Finished reading: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett 📚 - no one did it like Hammett…even his – novel – use of some words have become canon. Shamus? The goose-berry lay? Interesting connection to Tacoma/Seattle I noticed this time too.
Finished reading: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler 📚 - so fun to revisit some of the classic hard-boiled detectives. After I’m sated with them I’ll have to return to some classic Cormac McCarthy.
A shockwave rippled across Capitol Hill today as the White House announced a federal buyback program for Shure SM7B microphones, the preferred microphone by deranged podcasters in mass-cringe events that have been sharply increasing in recent years…
—White House Announces Shure SM7B Buyback Program to Curtail Podcasting [archive]
This will be my last newsletter on Substack. By the time you’ve finished reading, the reason should be clear.
On what evidence does the argument for Jenna Ortega’s skill as an actress lie? She’s been somewhere between terrible and average in the things I’ve seen.
Finished reading: The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth 📚 — an entertaining thriller with enough of the procedural to keep things interesting. Also an interesting reminder of just how different police work was in the pre-computer age.
📜 New in the Commonplace Communiqué → 00039 ¶ from Cultish ¶ Amanda Montell
Pitchfork, once a cultural bastion for music criticism, will be merged with the men’s magazine GQ, leading to layoffs within the online publication…
Wow, this is a real bummer. Love ‘em or hate ‘em—or both. Music journalism is in a death spiral.
—Source: Condé Nast Is Folding Pitchfork Into GQ, With Layoffs [free archive]
Poor Things. So good. It deserves every award it has won, is going to win, and probably more.
Climate change disinformation on YouTube has morphed into a misleading new narrative, according to a report published today. With compounding disasters making it harder to deny that climate change is happening, creators spreading disinformation have pivoted to content that targets clean energy.
In the past, content that falsely claimed that climate change was either not happening or not a result of humans burning fossil fuels dominated disinformation channels. That’s not the case anymore, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). Instead, the most common lies about climate change now have to do with denying the benefits of clean energy, attacking policies meant to slash planet-heating pollution from fossil fuels, and maligning scientists and advocates that push for change.
Source: A new kind of climate denial has taken over on YouTube [archive]
🔗 Cathedral, Mountain, Moon (Astronomy Picture of the Day 12/25/23)
Finally, just ten days ago, the weather was perfect, and a photographic dream was realized. Taken in Piemonte, Italy, the cathedral in the foreground is the Basilica of Superga, the mountain in the middle is Monviso, and, well, you know which moon is in the background. Here, even though the setting Moon was captured in a crescent phase, the exposure was long enough for doubly reflected Earthlight, called the da Vinci glow, to illuminate the entire top of the Moon…
Finished reading: The Iliad by Homer 📚
As expected, the translation is fresh and amazing. The Iliad is what it is, for better and for worse, and I don’t see myself reading it again (for the 6th? time), but Wilson’s work is as good as it gets!
Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups AP flour
- .5 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- .5 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1.5 sticks (.75 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temp
- 15 oz (1 can, typically) 100 percent pumpkin puree
- .25 cup pepitas (or oats)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F with rack in the middle position.
- Generously grease two 8x4-inch loaf pans with butter and dust with flour (or use Baker’s Joy).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until just blended.
- Add the eggs individually, beating well after each addition, and continue on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add pumpkin and mix on low-medium low until combined.
- Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined into a grainy mixture.
- Turn the batter into the prepared pans, dividing evenly.
- Sprinkle pepitas on top of loafs.
- Bake for 65 – 75 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let the loaves cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Tips
- Wrap cooled bread securely in aluminum foil, freezer wrap or place in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to three months. Thaw overnight in refrigerator before serving.
Source: https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/spiced-pumpkin-bread.html — But it really comes from a 1963 McCall’s Cookbook.
Purists will probably say it’s a crutch, but using this (Rubbermaid) Clear 16-Cup Measuring Cup makes it much easier to judge when a dough has doubled. 🍞
I marked the initial state with a rubber band (this is obviously a bit more than double).
If only it had truly straight sides!
Daily(ish) poem → 00281 ◊ How to Get On in Society ◊ John Betjeman
Daily(ish) poem → 00280 ◊ In the Witch-Hunting Season ◊ John Ciardi
Benne Wafers
(I forgot to take pictures of the finished cookies. They didn’t last long!]
Ingredients
- 4 ounces unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup sesame seeds (sometimes I sub. in 1/4 cup chia seeds because I like the contrast)
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/3 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Put the butter and sesame seeds in a medium pot set over medium heat and cook, stirring, until the seeds are a pale golden brown and the milk solids are fragrant. The butter will melt and then foam as you stir. When the foaming dissipates, you are usually done. Remove from heat immediately to prevent the solids from burning and transfer the seeds and butter to a medium sized heatproof bowl.
- Add the dark brown sugar and salt and stir with a silicone spatula until all the sugar dissolves.
- Add the egg and stir quickly to incorporate.
- Add the vanilla and mix to blend.
- Finally, add the flour and stir until it forms a thick batter. Then set it aside for at least 5 minutes to hydrate and thicken.
- Line your sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Uuse a small sorbet scoop or a teaspoon to portion the dough. Drop scoops of the dough 2 inches apart on the sheet pans.
- Bake for 12-13 minutes until golden brown around the edges for classic benne wafers of for 14-15 minutes until the cookies are golden brown for crunchy benne wafers.
- Let cool for 5-7 minutes and then transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely.
Source: IDEAS IN FOOD: Quick, Easy, Super Delicious Benne Wafers
I’m excited that Robyn O’Neil—of the sadly defunct and much-lamented Me Reading Stuff podcast—is back with her new Robyn’s Gate successor project. Not sure where it is going, but I’m delighted to hear her voice and know she is doing OK!
Expectations are pre-meditated resentments.
—Anonymous