勝美2

金曜五 and Friday 5 doubleheader!

Questions courtesy of 金曜五.

1. Whatcha been up to?

Ono Kine Grindz, a Hawaiian delicatessen, had fish flown in!

Kanpachi and opah. Called in my orders early because I didn't want to get skunked. Sometimes they sell out of their specials quickly.

Hoping this becomes a semi-regular thing. My mother and I were served ono at a party by the swimming pool on a Hawaiian cruise. The man grilling the fish asked, "Are you yahoo for wahoo?" (Wahoo is another name for ono.) So. Looking forward to the possibility of that.

The kampachi and opah were steamed. You can request that your fish be uncooked to prepare at home. Neither Empire Fish nor St Paul Fish Market carry fresh ono from the tropics.

Waaaaaooooo. Just checked the Empire Fish website. They have pompano. One of our favorite movies since Spewgie and I were little girls is Key Largo with Edward G Robinson starring as gangster Johnny Rocco. And Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

Rocco: Back in Chi, in the old days, we'd pay ten dollars for an order of pompano. They used to fly it in. The way they served it... Done up in a brown paper bag... Got any champagne?
Angel: No champagne.
Rocco: Well, that's too bad. Champagne and pompano. They really go together.

Rocco is describing Pompano en Papillote. Pompano in paper. Pompano is is baked / steamed in a parchment "envelope" with a wine, butter, lime and crabmeat sauce. The steam puffs up the paper like Jiffy Pop for a dramatic tableside presentation.

Jiffy Pop! The magical treat!
As much fun to make as it is to eat!

Feel free to quote me on that.

I wonder what would happen if I wrapped fish in nori and then in parchment?

So. Looks like I'll be making a trip to Empire tomorrow. A dream come true.

If ono, then I might fire up the hibachi. Shovel a path through the snow to the grill if I have to.

This week's Fish Of The Week: Monchong.

As long as I was at OKG, I bought a coronavirus mask. Made in Hawaii. EK15. Blue with pineapples.

For some reason their 5 For $25 sale escaped me. I already have basic black, a black and white "tattoo" print and a TokiDoki. Hello Kitty. And a few disposables. But ya never know.

And stopped at Lucky Bakery And BBQ for mooncakes.

FUN FACT: This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival is Thursday, October 1.

It was a strange sensation being there. Suddenly the customer area is separated from the employee area with sheets of Lexan. A small speaker distorted the cashier's voice. I couldn't understand her. Another customer helped me. She was asking if I wanted the mooncakes with or without the salted duck egg yolks. Which represent the moon. With, please. I was the only one there who didn't speak Cantonese.

Nothin' says lovin' like mooncakes in the oven. Feel free to quote me on that.

Couldn't make up my mind so I bought all six flavors. $35.01 with tax. That may seem expensive. Each cake is cut into quarters and shared. The paste is very rich. A dense fudge-like consistency. So. Twenty-four "sensible" portions.

If I was to serve tea, I would cut each cake into eighths so my guests may enjoy a second or third piece of a different flavor. Then I would kick them out and scarf down the leftovers.

The silversmith repaired the waste bowl I dropped to flawless condition. A fish knife a certain someone (Nicole) used as a screwdriver and the sugar shell with which Little Miss Nobody (Antoinette) pried open cocoa tins did not fare as well. Patina and luster removed during polishing. Looks as if the service is cobbled.

Since I was in the neighborhood, played Ding Dong Ditch Redux at my sister Nicole's and at Spewgie's. Unfortunately I gave away the red bean and the green tea which are my favorites. There was really no way for me to tell them apart. Not without biting. To me, lotus tastes like peanut butter. Not crazy about the pineapple, either. Instead of mildly sweet, pineapple paste is western level sweet. Which is still ten times better than your average dessert and I'm a fine one to talk drinking cherry slushies. I happen to love red bean and green tea best.

No use in crying. The bakery will make more red bean and green tea.

2. What's the latest from the front?

Shakespeare was cancelled months ago. No vacation for me and Spewgie this year.

Dance classes only recently reopened.

Former prima donna of the ballet company, Yuki Nishiwaki, in flight.

