Technology & MSG

Cooking is Better than Potpourri

Alex — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:30:20 +0000

I am one of nine participants in my office’s chili cook-off this coming Tuesday, contending for nothing more than bragging rights. I decided to go off-reservation a bit by utilizing a recipe I’ve never tried before. I wanted to allow the flavors to meld for a few days, so I started this morning.

A mixture of tomatoes, ground beef, spicy sausage, onions, bacon, beans — because I’m not a chili purist — and a few other other not-so-secret ingredients have been simmering in the Dutch oven for the past couple hours.

None of the ingredients were hard to locate. The preparation was easy enough, but took a bit of time. My largest skillet can only handle a pound of meat at a time, so there were several rounds of cooking, draining, and reloading. The recipe makes just about 7 quarts. My Dutch oven has a 7 quart capacity, which meant I had to keep an eye on it and shift the contents periodically to prevent it all from bubbling over.

With only a few minor modifications to the recipe, it turned out pretty well. I don’t know if it will win, but I think people will enjoy it. It’s sweet with a unique woodsy flavor. It’s a firm “medium” on the spice scale, but it’s the sort that grows in intensity the more you have. With eight other batches to sample, it should be approachable to most of the judges and my fellow coworkers. It’s perfectly fine solo, but would also be well suited over rice or tortillas.

The house smells amazing.

Similar Posts:

No Goats No Glory

Alex — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:31:33 +0000

So The Men Who Stare at Goats has its moments, but not enough. Sadly, it is a case where the trailer holds most of the good stuff.

Clooney is a face actor. One of those guys who can bring intensity and disbelief at the same time. Like a lot his past movies — Burn After Reading, Leatherheads, and O Brother, Where Art Though come immediately to mind — he’s involved in a lot of strange yet amusing-to-watch antics. In this one, his mug is in many up-close-and-personal shots as his character performs various psychic maneuvers.

Crisp narration by Ewan McGregor, dry wit, mustaches, and black humor punctuate an otherwise silly movie. I admit I was chuckling throughout the duration, but I was still hoping for more. I’d recommend a matinee, if not Redbox.

Similar Posts:

Observation #20 - Weather Theory

Alex — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:34:44 +0000

Theory: If it’s a beautiful day outside — perfect for working outside or taking a leisurely ride — there will be a dozen tasks to be performed, mostly inside.

Corollary: Days with no scheduled plans or tasks, it will be overcast, rainy, and/or too cold to be outside.

Similar Posts:

Movies and Movember

Alex — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:11:13 +0000

It just occurred to me that I’ve seen a lot of movies lately.

I really enjoyed Zombieland. Funny, violent, and quirky, with a spectacular cameo. It was just as someone described it to me: “It’s definitely a zombie movie, but different than anything I could have expected.” I almost went to see it again this past week with a friend.

Instead, we saw A Serious Man. Despite being from the Coen brothers, I doubt it’ll do well in the revenue department. There are humorous parts, but for the most part it plays serious. If it’s comedy, it’s as black and wry as can be. You do end up feeling for the protagonist, as his life starts to crumble and he simultaneous tries to find meaning and solace. The dialogue oozes forth at a alarmingly slow pace, providing ample foreshadowing to the end of the film. You’ll end up wanting more and I think that’s the point.

Though my mustache growing and maintenance skills are poorly honed, I’ll be participating in Movember. I haven’t yet decided if I’ll be joining JJT and Evan in the crawl, but I’ve got a few weeks to figure it out.

This past weekend the plan was to see All Saints Day. Apparently it’s only in limited release, the closest showing being in Philadelphia. I was tempted to drive up there, but I’m glad I didn’t. My gut is saying that no matter how good I want it to be, that it isn’t going to meet my expectations. And three hours in the car probably wouldn’t have helped. So for now, we wait another week or two.

Still on my list, The Men Who Stare at Goats and Where the Wild Things Are.

