At least, I have comfort food. I dashed across the road and got a box of macaroni and cheese and made some for lunch. I add bacon-flavored popcorn seasoning for more win.
I mentioned in last night's post that a rescue cat had been dropped off to me. He came from a feral colony looked after by one or more little old ladies. He was called Gramps and was at least 10 years old, because the ladies had been feeding him that long. He's an unneutered male, who's been in fights, as unneutered males do, but unlike usual tom, he had also looked after two kittens that were in the colony. They curled up to sleep with him at night in the cold. (And it's been some awful cold lately.) The kittens had been rescued recently, and were headed for the foster program. It took some doing for the cat rescue volunteers to convince the colony caretaker to let them trap Gramps. She thought the stress of trapping would kill him, due to his age (very advanced for a feral). They argued he looked like he needed medical attention, with wounds and such, but she said "he doesn't look too bad now."
This is how he looked in my recovery cage this morning. (He did use the litter box some, but yes, he pooed on his towel, too, poor boy.)
This is his "good" side. The volunteer who brought him over watched me move him from carrier to cage last night, and we stared in horror when we got a good look at his left side. from jaw way down to shoulder, about eight square inches of skin was all raw and abcessed and crusted with blood. I didn't get a photo, but I'd have to put an "image may be disturbing" warning on it if I had. And this was "better" now, according to the colony caretaker. I can't imagine it having been worse. There was a smell of infection on him -- when I woke up this morning, I could smell it at the other end of my apartment in my bedroom -- it overpowered the smell of his poop, which I couldn't even smell till I opened the recovery room door.
I took him to the vet this morning, and hoped they wouldn't find him septic or with some other chronic condition as well and need to put him down. Here's what they found, quoting from the e-mail of the rescue group trapping coordinator:
"the neck wound is an abcess of some sort, possibly from a tooth root that is infected and has worked it's way through or from a fight wound that has gotten infected. They said it was very scabbed up, he had mats and his teeth (what's left of them) are in really bad shape.
They removed a lot of the scabs and mats and said that they will start working on the wound and giving him antibiotics. They said that most likely all his remaining teeth will need to be removed. However, they do feel he can be saved.
The good news.. he is completely friendly!! They said he was purring while they were removing his scabs and that he loves having his chin scratched.. they were carrying him around and petting him. The vet tech said he would be totally suitable for fostering!"
He already has a foster home lined up with the fostering coordinator, so he won't be coming back to my place at all. He'll be neutered on Monday, and I've asked for an "after" photo for comparison, once he gets to his foster home.
He is warm, and safe, and bathed, and on his way to feeling better. Now there's the heart-warming story we needed for a day like today.
Between January 2nd and January 6th, I drank nine different café mochas from nine different local coffeehouses. I thought it would be fun to compare and contrast the various drinks and then crown a favorite. I should preface this by saying that I don't know much about coffee. I am not a connoisseur and I don't really know the specific ingredient percentages that are supposed to go into official café mochas. All I know is what I like and dislike. Here are the contenders in the order of my visits:
1. Sidewinder - This was a tasty first effort and helped get me excited about the project. Sidewinder makes a quality mocha, but my drinking experience was slightly marred by the fact that I didn't have a MacBook like everybody else in the shop.
2. Pleasant Perk - This is a great little coffee shop across the street from Everybody's Records. Their mocha was a bit more milky than I usually like, but it was a quality effort. Now that I think of it, the drink was called a "mocha latte". Maybe that's different than a "café mocha". I'm not entirely sure.
3. Coffee Emporium - Coffee Emporium is one of Cincinnati's premier indie coffeehouses, but I thought their café mocha tasted like bark. I don't think I'll go back until the spring when I can get their glacial mocha, the most delicious cold coffee-flavored beverage I've ever tasted.
