More on Palm Sunday and Jumping On The Bandwagon

Today is Palm Sunday. Even in the Bible, the idea of jumping on the bandwagon is detailed. On a Sunday you are hailed and on a Friday the same people are calling to nail you . Maybe the moral of the story  is if Christ who was already very consistent was very vulnerable to the fickleness of the public's whim , what more us? Just stay the course and do not try to please the public. More thoughts here. 

I Remember Hal Lovo

Harold "Hal" Lovo . Now there was a guy. I am playing music at work and the Rolling Stones song "Live With Me" comes on. I am reminded of Hal because if I recall his band opened with that song. Hal is one of those characters that sticks with you after decades of not hearing from him.


 I wrote those lines then I decided to Google him. Then I saw something none of us wants to see. An obituary.  This urge to write about distant memories sure takes you weird places. We all gotta go one day but Hal left us at 60. Almost thirty years later I was straining to remember the name of his band and good it was mentioned several times in his obituaries, The Hooded Rats.



I met Hal when I started working at Long and McQuade Music on West 4th Avenue. We were both in the credit department. He was such a character, specially with a guitar in his hands.



From my dim memories, I recall that Hal grew up in Steveston and played junior varsity football for Hugh Boyd. He was Al Bundyish that way when he would regale Pete and I about those days. He told us of the pre game speeches of his coach and eating pasta on game day.

One of his classic quotes " I rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy".

He would twist a certain Beatles classic to " I want to hold your gland"

The Cars song "It's All I Can Do " became "It's all I can do , is keep digging for poo".

The Who song " Tommy Can You Hear Me?" became " Eddie Can You hear me ? "


I saw the Hooded Rats play at least twice . Hal with his cap on backwards on guitar and vocals. As somebody who spent hours and hours in high school playing in bands, I could tell right away the Hooded Rats were tight. They really played together.

Hal would restring his guitar and once he got two strings on there he would play the intro to the Eagles Teenage Jail.

Another time he was playing and singing and Pete and I giving him our rapt attention. A co-worker was inspecting the scene and Hal's good natured retort? " I am just entertaining the troops".

In those times the Marvel TV movies were filmed in Vancouver. During office hours he would watch the filming of the  Death of the Incredible Hulk.

In what might have been the 1989 season opener of Monday Night Football, Hal and his wife invited me over for dinner. This was also my first term at Simon Fraser University. He showed me this cannabis plant he was growing that he eventually showed.

I have no idea why it took me this long to think of him or even try to get a hold of him but things happen. I  miss you bro and I hope you are in a better place.

Parallels Between Heartbreak Hotel and Edgar Allan Poe

Recently a student requested we analyze the words to any Elvis song and see what English we can learn from it. I always enjoyed the imagery from the lyrics of Heartbreak Hotel. A hotel with a very morose atmosphere. The song though had a contrasting rocking mood when you listen to the band and the vocal. 


The key phrase for me was  

"Now the bell hops tears keep flowingThe desk clerks dressed in black"

Imagine a hotel where the staff is perpetually crying and their uniforms are colored black. Imagining though is the gift we get from reading and listening to words. The more I thought about this song, the more I was reminded of the imagery of colors in the Edgar Allan Poe story, The Masque Of The Red Death. 

It may not be a perfect match but there are some parallels ( in my opinion) between Heartbreak Hotel and The Masque Of The Red Death. 

• the initial mood of the song just like the initial mood of the story(inside the castle)  is very jovial. 
• the grand setting of both the short story and the song. 
• the emphasis of color in the venue. Granted it is more varied in the short story.
• the attempt at escape for both

They do contrast though. Masque Of The Red Death is all about being in denial. They are wearing masks after all. All the pain is out there and not in here.  Heartbreak Hotel is all about accepting where your current state. Although the real life inspiration of Heartbreak Hotel makes the song lyrics seem relatively tame.

Any Idiot Can Cook Pasta

I have been making this basic lasagna for 3 years now ( see below) . I can not find the original link where the recipe came from but there are enough similar recipes available . It figures the day I decide to really document the making of my lasagna, there is no lasagna available in the grocery. Well there was penne so that will have to do and so far it tastes great anyway .

I start with peeling, and basic chopping of the garlic, peppers and onions

Notice the onions are sliced but not too fine. Because...

I let my food processor take care of the real slicing. The peppers, onions and garlic are all in there.

This is the ground beef being browned

After it is decently browned, you will have to remove the excess oil using a strainer and then add the spaghetti sauce and let it simmer for a while

This is the pasta placed in the slow cooker while the browning/ simmering stage is happening.

Once you combine what is in the frying pan with what is in the cooker you can start chopping the cheese,

The cheese does not have to be finely sliced as long  as you are mixing what you have in the cooker every 20-45 minutes.

The beauty of slow cooking is " Everybody is going to get to know each other in the pot.".  

A slow cooker is so worth it. Good luck and good cooking.

Easy Crockpot Lasagna

1 

pound (16 ounces) ground beef

1/2 

cup diced white onion

1 

teaspoon minced garlic

1 

(24 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce

1/2 

cup water

1 

(15 ounce) container ricotta cheese

2 

cups mozzarella cheese

1/4 

cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 

whole egg

2 

Tablespoons fresh parsley or 2 teaspoons dried parsley

6 

uncooked lasagna noodles

DIRECTIONS

• In a large skillet brown beef and onion. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Drain.
• Add spaghetti sauce and water and simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Mix ricotta, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, 2 Tablespoons Parmesan, egg and parsley.
• Pour 1 cup of spaghetti meat sauce into a 4 to 6 quart sized slow cooker. Place half of the noodles and half of the ricotta mixture on top of the sauce. Cover with 2 cups meat sauce. Top with remaining noodles (If the noodles don't fit exactly break them to fit) and cheese mixture and meat sauce.
• Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours or until noodles are soft. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella and remaining parmesan. Cover with the lid to melt the cheese and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.
• Do not overcook and don't try to speed up the process by cooking it on high.
• *Works best with a 4 to 6 quart size slow cooker.