This is a test

this is only as test. To see what a regular post will look like. la la la. I am such a bad blogger. I have been neglecting you all because I have been messing with this page.....

Still working on it

for some reason I'm getting trackback errors.... trying to sort that out

Update: They're working now. Thanks Jim :)

What do you think

Does everybody see the rotating banners?

Just refresh the page and you should get a new banner (there are 5 right now, and the selection is random, just keep clicking)

This is why I will never be more than a Large Mammal

If you haven't been there yet, you really should drop by Captain's Quarters and bear witness to Ed Morrisey's own version of the South Park movie, starring in the real life role of Kyle's mom (but he's no b*tch!). Update: looks like Kyle's Mom wins in this one!

Ed is single-handedly taking on the nation of Canada and their idiotic law which allows them to keep the proceedings of public hearings out of the media. How ironic it is that Canadians can't report the goings on, but an American can.

Let's get cookin'

It's spring. The dogwoods and wisteria are all in bloom, and that nasty pine pollen has coated the town of Chapel Hill in a post-victory yellow dust. Blecch. I need to wash my car.....

Anyway, one of the things I love in the spring is a good pasta primavera with all of the veggies and herbs that are just starting to come in fresh. Here's a wonderful recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It's great because you use packaged pasta and refrigerated alfredo sauce (makes it super quick!)

Rotini and Sweet Pepper Primavera

14 oz Asparagus spears
8 oz dried rotini or gemelli (I prefer gemelli)
1 large sweet red or yellow bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup halved baby pattypan, or chopped summer, yellowneck, or zucchini squash (I like to use a mix of them)
1 10 oz container refrigerated light/low fat (or regular if you like) Alfredo sauce
2 Tbsp snipped fresh tarragon or thyme
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1. Snap off and discard woody bases from asparagus spears. Bias-slice (diagonally) asparagus into 1-inch pieces.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, adding asparagus, sweet bell pepper and squash too pasta for the last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain, return pasta and vegetable mixture to hot pan.
3. Meanwhile, for sauce, in a small saucepan combine alfredo sauce, tarragon or thyme and red pepper. Cook and stir over medium heat about 5 minutes or until heated through. Pour sauce over pasta and vegetables; stir gently to coat. If desired, garnish with fresh herbs and/or grated parmesan cheese.

prep time:20 minutes start to finish, serves 4.

great cosmic convergence...

Today started out pretty ok. I got on the bus, I went to work, I finished another chapter of my thesis (Yay!). I even remembered to drop by the student health pharmacy and pick up my prescription. Then it all just went downhill. I had scheduled some time to do some imaging using my co-mentor's confocal microscope (holy crap even it has a wiki! Check it out, the idea is really cool!), but there were 2 problems.
1. It's sort of not working (it works, but it's buggy right now)
2. He wanted to see my sections and he was at a symposium.

I thought you'd never ask...

The little silver guy on the rightleft is GIR, he's the stupid but loveable robot sidekick of Invader Zim.

Who, for those of you who have never been blessed enough to see the show, is an incompetent Irken Invader sent to conquer Earth just to get him out from underfoot after he destroyed the Irken homeworld....
This is Zim:

Zim was on Nickelodeon for about a year and is still on Nicktoons every once in a while from what I'm told (too poor for those extra channels, you know?) but it is SOOO not a kids show. It's like Animaniacs, only more twisted. Kids like it, but adults like it even more.

The Nickelodeon Zim site is here, and one of my favorite fan sites is here.

For more Zimmy goodness, drop in on fellow MuNuvian Gir at YourMooseyFate.

The phrase "The Bacon in My Soap" is from one of the episodes, and the audio of the bit is now linked there. Scroll down and click. Zim is the angry one, GIR is the silly one.

The girl with the "gameslave" down below (with the archives) is also from Zim. She's Gaz, the younger sister of Zim's nemesis Dib, and my personal favorite character on the show. I was Gaz for halloween year before last, and my friends were Gir, Zim, and Dib. Very cool.

It's Friday

And I need to let people know I've moved over here, so here are 10 yummy links:

1. I love Rachel Lucas. This is exactly why I have a dog.

2. Dean's World turns 3 today. Pretty good longevity for the b'sphere. I wonder where I'll be at 2.5 years from now....

3. Blogbuddies the California Mafia are wondering who drops by their site. If you've been there before, drop by and leave a note telling them where you're at.

4. Speaking of blogbuddies, Da Goddess had a steroid injection to her spine (ouch, epidural steroids!) yesterday, and is slowly improving from the side effects of the treatment. Drop by and offer her some good wishes! While you're visiting in San Diego, go here and leave your best for Mrs. SMASH, who is recuperating from a serious back injury after being thrown from a horse earlier this week.

5. Cobb cartoons the MJ trial. I'll never see the glove the same way again.

6. Acidman has the winners of the annual Bulwer-Lytton "dark and stormy night" contest.

7. Gir is cat-blogging again.

8. Jay at Wizbang! has a new hood ornament...

9. Friday Wolf-blogging from the Laughing Wolf

10. Daisychick Angela has quite a shopping trip ahead of her.....

Down Under Carnival

The first ever Carnival of the Recipes from Australia!

Amanda of Aussie Wife hosts the 34th Carnival of the Recipes!

Everything looks so yummy!

On a related note, the CotR will be hosted by Drew of Conservative Friends next week, and it will be here in 3 weeks (April 29th)! Mark your calendars

Before I forget

Between endless reruns of the Pope's funeral and the (choke, cough) marriage of Charles and Camilla, CNN et al have been trumpeting an anti-US demonstration that took place in Iraq earlier today.

Several thousand protestors, under the orders of Muqtada-Al-Sadr gathered in the square in Baghdad that witnessed the demolishing of that statue of saddam hussein two years ago today.

According to CNN's TV coverage this is a bad thing. Really? I think it's great. Here's why:

Waah

I'm a marauding marsupial again. I put in the request to get the blog stats switched over, but it's evidently not changed yet.

Sitemeter seems to be working, though.

Does anyone know whethetr the TTLB change request code goes in the od blog or new blog? I did just have it in the old blog, but now it's in both. The instructions weren't clear....

South Park Republicans

Beth of My VRWC has begun a gallery of the real South Park Republicans.

Here's me:

To make your own South Park character go here.

To see the gallery, go here

Thanks and welcome!

