Sunday, December 30, 2007

Hot Sauce!

I got up this morning, and started making hot sauce.

I made a spicy barbecue sauce.
I made an Asian spicy dipping sauce.
I made a general-purpose flavorful hot sauce.

Last night, I made a small bottle's worth of flavorful but intensely spicy mustard-based hot sauce for a coworker.

Sadly, I am bottle deficient. Now, I'm asking my coworkers for any small glass bottles they have...

Saturday, December 29, 2007

I Am Legend

I knew almost nothing about I Am Legend, except that Will Smith was the lead. Jordy told me that Will Smith played the last man on Earth. I was reminded of Children of Men, except with a single male and unknown numbers of female inhabitants instead of a well-populated, infertile adult population.

I like Will Smith, and I automatically give any movie with Will an extra half a star rating. (Full disclosure statement.) If you don't know anything about this movie, stop reading. Go see it. You'll thank me.






Still here? Minor spoilers follow. I was astonished (and delighted) to find the post-apocalyptic film I was watching featured vampires. Will Smith plays another superman, fitness-model buff scientist warrior Robert Neville. This is a much more full-flavored performance from Smith than the high-budget B flick Independence Day or unabashed money-making vehicles like Bad Boys.

These are the vampires the vamps in Thirty Days of Night wanted to be, vicious and utterly inhuman (but perhaps evolving). They do vocalize some, but since they no longer have human language skills, this actually makes some sense.

Great acting from Smith, excellent plot, pretty good gun handling, good special effects. And a dog, loveable Sam. This is a 4.5 out of 5 stars. They really don't get much better than that. See this film.

Rated PG-13 for intense action and genuine fright but little gore.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Holiday Musing

six pack Corona light
six pack Hoegaarden
2 24 oz Coors Lite
1 framboise lambic
750 ml spiced rum
700 ml coconut rum
500 ml amaretto
750 ml wine
...and two visits to the bar, where I discovered "Dirty Hos" (Hoergaarden and framboise lambic, a thing of wonder and beauty). As you see, I remember the important things about our minivacation to Helen, Georgia.


I'm kidding. I don't remember.



No, I'm still kidding. Jordy, Christina, Scott and I had a lovely time on our visit to Helen. I was occupied at the last minute, and couldn't place the books I have to finish the two incomplete courses remaining from this semester, so I wasn't able to bring study materials with me. Perhaps that's just as well. We had several nice days enjoying the fireplace and beautiful location, and visited Anna Ruby Falls again before we left.

I aced my three instructional technology courses, and have two history courses to complete. I plan on having that done before classes start again in two weeks (fingers crossed).

Happy holidays, everyone. Whatever you celebrate, be well, and I wish you love, joy, and peace.

Friday, December 14, 2007

I Don't Care Who You Are


That's funny, right there.

(And if it's NOT FUNNY to you, get an attitude adjustment, 'cuz yours is out of whack.)

Monday, December 10, 2007

Job Interview and Why the Flu?

I had an interview with the Richmond County Board of Education. Unfortunately, there seem to be no immediate openings for high school or junior high history teachers. This is a shame, because being employed as a teacher would have helped me in a number of ways, including financially.

In other news, The New York Times reports that scientists have figured out why the flu spreads more in winter. The flu is spread through the air in droplets. The droplets accumulate more moisture and fall to the ground under higher humidity conditions. Temperatures in the low 40s also seemed to be ideal for flu transmission.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Niceties and Dolts

I will get back to my frantic academic work soonest, but I thought I'd make a quick post first.

I've been fairly heavily involved on internet discussion boards since about 1998. I've been a moderator or admin on two large boards. I want to play nice with people, but some people...I guess I think that some people occasionally can't understand politely circuitous dialog. What's particularly irksome, is when disinformation is what the obtuse poster is passing along.

One of my least favorite pieces of "information" is the propaganda that if you, the righteous citizen or service member, ever have to kill another human being, you will be emotionally shattered. FOR EVAR. Rubbish. This nonsense is fairly akin to the idea that no-one can be trusted with dangerous weapons. It's just another attempt to convince dogs we're actually sheep, virtually powerless to defend ourselves, and doomed to eternal regret should that defense ever happen.

Hogwash. Often, what people believe will happen, is what happens. If you believe that protecting your family and getting to go to bed in one piece is a good result, and that no-one has the right to hurt you, a killing need not be devastating.

I am not saying that actions don't have consequences, and there could still be traumatic results ("How the hell do I get blood out of drapes?!"), but I don't think defensive violence necessitates severe emotional trauma. So, anyway, here's my recent post:

I'm sorry, sir, I cannot believe you.

I'm not trying to thump my chest any, and it certainly wasn't in a home defense situation, but this:
Quote:
Every shooter that downed a bad guy was devastated emotionally. Especially if the wound was fatal. You never get over it

Just doesn't ring true to me. I don't believe it a bit. Yeah, traumatic events can affect us, but I absolutely refuse to believe anyone "has" to be devastated for doing what needed to be done. This repeated assertion of yours, even more than the ridiculous suggestion to use birdshot (I have a friend who was shot point blank in the abdomen with birdshot, and walked to the doctor), leads me to ask that you either stop telling us about your fabulous life/work experiences, or email me some credentials.

John, with a stack of bodies to his credit this year...most days, don't even think about 'em...it's sad about the women and kids*, but the shooters shouldn't have hid behind their families.

*some details of this story are incorrect- for instance, the rocket (actually, two rockets) were fired at Tagab Fire Base, not Bagram 30 miles away, etc...


Quote:
My sympathies to those who haven't had enough of life's experiences to recognize that fact.

Could you get off the cross? The kids want the wood for a treehouse.

I mean, seriously. I'd like to believe almost everyone is well-intentioned here. But it's the intarwebs, so everyone's a SEEL Special Farces commando with 28 years of serving high-risk warrants from High Altitude, Low Opening flight vectars!!!!1111 So, if you have something worthwhile to say, say it, and don't get all hurt if everyone (or almost everyone) thinks their view is just as valid as the next anonymous guy.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Apologies

I can't describe exactly how far behind I am in my studies in a way that will sound believable. I'll be back with more rambling ranting soon enough. Stay tuned.

Oh- and the thought suddenly hit me- WHAM!- yesterday: I'm about to turn 36. And I still have no children.

HallowE09