ok, but i think a .357 would have been better

saved by an umbrella?

don't we wish

too bad this is just a satire piece. wouldn't it be nice?

interesting take

Protein Wisdom posts an interesting analysis regarding segregating our society into specific groups with specific and special legislation. link is here.
i've been taught most of my life that segregation was illegal?

also, read some of the comments to the post. my favorite: "I am going to denounce and condemn all of you right now, just in case."

D.C. rally

D.C. rally
Originally uploaded by Mhàiri Kennethson

enough said....

Gun Control

Gun Control
Originally uploaded by Mhàiri Kennethson

found this picture wandering through my contacts contacts.
gun control..... couldn't have said it better myself......
i didn't realize you had to be signed into flickr to look at the full size pictures, so here's what the t-shirt says.
Gun Control: The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her own pantyhose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to the police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound.

dead and gone

well, IF there is an afterlife, i'm guessing that there is a certain dead lady that is giving the lion of the senate an earful about now. she's had 40 years to figure out what it was she was going to say.

i'm not sure who should have been more ashamed of their actions. teddy, or the folks in the commonwealth of massachusetts for not only electing him, but reelecting him repeatedly. i guess you can get away with murder if you are a member of the court at camelot.

seen at Home Depot

a contractor walked by me wearing the following t-shirt:

Whatever you are doing to make you look stupid..

It's working

today's email humor...obama's health care-a medical perspective

The American Medical Association has weighed in on the new Obama health care proposals.

The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.

The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.

The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.

Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted.

Pathologists yelled,"Over my dead body!" while the Pediatricians said, "Oh, Grow up!"

The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it.

Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.

The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter...."

The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea. The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.

In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the assholes in Washington.

oh, but we can only dream

THIS would be so cool. to finally rid this state, and country of babs would be the achievement of the decade regarding kahleefornia politics.
this is the woman that amongst other things was one of the worst offenders of the congressional banking overdraft fiasco.

I shouldn't be surprised

i was looking over my stats on my flickr account, and realized that of the three sets Most Interesting, and the compilation sets 500 Views and 1000 Views, the vast majority of photos are of either guns or food.
most of my travels are pretty boring, i guess.

researchers are getting closer in the fight against alzheimers

amid all the generated noise surrounding pseudo global warming, the economic turmoil and subsequent government fascistic intervention (look up fascism in a reputable, non-politicized source), there is good news that gets out there but is buried under the smelly pile of crap the news dudes are trying to feed us.
how about good news for a change? how about if medical researchers are creeping up on a cure for alzheimer's disease, one of the most devastating and insidious diseases suffered by modern man?
really good news that provides at least a glimmer of hope for the future.

creeping internationalism

to quote a listener comment on the best internet radio station Radio Paradise

Yes, this is a cover of Mulatu Astatqe's "A Man Of Experience And Wisdom" which is an excellent tune captured on an excellent album (part of an Ethiopian music sampler series) Ethiopiques Vol. 4. I really dig tunes like this that are 30+ years old. Now we have a Cambodian band covering Ethiopian music which is really a trip because the music of Mr. Astatqe is based on his Ethiopian roots blended with his musical knowledge based on Western music schools. He was kind of the reverse of a lot of the American jazz artists (D. Byrd, J. Coltrane, H. Hancock etc) who were getting AFRICAN rythms into their music. So this tune went from a Western influence to Africa to Cambodia... and nobody got hurt. What a wonderful world.

As you can read from the comment,there is blending of music from around the world that i think can only improve the overall quality/variety of music we all listen to. i find this happening in the food world too. i am a big fan of taking elements from many cuisines to make something entirely new, intriguingly flavorful, and wonderfully surprising. some internationalism, in the case of music and food, i can get behind!

Wednesday afternoon diversions

22july09pistols
Originally uploaded by bothenook

i remember thinking as a kid that the best jobs in the world were doctors and lawyers. i caddied at the local country club during the summer, and those dudes were out every Wednesday, playing golf instead of working.
as a seasoned adult, i still have to work during Wednesdays because i chose to play with nuclear reactors rather than be a doctor, but i get to play at the range on the way home from work.
i've been practicing a lot on the 50 yard range lately, and it is amazing how rapidly the skills needed to shoot that distance off hand have developed. it helps if you have pistols capable of shooting very small groups at 50 yards, and these .22s fit the bill.
to see the steel plate and what the target looks like at 50 yards, visit my flickr set
happy shooting.

short quip

a coworker tried talking me into something this morning, and upon discussion, stated "i spoke too soon". to which i replied..."so is that a case of premature expostulation?"

food blog: fast pasta dinner

i have a small herb garden. well, planter box if you really want to know. and the basil is starting to flower, so it's no longer a choice whether i want to use it or not. now it's use it or lose it!
so what the heck do you do with a couple of big handfuls of basil?
around here, that's an invitation to scour the pantry and cook up something interesting.

the pictures are links back to flickr for additional sizes. i'm not too sure why the pictures came out so dark, but there you are. a photographer i'm not.

Fast Pasta with Basil and whatever is in the fridge and pantry
ingredients: your mileage may vary depending on what you have available. the beauty of these dishes rests in whipping up something good from what's available.

