It's the Same Music

Watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vIsQ25Krq8
Then watch this:
http://videolounge.cisco.com/video/ffcdfd-cisco-in-transformers-3/

They All Laughed at Me

Last summer, my dad helped me move into my new apartment and he noted that i have quite a few computers, including a few that i don't actually use anymore. I commented that i should probably get rid of them, but i really like old computers, so i don't have any plans to do so.

Fast forward to yesterday when one of the computers i do use (my homebrewed DVR, actually) suddenly shut off while i was watching a video. She didn't turn back on. It didn't take me long to figure out that the power supply was fried. At first, i thought that meant i'd have to order a new power supply and wait for it to show up before i could watch TV again.

Then i had an idea so crazy, it just might work. I grabbed an old power supply from a computer that's probably about 15 years old. The non-fried power supply was far too large to actually fit into the compact computer case, but my handy-dandy Leatherman was able to solve that problem.

It might not be the prettiest case mod ever, but it IS a fully functional computer.

An Excuse to Tolerate Snow

I decided that since i'm such a nice guy and all, i'd make some candied Christmassy goodness for my friends this year. I even acquired some molds last month for this very purpose.

As you can see, i made two specific sorts of candy: some peanut butter cups/brains/bars (with pretzels inside) and some minty rice crispie treats with a chocolate-coated bottom. The rice crispie treats from the brain mold don't look quite as nice as the pb cups from it do, but they're still completely edible.

This whole thing has also taught me something very important about melting chocolate. Specifically, double boilers are for pansies. If you seek perfection in sugar confection, there's something new on the scene: a heat gun. It's faster, less messy and just generally all around easier.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with heat guns, they're basically overpowered hair dryers that you can buy at any hardware store. They're intended to be used for things like melting plastic and heat-shrinking things. Obviously you probably don't want to use the same one for melting plastic that you'd use for melting chocolate (altho it doesn't actually touch the stuff it's melting, so there's probably not really an issue with that). It's useful for other stuff in the kitchen too. For instance, i used it to make those rice crispie treats too.

Now if i could just find an ice beam somewhere so i can use it to make ice cream...

Store is Closed

You may notice that the links to my store have been removed. This is because there is no longer any content in my Zazzle store because Zazzle is run by a bunch of pansies. I would share my entire email correspondence with Zazzle, but their side of it is really boring, so i'm just going to post my final letter to them instead. I think it sums up the whole of the conversation pretty well. I've also included the offensive design after the text of the email for your convenience.

I really like how you guys start all your emails with "Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you." I'm more than happy to allow you to be of service to me, you just seem unwilling to take me up on that offer. In fact, you seem unable to vary in any way from a set of pre-defined and unhelpful templates. My sincerest apologies if you are not a robot, as you will no doubt be replaced by one who can perform your job functions at least as well as you can in the very near future.

I might have just missed it, but your email doesn't actually seem to address any of my concerns. Please allow me to bullet-point a few things from my previous emails, in case they weren't clear before. If my email is still confusing, perhaps it could be passed along to a human supervisor who is capable of understanding simple English.

-Doctor Who is a popular TV show which features an old-style British police box and occasionally angels. Both of these items are present in my design.

-The BBC did not invent police boxes or angels, and the popularity of Doctor Who does not somehow mean that they instantly own all artwork that contains them.

-Allowing anyone to claim that they own an artist's original work and then penalizing the artist without verifying the validity of the claim is immoral and unethical.

-I didn't actually bring this up in any previous emails, but i know that not even cursory research into the validity of this claim was ever made because a casual Google search can tell you that the name of the show is Doctor Who, not Dr. Who as you have been misspelling it.

-I am interested in hiring a copyright lawyer to protect my rights as an artist. However, i have little to gain from such a venture because, altho several people have told me they like this design, they've also made it clear that they are not willing to pay Zazzle's exorbitant prices to have it on a shirt.

-I'm sure i will have no difficulties finding another company to produce my products at more reasonable prices. Altho this may result in having lower quality products, that's something i'm willing to sacrifice in exchange for doing business with a company that actually stands by the artists that create content for them instead of just allowing them to be bullied around.

In closing, i just want to make it clear that i harbor no ill feelings towards the producers of Doctor Who. I've carefully reserved all my negative emotions specifically for Zazzle, where apparently if you don't like a design, you can just claim that you thought of it first and it will immediately be removed, no questions asked.

