tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-287524092024-03-13T23:49:18.496-04:00Aurora Walking VacationLet's take a strollCall me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.comBlogger127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-69130836197565138192014-10-18T12:28:00.000-04:002014-10-18T12:28:17.727-04:00A new breakfastFinely slice green onions or shallots. Brine under salt and lemon juice for several hours if possible.<br />
<br />
Place
eggs in poacher. Add a drop of balsamic glaze to each egg and sprinkle
with seasoned salt. Poach 5-6 minutes until yolks are still slightly
runny.<br />
<br />
Toast your bread of choice and spread with
<a href="http://www.applewoodfarmwinery.com/" target="_blank">Applewood Farms</a> Apple Butter. Place poached eggs on toast slices and top
with a thin slice of <a href="http://www.sartoricheese.com/" target="_blank">BellaVitano Cheese</a> (I used the balsamic BellaVitano) and a little bit of the lemon
brined onions.<br />
<br />
Yum.Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-60562304699807965502014-05-03T13:06:00.000-04:002014-05-03T13:06:18.077-04:00May Morning BreakfastPat told me I had to write this one down. Otherwise I forget what I did and can't do it again.<br />
<br />
<br />
Lightly toasted English Muffin, lightly buttered and lightly spread with sweet hot pepper jelly. Top with poached egg infused with a drop of Balsamic Glaze and sprinkled with seasoned salt before cooking. Top with chopped cherry tomato, lemon thyme, chili pepper flakes salsa. Grind some fresh black pepper over top. Drizzle with sauce made with equal parts Dijon Mustard, mayo and lemon juice.<br />
<br />
I know, I usually post a picture. Sorry. We were hungry.Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-66731790372261782422013-11-03T22:32:00.000-05:002013-11-03T22:47:45.528-05:00Another breakfast<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gr8wight/10662316113/" title="Breakfast 11-03-2013 by gr8wight, on Flickr"><img alt="Breakfast 11-03-2013" height="400" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3789/10662316113_a175d7c0dc.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
So, this was breakfast this morning. Pat said it was quite tasty. If you'd like to find out for yourself, it goes like this:<br />
<br />
1) Make some toast. If you've got any questions at this point, perhaps you should consider a different endeavour. Cooking may not be for you. I originally wanted to use a bed of quinoa, but that didn't work out the way I was hoping, so I defaulted to toast. Use a whole grain bread for interest, flavour, and texture. This was flax seed and chia, so it's about as trendy a bread as there is right now. I buttered it. You might not, but I like butter. So there.<br />
<br />
2) Slice an avocado. Spritz it with lime, you know, as you do. Lay the slices on the toast.<br />
<br />
3) Saute some mushrooms in olive oil and crushed garlic until they are slightly crispy. Lay those out on top of the avocado.<br />
<br />
4) Slice a tomato. Top the tomato slices with grated Beemster cheese and place under the broiler for a couple of minutes, until the cheese is melted and the tomatoes are softened. Place the cheesy tomato slices on top of the mushrooms, on top of the avocado, on top of the toast. On top of the house that Jack built. OK, maybe not that last bit.<br />
<br />
5) Top that stack with a couple of lightly poached eggs. I like runny yolks. You can cook your eggs the way you like them. I won't judge.<br />
<br />
6) Sprinkle with sliced green onions that have been brined for a while in rice wine vinegar and red chili flakes. Lightly season with coarse salt. I have a pink Himalayan salt I like. But, then again, I'm not insecure about my sexuality.<br />
<br />
7) Eat. We had coffee with it, but I really thought it deserved red wine. Your call. Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-32075734045475488132013-02-27T23:28:00.000-05:002013-02-27T23:32:41.654-05:00Name an animal that doesn't have the letter 'A' in it. I bet you can't.Well, actually, no, I don't. It really isn't that hard, if you think
about it for eight seconds. No, really. Go ahead. Try it. What's the
first animal that comes to mind?<br />
<br />
No, 'cat' has an 'A'
in it. How about 'dog'? Or 'cow'? Or 'horse'? Or 'rhinoceros'? 'Tiger'?
'Lion'? What about 'Demon Stingerfish'? Or 'Proboscis Monkey', also
commonly known as the 'Long Nosed Monkey' - neither of those names have
an 'A' in them.<br />
<br />
OK, so I'm belabouring the point. Why?
Well, if it's so childishly easy to think of an animal without an 'A' in
its name, why are there so many Facebook posts claiming you can't do
it?<br />
<br />
You've all seen it, or one of its myriad
variations. You think about it for eight seconds, or maybe even shorter,
and realize you CAN think of one. "Me smart," you think to yourself.
"Me show them how smart me is." You click on the picture, and type,
D-O-G in the comment box, and hit 'enter.' Only then do you scan through
the other comments and notice that eight hundred and seventy six other
people have already typed 'dog' or 'cow' or 'red-tufted lemur'. And you
suddenly realize that you didn't think of it because you're a zoological
genius, but because it isn't even remotely difficult to do so.<br />
<br />
So
now you're thinking that the person who originally posted the
'challenge' is an idiot. But they aren't. In fact, they're the smart
ones.<br />
<br />
Here's another common one I'm sure you've all
seen: There's an interesting looking picture posted. It may even have
one of those little arrows in the center of it, denoting that it's a
video. There's some superlative comment, like, "Amazing!" And it tells
you to 'like' the picture, then type a specific word or number in as a
comment and something awesome will happen. You've done it, haven't you?
