88 thoughts on “May 21, 2015: JMIVGABB”

  1. Standings update, 2nd AL Wildcard:
    HOU +3.5
    KCR +3.0
    DET +0.5
    MIN -
    TBR -1.5
    NYY -1.5
    LAA -2.0
    CWS -3.5 (1 game under .500)

  2. I watched the replay. Mauer smiled and clapped as he crossed home plate. What a showboat, I bet someone puts a ball in his ribs soon.
    Act like you've been there before.

    1. Molitor's comment about Joe's first homerun of the season, "I hope his timing's as good on the next one." Love it.

    3. Two coworkers at two separate times of the day completely uncoordinated*: "So how many million is that per home run now?"

      Life's a lot better now that I am able to just let that go.

      *as far as I know

  3. Can someone monkey with the featured image to make it display a little more neatly on the frontpage? I'm having issues editing.

    1. I'm not precisely sure which CSS rule(s) are causing that. "Proper" featured images are 1038x576 pixels. I think if you get the same aspect ratio, it will be displayed right. This one doesn't since it's a square.

      1. Eh, whatever then. It's a coffee mug that says "I [heart] Joe Mauer." Can't complain too much about that.

  4. Father Knows Best will probably be up later today. I didn't have time to write it last night.

    1. In the meantime, this article about Free Range vs. Helicopter Parenting made be laugh and reminded me of a comment someone made here a few weeks back (which I now cannot find).

      1. What are Free Range and Helicopter Parenting?

      Free Range and Helicopter Parenting are two different and opposing parenting styles that illustrate what happens to a flourishing post-industrial society with excess leisure time. This also explains why “The Bachelor” is in its 19th season.

      2. Which parenting style is dominant in America?

      The wrong one. Everyone knows that Europeans raise their children better than American parents do. So do Asian parents, African parents and Australian parents. All parents everywhere, so long as they are not you.

  5. So, this morning, I nearly threw up. Went to make my normal breakfast of three fried eggs. First two were fine, but the third was rotten. I'm still gagging a little just thinking about it.

    1. I had that happen to me once. I ran the pan outside and screamed. I felt the pan was never the same after that.
      Or... morning sickness?

      1. I threw out the first batch of eggs and washed the pan really well. I don't get queasy very often, but that just about sent me over the edge.

  6. I won't get Minor Details caught up until tomorrow, probably, but I wanted to note the performance of Chih-Wei Hu Tuesday. Called up from Fort Myers to make an emergency start in Rochester, he struck out six in six innings, giving up one run on two hits and four walks. He's done really well at Fort Myers. I don't expect him to stay in Rochester, but I wouldn't be surprised if he goes to Chattanooga pretty soon.

    1. Even if he ends up as a reliever in the majors, he needs to be allowed to bat until he makes it to first.

  7. I know I've talked about this in the past, but I think it's fascinating the trend away from the big traditional brews that our dads and uncles drank toward craft beer, wine and spirits. I see at our neighborhood guys nights when there is nary a "traditional" beer in sight (granted we are talking a demographic that is white, educated, upper middle income, 30-50 years old). I know college age kids still drink what ever is cheap -- andthat ain't craft beer.

    The big takeway from this article is that Budweiser shipped 50 million gallons of beer in 1988 and only 16 million gallons last year (or 2013?). One-third the volume in 25 years. Wow!

    http://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-drinking-wine-instead-of-beer-2015-5

      1. Yea, I'm not clear on the data.
        This article says total shipments in 2013 were 211.7 million barrels, with about 37 million of that Bud Light, 16 million Bud, 7 million Natural Light, 6 million Busch Light and 5 million Busch.

        A barrel is 43 gallons, so my California math says they shipped almost 1.6 billion gallons of Bud Light and on the order of 680 million gallons of Bud.

    2. I find it fascinating as well. For the past three or four years we've been getting together with some of my wife's friends and their families for a night and when we started, everyone but me was drinking something along the lines of Bud Light/Leinie's/Miller/Whathaveyou. This past year, only one guy was. Everyone else had something craft, and many were even hop forward.

      Of course, I'm like a BMC beer drinker when it comes to wine, although that's largely because I only really drink wine when I use it to cook and I'm not using good wine to cook with.

      1. My sister-in-law lives in Somerset and brought a case of Spotted Cow for Elder Daughter's going away party on Saturday. We drank half and she left the other half in our fridge. We need to invite her over more often.

