June 2016

Wednesday 2016.6.29

Chaurice

On Sunday I will feature Chaurice sausages.

Hopefully you'll pardon me for my little bit of pride when it comes to making sausages. The chaurice was only my second attempt. Italian Sausages were my first. I sent pictures to an Italian friend of mine. It's amusing; we admire each other's cooking skills. She said about my Italian Sausages: "Leave it to you to make them look professionally made on your first attempt." Her family in Italy makes everything, including their own vinegars and olive oils. They even grind their own wheat for flour. I feel lucky to keep a small lemon tree alive in a pot outside my mobile home.

More Upgrades

On Sunday afternoon I shot a new video of one of my oldest recipes, my Mom's American Chop Suey. The original was done about five years ago. It is another of those that are labeled as "Creative Commons" (CC) on YouTube. I think I explained that in an earlier blog. CC means that the video is free to be copied by anyone who wishes to do so. Back then I did all I could to drive traffic to my web site. I think people can put the CC videos on their channel and monetize them to make money for themselves. I'm not sure about that, but I am slowly removing those CC videos from YouTube when I upload a replacement, copyright protected.

And if a little explanation should be necessary: American Chop Suey is, obviously, a Italian-American macaroni and ragù dish. It is supposedly made throughout the United States, but it is known by different names in other regions. American Chop Suey is the common name in New England. Elsewhere I've heard it is called Goulash (not to be confused with Hungarian Goulash, which is like a beef stew seasoned with Hungarian paprika). A past friend who grew up in the American Southwest said his family called it S'ghetti and Beef. Some people make it with chopped green bell peppers. My mother never did. I don't care for bell peppers anyway.

American Chop Suey is my go-to comfort food, especially good on cold winter days. It took a while to figure out how my mother flavored the dish. It wasn't until I learned to caramelize the onion that I got the flavor correct.

There is another advantage to updating some of these older videos. The oldest videos get very few views now. Most people don't even know they are there. With nearly 250 cooking videos on YouTube, I can't expect people to search through all of them, all the way back to the beginning nearly six years ago. After uploading the Banana Corn Bread video, it was viewed more than 200 times by the evening. That's hardly viral, of course, but being monetized, it adds a little more revenue to my channel, helping to pay for the food. And replacing an old video with a newer one helps to keep my YouTube channel fresh and active.

And today I am shooting a new video for my Clam Chowder recipe. It is another of those old recipes that is designated "creative commons" on YouTube. The chowder is unique. I based the recipe on one made by the late Clarissa Dickson Wright in one episode of the BBC cooking series Two Fat Ladies. She added diced prosciutto, which intrigued me. It makes the soup delicious, especially after being allowed to sit for a while. The prosciutto releases some of its flavor into the broth. It's one of my favorite soups.

Keeping On Biking

Sunday evening I went out for a bike ride on that Cervélo I bought from my neighbor. There is a handy little cul-de-sac up the road, with a nice round turn-around at the end, where there is no traffic and I can practice stopping and clipping out of the pedals. It's a slow learning process.

After practicing up and down the street for a while, I started to head home. At the end of the street I stopped and waited for traffic, planning to cross to the other side of the avenue. As I started out and tried to clip into the pedal, a cycling enthusiast, in all his lycra kit, was coming toward me. Naturally, I looked like a doofus trying to clip into the pedal, and couldn't. He smiled, but, thankfully, he didn't laugh. I'm learning.

And speaking of cycling, if my calendar is correct the Tour de France begins on Saturday. I think there might be some sort of preliminary show on Friday. There has been a preview show broadcast off an on all week. The first broadcast was Sunday, which I watched. I try to see as much as possible of the Tour each summer. I've even thinking of trying to adjust my biological clock to see if I can wake up at 3:00 in the morning to watch the Tour live.

Sunday 2016.6.26

Continuing My Updates

This week I shot another video to replace one of my oldest ones on YouTube — Salmon Jerky. As I said in Wednesday's blog, that video was done about six years ago, before I built the kitchen counter that allows me to face the camera. My cinematography friend operated the camera, shooting over my shoulder or around me from the side. That was back when we were figuring out how to best set up my kitchen for videos.

The video has been a popular video on YouTube, despite the poor quality. Hopefully this updated version will improve the popularity.

The next challenge was to figure out how to photograph the jerky. Let's be honest; dried fish doesn't have the same eye appeal as a tall slice of cake or a platter of cookies.

