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subset: commoncrawl


text:
August 12, 2012
Basil Mayonnaise
If you are a regular here, you know all about my aversion to mayonnaise. I just don't care for it, and there's really not much more I can say about it. No good explanation as to why...I just don't like it and I never have. There are occasions however, where mayonnaise has it's place - even for me. There is ONE sandwich (which you will see in a future blog) that I make where I will put mayonnaise on the bread as a condiment, every other sandwich is either eaten dry or with mustard. I know.....I'm weird.
A few years back I was watching Ina Garten on the Food Network and she was making this basil mayonnaise. Since everyone else in my house enjoys mayonnaise on most of their sandwiches, and since I always have basil growing in my garden, I decided to put this mayonnaise together to have on sandwiches we were going to have that evening for dinner. It was a hit, especially for my husband. So now I make this mayonnaise regularly for my family to use. This is the mayonnaise I use on that ONE sandwich, and I have to say that I actually like it!
Basil Mayonnaise (by Ina Garten)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
8 basil leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic, minced
Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
4 comments:
I am not a mayonnaise fan either, but I would love to try yours. Looks mouthwatering!ReplyDelete
there's a basil mayonnaise at one of my favorite restaurants & with your recipe i'm going to try making it on my own! yum!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousSeptember 4, 2012 at 11:56 PM
Made this for my chickpea salad, so excited to see how it goes with it!ReplyDelete
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text:
I think they should have picked Cook and Broad.
I think they should have picked Cook and Broad.
Cook, yes, Broad no.
I am pinning my reputation (yeah I know thats not much), on the fact that Cook will be the 50 plus averaging England batsmen we've been looking for, since the sixties. He'll also have a top Ashes. So the man should be involved in all cricket for England IMO, particulary one form of the game that we're so pish at, and his two innings so far make him extremly unlucky to miss out.
Broads just not ready, a wait and see from me, I think.
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.
Walt Whitman
nah, cook's got too many weaknessess in his technique that will be exposed at the top level, he'll be a good test player maybe average 45 but i can't see him being a real top player.
Broads a wait and see
Originally Posted by superkingdave
Yeah, but hes young, I am figuring in a steep learning curve, I just think hes got an admirable attitude.
BTW, the name of the thread seems to have nowt to do with the question asked, and I'm not sure if I should vote in it?
England will be playing India at Jaipur......place has pretty short boundaries.
I wouldn't be tempted to play the greenhorn Broad on a wicket like that
Yeah, scores of 275 can be got at Jaipur - Broad might be too big a risk.
The following bowlers for me would be a certainty: Dalrymple, Harmison, Anderson. Obviously, add Flintoff to that list if he can bowl - I'd also pick Michael Yardy. If Flintoff cannot bowl, replace him with Jon Lewis, Mahmood is too much of a risk on a high-scoring ground.
"Bring me the toolshed, for I am hungry"
Wow, 4 specialist batsmen. 3 if you class Collingwood as a ODI allrounder.Originally Posted by Loots
IMO, Needs more firepower to score or chase big totals
That top 7 has played 348 games scored 10 hundreds and 56 fifties.
Based on this, one of the top 7 would score a ton once every 5 games and one of the players will score 50+ once a game.
Having (as a unit) 1 fifty per game and a ton every 5 games is not really a scary proposition for opponents.
Last edited by Goughy; 01-10-2006 at 02:13 PM.
If I only just posted the above post, please wait 5 mins before replying as there will be edits
West Robham Rabid Wolves Caedere lemma quod eat lemma
As i mentioned in another thread:
With Trescothick out & Flintoff likely to play as a pure batsman intially from whats being said i think he should open the batting for sure.
Lewis/Joyce - this selection depends on on whether Flintoff bowls or not, if Freddie can bowl i would not play Lewis but would play Joyce in the top 4 behind Strauss/Freddie/Bell
I see your point, but Collingwood is certainly a bastsman who can bowl a bit rather than an all-rounder, and I drew that particularly up on the theory that Flintoff would not bowl in India, hence why both Dalrymple and Yardy are in the team. In my mind, that equals 5 players who are in the team for their batting, first and foremost. Also, Read is ahead of Geraint due to his current batting form, Dalrymple was a specialist batsman (I think) before he started bowling off-spin, and Yardy is another batsman who can bowl a bit. In my opinion, that side could bat and score quickly down to Anderson. And he and the other bowlers can nurdle quite well, I remember Anderson and A. N. Other whos name escapes me nearly getting to victory in an ODI against Pakistan last winter after the top order threw their wickets away.Originally Posted by Goughy
EDIT: It's worth noting though, not "score quickly" in the same way that Pakistan or India will score quickly thanks to players like Afridi, Razzaq and Dhoni slogging sixes to all parts of the ground. Those England players would be a good team at hitting gaps in the field, and running singles with the odd boundary, aiming to get to a run rate of about 5. Dalrymple, Bell and Collingwood will never be power hitters.
Last edited by Loots; 01-10-2006 at 06:02 PM.
Read, Dalrymple and Yardy have played over 400 List A games combined and have scored 4 hundreds and 28 fifties between them. Its a pretty poor record for 6, 7, 8.Originally Posted by Loots
No doubt the batting is long in your suggested team. However, it is very short on quality and match winners. 20s, 30, and 40s dont really win games.
I know that it's very short on match-winners - But from an outside viewpoint there seem to be very few of the big-hitters in the English game at the moment. Pietersen and Flintoff are the obvious exception, but after that the options are all untried and untested. Mal Loye? Hildreth? To put it simply, England's middle order is simply a nurdling one unless you relegate Pietersen and Flintoff down the order. In which case you have a top order without the kind of batsman you need to take advantage of the powerplays.
And we come back to why I semi-seriously suggest bringing the ageing 'clown' back. Ali Brown is possibly the most destructive opener in the history of OD cricket.Originally Posted by Loots
Yes, I always quite liked him. He'd be a better option at the top of the order than Joyce/Bell - And it would spare the risk of having Pietersen or Flintoff opening and getting out first ball.
Since when have the 6, 7, 8s been the ones that have to hit the tons?Originally Posted by Goughy
I'd suggest it's not that easy to score big when coming in so low down the order.
marc71178 - President and founding member of AAAS - we don't only appreciate when he does well, but also when he's not quite so good!
Anyone want to join the Society?
Beware the evils of Kit-Kats - they're immoral apparently.
I'd suggest they are expected to manage it (as a unit) more than once every 100 games.Originally Posted by marc71178
Its not about whether they score 100s in those positions (I would suggest 6 should score a number) but about whether they are capable.
The 50s are very important and they are also not that capable of contributiong heavily in that area either.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)


text:
|A baby cardigan in Silver Lining Merino - Bell Bush
|Silver Lining is incredibly soft and perfect for projects next to the skin.
So how do you select the right yarn for the job?
Tip One - Swap 'Like for Like'.
Look at the yarns suggested in the pattern. If you choose, or are unable, to use the yarn suggested then look for a yarn that is similar. Compare the fibre content, texture, construction and length to find a good alternative. So if your pattern calls for a smooth DK wool yarn, look for other smooth DK wool yarns.
Tip Two - Natures Best.
If you are knitting a garment for a baby - natural fibres are always the best option, wool is perfect for babies. Lighter weights are great for knitted layers, like singlets, and cardigans, whilst medium weights, like DK are great for jackets, longies blankets and sleeping bags. Softer yarns are best for infant skins, so Merino, Polwarth or superwash are great.
Tip Three - Wear without Tears.
One of the most common questions we get asked is: Will this yarn pill?
All yarns will pill if enough friction and movement is applied, so if you are knitting a garment that is going to see a lot of wear and rugged treatment select a yarn with higher twist, stronger fibres and knit to a firm tension. Examples being Skeinz Vintage and Southlander, these are my favourite all purpose wearing yarns. If you are knitting a shawl or cowl, something that won't experience too fraught or friction, then a yarn soft to wear against the skin is perfect. Burlesque or Terabyte are just perfect for these sorts of projects, super, super soft and won't experience too much wear and tear.
|This fine twist on twist Merino give excellent definition, softness and wear.
Tip Four - Find your Flock
Natural fibres all have various qualities and some of these reflect in how they act when they are stitched into a final project. If you are looking to knit a pattern with textured stitches, Aran cables or bobbles you need a yarn that will hold these stitches so they 'pop'. Traditionally these patterns were made with strong wools, which were 'lively' and held their structure when knitted. Wool is still the number one choice for these projects. If you want softness, drape or a floaty fabric, great with lace stitches then fine wool or blends of wool, Alpaca, Silk, Kid Mohair or even plant fibres like cotton or bamboo come into their own.
Tip Five - It all comes out in the wash.
Super Wash versus Hand Wash - a raging debate for years to what is better. For me - I hand wash all my yarn garments, regardless of yarn type. I find it quicker, easier and it allows me to reblock/shape a garment more effectively. Super wash has the benefit of being more likely to survive a washing machine accident, it is often a smoother texture as it spun using shrink treated wool fibre and takes colour very well producing vibrant rich shades. Hand wash yarns have a lusciousness that gets lost in the shrinking process of the fibre and a 'grip' in the yarn which makes it perfect for textured stitching, and essential for fair isle projects, especially if they are being steeked.
The choice is yours.... but always remember the golden rule for absolute success...
Swatch, Swatch, Swatch!


