Friday, December 30, 2005
Eye of the beholder and all that...
those Austrians sure are sub tile
Is this titled: If We Lose?
...otherwise I donngeddit.
Check the rest of the ...uhm, “art” at Riehl World View and get back to me, eh?
Via Ace
Thursday, December 29, 2005
I t'inks I gots a headcold...
otherwise.... Rodge—you RATTT!!
"... this guy walks into a bar with a duck on his head ..." • (2) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Link This
???!?!??!
Life in The Country™ • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Link This
Today's Snark *snork*
may I present...
There’s something frankly creepy about the explosion we now call the Blogosphere - the big-bang “electroniverse” where recently wired squatters set up new camps each day. ...Although I’ve been a blog fan since the beginning, and have written favorably about the value added to journalism and public knowledge thanks to the new “citizen journalist,” I’m also wary of power untempered by restraint and accountability. *cough*Rather*cough* [MSM] ...filled with carpal-tunneled wretches, overworked and underpaid, who suffer near-pathological allegiance to getting it right.
...what we’re witnessing as the Blogosphere’s offspring multiply - is that people tend to abuse power when it is unearned and will bring down others to enhance themselves. Likewise, many bloggers seek the destruction of others for their own self-aggrandizement. When a mainstream journalist stumbles, they pile on like so many savages, hoisting his or her head on a bloody stick as Golding’s children did the fly-covered head of a butchered sow.
So, really; the indignant feelings of betrayal we’ve experienced since becoming fully aware of the extent to which MSM since Cronkite has bumped America’s compass needle away from true Real are ...well, silly. We ought to take pity on the poor ink-stained wretches’ carpal-tunnel vision and honor the eeeffort instead of reviling the intent and countering the result.
So what is this little back-pedal dance?
I mean no disrespect to the many brilliant people out there - professors, lawyers, doctors, philosophers, scientists and other journalists who also happen to blog. ["happen to blog”—like they just “happened to” catch a cold? or “happened to” have brown eyes? well; no intent—no foul there...] Again, they know who they are. [yep—brilliant people with no intent. Not me.] But we should beware and resist the rest of the ego-gratifying rabble who contribute only snark, sass and destruction. [whocouldthatbeee??????]
We can’t silence them, but for civilization’s sake - and the integrity of information by which we all live or die - we can and should ignore them.
Wow. So following from that high-fallutin’ pronunciation about “civilization’s sake” and “the integrity of information by which we all live or die,” p’rhaps we really oughta just ignore Ms Parker.
ThanQ! Ace
Journalism the Colour of Sulfur • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Link This
Monday, December 26, 2005
Kwanzaa Primer
Let’s start with a bit o’ history, m’kay? Kwanzaa was started in 1966 by a paranoid schizophrenic/sociopath named Ron Karenga; felon, torturer of women African princesses, avowed Marxist, and leader of the United Slaves, the black separatist movement/cult he started. [famous quote: from The Quotable Karenga, a book that laid out the “True Path of Blackness.” “The sevenfold path of blackness is think black, talk black, act black, create black, buy black, vote black, and live black,"]
Now I got no quarrel with a ‘new’ holiday. I got no quarrel with a nut job—per se. What I do have a quarrel with is mean-spirited divisive bullshit.
taken from the Kwanzaa Information Center:
Derived from the Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza” which means “first fruits”, Kwanzaa is rooted in the first harvest celebrations practiced in various cultures in Africa.
No one—anywhere-- celebrates harvest in December.
[hint: Africa is in the southern hemisphere]
Kwanzaa seeks to enforce a connectedness to African cultural identity...
Have ya studied the cultures of African tribal societies? Yanno—the ones who took slaves in inter-tribl conflicts and sold them to the white devils? The ones who still enslave one another? [google: Hutu, Bantu, Tutsi]
By creating Kwanzaa, African-Americans sought to rectify the cultural and economic exploitation perpetrated against us during the months of October, November, and December (the Christmas season).
Say what?!? I don’t remember perpetrating any cultural *or* economic exploitation against African-Americans. Black people, either. Unless.... unless all of Santa’s elves --- unpaid elves, mind you — are black??? hmmmm
During this season, corporate America typically ignored the quality of life concerns of African-Americans, yet encouraged participation in the commercialism of Christmas.
So ... If all those evil corporations *poof* disappear, then who’s gonna pay the salaries of the pee-pole? Or the taxes that pay the “entitlements” of the pee-pole? Are ya gonna make your own Big Wheels? or grow your own food? mine your own bling?