Yes, you. Don't look away. Did anything awesome happen? Did anything
happen at all? I didn't think so.<br />
<br />
So, if thinking of an
animal without an 'A' in its name is child's play, and if absolutely
nothing at all happens when you follow the instructions and type the
prescribed comment, why do all these posts keep appearing on Facebook?<br />
<br />
People are buying your eyes.<br />
<br />
Every
business or corporation has a Facebook page these days. Those pages
are, let's face it, advertising. They are most effective if they are
seen by a large number of eyes. Facebook has algorithms that choose what
posts and pages you see in your newsfeed, based, in part, on how
popular those pages are. They decide how popular those pages are by
counting up how many people have liked or commented on status updates on
those pages. The more activity a page has, the more likely Facebook is
to show that page's status updates to a wider audience. So, new pages
starting out want to convince a lot of people to like and comment on a
lot of their posts right away. Some more ethical businesses might run
contests, or simply generate a lot of interesting and on-topic content
for the page. Less scrupulous businesses might look for easier ways to
get a lot of clicks quickly. And some, at the extreme lazy end of the
spectrum, would be perfectly amenable to buying an existing page that
already has an excellent 'visibility' in Facebook's algorithms, and
renaming it for their own business.<br />
<br />
Have you ever seen a
post from 'Joe's Meats and Auto Repairs' - or whatever - and thought,
"that's funny, I don't remember ever 'liking' that page before"? Well,
Joe just bought that page with an existing fan base of tens of thousands
of geniuses who figured out that 'cow' doesn't have an 'A' in it, and
renamed it.<br />
<br />
And you thought you were the smart one.Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-11480842854001395472013-02-14T20:40:00.001-05:002013-02-14T20:42:29.061-05:00Six years ago on AWV<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Th<span style="font-size: x-small;">is entry was originally posted on <a href="http://awvarchive.blogspot.ca/2007/02/john-scalzi-weekend-assignment.html" target="_blank">Friday, Feb</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://awvarchive.blogspot.ca/2007/02/john-scalzi-weekend-assignment.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">ruary</span> 9, 200</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://awvarchive.blogspot.ca/2007/02/john-scalzi-weekend-assignment.html" target="_blank">7</a>.</span></span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> It's weekend assignment time again.</span></span><br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Weekend Assignment #151: Is Valentine's Day a genuinely romantic day? Or just a big commercial money pit into which romantic people fall?</b> Go on, share how you really feel about the day -- whether you enjoy it, or feel like it's forced on you by greeting card companies, or fall somewhere in between those two poles.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Extra credit:</b> Suggest a nice romantic movie.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> In order to address this weekend's assignment, I did some some research on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine">St. Valentine</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentines_day">Valentine's Day</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I was amused.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Traditionally called St. Valentine's Day, February 14th hasn't actually been the Catholic feast day of St. Valentine for almost thirty-eight years. Today, February 14th is the liturgical feast day only of St. Cyril and St. Methodius. Why is Valentine's Day no longer St. Valentine's Day? Well, it seems that the current opinion of the church is that the most popular figures referred to as being the origin of the holy day are 'legendary' saints. That means they did not, in actuality, ever really exist.<br /> In addition, it seems that the association of Valentine's Day with love and romance is almost entirely the work of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucer">Geoffrey Chaucer</a>, in the fourteenth century. In his <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parlement_of_Foules">Parlement of Foules</a></i>, he relates the tale (couched as if it were, indeed, an old tradition) that St. Valentine's Day was the day that birds met and chose their mates. There are no earlier references to St. Valentine's Day being connected with romantic love known. But why, you ask, would birds be mating in the middle of February, in Englande of Olde? <br /> Well, I don't know if you really asked that, or not, but two points to you if you did. Them's some pretty good critical thinking skills at work. It seems that Chaucer wrote that poem to commemorate the first anniversary of the engagement of Richard II to Anne of Bohemia, which event occurred on May 2, 1381. And May 2nd, as it happens, is the Catholic liturgical feast day of another saint named Valentine, of Genoa, from the early fourth century.<br /> So all those hearts and chocolates being thrown around every February 14th are, in fact, being received on completely the wrong day. Those who read Chaucer's poem at the time naturally assumed he was talking about the St. Valentine they were most familiar with. You know, the one who never really existed. Christians are funny that way.<br /> There you are gentlemen, from me to you: an excuse you can try out the next time you forget Valentine's Day. "But honey, I was saving your gift for the real St. Valentine's Day." I don't really expect that would work, and I certainly would never try to pull it off myself, but you, when you're desperate, you'll try anything. Just remember to get her something on May 2nd, or your ass is grass, man.<br /><br /> So. Valentine's Day. Day of romance, or commercial blackmail? Well, both, really. I mean, when the tradition of St. Valentine's day was brought over to North America in the nineteenth century during the huge wave of British immigration that happened at that time, it took little or no time for it to catch on with enterprising merchants as a "let's make a quick buck at the expense of those poor schmucks being ruled by their testicles" opportunity. And, in fact, Hallmark Cards admits that they sell more product for Valentine's Day than any other holiday other than Christmas (you know, the liturgical feast day of another one of Catholicism's legendary figures). There is no question that the day has become little more than an occasion for retailers to hold a hammer over the heads of us poor, hormone controlled fellows. Buy flowers or sleep on the couch!