I think I made this a draft, & forgot to post it… I got some video of the kids having a blast on the Swingset, and played around with the YouTube video editor before it disappears.
🏊 Shenanigans at the Plake 👷🚧
My wife & I have very generous cousins with a cabin in the woods where they throw a bunch of fun parties throughout the year. One yearly weekend gathering can get exciting. Here’s some video of Molly swimming in the plake (big pond or a small lake?), and Ian getting a lesson on some heavy machinery!
Molly Swimming at the “Plake” 🏊:
Ian Driving a Skid Steer with “Uncle” Jim 👷:
Ian Driving an Excavator with “Uncle” Jim 🚧:
As always, we had a great time! Molly is getting confident with swimming lessons, and Ian looked so serious in those machines. I am so grateful to be able to share these kinds of experiences with these two.
My phone seemed to “skip” a bit. May be time to back up & remove photos? Also, I’m getting used to playing with the YouTube Video Editor, and it’s apparently going away? Boo, I say.
GetGo vs. Sheetz on Twitter
Heh. Tweeted the other night during some shenanigans in GetGo.
Heh. They both responded.
I also got a DM from GetGo, but no real response yet after I provided my advantage card number. I’m not looking for any freebies, but those poor employees clearly had their hands full.
Sheetz wins the humor in social media award. I do wish there was one here in Bridgeville near I-79.
I am glad that there’s competition here. Let’s just keep Wawa out.
Dreams, Stories, & Dance Class
I have been monkeying around with YouTube video editor. I compiled a few things and played with their filters. This is what I got…
Ian’s dinosaur dream:
Molly’s story:
Molly & Ian tell a story together:
Molly’s dance class:
Well, that’s it (for now).
Stuff and things.
I haven’t blogged very consistently lately. When I’m not blogging, I’m usually doing something with the kids. Like this stuff;
Pulling up carpet tack strips:
Building a swingset:
Getting a pretend haircut:
Sloppy Joes (Cheap Quick Manwich Copy Cat Recipe)
I already blogged about the yinzer Sloppy Joe made with chipped ham. This is the more traditional one. It’s less barbecue-y than the BBQ pork n’ slaw sandwich I blogged about though.
Who is Joe anyway, and why was he sloppy? Maybe Wikipedia knows.
My wife’s grandma had a recipe for “Barbecued Beef” that looks and tastes a lot like Manwich (or the knock-off brands):
My daughter could eat it every day, but we just make the sauce without the peppers & onions. Also, we usually skip the Worcester sauce, but I have subbed in a bit of A1. Here’s how I would do it…
- 1 lb. Ground Beef – Browned & Drained
Then mix this all together & add it…
- ¾ Cup of (Heinz) Ketchup
- 2 Tablespoons of Butter (Butter, not “buttery spread” or oil that’s whipped to make it look like butter.)
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Mustard (I use whatever we have… usually honey mustard.)
- 1 Tablespoon A1 (optional)
- Salt or season-salt to taste (optional)
This is best on the super-cheap hamburger buns… not those awesome homemade deli roll kind. It really does taste like Manwich & it’s all stuff you probably have on hand. It’s an easy crowd-pleaser, and its a double-whammy if you pair it with Mac n’ Cheese or ‘Tater Tots.
Try my meatball sub if you get a sale on ground beef. Why are you still reading? Go make this!
How yinz make your chili? 🌶 [Chili à la AiXeLsyD “Recipes”] 🌶
Yinz like chili? I do. I haven’t made any for a long time. I may need to change that. I stole this (& modified it) from my never-used Cookpendium blog. My writing has hopefully improved since then. Maybe not. I like a tamer chili that would appeal to a wide variety of people to add heat as they like. I like it thick enough to make a spoon stand. I can take or leave the beans, and I reject your debatable elitist visions of chili or what it ought to be.
I ought to try and make a new batch using only stuff I buy at Aldi.
How do you make yours?
[Originally from a post at (the now defunct) PittsburghBeat.com, here’s a few consolidated chili recipe/methods…]
Recipe 1:
I’ve never made chili before, and in researching, I came across 50 billion recipes. So, this morning I made my own in the crock pot…
- 2 cans of condensed tomato soup
- 1 can of tomato paste
- 1 packet of chili mix
- about ½ cup of water
- 1 tsp. of beef bullion
- 1 can light red kidney beans
- however much ground meat was leftover from last night
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- a dash of cayenne pepper
- a dash of paprika
- a dash of garlic
…and I slapped it into the crock pot on low for 8 hours.
Hope it tastes good when I get home. I’ve got shredded cheddar cheese for the top of it, & Super-Pretzels to go along with it. They always served pretzels & chili in my elementary school cafeteria so they belong together in my warped mind.
