Wednesday, November 30, 2005

scary maybe

This might be the scariest movie


has seen, but the title is hurting my face from laughing.  My cheek bones are spending way too much time jambed up


toward my eyes. 



Night of the Day of the Dawn of the...




I need someone to grace me with a copy. Those of us in the lala
land of country hick dial up hostages to the MTS masters of torture and
greed are known to beg.



Monday, November 28, 2005

roast garlic revisited

The running maniacs pull through again. It's getting really difficult to tell whether I eat to run or run to eat.

Sandra Bowens makes a good case here for the long slow cooking method.

The Great Garlic Roasting Experiment

by Sandra Bowens

My husband hates garlic. More specifically, he hates the smell of it on my breath. As he jetted away on a business trip last week, I dashed off to the market to buy a bag of garlic.

I wanted to figure out the best way to roast garlic. People often ask me and I have never been quite sure how to answer. I knew of the method but, in light of my dear husband's aversion, hadn't bothered with much experimentation.

Surely you have sampled this trendy condiment said to be better than butter on bread and more delectable than raw chopped garlic in recipes. With my freedom to breathe the garlic breath, I wanted to try both.

The idea is to cook an entire unpeeled head. You want to get the garlic cloves to the point where the flesh is creamy enough to simply squeeze it from the papery covering. The flavor is enriched and that harsh bite is gone.

Although you can buy a tiny baking dish for roasting garlic, I did not. I went to three of my favorite cookbooks for recipes. The fourth method would be based on a component from a salsa recipe I have used in the past.


Method One: High Heat

Naturally, for learning to roast garlic I turned to Barbara Kafka's book Roasting first. She suggested that you slice about an inch off the top of the whole head of garlic before placing it in a pan that will just hold it. You then "slick" the garlic and the pan with about a teaspoon of oil and add two tablespoons of water or stock. The garlic is roasted in a preheated 500 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.

I used a small glass custard cup, extra-virgin olive oil and plain water for this experiment. After 25 minutes, the head of garlic was blackened in spots (as it was supposed to be) and delightfully fragrant. I allowed it to cool before squishing out the buttery flesh. Most of it was very soft but a few of the larger cloves remained just the tiniest bit crunchy.


Method Two: Long Cook Time

Deborah Madison's book Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone promised that the "long cooking time sweetens the pungent garlic." Her recipe was similar to Kafka's except she suggested rubbing off all but the last layer of papery skin next to the cloves and not cutting into the head at all. The recipe called for butter or olive oil and just water. The main difference came in the baking. The dish holding the garlic is covered with foil and baked at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. The foil is then removed and the garlic continues to bake for 30 minutes more.

I used another glass custard cup for this one but went with butter instead of oil. After all the cooking, a sheen of butter remained in the bottom of the cup so I squeezed the garlic cloves into this. The soft flesh came out of the skin with ease--much smoother than any of the other cooking methods.


Method Three: No Special Treatment

In his book The Grains Cookbook, Bert Greene has a recipe for roasting garlic to add to a salad dressing. His method is to simply pop a garlic head into the oven at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes. He did suggest using a spoon to help remove the cooked flesh from the skin.

I placed my head of garlic, straight from the bag, onto a baking sheet and gave it the full 35 minutes. The garlic had blackened in spots and was very soft. I discovered that his suggestion for using the spoon to separate the pulp from the skins was a good one as this method resulted in a stickier garlic than any of the others. Nice browned bits flecked the softened pulp but it wasn't quite as smooth as the others.


Method Four: Under the Broiler

This broiler method is based on a roasted tomato salsa recipe that I love from The Two Hot Tamales television program years ago. For the salsa you blacken tomatoes, jalapenos, onion and garlic under a hot broiler for ten minutes or so, turning frequently. Except the garlic, you don't have to turn it--you protect it under a layer of onion. The onion turns completely black so you throw it away but the garlic is cooked and lightly browned. Even though there are six cloves of garlic in this salsa recipe, my husband loves it because the garlic is cooked.

At any rate, I decided that there was no reason this couldn't work for a whole head of cloves. It would be quicker and the cooked garlic would already be peeled.

Wrong! I peeled all the garlic, tented them with two layers of onion and started broiling. Ten minutes later, the onion had blackened but the garlic was still hard. Fifteen minutes later, the onion became a fire hazard so I removed that first layer and started again. After 25 minutes or so, the onion had again burnt to a crisp and some of the garlic had begun to brown as well.

