Friday, January 29, 2010
Ready...Aim...Sharpie!
From Samuel, via directorblue.blogspot.com
One of the best marksmen in the FBI was passing through a small town.
Everywhere he saw evidence of the most amazing shooting. On trees, on walls, and on fences there were numerous bull's-eyes with the bullet hole in dead center.
The FBI agent asked one of the townspeople if he could meet the person responsible for this wonderful marksmanship. No problem. The marksman turned out to also be the town drunk.
"This is the best marksmanship I have ever seen," said the agent to the man. "How in the world do you do it?"
"Nothing to it," said the wobbling man. "I shoot first and draw the circles afterward."
One of the best marksmen in the FBI was passing through a small town.Everywhere he saw evidence of the most amazing shooting. On trees, on walls, and on fences there were numerous bull's-eyes with the bullet hole in dead center.
The FBI agent asked one of the townspeople if he could meet the person responsible for this wonderful marksmanship. No problem. The marksman turned out to also be the town drunk.
"This is the best marksmanship I have ever seen," said the agent to the man. "How in the world do you do it?"
"Nothing to it," said the wobbling man. "I shoot first and draw the circles afterward."
My dear friend 'D' is moving back to Indiana...
...so I invited her in, and asked her to choose (almost) anything off my walls. She chose this.
She liked it because it didn't blare out "Chicago", which has not been a good time for her.
But, it IS Chicago, specifically the pool at the Art Institute.
Unless you were familiar with the location, you would not know it.
But for my dear friend 'D', it can be anywhere!
She liked it because it didn't blare out "Chicago", which has not been a good time for her.But, it IS Chicago, specifically the pool at the Art Institute.
Unless you were familiar with the location, you would not know it.
But for my dear friend 'D', it can be anywhere!
The Wolf Moon: Going out tonight?
Biggest and Brightest Full Moon of 2010 Tonight
Tonight's full moon will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. It offers anyone with clear skies an opportunity to identify easy-to-see features on the moon.
This being the first full moon of 2010, it is also known as the wolf moon, a moniker dating back to Native American culture and the notion that hungry wolves howled at the full moon on cold winter nights. Each month brings another full moon name.
But why will this moon be bigger than others? Here's how the moon works:
The moon is, on average, 238,855 miles (384,400 km) from Earth. The moon's orbit around Earth – which causes it to go through all its phases once every 29.5 days – is not a perfect circle, but rather an ellipse.
One side of the orbit is 31,070 miles (50,000 km) closer than the other.
So in each orbit, the moon reaches this closest point to us, called perigee. Once or twice a year, perigee coincides with a full moon, as it will tonight, making the moon bigger and brighter than any other full moons during the year.
Tonight it will be about 14 percent wider and 30 percent brighter than lesser full Moons of the year, according to Spaceweather.com.
As a bonus, Mars will be just to the left of the moon tonight. Look for the reddish, star-like object.
Full moon craziness
Many people think full moons cause strange behavior among animals and even humans. In fact several studies over the years have tried to tie lunar phases to births, heart attacks, deaths, suicides, violence, psychiatric hospital admissions and epileptic seizures, and more. Connections have been inclusive or nonexistent.
The moon does have some odd effects on our planet, and there are oodles of other amazing moon facts and misconceptions:
A full moon at perigee also brings higher ocean tides. This tug of the moon on Earth also creates tides in the planet's crust, not just in the oceans.
Beaches are more polluted during full moon, owing to the higher tides.
In reality, there's no such thing as a full moon. The full moon occurs when the sun, Earth and the moon are all lined up, almost. If they're perfectly aligned, Earth casts a shadow on the moon and there's a total lunar eclipse. So during what we call a full moon, the moon's face is actually slightly less than 100 percent illuminated.
The moon is moving away as you read this, by about 1.6 inches (4 cm) a year.
The moon illusion
Finally, be sure to get out and see the full moon as it rises, right around sunset. Along the horizon, the moon tends to seem even bigger. This is just an illusion.