Doubtful there will be a season. Or symphony. Or plays.

3. What up?

Apenjie on the Dianxi Xiaoge channel went on a field trip to visit wild elephants!

And she wore a bucket hat. Not her familiar conical straw hat. A bucket hat which looked a lot like something my mother might have worn on the golf course to go with the cute outfit she "borrowed" from me.

The elephants were located in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in southern China near the Myanmar and Laos borders. Near Thailand. Elephants are still used for logging in those countries. And are under pressure from encroaching agriculture and rapidly expanding cities.

Spewgie and I recall a television program about a sanctuary for retired elephants in Tennessee. One of the elephants is Veronica. She is the smallest elephant at 7' 7" tall; her best friend is Debbie The Elephant; her favorite food, bamboo and hobbies include bathing and socializing.

New elephants were put in a barn next to a stall with an older elephant. To keep them calm during the transition. So. A new elephant is brought into the barn. All night long the two elephants made the low rumbling noise. When the keepers entered the barn in the morning, the freeway round guardrail-style barriers separating the stalls were bent from the elephants repeatedly crashing into them trying to be with each other. After doing some research, it turned out the two elephants had been in the same circus for a short time thirty years previous. The older elephant had adopted the younger elephant when she became orphaned. They were overjoyed at being reunited.

I was very disappointed when Ringling Bros And Barnum & Bailey closed the circus three years ago. The sound of the steam calliope (pronounced kally-ope in Circusese), greasepaint and sawdust course through my veins! Or maybe it is arterial plaque forming. For someone who is borderline coulrophobic, you may think my choice of the circus odd as the circus is the natural habitat of clowns. But it is for the best. Circus life determined to be cruel to animals. I do not see why the circus could not continue with strictly human performers. Trapeze artists, tightrope walkers, human cannonball, fire eaters...

It has been eleven years since the last circus parade. Circus wagons from the circus museum in Baraboo were loaded onto railroad flatcars and made a circuitous route through the countryside stopping in small towns so the people could appreciate a unique part of Wisconsin history on the journey to the parade staging grounds.

So so so. As Spewgie and I walked through the staging area photographing the wagons and animals, we were approached by a circus guy. Would we like to be in the parade? You betcha!

Our job was to sit on chairs inside the wagon and smile and wave at the people while wearing gold bras, filmy veils, gauzy pants and gold curly toe shoes. I Dream Of Jeannie. We weren’t thrilled about the hoochie coochie harem girl outfits which would have gotten a G rating (maybe PG but none of the expensive real estate was on display) and the job seemed easy enough. Smile and wave. Gotcha. All those childhood hours of practicing our princess waves were about to come to fruition.

All of a sudden a thought struck me.

勝美: Urm, why does this wagon have glass windows and not bars?
Circus guy: It’s a snake den.
Spewgie: A snake den. And what goes in the snake den?
Circus guy: Snakes. It’s so the snakes can’t crawl out.

So the snakes can’t crawl out. No. Those glass windows are so the spectators cannot hear our screams. Sayonara, pal. Nothing doing.

Our first big chance in show biz and all our girlish hopes and dreams were forever dashed upon the rocks of ophiophobia. I am not a snake charmer! I am a sorority girl!

FUN FACT: The Snake Den was built for the Ringling Bros by the Bode Wagon Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio for the 1903 season for $850.

FUN FACT: My fake ID in high school was for a Judith Hanneford of Winnetka, Illinois.

After Poodles Hanneford, the great equestrian trick rider of the Sells-Floto Circus and Royal Hanneford Circus. The Judith came from Judith Of Bethulia, a silent film I was crazy about at the time based on the Old Testament Book Of Judith. No idea where the Winnetka originated. Spewgie remembers the Illinois was because we thought most bouncers and bartenders had never seen an Illinois ID.

4. What's new?

The Green Bay Packers vs Minnesota Vikings.

Due to coronavirus, empty stadium.

As of game time, the Vikings were -2.5 and the over / under was 45.5.

Final score: Packers, 43; Vikings, 34. What is typically a slugfest turned into a blowout. And if you bet the Vikings and under, you lose. By 31.5 points.

