Mon, 27 Apr 2009
Today's topic for discussion is:
| An appetizer idea: cream cheese (block) covered in steak sauce. |
Presenting: Memetic Hazards.
| Someone has taken up the cause of defining memetic hazards, in the wake of creating a warning sign/label for such dangers. This person has followed with rudimentary instructions on "brain bleaching", a valuable survival skill in modern times. |
Sun, 26 Apr 2009
Epidemic 2.0
Since its first sighting on April 13, the new Swine Flu has spread from Mexico to California, Kansas, New York City, and New Zealand. Basically, anyone who took a flight to the affected parts of Mexico in the past two weeks has likely been exposed to the bug, and the virus is probably spreading around. The bug is too contagious to really control; hopefully the mortality rates will stay low (68-81/1000+ is anywhere from <1% to 8%, depending on the size of the '+').
The interesting part is how this epidemic will be tracked in real-time. World Wide Web, meet worldwide outbreak.
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Today's topic for discussion is:
| Favorite Grain: Rice, Wheat, Corn, Barley, or Millet? |
Sat, 25 Apr 2009
Today's topic for discussion is:
BBQ in Morningside?
Vine was one of the first casualties of last year's economic crisis, as a good portion of its clientele found itself much, much less wealthy in the wake of the market meltdown. Last week, I noticed that work is being done on the place, and the grapevine (pun intended) said...
Barbecue. My response was dread-laced optimism, as the thought of easily-accessible 'cue, mixes with the fear of what happens when 'fancy' enters the equation (e.g., Alpharetta's Smokehouse). In either event, I'm not sure how the neighborhood is going to react, once they start waking up to the smell of roasting meats. |
Thu, 23 Apr 2009
Changing Brands for Changing Times
| I finally got over to Food 101 this week, and found their Morningside location is undergoing rebranding. Due to be complete in July, the place will now be known as Rosebud. Apparently, the menus, patrons, and settings differ enough to split the brand. |
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch...
| Atlanta Unfiltered is having a field day with public records. (Fmr. Dekalb sheriff) Terrell Bolton's falsified evidence records, (Current GA House Speaker) Glenn Richardson's $600k in campaign contributions for an uncontested election, and a "salary du jour" section. I'm seriously thinking about sending this guy a donation.
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Today's topic for discussion is:
Wed, 22 Apr 2009
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Anyone want a cheap hangout? The Clermont Hotel (incl. the Lounge) is up for sale, with a $6.5 Million list price. |
Mon, 20 Apr 2009
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Favorite Carnival Food: Fried Snickers, Fried Coca-Cola, Fried Twinkie |
Dogwood Festival '09
The rain held off as long as it could, and is just now starting to fall with authority at 8pm. This is not-so-great news for people who are wrapping up their booths and cleaning up the park, but made for a wonderful, slightly cool Sunday for the Dogwood and Sweetwater festivals.
As far as favorite artists go, I was overrun, ending up with over 60 cards and scribbles to sort through. Talk about information overload! I'll organize my favorites in batches, by media, and will save my favorite artist (across all media) for last. I'll also pare down the list, probably to the 30-35 range.
I'll also bring up a brief conversation I had with a bartender last night; we decided that today's lack of classics has been brought about by the oversupply of both information and artists. How many true masterpieces remain yet to be discovered, just because today's signal/noise ratio is too low? I'm leaving out the obvious counter-question, of course.
Aside from wandering all over the art booths like a drunken ant, I had a concrete goal to sample carnival food. It's been years since I've eaten tasty bits of oh-so-bad-for-you food; since the last Music Midtown, to be exact. My goals were largely achieved: I gnawed on both a Corn Dog, Crab Cake, and Smoked Turkey Leg, at various points over the weekend. The crab cake was delicious. The funnel cake was a lie, however, as I could not bring myself to eat one. |
Fri, 17 Apr 2009
All sorts of things are going on this weekend:
- The 73rd Annual Dogwood Festival, as mentioned earlier, in Piedmont Park.
- The Sweetwater 420 Festival, in Candler Park.
- Saturday is another Derby Day at the Shrine, as Atlanta Rollergirls take on Memphis. (Tickets seem to be available at this late date).
- The High Museum's First Emperor exhibit ends Sunday.
- Sunday night has the Hawks and Heat starting their first-round playoff matchup, at Phillips Arena.
I've just returned from day 1 of the Dogwood Festival; there might actually be 270 artist booths throughout the park. I'll have a report, sometime around May. :D I have also found decent deals, and might actually pick up a piece or three.
As is, my object for tomorrow are (a) a grilled turkey leg, and (b) funnel cakes. I've never tried the former, and it's been close to 30 years since I've tried the latter.
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Today's topic for discussion is:
Creve!
I heard a faint hissing noise earlier yesterday, and couldn't decide whether it was noise from someone in the main house running a shower or some new noise one of the machines had come up with. When I got home from the bar last night, the noise was louder, standing out a bit more in the quiet of night.
