I'm desperately trying to last out the next week until 2008 begins before I blog about anything dark or negative. That means I'm just storing bookmarks for future commentary about politics, world affairs, and news in general.
For example, I've basically written very little about the 2008 U.S. presidential campaigns because I thought I'd wait until the primary process got underway. Until then, talking about individual candidates is just inside baseball trivia, gossip and speculation. I'm more of an issue oriented person anyway. Another reason is that I don't want to harsh your happy holidaze buzz -- so, here is yet another of my attempts at fluffy bunny topic writing. I blame it on the cupcakes.
Popeye the sailor
As you know by now, I'm a big fan of JLC's Internet TV. If not, you haven't been paying attention. Anyway, this morning when I cranked up the application, I was prompted to update it. JLC has taken his program out of the beta stage and released v1.1 final. Hooray for him!
One of the many free video channels I like to check out, from time to time, is White Springs TV which streams classic and odd movies. Sometimes, WSTV puts short cartoons in between the movies in order to fill time so their broadcast schedule is a little more orderly and manageable.
WSTV is where I have seen 1930's cartoons like Popeye the Sailor. It's weird to think that my most beloved grandmother may have seen these cartoons for the first time before the turmoil of World War II, more than 70 years ago.
Spinach Serendipity
Unless you're a cinematography or animation wonk, most of you kids have no clue about the cartoon character Popeye the Sailor. That's okay. You do have the all-knowing wikipedia. If Popeye cartoons were a video game, spinach would be the power-ups.
In the spirit of Popeye, here's my bachelor chow recipe for Popeye's Ramen Casserole. I just made it up yesterday in my bio-chem lab, otherwise known as my kitchen. As a bachelor living in the future, my definition of chow has to be both inexpensive and fast to prepare. My continued survival to be able to write this entry is witness to the recipe's safety for human consumption [1].
Popeye's Ramen Casserole
Turn a burner on your stove to high heat. Fill a small quart/litre sized uncovered pot halfway with potable water. Toss a packet of ramen noodles in it.
Spray a very light coating of non-stick Pam into a microwave safe [2] dish. Toss a 1/4 to 1/2 of a medium-sized, medium-chopped onion into the dish. Nuke it for about 2-3 minutes.
Stir the ramen noodles.
Toss a handful of sliced mushrooms into the dish. Plop a teaspoon of oleo/butter on it. Sprinkle some Garlic and Onion powder on it. Nuke it for another 1-2 minutes.
Cover the ramen noodles with a pot lid and turn off the stove.
Open and drain a can of spinach. Toot toot! Dump it in the dish [3] and stir it up with the onion and mushrooms. Crack two eggs into the empty spinach can and scramble them. Pour the egg into the dish and stir it. Microwave for 4-5 minutes.
Drain your ramen noodles.
Stir your microwave dish and cook 1-3 minutes longer, if needed [4] Place four slices of American cheese on the dish. Sprinkle your ramen noodle flavor packet on the dish. Dump your drained noodles on top of that. Let stand for 1-3 minutes while the cheese melts. Stir and season with butter or spices to taste.
While describing a recipe seems complicated, this took me about 15 minutes to make. If it wasn't easy, I wouldn't have done it. If you can boil water and operate a microwave oven, you'll be surprised how freakishly simple it is to make this unusual yet tasty side dish that will feed 2-4 people at any meal. The ingredients only cost about a dollar.
Bio/Chem Ingredients
1 can of spinach 1 packet of ramen noodles 2 eggs 4 slices of American (processed) cheese Onion, Mushroom, Spices and Butter/Oleo to taste.
Lab Equipment
stove or hot plate microwave oven can opener QT/L size pot microwave safe dish sharp prep knife fork
Footnotes
[1]. I am not legally liable for your anxiety about your dark green poop, Mr. Bixby. [2]. I prefer ceramic to plastic for molecular denaturing of food with microwaves. [3]. After several minutes, ceramic may be too hot to touch. Use an oven mitten. [4]. Microwave oven power output differs by manufacturer. Practice makes perfect.
* That's not me. I just really like the image. There is no snow in Florida.
Happy Holidays! Saturday is the Winter Solstice, which for many cultures in the northern hemisphere marks the likely precursor celebration to our modern day Christmas (and other religious holidays). I'm not a linguistic anthropologist, but even I can see how the word "holiday" evolved over time.
After the longest cold night, there is hope that we can survive this winter. It's like Wednesday being called "hump day." Once we're past the midpoint, it's all easier from this day forward until the life-renewing Spring season (or weekend).
