Month: May 2005

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Quick Cheese Popcorn

[BUMP!]
 
A simple snack
 
This one takes much longer to describe than to do. Really simple stuff this week, cos Wonder Woman’s cut n paste job at the cardio’s  is tomorrow was today. (Went well, her pacemaker/defibrilator is removed!)
 
Quick Cheese Popcorn
 
Ingredients
 
1 bag low-fat microwave popcorn (you’ll be adding oil later)
1 package cheese powder (from mac n cheese box mix)
oil
 
Equipment/tools
 
Microwave oven
Large bowl with lid
Pump aerosol sprayer (with your fav oil)
 
Prep
 
Pop the popcorn (There, now, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Bag in microwave, hit “Popcorn,” hard part over.)
Place popped corn in large bowl
Spray with oil (I prefer olive oil)
Cover with lid and shake to spread the oil around
Open, sprinkle with cheese powder–maybe 1/4 of the package
Cover and shake
Remove cover and eat.
 
Hard, huh?
 
Sometimes I’ll take dried serano (or other) peppers and whiz them in my “spices-only” coffee grinder, take the powder and add it to the cheese. Or maybe do the same to some parmesan cheese to add some parmesan powder to the mix. 
 
And yes, you can melt butter, drizzle it on the pocorn and then shake it up before adding the cheese powder, but why?  Butter flavor’s nice, but this is supposed to be quick and easy . And spraying it with your fav oil dispensed from one of those neat lil pump-up aerosol sprayers is as easy as it gets.
 
Next week” My fav fruit salad: “Mocking Wussie Waldorf Salads Salad.”
 

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Cardio-non-blogging today

[BUMP!]
 
Today’s the day…
 
[posing this early, but dating it tomorrow]
 
UPDATE: Procedure went well. Time in cardio recovery unit extended a bit, cos they gave her a larger dose of “happy juice.”  Still, home 2night.  Feeling well, back tomorrow for followup, then another in next 10 days or so.
 
Anyone have suggestions for selling a used pacemaker/defibrillator?  :-)  Ebay?  *VBG*
 
[UPDATED ABOVE] And while I can say it is good to know that Wonder Woman’s heart is operating at “better than normal” capacity, now, and that her last three stress tests have come back “clean, cleaner and cleanest,” it’s still always a tad stressful to tender her to the care of others for a surgical procedure, even if it is a simple “pull the device and cap the leads” procedure under a local anesthetic…
 
(There.  Was that sentence long enough to bump my Gunning Fog Index to the next level?)
 
Scheduled for 8:00; only want her there a half-hour before the procedure. She’ll be under observation for a couple of hours afterward and we’ll likely be back (with her having an opportunity for some rest) by noon-thirty.
 
I’ll be a wreck.
 
🙂
 
So it goes…
 
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Browser Wars Redux

A recent PC Magazine article had me shaking my head in amazement… at the stupidity of the author
 

Better than Internet Exploder?
Not even on the same planet.
Better than Firefox?
Yeh. By at least an order of magnitude. 
 
The PC Mag article, “ Make Your Browser Better ,” assumed that the reader would be attempting to improve Microsoft’s Internet Exploder or Mozilla.org’s Firefox—by adding functionality via add-on software, plugins or extensions.
 
OK, I’m not going to deal with the lame attempts to add junk onto Internet Exploder, since anyone who’s still using it as their primary browser pretty much deserves what it yields in the way of a crippled interface/functionality and lack of secueity for their internet experience.  Anyone who hasn’t upgraded to a better browser by now, buh-bye!
 
But for those of y’all who have been suckered by the apparent Firefox bandwagon, here’s some news: every roundup I’ve seen so far of Firefox improvements and extensions (things to download and install separate from the browser itself), including the referenced article at PC Magazine, has been replete with tools to add functions that come built into Opera, right off a fresh install!  
 
