Friday, February 6. 2015
 Simple and easy: Garlic and Lemon Chicken Breasts (or any other part of the chicken, I suppose)
Double or triple the garlic - always. Use green beans, asparagus, or whatever.
Reason is the natural organ of truth, but imagination is the organ of meaning.
CS Lewis
Thursday, February 5. 2015
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.
CS Lewis
Wednesday, February 4. 2015
Reposted for the season -
Try this: Shaved Brussel Sprouts with Truffle Oil and Parmesan.
Please do not use the fake truffle oil.
It's basically a slaw. We had that at a restaurant this weekend as a salad sort of molded from a cup on top of a potato fritter. Damn good. I told Mrs. BD that dog kibbles with black truffle oil and parmesan would be delicious. Actually, I have always liked B. Sprouts anyway, especially sauteed with bacon.
(Speaking of bacon, my brother served an hors d'oevres Sunday afternoon - dates wrapped in bacon, broiled. Amazing.)
Culinary tip: Brussel Sprouts do not hit their peak of flavor and sweetness until hit by at least a frost or two. The ones from the stores have not been. Put a stalk of them outdoors on a frigid day for a few hours, and let them freeze. Much better. Serious gardeners leave them standing in the garden all winter, and just go out and cut some off from the stalks. I guess you could try the freezer, too. When we buy them in bags, we leave them out in the snow until we use them.
Looks pleasant
No Muslims, I am sure.
It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.
CS Lewis on the topic of a human becoming a Christian
I forget where I found that image above -
Manners: Is this just another of those Northeast things? We're afraid to be too nice to each other. Social enthusiasm = desperate loser.
Where Rich Feels Less Fortunate
Feeling comfortable has more to do with conserved assets than with income
Herbal supplements
Total scam. That's not news.
Feminist 'Music' is the Funniest Thing Ever!
Would These Profs Make You Major in English?
Fox Host on Mandatory Vaccines: “Some Things Require Big Brother” - Paul & Christie slammed for saying parents should have choice
What things require Big Brother? Remember the old "Everything not required is forbidden"?
Chris Matthews: Hillary "Could Really Rule This Country," "This Country Needs Somebody To Get Control of It"
Good grief
Blue Model Blues - RIP, “Emerging Democratic Majority”
EVERYDAY FEMINISM: Homonormativity 101: What It Is and How It’s Hurting Our Movement
AVI thinks the above is sad. I think it is incomprehensible word salad.
What did one college student say to the other? Answer: Nothing – because everything insults college students nowadays.
CNN Contributor Agrees, CNN ‘Totally Biased’ Against Republicans
Slate's advice columnist Emily Yoffe fails even to see being a homemaker as an option
The FAA: regulating business on the moon.
Evil corporations are certain to destroy the moon's pristine environment
" ...my questions for Krugman: If deficit spending is required when we're deep in a painful recession, and it's also required when the economy is growing and creating jobs, when is deficit spending not required? When can it stop?"
Obama’s Taxed Himself into a Corner - Absent serious entitlement reform, Democrats will have no choice but to raise taxes on the middle class.
Government Data Reveal 5.5 Million New Work Permits Issued Since 2009
Related: Obama’s Shadow Visa Network
Bummer: “world could turn nearly uninhabitable within current lifetimes” From Hotcoldwetdry
Reynolds: Three ways to 'do something' about poverty
In short, get government out of the way so people can do things
Is Discrimination OK? It Depends Whether You Are a Boy Scout or a Girl Scout
Narco-Submarines - Specially Fabricated Vessels Used For Drug Smuggling Purposes
Iran boasts of rocket aid to Palestinians, Hezbollah - Commander of aerospace force says technology to mass-produce missiles exported to Tehran’s anti-Israel allies
"France continues to import people from wildly different cultures and, more often than not, to funnel them into ghettos in which they become useless, or hopeless, or radicalized — and, occasionally, all three. Should we really be surprised that it’s not working?"
After ISIS execution, angry King Abdullah quotes Clint Eastwood to U.S. lawmakers
King went to Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts
Tuesday, February 3. 2015
Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.
CS Lewis
Monday, February 2. 2015
It's not the snow (why do they call them snow "storms" when it's just snow and a little blow?), it's not the invigorating cold, but it's the ice that's the challenge this morning. Comment: "Snowy weather, and stores are sold out of eggs, milk, and bread. Does that mean everybody is living on French Toast?"
Catch up on our weekend posts - good stuff. Hey, we predicted the score pretty well, did we not? Good game, unlike most Super Bowls. We went to a happily guacamole-free party. They had veggie dip, chili, cornbread, salad, baked brie, and brownies, two cozy blazing fireplaces, and no giant TV. Perfect.
