November 19, 2003
Biscochitos
ingredients
6 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
2 cups shortening
1½ cups white sugar
2 tsp anise seed
2 eggs
¼ cup brandy
¼ cup white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1. Mix the ¼ cup sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. Set aside.
2. Sift flour with baking powder and salt.
3. Cream shortening with sugar and anise seeds until fluffy.
4. Beat in eggs one at a time.
5. Mix in flour and brandy until well blended.
6. Turn dough out on a floured board and pat or roll to ¼” or ½” thickness. Cut into shapes (the fleur-de-lis is traditional but I use a biscuit cutter and cut them in half).
7. Dust with the sugar cinnamon mixture.
8. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove immediately from baking sheets.
makes 3 dozen
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01:37 PM | category: Recipes
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I wound up with the dregs from Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt, which was apparently pieced together from his computer files after his death along with some previously published non-Hitchhiker work. I also picked up another Patrick O'Brien novel. Thanks Norbi for that suggestion (I think that was yours, right?), and for those who don't know, this series is the inspiration for the movie Master and Commander.
I'm going to wind up buying most of these I guess, although the last thing I need is more books. More bookshelves now, those I could use.
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07:38 AM | category: Square Pegs
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"Doctor's office called... Said Pabst beer is normal."
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November 18, 2003
It's going to be that, because I think I need to get a few things out there over the next few weeks. Because you might not want to read it, I'll just put the title as Seriously and the actual post in the extended entry. The plan is not to dwell on depressing miserable shit, but some of that may occasionally happen.
Comments, commiseration, quips, slams, mocking, etc. are cordially invited. more...
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11:54 AM | category: Seriously
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The gf, dog, rats, guinea pigs, and I will definitely be wishing her well on the fifth.
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08:51 AM | category: Links
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08:13 AM | category: Square Pegs
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like the boys with Ferrari's.
Girls don't like boys,
Girls like cars and money."
-- Good Charlotte
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07:20 AM | category: Waxing Lyrical
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November 17, 2003
Al points out a webring of sites owned and operated by military personnel.
Across the Atlantic. List of countries with troops in Iraq. How unilateral of us.
Every Monday, Jeff at Alphecca does a roundup of firearm related stories and some damn good analysis. WeÂ’re talking fair and balanced here, in itÂ’s original sense. Whatever your personal take on guns and related issues, you should visit him and read what he has to say. He also provides tons of links to sources.
Related to the above, Publicola relates the story of a woman who sees men with guns on her front porch. She shoots and wounds one of them, and is now being prosecuted because they were police SWAT team members preparing to break down her door unannounced. The first trial ended in a hung jury, but she faces the possibility of going through it all over again.
Being one of those twisted individuals who enjoys obscure and historical military trivia, I found this item at the Flea to be fascinating. Imagine being a member of one of the Canadian Tunneling Companies during World War IÂ…
Kelley has the new Cul-de-Sac up. Good links to several blogs IÂ’ve mentioned before, so if you didnÂ’t believe me, trust her. She also includes fellow-Munuvian Heather, of Angelweave fame.
Thanks to Jay at Sophont, we now know that art is shit. And vice versa. I'm so glad we've learned to synthetically produce that, because I live near Washington DC, and if the Saudis can run short of sand...
Let's finish up with a cool little optical illusion, courtesy of Jockularocracy.
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12:29 PM | category: Links
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2. You make over $250,000 and still can't afford a house.
3. You take a bus and are shocked at 2 people carrying on a conversation in English.
4. Your child's 3rd grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Breeze.
5. You can't remember...is pot illegal?
6. You've been to a baby shower that has two mothers and a sperm donor.
7. You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown and can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian.
8. You know which restaurant serves the freshest arugula.
9. You can't remember.....is pot illegal?
10. A really great parking space can move you to tears.
11. A low speed pursuit will interrupt ANY TV broadcast.
12. Gas cost 75 cents per gallon more than anywhere else in the U.S.
13. A man gets on the bus in full leather regalia and crotchless chaps. You don't even notice.
14. Unlike back home, the guy at 8:30 am at Starbucks wearing the baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney IS George Clooney.
15. Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment.
16. Your hairdresser is straight, your plumber is gay, the woman who delivers your mail is into S & M and your Avon rep is a guy in drag.
17. You can't remember...is pot illegal?
18. It's sprinkling and there's a report on every news station about "STORM WATCH 2003."
19. You have to leave the big company meeting early because Billy Blanks himself is teaching the 4:00 PM Tae Bo class.
20. You pass an elementary school playground and the children are all busy with their cell phones or pagers.
21. It's sprinkling outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents.
22. Hey!!!! Is Pot Illegal????
23. You AND your dog have therapists.
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08:46 AM | category: Square Pegs
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That's right, they build models of warships that have working guns. Most of the ships are at 1:96 scale or better, meaning that a scale WWII aircraft carrier like the Yorktown will be around six feet long.
There's a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions file) here with lots of information about this interesting hobby, including estimated starting costs and construction tips. My favorite part:
3. Do the ships actually sink?
Yes. There is no challenge otherwise.
The ships are built to rigid standards that ensure that they can be damaged easily and can be sunk if sufficient damage is sustained. Low-powered BB cannons are used to poke holes in the 1/32" balsa wood that is used on the hull of the ship. Ships also have homemade bilge pumps on-board that can be used to pump out as needed.
However, if the rate of incoming water exceeds the pumping rate, the ship will fill with water and eventually sink.
There's more information here at the Home Port of Big Gun RC Warship Combat. If you look around this site, you'll find a list of clubs in various areas of the US and around the world, as well as an extensive listing of materials suppliers and resources.
And if you look here, you'll find a list of links to many Australian battlegroups, among others.
Cool stuff, but the last thing I need is another expensive hobby.
Posted by: Ted at
07:40 AM | category: Links
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And I'd like to apologize to Rob, a good friend growing up, for having the serious hots for your mom back then. 
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07:25 AM | category: Square Pegs
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November 16, 2003
Even the traffic cooperated, and I made it to the launch site in record time. I'd planned to show up early to help set up the flying range anyway. About 15 minutes after I got there, the equipment trailer arrived and we got to work.
More help arrived and soon we had things ready to go. We had 7 low-power pads for Estes-sized stuff, a pair of pads slightly farther away for mid-power, and four high-power pads set up out away from the crowd.
We had a great crowd for this launch. There were several Team America teams from various schools, testing prototype egg-lofters. I've talked about them before, do a search of this site on 'Team America' for more info. I helped one group out who had never before flown a rocket. They showed up with a basic rocket, and I walked them through the prep and check-in after which they made a successful flight. They're going to do fine, they asked a lot of questions and spent the day watching people set up and fly more complex rockets. We also had a group of Boy Scouts. Lots and lots of kids, which is great.
There was also a reporter from the Wall Street Journal there, researching an article on recent government regulations and overreaction against various activities. I don't know when the article will appear or if he'll even mention it, but he got the whole story of the Air Munuviana and watched her with us.
First up for me was my original high-power rocket, an upscale of the old Centuri Groove Tube. I flew her on an H128 White Lightning motor for a perfect crowd-pleasing flight. Because the wind was so light, I put a 45" parachute on her and she managed to drift about a mile. I had to cross an icy-cold running spillway to get to the field she was in, and got glared at by some hunters in the treelines. On the way back, I hiked past a small pond and saw a beautiful swan floating there peaceful as could be. I took a couple of pictures with my crappy digital camera, but they don't do it justice.
That motor was my last solid-propellant high-power motor, and I needed to burn the rest of my stock before the first of the year, thanks to the BATFE and their ever-changing interpretation of the rules and regulations. (This paragraph brought to you by the 'hyphen'. Yay!)
Time for the Air Munuviana! Because of the complexity of this rocket, I have a checklist that I follow during the prep work, and I did do a couple of practice runs at home too. The nice thing about the checklist is that I can see exactly where I stopped if I get interupted, and with the number of folks at the launch, I got interupted often by people asking questions.
Oh yeah, the kids dubbed her the "Cow Rocket" and she drew great attention and lots of 'wows' even before flight.
I put together the hybrid motor (my first ever without assistance) and she was ready to fly. We took her out to the pad and pictures were taken. A minor problem with the nitrous venting was corrected and the countdown began.
Beauty! She took off straight as an arrow, coasted for a good while, and just after arching over at apogee the chute ejected perfectly and she floated down to a perfect landing about 200' from the pads.
That was so much fun, let's do it again! I hustled back to the truck and started to get Air Mu ready for another flight. That first one was on an H70, and I'd just gotten a new I80, which is twice as powerful and burns twice as long. Quick cleanup of the engine casing from the first flight, disassemble the electronics and reset everything for the next flight, put together the new motor and we're on our way out to the pads again. Once again shouts of "Cow Rocket!" are heard.
Everything goes smoothly this time with the nitrous fill and venting, but at ignition something goes wrong. The rocket is undamaged, and in fact it never left the pad. Back to the truck we go, amid many awwws and even a moooo or two.
Taking apart the motor showed us what happened. The pressure of the filling nitrous pushed the pre-heater grain down too far and when it ignited the nitrous just dumped out the nozzle instead of combusting with the fuel grain. Very rare, but not unheard of.
I didn't have enough time to try for another flight, since we had plans. So for the day, Air Munuviana successfully made her maiden flight, and managed to not kill anyone with an accident on the pad (to any government agents reading this, that is a joke. see Websters.).
Next scheduled launch is December 13th, depending on weather.
Now for the pictures. Remember I mentioned 'crappy digital camera'? I didn't get a liftoff shot of the Air Munuviana. Several other people were also taking pictures, so if anyone sends me some good ones, I'll post them. What I did post in the extended entry are three shots. more...
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08:57 AM | category: Rocketry
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For the record, I don't own rocket jammies either.
But for those who feel a bit rocket-deficient, I offer the following suggestions.
Shaken, not cryo stirred.
And while you're sipping your martini, you can prepare a delicious dinner with the help of the RocketChef food chopper.
Toys! How about the Rocket Football? Or perhaps your youngster (or you yourself?) has one of those wooden Brio trains, in which case you couldn't pass up your very own Curious George and the Rocket Ship track add-on.
You just knew that this one had to be here - the Pocket Rocket.
Go Google on Maurice 'Rocket' Richard and Roger 'Rocket' Clemens.
And finally, a whole page full of rocket-shaped crapola, presented with flair and humor.
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07:09 AM | category: Links
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November 15, 2003
Update: Perfection! Details (and some pictures) tomorrow.
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06:31 AM | category: Rocketry
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November 14, 2003
Congrats Heather!
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11:53 AM | category: Munuvian Daily Tattler
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Since Miss Cleo left the business, there's a definite imbalance between supply and demand. Plus, this doesn't rely on phone calls, so I don't have to bother with hiring those pesky clairvoyants who already know I'm not giving anyone a raise - ever.
All I need now is a small amount of seed money to purchase the email lists and software spawned in the depths of hell. Of course, I immediately thought of my friends and how I should offer them the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of this exciting venture. Anyone interested in investing in a high-growth-potential enterprise?
I've done some research and have decided that AutoSpam3000 is the package for me. In the extended entry is the letter I've decided to clog millions of email boxes with use.*
* For the severely humor impaired, this is a joke. I feel stupid for thinking I even need to put this disclaimer here, but my psychic said I should do it because of you, David. Idiot. more...
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07:30 AM | category: Square Pegs
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* Get a pepper grinder. You don't have to spend a fortune for one of those riot-baton sized monsters, small ones are available at Wal-Mart or kitchen specialty stores. Fresh ground pepper is a whole 'nother matter compared to the usual stuff folks buy.
* Along the same lines, try kosher salt for cooking. It's not iodized, so it doesn't have that metallic taste we've grown used to.
* Buy good knives. Unfortunately, quality costs. Even if you can only afford one a year (a present for yourself), it's worth the money. And regardless of the knife, keep it sharp. A sharp knife is safer to use.
* You should have at least two cutting boards. A wooden board for veggies and general use, and a glass or non-porous plastic one for poultry. Believe it or not,
wood is naturally anti-bacterial. That doesn't mean you don't have to clean them, just that the board itself is helping.
* Ever see Rachel Ray on the Food Network? Love her or hate her, one excellent idea she taught me was to keep a big 'garbage bowl' close at hand. That way you're not running back and forth to the garbage can all the time.
* The first time you make a recipe, follow the directions and measure carefully. That way, if you want to adjust things to your taste the next time, you have a known baseline to work from.
* Something I've found that really works is to do like cooking shows and pre-measure spices and such into little bowls ahead of time. Yes, it causes a few extra dishes, but makes it much easier during the actual assembly and you're not running around snagging items from the pantry and fridge when things get cooking.
* Keep up with the dishes if you can. It just makes things easier if your workspace isn't cluttered with bowls and pots and pans. Plus, if you do one or two when time allows during cooking, then you won't be discouraged by the memory of the mountain of dirty dishes created next time you feel like cooking.
These are just common sense and little things, but it's stuff that I've learned or been taught over the years. They work for me.
Posted by: Ted at
06:33 AM | category: Recipes
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