At first, I thought it was gas, but no smell led me to: a small water leak, where the intake line meets the slab. It is spraying into the wall, piddling all over my weekend like an incontinent dog. |
Thu, 16 Apr 2009
Collecting Dividends
Guess which newspaper just fired their graphics department? Hm...
[screencapped from today's story; I apologize for any eyestrain this may cause.] |
Today's topic for discussion is:
Back to Par?
The Braves helped found the National League, back in 1876, having played five prior seasons in the National Association. The franchise has not been over .500 to end a season since 1922, the first of three consecutive 100-loss seasons. June 3, 1923 is the last time the (Boston) Braves were at the waterline.
The most recent franchise low, 523 games under, was reached at the end of the 1990 season. Fourteen division titles later, that record was all but balanced, and the recent years of middling performance (and last year's relative debacle) leave the club a 'scant' 36 games underwater, with a high point of -18, set on September 25, 2007.
As of last night's loss to the Marlins, the home side has a franchise record of 9,773-9,810, between Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta. 2011 will produce win and loss #10,000, along with the 20,000th Braves Game. That's a lot of baseball (and a lot of post-game movies :-) |
Tue, 14 Apr 2009
Today's topic for discussion is:
Mon, 13 Apr 2009
Reflections on Eater Sunday
This is one of the most difficult posts I've had to write yet.
I have a lot weighing on my mind right now. Specifically, I'm under weight of the chocolate-chip brownie layer cake (with homemade chocolate frosting) which followed the meatloaf, turkey, quinoa salad, black-eye peas, and (Alon's) bread pudding. And then, there were the sangrias I drank later in the evening. By all rights, I should be on the couch, with a wireless keyboard, staring at a ceiling-projected display.
Seriously, I think I gained 5 pounds today. I might eat before Wednesday, probably not. :-)
So, here's the quinoa (that's KEEN-wah, for the advanced-level White People among us) salad recipe, which was an actual success [specifics in square brackets]:
- 1 c. quinoa, dry [Bob's Red Mill]
- 3 c. water
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 1 celery stalk
- 4 green onions
- 1/4 c. fresh oregano leaves
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- dash salt & pepper
- 3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp. honey
- grated parmesan, to taste
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- Boil quinoa for 12 minutes, let stand for another 15 or so [Note: package calls for 2:1 water:grain, I found that a cup short for my purposes].
- Chop/dice all veggies while the grain soaks.
- Mix honey and vinegar.
- Rinse quinoa w/ cold water, reserve 1 tbsp or more.
- Preheat skillet with olive oil.
- Mix quinoa and veggies in an appropriately-sized bowl. [Hash/cut the mix with a spatula]
- Fry the reserved quinoa, until brown.
- Hash in the fried quinoa, parmesan, salt, and pepper.
- chill until ready to serve.
And y'all thought I misspelled 'Easter'. |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Monday is for rainy days. |
Presenting: the Tagball.
| More cool toys: WP Cumulus, a flash plugin for Wordpress. The author calls it a tag cloud, it's actually a ball. |
Sun, 12 Apr 2009
Advent of the Future: (Truly) Cellular Computing
| Siftables, from MIT, is the coolest, most intuitive, mind-blowing computing development I've seen in a long time. |
Today's topic for discussion is:
Fri, 10 Apr 2009
Today's topic for discussion is:
Mmrf, mrrf mrfm...Nay.
| The General Assembly should take notes from their counterparts in West Virginia, who killed an ingredients labeling bill while scarfing down biscuits and doughnuts. Hey, at least the doughnuts were Krispy Kreme. |
Thu, 09 Apr 2009
The Other Shoe Falls
| R.I.P, Dave Arneson (at least until we can level the cleric, anyway). |
Open Wide! (Part 1 of a Series)
And so, I actually made my first visit to a dentist in about...20 years. :-(
I shouldn't frown, considering two decades have only produced one new cavity; I will end up having most of my fillings replaced, however. My teeth are in relatively good shape, but scalers are still the devil's tools, I hate them with the fury of a thousand suns, and I will be feeling their effects for the next day or two. And next week, and the week after.
The good news is all the cool tech that's associated with dentistry these days. If I can scam some pictures out of this practice, I'll post them. |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| We must dissent! {this is actually more valid than what passes for "dissent" nowadays}. |
Mon, 06 Apr 2009
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Savory Exposure: a recent blog. Photographers and restaurants are a great combination. |
Sat, 04 Apr 2009
Today's topic for discussion is:
| GA income tax is state-level deductible, if it's itemized federally. WTF. |
Fri, 03 Apr 2009
Today's topic for discussion is:
Harrah's Cherokee has E-Poker
Poker games are now being held three hours away from Atlanta, with the installation of five electronic poker tables [PDF] at Harrah's Cherokee. [h/t Sara]
I am intrigued by this tech, and frankly, was wondering when someone would roll out something like this. A trip to NC is now in order for May. :D |
Thu, 02 Apr 2009
Today's topic for discussion is:
| The dark of night is a perfect time to pay overhead tax -- HR CBTs and documentation version cleanup. |
