Does anyone remember "The Snowplow Game?"

I have to chuckle whenever I see these stories, because I was there.

Yeah. Makes me feel old to see that's it's been 25 years.

25 years since Pats' "Snow Game"

Gatwhouse Newspapers

It has gone down as one of the most memorable drives in New
England Patriots history.

 “If it hadn’t been for the snow plow, it probably wouldn’t have been a
memorable game,” former New England Patriots quarterback Steve Grogan said,
reflecting on his team’s Dec. 12, 1982, date with the Miami Dolphins from
the Grogan Marciano Sporting Goods store he owns and operates in Mansfield.
“It was sloppy, snowy, a 3-0 game in the freezing cold. It wasn’t all that
interesting a game until the snow plow came out. Because of the snow plow
and who was driving it, it went down in folklore.”

 The snow plow was a John Deere tractor.

 The driver was one Mark Henderson, a convicted burglar on work release from
the Walpole State Prison who didn’t seem the least bit concerned with the
vehement objections the Dolphins were directing at him on that day nearly a
quarter of a century ago.

 “Like Mark Henderson said,” Grogan chuckled, “what were they going to do,
put him in jail?”

More . . .

Sunday afternoon: Getting (some) stuff done . . .

1. So far, the dishes are done, the refrigerator is cleaned, and there's dinner in the crockpot. Oh, and I participated in a complete failure of trying to get the overn's pilot light to stay lit. Yes, and we've set up some of the new applicances along the back counter -- all nice and neat.

2. One of those is the coffeemaker.  I finally got tired of press-pots and got an inexpensive drip coffeemaker with a timer. I set the timer myself. It was easy! Then I looked over and is said, "12:00." Arrrrggghhhhhhh. Then it turned to "12:01."

3. Current music: "Gimme Three Steps," Lynryd Skynryd.  (OK, tangentially, hey evilnicola, what movie am I thinking about right now?

4. Speaking of the crockpot. I am gradually becoming granola-ified and cooking with vegetables and odd spices.

Unexpected chicken

Find two big chicken legs in the refrigerator.

Sniff them to make sure they are OK.

Mix together a can of coconut milk, some organic onion soup, garlic, oregano and curry paste.

Add some of the liquid to the crockpot.

Slice potatoes and layer them in the bottom of the crockpot. Add some shredded cheese.

Put in chicken.

Add half a lemon, half an orange (leftovers), carrots, celery and onions. More shredded cheese.

Add the rest of the liquid.

Fire it up on low and leave. Come back later.

5. Soon, I must head to the Pember Library for the big holiday open house.

6. Radnsom song quote: "By jingo next election, I shall run for Trinity."

Sunday afternoon: A couple more thoughts . . .

1. Honey or vinegar?:

Someone from LJ had the difficult task of responding, in lj_policy, about the adult flagging issue.

First comment:

I would like an explanation for your inconsistent, poorly implemented, and (IMO) wrongheaded blocking of interest search terms, please.

A. Off-topic much?

B. Polite much?

(And yes, someone already told me "Polite hasn't worked," but I am not buying that.

2. Just because:

Everyone needs to read the lyrics to "6 Beer Court in Drachenwald" every once in a while.

3. Places I have visited: (with help from Wikpiedia):

Carhenge is a replica of England's Stonehenge located near the city of Alliance, Nebraska on the High Plains. Instead of being made from stones, Carhenge is constructed of vintage American automobiles, all covered with gray spray paint. Built by Jim Reinders, it was dedicated at the June 1987 summer solstice. During the summer of 2006, a visitors' center was being constructed to service the site.

Thirty-eight automobiles were used in a circle measuring about 96 feet (29 m) in diameter. Some autos are held upright in pits five feet (1.5 m) deep, trunk end down, while arches have been formed by welding cars atop the supporting autos. The heelstone is a 1962 Cadillac. Three cars were buried at Carhenge. Their "gravestone" is a car that reads: "Here lie three bones of foreign cars. They served our purpose while Detroit slept. Now Detroit is awake and America's great!"

Carhenge replicates Stonehenge's current "tumble-down" state, rather than the original stone circle erected between 2500 BC and 2000 BC.

In addition to the Stonehenge replica, the Carhenge site also includes several other sculptures created from autos covered with various colors of spray paint.

4. Campaigns and hot air?:

(I know, blimps don't use hot air, but still  . . .)

Ron Paul's campaign has a blimp!

5. Today's random movie quote is from Serenity:

Wash: "Start with the part where Jayne gets knocked out by a 90-pound girl 'cause . . . I don't think that's ever getting old. "

Sunday evening: Some newspaper article recommendations and comments . . .

One of the great wonders of the Internet for me is the ability to read so many newspapers every day.

I have always been fascinated by newspapers. I remember thinking of "Out of Town News" in Harvard Square as some kind of Holy Grail.

Now, the world's a click away. And I love their lists of "most e-mailed" or "most-read" articles.

Here are some general interest things from today.


1. I love the New York Times. I read it all the time. But . . . sometimes it forgets that not all its readers are Astors, Rockefellers and Gateses,

As an example, I give you Times:

The 53 Places To Go In 2008

Excerpts and commentary from me:

The first three places are Laos (“Vietnam and Cambodia are so 2007.”), Lisbon and Tunisia. Yeah, OK.

I will agree that San Francisco is a great destination city. We loved it. I found the inclusion of Las Vegas kinda cool, and NYC residents get a cheap recommendation – albeit for Broadway – for a stay-at-home vacation.

But these four really stood out as “Ain’t gonna happen in most of our lifetimes.”