Some people get a bunch in their underwear about people who say "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas." I grew up in an area with a diverse population of people with different religions and customs. So, whatever your custom, I'm just trying to be pleasant.
I don't plan on making a habit out of being pleasant to you an enduring habit, so I suggest that you just enjoy it while it lasts. I blame my uncharacteristic cheerfulness on intoxicating cupcakes and carols.
The internet is the vast collective digital mind of the puny humans living on our pathethic spinning ball of mud called Earth. It is a growing electronic organism of unimaginable size and shape. Even powerful governments and multi-national corporations can't fully control it.
We are all part of it as contributors and spectators: buying and selling, listening and telling.
Every grand dream and dark nightmare in human history can be found within a few moments of your desire to know it. It can be a path to enlightenment and a little box of horrors.
Sopcast
I have begun testing a software program and free service called sopcast. Similar to JLC's Internet TV that compiles a list of streaming channels around the digital planet, sopcast is different in that it uses peer-to-peer technology to stream the data.
You first download and install a small client program (~ 3 MBs). Then, you simply login as you would any instant messenger program, like WLM, AIM, or YIM. You can login anonymously. Sopcast then displays a real-time list of streaming media channels.
Sunday, I watched the Detroit Lions get crushed by the San Diego Chargers. I lost interest in the football game when Lion's Quarterback, Kitna, threw interceptions on three possessions in a row that the Chargers turned into a 21 point lead in the first half of the game. The video quality was not very good.
Later, I decided to check out a movie channel. The video quality was far better and I was able to double the screen size without pixelation. The data stream only had one or two short-duration (1 second) hiccups. I use a satellite ISP which does have latency/lag. I don't foresee lag as being a problem for cable broadband users.
I plan on posting a full review on HelpForum blog once I have had more than half a day to test sopcast. If you want to help me out, buy the DVD of the movie I watched, "A Sound Of Thunder" for your Sci-Fi collection. This is definitely a movie for your own little big screen and surround sound.
It is an exciting action and adventure tale based upon a short story by legendary author Ray Bradbury and stars Sir Ben Kingsley, Edward Burns, and Catherine McCormack. The special effects are excellent.
School Dress Codes
When I went to high school, I would usually wear a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that I bought at the last rock concert I had attended. Catholic school girls wore uniforms, not public school classmates.
Recently, public school boards around the United States have come to the conclusion that requiring students to dress conservatively (we used to call that yuppy) will be beneficial for the learning environment.
I recently discoverd that Texas -- the big, shiny buckle of the U.S. Bible belt -- has the following dress code philosophy for the students enrolled in the Mesquite Independent School District:
This total development includes the training of students in social and moral standards, ethical conduct, good manners, and good grooming as well as the teaching of academic subjects. With this philosophy in mind, the Board of Trustees has approved the following dress code.
The courts have reaffirmed and upheld a school board's authority to regulate dress and grooming within the schools that the board serves. The dress code has been adopted on the premise that students who dress and groom themselves neatly, and in an acceptable and appropriate manner, are more likely to become constructive members of the society in which we live.
This dress code is established to teach hygiene, instill discipline, prevent disruption, avoid safety hazards and develop an awareness that there are distinct occasions appropriate for formal and informal attire. These guides apply to all students enrolled in Mesquite schools at the elementary level.
Sponsors of extra/co-curricular activities may, at their discretion, establish grooming guides for students involved in such activities that are more stringent. Decisions regarding dress and grooming are campus decisions, and the decision of the principal is considered final.
Notice that in the first sentence, the teaching of academic subjects is the last goal of this "philosophy" of the dress code which applies to all students, K-12. It seems that brainwashing kids to be conformist corporate cubicle rats starts at an early age. And then when the kids are in their teens, they can consult this flash presentation to make sure they don't get out of line.
In my high school advanced placement classes, my fellow classmates came from diverse backgrounds. There were geeks, jocks, cheerleaders, goths, and stoners. Innovation, not conformity, will strengthen our country. Sheeple suck.
Today is the premiere of the much anticipated "I Am Legend" movie starring Will Smith. Paul Brownfield (L.A. Times) wrote an extensive article, "Francis Lawrence finds hope in the dystopia of 'I Am Legend'" in which he interviews the film's director, Francis Lawrence, and the film's screenwriter, Akiva Goldsman. It's worth reading.
Will Smith will portray Robert Neville for the third film adaptation of the 1954 Richard Matheson novel. Charleton Heston starred in the second film adaption called "The Omega Man" in 1971. The first film adaption was called "The Last Man on Earth" starring Vincent Price as Robert Morgan in 1964. Below is the full 90-minute movie in two parts.
