Showing posts with label Pat Hickey Unchained and Evolved. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pat Hickey Unchained and Evolved. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 03, 2019

I Need a Top Coat, Life Insurance, the Love of a. Good Woman, More Fruits and Grains - ‘The Irishman? ‘ Not So Much




Any number of friends acquaintances, strangers and passers-bye have told me that I “need to see Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman.

I need to see this 31/2 hour epic story of a Frank Sheerin, a pathological killer who may have had something to do with disappearing Jimmy Hoffa?  I need this entertainment outing , why?

Plum evades me.

Can’t get roused to stir up even a modicum of interest to decline the offering to spend whatever the market will bear NETFLIX, or Marty.

I have never seen Frozen, the 50 Shades of Anything, Taken 1,2,3. & 4 among most films trotted since 1999.

I have yet to see an episode of

  • Will & Grace
  • The TV Show About Brainiac Nerds
  • 60 minutes since the death of Andy Rooney
  • States of Union
  • Maud
  • Brady Bunch in all of its manifestations
  • Presidential Medals of Freedom
  • Public Television -since the last episde of I, Claudius
  • Bill O’Reilly
  • Sean Hannity
  • Rachel Maddox
  • Chicago Tonight - since Phil Ponce ambushed Hank Lentzen
  • Mass for the Shut-ins
  • Family Guy
  • The Real O’Neals
  • Anderson Cooper
  • Meet the Press
The last good movie that I watched at the Show ( a movie theatre) was A Little Chaos with the immortal Allan Rickman as Louis XIV of France. 

I am leading rich and full life, even though I have not purchased tickets for Hamilton.  I am not that woke. 

No,  I will shed my mortal husk without seeing The Irishman. 

Knock yourselves out!

Thursday, January 18, 2018

A Poem From Castleisland, County Kerry - A Horse Barber?



Pound Road
There was a place in dear Castleisland,
Pound Road it was its name,
It housed the finest people,
Kind and caring just the same.
There were Murphys, Sullivans and Brosnans, Berminghams and Morans too,
Danahars, Conways and Buckleys and McCarthy to mend your shoe.
There were Dennehys, Griffins and Savages and Prendivilles - who are our kin,
We'll not forget those people for that would be a sin.
There were carpenters, and undertakers, cobblers and a bell-man too,
Fishmongers and horse barbers - none were idle I assure you.
Times were tough back in the 40s to make a bob or two,
No bother to these people - they were smarter that (sic) me and you.
One day there came a letter, their little homes would have to go,
They'd be moved to better houses - away from heil and snow.
But their way of life had ended, 'twas the end of an era you see,
They had to leave their little cottages - where they never used a key.
In my home I hung a calendar with their names and history,
I smile and think about them when recession blares from TV,
Those folks survived in harder times but their hearts and minds were free,
They lived each day as best they could with a chat and a mug of tea.
When in your cosy beds at night, will you say a little prayer,
For all who've gone before us, in whose footsteps we will dare,
Their simplicity and their courage an inspiration to us all.
We think of our relations, bould Tom and Sonny Bawn. from The Kerryman
Former Kerry crest (1988–2011)
This offering might not pass the poetry finger test , but County Kerry has the most (37) GA football titles and Castleisland is once again the widest street next to O'Connell Street in Ireland. Dactyls and spondees and rhetorical flourishings aside, the vocation of the horse barber grabbed me.

Image result for horse barber Ireland


County Kerry, ladies and gents!  And you wonder how I got this way. 

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Merry Gamiss-mas!!!! Kids, I Got Everything Already.

This is what happens when nice people insist on giving presents.   This too.


Everything I read on-line these days seems to have a pop up ad for Gamiss (with the A presented as an upside down V).  These ads are eye-popping examples of new fashion for new Americans. I imagine these folks would love a Techno-version of Christmas in Killarney.



These New Americans must be 'evolved' Americans who eschew meat, sugar, fat and any sense of other people on this planet.
Star Wars Meets Zena the Warrior Princess, Gents!

Kool Yule!

I got nothin'!

                                           Tyger Rags?

I am not a guy who does not like presents ( birthday, Father's Day, Christmas, or Talk like a Pirate Day).  I am not grouch.  I love giving presents to loved ones, but presents embarrass me.

I have everything, already. Gamiss can keep its goods well-warehoused and out of sight.  De Gustibus Non Est Disputandem - I likes what I likes and buy them myself.

Gamiss is not doing it for me. I have everything already and more.
  • I do not live in Isis, or Daesh controlled Syria
  • I got a woman . . .crazy for me; she's funny that way
  • My Kids are all splendid adults
  • My Granddaughter Lily is a beautiful, happy and smart baby
  • My roof don't leak . . .yet.
  • I have most of my teeth
  • I can still bend over and pick up pennies on the sidewalk and paper and pencils in the halls of Brother Rice
  • I eat like a Sultan
  • My Malibu starts and goes
  • I take Communion with my neighbors most mornings
  • God allows me to continue to draw breath
  • Encore Westerns is on cable
  • Lovely people crack me up
  • Soda Stream keeps me hydrated
  • I know Mike Joyce
  • I still teach
Gamiss not this Christmas!  Give your love!  Tell me, "You're really not that bad."  Get yourself something nice - on me!  Image result for Christ in a manger
Remember Christ was born in manger and not on Black Friday.


