A few other choice auctions that are within reach and end today include a 1990 300ZX Twin Turbo for Mark, a 1974 Fiat Jolly for our man at the beach, a very cheap and very shady 2014 Jaguar F-Type right here in NJ for rob, a 2004 VW R32 for rob's kid, a Laguna Blue (!!) 2001 BMW M Roadster in Acton, MA that Squeaky needs to buy right now (even the dreaded spot welds in the trunk look good), an Assuan Brown 1982 Volkswagen Westfalia with striped (not Boogie Woogie, sigh) fabric seats for rootsy, a Yellow Mist 1965 Mercury Comet Caliente Convertible for Whit, a remarkably crisp 1973 TR6 for Mr. KQ, and a 1972 350SL for Marls.
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Family Truckster!
Monday, September 22, 2025
More Beast Food, alternatively titled "Trump has more housecleaning to do"
The Eastern District of Virginia is a district within the federal court system with courthouses in Alexandria, Newport News, Norfolk, and Richmond. DJ Trump nominated Erik Siebert to be the US attorney for the Eastern District in May of 2025. Shortly thereafter, Siebert launched an investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James--you may remember her from the fraud case against Trump that resulted in a $450 million verdict--but he was unable to find any wrongdoing. Naturally, Trump pressured Siebert to press charges against her anyway. Trump opined that "It looks to me like she is very guilty of something, but I really don't know." That's the leader of the free world, by the way.
Shortly thereafter, Trump decided to fire him but Siebert withdrew his nomination before he could be fired. When explaining why he wanted to fire Siebert, Trump said "When I saw that he got approved by those two men, I said, pull it, because he can't be any good. When I learned that they voted for him, I said, I don't really want him." So it had nothing to do with Letitia James.
"Those two men" are Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner. I know this because Trump later bleated on Truth Social "Today I withdrew the Nomination of Erik Siebert as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, when I was informed that he received the UNUSUALLY STRONG support of the two absolutely terrible, sleazebag Democrat Senators, from the Great State of Virginia. Next time let him go in as a Democrat, not a Republican."
This makes sense to me. But this also means Trump has a lot of housecleaning to do because Kaine and Warner voted for a bunch of other people Trump nominated. Like Marco Rubio, Doug Burgum, Scott Bessent, John Ratcliffe, and Sean Duffy (really?). He better get to work replacing those untrustworthy RINOS! Unless, of course, he really wanted to fire Siebert because Siebert wouldn't press charges against James. But Trump couldn't really be that corrupt and petty, could he?
Friday, September 19, 2025
Feeding The Beast
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This smarmy knob |
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Gheorghasbord: Spanning the Globe
In which I chronicle various oddities in an increasingly futile effort to block out the immensely insane fuckery loosed upon the land.
Did you know that Phil Hartman was an accomplished album cover designer? Neither did I. Freelance arts writer Conor Herbert recently wrote a detailed piece examining Hartman's pre-fame, indeed pre-comedy work as a graphic designer. Hartman designed more than 40 covers, including this one from Poco.
In news of an entirely different sort, connected to Hartman only via Canada, here's a headline you might enjoy:It was 9:00 am in Prince George, British Columbia on Friday, September 8, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were in no mood for shenanigans. When they got word of a grown-ass man driving down the road in a pink Barbie Jeep, they swung into action.
“While it might seem to some to be an inefficient use of police time to pull over a driver in a toy car, the risk the driver was creating to other motorists on the road who were forced to go around him, coupled with the risk to himself as other drivers are not in the habit of looking for toy cars on the busy road, was enough to warrant police attention.”
Dudley Do-Right, on the case.
And finally, a brief and entirely inadequate appreciation of the end of an era. Last week, Ray Hudson announced his retirement from broadcasting, ending more than 50 years in soccer as a player, coach, and one of the all-time greats in the booth. We celebrated him at least once, which isn't nearly enough for one of the singular voices in the sport.
If you've got a few minutes, give this compilation of Hudson's calls a listen. It'll perk you right up. Magisterial!
Monday, September 15, 2025
Serving the Public...Drinks
One week ago today, our ongoing investigation into odd food shit led us to ISCO Spirits' Pizza Vodka. I suggested that the next of us to visit Providence, RI should pick up a bottle or three for sampling purposes.
A few hours after that post dropped, our man Marls texted me a picture of a receipt - that lunatic went out and ordered a bottle. And so our investigation began.
I had a nice block of Parmesan cheese in my fridge, and went to the market and purchased a jar of pepperoncini. Marls commenced to making tomato water - tastes like summer. My wife bought new glassware - any excuse to buy stuff. All we needed was an occasion. Turns out we'd already made plans to have dinner because FOG:TB Cricket was in town, and the stars aligned Friday evening.
We tried two of the recipes from ISCO's website: the Caprese Martini, and the Italian Stallion shot. Here's Marls pouring the former:
The Caprese Martini includes the aforementioned tomato water and a couple of dashes of balsamic vinegar. Which gave us an excellent excuse to break out the vinegar my wife and I bought at Poggio ai Laghi, a winery in Monteriggiano, Italy we visited in December. It's spectacular.
I digress.
Marls garnished the martinis with some seasoned mozzarella balls and served us. The verdict: a darn tasty savory sip, with notes of oregano and a bit of a briny flavor. Even a non-vodka fan like me enjoyed it.
We finished our pre-dinner tasting with a shot. The Italian Stallion is simple. It's a shot of pizza vodka. The accoutrements make the drink. Start by loading your hand with grated Parm, in the manner of salt for a tequila shot. Make sure you've got a pepperoncini close at hand. Eat the cheese, down the shot, eat the pepperoncini. It's a pretty cool combination - the spicy little pepper makes it.
