I've finally started to use the new Chromecast as a new channel on my entertainment system. It's been an easy and fun time, all from the laptop. Just bring up a movie on Netflix, and tell it to stream to the TV. It's programmed into the remote to change all the channels at the touch of a button on the HarmonyOne and then it's off to the movies!
It's cheap at $35, has travel potential (with caveats) and integrates into your digital life if you're google connected...
Saturday, November 02, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
BBQ Sauce
I have some pulled pork that needs a bbq sauce, so I googled for it. Started out by looking for the vinegar based kind from around here, but I think the pork needs to be cooked in it, and the pork I had is already done and shredded.
Thats when I discovered that a major alternative to the classic tomato based sauce is mustard based. I looked at this recipe and did a little jig when I scanned the dozen ingredients that I had every single one, including the more rare white peppercorns. Woo hoo!
It turned into a fabulously thick sauce and tangy for days. This is exactly the kind of bbq I loved, and now I know how it's made! Life is great sometimes.
BBQ Mustard based Sauce
Simmer all except soy, butter and smoke for 30 minutes, then add the rest and simmer for 10 minutes more. I used a non-stick pan and would scrape the thickened dark on the sides down into the sauce, stirring frequently.
Thats when I discovered that a major alternative to the classic tomato based sauce is mustard based. I looked at this recipe and did a little jig when I scanned the dozen ingredients that I had every single one, including the more rare white peppercorns. Woo hoo!
It turned into a fabulously thick sauce and tangy for days. This is exactly the kind of bbq I loved, and now I know how it's made! Life is great sometimes.
BBQ Mustard based Sauce
| -1 cup prepared yellow mustard -1/2 cup sugar -1/4 cup light brown sugar -3/4 cup cider vinegar -1/4 cup water -2 tablespoons chili powder |
-1 teaspoon black pepper -1 teaspoon white pepper -1/4 teaspoon cayenne -1/2 teaspoon soy sauce -2 tablespoons butter -1 tablespoon liquid smoke (hickory flavoring) |
Simmer all except soy, butter and smoke for 30 minutes, then add the rest and simmer for 10 minutes more. I used a non-stick pan and would scrape the thickened dark on the sides down into the sauce, stirring frequently.
Friday, March 08, 2013
The Story of Gayelette and the Winged Monkeys
‘That is a long story’ answered the King, with a laugh; ‘but as we have a long journey before us I will pass the time by telling you about it, if you wish.’
‘I shall be glad to hear it,’ [Dorothy] replied.
‘Once,’ began the leader, ‘we were a free people, living happily in the great forest, flying from tree to tree, eating nuts and fruit, and doing just as we pleased without calling anybody master. Perhaps some of us were rather too full of mischief at times, flying down to pull the tails of the animals that had no wings, chasing birds and throwing nuts at the people who walked in the forest. But we were careless and happy and full of fun, and enjoyed every minute of the day. This was many years ago, long before Oz came out of the clouds to rule over this land.
‘There lived here then, away at the North, a beautiful princess, who was also a powerful sorceress. All her magic was used to help the people, and she was never known to hurt anyone who was good. Her name was Gayelette, and she lived in a handsome palace built from great rocks of ruby. Everyone loved her, but her greatest sorrow was that she could find no one to love in return, since all the men were much too stupid and ugly to mate with one so beautiful and wise. At last, however, she found a boy who was handsome and manly and wise beyond his years. Gayelette made up her mind that when he grew to be a man she would make him her husband, so she took him to her ruby palace and used all her magic powers to make him as strong and good and lovely as any woman could wish. When he grew to manhood, Quelala, as he was called, was said to be the best and wisest man in all the land, while his manly beauty was so great that Gayelette loved him dearly, and hastened to make everything ready for the wedding.
‘My grandfather was at that time the King of the Winged Monkeys which lived in the forest near Gayelette’s palace, and the old fellow loved a joke better than a good dinner. One day, just before the wedding, my grandfather was flying out with his band when he saw Quelala walking beside the river. He was dressed in a rich costume of pink silk and purple velvet, and my grandfather thought he would see what he could do. At his word the band flew down and seized Quelala, carried him in their arms until they were over the middle of the river, and then dropped him into the water.
‘“Swim out, my fine fellow,” cried my grandfather, “and see if the water has spotted your clothes.” Quelala was much too wise not to swim, and he was not in the least spoiled by all his good fortune. He laughed, when he came to the top of the water, and swam in to shore. But when Gayelette came running out to him she found his silks and velvet all ruined by the river.
