Episode 75 of The Dead Zone.
Suddenly she's attractive. Amazing what a hairstylist can do.

Thanks,
John M.
From the Q

I have a temper. One day its going to cost me, if it hasn't already.

Well, grilled out today. Boneless chicken breasts marinated since last night in Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, then grilled 12 minutes a side, turning 90 degrees every 4 minutes.
I set up my charcoal in a two-zone deal, with my wood-chips in an iron box just center. I have all the coals to the right, except a few surrounding the box for heat. In this case I used hickory, but I didn't let it get real hot first because I was worried about rain killing the whole deal. As a result, we didn't get a lot of smoke flavor, but that's fine. A little was enough with the marinating. Then, at each rotation my son basted on more sauce we had heating at the other end of the grill where there were no coals.
As all this was going on we made corn on the cob and macaroni & cheese inside. Topped it off with some nice yeast rolls and we had a great meal! Really tasty!
Now on a sidenote, Sweet Baby Ray's is a thick, rich, sweet red sauce. I include that because everytime I read about a sauce I'd like to know what its like. Not all sauces suit all tastes. My wife prefers tangier, mustard based sauces, and actually had me grill her a piece that hadn't been marinated or basted.
Anyway, it was a great way to spend a Saturday evening.
Thanks,
John M
From the Q

An email I sent to a colleague regarding why I prefer charcoal to
gas-grills.

No. It IS more to me. It is enjoyable, so I suppose that makes it a
hobby. My Father, and Grandfather, and Great-grandfather were all chefs
and bakers, but I never found the preparing of any food truly enjoyable
the way they did. Now I've found my niche, and I understand their
passion for the others.

And you are right. Most of what you do IS boring. I think my disdain for
your gas-grilling comes from there. To me, you either have to use rubs
and sauces to affect the flavor of food, or you have to use charcoal and
smoke. There's nothing else. In other words, and I promise you that
regardless of anyone's response this is my final word on this debate,
said only to attempt to explain my passion, not persuade you or Gene to
my side of the argument, a hamburger, cooked on your gas grills with
nothing else ever added, is going to be the same hamburger every single
time. There's nothing of variance to change. You set the knob to
whatever temperature you want and put the meat on for the predetermined
time and voila! Hamburger.
With charcoal, every grilling, even of a simple hamburger, can mean new
and exciting experiences, not just in taste, but in the unpredictability
of the fire. You have to constantly manage temperature, position,
airflow, and time together, and how you do so affects the flavor of the
meat every time. There's something primal about cooking a meal and
staring off, lost in your own thoughts about life, into the glowing
embers and coals of the fire. Trouble and time slip away to mean
nothing. The only thing that matters is the fire, and keeping the fire
doing what it should. It puts me closer to every cowboy on every range
trail throughout history, who, after a hard day working, sat down by his
fire to cook his supper. It gives me some insight into the mindset of my
earliest ancestors, as they rested the days catch on burning coals to
sear the flesh. The fire must be managed from the very first moment of
its inception. It is an experience that I don't think will ever get old,
and gas-grills seem to take a lot of that away. I enjoy the experience
so much that I'm actually going to start experimenting with lump coal
just to get closer to the original experience of grilling over the
coals.
I will argue forever about the virtues of smoke-flavored meat, but it's
about taste, and I cannot affect your tastes. I can, however, explain
that for me, it's not just about the taste, but also the experience of
re-connecting with that feeling of cooking over open flame that I enjoy.
You cannot get that with a gas-grill. At least, I don't see how. Maybe
someday I will trade these feelings for convenience, but I certainly
hope not. Sometimes, doing it the longer, harder way yields more
desirable results. It definitely does for me in this case.

And that is my final treatise on the subject. No more will I argue. You
will get smoked flavors at my cookouts, and I will get gas-grilled
delicacies at yours. End of story.

Getting harder and harder to get up and go to work on Mondays. Not sure why that is? I mean, I have a lot more time off now, yet I seem to want to work even less. Weird. I think Radioshack really got inside me to the point I don't think straight. Heh.
Anyway, its a short week, with Independance Day slapped right in the center We're also going to be sans children this weekend as they are going camping on Jekyll Island with Granma and Granpa. Hopefully everyone at Merrill Lynch took a vacation this week and calls will be minimal. On the Fourth Stacie and I are going to Will and Julie's for a cookout and Tuesday I'm going to see the new live action Transformers flick. Depending on how I feel the afternoon of the Fourth I may call in a personal day the day after. We'll see.

Thanks,
John M.
From the Q

The rub was wonderful! Will definitely have to use again. Unfortunately, I cooked them just a tad too long. Not ruined, but the rub itself burned. Next time less time over the fire.

Thanks,
John McDonald
From the Q

Well, we built that deck. Turned out wonderfully. Actually had my first deck party last Saturday. This weekend I've been feeling very bluh but tonight I'm grilling pork loins in a classic BBQ rub. We'll see how that turns out!

Thanks,
John McDonald
From the Q

So in the midst of all this grilling obsession I've decided I'd like a deck So, with no real plans or even an idea about what I'm doing, Saturday I'm going to build a deck. Hope Stacie and the kids don't come home Sunday to something gruesome.
My father seemed mildly concerned when I asked to borrow his nailgun.