Well, sitemeter seems to be working about as well as it ever did, and it looks like most of you have found your way over here to my new home. Thanks for making the trip. I apologize for the dearth of content. I haven't had that much time to write anything that doesn't contribute to graduation lately, but I promise to try to rectify that in the near future :)

Just wanted to say thanks to those of you who thought it was important enough to announce the big move. so thanks to:
Ith
Ben
Angela
Jay and Deb
Not Dale Gribble
Dean
Blogchild Paul
Amanda
Flap
Y'all made me feel pretty special!! If I forgot anyone's announcement, let me know and I'll put up a happy link to you too.

Update: thanks also to a Queen and a Paladin!

I love it when a plan comes together

except that I didn't plan this.

I made it home in time to see the Sox-Yanks game. Well, from the bottom of the 2nd, anyway. Home opener at Fenway, and World Series ring day. The Sox have always been my AL team, although I really don't know why. Maybe it was the fact that they are perennial losers (except for last year). Probably though, it's because as a Dodger fan, my hatred of the Yankees is nearly genetic. You can't bleed Dodger blue and like the Yanks. So I guess it's no surprise that I like the Sox.

The rings are just gorgeous. The Red Sox B in rubies over a field of diamonds and blue sapphires on the face. One side is inscribed with each player's name and number, the other bears the motto "The Greatest Comeback in History". Inside each ring is inscribed "86 years 10/27/04"
Here's Manny Ramirez's:

AP Photo for ESPN

Anyway, top of the third right now, 2-0 Sox with 1 out, 1 on...

(h/t Michele (sorry) for the Boston Herald article)

Update: 7-1 Sox at the end of the 4th. 8-1 Sox Win!

Boromir and the Ninja Wizards Part Deux

Heh. Boromir tries again.

For those of you who missed the original Boromir and the Ninja Wizards, you can find it here.

Be warned, part II has more adventuresome (and adult) language.....

Enjoy!
(h/t Jen)

This ABSOLUTELY made my day

Thanks Michele.

The Top 25 Sesame Street moments (according to Mike)

My personal favorite: #12. Of course.

Go here to see an updated version of the 12 song. You may have to save it to your hard drive, but it's worth it! (includes the classic pinball animation)

random ventation

ok here goes:
1. WTF with the bus drivers these days? Arrgh. It drives me nuts. Ok, really I have no room to complain, Chapel Hill transit is free. Yes, free. The town and the university each chip in and they got a federal grant to cover some of the expenses, so there's no fare.

That doesn't excuse the bus drivers who seem to have made it their personal mission to run stop signs, drive through EVERY pothole, turn too fast, and generally be as rude as they can and induce the maximum amount of nausea.

There's one bus driver who refuses to pick people up on one side of the street if he's coming back to stop on the other side of the street later, unless they're getting off somewhere before where he turns around. Doesn't matter that it's perfectly legal to ride the bus for any length of time shorter than one full circuit of the route, he won't pick you up. He won't pick you up if you're more than 5 feet from the bus stop either. Some folks stand away from the signs in bad weather because of the trees, and I've seen him go roaring past people, even with the passengers inside telling him to stop. This guy is also the king of whiplash and nausea.

There used to be this incredibly nice bus driver who talked to everyone and sang and was generally fun. Until somebody took umbrage at his pleasant attitude, and he got told to lay off....

2. People you work with who go off on an ego trip all over you. Especially your juniors.
'nuff said.

3. People who like to complain about the weather. I like the rain very much, thank you. I just wish I could stay home and curl up with a good book and enjoy it, rather than come to work.

4. Waiting to hear back from people when you have a deadline.

There may be more additions as the day goes on.

Wednesday House Blogging

Last night's episode was interesting. Can't comment on the medical stuff except to say that Epstein-Barr is a foul virus that is usually only responsible for Mononucleosis, but in some cases can become chronic, and in other cases, amy lie dormant for years (much like chicken pox/shingles) and come on in response to stress.

However, I would like to address one point: House's speech to the conference.

In these days of CME (Continuing Medical Education) and full financial disclosure, it would have been hard for House to even be accepted to make that speech at a regular meeting. CME rules state that all lecturers/presenters at a professional meeting (including yours truly) must disclose any financial or other interest in the company(ies) who make the products that they are discussing, or who funds their grants. Because House's hospital is owned by Vogler's company, House would have to state that he is fully employed by the company through the hospital. Furthermore, his talk would be considered a sales pitch, and therefore not eligible for CME credit. so in all likelihood such a talk would have been held at a satellite event sponsored by the company, rather than the main meeting.

In that case, it's a surprise Vogler didn't try to fire him right then and there. He ruined a sales presentation.

But he did the right thing. Every time Vogler tries to hold his employment over his head, I have to laugh. In the real world, a hospital could lose its accreditation for allowing a pharmaceutical comapny to turn it into its own private colony of lab rats. What he's asked House to do, over and over is so unethical it's laughable. You can't fire a resident without cause. You can't pimp a product at a conference. You can't ask a doctor to give or withhold treatment from someone simply because it doesn't mesh with your corporate agenda (although HMOs try to do that every day).

And I suspect Cameron will be back.... the actress is listed as appearing in upcoming episodes and I think we all know now that Vogler is on his way out.

Idol chatter

Ok, I admit it. I watch it. Once they get to Hollywood, and I don't have to sit through painfully embarrassing auditions I watch it.

In fact, since it's on before House, my friend and I watch it together. We're both singers. In fact, she's so much of a better singer than I am that I hate to put myself in the same group as her, but in any case.... let's say we've both taken enough music lessons and singing lessons to know the difference between crap and not crap.

From that perspective, Randy Jackson is frequently closest to our criticisms. Occasionally Simon (when he's not being too harsh) is too, but Paula is on happy pills.

In any case, I just wanted to get this much off my chest: Quit gushing about Carrie. She's awful. Yeah, she's cute, but I've never heard anyone turn so many good songs into country music. Hell, even Garth Brooks managed to do rock and blues as rock and blues. Simon was right, that was her worst performance.

here's my thoughts on the others:

Scott: needs to go. At least you could hear him last night.

Nadia: get a life. She reminds me of a female impersonator on a cruise ship.

Anthony: Lovely voice, but he's Clay Jr. Last night's performance had some energy, though, and I liked it.

