Remember the hype and saga surrounding the Jackie Robinson West Little League team from Chicago that competed for the Little League championship game in summer 2014? https://www.eastportlandblog.com/2015/02/21/champion-cheaters-by-mark-erickson/ Earlier this week the two lawsuits have been settled/dismissed. The decision by Little League International to strip JRW of its title remains, and the suit against two coaches …
What would the Kentucky Derby be without the Mint Julep? What would horseracing be without the iconic Kentucky Derby? And what would the Derby be without the Mint Julep (or those hats)? And to keep this train of thought going – what would the julep be without mint? The first two questions are hypothetical – but the last …
French Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) is the parlor trick of herbs. When you bite into a fresh leaf, first you taste the anise flavor then wait a moment and your tongue temporarily goes a bit numb. French tarragon in the old herbals is often referred to as the little dragon because of it’s winding roots. It …
(Jim Steinman, left, with Meat Loaf, right) How magical was Jim Steinman? Well, he wrote brutally honest songs about men lusting after women, gave them orchestral bombast and delivery by the mighty-lunged Meat Loaf, and they’ve been wedding reception standards ever since. Look up “Two out of Three Ain’t Bad” on YouTube, and people are still …
Five years ago today, Prince boarded the Mothership. Yesterday, he sprinkled some Purple Dust on Minnesota. (Chauvin verdict) Live music is returning to Chicago! Less than four miles from my house, https://northshorecenter.org/event/fareed-haque/ Fareed Haque has collaborated with Billy Cobham who is the favorite drummer of my son’s long-time (age 5-16ish) drum instructor. The warmup band, The …
Tuesday eating from your yard tip~wild violet leaves and flowers are edible. Euell Gibbons called wild violets nature’s vitamin pill because the flowers and leaves are packed with vitamin C and the leaves have more vitamin A than commercial greens. Besides being nutritious the flowers make a lovely edible garnish on salads, soups, desserts and …
The Negroni. When the snow and cold begins to fade in the Spring, my thoughts always turn to the classic Negroni. I’m not sure why. The drink is lovely – even on cold snowy days. But there is something about the thought of sitting on the porch without a coat or sweater, sipping on this delightful little drink that makes spring seem springier. The classic …
Dandelions are a treasure trove of potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, vitamin A,C,K and B6. Dandelions are edible from the root to the flower except for the milky filled hollow stem~but even that has uses, but just not for feeding our tummies. The green parts are bitter, but the yellow of the flower is not. I …
SMHSMHSMH. “I woke up this morning and I got myself a [rude awakening].” George Floyd Part II. WTF! I wrote in August 2020 about George Floyd and my familiarity with the site of the civil unrest in Minneapolis: https://www.eastportlandblog.com/2020/08/24/bola-wrap-non-lethal-police-tool-for-use-in-mental-health-crisis-interventions-by-mark-erickson/ This morning greeted me with the murder of Daunte Wright, another unarmed Black Male being murdered …
It was just a detail in our itinerary my wife slipped in – when we return from a three-week Mexican vacation, we’ll take five dogs with us. Whaaaat!? Yes, volunteers with Mexican and Canadian rescue groups had taken care of the details; we would just be “flight angels” (mules), chaperones on the aerial leg of …
Shinjiro Torii (left) and Masataka Taketsuru (right) Whiskey, combined with a non-alcoholic carbonated mixer, served over ice in a tall glass is called a whiskey highball everywhere in the world. Except for Japan. In Japan, this is simply referred to as a Highball. The origins of the term highball are grey. Some believe it has to do with the American Railway. Some believe …
Tuesday eating from your yard tip~Onion Chives (Allium Schoenoprasum). The pink flowers and the leaves have a subtle onion flavor making them both visually and palette pleasing. My favorite way to eat chives are chopped up and heated with a quarter size of oil, to flavor the oil, before I throw in my eggs. Today …
Rare photo of Jack Daniel (middle, white hat) next to George Green, son of Nathan ‘Nearest’ Green taken around 1900. Sometime around 1855, a young 6 year-old named Jasper went to work for a preacher, grocer, and landowner in Lynchburg, Tennessee named Dan Call. His mother had died from complications resulting from his birth, and there …
(Photo above is of nettles emerging in the spring.) You would be hard-pressed to come up with a plant with as much medicinal and nutritional power– as well as being a stellar textile– as Stinging Nettles. This is the time of year to harvest the leaves of these natural wonders because they are best while …
DALLAS, Texas – GRAMMY, CMA, and Dove award-winning pop, country, and gospel singer B.J. Thomas revealed today that his doctors have diagnosed him as having stage four lung cancer. Thomas is receiving treatment in a local health care facility in Texas, and is hopeful for a complete recovery. “I just wanted to take this unique …