Similar Posts:

Verizon Hikes FiOS Rates by Six Percent

Alex — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:42:43 +0000

I just got an “important notice” in the mail from Verizon.

We will be upgrading your FiOS Internet speed to up to 10/2 Mbps in the next few months.

Emphasis theirs, it’s strange the way that the sentence is phrased. Maybe it’s boilerplate in that they can’t say that they’ll give you exactly 10/2 but that it’ll be somewhere around there, but it reads to me like it isn’t much of a upgrade. Maybe they’ll give me 6/2 or 8/2. Something around there, perhaps. Not that I utilize the 5/2 Mbps now except for the occasional Knoppix or CentOS torrent, but okay.

We also want to let you know that the rate for your FiOS Internet service will be increasing to $52.99 effective on December 1, 2009. No action is require to maintain your service at the new rate — you’ll continue to enjoy all the benefits your current Verizon FiOS Internet service has to offer. This rate increase is unrelated to the speed increase we will be implementing for your FiOS Internet service plan.

This is the real meat of it. A six percent rate hike.

And no kidding the hike isn’t related to any speed increase. The amount of effort required to change my connection from 5Mb to 15Mb (or even 100Mb for that matter) is a few keystrokes at most. No new hardware. No new cabling. No technician to come out to the house. The fiber optic line buried out back is more than capable of ten times that amount of data. If anything, I’d be burning up the CPU on the router.

In short, they’re raising the rate because they can. No additional costs incurred on their part. No additional benefit to me. It’s starting to feel a bit like my experience with Comcast.

Similar Posts:

The Tallest Building in the United States

Alex — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:42:51 +0000

While I was in Chicago, I visited the tallest building in United States. Sears Tower — though technically named Willis Tower since July 16th 2009 — is currently the fifth tallest building in the world. It’s roof-mounted antennae standing 1,730 feet above ground, it’s hard to believe that it’s dwarfed by the the 2,684 foot Burj Dubai.

After ascending 103 stories in a one minute elevator ride, the views from the Sears Tower are incredible even on a slightly cloudy day. Standing well about the cloud line, buildings that I would consider tall look like flattened pancakes. Absurdly tall buildings — say 50-60 stories — look small. Cars look like ants. At times it doesn’t even look real, that things so big can appear so small.

You acclimate to the heights relatively quickly. There are windows on all sides of the building, but your proximity to the glass changes as you walk counterclockwise around the 103rd floor. The farther south you get, the less guardrails there are between you and the windows. On the southwest side, the windows are flush with the floor. It’s an odd feeling, being so close to the edge.

At which point, you have to let go. After a moments hesitation, you take that last step out onto the glass. It’s a cautious step, taken with a light foot. Then the other foot follows. And there you are, standing there, some 1,353 feet above Wacker Drive.

I was thinking all sorts of things, with random bits of my internal monologue becoming verbal as I gazed out over the city.

What if the glass gives out? No, it’s been engineered. But what if? Look how small everything is. This is so cool. How on earth did they test this thing? The Washington Monument is just over 555 feet tall and two of them could fit below my feet with the majority of a football field to spare. This is so cool. I can’t believe they have a Starbucks here. Man, we’re really high. I can’t get over the view. The Hancock Tower really looked short, didn’t it? I’m really standing here.

Eventually you get over any natural phobias. I felt absolutely giddy, drunk with enthusiasm, as I jumped up and down on that glass.

The logistics of the trip to the 103rd floor aren’t as cool as the view or the experience of walking on air, but they’re worth a mention. When you arrive at the building, you get in an elevator right away and go down two stories into the lower level (LL2). There are restrooms there, displays, and a lot of crowd barrier ropes such that you’d see for the lines at a movie theater. Once we proceeded through security, we had our picture taken against a green screen (for later purchase if you desire), paid $14, walked through some additional display areas with more line-forming barriers, before sitting down for a brief documentary film. After that, more walking, this time through a revolving door and onto the elevator that would take us to 103.

