Anejo Sampling Part 1 [8/08/2009]

	Name	Aroma	Taste	Finish	Rating
	Cazadores	fruity, sweet	smokey, fruity	oily	94
	Patron	salty, peaty	herbal, veggie, fruity	peppery, spicy, sweet	88
	El Mayor	sweet	spicy, peppery	tangy, a bit rough	85
	Don Julio	fruity	rich, caramel	smooth, buttery	96
	Tres Mujeres	sweet	herbal, veggie	light, fresh	94
	Sol de Mexico	spicy	peppery	smooth, light	92
	El Amo Special Edition Premium	fruity	wine-like	a bit sharp	94

Images from Tequila.net, a great resource for Anejo reviews.

Finished Dragonharper [7/31/2009]

After reading Dragon's Fire, I wasn't expecting that much from this book. It is another Todd and Anne McCaffrey collaboration. This one is a lot darker, full of death and doom. So, I can't really justify calling it cutesy. Unfortunately, I didn't like the characters much at all. Kindan, Koriana, and Vaxoram were all annoying to me. I think I may have grown to like Nonala and Kelsa had they been given more time.

Finished Dragon's Fire [7/23/2009]

This book was a collaboration between mother and son, and predictably did not live up to Anne's earlier solo works. I still love the world of pern, and enjoy reading stories set there. I was disappointed that the characters and plot both seemed so cutesy and childish. In the end, I was unhappy with Pellar's decision to stay at the mine. It didn't seem the right place for him.

Oran's Spicy Indian Cabbage [7/20/2009]

1 head cabbage chopped
1 large onion chopped
1 can peas
3 tablespoons oil
3-8 garlic cloves chopped (depending on how big they are)
1 tablespoon cumin seed
2 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons coriander powder
1 teaspoon hot madras curry powder
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Put the oil and cumin in large pot and heat on high. Add in the onion and cabbage and stir for 5 minutes. Cover for 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic. Add a little water if the cabbage or onions are sticking to the bottom. Add the salt and the remaining spices. Stir in the peas and serve.

Maiyui is 80 [7/17/2009]

On my third span of WoW playing, for the first time, I've finally reached the current level cap. (I hit 60 during BC and 70 during WOTLK.) I can start raiding now! Yay! : )

Here's Maiyui with one of her pets behind

Chili Con Carne [7/15/2009]

1/2 onion diced
1/2 bell pepper diced
1/2 jalapeno diced
1 lb ground beef
1/2 can roasted tomatoes
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seed slightly crushed
3 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
3 dashes cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons salt

Mix the beef, onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, and tomato in a small saucepan over high heat. Add 1/4 cup water and cover for 10 minutes. Add the garlic, salt, and spices. Turn the heat down to low, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Top with a dollop of sour cream.

Finished The Third Culture [7/01/2009]

I had very mixed feelings about this book. The concept of short essays by scientists is great, and I definitely plan to read more of the Edge.org/Brockman collections. This one is quite outdated having been written in 1995, as a lot of the issues on the forefront of science have changed significantly since then. It was nevertheless interesting and thought-provoking.

In some cases, I wished there was more meat to the arguments and less pretty floweriness. Not having read their research papers, and with little background especially in the physics sections, I had a lot of difficulty judging what was reasonable and what wasn't. Depending on my mood at the time cynical/argumentative, or relaxed/happy I found myself much more or less receptive to the ideas presented. I often found myself switching between thinking, "He might really be on to something here." and "This is complete and total BS."

This got me thinking about a general but important problem, how are the laypeople supposed to recognize the true masters among the quacks? The language used to describe the theories is often very philosophical and obscure, and it changes dramatically between people. Almost everyone seems to invent their own strange terms. Unfortunately, it seems this makes it easy for charlatans or sub-par theorists to slip into the mix. If we flock around these esteemed professors as if they were preachers, following them based only on what appeals to our personal aesthetic, we are probably missing out on something big. They can't all be right, right?

The conversational tone of the essays made them easy to read. I was quite surprised though, by the amount of emotion and personality that came through. At times, the defensiveness and/or overconfidence was a bit much for me. I am encouraged though to try to branch out and read more popular science books, even if it is frustrating in parts.

Here are the scientists included in this first book:

George C. Williams
Stephen Jay Gould
Richard Dawkins
Brian Goodwin
Steve Jones
Niles Eldredge
Lynn Margulis
Marvin Minsky
Roger Schank
Daniel C Dennett
Nicholas Humphrey
Francisco Varela
Steven Pinker
Roger Penrose
Martin Rees
Alan Guth
Lee Smolin
Paul Davies
Murray Gell-Mann
Stuart Kauffman
Christopher G. Langton
J. Doyne Farmer
W. Daniel Hillis

Draft Magazine Craft Brewing Festival 2009 [6/20/2009]

My first ever brewfest was totally awesome. The only disappointment was that I didn't get to try as many different beers as I would have liked. Apparently 4 hours isn't enough sampling time for someone who is a very slow drinker and lightweight like me. They practically had to kick us out and I wished I had kept better track of the time.

Everything tasted pretty good, although once inebriated I think it's harder to be a good judge. I took a few sporadic notes, not really rating anything thoroughly.

Stone - Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout - very syrupy, better than their smoked porter or imperial
Dupont - Farmhouse Ale - interesting
Sun Up - Hefeweizen - grapefruity
Sun Up - Red Ale - citrus tones
Dogfish - Sah'tea - curious
Dogfish - Palo Santo Marron - nice and dark
San Tan - Strawberry Wit - not at all subtle strawberry flavor
Papago - Coconut Joe - coffee overpowered any coconut in there

One of the highlights was a quick chat with the brewer for Sun Up Brewing/Sonora Brewhouse one of my favorite local eats. We were able to complement him on the recent excellent small batch Triple Blonde, and his consistently good Midnight Porter.

Thanks so much to Draft Magazine for creating the best PBS benefit I've heard of, and thanks to PBS for providing well researched science and political coverage like Nova, the News Hour, and Frontline.

Finished The Difference Engine [6/15/2009]

This is the first book I've read in the "alternative history" or "steampunk" genre. I enjoyed it of course, because it's Gibson, and I love his style of mystery where nothing gets answered. Not having read anything by Sterling before, I can't say how much of the style was his. The description of the Central Statistics Bureau had a scifi quality to it, despite being in London in 1885. I discovered how little I know about late 19th century English history. I ended up looking up a lot of articles on wikipedia about people mentioned in the book. I loved the description of London falling into anarchy, it just builds and builds into an almost dream.

Nut Crusted Pork Piccatta [6/02/2009]

4 pork chops
1 cup chopped nuts (should have a large percentage of either pecans or almonds, plus whatever else is available thrown in: brazil, macadamia, walnuts, pine nuts)
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
enough olive oil to fill the frying pan about 1/4 inch deep

heat oil very high
add salt and pepper to nut mixture in one bowl
put flour in a separate bowl
beat eggs in a third bowl
dip pork chops so they are covered first in flour, then eggs, then nuts
fry in pan using a splatter screen

Piccatta topping ingredients:
juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon parsley chopped
3 heaping teaspoons capers
1 teaspoon caper juice
dash garlic salt
dash pepper

mix topping ingredients together and heat
spoon on top of the pork chops