So in the final analysis, this particular Food is Dumb episode ends with a nod to the purveyor. Well done, ISCO - we'll see you again.
Friday, September 12, 2025
Carolina Blew?
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Speaking of poor general managers, Chapel Hill ties, and money |
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
I am fit as a goddam fiddle, alternatively titled "The Streak Redux"
Almost four years ago I touted my Peloton purchase in a Gheorghemas post. I have continued to use it regularly and although I haven't been able to drop my weight significantly below 169 pounds (and really, why would I want to) I am fit as a goddam fiddle. I routinely crank out rides of 11-13 kJ per minute (Danimal scoffs at that) and work up a mighty sweat but cool down in about five minutes. When I'm not doing rides I'm lifting weights or doing yoga. Not heavy weights or good yoga, but I'm trying (I hate lifting weights). If I'm away from home I'll do a run on the hotel treadmill or even outside (!) on the street. I have convinced myself that this shit is fun, worthwhile, and too expensive to collect dust in the basement.
So thorough is this self-inflicted Jedi mind trick that yesterday I completed my 365th day in a row of doing at least one Peloton activity. A streak, if you will. rob's wife streaked with me. She also participated in the ride I took to make the streak one year long.
Some of you will remember my last streak which ran sometime during the spring semester of 1996 when I went after Buck's house record for most consecutive nights out. This was a streak of an entirely different tone and tenor than my current health kick. Eventually I broke the record, and when I saw Buck I told him so. He replied "I don't remember setting a record like that" which means his streak destroyed his memory or he was full of shit when he told an impressionable freshman about his drinking exploits.
Unlike my streak of 1996, I feel no pressure with this one. In fact I feel good! I'm not keeping it alive just to say I did, I'm enjoying myself. I'm sure this streak will come to an end but it won't be a relief when it does.Monday, September 08, 2025
Food Back On Its Bullshit?
I don't know why this topic has taken up so much of my blog-related mental space of late, but the universe really seems to be tilting gustatorily at the moment. This one's a doozy.
Rhode Island-based ISCO Spirits has an inventive portfolio and a sustainable mission. As the distiller says on its website, "Our spirits are fiercely unique, land-and-ocean-inspired and handcrafted." Their Seaflow Ocean Gin is made with local seaweed and oysters in addition to the juniper you might expect. They offer an everything bagel aquavit, for chrissakes.
Those tempting tipples have nothing on their newest limited release. Friends, I give you ISCO Pizza Vodka. It's made with 100% organic wheat, tomatoes, pizza spices, and fresh, gooey mozzarella cheese. Bloomberg spirits columnist Kara Newman tasted it, and came away impressed, saying "It didn’t disappoint: The clear liquid has a big, tomato-y scent and oregano-forward flavor and a mouthwatering, garlicky exhale. (Seriously; keep a breath mint in your back pocket.) Put all together, it really does taste uncannily like a saucy slice."The good folks at ISCO, who I now want to hang out with, offer some cocktail ideas for what they claim is the world's first pizza vodka. Again from their website, "From Italian Stallion Shots (like a tequila shot with all Italian ingredients), to Pizza Luges, to upscale savory Caprese martinis and clarified Hawaiian Milk Punches, Pizza Vodka can be dressed. up or down just like the versatile food on which it is based. Perfect for dive bars to Michelin stars and everything in between!"
Indeed, the Italian Stallion sounds delicious: Pour 1 oz. of Pizza Vodka into a shot glass, wet your hand as you might for salt in a tequila shot, shake shredded Parmesan cheese on your hand, lick the cheese, drink the shot, chase with a pepperoncini. I'm not a vodka fan, but that might change things for me.
Whoever gets to Providence next, grab a couple bottles. At $30, they're a bargain. Salud!
Friday, September 05, 2025
Breaking Music News
In a series of posts on Bluesky last night, R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe ended decades of speculation by revealing the lyrics to 'It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)'. Over to you, Mike:
Ok its ‘feed it off an aux, speak, grunt no strength, the ladder start to clatter with fear fight down height, wire in a fire representing seven games, a government for hire and a combat site’.
— Michael Stipe (@michaelstipe.bsky.social) September 5, 2025 at 12:13 AM
The entire thread is a hoot, including this reveal about 'Chronic Town', 'Murmur', and 'Reckoning':
Any other lyrics— don’t even try chronic town murmur or reckoning btw— just form vowels and syllables, and mean it
— Michael Stipe (@michaelstipe.bsky.social) September 3, 2025 at 9:55 AM
It's the end of the mystery as we know it. And I feel fine.
Wednesday, September 03, 2025
Food is...Getting Smarter?
In which we both appreciate a blessed snack combination and an authentic American personality.
Mike Golic Junior faced at least mild criticism early in his career owing to his Nepo Baby path to prominence at ESPN. His father is beloved by many as a happy go lucky fat defensive lineman turned svelte radio and television personality. Junior unquestionably benefited from his dad's notoriety as one half of the legendary Mike & Mike morning show, making some of his first public appearances on the program.
But if Junior was all nepo, he'd have faded away over time. Instead, he's become a unique and talented voice, capable of breaking down offensive line play (he played at Notre Dame before being waived by the Pittsburgh Steelers in camp) and Taylor Swift lyrics with equal authority. He can do professional color commentary on a college football game and poke fun of himself with aplomb. He's made a point of supporting female broadcasters like Jessica Smetana and Chiney Ogwumike. He says shit like this, "There are always two different ways to go about everything - you're either so talented that people can't deny it, or you're willing to come in, work, and be a great teammate. I always thought, let me make sure I leave everyone I work with as best as I can."
And more directly relevant to this post, he's an unabashed lover of food, especially gooey, greasy, snacky stuff.
Recently, he dropped this review:
I think he'd be fun at a G:TB summit.