Vonzell: a beautiful instrument (voice) but her performances hold her back. Anyone who can make a Whitney Houston song her own has something there. Last night was a turning point for her, though since her performance was good as well as her voice.

Anwar: Creepy. Just creepy. His voice is weak and he needs to cover that nasty hairless chest.

Bo: what can I say? i love him. he's sexy and evidently the same age as my husband! He's got a great voice and he looks like the reincarnation of Lynyrd Skynyrd or the Allman brothers. I have been waiting to hear "Freebird" since he started the competition. I was a little disappointed with it, though, because the accompaniment was an orchestra and a little regimented. Where was the frickin' guitar solo, dammit? And WTF with Simon telling him to do a "well known rocking song" What the hell IS a well known rocking song if it isn't Freebird? I mean it's only the national anthem of the south. Yes, I do know all the lyrics. No, I didn't know them before I moved here.

Constantine (aka Creed Boy): Wait, he's my age? Damn. He's got an amazing voice. I think some of his performances were so-so. I have to give him credit for tackling Bohemian Rhapsody, though, which is hard as hell to sing and probably the most stylized song to hit pop music other than Frampton's "do you feel like i do" (guitar synth voice), and for doing it well.

I'm guessing the bottom 3 will be Scott, Carrie, and Nadia. Bottom 2: Scott and Nadia. Loser: Scott.

But then again, I picked Scott and Nadia last week and Nikko went home....
Thoughts?

today's stupid quiz

Today's stupid quiz:

Which Website are You?

I always knew it

But now it's been proven.

John Kerry is in fact the World's Biggest Douchebag!

"The Web is abuzz today with discussion of John Kerry's crass call for military hardship stories he can use for his political advantage.

I share Instapundit's, Anklebitingpundits', Polipundit's, Vodkapundits', Ace's, and others' contempt for Kerry's cynical manipulation of personal hardships.

Kerry has sunk so low with this latest ploy that my first thought this morning was "What an unbelievable douchebag!" This spurred me to some serious scientific research. I had to find out: is John Kerry the biggest douchebag in the world?

Google finds 13,000,000 hits for a search on John Kerry. This gives us our baseline Kerry identification level. Then, by searching John Kerry douchebag, we find how many mentions associate John Kerry with a douchebag. The result is 17,500. By dividing this number by the 13 million baseline Kerry identification level and multiplying by 1000, we arrive at the Douchebag Identification Per Thousand(TM) quotient (DBIPT). Kerry's DBIPT score is 1.35, a truly phenomenal rating."

Read the rest to find out how other people scored!

(h/t: Ken)

Dessert time!

For this week's Carnival of the Recipes, here's a favorite in my family. The Caltechmom is diabetic, so sugar-free is frequently on the menu. This recipe is a twist on the traditional apple pie.

Caltechmom's Nearly Sugar Free Apple Pie

1 large pkg. Cook 'n' Serve (NOT instant) Vanilla Pudding mix
1 1/2 cup unsweetened apple juice
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1- 1 1/2 packet Sweet N Low (Splenda is probably ok, but DO NOT use Equal)
3-4 cups apples, peeled and sectioned
1 6oz fat-reduced graham cracker crust
1 tub fat-free Cool whip

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 375 deg. F.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine pudding mix, juice, cinnamon, and sweetner. Stir well.
Add apples, stir constantly until boiling.
Pour in crust, shake gently to settle.
Bake for 20 minutes, let cool.
Top with Cool Whip and serve.
Enjoy.

This week's CotR is hosted by Drew of Conservative Friends (at least I think it is...)
In any case get those recipes in to recipe(dot)carnival(at)gmail(dot)com before 12am EDT Friday (Thursday night!)

Idol update

**spoilers for you west coast types**

Yay!!!! Nadia is gone!!!! Woo Hoo!!!

Can't believe Bo got the second-least votes. Scott must have a guardian angel. I have to say, though, that Scott sang SOOOO much better tonight than he has yet on the show. Much much better than the first time he sang it.

Bo better step it up next week. I'm betting Carrie was 4th from the bottom.

It really exists!

Found TODAY for the first time ever in Chapel Hill:
(drumroll.....)

And it's actually pretty good. Tastes like cherry coke mixed with cream soda and a little Dr. Pepper. Go here for a more in-depth review

Don't worry, Darling Husband, there's one in the fridge for you. And I won't hold it against you either. I know you don't frequent the med school snack shop :)

yet another stupid quiz

Ok, it's not really a quiz since you just enter your name... but it's funny
(again stolen from Michele, who is on a roll this week)

What are your boobies' names?

According to the quiz, Caltechgirl's boobies are:

However, my boobies' real names are:

Survivage Updated!

Today, being Thursday, is Survivor day. I can't wait to see Stephenie freak out over the creepy things in the jungle while she's out there alone. She ought to get a free pass for the next few days just for being out there alone and beating out all of the other Ulongs. Will they merge tonight or is Stephenie in for another few days of torture while Koror goes to tribal council? That would be just like the bastards who run the show.

I know at least a couple of you are big fans of the show, so here's your chance to chime in. What do you think will happen? If you've already seen the show by the time you run across this post, leave comments anyway. I'll update it and repost this after the show with my thoughts.

Spoilers and Update below the fold for you west coast folks and Aussies

an interesting quiz, for a change.

What kind of American English do you speak?

(h/t Jay and Deb)

It pays to be with it

Here it is again, Tax day. Most of you probably have not even pulled out the forms. I realize taxes are quite a chore for most people, but for us (no kids, no IRA, no self-employment tax) they're pretty straightforward. So I usually do the forms in February, as soon as I get the W-2s and interest statements. This year I filled them out, figured out what we were getting back, and then promptly forgot to make them pretty (redo them in ink) and send them. Until about a month ago.

See, if you send in your forms on March 15, then April 15th isn't Tax day, it's REFUND day! WooHoo!

State refund was in the mail last night and the Federal refund was in my checking account this morning! Yay!

In case you're wondering, assuming I get a Postdoc, that $$ is earmarked for our moving money for the trek back to Cali.

Now that the cat is out of the bag

The Bear Flag League has filed an amicus brief in the Apple case many of you have heard so much about.

Here's the press release (lifted from SoCalLawBlog):

Irvine, CA.
April 15, 2005.

