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Do Nothing for 2 Minutes

This is Food Porn!

Check out this blog my friend sent me.  It is legitimate food porn!

I have always wanted to try my hand at fancy baking and between this and my account on Epicurious.com, this just might happen.  Question is: what should I make first?

 

Check out the blog here.

Growin' on Up!

I have recently moved out of my parents house into my first apartment. Moving woes and landowner/roommate issues aside, it was a successful move out!  After getting everything set up in my room, I have turned my attention to the living room.  Yesterday, I purchased my first couch for $25!  It's a lovely shade of faded yellow with an alternating pattern of yellow stripes.  I am still looking for a kitchen table and chairs.  So if anyone has on they don't need, don't hesitate to hit me up! :)

My next step of moving out and growing up is cooking for myself.  I had to a lot of this when I was in South Africa, and not to toot my own horn, but I think I am a good, just inexperienced, cook.  In my repertoire of cooking abilities is various salads, pastas, soups, and grilled meats.  I find that I can follow instructions and make a mean chicken curry!  However, I am not satisfied with just these skills. I want to be able to sear steaks, stew veggies and bake pies.  All the while, adding to my blog about my adventures (and what will mostly likely include many misadventures) in my kitchen.

So, tonight, I am going to finish off salmon fillet, which will have to be pan seared because I don't have a George Foreman... yet!  I can chop up my lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes for nice side salad and maybe I will pick up a nice chardonnay to go with it.  In the mean time, I will be looking for further recipes that are quick and easy.  Epicurious.com is going to be my best friend when it comes to finding new recipes.  Thus far I have a profile and have been collecting things that look good and challenging.  I am going to try some foods from around the world, including some from my host country, South Africa!  I also found recipes for falafel, curry, tofu, veggies, fish, shellfish and various meats.  Wish me luck!

Santa Claus TM

This is clever.  A consulting firm based in the UK drafted a brand book for Santa this holiday season.  You should check it out! It's pretty funny!

http://www.quietroom.co.uk/santa_brandbook/

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season this year!  Good luck in 2011!

A couple of things for FAIL blog...

The DADT repeal!  I know everyone is frustrated about the vote (or lack thereof) on repealing DADT today.  It's both sad and aggravating that our governmental leaders are so casual about peoples right to serve their country as an open, out and proud individual.  Why would we want less from our military?

Also... Congress!  What a waste it is to have all these leaders meet and then have some conservatives just filibuster straight into another legislative session!  Our government is supposed to be making decisions and guiding our country to a better and more equal place.

The lack of coordinated leadership and cooperation on both sides of the fence is frustrating.  I can't honestly believe that these senators on the right are actually listening to their constituents either.  If most of the military is in support of repeal then why are we still debating this policy?  We are already cooperating with other militaries that have open individuals and it doesn't seem to affect military readiness in those countries.  It also doesn't seem to affect cooperation and coordination between troops from different countries.

I just don't understand.  When will we get rid our religious ideals and work in towards the love and understanding all religions say they preach?  Ugh...

Chicago Spire - DEAD!

My hopes of one day owning a condo in North America's tallest building have been shattered today.  The Chicago Spire, a building that was designed by Santiago Calivatra.  The Irish holding company, who owned the land on which the spire was to be built, filed for foreclosure today! :(

Too bad! Here is the article from a Chicago Tribune writer:

Chicago Spire Developer Loses Control of Site

And now here is a picture of my future home that will never be! :(

Pantone iPhone/iPad cases

This is probably the coolest case I have seen for iPhone/iPad!  They even have the Pantone color number on them.  It's too bad you cant get any color you want, otherwise I would look up the favorite shade of blue and order a case.  Except, I don't have an iPhone... yet! :)

Pantone iPhone/iPad cases

Scariest Ad I have ever seen! LOL

Reaching for a Heineken only to find it's not there! Scary!!!

Hi, I'm a Tea-Partier

Multitouch, is it the future?

We all remember 2002 movie Minority Report, staring Tom Cruise as the chief of the "Precrime" unit set in future DC, right?  Chief John Anderton, played by Cruise, uses this incredibly awesome, hi-tech computer by waving his hands in front of a monitor the size of his office wall.  I remember seeing that scene and thinking how cool it would be to work in an office with that computer!  That future, may not be as far away as one might think.

