-The past two days have been overcast and intermittently rainy. I guess this isn't too surprising an occurrence after a period of particularly dry weather. The other big change is that these days have also been much cooler than the days preceding them. I think it isn't even 20 degrees outside right now, which is a fair bit cooler than I would normally expect for this time of day.
-Our cherry tomato plants might finally be starting to set fruit, though it is a little hard to tell as the prospective fruit are still quite small. Hopefully it is the case that we have a few pre-cherry tomatoes.
Yesterday Jeannette and I finally got around to pruning them. It seems that we likely should have pruned the plants differently and now allowed them to grow as tall as they were allowed to grow. They really are out of control.
-My Google Reader account seems to be non-functional at the moment. And because I can't access it there is nothing I want to do more than check my Google Reader feeds. And because it isn't working I am checking for status changes every 30 seconds. This service would be causing me to waste much less time if it was functional right now.
-Yesterday I listened to an old episode of On The Media and heard an interview about the site 0 Views, a site dedicated to finding and then re-posting YouTube videos with 0 views. During the interview the site's manager noted that much of the content was really quite bad. Now that I have had a chance to check the site's content out I am in a position to agree with this individual, though is a little disappointing as I do find the idea of the site kind of entertaining.
-I guess I should stop wasting my time and get back to work (at least my time here hasn't been spent checking my non-functional Google Reader feeds).
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Growing a Giant Pumpkin
A few months ago Jeannette was given a package of giant pumpkin seeds from the Howard Dill operation in Windsor, Nova Scotia. Of course, we had to wait until it was Spring/Summer before we could plant them.
Soon after we arrived in Wolfville we finally got around to starting the seeds. One mistake that we made was to try to start the seeds outdoors instead of indoors. The seriousness of this mistake was compounded by the poor May and June that we experienced. Fortunately, one of the three seeds did germinate, and it started to grow relatively quickly once we moved it indoors.
About two weeks ago we the one successful plant was large enough to re-pot so we finally moved it into a far-to-small-but-the-best-we-could-do pot that is now outside with another of the other plants in our container garden.
So far the transfer to the new pot seems to be going well. The plant has really start spitting out new leaves on a regular basis. If things keep going at this rate the plant will clearly be too big for the pot.
And quite recently I noticed that the plant also finally has finally started to show signs of flowering.
Even though this plant is doing better than I ever thought it would, we are still quiet a ways away from a viable giant pumpkin. And I guess ever having anything even approximating a giant pumpkin was a long shot, it really would be satisfying to at least have something approximating a pumpkin, but I guess we will have to wait and see if even this comes to pass.
And I should probably note that we aren't the only ones with a giant pumpkin plant in the Wolfville area. A few weeks ago Jeannette and I learned that a giant pumpkin plant had secretly been planted in a flower bed in downtown Wolfville.
When we last checked on this rogue pumpkin plant we noticed that even though the flower bed in which it is growing had been weeded it had not been removed. Unfortunately, I don't think that it is getting the water or attention that it needs so, like our plant, it isn't very close to producing a giant pumpkin. I guess we will have to keep an eye on it as the summer progresses to see if anything comes of it later in the season.
Soon after we arrived in Wolfville we finally got around to starting the seeds. One mistake that we made was to try to start the seeds outdoors instead of indoors. The seriousness of this mistake was compounded by the poor May and June that we experienced. Fortunately, one of the three seeds did germinate, and it started to grow relatively quickly once we moved it indoors.
About two weeks ago we the one successful plant was large enough to re-pot so we finally moved it into a far-to-small-but-the-best-we-could-do pot that is now outside with another of the other plants in our container garden.
So far the transfer to the new pot seems to be going well. The plant has really start spitting out new leaves on a regular basis. If things keep going at this rate the plant will clearly be too big for the pot.
And quite recently I noticed that the plant also finally has finally started to show signs of flowering.
Even though this plant is doing better than I ever thought it would, we are still quiet a ways away from a viable giant pumpkin. And I guess ever having anything even approximating a giant pumpkin was a long shot, it really would be satisfying to at least have something approximating a pumpkin, but I guess we will have to wait and see if even this comes to pass.
And I should probably note that we aren't the only ones with a giant pumpkin plant in the Wolfville area. A few weeks ago Jeannette and I learned that a giant pumpkin plant had secretly been planted in a flower bed in downtown Wolfville.
When we last checked on this rogue pumpkin plant we noticed that even though the flower bed in which it is growing had been weeded it had not been removed. Unfortunately, I don't think that it is getting the water or attention that it needs so, like our plant, it isn't very close to producing a giant pumpkin. I guess we will have to keep an eye on it as the summer progresses to see if anything comes of it later in the season.
