| Delta, Delta Star |
[19 Mar 2008|07:57am] |
Arthur C. Clarke has changed in state.
I read Heinlein for action, Asimov for robotic philisophical hairsplitting and Clarke because by the time he got you inside a gigantic space ark peopled with organic robots you realized that each tiny step, each movement into this fantastic arena made utter, total sense and there wasn't any hand waving at the physical laws of the universe, anti matter drives or unobtainium. His stuff stuck to science and made it so much more, more fantastic. Like Hal Clement did.
I enjoyed a great deal of his works, and it there weren't enough ray guns or babes that wasn't his fault, he was moving the genre into the seriously regarded writing realm. Buzz Aldrin nailed it here-
Among his memorabilia: a moon rock given to him by NASA, a T-shirt signed by Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin and the opening page of a published lecture by fellow Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong on which the first man to walk on the moon wrote: "To Arthur -- who visualized the nuances of lunar flying before I experienced them."
In any case this was the stuff that kept me up nights reading when I should have been sleeping, and kept me drawing pictures of Rama's denizens and so on. The three of them together formed a great trio, and now the last one has moved on to leave a space for others to strive to fill.
I loved your books Mr. Clarke. Thanks for writing them.
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| A giant has passed |
[04 Mar 2008|09:40pm] |
Mr. Gygax, thank you for some really wonderful things. Creativity, storytelling, artwork and some very fine amounts of fun came my way because of you and Dave Arneson. Yeah, I had Chainmail, I am old school.
You changed me more than any game had a right oo, and I am the better for it (OK a few grades weren't here and there).
I am passing the torch to my niece and nephew. I hope they get it, cause when I did, I never wanted to go back.
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| Once you were a new friend |
[24 Nov 2007|09:24am] |
Now you are an old friend. Who knew? Sometimes you meet people who manage to stick, and only later do you really understand that you were giving and receiving something necessary, that helped both of you.
I have running friends, I have work friends, I have military history friends and gaming friends, and then I have a very few friends who aren't bound by a single or a few shared interests.
Happy Birthday ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) chickenhat.
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| FRS/GMRS radios anyone? |
[25 Sep 2007|01:43pm] |
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I could use one this weekend at the MS Walk.
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| Just 'cause it was fun |
[12 Sep 2007|03:56pm] |
Intermeshed images from shadowcaptain
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| Can you spare a dime? |
[11 Sep 2007|03:35pm] |
Yes it is my second run at the MS 50 mile jaunt.
SO DONATE! We'll take anything you want to donate. We'll take a nickel, We'll take 500 bucks. It all adds up. You can write checks to the NMSS (National Multiple Sclerosis Society) and give them to any member of the Walking Edition of Team Greykell (Greykell Dutton, Stacey Abbott, John Buckley, Maria Stroffolino, Cate Abbott, Dave Choat (I think I am listed as "J" which sucks), or Chris Osborn) or *even simpler*(!!) you can go online to the Team Greykell SECURE web page at the MS Society and donate using your credit card. Just go to the following web link:
http://events.msandyou.org/goto/challenge_greykell
How painless is that? Don't answer that.
BTW, I actually prefer the donations to go to "the Team". That way everyone's chances of making the cut are raised. I have already thrown shenaniganzas at this, and frankly, if I don't make the required "donation" then I will be a non walker but feisty supporter, or something. So donate so I pound my legs into jello or something. If you are around here, I can make you some bread.
Click on any member of Team Greykell and you will come to their personal page, click on either the "make a gift" link or the "support " link and you will be directed to a secure page where you can enter your info. Team Greykell fundraises as a team so any donation you make to any member will count for all of us when it comes to adding up to the 10,500 dollars we must raise to field our team so click on anyone that you want to. And remember that while the MS Society gives you all sorts of amounts to fill in, NOTHING is too
small.
If you only have 5 dollars to donate, PLEASE make that donation. We will appreciate it.
Feel free to crosslink or something.
edit-link fixed, thanks everyone!
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| Free bheerage |
[07 Sep 2007|11:02am] |
Dear Customers,
This Saturday, September 8, 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM, we will have a beer tasting of seven different kinds of Belgian beers. The tasting is complimentary and there is no obligation. Please join us!
Next Saturday, 3 - 6 PM, there will be a wine tasting of Erath pinot noir from Oregon, Geyser Peak cabernet from California, and Saratore pinot grigio from Italy.
Sincerely,
Suman P. Shrestha
Burtonsville Crossing Beer and Wine
15775 Columbia Pike, Burtonsville, MD
301-421-4078
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| As the world turns... |
[28 Aug 2007|10:05am] |
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- A devout Muslim with a background in political Islam won the Turkish presidency on Tuesday, in a major triumph for the Islamic-rooted government after months of confrontation with the secular establishment.
The words, "bated breath" come to mind, and um, also the various words ending with "Gul", that I know.
Pirates Ahoy!
