An eclectic blend of a conversational Coffee Klatch with a sense of wonder, discovery, and intellectual playfulness, much like the historical Cabinets of Curiosities that housed rare artifacts, oddities, and treasures.
In this weekly miscellany, each issue opens a drawer to reveal something fascinating, funny, or thought-provoking. It’s part archive, part adventure!
Cabinet Drawer of the Week
Tremors is a movie that came out in 1990 and starred Kevin Bacon, Michael Gross, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Reba McEntire, & Victor Wong. It’s about a small, isolated town in Nevada where these huge underground wormlike creatures are beginning to kill off everyone.
The writers have said that they were definitely inspired by the sandworms in the Dune books (and movies). But they took the idea in their own direction. The first two sequels have the creatures going through a metamorphosis to become even more dangerous. The rest are in different locations, with #4 being a fun origin story.
There are SEVEN movies in the series, and I enjoy each of them. They’re the perfect combination of comedy, action, and creature feature. And Michael Gross is in every one!
All seven are available to stream on YouTube for free! (links below)
Tremors (1990)
Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996)
Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004)
Tremors 5: Bloodlines (2015)
Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018)
Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020)
Word to the Wise
Paracinema – (,pair-a-‘sin-eh-ma) n. a term to describe film genres that are outside the mainstream. It has the same relationship to ‘legitimate’ film as paraliterature like comic books and pulp fiction has to literature. Includes b-movies, cult classics, and avant-garde movies.
Thoughts from the Nook
Religious freedom is a fundamental human right protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits the government from establishing a religion or interfering with the free exercise of religion.
“No establishment of religion” under the First Amendment means that the government cannot:
Create and/or endorse any official religion.
Pressure or force anyone into having certain beliefs or following certain religious practices.
Favor any particular religious tradition over any other or over no religion.
This is sometimes called “separation of church and state,” a phrase that does not appear in the Constitution but describes what the establishment section of the First Amendment means.
Unfortunately, since 2016 or so, there has been more of a drive by Christian Nationalists to make Christian morals and beliefs to become the law of the land, especially in the last couple years. The United States was not founded as a Christian nation and many of the founding fathers spoke out against that. John Adams even wrote: “The United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” The U.S. government has no place sponsoring (or funding) religious activities. When they talk about “rededicating the U.S. to God,” they’re only talking about the Christian God because this administration has made clear that '“religious freedom” only applies to conservative Christians. Making laws that strengthen the position of Christians is about power, not about religious freedom.
Bottom line: the government cannot endorse any official religion. Religious Freedom means religious freedom for EVERYONE! Not making laws to force everyone to live as if they were Christian. 38% of America is not Christian and even more claim the title of “Christian” but are not active, taking the name but not the beliefs or lifestyle.
Religious Freedom for All does not mean making the USA a theocracy. It means letting people believe what they want and letting them live their lives their own way.
Trivia Espresso Shot
The Chicxulub crater is an underwater impact crater just off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Scientists think this is where the asteroid hit that killed the dinosaurs.
It was formed slightly over 66 million years ago when an asteroid, about six miles in diameter, struck the Earth. The crater is estimated to be 120 miles in diameter and is buried to a depth of about 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) beneath younger sedimentary rocks.
Reference Desk
The most prominent university library in Belgium is the University Library of KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), located in Leuven, Flemish Brabant.
It was constructed between 1921 and 1928 in a neo-Renaissance style on Ladeuzeplein, and it serves as a war memorial and also houses the university’s Special Collections and Artes collections. It is famous for its Art Deco reading hall built from carved oak and its 99-meter bell tower, which offers panoramic views of the city.
Dad Joke Cupboard
Doctor: Your body has run out of magnesium.
Me: 0mg
Composer Corner
Jennifer Higdon is an American composer born in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up in Atlanta and Tennessee.
She studied flute performance at Bowling Green State University with Judith Bentley, who encouraged her to explore composition. She earned a diploma from the Curtis School of Music, then a master’s and doctorate in Composition at the University of Pennsylvania, studying with David Loeb and George Crumb.
Higdon has received commissions from major symphony orchestras, and her works have been recorded on more than 50 CDs. Her “Blue Cathedral” is one of the most-performed works of living composers.
Blue Cathedral | Violin Concerto | Cold Mountain | All Things Majestic | Percussion Concerto
Food Holidays This Week
Sun, May 17 – World Baking Day, National Walnut Day, National Cherry Cobbler Day
Mon, May 18 – National Cheese Soufflé Day, I Love Reese’s Day
Tue, May 19 – National Devil’s Food Cake Day, Artichoke Day
Wed, May 20 – National Juice Slush Day, National Quiche Lorraine Day, Pick Strawberries Day
Thu, May 21 – National Chardonnay Day, National Strawberries & Cream Day, National In-N-Out Burger Day
Fri, May 22 – National Craft Distillery Day, National Vanilla Pudding Day, Stay At Home With Your Dog And Drink Wine Day, Don’t Fry Day
Sat, May 23 – National Taffy Day
Sun, May 24 – National Escargot Day, National Yucatán Shrimp Day
Recipe Card
Kimmelweck Rolls
One of my favorite foods from Buffalo and western New York is Roast Beef on Kimmelweck (“beef on weck”)! It’s traditionally served with rare, thin cut roast beef with jus and horseradish. The Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant was originally called BW3 or Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck, but they no longer offer this sandwich.
Ingredients
1/4 cup caraway seeds
1/4 cup coarse salt
2 envelopes active dry yeast
5 cups flour (approx.)
2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1/3 cup oil
2/3 cup milk
3/4 cup warm water
2 eggs
Directions
Combine caraway seeds and coarse salt in a small bowl; mix well. Set aside.
In a large mixer bowl, combine yeast, 2 cups of the flour, salt, oil, milk and water. Mix well at medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
Add eggs and beat another minute, adding as much flour as the mixer will take without dough becoming too heavy to mix. By hand, stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured board with remainder of the flour. Knead until smooth and elastic.
Place in large greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes. Punch down and knead for 2 minutes on a floured board.
To shape into rolls, cut dough into 24 pieces. Tuck edges of each piece under and shape into flat, round rolls.
With a sharp kitchen knife, cut four evenly spaced, shallow arcs in each roll from the center to the edges, pressing at center with your thumb to make an indentation (the pinwheel pattern resembles a Kaiser roll).
Sprinkle tops with the caraway-salt mixture. Transfer to baking sheets and cover. Let rise until doubled in bulk, or refrigerate overnight.
To bake, place in a humid oven (arrange a heat-proof pan of water on oven bottom).
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until brown.
Makes 2 dozen rolls.
Puzzle Pause
I always have a jigsaw puzzle going at home. Here’s a photo of the current state of my current puzzle.
Voting Brackets
We’re in the FINAL round of our Favorite Outfits from last week’s MET Gala! Tomorrow (Monday) we’ll begin voting on our Favorite Castles of the World! And it’s a double bracket with 128 castles in the first round!
Our Voting Brackets are open to anyone in the world, and we have a website for it: https://votingbrackets.com/. New rounds begin every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
We have completed more than 160 brackets over the last 7.5 years. Here is a full list of all the results back to the beginning.
The Pfunny Page
Marginalia
“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.”
- Mason Cooley
The Index
Today’s curated list: Best Superhero Sidekicks
Next Time in the Klatch
Stephen King books
Until next time, stay curious!