Lurker in the Dark

11:35am: A minor squee
You may recall this post about Banana Cream Pi R Squared H?

Last week, we had a family get-together at beckyzoole's mother's house. My mother in law was making this drink by the pitcherful... and the whole extended family was drinking it -- with relish! Apparently the drink has become a frequent addition to the evening relaxation routine in that household.

Squee!

2:51pm: Hey, technoshaman!
I attended Duckon last weekend. (Vaguely hoped that I would meet you there, but ... another time.) Heard Vixy and Tony. Was floored.

Now, understand: I am hard of hearing -- always have been. As a result, music has always been pretty much a hit or miss thing for me, and mostly miss. But these people and their friends are The Real Thing.

Of COURSE I bought their CD! Why do you ask?

Since then, I can't get "Emerald Green", "Mal's Song" or "Siren Song" out of my mind. They're bloody earworms, they are!

I'm from one of the brownest parts of the Golden State... but that doesn't keep the tears from my eyes when I hear Vixy's description of Seattle. I've never even BEEN to Seattle!

WTF? What kind of alchemy IS this, that is everyday routine?

For those of you who don't have a referent, you can find one here. Enjoy!

12:06pm: The Journey
Yesterday, beckyzoole found an article in the Lost Dispatch about a really good family-style chicken dinner available only on Sundays at a place called Gallagher's in Waterloo, IL. (For those of you who are watching at home, that is in the Land of the Dragons, where St Louisans seldom go.)

Now, we haven't stopped mourning the passing of the Big Boy restaurant in Wright City, which served the most AMAZING home-style chicken dinner. Delicious fried chicken, potatoes & gravy, beans, beets, greens, slaw, and they keep it coming until you beg them to stop... We suddenly had visions of a similar wondermeal, and certainly no further away, albeit in a different direction...

So we went to Gallagher's for our 2nd wedding anniversary celebration dinner. We got as far as the front door when a friendly waitperson asked us if we were here for the chicken. We replied eagerly that we were, and he grimaced and shook his head. "We don't have any more," he told us sadly, and went on to say that at the peak of the afternoon there had been a 2 1/2 hour wait for seating, and that they had to turn about 300 people away after there was no more. "But," he said, "we're running with it. We'll be doing the chicken dinner every day of the week from now on."

Apparently it had been a slow news day. The food reviewer on the Post staff seems pretty popular, and his article was picked up by Channel 4 news... so the whole world beat a path to their door before we did. The Bad News for us was that there was to be no chicken... but the Good News is that we will be able to feast on family-style chicken dinner any day we want to from now on.

beckyzoole had been wanting to get out of the house and do something, just the two of us, so we decided to drive around the metro east region until we found something that caught our fancy for dinner. At just about the time that we were hungry enough to start eating the upholstery in the vehicle, we found it.

On highway 159, in Swansea about 1 1/2 miles south of I-64, there is a restaurant called The Journey. The architecture of the building is instantly recognizable -- this used to be a Ryan's restaurant. They've made of it ... something more.

First Impression on entering: the scent of fish. Not stale, rotting fish, which would have sent us running back to the parking lot, but fresh, well-prepared fish. Mouths watering, we allowed ourselves to be seated by the Asian waitstaff and took ourselves off to the buffet.

And WHAT a buffet it was! The Journey calls itself "the ultimate sushi & hibachi, prime rib & seafood buffet". I've never seen anything that might challenge it for that title. At nearly 9:00 pm the prime rib was pretty well dried out, but everything else was simply marvelous!

There are the typical items you might find in a Midwest-style Chinese buffet, but they are not of typical quality. The "spicy chicken" was a variation on standard Black Pepper Chicken that went off in a Lemon Chicken direction. The "General Tzo's Chicken" was a blend of the Hunan and the Mandarin versions of that dish that intrigued the tongue. "Bacon Chicken" was strips cut from a chicken breast, wrapped in country-style bacon and baked on a rack to keep it from being greasy. beckyzoole and I agreed that "This is what chicken ham would taste like." Yum!

There were too many dishes for us to sample, including whole baked fish, stuffed crab, crab legs, frog legs, and kid-friendly items (most notably hot dogs, placed in buns and then sliced into bite-sized pieces).

