October 2005 Archives
Yesterday, Evan asked his girlfriend, Kelly, to marry him, and to everyone's relief, she said yes. Unfortunately, I have searched high and low on my computer and I don't think I have a single picture of the the two of them together, or even a picture of Kelly at all. Oh well... that will be remedied soon enough. But this is a general call for all my readers to email me any pictures you have of Kelly and Evan. Oh wait!!! I do have one!
Still, keep the pictures flowing!
As it is halloween, here is a recipe that Brooklynne found for Pumpkin Pie. We're planning to try it out since we have a recently graffitied pumpkin that can no longer serve as a welcome mat decoration: we want our doorstep to be strictly G-rated!
If you have any family favorites for holiday recipes, please share them in the comment section. Thanks!
1 1/4 cups gingersnap crumbs (25 to 30 cookies)
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 large eggs, separated
2 (16.25-ounce) cans pumpkin pie mix
2 large eggs
1 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Garnish:miniature pinecones
Combine crumbs and butter; press into bottom and 1 inch up sides of a lightly greased 12-inch springform pan. Set aside.
Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth; add 1 cup sugar and vanilla, beating until creamy. Stir in 6 egg yolks. Pour 2 1/2 cups mixture into prepared crust; set aside.
Add pumpkin pie mix and 2 eggs to remaining cream cheese mixture, stirring well; set aside.
Beat egg whites at high speed until foamy. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar dissolves. Fold into pumpkin mixture; pour over cream cheese mixture in crust.
Bake at 300° for 1 1/2 hours. Turn oven off, and run a knife around edge of cheesecake to loosen. Let stand in oven with door partially open for 1 1/2 hours. Remove sides of pan; cover and chill.
Beat whipping cream and powdered sugar at high speed until soft peaks form; spread on sides of cheesecake. Garnish, if desired.
I have a new favorite website. Have you ever wondered if anyone could break out of the website rut that dictates what a site has to look, sound, and feel like?
Well, ever since I heard the song "Home Computer" while a senior in high school, I've had weird periods of Kraftwerk running in the background of my head. Is that too weird? Well, I guess this is a confession: I just connected with it. So this morning I was on itunes going through albums trying to remind myself Wyclef Jean's name and I happened to think of Kraftwerk. This led me to the Kraftwerk site, which is a really neat experience. I like the limited text, the feel that fits with the music, and the quirky controls. Check out the "Boing Boom Tschak" page where you can record your own mix. I just wish there was more of the "real" music.
By the way, the reason I can sit here and just surf for a while is that I got a semi-complete draft of my first field statement turned in Wednesday, and I feel as free as a bird. Plus I have no real classes next week, so the quality of the blogging will be primo, I'm sure. For now, "I program my home computer... beam myself into the future..."
then check out this new service:
Due to the widespread popularity of the last post, here are some other examples of interesting online tools.
The Moodographer is a tool that tracks the frequency of moods expressed in LiveJournal blogs over time. So if we assume that LiveJournal bloggers are some type of representative group, we can get a clue to an aggragate "mood" for this group. For examples of how this is useful, explore the site, or click "continue reading" below for and example I clipped from their site. More features are being added, and hopefully, they will eventually give the tool a retrospective control option. Also interesting is their moodtracker, which testafies to the tool's level of accuracy.
Theyrule.net allows you to explore the web of fat cat business people and large corporations that rule the world. I especially like the feature that makes the figures fatter according to the number of boards they sit on. If you are looking for a starting point, try Walmart, Home Depot, or Dow Chemical. Warning: you might have to update your flash player.
These history of spam graphs are not interactive, but it is interesting anyway.
A personal favorite of mine is the history of sampling project. Try clicking on the dots to reveal the connections between albums. Does this reveal the interests of the artists, or connections in the structure of the sound, or both?
This isn't really history, but historians like to get together as much as the next guys and we can do this online through virual communities. The one I am familliar with is the Habbo Hotel. I know a group of internationals who "meet" for a kind of small group in a guest room there.
And finally, The Visual Thesaurus is a neat little visual application. Unfortunately, it is a subscription service, but you can try the demo. Type in the word "cool" and then roll your mouse over the lines and dots to explore the connections.
Click "continue reading" below for the example of the moodographer.
Here is a neat little toy that I was introduced to in my Clio class last night. It is the Baby Name Wizard. When you visit the site, you can type in a name and see its popularity over time. Here is my name's results:
Mom and Dad were trend setters! Brooklynne's name was a little more tricky and it only registered results if I spelled her name "Brooklyn." Close enough....
Try names like Bevery and Larry for some more interesting results.
But you must be asking why would I be interested in this? And why were we talking about baby names in history class? We were discussing ways of visualizing history. Click continue reading below for examples of how this tool would be useful to historians....