Yeh. Want the ability to highlight a word in a web page and look it up? Download and install an extension for Firefox (usually requiring a restart of Firefox–some require a reboot of your system!).  OR, just do it in Opera, cos that’s built into the software–but not just a dictionary lookup, with the same context menu, you can choose to look in encyclopedia entries, a google (or other) search, have Opera speak the highlighted text or any of a number of other options.  And you can add to that context list… without having to download and install additional software.
 
Addblock?  Sure, you can download and install a special extension for Firefox to do that.  Big. Stinking. Deal. I blocked the ads on PC Magazine’s website using a lil addition to Opera’s default CSS file.
 
Want to customize tabbed browsing and placement for toolbars?  Right.  With Firefox, you have to… download another blasted extension, install it, yadayadayada.  Opera? It’s built in.
 
Even something as essential (well, it’s become essential to me ever since Opera introduced it several versions ago along with tabbed browsing) as mouse gestures is an add-in for Firefox users.  And even there, you have to choose between competing extensions that do the same darned things! *sheesh!* Opera?  You guessed it.  User configurable.  You can toggle mouse gestures on/off.  The first time Opera notices you making something that it recognizes as a mouse gesture, it asks if you want to use mouse gestures. 
 
Oh, tons more usability features that are standard in a 3.8 megabyte download of Opera that are not included in a Firefox download that’s more than 50% bigger.  Voice recognition capability/commands? Built in. (N/A in Firefox) Image zoom? Built in. (An add-on with Firefox) The list just goes on…
 
Firefox: compared to Internet Exploder it’s wonderful.  Compared to Opera, it’s just so-so.
 
Download Opera
 
Oh, and browser speed?  Check this page, if you have the time to read through a lengthy research project.  Conclusions? Generally, Opera is the fastest web browser for Windows users and in the top 2 or 3 for Mac and Linux users for speed.  With compelling speed, a full feature set, fresh on install, almost unlimited customizability (for those who, like me, want that) and rock solid security, what’s not to like?
 
Oh, the fact that registered versions are $39 and unregistered versions have small text (or graphic–your choice) ads inserted at the top menubar space? Pfft.  I use the ad-supported version now, and I have more usable viewing space than when I use either Firefox or *spit* Internet Exploder.
 
(For the next few days, expect some of these canned posts, written up, saved and ready for posting. Probably not much over next few days’ll be current events related. Time. Other things.)

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“Drink up!”

 
heh
 
Well, if he’s got taste that’s bad enough to drink either of those “beers” he probably got what he deserved… Nah.  Getting fired for drinking a competition’s “product” while off the clock and out of uniform is just flat wrong, even if he did drink one of the few beers that tastes worse than Budweiser’s p***-poor offerings.
 
Read Whizbang!’s post and the comments, and you decide.
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“Sue the bastards!”

Too rich to pass up…
 
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Afghanistan’s government said Tuesday that Newsweek should be held responsible for damages caused by deadly anti-American demonstrations after the magazine alleged U.S. desecration of the Quran, and it suggested that foreign forces may have helped turn protests violent.
 
Pakistan joined the international criticism of the magazine’s article and said Newsweek’s apology and retraction were “not enough.”  – MyWay News
 
 
And from the Daily Star, a Lebanese paper, this statement,
“They (Newsweek) should understand the sentiments of Muslims and think 101 times before publishing news which hurt feelings of Muslims.”–Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad
Well, pardon me, bubba, but how about sentiments of Christians when Islamic camel lovers used pages from Bibles as toilet paper after taking (and trashing) the Church of the Nativity in 2002? Oh.  No riots and murders by Christians as retaliation?  Maybe that’s because one of the differences between Islam and Christianity is that the normative influence of Christianity is toward more civilized behavior and the normative influence of Islam is toward brutality and barbarity.
 
Gee, I’m really concerned about the sensitivity of Islamic barbarians who murder women for walking without a keeper or for having been forceably raped. Blech.  Let them eat cake.  Made with pork fat.  (And may they choke.)
 