Vodka isn’t Russian Vodka was first created in the Middle Ages in what is now Poland, and the first written mention of it is from 1405. It didn’t enter modern day Russia for almost a century, and like all alcohol of the day was used primarily as medicine. Polish physician Stefan Falimierz wrote in his 1534 book on herbs that vodka should be “used to …
In case you were wondering, this train wreck occurred at Paris’s Montparnasse train station on October 22, 1895. The sole casualty was the wife of a newspaper vendor, who was crushed by falling masonry. The accident was a combination of human error (the engineer cruised into the station at full speed because the passenger train …
Pet Tracking Cats are curious, dogs are playful. And you quickly lose sight of them. With a pet tracker, you could locate them again. But how reliable are these devices? Many dog owners like to let Bello and Co. off the leash in the forest and park. Most cats are naturally free-roaming and are therefore out of control. No wonder that …
We tend to take ice for granted. Even our great, great grandmother’s and grandfathers had easy access to ice. But for most of human history, ice was only seasonally available, and even then, a luxury that most could not afford. The requirements for an alcoholic drink to be called a cocktail are that it contains a spirit, sugar, …
Eating from your yard tip~Helianthus tuberosus commonly called Jerusalem Artichoke or Sunchokes is a hardy beast that grows over seven feet tall with yellow Rudbeckia-like flowers. You can harvest the tubers after the first hard freeze, but I think they taste better if you wait until spring to dig them. My grandson and I dug …
While most bartenders throughout history have labored their entire careers in obscurity, some have become famous for their skill behind the stick, some because they wrote significant books on drinks and mixology, some because they were alchemists with mixers and spirits, and some because they were incredible self-promoters – attaining an almost superstar status. But the skill that …
Motown Records’Black Forum label has reissued Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Why I Oppose The War In Vietnam. The landmark speech was recorded in April 1967 at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. Originally released on vinyl in October 1970, Why I Oppose The War In Vietnam was the first album from the then-fledgling label. Throughout 1967, Dr. King took a …
Fusing contemporary reggae with elements of soul, hip-hop and dancehall, breakthrough recording artist Lila Iké teams up with rising dancehall talent Skillibeng for a powerhouse remix of “Thy Will.” Both hailing from Jamaica, these two distinct vocalists continue to gain notoriety as the island’s new generation of promising stars. Today, they unleash the song’s brand new …
I haven’t been going out much at night this winter. Look what I’ve been missing right outside my door Hope you are well! We are in an attic freeze with snow and more snow. – J. in Lincoln, Nebraska And here’s a similar light discovered in East Portland on 2/11/2021, the first night of the …
The Tequila Shot Every college student and football tailgater knows that chant. You lick the skin on the back of your hand between the thumb and pointer finger and shake salt on, then grab a lime wedge with the same hand. With your free hand, you grab a shot of tequila and in time with …
On Saturday, I heard an interview on my favorite radio show, This Is Hell, hosted by Chuck Mertz on WNUR (89.3 FM in Chicago), with Flint Taylor and Jeffrey Haas. These two guys founded the People’s Law Center. Go to episode 1288 to listen to the interview. https://www.thisishell.com/Haas wrote a book about the Fred Hampton murder. The …
The Daiquiri As America rocketed toward the end of the 1800s, new cocktails were being produced at a dizzying pace. Bartenders were looking to all types of new ingredients to add to old standbys, and to create new and unique drinks. Gins, vermouths, and champagnes were all trending dry, while liqueurs were being used to replace sugar. …
I planned to visit a cemetery this morning on the north side of Chicago, situated less than six miles from my house. On Thursday I called the office to obtain lot information. However, as I drove amidst the works of art, aka grave markers, I realized my incomplete coordinate was no reason to search endlessly. …
I burst into tears this morning, reading that another bit of my childhood was gone. It surprised me at first, my brief waterfall, but then I realized that I couldn’t be the only one. It has been said that you could tell that The Hammer (never to be confused with another iconic slugger, Hank “The …
When I was little and we would go out to eat (which wasn’t often) and my parents were in a celebrating mood, they would order a cocktail. And sometimes when they were getting a drink, I was lucky enough to get a Shirly Temple ‘cocktail’ to sip along with them. I loved that combination of sweet cherry and 7UP. And best of all was finishing and still having …