[did I mention Marxist?]
Among the symbols are the “mat of tradition,” and the seven candles for the seven days/principles.
*cough*Hannukah*cough*
The Unity Cup to hold the libation [a ‘40’] And the corn.
*cough*Grail*cough*
...a stalk of corn which produces corn, which in turn becomes stalk, which reproduces in the same manner so that there is no ending to us.
All fine and dandy, but, corn is native to the Americas, developed by the indigenous personnel here and not found in Africa until the honkeys offay caspers white devils brought it there on their big, high-tech, ocean-going ships.
Next, the 7 principals [NGUZO SABA].
“Unity: in the family, community, nation and race.”
“Self-determination: ...define ourselves, name ourselves ...”
Inescapable, that. No matter what one’s conditions, one is still in charge of how one copes, no? And it’s how one copes, not one’s circumstances, that demonstrates one’s character. I’ve heard that floaty-moldy language before—“name ourselves”: the language of The Victim.
“Collective work and responsibility” not mutual support—collective “...to make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems ...”
Co-dependent self-defeating horse hockey.
“Cooperative economics”
paging Karl.... who’s now giggling like a fool.
“Purpose: To make as our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.” [emph mine e-C]
I don’t mean to be cold, but ‘xactly to which “greatness” does this refer?
“Creativity: ...in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than when we inherited it.”
Good idea—difficult with all this co-dependent collectivity, though.
“Faith: To believe with all our hearts in our parents, our teachers, our leaders, our people and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.”
No Values? No objective Truths? Just ‘our pee-pole?’ Like, say, ‘Mother-ship’ Farra-con? Jackson? Sharpton?
[Remember that “victory” part…]
The Flag:
Red is for the Blood . Black is the Black People. Green is for the Land.The Red, or the blood, stands as the top of all things. We lost our land through blood; and we cannot gain it except through blood. We must redeem our lives through the blood. Without the shedding of blood there can be no redemption of this race.
un huh… Whose blood?
The Black man in this hemisphere has yet to obtain land which is represented by the Green. The acquisition of land is the highest and noblest aspiration for the Black man on this continent, since without land there can be no freedom, justice, independence, or equality.
So… No black people own land? Or can buy land? Or is land only *good* if there are no whiteys on it? or near it?
WE PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE RED , BLACK, AND GREEN , OUR FLAG, THE SYMBOL OF OUR ETERNAL STRUGGLE, AND TO THE LAND WE MUST OBTAIN; ONE NATION OF BLACK PEOPLE, WITH ONE GOD OF US ALL, TOTALLY UNITED IN THE STRUGGLE, FOR BLACK LOVE, BLACK FREEDOM, AND BLACK SELF-DETERMINATION.
So Kwanzaa, by this description, is a celebration of Marxism, collectivity, co-depenency, racism and the clear intent to spill blood. Kwanzaa states its goal to shatter the ties that bind communities across America. Kwanzaa reflects nothing of “the great promise and diversity of America.”
A Leaky Rowboat Sinks • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Link This
Friday, December 23, 2005
Candied Orange Peels - Re-Redux
hang onta yer chef’s hats
[aka: “Claire! Where ya been?!?”
“Bein’ contrary, that’s where."]
Overall Ordenance Needed:
6 - 8 organic thick-skinned Valencia or navel oranges
[the *whatever* on the regular ones makes for bitter… or kills ya—one or the other.... or both....]4 1/2 cups superfine sugar, plus 3-4 C extra for rolling
1 1/2 cups water8 - 9 0z. Bittersweet chocolate 70% or better
ScharffenBerger—the only chocolate worth your time.sharpened knife - small chef
cutting board
random bowlslarge heavy stock pot
candy thermometer
heatproof bowl of cold water
whisk
strainer
long spoon—heatproofcutting drum on a large mixer
[or other way to easily shave the chocolate]
metal bowl with handle [easiest]
pot that fits your bowl for use as double boiler
towels to rest bowl of melted chocolate on - insululation
cake racks/drying racks
parchment paper
Le Méthode
Cut tops and bottoms off of the oranges and score the orange in 1” sections, cutting down only into the peel and not into the fruit.
slice off those strips as thinly as possible
[don’t worry too much—you’ll hafta go back and fillet them later no matter what]
[use the orange innards for something else]
I finally developed a technique not unlike filleting a fish.