4. Brontë Bistro - I got this one at the restaurant in Joseph-Beth Booksellers. It was a beautiful drink with lots of whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and a dusting of cinnamon or cocoa powder on top (I forget which). Unfortunately, it was way too foamy for my tastes. It was like drinking foam covered with a beautiful work of art.
5. Blue Manatee Decafé - This coffee shop is attached to the Blue Manatee Children's Bookstore. All their drinks are named after characters from children's books. I got a Matilda's Mocha here, and I must admit it was delicious. It was very hot and featured Aglamesis chocolate, but neither the heat nor the chocolate were overwhelming. This drink still had the espresso and milk flavors in appropriate levels. I liked this one so much that I picked up a copy of Roald Dahl's Matilda while I was there. The way I look at it, if the drink is good, then the book must be, too.
6. Red Tree Art Gallery and Coffee Shop - The café mocha at Red Tree was a tasty combination of the flavors and came with homemade whipped cream on top. This shop is relatively new on the scene, but they make a delicious mocha and their whipped cream is the best. On top of that, patrons can wander around and look at art while drinking.
7. Lookout Joe - This was another effort that featured a good combination of chocolate, espresso, and steamed milk. It was also very hot on a very cold morning which made it taste even better. Now if only Lookout Joe would get rid of that nasty couch in the sitting area. I wouldn't sit on that thing if you paid me.
8. Awakenings Coffee and Wine - Awakenings is one of the few coffeehouses around here where they ask you which kind of chocolate you'd prefer in your mocha. I like that. Unfortunately, this mocha was one of the biggest disappointments in the Great Café Mocha Challenge of 2010. The whipped cream was homemade, but the mocha itself was bland and tasteless. As far as I'm concerned, the Hyde Park Square Awakenings is all prime location and mediocre beverages.
9. Starbucks - I wasn't going to include Starbucks in the competition, but I happened to be next to the CVG branch and decided to let them participate at the last minute. I actually thought their mocha was pretty good. It was heavy on the chocolate and featured the coffee flavor I've grown used to. On the downside, the whipped cream was a cold dollop of gelatinous goo that ruined the entire drink. If I get a Starbucks mocha again, I'll remember to skip the topping.
Drumroll, please: And the winner of the Great Café Mocha Challenge of 2010 is the Red Tree Art Gallery and Coffee Shop! Their mix of ingredients and the quality of their whipped cream was enough to best the competition. Blue Manatee Decafé and Lookout Joe came in a close second and third place, respectively. Honorable mention awards went to Sidewinder and Pleasant Perk. All five of these shops should be commended for the quality of their mochas. Give them a try the next time you're wandering around Cincinnati in search of your fix.
New Blog Post...
Potatoes are your friend....
I stand by my belief that people, in general, are very disappointing creatures.
Honesty, dignity, decency. Is there none of it anywhere?
But, I had to remove my line to God about "what could be next"? cuz if you ask that sucker to "bring it on" He will.
...I need a bucket of it that I can stick my feet into. My toes still haven't thawed. According to the weather link on our intranet homepage, it's 1 degree out there. And that's before the wind chill. Whoof!
Our neighbor (or someone, I didn't look to see who) was out sweeping the snow off the sidewalks this morning at 5:30. It was cleared all the way up the block past the next building, so maybe it was the association doing their job, for a change.
I'm not sure about the Denver street maintenance people, though. It was extremely slippery last night getting home, and there were spots this morning, even on the highway, that were quite slick still.
I haven't posted my recent musical acquisitions in about a month and things are starting to pile up. Many of the records shown below were given to me as gifts for the extended Christmas Eve-->Christmas-->Boxing Day-->New Year's Eve-->New Year's Day-->Homebody Week holiday, but to be honest, I bought most of them for myself. That's just how I am. It can't be helped.
- Gin Blossoms - Major Lodge Victory - I have a theory that everyone likes the Gin Blossoms, but some of us hide it deep down because we are ashamed.