This still bothers me
Apparently the Canadian dollar is valuable as it has been in almost four years.
What I don't understand about this is that I don't seem to have the increased purchasing power that I would have expected to go along with a high dollar. I don't seem to be getting more for each dollar. Particularly grating are lower prices for books in the US. Even though Canada has a much more valuable dollar than we did in years past, the gap in prices seems to have remained stable. How is this possible?
And, at least in my experience, prices of general household goods seem to still be cheaper in the US. Even if we accept that things like import duties and taxation will bump up the price a little, shouldn't the price gap have closed at least a little bit?
And shouldn't more people be asking these questions? Are we just so used to paying higher prices in Canada that now that we have a more valuable dollar we haven't thought about the benefits that should be coming from a more valuable dollar?
What I don't understand about this is that I don't seem to have the increased purchasing power that I would have expected to go along with a high dollar. I don't seem to be getting more for each dollar. Particularly grating are lower prices for books in the US. Even though Canada has a much more valuable dollar than we did in years past, the gap in prices seems to have remained stable. How is this possible?
And, at least in my experience, prices of general household goods seem to still be cheaper in the US. Even if we accept that things like import duties and taxation will bump up the price a little, shouldn't the price gap have closed at least a little bit?
And shouldn't more people be asking these questions? Are we just so used to paying higher prices in Canada that now that we have a more valuable dollar we haven't thought about the benefits that should be coming from a more valuable dollar?
Monday, July 25, 2011
Conflicting Portrayals
A few months ago I read the second Freakonomics book, SuperFreakonomics, and struck by a section of the book dealing the activities of a company called Intellectual Ventures. Much of the discussion focused on the suggestions that the company has for dealing with tropical storm suppression and and reducing global warming. On the whole, the book provided a very positive portrayal of the company.
In a subsequent two-part episode episode of the Freakonomics podcast this company, and its founder Nathan Myhrvold made another appearance in the Freakonomics canon, this time in relation to the recently published cookbook Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. Again, the portrayal was very positive and the focus was on the invention and research side of the company's operations. Actually, if memory serves me correctly, these are the only aspects of the company that are even mentioned.
As a result of these portrayals of the company I just assumed that it was primarily a R & D firm, maybe even verging on a philanthropic venture.
As of last night I have been given some reason to question my original assessment.
A recent This American Life examination of some of the company's patent related activities suggests a slightly different image of the company. From this vantage point the company is portrayed predominately as an owner and licenser of thousands and thousands of patents. They note that the company, or that related third parties, frequently use legal action to secure settlements from companies that are deemed to be infringing on their patents. At times, though I am not sure if the two individuals reporting the story say it directly, the company is compared to a protection racket.
I always love it when I am left with opposing senses of things due to conflicting media reports. It is all the more impressive that these conflicting portrayals are both from New York based public radio shows.
Cases like this always remind me that I need to be a little more critical when consuming media. Of course the problem is that it takes time and energy to be so critical, and I quite frequently don't have the time or energy to invest in these issues. Maybe it's sufficient that I am at least aware of some of the problems with current forms of mass media?
In a subsequent two-part episode episode of the Freakonomics podcast this company, and its founder Nathan Myhrvold made another appearance in the Freakonomics canon, this time in relation to the recently published cookbook Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. Again, the portrayal was very positive and the focus was on the invention and research side of the company's operations. Actually, if memory serves me correctly, these are the only aspects of the company that are even mentioned.
As a result of these portrayals of the company I just assumed that it was primarily a R & D firm, maybe even verging on a philanthropic venture.
As of last night I have been given some reason to question my original assessment.
A recent This American Life examination of some of the company's patent related activities suggests a slightly different image of the company. From this vantage point the company is portrayed predominately as an owner and licenser of thousands and thousands of patents. They note that the company, or that related third parties, frequently use legal action to secure settlements from companies that are deemed to be infringing on their patents. At times, though I am not sure if the two individuals reporting the story say it directly, the company is compared to a protection racket.
I always love it when I am left with opposing senses of things due to conflicting media reports. It is all the more impressive that these conflicting portrayals are both from New York based public radio shows.
Cases like this always remind me that I need to be a little more critical when consuming media. Of course the problem is that it takes time and energy to be so critical, and I quite frequently don't have the time or energy to invest in these issues. Maybe it's sufficient that I am at least aware of some of the problems with current forms of mass media?