Most of them use tomato paste, soup, sauce, juice, or diced tomatoes as a base… I even saw one that called for Spicy hot V8… and I think my mom always used soup. Tomato paste is usually bitter, so I figured the tomato soup would counteract it. All of the spices should be rockin’. I like my chili thick.
Oh yeah, about 1/2 the ground meat was cooked w/ some seasoning salt & A1.
Recipe 2:
Here’s what basically went into my chili. I’ll probably eventually make a blog about it with a narrative so I can remember what I did this time for next time… to see what I wanna change or what I wanna do again.
I ended up only using the one can of diced tomatoes (the one with jalapeños) and still kind’ve overflowed the pot by a small amount. So, next time I may cut out one can of tomato soup or a can of beans. Also, I want to try garbanzo beans in my next batch… and I’ve heard chocolate powder goes good in chili some times… so I wanna try that one day too.
I also tossed in 2 slices of Velveeta ripped apart, a dash of spicy brown mustard, and a drop or 2 of A1 Cracked Peppercorn Steak Sauce.
I think the meat that I used was too fatty or I didn’t drain enough fat (…even though I got a about ⅔ of a regular sized plastic cup full of fat out of it). I had to skim some excess grease off of the top when I popped it open this morning.
I’ll let you know the general consensus after it’s been consumed.
[Edit: It was good.]
Recipe 3:
I must have pinned this at some point, too. Someone re-pinned it here…
I think it was a joke about Pepto because this chili killed my guts, even served over mashed potatoes.
Share your chili recipes with me in the comment section below. Don’t be a jag and sit on your secret ingredient(s). Is it cocoa powder? Chocolate bars? Corn? Zucchini? Cinnamon? Potatoes? Steak? Instant potato flakes? Cornmeal? Chupacabra?
How do you serve it? In a bowl? Over baked or mashed potatoes, rice,or spaghetti? With soft pretzels or cornbread? With tortilla chips or crackers?
How do you cook it? Crock pot? Dutch oven? Stove top? Over a campfire?
Do you like the Hormel canned stuff or the stuff from Wendy’s? Who makes your favorite?
Spill it!
Succulent Turtle 🐢🌱
Succulent Turtle 🐢🌱
Have you seen the succulent turtles on pinterest? I thought they were neat, so I wanted to make one. There are plenty of sites with instructions, try these three:
- Gardening in the Shade: How to Make A Succulent Turtle Topiary
- theWHOot: Succulent Turtle Planter
- Architecture Magz: 73 Succulent Turtle Topiary Ideas For Your Garden
…If you’re interested. Really though, I bet you could figure it out from the pictures.
🐢
I used what we had around. I just bought a bit of potting & garden soil which I already needed for the vegetable garden. I used an old hanging basket, door screen, two different types of wire mesh that I had in the back yard, and some zip-ties. I had planned on using chicken-wire, but the other stuff seemed better suited to the task.
I did have to buy the plants. Anyone have any hens and chicks to hand over?
🌱
Also, I didn’t have four little flower pots… only two. But, I had an old branch, nails, glue, and a chainsaw… so Timmy the Turtle got wooden legs.
At least I can say I have used the potting bench.
If you make one, be sure to share your photo in the comments! Next time I’ll have to get sculpting with the chicken wire, and make a Bantha or a Tauntaun.
🐢🌱
Degenerated
What’s Johnny doin’ out on a Tuesday night?
The song “Degenerated” from the movie Airheads is one of my all-time favorites. If you’re a fan of the movie, you no-doubt know the song. And if you’re a music nerd in general, you probably know that it’s a Reagan Youth cover. I would love to know more about the song. I have collected most of the “who,” but I would love to know the “why.”
Check out the two songs and then we’ll get into why I have so many questions & what they are.
OK, here are the players involved from the information that I gathered on Wikipedia, IMDB, Discogs, & wherever else I clicked;
- The song was originally written by Paul Bakija (Paul Cripple) & Dave Rubinstein (Dave Insurgent) of Reagan Youth.
- Fictional band The Lone Rangers, comprised of Chester “Chazz Darby” Ogilvie (Brendan Fraser), Rex (Steve Buscemi), & Pip (Adam Sandler) play the song in the movie.
- Jay Yuenger and Sean Yseult of White Zombie fame played on the recording of the song, with Brendan Fraser on vocals. (Seriously, that bass part so damn awesome, & the guitar solo is blistering. Sean & Jay both really rocked it.)
- Yuenger & Bryan Carlstrom produced the track. Bryan produced & engineered stuff by White Zombie, Alice in Chains, Anthrax, The Offspring, Social Distortion, & more.