Dressing
• 2 handfuls of fresh basil
• 2 cloves garlic
• pinch of salt
• couple of coarse grinds of pepper
• 1 or 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
• 3 tbsp or so of extra virgin olive oil
throw it all in the food processor and blend. use enough oil to make a medium body sauce.

condiment, uncooked
• 2 small tomatoes, deseeded and chopped medium, medium fine
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, chopped medium
• small jar marinated artichoke hearts, chopped medium. i really really like Cara Mia marinaded hearts. use ones you like, especially if you have them in your pantry/fridge.

condiment cooked, and pasta
• 1 yellow summer squash, 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes
• 1/2 small white onion, medium chop
• small handful of leftover red and yellow bell pepper strips (from a veggie appetizer last night), medium chop
• couple of tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, as needed to saute veggies
• 1 lb box of whole wheat spaghetti

process:

get the water on the stove to boil the pasta. cook pasta per package directions.
while the water is coming up to temperature, assemble and chop/buzz/saute all the other stuff. everything should be done about the same time as the pasta is.

pick and buzz the basil condiment. makes the kitchen smell like heaven, and you should take a moment to just enjoy the aroma coming from the basil and garlic. if you have pesto, use it by all means, or if you want to add the pine nuts to make pesto out of this concoction, feel free. i probably would have had i stocked pine nuts ahead of time.

Saute (medium heat) onion, squash, and peppers until soft. kick the heat up during the last couple of minutes to get a little caramelization action going on the veggies.
when the pasta is done, and the veggie saute is finished, drain the pasta and plate
then spoon on as much or as little of the basil sauce as you like, and toss the pasta with tongs to distribute.

next, top with the condiments, add a little parmesan cheese on top, and serve.
Enjoy! this took as long as the water needed to boil, and the pasta to cook. great meal, from things in the pantry, fridge, and herb garden.

as always, if you try this recipe, or it inspires you to try something different, please let me know how it turned out. i'm always looking for fresh and clever ideas to improve my own cooking skills and recipes.

for a complete list of my online recipes, follow the link here

teeny tiny brag

went to the range this morning with a case full of .22s this is an old picture, pre-mods on the MKIII, but you get the idea.
i was shooting a 4 inch steel plate on the 50 yard range.
shooter to the left: "damn, where did you learn to shoot. i'd take you into the sh*t storm any day".
shooter to the right a while later: "holy crap. you can really shoot those pistols off hand"
it's the little things that keep me going back and practicing. hope you are all having a great weekend.
lunch at the Cliff House tomorrow to celebrate dwardo, his lovely wife, my wife, and my July birthdays. looking forward to it.

Happy Fathers Day: A food blog entry

first of all, happy Fathers Day to all of you lucky enough to have that distinction.

next, what do you do for Fathers Day? for me, as for almost any event, i like to get friends and family together, and cook a ton of food. this year, i have a mess of trout from my trip to Eastern Oregon a couple of weeks ago, and 4 racks of ribs. the ribs are smoked over a mesquite, hickory, and apple chip smoke. did them first, then smoked the trout over mesquite and alder. for reference, here's what the ribs look like. they will be finished off on the grill with a light saucing to warm them through just before we eat.
Food blog: Mesquite and Alderwood smoked rainbow trout
ingredients:

• couple of trout like these.
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (spanish if available, because i'm a snob that way)
• 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 3 cups of shredded wood chips. mesquite and alder were my choices today. soak in a ziplok bag full of water for at least 1/2 an hour before use

instructions:
mix all the dry ingredients together.
wash and pat dry the fish. place the fish on a big enough piece of plastic wrap to make a neat rolled package.
pack the fish with the dry rub, top, bottom and if whole, inside. i filleted one fish, and left the other whole.
tightly wrap the fish in the film. i made two packages, with the fillets facing each other skin side out, and a whole fish in the other. place in a pan big enough to hold it, and stick in the fridge for at least 8 hours, 12 is better.
when you are ready to go, remove the fish, and rinse well to remove the dry rub and salt. all the flavor you want is now in the fish. failing to rinse will provide you with tasty tasty salt. way too much salt. so don't forget the rinse step.
leave the fish out, uncovered for at least 1/2 an hour while getting the smoker ready to go. this allows the meat to develop a protein film on the surface that's a must for properly smoked fish.
once everything's ready, toss the fish on, add a cup of wood chips, and leave everything alone for 1/2 an hour. since i now use an electric smoker for most of the smoking duties around here, this is easier than hell. no tending the coals, erratic heating or any of that malarkey. i added a couple cups of water to the water pan, just to bring the level back up. i left the pan alone after smoking 4 racks of ribs. the fat and juice that dripped down during that process is just free flavor for the fish, as far as i'm concerned. then add 1 cup of chips, and repeat again in 1/2 an hour. your fish should be perfectly smoked in around 1 1/2 hours. more if the wind is blowing and it's cold outside, but Vacaville was nice last night, so it only took 1 1/2 hours.
if you don't have a smoker, this is still doable. using a charcoal grill (i've only done this with a 35 year old weber, which is still my go to bbq) is okay too, but the cooking time is a little shorter. place an aluminum pan to one side on the coal grate. this will be the drip and liquid pan. make a couple of heat baffles out of aluminum foil that reach from the grill down to the coal grate. do this by folding a piece of foil a couple of thicknesses, that stretch from the outer diameter of the grill to the center rod that runs down the middle of the grill. takes about 20 seconds. doing this will help keep the fish from cooking too fast from the direct heat of the coals. start about 25 coals in a chimney starter, then place on the grate. pour a couple cups of liquid into the aluminum pan. i like using a nice Chardonnay or pinot gris, but any white will work. or just use water. add about 1/3 of your chips on the coals, toss the fish over the aluminum pan, and walk away for 1/2 an hour. repeat the wood chip thing a couple of times over the next hour to hour and a half. the fish is ready when you can separate the meat in flakes.
pull and cool. then enjoy! as a side note, i'd like to point out that the fish are sitting on a big serving platter. it's almost not big enough. those were some monster rainbows.

as always, if you try this recipe, or it inspires you to try something different, please let me know how it turned out. i'm always looking for fresh and clever ideas to improve my own cooking skills and recipes.

for a complete list of my online recipes, follow the link here