Huh

I just needed to buy a simple little clock for my bedside bookshelf. That’s all. I went down the mall (as we say ‘round these pahts), figuring I could find something cute and cheap at Target.

Now then, I’ve undoubtedly whinged on about flag fetishists before so you can imagine my dismay on seeing this ostentatiously giant standard hanging in the middle of my local mall. Flag humpers are motherfucking legion.

There’re the scorchingly uptight Repub/Facists whose jackets and blazer collars are never without a little “patriotic” cloisonné bling.

There’s the car and pick up bumpers and back windows festooned with proud weather battered stickers. These are tip offs that the wearer and/or owners are, generally, low brain-power, right wing, not-to-be-trusted tools.

And then there are the biz owners. Are they trying to communicate that everyone’s welcome, including dimwitted Repub/Facists – Hey if yur bucks are green, yur welcome even if you voted for the Hater in Chief, the Tangreine Assturdian Democracy Destroyer, (AKA Preznint Rabid Weasel Brain).

Or are they just flying their extreme sportsball-fan style intimidation-patriotism big and bold? Just FYI, patriotism is NOT the same thing as blind, unstinting, subservient, rah-rah-rah devotion.

So, yeah, I got my cheap little clock. It’s cute as hell but only keeps accurate time for about half the day (yes, it's correct twice daily BUT, somehow, I feel that I need more). Sadly, I already tossed the receipt so there’s no returning it. I’ll swing by the hardware store (NOT the mall) later today. Do I really need to sacrifice cute on the altar of functionality?

Another annoyance – I passed by this pizza joint on my way to the hippy/groovy grocery store yesterday. Coal-fired pizza? What the ever-lovin’ fuck? It is supposedly safe to eat AND be around the firing ovens.

Pizza ovens burn anthracite, the top-shelf coal (flaks call anthracite “clean burning,” because this hard, high-carbon coal produces so little smoke or sulfur emissions) and ovens are often fitted with catalytic converters to keep a lid on any stray carcinogens. Even better, most anthracite is now reclaimed from closed mines and leftover slag heaps. (source)

Okay, pizza making with anthracite (NOT bituminous) is safe. Got it. Not all coal is equally awful. I guess this is just the new fad – like when pizza restaurants (versus your basic corner BHOP) started appending WOOD FIRED to their names.

“It does impart a nice crust on it,” says Skelding (Executive chef at the Greenbrier Resort). “It’s not quite as smoky [as wood], but you can tell there’s definitely an undertone of flavor there from the coal.”

Dunno that I really want a coal flavor to my pizza. No, I take that back, I DON’T want it but now I'm in the mood for a nice spinach and goat cheese pie.