Saturday, July 23, 2011
A Few Quick Notes 547
-For the past few days we have been in the midst of something that feels quite a bit like a heatwave. Even now, just before 9:00 PM, it is still over 25 degrees and quite hot. Of course, I know that what we are going through is nothing as bad as people in big cities are dealing with, but it is nonetheless quite unpleasant.
-Tonight I took a trip to the grocery store. As I was approaching the store's entrance I noticed a Jaguar with the vanity license plate "MYY JAG." I couldn't help but thinking "JAG OFF" might have been more appropriate.
-It seems that in the past few hours there have been a series of attacks in Norway that have resulted in the deaths of more than 90 people. In the same timeframe British singer Amy Winehouse also died. The CBC has sent me four email alerts about the former story and two about the latter. Is it just me, but does the Amy Winehouse thing really even deserve a first such alert, and on a day when their is meritorious of an alert? Interestingly, the CBC Alerts Twitter feed seems to be have provided many more Norway updates than those they sent via email and has not really provided much more news about the Winehouse death (as sad and unnecessary as it may be).
-Over the past few days we have been able to harvest about 2 dozen beans. And while this may now sound like much, it does mean that we have now harvested more beans than we have bean plants (at least of a particular variety of bean plant). Jeannette was also able to harvest enough lettuce for a salad earlier today. If things keep up like this we may actually get our money's worth out of this year's seeds (though I think that that might be a little ambitious).
-Tonight I took a trip to the grocery store. As I was approaching the store's entrance I noticed a Jaguar with the vanity license plate "MYY JAG." I couldn't help but thinking "JAG OFF" might have been more appropriate.
-It seems that in the past few hours there have been a series of attacks in Norway that have resulted in the deaths of more than 90 people. In the same timeframe British singer Amy Winehouse also died. The CBC has sent me four email alerts about the former story and two about the latter. Is it just me, but does the Amy Winehouse thing really even deserve a first such alert, and on a day when their is meritorious of an alert? Interestingly, the CBC Alerts Twitter feed seems to be have provided many more Norway updates than those they sent via email and has not really provided much more news about the Winehouse death (as sad and unnecessary as it may be).
-Over the past few days we have been able to harvest about 2 dozen beans. And while this may now sound like much, it does mean that we have now harvested more beans than we have bean plants (at least of a particular variety of bean plant). Jeannette was also able to harvest enough lettuce for a salad earlier today. If things keep up like this we may actually get our money's worth out of this year's seeds (though I think that that might be a little ambitious).
Thursday, July 21, 2011
It's summer so that means...
Freshly grown Nova Scotia fruit flies!
And, boy, do we have them again this year. They seem to be particularly fond our our compost containers even though they mostly just contain carrot and celery refuse. Fruit scraps are nowhere to be found in my compost containers.
Fortunately, during the height of last year's invasion Jeannette figured out how to make a relatively simple fruit fly trap that seems to be somewhat effective, at least the fruit flies seem to be attracted to it. Unfortunately, this time around I seemed to make holes that may be a little too small to easily allow the flies to enter.
[Embedded video]
Anyway, even with its flaws, this thing is much better than nothing. Now that I think about it, I wonder why we don't set up a second trap to handle the overflow from the first one?
And, boy, do we have them again this year. They seem to be particularly fond our our compost containers even though they mostly just contain carrot and celery refuse. Fruit scraps are nowhere to be found in my compost containers.
Fortunately, during the height of last year's invasion Jeannette figured out how to make a relatively simple fruit fly trap that seems to be somewhat effective, at least the fruit flies seem to be attracted to it. Unfortunately, this time around I seemed to make holes that may be a little too small to easily allow the flies to enter.
[Embedded video]
Anyway, even with its flaws, this thing is much better than nothing. Now that I think about it, I wonder why we don't set up a second trap to handle the overflow from the first one?
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Gaping plot holes aside...
Yesterday Jeannette convinced me to attend a screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. And while I am normally disinclined to see popular movies on opening weekend (it will be the movie in a few days, but with a smaller audience) I allowed myself to look forward to the event.
Almost as soon as we arrived at the theatre for the late show it became clear that the movie was incredibly popular. Not only were all kinds of people leaving the theatre with brooms, quite a number of departing movie viewers were also costumed in costumes of varying quality.
Soon after entering the theatre we also noticed that lines were forming and that people weren't being allowed into theatres as early as might normally be the case. We soon learned that the most prominent and longest line was the one that we would have to join. Fortunately, we only had to wait in the line for a few minutes before being allowed to enter the theatre.
And while the line that we had been standing in wasn't particularly long (it wasn't hundreds of people long) it was long enough that by the time we entered the theatre most of the seats in the middle rows of the theatre were taken. We did eventually get fine seats, but they were closer to the back than I had originally expected based on the length of the line.