Watching Vincent Price as Robert Morgan in this film is amazing. His performance isn't an over-the-top horror genre presentation, but it is subtle and filmed in almost a documentarian style. I think "The Last Man on Earth" is basically presented in three acts.
In act one, we watch as Morgan goes through his mundane yet bizarre daily routine. Vincent Price literally does not speak on screen for almost 30 minutes, but instead we hear him narrate. For me, this really seemed to hammer home the desolation and loneliness he's feeling as if we're simply hearing him think to himself. With no one around, who is he going to speak to after three years alone?
In act two, we flashback three years to the time before the plague is widespread. It's a happy life with Morgan, his wife and daughter, friends and co-workers. Sadly, we watch as Morgan endures the death of his daughter and wife. He buries his wife, and his worst fears are confirmed when she returns from the grave as a zombie-like vampire, or vampire-like zombie.
In the final act, we're back in the present as Morgan continues his work of clearing the city of pesky vampire zombies, block-by-block, while they hide from the sun. He has killed hundreds of them, and it is wearing on Morgan. Then, he spots a young woman during the day, the first person in three years.
I won't continue describing the end as a spoiler, but it's a twist ending as Vincent Price utters the namesake of the novel and new 2007 film, "I Am Legend."
Now, if you've just watched "Last Man On Earth," it may remind you of another vastly popular horror movie. Fours years later, in 1968, George Romero made his cult classic horror film "Night of the Living Dead" which has a similar unhappy ending.
"Into the Valley of Death" is the title of Sebastian Junger's latest investigative article in Vanity Fair magazine in which he follows the redeployment of Battle Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Task Force Rock, to Afghanistan's Korengal Valley.
Junger, an experienced war correspondent and author, reported on Battle company's previous deployment in Afghanistan and thought it would be a very good idea to simply document this recent deployment as a follow-up. Junger certainly has the experience to comment on the bigger picture of the power struggles and strategic decisions concerning Afghanistan. He weaves that big picture into the narrative of the compelling personal stories of the men of Battle company.
A strategic passage wanted by the Taliban and al-Qaeda, Afghanistan's Korengal Valley is among the deadliest pieces of terrain in the world for U.S. forces. One platoon is considered the tip of the American spear. Its men spend their days in a surreal combination of backbreaking labor—building outposts on rocky ridges—and deadly firefights, while they try to avoid the mistakes the Russians made. Sebastian Junger and photographer Tim Hetherington join the platoon's painfully slow advance, as its soldiers laugh, swear, and run for cover, never knowing which of them won't make it home.
One of things that compels me to comment on Junger's Vanity Fair article, "Into the Valley of Death," is that I share some of the opinions that Junger seems to bring up in his article. It's not just a domestic political partisan argument to say that the Bush administration redirected its focus to Iraq, at the expense of Afghanistan. That's a well documented fact. It's going to be a strategic foreign policy nightmare if Afghanistan becomes a failed state once again from inattention.
Not even going into the foolishness of Charlie Wilson's War and the blowback that became 9-11, we (the U.S.A.) then outsourced the overthrow of the Taliban to tribal leaders of the so-called Northern Alliance in contact with our CIA. And now we're outsourcing the reconstruction to our N.A.T.O. allies because Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld had their own ambitions for the future of Iraq since their first day at work in 2001. This outsourcing relieves Bush of direct responsibility for the outcome of his own decisions.
The other very obvious common sense point Junger makes in his article is that al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders are safe and sound and living in nearby Quetta, in Pakistan. Politicians and U.S. media tend to make things sound too complicated. It's over there in Central Asia, it's confusing. We spend a trillion dollars to accomplish nothing as long as no one takes any responsibliity.
We scattered al-Qaeda and Taliban, we didn't defeat them militarily or politically. They don't live in caves. They live in nice apartments in Quetta, Pakistan. Wahabbi extremists fly into Pakistan, train, and then deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq. They are funded by the same oil money that funded 9-11. It's a disconnect between elite political allies and the people of these countries. Bush and Musharraf may be dictator buddies, but that doesn't mean that people on the ground in each of their countries don't work constantly toward regime change.
Personal Stories
The other reason I recommend "Into the Valley of Death" to you is to check out the photography of Tim Hetherington. As I was reading Junger's article, I had Hetherington's portrait photographs of the men of Battle company in another window to put a face on the stories and I clicked back and forth ...
Other than my strategic ranting, I don't want to characterize or summarize the article. It's very well written. It's compelling, and I prefer you just click through and read it for yourself.
