Listen to Your Feet

I don't know much about my feet, but I've always had a predilection for crossing my little toes. I take a certain pride in this activity as I can do it without resorting to assistance from my hands. For example, I can generally cross them even if they happen to be in shoes at the time, and this activity can be transparent to an observer. That is, it can be performed in a clandestine manner. My toes seem to want to be arranged that way. To be more precise the little toe is raised, and the second littlest toe goes underneath it. This is the case for both feet. I can't say that one foot prefers it over the other.

I recently became aware that my feet may be telling me something. You see, bunions may run in my family. This crossing of little toes may be a reaction to a natural tendency for my toes to want to tilt to the outside as in one prone towards bunions. It seems though that the little toe does not want to bend to the outside so my other toes when they tilt to the outside hit a bit of a wall there. And what can happen then may not be good. The second largest toe may find itself lifted above the big toe. This can lead to corn formation on the second largest toe for those prone towards bunions, which isn't good.

A Fried Egg with Watery Egg Whites

I bought some eggs the other day. I went to fry one of them and the white ran and separated into two parts. The inner part was more solid and formed a very distinct circle around the yolk. The outer portion spread out but didn't set up or ever become solid or crisp up. I tried another one. Same thing. I ate the latter. It didn't taste off, but the inner part of the white was mushy and the outer part was even worse. I think I'm gonna throw the rest of them out. I've never seen eggs like this. I looked a bit on the internet. Maybe they had been frozen at one point, I don't know. The other food in the fridge isn't frozen. If they were frozen they must have been frozen before I bought them. The pan was plenty hot.

Do Warmer Temperatures Cause Higher Carbon Dioxide Levels?

Some people, notably Al Gore, show the correlation between CO2 levels and the temperature of the atmosphere near the earth's surface, and argue that the CO2 we're putting into the atmosphere will cause that temperature to go up. Of course, there's the old axiom that correlation does not imply causation. It could also be that the increase in CO2 levels doesn't cause the warm up but instead is a consequence of the warm up. If so, the increasing CO2 levels occurring now would not a priori be expected to correlate with warmer temperatures.

Plants take CO2 out of the atmosphere with photosynthesis, but also put it back with respiration. If there are more plants could it be that the CO2 levels would be higher due to their respiration, or some other mechanism? For instance, what about animals and small non-photosynthetic organisms like bacteria? If the earth is warmer, won't there be more animals and bacteria breathing and putting CO2 into the atmosphere? Could mechanisms like this account for higher CO2 levels when the earth is warm? If so, the higher CO2 levels would be a consequence of warmer temperatures, not the cause of them.

Thoughts on Properly Spicing Up V-8

I think that V-8 would be better if it had some garlic juice in it. I have found that V-8 is helped by Sriracha. First, it adds spiciness without too much vinegar. It also has a nice garlic flavor. For my tolerance level I find that most hot sauces are far more vinegary (and salty) than they are hot. Tabasco being the most obvious example. I do like Tabasco, but if I put enough in to make V-8 spicy enough it would be too vinegary. I find that an ample portion of Sriracha and a splash of Cholula chili garlic hot sauce is pretty good. That's what I'm drinking right now in fact. A nice spicy chili powder can also help. I had some African bird's eye chili powder  that I procured from the dual Specialty store, which was really nice. It's especially good if you have a large bottle of V-8 (like the ones featured in my "Making Tap Water Taste Good" entry of 5 Oct) and you put it in that and shake it around. The next day the powder has had a chance to marry with the V-8. That was probably some of the most delicious V-8 I've ever had. I've gotta pick up some more of that...

The Motion of the Minute Hand

If I look at the minute hand of a clock I generally cannot see it move, but I can be pretty sure it is moving, especially if it's reading the right time. The rate at which the minute hand moves is 360 degrees/hour, or a degree every 10 seconds. It seems what I detect is instantaneous motion when my mind determines if something is moving or not. I'm not referring to hands that move in steps, but those that move continuously. I don't know enough about clocks to know if any hands move continuously, or if they all move in steps, just more of them. But I bet that on some level, if I don't see the steps, that they can be approximated as moving continuously. Of course, the larger the clock, and the closer I am to it, the more likely I'll be able to see that the hands are moving.

There's this concept of an adiabatic change, which as I understand it, is that the rate at which something changes which affects a system is slow compared to the rate at which the parameters that describe the system change. When that happens, the 'something' that changes does not increase the disorder of the system. It's like kicking a car versus pushing it. If you kick a car hard enough you dent it and it moves, if you just push it, it just moves.

I wonder if this concept of adiabaticity can be extended to a clock. In the sense that, I can see things changing around me, but I can't see the minute hand changing. So, the rate at which the minute hand changes is slow compared to the changes in the world on the scale that I can perceive them. What does this say about the perception of time? Is this minute hand phenomenon an indication of what is adiabatic for a human? The second hand moves fast enough to easily be seen, and the hour hand is clearly too slow, but the minute hand is rather tantalizing, because its motion seems like it might be close to the edge of perceptibility, on the cusp of subjective adiabaticity.

I wonder if with practice, but without cheating, one could see the motion of a particular minute hand where initially one couldn't. You might think that this could be a good exercise at work for example, but I think it would tend to make the day pass more slowly. Since if you can perceive the same rate of movement on a shorter time scale, then you'll be more aware of time's passage. I think this is because the perception of duration is related to the awareness of the passage of time. Like the mind's clock only adds successive intervals up, counting them, but not multiplying each successive interval by the actual duration of each. I guess that's why when I wake up, it seems like little time has passed since I fell asleep. At least in part this is perhaps why I'm a night owl, since I intuitively realize that the earlier I get to sleep the sooner it will be before I have to get up.

Making Tap Water Taste Good

When my tap water comes out of the sink it doesn't taste very good. If I put it in a bottle and put it in the fridge it tastes better, but mainly just because it's cold. It still has an off flavor. The trick is not to put the cap on the bottle. After a day or so it tastes as good as bottled water to me. I guess what's happening is similar to the case with soda in my previous entry. There are dissolved gases in the tap water that make it taste bad. In the case of soda you want to keep the dissolved gases, but in the case of water, you want to get rid of them. Keeping the cap off let's them diffuse out of the water and into the fridge, where they are easily accommodated.

Three bottles of tap water in the fridge sans caps.

Keeping Soda from going Flat

If you're like me, you buy a bottle of soda, say a 2 liter, but you don't finish it for days, or maybe even weeks. But if you don't finish it quickly it will go flat. I have learned that this does not have to happen. If you squeeze the plastic bottle it came in so that there is little space for air remaining, the soda won't go flat.

It seems that it goes flat because the gas in the soda slowly escapes from the soda into the air inside the bottle. When the Carbon Dioxide in the air inside the bottle reaches the same pressure as inside the liquid, no more will be lost to the liquid. If you squeeze and deform the bottle so there is little room for air in it then less gas will be lost to the air to reach that pressure and the soda won't go flat. Every time you take some soda you'll have to squeeze the bottle some more. If you bring bottles back for deposit, you may get some strange looks.

A Little Bit of Birthday Freedom

I realized last week that strictly speaking, even if you're celebrating your birthday in the same time zone that you were born, a birthday doesn't always occur on the same date every year. Let's say I was born at 7 am on Aug 28th. It takes 365 days and 6 hours for the earth to go around the sun. On the next year, assuming it's not a leap year, the anniversary of my birth would be Aug 28th at 1 pm because it takes 6 hours more than 365 days to reach the position on the earth's orbit around the sun when I was born.

Now in a leap year after Feb 29th, the position of the earth with respect to the Sun for a given date and time is a 24 hours ahead of what it would've been if it wasn't a leap year. So, if I was born in 1959 and it's 1960 (a leap year), the anniversary of my birth occurs on Aug 27th at 1 pm, not Aug 28th at 1 pm. The next year (1961) it's Aug 27th at 7 pm, the year after that it's Aug 28th at 1 am, the year after that it's Aug 28 at 7 am, and then the pattern repeats. Since 2012 was a leap year, then in 2011 I had the same birthday I did in 1959 (Aug 27th at 7 am). 2013 is the year after a leap year, so this year my birthday was as in 1961, Aug 27th (at 7 pm).

