Popular Culture 20120907: Jethro Tull -- Aqualung Side Two
It has been a while since the last installment due to several reasons, all of them good. Tonight we shall finish up Aqualung, one of their better efforts.The link above has the history around the...
View ArticleWhat’s for Dinner? v7.06 The Cheesecake
As many of you know, last Tuesday was The Girl’s (henceforth referred to as The Woman) 20th birthday. We had originally planned to bake a cheesecake together Sunday past, but she had a better idea....
View ArticlePique the Geek 20120909: Oxygen Wrapup
Last time we discussed oxygen as an element, including why we do not burst into flame in our 21% oxygen atmosphere. Quantum mechanics can really be interesting.This time we shall discuss some of the...
View ArticleMitt Romney: When the Little Head Takes Over 20120913
It is quite clear now. Romney does not just want to be President, he lusts after the post in what seems to me to be an almost sexual way. He gets aroused by the power.He has lusted for it for a...
View ArticlePopular Culture 20120914: Jethro Tull -- Thick as a Brick
Last time we discussed the second side of the Jethro Tull album Aqualung, and a fine album that was. It was critically and commercially well received, but many of the critics expressed the opinion...
View ArticleWhat's for Dinner? Forgotten Recipes
This piece was originally published on my regular series called My Little Town on Wednesday past. Through special arrangement with Ninkasi23 it is republished here, and I will try to be here for...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20120916: Fluorine, Something You Have Never Seen
Element 9, fluorine, is the first of the halogens, from the Greek halos, "salt", and gonos, "to bring forth". All of the members of this family tend to form salts with metals, but fluorine is unique...
View ArticleMy Little Town -- Easy Decisions 20120919: Regular Blog or Time Well Spent
Those of you that read this regular series know that I am from Hackett, Arkansas, just a mile or so from the Oklahoma border, and just about 10 miles south of the Arkansas River. It was a rural sort...
View ArticlePopular Culture 20120921: Jethro Tull -- Thick as a Brick Side One
Last time we sort of did the history about this record, and tonight we shall deal with the first side of the album. It is quite complex, and is just one long song called "Thick as a Brick Part I"....
View ArticlePique the Geek 20120923: Neon, as Inert as Elements Come
Last time we talked about fluorine, the very most reactive chemical element. Now we add a single proton to the fluorine nucleus and come to Element 10, the LEAST reactive chemical element. What a...
View ArticleTranslator's Little GOTV Effort 20120924
I write very little political material here because there are so many more people who are better at it than am I. I generally write about popular culture, science and technology, and early life...
View ArticleMy Little Town 20120926: School Lunch
Those of you that read this regular series know that I am from Hackett, Arkansas, just a mile or so from the Oklahoma border, and just about 10 miles south of the Arkansas River. It was a rural sort...
View ArticleTranslator's GOTV: My new Family talked about how to vote today 20120926
Well, that was yesterday and today is today.The Woman has already sent off her application.The mum and dad are still getting ready to do so, and they have a little time.That is not important. Here is...
View ArticlePopular Culture 20120928 -- Jethro Tull Thick as a Brick Side 2
Last time we covered the first side of the 1972 album. The link in that piece goes to the history of the record and has a link to the wonderful album cover and you should look at that if you have not...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20120930: Sodium -- You Can Not Get Away from It
Sodium, element number 11, is one of the most common elements in the crust of the earth. Except for school laboratory demonstrations, few people have ever seen elemental (metallic) sodium because it...
View ArticleMy Little Town 20121003: The Things We Did for Fun
Those of you that read this regular series know that I am from Hackett, Arkansas, just a mile or so from the Oklahoma border, and just about 10 miles south of the Arkansas River. It was a rural sort...
View ArticlePopular Culture 20121005: Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
Of all of the horrible crap on TeeVee, the TLC program Here Comes Honey Boo Boo amongst the worst. As a matter of fact, this program is the epitome of redneckery. This trainwreck revolves around...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20101007: More about Sodium
Last time we started our discussion about sodium, and tonight we shall continue it. We have pretty much covered the quantum mechanical part and the properties and uses of elemental sodium, so tonight...
View ArticleJust a Few Random Thoughts about Love 20121009
Almost everyone here who reads my posts knows a few things, and I shall not reiterate them.What I shall do this morning is just post a few songs that express my emotions.If you approve, please give a...
View ArticlePopular Culture 20121012: Rituals for the Deceased
I originally was going to write about the new Dark Shadows motion picture, but circumstances have intervened. It turns out that Ashley's mum's twin brother died either late Wednesday night or early...
View ArticleWho knows? 2011016
Matters of the heart are difficult. I can not begin to express what happened this evening, but it was for the most part pretty good. No, no carnal things. She and I just sort of grooved, and that is...
View ArticleWhat's for Dinner v7.12 Natural, Organic, Artificial, and Synthetic, oh My!
Many of you who read me here, and on my other (lately irregular, because of personal reasons) posts, know that I am a professional scientist. You also know that I am a cook (I like to think that I am...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20121021: Reflections on the Genus Carya
Today was a splendid day in the Bluegrass. The temperature was in the low 70s, only a very light breeze, and not a cloud in the sky. Ashley had gone to birthday party for a relative, but when she got...
View ArticleMy Little Town 20121024: The Day I Met Allen Ginsberg
Those of you that read this regular series know that I am from Hackett, Arkansas, just a mile or so from the Oklahoma border, and just about 10 miles south of the Arkansas River. It was a rural sort...
View ArticlePopular Culture 20121026: Fast Food
We normally think of fast food as somehow uniquely American and of recent origin, but that is just not true. Certainly modern American fast food is different from what in the past qualified and in...