Almost as soon as the movie began it became clear that this wasn't a movie that was going to recap aspects of previous movies in the series, or even things that had happened in the first part. Viewers were expected to be relatively familiar with the story/franchise. As I am not an obsessive fan of the series I found that this meant it took me a few minutes to get up to speed with what was happening.
And then almost immediately we were exposed to one of the first major plot holes/continuity issues. In a scene they establish that Harry and his friends have a certain wand. In almost the next scene this wand is requested and Harry and his friends seem unable to produce the wand, though no explanation is given for this strange behaviour. Of course, when we came home Jeannette uncovered reasons for this behaviour that were included in the book but that didn't seem to make the movie.
For the next few minutes I was a little rattled by this strange occurrence, which just struck me as odd (as the first wand scene turned out not to be particularly important to the rest of the movie).
As the movie progressed characters were either omitted given minimal screen time. In some instances it seemed as though the filmakers were content to just show that certain characters still existed, even if they weren't given any lines or a reason for being shown.
Of course, another major problem is that a character seen at the beginning of the movie turns up at the end but how she came to be in the new location is not explained or dealt with (though it seems to have made more sense in the book).
Anyway, I am sure that there are a few more issues that particularly detail-oriented fans might have with this movie, but I guess I was just disappointed with the lack of attention payed to the general coherency of the film If we found two disorienting sections I presume that are even more, and two already seems like a high enough number as far as such problems are concerned. And didn't anybody with power who had seen the movie before its release not notice these problems and ask for a new cut of the movie?
I am sure that in many regards this movie will be largely review proof. No matter how bad the reviews it will make money (and based on the numbers available on Wikipedia it seems to have already broken even). Had the success of this movie not been almost guaranteed I wonder if the resulting movie might not have looked a little different and if some of these problematic issues might have been addressed more effectively (or if they might be remedied in an alternate cut to be subsequently released for home video).
Note: I think that I forgot to discuss many of the aspects of the movie that I had intended to, including the overall sense that I got from it. Of course, I am sure that people don't really care what I think about an already successful movie so I am not particularly inclined to go back and revise this to reflect the fuller examination of the topic that I originally intended. Those who are interested in what I have to say on the topic will have to accept this somewhat scatter shot treatment.
Almost as soon as we arrived at the theatre for the late show it became clear that the movie was incredibly popular. Not only were all kinds of people leaving the theatre with brooms, quite a number of departing movie viewers were also costumed in costumes of varying quality.
Soon after entering the theatre we also noticed that lines were forming and that people weren't being allowed into theatres as early as might normally be the case. We soon learned that the most prominent and longest line was the one that we would have to join. Fortunately, we only had to wait in the line for a few minutes before being allowed to enter the theatre.
And while the line that we had been standing in wasn't particularly long (it wasn't hundreds of people long) it was long enough that by the time we entered the theatre most of the seats in the middle rows of the theatre were taken. We did eventually get fine seats, but they were closer to the back than I had originally expected based on the length of the line.
Almost as soon as the movie began it became clear that this wasn't a movie that was going to recap aspects of previous movies in the series, or even things that had happened in the first part. Viewers were expected to be relatively familiar with the story/franchise. As I am not an obsessive fan of the series I found that this meant it took me a few minutes to get up to speed with what was happening.
And then almost immediately we were exposed to one of the first major plot holes/continuity issues. In a scene they establish that Harry and his friends have a certain wand. In almost the next scene this wand is requested and Harry and his friends seem unable to produce the wand, though no explanation is given for this strange behaviour. Of course, when we came home Jeannette uncovered reasons for this behaviour that were included in the book but that didn't seem to make the movie.
For the next few minutes I was a little rattled by this strange occurrence, which just struck me as odd (as the first wand scene turned out not to be particularly important to the rest of the movie).
As the movie progressed characters were either omitted given minimal screen time. In some instances it seemed as though the filmakers were content to just show that certain characters still existed, even if they weren't given any lines or a reason for being shown.
Of course, another major problem is that a character seen at the beginning of the movie turns up at the end but how she came to be in the new location is not explained or dealt with (though it seems to have made more sense in the book).
Anyway, I am sure that there are a few more issues that particularly detail-oriented fans might have with this movie, but I guess I was just disappointed with the lack of attention payed to the general coherency of the film If we found two disorienting sections I presume that are even more, and two already seems like a high enough number as far as such problems are concerned. And didn't anybody with power who had seen the movie before its release not notice these problems and ask for a new cut of the movie?