Thanks,
John M.
From the Q

I went to the Oakley store today. I was so excited because I finally had permission to get the lenses I've been lusting after for three years...the Magnesium M Frame! A true joy to wear! However, once I got there I noticed their selection seemed limited to fru-fru glasses costing WAY too much and traditional M Frames, that, while nice, were not what I wanted.
I played along with the saleswoman, who seemed interested ONLY in selling me X metal glasses they had in store. After about 20 seconds I realized something was amiss. Another 20 or so and I discovered the store was going out of business and hadn't recieved any new product in 3 months.
I proceeded to check the THREE authorized dealers in that mall, plus one in the Town Center, only to find they carry only the fru-fru lesser models. No Romeo's, no Juliet's nothing made with X metal, just fru-fru.
Then I check Oakley's site only to find that while they still make M Frames in abundance, they don't appear to make MAGNESIUM M Frames anymore. Bummer I've lusted after these things since I tried them on in that same Oakley store 3 years ago!
Damn it. Now I've got to start the process of finding sunglasses all over again, and soon as my Gargoyles are on their last leg.
Not so fast. Enter ExpressSunglasses.com! They still have Magnesium M Frames and they have them about $75 cheaper than the retail store did. Now, as long as what Iordered actually shows up in a timely fashion (which I will let you know) I HIGHLY recommend them!
Thanks,
John M
From the Q
P.S. I know I haven't put up that link for grill. I will.

A stupid screw is cross-threaded in my grill, and a piece that should have been put on first can't go on now. This has halted grill construction completely until this afternoon. I have no intention of using said grill before Saturday but this still infuriates me!

Thanks,
John McDonald
From the Q

Just when I was thinking the week would fly by compared to last week (Partially because it was a "short" week, which really just means five days cramed into four, and partially because I was SO excited to be grilling for friends this past saturday, which did not happen thanks to Barry) the family goes and buys me an early Father's day present, a brand new Royal Oak charcoal grill. It is NICE. And BIIIIIG! It will be SOOO much easier to cook for a lot of people now, which I really enjoy doing. So right now the missus is in the living room putting my new grill together!
I ask you, how cool is that?
I'll get a link to the grill tomorrow morning when I'm on the pc. Cutting and pasting from the smartphone not so much fun. Suffice it to say they are available at most Walmarts and are $128. It even has a thermometer on the lid.
Thanks,
John McDonald
From the Q

I saw the Suns destroy the Mobile BayBears 10-3 today. It was fun. What was not so fun was that I sat down after some people needed out of my aisle only to have my chair break, at which point I had to leave my family to go sit in one of the larger "fat people" chairs at the top of the section. To top it off THAT chair made a cracking sound just as I was getting ready to leave! I'm too big and need to lose weight, but who builds plastic stadium chairs? Whatever.
Got home and did muster the energy to grill. Just hamburgers and hot dogs but they were good and it was fun, although it re-enforced my need for a lit deck trying to grill burgers in the dark.

Thanks,
John M.
From the Q

So today I'm taking Stacie, Connor, and Logan to a Suns game at Wolfson. I don't care for baseball on television, but sitting
in the stadium with a beer in hand on a beautiful day cheering on the team is fun!
Hopefully its a good game.
Johnny Mac
From the Q

....ruined my plans for grilling this weekend. Which sucks. But! Not as much as the fact I just wrote a MUCH longer blog entry about it only to have Microsoft's freaking Live Journal error out on me!

Thanks M$,
John McDonald
From the Q

So I've been having a problem with the amount of comics I'm purchasing, and as a result I've had to par back. Only one problem. There is a TON of good stuff being produced. I drop something (Omega Flight, for example) only to have to pick up something else (Like maybe Doktor Sleepless. Damn Warren Ellis and his damn grassroots marketing. Internet Jesus my ass). Oh well. I don't need to live in a house anyway.

Thanks,
John McDonald
From the Q

Let me tell you about something that just happened. Fight with Miss Irrational. Lying on the bed, fairly upset. Just throw cellphone at MI as she went to take a shower. Daughter is behind the corner of the door. She's been waiting on us to stop so she can reclaim her rightful place as Queen of Attention. I ask her what she wants and she says, with a beautiful smile only your 4 year old daughter can muster "I saw that"
"Saw what?"
"THAT. What you did."
"What?"
"Threw the phone at Mommy."

Well, I can be heartless, but that was all she wrote. I started to tear up. Not gushing, but enough that I couldn't stop. I told her I was sorry. Sorry she saw that, and sorry I'm not the man she deserves for a daddy, but all I got out was sorry.
Then she climbed up next to me and sat there. I couldn't stop crying. I said sorry again. Then, with my voice getting to th point I could barely control it, I asked for a hug and told her I loved her.
She cried. I don't know if it was me crying but I think it had to be. At 4 she couldn't possibly grasp all the underlying meaning in that "sorry" I threw out, but she knew something was killing daddy and she didn't like it. It was really a special moment. I love her so much, and I've got to be a better man for her.



John M.
From the Q

So today is the NFL draft! I'm excited, as I hope my Jaguars will draft someone to resolve our quarterback problem! I actually LIKE Byron Leftwich, but he asn't accomplished anything so maybe its time for a change?

Thanks,
John McDonald
From the Q

Not much going down today, which is just the way I like my sundays.

Thanks,
John McDonald
From the Q