I just got done putting a couple of bananas in the freezer. This is an odd thing to lead with, but I’ve been crazy about smoothies lately. I had an idea for a while that my Vitamix was broken and would require repair. It is still under warranty of course, but that would probably mean me boxing it up and sending it someplace, so I have been putting it off, and now of course that’s just downright impossible, what with the SARS-CoV-2 everywhere and such. Current circumstances made me get the thing out again and test it, and I discovered that I had a case of blender hypochondria. The thing works fine. So lately I’ve been all about smoothies and frothy boozy drinks. The basic smoothie of late is a cup of soymilk, approximately 3/4 cup of baby spinach, and blend these hard until it’s just green soymilk. Then throw in a frozen banana in pieces and whatever adjuncts you like in moderation. I have some flaxseed meal here for some reason (an insane trip to Niblacks I’m sure) and still a bunch of powder from my Huel craze days so in that goes, and a little orange juice and a little less lime juice for freshness.
That’s a nice smoothie.
Last weekend I upgraded the cable to silver service because I was climbing the walls and desperately wanted my Turner Classic Movies channel back. HBO and Showtime ain’t bad neither, and the Cooking Channel. I immediately dove into a Good Eats marathon followed by a Shameless binge and Face in the Crowd, which must be watched just to see another side of Andy Griffith’s skills. Then last night was an unexpected, weird little gem called “Aaron Loves Angela” (1975). This is the debut film of Irene Cara and Kevin Hooks, the latter you may know if you ever watched a little show called The White Shadow. This is a “blacksploitation” genre movie sort of, meant to be drawn on a Capulet-Montague template. Soundtrack by José Feliciano, by the way, who makes a lovely cameo in the film.
It was better than Birdman.
I cooked some salmon tails today and they were good. I ate them with some rice, which I made in my Zojirushi yesterday. It was nice to have something quick to nuke during my 45 minute lunch.
Also, they announced this today, and I am one eager Prince-person: “Starting this Friday, SiriusXM will host a new channel dedicated entirely to Prince. Stream for free until 5/31 and catch takeovers and special playlists from Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis , Sheila E. , and the debut of a never-before-heard radio show Prince created with Rashida Robinson in 2005.”
If what I heard on the promo on Sirius/XM earlier is accurate, this will be channel 30. In the meantime, you can always listen to Purple Current.
I took a walk this morning as it was nice out, but as I decided to give myself a nice cut on my heel the other day, I had to cut it a little short. Still, amid this madness, it is nice that the weather is improving. Who knows when any of us will ever haunt a gym again.
By the way, if you’re looking for something new on Spotify lately, make it the album The Black Gladiator by… wait for it… Bo Diddley. This thing had a spotty release history (1970), but is now easily accessible and flexes its guns. This ain’t Diddley Daddy. It smacks of blues and psychedelia and soul and rock and makes you have to squint to see Bo Diddley in there somewhere. This is hot. You should listen.
That is all I have for today. Tomorrow is ::checks notes:: Thursday.