Today, the Bear Flag League -- a coalition of 80 bloggers who are current and former California residents -- filed a friend of the court brief with the California Sixth District Court of Appeal in O'Grady v. Superior Court. The O'Grady case is an appellate proceeding arising from a lawsuit filed by Apple Computer in Santa Clara County in December 2004. Apple sued unnamed individuals who are accused of leaking information regarding Apple's new products to several news websites. Apple has initiated discovery procedures available under California law to identify the source of the leaked information, including serving a subpoena to the Internet service provider for one of the news websites. Apple hopes that the subpoena will reveal the identity of its employees or other parties involved in the leaks. The publishers of the news websites have asked the Santa Clara County Superior Court to block Apple's discovery in order to protect the publishers' confidential sources. When the Superior Court denied that request, the publishers filed a petition with the Sixth District Court of Appeal. The lawsuit involves the competing interests of the First Amendment guarantees of a free press on the one hand and Apple's rights to protect the unlawful dissemination of its trade secrets on the other.

The Bear Flag League is an unincorporated association of current and former residents of the State of California who operate and/or contribute to 80 blogs. The League was formed in July 2003 in order to collaborate and publish articles concerning California culture, current events, legal issues and politics for the reading public.

The brief filed by the League today urges the Sixth District Court of Appeal to afford these website publishers and all bloggers the same privileges and protection from discovery that traditional print and broadcast journalists enjoy under the United States and California Constitution. Because these website publishers targeted by Apple are engaged in the same news gathering and reporting activities as print journalists, broadcast reporters and Internet bloggers, they have the right to protect their confidential sources and thereby maintain a strong, independent and free press.

The League's brief was prepared by a number of the League's lawyer members, including, Justene Adamec of Pumilia & Adamec LLP and Jeffrey Lewis and Benjamin P. Pugh of Enterprise Counsel Group, ALC.

The brief can be found here. (PDF format)

Better late than never

Due to unforseen work circumstances, the Carnival of the Recipes is now up. Head on over to Countertop Chronicles for all of the yummy goodness this week!

Holy Sh*t

Now, I've said someone was full of sh*t before, but this guy really is. I think he was the model for one of Caltechdad's favorite jokes....

See the extended entry....

Monday Monday

Ok, so it's Monday. Which sucks. I hate Monday mornings because of lab meeting at 9. Which means I have to be here BEFORE 9. (I usually come in 9-9:30). Ahh the advantages pf Academia.

Really, I think that's the only reason I didn't go for something else. Where else can you come in at 10 and go home at 6? Fits my sleep schedule SOOOO much better.

Anyway, the point of this post was to let you know that I have great plans for this week:
a roundup of British political news, focusing on the upcoming election
a link fest
pictures from my trip to Savannah (there aren't many, but I will put up a few)
a recipe for the CotR
Maybe some pictures of the Azaleas in my back yard...
and more!

And you thought OUR elections were bad...

An article from BBC News today discusses a minor blow to Tony Blair's bid for re-election. Seems one Derek Cattell, a member of the Labour party's executive board in Sedgefield, which is Mr. Blair's home constituency, has resigned from the Labour party in protest ove the war in Iraq (now??? why not 2 years ago??-ed.) Mr. Cattell has announced that he is now supporting Reg Keys, the father of an Iraq casualty, who is running independently for Mr Blair's seat. An explanation of why Mr. Blair must run again is below the fold...

But what's rather funny about all of this are the names and party affiliations of some of the other candidates up against Mr. Blair:

Jonathan Cockburn, Blair Must Go Party
Fiona Luckhurst-Matthews, Veritas
Baroney Maroney Staniforth, Monster Raving Loony Party

Heh. The joys of a multi-party system.

More Brit election analysis as we get closer to the big day (May 5), I just had to share my amusement at the candidate list...

Kudos to the Beeb (who rarely ever get my praise) for a wonderfully comprehensive webpage listing all of the issues and all of the party platforms (or manifestos as they call them in th UK) here and especially here.

Better late than never

As you may remember, I went to Savannah for a conference the first weekend in April. I've finally managed to download some of the photos I took. Click for a bigger picture

Here's the view from our hotel room, complete with container ship:

This is the Savannah convention center, where our convention was held and more famous for hosting the last meeting of the leaders of the G8 nations:

And at night:

Here's an interesting car carrier ship:

and the obligatory shot of flowers in Savannah; Azaleas growing on River St.:

Finally, my favorite shot of the weekend. You might have to look carefully to read the graffito's opinion of the local paper.....

Oh Yeah!

I win! Yay! I was one of four bloggers to get a nod for this week's Jawalicious caption contest!!!

WooHoo!!!

Cheesy flicks

Stolen from Blackfive and Harvey....

What Movies are you embarrassed to love?

Well, that could be quite a list....

Pure Country
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Sixteen Candles (several of you can guess why)
Deuce Bigalow
Big Daddy
Nothing to Lose
The Mask of Zorro
Remo Williams (heck yeah, Blackfive)

I'm sure there are more. This list is just a start.... What are yours?

Interesting discussion...

...going on over at Dean's World about the bible and homosexuality. Read the comments.

I'm going to post my personal opinions here (Below the fold in case you don't care):

Roy Hallums update

Rusty Shackelford has the story of the American hostage you've probably never heard of. In an exclusive interview, Rusty interviews the family of Roy Hallums to discuss his situation and what has and hasn't been done to secure his release. Part one of his interview with Roy's family is here. Part 2 tomorrow, and 3 and 4 to follow.

a brief recollection

It seems strange to me that it's been 10 years since the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. I was home sick that day, curled up in Mom's chair with a blanket trying not to hurt. I was in the same place two years earlier when the Waco complex was blown up by the ATF/FBI/etc. Funny.

Four years and one day after Oklahoma City I was working on a paper in my bedroom with the LA news on when they broke in with the Columbine shooting story.

This week in history mostly sucks. Let's get on with it.

Idolling along...(updated)

Idol begins in 5 minutes on the East Coast.

Predictions?
Thoughts?
Reaction?
Comment away...
Update below the fold!

Wednesday House Blogging

Today's thoughts can be found over at Ith's place where I've been guest blogging :)

Star Wars time waster

Found this from Aussie Wife Amanda. Click on the link and it takes you to a flash game where you can listen to snippets of SW music and decide which movie they're from. You can choose OT (classic Star Wars films) or Episode II.

I got all of the OT ones right after about 1 second each. Yes. I am a Star Wars nerd. Yes, I went to all of the premieres of the rereleases at Mann's Chinese. With my hair in appropriate Princess Leia hairdos. No, I will not wear the metal bikini.