5 AM today at the Maggie's HQ, waiting for my plow and sand team to show up. I love it all:
Sunday, February 1. 2015
We had to catch the last day of the show. Just one room filled with iconic El Grecos. He was barely Greek - raised in Crete (which was Venetian at the time) and never went to Greece. Here's a fine, brief bio
I'll call my photo A View of People Studying A View of Toledo
A few more pics and comments below the fold -
Continue reading "El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) (1541–1614)"
111:1 Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
111:2 Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.
111:3 Full of honor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.
111:4 He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds; the LORD is gracious and merciful.
111:5 He provides food for those who fear him; he is ever mindful of his covenant.
111:6 He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.
111:7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.
111:8 They are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
111:9 He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name.
111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever.
Henry Beston's Outermost House is required reading in the Bird Dog household. To be a confirmed member of the tribe, I guess you need to "get" Cape Cod and its history and traditions.
Photo below of Beston's cottage (before it got washed away in a storm caused by global warming) via TDP. I saw it one time, on a beach hike with dogs when I was young.
Saturday, January 31. 2015
 One of my favorites: Braised Lamb Shanks
The sweetest meat is near the bone. Cook the heck out of it until fork-tender. You can bake or slow-cooker it. Some people like to brown the marinated meat before cooking.
Generally one whole shank per person is plenty. Serve one whole shank, bone in, with a pile of sauce over polenta or white rice.
I have not made it with venison shank yet, but I should. Maybe soon. A saw would save the trouble of cutting the meat off the shank bone. Yes, I do know how to butcher a deer.
Northern North America, from Jacques Cartier's explorations (image changed to put north on top): "North is at the bottom:" Once Again We Learn That the Map is Not the Territory
Friday, January 30. 2015
 Rod McKuen, mega-selling poet and performer, dies at 81
Dartmouth College Banning Possession and Consumption of Hard Liquor
No One Knows How to Stop Campus Alcohol Abuse - It's hard to put much faith in Dartmouth's ban on hard liquor.
Alcohol has been part of higher ed since universities were invented in 1088. Bunch of youths without enough to do.
The blizzard of 1899 - on film
Why Your Workout Should Be High-Intensity
A glass of red wine is the equivalent to an hour at the gym, says new study
For your heart, maybe
Berkeley: We are calling for an occupation of syllabi in the social sciences and humanities.
Al Gore Wants to Spend $90 Trillion to Create World Without Cars
Set an example, Al
End the Boondoggle - Even Greens Can See the Folly of Biofuels
Building Toward Another Mortgage Meltdown - In the name of ‘affordable’ loans, the White House is creating the conditions for a replay of the housing disaster
A Lifestyle So Good, It’s Mandatory - In California, it’s lifestyle liberalism versus nicotine vapors.
Obama’s Allowing More Drilling, But It’s Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be
The American epidemic of hate-hoaxing
Real Middle-Class Economics - What the people need is regulatory relief.
Reagan’s OMB head: Wealth inequality is a problem
Jindal: ‘That’s Not Immigration…That’s Colonization’
Multicultural Meltdown in the UK
France's False Choice - Can liberal societies come to terms with religious illiberalism?
White House unhinged over Netanyahu speech
YouTube flooded with terror content - With 300 hours of material uploaded every minute, Google says screening for jihadi videos impossible
GOP Senators to Obama: We’re Totally with You on Cuba Policy
Thursday, January 29. 2015
Bravo to Megan McArdle for this: When Bread Bags Weren't Funny:
The Ingalls family were in many ways bourgeoisie: educated by the standards of the day, active in community leadership, landowners. And they had nothing.
There's a scene in one of the books where Laura is excited to get her own tin cup for Christmas, because she previously had to share with her sister. Think about that. No, go into your kitchen and look at your dishes. Then imagine if you had three kids, four plates and three cups, because buying another cup was simply beyond your household budget -- because a single cup for your kid to drink out of represented not a few hours of work, but a substantial fraction of your annual earnings, the kind of money you really had to think hard before spending.
 Often, as my Mom taught me, the best way to observe nature is just to sit in the woods or meadows silently and inconspicuously for an hour or two. Things will happen. A Box Turtle will wobble past. An upwind fawn will walk ten feet from you. A Redtail will dive on a mouse. A Blacksnake will slither over your warm Wellies. Dragonflies and butterflies will perch on your hat. A Marsh Hawk will pass just over your head, startling you.
A lot of quiet outdoor sitting takes place on deer stands, in duck blinds, etc.
Yesterday, I watched from my office window, a Sharpie attacking sparrows 5 or 10 feet from my window. That's not unusual. What I had never seen before was the frustrated Sharpie just settle on the ground and to begin stalking the sparrows on foot through the hollies where they had fled for safety. He walked with a long slow stride, very alert, just like a Velociraptor.
Have you ever seen that?
After a few minutes of stalking, he somehow flushed a flock of about ten sparrows from a holly and tore off after one. I couldn't see whether he was successful. Wish I had taken a photo.
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