Whenever Danelle tells me to be ESPECIALLY quiet because she's sick... or tired... . ... or sick... and really needs sleep... ... ... I take this as a direct invitation to wake up the cracked kettle smashing giant bear on roller skates...
... and... oh... ya... he wakes up... right around the time Danelle in in her deepest sleep... fully roused... he up and does something stupid... and loud... . ... loud and stupid...
... Until he trips over the power chord and smashes the computer on the ground... knocks over the coffee table, slamming a glass bowl into pieces... glass flying everywhere... spoon making incredibly too loud a noise on the wood floor... ... ... he's slamming cupboards... doors... pulling the earphones out of the computer to a full blast episode of "The Office"... and... sometimes... when it's really good... laughing... laughing at this... sure it's on of the greatest television shows of all time... but still... while this girl is trying to sleep in the other room... the sheer audacity...
... And here is mild-mannerd ME stuck running around the place trying to put out these fires... trying to make the thing shut up... it seems the big goof just doesn't care...
... Just tonight the TV remote that just happened to the floor... pointed directly at the TV... and that those big paws wouldn't just step on it... . ... of any button... that button... the only one that would do anything to that TV... ... . ... with extreme high-pitched noise... a small dot of white spreading out from the middle of the screen... a moments anger... the stupid, stupid bear... scramble, in the pitch black of 3 AM... in the broken glass... around fallen over coffee table... through tangled power chords... the next 5 careful seconds are a small, quiet, frustrating battle against time... searching... finding... button mashing... (the TV has picture... but moments from sound)... (curse that stupid bear)... turning the remote aroun-...
... welcome to CNN... ... ... the British version of American news... in all its glory... we are presented with all its boring ivory tower of calmness... all it's dead pan faces... no panic... no emotion... just the story... well how about this for a story CNN... there is a GIANT BEAR in my living room, he refuses to go to sleep, and he is eating all of Danelle's favorite potato chips!...
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Ready! Fire! Aim!
...Andreas Hofer was a simple Inn keeper before he joined the army in revolt against occupying France... The only other thing to his name was a very formidable beard that he must have worked on for years... From Marksman to Captain to Commander-in-Chief he came to command the whole Tyrolean army... 20,000 strong... farmers with pitchforks against the best trained... best equipped army in the world...
...And he won victory after victory... the most famous battle happening in Innsbruck where the ski jump is today... (and, eerily, from the top of the ski jump you can see the cemetery)... a hero of the people... tricked... betrayed... captured... and marched to a 19th century show trial in Mantua... "Give him a fair trial and then shoot him" was the message from Napoleon... He died a martyr... A legend...
...For he did not, as said in Wikiwhatever, pay off the French commander and tell him to shoot straight... no... instead... He refused a blindfold... refused to bend his head... or his knee... Even when the French shot him in both arms and both legs... and told him again to kneel... He would not... Instead... tearing open his coat he yelled... "You @^*#*&* French need to learn how to shoot!"... and... properly goaded... he died on his feet... head held high... long ago he made his choice... never again to live on his knees...
... For his courage he recieved the reward of every good rebel leader... His name and picture on a beer bottle for all future generations to see... remember... and toast... Andreas Hofer...
... Prost!...
...And he won victory after victory... the most famous battle happening in Innsbruck where the ski jump is today... (and, eerily, from the top of the ski jump you can see the cemetery)... a hero of the people... tricked... betrayed... captured... and marched to a 19th century show trial in Mantua... "Give him a fair trial and then shoot him" was the message from Napoleon... He died a martyr... A legend...
...For he did not, as said in Wikiwhatever, pay off the French commander and tell him to shoot straight... no... instead... He refused a blindfold... refused to bend his head... or his knee... Even when the French shot him in both arms and both legs... and told him again to kneel... He would not... Instead... tearing open his coat he yelled... "You @^*#*&* French need to learn how to shoot!"... and... properly goaded... he died on his feet... head held high... long ago he made his choice... never again to live on his knees...
... For his courage he recieved the reward of every good rebel leader... His name and picture on a beer bottle for all future generations to see... remember... and toast... Andreas Hofer...
... Prost!...