<br /><br /> Still, as they say...um...somewhere, "might as well roll with with it." Being that it is impossible to avoid, why not embrace it? You know your wife/girlfriend/illicit adulterous mistress is expecting something romantic. So go with it. Give it a little thought. Get her something that'll really set a sparkle in her eyes.<br /> Forget about the chocolate, the flowers, the stuffed bears holding little stuffed hearts. For the love of Woden, forget about the slutty little piece of barely there lingerie you had your eye on. Think about it, damn it! Because, you know, at the end of it all, that's all they really want: to know that you're thinking about them.<br /> Remember, life's what <i>you</i> make it.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<object height="350" width="425"><param NAME="movie" VALUE="http://www.youtube.com/v/PzVr_YcGNc8"><param NAME="wmode" VALUE="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PzVr_YcGNc8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></OBJECT></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><u>Life's what you make it</u> - Talk Talk</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Baby, life's what you make it</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Can't escape it</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Baby, yesterday's favorite</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Don't you hate it</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Baby, life's what you make it</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Don't backdate it</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Baby, don't try to shake it</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Beauty is naked</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Baby, life's what you make it</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Celebrate it</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Anticipate it</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Yesterday's faded</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Nothing can change it</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Baby, life's what you make it</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Everything's all right</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Extra Credit:</b> "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Moulin Rouge.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Memes" rel="tag" target="_blank">Memes</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Weekend+assignment" rel="tag" target="_blank">Weekend assignment</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Saint+Valentine" rel="tag" target="_blank">Saint Valentine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Valentine%27s+Day" rel="tag" target="_blank">Valentine's Day</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Chaucer" rel="tag" target="_blank">Chaucer</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/YouTube" rel="tag" target="_blank">YouTube</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Talk+Talk" rel="tag" target="_blank">Talk Talk</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Life%27s+what+you+make+it" rel="tag" target="_blank">Life's what you make it</a><br />
<br />
<pre></pre>
<br />Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-4356424656011064002012-09-08T00:48:00.001-04:002012-09-08T00:49:40.727-04:00A Friday Random TenPlease ignore the fact that it is the early hours of Saturday...<br />
<br />
1) Distant Early Warning, by Rush<br />
2) Silver and Gold, by U2<br />
3) Trinco Dog, by Bedouin Soundclash<br />
4) Big Egos, by Dr. Dre<br />
5) 5 Days in May, by Blue Rodeo<br />
6) Stick To Your Guns, by Bon Jovi<br />
7) Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, by Josh Groban and Lili Haydn<br />
8) Heartland, by U2<br />
9) Sleepless, by King Crimson<br />
10) Quando, Quando, Quando, by Michael Bublé<br />
<br />
Happy Weekend!Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-43761906808285487332012-09-03T10:12:00.000-04:002012-09-08T00:49:20.047-04:00Some of my favourite song lyrics...<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">It's two a.m., <br />The fear has gone<br />I'm sittin' here waitin', <br />The gun still warm<br /> -Golden Earring<br /><br />Cast out from the jungle<br />With no rations or canteen<br />For selling faulty rifles<br />To the thieves in Tanzania<br /> -Red Rider</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Outside the street's on fire in a real death waltz<br />Between what's flesh and what's fantasy<br />And the poets down here don't write nothing at all<br />They just stand back and let it all be<br /> -Bruce Springsteen<br /><br />And who can forget...<br /><br />Wango, wango,<br />Tango, tango,<br />Wango, wango, wango, wango<br />Tango, tango, tango, tango<br />yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!<br /> -Ted Nugent</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">What are some of your favourite song lyrics?</span></span>
Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-80898464997072947842012-06-28T23:58:00.001-04:002012-09-08T00:48:53.929-04:00Is it still June 28th?Because if it is, it's still the eighth anniversary of the creation of Aurora Walking Vacation, back in the heady days of AOL Journals. That blog still exists in archived form at <a href="http://awvarchive.blogspot.ca/">http://awvarchive.blogspot.ca/</a>. You could go there, and read, and stuff. Or not. It's no biggie.Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-4687743870557557842012-05-11T19:38:00.000-04:002012-05-11T19:38:28.768-04:00Friday Random TenBeen a while since I did one of these: here are the first ten songs selected at random by iTunes when I pressed 'play.'<br />
<br />
1) Bruce Cockburn - Vagabondage<br />
2) Genesis - Squonk<br />
3) Bobby Day - Rockin' Robin<br />
4) Triumph - Fingertalking<br />
5) The Devil Wears Prada - Swords, Dragons, and Diet Coke<br />
6) Sting - Desert Rose<br />
7) Sloan - Underwhelmed<br />
8) Our Lady Peace - Under Zenith<br />
9) Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused<br />
10) Colin James - Train Kept a Rollin'<br />
<br />Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-61428537278525468452012-04-20T18:09:00.001-04:002012-04-20T18:10:11.529-04:00Zoom, zoomI got a new lens for my camera (yay!). At Christmas, my lovely wife bought me a new camera, a Canon Rebel T3i with an 18-55mm wide angle zoom lens. For my birthday, I got some cold hard cash towards a telephoto zoom. Yesterday, I picked up a 70-300mm zoom lens.<br />
<br />