I am sure that in many regards this movie will be largely review proof. No matter how bad the reviews it will make money (and based on the numbers available on Wikipedia it seems to have already broken even). Had the success of this movie not been almost guaranteed I wonder if the resulting movie might not have looked a little different and if some of these problematic issues might have been addressed more effectively (or if they might be remedied in an alternate cut to be subsequently released for home video).
Note: I think that I forgot to discuss many of the aspects of the movie that I had intended to, including the overall sense that I got from it. Of course, I am sure that people don't really care what I think about an already successful movie so I am not particularly inclined to go back and revise this to reflect the fuller examination of the topic that I originally intended. Those who are interested in what I have to say on the topic will have to accept this somewhat scatter shot treatment.
A Few Quick Notes 546
-The summer weather that we were recently enjoying seems to have slipped away and been replaced with temperatures in the mid-teens and grey skies and rain. I guess that in at least some ways this is preferable to 30 degree temperatures with high humidity.
-A few days ago Jeannette and I were finally able to make our first harvest from this year's container garden. Earlier this week we picked about 10 Purple Queen beans (basically green beans). In the next few days we should be able to get a strawberry or two and some leaf lettuce. Unfortunately it seems that our cherry tomatoes are still a ways away from being ripe, and our giant pumpkin even further. Our carrots and corn are also just about as far away from a successful harvest. (Why do I keep trying to grow a number of types plants in pots that shouldn't be grown in pots?)
-For breakfast I made another batch of pumpkin bran muffins. I give myself another few months before I have burned myself out on these and I never want to eat them again. And because I now have an open can of pumpkin puree I will have to find a use for the remainder of the can in the coming days.
-I guess I should get on with my day.
-A few days ago Jeannette and I were finally able to make our first harvest from this year's container garden. Earlier this week we picked about 10 Purple Queen beans (basically green beans). In the next few days we should be able to get a strawberry or two and some leaf lettuce. Unfortunately it seems that our cherry tomatoes are still a ways away from being ripe, and our giant pumpkin even further. Our carrots and corn are also just about as far away from a successful harvest. (Why do I keep trying to grow a number of types plants in pots that shouldn't be grown in pots?)
-For breakfast I made another batch of pumpkin bran muffins. I give myself another few months before I have burned myself out on these and I never want to eat them again. And because I now have an open can of pumpkin puree I will have to find a use for the remainder of the can in the coming days.
-I guess I should get on with my day.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Easy to misread or It sounds dirtier than it is
Earlier today I noticed that a story about Dildo had recently been published by VOCM.
Now, just a few hours later, I see that CBC is covering a similar story. Unlike the VOCM story, the CBC story has a headline that can easily be misinterpreted.
I have included a screen shot of the headline just in case CBC editors decide that this headline isn't one that will stick.
Now, just a few hours later, I see that CBC is covering a similar story. Unlike the VOCM story, the CBC story has a headline that can easily be misinterpreted.
I have included a screen shot of the headline just in case CBC editors decide that this headline isn't one that will stick.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Why is the internet such a procrastination vortex?
So this morning Neil invited me to a new web service. Consequently I ended up poking around with the settings a little. One thing lead to another and I happened to see that YouTube now has more self-animation features than it did the last time I looked.
Of course I had to try one of them out.
[Embedded video]
As you can see, this was a great use of my time. Fortunately, this really only took as long to make as it took me to enter the dialogue text.
Back to work - and hopefully I will be able to avoid the siren calls of some of these newly charted areas of the internets.
Of course I had to try one of them out.
[Embedded video]
As you can see, this was a great use of my time. Fortunately, this really only took as long to make as it took me to enter the dialogue text.
Back to work - and hopefully I will be able to avoid the siren calls of some of these newly charted areas of the internets.
Saturday, July 09, 2011
Back from Halifax
On about Tuesday Jeannette and I decided that we would make a quick trip to Halifax on Thursday to visit Neil and Rebecca and a few friends.
After dropping Jeannette off at a work function, Neil and I met up with Jess and attended a Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo lunchtime performance at the Keshen Goodman Public Library. Once we arrived we figured out that we would be seeing a 'gym wheel' performance. Eventually it became clear that we would also likely be seeing a Jeep team.
Though the gym wheel performance wasn't particularly long, it was quite impressive.
[Embedded video]
The Jeep team performance was a little strange. All the team did was disassemble and then re-assemble a Jeep. Given that it was a stripped down Jeep and they were well practiced the team was able to do the deconstruction and reconstruction in just a few minutes.
After some math stuff on Friday morning all four of us meet a few more friends and went out for dinner and then a movie.