The only reason I mention all of this is that we went on Monday afternoon. There wasn’t anyone standing in any of those queuing areas. No lines to form. More importantly, it wasn’t crowded on 103. There was more than enough room to see, without having to push for a space at the window.

On a weekend, you’ll see people waiting in line outside the building. What those people probably don’t know is that once you’re in the building you still having a good wait ahead of you. Some people say it takes as long as 2 hours once inside. So if you can, go on a weekday during work hours if you can. The later in the evenings and the later in the week, the longer the lines.

I still can’t get over that feeling of standing on that glass, suspended over the city street. Short of heading to Dubai, I don’t know how I’d top it.

Similar Posts:

Hot Doug’s in Chicago

Alex — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:13:55 +0000

After reading an online review of Hot Doug’s, I knew I had to go there. Billed as “The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium,” I craved hot dogs for more than three weeks before my trip to Chicago (no thanks to Jon for that aspect). I’m back, having experienced Hot Doug’s in person. In short, I really enjoyed it.

Taking advantage of a quiet and relatively warm Monday afternoon, my buddy and I enjoyed a nice walk down North California to Hot Doug’s. There was a line, but nowhere near as long as it would be on a weekend (when they have their duck fat french fries and when people have admitted to waits excess of 2 hours). Once inside, your senses are overwhelmed. The seemingly Crayola-inspired paint job makes your eyes go wide with the loudness of primary colors. There is an indescribably good smell emanating from the grill, boilers, and fryers. After about 20 minutes we shuffled up to the counter where Doug — dressed in a black t-shirt that reads “there are no two finer words in the English language than ‘encased meats,’ my friend” — stood with a smile, asked how we were doing, then asked what he could get for us. There is something immeasurably cool about the proprietor of a establishment taking every order, but it pales in comparison to the fact that he’s taking your order.

Honestly, I wanted to try a few things. All of the items are reasonably priced and appear on the menu with tax included, many humorously named after celebrities. But based on the trays of the seated patrons it was clear that I’d only be able to have one or two before being completely stuffed. In addition to a large order of french fries to share, and a small fountain drink, I opted for two of the basics. Doug wrote down my order and my name on a shorthand pad, looked up in thought for a moment, then told me that it would be $7. Definitely less than the cost of everything when added up individually. While many restaurants do combo deals, it was a very cool moment. After filling our drink cups we took a seat near the back. In a few minutes our trays were delivered to the table.

Having never eaten a hot dog in Chicago, I opted for “The Dog.” A Chicago-style dog with all the trimmings.

“Everything” at Hot Doug’s includes mustard, relish, caramelized onions, tomatoes, celery salt, and a dill pickle spear. These ingredients seemed foreign to me, but I’m told they are fairly typical for Chicago. Individually I’m all in favor of all the ingredients, but on a hot dog? Tomatoes? A pickle? Really? And when I saw the relish — which is the color of the green nuclear ooze from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — I really started to wonder. But I had to try it out. When in Rome, right?

My wonder was quickly replaced. The hot dog itself was hot and juicy, but not oily at all. The trimmings added a lot of flavor as well as a mixture of textures and temperatures. Crisp and cool pickle, soft and cool tomatoes, slightly crisp and warm onions, crunchy and cool relish. I’m going to wonder how people can eat hot dogs with ketchup and mustard, without all of the other accouterments.

I also opted for “The Paul Kelly,” a beer-soaked bratwurst with everything.

Split and cooked on the grill, it was cooked through but far from dried out. Sweet, juicy, and delicious, the casing snapped on my first bite. All of the fixings worked really well on this one too.

I’d be hard-pressed to pick a favorite between the two.