- Jackie Leven - The Haunted Year: Autumn - I already owned Winter and Spring, so I sort of felt obligated to get Autumn and Summer. The first two were good, and I like Summer just fine, but Autumn feels a bit like the Jackie Leven dregs. He talks for ten minutes about the time he caused panic on a train by telling the other passengers that Sting had died in a helicopter crash.
- Jackie Leven - The Haunted Year: Summer
- Fairmount Girls - Eleven Minutes to Anywhere - I accidentally saw this local band as an opening act once, but it took me almost a decade to finally get around to buying their CD.
- Echo & the Bunnymen - Songs to Learn & Sing - I used to own this Echo & the Bunnymen CD, but I sold it because I thought I didn't like Echo & the Bunnymen, but then it turned out I actually did like Echo & the Bunnymen so I had to buy this Echo & the Bunnymen CD again. Got it?
- Chesterfields - The Best of the Chesterfields: Electric Guitars in Their Hearts - Silverchimes recommended "Ask Johnny Dee" to me for my Ba-Ba Box Set. I liked the song enough to seek out this collection. I got it for Christmas, but I can't remember who gave it to me.
- Terry Callier - Welcome Home - I thought this was a new studio album by one of my favorites, but it's actually just a live album. I could've done without this one.
- Buffalo Tom - Let Me Come Over - It's hard to say no to three mint condition Buffalo Tom CDs for $2 each.
- Buffalo Tom - Birdbrain
- Buffalo Tom - Buffalo Tom
- Young Fresh Fellows - I Don't Think This Is LP - This was my #2 record of the year. The Young Fresh Fellows pulled a fast one on me, though. They released the LP in Europe with completely different cover art and track listing. There are even some songs on the European version that didn't make the US version. I want them all! Fortunately, Homebody gave this to me for Christmas so my YFF crisis is now officially over.
- Klark Kent - Music Madness From the Kinetic Kid EP - I only bought this because Cranky likes Klark Kent and I want her to think I'm cool. I got it and the following Left Banke collection at Everybody's Records.
- Left Banke - The History of the Left Banke LP - Now I have an official copy of Steve Martin's gorgeous "Love Songs in the Night".
- Drive-By Truckers - Dangerous Highway: A Tribute to the Songs of Eddie Hinton 7" - Shake It Records put out these Eddie Hinton tributes, so I bought them to throw some support at the store/label. Volumes 1 & 2 both look cool, but I haven't listened to them yet.
- Greg Dulli - Dangerous Highway: A Tribute to the Songs of Eddie Hinton 7"
- Low - Santa's Coming Over 7" - If you punch out the shapes on the sleeve, you can make Christmas ornaments. I'm not going to do that, though. Where would I put the record? This was a Christmas present from Homebody.
- Richmond Sluts - Sweet Something 7" - I bought this one for my cousin. See, I'm not as greedy as I may appear. I'm actually very nice and generous.
- Tsunami - Headwringer 7" - I made a sad voice and Homebody gave me this.
- Tsunami - Geniuses of Crack 7" - Once I had Headwringer, I knew I had to dig this one out of the Shake It Records basement (where it's been living for years) and take it home with me.
- Wussy/Fervor - The Green Belt split 7" - The Wussy song is fantastic right off the bat, but it took me a few listens to appreciate the Fervor.
- Big Star - Keep An Eye on the Sky - This is a four disc box set. That's a lot of music from a band that really only had three proper albums, but I've never heard Big Star do a bad song, so I'm sure this will be good stuff.
- Bluebells - The Singles Collection - I saw this in Homebody's music collection and gave it a listen. Then I added it to my list of things to buy. You might wonder why I didn't just copy her disc to my computer. Well, we don't work that way. We want the Bluebells to get their 47 cents of royalties.
- Happy Mondays - Pills 'N' Thrills and Bellyaches - I found this at Half Price Books for $2. I bought it because my uncle once raved about a different Happy Mondays release and I was curious.
