Monday, March 23, 2020

TCM -- Destination Tokyo -- March 23, 2020

Anyone struggling "emotionally" over current events, this will put things in perspective: Destination Tokyo with Cary Grant, 1943. TCM, thank you.

TCM is doing a lot of submarine war movies for some reason. Usually I catch the reason why they have chosen the weekly/monthly theme they have chosen but in this case I missed it. 

Dinner: from March 19, 2020:
A reader sent me this recipe to take my mind off things, telling me it would cure almost any malady. 
I stopped by the neighborhood grocery store this a.m. to get cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Fresh bread was just being delivered but I did not need any eggs. And, of course, no Clorox, but in the big scheme of things, everything else.

There was very little beef but there was enough. They are doing a great job keeping up. But then I found a 3.3-pound pork shoulder. Wow. It was near its expiration date so it was selling for half price. I paid about $5.50 which comes out to about $1.75/pound. What a deal. And, wow, the pulled pork came out perfectly. Thank you to the reader who sent me the recipe.

Comments:
  • the pulled pork will take the flavor of the barbecue sauce you choose, so choose wisely;
  • maybe slightly less barbecue sauce and slightly more chicken broth next time;
  • this particular pulled pork seemed a bit sweet; maybe slightly less brown sugar next time;
  • I'm not sure how important fresh thyme is; it took the longest to prepare -- all the chopping -- but I love thyme so I was glad to see it in the recipe and chopping/preparation, for me, is very, very relaxing; I don't mind
  • it goes without saying that the apple cider vinegar is critical, but I would use exactly the amount called for in the recipe 
Later, March 25, 2020:
The pulled pork recipe is outstanding. It turns out, that after a day of being refrigerated (and then being re-heated, of course) it is outstanding. I would not change the recipe at all. 
Highly, highly recommend toasting the hamburger buns.

2 comments:

  1. I lived it. Run Silent, Run Deep is a cool one. I didn't go out until 1985, so in a way far removed from the WW2 time. But it really did permeate the sub culture. Deployments to play HFRO games were continued right after WW2 and the feeling is/was very much of a war deployment, with walking on cans of food and hot racking and all of that.

    And being on the scope looking at bad guys with the crosshairs and the wave slap and turning circles, dancing with the one eyed lady. With warshots in the tube. It's just like a WW2 movie.

    You're pretty isolated (or at least when I was in). Could sink weeks/months before and nobody would no about it. Look at the Scorpion. EMCON isn't even a special condition for subs. Actually transmitting any radio message is the abnormal condition.

    It's a whole different world to be at sea. Very different feel than the Chair Force where you are always tied back to bases and generals and the US. Being at sea always has this strange British feel from a couple centuries ago. I mean we still have captain's mast and bread and water is a normal punishment. And on a sub, you're even isolate from the rest of the Navy. Maybe you come to PD and get the broadcast periodically. But you're running silent. And no bandwidth for much news, letters, etc.

    I loved it.

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    Replies
    1. Great note. Thank you. As you know, my son-in-law was a nuclear submariner, serving in the US Navy for 15 years. He still wonders if he made the right decision despite the fact that by all indications it was the best decision.

      I learned from him exactly what you are talking about: being untethered. It has to be a very, very interesting and unique feeling.

      Thank you for taking the time to write such a long note. Much appreciated.

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