As you may know, I am a Hot & Sour Soup aficionado. This one was a mature soup (rare to find in a restaurant at any time), with all of its flavors well blended. It was thick with tofu, bamboo shoots and black mushrooms, and had a delicious peppery bite with a hint of the vinegar-that-had-been. The only possible improvement would be to make fresh scallions available to top it at serving time...

Sushi was of moderate variety, not particularly memorable but perfectly acceptable. The fruit & salad bar was truly impressive, however; it bore the usual chocolate and banana puddings, canned pears, and sliced cantaloupe and honeydew, but added pitted kumquats, lychee, and some of the most amazing early-season strawberries, huge and tart. There was also an Oreo Cookie pudding that looked really tempting... but I was too full even to taste it.

Oh, and ... Edy's Grand Ice Cream for dessert?

All of this, and tea to drink (a full-bodied black tea with no trace of bitterness, ideal for relaxing) for under $25 for two.

As if that weren't enough, The Journey is open until 10:00 pm every day of the week. I will never again need to wonder where I will eat when I'm in Swansea, Illinois.

5:56pm: Question for My FList
Hello, all... I haven't been here very much lately. Too busy; mostly having to do with school, and no one wants to read about that.

I found something in the back of our vehicle this afternoon. It was a box, containing

* two baking sheets
* a large carving knife
* a copy of Gray's Anatomy


How scary is that?

12:35pm: She's a Geek Like Me, Part Deux
Overheard this morning:

Woof: How many seconds are there in 90 years?
Fox: That depends on when it starts.
Woof: ...?
Fox: How many leap-years? And does it include the century year that is not a leap-year?
Woof: Use 365 and a quarter days per year, and it will be a close enough approximation.
Fox: It overloads this calculator. Hang on a second...
(Out come pencil and paper.)
Fox: Eighty-six thousand four hundred seconds per day...
Fox: Thirty-one million, five hundred fifty-seven thousand six hundred seconds per year...
Fox: Two billion, eight hundred forty million, one hundred eighty-four thousand seconds in 90 years.
Woof: Thank you.
Fox: Why do you ask?
Woof (singing): My grandfather's clock was too tall for the shelf, so it stood 90 years on the floor.

She did not attempt to murder me. In fact, she smiled. We spent the next five minutes going about our morning routines, singing "My Grandfather's Clock" to each other.

Do you see why I love this woman?

3:49pm: This Is My Brain on Calculus
Sometimes I awaken in the morning thinking about work. Sometimes I awaken thinking about sex. Sometimes I awaken thinking about Magic: the Gathering. Lately, I've been waking up with calculus problems on my mind. (Yeah, for those of you not paying attention, I'm back in school, pursuing a Mathematics degree.)

Last night, I peeled a couple of bananas and tossed them into a blender. I added four ice cubes, 2 cups of Bailey's Irish Creme, and a dash of mace. All of this blended up into a rich, frothy concoction. The lovely and talented beckyzoole tasted it and said, "This is pretty good. What do you call it?"

Without thinking, I said, "Put it in a cylindrical glass, and we'll call it Banana Cream Pie R Squared H."


**********************************

I didn't claim that it was funny. It's just the way my brain works, okay?

10:45am: IT Geeks: It's YOUR Day!
Today is Kilobyte Day.

Go out and geek it up!

8:56pm: Transparency
So, Sarah Palin is meeting with foreign heads of state now. You know what I find interesting?

They let photographers in to take pictures of the event, so that we can all see The Palin actually seeing the faces of these leaders in carefully posed photo ops.

They do NOT allow reporters to attend, or even to know the substance of her discussions with these leaders. That is, assuming that there IS any substance to her discussions...

Now, I understand that much of diplomacy must happen in private. But if the meeting is to be private, why invite photographers in? What purpose is served by this?

HR specialists will all tell you: The Best Predictor of Future Performance is Past Performance. So... the McCain campaign is all about selling the electorate a load of ... nothing of substance ... while keeping the press at arm's length. What would a McCain presidency be like?

