Food, Glorious Food

Went tearing home last night, late and in the teeth of a gale. It rained so hard that when I raced into Fresh Market on the way (playing Beat The Clock against their closing time), the raindrops hurt, and that was with the hood of my sweatshirt over my head.

I was grabbing goodies for breakfast. Ended up this morning with this:While setting a land speed record(Produce Department subcategory), this thing caught my eye. Looks a bit scary, doesn't it? It's a Watermelon Radish, with a mild-horseradishy bite. How we get from the second photo to the first one goes like this:First, a closer look at The Radish. Whoa! It's big for a radish, too, about the same size as a medium potato. Think of it as a turnip with a real bad attitude. Diced and added to mushrooms and potatoes, with a nice Anaheim pepper chopped up and tossed in for crunch and flavor. D'ya think Tam (presently elsewhere) would try it if we told her the radish was raw beef?Scramble a couple of eggs in it....Add the bacon I started the skillet with back in, plus three thin, warmed slices of salami all smashed up and some diced red bell pepper for a touch of sweetness and crunch. Warm all the added ingredients, decant onto a plate and...Taa-daa! I snipped some chives over it and grated a little more of the watermelon radish, too, mostly for color.

Fried the bacon with fresh-ground pepper, tossed a little all-purpose Cajun Seasoning on the 'taters before cooking them and between that and the marvelous flavor of the purple-red radish (this one was really nice, not wasabi-sharp but assertive enough to stand out without dominating the other flavors), it needed not a thing extra.

Yum! I suppose Breakfast Hash using whatever I stumble over at the grocer's is my signature dish and a lazy one at that, but I wouldn't trade it for all the tea in China -- or all the cordon bleu in France, either.

High-Tech Solution

Sleepy? There's an app for that!

It Found Me!

I'm pretty sure this is the same sect that ran Campus Crusade For Cthulhu until they lost that lawsuit....

Relatedly: Buy a blank edition and write your own. Or enjoy the 'toon version: Li'l Cthulhu.

Why Is It

Update: Nathan provided a link to the truth about the Wishard "no taxes" scam in comments and I've put it up here so more folks will see it.

...Especially on the Left but don't kid yourself, the Right does it too: if Congress rams through some unpopular (or at least divisive) "bold new step" you don't like, they're wicked, stupid or both but if you like their latest Adventure In Overgoverning, they're the intrepid heroes, bravely doing what is right.

The truth is, A) we already have way more government than is needed; B) Congressbeings are, on average, not worth the cost of gasoline to run the short bus they ought to be taking to their job-like endeavors; and C) they think we're all idiots for letting them get away with it. What stings the most is that last item is the only time you can count on them being right.

Question is, what're we going to do about it?

Election time is coming 'round here in De Heardtland. There's not much on the ballot but I do have a chance to vote against a bond issue (to build a sparkling new edifice in place of poor old Wishard -- the charity hospital) that's sure to raise my taxes; they keep sending me shiny-printed, expensive postcards promising it won't but this is, in fact, a lie supported by optimistic under-estimates and accounting tricks. Also, if they'd'a saved what they have spent on those lyin' cards, they could have had a head start on the construction they're so eager to spend my money on. (I'm not the only one thinks so, either).

Whatever it is, if it doesn't make government smaller, weaker or quieter, vote against it!

Another Day, Part 16

Hey, I've got two weeks and all I need to do is get Sherriff Mike some better intelligence on George Wells and his bunch; maybe he'll just round 'em all up and won't need me at all.

Maybe I'll get a pony for Christmas too -- but it'd probably be on the menu if I did. Gonna be a busy fortnight.

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"Busy fortnight?" Roberta, Mistress Of The Understatement: as far as the Chief was concerned, our Date With Technological Destiny meant it was high time the 'Drive Compartment got a thorough cleaning and every last subassembly, part, manual, bit of software and even tool that was old, worn and/or not immediate applicable would be chucked in the Recycle bins and, if possible, entirely disposed of. Times like these, I am reminded of the persistent rumor that he is one of the very few guys to have made the transition from NASA's oh-so-public grandstanding disinformation campaign to the real deal; his aversion to excess sure fits that profile.

[CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THIS EPISODE]

News From The Hidden Frontier

- You should always check with the experts before using GLONASS to navigate a squirt-booster landing. Note the "mysterious crater" showed up in September '07 and the first new launch supporting/updating the Russian satnav system happened later that month. Coincidence?

- I have mentioned the "Agreement of 1989," which semi-offically ended hostilites between the Far Edge and NATO/USSF. Some operations took longer to wind down than others. The Edgers have long sought to expand their gene pool, not always tactfully.

- German WW II FTL drive parts? It does have that "Glocky" look, even if it's one artist's impression rather than the actual proto-CLASSIFIED from a bellship.

One or two new episodes of I Work On A Starship are coming soon!

Everything Old Is New Again

...Including raging at bankers exploitin' the downtrod; but the interesting thing to me about this pair of stories, a bit on the Horrors Of Bankers from The Nation that would fit right into a German newspaper from about 1934 and a huffy hand-wringer from HuffPo about how the Administration -- their guy's the Administration! -- isn't beating up banks nearly hard enough or with the proper degree of venom, is the way in which they demonstrate how the wheels are coming off the well-oiled Great leader machine.