Now say I was born on Aug 28th at 7 pm in 1961, the year after a leap year, then in 1962 my birthday would be Aug 29th (at 1 am), in 1963 it would be Aug 29th (at 7 am), and in 1964 (a leap year) it would be Aug 28th (at 1 pm). In 2013 it would be like 1962, Aug 29th (at 1 am).

If I was born Aug 28 at 7 pm in 1959, then in 1960 the anniversary of my birth would be Aug 28th at 1 am, the next year Aug 28th at 7 am, the next Aug 28th at 1 pm, and then back to Aug 28th at 7 pm. So, you're not always lucky enough to have more than one birthday, but on the other hand, this kind of birthday could be called a strong birthday.

Emergent Properties of my Car and their Effects on the Fluidity of Traffic Flow

My car is getting better gas mileage than it was a couple weeks ago, and it was already pretty good. Sometimes I think that it is self-organizing, like life. On the way to work today there was a lot of traffic, yet my overall gas mileage for the past two or three weeks still went up from 32.1 mpg to 32.2 mpg. I would've thought, if anything, that the traffic would have made it go down. Yet, I can't help but wonder if the traffic was a result of an emergent phenomenon in my car's engine which lowered its entropy, thereby increasing the entropy of the cars around me, resulting in traffic. Or it could be because of the construction delays caused by the work that's done on the eastbound lanes of the expressway on Friday during the Summer to piss off the people going to the Hamptons. However, I don't see why these two phenomena are necessarily independent of each other.

How Much to Cook a Veggie burger, Initial Impressions

A friend of mine who is vegetarian was speaking glowingly of the Boca burger. Not soon after I bought a box of them. I've had 3 so far. I just got the regular ones, I later learned I should have gotten the cheese ones. The first one I had with land o'lakes american, raw onion, jalapeno, and a slice of thick bacon, on a toasted english muffin with mayo on the bottom and ketchup on the top. I cooked the burger in the bacon fat in the cast iron skillet. Once I put the cheese on it I put the skillet in the oven to melt the cheese as is my way. I thought it had a nice meat-like texture. I don't know what possessed me to get veggie burgers, it was spur of the moment. I'm really not against the idea and they're pretty convenient. I was hoping they'd taste something like a felafel, which I like. I don't think it did, but it was OK nevertheless. I'm not really sure what it tasted like, but it was definitely decent. I did think it was a little dry though.

The next time I had the same fixins' but I put it on whole wheat toast. This one I didn't like. Initially I thought it was the bread, which I had just bought and wasn't familiar with this particular loaf. Though I was surprised that the bread could have such a dramatic effect. I also didn't cook it as much because I thought I may have overcooked the last one. Perhaps it wasn't as dry, and maybe it wasn't cooked enough. For some reason it tasted a lot like horseradish. I'm a fan of horseradish, but this flavor just wasn't good. I found the experience quite unsatisfying. I later tested the bread, making a kind of cheese sandwich with it, and it passed with flying colors. I can't see how it could be the bread. I told my friend about my experiences and asked if it was possible that it wasn't cooked enough. She said something like she couldn't imagine what they would be like if they were under-cooked, I forget the exact words. I'm not saying it was cold or frozen in the middle by the way.

The next time I had it on an english muffin with no bacon. I cooked the patty in olive oil, and I cooked it a lot, I thought it was good, just like the other time. If you like a kind of hockey puck type burger, it's not bad. And I admit I can enjoy a hockey puck burger. I guess the Boca burger should not be served medium rare. I also felt a bit better after I had one than I might expect to after a regular burger. I thought it still did taste a little of horseradish, but not in a bad way. My impression is then that it would be hard to cook it too much, and it's perfectly fine. And I'm glad that the bread I bought wasn't some crazy kind of super whole wheat bread that's inedible, though I think I'll stick to english muffins if I can. I know that the real test would be to cook it a lot and use the toasted bread, but we have to live in the real world. I also found myself thinking about putting tomato and lettuce on it, which is rare for a me.

The Parlour

I grew up in a house with a living room. I thought it was odd that the living room was like a museum. It had all the good furniture, and spending time in it was highly discouraged. That was for the family room. I guess I should feel fortunate that the furniture didn't have plastic slipcovers.

The only times we really used the living room were when guests came over. They would be entertained there.  OK, we did at times play some kind of game in there which involved a pillow because it was the largest space in the house. But it was highly discouraged, and I can't say I blame my parents for that.

I've joked about the name all my life. Apparently never tiring of the joke that the living room was for anything but living. Thanks to Bourdain I believe, I've recently become aware, though I may have known and forgotten previously, that such a room is more properly called a parlour. I imagine this comes from the french verb, parler, to speak, and it makes perfect sense. It's for welcoming and entertaining guests. To the modern ear that name sounds rather Victorian and old-fashioned, but it's accurate so why not use it? Why an ice cream parlour isn't called an ice cream living room I don't know.

Supermarket Options

I've never been to an Earthfare supermarket but I know it's not for me. I like a supermarket where you can get food from other planets.  And I also like a supermarket where you can get food chopped up, that's why I don't understand why people think Whole Foods is so great. At Key Foods, which is right across the street, there are no such restrictions.

I recently got a bottle of Gold's Hot horseradish there, and for all I know it's from Mercury. It looked pretty fresh though. But it could be, and I like that kind of uncertainty when I'm buying food. I had some in a bloody Mary. Now I bought some V-8 there for the bloody Marys too, and it's a liquid so I wonder how Whole Foods deals with that. I mean, the store's not big enough to sell Water (with a capital W). Now chickens and such, they're at least plausible, but I don't want the head or the feathers, or the intestines for that matter. I know it's better that way, but I live in an apartment and it's just not practical.

I wonder why they call it Key foods? The guy's name isn't Key, it's Dan, Dan's Key Foods they call it. I guess it has the foods that are Key. The shallots there didn't look very good last time, I bought onions instead. I'm starting to become a more savvy shopper. The onions were pretty fresh, they had juice coming out after you slice them. I would say they are pretty key, except they don't have bobolis and I don't understand why. It's a good product. The C-town with the identity crisis down the street has them. It's called Vitellio's now, and they give you your purchases in key food plastic bags. Another thing that's odd about that store is that the eggs are by the produce, not in the dairy section. Now, an egg, that's a good example of a whole food, I guess I wouldn't mind getting them at Whole Foods but I don't think it's worth a special trip.

Some Reasons for Developing the Moon

Ralph thought it was important for Alice to go to the moon, maybe he knew what he was talking about.  People think of the moon as a barren wasteland, but I can think of a few reasons why developing the moon might be a good idea. First, people are getting older. I think the elderly, and physically handicapped, would find life in 1/6 gravity a lot easier. It might prolong their lives too, and who knows by how much. This is potentially a practical solution to the problems associated with aging. And let's not forget about physical therapy.

Also, it would be interesting to do farming in 1/6 gravity. I wonder how plants and animals would grow. This could be a new frontier in gourmet and artisanal foods. Imagine for example marketing Swiss cheese made on the moon from milk from lunar dairy farms. You think Kobe beef cattle have an easy time of it now, imagine how tender they'd be if they were raised in low gravity. You could breed cattle, and other animals on the moon. The moon breeds would probably be much larger. How plants would respond to the low gravity and month long days would also be interesting.

With it's low gravity and spectacular views it would also be a great place to go on vacation.  Anyone who isn't that great at rock or mountain climbing, but would like to try it, could go there. People with a sensitivity to light could live on the dark side.

Why is the Summer Solstice the Beginning of Summer?