You can prove to yourself that this is an illusion. Taking a small object such as a pencil eraser, hold it at arm's length, and compare its size to that of the moon just as it rises. Then repeat the experiment later in the night and you'll see that the moon compares the same in both cases.
Alternately, snap two photos of the moon, with a digital camera or your cell phone, when the moon is near the horizon and later when it's higher in the sky. Pull both photos up on your computer screen and make a side-by-side comparison.
Astronomers and psychologists agree the moon illusion is just that, but they don't agree on how to explain it.
*********
So now you know all about the moon, right.? And you're going to go roust about all the loonies, right?
Best you should be in Washington, DC, and have your cameras at the ready!
There are all sorts of surprises THERE!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Last Night's Treat: Pizza from Scratch!
The crust:
1 tsp. dry yeast dissolved in 1/4 C. warm water (add 1/4 tsp honey--it helps the yeast). Let that sit until it begins to froth a little.
In a bowl, combine:
1 1/2 C. unbleached flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt
a generous sprinkling of dried oregano, dried basil, and dried crushed red pepper
Add the yeast and approximately 1/2 C more warm water (you've got to have a 'feel' for how much is needed). You can also add a T. or so of olive oil at this point.
Mix thoroughly and turn out on a floured surface. Knead for several minutes, then place in a bowl which has been rubbed with olive oil. Cover the bowl and set in a warm place.
At this point, you can chop garlic, slice mushrooms and grate mozzarella cheese.
When the dough has risen by half, turn it out into a pizza pan which has been rubbed generously with olive oil. Nudge the dough carefully to the edges of the pan.
My favorite ingredient here is pesto sauce, which I usually thin with a bit of olive oil. This pizza required 3 T. of pesto; then I loaded it with garlic, Crimini mushrooms, fire-roasted red peppers and a generous sprinkling of grated Romano cheese.
Here's how it looked, ready for the oven!
I slid it into a pre-heated 425 degree oven for about 14 minutes, then added the grated mozzarella and let it bake until the cheese got bubbly (about 6 minutes more).
And then, it was done! A nice crisp-but-chewy, flavorful crust with very healthful toppings!
I then sat and watched "Abraham Lincoln" (1930, with Walter Huston) on IMDb, before hitting Fox Live for the SOTU.
My pizza was much more spectacular than the speechifying, thank you!
1 tsp. dry yeast dissolved in 1/4 C. warm water (add 1/4 tsp honey--it helps the yeast). Let that sit until it begins to froth a little.
In a bowl, combine:
1 1/2 C. unbleached flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt
a generous sprinkling of dried oregano, dried basil, and dried crushed red pepper
Add the yeast and approximately 1/2 C more warm water (you've got to have a 'feel' for how much is needed). You can also add a T. or so of olive oil at this point.
Mix thoroughly and turn out on a floured surface. Knead for several minutes, then place in a bowl which has been rubbed with olive oil. Cover the bowl and set in a warm place.
At this point, you can chop garlic, slice mushrooms and grate mozzarella cheese.
When the dough has risen by half, turn it out into a pizza pan which has been rubbed generously with olive oil. Nudge the dough carefully to the edges of the pan.
My favorite ingredient here is pesto sauce, which I usually thin with a bit of olive oil. This pizza required 3 T. of pesto; then I loaded it with garlic, Crimini mushrooms, fire-roasted red peppers and a generous sprinkling of grated Romano cheese.
Here's how it looked, ready for the oven!I slid it into a pre-heated 425 degree oven for about 14 minutes, then added the grated mozzarella and let it bake until the cheese got bubbly (about 6 minutes more).
And then, it was done! A nice crisp-but-chewy, flavorful crust with very healthful toppings!I then sat and watched "Abraham Lincoln" (1930, with Walter Huston) on IMDb, before hitting Fox Live for the SOTU.
My pizza was much more spectacular than the speechifying, thank you!
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