Monthly Archives: May 2009

links

Melonpan link1 link2 via

Timescapes Timelapse: Learning to Fly link via

Laser engraved dollar bills link via

Did you fall for it? link via

Composites from a street corner link via

Prosciutto lance link via

How to make Totoro cream puffs link via

Dual truck big load link via

nine words you might think came from science but which are really from Science Fiction link via

Vintage DHARMA ads link via

Typesetting the World’s Largest Known Prime Number link via

Ink dissolving in water link via

Slow motion movies (1,000 fps) link via

How to inflate a tire quickly link via

30 Ways to electrocute yourself link via

Four Corners marker, where states meet, is off by 2 1/2 miles link via

Sand castles link via

California Sun Bounce link via

Tree frog eating a christmas light link via

Parkour on a bicycle link via

Fluid scuplture link via

Japanese packaging for single servings link via

The man who painted his face every day of the year link via

Face mining Star Trek link via

Traking Soviet space launches link via

The greatest prank call ever link via

Circuitry Snacks link via

The old mint in downtown SF painted by 7 perfectly mapped HD projectors link via

A whole chicken in a can link via

Pizzamimicry can lead to improved micro-motors link via

At the Escher homestead link via

Happy Gillmore swing link via

Honda Insight – Let it shine link via

Restoring NASA’s high-resolution scans of the moon link via

British Choir Sings “What’s My Age Again?” link via

World’s tiniest lamp spans quantum and classical physics link via

McSweeney’s + Pirate Supply Store + Studant Language Help link via

How To: build the ultimate, cheap home pizza oven link via

Days with my father link via

Photos with pulp fiction books link via

.50 caliber bullet ricochet link via

Roomba flight pattern link via

Automated egg printer link via

EarthTainer (self-watering vegetables in a container) link via

Robotic beer launching refrigerator link via

Amazing amateur beatboxer link via

Pancake man link via

Making the original Star Trek look like the new movie link via

Where Trekkies were born link via

Mona Tweeta II link via

Top 10 Most Common Ingredients in Fast Food link via

Too much Photoshop? link via

Pizza vending machine link via

Anatomy of the McNugget link via

Cool concept link via

Capturing the transit of the Space Shuttle across the Sun link via

On Assignment: A Photo Op link via

Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party link via

The tiny art director link via

Rubic cube font generator link via

Last Day Dream link via

Tokyo time lapse link via

Twitter image encoding challenge link via

Dice-O-Matic mark II generates 1.3 million rolls a day link via

Eating on $1/day link via

Big Mess O’ Wires link via

Knit Night Cupcakes link via

How to make a Snickers bar… blindfolded link via

TED Dan Ariely on our buggy moral code link via

CSI: Walnut

discarded walnut

Mr. Squirrel discarded what looks to be a walnut shell next to a tree in my backyard. Where is there a Walnut tree around here? Pecan, sure. But Walnut? Around my neighborhood?!

Old ID photo

old ID picture

I got a new bank card in the mail. Before I threw out the old card, I just had to take a picture of my picture for posterity’s sake. Quite obscured and worn out if you ask me…

Disc Golf 05/30/2009

Balloon

During my morning bike ride, there were four hot-air balloons in the sky! And by the time I made it to Chandler and 1460, it looked like they were going to land in one of the fields. There were four support vehicles waiting on the side of the road. One balloon was coming down before me. But it looked like they were aborting the landing? The gondola was tilted at a crazy angle and the burner was on full. I didn’t stick around to watch what happened next though.

Hole 2
Hole 3
Hole 17

I played at OSPW. And had a great day. Two back-to-back birdies on holes 2 & 3. And on hole 17 as well. Unfortunately, I also got 4 bogeys. So I ended one over par.

Dulce de Leche

Dulce de Leche

I made Dulce de Leche again. I started with a gallon of whole milk, two cups of honey and two cups of sugar. I reduced it down for hours until it was dark and jelly-like. It turned into about 2 1/2 pounds. Which is a lot of dulce.

oatmeal, fried plantains, and dulce

I made a bowl of oatmeal. I then fried up a ripe plantain banana, and put a tablespoon of dulce in it. Mmm, good.

hours d'oeuvre

The BGG community gave me another recipe to try:

Cut Emmenthaler cheese into the shape of a cracker
Sprinkle both sides with dried Oregano
Fry the cracker in a hot pan until crispy
Top with a dab of Dulce de Leche
Sprinkle a tiny bit of Cinnamon on top
Place a leaf of fresh Basil on top
Drizzle with Balsamic Vinegar

IH-35 hosed this morning

Paint spill

2 lanes of northbound traffic on IH-35 were shutdown this morning when someone crashed into a truck painting lane stripes. This caused severe paralysis. The onlookers going southbound brought that direction to a standstill as well.

I thought that I could just take surface streets south to 620 and past the problem. However, that proved problematic. My first mistake was taking Old Settlers road west. The only north/south road before IH-35 is Mays and that is only a couple of hundred feet away. Traffic was already backed up way before I could turn on Mays. Then there was construction on Mays and 79 that took away a couple of lanes. 79 going west was already stopped. And I missed the traffic light because people had blocked the intersection instead of waiting for the next light. Sigh. 620 was not that good either. But I finally made it to the highway and into work. Only 30 minutes late for my department meeting.

There is just no good solution for times like these. A fatal flaw in where I live, apparently.

The Domain

The entrance to the Domain across the street from IBM finally opened up a couple of months ago. And I just got around to walking over to eat lunch at the Domain. Man, you can hardly tell that this was once an IBM site. As more time progresses, the visual clues will become less and less. There are still some mounds of grass covered dirt around. But I am sure that they will be gone eventually.

One annoying thing is the complete lack of sidewalks around here. Aren’t there building codes that demand that sidewalks be built?!

Pizza using fresh dough

Pizza

I tried making fresh dough this time. I poured some hot tap water into a cup and then weight it (280 grams). I poured the contents of one yeast packet in and one tablespoon of sugar. I then measured out 80% of the water’s weight for the flour (224 grams). Giving it a hydration percentage of 125%. I let it go crazy on the counter for a couple of hours and then put it in the refrigerator overnight. Around 4pm the next day I was ready to make the dough.

Man, it smelled strongly of alcohol! Too much yeast at the start for sure. I added 233 grams more flour to bring the final ratio to 5:3 and the final hydration to 60%.

I like the new regulator in the grill. The temperature now gets up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit. Which brings the cooking time down to 5 minutes.

Disc Golf 05/23/2009

Hole #1
Hole #2

We went to the Rivery today and I started off great. Two back-to-back birdies. The rest of the day went downhill from there though. But I still had fun…