The doleful carnivore at Great Lent

As I don't eat much meat to begin with, that's not what I miss so much during Lent. Frankly, I miss the beer. Hence:

Goodbye to Fuller's ESB,
And other brews of varied ABV
Farewell to Oatmeal Stout, as I'll be drinking nowt, and must learn to do without.

Farewell to Sam Smith's Taddy Porter,
Your rich dark pint I will now cease to order.
Troegs' Big Hop, nectar dear, your cold smooth bottle held so near, for a time must set aside I fear.

(chorus)

We had joy, we had fun,
Pilsner Urquell in the sun
But by the end of this time
Even a Bud would taste sublime!

Posted by: Rob G | March 3, 2008 10:04 AM

Rod, your prosody leaves a bit to be desired (I write songs myself, and the song lyric is among the most demanding and least appreciated forms of poetry.) You need somebody to spruce it up. It probably demands a woman's touch. Should you be advertising for the assistance of a meter maid?

Posted by: Marian Neudel | March 3, 2008 11:15 AM

A reason for you to vote for McCain, Rod:

washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080303/NATION/930538550/1001

Lots of pork at McCain's media party
March 3, 2008

By Joseph Curl - CORNVILLE, Ariz. — Sen. John McCain works the grill, talking nonstop as he twirls a pair of tongs, flips a dozen racks of baby back ribs ("always cook them bone down"), sprinkles on endless dustings of Hog's Breath seasoning and soaks the sizzling meat with fresh-squeezed lemon juice ("it's the key to great ribs").

And like most men, he loves to talk while grilling — about grilling.

"You know where you get the best baby back ribs? Costco. Seriously. The best," the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said as he entertained a band of reporters over the weekend at his valley ranch in the Red Rocks outside of Sedona.

He also cherishes talking about his home, which features a doormat that says "GEEZER (formerly known as 'Stud Muffin') Lives Here."

"The thing I love most about this place is having people over — mainly to make them listen to the music I like," he said with a laugh, shortly after Michael Murphey's 1975 hit "Wildfire" piped onto the wooden deck.

While the Democratic presidential contenders are notoriously elusive with the gaggle of reporters following their campaigns, Mr. McCain spent yesterday afternoon literally hand-feeding the press — pork, no less, a tough task for a senator bent on ending pork-barrel spending.

"Wait, that one's not quite done, gimme that back," he said to a reporter to whom he'd just doled out a hot rib, cut with the aid of his longtime friend, Sen. Lindsey Graham. "Here, take this one, this one's good. Wait 'til you taste this, mmm, man."

On the cusp of securing the magic 1,191 delegates with wins tomorrow in the Texas and Ohio primaries, the 71-year-old senator decided to take the weekend off and recharge at the ranch he bought in 1984 with his wife, Cindy, who also hosted the barbecue.

Clad in jeans, New Balance running shoes, a white sweatshirt emblazoned with a picture of his family, a ball cap from Maine and a pair of mirror sunglasses, the small, slim Mr. McCain worked not one but two four-burner gas grills.

"Never use barbecue sauce," he says with a smile.

"You take one-third salt, one-third pepper, one-third garlic powder and coat the bone side, and then you start the grill and leave it at the lowest heat level. Put it bone-side down. ... And then you take the lemons and you squeeze lemons. You do the lemon because it keeps it moist ...”

Like President Bush, who once a summer invites to his Prairie Chapel Ranch the journalists who follow him daily, Mr. McCain took the media on a tour of the homestead that could become the Western White House.

And like the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, Mr. McCain's is modest, understated, with a few outbuildings, a rustic cabin-like house in the Hidden Valley, settled in the 1800s by the Mormons. But to the Navy pilot who spent five years in a Vietnam prison camp during the war, the 25-acre tract is a place to get back to basics.

Heading down into a lowland by the raging Oak Creek — past a tiny yard sign that said "Life Began in a Garden" into a spot with lights on the trees that he said looks like an "Iranian bazaar" — Mr. McCain waxed poetic about his home away from Washington.

"It's the most beautiful place on Earth: you can hike, swim in the creek — the stars are beautiful," he said. Pointing to a massive leafless tree with a huge nest in the high branches, he said: "There's a very big black hawk that lives there, that comes every year, and they almost always have a baby. And if you're really fortunate — I was one time — you can watch the mother teach the baby to fly. It was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen in my life. Incredible."

The McCains have worked with the Audubon Society to attract birds — some 67 different species already frequent the site — by planting native plants like yucca and wild grasses, as well as fruit trees. They saved a dead tree because it was home to woodpeckers — "It's a woodpecker condominium now."

The home, which has uses well water and a septic tank, is also eco-friendly — "Environmentally, it's good: We have solar panels and a fireplace fan that heats the whole place."

Like the Bush ranch, Mr. McCain also works here. Over the weekend, he had a slew of guests, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a front-runner for the vice presidential slot, South Dakota Sen. John Thune, Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi and former Indiana Rep. Tim Roemer.

Even though he likes to relax at his Cornville home, he's always ready to talk politics. "I think we can make a play for California — it seems silly to abandon such a big state," he said as he noshed on a bratwurst covered with mustard. "We're going to campaign in a lot of states the Republicans haven't campaigned in for a while."

But he is not presumptuous: He left a barbecue apron hanging on the wall that said: "Hail to the Chef."

Asked if he plans to bring his grill skills to the White House — perhaps the Rose Garden — he said softly, but confidentally: "We'll worry about that when we win."

Posted by: Eric W | March 3, 2008 8:13 PM