On The Mysterious Case Of The Craigslist Writing Gig Scam
@Goob @Rick Paulus. I hope it is something like that. Might explain the 'slightly different' numbers, some way of tracking calls coming in via an affiliate network. You could email and ask their marketing department.
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On The Mysterious Case Of The Craigslist Writing Gig Scam
Do the numbers he gave you match real numbers for the companies he asked you to call? Maybe the scam is getting you to stay on the line on a crazily expensive premium rate number for six minutes at a time? Do premium rate numbers work like that in the US, or is it obvious how much you're being charged to call?
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On Gil Scott-Heron, 1949-2011
I hate to be a pompous twat, but in the spirit of owing the dead only honesty, and because in dozens of obits noone seems to have mentioned it, let's not forget this classic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O92981dskK4
Not sure why it bugs me so much that it has gone unmentioned everywhere, and maybe there's a point I'm missing, but to me it shows a really ugly side to him: not just what he's saying, but the nasty, hate-filled, tone. Maybe it's changing morals, maybe he's being ironic somehow and I am not getting it, but the first time I heard that it pissed me off so much that I couldn't listen to him for years after.
Hmmmm, I don't know, maybe I just need to enjoy the good stuff and ignore the bad stuff.
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On How To Make Weeknight Pasta Sauce
Simple pasta sauce is the answer to all temptation to eat processed food. It's a life changing revelation when you realise it tastes better and is as easy as the crap in jars.
But, it inspires complete fundamentalism about the right method. So, onions, really? Completely uncalled for. The garlic should be sliced, not minced. Put a pinch of nutmeg in there too, and a teaspoon of crushed dried chilis, not jalapenos.
If you're going to put cheese in, put mascarpone in, which will melt evenly into the sauce, rather than breaking up into little white specks like ricotta. Keep the ricotta for when you have some spinach. Put the parmesan on top, not in it.
As for oregano, well, that is purely for pizza, nothing else. And all those vegetables (aubergine, ffs, you're just adding gloop), see the scene in Homicide where Bayliss describes Crosetti's advice on pasta: all those other ingredients are "because the Protestants got to it".
And putanesca doesn't mean that the sauce is whorish, but all that fire and strength makes you feel whorish.
And dried pasta is completely the right thing for this sort of sauce, 'fresh' pasta is another hideous trick of the food industry to make you pay more for something less good. Good dried pasta cooked the right time will give the right toothsome texture. and a ladleful of starchy water to add to the almost dry sauce at the end, and bind all that oil and tomato together into a nice glossy emulsion.
Food bitching aside though, great to see someone stand up for making your own sauce.