Saturday, September 02, 2017

Chance the Rapper Cleaned My Gutters and Made Me Breakfast This Morning!!!!

Image result for Chance the Rapper on the roof


I have been really cynical.  That's harsh.

I read most papers and most Chicago papers offer at least one account of Chance the Rapper

  • Hands out money for arts programs at 20 CPS schools
  • Raises $ 2m for CPS
  • Grand Marshalls the Bud Billiken Parade
  • Grills Chicken at Nando's for charity
  • Explains 'becoming upper-management' to CNBC
  • Announces free concerts ( hourly)
  • Lectures Rahm Emanuel at La Lapalooza
  • Gets Props from Obama as needed
  • Changes the trajectory of North Korean missiles away from Guam, Japan and the Philippines.
  • Swims the English channel
  • Cuts every tree in the Sahara Forest
  • Eats Kyptonite with soy milk
He does these mighty deeds and produces many dope tunes and videos



The guy is prodigious and what do a I do with my life?

Teach.  Go to Mariano's and Brother Rice Freshman football games.

I thought that Chance the Rapper was merely the figment of a public relations man's genius.

Was I wrong. 

This morning I woke to the sound of footsteps on my roof.  No it was not Santa!  It was better.

Chancery Bennett, better known as Chance the Rapper was atop my home in the Morgan Park neighborhood of Chicago, armed with 55 gallon plastic garbage bags and cleaning my gutters of branches, Maple tree whirlybirds, bottle rockets from 4th of July and other air-born gutter chokers.

The young man worked my roof like the crowds at the Apollo in Manchester, UK on November 26, 2016.

I called up to him, " What are you doing up there, young fella?"Image result for Chance the Rapper on the roof

He smiled, " I think it's so dope that I'm here in Chicago and contributing to the music scene that's thriving. People are so happy Chicago's shining that everyone is willing to say 'I represent Chicago.' That wasn't always the case."

" No, I meant specifically, Kid.  Why are you doing my gutters?"  I replied. 

The Rapper shrugged, "Music can kind of make you one-dimensional. People see what's on the surface and what you rap about, and they make their decision on who you are from there." He finished the job, emptied the plastic bags into environmentally friendly brown yard waste bags, placed the black plastic bags in a haversack for re-use, carefully took down the extension ladder and attached it to the frames of his Escalade and asked to use my bathroom.

When Chance the Rapper had given his hands a good scrubbing with Lava - the hand soap - He immediately went to my ice-box and prepared to make me a slap-up breakfast of 

  • Monkey-Bread Danish. Danish meets monkey bread. ...
  • Red Velvet Pancakes. Sexiest breakfast ever. ...
  • Onion & Arugula Frittata. ...
  • Sweet Crepes with Caramelized Pears. ...
  • Candied Bacon. ...
  • Homemade Toaster Pastries. ...
  • Yogurt Biscuits with Honey Butter. ...
  • Green Smoothie with Avocado and Apple.
I asked Chance the Rapper to join me and tuck-into the great feed that he had prepared.

With his thumb he pushed up the flat over-sized brim of his # 3 White Sox cap and with a quizzical smile said, "The whole point of 'Acid Rap' was just to ask people a question: does the music business side of this dictate what type of project this is? If it's all original music and it's got this much emotion around it and it connects this way with this many people, is it a mixtape? What's an 'album' these days, anyways?"

What, indeed?

With that, he vanished between chews.Image result for Chance the Rapper on the roof

Am I cynical?  

Friday, June 16, 2017

I've-A Weddin' - Stuff to Consider


                         "Kiss the Bride, Hickey.  She's Drunk enough"

Don't You Love Weddings?  I do - in theory, philosophically and all.

Want to go to a wedding?  Sure. Family and all.  Why not?  Great Food. Great Music, though I preferred the wedding orchestra of yore to the DJ of our times. Music By the The Jagatones!!!!!!

No kidding that was the name of a real wedding band that played nearly ever nuptial in Kankakee County back in  the1970's-1990's.  The band was J. Agatone ( a music teacher) and his orchestra.

The drum kit sported the JAGATONES on the bass.

Open Bar?  On the south side that is de rigueur.   I have been invited to many joyful unions beyond the Pale and almost all were cash bar events. No big deal.

Wedding food can range from the bohemianwedding menu card idea; photo: Jason Wasinger Photography to the traditional at La Villa St-Jacques Mason de Cadillac Coupe de Ville BanquetsImage result for Chicago Family Style Menu Chicken Beef Sausage to Country Club chic Image result for Country Club wedding menu

The eats will be great anyway.

