Big Pickles

Quick, what's the first thing that pops into your head when someone mentions cooking and NPR? For me, it's a certain dessert--which shall remain nameless because my mother sometimes reads this blog--made famous by Alec Baldwin on SNL's Delicious Dish. If you're familiar with this particular sendup, you know that the humor lies in the fact that cooking segments on NPR can come across as a little, well, bland.

So it's with great surprise that I find myself seduced by an occasional guest on the station, Nigella Lawson. I've heard her talk about her cooking a few times before, and after this morning's segment, I finally decided to find out more about her.

You know that episode of Scrubs where J.D. asks out a girl stuck in an MRI machine without ever seeing what she looks like, and then rejoices when he finally sees that she is smokin' hot? That's sort of how I felt when I saw a picture of Nigella Lawson. I was already smitten by her voice, but I imagined her to be much older and look like Julia Child or something. Maybe because she speaks the Queen's English, I expected something closer to the queen. Anyway, let's just say I was presently surprised.

Labels: food, radio

If you watched more than one presidential debate this year, then you probably noticed what I noticed. These guys tend to repeat themselves.

This video drives the point home.

Labels: politics

There is a radio show on NPR on the weekends called Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me which I highly recommend. It's hilarious. (If you're not interested in my political views, stop reading here and pretend this post was just to tell you about that show.)

Anyway, the host of the show, Peter Sagal, writes a blog which I only came across by accident today. And in this particular post, he says basically the same thing I said to one of my co-workers this morning.

Which is this: I wonder if people who believe in conspiracy theories think about everything else that would have to be true in order for their conspiracy theory to be true? In the case of Barack Obama, people are saying all sorts of things about how he is a secret Muslim or a secret supporter of terrorism or whatever other flavor of Manchurian Candidate is in vogue today, without stopping to realize what that would look like in the real world if it were actually true. (Do they?)

My favorite is the theory that 9/11 was an inside job. If it was, it would have been the greatest display of competence the Bush administration had managed to achieve, before or since. It just doesn't make sense that the team who manged to pull off something like that would bungle everything else they attempted so mightily. 9/11 would be their "we can put a man on the moon." Are you kidding me? We can pull off 9/11 but we can't plant a few WMD's in the Iraqi desert?

Peter Sagal put it very well, I think. Conspiracy theories thrive because for many people, the reality is intolerable. It is easier to believe in a conspiracy, no matter how unlikely and convoluted, than accept the facts as they are.

Labels: politics

What a game for the Texas Longhorns! I know there was some skepticism about whether their win over Oklahoma last week was a fluke, but they sure played like a #1 team tonight.

The highlight for me was when backup quarterback John Chiles threw a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Plus he picked up quite a few rushing yards. Chiles played for Mansfield Summit, but the announcers kept saying "Dallas." They were specific about where Missouri's quarterback is from--Southlake Carroll. (Maybe having been the highest ranked high school team in the nation has something to do with it.) Oh well, no love for Mansfield.

Labels: sports

If you haven't seen this yet, you won't be disappointed. Both candidates are hilarious.

Labels: video

It's not enough anymore to know basic lifesaving techniques, now they want you do it with a particular song in your head.

U.S. doctors have found the Bee Gees 1977 disco anthem "Stayin' Alive" provides an ideal beat to follow while performing chest compressions as part of CPR on a heart attack victim.

In retrospect, it's surprising a show like Scrubs hasn't put together some kind of montage based on this song. (Have they?)

Labels: medicine, music

I've never been to New York City, but I dream of living there someday. Too much TV, I guess.

Anyway, I love stuff like this. An ex-New Yorker has cataloged some of the tips and tricks he used to get through the day with minimal hassle. Some are really cool, and some are just bizarre (and I take exception with his characterization of Kandinsky as "pointless") but they are all fun to read.

We all have stuff like this in our heads, don't we?

(via Kottke)

Labels: living

Coolest tattoo ever.