I don't think the beginning of summer occurs on the day of the summer solstice. Summer, is not an astronomical event, it pertains mostly to how warm the weather is. If you want to go by astronomy then the middle of summer should be on the summer solstice. But the thing is the highest temperatures lag the sun angle by some amount. This is mostly because it takes time for things to heat up, and to lose their heat. If it didn't, then the hottest day would be the summer solstice. Around these parts the highest temperatures lag the sun angle by about 5 weeks, so that the end of July is the warmest part of the year. So, that's midsummer. There are 3 months per season, so a month and a half on each side of the warmest days. That's 45 days. If July 25th is the middle of summer, that means that June 10th is the start of summer, and Sept 8th is the end of it.

So, the start of summer is about 12 days before the solstice, and the end of it is about the same amount before the equinox. There's also the sun angle to consider though, because the sun is stronger in June than in September, and what makes you feel warm is not just the ambient temperature but also the direct heating you receive from solar radiation. This would tilt the balance so that summer should begin and end  even earlier. It is for this reason that I think memorial day and labor day are perfectly suited for marking the beginning and end of summer.

It used to be that the Summer Solstice was considered the middle of Summer. Take Shakespeare's play, a Midsummer Night's Dream, which I believe takes place around the summer solstice. Why is the first day of summer considered to be the summer solstice then?  I don't know, but maybe it has to do with the fact that it's a distinct event that's closely linked to the warmest part of the year. And when did the first day of Summer become the Summer Solstice?  I don't know either, but I can't help but think it has something to do with the industrial revolution.

The American Disregard for Vinegar

I believe that vinegar is under appreciated in the U.S. There were these salt and vinegar potato chips I had from Ireland, or maybe it was the UK, don't think it matters much. The depth of the vinegar flavor was amazing. I also like malt vinegar on my fries.

Let's talk German food. There's a place near where I used to live that has the best potato salad. It has the perfect blend of vinegar and sugar, the quality control is great, and there's not a line out the door. Why not?? I once gave it to a German. This is a mayo based product, it's not the kind we call German around here, but he said it was German potato salad, good German potato salad. This isn't the only example of the German appreciation of vinegar, I'm sure the examples are countless. Take Sauerbraten and red cabbage for example.

The Thais also have this great dipping sauce that's basically vinegar and sugar water. By itself it's great, put a few sliced chiles in it and some club soda, and it'd make a great soft drink if you ask me. And then there's balsamic which I think is more than just vinegar, it's an expression of this great thing vinegar and sugar do together. But vinegar doesn't have to be 50 years old to be great.

The balance between sweet and sour really appeals to me. Some folks might call it tangy, or yin and yang. But not only is that great, but vinegar by itself is great, and vinegars are not all the same. Why doesn't America have some great vinegars? Cause pretty much most Americans think it's just vinegar. It's like they live in a fog.

A Bolognese Composed of Watered Down Meat

My first forays into a Bolognese have not been without bumps in the road. Now, I've put ground beef in a sauce before, but during the past couple months it's been more of a theme. It all started when I brought that hamburg meat. If you make hamburgs, you're also gonna be prone to mix it up a little. I got this hamburg meat at the Key Food. The fattiest I could find, but probably not fatty enough, I think it was chuck. I forget the exact percentage. She was loosely packed, which I think helps make a good hamburg. I'm sure you'll all recall my dealings with the English Muffin. Well, instead of using the hamburg meat just for hamburgs, one night I made what I call a Bolognese. This was a bit ago, and though my memory is hazy, I'm sure I concluded that I hadn't put enough meat in it.

It happened that I had another opportunity to make a Bolognese upon the prompting of a dear critic of my cooking. She likes it alla casserole, that is baked. Though a new batch, the meat was of the same character as previously. A standing order when cooking for said La Exigente is not to burn it, have an inexhaustible supply of jalapenos, copious amounts of garlic, and a member of the onion family. Accordingly I brought myself some rigoatta cheese, copious amounts of fresh jalapenos, some medium quality parmesan, shallots, Polly-O brand whole milk mozzarella, and lots of garlic. I opted for the DeCecco rigatoni, which are almost large enough to fill with the rigoatta. I probably used the standard Classico brand tomato and basil as my base.

First I sauteed the hamburg meat, adding no oil. The ground was lose and it easily broke apart into finer pieces. I, personally, was happy with this. I added the garlic, shallots, jalapenos, and sauteed them too. I thought things were going fairly well. It was not lost on me that I had put what I deemed to be not enough of the hamburg meat in the last time. This time was different though, as there were 2 diners, and it was to be baked. Anyway, I certainly thought I was being generous with the hamburg meat. I have a tendency to over do it when I'm cooking for more than myself, and so, on the other side of checks and balances stood that awareness. I believe I cut up the shallots in the style of southern asia mentioned previously, not in a strictly western style. I think these were the french style shallots, not the ones I got at the dual specialty store, and herself expressed some interest in the new cutting technique.  After the saute-ing, which occurred in the cast iron skillet, which is rather large and suitable for oven use, I stopped the cooking by adding the tomato sauce and turning off the heat. As I was cooking the rigatoni, I added some pasta water into the mix. I didn't cook the rigatoni thoroughly as they'll be baked.

I am ever aware that rigoatta cheese is ruined by too much heat. A problem with a baked, dare I say it, Ziti-type dish is that in the baking the creaminess of the rigoatta is easily destroyed. And it's the creaminess that makes rigoatta rigoatta. So, in my mind most of the work will be done before the oven. When the rigatoni was deemed ready I added it to the skillet, mixed in some parmesan and rigoatta, and topped with a layer of sliced mozzarella, and into the oven it went (I later learned that shredded mozzarella is the right kind to use). I took it out of the oven as soon as I saw signs of browning of the mozzarella, and as a mixed blessing there was some bubbling too. Of course I have the prescription against burning, but also I don't want to cook the rigoatta.

The meal was served. Although she was happy with the al dente character of the rigatoni, it was determined that the meat was watered down, and there wasn't enough of it. The meal was "disgusting". She was perplexed how anybody could serve watered down meat and questioned me about if I broke up the meat when I sauteed it, and if I sauteed it by itself before I put the sauce in.  I admitted that I broke up the meat to some degree. She was quite taken aback by that, because it's supposed to be in chunks, like a particular chili we get. My defense was that it was a loose grind, and I wasn't aware that meat in Bolognese need come in chunks. I can understand how different people could like theirs in different ways, but not that it was wrong to not have chunks. The only thing that saved me was that as I was taking the plate away she discovered a small chunk on the plate. Otherwise, she said, it would have been all over for us.

Vagaries of the Frankfurt Sausage

For reasons I don't entirely understand sometimes I make myself a frank or two and they're great, and other times I do and they're just not that good. This morning I had a frank for breakfast, like the one I had last night. I did that because the one I had last night was really good. It happens that I usually put them under the broiler on a sheet of aluminum foil. But I'm all out of aluminum foil.

I think it was Wednesday when I last brought provisions at the Duane Reade in the center of town. Among other things, I picked up some franks. All they had was Reduced fat Hebrew national and skinless Nathan's. I like Hebrew National, but reduced fat? Forget it. I'm glad I didn't get them without noticing. I hate when that happens. One time I bought Smucker's Hot Fudge, and didn't realize until I ate it on my ice cream that it was sugar free. Let me tell you, not even sugar can help sugar free hot fudge. I threw it out. But I digress...

So, I bought the Nathan's franks. A decent frank, though I generally would have preferred the traditional  ones that have a proper casing. The ones that I bought also had the other kind of frank shape, the kind of shape that comes perhaps from maybe being formed not as links but through some other process. Anyway, they don't have the shape of the nominal Nathan's frank, but the other kind of shape that is out there. Not a big deal.

I also picked up what I thought were hot dog buns. There wasn't a selection, I got what they had. It wasn't until the next day, when I made myself a couple hot dogs for supper that I realized they weren't hot dog buns per se, they were Delish! brand Brat & Sausage rolls. A little taken aback, I proceeded to use them anyways. They are a bit more toothsome than a traditional soft hot dog bun, a little larger, and are cut open on the top, like Home Pride bread, wherein the commercial year's back they showed them slicing open the top of the loaf before baking and drizzling butter into it.