 

As we see more and more, multitouch technology is becoming more the norm as more companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft create devices that allows a user to use their fingers as the stylus or pointer.  So this begs the question: Is the multitouch technology, as seen in Minority Report and other science-fiction movies, the way of the future?  Gizmodo seems to think so! I ran across this article about Apple's new Magic Trackpad, which is undoubtedly cool and useful.  However, Gizmodo took it a step further, dreaming up how we as consumers want to interact with our technology.  A new paradigm for user interface is evolving around mutlitouch and fully databased-driven modal operating systems.

Check out the article and imagine how our future offices might look!

Apple Magic Trackpad: The Beginning of the End for Mac OS X

The GO! Team's 3rd Album

Mark your calendars for  February 8th, 2011!!! The GO! Team's much anticipated (well, at least by me...) is set to release!  I really hope this doesn't turn into another Missy Elliot where the release gets delayed... and delayed... and pushed  back... and canceled.

While  you're at it... check out their new website! 

The GO! Team Website

Prop 8: OVERTURNED!

Yesterday the landmark case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, was over turned by a federal judge in California.  Proposition 8 over turned the law that allowed same-sex couples to get married in the state of California.  This over-ruling brings sends the case to the US 9th Court of Appeals and will ultimately get sent to the US Supreme Court where the decision should be made final.

Following is a link to the CNN posting about the buzz.  Check it out!

CNN: The Buzz on Prop. 8 Ruling

Prop. 8 Trial Decision

It's happening today! I will post a follow up on this land mark case and what this means for equality in our country!  However, for now check out the New York Times article.

New York Times: Decision Due on California's Prop 8.

Here is a link to the Human Rights Campaigns blog post about the issue.

HRC: Prop 8 Case Decision Expected TODAY!

The Kids Are All Right: A New Movie... is it really progressive?

Interesting stuff from the New York Times.  I really want to go see this movie, however I am skeptical about what it will say about same-sex families.  The authors in the debates bring up some pretty interesting points.  You should check it out!

Also, go see the movie!  Here is the preview:  The Kids Are All Right Trailer

NYTimes.com - Room for Debate:  It's a long way from "Brokeback Mountain" to "The Kids Are All Right," the critically praised film about a lesbian couple played by Julianne Moore and Annette Bening that is now being released nationwide.  As A.O. Scott wrote in his New York Times Review, the movie "starts from the premise that gay marriage, an issue of ideological contention and cultural strife, is also an established social fact."


That premise has been embraced by television for almost a generation, with gay characters and couples and parents dating at least to the dads depicted on "The Tracey Ullman Show" in the late 80's.  What effect have these portrayals played in gaining social acceptance for same-sex families? What role does a movie like "The Kids Are All Right" play in changing social perceptions?


New York Times: Room for Debate

Check it! The 808

The 808 on KRNU is my blog that will be an extension of my specialty show.  Check out my playlists, artist/album reviews and interest hip hop news.  If you guys have anything you want to hear on my show, want to share artists or just make general comments on my show you can make about my show.

Check it!

http://the808onkrnu.tumblr.com/

Crowdsourcing Your Supper

This sounds weird, but letting others cook and clean for you?! ...no, wait, that actually sounds kinda nice!  Check out this article from one of my favorite blogs.

 http://www.good.is/post/how-to-crowdsource-your-supper/

Hip Hop Radio - My Latest Adventure

I am currently interning with 90.3 KRNU, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's radio station. During a recent conversation with my station manager, I was discussing my love for beats and flows in hip hop music and culture.  The discussion ended the offer to host the hip hop specialty show next semester.

I have yet to come up with a name for my show and I am currently taking suggestions.  I would like to tie this into my blog: posting playlists, artists, lyrics, current hip hop news, interesting facts and leave room for comments and suggestions.

If you are unfamiliar with KRNU, you should check us out!  Here are links to our website and online streaming feeds as well as a few other places to keep up with KRNU news.

http://krnu.unl.edu

http://www.facebook.com/pages/903-KRNU/143556024999

http://twitter.com/903KRNU

If you guys want to hear someone on the air, post me a comment!

