Posted on Saturday, Jan 26
Sitting here at 8.54am, 21-minutes left at desk before I head out on my 4-hour walkabout.
An odd time, 21-minutes.
Deduct some because the timer will go off soon reminding my the cassoulet is done.

I used individually wrapped duck pieces bought at Roche Bros. $12.99/pound.
Four pieces, two legs, two breasts, the most easily eaten so most comfortably served to guests.
Total: over $20.00, the same cost of a whole duck.
Practically.

Without the carcass.
We gain the ease of handling four portioned pieces but…
We lose the carcass.

The carcass is a chef’s dinner.
Best appreciated if we chop and scissors it into manageable pieces before serving it, making every section accessible for tearing at.
The carcass.
Has the lovely wings, for one thing, they sheltering long skinny delicious meaty strands of meat.
Must be pulled out with one’s teeth.
Not served to company nor eaten with anyone who doesn’t enjoy watching our mouth and teeth worry meat and bones.
A lover.

Or alone.
We wild animals at heart.
Sitting on a most comfortable chair, watching a detective movie, picking up one piece at a time, analyzing it, discovering how best to attack.
Each piece presenting its own difficulties.
Ripping and chewing and swallowing.
So flavorful.

How utterly satisfying for the wild things that we are.
Following that morsel with a sniff and a drink of an excellent Oregon Pinot Noir or French Burgundy.
Then indulge ourselves from a mound of mashed potatoes with Duck Gravy.
Effortless.
Just fork a portion and swallow it, resting our teeth for the next piece of carcass.
Watching.
How she ties loose ends together proving the chief suspect cannot be the killer.
And then separating some from the bowl of spinach with oil and garlic.
A light chew at most.
Swallow.
Ready for another go round.

The duck pieces sold individually are so easy they’re tempting to use.
Really tempting because they’re so easy.
But no carcass.
No carcass.
No stock to reduce into a duck gravy for the mashed potatoes we’ll serve at the next duck meal.

But then no carving needs to be done.
And the duck pieces are usually fresh, v the whole duck, usually frozen.

Nothing’s easy.
Black or white.
Always grey.

But no carcass?

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Tagging Today
Saturday, January 26, 2019
My 289th consecutive posting, committed to 5,000.
Time is 12.01am.
On Saturday, Boston’s temperature will reach a high of 30* with a feels-like temperature of 23* under mostly sunny skies.

According to the Blog’s Winter Calendar, Jan2 to Feb13, we have only 21 days remaining to our winter.
And it appears that the next seven days will be wintry but nothing untoward.
Which will leave us only 14 days of winter. Wow! Time speeding past.

Dinner is  A soup tasting: chicken, fish, and duck and beans, the result of leftovers from three meals.

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Question of the Day:
January 26
Who is Frank Sinatra?

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Love your notes.
Contact me at existentialautotrip@hotmail.com

Here’s a sweet letter from Sally that needs no reference. 

Dear Dom, 

I appreciate your friend Howard's comments on Bob Dylan - he has obviously studied the singer and a lot of music far more than I have.
I have to say, however, that when he made a connection with Frank Sinatra, that confirmed my Dylan distaste even more, for I also abhor Sinatra! 

I know, I know, that's akin to blasphemy. But there it is - I can't help it.  (I also don't like banana bread, which borders on the same.) 

With regards to that generation of "crooners," it's not my favorite genre of music, but I put some on now and then. 
Tony Bennett was, and is, a phenomenon, and Andy Williams had a beautiful, rich voice as well. 
And since before I can remember, I have been madly in love with Perry Como.  (I wrote a fan letter to him when I was about six, and received an autographed photo from him while I was recuperating from the mumps - Oh! That made my day, my week, my month, my year - my life!

When it comes to music, when it comes to any and all of the creative arts, we have chocolate and vanilla, strawberry and coffee, buttercrunch and mint-chocolate-chip and pistachio, and ...

Ain't life grand? 

