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http://ht.ly/fv5qk    Why I like Nadia G

Maryland Terps vs. the Mountaineers

Add the above skillet contents to a grilled hot Italian sausage, and grilled pineapple that was coated with brown sugar, put it on a hoagie bun and enjoy the beatdown the Mounties gave the Terrapins this past Saturday.

What did you have for half-time break in the game?

I'm beginning to get the hang of taking snaps with my tablet, so look out.

Observations

Not having written in a long time I've had a lot to think about.  Reading, on the net, and watching television my mind had finally gotten saturated with minutia and I must regurgitate some to make room for more.

Most of my reader know I love to cook and watch the food channel and cooking network far too much.  On twitter I'm following  many of the food network talking heads and enjoy it.  I don't remember when I began to follow Alton Brown,  don't really remember any of his tweets, but this morning I was browsing Wired magazine "net version".. and came upon an article about Alton.  http://www.wired.com/design/2012/09/alton-brown-twitter-doodle/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Top+Stories%29&pid=992     Now if you will indulge me and  look at the post-it notes.  Am I mistaken, but doesn't Alton's self portraits look a lot like Calvin.  I always knew that the reason Gary Larson stopped drawing was because Calvin had grown up and became Alton.  Mystery though is what ever became of Hobbes?

Roasted, Braised, or Stew,
Tiger tastes of glue.


And now a "Fire Devil"
http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/tornado-brush-fire-fire-devil-video.html


While on the subject of atmospheric phenomenon, this is a picture taken from the porch of Camp Massawomee one Saturday not too long ago.  It's what is called a "Sun dog".

Supercell

This is what a Supercell Thunderstorm looks like twitter.com/TwistedSifter/…
— Ben Matthew Wong (@TwistedSifter) June 19, 2012

I be gettin outta the way when I sees this baby coming my way.  Unless I haven't showered in a couple of years.

It's been a day and change since cold turkey Facebook style and I'm still alive.  Lots of sun, completed two ferocious New York Times Xword puzzles, read about 15 pages of Lisa Randall's newest book and cleaned out the cupboard on the front porch.  Scented the tomatoes with Miracle-Gro and watched a zillion insects do a honeybee's job of passing pollen.  From wasps to Flys, moths to sweat bees, and a bunch of insects I had no idea existed.  I don't think the lack of honeybees is going to put a dent in plants making viable seed for the next growth cycle.  Only difference is....no honey.
     I missed the transit of Venus across the Sun.  but it was a..mostly cloudy....b...much better view on the internet....c..I'm really lazy when it comes to observing  celestial events.  I've got a pretty nice pair of binoculars. I laid out on the pool deck one night soon after their purchase, determined to see our one of our nearest galactic neighbors...The Andromeda Galaxy,   you know the one that's going to smash into us eventually. (don't sell the farm just yet) and after about half an hour of my eyes adjusting to the dark and with my arms straining at the sinews with  holding the binoculars vertical for twenty minutes straight...lo and behold,,the Andromeda Galaxy, our twin sister.  The picture is provided by NASA.  

Goodbye Facebook

    Goodbye and good riddance to my Facebook presence.  They finagled and fleeced me into the timeline template and the only way I can protest is to quit.  Cold turkey style quitting.  Probably should go cold turkey on bad habits at least twice a year.  Hopefully I can stay quit, but that's a moot question and I really don't know how long I can stay disconnected.  But it will allow me to read and study more, and anyway it's spring, hot weather is here and there's absolutely no reason to coop oneself up in a dark room facebook gawking when there's sunshine and fresh air to be had.  I doubt anyone will notice my absence, let alone miss me.  Besides I was getting tired of wishing everyone "Happy Birthday" and not getting a response from them.  I'll miss it, mostly for the lack of instant news rather than listening to friends try to force me to be a good "christian"...LOL.
     Any whosits the tomatoes are going great, as are the chiles.  Oregano and rosemary and spearmint abound. And horseraddish and parsley.  Gonna be hard to wait for that first tomato......yummm.

SRO in Morgantown

     The phone rang this past Saturday.  It was my friend Tim.  Tim's a trumpet player in the Morgantown Community Orchestra and he was inviting me to tag along to the concert they were giving at the CAC at West Virginia University on Sunday night.  I eagerly accepted his offer and patiently waited until the appointed time when they arrived to pick me up.  I don't own a car so transportation is a chore, but Tim's wife Chris is a good driver and we had a pleasant enough trip to Morgantown.  The theater itself was small, seating maybe 100 people and soon filled up to overflowing.  Chairs were brought in, and more chairs, and then more chairs as it soon became apparent they had grossly underestimated the following the Orchestra would draw.  


     The conductor,  Alejandro Pinzon,  was gracious if soft spoken.  When the featured pianist Rafael Smith failed to show, maestro Pinzon quickly and apologetically  rearranged the program and we were underway with  a short piece by a wind ensemble.   Then the meat of the evening, and a bravo performance it was.  Latin American in theme it showed off the talents of our community musicians.  From a pre-teen violinist to a septuagenarian flautist, who had taken up the flute just two years prior, they all played with gusto and verve.  The  highlight for me was "Habanera" from the opera "Carmen" by Bizet, which is the one and only opera I've listened too and really enjoyed.  The orchestra hasn't been together very long, nor have they had many practice sessions, but you couldn't tell it from the music they produced. 


      It was a thoroughly wonderful evening of music,,,topped off by a stop  at the Red Lobster and the cruel murder of a couple of Maine's best lobsters.  What a person will go through to eat some butter.