As I said, I was out of aluminum foil, so I couldn't use the normal method of broiling. I have a gas stove and oven. I opted to heat a couple up in my saute pan on high, turning the oven on high when I began the cooking in order to warm it up. I turned them a few times, and once they were starting to brown nicely, and the pan was plenty hot, I threw the pan in the oven. No oil added here. While they were in the oven I diced up a shallot, and selected my mustard.

I'm all out of Dijon, my go to mustard. I had some Thumann's horseradish mustard that I got for Christmas, maybe the year before last. It's Ok, but I like my Dijon. I had some other mustard choices, but this is what I went with, for various reasons, among which was that I didn't think enough of the other choices. No problem. I split open 2 of the 'buns' and put them under the broiler when the franks were nearly ready. One thing about franks: I like to make sure that they've been cooked through and I like a good deal of browning. I'm not averse to a frank that others might consider burnt. I would rather err on that side. I think that part of the reason some franks that should be good, but for some reason aren't, is because they're not cooked through and through. Of course, these comments mostly pertain to dry cooking methods.

I like to brown the buns under the broiler and I took them out from under it a little too late. One of them was borderline burnt. Not a big problem. Then I put the franks into the buns and put on the shallots and mustard. I found that although the flavor of the franks was pretty good, because they were cooked enough, and although I love raw diced shallots on a frank, the whole thing was a bit overpowering and yearned for a bit of sweetness. I realized before I sat down that some relish would've been nice, but I didn't have any. And the mustard was just too strong to complement the frank and I probably put too much on. Especially with that mustard I yearned for some sweetness. The buns were not bad. I was afraid that they would overshadow the frank and be too hard, but they really weren't. No complaints.

Last night I decided to give the franks another try. I had a bowl of crappy instant Thai Hot & Sour soup from a brand that shall remain nameless, that I also picked up at the Duane Reade the other night. I salvaged it by the use of copious quantities of a certain chinese hot oil product. But I digress, again...

Then I opted to have a sole frank. This time the process would be a little different. Two things occurred to me since the last effort. I put a little olive oil in the pan, and I wanted to find a different mustard, or something with a little sweetness. I found a very small, gift assortment size jar of Lost Acres Sweet and Hot mustard in the fridge. This was also a gift, I think for Christmas, but at least 3 years ago, I'd say. So, looking for something with a little sweetness, I tried that.

I went through the same process, but this time I made sure to check the buns. They take barely a minute. I took them out at the peak of brownness. I put some of this mustard on the frank and no shallots. This was one of the good franks. I did the same thing this morning and it came out just as good. Those buns are actually really good, the frank was cooked perfectly, and the mustard complemented the frank without overpowering it, and with a bit of sweetness. I guess I'm a bit of a minimalist when it comes to franks.

The finished product

An Open Letter to the Climatologists

Dear Climatologists,

What's all this about anthropogenic climate change? What? Not only are you forecasting 100 years into the future now, but the forecast for bad weather is our fault? Where did you get this idea from, a Christmas Carol? It reminds me of a visit from the ghost of Christmas future. I wonder what Dickens would think... And where's your track record, sir? My word, this is very disrespectful towards the weather. If I was the weather I would not be happy. As much as you try to control it, it cannot be tamed. Build houses out of trees, buildings out of stone, because you can't make yourself the master of the weather. Isn't that too bad? Well, evidently you'll stoop to anything to try, or at least to make people think you can. Perception is reality. Isn't that what they say in 'the biz'?

If you all are so certain of yourselves, then why don't you tell us how to behave so that we can get sunny days with a constant 72F outside? That would help with energy usage. Might it be that there are some folks who happen to like the weather the way it is, who happen to like that the climate always changes, even when it doesn't, sir?

I'm glad you like to think the earth's atmosphere is your laboratory. Maybe you'd like another where you can ban the use of cars so that you can study the effect. Or maybe another yet. I guess if you put them on the same orbit they won't hit each other. Any asteroids that might be lead astray from their original path by the other earths probably won't hit this earth anyway. Right?

Fame and the Chile Pepper Machine

Yes, I've had the ghost pepper, but only dried, though they were whole not powdered. I think they taste like habanero, which isn't a bad thing. I think they're about as hot as a habanero too. It would be hard for me to say that they're hotter, though admittedly I haven't had them fresh. It may be that the hottest ghost pepper is hotter than the hottest habanero, or that the ghost pepper is on average hotter than the habanero, but they're certainly in the same ballpark.

In a hundred years (or maybe a lot less) I fear though that the ghost pepper will be no more spicy than the bell pepper. I've watched this curious phenomenon before in horror, where a food becomes trendy and then is re-engineered so that it loses the properties that made it good in the first place. Presumably so that it can appeal to more people, because the properties that people initially liked in it are only appreciated by a relatively small number of people. It also gives the people who eat that food a feeling that they're eating something that reflects well upon them, but what they're appreciating has been dumbed down to make it more accessible to them. The process is like a machine designed to make cash by reducing a pepper's heat while keeping it's name. Eventually the name is all that's left. I wonder how many dollars there are in a scoville unit. Well, this is hardly earth shattering, and I can't fault anyone for trying to make a dolluh, but it's sad just the same.

I guess the same thing is prone to happen with people when they get famous, what made them notable was something about them that was unique, but when they hit the mainstream they are marketed to appeal to more people. This must be a rather agonizing experience for the person involved, and I never realized until now that Anthony Bourdain, the great crusader against the food network and it's icon of earlier days, Emeril, might have something in common with a Chipotle pepper. When I first had a chipotle, back in the mid 90s it was very hot, very smokey, and just delicious. Now they probably have chipotle lollipops for children. When I once walked into a Chipotle restaurant I expected more than a bottle of Chipotle tabasco sauce to greet me. And this is how those interesting people in society sometimes become the standard bearers of the people. Of course, I'm one of those people (not the interesting ones, the other ones), so I wonder where these sentiments fall within their plan for world domination because it affects me too. I'm certainly not advocating that No Reservations, or even his new show on CNN be cancelled, and I suppose this whole diatribe may be just what they want from me. They're not to be underestimated.

Someone in a bar once asked me if I had to be an herb which herb would I be? I chose Cilantro. I wonder what demographic that puts me in...

The Bialy, a Savory Answer to the Danish

In some sense, a bialy is like a cross between a bagel and a danish pastry because what distinguishes it from the bagel reminds me of the danish, but it is by no means sweet. My friend pointed out to me that it's also a little flatter than a bagel, and she should know because she's jewish. The thing is that though the bialy is very much like a bagel, it doesn't have a hole, it has a serious indentation instead. If a bialy had a hole then if you put some minced onions where the hole is they would fall right through. Since it's not a hole, you can put things, like minced onions, where the depression is. The depression acts like a bowl to contain them.

Some Bialys

Now this is the same thing they do with a danish, it's where they put the sweet "filling". Except I've never seen a sweet bialy, and I prefer savory things, so a bialy is right up my alley. In fact, I've been pegged as a bialy type. It's also a bit like an onion roll as it has the same type of minced onions as the good ones.

It takes a little practice to eat one because you have to ration the amount of the onion part you take with each mouthful. This takes a bit of skill, but I wouldn't say it detracts much from the experience. It's quite similar to how one might eat a danish, and that doesn't seem to stop people from eating them. I like bialys with cream cheese or butter. I don't know why, but maybe the bialy is helped more by butter than the bagel is, and maybe that's because it's more like an onion roll. Most people have heard of onion rolls, but it could be that fewer are familiar with the bialy. If you like onion rolls and onion bagels and have never had one you should check it out.

It's a Living

I have a funny job. A lot of times, not only do I know that I don't know what the purpose of it is, but I'm afraid that a lot of the people that are supposed to know don't really know either. Or at least, they have trouble putting it in the proper context. To be fair though, I don't suppose that's an easy job. I also hate when people ask me what I do. The purpose of what I do is very different from what I do, but people can't seem to separate the two. For now it's all about the purpose, something which I don't really understand.

It's pretty well accepted that the physical reality which we find ourselves in follows certain laws, which when studied by different people, do at least on some continuously evolving level yield some agreement. Some folks want to know what those laws are. One question is why they want to know? But that's not what I'm talking about.

