Boundless Journeys

Apparently some things don't change

Sat, 08 Feb 2014 04:12:47 GMT

Yesterday, I heard Lee Hood talk about his time as an undergrad at Caltech back in the early '50s. During his talk, he mentioned how his first roommate had flamed out because he spent 20 hours a day playing bridge. Apparently whether it's card games or computer games, some constants remain through time.

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Whole wheat buttermilk cornbread

Tue, 31 Dec 2013 06:06:05 GMT

Adapted from Grandmother's Buttermilk Cornbread from allrecipes.com

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup corn (frozen)

1) Preheat oven to 375F
2) Melt butter in a cast-iron skillet. As soon as butter is melted, add the sugar and beat in eggs. Mix in buttermilk, salt and baking soda. Slowly mix in flour and cornmeal until no lumps remain. Fold in corn.
3) Place skillet into oven, bake for 30 minutes, or until fork comes out clean.

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An LoTR-themed food day

Wed, 25 Dec 2013 18:49:37 GMT

From the NPR, a set of recipes to eat in Tolkien's world for an entire day:

Elevenses and then some

Even though it's ridiculous, I'm tempted to try this...

P.S. Happy Xmas, everyone!

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Fifty years ago today....

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 18:15:57 GMT

Two school teachers opened a police box in a junkyard and walked into history.

(from http://www.whos-name.com/archives/1336)

Happy Anniversary

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This is Water

Fri, 17 May 2013 05:11:30 GMT

A pretty profound excerpt from a commencement ceremony speech.

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTU0OTIzOTky.html

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First violence-free day in NYC

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 06:58:26 GMT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/28/new-york-crime-free

"Just this once, everybody lives!"

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Venus Transit

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 05:44:00 GMT

Didn't actually get to see it since it rained here the entire today for the first time in days, but here's a clip of the first part of it from the observatory in Hawaii.

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Woot!

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 02:07:21 GMT

10 miles today!

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Belated Valentine's Post

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:27:01 GMT

Chem-valentines: a collection of Valentine's Day messages with a chemistry twist.

Best one:

"There’s no HOMO-LUMO gap between us, baby." (chemjobber)

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Beware the Anscombe's Quartet

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:26:05 GMT

From J and BMX:
Anscombe's Quartet

All of these plots have the same mean, standard deviation, variance, correlation, and linear regression equation.

And that's why you have to be careful with statistical measures.

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Life can be strange at times

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:25:56 GMT

On my way home today, I passed a couple of people who were walking a duck down the street. It was an adult male mallard, who waddled along on a leash in front of the two people as calm as anything. I had no idea that ducks could be domesticated like that!

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Link Round-up January 2012

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:51:14 GMT

( Science Links: )

( Fluffy Hum: )

( Weird and Wonderful: )

( Recipes )

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Wild Life

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:36:35 GMT

A beautifully done animated short film:

Wild Life

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Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:52:28 GMT

I ran 5 miles today. It was quite windy, but not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

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Von Neumann the badass

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 05:20:02 GMT

Ganked from N:

Two bicyclists start twenty miles apart and head toward each other, each going at a steady rate of 10 mph. At the same time a fly that travels at a steady 15 mph starts from the front wheel of the southbound bicycle and flies to the front wheel of the northbound one, then turns around and flies to the front wheel of the southbound one again, and continues in this manner till he is crushed between the two front wheels.

Question: what total distance did the fly cover?

The slow way to find the answer is to calculate what distance the fly covers on the first, northbound, leg of the trip, then on the second, southbound, leg, then on the third, etc., etc., and, finally, to sum the infinite series so obtained.

The quick way is to observe that the bicycles meet exactly one hour after their start, so that the fly had just an hour for his travels; the answer must therefore be 15 miles.

When the question was put to von Neumann, he solved it in an instant, and thereby disappointed the questioner: "Oh, you must have heard the trick before!" "What trick?" asked von Neumann, "All I did was sum the infinite series."

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Sometimes the outside world is depressing

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:25:24 GMT

Saw two articles today that paint bleak pictures in parts of the world.

First:
( Five minutes till Belgium )

Second:
( Some schools are insane )

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Happy New Year!

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 06:08:11 GMT

New Year's celebration photos from around the world

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Link Round-up December 2011

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 23:08:30 GMT

( Science Links: )

( Fluffy Hum: )

( Food: )

( Weird and Wonderful )

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Happy Xmas!

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:00:11 GMT

Big-bang-themed tree. Because it fits the depictions of the big bang quite well, and there can never be enough geekery in the universe.

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I have very talented roommates

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 23:54:37 GMT

Roommates and I made lots of gingerbread and sugar cookies, which they subsequently decorated.

( Cut for large photos )

Between this and the peppermint brownies and applesauce made from scratch that also happened today, we're all going to be bouncing off the walls with sugar highs by the end of the weekend :).

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Link Round-up November 2011

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:54:46 GMT

( News & Events )

( Science Links )

( Fluffy Hum )

( Potential things to do )

( Food & Recipes )

( Weird and Wonderful )

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Blackberry Cobbler

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 23:12:31 GMT

Because good food should not stop once Thanksgiving has passed us by, here is a recipe modded from: Blackberry Cobbler II at allrecipes.com.
( Cut for recipe and photo )

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48 years ago today...

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 06:08:25 GMT

( Cut for Doctor Who Stuff )

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Ah, our office

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:24:39 GMT

Champaign was visited by a pretty epic storm briefly this afternoon, with sheets of rain lashing down and flashes of lightning flashing through clouds that look like they came from Mordor.

I would have never noticed any of this, though, if I hadn't stepped out of my office while the storm was happening and heard the hammering of the raindrops on the AC unit and seen the downpour from the windows of the office across the hall. The office I sit in has no windows, which makes working in there very much resemble this:

( Cut for picture )

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Tandoori Chicken Recipe

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:08:54 GMT

Ballpark ganked from Ritz:

Pre-marinade:
Add several teaspoons of chili powder to 2 limes worth of fresh-squeezed juice, so that the result is a thin mix. Rub mix on 20 chicken legs that have been de-skinned and scored. Let sit ~5 mins.

Marinade:
Mix together:
* 1 tub plain yogurt
* 1 head garlic
* Several teaspoons chili powder, to taste
* Several teaspoons cumin/coriander, to taste
* Several teaspoons tumeric, to taste
* Several teaspoons of garam masala, other curry powders, to taste
* Fresh-squeezed juice from 1.5 limes

Make sure that there is enough spice to make yogurt smell like spices, not yogurt. Don't add water to the mixture. Combine in a blender until well mixed. Pour marinade over chicken, and let sit for 12+ hours.

Cook in oven at 425F for ~45 minutes. Serve with garam masala, lime juice to taste, and sauteed onions.

Note: lemon juice can be substituted in for lime juice if preferred.

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