My original lens went from here:<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gr8wight/6951264716/" title="18mm by gr8wight, on Flickr"><img alt="18mm" height="426" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5458/6951264716_722e6c9b94_o.jpg" width="640" /></a>
<br />
<br />
to here:
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gr8wight/7097333531/" title="55mm by gr8wight, on Flickr"><img alt="55mm" height="426" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5335/7097333531_88d61af2c0_o.jpg" width="640" /></a>
<br />
<br />
My new lens goes from here:
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gr8wight/7097333471/" title="70mm by gr8wight, on Flickr"><img alt="70mm" height="426" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7251/7097333471_ffe5942802_o.jpg" width="640" /></a>
<br />
<br />
to here:
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gr8wight/7097333389/" title="300mm by gr8wight, on Flickr"><img alt="300mm" height="426" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7080/7097333389_8fc6d7e0ac_o.jpg" width="640" /></a>
<br />
<br />
Cool!Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-80742034280493784862012-04-19T16:11:00.000-04:002012-04-19T16:12:00.701-04:00Ask an Atheist anything...Apparently, today is "National Ask an Atheist Day." Who knew? Now, most people I know are not under any illusions about my beliefs, and for the most part, they play no part in my day to day life. But, if you happen to have a question about atheists or atheism that you'd like answered, hey, now's the time. Ask away, and I will do my best to provide reasonable, considered answers.<br />
<br />
In fact, I don't even care if the question is about or relating to atheism at all. Let's make this one of those "Ask Me Anything" memes that Jaquandor likes to do over at <a href="http://byzantiumshores.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Byzantium's Shores</a>.Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-91362619003299086782012-03-13T23:49:00.000-04:002012-03-13T23:49:52.534-04:00I can not has Internet now?As a quick follow-up to my previous - non-photographic - Internet cat post; my wife came home from work to find out she could not access the World Wide Web from her laptop for some unknown reason. After a significant amount of generally ineffectual troubleshooting, we discovered the laptop's internal wi-fi card had been turned off. Apparently, in getting comfortable on the keyboard earlier in the day, Kitteh had managed to simultaneously press the shift key, and the F-whatever key that has the little picture of an antenna on it.<br />
<br />
Do you think she's trying to tell us something?Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-67820007176829125782012-03-07T09:04:00.002-05:002012-03-07T09:05:13.528-05:00I am a bad Internet userYeah. So. It's March 7th, and the top article on my blog is still something Christmas themed. I am a bad Internet user.<br />
<br />
As
an example, I offer you today's event. I am walking through the dining
room, and I see the kitten sleeping on the keyboard of my wife's laptop.<br />
<br />
Do I:<br />
<br />
A) Run and get a camera to take a picture of the kitten on the keyboard, and post it online for all to say, "awwww?"<br />
<br />
or<br />
<br />
B) Shoo the cat off the freakin' computer, blow on the keyboard to get any hair and/or dander out of it, and close the laptop?<br />
<br />
As there is no graphical component to this entry, you, do doubt, can guess the answer.<br />
<br />
I'm sorry.Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-22615635614179485052011-12-07T23:41:00.001-05:002011-12-08T00:02:45.598-05:00Trimming the treeTonight we set up the Christmas tree, and discovered that the lighted snowflake we've had as a topper for the last several years doesn't light up any more. Pat commented that trying to figure out which little mini light bulb was burned out was more trouble than it was worth, and we should just buy a new tree topper. Which statement immediately brought to mind <a href="http://awvarchive.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-angel.html">this post from the original AWV</a>, originally published in December of 2007:
<br />
<blockquote>
We put up the Christmas tree today. As the wife was trimming it, she mentioned that we needed to get a new angel to put on top. As I recall, the conversation went something like this...
<br />
<br />
Paul: <i>Can we get one that shoots lasers out of her eyes?</i>
<br />
Paul's wife: <i>Lasers? That wouldn't be very angelic.</i>
<br />
Paul: <i>Can we get one riding a shark?</i>
<br />
Paul's wife: <i>Get serious.</i>
<br />
Paul: <i>I am serious. I think an angel riding a shark with lasers shooting out of her eyes would be all kinds of awesome.</i></blockquote>Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-39266292901693214502011-12-04T13:34:00.001-05:002011-12-04T13:55:02.958-05:00Banana Mocha French ToastChop one banana into a blender. Add four eggs, and a dollop of milk. Season to taste with salt, sugar and vanilla. Blend until smooth. Heat your pan, and melt some butter in it. Soak bread in the banana/egg mixture and fry. I used a plain white bread for Matt, and a multi-grain bread for me. The white bread was far more successful for this recipe. I'll have to try it again with a light egg-bread, or maybe a croissant - I think that would work well.<br />
<br />
When you've plated the french toast, dust it lightly with Starbucks Mocha Powder, and drizzle with pure maple syrup. Garnish with fresh chopped banana and stawberry, or perhaps fried banana slices and mint. Experiment.<br />
<br />
Makes 4-6 slices. <br />
<br />
Let me know how it came out for you. I had seconds.Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-6827068928928081692011-11-30T10:02:00.001-05:002013-05-20T09:09:59.697-04:00Welcome to the Internet, Dr. BurzynskiAll the cool kids in the skeptical blogosphere are talking about
Stanislaw Burzynski, and I didn't want to be left out. Never heard of
him? I hadn't either, until yesterday, when the Internet, as we know it,
exploded on Dr. Burzynski's head.<br />
<br />
Here are the salient facts, as I understand them:<br />
<br />
Dr.
Burzynski owns and runs The Burzynski Clinic, in Texas. The Burzynski
clinic specializes in "Alternative Cancer Treatments." According to its
website, the clinic also offers conventional, FDA approved cancer
treatment, but that's not what they are currently in the spotlight for.
One of the modalities they offer is something called "Antineoplaston"
therapy. It is this treatment that everyone seems to be talking about
right now.<br />
<br />
Antineoplastons were "discovered" by Dr.