Robben Island

A couple weeks ago I visited Robben Island, the prison where Nelson Mandela spent almost two decades while being band from the mainland of South Africa. He was incarcerated for leading and organizing the then banded African National Congress.

We went through an on-campus organized tour. The people who were running it seemed to not be very organized, as the bus that was to take us to Cape Town was almost an hour late in picking us up. Once we got to the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town we were rushed onto a ferry that took us to Robben Island. Once on the island we took a short bus tour around the island and then toured the prison with a tour guide who actually experienced Robben Island first hand.







The island is home to old prisoners and guards in a small community that boast its on shopping market and school. I found it interesting that ex-prisoners could live so close to former guards who were responsible for much of their misery they endured at Robben Island prison. We stopped at the southern tip of the island where we got some pretty great views of Cape Town. It was stunning to see the gleaming city literally rising out of the ocean with the gorgeous back drop of the Table Mountain. We also visited the stone quarry where many of the prisoners worked during their time in prison. The limestone they were mining was a very bright white color and was kind of hard to look at directly. Many of the prisoners were not given proper eye protection and as a result many suffer from eye sight problems from working long hours in the quarry.







The tour of the prison was equally interesting. Our tour guide spent only four years at Robben Island before the prison was shut down. He was considered a political prisoner and was serving a 25 year sentence on the island. He wouldn't say what he was specifically imprisoned for or how many accomplices he had with him when he was arrested. The prison is divided into block sections separating prisoners from each other. Depending on your prisoner classification granted you specific amenities in the prison. The lowest class, reserved solely for political prisoners of South African origin, which included Neslon Mandela and our tour guide, received the poorest treatment. The lowest class could have very few visitors and were not allowed to read or write in the prison. This was an attempt to demoralize the political prisoners, however this back fired as an underground school formed among prisoners and the struggle for equality in South Africa continued even in prison.















Robben Island was a truly unique place where you get the sense of what hatred and racism can do to individuals in society. It was both moving and emotional to see where Nelson Mandela was held captive before the world new him as a progressive, Nobel Peace Prize winning leader.

An African Sunrise

The Big 5 & Life on the African Savannah

The Big 5 are Africa’s top five most dangerous animals to hunt; the lion, the leopard, the elephant, the rhino and the buffalo. This is brought from hundreds to thousands of years the people of Africa have been hunting wild game. Most wild game is dangerous to hunt, however, these specific animals often don’t go down with out a fight. Our safari guide, Ratief, told us some interesting stories that the Bushman believed about the different animals on the savannah. It really made our safari unique and just that much more interesting!

Buffalo – These are the most dangerous of the Big 5. Usually people think the Lion or the leopard would be the most ferocious, however, it is due to the fact that buffalo are huge animals and have a lot of power to back up a powerful punch. Hunters usually have a very limited window of time to drop the animal. When attacked the buffalo, being so large, tend to be more aggressive. Instead of running away from the attacker they fight back. A charging buffalo is very similar to a speeding bulldozer. One hit and your done! The buffalo is a herbivore, meaning they eat plants and grass. They can weigh up to 1 or 2 tons and eat a vast quantity of food everyday to support their size. They are very similar to cows and used to be considered “King” of the animal kingdom, but I will get to that later.





Leopard – My friends and I decided these beautiful cats were the “ninjas” of the animal kingdom. They are swift and silent and extremely deadly. Leopards are solitary animals that are powerful but are small and can be easily over taken by the Lion. Once they have made a kill they often drag their meal up to 3 km away and then into a tree to enjoy. This eliminates other predators stealing their catch and can enjoy their dinner on their own time in a tree. The Garden Route Game Lodge has one leopard though he is not seen often because he can easily jump the fence and leave the reserve. They are the most cunning of the Big 5 and often avoid human contact. We unfortunately didn’t see him until later on our trip.

Lion – Popularly referred to as the “king” of the jungle and rightfully so, the lion is a formidable animal. However, I find that fewer people know how or why the lion was named “king”. Our guide on the game reserve told us the story passed onto him by the bushman or San people, the last hunter gathers on the planet.