There is no "there" there and far from finding it worrisome, I take a measure of reassurance in it. I don't think Americans are entirely immune to Five-Year Plans, Great Leaps Forward or the sudden urge to reclaim the Sudetenland but we're pretty resistant to it. For me, the saving grace of both the traditional Left and their foes on the Right is there's plenty of conflict and chaos under each side's "big tent." It does much toward keeping them, if not honest, at least confined to smaller-scale wickednesses than would otherwise be the case.

Automatic Bookmachine: Gotta Have A Name

Soooo, Harvard (properly pronounced, I am told, as if the "r" were either "h" or "a," yet another reason I am unsuited for Higher Ed), Haaaavaaaaad got an automatic book-making machine (no, no, it doesn't take bets, it prints and binds books! On demand, even).

Got one but...whaddaya call it? "Bookmachine" doesn't roll off the tongue and sounds like a High School garage band formed by members of the Science Fiction Club and rabid D&D hobbyists.... So they named it.

What the heck, linotypists and printers had names, too -- probably like "Stubby" or "Dirty Ed!" Harvard went a bit more...esoteric. Whimsical, even.

My thanks to a lurker who will let me know if screen credit is in order (right?)!

October BlogMeet!

Wonderful turnout, friends old and new, some who we've not seen in some time, some who've been at every BlogMeet; bloggers and readers. It was a wonderful time. I have photos and links and names, and will post them all as time allows. At least 14 in attendance.
Here we see Amanda (Tam and I both remarked how cute her hair is) and Red (with a new and superkewl blog title!), Og's friend Mike, Old Grouch, Wayne, Og, Brigid, new friend and visiting blogger Jay was just out of the frame, Tam can be barely glimpsed, as can Shootin' Buddy. I would have been at the far end of the table, too.

Mr. B and Midwest Chick were at the Indy 1500, working the Strike Hold* booth; they showed up after 4:00.

Joanna happened to be away for the first photo. She was there for these two, wearing a NaNoWriMo sticker: "Be nice, or I'll put you in my novel!" A better view of Owen at left (he's hidden behind Og in the first photo and wins "best use of cover and/or concealment); Jay (himself winner of the coveted Cup of Turnonistan award, which consisted of, well, this mention) is once again out of the frame (sorry, Jay!). He's a lot taller and wider of shoulder that most mortals.

Thought I'd Never Hear It: Tam, to Midwest Chick: "Your turse is way more tactical than mine!" MOLLE-capable tactikewt purses, I am so gonna save up!

Also learned that the kit-built Segway copy lacks the designed-for-quiet gearing of the original: "Sounds like you're riding a blender around!" Yikes!

...I had two (2!) hard ciders, came home, posted some music, dozed off, woke, had a snack, dozed off again, woke and here I am...and I'm headed for bed. Tomorrow, another busy day.

See you at the next Indy BlogMeet?
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* Strike Hold is a dry-film lubricant with interesting and useful properties. SB tried a sample can at the range Sunday morning. Verdict? "It works!" Neat stuff -- ask Mr. B. (Somebody tell the FTC I got a free sample, too. Try it and make up your own mind).

Mister Sandman?

It's all Mike Flynn's fault; he posted this video first. Pomplamoose takes on a nicely-written old standard that calls for very close harmony* and what could be more close than harmonizing with yourself?
The song's only 2:20; they natter on amusingly for a couple of minutes after.

Remarkable work and a fine example of what you can do with this livin' in the future stuff! (They have recorded some more recently-written music, too).
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* How close? A persistent rumor had it that Gary Troxel of The Fleetwoods enlisted to get away from constant rehearsals with his singing partners. It's not true; he was drafted. All three of them continued to perform for years after. But it was believable; close harmony takes work. Among their hits, Mr. Blue and Come Softly To Me.

So Far, So Good

My overnight Skunk-Working actually worked out; I was reasonably confident but there's always an element of doubt until the project is put together and high power is applied. Whew!

Quick Update

I'm headed off for an overnight shift -- "wish me luck" sounds a little superstitious but what we're doing is something of a dice-roll. I'll take all the good luck I can get.

Quick update before I head out:

- Went to the Indy 1500, mostly as planned ( a little later than I'd've liked, as I dozed off briefly in the bathtub. It's small, I'm tall; still something of a shock to wake up and think, "My, isn't it chilly!") . Between cold weather, hard floors and the narrow aisles, my knee did not hold up well; I found some .38SA, met up with Tam and Shootin' Buddy, looked longingly at the new Sig .380 that's modeled on the Colt "Government .380" and headed out. Maybe next one I'll be able to spend more time. Did say Hi to several blogfriends.

- I Work On A Starship: recent research has revealed that Richard Sharpe Shaver worked briefly in Facilities Maintenance (i.e., mop-pushing) at the (then) Joint Army-Navy Experimental Technologies Team project HQ at Groom Lake NAS* immediately prior to his first publication on the so-called Shaver Mystery. This would have been during the run-up to the atomic weapon base on the Moon that resulted in the Far Edge mutiny; it is interesting to speculate what effect all that had on his muddled fantasies but we cannot be sure. Elsewhere, an artifact found not very long after -- or a copy of it -- has surfaced as art. It looks like a 'Drive component from a German "Glocke" FTL vehicle. I will post a picture and a link later. Then there are the so-called "green fireballs," more visible evidence of early 'Drive experimentation. See? It all holds together! :) :0
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* Though "JANETT" is long-gone, the core members of it being the ones responsible both for planning the moonbase and the mutiny, the acronym lingers on in the radio call for personnel flights to and from the base. The ufologista never spell it correctly, of course.