I'm at school right now, taking a break from my work, but I finished Impossible Subjects and At America's Gates this morning and discussed them with my professor. Since BethAnn offered a good reaction to the titles, I thought I would share a little about what the books covered. At America's Gates examined the Chinese Exclusion Act and argued that all subsequent policy and views toward immigrants were shaped by this piece of legislation. While previous immigration policy had sought to weed out some undesirables (criminals, people with diseases, people with mental illness, etc.), the expectation was that the vast majority of people arriving "at the gates" would be admitted. This changed with the Chinese exclusion laws, which institutionalized the assumption that most (if not all) immigrants arriving from Asia were undesirable, and only the privledged few would be admitted. Lee also argues this was the first case of race-based immigration policy, although I think this action is less original but rather a continuation of with a more general history of racist exclusion that dates back to slavery, jim crow, and the various programs of extermination and transplantation of Native Americans. Also, Lee locates the beginning of American boarder anxiety in Chinese immigrants that began entering the US through Mexico and Canada to avoid detention centers in San Fran and other main western ports.
In Impossible Subjects, Ngai's most significant contributions are the ideas of shifting legality and alien citizens. She explains that many immigrants (especially Mexican and Asian) never experience the possibility of true citizenship because they are often subject to changing legal status, arbitrary law enforcement, denial of due process, and they have been labeled as racial "others." Even naturalized or American-born citizens who express racial and ethnic identities other than white or black are assumed to be foreign--thus becoming alien citizens (internment of Japanese Americans is one extreme example of how this can play out).
She also argues that asserting the boarders of the US is part of a process of nation-building as the country seeks to establish a sovereignty. Therefore, people who are precieved as breaking through these boarders produce fear and insecurity regarding the sovereignty of the nation.
These books are more complicated than this, but I'm sure you get the idea. Next up... Gary Gerstle, American Crucible, and Matthew Jacobson, Whiteness of a Different Color.
I also wanted to issue a reminder for all my readers to check out our reading selections in the right sidebar. Up to now, I haven't been real careful about updating my reading because I sometimes read more than a book a week, so it just seems dumb to put stuff up for a couple days. But now I'm getting into some more interesting topics, so I thought people may want to comment or question stuff that I'm reading. I type reading notes for many of these books before class which could easily be converted into postings, so if somehting I'm reading catches your interest, email me and I'll post something with a line for comments.
Also, I am now accepting offers for guest bloggers. If something is on your mind, email your thoughts to me. If I think it fits in with this page and is worth a post, I'll give you a temporary log-in name and a password to post. The only difference between this and simply posting a comment yourself is that it will appear as upper-level, "frontpage" material, with an independent line for comments. One caveat--I will only give this option to people I know personally--no weirdos highjacking my site!
We've had such a bad week over the past few days that I've dropped the ball on the blog, but I'm making a renewed effort. I still don't have much time to update this area with original material, so here's a story I poached from the news. Very interesting, but I will soon be back to form providing original posts about stuff like scooters, balcony gardening, small group discussion thoughts, etc. But for now...
An old map was discovered filed under the wrong date in the British national archives. The map turned out to be a map created by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and presented to the British government as a plan for peace following WWI. After the war, the European colonial powers divided up the Middle East into geo-political units according to their own desires for natural resources (oil and minerals) and not really according to what made sense in terms of existing tribal, religious, and ethnic relationships. The western world has been embroiled in conflict ever after, trying to perserve the influence they wanted from the beginning, recreate a Jewish homeland, and cope with widespread instability in the region. Lawrence's map offered an alternative to the haphazard European arrangement and poses many historical what-ifs. Perhaps the most challenging question though--one that the map does not evoke--is what if the west had treated the people of the mid-east as equal and deserving partners in shaping the future of their own region?
Click here for the article and links to more info on Lawrence.
I need a women's history miracle. Pray for me. I'm burnt out and still have far to go before 4pm. Also, you might have noticed the link in the side bar to the Emergent Postmodern Negro. I think he changed his name to just the Postmodern Negro now (problems with being emergent?). Anyway I'm going to blow off some steam and post on race and my own continual failure give up racialized judgements of people tonight. but I would encourage all my readers to visit the Postmodern negro's site and then be prepared to comment on my thoughts tomorrow. back to work.
Ok, so I think I've decided that I will vote for Tim Kaine for governor of VA. Really, the three things that pushed me over the top were Jerry Kilgore's refusal to participate in debates including alternative and third-party candidates, Kilgore's really quite ridiculous claims that Kaine would raise the gas tax in the current economy (while it is probably true that Kaine supported such a move at some time in the past, the ads are an obvious attempt to scare people. And would it be bad to force people to consider alternative transportation options anyway?), and Kilgore's new TV spots celebrating the death penalty and equating Kaine to a Hitler supporter.
Kaine also put together a better plan for dealing with traffic in Nova, but I have to scratch my head at Kaine's new TV spot showing him discussing his plans while driving on the highway. I wonder how many traffic tie-ups have been caused by wrecks involving politicians filming TV ads while driving?!
I'm taking time out again to post before I get to work on school stuff. This week is going to kill me. But if it doesn't, I think I deserve a scooter. Click on Harry and Lloyd, and then check out these fun scooter links....