Links for you, time to read a book for me

These should keep you busy:

It's the Queen's blogiversary! Drop by and wish her well!

Fat: Bad or not? Wizbang, McGehee and the MUSC Tigers weigh in.

Middle East:
1. The Carnival of the Liberated was held yesterday at Dean's. Drop by for your weekly Iraq/Afghanistan blog update
2. Michael Totten and Spirit of America, live from Lebanon
3. Rusty Shackelford blogs part 2 of his interview with Susan Hallums (part 1 here)

Babalu contributor Julio Zangroniz has exciting news about a new park in Miami and a memorial to those who have lost their lives fighting communism in Cuba.

The Paladin's got Mexican Food on the brain (constantly)

Mrs. SMASH is back at it, at least, in a limited way. Yay!!

Humor for Dreaded Wednesdays from VW Bug. While you're there, check out the Karnival of the Kidz.

Speaking of Kids, check out Sadie's new talents: Splashing and Standing

Idol Chatter from Marie

Shocking News from the Laughing Wolf..... Congrats LW and Bou!

That's the lot for now. I'm going to go read my book and rest.

WooHoo!!!!

I have returned to Large Mammal status! I lost 150 spots in the process but hey, it works now.

Props to the Bear for cleaning up the ecosystem.

Congrats to him and the new Mrs. Bear, as well. May your den always be snug, and your days filled with honey and no bees :)

Welcome Back!

Two of my favorite bloggers-on-hiatus are back.

Drop by and welcome back Kelley of Suburban Blight and TopDawg of Two Nervous Dogs!

Strawberries and Cream

It's strawberry season, which of course makes me homesick for those luscious CA strawberries that are WAY overpriced in our stores out here....

In honor of that, here's a recipe that turns out a beautiful 3-layer cake from scratch when done right.

Strawberries and Cream Cake (originally from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups white sugar
1 (3 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup strawberries, pureed

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups quartered strawberries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 9 inch round cake pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat sugar, gelatin and butter until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Mix flour and baking powder, and beat alternately with the milk into the sugar mixture. Fold in 1 teaspoon vanilla and pureed strawberries. Divide equally into three 9 inch round cake pans.
3. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then remove from pans and cool completely.
4. To make the filling: Beat whipping cream, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla on high until stiff. Fill each layer with 1/3 of the whipped cream and 3/4 cup sliced strawberries.
5. To make the frosting: Beat the margarine, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Spread over the sides of the cake, and pipe an edge of frosting around the top of the cake.
6. Spread remaining whipped cream on cake top. Top with quartered strawberries.

Submit your own recipes to the Carnival of the Recipes by emailing your link (if you have a web presence) or your recipe (if you don't) to recipe(dot)carnival(at)gmail(dot)com

This week's CotR is hosted by Bev at bebere.com. Next week the CotR stops here! And of course thanks to SWWBO for starting the whole thing....

Blogging impacts British Election, too

In today's electon coverage, the BBC features a story on the impact of blogging on the political scene in the UK, and how the "democratization" of the media is changing business as usual for Britain's political parties.

Video features gratuitous shots of Karl Rove talking on his cell phone and a snippet of an interview with former Tory leader Ian Duncan Smith, discussing his article on blogging (which I covered here).

More on the British elections later.... A piece on the non-issue in this year's election...

Spring in Chapel Hill

Here are some lovely pictures of the flowers in and around my yard, starting with the blossoms on my blueberry bush (YAY!!! but that's a story for another day, poor bush), lots of Azaleas and a Dogwood. Also, the Princess...

The originals are 2048x1536, so if you would like a larger version of any of them, email me and I'll be happy to send them to you!

And here's the Princess:
First, reproach (Mommy, why do I have to stay on the deck????)

Then a smile (Yay! Let's play!)

Milestones...

Visitor # 24,500 was referred by Dean's World sometime in the last hour!
WooHoo!!

There will be much rejoicing and link glory for the referrer of visitor #25,000! This will probably occur at the end of next week, especially if I get a HWNNL-lanche from the CotR again.

However, HWNNL is not eligible for link-love around here, so in that case, the referrer closest to 25,000 but not below who is NOT HWNNL will get special recognition... and perhaps a prize... Suggestions?

Also, this is post #50 as a munuvian.

Top 10 reasons NOT to steal your professor's laptop

Hell, after seeing this video, you don't NEED any more reasons...

Click here, and then scroll to (48:50) to skip the Bio1a lecture.....

Here's the audio of the relevant part only if you don't want to wait for the video to load. You may have to click and save. It's worth it!

From BoingBoing, via Michelle Malkin

The muppet formerly known as Cookie Monster

By now you've probably heard that Sesame Street plans to cut back on the blue guy's cookie consumption next season.

Jonah Goldberg responds, and skewers the prospective change with reasoning direct from Hannibal Lecter (and Marcus Aurelius)...

An Excerpt:

Lecter: “First principles, Clarice. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing, ask: What is it in itself? What is its nature? What does he do, this creature you seek?

Starling: He entertains children….

Lecter: “No! That is incidental. What is the first and principal thing he does? What need does he serve by entertaining children?

Starling: Social acceptance? Personal frustration?

Lecter: No: He craves. That’s his nature. And what does he crave? Make an effort to answer.

Starling: Food?

Lecter: No! He is not a “food monster!” He is a cookie monster!

Read the rest!

NFL officially returns tomorrow

Yay!

Football is a big thing in our house thanks to the DH. College, NFL, he doesn't really care. He'll even watch Arena Football, but usually we'll take a pass.

So the NFL season officially kicks off with tomorrow's draft. I'm a little tired of it after a week of hype, but I'm stil gonna watch the first round. I always do.

Who do you think will go first? My money's on Aaron Rodgers of Cal to the 49ers. I know that most people think Alex Smith of Utah is the top choice, but I can't imagine that the Niners would pass up a chance to go with a Golden Bear, especially since the team has so much history with Cal. Three years ago, the Carolina Panthers made a surprise move and did the same thing, picking Julius Peppers of UNC 3rd overall. They made sure to get their hands on a great player with a strong local draw. Most Bay Area folks have at least heard of Rodgers, and he's a strong quarterback. Hell, he beat USC against a Heisman winner. But Alex Smith is strong too, and he's younger. Tough to say.