One problem in finding out what those laws are is that the most basic laws are hidden within a very strong medium. This medium shields us from seeing what those laws actually are. Some folks call this medium a field, or a sea, but I like to think of it as a wall-to-wall shag carpet. For historical reasons, I suppose, it's also called the vacuum (not to be confused with what you use to clean a plush wall-to-wall carpet, that's a vacuum cleaner), or more properly it can be called the vacuum state (and I'm not sure which state that is, but it's definitely not New Jersey).

Folks used to think that the vacuum was empty, because after all that's what vacuum means. But upon closer inspection it seems this so-called vacuum is full of things (though this revelation was not enough for them to change the name). But the existence of these things is contingent upon the very much in vogue Heisenberg uncertainty principle. So, these suckers exist, but only if the product of their energies and the amounts of time that they exist are below some ridiculously small threshold, and I guess for that reason they are called virtual. But since there is this non-zero limit, however ridiculous, there can be a lot of them, and they're also very hard to see because they hardly exist.

These virtual suckers are like the actual suckers except there's tons of them and they pop in and out of existence at the drop of a hat. Thing is they align themselves to shield us like overprotective guardians from what the laws uncorrupted by them really are. It seems that the everyday world, the world by all practical measures, is determined not only by the basic laws, but also to a great extent by the guardians.

However, one way to help see what the laws actually are is to get some of the actual suckers (the ones whose existence in a vacuum make it not a vacuum) really close to each other so there's not so many of the guardians between them. So you aim a couple of those actual suckers right at each other, and give them enough energy to get past the guardians, and overcome the repulsion they might have for each other. Then they interact with each other, according to the basic laws, and the outcome can be studied. Albeit though studying the outcome is necessarily fraught with the same problem. That is, the guardians are still busy at work shielding us from the outcome, but I guess something new can be inferred from the results anyway. The higher the energy of the incident actual suckers is, the closer they can get to each other, and the better the information about the basic laws is that you get out of it. So, I'm wondering if that's what the purpose is: Getting some suckers going so they can meet each other despite the all encompassing, barely existing, very resilient, shag carpet that they have to travel through...Probably not.

Why Do I Always Get Tomato Juice on a Plane?

I love tomato juice, but I get it more often on a plane than elsewhere. Funny thing is, I think other people do too. I've often wondered why that is. My main theory is that it's more substantial and savory than just getting a soda, or even another kind of juice. It's more like a snack than a drink, but because of some fluke it's considered a drink, so airlines are compelled to offer it with the other drinks. When I order it, I guess on some level I think I'm getting a good deal.

But I think it's more than that. Tomato juice, like meatloaf, is one of those things that I have to be in the mood for and I'm just in the mood for it on a plane more often than I am otherwise. Maybe it's like a special treat that I reserve for such occasions (I don't fly very often).

Other kinds of juice are generally sweeter and it's hard to savor something that's so sweet. I'm generally not inclined to get those. Yet I noticed on a plane to Spain once that many of the other passengers seemed prone to get pineapple juice. Different culture, I guess. Perhaps this is somehow related to why I like to watch cooking shows, except for ones that involve dessert and sweets. I am not interested in them at all, except maybe Jacques Torres' shows, because he's an artist.

Who wouldn't prefer to savor some nice tomato juice than have a can of coke as they fly 1000s of feet above the ground? I remember when I took British Airways once and the stewardess asked me if I wanted Worcester (pronounced woosteh) sauce, when I asked for my tomato juice. I felt like I was home. Admittedly though, I would've liked it more if they asked me if I wanted tabasco sauce too.

There are other benefits to drinking tomato juice on a plane. Due to it's high salt content it causes one to retain water, and so the trips to the restroom are prone to be less frequent. This is especially relevant as it goes well with vodka, and can therefore pleasantly counteract alcohol's diuretic effect. I can't believe that it's anti-diuretic effect is why I drink tomato juice on a plane though because early on when I used to order it that hadn't occurred to me, and I doubt my subconscious is smart enough to have figured it out.

Now, of course, these observations pertain equally well to V-8 and bloody Mary mix.

The Genius of the Gyro

It occurred to me one day a while back that the idea behind the Gyro, or doner kebab as it's called in some parts, was quite brilliant. I had always considered it as some kind of mystery meat, tasty mystery meat, but still mystery meat. Lately though, I've noticed that the higher quality ones show definite signs of being actual meat.

But I'm starting to drift from my main point: That shaving off thin slices from the outside as it rotates allows the part to soon be eaten to be cooked just before it is eaten. But more than that, every slice that is taken off is like the outside of a roast. It's like a regular roast except every slice you get has a large portion of the tasty outside crust. Now I guess that isn't always the case, it depends on the fire, how fast the gyros are selling, and last but not least the skill of the carver, but still it has that potential. And as regards the skill of the carver, in that sense Gyro meat slicing could be compared favorably to other great carving arts. The pride with which ham is sliced by "Los Cortadores" on the Iberian peninsula comes to mind, a tradition which Americans could learn a lot from, as anyone who has been to a deli lately can attest.

The Table, After Supper

This is from the late 80s. I think it was in the spring, late in the day, after supper on a weekday. I still have the pepper grinder. It was my grandmother's. It makes a nice mix of ground pepper. Some is fairly fine, but some is in pretty big chunks too. But it doesn't hold much, and I'm always struggling with how much to loosen the screw on the top. You might think I'd know if tightening the screw makes a finer grinder, but I don't, it does make it harder to turn though, and if it's too loose peppercorns can fall out when you turn it, and it doesn't work that well.

I'll probably never know what was in the container on the lower left, though I probably once did. If I had to guess I might say leftover reheated mashed potatoes. I believe that's the Keg O'Ketchup in the center of the frame, with the soon to set sun glittering upon it. Behind the ketchup may be some unfinished boiled broccoli. Which gives me a thought. Maybe the container in the lower left is cheese sauce for it! I guess I was wrong, that makes sense, maybe I do know what was in it! Shows what a little analysis can do.

The wallpaper had different colored tulips on it. I imagine it's long gone, as we moved from there in the late 90s. The bottom halves of the walls were paneled. The parquet table, which I inherited, is in my dinette area covered with a year's worth of mail and receipts, a tray I tend to cook pizza on lying on top of a kitchen towel (used to protect the table from the heat), a large bowl, and if it's not there now, another dirty kitchen towel that I use as a potholder often is, plus other stuff. It's a mess.

The curtains (window and door) have the same pattern as the wallpaper, and the coiled up phone chord hangs between them. Above that, was the phone, which was affixed to the wall. In the distance, behind the chair is the entrance to the family room. There is a plant hanging to the left of it. I forget what kind. Maybe some kind of creeping ivy type plant? And to the left of that a triangular chime for signaling mealtime. It's use was never required, and I think it was just for decoration. The light that's striking the bottle is probably coming through the windows at the far end of that room, which is to the west. I think the salt shaker is still around, and that I've used it recently, but I don't have it here.

The lines on the place mats were different colors.

Using an English Muffin as a Burger Bun

I started thinking about this because of putting an English muffin on a burger last week. Something I've done many times, and will do again. I don't mean to imply that such a thing isn't ok. The English muffin is very tasty in this instance. But it isn't perfect. In particular, I'm a stickler for hamburger texture. I think the texture of a burger is paramount, and is often given short shrift. It should be loosely packed. Last week I formed these suckers myself and I packed them fairly loosely. Not too loosely, but loosely. I put quite a few toppings on my burger. First, as mentioned previously, pickles, but also in this case shallots, jalapenos, and 2 slices of Land 'O lakes American. That's a bit to fit on a burger, and my burgers always puff up a bit. I'm still working on that. Your nominal muffin is a bit on the small side, but that's not really the problem.

