"Safer non-stick" written by Paul on estrip.org

01/28/09 11:57 - ID#47551

Safer non-stick

At wegman's the other day, I saw these cuisinart non-toxic, non-stick
pans. They are so smoothly non stick. I wonder if they are really
safe.

Permalink: Safer_non_stick.html
Words: 29
Location: Buffalo, NY

01/28/09 09:56 - ID#47540

Whip cream obsession

I think I have almost perfected my whip cream dessert with the
addition of Sicilian blood orange. I missed the merengue base of the
previous iteration as my beaters are not strong enough to make it ;(

Permalink: Whip_cream_obsession.html
Words: 40
Location: Buffalo, NY

01/25/09 02:38 - ID#47517

Concerned about peanut butter?

I sure am concerned, but Wegman's has a sign saying theirs in not
implicated in the recall - yet. I hope so because I am sure any food
born illness would kill me.

On an unrelated note, they now also have grass fed, organic, NY strip
steaks for about $6-$7 each.

Permalink: Concerned_about_peanut_butter_.html
Words: 55
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: church of the ascension

01/24/09 01:46 - ID#47511

Lazy, rude or Illiterate drivers

I know that no one can do anything about the parking situation created by the linwood dance camp at the Church of the Ascension on Linwood. Therefore, I am just going back to documenting it for fun. Today I got some great video.

I mean you can only tell people so much, and seeing as they have nothing to lose by not following the rules, why would they? One thing I have learned as an adult is: rules, without punishment for breaking them, have no meaning.

Despite the sign that specially says no stopping in or blocking driveway - in giant red letters - and the multitude parking spots
available around the driveway - this dance camp parent decided it was okay for her to park across both driveways for five minutes during pickup from the linwood dancecamp.

It wasn't nearly as bad as the fifteen car traffic jam caused earlier
when one parent double parked in front of the driveway and then
another parent triple parked next to them. You cannot just park in the lanes of a street, ever - on any street.

Even if each parent only parks in the street for five minutes but 30
parents do this - you are talking about a major traffic situation.

They didn't even move despite the other cars beeping, despite
available spots all around, and despite cars being backed up to
north. I think come spring I might get a louspeaker and embarass them by calling them out. At least it would be entertaining.

I really can't understand these peoples blantant disregard for parking rules and especially not the disregard for actual traffic law. Not when there are spots so conveniently located all around.

paul writes at 09:10:13 01/26/09 - Comment #44872: You guys don't suck. I realize you put forth effort to try and stop it and I am not mad at you, Armand or Karen. There is only so much you can do.

For the driveway, the giant sign with red letters should be enough. And even if they didn't care about the driveway, everyone must realize that you cannot completely block a street with car beeping behind you. They must just no care.

johnallen writes at 02:17:01 01/26/09 - Comment #44871: Paul, sorry we suck so much.I'm printing out the pics and am going to show them to Karen and Armand and hopefully she can kick things up a bit. Let me know if there are any more problems with the camp please.

metalpeter writes at 11:47:01 01/25/09 - Comment #44866: Water balloons in this cold weather would be awesome!!!! I wonder if the water would freeze to things before they came out. It is to bad no one on the street has a two truck that would solve the problem. Once two people had the cars towed to a lot where they had to pay to pick them up, the problem would never happen again. I wish I was the kind of person who knew people cause I would go out and (they will be in Buffalo on Friday and Saturday) get a Monster truck and park it in the drive way. That might give people the message. I wonder if you video people breaking the law and posted it on youtube what would happen. It could just make things worse.

ladycroft writes at 07:19:40 01/25/09 - Comment #44863: that would be too funny, you would HAVE to record it!

i on the other hand would probably launch water balloons full of good at their car *evil grin*

imk2 writes at 08:50:54 01/24/09 - Comment #44853: that's it, i'm going to blockbuster to get vanilla sky!

james writes at 08:31:05 01/24/09 - Comment #44851: That is a pretty song

imk2 writes at 08:23:07 01/24/09 - Comment #44850: staralfur

imk2 writes at 08:22:51 01/24/09 - Comment #44849

james writes at 07:05:05 01/24/09 - Comment #44848: Which song was it?

imk2 writes at 04:59:21 01/24/09 - Comment #44847: nevermind i found it

imk2 writes at 03:55:35 01/24/09 - Comment #44846: paul can you ask someone at the house what sigur ros song that was playing in the background the other day when i was like "oh my god i love that song"?

lilho writes at 02:32:56 01/24/09 - Comment #44845: just make sure you get that loudspeaker by march 15th so i can join in!

Permalink: Lazy_rude_or_Illiterate_drivers.html
Words: 291
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 02/22/11 02:26

Category: birthdays

01/24/09 11:53 - 10ºF - ID#47508

My 32nd Birthday Dinner

We had my birthday dinner at my Parents house last night. I asked for lamb or seafood and got both lamb and seafood. We had lamb and cod wrapped in procuitto plus shrimp and smoked salmon.

