- Aha Mist
- A Maple, or Ale Map
- I Rap
- A Crier, or Racier
- Orb Head, or Ah Bored or Do Rehab
- A Tense Hip, Pains Thee, Apish Teen or Hate Penis
Hmm, that last one might be too crude to actually use much.
Hmm, that last one might be too crude to actually use much.
Shocked! Shocked, I am!http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003454425_guacamole30.html Kraft guacamole is essentially a whipped paste made from partially hydrogenated soybean and coconut oils, corn syrup, whey, and food starch. Yellow and blue dyes give it the guacamole green color.
This dip pays homage to you mathe-magicians out there; the name is a play on Avogadro's number. As the label says, "Admittedly, there aren't 6.0221367 x 10^23 avocados in here, but 5 plus avo's isn't bad!" At $2.99 apiece, this godsend of modern grocery goodness costs less than if you bought the five avocados fresh.
An alternative is http://www.dodgeit.com/, which provides free, receive-only email accounts. You can choose the address (good), and subscribe to a RSS feed to get notified when new mail arrives (nice). A slight downside is that since everyone shares the @dodgeit.com domain, you probably won't be able to get bob@dodgeit.com or amazon@dodgeit.com.
A solution that myself and a few friends use requires having your own domain (quite cheap), and having the domain set up to allow "catch-all" email forwarding. The way this works is that any email received by you domain that doesn't match a real account is forwarded to a real email address you specify (and that no-one can see publicly).
So, if you are signing up with CoolNewStuff.com, you could use an email address of CoolNewStuff@mydomain.com. Then, the few initial emails you get from CoolNewStuff.com would be sent to your real address. If at some point you start getting spam sent to this email address, you can filter it out easily.
Why not just use a single fake email address for all your online services? So that you can figure out who to blame if your account starts getting spam (usually this means the company sold your information, is spamming themselves, or has been hacked).
On-screen Bonds have usually ordered a "vodka martini - shaken, not stirred". But in Casino Royale, which premiered earlier this month, actor Daniel Craig lists Bordeaux aperitif Lillet as an ingredient of the spy's favourite tipple."Three measures of Gordon's (gin), one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet, shake it over ice then add a thin slice of lemon peel," Bond asks a waiter as he duels with his adversary in a high-stakes game of poker.
That repeat of the recipe from Ian Fleming's first Bond novel has prompted viewers to contact the firm, which has just seven staff and has dropped the word Kina from its name.
From the I-can't-believe-I-missed-this department:
From the funny-stuff-that-will-offend-someone department:
From the penny-stocks-and-sexy-pills department:
...it was a victory that he wouldn't expect five years from now. The computer programs will be much more sophisticated, he said. "They'll just have much more brute force."
Sadly, the code to my Scrabble game disappeared when I upgraded to a new machine (stupid me for not having enough backups)!
Lowlight:
Are stout drinkers more inclined to grow a moustache than non-stout drinkers? What about beards? Are long-bearded predisposed to drink stout than others? I ask as apparently 162,719 pints of Guinness are lost in stout drinker's moustaches and beards every year. Seems an awfully exact number
Tonight is All Hallow's Eve, which means roaming bands of kiddie-winks in cute outfits, and loads of candy*. In the run-up to today, we've been doing various Halowe'en things:
The Listeners by Walter De La Mare
'Is there anybody there?' said the Traveller,
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grasses
Of the forest's ferny floor:
And a bird flew up out of the turret,
Above the Traveller's head
And he smote upon the door again a second time;
'Is there anybody there?' he said.
But no one descended to the Traveller;
No head from the leaf-fringed sill
Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,
Where he stood perplexed and still.
But only a host of phantom listeners
That dwelt in the lone house then
Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight
To that voice from the world of men:
Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair,
That goes down to the empty hall,
Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken
By the lonely Traveller's call.
And he felt in his heart their strangeness,
Their stillness answering his cry,
While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf,
'Neath the starred and leafy sky;
For he suddenly smote on the door, even
Louder, and lifted his head:-
'Tell them I came, and no one answered,
That I kept my word,' he said.