The best resource for ideas is Google images on the Internet. Among the images there were few that looked appetizing. Most were random bunches of jerky either on a plate or in a jar. One was okay — jerky tied up in a neat bundle of white paper. Others looked like manufactured jerky, all the pieces the exact same size and shape, like pieces of chewing gum. But there were a couple good ones.

The photo I liked best was a closeup, showing a few clean slices of jerky arranged on an old wooden surface, such as an antique table or cutting board. The lighting was clearly natural, from a window to one side. There was some sort of rear lighting, probably another window, causing a reflection on the table to the back. I didn't like that. The jerky was shot from a low angle. That gave me some ideas. See the recipe page.

One advantage to photographing something like jerky is that there is no need to rush. I can take as much time as I want because the jerky doesn't lose its fresh look like a plate of chicken with vegetables on the side or a bowl of ice cream. For some food photos I need to plan the photograph well in advance and do all the setup before I even start cooking the food so that I can rush the plate to the table and shoot the pictures before the food changes color and starts to look dull and old. Not a problem with jerky.

As for the video, I did the shooting and editing all in one day. It is ready to upload to YouTube some time during the new few weeks. Chaurice sausages are next. I'll blog about those on Wednesday. Today, however, I am uploading the first of the remakes of my oldest videos — Banana Corn Bread. The original video was five years old and needed updating.

The Brexit

I followed this closely because I, like many, wasn't sure what the outcome might be. I can almost guarantee who will be the U.S. President next year. But the outcome of Great Britain's vote? If pressed, I would have said I thought it was more likely they would vote to remain in the EU because the future would, at least, be predictable. Now, who knows what the outcome might be?

The followup reporting was informative. Journalists said some Britains didn't go to the polls because they thought their vote wouldn't matter, that the outcome was a foregone conclusion — remain. Then, having seen the results, they wished they had voted because they wanted to remain in the EU. No one knows whether or not the outcome would have been any different because there might have been an equal number of others who would have voted to exit.

It's too late to think about what might have been. With the Dow Jones falling 600 points the day after the vote, the concern here is with the future of the economy. One thing is certain, the Fed won't raise the interest rate anytime soon.

There is one thing for which I'll give the British a lot of credit — they can count their ballots quickly. How long did it take for the entire country to submit their vote counts? Only a few hours? It has been 2½ weeks since California's presidential primary and all the ballots have still not been counted. Not that it matters. California's votes won't change the outcome of the primaries. Clinton and Trump are the two presumptive candidates.

Wednesday 2016.6.22

They Snooze, They Lose

An interesting and amusing thing happened to me at the store this week. In past blogs I mentioned that I live within walking distance of a new Smart & Final store. They are sort of like a big-box store, similar to Costco, but also like a grocery store — kind of halfway in between. The prices are in between as well. I think Smart & Final is a small chain, limited to Southern California.

I always check the Clearance rack because sometimes there are good bargains there. Lately I've been seeing bars of soap. I went to Costco and looked at their bulk packs of bath soap. They averaged about 55¢ per bar. The clearance soap was about 50¢ — not a big savings, but the clearance bars were a lot bigger — 6.35 ounces (180g) compared to 4 ounces (113g) at Costco.

A bargain is a bargain, so I went back to Smart & Final and bought all they had. I also took the shelf tag with me to the register because sometimes they fail to put the clearance price in the computer, and with no more bars on the shelf anyway, there was no need to leave the tag there. Sure enough, the reduced price didn't show up on the register.

Fortunately, the guy running the register was one of the managers. I've talked with him before. He's a really nice guy and he knows what's going on. He showed me the shelf tag. It had an expiration date on it, 6/8/16. The stockers are supposed to watch those. If the item doesn't sell out by the expiration date, they're supposed to package the items for return to the distributor for refund. They didn't. The stock was still on the shelf, so the manager sold them to me at the clearance price.

It also taught me something. Look for an expiration date on clearance items. They might not be there very long. If I want something, I probably shouldn't wait. The price won't get any lower, and the bargain might disappear.

Reflection: Swamp Box Cooler or Air Conditioner?

I have one of each. The swamp box cooler, also known as an evaporative cooler, uses water on a dry day (low humidity) to cool the air. Evaporation requires energy, which it pulls from the air as heat. The result is cooler air coming out of the front. On a day of low humidity, it does a decent job keeping my living room comfortable.