Lay the 1” slices flat on the cutting board
Run a *sharp* knife parallel to the board to remove as much white stuff as possible.
Then cut to desired strip size - about 1/4” wide.
The goal is to have the largest possible piece that will lie flat for filleting. Otherwise it would get too, too tiresome.
Here’s the slicing process I settled on:
Step the Next—Blanching
The best pot for this step is one with a pasta insert [sieve-like thing that can be lifted out so that it drains as you lift.]
Put the orange peel in a large saucepan with cold water as to cover and 1/4 t salt.
Bring to a boil over high heat.
Pour off the water.
Run very cold water over peels to stop the cooking process and help retain the color.
Repeat 1 or 2 more times depending up how assertive you want the orange peels to be. Taste to find out.
[I liked the texture of a 3 time blanch best, it also mellowed the bitterness.]
Remove the orange peels from the pan.
Now the cooking begins
[NB Molten sugar is a lot like molten lead in it’s destructive capabilities—it not only burns but it sticks, kinda like the napalm of the kitchen. Keep a heatproof bowl of cold water on the side to store the spoon. When the syrup gets to temperature, a bit dropped in the cold water will form a soft thread. Somehow I never tire of this trick...]
Whisk the 4 1/2 C sugar with 1 1/2 cups water and 1/4 Cup corn syrup.
Bring to a simmer and cook for 8 to 9 minutes.
It will look milky-white until just the moment when it begins to boil whereupon it instantly clears up and glistens. [I love the science magic of cooking!]
Take the syrup’s temperature with a candy thermometer—it should be at the soft thread stage, 230° to 234° degrees F.
Add the peels and simmer gently, reducing heat to retain a simmer and keep the temp below 235°.
Make sure to keep the temp below 235° or the peels will caramelize too much and get hard.
Cook until the peels get translucent, about 45 minutes—less for thinner pieces.
Resist the urge to stir the peels or you may introduce sugar crystals into the syrup. If necessary use a dry spoon to gently move the peels around.
If necessary, use a pastry brush [or folded paper towel] dipped in water to remove crystals from sides of pan.
When translucent and tasty [taste one, they cool quickly] drain the peels.
I dredge them out with a flat whisk but a strainer over a heatproof bowl would work.
[save the syrup for iced tea] [or to flavor your booze—mmmmm]
Dump the peels in a baking dish with 1” of sugar on the bottom and toss to coat. Separate any pieces that may be stuck together and lay out on a rack to dry for 4 to 5 hours.
Return peels to the sugar to store.
See? E.Z.
This is the beginning of the sugaring process. The Sugar syrup is at 234° and I’ve just plopped the peels in. Purdy, huh?
This is when they’ve reached temperature—real purdy, huh? You can kinda see that they’re getting translucent around the edges.
I gotta say—they’re yummy!
Now, melt some chocolate by shaving and placing in a bowl over a pot of water which has been boiled but is not currently on the stove. [Hint: Make sure the chocolate doesn’t get over 95° and ya never hafta worry about re-tempering it.]
Dip ends [majority of] peels in chocolate and allow to set on a sheet of parchment paper. Store air-tight and prepare to receive the adulation of multitudes.
Life in The Country™ • (5) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Link This
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Nigga-rant
"Hush Nigga—da Boondocks is on"
I’m tired of educated and financially well off black people assuming leadership roles in our assumed collective identity every time a black entertainer says or does something that they don’t like.
...It might be too real for some, which is what I truly think bothers those that want Brother McGruder to tone it down or homogenize it because the Kente Kloth Klan (the Black KKK) can’t stand media depictions of black people that are not as educated as they, and because they feel their image is the “positive” image of black people. For them to commandeer my entertainment and media representation is audacious.
[The audio version is more ...uhm, interesting even than the print article using terms like ‘uppity negroes’...]
Cultural Artifacts • (1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Link This
Buh. Bye.
more than 2,000 people of all ages — many of them clad in Crips blue — who gathered at the House of Winston Mortuary on South Vermont Avenue ... filing past the casket Monday, the gray-bearded gentleman in the tailored gray suit and silk tie bore little resemblance to the man they remembered as the muscle-bound, fearsome Crips co-founder, Stanley Tookie Williams.
*bzzzzt* “Gentlemen” do not shotgun a man in the back and then mock the sounds he makes while dying.
Marijuana smoke wafted through the air as sport utility vehicles with 20-inch rims cruised past, rap music blaring at full volume.