This morning, just before heading to Wolfville, we stopped by another friend's house and picked up a futon mattress (for the futon frame I built a few weeks ago).
It was a pretty eventful three days.
After dropping Jeannette off at a work function, Neil and I met up with Jess and attended a Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo lunchtime performance at the Keshen Goodman Public Library. Once we arrived we figured out that we would be seeing a 'gym wheel' performance. Eventually it became clear that we would also likely be seeing a Jeep team.
Though the gym wheel performance wasn't particularly long, it was quite impressive.
[Embedded video]
The Jeep team performance was a little strange. All the team did was disassemble and then re-assemble a Jeep. Given that it was a stripped down Jeep and they were well practiced the team was able to do the deconstruction and reconstruction in just a few minutes.
After some math stuff on Friday morning all four of us meet a few more friends and went out for dinner and then a movie.
This morning, just before heading to Wolfville, we stopped by another friend's house and picked up a futon mattress (for the futon frame I built a few weeks ago).
It was a pretty eventful three days.
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Seems like a strange way to start the day
This morning I woke up early and started working on a batch of soft pretzels based on a Joy of Cooking recipe.
Originally, meaning at about 11:00 PM last night, I wanted to make croissants, but after reading the recipe and directions I realized that such a project would have to wait until I learn to develop a greater sense of respect for cookbook instructions. So eventually I settled on pretzels (and almost decided to start making them at midnight and had to work quite hard to hold off until this morning).
Anyway, once I started the process I began to see that pretzels were also more complicated than I expected, though, I guess, not as bad croissants - and the process certainly didn't seem to be as long.
After the mixing, kneading, rising, rolling, rising, rolling, rising, and boiling I eventually came to the baking part of the experience (note that I omitted the salt sprinkling phase).
While I was originally planning on baking the boiled pretzels on parchment paper I decided to follow the instructions as laid out in the cookbook and decided to bake the pretzels on greased baking sheets. Of course as soon as I took the first tray out of the oven I realized that things had gone horribly wrong.
This first tray of pretzels had become quite stuck to the baking sheets. After some time I learned that the only way to remove even part of the pretzel was to rip the top off (and immediately consume it).
Afte quickly dispatching with six pretzels the second tray was ready to come out of the oven. For some reason on this tray only one of the four pretzels was completely adhered to the tray while the other three seemed just to be more adhered than they should have been (but I did manage to remove them without causing them too much damage).
Fortunately I still had two un-boiled pretzels whose fates had not been consigned to a greased baking tray. For these two pretzels I used parchment paper and they worked out perfectly. I guess I know that in the future I will have to ignore the 'greased tray' baking instruction and just go with parchment paper.
Fortunately, at least if you ignore the sticking-to-the-pan problem, the pretzels actually turned out quite nicely. They all had that nice pretzel flavour that we have come to know and love. They also turned an appealing tannish brown and really look kind of like pretzels.
Hopefully next time I make pretzels I will end up with a batch that results in more than five out of twelve successful pretzels.
Originally, meaning at about 11:00 PM last night, I wanted to make croissants, but after reading the recipe and directions I realized that such a project would have to wait until I learn to develop a greater sense of respect for cookbook instructions. So eventually I settled on pretzels (and almost decided to start making them at midnight and had to work quite hard to hold off until this morning).
Anyway, once I started the process I began to see that pretzels were also more complicated than I expected, though, I guess, not as bad croissants - and the process certainly didn't seem to be as long.
After the mixing, kneading, rising, rolling, rising, rolling, rising, and boiling I eventually came to the baking part of the experience (note that I omitted the salt sprinkling phase).
While I was originally planning on baking the boiled pretzels on parchment paper I decided to follow the instructions as laid out in the cookbook and decided to bake the pretzels on greased baking sheets. Of course as soon as I took the first tray out of the oven I realized that things had gone horribly wrong.
This first tray of pretzels had become quite stuck to the baking sheets. After some time I learned that the only way to remove even part of the pretzel was to rip the top off (and immediately consume it).
Afte quickly dispatching with six pretzels the second tray was ready to come out of the oven. For some reason on this tray only one of the four pretzels was completely adhered to the tray while the other three seemed just to be more adhered than they should have been (but I did manage to remove them without causing them too much damage).
Fortunately I still had two un-boiled pretzels whose fates had not been consigned to a greased baking tray. For these two pretzels I used parchment paper and they worked out perfectly. I guess I know that in the future I will have to ignore the 'greased tray' baking instruction and just go with parchment paper.