Labels: art

There is a Hyatt Regency hotel at the DFW airport that used to be an Amfac. When I was a kid our family went there for an all-you-can-eat buffet. It must have been some kind of event with my dad's work.

I was probably about seven or eight, I just know that I had recently discovered shrimp. My parents used to dump a couple of pounds of shrimp in a big bowl of ice and eat shrimp cocktail while watching TV. They would share with us kids, but I could never get enough.

That buffet was my chance to eat all the shrimp I wanted. And I did. I ate so much shrimp that I spent the car ride home curled up in the fetal position, afraid that each bump would make me barf. I felt so sick. But I'd do it again, because I love shrimp.

This guy knows what I'm talking about.

Labels: food

Ok, loyal readers, I need your input here. I like this new template, but I'm worried that maybe the links are too subtle. Linked text is just barely darker than normal text, so it might not be obvious when you can click on something. (The hover color is nice and bright, though.)

So, what say you? Is anyone having any trouble finding links to click on in my posts? Do I need to make them more obvious? If no one has any complaints I will leave things alone, because I like the subtle color scheme. I just want to make sure it's still functional.

Labels: meta

This is similar to the idea that an infinite number of monkeys at typewriters will eventually type all of Shakespeare's plays.

In theory, the number pi, because it "goes on" forever, contains all possible combinations of digits. So any string of numbers you can conceive of is in the digits of pi somewhere.

All information that can be represented digitally takes the form of ones and zeros, or binary. So if you convert pi to binary, then conceivably you are in the possession of all information. Including a lot of stuff that could get you into trouble.

Labels: math

Techcult brings us a pretty comprehensive list of 150 online Flash games. I was familiar with maybe 20% of these, and was reminded of a few I had forgotten. Remember Yeti Sports?

Pick a winner and settle in. But keep this recent xkcd comic in mind as you do.

Labels: games, internet

There used to be this guy named Richard who worked at our office and liked to talk about TVs. In fact, it got to the point where he wouldn't even bother introducing the topic, because everyone already knew what he was going to talk about. He would just walk into your office and start saying something like, "You know, I've been thinking about it, and I've decided that 32 inches is just too small..."

I'm going to be channeling Richard in this blog post. If TVs aren't your thing, you know what to do.

Simply put, the Sony KD-34XBR960 is the Holy Grail of cathode ray tube (CRT) high definition televisions. I acquired it yesterday.

Sony started manufacturing this television in 2003, and quit about three years later, when the entire industry abandoned CRT technology in favor of flat panel form factors like plasma and LCD. However, most critics agree that the new flat panels still do not measure up to the best CRTs in terms of picture quality. Sure, they're coming closer, and since CRT development has been abandoned, it's probably only a matter of time. But for now, CRT is king. According to CNET:

The bottom line: This is the reference standard for picture quality among direct-view HDTVs and happens to be a great value.

Since 2004, the KD-34XBR960 has been my white whale. I watched it drop in price from its initial list of $2200 to half that when it was finally taken off the market. I watched it go for $1000 on eBay and craigslist over the years. I watched as the official KD-34XBR960 thread at AVS Forums grew to over 6000 posts. And now it's mine. For just $400 from a nice guy on craigslist, including the matching stand.

I hardly know what to do with myself anymore.

Labels: tech, tv

Popular Mechanics has a list of 100 skills that every man should know. A lot of them even have videos, which is handy, because I have no clue how to brew my own beer (#17). (And that wasn't the only skill which immediately reminded me of Clint.)

I was especially interested in #15: Use a Sewing Machine.

One of the most elegant mechanical devices in the home, the sewing machine can be used on camping gear, light tarps, kites and myriad other manly stuff.

I grew up watching my dad sew. You start out sewing on your scout badges, then you're sewing stuff sacks and other camping gear, and before you know it you're making Jedi costumes for your kids.

Speaking of, I think I'm going to be hemming tablecloths for our upcoming client appreciation dinner at work.

Labels: skills