cellio | short takes

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short takes

In the "people with too much time on their hands" department, Lego Rubik's Cube Solver (link from dyanearden).

What's with all the spam lately about cleaning one's colon? I didn't realize that our punctuation had become dirty. It's probably a secret plot by the commas.

"Take one pill every six hours". Right -- whom are they kidding? Try "take one pill when you get up and one at bedtime, and space the other two as proportionally as you can". I've got to believe that that level of flexibility exists for most things.

Now that it's cold, Erik has taken to sleeping on top of the bedroom radiator. I understand the appeal of direct heat, but I would have thought it would be more comfortable with a radiator cover. Less lumpy, for one thing. But he shuns the covered radiators, which make up the majority in the house, for that one -- even in the daytime, when there's no argument based on proximity of his people. (Well, person. They are unambiguously my cats, not our cats.) Embla, on the other hand, prefers the cushioned window seats over the radiators in the living room, and Baldur is probably too fat and lazy to try any of them.

The talmud says the Almighty wears t'fillin -- obviously metaphorically, though the discussion doesn't actually bring that out. The bulk of the discussion concerns the texts that are within them. The question of regular t'fillin vs. Rabbeinu Tam is not addressed. :-)

Giant Eagle normally uses blue plastic bags, which is helpful because the city mandates blue plastic bags for recycling and they're hard to find otherwise. During most of October Giant Eagle was using orange Halloween bags instead, and I depleted my stash of blue bags at the time. Now I find that they have switched to white "winter" bags, presumably for at least all of December. I have enough blue bags saved up, but I wish Giant Eagle hadn't abdicated its responsibility to the community. :-)

I've never tried soy milk before (is it supposed to be completely non-dairy?), but was attracted to the "Silk Nog" -- particularly by the implication of "eggnog", one of my vices, and the nutrition information (90 cal/serving vs 200-300 for the real thing). Verdict: inspired by eggnog, clearly different, will drink.

Current (baked) salmon optimization for simplicity times taste: put salmon filet on large piece of foil; mix equal parts sour cream and spicy brown mustard (the type of mustard is important) and spread over; seal salmon in foil and bake until done.

More food bits: matar paneer tonight because it's been too long; my turn to bake for the kiddush on Saturday (ginger cookies, maybe?); broccoli with garlic sauce for the choir dinner Monday. Maybe the veal-cranberry stew for Shabbat lunch? Don't know about Shabbat dinner yet; inspiration is invited to strike before tomorrow's trip to Kosher Mart.

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Soy milk is generally non-dairy--we use it because neither B nor L can drink dairy milk without stomach aches and other nasty symptoms.

We like Silk Nog and get it as an occasional holiday treat. Of the fancy Silk flavors that are available year 'round, Silk Chai is okay. Silk Mocha flavor is better. Chocolate Silk is best of all.

B & L refuse to drink Vanilla or Plain Silk so I don't bother with them (and it's unfortunate because L would drink soy milk at Starbucks before Starbucks switched to Soy. Now she won't, though she'll still drink the foam off my latte).

We use Vanilla Creamy Enriched Vitasoy for general cereal/drinking/baking purposes. If I made more non-sweet foods that called for milk I'd use Plain Creamy Enriched Vitasoy, but I almost never do, except for instant macaroni & cheese, in which case L doesn't mind a little vanilla.

Thanks for the run-down on the liquid soy options.

Is it milk itself, or latose? Because I really like Lactaid milk -- very tasty.

He thinks it's an additive that commercial dairies add to their milk, though back when we were experimenting with organic milk, the two brands we tried must not have the same additive because he was able to drink those. But we came to prefer the Vitasoy so that's what we buy.

Note to anonymous driver: if you're going to ignore your stop sign while coming so close to hitting a pedestrian that your car brushes clothing, you should at least have the decency not to glare at said pedestrian. It's times like this that I long for ammunition -- perhaps a paint gun in the coat pocket, since real projectiles would be problematic.

One of my ex's, who carried a briefcase all through college, used to thump it on the passing cars, and got enormous satisfaction when they thought they'd hit him. You might try it. And sometimes it scratched their cars a little.

I did that with an umbrella once, but most of the time I'm not carrying something suitable. Hmm...

Yeah, um, while this sounds satisfying (believe me, 10 years ago I'd be right there with you!), best not to do it in these days of road rage. A friend of mine was walking home (2 blocks) from the bus stop a few weeks ago. He was in the middle of the cross-walk, and an SUV was coming toward him, going faster than the speed limit. My friend began swinging his bag because it had a reflective stripe on it, hoping the driver would see him and slow down (there were no street lights at this intersection yet because it's a new development). It slipped out of his hand and hit the SUV. The driver stopped, got out, and began punching my friend in the face because he "used his bag to hit my car!" My friend was okay, but very shaken up. He was just lucky the guy didn't have a gun with him.

I'm all about the paint gun idea. I think if a car has x number of paint splats on it then the driver should have his/her license revoked for a week, or whatever. But I guess this would fall under the realm of vigilante law, and people are just too messed up any more for this to work properly.