text:
Five startled burglars ran out of a house in Grand Prairie, Texas, Monday morning after they came face-to-face with a 15-year-old girl who "just told them to leave."
Fifteen-year-old Jasmine Ramirez and her 13-year-old sister, Alexandra, were home alone when four men and one woman broke a bedroom window and then kicked in the front door.
"And then I heard them open it and I heard their voices," Jasmine Ramirez said.
The latest news from around North Texas.
She called her mother as she and her sister hid in her sister's bedroom.
"She was crying," Cynthia Ramirez said. "She said, 'Mom, they're breaking in the front door."
The mother raced home from work and called 911 on the way.
"Those few minutes, I didn't know what was going on," Cynthia Ramirez said. "I didn't know if they were still in here or if they were doing something to them."
Jasmine Ramirez said she was scared.
"I didn't know what to do," she said.
She can't explain why but she said she opened the bedroom door. She came face-to-face with the burglars -- and said the first thing that popped in her head.
"I just told them to leave," she said.
The startled suspects ran.
The sisters' mother arrived within minutes.
"When I got here, I saw that they were OK," Cynthia Ramirez said, fighting back tears.
Soon, police spotted the suspects' car. They refused to stop, and the chase that followed lasted about 20 minutes.
All five -- four men and one woman -- were arrested in Arlington.
They were identified as Richard Escamilla, 27; Anthony Frazier, 24; Felisha Inocencio, 25; Esteban Macias, 20; and Ricky Olguin, 27. Macias was driving, police said.
Grand Prairie Detective Mark Beseda said the same group is suspected of shoplifting beer earlier Monday morning from a convenience store at South Carrier Parkway and Marshall Drive.
They also knocked on other doors in the Ramirez's neighborhood looking to break into another house, police said.
"It's scary, because anything could have happened," Cynthia Ramirez said.


text:
|Welcome aboard the MZone!
We'd also like to take a moment to welcome MZone readers old and new who have rediscovered/discovered the site since it came back online just over two months ago. We know you have many choices when you procrastinate right in the middle of the work day so thank you for surfing the net with the MZone. And if you enjoy your time with us, please take a moment to share the link with 8 to 10 of your closest friends via Facebook, email or secret handshake.
Of course if you think this is the ass-worst blog you've ever seen in your life, remember to shut your pie-hole and keep it to yourself.
Now at this time you'll notice that Yost has turned off the no-profanity button which means you're free to browse around the site and search for some funny. So sit back and enjoy the blog (while pretending like you're working so the pain-in-the-ass in the cubicle next to you doesn't say something to somebody since your TPS report is due tomorrow).


text:
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Envisioned to be a self contained township with every need taken care of and provided for, Shriram Shankari is Gated Community designed for comfort and convenience. Spread over 36 acres with a temple in the premises located in Guduvancheri, the complex is divided into three clusters Shriram Shankari, Shriram Temple Bells, and Shriram Sanjivini , a senior living home.
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text: Reclaim your tablespoon and put it back in the kitchen where it belongs. The laundry scoop holds 1 tablespoon of Rockin' Green, which is just perfect for a load of cloth diapers! A ½ tablespoon measurement is marked as well. With its extra-long handle, you won't have any trouble reaching to the bottom of the bag.


text:
Mike Adams
Natural News
Feb 13, 2013
The LAPD has pulled a Waco. Barely two hours after ordering the media to remove their helicopters from the area and cut all live feeds, the LAPD managed to set fire to the cabin occupied by Christopher Dorner and burn him alive inside it, according to media reports.
Mission accomplished for the LAPD, an organization that has run its manhunt more like a rampaging street gang than a professional police department. As Natural News has already documented, LAPD officers have engaged in attempted murder of innocent citizens in their freakish frenzy to try to kill Dorner.
Their motive explains why LAPD officers fired tear gas into the cabin where Dorner was staying, knowing it would ignite flammable materials in the home and set the place on fire.
"…tear gas was fired into the house before the fire broke out," reports the Los Angeles CBS affiliate. This is the same sort of tactic that was used to burn down the Branch Davidian community in Waco, Texas in 1993. The Waco raid, we all know by now, was a politically-motivated ATF assault against innocent men, women and children, all conducted for the purpose of increasing the visibility and importance of the ATF by creating a crisis where none existed. Click here to see an informative video on the subject.
Law enforcement knows full well that tear gas rounds often set homes ablaze. In fact, a California fire department issued a report in 2012 that supports precisely that conclusion. As the San Jose Mercury News reported last year:
Police tear gas launched into a Vallejo home in February during a SWAT-team standoff played a role in starting a fire that caused $60,000 in damage and killed two dogs, a fire department report released Monday finds.
The evidence so far
So here's what we know:
1) The LAPD engaged in a wild, frenzied attempt to execute Dorner. This resulted in LAPD officers engaging in the attempted murder of innocent civilians, including one surfer and two women in a pickup truck. (Question: Why are LAPD officers who shot at innocent citizens not being charged with attempted murder?)
2) Once Dorner was holed up in a cabin, the LAPD chose to fire tear gas canisters into the home instead of waiting him out and forcing a surrender after a long standoff.
3) LAPD officers know full well that tear gas canisters can set off fires.
4) Once the fire broke out, Dorner was a dead man. If he fled the fire, he would be shot down by the LAPD. If he stayed in the cabin, he would be burned alive. This is the new brand of "justice" the LAPD is dishing out in 2013.
I'm not condoning the actions of Dorner, who appears to have murdered at least four victims. But if the LAPD is going to abandon its mission of public safety and function as an armed vigilante justice squad, dishing out death sentences to those it believes are guilty — without a trial or anything resembling due process — then they might as well throw away all their badges as just call themselves the LA Gang Squad. Because that's how they're acting. They can even have their own gang signs that they flash at each other before running another taxpayer-funded drive-by.
Dorner succeeds where the media has failed
Whether Dorner is really dead at this point or somehow managed to escape the fire (a possibility that has been reported), he has accomplished one astonishing thing that even the media could not achieve: The exposing of the total criminality of the LAPD and its complete abandonment of law.
Even if Dorner is dead, the LAPD still comes out of this looking not only utterly incompetent but — even worse — driven by vengeance rather than law. As every citizen reading this can easily recognize, that's a very dangerous attitude for a police force to carry. In this frenzied manhunt, the whole world watched while the LAPD exposed itself as a gang of reckless idiotswho openly fire their guns at innocent civilians and who ram citizens' vehicles with their police cars in acts of sheer madness and desperation.
"These lunatics broadsided the side of his truck, spun him around and started shooting at him," said the attorney for one of the victims of the LAPD murder attempts.
The Torrance Police Department, which seems to have abandoned all reason and logic just as the LAPD has done, explained that "Perdue's truck was 'suddenly leaving the area' and seemingly veering into a patrol car when the two vehicles collided at 5:15 a.m." (Source)
So now, pulling out of a driveway or simply starting your car and driving away can be interpreted as "suddenly leaving the area," earning you an attempted vehicular manslaughter maneuver by the local police. How's that for public safety, eh?
Dorner's killings were not random; but the LAPD's attempted murders were!
Consider the actual risk of harm here: Dorner did not engage in RANDOM killings. Want proof? He did not kill his hostages. He let them live because they weren't on his kill list. And yet the LAPD did, indeed, engage in random acts of attempted murder. Morally and ethically speaking, the LAPD was operating in worse violation than Dorner himself. Killing people who have wronged you is evil, but attempting to kill innocent people who have nothing to do with anything is even worse, and that's what the LAPD did.
In fact, if you really look at the situation in retrospect, a typical LA citizen was far more likely to be killed by the LAPD than by Chris Dorner. Dorner was a selective killer while the LAPD attempted to kill people indiscriminately… seemingly at random.
If you weren't on Chris Dorner's kill list, you had nothing to fear from Dorner. But if you were a black man with a bald head, you had everything to fear from the LAPD! And they proved it by opening fire on not just one innocent person, nor two, but THREE innocent citizens who didn't even resemble Dorner (two of the victims were women, the third was a thin white guy).
No wonder the LAPD was so desperately trying to murder Dorner on sight: the man knew too much. He had seen the inside operations of the LAPD, and he recognized what a runaway criminal operation it was.
None of this justifies Dorner's actions, of course. Making a kill list and murdering people is no way to handle things in a civilized country… unless, of course, you're President Barack Obama, in which case you get a bunch of DoJ lawyers to issue a 16-page memo "legalizing" your own private kill list that "authorizes" the murder of American citizens.
That's where Obama and Dorner are a lot alike: They both believe in the use of violence, outside of law, to kill their enemies. Obama uses armed drones while Dorner used a rifle. Both of them are criminals who operate outside the law, and the only reason Dorner isn't a national hero right now is because he didn't have an army of lawyers working at the DoJ who could sanitize his activities by shoveling lawyerspeak manure all over the place.
Dorner also forgot to call his actions "peace." See, if you kill a bunch of Americans without calling it "peace," then you get chased by the police. But if you call it "peace," as Obama does, you win a Nobel Peace Prize. And then the bombs you drop on children in the Middle East are called "peace bombs."
Dorner's mistake in all this was not that he killed people, you see, it's that he didn't get enough voters to back him first. Once you get the voters behind you, you can kill anybody you want, with no legal recourse whatsoever. That's the precedent recently set by the White House, anyway.
Editor's note: I wrote this article before seeing Alex Jones' video on this subject at:
He and I both came to the same conclusion on this, which I suppose is not that astonishing, considering the history of police action in America. But what really is astonishing is that Alex Jones totally predicted, on the record, that the police would burn Dorner by setting fire to the cabin. Once again, Jones was 100% correct!
For the record, I typically hear Alex's broadcast 1-3 days after it airs. I don't listen to it in real time because I'm running Natural News during the day, so I listen to InfoWars via the downloadable MP3 files at other times, usually when I'm doing farm work. The Alex Jones Show is perfect for listening when you're on a John Deere tractor, shredding 75 acres to get ready for the spring hay season. You should try it sometime…
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text:
Today we had a question about how to I disable_trans on pam_console_t in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
If you have used RHEL5 or have read one of the blogs above you will realize in RHEL5 we had a lot of booleans DOMAIN_disable_trans. The idea was to run these domains without SELinux protection. We quickly figured out that this was a bad idea. Other confined domains would start failing because the process they were supposed to communicate with would be running with a different label. Or files created by the disabled_trans DOMAIN would now get created with the wrong labels.
In RHEL6 we introduced permissive domains, so that you could run the entire system locked down but pick a few process domains to run in permissive mode. The nice thing about this is we can figure out what the domain wants to do and improve the policy.
Miroslav Grepl came up with a third solution to the problem today. Basically if a administrator wants to just allow a domain to do what it wants, he can add a policy module that turns the domain into an unconfined domain. This will work on all Fedora releases and RHEL5 as well as RHEL6. And is a much better solution then the disable_trans boolean.
If you wanted to run pam_console_t as an unconfined domain, you would first create a file call mypam.te.
# cat mypam.te
policy_module(mypam, 1.0)
type pam_console_t;
# make -f /usr/share/selinux/devel/Makefile
# semodule -i mypam.pp
Now pam_console_t will be an unconfined domain, but any confined domain that needs to interact with it will still work. All of the file transition rules will still happen, so the system should stay labelled properly. And no AVC messages will be generated about this domain.


