40 thoughts on “November 12, 2015: Deterioration”

  1. (For the benefit of those to whom I cannot pass notes.)
    Cool NYTMag article about mushrooming:

    you can reliably tell, at least for the commoner species, what the thing is, even if they are enormously variable, and you could not begin to explain how

    .
    Regarding stinkhorns (of the genus Phallus), all books I've read mention edibility only in the premature "egg" stage, when the spore-containing fly-attracting slime hasn't yet gone slimy or stinky. The crunchiness at this stage displeases me; I'm reminded of eating raw potatoes. Even when cooked.
    I saw online images of Chinese packages of the dried mushrooms harvested post-maturity, after all of the slime has been removed. I completely removed the cap from one I found in this state (because there was still some black on the cap), and put it in a soup. I liked it much better that way. The texture reminded me of tripe in pho. I found a ridiculously late one in a pasture while deer hunting last weekend. I just need to be sure that I get that mushroom in my bowl of the soup. I'll be sure to grab more of these next summer. Drying would seem to work well.

    1. I saw this article, thought of you, meant to link to it here, and forgot to do so. I'd wanted to read it myself as well, so it really all worked out perfectly.

    2. I may have to have you prepare some mushrooms for me. I've never acquired the taste, and I worry I may be missing out.

      1. I had the junior member (22yo) of our deer hunting party say that the "Elm Oysters" (Hypsizygus* ulmarius) I prepared at our early-October hunting set-up day** were the first time in his life he's liked mushrooms.
        Most of what I've been finding lately is stuff with weak flavors of their own. I think a little acid (I use apple cider vinegar or beer in a pinch -- that Blackberry Gose from O'Dell worked well) brings out what there is. But that's not much different than, say, potatoes, or okra.
        The texture variations are quite fun, and just the curiousness of some. My reaction to the "Bear's Head" (Hericium) I found was similar to this author's to a Cauliflower Mushroom (which would be a better name for H. americanum, I think). But I took the whole thing, not just half.

        *I spelled it right on the first attempt (but had to validate anyways)
        **Check and repair stands. Erect tent blinds over the stands. (Someone started with the tent blinds 3 years ago. Then my FiL got me one for Christmas so I've got to use it. Now I think our party has five of them.) Clear any brush from shooting lanes. Look at trailcam photos. Drink beer. Maybe do a little target practice. All well enough before the season that the woods calm down again. Several years ago we did it only two weeks before the season and felt that our poor results that year were directly related.

      1. You were nothing in 1969 if you didn't have a pair of Lou Brock Converse tennis shoes. Does he still have his restaurant in St. Louis? It's been 15 years or so since we ate there. Needless to say, I was a big fan back in the day. And having watched my own dad lose a leg to diabetes, yes, diabetes sucks.

        1. My f-i-l needed to have his leg amputated (type 2 diabetes). Wouldn't do it. Would rather die (and he did).

  2. Is anybody watching Master of None? Hearing Bob's voice come out of that man's head is really throwing me off!

    1. Not watching that show yet, but I know what you mean. Everytime I see him in real-life it throws me off. He has a small role on an episode of Parks and Rec as a doctor. He's on screen for like 15 seconds, but it's immediate for me who he was from his voice.

      1. If you're talking about HJB, he was a lawyer with a decent amount of screen time in that episode.

        I was familiar with him from the beginning, so it's not all that jarring. He's really short, too.

        1. Oh you're right. I'm conflating a different guest appearance I think, or another show entirely. I recognized some actor playing some doctor on some show at some point, I guess is as specific as I can get.

    2. I watched it all this weekend, and absolutely loved it.

      And yes, seeing HJB talk is weird. The only other time I'd seen him do it was in the first episode of Nathan for You.

        1. I think it really found its groove around episode 4. I enjoyed the rest a lot, but it reminded me a ton of Noah Baumbach's work, so that's not too surprising!

      1. He had a show on Comedy Central called Jon Benjamin Has a Van that I really liked, but didn't last very long. That was a bit before I was fully used to hearing him without seeing him, though, so it didn't seem all that strange. I think that was around the time that I realized the huge number of voices that he does for some of my favorite shows.

          1. And in Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp. Which was quite enjoyable. And also, the first couple episodes he isn't just a voice actor.

  3. Gophers Men's hockey tickets for tomorrow start at $40 and go to $70. I know it's against Mankato, but damn.

    The Ladies are playing Bemidji State at the same time over at Riddler. GA $4-8. That's much better.

    Or we might to to the St. Kate's game tomorrow. What I'm saying is I need to see some hockey post haste.

  4. From DW's link, I noticed this:
    MLB to consider tweaking replay review of runners coming off base on tags
    Good. Because I can't say with certainty whether the ball was in continuous contact with Valbuena's glove during the split second that Gore was off base.
    What if the tag was made to the runner's helmet (and not intentionally... I feel there may be some rule against that), and during the play the runner's helmet fell off his head. How many hairs must maintain contact with the helmet for the out to be valid? Are we penalizing runners that aren't bald or chose not to shave their heads? What about if the fielder's wrist and not the glove itself made contact until seconds later? NFL-like rules insanity leads down this path.
    Overturn calls if video replay clearly shows that:
    a) the ball/tag or runner preceded the other
    b) contact was not made with appropriate base/player
    c) tiny disruption of contact is only a valid concern for overruling a call on the field if the disruption was caused by the runner making a separate "baseball move" beyond the move to tag the bag.

  5. Angels trade for Andrelton Simmons. Gave up Erick Aybar and their top two pitching prospects. Sounds like farm system is pretty bare, so it might be tough to trade Plouffe to Angels for prospects as has been rumored that Angels would be interested.

        1. I don't understand how opening a new ballpark with a mediocre roster is a sound business decision. Then again, Turner Field ain't exactly Three Rivers, either.

          #Barves

          1. I thought the new ballpark wasn't opening until '17. I read somewhere an offseason primer for the Braves or something like that and it mentioned the last year at Turner was not going to be pretty.

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