Prior to the wedding, I must make sure that my clothing fits.  Try squeezing into that swell Haspel olive khaki suit that you bought for the baby's christening in 1995 and expect comments like,

  • "Hickey, nice suit; didn't have one in your size?"
  • "Why do all fur suits look so ******* bad? "
  • "If you have the money, time and resources to make/buy something like that... why would you waste it on making it look like a muck savage
  • "Where's the jock-strap and snow shoes this event?  The didgnity of aging no doubt.
Dress not to impress.  Dress to go unnoticed.  Shine your shoes.  For God's sake wear a belt.
Image result for Cutting remarks on a man's bad haircut
Hair -Get a hair cut at a real barber and not Clipper Gals Hot-Pants Trim Trimmers ( regular $15).  Spend a buck Go to Cuttrone's on 111th and avoid remarks like 

  • " You got them Russian gang Tats to go with the Fade, Hickey?"
  • " You look just like Thomas Merton!"
  • " Going back for Act 2?"
  • " Got rid of the lice, Big Boy?
  • " Went to that $4 German barber - a buck a side?"
Weddings are crowded.  Blend, blend and blend again.  Smile up a storm.  Feign deafness.  Skip the soup - especially if it is creamed anything. Do the Hokey Pokey and Turn Yourself Around.  Do an Irish Farewell*. 

That's what it's all about!

* Also, known as 'Pulling a Murphy**'  Leaving quietly out the side door of a party or bar without saying goodbye to anyone. 


** Beating it from Mass after the Gospel.

Thursday, June 01, 2017

June 1st - Today's Gospel is about the Gospel

Image result for I shall Smite Thee!

Gospel JN 17:20-26
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
"I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them."

I am not a big fan of John's gospel - too esoteric and "closed community" for my tastes.  All that Illuminated Word and stuff  -  " In principio erat verbum, et verbum erat apud D(eu)m, et D(eu)s . . . " In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and . . ."

 It is a big hit with Unitarian's and Catholic Call to Action types who tune-in to NPR when XRT is playing Flashback to 1965. John's gospel is loosey-goosey on the matter of judgment and unlike the other three Matthew, Mark & Luke appeals to Clown Jesus - non-judgmental COEXIST Jesus.

My preference is  " I shall smite your ass, Hickey!" voice of the Triuun God.Image result for I shall Smite Your Ass!  I believe in consequences and pray mightily to avoid them.

John's gospel is said to be anonymous ( written by a bunch of guys at a bunch of times) but unified around the "Beloved Apostle."  There are four divisions: The Prologue, The Book for Signs, The Book of Glory and the Epilogue - like a Quinn Martin Production.

Today's gospel section comes from what scholars call the Book of Glory and takes place after the Resurrection.  The money quote is " I pray not only for these ( Disciples and hangers-on), but also for those who will believe in me through their word ( Us). 

I have been a teacher for more than forty years.   Young people are not hard-wired to read Paradise Lost, Absalom & Achitophel, Look Homeward Angel, The Divine Comedy, Canterbury Tales, or Anna Karenina.   That's the task.

Christ prayed  for teachers, cops, nurses, electricians, pipe-fitters and locksmiths - anyone who passes on the codes to Universal Truth: not my truth, or group think.


Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Things are Pretty Darn Good. Overcoming Trumpanoia and Worrying About What I Think

Image result for Trump and oia

The establishment pushed the wars and free trade and their partners in the corporate-government matrix agreed to the sending off of capital (and jobs) to foreign lands.
For all the talk of partisanship, Democrats and Republicans were the two horns on the head of the goat.
And Trump voters? They were forgotten, left behind, mocked as deplorable. John Kass

This Memorial Day weekend, America paid tribute to the men and women who gave all in defense of our Nation.

I thought of my Dad and his brothers who fought in the Pacific, North Africa, Italy and later Korea , my older neighbors pre-Draft Lottery,  from the high school classes of 1962-1968, who went to Vietnam.  Fewer of us from 1969-1973, served thanks to the Lottery and Vietnamization.  I remembered the many, many kids that I taught at Bishop McNamara, La Lumiere and Leo High School who served in Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm, Bosnia, Iraq,  Afghanistan - kids like Adam Voight (La Lumiere 1988) who gave up scholarships to enlist as privates and eventually fly Apache helicopters in Desert Storm, and Pat Donley, Bishop McNamara 1979, who served as Marine aboard the USS Iowa, when his brothers were murdered by terrorists in Beriut.

I have it very good.
Related image

Kathy Griffin, the alleged comic for CNN, is so upset with the Trump American atmosphere that she needed to ritualistically imitate ISIS and lop off President Trump's head.  How tough is that?  The poor thing must really have a time of it opening that tricky foil cover over the Velveeta cheese logs.  Image result for velveetaIt's a struggle.

