Filed under: Civil Rights, Connections, Constitution, Government, NYT, Predictions, Science Fiction, Society, tech, Writing stuff | Tags: blogging, Constitution, Edward Snowden, government, jim downey, New York Times, NSA, predictions, privacy, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, technology, writing
I said this in passing back in August:
Anyone who has read my blog for a while knows that these topics are ones I have discussed at some length in the past, well before the latest news. Just check the “Constitution“, “Government” or “Privacy” categories or related tags, and you’ll see what I mean.
And the things I have had to say in the past reflect a lot of what informs the background of St. Cybi’s Well. I don’t want to give too much away, but a lot of the book is concerned with what happens when a government uses tools intended to protect its citizens to instead control them. And working off of what was already in the public domain about the different security programs, I made a lot of projections about where such things could lead.
Then came the Snowden revelations and subsequent discussion. As it turned out, I was very accurate in my understanding of the spying technology and how it could be used. Almost too much so.
Yeah. From the close of a long, disturbing article:
Another former insider worries less about foreign leaders’ sensitivities than the potential danger the sprawling agency poses at home. William E. Binney, a former senior N.S.A. official who has become an outspoken critic, says he has no problem with spying on foreign targets like Brazil’s president or the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. “That’s pretty much what every government does,” he said. “It’s the foundation of diplomacy.” But Mr. Binney said that without new leadership, new laws and top-to-bottom reform, the agency will represent a threat of “turnkey totalitarianism” — the capability to turn its awesome power, now directed mainly against other countries, on the American public.
“I think it’s already starting to happen,” he said. “That’s what we have to stop.”
Perzactly.
Back to writing. Before my predictions of dystopia all become entirely too real.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Gardening, Habanero | Tags: 7 pot, blogging, gardening, Habaneros, jim downey, Lauren Collins, Moruga Scorpion, New Yorker, Red Savina, Trinidad Scorpion
In recent years, “superhots”—chilis that score above 500,000 on the Scoville scale—have consumed the attention of chiliheads, who debate grow lights on Facebook (“You can overwinter with a few well-placed T-8s”), swap seeds in flat-rate boxes (Australian customs is their nemesis), and show up in droves at fiery-foods events (wares range from Kiss My Bhut hot sauce to Vanilla Heat coffee creamer). Chilis, in general, are beautiful. There is a reason no one makes Christmas lights in the shape of rutabagas. Superhots come in the brightest colors and the craziest shapes. Their names, evoking travel and conquest—Armageddon, Borg 9, Naga Morich, Brain Strain—sound as though they were made up by the evil twins of the people who brand body lotions. Trinidad 7-Pots are so called because it’s said that one of them is enough to season seven pots of stew.
* * *
Eating, more than breathing or sleeping, lends itself to competition. There are bake-offs, wing wars, contests to see who can eat the most hot dogs, bratwurst, Twinkies, tamales, cannoli, apple pies, buffalo wings, ribs, oysters, pastrami, sweet corn, deep-fried asparagus, ice cream, pancakes, pepperoni rolls, and boiled eggs. Superhots are the most accessible of thrills—fugu straight from the garden. For the culinary extremist, or exhibitionist, they provide an outlet for impulses that might have compelled his adolescent self to drink a concoction or try to swallow a teaspoonful of cinnamon. (A recent study found a positive correlation between chili-eating and “sensation-seeking” behavior.) As a leisure activity, superhots offer some of the pleasures of mild drugs and extreme sports without requiring one to break the law or work out. They are near-death experiences in a bowl of guacamole.
* * *
Barrus consumes whatever people send him, from raspberry-chipotle fudge to ranch-dressing soda. Armed with a jar of peanut butter and gallons of milk (casein, a protein in dairy products, can alleviate the effects of capsaicin), he regularly sets himself such stunts as eating twenty-one of the world’s hottest peppers: seven bhut jolokia, five Trinidad Scorpion Butch Ts, four Douglah 7-Pots, three Trinidad Moruga Scorpions, two Jonah 7-Pots. (He made it through eleven of them.)
Hmm. Sound familiar?