The lamb was so yummy. It all was yummy.

My mom forgot to bring out the shrimp cocktail with the meal, so we had it with the pre-cake desset course.

I got some clothes from my parents and my brother bought my both the fanciest tuna fish

and fanciest honey

he could find at premier - which was awesome.

I could never figure out why this box is like twice plus the price of their already expensive ortiz can not in the red box. Turns out the red box is only belly meat, also known as toro in sushi bars. I can't wait to find out.

Here is a description:

Ventresca

The fatty belly of the tuna, this premium cut is familiar to sushi lovers as toro. Exceptionally flavorful, meaty and buttery, ventresca fillets are a luxury best reserved for eating unadorned, with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice or alongside a salad. Most ventresca comes from tuna imported from Italy and Spain. It's hard to find.

Permalink: My_32nd_Birthday_Dinner.html
Words: 239
Location: Buffalo, NY

01/23/09 08:02 - ID#47503

Fun facts about Calvin coolidge

At my parents house, we were reading this fun fact book about
presidents. Imagine if these were facts about current presidents.

Permalink: Fun_facts_about_Calvin_coolidge.html
Words: 25
Location: Buffalo, NY

01/23/09 12:33 - ID#47500

Personal sized deep fryer

(e:enknot) and James from work got me a personal size deep fryer. I am
so excited about the possibilities.

Permalink: Personal_sized_deep_fryer.html
Words: 24
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: birthdays

01/23/09 11:30 - 34ºF - ID#47497

Happy 32nd Birthday Paul

My birthday celebration was one to remember. It started by watching TV all day. I don't usually do this: Judge Matthis, Judge Judy, Jerry Springer and Steve Wilko. The people on the show made me feel normal. Thats probably why everyone else watches them too.

For dinner we went to Mother's - the restaurant on Virginia Place. (e:matthew) planned the whole thing, it was really nice to have something organized. The Appetizer portion of the meal was amazing. We had seafood stuffed lobster and little neck clams in chorizo sauce. Then for dinner I had the scallops. They were pretty good as well. The rest of the meals were not so amazing. (e:terry) got some pasta that had nasty, cold , canned beats on it and (e:matthew) got what tasted like instant mashed potatoes. It was yuck.

When we got home, I didn't expect the guests, in fact I thought we had robbers in the house. The moment was also arranged by (e:matthew) and it was really sweet. I think it was one of the first genuinely surprised moments in my life.

They also got me a nice metal (no plastic) weight set, which goes with the chinup bar I bought the other day. Now I have a little mini gym at home. There is already a bench in the attic.

If only it stopped there. Then Joan Crawford

came to visit.

Permalink: Happy_32nd_Birthday_Paul.html
Words: 242
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: politics

01/20/09 11:56 - 12ºF - ID#47471

Obama, the rainbow riding unicorn?

I like Obama, although, the way he speaks annoys the crap out of me. The thing I don't get is how so many people are praising him as a miracle maker when he really hasn't done anything yet other than to be voted in. Isn't it jumping the gun a bit.

I am not saying he won't possibly be the most amazing president ever, I am just saying its a little early for so many people to be praising him like he is jesus or a unicorn riding on a rainbow.

tinypliny writes at 05:05:53 01/23/09 - Comment #44805: That's some good photoshopping. :)

metalpeter writes at 06:27:58 01/21/09 - Comment #44702: I agree with you and you make a great point. I think that there are reasons why he is getting so much praise.

1. He isn't Bush or any of his cronies
2. Being the first Black President is Historical
3. He preaches Hope and Change and people believe
4. Like Bush he comes off as guy to have a beer with
5. But unlike Bush and others he comes from a humble background and was raised by a mother
6. Times are bad we need someone to save us
7. He has said that he needs us, and change can only happen with the people (sorry I don't the " ")
I think that is very important because it gives people the feeling that they can change the country and will be part of it.
8. He was the Dark Horse and wasn't expected to win
9. "Grass Roots" "Neighbor to neighbor movement"

So over all he comes off as a smart guy who wants the peoples help, and they are the ones who got him there and so there is hope. Since he is black (white also) it appears that things can change so if that can what else can. But of course he hasn't done anything yet so we shall see.

lilho writes at 11:25:53 01/21/09 - Comment #44681: i agree with you completely (e:paul). i felt like i should have been more excited than i was yesterday, but perhaps because i wasn't sure why i should be so excited. i guess it's good enough that bush is out, but i want to see obama do something really great, and then i can name a drink after him.

one thing i found to be completely insane was the whole comparing him to lincoln and how crazy the press went over that...

joshua writes at 11:04:28 01/21/09 - Comment #44680: (e:jim) I agree with what you are saying - those that invested time and money (and lots of emotion) into Obama's candidacy should celebrate. You have been invested so it is appropriate. Total agreement there.

