"opinion" written by Zobar on estrip.org

01/07/10 10:53 - 26ºF - ID#50768

opinion

I'm working on a new cross-stitch design. Am I as clever as I think I am? or is this waay too esoteric?

- Z

zobar writes at 12:15:11 01/09/10 - Comment #54313: Whaat?! I truly thought Sesame Street was everywhere. A childhood without Oscar the Grouch is miseducation.

- Z

tinypliny writes at 11:24:39 01/08/10 - Comment #54312: Wow, I didn't realize the trash can is like a copy cat version of Tardis!

----------
Wikipedia:

"While appearing to be the size of a normal trash can, Oscar's residence is actually larger inside than the exterior would suggest, as evidenced by the fact that Oscar has noted through the years that it boasts such amenities as a farm, swimming pool, bowling alley, and a piano. Other items include Slimey, Oscar's pet worm; Fluffy, Oscar's pet elephant; Oscar's shoes; and a dimension gate to Grouchland, Oscar's homeworld."

tinypliny writes at 11:21:21 01/08/10 - Comment #54311: Ohhhh... :::link:::

You can't blame me. They never showed Sesame Street on Indian Television. The other creepy oscar was waaaay more frequently on.

tinypliny writes at 10:52:01 01/08/10 - Comment #54307: Who the hell is Oscar? Oscar - as in the weird gold alien-looking bloke who is on those things that loonies from hollywood hold and cry?

zobar writes at 10:11:02 01/08/10 - Comment #54306: 'Non-computer related,' hm.

1 point for recognizing Oscar the Grouch
1 point for recognizing the classic Mac trash can
3 points for recognizing a line from Oscar's song 'I Love Trash'
5 points for remembering the doohickey you could get to make Oscar pop out of your Mac trash can and sing when you Empty Trash :::link:::

Yeah it's a bit out there.

- Z

tinypliny writes at 09:25:34 01/08/10 - Comment #54305: Ohhhhhhhhhh... I get it. As opposed to a recycle bin??

24 hours too esoteric or still off the mark?!

paul writes at 09:11:12 01/08/10 - Comment #54302: I like it. I wish I had the crafty determination you have to do something non-computer related with your creative energy.

tinypliny writes at 12:12:16 01/08/10 - Comment #54293: Of course not. It's clear as day :::link:::

Permalink: opinion.html
Words: 26
Location: Buffalo, NY

01/05/10 10:13 - 16ºF - ID#50741

run to the hills

Correction: now it can't get any worse.

I got a million dollar idea and audible.com can have it for free: Ben Stein reads a Conservative Compendium: Going Rogue, Atlas Shrugged [unabriged]. [Edit: need another title here.] I would buy the hell out of that shit.

Anyway. Ever notice, after you've quit your job but before you've left, every dumb little annoyance becomes cause for revolution? And the whole time you're thinking to yourself, 'man, this is totally the reason I'm quitting. This is bullshit! It doesn't seem like a big thing but it's an indication of the corporate culture here, man. When you go to the office supply closet for a box of staples, they shouldn't be all broken up like this! Man, this is never going to happen at my new job.'

It's triple-annoying because first, you've got the initial annoyance which you may not have even had in the first place. Then you're going all Norma Rae in your brain. And then on top of that, you're getting annoyed that you're getting so much more annoyed than you would have been in the first place. [And then you start blogging about it rather than getting your work done...] Maybe it's just me.

But there's also the serenity that comes with the knowledge that it's just not your problem anymore. Somebody else gets a broken-up box of staples and you just kind of look at them, sigh, and say 'Yeah. That sucks.'

- Z

Permalink: run_to_the_hills.html
Words: 251
Location: Buffalo, NY

12/31/09 09:48 - 33ºF - ID#50698

3-0 on the 3-1

Today is my birthday! Have some links.

One of the earliest known lolcats comes from Kenmore, NY, in 1929.

And this guy built the statue of liberty, holding a lightsaber, out of Legos

His work is on display at the Strong Museum of Play

but I don't know if this particular work is included.