Also, I think we'll see a few last minute deals to trade up for players. there haven't been many of these deals in the last few years, with the closest thing in last year's draft being the trade of Eli Manning and Philip Rivers... which doesn't really count.

What do you think? Predictions? Surprises?

Go Ahead, Gloat

This is the sh*t that happens when your team is exceptionally good.

Dammit. Whatever happened to an education? I get that the $$ will be better this year than next year since they just won, but damn, guys, college is the best time of your life.

UNC just lost the 7 leading scorers and 7 of the 8 players on the roster who have ever started a game. The sum total of starts remaining on the bench? 1. Quentin Thomas started in UNC's lead-off loss to Santa Clara while Ray Felton was suspended for participating in an "unapproved" charity game, which had previously been allowed.

Here's hoping JJ goes too. And Coach K goes to LA.

Why yes.

My day WAS kinda crappy so far. How was yours?

Going out tonight. Maybe to a flick, maybe just to Target to buy one on DVD and then watch it at home....

Update: We went to Target and got South Park Season 5 on DVD. Excellent. I laughed hard enough that I feel much better now. Two of my favorite episodes of all time are in this set: "Osama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants" and "Cripple Fight!" (including the classic 20 minute fight from "They Live")

Also, for those of you who have been wondering, Team America will be released on DVD on May 17th....

Yummy for my Tummy

The Carnival of the Recipes is up at bebere.com, complete with poetry.
Bev did a great job! Drop by and check it out!

Next week the CotR moves here, don't miss it!

ok, so I was wrong...

The Niners took Alex Smith and there really weren't any exciting last minute deals, but hey, here's wishful thinking.

I went out shoe shopping.

Thoughts, post-draft, anyone?

The Forgotten Genocide

This post stays on top today.

Today, April 24th, is the 90th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian Genocide.

I have so many things to say, so many emotions, I will say just two:

First, why is it that so many Americans know nothing of a genocide that killed nearly as many as Hitler's reign of terror over the Jews in Europe? Like the Jews, the Christian Armenians were pursued and killed by the Muslim turks for no reason other than their religion. It was wholesale slaughter. Men, and young boys were murdered outright, women, girls, and the elderly were forced to march for miles. Most died along the way. Armenian girls were sold into slavery in turkish homes and were raped by turkish soldiers. Yet almost no one here knows the story...

Second, a personal story. My father's stepmother was already a widow with 7 children at the time of the genocide. Her children were young, but not babies. She knew that they would never survive without some kind of plan. So she disguised herself and her children as turkish arabs, and moved from town to town posing as an arab widow. She made what little living she could scrape together by sewing for wealthy turkish families, all the while hiding her true identity. Over the course of a couple of years she and her children crossed turkey on foot, and eventually came under the protection of some Christian arabs who helped them escape to Lebanon. Eventually, they made their way to France, and some of them, including my father's stepmother, made it to the US.

Their sacrifice deserves to be remembered.
For more on the genocide, go here and here.

25,000 happens today

At 1:03 pm EDT, SiteMeter reads 24,966.

34 to go.

Special linky recognition to the referrer(s)!

I'm betting it will be Jay and Deb again.... ;) Or maybe Sadie this time....

Speaking of Milestones

Go over to the Queen of All Evil's place and wish her a Happy Happy Birthday!

A damn good idea

Have you ever been amazed by the poor fashion choices some people make? I'm not talking about stripes with polka dots or purple with orange. I mean like a woman pushing her kid's stroller at the zoo in a see-through halter, leather mini, and stiletto heels. I'm talking hoochie-mama at the grocery store, jeans so low the dude's boxers are showing and he can't walk, and all other manner of inappropriate attire. I myself am unbelievably tired of seeing the top of your thong underwear and your bra staps, ladies. There's a reason it's called UNDERWEAR.

Anyway, if you want to pause and have laugh at these poor people's expense, or you want to share a ludicrous outfit you've seen with others for their amusement, your outlet is now available, thanks to Michele.

Just go to http://inappropriatelydressed.com/ and click through the archives (which is just 3 pictures now, but sure to increase) or add a pic of your own, instructions are on the page.

Enjoy!

WooHoo!!!!

Visitor # 25,000 dropped in to the blogsplat page at 4:21:51 EDT from the MUSCTigers!

Yay!

Go on over there and meet Jeremy, Katie, and Jenks, three students at the Medical University of South Carolina, and enjoy a different perspective!

Do me a favor...

It is in fact painless.

Go over to Ben's place and tell him to get off his lazy butt and write something. Tell him I sent you.

Welcome New BFL'ers!

The Bear Flag League has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few days!

Drop by and say Howdy! to our newest members:

Flap's Dental Blog (it's about more than teeth)
Three Bad Fingers (draw your own conclusions)

and two new ex-pat members who may not be new to you:
Captain's Quarters Blog
My Pet Jawa

To keep up with the rest of the BFL members, read Justene's herculean multipart roundup of what's going on in the BFL.

Oh Yeah.

I am a Giant Mecha-Blob. Did I mention I kicked Ith's butt?

Mwahahahahahaha.
Get your own here. Or do battle against another web monster.

(h/t Princess Jami subbing for Ith)

A Model of Victorian Domesticity, Part I

This is the first in a multi-part series about the issues in the British elections, for those of you who are interested in the issues and outcomes...

The British election follows many of the same patterns we're used to here in the US. Sniping, oneupsmanship, and disagreements on any number of issues. Like the elections we held last fall, Britain's general elections are also thought to be an unofficial referendum on the Iraq war. At least the Tories hope so.

Beyond Iraq, the main issue is Britain's faltering National Healthcare System (NHS), which has been plagued for many years by inadequate staffing and resources, costs exceeding receipts (from government) and long wait times for diagnosis and treatment. Things that are absolutely unthinkable in the US, at least, if you have health insurance. Each side has a different plan to solve the problem. Labour wants to continue to pour money into the system, to improve infrastructure and allow patients more choice with less wait time. The Tories want to scale back NHS in favor of a growing private medical sector, and give patients incentives to choose private doctors over NHS if they have personal health insurance. Think of it as a kind of school voucher program for hospitals. Neither is a great plan, honestly, but perhaps I feel that way because I am absolutely appalled by some of the conditions that British citizens put up with today in the NHS.
-Wait times for cancer patients to receive treatment from an oncologist vary from 2 weeks to 14 weeks.
--patients can wait 6 months to get an appointment with an NHS dentist
--under the current system (somethign labour is trying to change) patients must see a nearby doctor even if the wait time to see a doctor in a neighboring district is less (sometimes by several weeks)

Obviously the system must change. And you were wondering why we didn't hear much from the Universal Health Care moonbats in the last election? Well, it's not just that they were too busy war protesting, they were afraid we'd bring up the sad state of health care in the UK. Sure, countries like Sweden have thriving, useful, state-provided healthcare systems, but Britain's is on its last legs.