8:38pm: What They Are NOT Saying
I was just listening to an interview with one Professor Taylor, a Republican economist, advocating the McCain budget plan. He made a very telling point: that in a time of troubled economy, it is a good idea to make tax cuts for the people who create jobs. He stated repeatedly that Senator Obama's plan to raise taxes on those very people was a recipe for even greater economic disaster.

What did he NOT say?

Based on only a little memory of what has been happening to the economy in the past decade, it's easy to see that those people who create jobs have been creating jobs in Mexico, China, India, and Guatemala. Making those job-creating people richer has resulted in America's working class suffering, with unemployment exceeding 6% nationwide (over 20% in the hardest-hit counties) and the safety nets for all those unemployed being slashed or eliminated altogether.

Professor Taylor also made a telling point that Senator McCain plans to implement a $5000 tax credit for every American family, for the purpose of offsetting healthcare insurance costs.

What did he NOT say?

He somehow failed to mention that McCain also wants to dismantle employer-provided healthcare insurance, thereby making yet another windfall for all of those large employers who will suddenly find their employee compensation costs reduced by an average of 40-45%. Every American family would suddenly be called upon to spend, on average, approximately $9000 per year out-of-pocket for healthcare insurance. That $5000 benefit looks pretty anemic... and it functionally transfers $4000 per year from the family's pocket to the employer's.

If this is the kind of honest, open, aboveboard rhetoric that accompanies John Sidney McCain III's campaign, what kind of accountability would mark his Presidency? We could expect to see more rich-get-richer policies, at the expense of the people who actually work to produce the wealth in the first place. I'd like to take this opportunity to say, "Thanks, but no thanks. That's a bridge to nowhere."

11:31am: The Republican national convention is over. I don't have much to say about it, because in the final analysis, not much was said DURING the convention.

At a convention in which President Bush was barely mentioned, Mr. McCain paid only the most fleeting tribute to him, not even using his name. “I’m grateful to the president for leading us in those dark days following the worst attack on American soil in our history, and keeping us safe from another attack many thought was inevitable,” he said at the opening of his speech.

To Mr McCain, however, I would like to say one word: Vicksburg.



Quote courtesy of the NY Times.

4:32pm: I've got things to learn...
Those of you who know me know that I'm not into "plants". In fact, plants aren't even food -- they're what food eats.

However, this not only made me laugh -- it gave me a good reason to study botany.

3:19pm: News Flash!
NPR is all over this story, just breaking:

President George Bush has declared that "extremists are the exception, rather than the rule, in Pakistan."

Hey, Georgie! If they were the rule, they would be called "mainstream".

5:53pm: Now, THAT'S trust!
As do most married couples, beckyzoole and I split up various tasks and responsibilities according to skillsets, talent, inclination and available time. In our household, she does the vast majority of the cooking and keeps the social calendar*, while I maintain the budget and keep all the bills paid.

The following conversation just took place between us:

beckyzoole: How much can I spend for a birthday present for transplantmom? I could get a few balls of cashmere yarn for $100, or some really nice yarn for $60.
bbwoof: Cashmere yarn? Would she like that?
beckyzoole: I don't know.
bbwoof: The best thing would be to get something she wants, but wouldn't buy for herself. Whether it costs $10 or $60 doesn't really matter.
beckyzoole: But what should be my hard limit?
bbwoof: $9,126,317.12. But use your own judgement.
beckyzoole: Okay.



* If any of you think that I am not a complete dweeb when it comes to remembering things like appointments or birthdays, thank my wife. I am, really! (I once allowed myself to get distracted and skipped a date for two hours of hot sex.**)

** No, I will not say with whom. Don't ask.

8:12am: Delicious Irony
Well, we finally received our Republican Bribe economic stimulus payment.

We donated a significant portion of it to the Obama campaign.

6:59pm: She's a Geek Like Me
The scene: Woof and Fox are sitting in the office, each at his/her computer. He's idly sweeping mines, and she's catching up on her Flist on LJ.

bbwoof: Do you suppose Tralaine might have been a baby Q?

beckyzoole: I've often thought so.

Can't you see why I love this woman?