text:
The first trailer for SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden has gone online. With as historical an event as the death of bin Laden, you would think that either this film or Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty would have provided a sense of tension, raised stakes or even a question of moral ambiguity that surely came with the operation. Neither trailer gives a sense of this, so at least SEAL Team Six isn't out of its league with Bigelow's bigger budget.
SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden, aka Code Name: Geronimo, stars Cam Gigandet, Anson Mount, Freddy Rodriquez, Xzibit, Kathleen Robertson, Eddie Kay Thomas, Kenneth Miller, Robert Knepper and William Fichtner. Written by Kendall Lampkin, SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden premieres on the National Geographic Channel on Sunday November 4th, just before election day. Hit the jump to watch the trailer.
Readers may find it a bit odd that the film is debuting on the National Geographic Channel rather than a typical theatrical release. The NatGeo team worked with The Weinstein Company over the past few months to hone the picture into line with the network's audiences. While Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty will be released more than a month later and clear from any election ties, SEAL Team Six looks to be one last reminder that, hey, under Obama's administration, the most wanted man in the world was killed.
Deadline brought the trailer for SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden to our attention. Check it out below:


text:
Product Website: http://www.virtins.com
Download PC version: http://www.virtins.com/MIsetup.exe
Download Pocket PC version: http://www.virtins.com/PocketINSSetup.exe
Multi-Instrument is a powerful sound card based multi-function virtual instrument software. It features a specially designed data acquisition approach, which is able to monitor the input signal continuously without missing any trigger event before a frame of data is collected. It has a very fast screen refresh rate (typically greater than 50 frames per second). It supports sophisticated triggering method including pre-trigger and post-trigger,level trigger and differential trigger. It Supports 8, 16, 24 bits and multilingual user interface, including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
A comprehensive range of functions are provided, including:
(1) Oscilloscope
Dual-trace waveform, Waveform addition and subtraction, Lissajous Pattern, transient/long-time signal recording, voltmeter. Various digital filters are supported.
(2) Spectrum Analyzer
RMS amplitude spectrum, relative amplitude spectrum, octave analysis (1/1,1/3,1/6,1/12,1/24), frequency compensation, frequency weighting (A,B,C,ITU-R 468), peak hold, averaging, measurement of THD, THD+N, SNR, SINAD, Noise Level, IMD, Bandwidth and Crosstalk, phase spectrum, auto correlation function, cross correlation function, coherence function, transfer function (Bode plot), impulse response. Support 55 window functions and window overlap.
(3) Signal Generator
Function generation, multitone generation, arbitrary waveform generation, burst tone generation, MLS generation, DTMF generation, musical scale generation, white noise and pink noise generation, and frequency/amplitude sweep. Synchronized operation between the signal generator and the oscilloscope is supported.
(4) Multimeter
voltmeter, sound pressure level meter(dB, dBA, dBB, dBC), frequency counter, RPM meter, counter, duty cycle meter, F/V converter. The counter trigger level and hysteresis can be adjusted.
(5) Spectrum 3D Plot
It is used to trace the spectrum variation with time. Two types of plots are provided: waterfall and spectrogram, with adjustable tilt angle of T axis, adjustable height of Y axis, and selectable color palettes.
(6) Data Logger
It provides long time data logging function for 93 derived variables, including RMS value, Peak Frequency, Sound Pressure Level, RPM, THD, etc. Up to eight data logger windows can be opened and each window can trace up to 8 variables. The logged data files can be reloaded into the data logger for review.
(7) LCR meter
It is used to measure the value of an inductor, a capacitor or a resistor, or the impedance of a network of them.
(8) Device Test Plan
Device Test Plan provides a mechanism for you to configure and conduct your own device test steps. It takes the advantage of the sound card's capability of simultaneous input & output, to generate a stimulus to the Device Under Test (DUT) and acquire the response from that device at the same time. Different stimuli can be generated and the response can be analyzed in different ways. It supports 13 instructions with corresponding parameters.
System Requirement
PC or Laptop with 8, 16 or 24 bit Windows compatible sound card, Microsoft Windows95 or greater, Microsoft NT or greater. Screen resolution is recommended to be greater than 800 × 600 pixels.


text:
County Council Meeting
The Floyd County Council meets at the Pineview Government Center in the Commissioner's Assembly Room #104.
The Floyd County Council administers the County regarding fiscal affairs. The council has authority to view or review fiscal matters, determine proper policy, and set priorities for the allocation and expenditure of county funds through the adoption of an annual budget.
The deadline to appear on the agenda for this meeting is 10 days prior to the meeting via letter to the Floyd County Auditor's office.
Event Properties
|Event Date
|11-12-2019 6:00 pm
|Event End Date
|11-12-2019 7:00 pm
|Pine View Government Center


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Sako 85 Grey Wolf
A natural-born Finish hunter, the Sako 85 Grey Wolf features the same all-stainless barreled action as its cousin, the Sako 85 Stainless Synthetic, combined with an attractive yet ultra-tough checkered grey laminated stock. The stock features classic American-style lines with its straight comb and sleek profile, plus a shadow-line cheekpiece on the left side. The stainless barreled action and warp-free stock makes the Sako 85 Grey Wolf perfect for hunting in extreme conditions while retaining the warm look and feel of the wood stock.
SPECIFICATIONS:Mfg Item Num:Category: FIREARMS - RIFLESAction: 85 LongCaliber: 7mm Rem MagBarrel Length: 22 7/16"Capacity: 5 rdsTrigger: Single-Stage AdjustableSafety: Two-Position safety with separate boltSights: Integral Tapered Scope Mount DovetailsRecoil: FinSoft, BlackWeight: 7.75Stock: Ultra-tough checkered grey laminatedFinish: Stainless Steel


