Sirs,
Truly enjoyed your first issue. Look forward to reading future ones as the come
online. I would like to be able to contribute in some small manner, but alas,
I fear that my wanton ravings would not meet up to the quality that you are
looking for in your fine e-zine. Still, who knows what the future holds. Your
choice of articles has meet up with the qualities that we have all come to expect
from Cecil and the crew at the Straight Dope. Please know that you and all who
serve to produce this 'zine have my eternal gratitude and profound good wishes
on future success.
Yours,
Doug Hammock
It took me over a week to finally read the ezine. I thought it was kinda
a dumb idea and didn't like the way the page looked. But tonight, while I'm
stuck in the boredom of work, I decided to read a bit. I was fascinated and
drawn in by the articles written in here. I post with these people every day,
and have thought they were great. But it wasn't until they expressed their thought
so openly that I truly appreciated them. I was entranced by the article by "Mr
know it all". His depiction of band camp brought me straight back to my band
camp days and how much they mean to me. I laughed my head off at the Telletubbies
article by Silent Rob. I even sent a link to it to PBS so they could laugh with
us. Most of all I completely felt the love and dedication it takes to be a parent
through Eutychus55's story about his children.
Now I don't know if I'm articulate enough to compose such wonderful editorials
like the people who did this month, but I'm am now a dedicated reader of this
wonderful ezine and hope there are many more to come.
Sincerely
Lisa Freeman
I've just read the article by Rastahomie entitled "Tastes Like Chicken" and,
while I was keen to find out more about how bear tastes, I felt I should clarify
a point or two regarding Kangaroo.
While I am sure that Kangaroo would be considered exotic in the USA, here in
Australia, you would be hard pressed to find a large number of locals who haven't
tasted the national emblem.
It's not exactly part of our regular diet, due to its relative cost and unavailability
when compared with beef, but it is on the menu of nearly every self-respecting
modern Australian restaurant.
Kangaroo is a delicious meat which resembles gamey beef in flavour more than
rabbit as stated in your article. It is very tender, provided that it is cooked
properly (not overcooked)and is much leaner than beef.
Kangaroo goes particularly well with a red wine reduction sauce and is a marvellous
meat for accompanying good Pinot Noir. It is very important, however, to ensure
that it is not cooked beyond medium-rare and should be dark pink in the middle.
Cooking beyond this loses both flavour and texture quality dramatically
Hope this was informative
Ashley Isbel
Rastahomie replies :
The only meat on this list that rastahomie has actually tasted is alligator,
which he eats in copious quantities whenever he's in Florida or Louisiana. All
other meats are described according to what others have told him. Rastahomie
apologizes for not upholding high standards of journalism and checking these
assertions for himself, but kangaroo, bison, bear and whale are in short supply
in central Illinois."
Now I know how Cecil feels (not really.)
One problem with "The Teletubbies of the Apocalypse" by Silent Rob. The last
book of the Christian Bible is "The Book of Revelation According to John" or
simply, "Book of Revelation." Please note the singular, it is not "book of Revelations"
as mentioned in the article.
John Pilge
Excellent site. Very funny (Chef Troy, Ruffian and Silent Rob), poignant
(Eutychus55), and touching (Mr Know It All). And, I have now have some good
recipes to boot (Rastahomie). I want to be on the mailing list!
Ben Bruce
Eutychus55 replies :
We have a mailing list?
In "Watch Out for Falling Anvils" by Cal Meacham, Meacham theorizes that
falling anvils are largely a phenomenon of unexplained origins in the real world,
and existed only in the 'toons. I seem to remember-- and I don't have the time
to research this thoroughly, so take it as a point to ponder and not a rebuttal--
that the early days of sky-scraper building required an ironfitter, complete
with an anvil, in the heights of the sketal building. Some fittings had to be
made on site, and the anvil was necessary. The "red-hot bolts falling from the
sky" is another remnant of this time often found in cartoons.
Just a thought. Great 'zine.
D. Bredon
Cal Meacham replies :
D. Bredon's suggestion is an interesting one. I haven't heard anything about
ironfitters with anvils aloft in the iron skeletons of skyscrapers, but I'm
not very familiar with the construction techniques used in the first half of
the century. I'm not familiar with the "red hot bolts falling from the sky"
D. refers to, but cartoons of the period DID often depict construction workers
tossing red-hot rivets from the ground up to workers who caught them in buckets
(one example is in the Fleischer studio film "Mr. Bug Goes to Town", AKA "Hoppity
Goes to Town"). The rivets were, I think, heated in furnaces on the ground (think
about transporting not only the heavy furnace, but also its fuel). But if the
building went above a few stories this clearly would present a few problems.
So anvils up in city skies could conceivably have some justification, too. I'd
feel better about it if I could find some references to the practice, or some
pictures.