This last weekend wasn’t all that fun. Had a sore throat and generally feeling fatigued.
Been working a lot. Since Fife voted to join the Pierce County Library System we can now finally make use of a library! I was a bit shocked about the matter but it makes sense. A valley like Fife is perfect for farms and now (albeit stupidly) warehouses. Who’d want a library around here anyway?
Oh man do people whine. Ted Kennedy has been in office for 50 years (probably just riding out the nation’s sympathy for the horrible murders of his brothers) and now that an independent State and free peoples elect a Republican to Congress and the hissing and stench of hate emit from the generally leftist circles of the Internet; Facebook and the various comments to the story on various news outlets.
We want change! No you don’t. You want your agenda to enslave the country to your naive understanding of politics, history, and flawed human character. If people understood even a speck of that I think they’d be in for less government and more personal responsibility. Health care reform only needs to happen because government meddled in health care in the first place. See how the billions of dollars we’ve all paid into Social Security have been managed? Horribly. Do not expect otherwise from government.
Last night I had a jam session with Koa (drums) and his buddy Pat (guitar). It was flippin’ awesome. I busted out my laptop, used my midi controller, and played some wicked organ, piano, and crazy techno bass lines and sounds to create almost two hours of intense Trash Rock Trance Lounge music. It was rage fun and we really had a good time. We played around with some chord progressions, styles, rhythms, and melodies. It took me a little while to set up but once I did it was on. The guys are just awesome. We practiced at Evolution in Bellevue. Since it isn’t going to be often the $6.50 a person for 2 hours seems reasonable.
Last night I finally got my copy of Panzer Tactics for the DS. The reviews give it a low score but I kind of expect it in today’s game market. It’s a pure throwback to the old SSI Panzer General series. I played for a little bit last night. Very good indeed!
We’ve (Koa + me = MokaSocial, LLC) finally pushed out Flicka.mobi the official portal to Flicka, our Flickr application for the Android platform! It will bring all the free functionality of the Flickr website and add tons of integration into the mobile platform. We’re hoping to be able to launch the actual application by the beginning of Q2 this year. We’ll see.
The page kind of tells you about the release and stuff but here are all the links:
It’s been one frantic push to get the code base stabilized and things to a place where we can finally start talking about it. There isn’t much about the Google Android SDK on the web so that’s probably the biggest challenge. Also, the Java library we’re using for our interactions doesn’t seem to have everything.
Anyway, it’s been a wonderful dive into Java and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it. We’re hoping it’s a successful mobile platform application; one in a series of many increasingly complex and sexy!
Special thanks to those that have been helping. The organization, insight, and comradeship has been awesome!
It was a fabulous break. We got some great time in with the kids, playing games, visiting family, cooking, and eating.
I picked up my guitar, restrung it, and have started playing it. My inspiration is obvious. Finding the time is the challenge.
Transaction Total: Mocha with tax $3.13
Male barista: Would you like a receipt?
I: Yes, please.
Male barista: Wouldn’t want to overdraft. (uncomfortable moment of silence as he realizes the idiotic slam he just made) I mean, I wouldn’t either.
I: Every bit counts.
I guess I was taken aback a bit. It doesn’t matter if it was a few cents or a thousand dollars. I want my receipt. Perhaps a majority of people have a laizzes-faire attitude towards money; I’m not one of them. I know what he was insinuating and it’s incredibly lame. What a cock gobbler.
Okay so I just have to share some awesomeness.
Dragon Age: Origins is one of the best role playing games I’ve played in a long time. The twists, pace; it all is so very interesting. It’s kept me on the edge of my seat and I’ve actually sat there jaw dropped enjoying the emotions and story unfold.
Uncharted 2 is another fantastic cinematic story telling adventure that I love as much or even more than the original. It has a lot of the same creative story writing the previous title I mentioned above but it sets in the current time and world. I love the humor.
Finally and definitely not the least, DJ Hero is effing amazing. Take out the guitars and enter a turntable styled controller. I was a little skeptical at first but after playing a few rounds it’s turned out to be an awesome journey into musical nostalgia and sexy rhythms.
With every one of these titles I am barely into them and hope there will be sequels. I felt like we’re actually back to a time when there is some good story telling and exciting things to experience in game.
Hey everyone: Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.
Just finished up Eve dinner with Jerry and Jeanine. It was great. Everything tasted fantastic. Henry had apparently the “best Christmas ever” when he discovered a remote control daddy car (Ford Mustang). Thanks guys, you are cooler than his own parents! :p
Tomorrow will be morning at our place, my folks after, and Crystal’s family after that until around nine. Oh dear. I can’t wait until the weekend!
Bleh, MySpace bought the non debt parts of Imeem and basically broke it all. It was bad enough that Imeem reduced clip lengths to 30 seconds. Now they’re out of the picture. So please, forgive the horrid AT&T and other stupid ads in their stay.
This song has been running through my head for months. This song, while we’re talking about music, has been in my head for months:
What it means to me is that it’s harder for me to share music with you all. For now I am relegated to Youtube which is fine but I’m not always interested in sharing the video part.
I’ve just got gripes with the whole system, fair use, and DRM. I will gladly buy music that’s worthwhile. Money is not the issue. The problem is all the suckers that have bought into iTunes and other controlled media and what it all means. Control and profit.
Now I am not on any soap box here evangelizing one way or another. I am simply sharing how sick I feel when I think about all this and how pervasive the idea of remotely controlling everything. I feel like there is a full on assault on freedom and expected fair usage. I get pretty depressed about it all. Sometimes I feel like moving to the country and raising cattle for a living.
But alas running away from things isn’t an answer for me either.
We’re making some great progress on our side project. I can’t wait to announce it.
This is one of those traditional Czech dishes that take some effort and expertise to perfect. My father came over this weekend and finally agreed to walk me through making the dumplings. I have seen a lot of recipes on the Internet all of which may or may not work. The following recipe is from my family. Kudos to Crystal for encouraging me to visit with my dad. Note that regular flour will not work. It is too fine and will not cook correctly in the water.
- 2 13.5 oz cans Wondra Instant Flour or Robin Hood Best for Blending Flour. It is also known as instantized flour.
- 6 oz milk
- ¾ tablespoon wet, compressed yeast (baker’s yeast)
- ¼ heaping teaspoon salt
- ½ cup cubed, dried French bread
- 2 eggs
NOTE: The yeast measurement is kind of iffy. My dad says about ½ of a 2 ounce cube that you usually find at the store. They buy yeast in ½ pound bricks. Anyway, the measurement I give is about what I remember using.In a large bowl dump an entire package of flour. In the middle of this pile create a little boat (like a gravy boat in mashed potatoes) and crumble into it the yeast. Sprinkle the salt into the flour. Warm the milk and add half of it into the boat and let everything sit for about 10 minutes. We are waiting for the yeast to melt and start activating. As far as the warmness of the milk is, it felt almost hot.
After we wait for the yeast to soften and melt, we add the two eggs and the rest of the milk into the mixture. After a couple stirs the mixture will start to goo; add the cubed French bread.
Now work the mixture into a dough using a wooden spoon. Sprinkle a little flour from the second container every so often. You will continue mixing and adding until using a spoon will become unpractical and switch to using your hands. This is where we start to knead the dough. Eventually the ball of dough will only be very slightly sticky (some recipes will say no longer sticky). This process took us about 10-15 minutes.
Toss the dough into a ball and then cover it with a cheese cloth. Place on the range and turn on the hood light. If you don’t have a light turn on the oven to 350°, preheat, and then turn it off. What we’re doing with this is creating a little bit of heat to encourage the dough to rise.
Let the dough rise for about an hour. Cut the dough in half and place one of the halves aside. Now work one half into an elongated loaf. Quickly rub a minimal amount of warm water on the loaf as a glue to seal up the cracks and holes in the dough. Once you’ve worked the loaf to where it’s the right loaf shape and the cracks are not deep, sprinkle some flour on your work surface and work the loaf into a smooth and even shape. Repeat for the other half.
In a large pot bring a couple quarts of water to boil. Add some salt to it. When the water is boiling add the loaves to the water and boil for about 20 minutes. Nearing the end of the boil check, using a wooden chopstick, to see if the center is cooked by poking the dumpling loaf. If it comes out without anything stuck to it, the cooking is done. Remove one loaf and immediately cut it in half. Remember, all cutting is done with a thread because a knife will simply crush the loaf.
If after cutting in half there happens to still be some rawness in the middle, place the quarters back into the boiling water and boil for another 2-5 minutes. Use a large wooden spoon or similar and a cutting board or something wide to lift the dumplings out of the water.
You need to cut anything you remove from the boiling water in half right away. Not allowing the steam to escape will cause the dumpling to become mushy inside. Continue cutting the dumpling into one inch slices and place on a serving platter or place into a container.
If you want to store them, place the sliced dumplings into a container and wait until they have cooled and then cover and place into the refrigerator. To reheat you can steam them or microwave them by placing a wet paper towel over them and microwaving them for twenty seconds adding five second increments until they are hot.
You may freeze dumplings like bread but make sure it’s already sliced. I’m not sure how long it’d keep but it can’t be very long.
Czech dumplings are fantastic with gravies, sauerkraut and drippings from roasts, or chopped up and served as an omelet with a few eggs.
UPDATE: I just made these again and they turned out fantastic. My only complaint is that it is very hard to find baker’s yeast. The yield of this recipe is enough dumplings to feed 6 people about 4 dumplings each with a few left over.
Well I’ve accepted (and been entrusted with) the lead developer position at my employer. I am a bit anxious and hope I can fulfill the added responsibilities. It’s been really fun and interesting working somewhere that is really using PHP and the corresponding systems to most of their potential.
The holidays have been very hectic. We’re trying to get things for the kids, things for each other, and manage a schedule making sure we visit with the grand parents. I still have to tell my dad we’re expected a third. He’s the type of ass hole to make comments about the cost and whether or not I’ve heard of condoms.
But then again he may surprise me with a sudden burst of happiness and actually congratulate me.
Nanna came over and watched Henry and Helen Wednesday while Crystal and I enjoyed a night out. It’s so crucial for a husband and wife to spend quality time away from the kids to keep the relationship in a state that encourages a loving home. Everyone wins!
It was actually our company holiday party which started on a party bus. It was a bit tacky but once we got to Acme Bowl in Tukwilla things got much more fun. We ate, drank (well I did but Crystal had a few virgin drinks), and bowled.
I actually loosened up enough to relax. Our CTO found the worst bowlers (well, I think it was just about all of us) and gave $100 bills to those that made a strike when he called it and was watching. Crystal and I both managed to do this (although I wasn’t able to repeat it again the entire night). The temptation to drink wasn’t all there. It was unlimited hard liquor, wine, and beer… but I simply have too vivid of a memory of a party recently where a coworker and I tried to finish off a pony keg by ourselves.
We ended the night with a quick game of Deal or No Deal and drove home. We thought about going to a movie but by the time we got home we were done. The kids were asleep and we both got a great night’s rest.
Thank you nanna.