When the cloves had cooled, I transferred them to a small bowl and set to mashing them with a fork. They were softer than I expected but had a somewhat stringy texture.


The Results

After lining up the four custard cups on the counter, the judging panel determined that the long cooking method had produced the best results. The creamy texture spread nicely on bread and had a pleasant sweet, nutty taste.

The high heat method was a close second. Just a bit more coarse but definitely as flavorful, it also won points for the quick cooking time. The paste added a subtle smoky taste when used in place of fresh garlic in guacamole.

The simple, no special treatment method resulted in the most attractive looking garlic puree. It had retained a stronger garlic odor than the other two that had been oven roasted. This would be a good choice for mixing into mashed potatoes or stirring into a sauce.

The broiler method is best left to the salsa recipe although it would work in other recipes that will be prepared in a blender. Consider this broiled garlic when a sort of half-cooked garlic might be just right.

The one thing each method had in common is that they all resulted in about two tablespoons of peeled, roasted garlic puree.

One big advantage to roasting garlic is that it reduces the dreaded garlic breath. After all the tastings in this experiment, no one seemed to be plagued by that problem. I see a lot more garlic mashed potatoes, pesto and hummus in my husband's future.

Penny's Key Lime Punch

Erin brought this to a recent flyfest. I thought it was wonderfully fresh tasting.

================

Penny's Key Lime Punch

1 container of Key Lime Sherbet

1 2 liter bottle of ginger ale

1 container of frozen Minute Maid Limeade

Into a punch bowl pour in thawed limeade, add 1/3 of ginger ale, then spoon in partially thawed sherbet, allow this to fizz and settle, then SLOWLY add rest of ginger ale.
Voila!

Notes:
-- Minute Maid Limeade seems to work best. Others don't taste right in this.
-- Use a big bowl, it fizzes a lot!

Saturday, November 26, 2005

mashed spuds

Does anyone roast garlic. I've winged it a few times, but am looking to hone the process. I'd like to have a bulb of roasted garlic to mash into potatoes.

I've used olive oil, basil and oregano when I've been experimenting. What do others do?

How hot? How long? Covered or open? What's the character of the product clove when you are done?

I've only made mine caramelised and soft so you can squeeze them out of the skins. I usually end up putting them in for 45 minutes or so as a whole bulb.

The garlic jones

DVD

A replacement DVD player came home last night so the John Prine 52nd Street and Jeff McKay's Crap Shoot got another airing before bed. Tonight it's McKay's Haunts of the Black Masseur.

Plumbing is so good when it works out! Water softener is no longer a leaking mess and the pipe is through from the house to the shop. Yeah for arm strength.

===============

Way down, way down it must be. Can't stop this misery, it must be way down.

Spring is just a smile away, laughing like a summer day, turn around and look here fall, when I hear my lonely call.

The air is thin and the sky is flat. I'm gonna buy me a brand new hat. I went out to go insane, christ I hope it never rains.

Thought I saw a neon sign flash my name with the time. Probably didn't see a thing, crazy dreams and broken wings.

How you gonna get sunshine, peeking through venetian blinds. Don't you know that all out there, begins and ends the same place here.

Spring is just a smile away...

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

A letter to a friend

I stepped into the shop for dog food this morning, but that was as far as it went.





I awoke to the Honda being left behind because of a flat. The mechanic
was hunting, he'll be right back. In the interim, I went to pick up a
side of pork for city friends at the local butcher. They had the entire
ham done whole. OMG dose it look like something I want to roast!




Then back to the folks with the live hogs to pay for that element.
Hadn't seen them in ages so there was nothing doing, but to engage the
moment and stay for food.



Then back to the mechanic's and he's a little backed up. Plug didn't
work, plug/patch fancy thang didn't work right, twice and then finally
on the third attempt we won. If the tire is flat tomorrow you may hear
me scream.




Once that was done I had just enough time to squeeze in a quick two
mile run, no shower, just jump in the car again and pick up kids from
b-ball practise. Oh... that was cancelled. Made the trip anyway and
ended up picking up some clean work in the way of a clock and watch
which prevented any gaskets from blowing. < g >




It was my night too cook, so flew into gear to make that all happen,
during which I pushed past the limits of spoiled Spanish speaking girls
of privilege to ensure that the points I've been attempting to make for
the last eight weeks about how the laundry works around here is clear
enough that said SSG of P could paraphrase the meaning back to me. I'm
no a dirt eating dog of the worst kind. I'm not surprised and I'm
assuming you aren't either, if you know me at all. :P




Bonnie had the wisdom to approach me as dinner was coming to a close
about how she had not returned a video last weekend and it was icy and
might I be willing to take her to St. Malo. I made a deal for ice cream
and departed only to find at the store that Boo in her keen foresight
had come along without dime one. $20 later I have chocolate sauce in
abundance and two flavours of ice cream.



Did I remember to pick up the parcel at St. Malo while I was standing not five feet from it? AHHHH NO!

Zen practise is good practise. :D Let it go.... let it all go...



On a more positive note.  and had been seeking
some help for a moving day crew, so and I joined ,
,   and a host of other bright lights to lighten the load.  With
two half tons at our dispoal and a willing crew, we were able to make
quite a dent in the process.  I love working with others when the joy
factor remains high.  :D


 


Oh I suppose there is one other little gratitude bit that could quickly
get sidetracked into a rant give half a chance to celebrate my sister
in law's idiosyncratic ways.  senkiwphycy's computer died.  I
resurrected it on Monday and then played with Linux, experimenting with
the process of broad band connections. 





Debian and an old install of RH9 were not yielding fruit so booted to
an old Knoppix 3.7 live cd and the dhcp scan for an ip address was done
at boot.  When everything was loaded and ready to use, I was
connected.  My god some days it's sweet to be alive. 


It's only a machine!

stick

I love these stick figure things.


I ripped this staight out of the heart of
Raziel311@lj




He's got a big heart... he shares willingly.

blondes

Another most excellent cheap shot at blondes. :D


Go Cathy R!

Thursday, November 17, 2005

ADHD podcast - dextroamphetamine, dopamine demo

I'm crying for bandwidth! I'd love to have more podcast in my life. It would be so much more like radio and I love radio. It leaves my hands and eyes free to do other things.

The adhd podcast looks like worthy of some attention.

Here's some solid and easy to grasp graphics of what goes on when little "M" and I take that pharma grade speed I've been chewing for a few years now. Click on the little flash thang to make it play. Or read the instructions. Whatever you feel up for.

I really like dextroamphetamine.

Long live science.

muppets

This is my life. Some days it's just doesn't look like I'm grasping the bigger picture.






You too can join in the fun.

Life in the fast lane.

By the light of the silvery moon

The night sky has always held my respect. Since moving far from the bright lights of the city, I've come to appreciate it even more.


As fall progressed and the weather remained mild, the sky began to look odd to me as I would make my nightly jaunt to kill the lights in the chicken coup. Normally Orion is not a major player in the eastern sky until the ground is frozen, but this year it seemed to be present without that qualification.


Last night it was a cool -20C or so and I wasn't brave enough to take advantage of the good "seeing" to jump Mars as it approached transit. I did get to thinking about the rings around the moon though. Some reported seeing a tear dropped ring effect which was new to me.




For the curious lurking in the shadows:
Moon light effects.


Atmospheric Optics


Tuesday, November 15, 2005

big blow

A winter run, no question. 4km @ 6:28/km 82%

Deep snow and narrow tracks and the wind all made for a little more work than I'd bargained for, but I still came back with a big smile on my face.

Did stretch and strength after the run. I'm happy to be back in the routine of the strength exercises. I see others break up their weight training working different parts of the body on different days. I think I'll work up something similar for the hodgepodge I'm doing.

The whole family was home today because of the storm. It was great fun really. Made a couple of pizza pies from scratch and celebrated being close to the wood stove.

Found a treadmill I can do my hills on! Yeah!
Cheers!

Kid book titles seen on a writers list.

In case you are looking for something for your own child, a nephew,
niece, or somebody else's cute kid, look no farther. All should be
available at your nearest bookstore and make great stocking stuffers.





a.. You Are Different and That's Bad





b.. The Boy Who Died From Eating All His Vegetables





c.. Dad's New Wife Robert





d.. Fun four-letter Words to Know and Share





e.. Hammers, Screwdrivers and Scissors: An I-Can-Do-It Book





f.. The Kids' Guide to Hitchhiking





g.. Kathy Was So Bad Her Mom Stopped Loving Her



h.. Curious George and the High-Voltage Fence





i.. All Cats Go to Hell





j.. The Little Sissy Who Snitched





k.. Some Kittens Can Fly





l.. That's it, I'm Putting You Up for Adoption





m.. Grandpa Gets a Casket





n.. The Magic World Inside the Abandoned Refrigerator





o.. Garfield Gets Feline Leukemia





p.. The Pop-Up Book of Human Anatomy





q.. Strangers Have the Best Candy





r.. Whining, Kicking and Crying to Get Your Way





s.. You Were an Accident





t.. Things Rich Kids Have, But You Never Will





u.. Pop! Goes The Hamster...And Other Great Microwave Games





v.. The Man in the Moon Is Actually Satan





w.. Your Nightmares Are Real





x.. Where Would You Like to Be Buried?





y.. Eggs, Toilet Paper, and Your School





z.. Why Can't Mr. Fork and Ms. Electrical Outlet Be Friends?



