Rainbow Trouit & Jalapeno Peppers

I wanted to save my new recipe for Rainbow trout.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Rinse fish, and pat dry.
2. Rub fillets with olive oil, and season with garlic salt and black pepper. Place each fillet on a large sheet of aluminum foil. Top with jalapeno slices, and squeeze the juice from the ends of the lemons over the fish. Arrange lemon slices on top of fillets. Carefully seal all edges of the foil to form enclosed packets. Place packets on baking sheet.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of fish. Fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork. 

 Also, my old Works word processor program crashes when I try to save anything in it that has html code, so I put these references to the Belem neighborhood of Lisbon here too....

Belem ATTRACTIONS

 Jeronimos Monastery - A World Heritage monument; Vasco da Gama's resting place.

 Belem Tower - The city's icon; a symbol of the Age of Discovery.

 Berardo Museum - World-class collection of modern art.

 Discoveries Monument - The world's explorers in stone.  

Coaches Museum - The world's largest collection of magnificent royal coaches. 

 Maritime Museum - The story of Portugal's pioneering role in world exploration at the sea. 

 Archaeology Museum - Archaeological finds from over the centuries. 

 Belem Cultural Center - Modern cultural center with regular exhibitions and events.  

Tropical Garden - Beautiful garden with rare plants from around the world.

 Belem Palace - The home of Portugal's President.

 Memoria Church - Elegant neoclassical church. 

 Ajuda Palace - An extravagant royal palace.  

Ajuda Botanical Garden - Beautiful gardens overlooking the river. 

 25 de Abril Bridge - Golden Gate's twin sister.

 Docas - Attractive dock area with cosmopolitan bars and restaurants.  

Monument to Christ - Christ opens His arms to the city. ...................................................................

Lisbon DISTRICTS

Baixa - Broad squares, 18th century architecture, patterned pavements, popular cafes

 Bairro Alto & Chiado - Vibrant nightlife, picturesque streets, classic and alternative culture, chic shopping, restaurants 

 Belem - The Age of Discovery, grandiose monuments, museums Alfama - Medieval maze, spectacular views, an imposing castle, the sounds of Fado 

 Uptown - Masterpieces and museum treasures, shopping malls 

 Parque das Nações - The 21st century by the Tagus; futuristic architecture  

Choo-Choo Mama

My new Walkman holds 16 gigs of songs. I've got over 500 MP3 songs on it set play in random order. It's a big improvement over  my first one with the cassette tape.

This morning I was randomly listening to "Choo-Choo Mama" by Alvin Lee when it came around on the new Walkman.... He was my favorite guitar player. He was only a kid, compared to me, born in 1944, another war baby. I really liked his Woodstock performance ("I want to Change the World")  and the "Ten Years After" vinyl...and then "Slow Blues in C" was always good listening...I say "was" because he died of natural causes today...

There is a rapidly growing and depressing list of people I've outlived...when it's your time, you got to go...and you go empty-handed...

The two horses on my daily five mile walk have grown conditioned to expect an apple a day...they still slobber green spittle all over my hand, but now they race each other to the fence when I come walking down the road...it's really nice to still matter...

I've dropped from 236 pounds to 211 since I started counting calories in December. My normal clothes weigh 6 pounds and 3 ounces (jeans, t-shirt, wallet, socks, belt, watch, glasses, underpants, sneakers, but no hat, no coat) , so I can weigh-in on a good medical-type scale and then make a learned adjustment.

Mrs. Phred and I are heading for Portugal and Turkey on April 15th. We'll be taking the trains there for travel if they are running well with no strikes  and seeing the sights for about 40 days before heading rapidly north to Alaska in the RV for the Sockeye and Chinook salmon season....

I be blogging then...so until we meet again...HOSCAKAL!

Jonathan Richman, Protopunk

Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa

I heard Jonathan on the radio back in 1970.

Jonathan was just a kid then,,, only a year out of high school. He was singing his hit "Roadrunner" on FM in the early morning hours. Back then he was leading a group called the Modern Lovers. I had already graduated from college, spent five years in the military, gone to Viet Nam, married twice and had children.

Roadrunner, roadrunner

Going faster miles an hour

Gonna drive past the Stop 'n' Shop

With the radio on

.I was electrified and kept looking for Jonathan's albums (vinyl and later CDs) in record stores  for the next 40 years. I never found anything, but once in a while I would hear him again on the radio..

Imagine my delight to learn that Jonathan was headlining at Skipper's Smokehouse on February 12th; 2013. I bought my tickets on line and took Mrs. Phred along for the ride. At first she was a little miffed because Tuesday is her night to go out dancing with other guys, but as she listened to Jonathan, she became an instant fan and was glad to have made the 120 mile drive into Tampa and back.

Now that we have the Internet, of course, Jonathan is much easier to find and I can see that he has written hundreds of songs. He dances a lot in slippers during his performances and is known to have no use for computers or air conditioning (he considers it loud and says it feels funny)..

Jonathan's style has been described as childlike. I would also call it blithe and lighthearted.  He is considered the father of punk rock.  One member of his band went on to the Talking Heads.  Jonathan is still relatively young chronologically at 61 and very young in his songs and viewpoint.."

HAIL to thee, blithe spirit!
Bird thou never wert—
That from heaven or near it
Pourest thy full heart
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.                      -Shelley

The Women's RV Forum GTG

Hillsborough River State Park, Florida

Mrs. Phred wanted to attend a get together (GTG) of women who discuss camping, gas mileage, black water odors and other mysteries on a social media URL called the Women's RV Forum.

The old Women's RV Forum was run by a man who ticked off the women. They all jumped ship and set up their own forum, which just goes to show....

There is a lovely 3.5 mile hiking trail here that runs along the river. It's called the "Florida Trail". Sometimes you can see gators here but thy're not as thick as at Myakka. They also rent bicycles and canoes and have a snack bar and big swimming pool.

The first night I cook up a big pot of chicken thighs and yellow rice for the potluck. I add onions and garlic salt for taste and green peas and pimentos for aesthetic value.

On night two I make a gigantic lasagna with hamburger, Italian sausage, ricotta cheese, sauteed onions, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and other good spices. On night three Mrs. Phred bakes cookies for dessert....talk about comfort food.... I weighed in two pounds heavier this morning than when I arrived...

These are the knees of cypress trees on the "Florida Trail".

There are lots of women here for the GTG. Some of them drag along a useless appendage such as myself...

There goes Mrs. Phred down the trail.

We'll be heading back to Sarasota today. It's 80 miles further south. A bitter cold front swept though yesterday and it only got up to 65 F during the day....

Tampa 2013 RV show

Mrs. Phred wanted to see the 2013 RV show in Tampa.

Parking was $6 and another $20 for admission. There were lots of new RVs on display and a few oldies.

We found a universal TV mount that bolts to the wall and hinges out to accommodate virtually any size TV. We bought that and upgraded our front TV to 32 inches.

This 1924 Model T. has a bed in the back and a kitchen ....

Some of these things are works of art and cost as much as a couple of million each.

They're tending to put RVs on big truck frames and then retailing the package for about 750k.

Pretty....

Maybe next year....You can still get a very nice new RV for 100K ...if you shop around...not this one though...