I toast the muffins, and I place them with the nooks and crannies facing the burger. The burgers I made last week came apart quite a bit. That's not the end of the world, but it doesn't help. They were still quite good though. You might say it's because of all the crap I put on it, or it's because the burger is not flat enough, or too round, or it's not tightly packed enough, or you might say it's because the muffin is too small. But I realized over the past few days that perhaps the main problem is that English muffins aren't really soft, especially when approached from there exterior, as in this case. My teeth aren't sharp enough to pierce the outer crust of the muffin without my jaws applying some pressure. The result is I am squeezing the burger too much. The meat breaks apart and crumbles, and the toppings spill out.

I'm not saying I don't like a burger on a muffin, but I see now there's a good reason why hamburger buns should be soft. I bought some today. I also wonder if placing the nooks and crannies on the outside would help with this. I think it would be a little easier to bite through, probably not easy enough, and I think the interior would tend to slip out.

Rib Roast Over Time

Two views of a Rib Roast. The first is circa Xmas 1978, the second Xmas 2012. I used to take it English-style, that is sliced thinly (we never called it english-style, we didn't call it anything). About 20 years or so ago I put in a special request to the carvery for a thick, presumably American-style cut, and I've been taking it that way ever since. The rest is cut English-style for the other diners. If I finish the thick slice I can continue eating by taking thin slices.

Rib Roast, English-style cut, Xmas, circa 1978

Rib Roast, American-style cut, Xmas 2012

You may have noticed I elected to call this Rib Roast. Some folks might call it a standing rib roast, but I'm not quite sure if it is. If it was roasted with the 'tail' standing up, like a rack of lamb, then I guess it would be that. I'm embarrassed to say that although I think it may very well have been cooked that way, I'm not entirely sure. I'll have to pay better attention. Naively, I'd be afraid it might tip over. 

Another thing, I think people usually call this prime rib, especially in restaurants. But this meat was not prime, probably choice, and I'm pretty sure what's on the menu called prime rib isn't normally prime either. How do they get away with that? 

Most regrettably, I've heard some people call the thick cut a steak. I do believe calling it roast beef is entirely acceptable.

My Procrastinative Tendencies

I just did my taxes and I had the occasion to reflect on the causes of my procrastination. First of all, it's almost always easier to put off an unpleasant task, even if it's only slightly unpleasant. Someone might think I don't do things just because I'm lazy or don't care. By my behavior that would not be unreasonable to infer, but actually I think it goes like this: I have something to do->I put it off-> In the meantime I think about what it is I have to do-> the more I think about it the harder it is for me to do. The harder it is for me to do, the less likely I am to do it and the more I think about it, and so on. Actually, it's amazing I do anything.

Why do things become harder to do because I think about them, you ask? Because I build them up into something more than they are. Now you might ask, why do I do that? Well, I do, and on some level it doesn't matter why as it's still true. Or you might ask, why don't I do them right away then? From experience it would seem that the logic behind that question is not persuasive enough, since I am aware of that option.

But there is another side to the equation, if I don't do it, the pain level rises, and at some point if the pain of not doing it is greater than the pain of the imagined task at hand, I do the actual task. Then the former pain goes away, as does the latter. From my experience this process doesn't get any easier, no matter how many times I go through it. This is also true even if the benefit (a refund) is much greater than the downside (spending an hour doing taxes).

Bombay Red Onions?

Recently I found some shallots in the Dual Specialty store. The Dual Specialty Store is an indian type spice store in NYC on 1st avenue by 6th street (where a large cluster of indian restaurants are). It has a great selection of spices and chile powders, other indian type food stuffs, and a few fresh items like these shallots. I had the occasion to go to Sri Lanka once years back, and I always thought the onions there were great. I was told that they're little bombay red onions. After some investigation I was led to believe they were actually shallots, but they're not the french shallots you normally get here. However, french style shallots are great, especially when you live alone because rarely do you need a whole onion and shallots are smaller. They also impart a really nice flavor that's a cut above an onion in my humble opinion. Don't get me wrong, I love onions.

The remaining shallots

Now the thing is, these shallots at the Dual Specialty store are smaller and rounder than the french style shallots. They're like the onions I remember in Sri Lanka. I bought a bag, and I think they're the same kind. I don't slice them, but more or less cut them in half and saute them in olive oil when I'm making pasta (which is like how I found them cut there). They caramelize very nicely and they impart a great aroma to the apartment. The bag says they're from China, which is a terrible distance for a shallot to travel, but they're pretty close to the onions I remember.

Abraham and Alternate Side of the Street Parking

I don't understand why I don't hear more about the widely held Islamic belief that Abraham was told by God to sacrifice his son Ishmael, not Isaac. I'm embarrassed to say how late in life I learned of this (or maybe I learned it early and forgot). Regardless, once again, I can thank Alternate Side of the Street Parking, because it brought it to light for me. You see, it's suspended on Idul-Adha, the feast that commemorates the event. When I saw it on the parking calendar, I looked it up.

And maybe if I was a Muslim I might wonder why I don't hear more about how Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac in Judaism. Now I know very little about Islam, and my minor Wikipedia investigation on this subject has lead me to believe that there is some question in Islam about which one was to be sacrificed, but I'm also reminded of the story of Cain and Abel.  Sibling rivalry has apparently been around for a very long time. And I'm pretty sure it wouldn't come as a shock to anybody who knows about the two different accounts of the event that to the casual observer it looks as if the roots of the discrepancy might reside in jealousy. The jealousy resulting from the question of who God loves more, the Muslims, or the Jews (and by extension Christians).

Normally people look at things in the context of their own religion. In that context either story may make sense, but could it make sense in the larger context of a particular group of people wanting to be God's favorite? And isn't it odd that we seem to determine how much God loves us by whether or not God asked Abraham for our ancestor to be sacrificed? I'm not trying to belittle any religion here, but I can't help but wonder sometimes if God isn't trying to tell us something.

On the Would-be Proudness and Girth of My Knee

The girth of my right knee is 368 mm, which is about the same as that of my left knee. I consider this an accomplishment, because it was swollen for a year or two after my patella tendon rupture surgery. What remains is a very pronounced lengthwise scar about 6 inches long on the face of the knee. People are prone to think I had a knee replacement, which makes me feel even older than I am, but such is not the case.

I've been burdened with kneecaps of an uncommon heighth all my life, but after the surgery my right kneecap has come to exhibit a singular proudness. Those who've born witness seem duly impressed as it has rose up a good deal. The patella, or kneecap, is a bone distinguished from most other bones, in that it floats in a tendon, the one that connects the quadriceps muscles to the tip of the shinbone, or tibia. I've learned this simple fact the hard way, and I think it's given me the right to speak with some authority on the subject. When my tendon's connection was severed from the shinbone my kneecap could be found a good distance up the front of my thigh. After the tendon was reattached, and the swelling went down enough to find the kneecap, it still displayed a clear, though not nearly as strong, preference for the thigh. Whether I flexed the knee so hard during the recovery period that the tendon was stretched inordinately and/or the doctor's kneecap placement was less than ideal, I don't know. Anyway, all things considered, I'm reasonably sanguine of the result.

Items on the Front Porch

This is from my black and white period. Here we have an oriental lamp and the colonial version of the Campbell soup kids, circa 1988. The wall is dark green.

Slicing Pickle Spears for Hamburgers

A lot of times I will get a pickle spear with my hamburger, not slices. If a knife is provided I will often slice it crosswise, and put the resulting slices on the burger. I find though that they are a bit too thick and they fall off of it. I've been thinking the past few days, especially in light of my recent purchase of frozen hamburger patties and pickle spears (that was all that they had at Duane Reade) that I might want to consider slicing them lengthwise. We will see where this goes.

Update (as of 3-24-13): The lengthwise slices of pickle spears still slipped off the burger. When I put them underneath the burger they didn't slip out as much. I'm not sure I'll have the presence of mind to continue that practice in the future. Also, I have a sharp knife at home, but when I eat out I often don't and it really requires a sharp knife.