Never the least stir made the listeners,
Though every word he spake
Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house
From the one man left awake:
Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup,
And the sound of iron on stone,
And how the silence surged softly backward,
When the plunging hoofs were gone.
Main course:
Recipes:
Crostini with parmigiano reggiano and sauteed chanterelles in a marsala cream sauce
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp unsalted butter
1/4 lb of chanterelles, cleaned and broken into pieces
2 small shallots, minced
1 tbsp heavy cream
1-2 tbsp marsala wine (I used dry)
Salt and pepper
I bought my chanterelles at Whole Foods (PCC in Issaquah had them for less, but was too far away to make it there between work and dinner). The ones at Whole Foods were a little sad, but picking through them I got a few decent ones - probably about 1/4 lb.
Clean the chanterelles, preferably with a brush or moist cloth. Cut off the dried-out ends and any other sad bits. Pull them apart and break them into small pieces with your fingers (this is fun, they have a great stringy texture!) Heat the butter and oil in a saucepan over med-high heat and add the shallots. Sautee until they are translucent and start going brown. Add the chanterelles and toss to coat. Add a pinch of salt and cook the mushrooms for 5-10 minutes, until they have stopped giving off liquid. Add the marsala and simmer for a minute or two - the mixture should be slightly wet, but not soupy. Add the cream and remove from the heat. Stir and season to taste.
Server on toasted rounds of baguette topped with a thin slice of parmigiano.
Fusilli with creamy chicken of the woods and thyme sauce
1 bag fusilli pasta (450g or so)
2 small shallots
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp unsalted butter
1 lb chicken of the woods mushrooms, cleaned and broken in bite-sized chunks
100 ml cream (about 6 tbsp)
1 cup vegetable stock or broth
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
salt and pepper
Chicken of the woods is an interesting-looking mushroom - large flat "shelves" that are bright yellow or orange. You want onesthat are young and not too large or woody. I washed mine well in running water and cut off the dried outer edge and base. You might also need to re-wash bits as you break it apart - I found some folds with pine needles and dirt as I was going. Again, the easiest way to get this into bite-sized chunks is using your fingers. The flesh is very much like cooked chicken.
Heat the oil and butter over med-high heat and sautee the shallots until clear and starting to turn brown. Add the mushrooms and toss, frying for a few minutes. They'll soak up the oil quickly, and some of them will get a nice brown "char" marks. Add the stock and thyme and simmer for 10 mins until the mushrooms are fully-cooked. (A splash of wine never hurts either - I had some dry marsala open so I added some) Add the cream and season to taste (Note: this dish needed quite a bit of salt).
Cook the pasta in salted water and toss in the sauce once cooked.
Is it just me, or is this the "Whole Foods that foodies forgot"?
The class also keyed this one that someone brought in:
MushroomExpert.com also has a decent hyper-linked mushroom key, which looks quite nifty. (Not all Pacific NW mushrooms are there though). We use Mushrooms Demystified in the class. A hyper-linked version of that would be cool!
Essentially, under current law, doing anything that enters/affects someone else's PC without their consent would make you a criminal - even if acting in "self defence" or solely to gather information to aid prosecution. The FBI/state can do these activities, so reporting incidents to the local authorities is currently the only legal way to respond. The problem raised is that for large-scale, egregious, or very easy to investigate and prosecute incidents, this works fine, but for smaller or harder incidents, there aren't enough resources. The FBI et al have the resources and expertise to track down the perpetrator and make arrests (witness ZOTOB and the NW Hospital cases), but for small businesses or individuals, the approach of contacting local police/law enforcement usually won't end up going anywhere.Some people call them vigilantes, I prefer the term "felon"...
Now, some rants about the venue (Westin Hotel in Seattle)...
On the positive side, once the event was over, I found myself hungry and within one block of the Palace Kitchen. So, I treated myself to dinner there, which was amazing! More on that later...
Don't cheat, m'kay ?
When you're done, you may find this interesting for #1 above.