Fortunately, at least if you ignore the sticking-to-the-pan problem, the pretzels actually turned out quite nicely. They all had that nice pretzel flavour that we have come to know and love. They also turned an appealing tannish brown and really look kind of like pretzels.
Hopefully next time I make pretzels I will end up with a batch that results in more than five out of twelve successful pretzels.
A Few Quick Notes 545
-So far today seems like a pretty nice day, though at times I get the sense that things are momentarily not quite as bright as they might be. Maybe this meteorological indecision has something to do with the thunderstorms that are forecast for tonight and/or tomorrow morning?
-Last night Hantsport, as part of its Canada Day celebrations, hosted a hypnotist show in their fire hall. Given my fascination with hypnotist's shows I was quite interested in attending, and Jeannette seems to have felt similarly.
Unfortunately, many in Hantsport didn't take advantage of the opportunity to attend such a show and we were, consequently, part of a relatively small crowd. Actually, at one point in the show there were more volunteers on stage than there were non-participant audience members.
Eventually, four volunteers were selected as the show's primary participants.
Anyway, though it was a small crowd I am pretty sure that everyone in attendance had a great time. And maybe even more importantly, none of the participants did anything truly embarrassing or crude that they might really regret today of if they look at photos of the event.
-Yesterday while taking care of a few errands Jeannette and I acquired a few new inexpensive house plants which have since been re-potted.
Though it is quite common as a houseplant, I am kind of excited about our newly acquired spider plant. The sprouting of new plantlets in a way of propagation that I find quite fun to watch.
We also acquired some peppermint, another plant that has the ability to spread quickly. I am hoping that will will soon have a full pot of the stuff, not that I really have any plans for using it.
A small African violet was also picked up and then re-potted in a novelty boot shaped pot.
The final type of plant we picked up has a name that I can't remember. I was attracted to this plant because it is supposed to do well in low light and humid environments. It is currently in the bathroom.
-Over the past few days I have been curious to figure out the type of vine that is growing along the property line between our apartment and the neighbouring property. Yesterday I finally took something of a closer look and noticed a pattern of growth that looks something like an undeveloped bunch of grapes. Now that I have done a litte searching online I can see that the leaves are grape leaves and that these structures are likely pre-grapes. Of course, I still don't know exactly which kind of grapes they are of if they ever will be edible but I am kind of hoping that I might be able to collect a few at some point.
-Assuming all goes well and the weather holds, Jeannette and I should be heading to Ultimate this afternoon.
-Last night Hantsport, as part of its Canada Day celebrations, hosted a hypnotist show in their fire hall. Given my fascination with hypnotist's shows I was quite interested in attending, and Jeannette seems to have felt similarly.
Unfortunately, many in Hantsport didn't take advantage of the opportunity to attend such a show and we were, consequently, part of a relatively small crowd. Actually, at one point in the show there were more volunteers on stage than there were non-participant audience members.
Eventually, four volunteers were selected as the show's primary participants.
Anyway, though it was a small crowd I am pretty sure that everyone in attendance had a great time. And maybe even more importantly, none of the participants did anything truly embarrassing or crude that they might really regret today of if they look at photos of the event.
-Yesterday while taking care of a few errands Jeannette and I acquired a few new inexpensive house plants which have since been re-potted.
Though it is quite common as a houseplant, I am kind of excited about our newly acquired spider plant. The sprouting of new plantlets in a way of propagation that I find quite fun to watch.
We also acquired some peppermint, another plant that has the ability to spread quickly. I am hoping that will will soon have a full pot of the stuff, not that I really have any plans for using it.
A small African violet was also picked up and then re-potted in a novelty boot shaped pot.
The final type of plant we picked up has a name that I can't remember. I was attracted to this plant because it is supposed to do well in low light and humid environments. It is currently in the bathroom.
-Over the past few days I have been curious to figure out the type of vine that is growing along the property line between our apartment and the neighbouring property. Yesterday I finally took something of a closer look and noticed a pattern of growth that looks something like an undeveloped bunch of grapes. Now that I have done a litte searching online I can see that the leaves are grape leaves and that these structures are likely pre-grapes. Of course, I still don't know exactly which kind of grapes they are of if they ever will be edible but I am kind of hoping that I might be able to collect a few at some point.
-Assuming all goes well and the weather holds, Jeannette and I should be heading to Ultimate this afternoon.
Signage Update
Since my post yesterday about the addition of 'Harper' cut-outs to stop signs in Wolfville I have received reports from both Toronto and St. John's to noting that similarly amended signs had been seen there as well.
I guess that this isn't as exclusively local an initiative as I first thought it might be. Now I am curious how widespread the phenomenon is? And will this be a regular occurrence now that we have a Harper majority government?