Quito: If you've been to Quito, Ecuador, there's a good chance you were heading to the Galápagos. But Quito, the colonial capital perched 9,200 feet up in the Andes, is no longer just a whistle stop.
How was your last trip to the Galapagos?

Iran: What Axis of Evil? Upscale tour operators are tiptoeing into Iran next year, offering trips that explore the ancient country's Persian treasures and olive-green desert plains. Next spring, the luxury cruise liner Silversea will make stops in the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas on its Dubai to Dubai cruise. And California-based Distant Horizons . . . is organizing two 18-day trips that start in Tehran and then weave through the once-forbidden countryside, including stops in Shiraz and Isfahan. Prices start at $5,390 per person.

Isn't that about where your travel budget starts?

Northwest Passage: Notwithstanding last month's sinking of an Antarctic cruise ship, climate tourism is heating up. And few places are warming up faster than the Northwest Passage, the Arctic sea route over Canada. Adventure Life Voyagesfor one, is already booking cruises for its Northwest Passage tour next August, with prices from $4,600 a person.

Note, that's where prices "start."

Easter Island: Remote Easter Island, famous for its enigmatic Moai statues, is getting its first luxury resort: Explora en Rapa Nui . . .  The 30-room resort combines futuristic pod-like design with natural materials like native volcanic rock and Chilean raulí wood, and offers seamless views of the middle of the Pacific Ocean. A three-night stay for two people starts at $3,588.

First, of course, you have to fly there.


2. You gotta love . . . High school Latin competition!

3. For all the Great Big Sea fans: In nearby Vermont, a horse falls through the ice.

Sunday night: More newspaper articles. Politics this time

I probably did a lot more reading than usual today.

I hit on these three political stories.

I am not endosring or disagreeing. I just found them interesting.

1. Maureen Dowd whacks Mitt Romney.

 Just a couple of paragraphs. The quote is from Jon Krakauer, who wrote a book on the Mormons. (Yes, the Everest guy)

The problem with Mitt is not his religion; it is his overeager policy shape-shifting. He did not give a brave speech, but a pandering one. Disguised as a courageous, Kennedyesque statement of principle, the talk was really just an attempt to compete with the evolution-disdaining, religion-baiting Huckabee and get Baptists to concede that Mormons are Christians.

“J.F.K.’s speech was to reassure Americans that he wasn’t a religious fanatic,” Mr. Krakauer agreed. “Mitt’s was to tell evangelical Christians, ‘I’m a religious fanatic just like you.’”

2. The Washington Post's latest analysis of the Clinton campaign.

She once was the all-but-inevitable front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, powered by the best brand name in her party, a rock-steady performance on the campaign trail, and a muscular, confident campaign team known for playing hard -- and winning.

Many Democrats still see Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as their likeliest nominee, but all talk of inevitability is gone. No one seems to know that more than the candidate herself. Last weekend in Iowa, where the competition with Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and former senator John Edwards of North Carolina is most fierce, she did an about-face. Overnight, her above-the-fray posture was replaced by the carriage of a candidate who knows that she must fight to win.

3. Again, The Washington Post, this time the paper's ombudsman ripping it's Barack Obama/Muslim rumors story apart.

Stories about rumors are tricky and easily misconstrued. A Nov. 29 story and headline that explored Barack Obama's "connections to the Muslim world" and rumors that he is Muslim were met with a swift Internet reaction that left some staffers stunned at its ferocity. Even Post editorial cartoonist Tom Toles was "so upset" that he took the unusual step of taking potshots at the story in an editorial page cartoon.

My problems with the story by National Desk political reporter Perry Bacon Jr. and the headline ("Foes Use Obama's Muslim Ties to Fuel Rumors About Him") were that Obama's connections to Islam are slender at best; that the rumors were old; and that convincing evidence of their falsity wasn't included in the story.

But there was no deliberate "smear job," as some readers charged. The story said clearly in the second paragraph that Obama is a member of a United Church of Christ congregation in Chicago.

 

Sunday night: Last observations and another newspaper story

1. Conversation in the Liam/Alethea household.

Liam: "Is the hot fudge supposed to sound like popcorn?"

Alethea: "Yes, that's OK."

[Pause: Guitar Hero III can be heard beyond the "popcorn" sounds]

Alethea: "I put pennies in the bottom of the double boiler so I know it's OK."

Liam: *sigh*

2. It always worries me when the plows are working the streets by 9 p.m. Of course, we are on a main road ("Main Street"/Route 22), so they go by a lot.

3. Hugely successful open house at Alethea's library today. She looked soooooo happy.

4. The crockpot meal turned out to be a good one.

5. I would be interested to hear comments on this article from the Baltimore Sun.

It starts with the description of a battle in Afghanistan, then this follows:

Three American soldiers were awarded Silver Stars for valor in that battle. Their actions are detailed in official Army accounts drawn from eyewitness reports, radio transmissions and other corroborating evidence used as a basis for awarding the medals.

These one- or two-page "narratives," as they are called, are the best accounts of American battlefield heroism. Apart from those who wear the Silver Star - the third-highest decoration for valor - few people even know the accounts exist.

But the Army won't let you read any Silver Star narratives. Though most are not classified, they are kept filed away from public view, a practice being challenged in Congress.

"Military honors, to me, should be public information," said Rep. John T. Salazar, a Colorado Democrat and sponsor of the legislation.

But to date, Army lawyers and bureaucrats have blocked requests by The Sun and others to open these war stories to the public. They cite, among other reasons, potential threats to soldiers' privacy and safety.

Army Capt. Sean McQuade calls such arguments "absurd." As a lieutenant, McQuade led the platoon that fought Habib Jan. He and two of his soldiers were awarded Silver Stars for heroism in that fight. He is proud of their stories and wants them known.