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maybe it should be yellow

Make sure the dye has something that only shows up under black light. Prevent "I am Spartacus" moments before they start.

What do ya think? Should we start doing this here in America? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/2bl0OgVhJ4

— Jannine.. #MagaMemeQueen ™️ 👑🇺🇸 (@janninereid1) November 29, 2024

to the people who didn't see this election coming

Konstantin Kisin with some Monday-morning quarterbacking:

the explosive power of molten salt

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I want to see the alt-media get all the first questions, with legacy media given the scraps.

the priest who didn't know anything

Imagine being an Episcopal priest on Jeopardy who can't or won't answer simple Bible-trivia questions. This was astounding to me when I heard about it yesterday.

Headline:

Priest Stuns America by Not Answering Famous Bible Clues on ‘Jeopardy!’

An Episcopal priest who is now a three-day champion on “Jeopardy!” is raising eyebrows after being unable to answer two famous clues from the Holy Bible on Wednesday night’s broadcast.

Kevin Laskowski, of Falls Church, Virginia, who is priest-in-charge at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Centreville, Virginia, was among the contestants dealing with the category “Quoting the King James Bible.”

To his credit, Laskowski was able to answer “And the light shineth in” this, which “comprehended it not.”

“What is the darkness?” he correctly responded.

Another clue stated: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green” these.

“What is green pastures?” he answered rightly.

But then came a pair of clues to which the reverend was completely silent.

“Why beholdest thou” this 4-letter thing “that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”

The correct response to the triple-stumper was “the mote.”

And the final, $1,000 clue also left all three contestants unable to voice anything.

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils” this phrase.

The correct response is “the breath of life.”

The initial biblical clue stated: “Exodus 20:8 commands, ‘Remember’ this day ‘to keep it holy.’”

It was answered correctly with “the Sabbath;” not by the priest, but by challenger Julia Schan, a stay-at-home mom from Pleasanton, California.

Visit the link, read the rest, and watch the sad video. Wow. I'm an off-the-scale religious liberal and non-literalist, but even I could have answered those Bible questions.

here we go again

Unless something has come up, and I've forgotten to take this post down, the Hairy Chasms are going back on autopilot again—nothing but scheduled posts until December 10, starting today. Why? Because I'm busing back down to Daegu today, back to the Hong-C Motel, to resume the route I'd left off. It's basically the beginning of winter now, and while I won't be camping, I'll be walking during morning and afternoon conditions that are much colder than in the late fall. Assuming I'm starting at 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. every morning, I can trust that temps will be freezing for the first several hours of each segment. Being away from the waste heat of big cities means that temperatures, even down south as I move away from Daegu, will be harsh, including when morning gives way to afternoon.

I've decided to keep walking with my modest-sized backpack instead of with the old, faithful Gregory Baltoro 85. It is, frankly, too big of a pack for the type of walking I'm doing. I'll be carrying winter gear like gloves, extra socks, long-sleeve undershirts, a thick winter vest (gift from the boss some years back), a winter coat, a ski mask, a regular face mask (just to keep my breath close to my face), and maybe some ice cleats just in case I run into a snow/ice problem toward the end of the trek. Daegu is famous for its warmer-than-average temperatures compared to the rest of the country, so things shouldn't be too bad when I start out, but as I keep moving north and east, and as time rolls on, I can expect the conditions to change pretty substantially over eleven days. While I don't look forward to walking in heavy snow, the thing that really worries me is heavy rain. If I'm wearing winter gear when the rains come down, that could mean being soaked (note to self: keep that poncho). I may have to do some quick changes of clothing if a rain front ambushes me.

Otherwise, I'm prepping like an old man who doesn't want to endure unnecessary hardship. I haven't decided whether I'll be taking along my wide-brimmed hat; that's more a thing I need in the fall, when the sun shines more harshly. (Update: I've got the hat.) But bright winter sunshine is also a possibility, so this might become a better-safe-than-sorry sort of decision. Anyway, the hat, when rolled up, doesn't take up much room in the pack, so the more I think about it, the more likely it seems that I'll be taking it along.