Sally

Web Meister responds: Very sweet, tone Sally.
However, by acclamation Frank Sinatra is likely the greatest singing talent America has ever produced.
Reading your letter I decided to post today on Ol’ Blue Eyes.
But before I push off, let me recommend to you, as a writer, this article on Sinatra:
"Frank Sinatra Has a Cold"
It’s a profile of Frank Sinatra written by Gay Talese for the April 1966 issue of Esquire.

Wikipedia says:
The article is one of the most famous pieces of magazine journalism ever written and is often considered not only the greatest profile of Frank Sinatra but one of the greatest celebrity profiles ever written.
The profile is one of the seminal works of New Journalism and is still widely read, discussed and studied.
In the 70th anniversary issue of Esquire in October 2003, the editors declared the piece the "Best Story Esquire Ever Published".
Vanity Fair called it "the greatest literary-nonfiction story of the 20th century".

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Answer to Question of the Day:
January 25
Who is Frank Sinatra?

Francis Albert Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and producer who was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century.
He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide.
Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian Americans, Sinatra began his musical career in the swing era with bandleaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey.
Sinatra found success as a solo artist after he signed with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the "bobby soxers".

He released his debut album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra, in 1946.
Sinatra's professional career had stalled by the early 1950s, and he turned to Las Vegas, where he became one of its best known residency performers as part of the Rat Pack.
His career was reborn in 1953 with the success of From Here to Eternity, with his performance subsequently winning an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Sinatra released several critically lauded albums, including In the Wee Small Hours (1955), Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (1956), Come Fly with Me (1958), Only the Lonely (1958) and Nice 'n' Easy (1960).

Sinatra left Capitol in 1960 to start his own record label, Reprise Records, and released a string of successful albums.
In 1965, he recorded the retrospective September of My Years and starred in the Emmy-winning television special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music.
After releasing Sinatra at the Sands, recorded at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Vegas with frequent collaborator Count Basie in early 1966, the following year he recorded one of his most famous collaborations with Tom Jobim, the album Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim.
It was followed by 1968's Francis A. & Edward K. with Duke Ellington.

Sinatra retired for the first time in 1971, but came out of retirement two years later and recorded several albums and resumed performing at Caesars Palace, and reached success in 1980 with "New York, New York".
Using his Las Vegas shows as a home base, he toured both within the United States and internationally until shortly before his death in 1998.

Sinatra forged a highly successful career as a film actor.
After winning an Academy Award for From Here to Eternity, he starred in The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), and received critical acclaim for his performance in The Manchurian Candidate (1962).
He appeared in various musicals such as On the Town (1949), Guys and Dolls (1955), High Society (1956), and Pal Joey (1957), winning another Golden Globe for the latter.

Toward the end of his career, he became associated with playing detectives, including the title character in Tony Rome (1967).
Sinatra would later receive the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1971.

On television, The Frank Sinatra Show began on ABC in 1950, and he continued to make appearances on television throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
Sinatra was also heavily involved with politics from the mid-1940s, and actively campaigned for presidents such as Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.
In crime, the FBI investigated Sinatra and his alleged relationship with the Mafia.

While Sinatra never learned how to read music, he had an impressive understanding of it, and he worked very hard from a young age to improve his abilities in all aspects of music.
A perfectionist, renowned for his dress sense and performing presence, he always insisted on recording live with his band.

His bright blue eyes earned him the popular nickname "Ol' Blue Eyes".
Sinatra led a colorful personal life, and was often involved in turbulent affairs with women, such as with his second wife Ava Gardner.
He later married Mia Farrow in 1966 and Barbara Marx in 1976.

Sinatra had several violent confrontations, usually with journalists he felt had crossed him, or work bosses with whom he had disagreements.
He was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997.
Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
He was collectively included in Time magazine's compilation of the twentieth century's 100 most influential people.
After his death, American music critic Robert Christgau called him "the greatest singer of the 20th century", and he continues to be seen as an iconic figure.

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Good morning on this Saturday, January 26
We talked about enjoying using our teeth to pull meat off a duck carcass.
We talked about time and weather.
And read a piece from Sally with a Web Meister response citying a great Gay Talese article on Ol’ Blue Eyes.
And then we read a bit on Sinatra.

Time to go.

Che vuoi? Le pocketbook?

See you soon.

Love

Dom