Superhots!
Yay, baby!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Art, Google | Tags: art, blogging, Burr Oak, Communion of Dreams, health, jim downey, photography, WIlliamson Oak
McBAINE — Five years ago, when the father-son duo of Bill and Kyle Spradley teamed up to give the state champion bur oak at McBaine some much-needed attention, they were joined by a handful of people.
Yesterday, more than 40 people gave the majestic tree a hefty dose of TLC. The gathering included representatives of 10 organizations and businesses from across the state — most of them arborists or rural electric linemen experienced in tree-trimming and pruning.
That goes to show how much people care about this tree,” said Kyle Spradley, a senior information specialist at the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. Spradley also has his own photography business, and many of his photos feature the McBaine bur oak.
I’ve written about the tree previously, for the very good reason that it is the image used on the cover of Communion of Dreams (and so, at the top of this blog). And I’m glad to see this sort of effort to help care for the tree, and preserve it for future generations. Seriously, if you haven’t ever seen it in person, and you find yourself in the area, it is worth a visit.
In the meantime, you can see images of the work done this week here, and a simple image search will bring up plenty of great shots of it.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Gardening, Habanero | Tags: blogging, cooking, gardening, Habaneros, hot sauce, jim downey, Moruga Scorpion, Trinidad Scorpion
Remember this?
Hab harvest, 2013
Well, this morning I got started turning those into this:
Simmer, simmer
Which resulted in this, after other ingredients were added and it was allowed to simmer for a while:
Mmm.
Which was then run through a blender for a bit, then cranked through a Foley food mill to remove seeds and skins, resulting in this:
Oh. Yeah.
Which became 30 half-pint jars of just incredible sauce. So, there’s about two full habs per ounce of this stuff. I just had about 1/8th a teaspoon on a burger, and my oh my.
I think I’ll call it Scorpion Blood, since it includes (among other varietals) two different ‘Scorpion’ peppers: the Moruga Scorpion, and the Trinidad Scorpion.
Mmmm.
Jim Downey
Recipe, for those interested:
- Approximately 500 peppers, crown removed and cut in half
- Half a gallon of natural apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups white sugar
- 8 tablespoons of Kosher salt
- Quart of homemade tomato sauce
- 20 ounce of chopped garlic
- 2 yellow onions, rough chopped
Prepare all ingredients. Put peppers, onion and vinegar in 5 gallon stock pot, simmer until peppers & onion all soft. Add other ingredients, simmer about an hour, stirring often.
Scoop into blender, do a rough blend for 15 – 20 seconds. Then pour into Foley food mill, and crank until just seeds and skins are left. Transfer to jar, can.
Filed under: Ad Astra, Apollo program, Art, Astronomy, Bad Astronomy, Heinlein, Man Conquers Space, movies, NASA, Paleo-Future, Phil Plait, Predictions, Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein, Science, Science Fiction, Slate, Space, Space X, tech, YouTube | Tags: Apollo, art, blogging, Destination Moon, Grasshopper, jim downey, Lunar Module, Moon, movies, NASA, paleo-future, Phil Plait, predictions, R is for Rocket, Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein, science, Science Fiction, space, Space Shuttle, SpaceX, STS, technology, video, www youtube
I grew up reading stuff like this:
And even had a really cool metal rocket based on the images from Destination Moon which one of my relatives made and gave me. For the longest time those sleek rockets landing and taking off again (what NASA calls ‘Direct Ascent‘) defined what space travel meant, and I loved watching early launches which hinted at Things To Come.
Then space technology advanced, and I got a little older. Rockets were no longer cool. With all the wisdom and knowledge of a 14 year old, I dismissed the idea that anyone would want to use them for anything other than lobbing other things into orbit, and even at that they would be soon surpassed by more efficient and reusable shuttles and aerospace vehicles.
