Squirrels and Moosetrack Memories.

How on earth do the two of those correlate?

Well I got a carton of Moose tracks out of the freezer and brought it over to the counter to eat it. No, eating out of the carton is not a childhood memory, as a child I would never have dared to act with such audacity. The ice cream itself is a childhood memory, it was my dad's favorite (and Heavenly Hash was my mom's :)) so if he bought ice cream that's what it would be. What we kids would do would pick through the ice cream while serving ourselves and try to get all the little peanut butter cups and chocolate sheets into our bowl.

So that's what I was doing, eating ice cream out of the carton (trying to get all the chocolate and peanut butter cups!) and looking out the window. Here's where the squirrel comes in, my mom has a birdfeeder and the squirrel was hanging upside down while eating out of the feeder. (Similar to this)



And the thought occurred to me, how on earth can squirrels eat like that? Apparently their bodies are wired to defy gravity.

Spoken Word Poetry

I might as well throw in a disclaimer here...I imagine a lot of my posts are going to either mention "Stumble", "Pintrest", or both. I've fallen in love with Stumble, it has proven to be a good way to provide me with knowledge of things I didn't know exist. And Pintrest helps me to organize that knowledge.

That being said, stumble has recently introduced me to a new form of poetry, Spoken Word poetry. I'd never heard of such a thing. However when it pulled up a video of Sarah Kay doing a performance of it on TED, I immediately got on youtube and started searching for as many spoken word poetry performances as I could find by her. I loved them. Ambiguous enough to read some of your own into it, yet with clear cut thoughts brought out in the beauty of descriptive simile's and metaphors.

Upon looking up Spoken Word poetry on wikepedia
(here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoken_word)
I do not know if most of it is as good and clean as what Sarah Kay presents, but I still am fascinated by it & wonder if I could present such a piece myself.

Panko crumbs and Chinese food

I have a love for Chinese food, but the more I learn about MSG and such like additives the less I feel inclined to go out to a restaurant to eat it. Although I have tried cooking Chinese food before with some fairly decent results, I have yet to produce something that tasted like the restaurant food, although granted I'm not adding MSG! Among the couple of Asian Items I have tried have been stir fry chicken, sweet and sour chicken, egg rolls and crab rangoon, and coconut chicken. However I hesitate to count the stir fry or sweet and sour chicken as legitimate achiements, as I used a pre-packaged mix either powder or liquid, to flavor it. The crab rangoon was enjoyable but it didn't taste like what I would buy! As for the coconut chicken, well lets say that if I ever make coconut chicken I'll be using a different recipe

Enter Panko bread crumbs.

I don't know why any other recipe I've ever tried has not involved this miraculous, and satisfying ingredient. One day while I was browsing stumble I came across a recipe for some orange chicken. Of course, being orange chicken, my attention was immediately garnered. However while I was browsing the ingredients it called for one I had never encountered before, "panko" crumbs. Since I had no idea about what Panko crumbs were I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make the recipe, and I was toying with the idea of using a substitute bread crumb mix.

While I was on my trip to Maine I discussed this mysterious item with my Uncle who I knew did some cooking. He told me that panko was Japanese lighter, fluffier breadcrumb and that it would stay crispier better than ordinary breadcrumbs. Still unsure of its texture he told me they used it in tempura. Having just had my first sushi experience, the shrimp tempura I had eaten and enjoyed was fresh in my mind. I became determined to find panko and try this recipe.

Off to the store I went once I got home. First I looked down the baking aisle, then I looked at the world food items, and then to the bread crumbs. I scanned the shelf several times but couldn't find any "Panko". As I was turning away discouraged, I finally spotted them, top shelf. Eureka!

So I bought the Panko, took it home, and decided to start cooking! It was quiet a process, took me the better part of two hours. Then again, I was preparing a whole meal, rice, broccoli, and an separate meal for my mother who has numerous allergies. Dipping the chicken in egg, then cornstarch, then egg, then the panko, was probably the most time consuming. Upon consideration I probably could of just used the old "shake it in a baggie" trick, and saved some time but as they say hind-site is 20/20 Although I started frying the chicken at to hot of a temperature I quickly discovered my mistake and turned the heat down. It can be cooked easily, same as if you were cooking chicken bits without the breading.

So you won't have to listen to my detailing, here's the link to the recipe for you


http://thenoshery.com/2010/03/19/better-than-takeout-orange-chicken/


End of story, the results were fantastic. That's not to say I won't ever go back to a Chinese restaurant, it's a lot of work! However, I do plan on using the Panko again in the very near future. I've found another recipe on stumble I want to try, it calls for "bread crumbs or flavored (Italian) Panko" Guess what I'll be using?

Rules for Playing in an Ensemble

1.) Everyone should play the same piece

2.) Stop at every repeat sign and discuss in detail whether to take the repeat. The audience will love this a lot!

3.) If you play a wrong note, give a nasty look to one of your partners

4.) keep your fingering chart handy. You can always catch up with the others

5.) Carefully tune your instrument before playing. That way you can play out of tune all night with a clear conscience.

6.) Take your time turning pages

7.) The right note at the wrong time is a wrong note (and vice versa).

8.) If everyone gets lost except you, follow those who get lost.

9.) Strive to get the maximum NPS (notes per second). That way you gain the admiration of the incompetent.