Some people are upset that I do not want President Trump any more humiliated than he manages on his own.  In fact, I am more than surprised and happy with Trump's Presidency.  He has all of the worst people leading the Resistance against him.  Sadly, too many very good people have joined them.

Some say "my blog sucks and I suck,"  because I write honestly - I do not, nor have I ever held Barack Obama in anything like regard and I am not bothered a jot by the election of Donald Trump.
My blog and I might suck for reasons other than that, but not because the point of view challenges the meme du jour.

That said, love me, or leave me, lamb.  I write because I love people - all people, until they prove themselves to be bullies, grifters, sneaks, hypocrites and moral cowards. Them I might love in the big Christian thematic way, but I 'd rather not have their company, much less their good opinion of me.

I could give a . . . (you fill it in).   I have it good and that ain't bad, to quote the late Louis Prima.

As it is, I own a home, shop at Marianno's, own a car, a library card, my cable works fine, my kids are all educated, moral and employed, the grass is cut, the garbage was picked up yesterday, I teach, I write, I read, John Kass remains a powerful voice in a city of dotards, no one can force me to watch Big Bang Theory, let alone watch it, the only thing Russian that keeps me awake at night is Borscht (hate beets), I have not witnessed any mass executions of Pussy Hat owners, nor is the Planned Parenthood block-house at 51st & Ashland ablaze, my girlfriend still gives me direction on dress, manners and general deportment outside of my bubble here in the 19th Ward, my granddaughter is healthy,chubby and beautiful, gas at Thornton's in Blue Island is $2.46 per gallon, and Cracovia Pitted Sour Cherries mixed with Greek vanilla yogurt is like heroin.

If Trump has you that down, see a medical professional.  Cheer up!  Only suckers beef!  Mix some cherries and yogurt.

If that is not enough for you, House of Cards, season five will take on Trump.  Wash it down with a swell IPA and a good gulp or two of bile. That seems to be the only things that make some folks happy. 

Sunday, May 07, 2017

Brother Rice Baseball and Knockwurst from Pat & Jack's Old Fashioned Butchers

Image result for brother rice pitcher ryan palmbladBrother Rice 8, Marmion 1: Ryan Palmblad pitched a one-hitter for Rice (21-6, 15-1 Catholic Blue).Image result for brother rice pitcher ryan palmblad

I watched Ryan P ( one of my juniors at Brother Rice) pitch a 1 hit-game.  It was very nearly a no hitter until the second to the last batter in the Seventh inning with two outs and a man on for Marmion Academy.  The Marmion hitter skinned a sweet one down the right field line for a single and drove in a walked batter.  The next batter hit a grounder to short and that was the game. Brother Rice 8- Marmion 1.  I was cold. I wore only a La Lumiere School hooded sweatshirt to game and my normally robustly larded frame withstands winds up to twenty miles per hour with temperatures in the mid -40's.  However my perch right behind home plate at Sedlacek Field is shady and the winds were exceptional.  

I immediately thought knockwurst.Image result for knockwurst

Knockwurst, or Knackwurst,  gets it's name from the 'pop' the casing makes when it is cut and seasonings flood the senses. Knockwurst is made of veal, pork, hog casing and plenty of garlic - individual butchers add their own secret spices. Knockwurst packs on the lard. That is why it is so tough to find, in our Euro-globalist dweeb-thin culture. Everyone wants to look like an idiot lane weaving cyclist.

I was chilled.

My thoughts turned to lard fuel and no place on earth is more conducive to fighting the elements than Pat & Jacks  Old Fashioned Meats in Chicago Ridge, a couple of miles from Brother Rice.  This gem of a butcher store is of the old saw-dust and straw Kelly'd butchers type. Love them on Face Book!
Image result for Pat & Jacks Meats
The meat is exceptional and the service like no place else.  More importantly, Pat & Jacks is one of the only places left on the south side where one can buy genuine KNOCKWURST.  Can't get it at County Fair, Jewels, Whole Foods, Pete's Produce, or Saveway.  Can't even get it at the usually helpful Mariano's.

Pat & Jack's Old Fashioned Butchers was my next port of call.

Got me four knockwursts, four thuringers, five Russett potatoes cut into thin ( 1/4" pieces) one large yellow onion, a head of  green cabbage ( cut in wedges and cored, a 12 ounce box of pinot grigio apple cider vinegar, caraways seeds, Kosher salt and black peppercorns . . .Oh, and some serious cloves of garlic and half a stick of Kerry Gold butter.

I parboiled the cabbage and then tossed it in apple cider vinegar, Kosher salt and caraway seeds in a big oil oil treated skillet and stir fried the cabbage for two minutes.

Then I place a layer of potatoes in the bottom of the slow cooker, added the cabbage in a layer then more potatoes, then more cabbage. covered all in wine and apple cider vinegar salt,pepper and caraway seeds and set on high for three hours.