I’m glad not everyone was so easily distracted:
Welcome back to the future of my youth.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Connections, General Musings, Humor, Music, NPR, Science Fiction, Society, Writing stuff | Tags: Alwyn, blogging, Darrell Scott, Fat Tire, humor, jim downey, Lake of the Ozarks, music, New Belgium, NPR, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, Tim O'Brien, travel, writing
At about 7:45 in this interview:
NPR: “I wonder: your original CD together Realtime is so beloved by your fans, does that make you just a tad nervous about how this much-anticipated follow-up might be received? Or do you just block that stuff out?”
O’Brien: “Ah, you know, I’m gettin’ over that.”
NPR: “But not yet? You’re still working on it?”
* * * * * * *
It was a hard week. He may have been only a dog, but his absence was entirely too distracting.
* * * * * * *
The other night I played supportive spouse and accompanied my Good Lady Wife to a professional meeting she had at the Lake of the Ozarks.
The Lake (as people in Missouri almost universally refer to it) is an interesting sort of place, from a purely anthropological perspective. Originally built to help generate electricity, it then became a tourist trap in the 1960s, then evolved into something of a Spring Break party spot for college kids throughout the state. It still has something of that reputation, though it has now branched out a bit into being a general purpose convention/resort area. I’ve written about it previously.
Anyway, like these sorts of meeting things go, the first night there was a cocktail party with an open, but limited selection, bar. I walked up to the bar, nodded to the nice very clean cut young man behind it, asked “Got any Fat Tire? ”
“Sorry, just domestic beer. ”
I blinked, a bit stunned.
He explained further “We don’t have any of those Belgium beers.”
* * * * * * *
At about 7:45 in this interview:
NPR: “I wonder: your original CD together Realtime is so beloved by your fans, does that make you just a tad nervous about how this much-anticipated follow up might be received? Or do you just block that stuff out?”
O’Brien: “Ah, you know, I’m gettin’ over that.”
NPR: “But not yet? You’re still working on it?”
O’Brien:“Well, there is a sort of a fermentation that happens in people’s minds, and I guess it happened in my mind too, that you know, what, can we do that again? Can we go back to that? And then, at some point I just said ‘well, you know, if we don’t try we’ll never do anything together again'”.
Scott: “To me the word is ‘fearless’. Putting it out there, and then, with the right ingredients it’ll probably turn into something edible.”
Something edible, indeed. Back to work.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Gardening, Habanero | Tags: blogging, gardening, Habaneros, jim downey, tomatoes
As a follow up to Tuesday’s post about tomatoes, here’s what I just brought in from the garden:
From left to right:
- Red Savina
- 7 Pot
- Mix of Moruga and Trinidad Scorpion
- Bhut Jolokia
- Devil’s Tongue
Oh, and Tuesday’s tomato harvest? In addition to plenty being used in meals the last couple of days, they also made 9 full quarts of rich, delicious sauce. Yum!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Gardening | Tags: blogging, gardening, jim downey, tomatoes
I haven’t talked about it too much, but this has been a rather astounding year for my garden. To wit:
The bucket on the end? That holds 5 gallons. It’s full. All told, I think there’s somewhere between 60 and 70 pounds of tomatoes sitting there. That’s just this morning. And I only planted 12 plants (4 of which are now past bearing).
Blimey. Time to make tomato sauce …
Jim Downey
Filed under: Emergency, Preparedness, Society, Survival | Tags: blogging, crime, jim downey
“Did you hear all the excitement yesterday?” asked our back-fence neighbor when we saw him on our walk this morning.
“Um, no, what happened?”
“Guy walked in my front door about 4:15, holding a knife.”
“Good lord, what happened?”
“He said ‘Give me your keys.’ And I threw him my keys. He took my truck, and headed out.”
“What the hell???”
“Yeah, he’d evidently assaulted someone at one of the ‘gentleman’s clubs’ up off the highway. So the cops were already looking for him, and caught him a little later. He was pretty drunk. I got the truck back – it didn’t have any damage.”
“Damn.”
* * *
So, a friendly reminder: lock your doors, people. Be prepared, even when you’re enjoying a pleasant holiday afternoon. There really are nuts out there.
I’ll update with a link to the actual story when it shows up in the local press. UPDATE: Here it is.
Jim Downey
Communion Of Dreams 