Originally, the Buffalo was the king of the animal world. All other animals were subservient to him, including the Lion. One day the Buffalo wanted to host one of the biggest parties Africa has ever seen. He wanted everyone to attend and be merry and comfortable. A party of that size requires a lot of food and drink and so the Buffalo asked the Lion to go out and bring back enough food for everyone. The Lion was asked to bring back enough branches and grasses for the plant eaters and one of each animal for the meat eaters. The Lion being wise realized that bring back one of every animal included one of the Buffalo’s own. The Lion didn’t like to run around doing things for the King all the time. So he went and killed the King Buffalo and basically “killed two birds with on stone” by providing food for the party and effectively making himself King.





Rhinoceros – It seems true to grow to the size of their cage. When the cage is the size of sub-Saharan Africa, it means they all grow quite big! The rhino is now exception to this rule; they are HUGE! They spend most of their day eating, up to 700 kg of grass a day (1,543 lbs), just to support their shear size. The park just recently had a population increase in their rhino population. They have a nine-month old baby rhino named “Hibabi” which in Arabic means ‘loved one’. The last three or four months of pregnancy of rhinos is done in alone. When she returns to her mate, the male rhino often tries to kill his own young. This is because he doesn’t recognize his child as his and doesn’t want another male’s youngster being raised by him and his mate. The female rhino is equally strong and can usually fight back and save the child, which then the male rhino accepts as his own. The female will spend the next several years with her youngster until it is fully weaned and grown.





Elephant – Elephants are the largest of the Big 5. The ones on the reserve were a coupled pair. They park has specialized workers who work with the elephants. They are very smart creatures and it’s true they and an incredible memory. They really never forget. The elephants in the park are kept as wild as possible and are allowed to do what they want and roam around. The trainers are there for safety, which was apparent when the female elephant came up to us in the truck and checked us out. We were told she was looking for a snack that some trainers bring with them, such as an apple or orange and thought she might be able to get something out of us.





Cheetah – They are the fastest land animals on the planet. They can run up to 80 kph (~50 mph) for about 3-5 km (~2-3 miles) at a time. However, they tire out easily and are not as great at catching prey as the leopard. According to the San people, the Leopard and Cheetah were once brothers. They hunted together, rested together and were together all the time. Soon, the two realized they could have twice the amount of food if they hunted separately. So they split up, and each night they would split whatever they caught for the day. The Leopard was a much better hunter than the Cheetah. He was constantly coming back with dinner and rarely did the Cheetah produce anything. The Leopard wondered why he was doing all the work and his brother reaped all the benefits. So the Leopard got smart and stopped splitting his dinner with his brother. Instead, he would take it up into a tree and eat there where his brother, the Cheetah, couldn’t follow him. This produced a deep rift between the two brothers and a deep sadness. The dust from the savannah was swept into the Cheetah’s crying eyes. This is why they have the tear drop eye markings. They split ways and that is why you don’t see leopards and cheetahs together in the wild.





Zebra – The zebra is a beautiful creature. The question remains: are they black with white stripes? Or are they white with black stripes? And how did they get these stripes? The San people believed that when the gods created the animals he made them all white. The Lion, the “king” of all the animals, saw this as a problem. He couldn’t keep track of his subjects and tell them apart. So he asked the gods to provide cloth to the animals so he could tell them apart. The gods, in their ultimate wisdom, told the Lion that they would give him the clothes he needed to make clothes for the animals so he could tell them apart. The Lion, took the clothes, and instead of make the clothes himself, he called a meeting with the animals. They were all to come and pick out their cloth and make clothes for themselves. The Zebra, however, loves to eat. He eats all day and was oblivious to the appointment set by the Lion. So they missed it, and as the day grew long the Zebra began to see animals coming back from the meeting. They were dressed in the most amazing of cloths fashion into fabulous coats. The Zebra immediately went to the Lion, who was cleaning up the rest of the cloths to give back to the gods. Seeing that the Zebra hadn’t chosen a cloth to make clothes out of he handed the Zebra a black cloth of poor quality. When the Zebra fashioned his coat, it tore in different places. Over time the cloth wore down into stripes and that is how they got their magnificent stripes.





The San, who had never actually shaved the zebra, never knew their true color. The only way you can decide on color of an animal is look at its skin. This is often covered by thick fur or hair. Physiologically, the zebra is a black skinned animal. This means, that the zebra is actually black with white stripes. However, don’t let that minor detail distract from the San people’s story.

Interesting stuff, huh?