No, I haven’t forgotten about posting or been too lazy to do so, but we’re beginning the final part of the spring semester, which means assessments and lots of paperwork. I’ll try to get something posted soon, but I’m making no guarantees. I’ve got lots of photos just begging to be put here, so I hope to get some up before I leave for Thailand and Laos on June 11th. Stay tuned.
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Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask. Did any of you watch the wedding on Friday? With an estimated viewing audience of two billion, I’m sure a few of you must have. I watched it for, let’s see, about 5 hours. Yeah, I watched the whole thing, including pre- and post-wedding coverage. I switched channels between CNN and BBC. The BBC channel here had a much crisper picture, so I spent most of the time watching it there. I really enjoy the pomp and pageantry of these types of events, and the British monarchy does them better than any other institution in the world. I love the music, the clothing (how about those fascinator hats?), the tradition, the horse guards, and the celebratory atmosphere. The world doesn’t seem to have too many fairy tale stories these days, so this was, in my opinion, a feel-good event. Bravo, Great Britain. Fascinating. Hats off to ya. I just hope I live long enough to see a coronation. Well, I’m really tired of winter and tired of looking at winter scenes, so I changed the blog header winter shots back to the spring and summer photos I had up there last year. Optimistic me. When spring actually bursts upon us, I’ll get out and take some more photos from around campus and add those to the mix. (Note: Not all the photos up there now are from Yeosu–some are from my time in Morocco, but they look nice anyway.) And, I’ve added a nifty Flag Counter/Page View Counter to the bottom of the left side-bar. One of them shows visitors from around the world, and the other shows US visitors with their state flags. The two don’t match up, because I installed the world visitors first, then decided later to add the US visitors. Take a gander if you’re so inclined.
I know I’m REALLY dating myself here, but when I was a bit younger (ok, a LOT younger), my favorite weekly TV program was The Untouchables, which aired from 1959-1963. It starred Robert Stack as Eliot Ness, the Prohibition Era federal agent who helped put Al Capone behind bars, and was narrated by Walter Winchell, a popular and controversial gossip columnist of the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s. The series was very popular at the time and was a kind of film-noir of televison. It featured many great actors of that time and future stars, also. One of my favorite characters was the villain, Frank Nitti, Capone’s henchman, who was portrayed by Bruce Gordon. I was recently able to get a copy of the series, and I just watched the first episode, The Empty Chair. Very nostalgic. The Nelson Riddle theme music, Winchell’s narration, the action and the atmospheric sets brought back many memories. While I was watching the episode, I kept interrupting it to look on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) for information on the stars and for other tidbits. According to the IMDB, Gordon, surprisingly, died only recently, on January 20th, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was 94, a couple weeks shy of 95. I was surprised that he had still been alive as recently as last month. RIP Mr. Gordon, a.k.a. Frank Nitti. Yummm, what better than a big pot of red beans served over rice! Yeah, I’ve got some cooking right now. Here’s my recipe, sort of. First, soak a pound, more or less, of medium red beans in water overnight. At the moment, I’m sautéing a couple of links from a package of American-made Polish sausage (expensive) that I managed to find at E-Mart. Unfortunately, it’s not anything like that favorite of Cajun cooking, (my father’s side of the family is Cajun), Andouille sausage, but it’ll have to do. Added to that is a small, chopped ham steak and a couple of strips of chopped, Korean-made hickory-smoked bacon (supposedly) for that smoky, salty flavor. All in all, these three meats work pretty well. When that’s about ready, I’m gonna throw in a couple of small chopped onions, a green, red and/or yellow bell pepper or two and cook until tender. Then I need to put in some garlic — I like lots — some Korean red pepper powder to taste, (cayenne is also good, but I don’t have any) and some Tabasco sauce, which is fairly prevalent here. Use your own judgment on that; I mainly add it for the special taste it provides, not especially for the heat factor. I also like to add a few chopped jalapenos (also easily found) for some extra kick — probably not really kosher Cajun, but to each his or her own. Now, drain the beans (I’ve read that draining the soak water cuts down on the flatulence factor) and add to the mixture, cover with fresh water, add some bay leaves and thyme or what-not, and simmer the whole mess for several days . . . ummm, . . . well, for a few hours, at least. Serve over freshly-cooked rice garnished with some parsley and you’ve got a real treat. Anyway, it’s cooking now, and you should smell it! Can you smell it? Heaven. Enjoy.
P.S. If you’re ever in Bangkok, Thailand, and you’re hankerin’ for some real Cajun food, be sure to pop in to Bourbon Street, a superb Louisiana-style restaurant serving great Cajun cuisine. I mentioned in a previous post that my work schedule would be a killer in the month of January, and it’s turned out to be that way, consuming most of my time (hence the paucity of posts, so far this year). I’m in my office around 8 or 8:30 each morning to do a bit of prep work, and I don’t get home until 7:45 at night. I’ve got a few hours off here and there during the day, but not enough time to go to my apartment to relax or have lunch. The few hours that I do have free I spend preparing lessons or, if it’s not too cold and windy, taking a short walk in the sun. Ah well, one week down and three to go. Here’s wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year. Yesterday was the first day that has really felt like this time of the year, with below freezing temperatures and a vicious wind contributing to very chilly weather. At least the sun is shining and there’s been no snow, yet. (Fingers crossed) The first two weeks of my vacation have flown by and I assume the final week will go just as fast. I wish that working days would go by so quickly because the first 4 weeks back are going to be killers. I told my boss to give me as many hours as she could, if she needed someone to fill in some extra slots, and she obliged me. I’ve got 7 classroom hours a day, 5 days a week, from Jan. 3rd to the 28th! That’s a heckuva schedule when you figure in lesson planning time. I’ll be teaching 4 regular Language Center classes, the usual number for this time of the year, but I’ll also be teaching (babysitting, actually) a children’s English Camp another 3 hours a day. My first class starts at 9 a.m. and the final one finishes at 7:30 p.m. The few hours that I don’t have classes will probably be spent doing the next day’s lesson plans. I figure I’ll be pretty burned out by the end of those 4 weeks, but at least I’ll be making a lot of overtime pay, if I survive to collect it. Again, Happy Holidays to everyone, everywhere. More later. In case you didn’t realize it, the previous post about my birthday candles was merely a tongue-in-cheek satire of my increasing age. No, I didn’t really set the dorm on fire. Yes, there really would have been a lot of candles in that cake. Yup, I lucked out and made it to another birthday celebration. I don’t know how, but I’m thankful that I did. Unfortunately, I’m writing this from my office. Here’s what happened. I bought a smallish cake, since I observed my big day alone (no party, because I have to work tomorrow). Unfortunately, I put a candle for each year into the cake and attempted to light them all and make the obligatory wish. I don’t know what the hell happened, but one minute I was enjoying the almost tropical heat of the candles and the next I was being dragged out of my apartment. Thank goodness the Yeosu Fire Department was on the ball. One of the other English teachers managed to capture the conflagration with his cell phone, the only thing he was able to save. (See photo below.) Luckily, only the first two floors of the dorm were gutted. They’re going to move us all to the 6th floor for now. I’ll probably not mess around with any candles next year.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of my family and friends in the USA and elsewhere. Wish I could be there. Don’t eat too much. No problem about that here–it’s just another ordinary school day. No turkey and stuffing, no pumpkin pie and no football games, but, no shells falling from the North either. I’m certainly thankful for that. More later. |
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