    3. I'd be really interested to see what the international impact is. When I was in Ireland in 2008, the pubs were full of people drinking "traditional" beer. I wonder if they've starting drinking stuff that tastes good now, too?

      1. On an extremely small sample size, I didn't see any "traditional" beer in the two weeks I spent in England last summer. I did, however, find cans of beer from Sixpoint as well as a cask handle form a joint brewing effort they've done with an English brewer and a second cask handle from a joint brewing effort between 21st Amendment Brewing and the same brewer (which was amazing).

      2. I'm in Ireland right now, and quite enjoy drinking the black. There are many more craft selections here than there was just 5 years ago, but bud still has a tap at my favorite local. Oh, and coors light is really popular with the ladies at 3 pounds 60 pence. I'll let you do the math.

  8. I'm trying to figure out what I want to grill tonight. Anyone got any suggestions?

      1. That would be totally awesome, but unfortunately I don't have near the time for it tonight. Gotta start packing for Memorial Day "camping".

    2. I didn't grill them, but I made pork chops w/ apples last night, and am currently having the leftovers for lunch, and they are awesome.

      1. Pork chops are standard quick meal grilling fare for us. Salt and pepper, and toss it on the grill, nice and easy.

        We do a lot of salmon the same way, too. They both take just long enough to get some easy sides ready while they're cooking.

      2. Grilled pork chops with a side of apple/cranberry chutney are a favorite of mine. It sounds like I'm being guided by my wife towards turkey burgers, though.

        2. What do you put in your turkey burgers? Last recipe I tried had WAY too much other stuff in it, and the burgers ended up so liquidy they fell right through the grates.

          1. Green pepper, green onions, bread crumbs, pineapple juice (they're Hawaiian turkey burgers), salt, pepper, ginger. I try to keep the amount of the veggies lower to prevent that. The pineapple juice and bread crumbs help a lot, though.

          2. I've got a recipe that uses chopped apple mixed with the turkey, it's mighty good. I'll try to dig it up and post it tomorrow.

    3. Tonight I'm doing barbeque chicken breasts with mesquite chips in the smoker box for some added flavor - cheap & easy.

    5. When I don't have a ton of time to grill, I like to pump out some pizza. Easy, Quick, Delicious.

      And not a slab of meat, which wins points with the wife.

      1. I wasn't going to chime in on this conversation since I have no meaty ideas to contribute, but I adore grilled pizza.

        I would love to find a few more really great vegetarian things to grill. It's so nice in the summer not to have to use the stove or oven for dinner.

        1. Eggplant, peeled and sliced thick, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Veggie kabobs with mushrooms, peppers, onions, zucchini, etc. are nice. I love asparagus on the grill, just toss it with olive oil and minced garlic in a metal bread pan, cover with foil and throw it on the fire, but don't overcook, you want it al dente

          1. I throw the asparagus directly on the grill grates. Also works with green beans (or yellow or purple, or whatever color). The last time I made them, I tried to sprinkle some parmesean on them, but that didn't get crispy like it does in the oven.

              1. Re: Asparagus. Dido. On. The. Grill.

                I like the green beans idea too. Getting some char on the beans, then tossing with a marinade of sesame oil, chili paste, garlic, ginger, soy, green onion, and a little acid (lime juice or rice wine vinegar). Basically, a pot sticker dipping sauce.

                Mmmm.

                2. Our local Plan B Burger joint had a burger contest where you had to design a burger (select their perfect beef patty, but got to design the rest of what goes on the burger). We didn't win, but...

                  NBBW designed a burger around the pot sticker dipping sauce meme above. Sounded great.

                  I had two ideas. The first didn't work because it wasn't beef - I suggested pernil (Puerto Rican marinaded pork, avail in the barrio in H-town) with Scotch Bonnet pepper aioli, grilled pineapple, and plantain chips on the side, and on a sweet Puerto Rican roll (bread avail just down the street in a panaderia on Prospect Ave, you know, keep it local...). I'm going to make this for us sometime.

                  The second idea was to play into their beer and bourbon deal, and have the burger infused with bourbon like butter into a chicken kiev, and some other stuff...

                  1. Hmmm, this has me thinking of cooking up some sort of Cuban burger. I'll have to think on that a bit. Maybe mash some black beans and mix with ground pork and appropriate seasonings....

          2. I did grilled asparagus last night to go along with burgers (also grilled some thick cut Black Label). I use a grill basket because I can't stand to lose even one spear through the grates. Brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with fresh ground black pepper and sea salt.