My friend opted for one of the many daily specials, the Foie Gras & Sauternes Duck Sausage. Fancy. The thing was adorned with truffle aioli, foie gras mousse, and sel gris. Though a tad too fancy for my tastes, definitely a unique arrangement. The report from my buddy was that it was incredibly rich, so much that he couldn’t finish it all.

Not stopping the trend, the french fries were excellent too. Hand-cut and freshly fried, they arrived on our table a minute out of the fryer. Piping hot, these are some seriously soft fries — as opposed to crunchy — and by far the greasiest part of the meal. Very tasty. Our only mistake was thinking that we’d be able to finish them all. We regret that the duck fat fries are only available two days per week, but agreed that we’d have no idea what they would taste like. I’m not sure that I’d spend a few hours waiting in line to find out, but maybe on the next trip out.

We had a celebrity sighting as well. Hot Doug’s has been in the news a lot lately, so we weren’t too surprised to see a TV camera but we thought it was neat to see George Wendt enjoyed a few dogs while giving an interview to a local food correspondent at a table behind us.

While we were waiting for our food, we talked about the place. It has a simple menu. This isn’t a bad thing. It doesn’t need to be complicated. All of the food can be prepared from fridge to plate in a few minutes, no microwaves required. Between that and the affordable pricing, that makes for tasty meals and happier customers. The place is open from 10:30am until 4:00pm Monday through Saturday and closed on Sunday. That makes for happier employees. And it’s a cash business. That makes for a happy owner in most cases, but I got the sense that there was more than that. Getting to make your own hours and your own prices on the fly has got to be pretty empowering, but Doug — in my limited observation — definitely likes to make an impression on his patrons. We watched as a little boy ordered a second hot dog, holding a few dollars in his little hand. When the hot dog was ready, Doug reached down to hand him the plate and said not to worry about the money. It’s that flexibility and kindness than makes the place great.

So here it is, a delicious yet inexpensive meal. Prepared quickly and with friendly local flair, I found the experience at Hot Doug’s to be superb indeed.

Similar Posts:

Observation #19 - Definition of Fatigue

Alex — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:34:10 +0000

Fatigue. n.

Opening the fridge in the morning and spotting the jug of milk, then grabbing the water pitcher and pouring the contents atop a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios before realizing what was happening.
Being slightly embarrassed about aforementioned scenario, but eating the cereals as-is rather than attempt to dislodge water from cereal.

Similar Posts:

No Handlebars

Alex — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:27:17 +0000

The song itself dropped out of favor after repeated airplay, despite being upbeat and good. But the video still stands; a clever mix of illustrated Akira-like animation atop Photoshopesqe backdrops.

I really like this video. The means are different, but it reminds me of Take on Me.

Similar Posts:

Observation #18 - Post Party Messes

Alex — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:45:51 +0000

I take comfort in seeing a big mess when I come downstairs in the morning, following a party. As clean and tidy as your guests may be normally, in the midst of a heated discussion or story people aren’t usually concerned if their empty glass ends up in the sink of if their paper plate ends up in the garbage can. If everyone is engaged, no one should be left thinking “oh, I need to go back into the kitchen and clean up.” The post-party mess says that my guests were having a good time.

Similar Posts:

Five Distinct Steps to Take After Hosting a Party

Alex — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:32:25 +0000

There are five distinct steps to be taken after hosting a party.

Hydrate
Send out thank you notes and emails
Clean up kitchen
Rinse and discard empties
Patch server

The first step is obvious.

The second step isn’t required, but it’s something I like to do. Especially for the folks that left early or I didn’t get a chance to talk to as much. It’s nice to make sure everyone got home okay, particularly with the weather being crummy to drive in and a lot of Terps revelers being on the road.

The third and fourth go together. There’s a satisfying clink of glass as the counter contents get swept into the recycling bin.

And finally, the last step.

I’m not so sure about this last one, but it feels like I typically do system patching after a party. I don’t know where it’s because I’m already in clean-up mode or whether it’s that I don’t feel like moving from the recliner.

