After 33 years, the truth be known:
Washington Post Confirms Felt Was 'Deep Throat'.
You have to register with the Washington Post to read the article. Sorry about that…
-
« Home
Pages
-
Categories
-
Archives
Monthly Archives: May 2005
My hat is off to the geek who put this cross-stitch pattern up on eBay! If I didn't have the software to do one myself, I'd buy this…
Added another page to the web site; this time it's my kitchen-based antics. Slowly, but surely, it's filling out…
This may have been written for the Tommies, but it is universally applicable.
On this Memorial Day, I remember the sacrifices of those who have fallen,
and I pray that they shall not have been made in vain.
Laurence Binyon, For the Fallen (21st September, 1914)
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is a music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncountered:
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables at home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end they remain.
I finally went and did something I've seen others do, but had not yet done, myself. Interested in how my presentations might look to the not-so-casual observer, I set a couple of pictures side-by-side. Yes, the photos were taken some time apart ("Hagbard" was shot nine years ago, and I shot the "Diana" photo about two weeks ago).
I suppose that it's to be expected, but I consider Diana to be me, and Hagbard to be the impostor…
Atkins can hang himself. This stuff is good food!
3 1/2 lb potatoes (about 10 medium)
1 cup chopped onion
1 lb bacon, diced
4 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup sugar
4 Tbsp butter (1/2 stick)
1 Tbsp salt
Pepper (as much as you want, you can never have enough)
1 cup cider vinegar
1 1/2 pint sour cream (yes, that's pint)
Parsley
Set the potatoes to boiling until they are fork-tender
(35-40 minutes). Peel (if desired) while warm, cut them
into pieces and put them in a large bowl with the
onion.
Cook the bacon in a large skillet. When done, lift it
out and set it aside (on the potatoes works just fine).
Pour the bacon fat into a measuring cup, to see what
you're dealing with. If you have less than 1/2 cup,
you might add some of that bacon fat you keep in the
refrigerator. Dump the half-cup of fat back into the
skillet.
Stir the flour into the fat. Add the sugar, butter, salt,
pepper, vinegar, and 2 cups water. Stir each ingredient
in well as you add it. Bring this glorp to a boil,
stirring. Let it simmer for a minute or two to thicken it
up a bit. Remove from heat; add the sour cream, a third
at a time, stirring well.
Finally, pour the resulting ooze over the potatoes, tossing
them a bit to get things mixed together (now you see why
I recommended a large bowl?), and nail it with
parsley.
Eat.
Makes about 10 servings with a meal,
about 5 servings as a meal.
With these words from Cdr. Pete Conrad, the Skylab 2 mission began on 25 May 1973. Conrad, Paul Weitz, and Joseph Kurwin performed substantial repairs on the Skylab station (damaged during its launch, eleven days earlier), then settled in to conduct medical studies, and solar astronomy and Earth resources experiments during their 28-day mission.
Skylab 2 launch
A view of the Orbital Workshop exterior during the initial rendezvous
Conrad and Weitz in the crew quarters' wardroom,
enjoying NASA's version of haute cuisine
A view of the Orbital Workshop at mission's end,
showing the single deployed solar wing, and the insulating
parasol
Many much thanks for tapping me with the book meme. It gave me a break from this style programming; I was in tears over how badly the LJ style system is put together…
, "You Asked For It!" 
)
Book You're Reading Now:
I'm actually between books. I'll get to another one really soon.
Last Book You Read:
I just finished The Neptune File by Tom Standage. At about $1.50, it was one of the world's great bargains.
Next Book You're going to Buy/Read:
I will most likely pick up either Das Boot or Gordo Cooper's Leap of Faith next.
Book You've Read the Most Times:
Probably Rockets, Missiles, and Men in Space by Willy Ley. I first read it about 35 years ago, and pick it back up every few years.
Longest Book You've Read:
I think that would be Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofatadter. At any rate, it is, so far, the book that has taken the longest time to read (about a year).
Book You've Read in the Shortest Time:
Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams. I ate that one in about four hours.
One Book You Wanted To Read That Disappointed You:
Wow! I have to think about this one… It's hard to disappoint me, where books are concerned. Probably A History of Pi by Petr Beckmann. He spends a lot of time railing against Aristotle…
Have You Read Books in a Different Language From Yours?
Göthe's Faust, in the original German (set in Frakturschrift, no less. I had a headache for a while from reading the font, until I became accustomed to it).
Writer You've Read the Most From:
Stephen Jay Gould, hands down.
Some Books You Like:
Principia Discordia, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynmann, Failure Is Not An Option by Gene Kranz, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, most anything by Stephen Jay Gould, Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofatadter.
Some Books You Don't Like:
Much of Stephen King's output <shrugs>. The Dark Tower series was pretty decent, though; Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
5 People You're Passing this On To:
, , , , .
On 24 May 1962, Malcom Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit the earth. The flight confirmed the capability of man and machine in orbital operation. There were some problems, however, with the attitude control system (excessive fuel consumption) and with retrofire (the automatic sequence did not work, and Carpenter had to initiate retrofire manually, five seconds late). These contributed to Carpenter's landing long by about 200 miles. Someone had to be at fault, and Carpenter was the easy target (Chris Kraft has made it abundantly clear that he never liked Carpenter, anyway). Carpenter never flew again. He later won acclaim in the Navy's Sealab project.
