Archive for April, 2011

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TMQ Watch: April 26, 2011.

Friday, April 29th, 2011

WCD got into it a bit last week with Lawrence over the merits of the NFL draft. It is our position that the draft just really isn’t that important to NFL teams. We do not dismiss the draft totally; a team may get lucky and pick up, say, an Earl Campbell. But teams are just as likely to get lucky and pick up, say, a JaMarcus Russell. Our belief is that good coaching, good team building, and good player selection (remember, players don’t have to come from the draft; undrafted unwanted free agents that do surprisingly well are an ongoing TMQ trope) are more important than draft choices.

With that introduction out of the way, let’s jump into TMQ’s annual “mock the mock drafts” column.

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Posted in NFL, Sports, TMQ watch | 1 Comment »

Do not taunt Happy Fun Bubble.

Friday, April 29th, 2011

A casual conversation on our way to dinner led us to this Wall Street Journal article about Crayola’s Washable Colored Bubbles product.

Crayola figured out a way to make colored bubbles (excuse us, “bubbles of color”) on demand. This is a pretty hard problem if you understand anything about the physics of soap bubble formation; you’re talking about surfaces thousands of times thinner than a human hair. Conventional dyes won’t work, so Crayola’s invention is kind of a big deal.

Crayola’s invention also stains things. Permanently. At least that’s what some parents are claiming. (A quick look of my own at the Amazon product reviews suggests that the WSJ may have slightly overstated the number of negative reviews. Or Amazon may have pulled some.)

“Keep away from brick, vinyl, finished and unfinished wood, wallpaper, painted walls, carpeting, draperies, and other materials that cannot be laundered.”

Why are we reminded of the classic phrase “hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers“?

We briefly considered picking some of this up for our younger relatives, but then had second thoughts; we much prefer our spleen where it currently is, on the inside of our body, as opposed to having it yanked out violently through our nose.

Posted in Clippings, Geek | Comments Closed

“150 g of pidgeon gizzards”

Friday, April 29th, 2011

We have previously made note of Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking as well as the NYT‘s coverage of same.

Now, also by way of the NYT, we have coverage of the book’s errata. Wouldn’t want to overcook those scrambled eggs there, Bob.

Also, we’ll toss up a link for our great and good friend Glen, who is a big Negroni fan.

Things have been kind of slow this week, and we have also been coming off either a cold or an allergic reaction to all the crap floating around in the air. We are aware TMQ has a new column up (his annual “mock draft”) and plan to blog that in the TMQ Watch, perhaps as early as tonight.

Posted in Admin, Clippings, Food, Mixology | Comments Closed

This is relevant to my interests.

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

I have a long standing fascination with homebrew radiation detection and measuring equipment, so the concept of the iGeigie (a Geiger counter that connects to your iPhone) intrigues me. (The iGeigie website doesn’t appear to be working at the moment, but here’s a link to a Make: Online blog entry.)

I’m also pretty fascinated by what Safecast is doing.

And by this older Make: Online homebrew Geiger counter schematic.

And this summary of Geiger counter kits and projects.

Yes, I think I will throw a few dollars at Safecast’s Kickstarter project, thanks for asking.

(Hattip: Wil Wheaton.)

 

Posted in Clippings, Geek | Comments Closed

Noted without comment.

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

Deadline Hollywood is reporting that there’s a deal to continue Robert Parker’s Spenser and Jessie Stone mystery series, under the authorship of Michael Brandman (for the Jessie Stone books) and Ace Atkins (for the Spenser books).

I was previously unfamiliar with Mr. Brandman, but the linked article reports that he’s a co-writer and producer of the Jessie Stone TV movies, and previously did three Spenser adaptations for A&E. Ace Atkins has “written such novels as White Shadow, Infamous and Wicked City“.

Posted in Books, Clippings | Comments Closed

Obit watch: April 26, 2011

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Poly Styrene (birth name Marianne Joan Elliott-Said), singer for the X-Ray Spex, has died.

The LAT “Pop and Hiss” blog has a surprisingly good appreciation of her work, including videos. (However, the video for “Oh Bondage, Up Yours” cuts off the famous opening. Here’s a better version. I will say, though, that I think Randall Roberts is pretty much right on about the song, and about Poly Styrene’s influence on the punk movement.)

Posted in Clippings, Music, Obits | Comments Closed

Mexican “gun” ducks!

Monday, April 25th, 2011

I’m kind of stepping on Weer’d Beard’s territory here (sorry, Weer’d), but this HouChron story is too fascinating and disturbing to pass up:

At the largest mass grave site ever found in Mexico, where 177 bodies have been pulled from deep pits, authorities have recovered few bullet casings and little evidence that the dead were killed with a gun.

Instead, most died of blunt force trauma to the head, and a sledgehammer found at the crime scene is believed to have been used in the executions, according to Mexican investigators and state officials.

More:

On Thursday, cartel gunmen sacked the city of Miguel Aleman, across the river from Roma, Texas, tossing grenades and burning down three car dealerships, an auto parts outlet, furniture store and gas station.

Of course, they bought those grenades at gun stores and gun shows in the United States.

…authorities are still looking for an entire bus loaded with passengers that vanished on the border in March.

And:

The savage method of execution is also unexplained, with shuddering investigators left guessing at the deranged mental state of the killers.

Clearly, what Mexico needs is stronger sledgehammer control. And to sue American sledgehammer manufacturers.

Posted in Clippings, Guns, Law | 3 Comments »

10.5 hour party people.

Monday, April 25th, 2011

Because I’m old and can’t do 24 hours any longer.

This weekend was the combined birthday party/1970’s crime film fest.

No, the cake was not a lie, and I think that came out pretty well. I was impressed that the Sam’s bakery called me to tell me my dates didn’t add up. (They were misreading my handwriting.) Now that’s customer service.

The absinthe went over pretty well, though I think I need to work on proportions. At the recommendation of one of the liquor guys at Spec’s, I’ve been using an Irish coffee glass for absinthe, and my typical pour is two ounces of absinthe, topped off with cold water and one sugar cube. At that level, I can feel an effect. Not anything trippy, just a good solid knock (and that wears off in an hour or so). I think next time I make a glass, I may try two sugar cubes instead of one, but I tend to like things sweet.

The Kraken spiced rum also went over well, though I didn’t care much for it straight; I can see that it would go well with the right mixer (maybe some Dublin Dr. Pepper?). I still haven’t tried any of the Crystal Head. I was trying to be moderate in my drinking, since I had to drive, and as fun as it sounds, drinking Scotch whiskey all night long and dying behind the wheel is a sub-optimal evolutionary strategy.

We only got to two of the movies on our list. Possible spoilers follow.

(more…)

Posted in 1911, Food, Guns, Mixology, Movies, Photography | 3 Comments »

Football players go wild!

Friday, April 22nd, 2011

Felony possession of a firearm. Drug possession. Theft. Four arrests in one week.

Sounds like the UT football players have gotten out of hand, doesn’t it?

Oh, I’m sorry. Did I say UT? I meant Rice University.

(Sadly, these arrests weren’t enough to push Rice onto the board in the most recent Fulmer Cup update. Maybe next week?)

Posted in Clippings, Sports | 3 Comments »

Baseball. You bet.

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

The Los Angeles Dodgers are now being run by Major League Baseball.

(LAT coverage here.)

And we’re only 1/10th of the way through the season.

I may have more to say on this later. Not sure.

Posted in Clippings, Schadenfreude, Sports | Comments Closed

Excess is success.

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

A $6,390 toilet.

This is something I’d consider purchasing if I had excess money, though it’d be low on the list. We spend enough time on the toilet; why shouldn’t it be a pleasant experience?

A $410 corkscrew.

The Screwpull has always worked well for me, at about 3.6% of the price.

Posted in Clippings | Comments Closed

Obit watch: April 20, 2011.

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

William A. Rusher, former publisher of National Review and a noted “conservative strategist”. National Review tributes here.

Tim Hetherington, co-director of “Restrepo”, killed by a mortar attack in Libya.

Edited to add: Chris Hondros, a photographer for Getty Images, was also seriously wounded in the same attack. Romenesko is now reporting that Hondros has died from his injuries.

 

Posted in Clippings, Obits | Comments Closed

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