Adding tension to the activities in Williams’ old Crips neighborhood, members of traditional rival Blood gangs took their place in line under the watchful eye of Los Angeles police officers across the street.
Goodfellas, anyone?
On a crowded street corner a few yards away, a group of young men wearing blue jerseys and ball caps flashed gang signs at a passing vehicle, then charged into the street and tossed a bottle at it.
Others handed out posters of Williams behind bars. One boasted out loud to no one in particular: “Thirty-five years ago, who was closest to Tookie? Me. Right here. Me!”
Cedric Mosely, 50, actually was among an inner circle of original Crips who, like Williams, idolized Al Capone, wore a trench coat and black Stetson, walked with a cane and enjoyed watching 1930s-era gangster movies starring Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney.
*eye roll*
[According to] Williams’ final wishes — which he refused to share with San Quentin’s warden before he was executed — ... he will be cremated and his ashes scattered in South Africa.
...where he’s never been and likely couldn’t find on a map.
Among those expected to attend [the Tookmeister’s funeral today in LA]: Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was with Williams shortly before his death; Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, as well as hip-hop artist [and Crip] Snoop Dogg.
The service is slated to include a five-minute video tribute by documentary filmmaker Jonathan Stack and speeches by motivational guru Tony Robbins and actor Jamie Foxx
Tony Robbins?!?!?
“He was, like, the most Crip-ness,” said Bruce Ball, 36, a former Crip who goes by the name Cika. “He was one of the first. I’m retired, but the Cripping is still in my heart. Of course I’m going to come and see my boy."
Guess ‘Cika’ missed those ‘children’s books’ the Tookster ‘wrote.’
Less than a half-mile from the mortuary is a Western Motel ...On March 11, 1979, the motel was known as the Bookhaven - the site where Williams broke through the office door and robbed and killed motel owners Yen-I Yang, 76, and Tsai-Shai Yang, 63, and their daughter Yee-Chen Lin, 43.
..."This was his neighborhood, and he had a long journey that began here,” said Najee Ali, a former Crip who now runs Project Islamic Hope. “Along that journey, some bad things happened. But at the end of the journey, he did amazing things. It’s not where you start at, it’s where you end at.
yeah. Those ‘bad things’ just ‘happened...’
“I grew up looking up toward Tookie,” said Mike Graham, 35, a Crip who calls himself Big Maniac and met Williams while serving time in San Quentin. “He was a legend. We’re putting to rest a legend.
“I patterned my life after him. Now, I’m trying to do positive things for the kids. I’m trying to spread his message in the streets."
Thus coining the phrase, “Dumber ‘n’ a Crip”
Saddam McQueen and the Big Motorbike Escape - Betrayed!!!!!
“I don’t mind being killed. There will always be another Saddam.” alrighty, thennn
Ramsey Clark said: “Saddam doesn’t have any money and even if he had, I wouldn’t accept it.”
“Mind of a Madman”, indeed.
A BRITISH plastic surgeon has been teaching Iraqi medics how to reconstruct ears — to help restore more than 1,300 lost in acts of punishment by Saddam
.
"... this guy walks into a bar with a duck on his head ..." • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Link This
Saturday, December 17, 2005
"It's not a bug -- it's a feature!!"
Diversity Perversity taken to its ultimate logical conclusion
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said yesterday that Democrats should not seek a unified position on an exit strategy in Iraq, calling the war a matter of individual conscience and saying differing positions within the caucus are a source of strength for the party.
[emph mine e-C]
*flips pages* lessee… partypartyparty.... aha! here ‘tis
PARTY: An established political group organized to promote and support its principles and candidates
Used in a sentence: Being unburdened by the weighty baggage of principles or Values, the Dhimmocrap Party is light, lean and able to assume any random position at a moment’s notice.
*flips pages* gotcha.
"There is no one Democratic voice . . . and there is no one Democratic position,” Pelosi said...
..we were gonna mention that, Nanc, but....
"As for Iraq policy, at the right time, we’ll have a position."
...or twelve. Right after any significant event.
Pelosi said she had not consulted with Dean or Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) before taking her position. [no kiddin’...] Her action angered some Democrats, who believed it left the party vulnerable to criticism from the Republicans, but cheered the party’s antiwar activists who want party leaders to challenge Bush more vigorously
Ready… Aim…
VDH: The Islamists insist, “We kill you for being soft.” Westerners in response feel, “We are killed because we are not being soft enough.” [RTWT]
MORE: oferhevinsake.....