I guess I will just have to wait and see.
I guess that this isn't as exclusively local an initiative as I first thought it might be. Now I am curious how widespread the phenomenon is? And will this be a regular occurrence now that we have a Harper majority government?
I guess I will just have to wait and see.
Saturday, July 02, 2011
New Signage for Canada Day
Yesterday as Jeannette and I were making our way through downtown Wolfvill we noticed that many of the stop signs had been modified (perhaps in accordance with the views of the region?).
Throughout the day, as we saw more and more of Wolfville, we noticed that quite large number of stop signs had been modified in this way.
I am curious to know how long these modifications will manage to stick around.
Throughout the day, as we saw more and more of Wolfville, we noticed that quite large number of stop signs had been modified in this way.
I am curious to know how long these modifications will manage to stick around.
Friday, July 01, 2011
A Few Quick Notes 544
-Today, amazingly, has turned out to be quite nice so far. The skies are blue and the wind is relatively non-obtrusive. Though as we are hitting the middle of the day I suspect that temperatures may pick up and things may become a little less bearable.
-On Wednesday afternoon Jeannette and I attended the Grand Opening festivities of the new location of the Wolfville Farmers' Market. Both of us were a little surprised that this event was held on Wednesday instead of Saturday, the day that tends to be busier and have more vendors present. Anyway, while there were able to see local MP Scott Brison looking very handsome in a nice summer suit - he was definitely be best dressed guy in attendance. Jeannette and I probably should have taken the time to introduce ourselves but we decided against it, at least partly because he was always in the midst of talking to someone.
-Yesterday Jeannette and I played an enjoyable game of pick-up Ultimate. The only problem with the game was the humidity. We all found it hard to play well and run hard given the mugginess. Hopefully our game on Sunday afternoon won't be quite so muggy.
-As this week's weather has been generally quite nice Jeannette and I have taken a number of bike rides. Today we finally made our to the local dykes were we rode from Wolfville towards Port William.
While the ride was generally quite pleasant, we did eventually encounter something of a problem. It seems that the derailleur on Jeannette's folding bike is quite low to the ground and was managing to accumulate plenty of dried grass on a particular section of the dyke. At this point we decided to turn back.
Fortunately, we were able to ride several kilometers before we encountered this problem. And now that we know what to look out for it will be pretty clear in which conditions the folding bike is not a viable option.
-Yesterday for breakfast I made another batch of pumpkin bran muffins. This time I accidentally forgot the pumpkin pie spice. While the muffins were definitely fine without the spice I do think that it really does add something nice so I hope to remember it when I make this recipe in the future.
-This afternoon Jeannette and I are thinking of continuing our holiday celebrations by heading to the local zoo. Hopefully we might finally be able to hit the zoo up for feeding time - I presume that this is the best time to be there as it likely will mean the most active animals.
-On Wednesday afternoon Jeannette and I attended the Grand Opening festivities of the new location of the Wolfville Farmers' Market. Both of us were a little surprised that this event was held on Wednesday instead of Saturday, the day that tends to be busier and have more vendors present. Anyway, while there were able to see local MP Scott Brison looking very handsome in a nice summer suit - he was definitely be best dressed guy in attendance. Jeannette and I probably should have taken the time to introduce ourselves but we decided against it, at least partly because he was always in the midst of talking to someone.
-Yesterday Jeannette and I played an enjoyable game of pick-up Ultimate. The only problem with the game was the humidity. We all found it hard to play well and run hard given the mugginess. Hopefully our game on Sunday afternoon won't be quite so muggy.
-As this week's weather has been generally quite nice Jeannette and I have taken a number of bike rides. Today we finally made our to the local dykes were we rode from Wolfville towards Port William.
While the ride was generally quite pleasant, we did eventually encounter something of a problem. It seems that the derailleur on Jeannette's folding bike is quite low to the ground and was managing to accumulate plenty of dried grass on a particular section of the dyke. At this point we decided to turn back.
Fortunately, we were able to ride several kilometers before we encountered this problem. And now that we know what to look out for it will be pretty clear in which conditions the folding bike is not a viable option.
-Yesterday for breakfast I made another batch of pumpkin bran muffins. This time I accidentally forgot the pumpkin pie spice. While the muffins were definitely fine without the spice I do think that it really does add something nice so I hope to remember it when I make this recipe in the future.
-This afternoon Jeannette and I are thinking of continuing our holiday celebrations by heading to the local zoo. Hopefully we might finally be able to hit the zoo up for feeding time - I presume that this is the best time to be there as it likely will mean the most active animals.
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