- Z

Permalink: 3_0_on_the_3_1.html
Words: 80
Location: Buffalo, NY

12/30/09 10:14 - 27ºF - ID#50694

food for thought: a pangram

Boxer M. Tyson packs his bags w/ Jay-Z DVDs, Quik, Holyfield's ear.

- Z

Permalink: food_for_thought_a_pangram.html
Words: 14
Location: Buffalo, NY

12/21/09 08:17 - 27ºF - ID#50620

iodigum

I think I'm basically in favor of vitamin-enriching foods [I mean the basic A through zinc, not that probiotic acai/taurine crud you're trying to sell]. But what I want to know is, how do they decide which foods get which vitamins? If two foods are enriched with the same thing it's like showing up to a party in the same dress, right?

Whole milk gets vitamins A & D.*
Flour gets B-complex vitamins and iron.
Orange juice gets calcium.
Salt gets iodine.
Tap water gets fluoride. [How did fluoride manufacturers land that deal?!]

Why can't whole milk get iron, and flour get vitamin D? Why not put iodine in the water, and fluoride in the salt? Why put nutrients in salt anyway?

- Z

for total dork-ons:

_______________

Oh dang I gotta cut back. 'This food is high in Saturated Fat, and a large portion of the calories in this food come from sugars:'

tinypliny writes at 07:43:32 12/22/09 - Comment #53922: Hold on - you have a tendency to get nose-bleeds in sulphurous iron-rich showers? Why?!

tinypliny writes at 07:40:28 12/22/09 - Comment #53921: Do they live in the love canal or what?!

zobar writes at 09:09:42 12/21/09 - Comment #53895: Lame.

(e:dragonlady7)'s parents have well water and you can smell the iron and sulfur in it. When I take a shower it freaks my shit right out because of my strange tendency towards bloody noses.

- Z

tinypliny writes at 09:03:51 12/21/09 - Comment #53894: There are a couple more reasons. Unbleached, un-threshed cereal grains usually have a good amount of B-complex vitamins and some level of iron. However, all this is lost during processing. So they put similar supplements in cereals (e.g. fortified rice and wheat) and cereal products (flour) to help these foods reach the level (or beyond) what they would naturally have.

In a way, it makes sense because traditionally people eat a variety of foods at any meal. The logic behind variety is that different portions of the meal gives you different nutrients and in the end you will have met all your needs. However, by over-processing our foods, this is no longer true. Supplementation strives to make this right and correct losses during processing.

Some people are lactose intolerant which eliminates milk and many milk products from their diet. Since the major source of bioavailable calcium is milk, this is a major public health problem. The alternative for these folks is another common beverage dressed up to give similar benefits as milk does - orange juice.

tinypliny writes at 08:50:40 12/21/09 - Comment #53893: Could be because A, D, E and K are fat-soluble, and the rest are water-soluble. So any vehicle with enough fat content will hold A, D, E and K more efficiently. The same goes for the water-soluble lot.

You could potentially dissolve ionic salts in polar fluids e.g. water but it would be hard to mask the taste of iron salts if they are dissolved in the water component of milk. If you have ever tasted raw blood, you will know what it tastes/smells like. No one wants THAT in their milk.

The problem with iodine and fluoride is slightly different. Both are needed in trace quantities in the body and excess will cause detrimental effects - fluoride more so than iodine. Water is ideal to achieve the parts-per-million dilution that fluoride supplementation requires. Salt is ideal for iodine because its consumed by everyone. Additionally, both are polar salts that are compatible with each other. Plus you don't need such massive dilutions for iodine as fluorine does.

So in the end, it comes down to chemistry, physics and research into consumer behaviour.

Are you bored enough that you want to drown in eggnog now?! Admit it.

Permalink: iodigum.html
Words: 167
Location: Buffalo, NY

12/20/09 04:23 - 30ºF - ID#50613

new job

What a weekend. I need a vacation.

- Z

Permalink: new_job.html
Words: 9
Location: Buffalo, NY

12/18/09 03:36 - 26ºF - ID#50594

use it

well ok but why is jakob nielsen sending me $2? I would send it back if he promised not to contact me.