A Tannin Never Lies
...Percentage is key for wine... More than anything... Look for this on a bottle before making any decision... Not as in alcohol content... But as in total all around goodness... In essence it means how many grapes were pruned off the vine in order to give the other grapes more flavor... In the course of growth they trim the leaves 3 times... and the grapes once... at the exact right time so no new grapes grow on the vine... Adding all the extra flavor and nutrients to the grapes still attached to the vine... 60-70% is the highest you will probably find... It's difficult to find a wine like this because at this percentage the seller will not make a profit...
...And one important note... If you order a wine that's even close to the expensive side... and... say... older than you... you will be obliged to pay for the wine not matter what... vinegar is part of the risk...
...Don't turn a bottle around in your hand... don't tip it towards its cork... store a bottle slanted upwards and do not let the cork get wet... If you know you will serve a certain wine that night... open the bottle a few hours before to let it breathe... there is no need for a decanter if this is done... If a fly happens to fall in... grasp the bottle firmly... and one quick thrust will send off a few millimeters of wine from the top along with the fly... If part of the cork falls in, a piece of string made into a loop works well to pull it back out...
... And open...
...The cork is the tip-off... enough to know whether the wine has turned... if it smells like vinegar, rest assured it's vinegar... Even the best wines from only a few years back will find a few bottles in the throes... This is almost always the case for the first or last bottle made from a cask... The Sommelier will smell the cork, thus he will already know before pouring if it's good or not... So as sampler, your job is not to see if the wine is good or bad... And it's also not your job to see if you like the taste... you don't send the wine back on taste... all told... You sample the wine because you bought it... And in return they give you a glorified 1 minutes time in the sun...
...That is why the Sommelier always presents the wine to the table... and pours it with the label facing the one that bought it... In essence... You are the man and now everyone else knows it... It's not unheard of to have a candle underneath the neck of the bottle to protect from sediment... When you start seeing it creep up the bottle you stop pouring, bring it down... wait... continue...
...The wine is poured small enough... and the glass big enough... that it's not necessary to hold it to the light in order to see... Any white surface will do... You are not looking for sediment because any Sommelier worth his snooty spectacles will have stored and poured the bottle without ever dipping the bottle towards the cork... thus... any sediment is still at the bottom of the bottle... You are simply looking for color... texture... and anything else you might think of to enhance your experience of the wine...
...And don't swirl the glass around too much. Two or three quick swirls, done rightly, will get air in to the wine... Grab the glass from the very bottom of the stem... (Americans are notorious for holding the wine at the top... fingers touching the wine... changing it's temperature... changing it's taste...) ... ... As for swirling... amatuers would do best to keep it on the table to make it easier... start with a bigger first swirl, a smaller quick second, and bring it in by the third... should get the wine evenly around the glass... any more than that and it's actually too much air getting into the wine and too much flavor getting out... ...You cannot hide from tannins... It's impossible... and they will tell you with utmost certainty if the wine is good... and just as easily tell you if it came out of a bag from the bottom shelf of the corner store... Wine will stay up around the glass where it was swirled... The longer it takes for this wine to fall back to the bottom, the better the wine...
...And one important note... If you order a wine that's even close to the expensive side... and... say... older than you... you will be obliged to pay for the wine not matter what... vinegar is part of the risk...
...Don't turn a bottle around in your hand... don't tip it towards its cork... store a bottle slanted upwards and do not let the cork get wet... If you know you will serve a certain wine that night... open the bottle a few hours before to let it breathe... there is no need for a decanter if this is done... If a fly happens to fall in... grasp the bottle firmly... and one quick thrust will send off a few millimeters of wine from the top along with the fly... If part of the cork falls in, a piece of string made into a loop works well to pull it back out...
... And open...
...The cork is the tip-off... enough to know whether the wine has turned... if it smells like vinegar, rest assured it's vinegar... Even the best wines from only a few years back will find a few bottles in the throes... This is almost always the case for the first or last bottle made from a cask... The Sommelier will smell the cork, thus he will already know before pouring if it's good or not... So as sampler, your job is not to see if the wine is good or bad... And it's also not your job to see if you like the taste... you don't send the wine back on taste... all told... You sample the wine because you bought it... And in return they give you a glorified 1 minutes time in the sun...