The air conditioner (AC) is a good name, Haier, but it is a small portable (on wheels), only 9,000 BTU. According to an online BTU calculator, that should be enough to keep my front room (living room, dining area, kitchen) at 75°F on a day when it is 90°F outside. It doesn't. At best, it keeps the inside slightly cooler than the outside.

I suppose slightly cooler is better than no cooling at all. However, the swamp box cooler achieves about the same thing, provided the humidity is low enough. And that brings me back to why I bought the AC in the first place.

I've blogged before about building my own computers. The newest ones were built about six months ago and these are the best computers I ever built. I wanted "dream machines" this time, no holds barred, money is no object. I love these computers. They're quiet and fast. Computers, however, don't like a lot of heat. Mine like it less because I filter the air going into them (to eliminate dust), which lowers the air replacement efficiency just enough for the cases to get quite warm inside on a hot day, like above 90°F.

I bought the AC several years ago to keep the office cool. However, I wanted to experiment with the front of my home; so for the past year it has been in my living room. The results of my experiment are that the front room isn't any cooler with AC than with an evaporative cooler, and my office is hotter. So, back to the original plan. I installed the AC in the office this morning.

That story was probably boring to read. It was boring to write. But I didn't have any other ideas this morning. The only other piece of information that comes to mind is the Sherpa Fire.

Sherpa Fire

As of this morning the fire burned about 9,000 acres and is 82% contained. Full containment is expected tomorrow. Although the fire spread mostly to the eastward toward us, it never advanced far enough to affect the high voltage lines that feed electricity into our area. There were no electrical interruptions.

As For Cooking…

I haven't done much of that. It has been too warm for that. The last few days saw our first heat wave of the season, although it didn't get too warm here. We never saw daytime temperatures above 95°F. I did make Clam Cakes again to update the video. The original video was done about five years ago and I have better information now. It won't be on YouTube for a few weeks.

Also worth mentioning: Costco has wild caught salmon again. Now that the heat wave has passed, I'm planning to shoot the Salmon Jerky video again. I bought the salmon today. That is among my oldest videos, when my friend Eric handled the camera and he had to shoot over my shoulder or around the side because I hadn't yet built the counter that allows me to face the camera. It's an awful video, in my honest opinion. I'll start that video today and finish it tomorrow. It requires shooting over two days because the salmon has to dry in the oven overnight.

Sunday 2016.6.19 — Happy Father's Day

The Sherpa Fire

About 10 miles up the coast from where I live here in Southern California a fire erupted in a canyon on Wednesday. It was named for the Scherpa (slightly different spelling) Ranch near the point of origin. And it bodes ill for Southern California, now well into its fourth year of a serious drought.

The fire spread rapidly, fanned by "sundowner winds" in the evening. The winds are a strange weather phenomenon here. The land heats up during the day. Then, in the evening, as the sun goes down the sharp contrast of warm air over the land and cool air over the ocean produces these winds. They're not damaging, but they gust to 40 to 50 mph, making fire fighting a lot more difficult. The worst winds for fire fighters are the hot and dry Santa Ana winds that occasionally blow off the desert. Some of our most devastating fires were whipped up by Santa Ana winds.

We live close enough to notice the smoke when the wind is blowing in our direction. During the day on Wednesday there was a yellowish haze in the area. In the evening when the winds picked up, the sky was almost all smoke, from horizon to horizon.

According to Inciweb (inciweb.nwcg.gov) this morning (last update 10 hours ago), the fire had expanded to nearly 8,000 acres (3,237 hectares) and was 45% contained. Full containment isn't expected until Thursday. According to Fox News, which is wrong more times than it is right, "California inferno destroys dozens of homes, threatens hundreds more." No homes were destroyed.

The last two days have been good ones. The sundowner winds failed to materialize in the evening, giving fire fighters the upper hand on this fire. This weekend, however, might not be good for controlling the fire. The temperature in the area is expected to shoot up to more than 100°F (38°C) today and tomorrow. With high heat, low humidity, and erratic winds that could peak at 50 mph, the fire might be difficult to fight. Although some people were evacuated, the fire isn't burning in a densely populated area.

On the bright side, the fire was several miles away from the canyon north of us, where the transmission lines feed electricity into our area. The Gap Fire, which happened in 2008, burned beneath those high voltage lines and there were times when we were without electricity, sometimes for hours at a time.