Burzynski, himself. Dr. Burzynski has published the results of several
clinical trials of this therapy which appear to show effecacy. These
studies were published in fringe journals with questionable peer review
policies and, often, questionable professional detachment from the
subject (they are journals whose purpose is the publication of studies
supporting alternative medicine). Other researchers have been unable to
reliably replicate Dr. Burzynski's findings. In fact, 100% of properly
blinded, randomized, placebo controlled, peer reviewed trials published in
reputable journals have been negative - that is, they all fail to show
any benefit at all of Antineoplaston therapy in the treatment of cancer.
The FDA has not approved Antineoplastons for use in cancer treatment in
the USA. That means that doing so is against the law.<br />
<br />
It
is not, however, against the law to administer Antineoplaston therapy
if it is done as part of a registered clinical trial. Dr. Burzynski has
been running "clinical trials" of Antineoplaston use in the treatment of
cancer for over thirty years. People travel from all over the world to
the Burzynski Clinic to <strike>receive treatment</strike> participate in a clinical trial, and pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to do so.<br />
<br />
Recently,
several prominent medical and skeptical bloggers have published
articles critical of Dr. Burzynski and his Antineoplaston therapy, and
calling into question Dr. Burzynski's research, and the ethics of his
practice of charging patients exorbitant amounts of money to <strike>receive treatment</strike>
participate in a clinical trial of a drug that has not been
demonstrated to be effective at all. In most instances, when faced with
criticism or questioning of their research, scientists respond by
presenting the evidence which supports their work, but that doesn't seem
to be what's happened here.<br />
<br />
Instead, these bloggers
were contacted by a gentleman by the name of Marc Stephens, claiming to
"represent the Burzynski Clinic, Burzynski Research Institute, and Dr.
Stanislaw Burzynski," and threatening legal action if the "libelous and
defamatory information" was not removed from their websites. It turns
out Mr. Stephens is not a lawyer, but an employee of The Burzynski
Clinic who may or may not have overreached in his zeal to defend his
employer. In what has become known as "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect" target="_blank">The Streisand Effect</a>,"
an attempt to suppress criticism on the Internet has resulted in that
criticism becoming far more widespread than it ever would have.
Virtually every skeptical blog I read has posted an article about
Burzynski over the past two days. Well done, Marc.<br />
<br />
Word
is Mr. Stephens is no longer employed by Burzynski. He appears to have
been thrown under the bus by his former employer in a desperate attempt
at damage control as this story spirals out of control across the World
Wide Web. And Dr. Burzynski is learning a valuable lesson. If your
particular form of pseudoscience has been the subject of criticism on
the Internet, either bring the evidence, or, if you don't actually have
any evidence, lay low and hope it all blows over. Making lame and empty
threats is only going to turn you into a deer in the headlights of the
monster truck that is the web.<br />
<br />
Splat.<br />
<br />
<br />
To read more about this topic, I recommend you start <a href="http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2011/11/the-false-hope-of-the-burzynski-clinic.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2011/11/the-burzynski-clinic-threatens-my-family.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2011/11/the-burzynski-clinic-threatens-17-year-old-blogger.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and then go on from that. <br />
<br />Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-38470696803268859552011-11-24T10:55:00.001-05:002011-11-30T10:03:52.923-05:00Wifi protest in AuroraYesterday, a group of concerned parents held a protest at the local
school board offices, demanding to have wifi internet routers removed
from public schools in York Region. <a href="http://www.yorkregion.com/videozone/1249827">Click here</a>
to watch video news coverage from the local media. Happily, it appears
there was a very small turn-out, perhaps 5 or 6 mothers with their
children in tow. That's a positive sign that the majority of local
residents have their heads screwed on straight, and aren't fooled by the
silly mumbo-jumbo being spewed by these anti-EM radiation groups.<br />
<br />
The
video shows three people addressing the camera. The first is what
appears to be a concerned parent who has simply been mis-informed by her
peers about the issue. The second woman has all the smug,
self-satisfaction of the true activist. She has all her talking points
down, and her rant so smoothly practiced that she can effectively
prevent anyone from getting a word in edgewise to rebut her claims. This
is a standard tactic of those who do not have the facts on their side.
If you do not ever let your opponents speak, they can never correct you.<br />
<br />
The
third person to speak is one of the children. This is the part that
brings tears to my eyes, and rage to my heart. "It's our human rights,"
he says. "They're experimenting on us," he says. "In ten years, we're
all going to have cancer," he says. Can you believe that? This poor
child has been told, by his mother no less, that he's going to get
cancer if he goes to school. That's abuse, as far as I'm concerned. The
kid's going to have nightmares for the rest of his life. Who does that
to a child? Number one: <a href="http://aurorawalkingvacation.blogspot.com/2011/09/hazards-of-wifi-in-our-schools.html">it's a lie</a>. Number two: it doesn't matter if
it's a frickin' lie, or not; it's an horrific thing to say to a child.