Roy Hallums interview part 3

Rusty Shackelford is back with Part III of his interview with the family of American hostage (currently being held in Iraq) Roy Hallums.

Not a surprise really

...given my CD collection and the fact that the only country acts I saw on the list were Gretchen Wilson, LeeAnn Rimes, and Tim McGraw. (whatever happened to George Strait and Clint Black????)

Reminder!

The Carnival of the Recipes is HERE this week. Submit yourselfrecipes to recipe(dot)carnival(at)gmail(dot)com before midnight EDT tomorrow night. The Carnival will be magically appear on Friday!

Suspend disbelief

Ok, we all know that people comment on the DU boards for one of two reasons (mostly):
1. They have no where else to spew their hateful ignorant shite.
2. They're right-wing gluttons for punishment and trolling.

Elizabeth Edwards has been a commenter at DU for quite a while including some notable comments about the "reign of witches" etc. Today, however, she serves as a voice of reason on the hate-board. In a discussion of Laura Ingraham's recently discovered (and just yesterday removed) breast cancer, Mrs. Edwards takes the high road. A breast cancer patient herself, she says, in part:

"I have been a Democrat for a long time, and part of the Democratic principles that attracted me as a young person and kept me a Democrat all these years is our compassion. Democrats are simply good and decent people. And good and decent people want everyone to do well -- those who agree with them and those who do not. We fight for the right of voices with which we disagree to speak out, for the right of people to say things we don't believe to be true, even for the right to be malicious and mean-spirited. If we fight for the right for LI to say what she says, how in the world can we use our disagreement with those words as an excuse not to be compassionate in her fight with cancer. Being willing to have her voice muted by illness is the same thing as not wanting her voice to be heard. It is not Democratic or democratic."

AKA You've really lost it this time you unbelievably ignorant fools.

She speaks of Democrats as good and decent people, which most, in fact, are, being concerned with social justice and peace, after all. But she's preaching to the wrong crowd. The DU boards are filled with the kind of crazy doctrinal hate speech that lefties are so wont to accuse righties of spewing.

Like Mrs. Edwards, I can even understand some of these retards being happy that Ms. Ingraham is off the air while she convalesces from her surgery, but to wish her death because you disagree with her politics? Come on. I thought you all were the compassionate party of peace and love and free speech.

Oh that's right. Only for the people who agree with you.

I can't tell you how appalled I am that these people have left simple human decency and compassion behind just because the object of their discussion happens to be a conservative. I hate to say it, but isn't that what happened in Germany? In Turkey? In the USSR? When the people you don't like/disagree with/blame politically become less than deserving of your compassion, less than human, perhaps, it's time to start rethinking your strategy. Otherwise you become no better than Hitler, Attaturk, or Stalin.

BTW, it's not like the voice of reason had any effect, even from someone like Mrs. Edwards. While there are a few posts agreeing with her, check out some of the posts AFTER Mrs. Edwards had her say:

She probably gave it to herself...

I don't pray for Nazis or other Totalitarian Scum (there are a lot of entries of people declining to pray for Ms. Ingraham based on her politics)

I hope she goes into remission and fucking chokes to death. (This tard has an upside down US flag as his avatar)

There are more. Including this little gem hoping she goes bankrupt paying for her medical bills and loses her house and faces ridicule.

Unbelievable. Here's a hint, Howie: the more we hear about this kind of thing, the more you lose touch with the center. No matter how any biblical references you pull out.

(h/t Michelle Malkin)

Ah-Choo!

I think I've had this cold before. It makes your thumbs hurt too.

See below the fold....

Moles and trolls.. Moles and trolls...*

Ok, no damn trolls, but lots of Moles for your whacking pleasure**.

Please don't hit the ones from Blacker Hovse...

*Special linky love to the first person who can tell me the movie containing this quote... I've got to start some kind of points system like Jim

**No, not THAT kind of whacking you sickos.

(h/t the Llama dudes)

More Time Wasters

From the Llama Guys:
--The ubiquitous state locator
--A version where the states disappear after you've placed them (ultra-hard version)
--The European version

From the Happy Dog:
--It'sJava Bowling

And from a number of people:
--The piggy personality test

Can you tell I've been writing my thesis again today?

Hey Ben-- I got 100% up to level 4 on the European one..... I still remember all that AD sh*t. Unbelievable. Beyond that, it's freaking impossible to place Liechtenstein or Andorra on an empty map properly....

Update: Here's another one, from Prof. Taylor:
The Ron Mexico Name Generator
(for those of you who need an alias for that herpes-spreading booty call) Mine is Victoria Monaco....

Reminder to self

Do not go to bed at 9pm on Idol results night!

Holy Crap! Why didn't one of you email me? I can't believe Constantine is gone. I mean, no kiddin' he was crap on Tuesday, but they ALL were, including Bo.

Anthony, Vonzell, and Constantine in the bottom 3? COME ON. You've got to be kidding me! I would have put Anthony, Scott, and Carrie in the bottom three.

Who in hell is voting for Scott? and why?

More AI reactions here, here, here

Of course, this is good for Bo since they are no longer splitting the "rocker" vote.

Yay for Bo!
...and while we're on the subject, umm, Bo? Listen dude, you weren't fooling ANYONE with that Lenny Kravitz getup, mm'kay?

Don't support communism

What you probably know is that Venezuela is inching closer and closer to communism. What you may not know is that Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. is the owner of a little company here in the US known as Citgo.

Well, PDVSA has made a bold step embracing communism, this week they moved their corporate headquarters for South America and the Caribbean to Havana. As in Cuba.

Fausta at Bad Hair Blog has the details, including this juicy tidbit:

Venezuela's sending Cuba over 50,000 barrels per day, and that the PDVSA office in Habana will be in charge of commerce, storage, and transport. Venezuela's also opening a branch of the state-owned Banco Industrial de Venezuela in Habana.