After three hours I drained out the liquid and put in the half a stick of Kerry Gold cut into four pieces, added the minced garlic, pepper corns and cooked on low for one hour.

Then I added the whole Knockwurst and Thuringer sausages and cooked on low for three hours.

I turned off the pot and waited for it to cool and placed it in the ice box over night.

After 8:30 Mass, I set it on warm and will devour one portion ( 1 Knockwusrt/1 Thuringer ladle of cabbage and spuds) and dip with Dusseldorf mustard.


This will be a weeks work of great eating with a cold salad.

I love baseball. Image result for knockwurst & thuringer



Fourth Sunday After Easter - I still need a kick in the . . .pants.

Image result for Peter Preaching


One of my all-time favorite Readings is from today's Lectionary and the Acts of the Apostles.
Someone told me that there was a T.V. series about Acts, I find that hard to believe - no market: no vampires, rough sex, LGBTQ sub-themes, nor a willing cast.

Could be wrong.  I 'll look into it, after 8:30 Mass at Sacred Heart*.   Not that I'll watch it, just out of curiosity.  Maybe I'll watch it.

Anyway, this reading is a good one:

Reading 1 ACTS 2:14A, 36-41
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
"Let the whole house of Israel know for certain
that God has made both Lord and Christ,
this Jesus whom you crucified."
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart,
and they asked Peter and the other apostles,
"What are we to do, my brothers?"
Peter said to them,
"Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins;
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is made to you and to your children
and to all those far off,
whomever the Lord our God will call."
He testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them,
"Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."
Those who accepted his message were baptized,
and about three thousand persons were added that day.

Peter is by far my favorite saint, as he is the most male, the thickest, the most impulsive, the most 'FEET , do your stuff!' and the most honest of the disciples.  Peter is upfront about his betrayal of Jesus in the garden and that is evident here.

Easter was only four weeks ago. The Renewal!  Like New Year's Eve.

I am already dodging my spiritual resolutions, like politicians promises.

The Pre-Resurrection Simon Peter reminds me of me.  Easily fooled - 'Jump out of the boat!'  Quick to anger, "Cut off the guy's ear."  Easily cowered by responsibilities - "Cook-doodle-do!"

The Peter of Acts is nothing like me.

I hope to be.

Thanks for the swift kick.




* yep, it was Roma Downey produced this series. I'll binge watch it sometime.

Saturday, April 01, 2017

These Babes Will Do Whatever I Want - for money

Image result for four sexy women


Got an e-mail last week: the Headline " We Miss You! Call Us!"

The breath went out of me, my palms itched and I knew the phone would be next.

I did and did not use the 800 number, but the direct ( 708 ) 422-@##$. Shameless.

" Hi, Pat!  You dirty boy.  What do want?  Oh, I know what you want and we will do it in all three bedrooms.  You dirty? . . .   Thought so, Friday?  . . .  Sure we are do-able. Very do-able, Pat. Do you want the same four girls?  Fine.  I wish I could be with you, but I am handling so many filthy people . . .I shouldn't. You are the dirtiest, boy.  See you Friday."

Thus ended the latest tantric intoxication of female vocal phone service; that would hold me until Friday.

I am not what God made me, but what I have made of myself.  God made me better.  In HIS' image and likeness' and not wallowing weakling confessing his latest slip. I am weak. Unlike better men with more of the Thomas Merton to them, I could get a handle on things myself, but I am so needy for - the softer hands of others.  The hands of women is what I really need.

Women see, smell and feel what we males never recognize and try to get along in life clinging to our stoic virtue, or falling ever more deeply into the baser, self-absorbed neglect - bordering on abuse.

Two months have gone by without the feminine services of this quartet of beautiful, thoughtful and exacting professionals.

I have been without for so long.

Pity the widow man.

Friday has come and gone and so have the women who charged me $130.00 for one hour of their services.  Yes, I was a dirty boy.  Dirty 64 year old widow boy and they put me right.

Until I need them again.
Image result for the Maids

God help me,  I love the Maids of Oak Lawn!

Maids of Oak Lawn
5530 W 110th St, Oak Lawn, IL 60453
Phone: (708) 422-2176
Hours: Closed today


Saturday, March 11, 2017

South Side St. Paddy Parade is Looming and a Pot of Slumgullion is Just the Thing

Image result for the stew cook

slum·gul·lion(ËŒslÉ™mˈɡəlyÉ™n)
noun: USinformal
noun: slumgullion
cheap or insubstantial stew.
Insubstantial?  My broad manly rump, Hombre!  Who is writing these WEB definitions?

Before I bolt the hood, exchanging the shouting and bag piping of the annual South Side St. Paddy's Day Parade, for lowing of black and white dairy cattle in Dodgeville, Wisconsin ( home to best Cornish pasties that side of Bridgeport) and the expected dusting of March snow, I shall pot up a mess of slumgullion.