Play Of The Game: Packers went for a touchdown on fourth and goal from the one. Vikings held. With the Vikings in possession, quarterback Kirk Cousins faded back. Cornerback Jaire Alexander blitzed untouched for the sack.

Alexander also intercepted a poorly thrown pass before halftime. And blew his coverage allowing a Viking touchdown in the fourth quarter.

If the clock hadn't run out, it was on its way to being a disaster.

5. What's on the agenda?

Hunting for heated storage for the roadster. For some reason, after last year's fiasco when the storage facility was sold and the cars had to be removed in March, it doesn't seem imperative. The possibility of snow extends into May.

1990.5.10. A blizzard that will live in infamy.

It isn't about rear wheel drive in snow. My company-issued car is rear wheel drive. It's the salt on the roads to remove ice which rusts cars. And bitter cold temperatures which ruin super sticky summer tires and aren't good for belts or leather upholstery.

So far, so bad. Maybe I'll just park it in the backyard under its car cover and a tarp.

Questions courtesy of Scrivener. Thank you!

Friday 5 for September 18: How are you feeling today?

1. What were you most recently anxious about?

Was jolted out out of an uncharacteristic deep slumber by Myrtle The Fraidy Cat cowering near me. Loud chanting and amplified screaming.

Black Lives Matter having one of their "peaceful" protests at City Hall. Kittycorner from a nursing home for people with Alzheimer's and dementia.

This time they were protesting about nine protesters being arrested last weekend. Because the arresttees had felony warrants or parole / bail violations, tinted windows or expired plates on their cars or disorderly conduct.

Because of coronavirus, the Wauwatosa Police Department has been practicing "catch and release" as I call it. Unless a felony warrant or parole / bail violation is involved. Then it's straight to the county detention center.

After the military helicopters finally started flying overhead at ten o'clock and things quieted down, my neighbor, Debra Shafransky (Comet's "mother") decided to bring up her recycling cart from the curb and BANG slammed the lid shut. Sounded like a gun.

2. What were you most recently apologetic about?

To the cashier at Lucky Bakery And BBQ. Other customers helped me understand she was asking if I wanted mooncakes with or without the yolks of salted duck egg which represents the moon.

3. What are you feeling cautious about these days?

Took my lawn mower, yard vacuum and a couple of LP cylinders to my sister Nicole's for safekeeping.

Ordered all kinds of canned goods. Getting ready for National Guard to come in and curfews.

4. Heading into the weekend, what are you confident about?

Confident the Police And Fire Commission will find Officer Mensah justified in the use of deadly force in the death of Alvin Cole.

Black Lives Matter and the Wauwatosa Common Council are incapable of making the distinction between police brutality and a black seventeen year old shooting up a shopping mall.

Alderperson Heather Kuhl demanded the immediate firing of Officer Mensah. And the Common Council voted to terminate his employment. Yeah, that's gonna happen. The State Of Wisconsin has laws about that, sister.

“That’s wholly inappropriate, unprecedented,” said Officer Mensah's attorney, Jon Cermele.

"The Common Council overstepped its authority opening the city to a defamation or wrongful firing lawsuit from Officer Mensah," said 勝美. "And what is this racist business?"

Alderperson Heather Kuhl is the same one whose house I went to with my "petition" to recall Alderperson Heather Kuhl. She didn't even know Officer Mensah is black. Assumed he was white. Because the news media conveniently forgot that part for five months despite me constantly reminding everyone, Heather Kuhl and inaccurate reporting fanned the flames of hatred.

The state requires the Police And Fire Commission to hire an independent investigator. In this instance, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Steven Biskupic. Who is working pro bono. The commission's decision is based on the findings of the independent investigator.

And when decision is announced it's gonna make the riots in Kenosha look like child's play.

5. What were the consequences (good and bad) the last time you felt adventurous?

Put the top down on the roadster and took off. Destination unknown. Got badly wind and sunburned.

When the nurse took my blood pressure a couple of days later, she laughed. I wore scrubs while driving and for the doctor appointment. Definite farmer tan.