Author Archives: Larry Sanderson

2024.09.25

Interview
Will Ferrell and Harper Steele: ‘More people say they’ve seen an alien than a trans person’
Guy Lodge
Saturday Night Live writer Harper Steele came out as a trans woman in 2022 at the age of 61. Her friend of 30 years Will Ferrell had questions. So what else to do but jump in a van, cross the US, and make a documentary about it
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/sep/25/will-ferrell-harper-steele-netflix-documentary-interview

Also see: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2024/sep/24/donald-trump-presidency-republican-lawmakers-targeting-lgbtq-policies

It’s Banned Books Week. LGBTQ+ content tops the most-challenged list.
Attempts to censor or restrict books from U.S. schools and libraries have risen since 2020, reports show. (PayWalled)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/09/24/banned-books-week-lgbtq-challenges/

How newly named Hennepin Arts is charting the ebbs and flows of downtown Minneapolis
In hindsight, buying historic theaters was one of downtown Minneapolis’ all-time best moves.
https://www.minnpost.com/cityscape/2024/09/how-newly-named-hennepin-arts-is-charting-the-ebbs-and-flows-of-downtown-minneapolis/

Viking Age Expert Answers Viking Questions From Twitter | Tech Support | WIRED

Ready or not? The expert guide to buying fruit – so it is always ripe and delicious
Whether you are planning to eat it today or keep it for later, here is how to pick the perfect produce, every time
Tim Dowling
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/sep/25/ready-or-not-the-expert-guide-to-buying-fruit-so-it-is-always-ripe-and-delicious

Dining at the Wild Parties of Regency England
How Refugee Chefs are Bringing Myanmar’s Food Out of the Shadows

The power of the pint: is it time to retire one of the world’s biggest beer measures?
A study suggested last week that adopting a two-thirds serve could improve public health. But is the pint really the problem?
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/sep/24/the-power-of-the-pint-is-it-time-to-retire-one-of-the-worlds-biggest-beer-measures

2024.09.07

Of local interest: HUGE Theater closing in October
After moving into a larger venue, financial barriers are keeping the improv theater from continuing operations.
Melody Hoffmann
https://www.southwestvoices.news/posts/huge-theater-closing-in-october

‘“Well, I would do that, and we’re sitting down — you know, I was, uh, somebody, we had Sen. Marco Rubio [(R-Fla.)] and my daughter, Ivanka, was so, uh, impactful on that issue. It’s a very important issue.
But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I’m talking about, that — because child care is child care. It’s, couldn’t — you know, it’s something, you have to have it. In this country, you have to have it.
But when you talk about those numbers compared to the kind of numbers that I’m talking about by taxing foreign nations at levels that they’re not used to but they’ll get used to it very quickly. And it’s not going to stop them from doing business with us, but they’ll have a very substantial tax when they send product into our country.
Those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we’re talking about, including child care, that it’s gonna take care. We’re gonna have — I, I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time. Coupled with, uh, the reductions that I told you about on waste and fraud and all of the other things that are going on in our country — because I have to say with child care, I want to stay with child care, but those numbers are small relative to the kind of economic numbers that I’m talking about, including growth.
But growth also headed up by what the plan is that I just, uh, that I just told you about. We’re gonna be taking in trillions of dollars, and as much as child care is talked about as being expensive, it’s, relatively speaking, not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers we’ll be taking in.
We’re going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people and then we’ll worry about the rest of the world. Let’s help other people. But we’re gonna take care of our country first. This is about America first. It’s about: Make America great again. We have to do it, because right now we’re a failing nation. So we’ll take care of it. Thank you. Very good question.”’
Following Trump’s train of thought as it derails on a child care question
Trump sought out an applause line as if it were the sole exit in a flame-filled room.
Asked about paying for child care, Trump pivots to tariffs
Column by Philip Bump (DePayWalled)
https://wapo.st/3Xoz1B8

‘I’m a new racist’: Michigan judge suspended after insulting gay, Black people on recordings
Court worker secretly recorded calls in which Kathleen Ryan made homophobic slur and called Black people lazy
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/07/michigan-judge-kathleen-ryan-suspended

Missouri sees first positive bird flu case without known animal contact Also first time for someone with H5 virus to be hospitalized, and CDC says it is studying patient specimen more https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/06/missouri-bird-flu-positive-hospitalized

Interview Pedro Almodóvar: ‘Life needs fiction to make it bearable’ Sam Jones The Spanish film-maker on the raw, real life experiences behind his first collection of short stories – and why his mother is his inspiration https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/sep/07/pedro-almodovar-life-needs-fiction-to-make-it-bearable

Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for white cabbage, peanut butter and gochujang noodles You don’t need to be a straight A student to cook these easy instant noodles https://www.theguardian.com/food/article/2024/sep/07/student-recipe-vegan-cabbage-peanut-butter-noodles

Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes dies aged 83
Mendes, who popularised bossa nova among global audiences in the 1960s, had been suffering from the effects of long-term Covid, his family said
https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/sep/06/brazilian-musician-sergio-mendes-dies-aged-83

For you Novavax fans out there — you know who you are: FDA Authorizes Updated Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine to Better Protect Against Currently Circulating Variants https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-authorizes-updated-novavax-covid-19-vaccine-better-protect-against-currently-circulating