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Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Where in the World Are Becky, Chris, & Hilary?
Monday, February 27, 2012
It's My Day!
1. I once ran into a bearded man on the sidewalk in this city wearing a full, white bridal gown and veil who was saying to everyone in earshot, "IT'S MY DAY!"
2. This city has more restaurants per capita than any city in the United States, including Red's Java House and what may be the best sourdough and cheddar cheeseburger on the planet.
3. It is a place where visitors must fear the beard.
4. This city boasts the only pirate supply store that I'm aware of, complete with peg legs, eye patches and lard.
5. There is a plaque somewhere in this city that reads, "On approximately this spot Miles Archer, partner of Sam Spade, was done in by Brigid O'Shaughnessy."
6. This city is home to Miranda Corby, a worthy successor to Spade and Archer if ever there was one.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
The Anti-Seduction
Romantic matters are a case in point. I am now writing the sixth book in the Constable Molly Smith series. Along with assorted minor characters there are now three couples whose love lives I have to balance. One long-time relationship and two fairly new ones.
I would dearly like to have all those relationships progress smoothly to a state of total bliss, but unfortunately that's not what interesting books are made of. So sometimes I have to go right out and whisper sweet anti-seductions in one character's ear or another.
In the book in progress, Molly Smith meets a guy on the ski slopes. Now, she's a near-Olympic class skier and this guy turns out to be not only handsome and charming but almost as good as she is. So our characters zip around the slopes for a few chapters. Flirting, smiling, laughing, wondering if there's that certain something in the other.
Why, they seem almost perfect for each other!
Can't have that now can we?
So the author (aka the puppet master) whispers sweet nothings into his ear.
"Police! Drop the weapon!"
"You're a cop?"
"Are we still on for tomorrow?"
But I can't leave you on a downer, so here's a clip of what to me is a truly great love song. It's easy to be in love when you're young and have met someone new. A bit more difficult as age and familiarity creep up. Kingdom of Days by Bruce Springsteen.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Seduction of the Innocent
Psychiatrist Fredric Wertham was scared for America's children. They were tying bath towels around their necks and running around playing Superman, jumping off of the roofs of their houses and breaking their legs and arms. There was rich man Bruce Wayne, who by night was the criminal's scourge, Batman, and his young, ahem, "ward," the teenaged Dick Grayson, the barelegged, masked Robin the Boy Wonder. When he wasn't endangering the under-aged lad, exposing him to riff-raff like the Joker and the guns and knives of his henchmen, they were lazing about Wayne manor in the mornings, each in a smoking jacket and ascot. Holy gay undercurrent Dark Knight!
What were the disturbing fantasies the scantily clad Phantom Lady, her well-endowed bosom fairly falling out of her plunging V-top as she was bound, barely, by ropes fueling in pubescent boys? Indeed a look over to the right of the infamous cover Wertham cited, Phantom Lady No. 17 from 1948 one might agree with ol' Freddy – interestingly too, the cover was drawn by Matt Baker, one of the few African Americans working in comics in those days. And what sort of message were youths receiving what with hanging bodies, their eye bulging out or a decapitated woman's head on the covers of horror comic books?
Relating the aforementioned and much more, like kids setting themselves on fire imitating the Human Torch, Wertham published his study and conclusions as a book, Seduction of the Innocent in 1954. Parents and educators were alarmed and in the resulting furor, which included a Senate sub-committee hearing on juvenile delinquency, with an emphasis on these subversive comics and the gentlemen of Eastern European heritage who published them, The Comics Code of America was born. It was an industry-funded self-censorship body that among its edicts stated:
"Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal…Policeman, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority…Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism and werewolfism are prohibited."
Some might argue Wertham seduced a '50s-era nation stuck between the old ways and anxious about the oncoming of the Atomic Age, bringing with it stuff like creeping communism and Negroes making noises down south. Or that if there is no sentry, a guardian against our base desires, we will forever give in to that which tempts and seduces us – comic books then, video games now. But I am seduced with the idea that counter to the Code, the ghost of Fredric Wertham returns to be a consultant on moral decency. Bad good girl Phantom Lady gets wind of this and returning from limbo, must do battle against Wertahm's ghoulish acolytes to protect our freedoms. I'll be right there with her, carrying some safety pins in case, you know, her costume comes undone.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Play At Your Own Risk
Gabriella Herkert
Thursday, February 23, 2012
I'm Easy
By Michael
I admit it: I'm easy to seduce – a not unusual condition for a guy, but who am I to argue with biology?
A cheap date, I'm happy with the chicken mole at Nuevo Léon in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood (you can carry me out the door for less than ten bucks), though I'll roll over and expose my belly if you treat me to a couple slices of abalone sashimi at Japonica in New York or a plate of vegetarian pork at Heaven's Dog in San Francisco.
Put Etta James's "I'd Rather Go Blind" on the stereo when we get home and you'll see me doing dances I really shouldn't do. Play it a second time, and I'll sing along using a fake Brazilian accent.
I don't mind being plied with alcohol, my chosen brands being Maker's Mark bourbon and Hornitos tequila – though I'll drink most cabernets that sell for more than seven bucks a bottle and any beer, whatever the price.
But if you really want to move my soul, try a few lines from Raymond Chandler. Vivian Sternwood in The Big Sleep would be good. Say, "My God, you big handsome brute! I ought to throw a Buick at you!" and I'll start humming Ravel's Bolero. Follow it up with, "I loathe masterful men," and steam will pour from my nose and ears. Or give me some James Cain. Try Cora from The Postman Always Rings Twice: say, "Yes! Yes, Frank, yes!" – substituting "Michael" for "Frank," please – and I won't say no.
Eyes, ears, tongue. These are the pathways to my desire – very wide pathways: superhighways, great salt flats.
Oh, but I'm also married – happily – and that makes my condition of easy seducibility both more difficult on the one hand and simpler on the other. On the one hand, my wife has seen me dance and is embarrassed and she's unimpressed by my Brazilian accent. On the other hand, on every birthday I give her copies of The Big Sleep and The Postman Always Rings Twice, each Valentine's Day I give her an Etta James CD, and you know where we go to dinner.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
The Art of Seduction
By Tracy Kiely
Seduction is an art form. There is no magic line that guarantees romantic success. Nobody ever had me at "hello," and I find it hard to believe that any rational man would be intrigued by the offer to "come up and see me sometime." Honestly, that line sounds like something you'd hear on Dateline followed by Keith Morrison's sad voice observing, "Of course, no one ever would see Barry Jacobs again."
Seduction depends on the time, the place, and the person. What worked on me in my youth would have no effect now. That said, I present you with a historical list of successful lines:
Pre-school: "Hey, would you like to share my Hostess Cupcake?"
Grade school: "Wanna couple skate? I can skate backwards."
Middle school: Honestly, any overt interest at this horribly awkward age found me skittering away in terror. But based on the pictures that I've come across of me from this era, I don't think it was an issue anyway.
High School: "Hey, a bunch of us are going to X's house to watch Monty Python and then head down to Georgetown to catch the midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Want to come?"
College: "No, you're not boring me at all. Maybe we could grab a beer and you can tell me more about the visual metaphors in Hitchcock's movies?"
Early 20's: "No, you're not boring me at all. Maybe we could go to dinner and you can tell me more about the visual metaphors in Hitchcock's movies?"
Late 20's: "Seriously honey, from behind you can't tell you're pregnant at all."
Early 30's: "Pack your bags. My mom is coming to watch the kids for the weekend."
Late 30's: "X just threw up all over the bathroom, but I cleaned it up."
40's: "How about we get take out, a bottle of wine, go upstairs and lock the door, and pretend we can't hear what the kids are doing?"
So there you have it. Not exactly the phrases you'd expect to hear from seduction masters such as Cary Grant, Bogie, or George Clooney, but they did the trick for me.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
How to Seduce Me
Monday, February 20, 2012
Seduction of the Moment
For example, two months ago the words 50% off, sexy, chocolate, beautiful, bonus and free might have made me purr like one of my cats. They wouldn't even have had to been uttered by my all-time film heart throbs, Alan Rickman or Armand Assante. Nope, just hearing those words would have sent my heart to pitter-pattering.
Today the words that would send me into nirvana would be extension (although I'm already on one), time off, and sleep.
But the words that would be the icing on the cake, the roar in my engine, the cabana boy in my dream vacation, would have to be THE END, typed by me at the end of this manuscript.
Trust me, when it happens, it will be earth shaking and orgasmic, even if Alan and Armand are not here to enjoy it with me.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Double Trouble
Saturday, February 18, 2012
The Importance Of Hitting Deadlines
I hate being late. Really, it goes beyond mere pet peeve. And I absolutely hate missing a deadline.
Like this one.
This post was supposed to be up, oh, nine, ten hours ago? Something like that. So you can imagine when I woke up, yelled, "Shit!" and scared the dogs, who then proceeded to jump on my head.
All 160 pounds. The dogs, not my head.
And then I spent twenty minutes trying to figure out what to write about. So I thought I'd write about deadlines. It's funny where we find inspiration. For me it's in panic.
Anyway, the point is that missing deadlines is bad. It's unprofessional, anxiety inducing and gives you gout. Okay, maybe not gout, but I wouldn't be surprised.
We've all done it. Missed our homework, screwed up in a project, been a week late to work after waking up from binge drinking Thunderbird and wondering how we ended up in a Shanghai brothel next to a cabaret singer named Pepe Von Bulow.
But there's a balance to maintain. Sometimes the work simply isn't done. Sometimes it's not as good as it could be. Nobody wants to turn in crap even if it's on time. I missed a deadline turning in my second book to my publisher. There are reasons, sure, but they all come down to excuses. It was late, I got an extension and I hit the second deadline.
Was it the best it could be? I don't know. Was it the best I could deliver? I think so. I sent it out to beta readers, got some feedback, made some changes. I'm not entirely happy with it, but it had reached the point where I honestly didn't know what else to do with it. I don't think it's perfect, but I do think it's good.
There's a saying, "Perfect is the enemy of good." The problem with perfect is that it doesn't exist. Particularly in books. Tastes are so subjective and quality is so often conflated with personal preference that you're never going to hit that mark for everyone.
If you spend all your time trying to make something perfect you're never going to finish it and chances are you're going to overshoot the mark. So focus on making it good, not perfect. Let it have flaws. Chances are you can fix them later. And if you can't, well, sometimes them's the breaks.
I'm not saying don't do your best work, but I am saying don't shoot for an impossible standard. Every time you look at your previous work you're going to find something you want to change. Stop it. It's not going to serve you. At some point you just have to say it's done and turn the damn thing in.
And really try to get it in on time. It cuts down on the panic.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Seduce your significant other with words: the FAIL version
|Gary says: "Hi!"
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Seduction - duction - what's your function
Why? Why would we try to do this? No, seriously. There is no good outcome to being a silver tongued rapscallion.
If you successfully woo and seduce your significant other with a string of beautiful words. What are you going to do next time? You can't say the same thing - your eyes are like pools of luminescent moonbeams - you can't say that twice. The response will be - you said that last time, what else do you got?
And if you're not successful then what ? If you mention some flower that she's never heard of or compare her to some work of art she doesn't find particularly attractive or if she says "your biceps are so strong" shortly after you failed to open the tomato sauce jar without fetching a hammer, you are just going backwards.
No, no, no. In this case less is definitely more. Her beauty is always indescribable - so why try. Your masculinity is better served by a few well placed touches and some type of cooing noise - even if she is merely suppressing a laugh.
Yes - I think this is the best policy - plus it always seems as if people are mad about getting seduced. Rarely on a soap-opera do you hear a character shout "You seduced me..and I liked it!" No - I'm afraid its always followed by an icy stare or a plate thrown through the air.
Best to avoid all this and let your touch do the talking. Of course I guess we have to do some talking to get there in the first place. Grrrr.... Its a vicious circle.
Do you women see what valentine's day does to us men?
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Happy Valentine's Day to Hilary and Lily!
Monday, February 13, 2012
The Playlist's The Thing
"England 2, Colombia 0" by Kirsty MacColl. Most people know the late, great Kirsty best for her duet with Shane MacGowan of the Pogues in "Fairytale of New York," but she was also one of the best pop songwriters and wittiest lyricists I can think of. Take, for example, this song about a woman who goes out on a date to find out in the nick of time that the man she's with is married, as a soccer match plays in the background. "And I know just how those Colombians feel …."
Bonus Tracks: "Rider" by Okkervil River; "Excuses" by The Morning Benders; "Heart Full of Love" by The Invincibles; "You Said Something" by P.J. Harvey; "Barstool Blues" by Neil Young & Crazy Horse; "Rocket Man" by My Morning Jacket; "Castanets" by Alejandro Escovedo; "Strange Powers" by The Magnetic Fields; "Gettin' Grown" by Cee-Lo Green & His Perfect Imperfections; and "Chinatown" by Destroyer.
Secret, Hidden Tracks: "Another Girl, Another Planet" by The Replacements (covering The Only Ones); "Champagne and Reefer" by Buddy Guy and the Rolling Stones (Buddy Guy's glare is worth the price of admission).
Sunday, February 12, 2012
The Soundtrack of my life? Do I have one?
Vicki here.
Last week's question about board games suited me perfectly. This one… not so much. I enjoy listening to music but I am totally tone deaf and really don't know much about it, other than what I like.
I've been trying to learn a bit about opera. Being tone deaf, big brassy music is what I like best. Yesterday I went to my local theatre to see the Met live-via-satellite performance of Gotterdammerung. I bought my ticket in advance and when I got to the booth she said, "You know it's six hours long?" No I didn't know (see above for lack of musical education). However, I gamely bought my ticket thinking if I didn't like it, I could leave during one of the two intermissions.
I did know enough to know that Gotterdammerung is but the fourth of a four part storyline. I have a book at home titled Tolkien's Ring, which is an exploration of the influences on J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (waiting for the LOTR question, here: That's my niche!) The book contained the entire plot synopsis of Wagner's Ring Cycle so at least I was able to attend the performance knowing what was going on.
I loved it! At the end, I found it hard to believe I'd been sitting there for six hours (nice comfy seats too). I loved the music, the costumes, the singers. The set, not so much, being more about light and technology than objects, but it was okay. The main character of Brunnhilde was sung by Deborah Voight and she was magnificent. Just spectacular. Interestingly, I find female voices in opera much more powerful than male voices. The best scene yesterday was between Brunnhilde and her Valkyrie sister. Waltraude, the second, the dramatic finale which is all Brunnhilde's.
So, would I describe Gotterdammerung as the soundtrack of my life? Hardly. No magic rings, no heroes leaping through fire, no sleeping on a rock waiting to be rescued.
No hatred and betrayal, either.
But I loved the performance yesterday. I'd highly recommend that anyone who wants to expanse their musical experience, try attending on of these live performances.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Slippin' Into Darkness
When I was a teenager, the soundtrack was simple and indeed played on a 8-track tape player – and how sad is it that I'm that old – the heft of a portable x-ray machine strapped beneath the dash of my dad's '65 Ford Galaxy when I was a senior in high school. Pumped at volume as those of us on the football squad arrived for our Friday night games, the "Theme to Shaft" by Issac Hayes. Cue that great guitar intro:
Who is the man
That would risk his neck for
his brother man?
(all the girls say: Shaft!)
Can ya dig it?
Who's the cat that won't cop out,
When there's danger all about
(all the girls again say: Shaft!)
Right on
But there was also "Lola" from the Kinks that, shall we say, piqued our interests,–
Well, I'm not the world's most physical guy,
But when she squeezed me tight she nearly
broke my spine
Oh my Lola, L-L-Lola
Well, I'm not dumb but I can't understand,
Why she walked like a woman but talked like a man,
Oh my Lola, L-L-Lola, L-L-Lola
Time passes and there were other Friday nights spent in places like the Jockey Club and Jukebox Jury…yes my friends, the Age, the Scourge of Disco had arrived. And what better song encapsulated this ere than "Disco Inferno" by the Tramps (riffed on I shamelessly note in a short story of mine called "Disco Zombies" from the Cocaine Chronicles recently republished in my short story collection, Treacherous: Grifters, Ruffians and Killers)
Satisfaction came in a chain reaction -- Do you hear?
I couldn't get enough, so I had to self destruct,
The heat was on, rising to the top
Everybody's goin' strong
That is when my spark got hot
I heard somebody say
Burn baby burn! -- Disco inferno!
A, ah yeah!
Threaded through those time periods and into my mid to late twenties are those relationships that healed you and took something out of you at the same time. Who better than the Joe Simon in his song "Drowning in the Sea of Love" to express that:
I've been down one time,
I've been down two times,
Now I'm drowning,
Drowning in the sea of love
And there was Santana's "Black Magic Woman" song that pretty much summed it up for me and wommin' folk as well --
I got a Black Magic Woman
I got a Black Magic Woman
Yes, I got a Black Magic Woman
She's got me so blind I can't see
But she's a Black Magic Woman and
she's trying to make a devil out of me
For the tough times there's the two constants, the Boss' "Darkness on the Edge of Town" –
Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost,
I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost,
For wanting things that can only be found
In the darkness on the edge of town.
And War's "Slippin' into Darkness,"
When I heard my mother say,
You've been slippin' into darkness,
Oh oh oh oh
Pretty soon, you're gonna pay.
Yeah, yeah.
When it comes time to checkout, like how it was used for a dying Russian gangster on an episode of House, maybe that last soundtrack will be the intonations of the late great Eddie Hazel's guitar magnificence on Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain."
(you can click on Treacherous or "Maggot Brain" for extras by the by)
Friday, February 10, 2012
Clef Notes
Catnapped and Doggone
Confession time. I'm not a music person. I know we creative types are supposed to be hanging out together and I have nothing but awe for the truly talented musicians and songwriters in the world who manage to tell their stories with rhythm. But the thing is, I grew up in a predominantly silent house. Except for the yelling and name-calling to be expected with eight people and one bathroom, there wasn't a lot of noise much less composition that would lend itself to a background tapestry upon which I could paint my life story.
I was going to write this blog by finding out the top songs in the key moments in my life but figured out that would help everyone do the longevity math and, well, that is not a place I'm going to willingly go. Instead, I chose some key moments, places and people and borrowed quotes from some of my favorite authors that, at least in my rather convoluted thinking, manage to convey the essence of that person I was in that moment. With any luck, once linked, each of these snapshots will flow into the verbal soundtrack of the Life of Gabi.
Of course, I couldn't make it that easy and I'm a little unsettled with simply handing the key that makes me tick over without a little fight, I've written two lists. Mix and match my bulleted moments with the numbered quotation. Any insights are welcome. Answers are at the end.
A. Reporting day at the United States Military Academy at West Point
B. Circus school
C. Kerouac and Kokopelli
D. Arthur Andersen interview, Bouchercon and parade formation
E. Moving to Austin to write full-time
F. The terme baths at the Grand Wailea Spa, Maui
G. Law school at the University of Oregon
H. Amarillo, Texas
I. 7 Criminal Minds
J. Changing the world
- "I can't swim." – The Sundance Kid
- "You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes." -- Dr. Seuss
- "We're not in Kansas anymore." – Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz
- "I say beware of all enterprises which require new clothes." – Henry David Thoreau
- "Oh," said Cecilia with a deep sigh, "but we must live here." An Irish setter ran out to inspect us. I bent down and patted it. "With a dog," I added. -- A.A. Milne
- "Who leaves the pine-tree, leaves his friend,Unnerves his strength, invites his end." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- "The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come." – Joseph Conrad
- "America is my country and Paris is my hometown." – Gertrude Stein
- "Where's the beef?" – Clara Pell
- "Good friends, good books, and a sleep conscience: this is the ideal life." Mark Twain
A. 4 -- The West Point dress grey uniform is the same outfit worn by the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz. There's a clue in there somewhere.
B. 1 -- I was the first person in my trapeze class to climb all the way to the ceiling using the silks. Then I looked down. Unlike Sundance, I knew it was the fall that was the problem (although technically, it's the landing).
C. 5 -- Ker and Koko are my dogs, past and present. It's not a home without dog hair on everything.
D. 2 -- These are all examples of moments when the brains in my head had to work out the fix for the two left shoes on my feet.
E. 7 -- I turned my world upside down to spend more time writing, moved to Austin and promptly burned my office-cubicle-haven't-seen-the-sun-in-Seattle skin to a crisp.
F. 8 - Everyone has a place they walk into and no is their special place. Those terme baths -- they're mine.
G. 3 - I went from culturally homogenous Midwest to identical soldier Army to the Grateful Dead are in town Eugene, Oregon. Talk about your culture shock.
H. 9 - My mother liked to route our vacations so we could eat at the Big Texas steakhouse. Wisconsin to California via Amarillo, Texas. Is my sense of direction (or dearth of one) any real surprise?
I. 10 - I love our blog community even if my chances of being arrested have increased by a factor of ten thousand.
J. 6 - I've been working with the passionate people at the Rainforest Partnership to bring sustainable incomes to communities in the rainforest while protecting the environment. I don't leave my friends.
Thanks for reading.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
I Can't Get No
When I was growing up in
With the WXRT precedent behind me, I construct the following playlist or soundtrack for my life.
Chet Baker, "Let's Get Lost"
John Coltrane, "Naima"
"Whatever Lola Wants," Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, as performed by Ella Fitzgerald
Buddy Johnson, "Since I Fell For You"
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," Rolling Stones
"Blue Skies," Willie Nelson
Celia Cruz, "Guantanamera"
Don Giovanni (Commandatore Scene), Mozart
"Dance This Mess Around," B-52's
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
The Soundtrack of My Life
By Tracy Kiely
Before I tackle today's topic – the soundtrack of my life – let me just say that, like a lot of other Anglophile's, I have of late submerged myself into the posh world of Downton Abbey. (For those of you unfamiliar with this latest Masterpiece series, it follows the Crawley household during the waning days of the Edwardian Era. Or, as the Washington Post stated, "it is lifestyle porn for Anglophiles.") The scenery is lush, the clothes are gorgeous, and the dialog – especially Dame Maggie Smith's – is perfect and biting. More than that, though, the portrayal of the unhurried lifestyle of the Edwardian gentry beckons to me from my modern-day world of chaos. So much so, that after a happy visit with the Crawley clan, I have blinked in confusion at the mess strewn around me and begun to call out for Mr. Carson or Mrs. Hughes to set it right.
(And before you start yelling at me that it is in many ways an unrealistic portrayal, and that women, servants, and the lower classes were viewed and many times treated like second class citizens, and that that there were a host of social injustices perpetrated with casual indifference, let me assure you that I know all that. But dammit, it looks pretty and I like to pretend, so let's move on, shall we?)
Anyway. I mention all of this so you will understand that I would love for my life's soundtrack to be something sophisticated and elegant, but of course, with a hint of whimsy. The soundtrack to Pride and Prejudice would do nicely, as would just about any period drama from that era.
However, if I am honest with myself, I have to admit that my soundtrack would be something like the Flight of the Bumblebee, and the version I would have would stick and skip.
I have three lovely children who are all displaying age appropriate behavior. My fifteen-year-old son has embraced the eye-rolling condescension of that age with a gusto normally reserved for violent video games. He does not understand what a laundry hamper or dishwasher is for. My twelve-year-old daughter is channeling the drama channel and learning to flounce off in a huff with the best of them. Unlike her brother, she understands what a laundry hamper is for; it is the thing in which you throw all the clothes that slide off of the closet hangers – and is the reason why a winter coat ends up in the laundry room in the middle of August. My third is a nine-year-old boy who can never find his shoes, casually mentions that he's been brushing his teeth for several days without toothpaste because he couldn't find any (despite there being three tubes on the sink), and refuses to wear anything other than sports jerseys. My dog likes to retrieve various items, such as the TV remote, and then play hide and seek with it. My cat normally stares at me with the cool indifference typical of his breed, but lately has been following me about and curling up with me. This, of course, only made me remember that story about the cat in the nursing home who could sense death and stayed close to those patients about to die. I have been on high alert all week.
Add to all this, a book that needs editing, a proposal that needs writing, and a marketing plan that needs marketing, and perhaps you will see why I long for Edwardian calm in the midst of my bumblebee flight.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
My Life in Song
Once upon a time, and a lucky time it was, a boy named Josh was born in the gigantic state of Rhode Island. He was a baby and then he grew up, although not by much. He loathed school but loved writing and the TV. He especially enjoyed the Creature Double Feature which played on Saturday afternoons and the Dialing-for-Dollars B-Movie Extravaganza which played on weekday mornings.
As time passed, he somehow acquired three siblings, a sister and two brothers. He also somehow acquired a fondness for school which replaced his previous loathing. Around this time, he discovered the novels of Stephen King; these in particular infected him with a sinister joy.
He matriculated to the slightly smaller state of New York, which he attended college in Binghamton and gained many friends, several enemies, and one nasty case of mononucleosis. While there, he wrote dozens of plays, ignoring the cries of the masses begging him to desist. He also began work on a screenplay entitled Windfall, which magically won first place in the Open Door Contest co-sponsored by Script Magazine and Dimension Films.