- Sir Vincent Lone - Troubadour Heart - Jackie Leven releases so many albums that he has to release some of them under aliases. "Sir Vincent Lone" is one of those aliases.
- 10,000 Maniacs - MTV Unplugged - This is another replacement.
- Various Artists - CD86 - This is an absolutely fantastic 48 song compilation of indie rock songs from the mid-80s. I'd only heard a couple of the songs beforehand, so I didn't really know what to expect. I am happy to say there's not a dud track on either of the discs. This right here is what I call a "Gateway Comp".
- Various Artists - North By North West - This is another good 2-disc compilation. It's more punk/post-punk, though.
- Various Artists - Play - I bought this at Half Price Books a few days before Christmas. It's a collection of children's songs done up by bands from the Pacific Northwest. The best song on the disc is "Picnic" by the Young Fresh Fellows.
- Vic Chesnutt - Skitter on Take-off - I felt bad that I hadn't bothered to buy Vic Chesnutt's two 2009 releases, so I ordered them up. I'd meant to buy them at the Southgate House show in early November, but I forgot to go to the concert. Or maybe I just skipped it. I don't remember anymore. Either way, I felt bad.
- Vic Chesnutt - At the Cut
- Long Blondes - Singles - The Long Blondes put out a lot of great early singles, an amazing full-length called Someone to Drive You Home, a crappy full-length called Couples, and then promptly fell apart due to some sort of health situation. This is a collection of those early singles.
- Longpigs - The Sun is Often Out - I bought this one for $2 just because there was a tiny picture of Richard Hawley in the booklet. He played guitar in the Longpigs.
- Material Issue - International Pop Overthrow - I've had the title track of this CD stuck in my head since October, so I finally gave in and bought the dang thing. Material Issue always reminds me of a friend from college, but I recently found out that he barely remembers them.
- Jackie Leven - Lovers at the Gun Club - I may have gone a bit overboard with the Jackie Leven.
- Shirley Lee - Shirley Lee - This is the debut solo album from the Spearmint singer and songwriter.
- Three O'Clock - Sixteen Tambourines/Baroque Hoedown - I've recently been checking out all the Paisley Underground bands. My grandmother gave me this one for Christmas. Who knew she had access to my Amazon wishlist?
- Stories - Stories/About Us - This is another Left Banke-related release.
- Regina Spektor - Live at Bull Moose EP - This is my first official Regina Spektor release. I think I have a couple of her songs in my iTunes, though.
- Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - I used to have a Phoenix concert t-shirt, but I gave it away to Goodwill about four years ago. Now the band is popular and I've missed out on my opportunity to let everybody know I was into them back before it was hip.
- Rain Parade - Emergency Third Rail Power Trip/Explosions in the Glass Palace - This is another Paisley Underground investigation.
- Shop Assistants - Will Anything Happen - I have no idea why I bought this one. I think I remembered their name from the CD86 compilation mentioned above. Good stuff, though.
- Various Artists - Gift From a Garden to a Flower: A Tribute to Donovan - This is another one I found out about from Homebody's incredibly large and diverse music collection.
- Only Ones - The Only Ones - Does anyone know the record for listening to "Another Girl, Another Planet" over and over again? Whatever it is, I think I might try to break it.
- Kaiser-Kimura-O'Rourke-Oswald - Acoustics - This is the worst CD I've ever heard. It will not get the normally required ten listens.
- Beatles - The Beatles Mono Box Set - This box set is so damn beautiful. I haven't even listened to it yet. I've just been cradling it in my arms. Remember when you had your baby and you thought it was precious and beautiful and the greatest thing ever in the history of the world? Well, that was just a baby. Any two drunks can make one of those. It takes real genius to make Rubber Soul and then house it in a replica miniature LP sleeve with original cover art.
Wise Potato Chip Owl
Owl from 100 Acre Wood
Tootsie Pop Owl
Give A Hoot Woodsy Owl
US Dollar Bill Owl