View ArticleDoc's Prescription 20121030: Chris Christie, the Broken Clock
This is the first of a very irregular series of political commentary by me. I usually do not get into politics, because many others have much better insights than do I in this area. Do not look for...
View ArticleMy Little Town 20121031: Halloween in the Day
Those of you that read this regular series know that I am from Hackett, Arkansas, just a mile or so from the Oklahoma border, and just about 10 miles south of the Arkansas River. It was a rural sort...
View ArticleMy Vote Means Nothing 20121104
I mean it. My vote for President and Vice President means nothing. Zero, null, phi. It means nothing.That is because I am a legal resident of Kentucky. There is no chance in a google (that is...
View ArticleMy Little Town 20121107: Voting Then and Now
Those of you that read this regular series know that I am from Hackett, Arkansas, just a mile or so from the Oklahoma border, and just about 10 miles south of the Arkansas River. It was a rural sort...
View ArticleDoc's Prescription 20121108
This is one of my irregular political posts. It has to do with how to get out of this morass of electoral nonsense. It is not a perfect solution, because the Constitution of the United States of...
View ArticlePopular Culture 20121109: The Electric Light Orchestra
The Electric Light Orchestra, also known as ELO, were a pretty good British band that officially formed in 1970. Like many British bands of its era, ELO went through huge personnel changes over the...
View ArticleDoc's Prescription 20121110: Marriage Equality
No one has changed positions about this topic more than I have. Not because I think that there should not be marriage equality, but what I thought it might have been. Boy, I was wrong!But I used to...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20121111: Drying Oils
I was painting a wooden basket yesterday with boilt linseed oil and thus came the inspiration for tonight's topic. Drying oils are very important in the coatings industry, not as much as in the past...
View ArticleMy Friend Has Talent 20121112
I was visiting with Ashley Saturday evening and we had been just sort of doing nothing, just talking and joking. She had had a stressful day and began doodling with pen and paper. I learnt that she...
View ArticleMy Little Town 20121114: When Dad Blew off His Leg
Those of you that read this regular series know that I am from Hackett, Arkansas, just a mile or so from the Oklahoma border, and just about 10 miles south of the Arkansas River. It was a rural sort...
View ArticlePlea from Translator 20121115: Chief Joseph
From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. Those of you who know me, at least a little bit, know that I have no animosity towards anyone. That is my nature. Many of you also know...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20121118: Scotch Whisky
Scotch whisky is quite different than most other distilled grain spirits. First of all, it has its own spelling. Except for Scotch, the spelling is "whiskey". In the case of Scotch, it is "whisky"....
View ArticleMy Little Town 20121121: More Old Words
Those of you that read this regular series know that I am from Hackett, Arkansas, just a mile or so from the Oklahoma border, and just about 10 miles south of the Arkansas River. It was a rural sort...
View ArticlePopular Culture 20121123: Thanksgiving: (Almost) Everything You Know is Wrong
Yesterday the United States celebrated yet another Thanksgiving Day. I think that Thanksgiving is a marvelous holiday, but it is hardly uniquely American. As a matter of fact, it is hardly recent, if...
View ArticlePopular Culture (Irregular) 20121127: More NCIS Inside Jokes
Those of you who read this regular series know that I very much like the drama program NCIS. The character development is outstanding, but the inside jokes are superb.This is a short piece, but I just...
View ArticleWhat's for Dinner? v.7.18 Nuts to You!
Nuts have been used as food by animals and humans since prehistory. What we often call nuts are not actually nuts at all botanically, because a true nut has an internal seed surrounded by a woody...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20121202: Emulsification
Before we begin tonight, please join me in paying my respects to my mum, who would have been 91 years old today. The season beginning with Thanksgiving and lasting through New Year's Day was her...
View ArticleMy Little Town 20121219: Christmas Trees
I apologize for not being around the past couple of weeks. I have been busy with Christmas goodie baking and some personal matters. I shipped off a box of treats to the former Mrs. Translator on...
View ArticlePopular Culture 20121221: Christmas Songs
I apologize for not being around much lately, but I have been busy doing Christmas baking and sorting out some personal issues. Monday I shipped off two boxes of goodies, one to the former Mrs....
View ArticleThe New Doctor 20121223: Fiction
This is total fiction, a fantasy story. The only real names are my own and my ancestors, all dead except me. Of course I can use the names of the fictional characters from my favorite fantasy series,...
View ArticleCreative Complaining 20130102: Keep Complaining
I am a customer of Kentucky Utilities, a fairly large electricity provider. They have a program, like many utilities, that rewards folks for trying to conserve energy. I signed up for the one that...
View ArticlePopular Culture 20130104: The Electric Light Orchestra -- ELO 2
It has been a while since I started this series. My contributions here, and at my other regular blogs, have been quite spotty for a number of reasons. Part of it has to do with it having been the...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20130106: Magnesium -- Common and Essential
Magnesium, with a Z = 12, is an extremely common element in the crust of the earth, but it is never found in nature in the elemental state. It is the second member, after beryllium, in the alkaline...
View ArticleMy Little Town 20130109: Not on Sunday!
Those of you that read this regular series know that I am from Hackett, Arkansas, just a mile or so from the Oklahoma border, and just about 10 miles south of the Arkansas River. It was a rural sort...
View ArticlePopular Culture 20130111 -- The Electric Light Orchestra: On the Third Day
On the Third Day was the third album released by the band, issued 197311 in the US on United Artists and 197312 in the UK on Warner Brothers (they had previously been contracted to Harvest). It made...
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