Froth and the Routine

I used to feel that the actions I make by route gave my life the feeling of absurdity because they were not conscious actions. As I grow older I've come to find solace in those actions. Routine makes things easier, and it seems to me that most of my actions are completely unconscious, and I'm fine with that. For example, if I had to think about every turn of the steering wheel when I'm driving I'd go insane. Once you learn how to do something, you generally don't have to think about it anymore when you do it, and that's really a gift. I usually pay my bills in the morning before I go to work. This seems contradictory to me because I have the least energy to do things like that then, but it makes sense because, as I put things off, I learned to pay my bills just before I had to, which was in the morning when I had to put them in the mail on time. There are countless examples of this, you get the idea. 

Then, how does my mind raise an action to consciousness? There seems to be some threshold, above which I become aware of the actions I'm doing, and have to use a different faculty because the actions required aren't clear and/or haven't been ingrained enough, or maybe are to complex. Of course, much of my conscious life is filled with inaction, and things I can't find clear solutions for regardless of how much I think about them. It seems like consciousness is like the bubbles on top of a pot of boiling water. It has frothy, effervescent quality. One bubble after another wafting into nothingness, but most of my life it seems to me is completely unconscious. It's only when an issue rises to a certain level that consciousness is required. I really need to look back at my life and see where I've gone to judge the character of the froth, and not look so much on the present state of the froth to gain any confidence.

A Bird and a Beer

 A bird I know seems to have gotten out of the house. Here he can be seen flying towards the east.

One in a series of pictures of beer on a bar. This is a baby glass.

The Benefits of a Long Commute

For the past 8 years or so, I've lived 60 miles from where I work. I won't torture you with the boring details, but my calculations show that because of that I'm now approximately 65 nanoseconds younger than I would have been, with respect to my workplace, than if I had lived close to work. I think my co-workers may notice the difference, but they haven't said anything. Also, a tenth of a nanometer can be subtracted from the miles I've accumulated on my car's odometer.

Narcissism and Time

I've always been fascinated by the concept of time, or rather temporality, because time is too reductionist. I think that the theory of relativity was a natural outgrowth of the work that was done to develop a universal time system which required clocks to be synchronized. This requirement was borne out of the improvements in transportation and communication precipitated by the need for a proper train schedule. Back in the day, everywhere had their own way of keeping time, which, when dealing with train travel over long distances just wasn't tenable.

I find reading a train schedule surprisingly difficult, and I used to make mistakes all the time. I've gotten a bit better at it with experience, but when I was little I felt they were a bit mind-boggling. I think it was Poincare who first tried to synchronize the clocks in Paris, which shows that even before relativity, this task was no trivial matter. I find it fitting that GPS, which requires proper time keeping, wouldn't work without general relativity, because to me that's what relativity is all about, a way to synchronize clocks. It's also great that such a practical matter would lead to such a seemingly impractical and abstract theory.

The question of clock synchronization is interesting but is really just a manifestation of temporality, it isn't temporality itself. Temporality is about what we experience, and about a kind of structure in the world and in us, and time is just a number. I think it's important not to confuse the two. People do this all the time, they objectify their experience and then confuse the objects they've created with the experience, which is not an object per se. It's a deficiency in human understanding that we have to reduce things to what they're not in order to understand them. We can never really know what time is from the words and equations we pronounce because in describing and analyzing it it becomes something which it is not. Perhaps this is the most we can say in a way about time, or at least this is something we should say about it. We are fascinated by the image presented us in the mirror, but what is in that mirror is only an image. That of which we intend to speak is what is in some sense responsible for that image, but it is far more than it. I guess it's a kind of narcissism that human nature requires us to have. At least we should be aware of it, if we can do nothing else.

The Missing Lunar Fire

From the dawn of time, man has embarked on a journey to create the most advanced forms of fire. With the advent of oxidation techniques this pursuit has taken on great fervor, but fire can also exist en vacuo. As I consider fire to be a state between plasma and normal matter, where electrons are excited into various states and in falling down to lower energies emit light. I don't believe this is a controversial position.

And so, collisions in particle accelerators create such a condition. As does light emitted from synchrotron light sources. Both of these are very civilzed forms of fire, but the latter brings me to the source of my confusion. Since, as the moon revolves around the earth, why doesn't it emit synchrotron light? Or does it? If it does then why doesn't the moon slow down and it's orbit move closer to the earth? Is it because that motion is gravitational in nature and so by general relativity the moon is just following a curve in space time and is not actually accelerating when it orbits the earth? Sure, the synchrotron radiation would be minuscule for each charge, but there are a lot of charges.

Now, take the Aurora for example, that light is emitted because of acceleration due to the magnetic fields that the charged particles pass through. Does the gravitational acceleration the particles undergo contribute in a direct way, or is it just a red herring?

The Much Maligned and Ignored Kitchen Bouquet

I'm a big fan of Kitchen Bouquet. The learning process for this wonderful product has been slow, and I don't suppose it's over. I shall expound my current thoughts on the subject presently. Those of you not familiar, may be familiar with it's cousin, Gravymaster, which I cannot speak to at great length. I come from a Kitchen Bouquet family. My mother used to put it on london broil, or other beef, such as hamburgers, to promote browning. When say the meat was broiled, as in a London broil, or fried in a pan, but not put upon a grill. It contributes a most excellent flavour to it.

I believe that Kitchen Bouquet is basically the same thing as Vegemite but thinner. I also think that it is a by-product of brewing beer. My understanding is thus: When the beer has been fermented, it is filtered somehow, and much of the yeast and such is filtered out. Salt, or some such product is added to the yeast which kills it. The enzymes in the yeast commence to breakdown the yeast itself. This process of self-destruction is called autolysis. The resulting concoction has cell walls in it, and these are somehow taken out. What remains is called yeast extract, and it is basically what Kitchen Bouquet is.

Kitchen Bouquet has much of the highly touted umami flavour. It shares flavours and appearance with soy sauce, and I think this must not be a coincidence. What is nice about it is that it is not very salty like soy sauce. Soy sauce is also the result of a fermentation process, I do believe. Why this wonderful thing isn't more popular escapes me. Yeast is in the fungus family. It doesn't surprise that it's a fungus because it does have the earthy flavour of mushrooms in spades, and I think it would go very nicely with them.

Halloween Decorations of the Bar Kind

So, Halloween's not exactly around the corner, but bar decorations are always in season. Below is a very nice tap arrangement I encountered 2 Halloween's past while drinking my giant 20 oz. Stella at the bar that I go to when the E train isn't running, and I have to walk to the F to get home. Located in the eastern fringes of the theatre district, O'Brien's, is not far from the diamond street.

This one was taken around the same time, at a curious bar which may sometimes be called Tobacco Road, located on a hidden street near Port Authority. It's some kind of bikini bar, meaning the bartenders sometimes sort of wear bikinis, and have a tendency to overcharge for drinks.

Flaking Paint and Water Damage Subway Art

Can you find the little Chinese boy who's sitting with his legs crossed and wearing a funny hat that makes him look like he might be the emperor (or maybe a chef)? Hint: He's sitting right next to the extremely large french poodle.

This mural of a Teddy Bear climbing a rocky cliff (or resting on a pillow) can be found at 42nd and 8th.

Giant Mussels

I recently went to a Thai restaurant where my friend had a seafood dish. It had in it some of the largest mussels I've ever seen. Their shells had a bit of a greenish tinge. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I find the idea of eating certain shellfish a little challenging. These mussels would fall into this category. I once dissected a clam in school, and it has everything in there, and when you eat one of them, that's what you eat. Now I do eat mussels, clams, and oysters, and I eat them raw or cooked (well, I don't know if I've eaten raw mussels). I guess I have the most trouble with oysters, but I like their briny flavor, and I eat them. Although I did recently have a fried Oyster Po-boy which I wasn't quite up to completely finishing.

The thing is these mussels are huge. The meat is a good 2 inches lengthwise (after cooking). You can't hide what you're eating from yourself. They actually taste pretty good though, much better than some mussels I've had. I still have a couple in the fridge in the doggie bag from that night. I had 1 last night, and I had 1 at the dinner. I think they were too much for my friend, she left them for me. After I had the one last night I kept on thinking I shouldn't have, but it really wasn't bad. It would be better if it was chopped up and mixed in. Below is a picture of the remaining mussels with a cork screw for scale. From my investigations, it looks like they may be New Zealand mussels.

