That just leaves the brussels sprouts, which I've never liked, so I have no ideas for, except roasting them on their own)
   
   And Apple Brown Betty for dessert.
   
   ::nods::
   
   *(And, if you're basing your traditions on the American South, than this would be perfect for a New Year's Eve dinner -- the "Black eyes" of the beans were once said to ward off evil in the new year, and the collard greens represented money, and the wealth you hope for.
   
   
2. It's Season 41 on Sesame Street, now, and they've brought back Super Grover (updated: He's now Super Grover: 2.0). This new version is dedicated to fulfilling new standards in science and math subjects, which is the focus for this season (the season just past was dedicated to health and the environment). I love Super Grover-- old, and new versions.
   
   The other night, I looked up an old skit I remembered, where Super Grover "Helps" a girl in distress whose computer isn't working. Grover admits that he knows nothing of computers -- in fact doesn't even know what a computer is, but suggests that he tries hopping up and down while yelling "Wubba, wubba!" While he's doing that the girl notices that she simply forgot to turn the computer on. Then, she calls Grover over to show her that the computer's fine, now. And Grover takes credit for saving the day.
   
   The majority of comments on that particular clip (if you are squeamish, don't prod the beach rubble), focus on how stupid and arrogant Grover is for falsely claiming credit. But as usual, they miss the point. This old version of SG was also educating viewers on a couple of basic science and technology points: a) computers are not magic, or alive, and you have to turn them on, and b) beware of the Proximity = Causality logic fallacy.
   
   Super Grover was so focused on hopping around the room yelling "Wubba!" that he didn't even know that the girl found the on/off switch. All he knew was that the very next thing that happened was that the girl announced the result, and so, of course he took credit. I think all television reporters on the science and tech beat should be forced to watch this clip, and be tutored on its subtext (That said, I'm still tempted to yell "Wubba, Wubba!" when my computer and periferals suddenly stop playing nice).
   
   And if I'm not mistaken, it's the origin of the chorus in Monster in the Mirror song)
   
   
3. Speaking of logical fallacies: I note that, although Democratic politicians took a major whopping on Tuesday, the so-called "extreme Left" congressmen all kept their seats. It was all the "moderates" who got voted out and replaced by uber fiscal and social Right-leaning Republicans.
   I fear that pundits and statesmen alike will take this to mean that the country, agrees with the fiscal and social Right.
   
   But I take exact opposite message away: the "Moderates" got voted out because they chickened out, and failed to do the big things that need to get done. So the people who voted them in two years ago just couldn't stomach voting for them again. And that's what provided the opening for the Deficit and Social Agenda Hawks to move in.
   
   A fable-like moral to this list item: Sparrows and Doves can keep the Hawks away from their nestlings, but only if they act together, and have the courage to go after them.
   
   
4. Also on November 2, Laura Miller of Salon.com posted an essay shredding the whole concept of NaNoWrimo" Better yet, DON'T write that novel! (Thanks to trouble for the link). I didn't give it more than a cursory read, because my Internal Editor does a perfectly fine job telling me I'm a doody head, all on its own. But her basic argument seems to boil down to: "If you spend your time writing, you're a waste of space. But if you spend your time reading, you're bettering yourself and society." I bet, if you asked her where apples come from, she'd say: "The Store." *smirk*
   
   She also seems to assume that every single person who writes for NaNo actually intends to submit it somewhere for publication, so they can be Rich-and-Famous[tm]. As if that is the only reason, ever, to write anything. Her bio-blurb attatched to the article makes a big point of how she is a famous and powerful writer... I wonder if she even remembers the fun of organizing a writers group, and swapping stories, and maybe trying her hand at a round-robin. Or if she, herself, has ever done any of that.
   
   
5. So, the New Sherlock, by Moffat and Gatiss. What commentary I've seen on it focuses mostly on how they've modernized it by sticking it in the 21st C., and giving Sherlock a shiny new SmartPhone. But, I see a more subtle modernization in their storytelling (I may, however, be alone in seeing this, I don't know).
   
   In the original stories by Doyle, Dr. Watson is the narrator, but he more or less keeps himself out of the stories: he's playing the role of the ethical news reporter.
   
   But in this particular television remake, thanks to subjective qualities of camera angles and lighting, Moffat and Gatiss have made these John Watson's stories. As is the default assumption in our modern fiction, the view-point character is the protagonist more than simply the narrator. In this remake, it seems to me, Sherlock is the catalyst for change that propels John's life into a whole new arc. How John rises to the challenge that Sherlock poses is what makes him the hero. The mystery genre provides the medium for this story, but the who-dunnit aspect is not the main point.
   
   ...Anyway, yes. Well done, that. Or at least, interestingly done. Don't know if it's better storytelling, but it is fresh.

PS: I wubba you!

Comments

[rob_t_firefly]

Ever since I first saw that Super Grover sketch, I have had the urge to shout "wubba wubba" at things while fixing them. This has served me well as a Computer Guy.

[capri0mni]

It is, indeed, a Satisfying Phrase.

[jesse_the_k]

If I had anything worthwhile to say, I would do so. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the post, particularly ... see icon.

[capri0mni]

Good. I'm happy to have written well and relevantly.

[kellan_the_tabby]

I've never cooked with rutabagas so I might be off here, but if they can do a mashed-potato-oid thing I could see them with the squash and sweet potatoes in a winter vegetable soup. I'll admit I went right to a mango/apple chutney for those two, though I'm not sure about it, really. Tempted to try it out, though.

I _love_ Brussels sprouts so that was easy, and the lettuce/artichoke hearts salad is exactly what I thought of for those two, too. Which leaves collard greens, peas, and eggplant -- which is about where I ran out of clue, but the greens and peas do work well together. I haven't the faintest idea what to do with eggplant but my housemate and I just bought two GINORMOUS ones so I guess we'll have to figure it out...

What to do with Eggplant:

[capri0mni]

My favorite way to eat is as Eggplant Caviar (online recipe) (So-called because that's what it looks like), though I'm a real garlic lover, so I don't think one clove is nearly enough. Also, I'd be tempted to throw in some hot pepper (and I'm one of the cilantro-impaired).

In that recipe, it's prepared as a dip (and what I was thinking for the scales of artichoke). But that same preparation is really good served over pasta, as a sauce.

(oh, and another note: cooked eggplant freezes be-a-ut-ifly, so you can make up massive recipes with eggplant, and then freeze them in one or two portion sizes, and keep them for a year.)