Is this not the best 2016 election night video ever? Fellow blogger Jules thought so over medium rare steak, claret, silver and pistols on the mahogany of that halcyon November night. Wow. He actually got in. Far. Out. Of course the rest is history, here's the video:
Perfection? Near enough as dammit.
Cheers,
LSP
Mexican music fills the air, Eduardo's exotic ducks are sleeping on the roof of his house across the yard and all seems well with this small rural haven in the North Central Texas Exclusion Zone. Later there'll be fireworks and maybe some celebratory gunfire. Just remember, kids, what goes up must come down.
Speaking of News Year's Eve gunfire, I remember looking across the river at Detroit from Canada at around midnight in the late '90s. Man, it sounded like a firefight was going on over there and I guess it was. Apparently some jolly revelers had opened up on each other with MAC-10s somewhere downtown. I know this because it was reported in the press, which is always honest, loyal and true.
So be careful out there and have a great New Year. Here's a prayer by way of resolution:
Almighty God, who hast poured upon us the new light of thine incarnate Word: Grant that the same light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
God bless you all,
LSP
Who's going to be the next President of the, ahem, Free World? El Senor Trump, Joe "Wicked Old Crook" Biden? Kamala "The Whore" Harris? Good question.
For what little it's worth, I don't see the Crook getting too far, he's just too unpopular, despite his 81 million vote 2020 rig, and he's clearly ancient and demented as well as an old fraud and a crook. No one really likes him, even his own party, why would they. So the 2024 vibe doesn't seem to lie with Pedo Joe. But what about the Cackling Whore? No one likes her either, not a good candidate.
Then there's the Orange Pinata, Trump. He's popular, no doubt about it, the man fills stadiums, but the Uniparty hates him, he's a threat to them. So do you see the Golden Golem of Greatness being allowed by our rulers to ascend, once again, to the Oval Office? I'd say that was unlikely, but even so, there has to be some kind of viable opposition to keep the pretense of our one two party state vaguely credible. You know, your vote counts, sorta thing, which it obviously doesn't, but whatever.
Cynical doomerism aside, who will the Power that controls us run against Orange Man Bad. The Old Witch, Hillary? Surely not, that pantsuit's already sailed. Feeble Joe and the Cackler are clearly a bust, so... who? Mitchell Obama, swooping in from Martha's Vineyard like an ill-omened bat? As a kind of final black Democrat rally before the Latino influx replaces that unfortunate demographic?
Possibly, but what do I know, not much except this. Trump is surely the only viable GOP candidate, Biden/Harris are a bust and Mitchell's an outlier, which leaves us at an impasse. There has to be someone, some person anointed by Power to act as the figurehead of State and preserve the facade of freely elected governance. Who will it be?
Your Call,
LSP
Hotel food. Perhaps you've encountered its beastliness, pricey corporate slop served up as some kind of "treat." Huh. But I recall exceptions to the rule, the Berkley in Knightsbridge served up understated excellence and the Dorchester on Hyde Park wasn't shabby either.
Then there was the famous Connaught in Mayfair; go to Mass 'round the corner and fall back to the Connaught for a roast, cell phones not allowed. All famous in their day, justifiably, but let's not forget the Stafford, just off St. James.
Sitting cheek-by-jowl to palatial Spencer House, the Stafford was all about Gilded Age luxury and had wartime cachet to boot, being the WWII Officers' Mess of various allied nations, namely America and Canada. Hence the hotel's American Bar.
I used to love the American Bar, where you could order up a Club BLT and get perfection, but got to know the dining room menu too well, to the point of exhaustion, it was a work thing. Pan to one night seated at starched linen and gleaming glassware. A waiter approaches and asks in a disturbing French accent, "Sir?"
A moment's reflection, "I should like a cheese omelette and chips." The beastly Dagenhamite sneered at my off the menu order and replied in fakey French, "Would sir like ketchup on his chips?" Stunned by his dam impudence I sat silent while Viscount Furness thundered, beating the table, "He'll eat what he dam well wants!"
The waiter retreated, suitably chastened, and returned with a very decent omelette.