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Do ya love old chopper mags? Well who the hell doesn't? Fuck paying ridiculous prices for old rags at swapmeets and on eBay. Well check this out! If ya dig the shit on this blog then you get an idea of the kind of bikes I'm into. I've got a rather insane collection of bike mags (Chopper, Choppers, Street Chopper, Custom Bike, Custom Chopper, and the list goes on and on) from the '70's to mid '80's. I've been scanning the best feature bikes, tech articles, and even the ads of all the coolest shit. Then I take these files and convert them to searchable PDF's. No more thumbing through old mags for an article that may or may not have been in god knows what issue. Just type in a few keywords and it will pull up every article that relates to it. Then I put these on DVD's. You end up with almost 4GB's of hi-res Jpeg files and the PDF on DVD shipped to you for $22 in the US or $25 everywhere else (this covers costs of DVD and time burning, packing, runnin' to the Post Office, etc.). It's over 130 articles (over 500 pages of chopper porn!) Harley, Indian, Brits, and Jap, long bikes, short chops, diggers, café's, trikes, drag bikes, etc.
Volume 1 contains bikes by Bill Gardner, Arlin Fatland, Arlen Ness, Smith Bros & Fetrow, Cycle Fab (Dave Perewitz), Bay Area Custom Cycles (Ron Simms), Chopper Specialties (Raja), Denvers Choppers, Ed Kerr, Mel's Cycle, JAR Choppers, Jim Noteboom, Bob Cecchini, Carlini Cycle Creations, Calfornia Cycle Works (Ron Ebert), Andy Anderson, Mark Shadley, Lowriders by Summers, B.C. Choppers (Barry Cooney), Alan Sperr and more.
Articles include Molded Frame Paneling, Making Ornate Sissy Bars, Mounting The Disc To Springers, Mikuni Carb Adapters, Making The XL Run, MagnaChargers, Molding And Paint, Headlight Ideas, Guages, 2 articles on Building Gooseneck Frames, Gas Tank Murals, Sportster Ignitions, Amal Carbs and a shit load more.
You can hit me up at firstname.lastname@example.com PayPal is the same.
Don't forget to send your address!