So, long story short, be careful because there are dangerous people out there.

Ouch. I hope your friend filed charges against that asshole. Even if your friend had thrown his bag at the car, that would not justify a beating. It would, at most, justify a call to the police, if the driver thought he was being attacked.

I was thinking that the paint gun could help in identifying a car that fled before I could see a license plate (should there be a need to involve the police). But the splat of paint onto the rear windshield would also be satisfying, I'll admit. :-) (It's about inconvenience, not permanent damage. So no rocks, snowballs, pellet guns, etc.)

I'm all about the paint gun idea. I think if a car has x number of paint splats on it then the driver should have his/her license revoked for a week, or whatever.

Never mind the problems of vigilante justice; consider the powerful role of vandals and people with vendettas in such a scenario. ("Ooh, there's my pointy-haired boss' parked car, and no video cameras in sight -- lock and load!")

As far as I know soy milk is always non-dairy (and pretty sure it's (almost) always vegan). I like the EdenSoy unsweetened organic, personally. I /love/ eggnog too, so I'll have to give the Silk Nog a try.

Thanks for the info. I'll try to remember to look for EdenSoy. In general, it would be useful to have fake milk for certain cooking applications.

Some of it in the USA is labeled OU-Parve and some OU-Dairy, so make sure you check.

ginger cookies, maybe?

You know that "fake oil" they sell for baking -- the stuff that's supposed to be just like oil except it's actually fat-free? It may be fine for cakes and breads, but do not use it in cookies. And if you do, ignore the part in the recipe that says "ungreased cookie sheet", because it's not that much like oil.

That is all.

Fat free /oil/ substitute? How is that possible? What on earth is it made out of?

Smucker's Baking Healthy Oil & Shortening Replacement for Baking (not for use in frying).

Corn syrup, apple puree, water, pectin, soy lecithin, ascorbic acid, citric acid, potassium sorbate, calcium chloride, refrigerate after opening, post no bills (oops).

We have some people in the congregation on various special diets (low-fat, low-cal, diabetic, probably others), so I thought I'd try to make stuff that at least some of them could eat. Can't do much with molasses-based cookies for the sugar-free crowd, but I thought I'd at least do something useful for some of them. But it was an experiment, which is why I did it on Wednesday when I still have one more night...

I seem to recall plain ol' apple sauce being a suitable substitute for something in a muffin recipe. Alas, I've forgotten whether it was substituting for oil, sugar, or what. It was a tefalon muffin pan, though.

Prolly oil; I have a banana bread recipe that uses applesauce instead of oil, and no one has ever noticed the substitution.

You can sub fruit puree (applesauce or prune puree) for fats in most baking recipes. I have a friend who's on a no-fat vegetarian diet (REALLY bad heart disease), and that's what he does. If you're okay with dairy, you can use non-fat plain or vanilla yogurt, too, I think.

Thanks for the tip! So maybe it was just some quirk of this recipe, rather than cookies in general.

My mom's been on a low-fat diet for years. Unfortunately, most low-fat prepackaged foods sub sugar for fat, which is why you have to be careful when counting fat grams -- the calorie count can be astronomical.

I've absorbed cooking tips for yers. Maybe someday I'll use them. Of course, I might enjoy cooking more if I had a decent kitchen...

My wife loves the Silk. We get Silk, Chocolate Silk and now that it's available the Silk Nog. One of the signs that it's official winter. :D The other is that our cats are sleeping in bed with us. :D

Umm, I'm not an expert in the law, but if he 'brushed clothing' he hit you. Personally, with my theatre experience, I'd have pretended to be struck and gone rolling, just so he'd have to fill out police reports. He can't leave, that makes it hit and run. And if I don't press charges, it's not fraud. But he will have to explain to the police why he was that close in the crosswalk. 3:) <-- devil w/horns.

Personally, with my theatre experience, I'd have pretended to be struck and gone rolling, just so he'd have to fill out police reports.

Would that I were as fast a thinker as you. :-)

Though, having once been hit for real -- by an idiot speeding through a red light blindly -- and had the police do nothing more than slap the driver's wrist, I'm more pesimistic than you. Yes, there were (neutral) witnesses. I later found out that (1) it was the driver's second accident in six weeks and (2) the driver had two children in the car, ages 3 and 1 (can we say reckless endangerment times 3?). Her insurance company eventually coughed up some money for my troubles (not a lot), but the correct outcome would have involved charges. I should have insisted on charges being filed, but my brain was pretty fuzzy from the pain meds during those critical first couple days.

I was very amused yesterday when the car that nearly sideswiped me while running across three lanes of traffic to cut me off at an intersection had a license plate beginning with the letters "SFB".

It's an old nickname some of our secretaries used to use for one of the less useful guys in the office. He thought it stood for something like "Super ... B----" the last bit being his name. It actually stands for "S**t For Brains".

*laugh* What an appropriate license plate!

I used to playtest the game "Star Fleet Battles". When it was marketed outside the US, the name was changed to "Star Trek Fleet Battles" lest people use the acronym "SFB" for it.