Go to the Stafford if you're in St. James and enjoy the American Bar, I think it remains unscathed from the ravages of the last three decades. Avoid the dining room though, they've ruined it, last I saw.
While you're in the area, gaze in wonder at White's Beau Window and Boodles' equivalent, frown at the forbidding Whiggish facade of Brook's and take solace in the Carlton Club, formerly Arthur's, where, apparently, you're not allowed to smoke anymore. Rubbish.
Cheers,
LSP
For an extravagantly doomerist set of predictions for the coming year look no further than 2024: Good-Times, Weak-Men, & The 'Secret Sauce' Of Globalist Wickedness, via Zerohedge. Here's the captivating intro:
“I’ve also lost patience with the Sharia of the political left taking over the entire system.”
- David Collum
Historians of the future, flash-frying peccary testicles and mesquite pods over their campfires, will wonder at how the archetypal Shining City on a Hill of America’s storied yesteryear got transformed into the roach motel that our country has become on the threshold of 2024 CE. Will they be as stupidly bewildered as, in our time, the faculty at Harvard, the editors of The New York Times, or the directorate of the CDC? Or will they figure out the score by then?
Which is: the nauseating state-of-the-nation is being driven by a cohort of our own fellow citizens lost in an evil crypto-religious salvation rapture that veils their own self-disgust, moral failure, peevish discontents, petty hatreds, willful profanations, compulsive lying, sexual depravity, fraudulence, venality, cupidity, and all-around want of boundaries. They are wrecking the country on-purpose, led by their chosen figurehead avatar, “Joe Biden,” and the horses of many different colors he rode in on.
The people running things, yanking the levers of power, managing the malign weapon they have made of government (and the law, and schooling, and medicine, etc.), have got to be turned out, and hard. Not a few should find themselves in the courts and, with proper and fair adjudication, be conducted to prison, perhaps even to the special room there where the lives of the wicked are ceremonially concluded.
You may legitimately ask: Does America deserve what it’s getting? Well, you know the old maxim about hard times make strong men. . . strong men bring good times. . . good times make weak men. . . . Our national quandary is certainly a case of that, plus the manifestation of well-known terrestrial cycles (e.g., Fourth Turnings), plus the workings of emergence as the dynamics involved in all this sort themselves out. . . topped off by the “secret sauce” of Globalist wickedness, with the aim of severe population reduction and the asset stripping of Western Civ for the benefit of the that moneygrubbing Globalist transhuman technocrat rat-pack.
My natural inclination, you know, is a kind of allergy to paranoid schemes, but one does survey the scene with wonder at how superbly coordinated the fuckery has been — much of the world locking down simultaneously for the Covid-19 op. . . the global mass vaxx campaign. . . the fiscal lunacy and accompanying central bank shenanigans. . . the broad-based censorship operations. . . the capture of the news media. . . and the war-mongering.
So, the country is in the toilet and it is our job in 2024 to make sure it doesn’t get flushed all the way down the pipe. That’s all the throat-clearing you will hear before we get to the meat of this broadside: predictions for the year ahead.
You can and should read the excellence of the whole thing. For what it's worth, I mostly agree with Mr. Kunstler even though he doesn't deploy the estimable words "malfeasant," "skulduggery," "mendacious," and "satrap."
A few years back and there you have it, I was in 'Nam, Cheltenham. It being New Year's Eve it seemed right to visit some friends, regimental tie and blazer no less. And there we were, "Happy New Year, fella," I offered some massive biker, "Is it, F***r?" came the electric synapse, ultra dopamine quick response.
I looked at the offensive mountain of oily denim, leather, hair and worse and said, "Devil take you and twice as fast." He didn't, fortunately, because the owners, ahem, of the house broke in, "Leave him alone, he's Adolf." And so he did.
Funny thing, I was the last man standing at that biker event, at 4++ in the morning. Lightweights, obviously.
Your Old Pal,
LSP
Here's the thing. You drive over to the local Dallas Tom Overpriced Thumb in search of Boxing Day provisions, and what do you find? A lonely, less than half-price, New York Strip roast. Whoa, apparently no one wanted this bad boy before Christmas because it cost an absurd Bidenflation 70 bucks. So now it sits orphaned and unwanted on the slave block of fate at a mere 24 USD. So what do you do?