Scooter rally planned for Durham (caution, strong language ahead)
Thanks to the Saints Scooter Club of Alexandria for the links.
I finally have a short while to take a break between school responsibilities. This week is a particularly bad week of work and thus the lack of recent blog entries. Do not fear! I will continue. but for now, satisfy your self with these fun bow tie links (special thanks to the bald blogger).
Why Wear a Bow Tie? (If Libba reads this, she should pay particular attention to #2)
http://thecrown.ca/issues/20-04/tie.html
How Do You Tie a Bow Tie?
http://www.bowtieclub.com/html/BowTieBTI.html
Where Can I Get a Bow Tie?
http://www.beautiesltd.com/default.aspx?c1=ppc&source=gaws&kw=00601
I don't have time to type out a longer post, but I thought it was worth mentioning that Bill Green has a new blog. Click here to sample the goods. I'll add a permanent link in the left sidebar when I have more time.
For those of you who are fascinated by the blogging phenomenon (like me), Kojo Nnamdi, my favorite radio personality, is devoting the first hour of his show today to "the therapeutic quality of blogging." The entire show airs in the DC area on FM 88.5 from 12-2pm, and if you are not in the DC area or do not have a radio close to your desk, but want to tune in, you can still listen through a free streaming audio link at www.wamu.org/. Just find the appropriate link in the right navigation bar.
Our family has finally plugged in to apple by setting up Brooklynne's ipod nano that I got her for her birthday. We've had the nano for weeks now, but we had been too busy to learn how to use it. But last night, we took the time to load 300+ songs and even experiment with buying songs from itunes. Brooklynne's selections:
Casting Crowns, Who am I?
Rolling Stones, It's only rock n' roll (but I like it)
Rolling Stones, Miss You.
The choice of the Stones was appropriate because Thursday is the concert in Charlottesville. After scrolling through their discography on itunes, I doubt anyone can argue with my belief that the Stones are one of the three best bands in history (along with the Beatles and U2). Comments anyone?
Anyway, I got the ipod for Brooklynne because I knew she would love it. But there are practical considerations as well. We've done a good job of getting in a routine of working out, and the ipod is much easier to use while running than a cd player. Since the ipod nano is essentially a flash drive, Brooklynne can also conveniently transport yearbook files from work to home and back. And I confess--I'm looking forward to borrowing it to experiment with podcasting... one more way to waste time!
Today was the first anniversary of Gateway Bible Church. Brooklynne and I did not attend until the second service, so I guess we will celebrate our anniversary next week. But it was fun to hear and see how people came together to get the church off the ground....
Some people in the small group asked about Gmail tonight and I said that I would post something about it tonight. Essentially, it is email by Google, with the difference being that you can have an enormous amount of storage space and Google's powerful search engine for finding old stuff in your files. You can click here to read about it on Google or sign up. One warning... I did read a couple of complaints about difficulties with privacy issues, so you may want to read the privacy policy more carefully than I do normally if you do decide to sign up.
Also, in respose to our web discussion, I looked briefly for the confessions website that I mentioned and I could not find it. I did find several online confession sites, but they seemed to be filled with confessions that were more graphic and usually sexually explicit, so I would not recommend visiting these sites. I guess if you're inviting people to make confessions, you can't pick and choose what they say, but I'm skeptical about confessions offered without accountability or follow up, and seem to perpetuate the sinful actions that they chronical.
Hotel Rwanda
Rated PG-13, 2 hr. 2 min.
Critics' Rating: B+
Miles's Rating: A
Brooklynne's Rating: A
Last week, Brooklynne and I finally got a chance to see Hotel Rwanda. Many of our friends told us how good it was, and we had tried to rent it several times. It was a very, very good film, although if I had to sum it up in one word, I would describe it as gut-wrenching. I feel like it deserves a review even a week after watching, because the crisis has been on my mind ever since.
Based on real events, the film tells the story of a hotel manager who stuggled to protect more than a thousand refugees in the face of chaos and genocide. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the conflict, Rwanda was torn apart by ethnic (tribal, class, racial, colonial/nationalist?) violence that resulted in the murder of alomst a million people in just 3 or 4 months.
It is hard to call a film that is so painful to watch beautiful, but the movie really is a masterful piece of story telling. The film is not explicitly gory, although there are tons of indirect scenes of violence and evidence of it (dead bodies). I constantly felt a knot of fear, discomfort, intense sadness, and frustration. The film challenges viewers to question our international priorities. Why do we rush to intervene in strategic regions (Iraq) and countries with people that look like us (Bosnia), while we stand on the sidelines while poor African nations fall apart right in front of us? How long can white western nations reap wealth from afar (like the Beligians of this movie) and do only very little to help the people of these colonized nations, especially in times of extreme crisis?
Despite the hate, despair, and pain, the story really is one of courage, strength and love. If only we could face the small evils of our daily lives as well as Paul stands tall in the face of enormous hate and danger.