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Crews: Gang Members Talk to Maria Hinojosa
Harcourt Brace, 1995 - Juvenile Nonfiction - 168 pages
National Public Radio reporter Maria Hinojosa's work with "crew" (gang) members of New York City inspired this in-depth collection of interviews. Her direct, nonjudgmental questions evoke poignant, surprising, and sometimes shocking responses from young people torn between violence and struggle for survival in America's cities. "The contemporary topic, universal themes, accessible writing, and compelling language will fill a void on many libraries' shelves. These powerful statements may serve as a wake-up call to young adults and all who work with them today."--School Library Journal.
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A book describing Hinojosa's interviews with gang members in New York City. Kids like this often get labelled and shoved into a group, but their individual voices sing loud and clear in this book. It ... Read full review
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Chris Christie said Wednesday that he's ignoring – for now – the fevered speculation about his presidential ambitions following a decisive re-election victory as a Republican in deep-blue New Jersey. But his words and actions suggested otherwise.
"It's complimentary. It's flattering and I have no problem with it," Christie said at a press conference at a school on Wednesday. "But I want to be really clear about this: I have a job to do. I got re-elected to do a job last night, and that's the job I'm going to do."…
The governor made clear, though, that he's not about to go changing his trademark style should he wage a bid for the presidency.
"I'm not here to put on a show," he added a bit later. "I'm here to win."
President Obama on Wednesday afternoon called newly re-elected New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to congratulate him on his landslide victory.
"Obviously [the president] and the governor have spent a lot of time together … The president was glad to congratulate him on his victory," White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday, according to a pool reporter traveling with the president.
Last year, Chris Christie was elected chairman of the Republican Governors Association and he officially takes over that post in Arizona in 15 days. It's a position with a high national profile, money to spread around and a bully pulpit.
So, in way, Christie's power just doubled…
The national leadership role will also take Christie around the country many times over to raise money, make speeches and show off his prowess as a world-class schmoozer born and bred on bare-knuckle Jersey politics. He did the same thing last year as RGA vice chairman.
"I think he's going to be the most popular draw on the campaign trail for 2014," said Schmidt, a native of North Plainfield. "He's going to have a great opportunity to build that national fundraising network to run for president, a reason and an excuse to campaign all over the country for all sorts of other candidates other than his own ambition."
Another open question is how pointedly Christie will contrast his style of governance to politicians like Sen. Ted Cruz, who has been unabashed in his belief that the government shutdown served a purpose.
Barbour said that instead of comparing themselves to Cruz, he expects governors to contrast themselves to Barack Obama. Still, he added: "But that will be smarter than going out and starting fights you can't win."
Others hope Christie will be more blunt.
"Any Republican who considers himself a party leader has an obligation to be singling out Ted Cruz and not just taking the easy way out of blaming House Republicans," said Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.), who did not specifically name Christie. "So far I'm the only one that's doing it.
"I was very interested that he had Susana Martinez there in the last days to campaign with him," [Orrin] Hatch told reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday. "Because that would make a great ticket."…
"I think that the man really is an exceptionally tough, smart, good conservative who literally appeals across the board, which is what the Republicans need to have," Hatch said, referring to Christie. "And let's face it, Susana Martinez has a lot of qualities that would help a lot of people to understand that the Republican Party is a broad base party."
"I understand that everyone is upset because I've said some things. But they need to learn that about me. If they are going to hire me to do a job, I'm going to do the job for the people that I'm representing, and they are going to hear it from me," Christie told CNN's Jake Tapper Tuesday.
"I don't think I need to fence mend, I think people just have to learn who I am," said Christie.
"He built a profile as somebody who was quick to criticize Republicans. If you remember after Sandy, he criticized Republicans as being the ones that were holding it up," said CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Kevin Madden.
"He was so quick to criticize Republicans. And he gained a lot of favor and a lot of love from the mainstream media … and that put him in a difficult position with a lot of base voters," said Madden.
"I wonder whether Democrats are going to really start to regret how much of a pass they gave Christie in this election," Hunt said. "You didn't really see the party apparatus crank up for Barbara Buono…They could have dredged up some of what we're seeing come out, the Romney vet of Chris Christie, all of these problems in his past, but they let all that go."
"The Reagan Democrats are alive," Matthews said. "They're working class, middle class, mostly Catholics—I'm just saying, it's a fact—ethnic people, people who came two or three generations ago. They tend to be very, very patriotic. And they like reality. They don't like Al Gores. They don't like people like [Michael] Dukakis. They want real people with blood in them. People that talk with attitude."
Just one day after Chris Christie's successful reelection bid, Ron Paul already foresees doom for the New Jersey governor's 2016 aspirations. The former Texas representative saw Christie another possible candidate from the "mushy middle" similar to the past two Republican presidential nominees who have lost.
"If he wants to go the way of McCain and Romney, I guess he can go ahead and do it," Paul said on Fox News on Wednesday. "I think it'll be same old stuff again, wishy-washy stuff — chase [out] all the constitutionalists, limited-government, libertarians."
The big problem for Christie is that these two ostensibly separate concerns—his temperament and his problems with the base—are likely to merge in unpleasant ways. If there is one thing about Christie that does appeal to the Tea Party crowd, it is his demeanor. (I am uncertain that even hardcore right-wingers will enjoy Christie's personality after being exposed to it day after day for a year, but let's leave that aside.) They love his disdain for liberals and unions, his "straight talk," and his seemingly anti-establishment, regular-guy shtick. (Ironically, it's this anti-establishment shtick that seems to have endeared Christie to the Republican establishment, from the Wall Street Journal editorial page to the Lords of Finance.)
When Christie is inevitably attacked by his competitors on some of the issues Cohn mentions, then expect him to go into full-bore angry guy mode. The GOP primary is thus going to set up a dynamic in which Christie will have to rely on his worst instincts. If you think Mitt Romney was forced into unpalatable general election positions during his primary campaign, just wait until Christie uses his anger to deflect attacks and provides a whole slew of new YouTube clips. The other option is to rebrand himself as a staunch rightwinger, which could do the trick in the primary, but will also hinder his efforts to be a different type of Republican.
There are few things an elected official works harder at than pretending to be a "real" person. Christie is comfortable playing himself. It doesn't feel like he's reaching for a mental cue card with talking points every time he answer a question. And when he doesn't want to answer a question, Christie tells you "it's none of your business." Lawyer, lobbyist, governor, perhaps, but the perception is that he is as real as real gets in major league politics. Even when you disagree with him, you rarely dislike him. That kind of public currency goes a long way…
Christie is a product of a Northeastern Republican tradition that is expert at running bureaucracy, not standing athwart history, yelling Stop. He's a politician like everyone else — in some ways, even more true to the vocation than others. Actually, the factors that make someone like Rand Paul and Christie compelling are entirely different. The latter doesn't spend too much time reflecting on democracy's role during Jim Crow (as interesting a topic as that might be), he wants to know where the &%#@&?$%# money is for Sandy relief. That's why Christie probably wouldn't sound like a very good Senator, though there is the strong possibility that he might make a very good national candidate.
There's a historical precedent: Bill Clinton. He was ostensibly a "New Democrat," even though he was pro-choice, supported higher taxes, a universal health care system, gun control, and expanded rights for gays in the military. Rather than abandon core elements of the Democratic agenda, Clinton softened the edges on unreformed welfare, crime, middle class taxes, and said abortion should be "rare," even if it should remain legal.
Today's "New Republican" might not look very different from Chris Christie. He or she would preserve the core elements of the Republican agenda, but might retreat on a few symbolic but ultimately incidental issues—like immigration reform. He or she would stress pragmatism, the ability to work with both parties, and routinely distinguish him or herself from the party's extremists. After losing the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 presidential elections, Republicans should be quite familiar with the effectiveness of this tactic…
What should scare Republicans is the possibility that Christie is the only candidate who can pull off his own success. Christie is an exceptional candidate, and it wasn't even inevitable that Christie would become Christie—it took quite a bit of luck, and even some perverse luck in the form of Hurricane Sandy. It's unclear whether any other Republican can advance through the primaries while retaining enough credibility to tack back to the center and distinguish themselves from the party in the general election. If not, the compounding effects of demographic change, a sour GOP brand, and a conservative Republican nominee might put the GOP at a real disadvantage. Fortunately for electability-minded Republicans, the last few months have brought deceptively good news.
The obvious analog for this Christie triumph is the 1998 Texas reelection victory of George W. Bush. The outcome of that race was never in doubt, but the Karl Rove-led Bush team pushed hard to produce a result that would be interpreted as a national GOP blueprint – something they achieved when Bush crushed Democrat Garry Mauro by 37 points and won 40 percent of the Latino vote and nearly a third of the black vote…
But the party is also much different now than it was 15 years ago. For many in the Republican universe, purity is now just as important – if not more important – than general election success. This is a consequence of the Bush years, which ended with the rise of Barack Obama and a Democratic Congress and the enactment of an agenda that the right regards as an affront to freedom. To explain how this could happen – how Americans could go to the polls and willfully elect a left-of-center government – the right decided to blame Bush. The basic idea: Bush's "compassionate conservatism" amounted to reckless Big Government, gave conservatism a bad name and led a confused electorate to turn to Obama. It is out of this conviction that the Tea Party was born – both to fight Obama and to fight the Republicans who enabled Bush (and who might enable a future Bush)…
Many people loathe Christie, but plenty appreciate his swagger, especially in the Republican universe. The risk of Christie as a national candidate is that he'll lose his temper at the wrong time, in the wrong way – an ugly explosion that becomes his identity and sinks his campaign. The flip side, though, is that he's good at this game. He's the rare politician who can talk to a room of people who disagree with them and win them over. They warm up to him, they laugh at his jokes, start to like him – then, without even realizing it, they're working backward in their minds to tell themselves why, come to think of it, it actually wouldn't be crazy to support him. I've seen him do this in rooms of skeptical Democrats. I've seen him do this in rooms of skeptical conservatives. And I can absolutely see him doing it in a room of skeptical Iowa Republicans two years from now.
Think about the map: To beat a candidate with Christie's profile one on one, either Paul or Cruz would need to win Florida and then at least part of the industrial Midwest — the places where first McCain in 2008 and then Romney in 2012 successfully fended off the challenges from the right. Does Ted Cruz, whose resume is part Ivy League elite and part Texan evangelical, and whose father probably sets off every non-evangelical alarm bell there is, somehow win enough middle class Catholic Republicans to beat an Irish-Italian former prosecutor in Ohio and Michigan? Does Rand Paul, who veers between showing remarkable political savvy and indulging in not-ready-for-prime-time fumbling, really have what it takes to fundraise, organize, and win in big, not-deep-red states? Especially amid polls showing, as they probably would, that neither of them would fare as well as Christie in a general-election matchup against You Know Wh(illary)o?
Now maybe there's a dark horse like Scott Walker or Mike Pence who can get oxygen instead and reshuffle the map. Maybe one of the Christie pseudo-scandals turns into a real one and wrecks his bid before it begins. Or maybe Rubio makes a roaring political comeback and fulfills his party-unifying potential. It's early yet, Christie is hardly a near-lock like the current Democratic frontrunner, and (as she well knows) even near-locks have been known to run and lose.
But still, I'd be more certain of his vulnerability if I had a clearer sense of who might actually beat him.
Christie does have a powerful advantage that was in evidence in his New Jersey experience that would help him address this national dilemma, but it is not one he has yet brought forth. Christie has an unusual ability to connect with the common person because of his background and his manner of speech. As such, he is perhaps the only one of the major GOP contenders being bruited about who could conceivably rally mass public opinion behind a coherent center-right economic platform. But such ability does not come from the fighting Christie or the crisis leader, nor is it directly connected to the issues involved in the pension war: It comes straight from the average-Joe part of the Christie persona.
Christie's New Jersey success ultimately rests on the notion that he represents the aspirations of average New Jerseyites against the elites. Translating that to the national stage would necessarily require him to explain to Republican elites why they must sacrifice to deal with our fiscal woes. Subsidies for business and the upper middle class will have to be cut to simply maintain today's tax rates. Such translation would also apply to average Americans: Those who can afford to do more themselves will need to do so to avoid the tax hikes that could cripple our economy. Such a formulation would avoid the "many versus the few" trap the Democrats are waiting to deploy. Christie as the tribune for the common man would be defending the common good, asking the many to contribute for themselves.
Such an approach would draw on, but not simply repeat, Christie's New Jersey experiences. Common Man Christie can be angry at times and soft at times, so long as in each case the emotion is deployed on behalf of the many and not on behalf of the few.
The breathless burbling about how Chris Christie's victory "shows the path forward for the GOP" conveniently ignores his inability to turn New Jersey red for anyone but himself. Before election day, the New Jersey media didn't see any reason for the Dems to worry about a Christie victory, as they enjoy a 48-32 majority in the Assembly and a 24-16 lead in the state Senate. While these numbers may change, early reports indicate most incumbents will be reelected. The New Jersey media reported that most polls indicate support for Christie won't help any down-ballot Republicans. In 2009, Christie's coat-tail effect was negligible too, resulting in only one new Assembly seat for the Republicans.
Like Schwarzenegger, Christie is a useful idiot for the Democrats—a needy, politically correct, ruling-class Republican who is trending liberal on everything from "climate change" to gay marriage to size-of-government issues. Christie loves the liberal limelight—a trait that will only intensify over time. The Democrats know a Trojan Horse when they see one…
The future of the GOP is not Christie but Cruz. Have the Republicans learned nothing from Romney's loss, McCain's loss, Dole's loss? The lesson is simple: do not run moderates; that just hands victory to the Dems from the start. A basic test for any GOP nominee should be: Can this candidate win his own state? In Christie's case, the question, despite Tuesday's results, remains open. After all, he wasn't exactly running against Hillary Clinton. Another test is: Can this candidate reclaim his own legislature for his party? If not, all the enthusiasm is empty. Republican governors in blue states that remain for all intents and purposes blue always end up doing damage to the party, racking up personal victories for themselves while selling out the party's principles.
Via Campus Reform.