Patching from the comfort of a recliner is key.

It irks me than yum tries to install a new kernel when I attempt to upgrade python. If you exclude the kernel, the dependency resolution for libxml2-python and gamin-python fail without any clear reason. The kernel is not listed as a dependency when I do a deplist for python. If I don’t exclude it, I get the ever-classy error than the kernel I’m attempting to install is older than the one that’s already installed. I feel like I must have missed the window to install and that now I’ll have to wait until someone re-releases a never version of python whose weird dependency interaction requires a kernel version similar to or newer than I’m currently running. This is a recurring theme.

Yum is better than some of the other options out there, but there are mornings that it just isn’t doing it for me.

Similar Posts:

Comfort of Music

Alex — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:22:53 +0000

This week’s duties complete, I’m kicking back and enjoying a live recording of Pete Francis and Boo Reiners. Though they played the Grand Ballroom almost two years ago, I still haven’t grown tired of the 74 minute acoustic set. It’s a semi-permanent fixture in my home CD player.

Music is a fixture of my life, in general. At home. In the car. At work. Out at a show, whether it’s a sideline gig or if I’m just there. Between movies and songs, it’s no wonder that my brain never managed to latch onto calculus.

It does cause some problems, however. My roommate accuses me of “never” paying attention when she’s speaking. This typically happens when there’s music playing, though I have selective memory about any other occurances. I’ll be listening to her and a song that I really like will come on and I’ll interrupt, saying “ooh, that’s a great song.” And in that brief moment I’ll lose track of what we were talking about; lyrics are rolling through my head. And then comes the proper accusation, justly deserved. I can’t really help it. It’s a problem. I’m working on it.

There are albums out there that never grow old. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times you listen to them, you can put it right back on immediately afterward or wait a year. It’s still as good as you remember it. More importantly you never need or want to skip a track. You may not know the name of the next track, but you know what it’s supposed to sound like before the previous track ends. August and Everything After is one of those albums, as is Weezer’s blue album, though I’m sure there are others that are close. Both are filled with songs whose riffs I can strum my air guitar to and lyrics I can belt out from memory, whether in the car or at home in the shower. They’re my comfort albums.

There’s such an album out there for everyone. I’m sure of it.

Similar Posts:

Comfort is Found at Pho 89

Alex — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:26:02 +0000

Pho. Pronounced “fu” as in fu__… yes, that’s correct. Vietnamese noodles and beef in broth. The ingredients can vary, but that’s the essence. It’s simple and tasty soup.

Pho 89 — based solely on its bland exterior — had the potential to be another strip mall gem that I would enjoy. Located on the south side of 198 — just down the street from Mega Chicken and GSK — it’s inexplicable that I’ve driven past it for years and never once stopped in. Today a coworker and I had a little lunch meeting there.

This little place was great.

There is incense burning in the entryway, past which more than a dozen dark wood tables sit atop the orangish brown tile floor. Tasteful light fixtures hang from the ceiling, paintings and other art adorns the walls, and there are a few small shrines set up around the immaculately clean interior. Containers of chop sticks and Asian-style soup spoons sit atop each table, as well a two unmarked squeeze bottles sauce; one was a sweet and Hoisin-like, the other was similar to (if not) Sriracha. There is a flat panel TV hung from the ceiling near the back, but it wasn’t turned on.

We arrived before noon and the place was empty, but as we ate and talked people continued to file in. Not a bad sign. Some of them were obviously regulars. Some were speaking in their native tongue with the hostess/waitress. Also not a bad sign.

I went for a large bowl of Tai Nam Pho ($6.85). When they say large, they mean large. As my coworker said, “I’m not sure what the small would look like, since it’s only 80 cents less.” Garnished with onions and cilantro, there’s an ample amount of noodles and broth and a good helping of meat (eye of round steak and well done flank; Tai and Nam, respectively). A side plate of bean sprouts, green chili, lime, and fresh sweet basil is provided too. I didn’t find the broth lacking before seasoning, but definitely preferred it with the juice of the lime and the crushed basil muddled in. It was more than filling and definitely hit the spot.