9:46am: The Eight-Hundred-Pound Gorilla Strikes Again
Now, let me get this straight:

If a Board member of a church -- declared to be not a Catholic Church by Archbishop Burke -- should also be declared to be not a Catholic, then this hurts him how? He still has a church to minister to his spiritual needs.

The Archbishop of St Louis (who has demonstrated repeatedly that the Roman Catholic Church is more interested in its greed than its charity) has excommunicated two more members of St Stanislas Kostka's lay board. In this fight over control of some $9 million worth of church property (which, by the way, has been raised over the course of a century by this Polish Catholic Church congregation without help from the Roman Catholic Church), Burke has
>> Appointed priests who spent the church's treasury nearly dry
.....The Lay Board voted to curtail the priests' authority to spend.
>> Removed those priests and refused to replace them
.....The Lay Board went out and hired their own priest, Rev. Marek Bozek.
>> Excommunicated all six members of the Board, as well as Rev. Bozek
.....who ignored the edict, continuing to celebrate Mass and minister to the parish.
>> Declared St Stanislas Kostka to be not a Roman Catholic parish
.....which should have ended the matter, as the Archbishop has surrendered any claim to authority over the parish.
>> Initiated proceedings to laicize Rev. Bozek
.....which he ignored, apparently feeling that his duty to God and his parish is more important than his duty to an Archbishop with an overlarge ego.
>> Excommunicated new Lay Board members who replaced retiring members
.....who will doubtless continue to be receive the Rev. Bozek's ministry.

Archbishop Burke is continuing a long tradition of the Catholic Church: assuming that the will of The Church is equivalent to the Will of God. What he is actually doing is proving that he -- and by extension, the Roman Catholic Church -- is irrelevant. His power exists only insofar as the people he ministers to permit. He is not a leader if the followers won't follow.

In the meantime, St Stanilas Kostka is doing quite well, thankyouverymuch. Its attendance is up -- way up, and in an age when "real" Catholic churches are mostly suffering from declining attendance.

Maybe ignoring greedy men in favor of serving God and the community is the right thing to do?

9:25am: Grrrr...
beckyzoole had a job. For five whole days, she had a job that would start on the 21st. We were actually making plans about how we were going to end our indebtedness, and maybe start living like well-established adult people in their 50s, you know?

The recruiter called on the morning of the 14th. Funding has been yanked, and the project has been "indefinitely postponed". So now, on the edge of serious debt-related lifestyle changes, we're looking at the wrong side of that thin line instead of drawing away from it.

This would have been much easier if we had not been given hope.

It seems to me that if AT&T is to jerk us around, we should at least be AT&T customers...

8:57pm: Heard on the Radio
RADIO (during PSA for animal-rescue group): "Stuart does know a few basic commands like 'Sit', but he also knows how to give high fives."

bbwoof: "Hey Stuart, gimme ... four!" *

beckyzoole: [grins]







* Bonus points to anyone who can tell me what literary work I was paraphrasing.

4:21pm: PSA: The Edwards Plan
I make no secret of the fact that I support Barrack Obama for the Democratic Presidential nomination, and thereafter, for the Presidency.

I just read one of Obama's mass emailings, again asking me to donate money to the campaign, because John Edwards and Hillary Clinton have "outside groups" spending millions in their support. Obama, of course, claims to want to do away with this kind of "politics as usual" -- a goal of which I generally approve.

But something about the way this appeal was phrased made me a little ... suspicious ... as to what the truth of the matter might be. So, I went looking for facts.

What I discovered -- completely unrelated to the original goal of my search -- made me not suspicious, but ALARMED. Look at this excerpt from John Edwards' official campaign website about his universal healthcare plan:

* Once these steps have been taken, requiring all American residents to get insurance.

If you aren't scared, read it again. No, I'll wait for you.

Edwards' plan makes the same mistake that the Clinton Plan did in 1994: It puts the cart WAY before the horse. It mandates universal healthcare insurance, but ignores the even more basic universal needs of food, clothing and shelter.

