Father's Day: The Aftermath

A fine Father's Day. We had a beer at dinner, a Japanese red rice ale, and it went straight to our brain. In a touching Father's Day Card, the girls thanked us for driving them everywhere, getting Dunkin, and said it was fun watching Kara and Nate with us. Which is an interesting look into their mindset. We'll take the W. 

We lifted weights yesterday and followed that up by mowing the lawn for an excellent workout. The walk on Thursday and lifting yesterday took longer than usual. Lifting should only take about an hour, but after finishing the first quarter of the session (half a dozen dumbbell exercises each of three) we were already half an hour in. This is a sure sign of onset fatigue. We need rest. But we hate rest.

Today is the anniversary of the birth of the young lady who is named for our paternal grandmother, Hanna Eisman Stroock. Stroock's Books reader(s) will celebrate appropriately. Do us a favor and click the links, would'ya?

Oh FFS. Breitbart reports on Chuck Schumer's barbeque pic mishap: 'Schumer’s post received a wide variety of responses from people who zoomed in and pointed out that one of the hamburger patties, which had cheese on top, appeared to be raw.' What the actual ef? Who does that? For the record, observant Jews don't eat meat with cheese (I dunno). We've no idea if Chuck is that observant. But this just goes to show the man knows nothing about barbeque. Of course, reader(s) of this blog know one puts the cheese on at the end. Stay the hell in New York, Schumer, you putz.*

In response to the gynecological disaster that is Star War: The Acolyte, this week we're going to write about the varied and interesting female characters in Dune Part 2. Do note, Leslie Headland and her coven wanted to write Lesbian Star Wars for years, and the best she and her tattooed barista washouts could come up with is, 'The power of one. The power of two. The power of many...!'

Dune Part 2, Part Fem, Part I: Charlotte Rampling plays Reverend Mother Mohaim, head of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood and the emperor's truthsayer. Her face is old and weathered by time. Her eyes blank, showing nothing and seeing everything. Watching her, one gets the sense that Mohaim is always calculating.  'We are Bene Gesserit,' Mohaim says. 'We don't hope. We plan.'  She judges each person's worth, be they the Emperor, Duke Leto Atreides, or Feyd Routha, against the goals of the Bene Gesserit. Mohaim believes the sisterhood's millennia long breeding program is close to creating the Kwistaz Haderach. She will destroy Duke Leto or betray the emperor to bring that about. 

Professor Stroock. As noted yesterday, we're going to blog about being a prof. So we found an old test of ours. Medieval Test:
-1. Describe the forces and pressures that made Europe 'dark' from 490-1066.
-2. How did the Plague sweep across and change Europe?
-3. How did William conquer consolidate his control of England?
-4. Why do you think the Crusaders were so successful?

What is this habit we have of writing, 'He fired off a shell' or 'he toggled off a missile'? Huh.

As we wrap up the Norway final edit, we ponder what worldwide whip around intro scenes are needed in Thatcher's War. Well? What scenes are needed?

Monday Metal: You know, this weekend found us asking a musical question we've never asked before. What are our ten favorite rock songs? We could tell reader(s) our ten favorite Def Leppard songs, or Queen songs, or Led Zeppelin songs, but not our ten favorite rock songs. This prompted some serious consideration from us. Our criteria was simple. What are the songs we've been listening to for 10, 20, 30 years? Once we established that, the list was pretty easy to put together. So here it goes- 

Def Leppard: Poor Some Sugar on Me. Loved it the first time we heard in in April, '88. Absolutely our #1 ever since

Free: Alright Now. Best chord progression in rock and roll

Queen: Fat Bottomed Girls. Unabashed celebration of rock. Amazing chorus. 

AC/DC: Shoot to Thrill. We thought a lot about this one. The finger picking interlude is our hook

The Answer: Walkin' Matt, 'Throw your stones and break my back. Curse my name for all you lack...' 

Led Zeppelin: Another hard one to sort out. Black Dog. Heard it for the first time on the lake in summer '89. Great riff, great bridge, great outro. 

Iron Maiden: Wasted Years. The riff has held us in its sway since we heard in the summer of '88 

Wolfmother: Apple Tree. Great bridge, and an absolutely awesome distorted solo

Aerosmith: Sweet Emotion. Great bass riff, chord progression, and overall drive. The bridge sounds like a rolling artillery barrage

*We gotta get a new propane tank.