Also worth mentioning is that the strategic air base for fighting fires was moved from Santa Barbara to Santa Maria a few years ago. So we didn't have to hear those very noisy DC-10 planes taking off and landing all day. They are outrageously loud.

And speaking of heat, yesterday was the first day I turned on my air conditioner. The heat wave is supposed to end on Tuesday; so this won't be a difficult one.

Wednesday 2016.6.15

Banana Corn Bread

On Sunday afternoon I recorded a new video of the Banana Corn Bread. And, for the first time, I tried putting chopped nuts in the batter. Pecans. I never tried it before because my mother wouldn't do it. She made banana bread occasionally when the bananas became too ripe to eat. She said putting nuts in the bread made it too dry. However, my mother was also notorious for cutting corners when cooking. Walnuts and pecans might be too expensive. Which is it? Too expensive or too dry?

Too dry. For a more moist bread, leave the nuts out, unless you really like bread with chopped walnuts or pecans in it and you don't mind a little dryness. You can always slather the slices with butter, or double the amount of fat that goes into the batter.

I didn't do much to the photo on the recipe page, except crop and size it. If I set my camera's white balance before the shot, the color usually comes out okay. I also don't use many props. A knife and cutting board is enough. Some would ague, and rightly so, that a bunch of bananas and a bowl of unshelled walnuts in the background would help illustrate the ingredients. It's a matter of preferance. I'm not into props. When I was in college studying theatre, some of my best class work was on a bare stage with maybe a chair and, if necessary, a small table. (Some students would spend 15 minutes decorating the stage to do a three-minute scene. It was awful.) And that brings up a story, if I might boast a little.

The acting program was brutal. Anyone could take the introductory acting classes in freshman year. The instructors would pass a short list of recommended students to the sophomore acting program. They'd start with 60 students (out of 200) and by the end of sophomore year we were cut down to 15 to 20, about 12 of whom would be recommended into the junior year program.

I made it into junior year. The first quarter was tragedy — Greek and Shakespeare. Tragedy isn't my best genre. I was dismal, but I wasn't cut. The director knew I had promise for comedy and there were fewer good comics than tragedians. He needed me.

The comedy class was the next quarter. We were told to stay fresh on our Shakespeare monologues because we would use them again in comedy.

The first day of class he picked three students (I wasn't one) and told each to go up onto the stage and use their Shakespeare monologue, but be funny. It was embarrassing because the best they could do was be silly. They weren't funny. It was so degrading, one actor gave up halfway through her monologue.

When we met again on Wednesday he asked, "Who wanted to do their Shakespeare monologue last time but didn't get picked?" No one raised their hand; they remembered how bad the other three were and no one wanted to look like a failure. I jumped up, because I had worked it all out at home. I gave my character, Richard II, a new character profile and lots of comic business (with, of course, lots of sexual innuendo because that's always popular is college). I mimed my props. As I launched into it, everyone started laughing. It was brilliant, if I do say so myself. They were wiping their eyes.

Afterward, the director said, "That's the point. You can't just be funny. You have to develop a character who takes himself seriously, but is funny."

Later I heard he reported to the front office that he could never laugh in comedy class again because, "Dennis did the funniest monologue I've ever seen in my entire career of teaching." That cemented my place in the program.

As for the banana corn bread, it's delicious with cream cheese. I edited the video. Sunday's feature recipe and video will be Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Orange.

If all goes according to plan, next Sunday I'll upload the remake of the Banana Corn Bread video to YouTube. I'd like to redo many of those old videos and upload them in between weeks when I feature a new recipe. Some of those videos were done five years ago, when I knew very little about making videos, and it shows. I can do better now. I'm thinking New England Clam Cakes will be next. I love those.

Casually We Pedal Along

As expected, the pedal cleats arrived in Monday's mail. Meanwhile, I scavenged some semi-rigid black foam stuff from a dumpster and used it, along with some rigid black plastic I had, to make the casual pedals for riding with street shoes.

They work well enough. I went for a short ride on them. No one laughed. But when I came home the neighbor who sold me the bike was coming home too. He saw the pedals, burst out laughing, and asked, "What did you do?" I explained that these were only for casual rides. I put the new cleats, which were actually a better fit, on the new shoes. He ultimately approved of the pedals because he said I have to get used to the dynamics of the bike. It is so agile and responsive, I overdo it when steering, and nearly fall. I'm too used to my old bike, which weighs almost four times heavier. And so I've decided, if anyone asks, these are "training pedals."