[UPDATE: more sympathy for the devil(s)]
 
The Wall Stree Journal’s Claudia Rossett offers a little perspective:
 

“Let’s pause right there. We are hearing that Muslims, infuriated by a report of blasphemy, went on violent rampages that resulted in . . . dead Muslims and burned mosques. Meanwhile, not only is Newsweek apologizing and retracting, but the U.S. government is regretting the loss of life.”

 
Yeh.  Concerned about desecration of their so-called “holy book” Muslim savages… kill other Muslims and burn mosques (in which we must assume no Korans were kept, eh?). Here’s a little sympathy for these devils: Give ’em all C4 suppositories.
 

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The Wicked Witch of the West Hexes Jeff Jarvis

Do not walk, RUN to Dan Riehl’s Riehl World View for a look…
 
…at Arianna Huffington “hexing” Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine.
 
And while you’re at it, bookmark or blogroll Dan’s site and make it a daily read, ‘K?
 
(For the next few days, expect some of these short or canned posts. Probably not much over next few days’ll be current events related. Time. Other things.)

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Google-Bomb Newsweek with “Korangate”

No commentary from me, just a reproduction of the post from Cao’s Blog

There’s commentary aplenty all over the blogosphere.  Just follow Cao’s instructions and Googlebomb NewsweAk with “ Korangate “

+++++++++++++++++From Cao’s Blog+++++++++++++++++

John C.A. Bambaneck

Newsweek needs to be held accountable that’s why I’m asking that everyone link (i.e. Googlebomb) to Newsweek with the word “ Korangate ” in the text.

Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate
Korangate

OK, an update: Whizbang! has an interesting observation in “Newsweek’s Hail Mary?”  Yeh, I wouldn’t put it past NewsweAk trying to incite some Koran burning…  

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
 
(For the next few days, expect some of these canned posts, written up, saved and ready for posting with a few mods thrown in like this one. Probably not much over next few days’ll be current events related. Time. Other things.)

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The Cows

  This isn’t new, but it’s… cropping up again.  heh

For those of y’all who’ve experienced the so-called “worship wars” in your local churches, this lil cautionary tale:

 
“The Cows Are in the Corn”

(“First Verse”)

What is a chorus?

An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.

“Well,” said the farmer, “It was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns.”

“Praise choruses,” said his wife, “What are those?”

“Oh, they’re okay. They’re sort of like hymns, only different,” said the farmer.

“Well, what’s the difference?” asked his wife.

The farmer said, “Well it’s like this: If I were to say to you: ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ well, that would be a hymn. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you:

 
‘Martha, Martha, Martha,
Oh, Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA,
the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows, the white cows, the black and white cows,
the COWS, COWS, COWS are in the corn,
are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, the CORN, CORN, CORN.’

Then, if I were to repeat the whole thing two or three times, well that would be a praise chorus.”

(“Second Verse”)

What is a Hymn?

A young, new Christian went to his local church usually, but one weekend attended a church in the city. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.

“Well,” said the young man, “It was good. They did something different, however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs.”

“Hymns,” said his wife, “What are those?”

“Oh, they’re okay. They’re sort of like regular songs, only different,” said the young man.

“Well, what’s the difference?” asked his wife.

The young man said, “Well it’s like this: If I were to say to you, ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ well that would be a regular song.

If, on the other hand, I were to say to you:

‘Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry.
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth.
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
to the righteous, inimitable, glorious truth.

For the way of the animals who can explain;
There in their heads is no shadow of sense.
Hearkenest they in God’s sun or his rain
unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.

Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight,
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed.
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night,
they all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn have chewed.

So look to that bright shining day by and by,
where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn,
where no vicious animal makes my soul cry
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn.’

“Then, if I were to do only verses 1, 3, and 4, and do a key change on the last verse, well, that would be a hymn.”