That's a parent whose own personal crusade is more important to her than
her child's emotional health, and it makes me insane.<br />
<br />
End of rant. We now return control of your internet to you.Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-88055618493247933042011-09-26T22:10:00.001-04:002011-09-26T22:11:49.717-04:00Weekend Breakfast<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gr8wight/6187603144/" title="Weekend Breakfast by gr8wight, on Flickr"><img alt="Weekend Breakfast" height="384" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6176/6187603144_a7c276b7bb.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Multi-grain toast, Sliced Avocado, Chopped Tomato, Soft Boiled Egg, Grated Asiago Cheese.<br />
<br />
Coulda maybe used a touch of salt.<br />
<br />
Served with hot, fresh coffee.<br />
<br />Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-72550161433234417192011-09-24T22:19:00.000-04:002011-09-24T22:23:00.891-04:00Blogroll bluesToday I noticed that the link to my blogroll no longer works. (Over there... to the right. Scroll down a bit, see under where it says, "The Links"? No, don't click on it - I told you, it doesn't work anymore.) I guess Bloglines, where it used to be hosted, is defunct. The service was taken over by a company called Merchant Circle, but clearly the functionality is different. So, you currently cannot see my blogroll - that is, the list of blogs that I read regularly.<br />
<br />
I don't know, is that still a thing? Do people still want to see that? Let me know.<br />
<br />
Also, let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions for replacing the blogroll with another service or widget to display it. What do you do on your blog?Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-2008908046490448592011-09-22T22:48:00.003-04:002012-08-23T00:12:46.473-04:00The hazards of WiFi in our schools<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gr8wight/6172373216/" title="HavasFlyerMed by gr8wight, on Flickr"><img align="right" alt="HavasFlyerMed" height="500" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6166/6172373216_0b08bd6299.jpg" width="363" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Earlier this week</span>, as I was taking <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gr8wight/sets/72157604647689222/with/2276087170/">Shadow</a> for his evening walk, I came upon this flyer tacked to a hydro pole in front of the local elementrary school (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gr8wight/6172373216/sizes/l/in/photostream/">click here for a larger, easier to read version</a>).<br />
<br />
I'm not quite sure exactly how to describe my emotional reaction to this poster. Exasperation is probably as close as I can come. I wish I could call what these people are doing, 'beating a dead horse,' but, unfortunately, this horse ain't quite dead yet. Allow me to attempt to provide another bullet for the gun of reason.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">First, perhaps, a little bit of background would be helpful.</span> About a year ago, there was a <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/barrie-parents-demand-schools-turn-off-wi-fi/article1673535/">minor kerfuffle in the local news</a> over parents concerned about WiFi internet in classrooms. The school boards involved provided the correct response to the alleged concerns, that being there is no health danger from WiFi signals. This position is backed up by all the available scientific evidence, and <a href="http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/prod/wifi-eng.php">fully supported by Health Canada</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.skepticnorth.com/2010/08/ontarioswifi-phobia-2/">The claims of the local parents groups were carefully examined, and disassembled by the blogging community</a> at the time, as were the <a href="http://www.skepticnorth.com/2010/08/further-down-the-wifi-rabbit-hole-i-go/">identities and possible ulterior motives of the groups' leaders, spokespeople, and alleged experts.</a> The story slowly faded from the public view over the next several months. But, as we are so seldom reminded, just because the media isn't reporting a story anymore, doesn't mean it's gone away. As can be clearly shown by the above flyer, the proponents of this tempest in a teapot are still on the offensive, trying to spread their delusions to more and more people.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">So, is there anything to it?</span> In a word, no. The cartoon included on the flyer pretty much explains the entire case these folks are trying to make: The radiation produced by a microwave oven and a WiFi router are exactly the same. Putting your head in an operating microwave oven would be bad for you. Therefore, putting your head in a room containing an operating WiFi router would also be bad.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gr8wight/6171930241/" title="ovengirlfinish by gr8wight, on Flickr"><img align="left" alt="ovengirlfinish" height="500" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6165/6171930241_570e65a393.jpg" width="216" /></a>My response to that claim can best be summed up by this excellent cartoon, provided by Russ from <a href="http://innerouterdemons2.blogspot.com/">Inner and Outer Demons</a>. <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />You wouldn't allow what's going on in the top panel for even ONE SECOND.<br /><br />But it's okay to allow the radiation in the bottom panel for 6 or 7 HOURS, and DAY AFTER DAY?!</span><br />
<br />
After all, those are two examples of exactly the same type of radiation. No, really, hear me out. An electric oven contains an element made of metal. When an electric current is passed through the metal, the electrical resistance causes the element to heat up, emiting radiation in the form of heat and light. An incandescent light bulb contains a filament (a very small metal element). When electric current is passed through the filament of the light bulb, it emits radiation in the form of heat and light. So, in real world terms, a common light bulb is exactly as dangerous to you as an oven element.<br />
<br />
What's that, you say? There is a difference between those two scenarios: the oven element is way hotter than the light bulb, and it's also way closer to the little girl. Give yourself a gold star. You've hit upon the lie in these two cartoons. There is a difference between the radiation emitted by an electric oven and a light bulb, and between a microwave, and a WiFi router. That difference is one of scale. The element inside an average electric oven operates at about 2500 watts. The average bulb in a reading lamp, at about 40 watts. So, the light bulb is about 60 times less powerful than the oven element. As well, in the top panel of my cartoon, the little girl's head is barely six inches from the oven element. When you're reading, your head is more like two feet, or more from the light bulb.<br />
<br />
We know how Electromagnetic Radiation behaves over distance. It has been studied in great depth for centuries, and described by what we call the <a href="http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FInverse-square_law&rct=j&q=inverse%20square%20law&ei=SFR7TujoEqLK0AGWw-SFCQ&usg=AFQjCNHCVYs1ovAjKO8WyrwRsCUOEEOLYQ&cad=rja">Inverse SquareLaw</a>. The Inverse Square Law explains that the intensity of EMF decreases by the square of the distance. So, if we are twice as far from an EMF source as someone else, we experience four times less radiation. If we are ten times farther away, we experience 100 times less radiation. So, in the case of the light bulb, which is about four times farther away than the oven element, it's radiation would be decreased by a factor of 16. Multiply that by the difference in starting intensity, and we find that the radiation hitting the little girl reading her book is almost 1000 times less powerful than the radiation hitting the little girl with her head in the oven. So, as long as she doesn't actually reach up and touch the bulb, we are confident that she is safe sitting under its light.<br />