He also told me more about the bike. He added all the Shimano Dura-Ace hardware and wheels because he wanted the best parts he could find.

Sunday 2016.6.12

Probably the Last of Politics, For a While.

This past week was, for me, the last entertaining and interesting period of the campaign season, at least until November. There is only one primary remaining, in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, but the two candidates are already established. Although Bernie Sanders claims he is still holding out for a contested Democratic convention in Philadelphia, the statistics are not in his favor. Hillary Clinton has more than enough delegates to be the presumptive candidate, as does Donald Trump on the Republican side. No third-party candidate successfully emerged to draw voters away from the two unpopular candidates.

A friend of mine who always exercises her right to vote said she usually votes for the lesser of the two evils. This year, she plans not to vote at all. She agrees with those who say it is a civic responsibility to vote, but in her mind voting for either candidate this year would be irresponsible. In her mind neither of the two candidates is fit to be President. Conan O'Brien said it succinctly. He worries Clinton is lying and Trump isn't.

I don't feel as negative. Trump would be okay if the USA was a major corporation. He might negotiate some profitable deals. But the USA is a nation of diverse peoples, all of whom have guaranteed human rights. I believe Clinton would be better than Trump at leading this nation because she, at least, knows Washington from the inside. Whereas there was a steep learning curve for President Obama after he took office in 2009, Clinton is already a Washington insider. She would certainly be no Angela Merkel, but I would like to see what she can accomplish in the job, and I think it's time for the country to have a female president.

Clinton's greatest obstacle will be Congress. The Democrats might win a majority in the Senate, which would make Superior Court appointments easier, but the House of Representative will still be dominated by Republicans. There will not be enough vacant House seats to gain a Democratic majority in this election. Maybe with all the negative hype about Republican stonewalling and obstructionism the party will really change this time. They promised to improve their image after they lost control of Congress in 2008, but nothing changed. Few are hoping for a less intransigent GOP in 2017.

A recent Quinnipiac University opinion survey showed that the vast majority of Americans are too cynical about politicians and government to place any hope in the candidates. The voters mostly agree that the biggest problem in government is money from super PACs and lobbyists. Too many politicians are bought and paid for. The probability of seeing any meaningful legislation passed is almost zero.

And Speaking of Opinions…

Someone on YouTube offered me an excellent suggestion this past week. Why not add into the description of each cooking video something like: "To see all my recipes, visit my web site MobileHomeGourmet.com"? That was one of those DUH! moments. How come I never thought of that? It took a few days, but I added that line to most of my videos. And working backward toward my earliest YouTube videos, I saw where I should video new versions of some of the oldest ones. Maybe I could release a new video every other week and in between I could upload a newer version of an old video. I'm planning to do Banana Corn Bread later today.

Banana Corn Bread was something I came up with in college. I liked baking corn bread. It was especially useful when I had milk that was a little too old for drinking. It wasn't sour yet, but it wasn't fresh any longer. It was kind of in between. I'd use it for corn bread. My biggest complaint about the bread was that it tends to be crumbly. One day I had some over-ripe banans and I thought about making banana bread. I love banana bread. But I wondered what it would be like to use them in corn bread. Would it make the bread more moist, less crumbly? Yes.

My neighbors would benefit. I almost always give my video food away. I don't want the calories in the house. I might have mentioned in an earlier blog that I joined the Prevent, now Omada, weight loss program again. I did well last year, but after some discouragement I started eating comfort food again and got way off track on my eating plan. So I requested to join again and was approved.

My first experience in the program again was not pleasant, unfortunately. On the first day we were encouraged to add something to the discussion forum. I introduced myself, sharing a little about my accomplishments and failures. I was hoping it might encourage others to share a little about themselves too. I was immediately insulted by someone and that discouraged others from commenting. I wasn't sure how to respond, so I finally said something simple and respectful, ending it with "Bye," meaning "I'm outta here." I haven't gone back.

I still haven't made up my mind how to proceed, if at all. You've heard the expression "Once bitten, twice shy," meaning one bad experience can make us wary to take further risks. I expand that to: "Once bitten, twice shy. Bitten twice, good-bye." I don't want to risk a second insult and then withdraw from the program entirely. I have, however, pulled back a lot. I'm not even stepping on their weight scale, which transmits my daily weights to their progress tracker. I use a different, private scale to weigh myself daily.