  

Monday, November 14, 2005

images

Paul's been sifting through for treasures again.  As is often the case, botony is a priority.   
This is the highlights gallery, for the complete set and more info, see the sub-gallery.



I'm a sucker for anything to do with astonomy so this shot of the moon was just fine by me.



Almost everything here is shut down until spring now.  I saw some
hardy flowers blooming on the weekend, but by Wednesday we're supposed
to have a low of -17C so I'm pretty sure whatever was showing colour is
all done that phase of development now.  Adri and Boo were out posing, Adri reluctantly. 



A classic snow man got built and snow angels were back by the
dozen.  Adri of course had home work to do, but having her
lethargic butt around had energised the Canuck's. 












OK, OK, so I'm not working too hard today.  I liked a lot of this Marco Mugnatto's work.

 

rant

I think I'm in love. Mind you, it's early in the relationship, and she knows nothing of this, but the tone in her writing is so damned attractive.


Jen La Sala does not bore me.

A thinking woman is a very very attractive thing.

Food, glorious food!

I love to eat. Let me repeat that. I love to eat. The best part of running is being able to eat so much more without ballooning up like the porker I am!

This will be dinner some winter day sometime soon.




Then the biscuits are a must. I make them, but have turned everyone off them by not adding enough fat. They are supposed to be "short" and I always choke when I see the amount of fat that's supposed to be in them and cheat it back. Me bad.

Sidewalk art

This type of drawing
is so cool.  I first became aware of it watching formula one
races.  Shell oil had painted their logo on the grass in such a
way as for it to appear at the camera angle to be correct, as if you
were looking at it straight on.  Computers no doubt have a way of
helping, but what about these guys doing this type of thing on the
sidewalk? 

Stickmen and smilies for me I'm afraid.



*** My favourite way to start the day is with The Voice.   Besides, Anna Maria Tremonti makes me weak at the knees. 




Saturday, November 12, 2005

Quote of the day

I found this while salvaging my PDA from some buggy third party software. I'd fogotten just how it went, but I shouldn't.

"Committments, authenticity and self-disclosure."




nabbing my morning

This is eating my morning
I'm not terribly motivated, but hey, I'm distractable as all get all
and I've gone this far without becoming a gamer. 



I swiped it from







Thursday, November 10, 2005

Red Green is done. Finally!

Heaven only knows, it will maybe run on in my life in reruns, but that
would be a shame.  I was never a fan, and now it's over.

The Red Green Show has taped it's last duct tape special.


Letting go

A complete and utter waste of time?



Has anyone been to the Park Theater in Winnipeg?  I didn't even know it existed until today.  I'm so bumpkin now!



I want to hear of all good Winnipeg restaurants.



My favourite art site coughed up another beauty with many thanks to 






I like her taste in many things.  Girl, you must update your avatar.  You are gorgeous!





For the Linux fans some wall paper selections. #1 & #2

For the technically inclined of that crew I found these through MUUG#1, #2, #3.  The topic is looking at resource use

information through Top and some other utilities like it.



The fire is lit, I've been out on a week night with some fine food and good company. 

I've been hugged warmly by a six year old.  I've been reminded why we have babies after seeing a friend's four month old.

I need more than 24 hours in a day.



For those parenting ADHD kids or find their kids to be a bit oppositionally predisposed.  Or maybe you are dating a person

you suspect has issues surrounding the word "no".  I like this paper very much. 



This came up over discussions at addforms.com
about what I might be teaching my child when I let her win when we are
in conflict.  This made the case for giving in early and often
better than I could.



How to Avoid the
Oppositionality Trap: Ten Principles




by George
T. Lynn, M.A




"He's so oppositional!
Why can't he just go along with what I ask for once? What makes him think
he's Little Mister Special. His brothers and sisters think he gets away
with murder. It's impossible for me to keep any harmony in our house!"




