Ravings of an Intermittent Fool

I mentioned James Niehues last January and I have recently come across an article on his process and how he got his start. He mainly works form aerial photos but often sometimes skis the slopes as well (Guess you can't fault him for taking advantage of the free lift tickets.

(via Highly Obsessed)

According to LostRemote, YouTube is soon going to have video ads. The rumor is such that there may be some combination of pre/mid/post advertising display. Much ferver is made that it is silly to show ads before clips that are so short to begin with. My solution, only show pre-video ads on videos that are extremely popular. Take your pick of a number, 1000 views, 5000, whatever and for videos over that, show an add. One could presume that if the video is getting that much traffic, the content is worthwhile to a lot of people and they wouldn't mind as much to see a bit of an advertisement beforehand.

There, take my idea and run with it.

One of the troubles with cooking is that you amass an odd asortment of ingrediants and its often not obvious if the ingredient is still viable. For things liek meat and cheese, its pretty obvious when something is past its prime. For other things like Bakind Powder, old powder won't kill you or make you sick but it may not perform its duty during the baking process. That's why I liked coming across this advice from whatscookingamerica.net:

Stir 1 teaspoon baking powder into 1/3 cup of hot water. If it bubbles gently, it is fine to use

Easy, practical and useful advice.

I used to live near the headquarters of Gorilla Glue so I found this item on the site mouseprint.org very interesting (apparently this site exists to pore over product's fine print:

No one wants a weak glue. So it is a good thing we can buy Gorilla Glue which the maker claims is “the toughest glue on planet earth.”

Even on their website in answer to the question, “Is it really the Toughest Glue on Planet Earth,” they say “Gorilla Glue is an all purpose adhesive. If used correctly, it will bond just about anything and for just about forever. It is free of solvents and fillers which makes it both strong and versatile. There are some things that are just difficult to glue, such as certain plastics, but we are confident that once you’ve tried Gorilla Glue, you will be more than satisfied with the results.” [GorillaGlue.com FAQ, August 1, 2006]

So, pretty much, they are sticking to their claim. The makers of Elmer’s Glue, however, were not buying it. They challenged that advertised claim with the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau [NAD]. Elmer’s argued that “the toughest glue on planet earth” was a specific, superiority claim and wanted to see their substantiation.

According to NAD, Gorilla Glue provided no evidence to support its superiority claim, but offered this explanation:

*MOUSE PRINT: The “toughest glue” claim was mere puffery and “is so broad in scope, so general in nature, and so exaggerated in content, that no reasonable consumer would believe it to be a superiority claim.”

Absolutely, amazing.

(via Raymond Chen)

Who is Sick? is a Google Maps mashup that let's people enter in where they are an how they are sick (i.e. their symptoms). Interesting concept but one that really requires by in to make a useful tool rather than an experiment for someone to develop Google Maps mashup. I just checked the health level in Cincinnati and you would never that we were rated as having really poor air quality.

(via LifeHacker)

Inspired by the most recent viewer call into the show, The Splendid Table, I decided to try and make Pasta Amatriciana. I didn't have a recipe to go with so based on the description given on the show here is what I came up with:

1. Cut 4 or five slices of bacon into strips and fry in a skillet til they have rendered all their fat. Remove the bacon bits to a paper towel using a slotted spoon.
2. Add a diced onion and four cloves of minced garlic to the mix and fry until the onion softens and picks up a bit of color.
3. Add half a 28oz can of diced tomates to the onion and stir frequently. Cook until the sauce has been cooked down to the point where the tomatoes are essentially frying in the pan.
4. Add the remaining tomatoes along with a teaspoon of hot red pepper flakes and the reserved bacon. Stir ocassionally and cook until the desired consistancy is achieved

5. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve over pasta with some Pecorino Romano cheese.

It turned out pretty good for a first go.. I also put my sauce in the food processor for a few pulses as well since I don't like a lot of chunky bits in my sauce.

Kayfabe - What an interesting word, espacially considering that Carnies and Wrestlers seem to have this special word just for their illusion that they keep. I wonder why they seem to have gotten a word for it while other professions (actors, strippers, spokesperson, etc.) don't have one.

Its a strange combination of interviews on this episode of Fresh Air, but they were both great. Don Rickles and a producer of the documentry Planet Earth were interviewed by David Bianculli Rickles is famous for his acerbic wit and his put downs which as a young comedy lover, I found fascinating. Planet Earth on the other hand is a stunning 11 part BBC produced nature documentry. That description doesn't do it any justice at all since the video of the show is utterly amazing and breathtaking.