Just a bunch (well, six) of stuff that has been "piling up” with a little rant included
First: Well, have you had your fill of roundball? Between men’s and women’s NCAA, NIT, and so
forth, there wasn’t much on except that (with a few European soccer games here
and there). And this year for the first
time in a long time I have not participated in a (for recreational purposes
only) “bracket” group. I found it
strangely liberating… For once I can root for a team based on heart, not
head. I don’t have to root for a team I really
dislike just because my head say they will advance. Just as well, because my Spartans have bowed
out early again. Last year was one
thing, they had a very (on paper) competitive team and got bounced by Middle Tennessee
State for goodness sake (no disrespect). This year’s “rebuilding” team won
their first game, and then got schooled by Kansas. Since MFO got her advanced degrees at the “other”
school in Ann Arbor (home of fabled Zingerman’s deli) we kind of jumped on that
bandwagon. To be honest I never thought they would beat Mr. Pitino.
Speaking of (basketball) victories in a way (I’ll change
subjects soon), I was browsing Facebook this morning and was kind of surprised
to see all the posts celebrating the loss of Duke. No reason given, just glad they lost. I suppose that reflects the “break up the
Yankees” mentality just because they win a lot.
Now the fact that I am happy (sorry, Domer) that Notre Dame is back in
South Bend is rooted in long years of interaction with those above mentioned
Spartans of my Alma Mater..
Second: I am happy to
acknowledge that I got some feedback reinforcing my thoughts on Daylight
Savings Time being irrelevant or stupid.
One respondent (who lives in Arizona) even suggested moving to Arizona
where they don’t mess with it. He also
included some interesting info that the Navajo reservation there DOES observe
DST, but the Hopi reservation (which is within the Navaho reservation) does.
Third: back to
Facebook for a second, there is also a fair amount of posts that denigrate
Windows 10. Our new IT suite includes
that across the board, and actually I find it isn’t that bad. Of course I do my best to configure it to be
like Windows 7. I can live with it.
Fourth: main point
and back to food sort of, and a little bit of a rant. Locals know that over in Leonardtown they have recently “upgraded” a portion near the
intersection of Route 5 and Hollywood Leonardtown road. The old Winegardner used car facility and lot
have been transformed by a local contractor to install a stand-alone Dunkin’
Donuts and a “mixed use” building that contains Jessie’s Kitchen and Urban
Barbeque among other occupants. I find
out that the Jessie’s Kitchen is now owned and operated by the person who used
to own the Tea-rrific Café over in Souci.
Ranting begins… and this is a bit contrary to the Feeder’s
normal philosophy. Is anybody else getting
tired of the “farm to table” and “locally produced” restaurant craze? I am all in favor of using locally produced
food and produce, both for economical and gastronomical reasons… BUT… I am getting a bit over the practice of
putting on the menu that the salad I am about to enjoy comes from the 8th
through 10th plants in the third row in Plot B of the NW acre of “Bob’s
Produce Farm”, or my pork chop is from the hind quarter of Porky, who lives in
Bacon Barns, who never heard of an antibiotic or fence. Now, that being said a discreet statement on
the menu someplace (which some venues do) that meat products come from Happy
Acres, and produce from Leafy Meadows Farm is good enough for me. So, back to Leonardtown and the new Urban
Barbecue.
An alert reader sent me an email from said Urban (sic) Bar-Be-Que
Company promoting the (relatively) new outlet of smoked meats. I won’t try to cut and paste it, but it is in
the form of a panel that is boldly entitled: Local FAMILY TRADITION – How Southern Maryland Natives Opened Urban
Bar-be-que. Then it goes on to say “Welcome
to Our House” and explains how they had a “dream of opening our own UBBQ’ in
2014, wanting a gathering place around great food. Then “we started construction on this spot in
2016 and grew our dream into reality”, with the aim of serving the best BBQ in
St. Mary’s County. Concluding with the
old saw of “the first time you’re here a guest and…..you’re family” and signed
by the owners with a picture of (presumably) their kids.
First of all, I pass by that location a fair amount and I NEVER
recalled seeing anybody with shovel (we started construction...) other than
bulldozers, front loaders, grade-alls and other heavy construction equipment. Secondly, throwing all the “local” words
around leads one to believe it is an independent operation. Wrong.
By clicking the “view our Menu” button you are thrown to a site that
lists one location in Virginia, and ten more in Maryland with two more “coming
soon”. Going to each location you find
the menu is exactly the same, beginning to end.
So it is NOT (IMHO) a "local” establishment at all, it is a Chain. They are franchisees. I have
never seen any smoke issuing from the building so I assume that the meats are delivered, since the same menu is at all
11 locations.
If you ever enter say, Smoky Joe’s or Bear Creek, there is
no doubt that their meats are prepared on site. So I guess my gripe with Urban
is that they are (apparently) trying to appear as if they built the place with
their own hands, and serve “local” products (perhaps other than sides). I think not.
Now, as a caveat, I am glad for the franchisees that they are trying to
bring a variety of foods to Leonardtown, and I hope they do well for those cute
kids, but don’t try to pass yourselves off as a little BBQ shack by the side of
the road. Chain. It kind of ruins the credibility of places
that do serve local foodstuffs (like Elements). I have not done a feeder visit,
but second hand reports are not encouraging.
Fifth; Almost every year about this time, we’re visited by
Northern Gannets, a wonderful bird that “patrols” at an altitude of over one hundred
feet, and when they spy a fish they do a spectacular “plunge-dive”. Why they don’t brain themselves is a mystery
to me. But a welcome visitor this time
of year. Pretty bird...
Sixth: Extra Credit: who
is this person (now deceased), what did he do, and what was his nom de plume?
Hint: you can be sure he was
DFD
DFD
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