<br />
Let's compare that to our microwaves. The power of an average microwave oven is about 1000 watts. The power of an average WiFi router is about 0.1 watts. So the router is already 10,000 times less powerful than the microwave oven. As well, in the classroom setting, the little girl is going to be much farther away from the router than she would be from the emmiters were she inside a microwave. She's probably somewhere between five and fifteen feet away from the router, compared to about six inches away from the radiation emissions in a microwave oven. So, let's say she's five feet away from the router, which would be 10 times farther away in the classroom than in the oven. So the strength of the radiation is reduced by a factor of 10², or 100. Which means, when you do the math, that the radiation hitting the little girl in the classroom is on the order of one millionth as strong as the radiation inside the microwave oven. <span style="font-style: italic;">One millionth</span>.<br />
<br />
Here's an experiment for you to try. Take a cold cup of <a href="http://www.timhortons.com/">Tims</a>, or water, or a piece of steak, if you like. Check its temperature with a thermometer. Put it in the microwave for 60 seconds, then check its temperature again. There's a pretty significant difference, isn't there. Now, put that same cup of Tims (OK, not the exact same one, 'cause it's hot now, right?) - put another cold cup of coffee, or whatever right beside your wireless router. Turn the router on. Leave it like that for a week. Then check the temperature of the coffee again. What will the temperature be? Room temperature. Now, don't get me wrong, the microwaves from the router are definitely heating the coffee, it's just that the coffee is re-radiating that heat faster than the router can produce it. That's what is happening to our brains from exposure to WiFi. They are being heated by a miniscule amount - so small we need sophisticated scientific machinery to even measure it - and our bodies are redistributing and re-radiating that heat far faster than it can even accumulate. In fact, the effect of the WiFi on our bodies is thousands of times less than the effect of that light bulb on our bodies. You can actually feel the warmth of that.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Is that it, then?</span> Are the heating properties of microwaves the only cause for concern? Well, not to hear the anti-WiFi crowd tell it. They spin a great yarn about as-yet undiscovered dangers of which they are somehow aware, while the rest of the entire scientific establishment remains unenlightened. The group that are hosting the event advertised in the poster have a <a href="http://www.holisticnutritionforum.com/" rel="”nofollow”">website</a> at which they link to a couple of articles in the <a href="http://bctf.ca/publications/NewsmagArticle.aspx?id=21558" rel="”nofollow”">British Columbia Teachers' Federation Newsletter</a>. These articles tell us that:<br />
<blockquote style="font-style: italic;">
The wireless signal, oscillating at 2.4 to 5 GHz, moves much too fast for the body to recognize. So this wave isn’t doing the damage. However, anytime any data or information is transmitted, say through our voice, through text messages, or through the sending of information, the data is packaged and “piggy-backed” onto the first wave. This creates a second carrier wave and this wave is called the information-carrying radio wave, or ICRW. It is the information-carrying radio wave that is producing the harm.</blockquote>
This is, to put it bluntly, poppycock. Whoever wrote that paragraph has been watching far too much Star Trek, because that is what we call Techno-Babble of the highest order. It sounds science-ish, but it means nothing. The idea that information can be "piggy-backed" onto a radio wave or microwave by somehow attaching a second radio wave is so far from the way the world works it's what we call '<span style="font-style: italic;">not even wrong</span>.' There is no second carrier wave; the microwaves themselves <span style="font-style: italic;">are</span> the information. In much the same way as you can communicate using morse code via either radio or light, by simply turning the signal on and off again using a specific pattern, the microwaves used by WiFi routers, and cell phones, and cordless phones, among many other devices, communicate their information via the modulation of the frequency, amplitude and phase of the waves themselves. In this case, the old cliché from Marshall McLuhan is literally true: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message">the medium<span style="font-style: italic;"> is</span> the message</a>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">So should I be concerned, or not?</span> I'll end this the way I began it: In a word, "no." There is no evidence to show that there is any harm, whatsoever, from WiFi signals. And any alleged evidence the anti-WiFi community claim to be able to produce can be very easily shown to be nonsense by a simple examination of the laws of reality. And that, as they say, is that.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Do I think this will be the last bullet that puts the horse out of its misery?</span> Hardly. As long as there are people, there will be credulous people, who will believe almost anything, regardless of how unlikely or unrealistic it is. As a skeptic, critical thinker, and proud member of the reality based community, I consider it my responsibilty to vocally point out where people like the anti-WiFi community are mistaken, or sometimes flat-out wrong. Sure, we're not going to convince the hard-core fringe element out there, but if we can speak out loud enough, with reason and evidence on our side, perhaps we can keep the fringe to the fringe, and keep the average Jane and Joe from being led astray.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Note: this article has been edited since it first appeared to reflect more accurate numbers regarding the intensity of the radiation from various sources. As well some minor changes were made to the wording of the final three paragraphs in order to reflect a more general point of view. -- Paul)</span></span>Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-38905050760169971992011-09-10T01:38:00.003-04:002011-09-26T22:11:21.875-04:00Let's play a gameApparently, this blog is the first result in a Google search for the phrase, "<span style="font-style: italic;">npr penguin poem mary poppins asks do you like kids and the penguin says yes in a red wine sauce</span>."<br />
<br />
Ima let that sink in for a little bit. According to my stat package, someone actually visited AWV from a Google results page for that combination of words. <span style="font-style: italic;">I</span> cannot image <span style="font-style: italic;">why</span> someone would Google that combination of words. That's where you come in.<br />
<br />
Please feel free to speculate in the comments what you think the person who typed in that search criteria was really looking for.Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-13014220686033211642011-08-13T14:56:00.003-04:002011-08-13T14:59:15.450-04:00Nothing to see hereClearly I have neglected this spot for far too long. My last post garnered no more than fifteen views, and a solitary comment. My own fault, of course. One doesn't leave a blog lying fallow for four full months. I'll try to do better. I swear.Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-49982171075275016322011-08-11T11:18:00.000-04:002011-08-11T11:19:03.798-04:00It's another list...NPR (National Public Radio in the United States) has published a list of the "<a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843/your-picks-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books">Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books</a> <span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:130%;" >OF ALL TIME!!!ZOMG</span>." They collected nominations from over 5000 people, had an in-house panel of "experts" pare that list down to 237(?), then collected over 6000 online votes to create a top 100 list.