- Z

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

12/16/09 04:17 - 24ºF - ID#50575

the golden rule

Staring at a jumbled pile of letter-shaped cookie cutters, my subconscious told me: RELAX. The rest is just because there's not a whole lot you can write without repeating a letter.

- Chimpy Nuts

Permalink: the_golden_rule.html
Words: 36
Location: Buffalo, NY

12/14/09 10:32 - 40ºF - ID#50564

recipe korner

RECIPE, BADASS.
Equal parts Zubrowka & apple juice.

Zubrowka is Polish vodka infused with bison-grass, and has a flavor that is difficult to explain. Add in some apple juice for a kraazy subtle herbal flavor that will knock you on your ass like a ninja. I could pound these all night if they didn't pound me twice as hard.

RECIPE, PRETTY GOOD.
White Russian. Egg nog, not milk. Drinking one now.

RECIPE, BLAH.
I tried making Tom & Jerrys at Craft Nite this weekend, having never had one before, from a recipe book three times older than I am. They were kind of mleh and knowing they were full of raw eggs didn't make them any better.

A RESTAURANT THAT IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE THAT I MIGHT EVEN GO BACK.
When somebody tells me to meet them at an Irish pub in a strip mall in Clarence I tend to grimace and brace myself, especially when it's named for a street 400 miles from Transit & Main. But Brennan's Bowery Bar is actually pretty good, and we might go there again maybe on an off-night since (e:dragonlady7) works out there.

CHILDREN.
Still not my scene. Nothing to do with anything, just putting that out there.

- Z

Permalink: recipe_korner.html
Words: 215
Location: Buffalo, NY

12/10/09 09:51 - 15ºF - ID#50536

the floodgates!

I'm not that big on the commercial nog - my aunt makes a killer homemade nog and really you don't need more than three cups of egg nog per year. But I have an awesome recipe for it:

RECIPE, AWESOME.
- egg nog, carton
- bread
Soak bread in egg nog. Fry it.

Something so easy has no business tasting so much better than French toast. (e:tinypliny) - egg nog is about 300% worse than any soy-based beverage you can come up with

but LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU

- Z

jenks writes at 04:34:04 12/11/09 - Comment #53577: re: tom and jerry's - The Place makes a mean one.

zobar writes at 09:33:59 12/11/09 - Comment #53568: If you're ever around a real, honest-to-god, homemade egg nog, definitely try a little bit. It's just a totally different scene than the carton stuff. I've also heard that Tom & Jerrys are good, if you find yourself at an old man bar.

I still can't figure out how my aunt could make a beverage that's 50% cream, 30% egg, and 60% alcohol. I guess that's why a small cup feels like a large cup.

Reminds me of the note you see on juice concentrate: 'Contains 100% juice when properly reconstituted.' Well, what if you don't put enough water in?

- Z

theecarey writes at 10:36:27 12/10/09 - Comment #53563: I had nog for the first time last year, out of curiosity. Bought some expensive carton and it was completely wasted. It lived up to my expectation of being gross.

Now, if only I had the knowledge to use it for french toast. I can see it working for that. Mmm french toast..

jbeatty writes at 10:29:31 12/10/09 - Comment #53561: I have never been a fan of the nog, but that recipe has to be good.

james writes at 10:21:23 12/10/09 - Comment #53559: I love ruining delicious recipes by making them healthy. I will let you know how my eggwhitenog is.

tinypliny writes at 10:03:11 12/10/09 - Comment #53556: WHA??

54% Saturated fat. Do they ask you "Do you drink eggnog?" in your insurance application? I am venturing that the wise answer to get a lower premium will be a NO - underlined, bolded and highlighted.

tinypliny writes at 10:00:11 12/10/09 - Comment #53555: HAHAHAHA @ floodgates.

You might JUST be responsible for totally killing my healthy resolve.

Now, I want eggnog.

DAMN YOU. I empathize with the cabbages.

Permalink: the_floodgates_.html
Words: 105
Location: Buffalo, NY