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Slow clap

Melissa with a fantastic post on the Republican party vs. the Republican voter.

This is just nuts

AI improv marimba.

(h/t Gizmodo)

Saturday Kitchen Report - They Call Me Tater Salad

Saw this recipe in the latest issue of Esquire, and I just had to make it.



Fortunately we had almost all the ingredients in stock, and acceptable substitutes for the rest.

My changes:

• We only had purple potatoes from the farmer's market so I used those.
• I added some funky purple and red and yellow carrots, also from the farmer's market. Sliced them into very thin discs.
• No capers.
• Substituted sardines for anchovies.
• I used three whole red peppers that I roasted under the broiler for 30 minutes. Half a cup my ass! Roasted red peppers are some of the best things in the world.
• I went heavy on the crushed red pepper, as I always do.

It's still cooling and setting up right now, but the sample I had was AMAZING! When it's cool, I'll add the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Highly recommended.

Add another to the Win column

It's official: Democrat Scott Murphy beats Republican James Tedisco in the battle for Kirsten Gillibrand's vacated NY-20 seat.

Not a huge fan of Murphy and his whole Blue Dog thing, but we certainly don't need any more Republicans of any stripe in government, so I'll take it. Upstate is pretty rural and conservative, so even Dems have to have some funny ideas to get elected.

Memories...

Anyway, there's your theme for the weekend.

Keep this handy for your next wingnut smackdown

The torture timeline - at least what we know so far.

BAKINTYM

Sitting at a red light on the way home, I noticed that on the license plate on the car in front of me.

I figured out what it said, but it made no sense for a couple seconds. Then I zoomed out a bit, and realized the car was a DeLorean. Mint freakin' condition too.

Well played, sir.

Nerdpocalypse

This comment thread right here, breaks the nerdmeter beyond repair.

Does swinging at a pitch constitute a melee attack or does it require a saving throw?

Yes, you read that right. A D&D argument among SABRmetricians. Get your fallout shelters ready.

Who said this?

"I call on all governments to join with the United States and the community of law-abiding nations in prohibiting, investigating, and prosecuting all acts of torture and in undertaking to prevent other cruel and unusual punishment."

Did you guess George W. Bush?

Sullivan has more.

Attention!

If we don't like the cut of your jib, we will torture you.

Thank you, and good day.

I can't believe this happened

Now the question is: are Republicans this stupid, or are they playing to their stupid constituencies?



Seriously? Trying to gotchya a fucking Nobel Laureate?

Best. Translation. Ever.

And when I say best, I mean worst.



Wow. Apparently, Videogum had a "high school freshman with one and a half semesters of introductory French" translate it for them.

Beautiful.

Nobody could have predicted...

...empty seats at Yankee Stadium.

And while we're at it, here's the Yankee defense so far, courtesy of NoMass, who really should have direct links by now.


Of course, this is a really small sample size, but utterly consistent with the past 4-5 years.

The numbers represent runs saved above or below position average per 150 games (UZR/150).

UPDATE: To clarify, at this point, Swisher will give up 70 more runs over the course of a "season" than an average RF. Again, small sample size, but he is definitely below average.

Petulant, arrogant bastards

More whining from the Wall Street rich.

Beautiful

This is just one of several amazing photos from Cassini.



UPDATE: Hey, this was my 1000th post!

You're trying awful hard, dude.

I love how he fondles the Playboy.

(h/t Videogum)

Consumption junction

Well done chart estimating how long the Earth's natural resource will last at the current rate of consumption.


Click to embiggen.

Yikes.

(via Gizmodo)

Beer Blogging - Flying Dog (TasteLive 4/19/09)

Kerberos Tripel - 12oz, 8.5%ABV

The Pour - Thin pour, very light head that faded quickly

The Color - A slightly hazy golden-orange body.

The Nose - Barnyard/straw, an orange/citrus aroma opens up the nose like a shot of smelling salts (and I mean that in a good way), clover. It screams Belgian.

The Taste - A touch of sweetness with a hint of caramel, balanced with an orange-peel bitterness. Does not hit you over the head with alcohol; a "sneaky" 8.5 if there ever was one. Very full mouthfeel, lingers on the palate for quite a long time. Getting some hints of banana now that the beer's opened up (and warmed up) a bit. Did I mention this lingers? My beer's been done for 5 minutes, and there's still a pleasant bitterness lingering on the back of my tongue. Now, when I posted that last thought at TTL, my friend Jeff's reply was "Yeah, lingers along the middle of my tongue all the way back." The only thing I could think to say to that was "LIKE MY COCK!" but I didn't want to tweet that publicly. So that was a special message directTweeted to him. Take that, Mr. "I can do 11 minus you divided by FUCK!"

The Verdict - B+.


Horn Dog Barley Wine - 12oz, 10.2%ABV

The Pour - Standard pour, building a nice tall head that lasts.

The Color - Deep orange amber.Very, very slight haze.

The Nose - Getting some barnyard/manure on this one. What the hell is up with my nose tonight? Also, coffee/mocha/chocolate, nutmeg, fig.

The Taste - Raisins, raisins, raisins. Very sweet, more than a little out of balance. Vanilla, molasses, chocolate/mocha. A hint of hops lingers nicely, but I can't get over the syrupy mouthfeel.

The Verdict - B-. Just too damned sweet. Which is strange, because I gave this an A- last time I beerblogged it, and it's been one of my favorite barleywines since I discovered it.

UPDATE: It was less cloying today, but still too sweet. A problem with the batch?




Double Dog Double Pale Ale - 12oz, 11.5%ABV

The Pour - Slightly thicker than average pour, nice long-lasting head.

The Color - Golden amber, medium haze, abundant floating sediment.

The Nose - Cigar box, hops, clove, pine forest. There's a lot going on here. Some tropical fruit too?

The Taste - Holy shit. This a hop monster. Bitter orange peel, corriander, and yes, pineapple. My nose isn't broken after all. Great beer.

The Verdict - A

UPDATE: Revisited this one, and nothing changes. I probably nursed this for 2 hours over yardwork and cooking, and it was good to the last drop. Tons of hops character, perfectly-balanced, and a totally sneaky ABV. I'll definitely keep this in the summer rotation. Wonderfully refreshing.




Gonzo Imperial Porter - 12oz, 9.2%ABV

The Pour - Standard thickness, HUGE head, which is to be expected at almost room temperature.

The Color - Brown/black, totally opaque.

The Nose - Caramel, smoke, honey.

The Taste - Everything a porter should be, but maybe a bit too sweet.

UPDATE: I was pretty hammered by the time this one came around, so I had another one today to give it a fair shake. The verdict is the same: too sweet. Everyone was raving about this last night, but I just don't see it. It's basic porter, and flawed at that.

The Verdict - C (downgrade from B- during the tasting)

An-ti-ci-paaaaa-tion

Sitting here with the Canis Major mixed pack of Flying Dog brews, waiting for 8pm to roll around so the latest TasteLive session can start.

One each of Double Dog Double Pale Ale, Horn Dog Barley Wine, Gonzo Imperial Porter, and Kerberos Tripel. Bill did the math on the bud points for me - tonight's tasting is 7.6 standard beers, not bad for a two-hour tasting session. Certainly less damage than the Dogfish tasting last month, which - if you drank all of them - was about 14 beers...