Heh. I never thought of that. I refer to it as SFB too. Sometimes abbreviations are context-sensitive. :-)

If you still play, by the way, you should let Johan know. He occasionally puts games together (one-shots, not campaigns) and would probably welcome another player. Especially a more advanced/detail-oriented one, as when I get pulled into these games it's on the condition that I can play something a little simpler. :-)

If you still play, by the way, you should let Johan know. He occasionally puts games together (one-shots, not campaigns) and would probably welcome another player. Especially a more advanced/detail-oriented one, as when I get pulled into these games it's on the condition that I can play something a little simpler. :-)

Actually don't play, have a few manuals left, thanks for the heads-up though. If Johan will be at the event this weekend I'll give them to him to see if he can get others addic- interested in the game ;-)

My philosphy on the SCA fencing rules evolved from years of SFB (er, StFB...) Too many times I've seen a game bog down into 5 minutes of playing, and 30 minutes of rules discussions. This is something that I've been trying not to let happen with the fencing rules, especially the melee rules.

It's been said that there are only 25 rules in StFB. However, each rule interacts in a special way with another rule, creating a 25x25 matrix of rules for the game (What happens when I tractor a ship and then DisDev it? What happens when my ESG hits a Tholian web?)

But the game has it's good moments too, and game me alot of enjoyment over the years. My fencing style evolves from how I flew Klingon ships (saber dancers, "move-snipe-dance") and Gorns (give up the first shot, but have one heck of a counter punch with a tractor-plasma torp combo).

If Johan will be at the event this weekend I'll give them to him to see if he can get others addic- interested in the game ;-)

I imagine he'll be there. Failing that, his wife will be, because she's in the choir and the choir is performing. (Hmm, that reminds me -- I wonder if I can find a ride to the post-revel for an event I'm not attending. I don't drive in that part of town at night; the oncoming headlights on that stretch of road are too much for me.)

The thought of deriving one's fencing style/rules from Starfleet Battles makes me laugh, but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it. I think you've got a good point: a lot of combat boils down to the same tactics regardless of the medium. Nifty.

However, each rule interacts in a special way with another rule, creating a 25x25 matrix of rules for the game

You understate the problem. The interactions are not limited to pairwise ones. It's 25^25, thank you very much!

The few times I've played my experience has been different from yours. It's not that we spent 30 minutes on rules lookups for 5 minutes of play; it's that it took all afternoon to play through one quick little exhchange of fire. That kind of molassesean time distortion just doesn't work for me. It's better when ships have fewer options, fewer guns, fewer little auxilliary things running around (shuttles, drones, torpedos, etc), but still...

And I'm not dumping on the game in general -- just saying that in many cases it doesn't work for me. Johan has put in some effort to come up with scenarios that appeal to people like me; it's good that the game is flexible enough to be able to support that.

The few times I've played my experience has been different from yours. It's not that we spent 30 minutes on rules lookups for 5 minutes of play; it's that it took all afternoon to play through one quick little exhchange of fire. That kind of molassesean time distortion just doesn't work for me. It's better when ships have fewer options, fewer guns, fewer little auxilliary things running around (shuttles, drones, torpedos, etc), but still...

I hear you -- they published a "Cadet's Game" (more fencing analogies!) for just that reason. Keep the ships small and discard all the esoteric systems and the game plays faster.

I think the B5 game was designed to play much faster, but similar principle. I really think that if Energy Allocation in SFB were discarded, then the game would go even faster.

Just an addition to the soy milk thread. I am a huge fan of Silk, and use Vanilla Silk in my cereal. I use plain Silk 1-for-1 in recipes that call for milk. There are actually ways to make soy ice cream using soy milk as well, which makes for a lovely dessert (search for "soy ice cream recipe" or "non-dairy ice cream recipe"). Do let us know how the silk nog goes though, as I haven't tried it :)

The Silk Nog tastes fine. I haven't had any other Silk products yet, so I can't compare them yet. It's thinner and less "milky" than real egg nog, as you would expect, but the flavor is otherwise right. The difference is probably akin to that between regular chocolate milk and Cooper's Lake chocolate milk, if that helps any -- so it's not that the former is bad, but that the latter is so good. :-) Anyway, the Silk Nog works for me; if you like soy milk in general you'll probably like this too.

On y'all's various recommendation I recommended Silk Nog to our very cute but lactose intolerant bag-girl at the grocery store tonight (who turns out to be a Sr. girl in Duncan's band class, and so he was glad I could keep the conversation going while not having a huge lot to say himself*). A whole flock of customers and cashiers around us heard the conversation and rapidly agreed with us, which was pretty amusing.

(*ah, the joys of teen-age boys. ;-) And it was apparently almost worse that she has apparently noticed him, too, since she spoke to him first while we were standing in line. I can hardly remember those days...)

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short takes

Soy to the world

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Short Takes

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Re: idiot drivers

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Some soy milk is dairy!

cooking note

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StFB

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Silk Nog