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I thought this would be a interesting discussion.
You can only take one.
Notes : You never forget a language or a musical skill either. Its always there in your head. And also, when I say a 'master on musical instruments', I mean one of the best in the world. Also the languages are only communication languages, not programming skills. via reddit
As for me I would pick languages. The nice thing about music is that it is already a universal language. :]
Views: 1560
Red pill. Talented at music, suck at languages.
As appealing as being able to play the violin with perfection is. I have to go with the red pill. I love talking to everyone, so if I had to freedom to speak to anyone regardless, that would be awesome.
Barriers are not something I like being stuck behind. =^P
Since I can't pick purple pill and just be a alright at 1/2 of each...I'll take red.
The blue pill.
I posed this question (via the link to this site) to my eldest daughter. She teaches music at a middle school (read "junior high"). With her permission, I have included her response here;
"Language pill.
I'd be an interpreter in a heartbeat. I have always loved language, it's why I didn't find it impossible to stay in french immersion in high school - it was tricky with the arts courses and all. It would be so nice and glamourous to travel around the world, work with the UN or something. I think a lot of misunderstanding could be avoided.
I wouldn't take the music pill. I can't imagine not having things to work on and improve, I can't imagine feeling differently about the people I sit with in band every week. I'd lose the fun of it, the quest. I would be an awful teacher because I wouldn't know what it would be like to be lost on a musical idea or concept, or to struggle to practice and improve. If I knew all the languages, I'd be a better singer for it. I've always wanted to learn the African ones with the different kinds of tongue clicking etc. :)
We are all looking too hard for instant perfection and overnight celebrity, but we really don't take the time to *get* each other. Now if there was a pill for *that* I'd take it in a heartbeat."
I think she nailed it.
Blue pill without a moments hesitation.
red pill for sure. . .i love languages but I always forget how hard a new one is to learn. . .
but that part of me that wanted wants to be a rock star might ask for the blue pill :)
Hmmmmm? I would have to go with the blue pill. I absorb language relatively quickly and easily but have struggled for decades with music. Admittedly that is the lazy choice (take a pill to conquer the tough challenge) but as others have mentioned music is a universal form of communication.
Listening to music is my number 1 passtime, playing it is a close second. I've always wanted to play multiple instruments. I think it would be great to be able to play any song I want and get whatever sound I want, or even play the same song and experiment with different sounds. I sound like the biggest nerd, but I gotta say if I could do that, I would never be bored. I have to admit it was a difficult choice since I already know how to play an instrument but I can't speak anything but English. I would love to speak multiple languages too, but I gotta still say music. I'll always have that even when there's no one around to talk to!
I tried hard to make a decision. I give up. My list of pros and cons for each seems to be endless lol.
I think the red pill. Then I could understand what the heck people are singing about during opera! Communication ability trumps playing all instruments.
Besides, all languages would riside in your head...where are you going to put the harpsicord, the 9foot grand piano, the complete woodwind instrument collection, the nose flute, etc etc?


