Saturday, November 19. 2022
Friday, November 18. 2022
 I've shot my share of Bob Whites, but no wild birds. Just stocked or fresh out of the pen. Fun, but not the real deal. I have seen (and heard) wild ones on Cape Cod and Long Island. I've eaten them too - boned and stuffed with foie gras. Amazing.
Here's the issue with Bob Whites: In most of their range, their numbers have crashed over the past 20-30 years because of global warming the loss of their preferred habitat. These quail like large messy edges, and large-scale farming eliminates those. Maybe they were more common due to the small-scale agriculture in past centuries.
I read the the numbers of wild birds is greatest in Oklahoma, but I think Florida has plenty too. You can spend a lot of money to hunt quail in Georgia on multi-thousand-acre quail plantations like this place. These places keep their bird populations up with a steady stream of pen-raised stock to keep the shooters happy. Not really wild but more of a simulacrum of quail hunting.
After all, old-time hunting was not sport. It was food. Some links:
Identifying Bobwhite Quail Habitat'
Northern bobwhites hold a special place in Georgia’s outdoor culture and wildlife heritage.
Quest For Georgia Quail - Lots of effort goes into managing for Georgia quail.
Easy to raise Bob White quail. You need an incubator, but the eggs are cheap. ($500/1000 eggs).
Thursday, November 17. 2022
Wednesday, November 16. 2022
Tuesday, November 15. 2022
On a roadside in Colorado last week
Monday, November 14. 2022
Sunday, November 13. 2022
Why do people with any fat stores ever feel hungry, or eat anything at all, considering they may have 1-5 month's worth of energy stored as fat? (We term the hunger experienced by overweight people "False Hunger," because it is.) Except in the truly malnourished or extremely fit, low body-fat athletes, hunger is rarely a signal of an energy deficit or of any nutritional need.
Think about it. Even normal-weight (neither overweight nor underweight) people carry 8-10 weeks of energy stored in fat if they can only access it.
You can consider appetite in the pudgy or overweight, not to mention the obese, to be a design flaw based on the hunting and gathering, and, earlier, just plain gathering condition of human existence, same as the other great apes who only become overweight in captivity. Agriculture and food abundance, along with sedentary life, exposed the design flaw for people who overnourish themselves. Of course, physical inadequacy is another side effect.
Here are a few issues (below) -
Continue reading "Why do overweight people ever feel hunger? (re-posted)"
 Of course, an array of pies are needed. We like squash pie. We like all pies.
Can you make a proper Tarte Tatin, fully-caramelized when you flip it? I have failed many times. Gotta let it cool before flipping.
7 apples, 9-10" pan, and do not use water in the below recipe. Instead, use 3-4 tbsp. of butter. Sure, you can use a frozen crust thing.
French-Style Apple Tart (Tarte Tatin)
Luke 21:5-19
21:5 When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said,
21:6 "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."
21:7 They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?"
21:8 And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go after them.
21:9 "When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately."
21:10 Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;
21:11 there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
21:12 "But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.
21:13 This will give you an opportunity to testify.
21:14 So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance;
21:15 for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.
21:16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.
21:17 You will be hated by all because of my name.
21:18 But not a hair of your head will perish.
21:19 By your endurance you will gain your souls.
Saturday, November 12. 2022
From a hiking pal this week
Friday, November 11. 2022
Thursday, November 10. 2022
I have more or less stopped watching Saturday Night Live, but it is intriguing to read that Dave Chappelle, who I find to be very funny, is hosting. What is more intriguing is that a large part of the writing staff has said they will boycott the episode. This is a benefit of youth, and one I'm interested in because I have my own story in this regard.
One of my majors in college (I had 2) was Television Production. I wrote, produced, directed and filled various roles in the studios at the university for both class and the university television network. Top-tier stuff, mind you. The kind of stuff you watch at 1am in the dorm lobby when you're half in the bag or snogging with your latest love interest. Nevertheless, it's what you did to learn the ropes. Back then, I was hoping to make documentaries.
One day I had to prepare a news piece for the 1984 election. It was a talk show with some local luminaries talking about various topics like nuclear war (it was right around the time that ABC ran The Day After, which some of you may remember), feeding the poor/welfare, deficits, etc. Standard fodder for any political news program. One fellow who showed up hung flyers on the set showing elephants dropping nuclear bombs on poor people of the world. I took them down. He put them back up, I took them down. My job was set design and management. The producer that day, a fellow student, came by and asked what I was doing. I told him the set was my responsibility and I felt the flyers would imply a bias of the programming, and that they personally offended my own sensibilities. The producer told me to honor the guests' wishes and put them up. I told him "since this is my set, then I'm asking to be relieved of my responsibility, I'd rather sit this one out."
Continue reading "The Benefit of Youth"
I took a few pics of our Luberon trails and routes, but not many of the challenging trails. Too busy clambering over stoney trails. Various routes wind down dirt roads, some through little paths, some past farmhouses, vineyards and olive groves. As I mentioned, the hardest part is following directions and trail marks.
The Brit hiking company (The Carter Company) that organized our trip gave us hiking guides (no maps). They also left off huge picnics each morning for us to carry, and transported our luggage from hotel to hotel. How long were the hikes? 5-6 hours.
As usual with hiking, it's mostly uphill but this bit was just easy and pleasant. Olive grove on the right, woodlands on the left::
Lots of pics below the fold -
Continue reading "Hiking trails and routes in Provence"
Wednesday, November 9. 2022
Tuesday, November 8. 2022
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Does physical reality objectively exist? 
What is "flavor." and where does it come from?
The great