Slumgullion is the food of the working people who built America!  Not Howard Zinn activists and trust funded hair-shirts of the 21st Century American History textbooks, but the real people, former slaves, black, white, brown, yellow and tawny.  They are Edna Ferber's Midwestern Jews, Bohemian, Alsatian immigrants; they are John Dos Passos' Portuguese, Irish, WASP, and Begian adventurers; They are Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie, Richard Wright's Bigger Thomas and James T. Farrell's Studs Lonigan.  They are slumgullion eaters.

Slumgullion is a varietal staple that can include Chinese five spices, Mexican cumino, Japanese ginger, Hungarian smoked paprika, or just salt and black paper.

You need a cauldron, Dutch oven, iron pot or slow cooker of some volume.

Beef and Pork are the usual cuts of meat, but chicken, squirrel, turtle, or fish will work as well.

Root vegetables, or macaroni, pasta, rice or noodles will add substance to savories.

Here is my offering today.

                                               Pat Hickey Slumgullion

two lbs - of chuck cut like Fajitas dredged in three good tablespoon of flour, smoked paprika and cilantro

One 1/2 cup of Mire Poix( celery,onion and carrots)

Five medium potatoes peeled - I use three Golden Yellow and two Russets

Five sprigs of Rosemary and five sprigs of thyme

One 16 oz. Can of Crushed Tomatoes and one small can of tomato paste

Two long dashes of Worcestershire sauce

A pinch of crushed Red pepper flakes

One five quart Hamilton Beach slow cooker

One skillet with three tablespoons of Olive Oil

Methode: Ã€ la manière de Hickey

In a large plastic bag add flour, smoked paprika and cilantro; Mix well and add the beef and roll it , bounce and knead the hell out of it  and let sit for about ten minutes.



Add beef to the skillet and brown it.  When good and brown make room for the mire poix and saute and them blend all together, Cook until all vegetables are tender-ish

Peel and coarsely cut five potatoes and place them in the bottom of the slow cooker.

Pour meat and mire poix mixture over the spuds.

Add 16 oz. can of crushed tomatoes and then the tomato paste and mix them together over the meat and spud.

Squirt five dashes of Worchester and sprinkle crushed red peppers over the tomatoes

Layer rosemary and thyme sprigs and mushrooms on top.

Cook on low for twelve to 24 hours. This will be ready to put in the ice box when I return from Wisconsin Sunday night and then Hold the Phone all week!

Serve with Pat Hickey Cornbread - Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2 cups of Aunt Jemima Corn Meal
one Jumbo egg
one can of creamed corn
2/3 cup of milk
two tablespoons of sugar
one tablespoon of good vanilla extra

Mix it all with a forkImage result for cornbread in pie tin

Pour contents into a pie tin or cast iron skillet and drizzle honey over the mixture

Bake for 25-28 minutes.


This is perfect for the snowy weather expected next week.  I'll be eating it up to Friday next.  Then eggs, mushrooms, spinach, peppers and Giardinara.

Wednesday, March 01, 2017

The Birth of My Granddaughter Elizabeth Mary Rhein Made it Official: I am a Geezer!

Image result for Geezer

I am proud to report that on February 28, 2017 at 6:15 P.M.  my grand-daughter Mary Elizabeth Rhein made me a geezer*:
Image result for Geezer
Little Ms. Rhein's grandmother, who resides in Heaven, spent the last nine months and change bunking in with the young lady in formation, offering comfort, counsel and cooking tips- of that I have no doubt.

I have yet to meet this lovely lady, but plan to do so after classes today.

Mother and Father and bonding nicely with our little Princess.  Uncle and Aunt are stoked,

Grandpa is through the roof.

* ear hair machine
   blue hair
   dad
   Methusalah
    

Saturday, February 04, 2017

Blue Books - Real Exams for Real Men of Theology 3


Image result for 1940's Catholic High School Boys

In-class essays (Blue Books) are a normal part of academic life.  Academic life, of course, is not normal.  But it does present a socially acceptable way to focus on personal skills. Properly pursued, the whole process aims to bring about change we associate with learning. As one of many academic avenues, In-Class Essays offer a way to approach yourself, to confront what you know and how well you communicate your thoughts and beliefs.  What is sometimes most scary is that we don't like what we find.  What we want for ourselves and what we have are different. Learning focuses on this difference, and Exams provide a practical and periodic way to organize what you have learned and what is missing. It is designed to challenge. If you've taken an In-Class exam in the past, you have a fair idea how difficult it is to write persuasive prose under pressure.  Time will fly. You will not be able to write as much as you know. If you have not taken a Blue Book Exam before, pay attention to what follows. Be clear:  In-Class Essays ask that you present your understanding and interpretations of course material in lucid, persuasive prose. The 'Blue Book Challenge' is not designed for fun. But the process can be gratifying.  Dr. Robert Hatch

" We take Blue Book Exams, Gentlemen."  The pause was as pregnant as the now large-with-child Beyonce,  from my thirty six times three sections of Theology 3.   This 5.4 score of young Catholic manhood, commanding desks ill-fitted to the New Millennium mesomorphs stuffed to rib cages by the particle board desk tops, responded with " Coach, what're Blue Books?  They anything like Blue Ba. . ?"