Really though - this whole thing has been entirely overdone and expectations are so high that he'll never be able to live up to them. I only expect competency, but that is in short supply among our pols these days. I trust Obama more than I trust Congress, but then again I expect that Obama will sign just about anything the Demos send his way (let's forget this post-partisan chatter - Pelosi removed the House rules Newt Gingrich established that allowed people like her, when she was in the minority, to advance alternatives to GOP-authored legislation).

jim writes at 09:11:30 01/21/09 - Comment #44677: For me, I feel invested - literally - through donations of time and money. So revelry feels appropriate.

joshua writes at 08:58:45 01/21/09 - Comment #44676: Everybody knows it is overdone, but nobody seems to mind reveling in it. Sort of a strange, meta catharsis for a segment of our population I guess?

jason writes at 08:52:34 01/21/09 - Comment #44675: Ahaha. Pretty funny, Paul. And true. I'm willing to cut people some slack on immaculation day.

jim writes at 08:42:03 01/21/09 - Comment #44674: I'm sure after his first full day in office we'll have world peace! Pretty sure, that is...

Permalink: Obama_the_rainbow_riding_unicorn_.html
Words: 93
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: allergies

01/20/09 11:30 - 12ºF - ID#47470

Allergies and Winter

I love winter. I know it seems insane because everyone hates it but one thing I really love about it, is the lack of allergies. Both here in the winter and in AZ in the hot summer I have no allergies. Other than that I am allergic all the time.

Today, I started to think about the reasons why in Buffalo you would be so allergic to all that is natural, flower, animals, tree, dirt, etc and it hit me. You know how they say that children raised in sterile environments get allergies because their immune systems don't get the chance to properly develop. Well, first of all my mom's house is super clean. However, I was also born during the blizzard of 77 in January. There was no exposure to outdoor stuff until way into may I think. P.S. my birthday is on thrusday and I will be 32.

In general all people in winter climates have no exposure to pollen etc for months on end followed by massive exposure all at once.

Summary: In general, winter provides months of sterile outside. I wonder if that in turn leads to more allergies.

I guess there are some relations between cold month babies and asthma

tinypliny writes at 05:25:00 01/23/09 - Comment #44806: That's very interesting and part of the "Hygiene Hypothesis" proposed in 1989 by Strachen. Just a year back, Garn and Renz wrote a review article in "Immunobiology" building up a good case for this hypothesis. However, I do have my own doubts about the validity of the hypothesis. Microbes and allergens like Pollen might have an effect on shaping the immune system but so does breast-feeding. Breast-feeding touched a historical nadir here in the US in the 50s through 80s. Mothers went to work before the weaning period was over and babies born in those decades received a lesser quota of immune influences from their mothers than other generations. I wonder how much this affected allergy rates in adulthood.

Allergies used to be very uncommon in India. You could argue that this was because of the "hygiene hypothesis" but it could also be because breast-feeding is heavily stressed and practiced. In recent years, allergy rates in young kids have been increasing - probably because young mothers no longer take long maternity leaves and return to work leaving their kids in daycare. Breast-feeding is slowly on the decline as my country slowly sinks into workaholism. :(

Interesting References:
1. Strachan, D.P., 1989. Hay fever, hygiene, and household size. BMJ 299, 1259â€"1260.
:::link:::

2. Garn et. al. Epidemiological and immunological evidence for the hygiene hypothesis Immunobiology
Volume 212, Issue 6, 27 June 2007, 441-452 :::link:::

3. Mutius vE. Allergies, infections and the hygiene hypothesis â€" The epidemiological evidence
Immunobiology Volume 212, Issue 6, 27 June 2007, Pages 433-439 :::link:::

metalpeter writes at 06:16:04 01/21/09 - Comment #44701: Happy Birthday!!!!!

I don't know that much about why people have allergies. There are different kinds of them some people don't have the enzyemes to break down milk sugar and other things. But then there is the kind where what makes you allergic is that what your body is exposed to will do you no harm, but for some reason your body reads it as a danger and that is what causes the problem. You bring up a good point about things being to clean. You see these ads for cleaners where they say it kills everything and keeps your baby safe. That isn't true Babies need to be exposed to germs, I mean you don't want to make the kid sick on purpose. But they need to get a little bit of germs so the body can learn how to fight it off, and then over time get stronger. Yes there are exceptions like with premeies or anyone with a not fully devolped Imune system sorry I don't remember the medical term for that.

trisha writes at 01:06:37 01/21/09 - Comment #44685: hmm... i wonder if you ate local honey it'd do any good... it is supposed to work wonders for that sort of thing.