More About the Cervélo Bicycle

I did some research online to estimate the cost of the bike and the accessories if purchased new. Is it in poor taste to discuss money? I'll risk it.

I found that the bike I bought for $600 probably sold new for $4,000, without all the added stuff. Added would be the Speedplay Zero pedals and cleats ($250), Profile Design T1+ handlebar extension ($100), which I'll never use, Bontrager Velocis helmet ($200), and Garmin GPS Cycling Computer ($330). Add the carbon fiber bottle holders ($30) and the accessories are over $900 if purchased new. I'm not sure what else he might have added. I do know the parts — such as the derailleurs and wheels — are good quality Dura-Ace hardware. I got a good deal on this bike. And I didn't talk him down. I paid his asking price because he is a good friend. Someone offered me $1,000 on Friday, but I graciously declined to sell the bike.

And I had some interesting experiences in bike shops as I was buying my shoes and a floor stand for the bike. When I told them how much I paid for the bike, they asked, "Do you know that guy?" I had to assure them he has been a reliable friend for more than 20 years. When I asked why they questioned me about him, they answered, "Because that's the kind of price you pay for a stolen bicycle." They can't imagine a Cervélo road racing bike selling for $600. I live in a college town where bike theft is as common as bird poop. I lost one bike to a thief and two attempts since then were thwarted by someone. (And that is also a good way to dispose of an old bike — leave it unlocked somewhere. Been there, done that.)

As I mentioned in Wednesday's blog entry, at 65 years of age I've earned the right to look like a doofus (or dufus). I've been trying to practice with those Speedplay Zero cleats. One video I saw suggested sitting on the bike in a narrow space, like in a doorframe, and practice clipping into and out of the pedals to develop the "muscle memory" of working with them. The narrow space of the door frame saves me from falling down. The video guy said, "You're going to fall down. It comes with the territory; so get used to it." I don't want to fall down. At my age, it takes longer to recover.

So I upped the doofus factor. I ordered an extra pair of shoe cleats for about $40+shipping. When they arrive tomorrow I'll cut little pedal-sized pieces from a small scrap of plywood. Then I'll fasten the cleats to them, glue some carpet scraps on top, and clip those onto my pedals when I want to go for a leisurely ride in street shoes. I'll continue to practice with the shoe cleats, and hopefully become fully accustomed to using them without having to think about clipping off when I apply the breaks, but in the meantime I want to enjoy my bike rides in safety.

Wednesday 2016.6.8

Hooked on a New TV Show

I don't watch much TV, except for the news. Every once in a while, however, I get hooked on a new TV show. Several years ago it was Ice Road Truckers, which was good for a few seasons and then became boring. A few years ago I started watching The Curse of Oak Island. Convinced they'd never find any gold, I began to lose interest, but I'll probably watch it again when the next season is broadcast this fall/winter. My newest TV addiction is Genius by Stephen Hawkings.

How to describe it? Maybe by example. Have you seen Myth Busters? Genius is sort of like Myth Busters, but about physics.

The first show asked the question: "Can we ever time travel?" I have strong opinions about this. I'd say, "No." But I couldn't explain why. Hawkings does that. Consider: Suppose I could go back ten years in time and walk into the office where I once worked. Would I meet myself? Would my coworkers see two of me? No. Because that would break an unbreakable law of nature — conservation of mass and energy. "Matter can neither be created nor destroyed." Where would the mass come from for there to be a second me? A second human body cannot suddenly come into existence from out of nothing. And so Hawkings says, "At least history will be safe from meddling time-traveling tourists." We never need to worry about our present existence being altered by time tourists. I like that term — time tourists. I know someone who would love to be a time tourist, and he would definitely mess up history.

Hawkings says "time" cannot be separated from the universe. The time-space matrix is one thing, not two — time and space. It's all one; so they call it time-space. The other "time," such as in Jules Verne's Time Machine and the Back to the Future movies, he describes as the cultural definition of time.

Okay, so this is where I start to get a little strange. Stay with me.

