This is cute -- TextAmerica has added an
ability for anyone to design their own avatar to use when they post
messages. Here's an example.
(Look down the page at the comments to see how they look and to see my own
avatar.) (Thanks to Christiaan,
Robert K.,
Maurits and
EyeQ for telling me how to code this.)
I was visiting my four nieces and nephews in
Atlanta this past week. From my driveway to theirs is exactly 200 miles. They took good care of me while their parents were
gone. Photos of the trip begin here. (If
you want to view the entire collection of about 27 images, click
on <-- Newer Photo just above each picture.)
I got this from The Screen Savers.
Cookbooks for any appetite. This is too funny.
Chi-Lan dared to cook some of the
recipes from her collection of weird cookbooks. Here’s what she
prepared in our TSS kitchens:
“Cooking up crazy things got you
excited? Well, if you’re interested in starting a cornucopia of
culinary tomes, here are the ones I showed on the show. Many of them
are out of print, but boy are they funny!”
Star Trek Cookbook
By Ethan Phillips and William J. Birnes
(Simonsays.com/st)
Dining On Babylon 5
By Emerson Briggs-Wallace and Steve Smith
(Boxtree Publishing, Macmillan Publishing)
Out of Print
“What I love about Gagh (Klingon worms)
is that it was food created as a prop, but since the actors had to
eat it, the propmasters had to make it decently delectable. For the
worms to squirm, the propguy made the noodles squirm using a wire
coat hanger. Creep out your buddies with the recipes listed below.”
From The Star Trek Cookbook:
(Cooking times weren’t tested before
writing, but the book is good anyhow. Enjoy!)
Gagh
1-pound package thick Japanese udon noodles (whole wheat is best),
soba noodles, or Chinese or Thai rice noodles
4 ounces prepared sesame salad dressing or Chinese chicken salad
dressing or tahini
¼ cup soy sauce or light soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark brown Karo syrup, if you find it necessary for color
Prepare the noodles per the package
instructions, replacing one-half the water with the soy sauce.
Chill. Then stir through quarter-cup soy sauce and sesame salad
dressing. Add Karo syrup and stir through to satisfy your own sense
of color and taste, and there you have it: gagh!
Klingon Heart of Targ (Rene Auberjonois’
“Odo’s Baked Tomato Bruschette”)
1 loaf crusty Italian white bread
1 dozen Roma tomatoes, cut in half, stems removed
2 or 3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 cups virgin olive oil (cold-pressed is best)
1 tablespoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon fresh minced or dried crushed basil
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. After
tomatoes have been sliced in half and laid out cut-side up on a
flat, lightly oiled baking tray, mix the garlic cloves with the
olive oil and stir. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes. Split the
bread in half lengthwise. Spoon the olive oil-garlic mixture over
the tomatoes (at least 1 tablespoon or more per tomato) and sprinkle
with salt and pepper. Bake the tomatoes on the upper oven shelf for
15-20 minutes, until they are completely roasted-almost
unrecognizable as tomatoes-and have the consistency of jam. Then
sprinkle them with chopped basil. At the same time bake the bread
until it’s hot and toasted, but not brunt. Remove bread from oven,
cut into bit-sized chunks, and serve alongside the tomatoes. Let
your guest spread the jam-like roasted garlic tomato on individual
pieces of bread and sprinkle with ground pepper. Serve with red
Italian wine or Klingon bloodwine. Serves six.
From Dining on Babylon 5:
Orcha Juice
One serving:
150ml/5fl oz venda juice (2 parts orange, 1 part pineapple, 1 part
lime, 1 part lemon juices)
90ml/3fl oz ginger ale
150/5oz ice
1 tbsp sugar fresh mint leaves, to garnish
Well, except for the horrendous traffic,
Atlanta is a great place. I love visiting here. There's so much to do in a
big city. There are more choices in the grocery store, more kinds of
stores to visit, more malls, more symphonies, ball games, restaurants,
etc. A big city just has more choices. I am glad I only live 200 miles
away.
The most fun here is my sister and her
family. I love Huntsville, too. It is a "just-the-right-size" city of
about 170,000 - 250,000 or more depending on how you count the suburb
areas. Being in a modern town like Huntsville and being able to drive to Atlanta,
Birmingham (100 miles away) or Nashville (same distance) is perfect. I
could not ask for anything better (well, maybe, except to be closer to
Orlando, my second favorite place because of all you can do there).
I love this. You can download an mp3 file to
play on any machine (such as an iPod). Leo does this with his broadcasts,
making them easy to listen to in the car and now The Screen Savers does
it. I hope more places do this, especially since I will be on the road
going to and from Atlanta. Here's more information about
Podcasting.
My daughter and her husband have purchased a
new house near Gurley in a growing suburban area. I remember this area
from when I was younger. It was out in the "country," but when I saw their
new neighborhood, I was shocked. It looks like a growing, thriving
comunity, reminding me of Madison, another city nearby where many people
commute to Huntsville.
What was "out in the country" is now home to
many housing developments and a rapidly-growing population.