The Clinton Plan was all set to force hospitals to become homeless shelters. The Edwards Plan will require every resident of America to pay for health insurance, even if she cannot afford to feed her children. How will Edwards enforce this requirement? Will he open the War on the Uninsured? Will this universal healthcare eventually be provided by prison infirmaries?

I won't argue that the American healthcare system needs serious financial overhaul. (I have no such qualms about the provider side of the system -- our medical facilities and technology are more than up for the job.) On the other hand, reality demands that we recognize that "universal healthcare" is impossible until after we've solved the problems of "universal subsistence".

Any politician who is intelligent enough to be a legislator or an executive knows that universal healthcare is a chimera. Therefore, I will automatically distrust any politician who espouses it -- that person is a liar who is trying to distract my attention away from actual, achievable goals.

Caucuses and primary elections are coming up, beginning in just one week. I urge all of you to LEARN all you can about the goals of the various candidates, to THINK about what they say and do, and then to VOTE as your conciences dictate.

Our children may one day have cause to thank you.

4:39pm: Heard on the Web
Like Vice President Dick Cheney, more than two million Americans suffer from atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the heart beats irregularly. Dr. Jane Chen, electrophysiology, shared with KMOX-AM Nov. 26 the warning signs and symptoms of atrial fibrillation.

Take THAT, all you Liberals! Here's proof positive that Vice President Dick Cheney has a heart. Even if it isn't a regular heart.

10:22pm: Burke is a Jurke
Now, let me get this straight...

Archbishop Raymond Burke is annoyed at Rabbi Susan Talve because her congregation hosted the ordination of two women who claim to be Catholics, even though Burke says they are not. This leads him to instruct his subordinate Priest not to permit Rabbi Talve to participate in an interfaith prayer service at the St. Cronan's Catholic Church, even though she has participated in such events at Advent for many years.

Reverend Gerald Kleba's parishoners had made it plain that they did not want to exclude "their friend and sister, Rabbi Talve" from their worship. So he found a way to give them what they wanted while "technically" obeying the Archbishop's order: he moved the service out of the church, into a nearby tent, and let them hold their prayer service without him.

It seems as if every time I turn around, Archbishop Burke is throwing his weight around, acting as if He, and He Alone, could speak for the Almighty in St Louis. And every time he puts on his 900-pound gorilla suit, people just go on worshipping God without him.

I hope that The Vatican is paying attention. Burke is 100% foursquare behind the Authority of the Vicar of Christ on Earth. But he's also showing the Catholic Church's true colors: exclusionary, spiteful, retaliatory, and greedy. Now he's not just grasping at other people's property, or interfering with other people's worship. He's throwing his own people out into the rain.

Applause to Reverend Kleba, who is a good man and a good Priest. I hope that it doesn't cost him his job.

1:56am: Hey, reannon!
If you haven't already seen it, you MUST read this!

On a slightly related note: we saw the Jonathan Coulton concert this evening at Blueberry Hill. He performed an audience-participation song about zombies, and we all got to sing "All we wanna do is eat your brains!" It was great fun.

10:44pm: Stewart's Observation #7
From Ty Burr's review in the Boston Globe of the 2002 film Sex with Strangers:

"It's a documentary that says that the alternate sexuality meant to set you free may require so much relationship maintenance that celibacy can start looking good."

Now, I have not seen this film, but that sentence grabbed me by the head and required a response. My response is:

Anyone who starts an intimate relationship -- ANY intimate relationship -- had damned well better be prepared to maintain it or lose it.

It seems to me that anyone over the age of 25 or so should know that sexual relationships are about the head and the heart -- not about the gonads. Anyone who feels differently is a user, and I have no desire to know that person.

5:23pm: I TOTALLY missed it!
I just realized that today, 29 October, is FIVE DAYS AFTER Kilobyte Day.

Two years ago I declared 10/24 to be Kilobyte day. And I totally forgot to observe that day this year.

Somebody, please byte me.

6:07pm: Another Completely Unsolicited Plug for a Friend
Apropos of nothing, I just read something that tickled my funnybone:

******* There is no seven-star footnote. Why are you reading this?

It was, of course, at the end of a long list of footnotes. You can find it here.

Elizabeth Donald writes well. And she smells good. 'Nuff said?