It doesn't really take a rocket scientist to realize that, since Venezuela's a Caribbean country and already has the necessary infrastructure to carry out all its commercial activity, opening this office and the bank in Havana is simply a means to further merge Venezuela's rapid descent into communism and finance Castro's goverment while avoiding those pesky investigations on corruption scandals and the subsequent calls for financial transparency at PDVSA.

As I mentioned before, Citgo, which has eight refineries and some 13,000 service stations across the U.S., is owned by Petróleos de Venezuela SA. What Venezuela does concerns us directly.

Additionally, Chávez has gone on the record saying that “oil is a geopolitical weapon”.

Read the rest!

Do we really want castro in charge of ANYTHING that has to do with our oil supply? Remember that the majority of our foreign oil imports come from Venezuela.....

Think about that the next time you stop at a Citgo to fill up.... Whose pockets are you really lining?

(h/t: Babalu)

Survivor tonight?

Wahhhh. The President's on!!!!

Not sure if they're going to run Survivor or not.....
Nooooooo!

Update: It's on at 9 after the Prez!

What's your signature weapon?

Again, not a surprise....

Halberd You preferred a weapon with 38% power over speed and 49% range over melee.

You use a Halberd. Possibly the most versatile polearm ever made, the Halberd is an elegant mix of spear and staff, remaining relatively light while having an effective cutting edge and stabbing point. Your enemies will never get near you; your personal space will be as unreachable as a faraway land.

(h/t: Jay)

Survivor

What a crap episode.

No surprises, just kind of blah.

Spoilers below the fold....

You people suck, at least when it comes to movies

Can't ANYONE remember what movie this phrase comes from???

"Moles and trolls, moles and trolls...."

Do I need to do a whole geekitude post of bad movie quotes?

Carnival of the Recipes XXXVII

The Thesis-In-Progress Edition
(forgive me, folks, I've got thesis on the brain. My defense meeting is May 26th!)

Abstract (Drinks):
The Carnival of the Recipes is a weekly roundup of the best recipes of the blogosphere. Individual bloggers submit recipes of their choice for all comers to enjoy. The posts are collected by a single host, and the links are provided by the host on each Friday, unless life intervenes. The Carnival has become more popular as time has gone on, and in addition to the usual main dishes and desserts, bloggers often submit unusual recipes or advice on cooking, as in B.Durbin of Booklore's Coconut-Hazelnut Smoothie and Recipe Challenge.

Chapter 1 Starting a Carnival (Soups, Salads, and Sauces):
The Carnival of the Recipes was started by Beth Donovan as a way for all of the blogosphere cooks to exchange their favorite recipes and get ideas. Soups, Salads, and Sauces are all an important part of a meal: adding to the main dish, cleansing the palate, bookending a fabulous meal. Recipes that you can use to start a meal this week include:
Jeff's Substitute A1 sauce from Ponytailed Conservative
The Queen's Spaghetti Sauce (or Dean's Favorite Pot Roast) from the Queen of all Evil
Split Pea Soup from Tanker at Mostly Cajun
Bean soup with Hambone from Bo the Nook of A Geezer's Corner
Tortilla Soup from Owlish of Owlish Mutterings
Bachelor Salad from Boxing Alcibiades

Chapter 2 Tempting the Palate (Appetizers and Sides):
Side dishes and appetizers are crucial to a successful meal. Guests come together over appetizers, and get a chance to socialize before the heavy food in the main course. Side Dishes give the main course a special extra zip. You might want to try out the effect of some of these:
Sausage and Cheese Snacks from Prochien Amy
Something-Or-Other Rice from David of Third World County
Jalapeño and Cheese Latkes from David G at Daily Pundit

Chapter 3 The Main Event (Main Dishes):
The main dish is the centerpiece of every meal, and consistently is the main focus of the Carnival of the Recipes. Main dish recipes are shared from house to house, from generation to generation. These recipes are shared in the same spirit:
Portobello and Bow Tie Pasta from Oddybobo
Gehockteh Leber from Ellison of Blog D'Ellison
Stuffed Zucchini from VW of One Happy Dog Speaks
Beef Tamales from the Redneck Gormet
Stuffed Salmon from Kevin at Technogypsy
Pizza (everything from tips to a dough recipe) from the AnarchAngel
Crawfish Etoufee (easy and hard methods) from Shawn of Everything and Nothing
Fava Beans with Sausage from Bo the Nook of A Geezer's Corner
Pepper Vodka Chicken from FrazzledDad
Italian Omelets from Ted at Rocket Jones
Landlocked Mussels from Punctilious at Blog O'Ram
Grillade Penne with Tomato Gravy from Christina of Feisty Repartee

Chapter 4 Finishing Touches (Desserts and Sweets):
Dessert isn't just the last course, it's often the best course. So in this case we're saving the best for last. And I guess we'll make this short and sweet:
Sweet Haggis (no intestines, no liver) from Donna at PajamaPundits
Fudge Cake with Whipped Amaretto Icing from Christina of Feisty Repartee
Orange Refrigerator Cookies from Be of Bebere.com
Fruit Pizza from Tinker at The Secret Life of Shoes
Key Lime Cream Cheese Pie from Songstress7 at News From the Great Beyond
Mud Cookies from Sissy of And What Next
Crackling Cookies from triticale
Doctor Bird Cake from Dave of The Glittering Eye
Conor's Birthday Cheesecake from Mary Beth of Random Thoughts

Chapter 5 Future Directions:
Next week's Carnival of the Recipes is hosted by Kevin at Technogypsy

Appendices (late arrivals):
Dinner in a Bowl from Sisu Sissy
Avgolemono Soup from Countertop of Countertop Chronicles

Hopefully all the trackbacks went through... If you didn't get one email me. The pinger is acting up...

Bracing....For...Instalanche

The link went up at 10:23... Let's see what happens....

Only 3/4??

How Republican are you?

From SWWBO

Update: My DH took the quiz and, well, it's pretty right on (much to his parent's liberal chagrin....):

No Sh*t

Especially that last bit.....

from Christina

Tag I'm It.

Rosemary tagged me with the If I could be.... meme. I promise I'll get to it tomorrow. Too busy today to think :)

In the mean time, go see Kung Fu Hustle. It rocked.

With great power comes great responsibility.... Why don't you speak Chinese???