Georgia Avenue & Rt 108, turn right, look on 108 for the California Tortilla on your left. It is Pirate Night and 25% of your tortilla money goes to MS, aka Team Greykell. Could be fun, but you won't know if you don't go.
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| Attention |
[14 Aug 2007|03:18pm] |
Yar!!! Hey Pirates!
Team Greykell's having a fund raising at the California Tortilla at Olney Village Center on Olney/Sandy Spring Road or Rt 108, August 28th.
Not sure of the time, but I imagine anytime around dinner will be fine.
The way this thing works is we have to get people in the door who wouldn't otherwise be there (no soliciting folks by going inside the door) and have them use our password "PIRATES" so that their receipts will be put aside and tallied at the end of the night.
The team will get 25% of the proceeds, but the woman cautions us that if we can get 50 people to come and they each spend $8, we'd get a whopping $100.
Let's get way more than 50 and we can also use this to direct folks into donating to the team in general via educational flyers to raise awareness of MS and the walk.
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[23 Jan 2007|09:37am] |
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Happy Birthday Schpadoinkel!
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| Cinderella III -A Twist in Time |
[12 Jan 2007|11:40am] |
I have a pass that will admit 4 people gratis.
Saturday, Jan 13 at the Mazza Gallerie 1000 hours.
Anyone who wants it please let me know, you will need to pick the pass up from me though.
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| Da Boid! |
[10 Jan 2007|09:01am] |
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Happy Birthday scooterbird!
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| But it made so much sense... |
[29 Dec 2006|01:58pm] |
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| Time for a new brain bucket |
[12 Dec 2006|10:42pm] |
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Any suggestions? I favor the carbon fiber HJC at only 3 lbs. I currently wear an Arai full face. The venting is wonderful.
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| 5 |
[04 Dec 2006|12:42pm] |
5 weeks before the Half Marathon.
Feh, the term Half Marathon seems to diminish this race. Why not call it the 21,082.406 meter race? Good god not only that, but it HAS to be the obstacle course from hell (WDW) for anyone with ADD, right? Good thing I won't be out in front or the racers may very well be contesting the front entrance to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride as they try to keep up, heh. Too many shiny things. The ADD 21082 meter Challenge!
( Creepy )
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| Props to teh Zombie Master |
[24 Nov 2006|11:20am] |
We have been friends many years, and here is to many more.
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| Ruh Roh. |
[21 Nov 2006|10:08am] |
Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson has been told he will not be employed on The Hobbit , the next film adaptation of a JRR Tolkien novel.
Yeah, get Vierhoven in there, or maybe Peckinpah? What? He's dead? CGI him in then. Yeah, that'll work.
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| Mo Bread |
[20 Nov 2006|09:31am] |
Honey Cornmeal Bread-1 cup cornmeal to 3.5 cups bread flour, with some honey. Second time around, and this time I slashed the top of the loaf before it baked, which made it look slashy. Very yellow bread, shading to brown on the sides. Smelled like popcorn.
Semi-Rye Bread Some rye flour, some wheat flour, vital gluten and where I was supposed to add carraway seeds, I used fennel seeds instead because I was out of carraway seeds. For some reason this loaf turned into the BLOB and it grew so big that it completely filled the Breadbot. Decanting it was complex, as you have a hot loaf pan, a wire handle which likes to hang right in the way of the exit path and did I mention it is slippery? The loaf is a golden brown, dense grain. It was cut and described as being good. I liked it too. Both loaves are being staled so they can be converted into stuffing for Thanksgiving.
More Thanksgiving Prep
I did a live (non fire) deep fry drill for the deep fried turkey. I deep fried a chicken Saturday night, and it went well plus I learned a few things.
1-watch the oil temp like a hawk, as after the chicken warmed up it climbed very rapidly (Yi!).
2-after cooling the oil off and filtering it, the total amount of oil that did not go back into the original container was less than 1/3 of a cup, which impressed me.
3-The whoomp of a few grillion BTU gas burner igniting will inspire a small beagle to rocket into the bushes near the pool. (Yi, yi!)
The chicken was moist and delicious, albeit slightly pink because I did not let it rest. So the deep fry test was quite useful. Also useful was tacnukesoul letting me watch the Alton Brown Turkey Deep Fry video on his laptop Sunday.
I also discovered that standing rib roasts are freaking expensive (a) and that Safeway puts them on sale only during Thanksgiving week (b) which, for a given amount of beef (10 lbs.), can lead to some terrific savings. I was so surprised I think the people working in the Deli heard me. Getting a backstage tour of the meat department (c) was fascinating, I got to point where I wanted the butcher to bandsaw the rack of ribs, which had just come out of the wrapper fresh from where they wrap cow parts. Fascinating. Boy there was a ridiculous amount of meat back there.
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| Can you guess the movie this painting depicts? |
[17 Nov 2006|11:31am] |
( For sale )
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