‘The princess was angry, and she knew, of course, who did it. She had all the Winged Monkeys brought before her, and she said at first that their wings should be tied and they should be treated as they had treated Quelala, and dropped in the river. But my grandfather pleaded hard, for he knew the Monkeys would drown in the river with their wings tied, and Quelala said a kind word for them also; so that Gayelette finally spared them, on condition that the Winged Monkeys should ever after do three times the bidding of the owner of the Golden Cap. This Cap had been made for a Wedding present to Quelala, and it is said to have cost the princess half her kingdom. Of course my grandfather and all the other Monkeys at once agreed to the condition, and that is how it happens that we are three times the slaves of the owner of the Golden Cap, whosoever he may be.’
‘And what became of them?’ asked Dorothy, who had been greatly interested in the story.
‘Quelala being the first owner of the Golden Cap,’ replied the Monkey, ‘he was the first to lay his wishes upon us. As his bride could not bear the sight of us, he called us all to him in the forest after he had married her and ordered us always to keep where she could never again set eyes on a Winged Monkey, which we were glad to do, for we were all afraid of her.
‘This was all we ever had to do until the Golden Cap fell into the hands of the Wicked Witch of the West, who made us enslave the Winkies, and afterwards drive Oz himself out of the land of the West. Now the Golden Cap is yours, and three times you have the right to lay your wishes upon us.’
As the Monkey King finished his story Dorothy looked down and saw the green, shining walls of the Emerald City before them. She wondered at the rapid flight of the Monkeys, but was glad the journey was over. The strange creatures set the travellers down carefully before the gate of the City, the King bowed low to Dorothy, and then flew swiftly away, followed by all his band.
‘Once,’ began the leader, ‘we were a free people, living happily in the great forest, flying from tree to tree, eating nuts and fruit, and doing just as we pleased without calling anybody master. Perhaps some of us were rather too full of mischief at times, flying down to pull the tails of the animals that had no wings, chasing birds and throwing nuts at the people who walked in the forest. But we were careless and happy and full of fun, and enjoyed every minute of the day. This was many years ago, long before Oz came out of the clouds to rule over this land.
‘There lived here then, away at the North, a beautiful princess, who was also a powerful sorceress. All her magic was used to help the people, and she was never known to hurt anyone who was good. Her name was Gayelette, and she lived in a handsome palace built from great rocks of ruby. Everyone loved her, but her greatest sorrow was that she could find no one to love in return, since all the men were much too stupid and ugly to mate with one so beautiful and wise. At last, however, she found a boy who was handsome and manly and wise beyond his years. Gayelette made up her mind that when he grew to be a man she would make him her husband, so she took him to her ruby palace and used all her magic powers to make him as strong and good and lovely as any woman could wish. When he grew to manhood, Quelala, as he was called, was said to be the best and wisest man in all the land, while his manly beauty was so great that Gayelette loved him dearly, and hastened to make everything ready for the wedding.
‘My grandfather was at that time the King of the Winged Monkeys which lived in the forest near Gayelette’s palace, and the old fellow loved a joke better than a good dinner. One day, just before the wedding, my grandfather was flying out with his band when he saw Quelala walking beside the river. He was dressed in a rich costume of pink silk and purple velvet, and my grandfather thought he would see what he could do. At his word the band flew down and seized Quelala, carried him in their arms until they were over the middle of the river, and then dropped him into the water.
‘“Swim out, my fine fellow,” cried my grandfather, “and see if the water has spotted your clothes.” Quelala was much too wise not to swim, and he was not in the least spoiled by all his good fortune. He laughed, when he came to the top of the water, and swam in to shore. But when Gayelette came running out to him she found his silks and velvet all ruined by the river.
‘The princess was angry, and she knew, of course, who did it. She had all the Winged Monkeys brought before her, and she said at first that their wings should be tied and they should be treated as they had treated Quelala, and dropped in the river. But my grandfather pleaded hard, for he knew the Monkeys would drown in the river with their wings tied, and Quelala said a kind word for them also; so that Gayelette finally spared them, on condition that the Winged Monkeys should ever after do three times the bidding of the owner of the Golden Cap. This Cap had been made for a Wedding present to Quelala, and it is said to have cost the princess half her kingdom. Of course my grandfather and all the other Monkeys at once agreed to the condition, and that is how it happens that we are three times the slaves of the owner of the Golden Cap, whosoever he may be.’