...That is why the Sommelier always presents the wine to the table... and pours it with the label facing the one that bought it... In essence... You are the man and now everyone else knows it... It's not unheard of to have a candle underneath the neck of the bottle to protect from sediment... When you start seeing it creep up the bottle you stop pouring, bring it down... wait... continue...
...The wine is poured small enough... and the glass big enough... that it's not necessary to hold it to the light in order to see... Any white surface will do... You are not looking for sediment because any Sommelier worth his snooty spectacles will have stored and poured the bottle without ever dipping the bottle towards the cork... thus... any sediment is still at the bottom of the bottle... You are simply looking for color... texture... and anything else you might think of to enhance your experience of the wine...
...And don't swirl the glass around too much. Two or three quick swirls, done rightly, will get air in to the wine... Grab the glass from the very bottom of the stem... (Americans are notorious for holding the wine at the top... fingers touching the wine... changing it's temperature... changing it's taste...) ... ... As for swirling... amatuers would do best to keep it on the table to make it easier... start with a bigger first swirl, a smaller quick second, and bring it in by the third... should get the wine evenly around the glass... any more than that and it's actually too much air getting into the wine and too much flavor getting out... ...You cannot hide from tannins... It's impossible... and they will tell you with utmost certainty if the wine is good... and just as easily tell you if it came out of a bag from the bottom shelf of the corner store... Wine will stay up around the glass where it was swirled... The longer it takes for this wine to fall back to the bottom, the better the wine...
...When you smell there is no need to stick your nose into the glass... no need for noise... no need for the grand gesture... 1 cm from the glass... inhale... sit back and think about what the smell brings to mind. You may think this is the time to delve into the depths of grade 12 poetry and bring out your best flowery, rosy, summery description. It's not. If it's an Italian wine the only words that should come out of your mouth are along the lines of... fruity... heavy... or light... full-bodied... long finish... and... although it is grapes used in the wine many times the smell is... cranberries... so it's allowed...
...Lastly the taste... noise preferred... your goal is to get the wine to every area of your mouth... and it's really up to you how you do it... Swish it... sift it... some combination of tongue and breathe will do the trick... and see how full the flavor is... enjoy it... for 8 seconds... then swallow... the longer the taste stays the more expensive the wine... but a good wine does not have to bite... that sour pucker feeling can and will happen... but well-made can have lasting power and keep the dryness out... and happy and healthy the next day...
...When served... the highest ranking/eldest woman will be given a glass first... then down the line of women... then the same for the men... It is known as a gift from God and should be treated that way... respected... enjoyed... never chugged... never too much... Look them in the eyes... never cross glasses... make sure you get everyone... Salute...
Saturday, November 21, 2009
An Unfortunate Time to Pick Healthy
Because of unease, scratchy throat, under the weather symptoms, I decided on health... and in that epic debate between health and solving all of the worlds problems (which can only happen late at night when extreme tiredness makes you think you're really really smart)... I embarked on a get to bed early night for me. And because I went to bed so early, Mr. Sandman, maybe because we had such a good thing going before and I changed it... got mad and just up and left... but not before playing some really mean, cruel, and possibly dirty jokes on me.
For I woke up feeling the best you can possibly feel on a given wake up. I would go as far as to give it a label of uber great. And not until I looked at a clock did I realize that it wasn't even a sleep. That I wasn't even asleep. That technically... you would define what I had just done as a nap. It was only 3 hours from when I went to bed...I hadn't even moved on to the next day... the clock wasn't even past 12...
Can anyone explain this? I feel like Kramer on Seinfeld when he would only sleep in 3 hour intervals, and in consequence, was extremely wired whenever awake...
And I feel, in almost every way, that it should be morning... I should be eating cereal right now... one banana... an apple and/or an orange depending on how good I feel... and taking token vitamins because to this day I can still hear my mom's voice in my head scolding me to do it. Instead, however, an excess of energy only serves to hurt the immediate future... and I guess it's the price one must pay for not partaking in moderation... for refusing to combat extremes of all form... this blog serves as a reminder to never try to be too healthy... And in retaliation... in effort to re-align total universe back into normality... I will curb any healthy thoughts for the immediate future and partake in the age-old tradition of late-night popcorn and a movie until I can finally convince sleep that I'm not weird and he should come hang out with me again.
