THE KIELTY KONSIDERATION- July 29, 2022
Finally, we get back to what I envisioned this little column being which is just my ideas on things I encounter over the course of the week. Politics have been predominant here lately but that’s just because I pay attention, which is an absolutely mixed blessing. So, the end of the first season of the January 6th hearings was welcome and gave me the opportunity to sit in a lawn chair, listen to some music, drink a beer and sweat out a heat wave. Surprisingly, given my fair Irish American complexion, the heat really doesn’t bother me so much. As a kid (young adult, I suppose) I did 4 or 5-hour stints playing pickup basketball on paved surfaces in the midday 90-degree sun with only a cold can of Budweiser and a quick dip in the pool to cool my jets. A similar fair-skinned pal recently said to me of the sun, “Well, it’s war. I didn’t start it.” which just left me in stitches for the simple direct accuracy of the message. Stay cool, my friends, and thanks for reading.
-This was a completely accidental find but goodness, it’s been welcome. It jumped out at me from a supermarket shelf and I was intrigued. “Spicy Garlic?” Yes, you have my attention. “Parmesan?” A fantastic cheese, so now you me lured in. And, what does it do? It just turns out to be the perfect complement to a sandwich. Toss this little lady that has been delivered by a kind woman whose corporate name is, “Melinda,” onto a cold-cuts sandwich: turkey, roast beef, and especially ham, this just makes it sing. Vegetarians, I both applaud and console you. Find a meat substitute and get this going on for you. It’s just that good.
-This band called Wavves is playing in my neighborhood next week. If you know me at all you likely know that music has always been pretty important to me and most of the folks I appreciate the most also really like that art form, too. So, I had to tell my brother that Wavves were playing near us and he responded, “We have to go to this.” Now, I will be upfront about one thing, I am a Deadhead who basically likes all music, my brother is not a Deadhead but a music aficionado who likes all music, and his response to Wavves just reminded me of that. Dude has some big ears.
-Summer in a lot of ways means food to me. I am not a native New Englander. I grew up in Massachusetts but I was born in New Jersey and didn’t get here until I was 8 years old and I have since bounced around a bit but I truly love the appreciation that folks in this patch of the world have for seasonal culinary offerings. Do me a few favors if you visit New England, especially during the summer (and why would anyone come in the winter, we don’t even want to be here when the temperature is in the teens).
-Do not say you parked your car in Harvard Yard. It demeans us both. If you came to visit you’e smarter than that.
-Eat oysters. I personally only go near sushi because I have friends that enjoy the raw seafood, but an oyster on the half shell is God’s gift to New England. It’s salty and slimey and with a dollop of horse radish it’s going to make you want to put on a Red Sox cap. If not, go home, you don’t get it and you should never have come here.
-Have a saugy. This one is maybe Rhode Island specific but anyone who had one remembers it and they recall it fondly. It’s a hot dog with a skin and if you have one at Haven Brothers in downtown Providence and wash it down with a Del’s frozen lemonade then just move here, you’re in.
-I am realizing just how local this has been and perhaps it’s blowback from the mess I have written about recently. I do take pride to some degree in the old Watergate bumperstickers, “Don’t Blame Me… I’m from Massachusetts” (we were the only state Nixon didn’t win).
-Alright, so I am right back home to it. My friend, Sarah Borges, is heading your way, UK, and she’s just great. She sings like an angel and thinks genius when she writes great words down. She has a tour coming up in England and if you miss it you’re going to wish you hadn’t. And, at home, Ryan Lee Crosby is playing shows behind a record called, “Winter Hill Blues,” that is the kind of listen you just want to listen to again after it’s done. This person just makes really good music. Not to mention that he’s a really nice person which is converted in his songs. It would be easy to be a dick if you were this talented, he is not. He’s just plain gifted.