‘And what became of them?’ asked Dorothy, who had been greatly interested in the story.
‘Quelala being the first owner of the Golden Cap,’ replied the Monkey, ‘he was the first to lay his wishes upon us. As his bride could not bear the sight of us, he called us all to him in the forest after he had married her and ordered us always to keep where she could never again set eyes on a Winged Monkey, which we were glad to do, for we were all afraid of her.
‘This was all we ever had to do until the Golden Cap fell into the hands of the Wicked Witch of the West, who made us enslave the Winkies, and afterwards drive Oz himself out of the land of the West. Now the Golden Cap is yours, and three times you have the right to lay your wishes upon us.’
As the Monkey King finished his story Dorothy looked down and saw the green, shining walls of the Emerald City before them. She wondered at the rapid flight of the Monkeys, but was glad the journey was over. The strange creatures set the travellers down carefully before the gate of the City, the King bowed low to Dorothy, and then flew swiftly away, followed by all his band.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Evolution
One of the primary purposes of science fiction literature is to afford the opportunity to speculate about various "what if" situations, or to propose an idea in a more-or-less real world situation. In honor of that I give you this idea, and see if it works its way into a storyline.
The other day I was in a conversation and the subject came up about gmo foods. What he said was something of labeling foods that are of gmo origin. And I had to ask, please define what you mean by genetically modified. For instance, common corn that we eat today and feed to our livestock is a genetic manipulation of grasses to produce bigger seeds. Way back in Aztek times, they discovered one day that crossing this grass stalk with this other one produced a seed that was edible and life sustaining (code words for nutritious). Over decades and centuries man produced bigger and better corn, some as recently as just last week.
In the early periods of this experimentation there were lots of bad crops, it was inevitable to the whole trial and error discovery method. But as time went on the corn got better. Today it has become a mainstay food source for much of the world population. And we have become very adept at trial and error, just as we have gotten better at most everything else of human origin.
But more recently, or maybe all through time for all things new, there are people who worry about the new variety of corn. These naysayers say that the new stuff is bad for you. Studies are produced that show that some people react badly to some things. Some react so badly that they die.
But what if the question isn't how we produce 100% safe corn, but instead how the human race evolved to survive on the corn that humans invented. That would include the concept of those humans who did not survive on the corn dying out and those genes died out with them. Those conditions would make for a more solid and durable human race.
The problem of course are the luddites, those that are fearful of change. Sometimes they need to be neutralized, and even laughed at if need be. And that is where a good writer of speculative fiction might lay the drama for the story. The conflict. If I had the imagination I would try to tackle this idea.
The other day I was in a conversation and the subject came up about gmo foods. What he said was something of labeling foods that are of gmo origin. And I had to ask, please define what you mean by genetically modified. For instance, common corn that we eat today and feed to our livestock is a genetic manipulation of grasses to produce bigger seeds. Way back in Aztek times, they discovered one day that crossing this grass stalk with this other one produced a seed that was edible and life sustaining (code words for nutritious). Over decades and centuries man produced bigger and better corn, some as recently as just last week.
In the early periods of this experimentation there were lots of bad crops, it was inevitable to the whole trial and error discovery method. But as time went on the corn got better. Today it has become a mainstay food source for much of the world population. And we have become very adept at trial and error, just as we have gotten better at most everything else of human origin.
But more recently, or maybe all through time for all things new, there are people who worry about the new variety of corn. These naysayers say that the new stuff is bad for you. Studies are produced that show that some people react badly to some things. Some react so badly that they die.
But what if the question isn't how we produce 100% safe corn, but instead how the human race evolved to survive on the corn that humans invented. That would include the concept of those humans who did not survive on the corn dying out and those genes died out with them. Those conditions would make for a more solid and durable human race.
The problem of course are the luddites, those that are fearful of change. Sometimes they need to be neutralized, and even laughed at if need be. And that is where a good writer of speculative fiction might lay the drama for the story. The conflict. If I had the imagination I would try to tackle this idea.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
1600 Penn
Watching the series premiere of 1600 Penn on NBC. It looks like a show that was conceived when the network believed that Romney would win the election. Portray the president as a buffoon with stupid children. If they had reworked it to be a black family, we would have "The Jeffersons". Now that might have been funny! "Movin' on up, Wheezy!"
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