For I woke up feeling the best you can possibly feel on a given wake up. I would go as far as to give it a label of uber great. And not until I looked at a clock did I realize that it wasn't even a sleep. That I wasn't even asleep. That technically... you would define what I had just done as a nap. It was only 3 hours from when I went to bed...I hadn't even moved on to the next day... the clock wasn't even past 12...
Can anyone explain this? I feel like Kramer on Seinfeld when he would only sleep in 3 hour intervals, and in consequence, was extremely wired whenever awake...
And I feel, in almost every way, that it should be morning... I should be eating cereal right now... one banana... an apple and/or an orange depending on how good I feel... and taking token vitamins because to this day I can still hear my mom's voice in my head scolding me to do it. Instead, however, an excess of energy only serves to hurt the immediate future... and I guess it's the price one must pay for not partaking in moderation... for refusing to combat extremes of all form... this blog serves as a reminder to never try to be too healthy... And in retaliation... in effort to re-align total universe back into normality... I will curb any healthy thoughts for the immediate future and partake in the age-old tradition of late-night popcorn and a movie until I can finally convince sleep that I'm not weird and he should come hang out with me again.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Injury Riddled
Another injury graced our teams presence last game... 2 the game before... and with 3 others already out on extended leaves of absence we are dealing with something in the way of a puzzle. And with no real answer to be found we content ourselves by giving our junior players a whole lot of experience playing up a level. See, no matter what, there's always a bright side to everything.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
$400 a gallon
The Pentagon recently released information that the cost required to transport fuel into Afghanistan is roughly $400 for every gallon of fuel. For shipping, trucking, airlifting, paying protection money to local tribal leaders for safe passage, to the actual fuel costs, it's easy to see how these costs escalate.
And the New York Times recently released information that it costs an estimated $1 million dollars every year to support each and every soldier in the Middle-East. There is obviously some overlap because fuel would be included in a soldier's cost... but that's still a whole lot of money. Goodbye economic crisis if this money got spent in the states rather than in Iraq.
Disheartening when you see top military officials stepping down because they believe the war is unwinnable.
And the New York Times recently released information that it costs an estimated $1 million dollars every year to support each and every soldier in the Middle-East. There is obviously some overlap because fuel would be included in a soldier's cost... but that's still a whole lot of money. Goodbye economic crisis if this money got spent in the states rather than in Iraq.
Disheartening when you see top military officials stepping down because they believe the war is unwinnable.
Where Do You Stand?
I really don't feel like being all that ground-breaking today. Just drag up one thought and re-iterate what a lot of other people have probably thought or said or wrote for thousands of years. And here is one already.
"Any government poweful enough to give you everything you want is also powerful enough to take away everything you have. Therefore the proper function of the state is to protect the life, liberty, and property of its citizens... nothing more. That government is best that governs least."
Sounds great! But is it true?
As a collectivist
MOST people do not know what is best for them. And over the years a countries government will set up laws to protect people from themselves. From having guns too easily because people seem to kill themselves with guns. From having drugs like cocaine or heroine because people ruin themselves on addiction. From any number of things because people screw up all the time.
Answer
But the more government does for people, the less they do for themselves. The more dependent they are on others.
And in the opposite corner as a... I don't even know... libertarian?
SOME people do not know what is best for them. And if you let them make mistakes these people get smarter, or others get smarter by their example. And the end result is more and more competent people in the world as the most competent are allowed to excell... not pay for others mistakes.
Answer
But the system is heartless and so many people fall through the cracks.
"Any government poweful enough to give you everything you want is also powerful enough to take away everything you have. Therefore the proper function of the state is to protect the life, liberty, and property of its citizens... nothing more. That government is best that governs least."
Sounds great! But is it true?
As a collectivist
MOST people do not know what is best for them. And over the years a countries government will set up laws to protect people from themselves. From having guns too easily because people seem to kill themselves with guns. From having drugs like cocaine or heroine because people ruin themselves on addiction. From any number of things because people screw up all the time.
Answer
But the more government does for people, the less they do for themselves. The more dependent they are on others.
And in the opposite corner as a... I don't even know... libertarian?
SOME people do not know what is best for them. And if you let them make mistakes these people get smarter, or others get smarter by their example. And the end result is more and more competent people in the world as the most competent are allowed to excell... not pay for others mistakes.
Answer
But the system is heartless and so many people fall through the cracks.
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