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Wed - July 28, 2004the Yokohama fourBlogging will be light for the next few weeks, we
have family in town for an extended stay. Left to right is Papa, Mama, Emiri,
our niece, and wife Chizuko, waiting for our table at Ray's Boathouse, a
Seattle institution. More family members to come early next month (Emiri's mom
and dad are still in Yokohama) and more pictures to come, too.
 Posted at 12:41 AM Mon - June 21, 2004A chicken that drinks and smokes Headless hen pictured in vertical roasting position. My first encounter with poultry that drinks, smokes, and still sits up straight. Along with the Texas-style smoker that I've been enjoying for the last two summers, here's a new gadget; a vertical chicken roaster. A cylinder in the middle of the pan supports the chicken upright. Beer (or wine, or any liquid) is stored in the cylinder to keep the hen from drying out during the smoking process. I prefer apple or alder, but this weekend I used hickory wood for the smoking. The bird is marinated and seasoned, then grilled and smoked for an hour and a half. The outer tray holds additional items to be roasted, I included red potatoes, carrots, onions, and mushrooms, covered with olive oil, salt, and pepper. (it's shown above, nude and not yet seasoned, and below, seasoned, smoked, with its legs ripped off and eaten) A few hours later, the hen emerged pleasantly drunk and thoroughly smoked. Basted with Carolina-style BBQ sauce, it tasted great.  Posted at 01:52 AM Fri - April 30, 2004the coolest invention on earthMy favorite appliance. Just installed it. Basking
in cool air. Couldn't be happier.
 Why would someone in Seattle need an air conditioner? In April? When we built this studio/workshop a year ago, I quickly learned what its design flaw is. Small, extremely well-insulated, high cielings, small windows, filled with computer equipment and high-intensity lights, it's a virtual pizza oven. When it's 75 degrees outside, it's 95 degrees inside. Even when it cools down at night, outside, it stays hot inside. I had three fans going last summer, and still resisted getting an air-conditioner. This year, I didn't wait for summer. I got it three weeks ago. I parked the box next to my desk and waited for a hot day (it's 80 degrees today, warm by Seattle standards) then ripped the box open and installed it. As we used to say in Texas, boy howdy! Sure is cool in here. Posted at 07:07 PM Sun - April 4, 2004Unlocking the mystery: His and HersThis sounds like one of those bad observational
comedy routines we heard a lot of in the '80s, but I couldn't help it:
Have you ever noticed the difference between men's key chains and women's key chains? One of these is my wife's key chain, one is mine.  Can you tell which is which?  Posted at 05:00 PM Fri - March 12, 2004wireless in seattleSince going wireless and mobile at the same time,
it's amazing how many free hotspots I've noticed in my neighborhood, they've
been here but I didn't see them before. This is my first moblog upload, or mobile blog
entry. The place I'm hanging out at the moment is
Cafe Maree.
It's a short walk from my house.
 (a snapshot of the entrance of my new office) Another few blocks from home is Zoka, a coffee joint that also serves free bandwidth with their java and baked goods. Though the photograph is small, Zoka is larger and better-known, in both the coffee world and the wireless community. Can't walk in the place without tripping over a laptop, and it's always packed with students using the place as a library.  (my other new office) Yesterday I sat outside Zoka, and opened a connection instantly. I had several appear. That block is so hot, I saw six individual broadcasters show up in my list of available servers, at least two of them were free. One was from a bar across the street. The others appeared to be individuals who live in apartments nearby. This is all new to me. Googling "Seattle" and "wireless", I learned that there's a local movement to make the airwaves free. A clip from a recent issue of the Seattle Weekly : The revolution may be wireless Northwest networkers work toward a complete communications grid, minus the corporate interest. "...techie sophisticates who are building their own free community wireless networks, networks which, coincidentally, share some open radio frequencies with hams. These networkers string their tin-can network--sans string but including some real cans--from apartment to storefront to rooftop for no better reason than because they can and because it's cool. The fact that it's useful, helps the public good by expanding free access, lets them meet their neighbors ("Hi, I'm running a free network"), and might even put the screws to cell companies and telco giants..." That's all for now... Reporting from Cafe Maree where I have a giant coffee and a folder full of check stubs, I'm supposed to be working on my taxes... Posted at 07:25 PM Tue - January 6, 2004the big snowThis doesn't happen very often. When it does
happen, it usually turns to rain, and melts in a day or two, so if you blink,
you'll miss it. Snow is rare enough, snow that accumulates multiple inches is
rarer, last time was 1996! This is my truck, buried under snow, and a view from
the window of my
studio.
  Posted at 12:56 PM Wed - December 10, 2003citizenship 101My friend Michael Cozzi just became a U.S. citizen!
 The official ceremony was less casual than I'd promised. I had told him all he had to do was raise his right hand, agree with whatever they said, and they'd hand him a case of beer, a carton of cigarettes, a diver's license, a box of assorted firearms, and a fresh-baked apple pie. Okay, I lied. Apparently, all they gave him was this piece of paper. Welcome Michael!  Posted at 05:59 PM Fri - November 28, 2003The FeastThe conclusion of the series. Happy Thanksgiving
ya'll.
      before... after! Posted at 09:04 AM Thu - November 27, 2003more smoked bird photosIt's 2:20 p.m. and we brought the bird from the
outdoor smoker into the indoor oven, to continue roasting. Also pictured here: a
batch of rosemary cornbread muffins, a pic of Chizuko in the kitchen, some party
snacks, and the big brown bird. A few more hours more to go, in the oven. Stay
tuned for
more.
      I like this--before and after pics, the bird before smoke, and after. Posted at 02:20 PM Smokin' turkeyHere's the first few pictures of my Thanksgiving
project. Hickory and alder-smoked turkey. Started smoking at 11:00 a.m. pacific
standard time. It's now 12:42. More to
come!
    Posted at 12:42 PM Tue - November 25, 2003The home front: New Rules2. A shaker of Martinis no
longer has official standing as Thanksgiving breakfast. Early risers: the
Thanksgiving Day cocktail hour now begins only
after
you have arrived at the venue
and parked your car, and never before sunrise.
3. You cannot decline the Kansas Riesling served with dinner out of professed adherence to the claim that “the official Thanksgiving mascot is the 101-proof Wild Turkey.” This is apocryphal. 4. The mandatory minimum number of guests related by blood to the host/hostess is increased to sixteen. Seating them on the sun porch, in the attic, or in the basement for the Thanksgiving meal is no longer permissible, nor is the requirement that they wear bags over their heads and/or name tags. Asking how they’re doing remains optional. 5. In-laws must now be accorded full human status. Their chairs must face the dinner table, and they must be offered a choice of dark or white meat. 6. Native American guests must now be offered bourbon, Scotch, gin, or other alcoholic beverages by name. They must not be described as “heap strong firewater.” 7. When you are handed a family scrapbook or photo album, you must keep such article in your possession for at least a hundred and twenty seconds before passing it to the next person. You may not ask if your hundred and twenty seconds are up. 8. Precocious children under twelve years of age may now be fitted with muzzles by a non-parent after the first hour. 9. Reminiscences that touch upon parental favoritism, unpaid personal loans, and arrests of blood relations’ children are discouraged. 10. You are entitled to ten naps per twelve-hour Thanksgiving Day period. Moments after 4 p.m., when time itself seems to have stopped, do not count as naps. Do not commence a nap when a blood relation older than you is addressing you directly. 11. You will be videotaped by your most moronic relation. Failing to coöperate by smiling / making funny faces / rushing the lens carries the penalty of spending next Thanksgiving at this relation’s home. 12. Vacating the premises before Thanksgiving dinner is served in order to “get a breath of fresh air,” “check the pressure in the tires,” or “watch for shooting stars” will now be considered a desertion of familial responsibilities, punishable by talking college football with an in-law for thirty minutes without the aid of an alcoholic beverage. 13. The host / hostess cannot depart the house, for any reason, until one hour after the last guest has left, been expelled, or vanished. (Check corners, crawl spaces, and under the dinner table before lights-out.) Happy Thanksgiving! * * “Happy Thanksgiving!” is meant only as an encouraging phrase and will not necessarily insure a result like the one depicted in the Norman Rockwell painting. Bruce McCall has an enviable job. A
doubled-barreled talent, McCall is a first-rate gallery
artist, illustrator,
and book
author. He does New Yorker covers, this alone puts him in very elite
company. A first-rate humorist, he's also a
contributing
writer. Here's Bruce's handy guide to
help you get through the Thanksgiving
Holiday.
THANKSGIVING RULES REVISED by BRUCE McCALL Post this document within ten feet of all liquor cabinets, TV sets, sofas, and any distant relations who are still sitting or standing upright. Article XII of the 1663 Jamestown Convention has been amended as of this date to include the following: 1. Thanksgiving-dinner guests are no longer required to play Scrabble, Go Fish, or Monopoly with children under the age of ten. Withholding of liquor is coercion... Posted at 05:36 PM Fri - November 21, 2003 |
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Total entries in this category: Published On: Jul 28, 2004 01:50 AM |
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