On a cold an overcast day, there are few things as comforting.

Similar Posts:

Shoebox Full of Mementos

Alex — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:09:09 +0000

Cleaning out the basement in preparation for a party, I found a shoe box full of mementos. Inside were baseball cards, crisply folded notes on aging notebook paper from classmates and girlfriends, birthday cards from family and friends, ticket stubs from concerts and socials, yearbook photos with notes written on the back. There were a lot of things that I didn’t need to hold on to and eventually chose to discard, but I did find some things that stood out.

An invitation to BSA Troop 993’s Eagle Court of Honor, where a few guys I know — Steve, Jim, Tom, Chris, Steve, Mike, and Tim — would receive the highest rank in scouting. I still keep in touch with a few of those guys, though I still hear about the others. Some are married. Two went to the Academy. One is at Microsoft. One is out in L.A. running his own clothing line. Another has been in and out of Iraq several times. One is living comfortably and doing something he loves; I still see him every week. That only leaves one unaccounted for.

A handwritten note from a girl — from 1995 — asking me out in large block letters. I guess I needed it spelled out for me; it some ways that hasn’t changed even fifteen years later. She’s now the executive director of a think tank in Washington, D.C.

A letter from one of my best childhood friends, explaining how the end (of our friendship) came about. There were specifics, but the gist of it was “that our interests had changed and we were going in different directions.” Looking back, I don’t think anyone could have broken it down so simply and effectively. We haven’t been good friends since, instead getting glimpses of each others lives through the words of others and in brief passing. A few years after, his Dad passed away. I remember attending the funeral with several of my friends and despite our rocky history wishing there was more that I could do for him and his family than offer my sincere condolences.

An anniversary card from a girl I dated in high school. The Shoebox greeting reads “It’s funny how a simple design like checkerboard tiles, for example, can make me suddenly wish I was taking a shower with you.” As a younger (and far more shortsighted) guy, I was probably more interested in that prospect than the fact that the card itself is hilarious. We haven’t spoken in person since we met up for a show in Annapolis, but she’s still one of the most well-read and well-spoken women I’ve ever met, so the fact that she wrote “I have given up on eloquence entirely” before reverting to French (which I couldn’t and can’t read) is all the more amusing. As it happens she’s getting married in November and I couldn’t be happier for her.

A photo of a couple guys — decked out in borrowed ties and sport coats — headed to a middle school Homecoming dance. Though we’re all shorter and thinner than we are now, the smiles of my two friends (both named Chris) haven’t changed one bit after all these years. Some things don’t change. I take comfort in that.

Some of these items brought a smile to my face. Others brought the sort of queasiness that can only be produced by the resurgence of painful memories. But all have contributed in some form to getting me to where I am today. I don’t like to dwell, but I would like to remember. As such, some of these items will head back into the shoebox for rediscovery some time in the future.

Similar Posts:

Observation #17 - October Temperature Sweeps

Alex — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:52:06 +0000

It’s 39 degrees outside now. That’s cold enough for snow, yet supposedly it’ll get up to 70 today. That’s more than warm enough to go riding. Or swimming.

When I left the house for work on Friday it was in the mid-50’s. When I left work that day, it was 80. It was warm, with a balmy breeze that I haven’t felt since going to Florida a few years back.

It’s October. Halfway to Halloween. Mere weeks from Punkin Chunkin. And we’re just experienced two 30 degree sweeps in as many days.

Though merely an observation, I won’t dare speculate about the cause. I do wonder if it’ll continue into the winter. Imagine, waking up to 20 degrees and snow and by the end of the day retreating to a 55 degree autumn day. We’re not that far off.

Similar Posts: