Follow the Science Indeed! - 24 August 2021 - Plague Journal Day 530

Micah 6:8
Genesis 1:14-19
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nothing.

Thanks to a "scientific" ruling back in 2006, that's what our kids are doomed to memorise as a mnemonic for the order of the planets of our solar system. 

When I was a kid, my mother served us Nine Pizzas. Was she simply that much more very excellent than mothers of today? Well, perhaps, but there's no reason to drill a demeaning mnemonic into those impressionable minds in our science classes, is there?

Good grief, astronomers, bring back Pluto! Look how Pluto loves you!
Won't someone think of the children?

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Mystic Pizza? - 09 February 2021 - Plague Journal Day 334

Micah 6:8
Hosea 5:6-7
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

  

Today is Extraterrestrial Culture Day (thanks to the New Mexico legisltature). Roswell! It's also Pizza Pie Day - I think I'm really happy that it's not just Pizza day, but the more formal Pizza Pie Day. Then, to complete the trifecta, it's also Read In The Bathtub Day.

(I'm pretty sure he's ordering a pizza!)

Of course there's a song about this!

It seems to me that today would be a great day to read a book about alien cultures while eating pizza in the tub. What to read? "Alien Art" by Gordon R. Dickson? "Dune" by Frank Herbert? "The Amsirs and the Iron Thorn" by Algis Budrys? "The High Crusade" by Poul Anderson? "Bytes Akimbo" by yours truly?

I'd love to see some suggestions in the comments.

Political/Constitutional aside: democrats are using the "shall" language of the Constitution to justify this second Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Interestingly, the line says that "The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments." It doesn't say that the Senate shall try all Impeachments - simply that it is the only body that has the power to do so. If an impeachment comes from the House to the Senate, the Senate has no obligation to try it, and should the Senate decline, there is no other body able to do so.
If what Trump did was actually inciting to insurrection, that's a crime and should be tried in criminal court, not in the Senate.
Further, conviction in an impeachment trial by the Senate removes a civil Officer from office. Following that removal, the Senate can vote to disqualify that convicted Officer from holding office. If the disqualificatyion vote can only after removing said Officer from office, it's unclear how they'll remove a former office-holder from the office he no longer holds before they vote to disqualify him. Frankly, I don't think they care, they just hate and fear him that much.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

22 July 2020 - Plague Journal Day 132

Micah 6:8
Acts 28:12-14
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today, 22nd July or 22/7, is Pi Approximation Day (sometimes called Casual Pi Day - that sounds like a good name for a bakery, doesn't it? Casual Pi?). Celebrate the day by celebrating the circles in your life.

Possibly more importantly, depending on your neighbourhood, today is National Rat Catcher's Day. I plan to celebrate by listening to some recordings by Marc-André Hamelin. (get it?)

Just a passing note - today marks the 11 dozenth day of the plague, counting from the day our company started to work from home. That's the longest two weeks I can remember, especially without any contractors involved.

Just another passing note. I was at a Pizza Hut in Fort Wayne, Indiana when we heard that Harry Chapin had died. The pizza and company were good, the news was not.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

Carnage du Jour - 15 October 15

As you no doubt already know, bratwurst is a staple and a treat chez nous.

Well, leftover brats are a joy - grab a bun and heat them and enjoy, slice them into a cream sauce over pasta and enjoy, add to a quiche or omelette and enjoy, grab one cold from the fridge and enjoy, the list is endless, and each entry ends with "and enjoy."

We had several (purposely) leftover brats in the fridge and somehow the idea of a bratwurst pizza (or bratzza, if you will - or even if you won't) came to both of us, so in the spirit of serendipity, kismet, and/or Providence, that was the next project.


Not being a baker / doughmaker, I chose to purchase a very nice-looking whole wheat pizza crust at the market, but from then on it was all us:
Brats sliced to replace (much thinner) pepperoni, shredded Amish Swiss cheese to replace the mozz (isn't there a better way to shred cheese than those deadly box graters?!), a sauce of leftover alfredo jazzed up with some Gulden's brown mustard, and sauerkraut to replace any and all vegetable toppings.




You no doubt wonder how it turned out, but given the size of the pizza and the near-total lack of leftovers, we have no doubt that this is  an application which will be repeated here at Cleveland.


Delicious, desirable, and most definitely highly recommended.