If anyone knows of a good on demand apparel maker that i can go to now (especially one that does embroidery), that'd be fantastic. At the moment, getting some blue box tie tacks seems like a particularly shiny idea.

Everything

So as it turns out, lasers make everything better: stupid school photos, dumb animals, screwdrivers, guns and espionage. How about the moon? Yes, even the moon is made better by lasers. Trans-Siberian Orchestra? Just when you thought something couldn't get more awesome, lasers come along and make it better!

Needless to say, the TSO concert last night was BASICALLY the most kick-awesome concert ever.

Gravy

If you're interested at all in molecular gastronomy, you're no doubt aware that there are several books available on the subject. What you may not know is that there is only one that's actually worth owning.

I purchased a can of Heinz-brand recently and was amazed at the fact that it somehow manages to remain in liquid state even after being opened and sitting in my fridge for a few days. Whener i make gravy, it essentially needs to be consumed while still warm or else it will congeal into a nasty inedible mass. That's a problem, expecially as a bachelor because it's very difficult to cook just the right amount of food for only one person and i basically always have leftovers.

I examined the Heinz label and found that "modified corn starch" is the second ingredient. I figured it was the most likely cause, since there were very few unpronouncable ingredients listed and i recognized most of them.

Harold McGee's book describes modified corn starch as being almost entirely of amylopectin with basically no amylose. If you've watched Good Eats, you've probably seen these two starch molecules represented in large scale as batteries held together with packing tape. Amylose is a long, lanky molecule that stacks up nice and neat when it cools down, causing the congealing of starchy sauces. Amylopectin is more gnarly and tangled, which means it doesn't compact down as much when it cools.

I don't have a source for modified corn starch, but my local Asian food market does sell sticky/sweet/glutinous rice flour, which has about the same amylose to amylopectin ratio. I picked some up and made a basic sasuage gravy for eating with biscuits by replacing the wheat flour called for with the sticky rice flour.

The Good News: The leftover gravy has completely cooled down in my fridge without congealing. Yay science! Also: the Asian market has Ramune.

The Bad News: Sticky rice is just about as close to flavorless as food gets, and it turns out that the wheat flavor is an important component of gravy. I'm guessing this is why Heinz uses modified corn instead rice.

I THINK i might be able to overcome that by mixing a little wheat flour in with the rice flour and taking the roux a level darker since darker rouxs have more flavor, but less thickening ability.

I also occasionally like to melt a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese into my sausage gravy. In the minds of some people, this makes it technically no longer a gravy, but i think it'll help out with the lack of flavor. Besides, i wasn't planning on sharing my food with them anyway.

In Which the Usage of the Tag "Darmok" Is Explained

There's an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which the Enterprise encounters a species that communicates entirely by referencing shared cultural experiences. For instance, if the alien captain wanted to communicate "The human captain and i shall transport down to the planet where there is a dangerous creature which we shall fight together and emerge victorious, having formed a true friendship in battle," he would just say "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra." Of course, this method of cummunication only works if you know who Darmok and Jalad are and what they did at Tanagra. (Side note: Klingons can communicate this same idea simply by saying "Qapla'.")

I happen to like these aliens because i sometimes communicate in a similar fashion, despite the inherent risks involved.

For example, when the Last Airbender movie came out earlier this year, some of my friends decided to have a wham episode marathon to celebrate. I don't think they believed me when i told them that i'd never seen the show before, because i'd figured everything out only halfway thru the first season. And not just stupid episodic stuff like the old master being the long-lost love of the water girl's grandmother or the fire dudes blowing up the moon. Nor am i talking about obvious myth arc stuff like the fact that bald kid is questing for a four element ensemble which would eventually be completed by captain burn victim. I mean all the stuff you're not even supposed to know about until the second or third season like Ophelia's Xanatos Gambit to take over the rock kingdom, then kill her father right after he's defeated the water kingdom so she'll rule the world.

I also don't think they liked the fact that i figured that all out despite the fact that i didn't care enough about any of the characters to actually learn their names... Anyway, i guess what i'm trying to say is that i'm using "Darmok" as a tag because i think it's more clever than using "Tropes." Also, you probably shouldn't click on any of those links if you value your sanity.