YET MORE:
Chris Muir—brilliant as usual
Friday, December 16, 2005
Our new Brothers in Democracy!
they’re catching on fast....
In Ramadi, Fallujah and Tikrit , armed groups distributed leaflets warning Al Qaeda not to attack polling stations. Bearing the signatures of groups claiming loyalty to deposed President Saddam Hussein, the leaflets instead called for mass voting.
11 million of the 15 million registered voters turned up at the polls. That’s 73 percent turnout.
FALLUJAH, Iraq — Nearly a third of the polling stations in this former insurgent bastion didn’t get ballot boxes and there weren’t enough ballots, forcing authorities to turn away some Sunni Arabs who joined the rush to vote Thursday. ...There were also problems with some voters having their names left off registration lists
Arabic MSM reporters caught two men in the street chanting “Bush stole the election!!”
Real-time, on-the-scene reporting at Iraq the Model. It’ll give yer day a lift. [but not Murtha’s, Dean’s, Kerry’s, Reid’s, Levin’s… hmm; maybe we oughta participate in an election.... ]
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Nooobody Knows the Truffles I've Seen....
deilciosity in photographed for your delectation and amusement
THE BASICS:
2 parts chocolate
1 part heavy fresh cream
UPDATE: This year I increased the cream, using 6 - 7 oz of cream to the 9.7 oz in a SB bar. MMMMmmmm creamier!
Grate chocolate.
Scald cream. Then add 1 1/2t real vanilla and 1/2 t real almond essence [makes the chocolate chocolatier]. Pour cream onto chocolate and stir gently with wire whisk until blended and shiny and pretty. Place clingy wrap directly on the top of the chocolate sealing out air.
Go away. Come back later.
Truffle mix will be firm. Use melon baller to make small, oddly shaped balls and drop into pie tin of cocoa. Roll ‘em around til covered. Place into little ruffled foil cups.
**This year’s variation: I found little foil squares to wrap the truffles in. More on this to come… *crosses fingers*
UPDATE: Foil squares are the bestest—keeps everything fresher even than just storing in a zippy bag or plastic burpee box.
After wrapping, I’ve stored them in large zippy bags until it’s time to box ‘em up on 12/23 or so.
Prepare to accept adulation of adoring fans.
PHOTO GALLERY
The only kind of chocolate worth eating
Chocolate Grating in action [makes the most unimaginably wonderful scent—like fine wine, only better]
Chocolate grated
It will turn all shiny and creamy when the cream is added and stirred with the whisk
If you want to have an orange flavor, add about a cup or so—to taste—of this
For a coffee/mocha flavor, scald the cream and throw in 3/4 Cup fresh roughly ground coffee beans and let steep for 20 minutes or so. Strain a couple of times. don’t worry about the tiniest bits. [and the resulting cream will be strong and, if you’re a coffee junkie, beyond delicious. *cough*SK*cough* And if you’re not a coffee lover, whyinhell wouldja be making this?!?]
This process took about 1/3 of the total amount of cream away so I added more and re-scalded it before adding to grated chocolate.
Once the truffle stuffle is solid [coupla-few hours - overnight] use a melon baller [or any spoon] to get little bite-sized bits up and roll ‘em around in your hands to make irregularly shaped balls. Plop ‘em in a dish with cocoa.
Like this
Here they are—all done and in their little cups. Note the two cups with the candied orange peels and candied ginger.
Life in The Country™ • (8) Comments • (1) Trackbacks • Link This
Sounds to me...
like *someone* is tryin’ to pick a fight...
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:
“They have fabricated a legend under the name ‘Massacre of the Jews’, and they hold it higher than God himself, religion itself and the prophets themselves,"
Keeping Score on Terrorists • (1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Link This
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Aw fer cryin' out loud
thanks to tipsters, I now know...
Barebum Buckskin Boring Bullshit Mountain is about sheep herders?!?!?!?!?????
In that case, to my whole outrage thingie a while ago: nev-er-miiind…
Yanno how ya tell a pimp in Missoula?
He’s the fella standing on the corner with a sheep under each arm.
ba dump bump
What does a sheep herder get for his 16th birthday?
Velcro gloves.
*rimshot*
[did anyone hear about last year’s movie, The Woodsman?]
More:
ThanQ! A1:
I said, SHEEPboys are not cowboys!!
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{/if}