(For the next few days, expect some of these canned posts, written up, saved and ready for posting. Probably not much over next few days’ll be current events related. Time. Other things.)

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On biblical illiteracy

[BUMP!—see update, below]
If the cornerstone is crumbling, what of the building it once upheld?
 
Interesting piece in The Weekly Standard . In his article “ Bible Illiteracy in America ,” David Gelernter outlines the historical impact the Bible has had on America and hints at what the future may hold for a biblically illiterate people. Thought-provoking.  A taste:
 
“THE GENEVA BIBLE became and remained the Puritans’ favorite. It had marginal notes that Puritans liked–but King James and the Church of England deemed them obnoxious. The notes were anti-monarchy and pro-republic–“untrue, seditious, and savouring too much of dangerous and traitorous conceits,” the king said. Under his sponsorship a new Bible was prepared (without interpretive notes) by 47 of the best scholars in the land. The King James version appeared in 1611–intended merely as a modest improvement over previous translations. But it happened to be a literary masterpiece of stupendous proportions. Purely on artistic grounds it ranks with Homer, Dante, Shakespeare–Western literature’s greatest achievements. In terms of influence and importance, it flattens the other three.”
 
Oh, and Gelernter also briefly points out where to lay the axe to the common lies about Puritans, as well.  Of course, since most Americans are as historically illiterate as they are biblically illiterate, little of what Gelernter says will have much context for most folks.
 
A society with no sense of its own history will lurch from one faddish thought to another without any genuine critical faculty to assess what is good or ill. Gelenter’s article points out one of the important anchors we have cast away, resulting in just that very cultural character: rootless, we are “blown by every wind of teaching…”
 
Monday doldrums or simply recognizing the fact that my children will have to survive as adults in a land of illiterate pagans?
 
*sigh*
 
Buried deeply in the (very lengthy) afterward to the article are gems like this one:
 
“College students today are (spiritually speaking) the driest timber I have ever come across. Mostly they know little or nothing about religion; little or nothing about Americanism. Mostly no one ever speaks to them about truth and beauty, or nobility or honor or greatness. They are empty–spiritually bone dry–because no one has ever bothered to give them anything spiritual that is worth having. Platitudes about diversity and tolerance and multiculturalism are thin gruel for intellectually growing young people.”
 
Indeed.
 
[UPDATE] See Romeocat’s post today touching on this subject.
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Kipling Tuesday Today

A few thoughts not comprehensible to DUmmies and Moore-ons
 
Justice
Rudyard Kipling
October, 1918
 
Across a world where all men grieve
And grieving strive the more,
The great days range like tides and leave
Our dead on every shore.
Heavy the load we undergo,
And our own hands prepare,
If we have parley with the foe,
The load our sons must bear.
 
Before we loose the word
That bids new worlds to birth,
Needs must we loosen first the sword
Of Justice upon earth;
Or else all else is vain
Since life on earth began,
And the spent world sinks back again
Hopeless of God and Man.
 
A People and their King
Through ancient sin grown strong,
Because they feared no reckoning
Would set no bound to wrong;
But now their hour is past,
And we who bore it find
Evil Incarnate hell at last
To answer to mankind.
 
For agony and spoil
Of nations beat to dust,
For poisoned air and tortured soil
And cold, commanded lust,
And every secret woe
The shuddering waters saw —
Willed and fulfilled by high and low —
Let them relearn the Law:
That when the dooms are read,
Not high nor low shall say: —
“My haughty or my humble head
Has saved me in this day.”
 
That, till the end of time,
Their remnant shall recall
Their fathers’ old, confederate crime
Availed them not at all:
That neither schools nor priests,
Nor Kings may build again
A people with the heart of beasts
Made wise concerning men.
Whereby our dead shall sleep
In honour, unbetrayed,
And we in faith and honour keep
That peace for which they paid.