As weird as it might seem, I have, for a long time, believed there is no such thing as time. I know. Weird. But I do. It's like distance. There is really no such "thing" as distance. You can't buy it. You can't manufacture it. You can't produce it in a lab. However, we all know what it is. You have object A and object B and you want to know how far apart they are. So you come up with a measurement, distance. It doesn't matter whether it's inches, centimeters, or light years. The measurement is distance.

Are you still with me?

So, time. I don't believe in it, but I do believe in motion. You are probably familiar with Cartesian coordinates. Those are the X, Y, and Z things used to plot an object's location in a space. Everything in space, however, is in motion. Everything. From one end of the universe to the other. How do we plot the motion? Time.

Take speed (velocity) for example. You can't have 50 miles per hour without "hours." We need time. Velocity is a combination of distance and time. But what it really comes down to is motion. We measure speed with "distance" and "time," both of which we humans came up with to do the measurements.

Let's go back to time travel again to demonstrate another problem. I'm sitting with you in a restaurant. We're having lunch. You want to show me a new Android time travel app you downloaded to your smart phone. You explain you're going to jump back six months in time and then come back again. So, for a few seconds you'll disappear, and then reappear. But will you make it back to the restaurant?

You jump back six months in time. What do you see? Nothing, except a lot of stars and the sun in the distance. No earth. It's hidden on the other side of the sun, where it was six months ago. You're out in the cold dark vacuum of empty space and your blood is starting to boil from the lack of air pressure on your body. You have seconds to work your smart phone to get back to the restaurant. Will you make it? Maybe. Or will I be stuck paying for our lunch? Probably. "Another time" is not a destination we can visit for a while and then return, because it doesn't really exist.

So what about time progressing at different speeds depending on proximity to a gravitation source? That's true. The Hawkings TV show demonstrated that. They used two cesium atomic clocks, one located at desert level and one on top of a mountain. The one on the mountain was two billionths of a second ahead of the other after 24 hours because the closer you are to a gravitional source — the earth in this case — the slower time progresses, because it is warped more by gravity. One clock had "time travelled" into the future. Or had it?

Lets say you were sent to live on the former planet Pluto for a while. Just for the sake of this illustration, let's say time progresses there twice as fast as on earth, because of Pluto's size and its distance from the sun. We synchronize our watches at midnight, January 1st. Six months later on planet Earth it is June 30th. But on Pluto it is December 31st. If we could use some sort of warp in the time-space matrix to open up a worm hole between Earth and Pluto, such that I could give you a bottle of champagne to celebrate New Year's Eve with, when would you receive it? December 31st? Or would you get it six months earlier, on your June 30th? The answer is obvious. You would receive it at the same "time" as I handed it to you through the worm hole, even though your calendar is six months ahead of mine. Why?

Because we are both still in the "present." And that is why I don't really believe in time. The only real point of time that exists is the present. Everywhere throughout the entire universe, even in the center of a black hole (where time doesn't advance at all), everything is locked permanently in the present. Actually, there really is no time outside the present. The past and future don't really exist, except as memory/history and speculation.

Let's consider Earth and Pluto again. Suppose you had a really powerful telescope and you could watch the people on Earth. Would you see us as we would be on our December 31st? Could you warn us of an impending future disaster or terrorist attack? No, because you would see us in the same present you're in. We'd be moving in slow motion. Motion again. And if we could watch you, you'd be racing around at double speed. However, we'd both be in the same present point in time. Your speed would appear faster to me, and mine would appear slower to you. That's relativity, or at least part of it.

And, so, time exists only in the cultural sense. It's what's on my wrist watch. It's the button I press on my stove to count down 30 minutes while the bread bakes in the oven. But in terms of the physical universe, I don't believe "time" exists, except as a measurement of motion. If I "move" from point A to point B, the amount of movement can be measured in distance. The speed with which I move can be measured in velocity. But it's all motion. Distance and time, in the cultural sense, are creations of humans to measure stuff.

And at some time in the future I will probably be available to receive my Nobel Prize in physics. But that's only speculation. Thank you.

New Bicycle Too

New to me, but used.

My neighbor across the street needs cash to fix up his motorcycle. He has toys. Lots of toys. So he offered me his Cervélo bicycle for $600. He says it was used in one stage of the Tour de France a few years ago. It's an incredible machine, very light, 15½ pounds (6.8kg), and all carbon fiber. Flappy paddle shifters. Garmin GPS Cycling Computer. He also gave me his helmet, which he said he paid $200 for.