"I’m thinking nice and simple where he can appreciate what happens when the fish doesn’t need to fly 2000 miles"This came in response:
I hate to break it to you, but go here, and fast-forward to 1:59 into the
program. Specifically pay attention at 3:18 when they talk about Ray’s
Boathouse.
http://www.kuow.org/defaultProgram.asp?ID=11330
On a slightly-related note, my favourite Scotch won the best 15+ year-old Single Malt category: Talisker 18 Year Old
From: Guido @google.com
Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 6:17 PM
To: Joe @some.where.com
Subject: XXXX Conference Follow Up
Hello Joe,
I am contacting you because you attended the XXXX conference. I hope you enjoyed the conference and you were able to get your desired results from the event. Google is always looking for smart and talented individuals. I would like to help any of your friends or family that may be interested in Google opportunities. Please feel free to pass on my contact information to them if they are interested in having an internal ambassador for their job search with Google.
Please let me know a good time and phone number to reach you.
I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Thank you,
Guido
I would like to thank you for taking the time to send me this follow-up e-mail.
I did indeed enjoy the conference and I would like to thank Google for sponsoring the event - it was a very selfless and thoughtful act which I believe demonstrates Google's commitment to security and privacy.
I am very interested in chatting with you about opportunities and my job requirements but before we get started, I have one very important request.
It is very important that in all future correspondence with me, that you refer to me as 'El Conquistador'. I understand that you could not have possibly known this in advance and I understand, no apology is necessary this time. I am very much looking forward to hearing back from you Guido, and please do not forget to address me as 'El Conquistador' in your reply as a sign of respect for my families distinguished lineage.
- El Conquistador
Hello Joe
Sorry about the delay in my response. I was actually out of the office yesterday.
We actually have a variety of positions that you may find of interest (from the East coast to the West coast).
You can view our Google opportunities (including all of our locations) at the following link: http://www.google.com/jobs
Please let me know if you find a position of interest.
I look forward to speaking with you.
Sincerely,
Guido
I'm sorry - whom are you addressing in your response below?
My given name is "Joe" but I am to be addressed as "El Conquistador". I sincerely apologize for not making that clear in my initial reply to your email (I was tired, it was late).
I am very interested in exploring career opportunities at Google!
I know that you only seek out and hire the very best and brightest individuals and I believe that my title speaks volumes about my accomplishments and capabilities so it was no surprise to me when you reached out to me.
I hope that it will not be a problem to be addressed by my future colleagues at Google as "El Conquistador". I'm sure Google has an open and respectful environment and that such talented individuals will understand and accept my title (which I realize does seem a bit strange at first). I'm presume elconquistador@google.com is available? Here at SomeCompany I login to our domain as somecom\elconquistador, I presume I would be offered the same privilege at Google?
Hello El Conquistador,
I was actually responding to the first of your two email responses (where you did not ask to be called "El Conquistador").
If you would like to speak, you can call me at your convenience.
You can call me El Tigre;)
"You know you've been in Baghdad too long when hearing Afrikaans at the pool is normal."The article goes on to discuss the large numbers of South African mercenaries working in Iraq, and how the SA government is pressing ahead with legislation to tighten oversight of SA citizens working in war zones.
I'll let you know how these are after I've tried them :)
But some may say this is natural. Isn't French wine the best in the world? Knowledgeable people haven't believed this myth since the Paris Wine Tasting in 1976, at which time French wines were pitted against California wines, in that tasting, a California red took first place and California Chardonnays won first, third and fourth place in the white wine category. And many other countries around the world similarly produce award-winning wines as well. (Details of the Paris Wine Tasting in 1976 are found below.)
Automaker Henry Ford is reputed to have said that customers could buy any color Ford car they wanted so long as it was black. The attitude of French wine producers similarly seems to be "if we don't produce it, you don't need it." Unfortunately, it's the innocent French consumer who is deprived of choice.
Wikipedia has entries on the '76 and 30th anniverary tasting this year.
I'll post some pictures later this week...