<br />
<br />Like any of these lists, the results cannot be said to be definitive, merely a starting point for discussion. So, let's discuss. What doesn't belong on that list? What doesn't appear, that should? My thoughts below in the comment thread.
<br />Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-48730490090491800052011-04-20T20:46:00.003-04:002011-08-11T11:19:29.678-04:00A fine dining experienceI decided to make an <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/EpicMealTime">Epic Meal Time</a> inspired dinner tonight: Steak and Bacon Tacos!
<br />
<br />Step 1: meat.
<br />
<br />Chop a fine piece of steak. Chop several slices of bacon. Combine in a bowl. Cover with beer. Add some sugar. Mix well and let marinate in fridge.
<br />
<br />Step 2: toppings.
<br />
<br />Peel and chop cuke. Chop tomato. Chop garlic. Chop green onion. Chop cilantro. Chop Jalapeno pepper. Combine in a bowl. Season with salt, sugar and lemon juice. Voila: cucumber salsa.
<br />
<br />Chop tomato. Chop garlic. Chop green onion. Chop cilantro. Chop Jalapeno pepper. Scoop out avocado. Combine in a bowl. Season with salt and lime juice. Voila: guacamole salsa.
<br />
<br />(I chose to leave the tequila out of the salsas tonight. It's kinda a game-time decision.)
<br />
<br />Grate cheese. I like cheddar. White or orange, it doesn't matter as long as it's good cheese. I'm a personal fan of <a href="http://www.cheese.ca/en/">Balderson's</a>.
<br />
<br />I also put out a little bowl of sour cream, and a little bowl of taco sauce.
<br />
<br />Get your mind out of the gutter!
<br />
<br />Step 3: meat again.
<br />
<br />Heat some oil in a pan. Strain the beer marinated steak and bacon and brown. Strain again, add one cup clear water and one pouch of premade taco seasoning (OK, so I'm lazy). Cook at a low boil for about five minutes, or until liquid cooks down a bit.
<br />
<br />Serve those puppies!Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28752409.post-60952402814199881302011-04-19T21:06:00.001-04:002011-08-11T11:19:47.372-04:00A song of feis and ireAm I the only one in the world who is not interested in the new HBO miniseries "Game of Thrones," and the multi-part series of novels upon which it is based? Can anyone explain to me the attraction of this piece of media?
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<br />Here's the way I see it. "A Game of Thrones" is the first of four novels published by George R. R. Martin as the "A Song Of Fire And Ice" trilogy. Yes, you read that right. Martin was writing a trilogy. There are four books. So far. There are, according to published reports, at least three more novels to come in the saga. Publication dates for the fifth novel have come and gone multiple times now, with each successive date, including the latest one, being touted as absolutely the real deal. To date, there are still only four novels available.
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<br />Anyone who has read the four novels currently extant will gush about them <span style="font-style: italic;">ad-</span>nauseum. Their list of positive attributes includes, as far as I can tell: a long, rambling plot that leaves narrative threads dangling at inopportune moments, and then doesn't return to them until the next book, or possibly even the one after that; a cast of characters so extensive it requires a large Excel spreadsheet to keep track of them; a propensity to kill off main characters at the drop of a hat; and a use of language so exotic and arcane as to require one to keep the Kindle dictionary loaded in the background at all times. I'm afraid to ask readers what they <span style="font-style: italic;">didn't</span> like about the books.
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<br />My wife read the first four books, and did nothing but grumble, moan, and complain all the way through them. She then proceeded to recommend them to me. Did she forget that I was sitting right there beside her while she read them?
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<br />So, aside from the fact that I can't find the silver lining in anything anyone I've ever spoken to about the books has said about them, I'm not really interested in picking up a series of books so epic even the author doesn't know how many there are going to be in the end. Especially considering the fact that the guy's sixty-something years old, and might not live to complete the work. No, really, think about it. The first three novels were published in increments of two years. It then took five years for the fourth book to come out. If - and that's a pretty big if, I'd say - if the sixth book comes out according to the latest pie-in-the-sky prediction of July 2011, that'll be a span of six years since the last one. On that schedule it could be anywhere between twelve and twenty years from now before he finishes. Did I say he's sixty-something?
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<br />Listen, I'm the guy who's read the First <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant five or six times each, and still won't buy any of the books of the Third Chronicles until Donaldson has finished them all. He's got one more to go, but I'm not buying the first one, even in paperback, until I can be assured that I can read all the way to end of the series uninterrupted.
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<br />So, seriously, can someone explain all this to me? Because I just don't get it.Call me Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704646008578216859noreply@blogger.com3