- Carter Burwell is credited for the music in the film. The movie was written by Rich Wilkes & directed by Michael Lehmann.
Here’s what I want to know;
- Who decided to use the song? The director, the music guy, the writer, the musicians?
- Why that song? The running joke about Chazz writing the song for his girlfriend or before he met her makes it even funnier because I wouldn’t remotely call it a love song. Did someone just really like the song? Was licensing cheap all around? Did they ask Paul Cripple for permission? What does he think of the song? Did Dave Insurgent ever get to hear it?
- Why metal up a punk rock song? They seemed like an 80’s holdover kind of band. Was it a statement on Grunge being a punk n’ metal hybrid?
- Why are there different chord changes? The chord progression is different, but the melody (and I use the term loosely) is the same. The cover may be tuned below standard if I remember correctly? Someone more musically versed may be able to explain the difference I just know when playing by ear on guitar they’re totally different progressions.
- Why the lyric change? ( I assume to keep the movie rated PG-13?) Most notably a removal of the F-word and references to constipation (Lone Rangers Lyrics/Reagan Youth Lyrics). Who made the changes?
- Who played drums? Jay, Sean, Bryan, or were there other uncredited musicians?
“The Lone Rangers? That’s original. How can you pluralize ‘Lone Ranger?'”
I’m sure I have more questions that I haven’t thought of here. Does anyone out there know the explanation?
It is 2017. I may have to reach out via Facebook , Twitter, or email to all of the players involved to see if I can get an answer. (If they even remember.)
Sadly, Dave Insurgent passed away in 1993 & Bryan Carlstrom passed away in 2013.
I just really dig both versions of the song, the movie, and that it led me to checking out more Reagan Youth. Is it weird to be a fan of a song by a fictional band? Hey, I dig “Three Small Words” too, and that was produced by Babyface.
Do you like either version of this song? Do you have a song by a fictional band that you really dig? Do you know any of the relevant information here? Let me know in the comments!
Now I’m off to look at naked pictures of Bea Arthur and eat cottage cheese out of a football helmet.
So, we built a swing set…
It was a fun family project. We told the kids that birthdays & Easter would be light as we were putting a lot into the swingset. I’m not sure they understood or cared. Our moms helped with the purchase, too. Bethany & I looked online at 6,487,932 swing sets, and narrowed it down to 15 or so in our price range. I made a spreadsheet to compare them, because OCD or something. Looking at the roadside swing sets at those places that also sell sheds and rocking chairs, we got a similar product for about ⅓ or ¼ of the price, albeit with no installation.
Installation is expensive, and now we know why. Ha ha. Everyone who knew we were getting one gave warning, so we weren’t surprised, but it was an interesting task.
It came in 3 boxes from Walmart.com, and we did in-store pickup because I measured & it all fit nicely in the family vehicle.
It took two weekend days with one week night in between to get it done, but the first weekend day was slowed by the kids “helping,” a move-the-tools-in-because-it-looks-like-rain delay, and maybe even a “let’s undo that part because I put it on backwards” moment. The week night was hindered by the fact that as soon as I attached the ladder & sliding board, the kids needed to test it out.
Bethany & I enjoyed the kids helping. We do the Home Depot Kids Workshops so both kids are comfortable with a hammer & a screwdriver, and we have done some other stuff at home like carpet removal and hanging curtain rods where they have actually helped.
My mom even got video of the little man showing off his ratchet skills;
We have been at the house for a few years now, but the project this year is another step to getting the back yard to where we want it, and next year we’ll work on the front. Having some trees removed recently & moving our garden really opened up some space in the back yard. I’d like to put in a fire ring, and a toy car race-track play area. I actually proposed removing the Bean House to make room for the latter, but I was vetoed by a 2yo boy saying “Unh-uh, Daddy. Hoooome. Hooome. Daddy, unh-uh.” I really hope the beans take off this year. I have some sprouts popping up already. I have some squash around it too. I don’t think the soil is all that great there though.
I even recently built this Pinterest inspired potting bench…
Back to the swing set, we even got a few extra add-ons from Amazon, like the steering wheel, telescope, telephone, and some handles. I think I want to replace the kitchen area tarp walls with some chalkboard-painted wood… and eventually when the canopy fades or dry-rots, I’d like to replace it with some type of solid roof.
At any rate, I encourage you to tackle a project as a family. I encourage you to get kids outdoors. I encourage you to not be afraid to give young kids some tools with a bit of guidance and a lot of supervision. I encourage you to get them into building, gardening, cooking, and the business of imagination. I encourage you to try projects yourself, and don’t be afraid to involve the whole family. It’s amazing how much you can learn through Google, YouTube, and a maybe a few tries.
I think the kids like it…
World (and Lunar) Domination 