A man constantly in torment over the idea of being buried alive will finally emerge from the ground at Hains Point in Washington, DC and move to Prince George’s county. It was one of those fun little “off the beaten path” sights to show to visiting friends and family. Awakening Giant, we’ll miss being able to see you downtown!
One thing that’s always bothered me is when people pronounce “SQL” as “sequel.” Where did this come from? I prefer to spell it out and say “ess kew ell” and I think it probably annoys people who say “sequel.” I was reading about a new technology called SPARQL, which Wikipedia says is pronounced, “sparkle.” Then I got to thinking: wouldn’t it be more logical to pronounce SQL as “sickle?”
As soon as I move to Michigan, Volkswagen moves to Herndon. I guess the Germans don’t like me 
We are one of the few residents in our neighborhood who have a “back yard.” Being that we live in a rented townhouse, we have a small plot of land about as big as a bedroom full of grass, a flowering dogwood, and my grill. Most of our neighbors installed decks that cover their entire yards.
Last fall, my parents helped me clean up the yard as it had become overgrown with weeds while the 3 girls (Julie and her roommates) were there. One of the roommates, Sarah, would mow it with a weed-whacker now and then, but since she moved out it was our turn to mow.
While my dad and I were pulling up some strange plants, the next-door neighbor, an immigrant from Armenia, leaned over the fence and told us, “that is mint!” Ok then. He communicated to us that he wanted it because he used it to soothe his heart burn. We obliged.
Over the summer, that same corner of the yard has become overgrown with what I found out is lemon balm and spearmint. I found out via Mr. Internet that lemon balm makes a great tea and can even be used to polish furniture. I also looked for any sort of recipes that use mint.
It turns out that a popular sauce in Britain is mint sauce. I decided to try it. It’s commonly used with lamb and pork dishes.
Mint Sauce:
Bring the vinegar to a simmer. Stir in the sugar and mint and simmer for 20 minutes.
The hardest part was actually finding the malt vinegar. Not even Whole Foods had it! I finally found it at Wegman’s - probably the best, yet hard-to-save-money-in store in the area. (Side note: Out here, Wegman’s is the ultimate food shopping experience. We drove by a Wegman’s in Rochester, NY (the chain started in the Northeast) and their Wegman’s was just a plain old grocery store - seems some intense marketing was done down south).
The next hardest part was removing the stems from all of the leaves. Once I got the concoction simmering, a new, powerful smell was introduced into our house. Note to self: do not sniff boiling vinegar again.
I used a turkey baster to suck the sauce out of the pan and squirt it into the old malt vinegar bottle. I made sure to pick up a few boiled leaves along the way.
So how does it taste? Amazing! It brought full flavor to my pork chops last night. It’s a keeper! Plus, it stays edible for 3 to 9 months in the fridge. I guess the stuff is pretty expensive if you buy it retail, too.
My next food project: Mint Syrup!
OK, I promise I’ll update seriously within 2 days. I PROMISE!
But for now, here’s a fun game:
Here’s some fun lists of what iTunes comes up with.
First 10 Songs Played on Random Shuffle
Just select your library, hit “Shuffle” and write out the first 10 songs played. You can use the skip button to speed it up.
1. Nirvana - Sliver
2. Pixies - Alison
3. Duke Ellington - 9:20 Special
4. Garth Brooks - If Tomorrow Never Comes (I swear, it’s Julie’s!)
5. Aphex Twin - Bit 4
6. ABBA - Ring King
7. The Breeders - Shocker in Gloomtown
8. Handel - Water Music Suite No. 3 in G Major
9. Doobie Brothers - South City Midnight Lady
10. Johnny Cash - Sam Hall
Top 10 Songs by Number of Plays
Sort your songs by Play Count and list the top 10.
1. Dream Theater - Status Seeker - 73 times
2. Dream Theater - A Fortune in Lies - 65 times
3. Dream Theater - The Killing Hand 59 times
4. Ondrej Lenard - Georgian War March - 58 times
5. Asia - Sole Survivor - 55 times
6. The Envy Corps - You’d Look Good In Wings, Part II - 54 times
7. Asia - Only Time Will Tell - 52 times
8. Atrium Musicae de Madrid - Danza alta, sobre la Spagna - 52 times
9. Yes - It Can Happen - 52 times
10. Atrium Musicae de Madrid - Triste España sin ventura! - 51 times
Top 10 Songs in the Last Month
To build this list, create a smart playlist with the following attributes:
Match ALL of the following rules: Last Played is in the last 1 month Play Count is greater than 1
Sort this list by Play Count
1. Dream Theater - Status Seeker - 73 times
2. Dream Theater - A Fortune in Lies - 65 times
3. Dream Theater - The Killing Hand - 59 times
4. Asia - Sole Survivor - 55 times
5. Asia - Only Time Will Tell - 52 times
6. Yes - It Can Happen - 52 times
7. Dream Theater - The Ytse Jam 5:45 Dream Theater 51 times
8. Yes - Changes - 50 times
9. Yes - Hold On - 49 times
10. Asia - Time Again 47 times
I was walking through my local (Reston, VA) Best Buy’s music section and saw a sign for “Easy Listening and Ambiental” music.
This is an incorrect labeling of “Ambient” music.
Labeling music “Ambiental” makes as much sense as telling someone they look “Magnificental.”
Right now I’m watching Alias and I’m pretty disappointed.
Here’s the plot as far as I have seen tonight: A guy is going to blow up a jet liner with a bomb that’s sitting in the bottom storage area of the plane. So, the Alias people get in a B-2 stealth bomber and fly up to the jet. From the B-2 they extend an umbilical tube that attaches to the jet liner. They then climb up into the jet and fight the terrorists.
This is the EXACT SAME PLOT as the movie Executive Decision starring Kurt Russell and Stephen Seagal. Except, in Executive Decision, they fly an F-117 stealth bomber up to a jet liner, deploy an umbilical tube to attach to the jet liner, then sneak on board. The only difference (besides the jet used) is that Stephen Seagal dies right away when the umbilical link breaks and he’s sucked out into the sky.
Sheesh.
Here’s a video of what typically happens among geeks when the Internet is down.
Today, Jay, a guy I work with, offered me some Moxie. It’s the oldest existing pop (since 1884) that was mainly sold in New England. It tastes like Aspirin. But somehow I can’t stop drinking it!
Read the linked story, it is very interesting.
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