The legendary "No!
Do it yourself; I refuse!" of A.D.D. children is one of the greatest
stressors that we face as their parents and teachers. Meeting the challenge
of this intense oppositionality requires that we understand its particular
roots in the psyches of children with ADHD and the function that "No!"
serves for them.




How we feel about
ourselves determines how we see and evaluate situations around us. If
we feel up, confident, in charge, we will behave competently and successfully.
If we feel down on ourselves and out of control, we may overreact or flee
a stressful situation without dealing with it. Fortunately, most people
can deal with this feeling of being overwhelmed by stepping back from
the situation and taking a breath. We are able to rise above the tension
of the moment and see the big picture.




The child with ADHD
is different from us in that he has a much more difficult time shutting
down intrusive stimuli; his stress is constant. And, unlike "normal"
kids, his feeling of self-confidence has taken a battering and thus he
is poorly equipped to get psychologically on top of the situation. It
is this combination of perceptual hypersensitivity and low self-esteem
that causes him to be so oppositional. He feels out of control of the
situation and he puts on the brakes to slow things down. Though he may
appear focused, he is not, at the moment, in real contact with those around
him. He is tuned inward, speaking the "No" to the chaos inside
him.




And he has powerful
pushback. Remember what happened the last time you were in traffic and
someone started tailgating you? If you are like many others, your impulse
was to slow down. Pushing back is a human reaction to warn threat away
from us. This is how the child with ADHD reacts to the typical adult strategy
of "bearing down and getting tough" when the adult is faced
with his oppositionality. Pushback. Pushback hard! Never give an inch.
This way of dealing with the world can become habitual.




Things are made worse
if the child is required to do things he is incapable of. Eighty percent
of these requirements are put on him in school. Sit still. Do the paperwork.
Quickly now. Is it done? Be quiet. Stand in line. Don't say "No."
Cooperate and graduate.




It is important not
to blame the teacher. He has thirty other kids to deal with and for his
survival, a certain degree of lock step in the classroom is required.




But the teacher is
complicating the situation by looking at the child's behavior as simply
intentional. "But it looks intentional!" (How many times have
parents heard that assertion?) Oppositionality can look very much like
the kid is just being spiteful. But there is a reason for his behavior.
The way he sees the situation, saying "No" gives him a tiny
bit of order in his life and without that sense of order he knows he will
go crazy.




The child's frustrating
experience at solving problems, the energy it takes, the sense of inner
chaos, and his low self esteem are all factors that make him want to put
on the brakes, to slow the world down, to get people off his back. We
can effectively deal with his reactivity by changing the way we make demands
to avoid the "Yes, NO!" cycle, and by helping him feel more
in control of his life. Observe the following ten principles to create
an interpersonal setting with your child that is conducive to change:




Principle 1: Problem
solving takes more time. Realize that it takes many A.D.D. children more
time to solve "left brain" or "central task" learning
problems given to them. Many adults quickly become impatient with the
child's lack of progress and immediately restate the problem with a more
urgent demand for completion. Feeling threatened and frustrated, the child
will drop his problem solving activity and become engaged in the more
familiar game of playing pushback with the adult. The key is to assume
a consultancy role with him in the learning process in which you make
your assistance available on his demand without pushing. And it is very
important to give him time and space to work through the issue his own
way.




Principle 2:
High self esteem equals collaboration. Get in the habit of noticing what
makes him feel good about himself and build more of these experiences
into his daily routine. This may involve having a special friend around,
working on projects that he does well, hanging out with you or helping
you, or involving him some special passion that is his and his only. A.D.D.
kids are powerfully drawn to creative work and to nature and ecology.
Helping him develop his creativity and spend time "getting his head
together" outside can set the stage for new levels of collaboration
with you. High self esteem increases collaboration.




Principle 3:
Let him choose. Build on his strong sense of inner purpose (a trained
capability of anyone who has to exert continual energy to keep focus)
by giving him choices, not ultimatums. For example, if you want him to
finish a project, say, "Would you like ten minutes or fifteen to
finish your project?" Or, if you want him to get his homework done,
say, "When would you like to complete your homework: after school
or after dinner, so that you can have your friend over?" Giving him
choices gives him a sense of control and it is this quality that is central
to creating a willingness to work with you.




Principle 4:
Defuse his defensiveness with "I statements."




Do not say: "Don't
talk to me in that tone of voice." Say: "I'll be glad to discuss
this when respect is shown."




Do not say: "Stop
arguing with me." Say: "I'll be glad to discuss this as soon
as the arguing stops."