10.) Markings for slurs, dynamics and ornaments should not be observed. They are only there to embellish the score.

11.) If a passage is difficult, slow down. If it's easy, speed up. Everything will work itself out in the end.

12.) If you are completely lost, stop everyone and say, "I think we should tune."

13.) Happy are those who have not perfect pitch, for the kingdom of music is theirs

14.) If the ensemble has to stop because of you, explain in detail why you got lost. Everyone will be very interested.

15.) A true interpretation is realized when there remains not one note of the original

16.) When everyone else has finished playing, you should not play any notes you have left. If you have notes left over, please play them on the way home.

17.) A wrong note played timidly is a wrong note. A wrong note played with authority is an interpretation

*disclaimer, this was not written by me*

Informative History on the Pledge

“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
When I said that did it catch your ear? You may or may not know this, but the pledge that is repeated today is not the way it was originally written by Francis Bellamy in August of 1892. What I just said a few seconds ago was the original version before several modifications were made. Something else of interest is the fact that putting our right hand over our heart was not the original way to salute the flag. All the modifications made to the pledge and salute were because of various historical influences, which I will discuss in a moment, as well as giving you a short history of the writer of the pledge. Although some people objected to the changes that were added, we still dutifully recite the pledge with the modifications in place.

Francis Bellamy was born in Rome, New York, May 18, of 1855. He died August 28, 1931.He was 37 years old when he wrote the pledge. On June 1, of 1881, Francis married Hattie Benton, throughout the course of their marriage they would have two children, both boys. Francis’s political beliefs were definitely socialistic, yet despite this he was a Baptist minister. Later in life he was dismissed from his pastoral position because of his socialism. At the time of his dismissal he went to work for one of his parishioners, David Ford, and the editor of the Youth’s Companion, the magazine that would later publish the pledge. Socialistic beliefs seem to have run in the family, as Francis’s cousin, Edward Bellamy, was a well known author at that time of the two socialistic utopian novels “Looking Backward” and “Equality”. Following in his cousins footsteps, Francis managed to get some of his own work published as well. The most well known being the pledge of allegiance, which debuted in the Youth’s Companion. The Youth’s Companion was a nationally circulated magazine for teenagers at that time. Francis wrote the pledge (as well as a speech) for a public school Columbus day program that the Youth Companion was encouraging to take place on a national level. Before Bellamy wrote the pledge, the only well known American flag recitation repeated was written by Colonel Balch in 1889. It went like this. “We give our heads and our hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one Flag." The new pledge written by Bellamy caught the eye of the public and still stirs American hearts today.

The pledge remained unchanged from its original form until 1923. At that time the words, "the Flag of the United States of America" were added in place of just “my flag” in an attempt to make the pledge more specific to the US. Supposedly this was so that immigrant children would not confuse the flag referenced in the pledge as the flag of their homeland country. Due to Communist concerns in 1954, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God” to rid the pledge of any potential socialistic interpretation . This final addition to the pledge produced the iconic verse that is repeated across America today: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”

One Last interesting fact to note about the history of the pledge involves the gestures. Originally the salute was made with stiff right arm, palm down, extending outward. When it was changed, the familiar hand over heart gesture was used only for the first half of the pledge. Upon reaching the second half, speakers would extend their right arms towards the flag palm down. During WWII, having no desire to resemble Nazi Germany’s salutes to Hitler, the second half salute was modified to the hand over the heart for the duration of the pledge.

Although Francis Bellamy’s granddaughter contended that he would not have approved of the changes to the pledge’s composition, her concerns went unheeded. The change that was made in the gestures while saying the pledge met with no notable resistance at all. These changes evolved the pledge into what we all know and repeat today.

Mark Schauer

True story

Mark Schauer walks into a coffee shop.

There is a young teenager working the counter

Mark Schauer: "Are you old enough to work?"
Teenager: "Not yet, next year"
Mark Schauer: "Well tell your parents I said "Hi" then"



FOR REAL?! Needless to say, said teenager said he wouldn't ever vote for Schauer if he's ever up to run in two years. And I highly doubt such treatment of their son is going to get the parents or grandparents to vote for Schauer either. Way to shoot yourself in the foot Mark, saves us the trouble.

Meanderings of a Barrista

I can tell I'm a band geek when I'm working as a cashier and the cash register at work shows "$18.12" as the customer's total, and I exclaim, "Just like the 1812 overture"


"I am worthy of notice"

A man stopped by to get coffee. After taking his order I went to the end of the counter to prepare his drink. After I was done making it he said to me "My name is _____ I grew up in _____ Mi. I'm a painter, I paint landscapes. I'm going to Indiana to a museum there to sign pictures. My name is _____ that's spelled with an "E-R" on the end, look me up on the internet, look at my paintings"

Yeaaah.

"You know you have addiction problems when..."
The ultimate Punishment for your kids is being grounded from getting Biggby coffee (the kids drinks), no joke.

I know I need to drink more of the product I sell when I take the customer's frequency card, swipe it, and as I'm handing it back to them (with it still in my hand) I ask them if they have a frequency card...

You know you come across as an extreme "good girl" when your co-worker finds it hard to believe you've been called anything worse than "Numb nuts"



That's all for now! I realized I have really put anything up here aside from Theological stuff & politics, which takes care of the "Kings" part...but not cabbages or random stuff. So there we go =)