Feeds:
Posts
Comments

No-Knead Bread Follow-up

08 Aug 2012 by KRAG

As a follow-up to my No-Knead Bread recipe, about which I cannot say enough, this addition.

I tried a new variation last night. I replaced all the water in the recipe with beer. I didn’t want to go overboard, so it was just a nice Canadian Pilsner, but it added a lot of depth and character to the flavor. I’m going to try it again, this time with a stronger choice, like Lagunitas Lucky 13 (one of my favorites) or some of our local Fremont’s Unlimited IPA (that’ll be interesting).

But it again proves how versatile this recipe is.

Loving it!

k

Posted in Food, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Déjà vu, en français

07 Aug 2012 by KRAG

I got a severe case of déjà vu today. It lasted 89 minutes.

I was getting ready for my workout. I pulled up a “Anthony Zimmer” from my Instant Queue and got going.

A woman goes into a restaurant. She waits. She’s being stood up. A messenger enters, sees her, and gives her an envelope. She reads it, crumples it, burns it, and leaves.

I knew I’d seen this movie before. I knew what she was going to do next, I knew where it was going, but I also knew that I’d never seen this movie before. And it wasn’t just the Bernard Hermann inspired score (equal parts “North By Northwest” and “Vertigo”) or the scenes of Paris and the Riviera that I’d seen in a dozen movies from “To Catch a Thief” to “Ronin”. No, I’d have remembered Sophie Marceau in this movie. I remember Sophie Marceau in every movie I’ve seen her in (call me crazy). The damned thing was…I couldn’t remember how it ended. Continue Reading »

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments »

Black Hats

07 Aug 2012 by KRAG

I’ve often heard actors say that they really prefer playing bad guys to good guys. Good guys are generally so…good. They’re simple, where bad guys are complicated; straightforward, where bad guys are conflicted.

I can understand this view and, based on how characters are written in most movies these days, I agree with it. In books, though, I think we have to do better than that.

Continue Reading »

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Nothing Doing

06 Aug 2012 by KRAG

Frederick the Great is reputed to have said, “If you try to hold everything, you hold nothing.”

He was talking about focus, and applying your effort where it can do the best good, even if that meant you took a hit. This advice, though 200 years old and military in origin, can be applied directly to our lives today.

Yes, I’m talking about multitasking.

Continue Reading »

Posted in Culture, Writing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Geek Gods

06 Aug 2012 by KRAG

I’m usually quite on top of events in space exploration; I followed the Spirit and Opportunity landings with verve, and was obsessed with the daily feeds that came back from Cassini. Somehow, this one just slipped under my radar, but thankfully, someone over at Xbox decided it would be cool to make a big deal out of it, and Friday, two days before the landing of the new Curiosity rover, I got wind of the whole thing.

Then I saw the video (below) that described the “7 minutes of terror” of landing, and saw the Rube Goldberg style method of getting this rover from orbit to the surface. My first reaction—the reaction of many and, reportedly, the reaction of some of the scientists on the team—was “That’s crazy!” Orbit, entry, heat shield, parachute, pop the shield, dump the contents, balance on rockets, and then a skycrane to lower the rover to the surface? Could the possibly have put in more moving parts? Why didn’t they just pack it in balloon-wrap and drop it like they did before? Why was this devilishly hard collection of contraptions necessary?

Continue Reading »

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

The Saddest Story

04 Aug 2012 by KRAG

Kurt R.A. GiambastianiIt’s making the rounds. You’ve seen it. The blogs are afire with rants about how American TV sat on “the saddest story” of this Olympiad, wherein due to a timekeeping error a South Korean athlete lost to a German competitor in the Epee medal round.

First, “The Saddest Story”? Seriously. You mean that, only two days into competition, we already have the story of greatest heartbreak? Or was it plus triste because the South Korean competitor remained on the piste, weeping, in protest of the decision? Hyperbole aside, while worthy of all the protests filed by the South Korean team, I don’t know that this is what I’d even call “sad.” It’s unfortunate, but it’s hardly the first time such an error has been made.

Continue Reading »

Posted in Culture, Television | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Infantilize Me

04 Aug 2012 by KRAG

Obey the Kitty!I’m going to say it. Kids today…

When I began working in IT, men wore ties to work. This wasn’t back in the Don Draper Days…this was only a couple of decades ago. The corporate culture was professional, dignified, and respectful. Not that I’m a fan of neckties—far from it—but they were an indicator of how we treated one another, and how we thought about ourselves. We were professionals, and we were adults.

Continue Reading »

Posted in Culture, Seattle | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »