These pictures make me sooooooo jealous.

Posted by: Ted at 04:57 AM | category: Links
No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 10 words, total size 1 kb.

Ten days on the ocean floor is about as isolated as you can get on ol' Mother Earth. This sounds like an excellent way to prepare for long-term space missions.

Posted by: Ted at 08:32 AM | category: Space Program
No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 34 words, total size 1 kb.

An Ariane-5 rocket has placed the world's largest telecommunications satellite into orbit Saturday evening after blasting off from the Kourou site in French Guiana.

Built by Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) in El Segundo, California, Anik-2F is to provide telecommunications services across North America for 15 years for the Canadian operator Telesat.

Posted by: Ted at 01:31 AM | category: Space Program
No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 65 words, total size 1 kb.

I'll give you the super-simple method first, which is tasty. At the end will be some tips to make it even better (and easier too).

Easy Beef Enchiladas

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1 half cup onion, coarsely chopped
1 can enchilada sauce, divided
1 4oz can chopped green chilies
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
corn tortillas
sliced black olives (optional)

Brown the ground beef, drain and chop fine.
Add the onion, green chilies, 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce and the spices. Simmer until the onions are translucent.

Spray a 9"x13" baking pan with no-stick. Spread about 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom.

Set up an assembly line to make the enchiladas. Pour the rest of the sauce into a wide shallow bowl.
Dip a tortilla into the sauce, do both sides.
Spread a heaping spoonful of the meat mixture down the middle of the tortilla.
Add shredded cheese.
Fold the two ends of the tortilla over the middle (like an omelet), then use both hands to transfer the enchilada into the baking pan, folded side down.
Once all the enchiladas are made, pour the rest of the sauce over them in the pan, sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top, then add the black olives if you want.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

If you have a crockpot, you can brown the meat that way, even frozen. A couple of hours on medium low will thaw it out and cook it. After you drain it, add the onion and spices and let it cook another hour.

A pastry cutter works great to chop the meat super fine.

This makes a pretty mild enchilada, add more chili powder and/or a chopped jalepeno or two to zing it up.

Canned enchilada sauce is ok, but if you make your own (recipe here), it really does make a difference.

Posted by: Ted at 12:29 AM | category: Recipes
Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 342 words, total size 2 kb.

Yutaka Fukufuji is Japan's hope for respectablility in Olympic ice hockey. He attends development camps in the US and played for Cincinnati in the East Coast Hockey League.

Here's a picture of Fukufuji in the gear for Kokudo, his home team in Japan.

Thanks to Sharkspage for the pointer.

Posted by: Ted at 02:49 PM | category: Links
No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 61 words, total size 1 kb.

Publicola asks an important question:

If the "Assault Weapons" Ban is renewed will you vote Republican generally & Bush specifically this November?

His reasoning parallels mine, although we come to different conclusions because our key issues are different. I think that second ammendment rights are important, and he makes some telling points that give me things to chew through, but for me the key issue is foreign policy (a superset of the war on terror). I'm going to paint with a broad brush here, so don't get all nitpicky on me. Comments are certainly welcomed.

With President Bush at the helm, America is once again pursuing her best interests. All of the Euro-whining and the moonbat barking basically boil down to the same thing: America is doing what it feels is best for America, and if another country doesn't agree, well, that's just too damn bad. According to some, we're only supposed to act if we get permission from historical friends and allies, regardless of how they've behaved towards us in the present and recent past.

France is diplomatically deft but otherwise irrelevant. Germany is still trying to shake off its national angst over WWII and the effects of reunification, rendering it less than effective on an international scale (other than economically). On a personal note, I found the Germans to be the most racially prejudiced people I've ever met. Is that a European trait? I don't know, but Germans are wonderful people that definitely have a strong bias against non-whites. And America is a mongrel country to them, which may explain some things. Moving along, you have Spain, Italy and Portugal, important locally, but much less so on the international stage.

These countries, and the rest of Europe, have been 'dealing' with the unpleasant facts of the world for decades. Rather than solving their problems, they compromise, usually by devising a solution designed to buy time. They hope the problem will go away in the meantime, or perhaps someone with authority (aristocracy or bureaucracy) will take care of it. It's been pointed out for years that NATO relies almost entirely on US air transport. Are the other NATO nations rushing to build military cargo aircraft? Of course not, but they are finding time to write regulations to define how much curve an imported banana is allowed.

Why are we taking these people into consideration when deciding on US national policy? Because we have to, but over the years that aspect has grown from being one consideration to become THE key consideration.

The foreign policies of this administration recognize that fact. John Kerry wants to bring back the old way, the safe way, the European way. He wants to 'deal' with the world instead of solving its problems as they affect America.

George W. Bush is no friend to the armed citizenry of the US, but he would never bow down to international pressure (via the UN) to impose stricter gun controls. I'm not so sure than John Kerry wouldn't think that a fine idea, since the rest of the world would want that.

I'm sorry if you feel that you couldn't vote for President Bush if the AWB is renewed. I hope you're right when you speculate that there wouldn't be a significant difference in the arena of second ammendment rights under Kerry. That's a helluva gamble though, in my humble opinion.

For the record: I'm anti-AWB. It's stupid legislation, designed to make people think something is being done without actually addressing the perceived problem.

Posted by: Ted at 09:59 AM | category: Politics
Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 593 words, total size 4 kb.

Growing up in northern California you learn different things than you do in other parts of the country. Of course, you learn about the Revolutionary War and The Civil War, and all those tiny states up in the corner where America first began, but you're more exposed to western history and geography. Things like the missions along the El Camino Real, Father Junipero Serra, redwoods and the '49 Gold Rush. Also, you hear about the Donner Party.

The Donner Party were settlers coming to California to homestead. After making a series of bad decisions, they wound up stranded up in the Sierra Nevada mountains for the winter. The winter was harsh and food was scarce, and before the spring thaw arrived half of the original eighty had died, and some had reverted to cannibalism to survive.

My uncle had a wonderful collection of books in his home, and one was about the Donner Party. In this book, diary entries and personal recollections from survivor interviews were gathered to tell their tragic story. These people literally went through frozen hell trying to keep their children and each other alive. Over the years I've read everything I could find on the subject, for it holds a morbid fascination for me.

Archeologists have discovered what they believe to be one of the camps used by the Donner party.

Here's an excellent site that shows the original route and timetable, using quotes from the original sources to create a daily log.

This is a nice resource, with tons of links to related materials.

Posted by: Ted at 08:06 AM | category: History
Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 265 words, total size 2 kb.

Spain is proposing an interesting concept that could possibly provide Earth with some protection from those 'killer' rocks that's floating around up there (Bruce Willis ain't gonna live forever, ya know).

According to their plan, a pair of spacecraft will be launched together to intercept a selected asteroid. One will orbit the rock and take measurements and pictures, while the other slams into the asteroid in an attempt to alter its trajectory. The idea being if you do it far enough away, a smaller nudge is needed to make it miss Mother Earth.

Posted by: Ted at 06:42 AM | category: Space Program
No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 117 words, total size 1 kb.

So I'm in the recliner after dinner, having told my wife that I'm going to close my eyes for an hour, when the Martha Stewart news comes on the TV.

I startled the wife and both dogs as I came flying out of my chair when Martha Stewart actually compared herself to Nelson Mandella.

I'm trying to maintain some perspective, but it's hard when that condescending and sanctimonious bitch whines about how she's being treated.

Posted by: Ted at 11:18 PM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 85 words, total size 1 kb.

Dinner tonight was a beautiful steak, accompanied by a thick slab of onion (drizzled with olive oil and a little salt and pepper), and a fresh pear, quartered and cored. All grilled to perfection.

Try it sometime.

Posted by: Ted at 05:54 PM | category: Recipes
Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 39 words, total size 1 kb.

For my friend and co-worker will be this afternoon. To be buried with full military honors (retired Air Force) at Quantico National Cemetary.

Posted by: Ted at 06:54 AM | category: Seriously
Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 25 words, total size 1 kb.

There've been some new MuNuvians added (there are getting to be quite a lot of us too), and some others added to the blogroll farther down. I recommend finding one you've never visited and give a read. If you like it, tell 'em Rocket Jones sent you. If you don't, well, life is full of little disappointments, isn't it?

Posted by: Ted at 06:51 AM | category: Links
Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 63 words, total size 1 kb.

I missed work Tuesday and Wednesday with a stomach bug, and when I got to the office this morning, an email was waiting, informing me that a close co-worker at my last project had passed away Saturday evening.

This friend was about my age, and found out about three months ago that he had an agressive form of cancer. The last time I talked to his wife, just before I started this new job (what, three weeks?), she said he was fighting hard and doing fine.

I've been distracted all day, and just got home a little while ago from the viewing. I'm not very good at dealing with these kinds of situations.

Posted by: Ted at 07:53 PM | category: Seriously
Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 115 words, total size 1 kb.

Not only are they remaking the classic House of Wax (and destroying the original storyline in the process), but word is out that Paris Hilton is co-starring.

Hopefully she's the first to go.

Posted by: Ted at 08:04 AM | category: Cult Flicks
Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 35 words, total size 1 kb.

Martha Stewart appears in court tomorrow for sentencing, complete with her friends, family, legal team and a "sentencing consultant".

"A federal prosecution is incredibly adversarial. You can come out of it feeling victimized, saying 'They were mean to me, or they didn't have to go that far,'" says [consultant] Novak. But he emphasizes to them: "Your choices and the consequences for those choices are truly what put you in this position."

Pruno. It's time to pull out the good crystal!

Posted by: Ted at 06:02 AM | category: Links
No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 95 words, total size 1 kb.

Go on over to her place and wish her a happy 16th! And while you're there, remind her to clean her room.

And Mookie, I found this for you. You're welcome sweetie.

Posted by: Ted at 04:41 AM | category: Links
No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 38 words, total size 1 kb.

George "Machine Gun" Kelly (he's the guy wearing the bracelets).

(in the extended entry) more...

Posted by: Ted at 05:27 PM | category: History
No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 22 words, total size 1 kb.

One of my favorite features of Movable Type is 'draft mode'. I'll find stuff out on the net, then throw together notes and links and such into a drafted article until I can get around to polishing it until I get bored, then it goes out as is.

Once in a while, when the muse is silent, and I'm too lazy or busy to nudge her the hell up, I'll pull out one of my "Holding Pattern" posts and there you go - instant content.

For instance, here's two that I've been sitting on for a while now, both courtesy of Alan E. Brain.

The CSS Zen Garden . Site design ideas and inspiration.

And for those more inclined to the arts, presented here are Earth songs in Klingon - funny funny stuff!

Enjoy!

Posted by: Ted at 10:35 AM | category: Links
No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 140 words, total size 1 kb.

A while back I wrote about a rocket I fly called Ain't Misbehavin', and posted a picture of the decal for it. I'd mentioned that the pinup-style lady on the decal was from an artist named Shannanigan, but that I'd lost the link. Well, I found it again, and her site is well worth a visit.

Psst. She does Sims stuff too.

Oh yeah, Yahoo has taken down all my old photo pages, so I've included the decal for Ain't Misbehavin' in the extended entry. more...

Posted by: Ted at 08:57 PM | category: Links
No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 112 words, total size 1 kb.

This isn't a surprise, and it's not BS either.

Some time ago the US Government banned the little thumb drives from the workplace, and I'm not allowed to connect my iPAQ to any government computers for the exact same reason.

Once again, technology outpaces security.

Posted by: Ted at 10:47 AM | category:
Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 53 words, total size 1 kb.