          3. I'll second that veggie kabob. We do those a lot, often including pineapple and cherry tomatoes in addition to the above described. Usually marinate in some basalmic/oil/pineapple juice concoction beforehand.

          4. Grilled eggplant like Twayn says, but with a slice of tomato and a slice of fresh mozzarella on top for the last minute or so on the grill.

        2. oh, grilled butternut squash is the beast. Peel a large butternut squash, cut in half, seed, use a mandolin to slice into 1/4 inch thick strips, toss in olive oil, salt and pepper to taste (and any spices you desire...), and grill directly on the grate over high heat turning once. yeah, summer don't get no better than that.

          1. The wife loves squash so I'm going to surprise her with this over the weekend.

        3. Grilled broccoli is amazing. I've already had kabobs three times this year, so you can easily have onions, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc.

        4. I also throw on some peaches covered in cinnamon about 50% of the time I grill.

          1. Grilled peaches are awesome. I like the butternut squash and broccoli ideas too.

      2. Fresh dough on the grates, flip and top. So good.

        Cauliflower and cabbage are also some of my favorite grilled veg.

  9. Our old gas grill was on its last legs, vaporizer bars gone, burners shot through with big rust holes, so we decided to get a new one. Found a 4-burner Char-broil with side burner at Target for $199, or $215 with tax. After all the discounts, we snagged it for $175. On Monday, Mrs. Twayn noticed the price had dropped $40, so since it was less than 30 days since purchase she had them rerun the transaction and we actually got it for $135. My wife's got a knack for saving money as long as it involves spending money.

    1. Now that I've read these grilling discussions, I'll have to have Dad dig out my old camping grill and bring it up this weekend.

    2. My wife's got a knack for saving money as long as it involves spending money.

      I would say we're married to the same woman, but I also find this is true for lots of people I know, myself included.
      I may finally bite the bullet and start saving for a gas grill. I've resisted going to gas because I'm cheap stubborn nostalgic for the old school, but I'm considering making a purchase.

      1. I found a Fiesta gas grill on craigslist for $30. Its missing a couple diffusers and the warming tray thing, but it was otherwise in really good shape and the person selling it lived a block from me, so transporting it home was easy. I resisted for years as well, but once I built the deck last fall I decided I needed something to quickly grill dogs/brats/burgers. Still used the charcoal for steaks last weekend, though. I still have standards.

        1. "...something to quickly grill dogs/brats/burgers. Still used the charcoal for steaks last weekend, though. I still have standards."

          Attaboy - You'll notice I didn't say, "Looking to replace my charcoal grill."

          1. Indeed, I would never accuse anyone of such a thing. I do miss grilling even the easy stuff on a charcoal grill, though. I just moved it from the garage out to the deck, though, so it'll start getting more use.

    3. Some time ago when we were living in Texas Doc called in my grilling card because we were forced into purchasing a gas grill due to fire restrictions. However, I found that the ease of use was excellent, and resulted in far more grilling opportunities. I'll also add that grilled pizza on the gas grill was far more easy than attending dough on the weber.

    1. Watching Kershaw vs. Bumgarner with Vin Scully on lead vocals.

      I can't think of a better testimonial for MLB.tv.

  12. Minor league roster moves: Tyler Duffey promoted from Chattanooga to Rochester; David Hurlbut promoted from Fort Myers to Chattanooga.

  13. For anyone who didn't see it on the Book of Face, last night I finally gave in to weeks of lobbying and we adopted a dog from the Humane Society in Golden Valley. She was first documented as a stray picked up by animal control in Gulfport, Mississippi, adopted after four months and then surrendered in Biloxi after four more months (family was moving and couldn't take her). We named her Harper Lee. She's a mostly black German Shepard mix, maybe some Border Collie in there. She needs some obedience work, but her temperament is outstanding, very mellow once she's been thoroughly exercised and doesn't fuss at all. I think she's going to be a good addition to the family, but the cat has serious misgivings. Pictures forthcoming once I can get some good ones taken.

    1. If she is border collie at all, I've heard you definitely need to keep them exercised and probably mentally stimulated with play or "work." I saw the photos. She looks great.

    2. Good luck and kudos. I would love to have a dog. Don't have the time/energy to give one what it deserves.

    3. Our dog is the best and worst thing to have happen to us. She makes us exercise every day or there are consequences.

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