I'll also be stocked up with first-aid kits; whenever I've used first-aid material, it's almost always been because of foot issues, so my kit is biased toward that. If the recently healed skin on my right foot reopens during this walk, I'll just keep on trucking until the very end, even if it means limping the entire day. It's an eleven-day calendar but only eight days of walking: I still have three planned rest days. Before the walk, I'll be sure to tape up my feet as well as possible, with a good bit of gauze secured to the tender parts of my soles.

You may recall this November 4 post over at the walk blog; that calendar hasn't changed. The itinerary is also a click away on the walk blog's right-hand sidebar. While I'm away, this blog will be back on a 3-post-a-day footing. There may be some exceptions here and there, but I think you'll get used to it. Of course, when you schedule posts, it's always a bit awkward if you happen to die along the way: the scheduled posts will keep on publishing until they run out, and it might feel as if the blog is being run by a ghost for a while. If I remember to, I'll give crucial information to friends and relatives to allow them to announce my death on my blog and maybe to stop all the scheduled posts. My current uploaded graphics since around mid-2016 have been stored on Google, and I've been paying for storage space, so I expect that subscription (among others) to shut down in the event of my demise.

Thoughts of possible death aside, I hope this turns out to be a better eleven days than the first eight days were. I've got better shoes, and I'm hoping there's less chance of rain. And while snow wouldn't exactly be welcome, I'll likely have my ice cleats along so I can keep my footing. There may be fewer pictures given the battery-power-sucking nature of cold, but as before, you'll see only ten pics per day during the actual walk, then I'll slap up the rest along with captions and commentary once I'm back, hopefully all before the end of the year.

This will have been a unique trans-Korea walk—the first ever to be broken up by injury. But you knew I couldn't just give up: how would I live with myself?

Righto... I'm leaving for Daegu right after work and starting my eleven days tomorrow.

Wish me luck.

good

BREAKING: the federal court of appeals just ruled that Texas has the right to build the razor wire border wall that we have constructed to deny illegal entry into our state.and that Biden was wrong to cut our razor wire.

We continue adding more razor wire border barrier. pic.twitter.com/a1jLPvceLf

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 27, 2024

you probably don't want to see this, anyway

Another Donut Operator police-camera video, this one featuring a police dog getting stabbed (you don't really see much of anything because these videos are always highly censored, mosaicked, etc., but you hear the yelps), with the stabber paying the price for wounding a fellow officer.

Thanksgiving luncheon

It was all in all a great meal. 

There were a few complaints, but overall, the luncheon went spectacularly. One complaint, and the boss said "I'm not complaining" when he mentioned this, was that the turkey was a bit salty. That's not something I could control since I'd merely ordered the turkey from Coupang. I guess it was a different brand from the one ordered last year; I'll have to check my order archives to be sure. My boss made his complaint before I'd had a chance to bite into the turkey myself, but when I finally did, I could tell he was right: the turkey was indeed a bit salty, and the saltiness built up the more turkey I ate. I suggested to the boss that, if he wanted to take the leftovers home, he should ask his wife to make a turkey pot pie or something so as to distribute the saltiness through something else. I also recommended that he take home the creamed corn, which we barely dented, since that was already the consistency of a pot-pie filling; just add minced carrots, celery, onions, and maybe peas. Add some herbs like sage, parsley, etc. No need to add much salt since the turkey already had so much.

The other two slight disappointments were (1) the green beans—just as unpopular this year as last year—and (2) the pumpkin pies. The boss brought in a pie he'd bought from a downstairs bakery. Both that pie and my pie turned out to be fairly pumpkin-forward, which is strange since last year's pie, from the same recipe (plus one egg) was so awesome. Of course, as I'd mentioned earlier, the boss had, last year, given me a pumpkin grown by a farmer friend of his; I guess that the farmer's pumpkin had been sweeter than this year's pumpkin purée, also ordered from Coupang like the turkey breast. In all, though, the boss ended up liking my pie better, and so did I. My Korean coworker pronounced everything delicious and said he'd eaten too much; my boss eventually had to heave himself up and lurch off to his evening class.