No, not exactly.

Theology, or religion classes in Catholic secondary education tend to be either a grade point booster, or, at the very worst, fifty daily minutes of Mime Clown Jesus and androgynous Godhead exercises in Unitarian principles for unhappy spinsters and life-long victims.

Somewhere in between these extremes lies the Goldem Mean - rigor without condescending intimidation.

" Coach, you're high!  We take True/False and Multiple Guess tests."

With my avuncular grin that teases raccoons out of my 19th Ward trash containers I replied, " We don't work that street no more. "

Gobsmacked young-uns, " What's that mean?"

" You employed the first person plural in the false assumption that WE means something.  We  -in the accusative =is taking only essay exams in Theology 3. "

"What's that mean?"

" Put it this way, 'Chicks who really count, dig only guys who take out  and dominate Blue Book Exams!'  That's the word on the street, from the time Plato tossed away the stylus and tablets, Lads.  Essay exams are the only true test of what a man - a fuul-grown, Hoochie-Coochie Mayne - really knows," I answered to the best of my wont.

That was three weeks ago. In that time, I taught a Unit on Poverty for the Social Justice Classes, Second Semester of Theology 3.  This Unit looked at poverty, " the experience of living without the basic needs for existence, necessary for a full and dignified life." Having taken the teachings of Rerum Novarum by Pope XIII as the advent of Catholic Social Justice, we looked at poverty at the financial, intellectual, emotional and spiritual life of persons marginalized and trapped in the seemingly endless cycle of poverty, through a study of Robert Thompson, one of two Liverpool ten year olds who murdered toddler James Bulger in 1993.  Image result for maslow's hierarchy of needs pyramid


We applied Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to this study and contrasted Thompson to Manchester slum dweller Anthony Burgess who became the 21st Century's most prolific novelist and composer.

I presented the gents four thought problems early this week for yesterday's Blue Book Exam.

By the way - each examinee was required to purchase a Blue Book booklet @ $.50 per. and bring along a blue or black ink pen.  Needless, to say, these are adolescent males and increased volume, salty sobriquets and excruciating repetitions of command by this examinant improved the odds for success.

Today, I am up to my fleshy jowls in Blue Books this post First Friday weekend in February and I must say that I am singularly delighted by the  waves of  smart, exact and carefully crafted sententiae offered by my heroes.

The grades are very high and, with very few exceptions, worthy of public display.


This was their first Big Boy Blue Book exam and they passed with flying colors.  There is red ink all over the pages of each Blue Book, to be sure but it is Mission Accomplished!

Students will rise the challenge, when challenged.  Today one of our Regional Crusader wrestlers will stand in 1st Place, but also sport a 95% on his Blue Book Exam.

" Coach, I smoked this test!"

" That was not a test Young Will! That was a Blue Book Exam. You got your big boy pants on, Son!"

" Whatever."

 Ah, I do love teaching, so

"To cut the matter short, Ratcliffe, you have been a most notorious thief,"  Sorry, I was thinking about Heart of Midlothian.  Lord, but I doooo drift some.

Friday, December 23, 2016

How Un-Evolved of Me! Loping the Mule is Not Love for Evolved

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The Sin of Onan - past time of both genders and a few more.

You ladies all of merry England
Who have been to kiss the Duchess's hand,
Pray, did you not lately observe in the show
A noble Italian called Signor Dildo? ...
A rabble of pricks who were welcomed before,
Now finding the porter denied them the door,
Maliciously waited his coming below
And inhumanly fell on Signor Dildo ... Sir John Wilmot 17th Century Libertine

I have been told that I need to work on my filters.   Especially when I speak to people beyond the pale of my blue collar Catholic parish, where marriages largely remain intact, kids grow up and become useful citizens and weirdos are generally seen for what they happen to be.

Gay people are married and live happily together. Some with adopted children who are happy that someone houses, feeds, provides and most of all loves them.  That is a good thing.  Fact of the matter is those folks choose not to live in my neck-of-the-Dan Ryan Woods.  This appears to be hetero-marriage world.  I am sure that are gay couples here in the 19th Ward, I know more than few gay singles, here and about who work at the County Building, City Hall and at the Criminal Courts, who grew up in Tommy More, Little Flower, St. Dennis and Ethelreda parishes with us who chose not to marry at this time.  They are great people who would be as welcome as they are without spouses, because they are great people.