A Way to Reheat Pizza

This is one way that I reheat pizza. I have a gas stove and a pan with a lid that I can put in the oven. First, I turn on the oven, then I turn a burner on high and put the pan on it. While it's heating up I get the slice of pizza out of the refrigerator and put it in the pan. I let the pan heat up until it is quite hot. I put the lid on it and keep it on the stove for another minute or so, then I put it in the oven. The oven need not be at temperature, but I set it to maybe 400F. I leave it in there a while. I check it, and when the cheese is bubbling I take it out. I try to make sure I use a towel or potholder to take it out. I've forgotten to do that more times than I care to remember. If it's not quite bubbly, I might put it in the microwave for 10 seconds or so. I like to drizzle it with olive oil once it's on the plate, though sometimes I put the olive oil on at the beginning, or not at all.

This method has the advantage of not taking as much time as some methods. Also, although just the microwave is faster, too much time in the microwave ruins the crust. I also like to zap take out pizza for 10-20 seconds just to warm it up. It does a good job as long as you don't leave it in too long.

Also, I keep bread in the fridge, and when I want to make toast, and particularly when the bread is a little old, I put it in the microwave for a few seconds. It changes stale bread into something resembling fresh bread. It also helps it toast better, since if it is too dry, it may burn in the toaster. I learned on the TV (Cooks Country) that stale bread is different than dry bread. The moisture in stale bread is still there, it's just bound up in the bread. My experience with microwaving bread is consistent with this. Microwaving it seems to mysteriously change stale bread into fresh bread, as long as you don't do it for too long.

A Good Use for Blue Cheese

I make my own blue cheese dressing. I use ranch dressing and crumble some blue cheese with a fork off of a block of it. Then I mix it into the ranch dressing with the fork, further crumbling it. This way I can use quality blue cheese. This is a good way to use a block of blue cheese if you got one for Xmas. This time I got something called English Farmhouse Stilton, quite nice in a salad. And salad is pretty good with blue cheese in it, not to mention with Ranch dressing even. I like the hidden valley original. I also like cherry tomatoes vs. the large ones as they are generally sweeter. I cut them in half. I use jalapenos instead of bell peppers. Something in the onion family is a must, and most options are acceptable. The salad is helped by a liberal application of freshly ground black pepper, or the dusty, pulverized type of pre-ground pepper. I'm particularly against using wet vegetables in a salad, it's a pet peeve of mine, like getting soup that isn't hot. I'm not against croutons.

Why do I have to Get a Flu Shot?

I don't understand this urging to get a flu shot. I think I've had the flu before, probably quite a few times. But since I never go to the doctor, I haven't been diagnosed with it since I was little, when I had no choice but to go to the doctor. They say you can't get the flu from the shot, but your arm can bother you, you can get a low grade fever, and stuff like that. Well, I'm glad they're so concerned about me, but I'll take my chances. In fact, a couple weeks ago I was pretty sick, maybe I had the flu, I don't know.

Now if they want to tell me, that I should get the shot for public health reasons, then maybe I would get it. But that's not what they say, they say I should get it so that I don't get the flu. At least be honest, don't masquerade a public health concern as a concern for me. I am not afraid of getting the flu, I don't want to get the flu, but I think I have the right to make the decision to get a flu shot or not by myself. After all, I'm not little anymore.

On the Squooshing of Air Out of an Onion Roll

When I have an onion roll, mainly a particular kind, the yellowish spongy kind that I get from 7-11, I like to squoosh it before I eat it. Generally, it's pre-buttered and I accomplish this by sitting on it in the car from when I get it at 7-11 until I feel it is adequately squooshed, as I'm on my way to work. You have to be careful about this, because it's wrapped in plastic wrap, and if you're not careful the plastic wrap may burst resulting in butter on the hindquarters of the pants.

It can spring back quite a bit afterwards. The proper amount of squooshedness is hard to achieve, but even if it's not squooshed enough it's better than if it wasn't squooshed at all. It's hard to squoosh it too much, I think.

Much that has to do with bread, and other foodstuffs (ex-ice cream) has to do with air content. Lately the panini sandwich has become popular in this country, which is a squooshed sandwich. But I've been squooshing rolls for long before this was so. As a child, I would also mix ice cream together until it became more like soft ice cream (I still do). I called it Mushy Goosh (not sure how to spell it, goosh is pronounced with the same 'ush' sound as in 'mushy', but if I spelled it that way it would be pronounced differently (gush). Although it occurs to me that there are 2 pronunciations for 'mushy', I use the deeper one, the one that you wouldn't use in 'gush'). I didn't realize it at the time, but I was basically taking the air out of it. Again, the Italians seem to know about this, as gelato seems to be like this.

One question I wonder about is if bread is better if the air has been sqooshed out of it, or if it was never there to begin with. Take a tortilla for example, is that better, or worse, than a similar bread that had air but was squooshed to the same level? Also, what would it be like to eat bread in a vacuum?

Are Thermodynamics From the Devil?

I can't help but think that relying on randomness and statistics to determine what's true is a little bit like using a Ouija board to find an answer to a question. The temperature of a gas only exists if it is in equilibrium, and nothing is in equilibrium. Something has a temperature only if we don't understand the motion of each of the particles that comprise it.

The word temperature, I imagine, is derived from the word temperament, which relates back to the 4 temperaments. In that fine system things like foods were called cold or hot, moist or dry. I imagine a hot tempered individual would be considered choleric, for example.

Now this term, temperature, has been "borrowed" to describe some thermodynamic property. One that arises, not from treating particles individually, but by treating them as if they were all the same. Applying statistics to people can result in stereotyping, and much worse. Why is it acceptable then, when it comes to smaller things? Back in the day, when we didn't understand how something works, we'd attribute it to God's doing. As they say nowadays, the God of the gaps, but now, if we don't understand things we use statistics, to fill the gap. But since we use statistics and don't say God is responsible, then since it is not God we refer to, it must be the devil.

Harmony and Unconsciousness

I don't know much about music, though I'm reasonably good at listening to it. I've read that it was Pythagoras that found that sounds created by strings with lengths that are integer multiples of each other sound good together. I was wondering what the mechanism was for this. Some scientists use this discovery as a cornerstone in the development of science. There was the music of the spheres and all, which turned out to be untrue. But then there was quantum mechanics and so forth, which now seems to reflect this beauty in nature. This is all well and good, but what I was wondering is, what is it about these integer multiples that makes them sound better? 

So then it occurred to me that the hairs in our inner ears must vibrate like musical strings. It's just that they receive the sounds instead of creating them. Now these "strings" are much shorter than the musical strings, but I'd bet they still vibrate at the frequencies of the sounds they encounter. So, there must be some kind of  spectrum analyzer inside us, which allows our brains to get a frequency spectrum. Then our brains sort out the spectrum, and one simple way to make sense of it all is to sort the different peaks in terms of integer multiples. This would be one of the simplest ways of sorting things out, and maybe that's why sounds composed of integer multiples sound better, because the analysis is simpler. Anyway, I guess this is obvious on some level, but it just occurred to me. So, although the time domain generally seems more intuitive to most of us, we have some part of us, mostly unconscious, that is pretty familiar with the frequency domain too.

Stepping Away From Things

This whole process of stepping away from things seems to be a distinctly human trait. I don't know much about anthropology but I've recently become aware of the fact that the extant subspecies that is identified with the modern human is not homo sapiens, but homo sapiens sapiens. Near as I can tell "homo" is just the word for human, and sapiens is the word for wise. So, modern humans are wise wise humans. Does this mean they are wise about being wise? A kind of meta-wise? Seems neanderthals were also homo sapiens, but not homo sapiens sapiens. Is this homo sapiens sapiens a kind of stepping away from stepping away from things? Another level of consciousness? If so, is there another stepping away coming, and are some homo sapiens sapiens actually homo sapiens sapiens sapiens? And what would that be like?