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Whether you're making small upgrades or going for a full overhaul, a bathroom renovation can make a big difference in the feel of your home (and its future resale value). So it's no wonder that along with the kitchen, this practical space often takes top priority when it comes time to remodel.
But choosing a brand-new look isn't always easy, so we've gathered an array of gorgeous bathrooms each filled with inspiring ideas for your own renovation, including relaxing tubs, glamorous vanities, and sleek showers. From crisp and modern to luxurious and marble-clad, see stylish spaces that will suit any style.


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Cisco beat Q3 expectations today but shares dipped in after-hours trading on weak guidance.
Cisco CEO John Chambers said on the company's earnings call that Q4 will continue to show weakness.
Cisco's Q4 guidance came in at $0.37 to $0.39 non-GAAP EPS on $10.8 billion to $11 billion of revenue. That's well below the Street, which was expecting $0.42 EPS on $11.7 billion of revenue.
Cisco warned that GAAP EPS results will be significantly lower, based on restructuring charges.
Meanwhile, here's Chambers' canned quote from the earnings release: "This quarter played out as we expected," said John Chambers, chairman and CEO, Cisco. "We have acknowledged our challenges. We know what we have to do. We have a clear game plan, and we are a company with a track record of market-shaping innovation. We thank our shareholders, employees, customers and partners as we transition to the next phase of Cisco."
Get the latest Cisco stock price here.


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A place to study, relax or catch up with other students.
If you have any questions about living or studying in Queensland, come chat to one of our independent staff members.
The MDA Brisbane Student Hub provides information and advice on healthcare, employment, financial management, accommodation and legal services, as well as connecting students to local events and activities.
Our independent staff provide face-to-face assistance and support and students are invited to discuss any matter in a safe and confidential environment.
With free Wi-Fi, laptops and a printer available, the Brisbane Student Hub space is free for students to study or relax during opening hours.
The Brisbane Student Hub is a partnership between MDA Ltd, The Edge, Trade and Investment Queensland and Study Brisbane.


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At inCruises®, our mission is to C.R.U.I.S.E with as many people as possible. We:
Create affordable, luxury cruising experiences, for our members through our exclusive offer, allowing people to save money, have fun, be pampered and entertained.
Reward you in exchange for your member fees with innovative Cruise Dollars. Cruise Dollars double the purchasing power of your vacations savings to help create memorable cruising experiences.
Unleash a powerful business opportunity for you to positively impact the lives of millions worldwide.
Inspire you to cruise smarter, relax and recharge while discovering the world and it's amazing far-reaching destinations.
Support important causes you care about all around the world. Causes like Make-A-Wish.
Enhance your free time through travel so you can enjoy meaningful moments shared with family and friends.
We Are The World's Most Valuable and Useful Membership Club that Creates a Better Life for You and Others While Making the World a Better Place.
Registration with inCruises can only be done using Roman/Latin alphabet letters (A-Z).
You can find the correct name in your passport and/or your national ID.
This name in Roman/Latin alphabet letters (A-Z) will be used for cruise bookings and with commission payments providers and must be in this format.


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You know, Starbucks really does have some good ideas.
And I'm not above stealing them.
Not that I visit the World's Favorite Bistro often; there's not a Starbucks within 100 miles of me.
But when I travel, I find myself slipping into the first Starbucks I see – you know, just to check things out.
Also, since I recently learned a cup of plain coffee at Starbucks is cheaper than a cup at Dunkin' Donuts – 'tis true! – I'll treat myself to some Starbucks buzz: both literally, and figuratively.
While in Boston recently, I cut through a hotel lobby and spied the familiar Starbucks logo. Ducking in and sidling up to the counter - "No thanks, just looking" - I peered into the bakery case, and experienced one of those light-bulb moments we all, as creative bakers, learn to treasure:
WOW. Why didn't I think of that?
A two-tone biscotti! Chocolate and vanilla biscotti doughs, stacked and baked. Icing on the bottom, icing on top. Brilliant.
As self-respecting bakers, what's our next thought here?
I can do that!
And I did. Read on...
If you've read this blog before, you probably know that Vanilla Bean Crush is my favorite vanilla. it's super-aromatic; it includes vanilla bean seeds, and finely shredded pods, for an interesting "look."
What's more, for every bottle of Vanilla Crush sold (year-round – not just during October), Sonoma Syrups donates 10% of the retail price to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. And if you're a breast cancer survivor like me, that means something.
Mini chocolate chips are perfect for this recipe, as they don't get in the way when you're slicing the biscotti. On the left, standard-sized chips; minis on the right.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place the following in a mixing bowl:
6 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Beat till well combined. Add 2 large eggs.
Beat to combine. It'll look messy at first, but keep beating.
Pretty soon it'll look like this.
Add 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, beating gently till smooth.
Measure out half the dough. If you have a scale, half the dough is about 10 1/4 ounces (290g). Volume-wise, half the dough is a generous 1 cup.
Spread half the dough on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Shape it into a log that's about 14" long x 2 ½" wide.
Straighten the log, and smooth its top and sides; a wet spatula or wet bowl scraper (or wet fingers) works well here.
Yup, 14" - perfect! But don't worry; if your log is only 13 1/2", the Biscotti Police won't be making any arrests.
Place the pan in the freezer while you make the chocolate dough.
To prepare the chocolate dough, add to the vanilla dough in the bowl 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, Dutch-process preferred; and 1/2 cup chocolate chips, mini chips preferred. Stir to combine.
Stir in 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder - chocolate's best friend. You can also simply mix the cocoa powder, chips, and espresso powder into the dough all at once. I just wanted to highlight the espresso here, because I use it in ALL my chocolate recipes - just like vanilla, it heightens chocolate's flavor, without adding any coffee taste of its own.
Remove the pan from the freezer. Using your wet fingers, spread the chocolate dough atop the vanilla dough.
Smooth it with your wet fingers or a wet bowl scraper till it lies nicely on top of the vanilla dough. Look at those vanilla bean seeds in the dough, by the way – NICE.
You can choose to leave the chocolate dough atop the vanilla...
...or press it down the sides to entirely enclose the vanilla dough, if desired.
You can also choose to top the log with 2 tablespoons coarse white sparkling sugar at this point, if you don't plan on adding a vanilla glaze later.
Place the biscotti in a preheated 350°F oven. Notice I've left the chocolate dough on top on the left; and completely enclosed the vanilla dough, on the right. We often do this kind of "half one way, half another" test in the kitchen; saves time and ingredients, compared to making the entire recipe twice.
Bake the dough for 25 minutes.
Remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool on the pan anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes; just work it into the schedule of whatever else you're doing in the kitchen.
Here's what the "unenclosed" version looks like, post-baking.
While the biscotti are cooling slightly, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
And here's what the sugar-topped version looks like.
If you've used parchment on your baking sheet, use it to lift the biscotti off the sheet onto a flat surface. If you haven't used parchment, carefully lift the biscotti off the sheet onto a flat surface. Using a serrated knife or sharp chef's knife, cut the biscotti crosswise into 3/4" slices. Or cut the biscotti on the diagonal — for fewer, longer biscotti.
As you're slicing, be sure to cut straight up and down, perpendicular to the pan; if you cut unevenly, biscotti may be thicker at the top than the bottom, and they'll topple over during their second bake.
If the biscotti seem to be crumbling a lot as you slice, spritz them lightly with cool water, wait 5 minutes, and try again.
Here's the log cut crosswise. For longer biscotti, cut on the diagonal.
And here's a shot of bottom dough completely enclosed (l) vs. unenclosed (r). Your choice; it's strictly a looks thing.
Set the biscotti, on edge, back on the baking sheet quite close together; they should all fit easily on one sheet.
Return the biscotti to the oven, and bake them for 30 to 40 minutes, till they feel very dry and are beginning to turn golden around the edges. They'll still feel a tiny bit moist in the very center, if you break off a piece; but they'll continue to dry out as they cool.
And there you have it – Black and White Biscotti.
Want to gild the lily? Mix 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar with 1 tablespoon water. Artfully drizzle atop the biscotti.
It's OK to let the glaze dribble over the edges. Consider it rustic. Consider it artful. Just don't consider it a mistake!
A lovely lineup, eh?
And here's what your "plain" sugar-topped biscotti look like. Crunchy, glittery, yummy. Enjoy!