Buy it, of course, and thank the Gods of Roast Beef for their largesse. Good work, you've rescued this superior cut of beef from the scandal of back alley dumpsterism. Well done, but your work isn't over, you have to roast that beef and do it right. Yes, but how?
Here's how. Take the meat out of the fridge and let it rest till room temp, in the meanwhile preheat your oven to 450. It's not hard, listen to triumphant music while you're at it, maybe something by Handel or Hawkwind's Motorhead, your call.
Then brush the meat with olive oil, grind some black pepper onto the thing, add coarse salt, and place on a vegetable trivot of onion, carrot, garlic and celery. Let the beast sit while the oven heats up and make Yorkshire Pudding batter. It's not hard, I use Gordon Ramsey's recipe because it works. Put the batter in the fridge and the roast in the oven.
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Sear at 450 for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 325 and roast for 45 minutes. Watch that thing like a hawk and check with a meat thermometer an hour in. It probably won't be ready and that's a good thing, you have leeway. If so, let it cook for another 15 minutes or so until the meat reaches 120. (4.5 pound timing) When it does, take it out and cover with tinfoil.
Let it rest and become perfect as you make Yorkshire Pudding, gravy and reheat Christmas Eve's roast potatoes; that'll take about thirty minutes. Then have at it, and slice that medium rare beef up. And fall upon your scoff.
Like a Warrior,
LSP
All Hail Pershore and its Boxing Day Meet,
LSP
PS. Look, if you can't ride, learn. It may become useful.
Spot the Etonian flag :)
After the festive fun and family conviv. of Christmas, Boxing Day comes as pleasant "breather," time to relax and take it easy.
Walk the dog to the nearest Pick 'n Steal, reflect on Stephen the Martyr, it's his Feast today, as you stroll down the boulevards of Olde Dallas, and return to HQ for an easy lunch. Warm bread, cheese, dates and grapes, raise a glass to the Incarnate Word, slumber over books on antedeluvia and then...
Return to the fray to make pie. Yes, beef and mushroom pie from the leftovers of yesterday's feast, it's not hard. Cut the beef off the bone(s), chop up an onion, some garlic and celery and saute in 3 Tbs butter till tender and fragrant. Add three Tbs of flour and stir it up, then add beef stock. Well done, you've got this far, but you're not there yet.
Let everything simmer and stir, like a faculty revolt at Harvard, and add the beef. This is key, obviously. While the meat's simmering in the mix, saute some mushrooms in butter till golden and add those too, along with some red wine, and let it all cook to desired consistency.
That done, turn off the heat, add yesterdays cooked carrots to the mix and allow the delicious pie filling to rest and cool. Have a glass of the right stuff, listen to Handel, shoot some 5.56, sharpen a kukri, whatever, your call, no rule, and in God's good time roll out some pastry. Good work, fill a pie dish with its filling, cover with jolly old pastry and fire it all into the oven at 400.
Let that beast cook for 20 minutes or so until golden brown, you can even glaze the pastry with an egg yolk if you like, then fall upon your scoff.
Like a Warrior,
LSP
What a good day! An easy spin down I35 to Dallas followed by some serious standing rib, roast potato and Yorkshire pudding Christmas action with Ma LSP and two sisters. Just big fun, and now everyone's watching Black Adder's Christmas, amusing. But back to food.
What's your standing rib recipe? Mine's this: Preheat oven to 450*, season room temp beef with salt and pepper, put the beast on a vegetable trivot of roughly chopped carrot, onion, celery and a few whole cloves of garlic. Fire that beef into the oven and roast at 450 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 and roast until the meat's at 120*, around 13 minutes per pound. Take it out, put the thing on some kind of platter and cover with tinfoil. Make gravy out of the veg and drippings in the roasting plan.
OK, no surprises there, but you may have a better solution, feel free to chime in. After all, there's nothing wrong with a team effort when it comes to the quest for roast beef perfection. More on this culinary adventure anon, back to Black Adder.
Hope you've all had the best of days.
Cheers,
LSP