That said, and I said it many times,   Marriage is meant for a man and a woman. Way back in 2011, Illinois passed the Civil Unions Ordinance which did not confer on couples the terms 'spouses,'husbands, and 'wives.'  That was handled by Gov. Pat Quinn, the Paul Simon Insitute Polls and our elected officials on November 20, 2013.  Evolution sure has sped up some!

The legislation has yet to change the simple fact that the Yin and Yang of gender remains at play and no matter how much two gals, or two guys love one another the laws of biology discovered by Fr. Gregor Mendel, O.S.A. remain in play:

1) The Law of Segregation: Each inherited trait is defined by a gene pair. Parental genes are randomly separated to the sex cells so that sex cells contain only one gene of the pair. Offspring therefore inherit one genetic allele from each parent when sex cells unite in fertilization.
2) The Law of Independent Assortment: Genes for different traits are sorted separately from one another so that the inheritance of one trait is not dependent on the inheritance of another.
3) The Law of Dominance: An organism with alternate forms of a gene will express the form that is dominant.
The genetic experiments Mendel did with pea plants took him eight years (1856-1863) and he published his results in 1865. During this time, Mendel grew over 10,000 pea plants, keeping track of progeny number and type. Mendel's work and his Laws of Inheritance were not appreciated in his time. It wasn't until 1900, after the rediscovery of his Laws, that his experimental results were understood.
We are people;not peas!  Got it.

When gender became as unnecessary to the political culture world, it became of paramount necessity to the litigious high priests of moral legislation and jurisprudence.  Lawyers lawsuit the shit out of average un-evolved people of Faith and not the other way around.

When gay marriage was argued all the way from Springfield to the United States Supreme Court, people of sense and faith worried about the marriage between a man and his rooster, girl and her pet pony, an ardent swain and his melon, brothers seeking more than a Bromance, sapphic sisters setting up camp, Mormon poly-same sex partners and a Frog and her robot.

All objections were immediately peck sniffed and eyes rolled like Buddy Bomar was tossing them, by the evolved libertine libertarians who study morality on HBO.  Mark Ruffalo is cool with it; worship it.  It gets better.  

In France,  a woman named Lilly wants to marry her robot.  Robot passion suppression is not new - sex toys appear in every culture. For the Ladies, The Dildo, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) appears, appears mind you, to have been evolved from the smoothly carved wooden, how shall I say, tool of nautical origin.

 One theory is that it originally referred to the phallus-shaped peg used to lock an oar in position on a dory (small boat). It would be inserted into a hole on the side of the boat, and is very similar in shape to the modern toy. It is possible that the sex toy takes its name from this sailing tool, which also lends its name to the town of Dildo and the nearby Dildo Island in Newfoundland, Canada.

For the Gents, the Sailor's Wife, the Mighty Mitt, the Fleshlight, or the Fifi developed in prison for the more  staunch anti-sodomy cell dwellers. The Fifi, which refers to an artificial vagina usually made by rolling a trash bag or condom inside of a towel, and using some sort of lubrication such as hand lotion.One expert said the current sex robots have a long way to go before they are appealing. Picture: Ethan Miller/Getty Images/AFP

The Robot's fiance and would-be spouse, Lilly the Frog, has science, behind her desires, of course:

University of London Computing Professor Adrian David Cheok said he believes robots will not only become common, but preferable for many people.
“It’s going to be so much easier, so much more convenient to have sex with a robot. You can have exactly what kind of sex you want. That’s going to be the future. That we will have more sex with robots and the next stage is love … we’re already seeing it.”
“Actual sex with humans may be like going to a concert. When you’re at home you can listen to Beethoven’s ninth symphony, it’s good enough and once or twice a year you’ll want to go the Royal Albert Hall and hear it in a concert hall.
That may be the way sex with humans is going to be. It’s going to be much more easier, much more convenient to have sex with a robot, and maybe much better because that’s how you want it.”
Now, Professor Adrian David Cheok is no  ordinary jagoff.  He's a scientist, no doubt a devout onanaist as well.

All of these evolved means of onanism come down to self love - Onanism. We were sex educated ( segregated from the ladies of course)  by Father Gerrity in the mysteries of self mastery and the lists of love-making outside of the sacrament of Matrimony.   Self-love ( pocket pool, boxing the Jesuit, beatin' the bishop, loping the old mule, greasing the flagpole, chuckin' the custard ) was a thoroughly vain pursuit and the Sin of Onan.  

And sin we did!

However, self control and human will tempered by moral adjustments and canon law, prevented generations of hearts wanting what the heart wants from shivering our timbers 24/7.  That and exhaustion, I suppose. We  managed to fall in love, marry and procreate and then do that providing and loving for the bairns.

On the secular side of things, Planned Parenthood demands more wiggles and giggles and more penetrating productions. A gal has to make a buck.

Grabbing the gecko was not an act of love, but an imitation of sex.

Evolution is a hoot in this Anthony Weiner World of Ours!  Just maybe not all that . . .gratifying.