Upshot: the disappointments weren't really big disappointments, so they didn't bother me. Everything else, though, was an unmitigated hit. The stuffing—which I'd made by going retro and doing it on the stovetop, without custard, the way I used to do it—was perfectly seasoned and flavored, not too salty, and not too sweet. The mashed potatoes were great, as were the sweet potatoes (no marshmallows—just candied nuts off to the side that the troops could sprinkle onto their sweet potatoes before microwaving). The glazed ham was very good despite the meager quantity of it, and after I'd mixed in a bit of water to thin out the cranberry sauce a bit, that was great, too, just like last year. I really like the idea of using dried cranberries to make cranberry sauce. The gravy, which started the day as a congealed, refrigerated rectangle plopping hilariously into a high-walled skillet, was perfectly flavored. Thank goodness for that bottle of Gravy Master; it really simplifies the gravy-making process. No need for turkey drippings: just make a chicken-broth "Béchamel," then add a teaspoon of Gravy Master (sort of a demi-glace concentrate), stir and heat, et voilà.

Back to the pies for a sec. As you'll see in the pics below, I had toppings for my own pie: the blitzed-up Biscoff crumble crust, the syrupy drizzle from my Bananas Foster recipe, and a can of whipped cream (some German brand called Meggle) bought at my building's downstairs grocery. These toppings radically improved the flavor of my pie (whose texture was also miraculously perfect for once—and no cracks!). While I ended up giving both pies a B+, I'd rather dig into my own pie again than that store-bought pie.

So let's get to the pictures.

Turkey, bagged up and being held in warm water as we wait for the boss to arrive.

The gravy, hilariously plopped into a skillet and looking like a droopy rectangle.

A wide shot of many of the sides: stuffing, glazed, ham, candied nuts, sweet potatoes, green beans with ham and shrooms, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, butter, and rolls from the bakery downstairs (probably the same bakery from which the boss bought his pie).

My Bananas Foster topping (boozy with rum), the Biscoff crumble, and my rough-looking pie.

My "spray cream," which sounds vaguely nasty.

Everything here is carby except maybe for the green beans.

closeup of the rolls and cranberry sauce

a closer look at the stuffing, which really was tastefully flavored this time

sweet taters and their candied-nut topping

the meager-but-delicious glazed ham (glaze = maple syrup and brown sugar)

the gravy again, now heated

Round 1 for me; not enough room for green beans.

Round 2, with green beans and less on my plate this time (I'd fasted for two days before this).

I'd forgotten to photograph the roll I took. Even better with butter. God, this was a carby day.

The two pies. You can easily tell which one is mine.

Pie slices on my plate, with my own slice jazzed up with toppings. I thought both were good.

The pumpkin-forward flavor of both pies was a reminder that Costco pumpkin pies are delicious but loaded with a bunch of extra, irrelevant ingredients, assembly-line style.

The bakery's pumpkin pie had pumpkin seeds on it, keeping to a theme. Nice.

The above is supposed to be French, and it mostly is. I couldn't figure out, at first, what "Le leve Heureux" meant, but then I read the small print: "Ce n'était qu'un rêve" (I've supplied the missing accents). This means, "It was only a dream." So the missing accents for était (was) and rêve (dream) were a problem, but I had at least figured out "Le leve Heureux": the leve was supposed to be rêve, i.e., "dream," so this was the classic East Asian problem with Rs and Ls. The capitalization was all wrong, too: it should be "Le rêve heureux," the happy dream. Ah, well. If "Konglish" is the Korean bastardization of English, what's the Korean-French equivalent? Coréen + français = le corçais?

the top of the pie box

With so much left over, the boss—and maybe my Korean coworker—plans to take a lot of food home with him to feed his family. I don't know whether his kids will like the pumpkin pie, and the turkey issue is a real problem, so I hope the Missus adds the meat to a nice pot pie. I'm supposed to fast all of Friday, but I'm sorely tempted to chow down on more stuffing and creamed corn. For me, when the stuffing's done right, it's the star of the show. I also suggested to the boss that he could make that Moistmaker sandwich from "Friends." It's a sandwich that's been reproduced by any number of YouTube cooks and chefs, and it looks like a great way to get rid of Thanksgiving leftovers. I'm not so sure my Korean coworker will bother to take any food home with him; he usually doesn't despite generally liking what I cook. Ooh, come to think of it, I could also eat more of those mashed potatoes. Now, if I really wanted to be keto, I'd stick with the turkey meat and the green beans.

Nah.

I hope your own Thanksgiving went well, with lots of food and friends and family.

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Cats are idiots.