I don't know much about the bike. It's a Cervélo 3T "Vroomen White Design" with lots of Dura-Ace hardware on it.

I needed to buy some shoes and have the cleats transferred. His shoes are too small for me; so I gave those back. The shoes I bought were $250. Wow! But I'm not complaining. The bike supposedly sold for several thousand dollars when new. It still looks new. There isn't a scratch on it. He took good care of it, and rarely rode it. Hopefully it will excite me enough to get back into cycling.

When I bought the shoes the clerks at the cycling shop tried to sell me cycling lycra. Me? In lycra? They said I'd look like a dork riding a Cervélo in street clothes. I'm 65 years old. I earned the right to look like a fool. No lycra.

Sunday 2016.6.5

The Third Time is the Charm

On Wednesday afternoon I tried again to get a near-perfect photograph of the chicken with Chocolate Chile Barbecue Sauce. I think I finally got what I wanted. See the recipe page.

It definitely benefits from a little green. But I broke that color up with a few sautéed mushroom pieces to tie in the color of the chicken. If anything might make that photo better, maybe it would be a full chicken leg rather than a single thigh. A leg would be more recognizable. But this challenge is done.

Clam Cakes Too

As planned, I made New England Clam Cakes for the Down Syndrome guy up the street. It was his birthday and he really likes those fritters. And, as planned, I shot some better photography for the recipe page.

I tried fixing the color in this photograph using Photoshop, but I never got the picture to look the way I really wanted it to. The clam cakes don't look very appetizing.

I shot the photo near the west-facing window in the afternoon, taking advantage of natural lighting and working with the white sheers closed to diffuse the light. I also didn't fry these fritters as long, avoiding the dark browning seen in the earlier photograph. The recipe was prepared the same way with the same ratio of flour, clam juice, and clams. The difference is in the frying and the use of natural lighting. The new photo makes the clam cakes look appetizing.

Wednesday 2016.6.1

A Good Time Was Had By All

Monday was Memorial Day here in the USA, a day to remember and honor the soldiers who gave their life in the defense of democracy and freedom for this country. For many Americans it is also the beginning of the summer barbecue season.

The phone rang in the morning and as soon as I saw the name on my phone I knew what the call would be about. It was from a friend who loves to barbecue meat, especially ribs. The call was indeed an invitation to dinner.

As soon as I got off the phone I started assembling the ingredients I still had for the new Chocolate Chili Barbecue Sauce recipe I have been experimenting with. My friend didn't ask for a sauce, but I offered one, which turned out to be a good idea because he was only using a bottled sauce. And this worked out well for me because it provided an opportunity to test the sauce on ribs. I had used it only on chicken.

Everyone enjoyed it. I was not surprised. It is an unusual but delicious barbecue sauce. I already have one barbecue sauce in the Recipe Archive, under Basics. This new sauce will be an excellent addition when I finally get around to uploading it. I edited the video during the weekend. I still need to write the recipe. It will be several weeks before everything is uploaded.

As for the dinner, it was excellent. I always enjoy visiting that family. The conversation is always lively and friendly. Everyone is pleasant. And there is always an abundance of food — besides the ribs (both pork and beef), there was a green bean salad, potato salad, beans, bread, wine, and one or two more items I can't remember. And, as usual, everything was delicious. The ribs were slow-cooked on the barbecue all day. They were tender, moist, and meat was almost falling off the bone. It's always nice when someone else does the cooking, and also when they do an excellent job.

Photography

Yesterday I did the final photography for the chicken with the Chocolate Chile Barbecue Sauce on it. Initially I had four pieces of chicken on a plate. It was good enough, but it wasn't what I really had in mind. So I walked up to Smart & Final and bought one ear of corn. Buying only one looked odd. I explained to the lady at the register that I only needed one for a prop in a photograph. I like corn on the cob, but really it is mostly a vehicle for eating a lot of melted butter. Popcorn is more fun.

All Caught Up

This morning I finished the last of my tasks for this web site. My email was completed late last week. Today I wrote the recipe for the Chocolate Chili Barbecue Sauce. That was the only project remaining. And that puts eight videos and recipes in the vault for uploading later. At my current rate of uploading, that will carry me into September.

Sunday's feature recipe and video will be Onion Rings.

And that gives me another idea. What if I were to put some of the rings on that plate with the chicken and the corn? I'll think about that…

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