Do not say: "Pay
attention!" Say: "I'll start again as soon as I know that you
are with me."




He will reflexively
follow the lead that you establish through your use of language. It is
very important to avoid cueing a "No...Yes" cycle by your use
of positive language referents.




Principle 5:
Keep your cool. Don't feed his fear of being out of control by getting
out of control yourself. Know your stress triggers and have another adult
available to support you if possible. These kids react best to "matter-of-fact"
communications. When you show anger, they will imitate your affect and
behavior quickly, in an oppositional manner. An ugly battle can result.




Principle 6:
Use moderate consequences. Don't overwhelm him with your reaction to his
misbehavior. Make consequences specific to the problem and dole them out
in small increments. If he refuses to eat dinner with the family, have
him get his own dinner one night a week. If time out is required, make
it for 3 or 5 minutes at a time, not a half hour or hour. Make consequences
follow infractions close to real time. Short term memory problems makes
delayed consequences useless. Loading on too many consequences could make
you a permanent enemy in his mental file of friends and enemies.




Principle 7:
Pick your battles. Only fight battles you can win and don't get hooked
into oppositional arguments. When you notice that you are arguing, state
the desired outcome and disengage quickly. Let him have the last word.
Allow him to cool off. Avoid at all costs what A.D.D. expert Dr. Ned Hallowell
terms "the Big Struggle"! For your own psychological survival
as well as management of your child, you must know in your bones that
you are the adult and you are in charge.




Principle 8:
Timing is very important. Remember, his oppositionality is essentially
a stress response to feeling out of control. He will experience this discomfort
more often when he is tired, his meds are wearing off or he is in social
situations that demand that he behave appropriately. He also experiences
this discomfort when required to do rapid problem solving or after experiencing
"failure" at school. Many A.D.D. kids are most vulnerable in
the afternoon because they have put energy all day into being focused
and may also be experiencing rebound exhaustion from medication at this
time. Give him a chance to relax and come down.




Principle 9:
Help him remember how to comply. In problem situations use "reminder"
language to overcome short term memory problems and increase the chance
that he has the information to comply. For example, to get him to move
out of contact when he is yelling or poking others say, "When you
can show me that you have control of your body by stopping your swearing
and poking and get to your room, we can talk about what you want."




Principle 10:
Get on top of problems early. He may signal you that he is "heating
up to a confrontation" by facial tensing, or acting angry or silly.
Check out what is going on with him at these times and back off if he's
not ready to talk. Get to know the look of his stress reaction.




People see things
through an internal lens that is shaped by how they feel about themselves.
The A.D.D. child's powerful oppositionality is a result of looking at
the world through a lens that is shaped by his internal sense of chaos
and frustration at not being able to meet the demands of his social and
academic environments. By acknowledging his uniquely open perceptual style
and the stresses that this way of being in the world puts on him, we help
him develop collaborative problem solving skills that will serve him and
us well as he grows into his potential.



Sunday, November 6, 2005

Mars

 Mars was pretty amazing last night.  It was cold and clear.  The air
was quite moist and the frost was settling in for a good hard freeze by
22:00.







I'll have to take to sketching some of these objects.  I'm sorry to
have so little talent when it comes to drawing because the beauty is
hard to describe in any other way.  I am not into astro photography,
but maybe I should be.  I'd be better off with a more controllable
telescope.  A Dobson mount doesn't lend itself to tracking very well,
and without having compensation for our spinning planet, the images
have to be left to under 15 seconds. 







I gave away my current issue of SkyNews, thinking I had already
received the second copy I get, but apparently not.  I was interested
to compare my observations with some images.  Mars rotates and presents
a different set of features as it rotates, but it's sometimes a trick
to get my eyes and mind to capture all that's available.  It's a quite,
gentle sport to be found late at night through an eye piece.







Mars is higher in the evening sky now after we dumped the DST so it was
irresistible to me although I was beat and in need of sleep.  It's such
a subtle subject, but rewarding if you enjoy that kind of thing. 
Observing isn't for everyone, but it's well suited for me.

Saturday, November 5, 2005

cyborg.namedecoder.com

R.E.M.O.N.T.O.I.R.E.: Robotic Electronic Machine Optimized for Nocturnal Troubleshooting, Online Infiltration and Rational Exploration


Robotic Electronic Machine Optimized for Nocturnal Troubleshooting, Online Infiltration and Rational Exploration

bite the hand that feeds

Some of the fun at Uncylopedia.