MORNING
You know what I miss about living out west? Shopping at Freddy Meyers. He’s got more sense than all of DC put together and he is too good to run for President, although I think he should have (he passed away in 1978). He’s the guy who really pioneered the off-highway shopping mall, planning his stores along projected highway routes. A lot of the fancy ideas people think came from California, like banning plastic bags, once again, came from Washington State. Here’s a Freddy Meyers at the end of the rainbow.
At that point, it becomes a simple matter to embellish the bass part to play at least some of the instrumental notes from the studio version. Hence my rep for “playing lead” on the bass. But this is not to be confused with over-playing. You never over-play the band nor the audience, at least I don’t. However, if one wants to outclass the rest of the band, it is open season. Twenty thousand. That’s how many hours of dedicated practice needed to outclass the band. But by then, you completely outclass them.
NOON
What? I have not mentioned food this year? Give me a moment to think of something novel. Okay, how about rice paella? It’s pretty much the same as any rice dish but with seafood I don’t normally dine on. It had crabs, oysters, mussels, you know the garbage disposal animals of the ocean. But the dish has won so many awards, I went out and bought a package. Store-bought with spicy rice and a small tin of morsels, so I can say it's home made.. It’s like seafood gumbo but cooked together rather than piled on the rice.
Alas, this item is on my restricted list, as in one cup serving per month. Sigh. Oh, here’s something unusual, which this blog is good for--the unusual. The search criteria I use to look up what I’m allowed kept finding the name of the actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Since I’m not into middle-aged mothers no matter what they do for a living, I looked.
It seems she’s given up all the same foods I did, but she’s in detox. GMOs, white bread, milk, factory food, she is swearing it all off for the year. Let’s see if she lasts. But I’ve always wondered how easy would be to diet when you have a chef making the meals for you.
Anyway, what a coincidence. Same diet, different people. I’m cantankerous that way. Actresses of a certain age (but not musicians) should step down and let somebody younger have a chance. I’m just not into anything fake. She dyes her hair, but wants natural fare. So, do I, Gwyneth, so do I.
This is not really food but inflation has hit my blood thinner. That’s correct, I drink my dosage in the form of Alka-Seltzer. That’s 325 mg of A.S.A., one tablet per day. Years ago when I learned there were possible side effects from this acidic medicine, I took it with water. I learned to prefer the lemon-lime flavor. Wallace liked it as well, saying it cleared his mouth, which makes sense. But the price is now $10 for 36 tablets of what is basically buffered baking soda.
There, that’s my obligation to report on food without resorting to standard taste tests or swapping recipes. And it’s not easy to walk that tightrope in this day and age with the Internet covering almost every angle. Oh, and on the paella, I would be allowed more if I could have it with chicken instead of seafood. So I’ll go over all those different recipes, don’t give up hope. If you have not tried it and are a fan of rice, you really ought to.
AFTERNOON
Here’s a picture of a prototype e-bike leaned against a sidecar (under the blue tarp) next to a scooter. If you see this kind of thing regularly, or just a bit, or even at all, we’d like to talk to you. For the intellectually curious, this is the re-wiring of the new and expensive controller, which required hours today I would compare [effort] with the work done by any 15 men elsewhere, and I’m not just spouting.
I guess what I’m getting at is that it is not the iced tea and pineapple juice and plastic chairs and country music and Jap oranges not shown in this photo. It is the oh, so rare, non-critical, comfy and encouraging place to work. Seriously, neighbors pulled up benches to watch.
The resolution is crummy, but we found and ordered an Argus 1610, so future photos are likely to get better. That Argus, that’s the original camera that changed this blog from prose only. Some laugh at such a 0.3 megapixel camera, but you know, I laugh at their 0.3 lack of accomplishment in life.
I also have this great incentive stimulus package for DC. Quit giving free money to the banks. Like me, they are unlikely to spend it. Give it to stupid poor people because the only thing they know about money is how to spend it as quickly as possible. That’s how you kick-start the economy. Give me free cash and the last thing I’ll do is pump it back into circulation. Jeez, you guyz.
Return tomorrow for a treat. I thought to show the 14 photos, on average , required to have one like shown above. These are not posed so it takes all kinds of time and pixels to find the single nice or best photo you encounter in this blog. Real life don’t work that way, so examine the proof sheet, which I’ll shoot for tomorrow.
ADDENDUM
My IQ? I’ve been tested three times by professionals. Once for the military, once for a management test, and once for my Mensa application. All three results were identical, my IQ is exactly 100. As I’ve said, the average ten year old can beat me at chess. He could probably best me at checkers, tiddlywinks, bicycle racing, and any other kid’s game as well. (You can infer from that what I think of adults who still play at such things.)
The traditional IQ test is that which compares intellectual age to chronological age and nothing else. It does not measure the creativity of ’tards or the fantasies of dreamers because it was never designed to do so. As I pointed out years ago, if everyone woke up tomorrow twice as smart as they are tonight, the average IQ would still be 100. Using that test, the average American is 1% smarter than the average Canadian. With Canada ranking below Mongolia.
Countries With The Highest Average IQ
Rank Country Average IQ (Matching scores are listed alphabetically.)
1 Hong Kong 107
2 South Korea 106
3 Japan 105
4 Taiwan 104
5 Singapore 103
6 Austria 102
6 Germany 102
6 Italy 102
6 Netherlands 102
10 Sweden 101
10 Switzerland 101
12 Belgium 100
12 China 100
12 New Zealand 100
12 United Kingdom 100
16 Hungary 99
16 Poland 99
16 Spain 99
19 Australia 98
19 Denmark 98
19 France 98
19 Mongolia 98
19 Norway 98
19 United States 98
25 Canada 97
25 Czech Republic 97
25 Finland 97
Real IQ tests don't work until you are at least 16 years old, preferably 21. The reason is that like, height, children have vastly different behaviors and rates of learning, etc, which tend to move back to the norm after time. At age 21, most people have stopped getting any taller. And the IQ test is based on measured norms, not wildly varying data. I'm often asked about my IQ. It is 100. Exactly normal. Always has been. I took a Mensa test once and landed on my ass.
Sorry, single moms, your children do not have IQs of 130 and neither do you. Montessori tests are designed to average out at 120 so you'll buy in. In real life, IQ is extremely sensitive, a person with 105 IQ will breeze through grade school, a person with a 95 IQ would be unable to tie his own shoelaces. And none of you have ever met anyone with an IQ of 110. I could disprove such claims by merely asking where you met or what you talked about. Can't fool me on that one, Wallace.
Guys, try to remember in 2015, it's pillage, then burn.
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