Opinion
The Checkup With Dr. Wen: When to get the new coronavirus shot? That question and more, answered. When is the optimal time to get the updated shot? It depends. (DePayWalled)
https://wapo.st/3TcZeB1

Star Tribune reports Ladan Mohamed Ali plead guilty Thursday to federal charges connected to an attempted bribe in the Feeding Our Future Trial. Ali, also admitted to stealing $80,000 of the cash the defendants gave her to bribe the juror. — MinnPost

Did the media learn nothing from its disastrous coverage of Trump and Clinton in 2016?
Rebecca Solnit
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/06/trump-clinton-harris-election

Stonehenge tale gets ‘weirder’ as Orkney is ruled out as altar stone origin
Weeks after revelation that megalith came from Scotland, researchers make surprise discovery
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/sep/05/stonehenge-tale-gets-weirder-as-orkney-is-ruled-out-as-altar-stone-origin

Meanwhile in Amsterdam:
Amsterdammers left bemused at plan to tackle flowerpot ‘jungle’
Authorities in Dutch capital launch ‘Operation plant pot’, saying excessive pot placement threatens accessibility
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/06/amsterdam-plan-to-tackle-flowerpot-jungle

Thai Chef Makes KHAO SOI From Scratch!
https://www.youtube.com/embed/gwV9SJtewCY?si=YiXS2AO6x1HFRBtn

2024.09.04 — Food! Glorious Food!

Speedy, silky and saucy: Alice Zaslavsky’s prawn, macadamia and asparagus stir-fry – recipe Alice Zaslavsky https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/sep/05/easy-stir-fry-recipe-prawn-macadamia-asparagus-alice-zaslavsky

How to make dan dan noodles – recipe A step-by-step guide to making this quick noodle dish laced with smoky chilli oil and tingly Sichuan pepper Felicity Cloake https://www.theguardian.com/food/article/2024/sep/04/how-to-make-dan-dan-noodles-recipe-felicity-cloake

Apple doughnuts and pumpkin snickerdoodles: Edd Kimber’s cookie recipes Apple doughnut-flavoured cinnamon cookies and pumpkin cookies with masala chai spicing Edd Kimber https://www.theguardian.com/food/article/2024/sep/04/apple-doughnuts-pumpkin-snickerdoodles-recipe-edd-kimber-cookie

‘A drizzle, a dollop and a crunch’: the secret to plant-based eating Bettina Campolucci Bordi, as told to Isabelle Rodney https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/03/a-drizzle-a-dollop-and-a-crunch-the-secret-to-plant-based-eating

Plant-based cooking is its own cuisine. We all can learn from it. You don’t have to be vegan to want to learn to cook good plant-based dishes. Column by Joe Yonan https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2024/09/01/vegan-plant-based-cooking-joe-yonan/

2024.08.28 — Food! Glorious Food!

‘Don’t be scared of beans’: how readers are handling US grocery inflation
Food prices have increased 22% in last four years and people are feeling the pinch. Readers share their strategies to cope
Aliya Uteuova

How to make the perfect blueberry pie – recipe
It is said there’s no such thing as a perfect blueberry pie, but let’s see how close our resident perfectionist can get …
Felicity Cloake

Have pastry-making methods changed?
Chill and rest are still the classic tips
Anna Berrill

Nigel Slater’s recipe for chilled rice pudding and late summer compote
Nigel Slater

From kimchi to kombucha, it’s easy to ferment at home. Here’s all the kit you need
Clare Finney

Thomasina Miers’ late-summer sausage and pea cassoulet with a butter leaf salad – recipes
A tempting sausage meatball stew with beans, peas, onions and fennel in a garlicky sauce, plus a summery butterhead lettuce salad with a burnt lemon and tarragon dressing
Thomasina Miers

Four things you can’t get around here:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/06rnL9kv_7I?si=WR_-F4WUyqLli71K

Food! Glorious Food!

Every restaurant in Glasgow, Scotland seemed to have halloumi on the menu:
Beyond frying: alternative ways to cook with halloumi
Yes, you can grill halloumi, too, but the cheese’s texture also makes it ideal for fritters, traybakes and even ‘croutons’
Anna Berrill

Nigel Slater’s recipe for broad beans with dill and bacon
A green and herby warm salad for warm days
Nigel Slater

Tamal Ray’s recipe for pork and tarragon meatballs with lemony leeks
These are a cinch to make, and feature bright notes from the citrussy leeks offset by the crunch of salty, spicy breadcrumbs
Tamal Ray

What Was A Real Viking Funeral Like?

What was a Viking Funeral really like?

2024.08.03

Tim Walz — That’s our governor: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/03/who-is-tim-walz-potential-vp-kamala-harris

2024.08.02

Meanwhile, in Wales: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/02/humongous-fort-found-in-wales-may-disprove-theory-of-celtic-roman-peace?CMP=share_btn_url

$10M cash withdrawal drove secret probe into whether Trump took money from Egypt
Political appointees rejected efforts to search for additional evidence investigators believed might provide answers, then closed the case. DePayWalled
https://wapo.st/3SxAkvO

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, right, in New York on Sept. 19, 2016, less than two months before that year’s election. (Andres Kudacki/AP)
By Aaron C. Davis and Carol D. Leonnig