I don't mean to brag, but . . .

. . . I'm really good at tennis on Wii Sports.

I thought my score would be capped at 2000. Turns out, it's not.

Full Metal Chocolate Chili Ice Cream

I bought an ice cream maker a couple months ago, and since then I've been looking for new and interesting ice cream recipes. I ran across several recipes for chocolate chili ice cream, which sounded kind of strange but promising. I devised my own simple recipe based on proportions I found in other recipes, mixed it up and froze it right before I came here to write this--and it's delicious.

Ingredients

- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (baking cocoa)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons chili powder

Instructions

Very simple: put all the ingredients in the ice cream mixer, whisk them together thoroughly and freeze according manufacturer's directions.

Yield: About 1 Quart

I know it sounds like a lot of chili powder, but trust me on this one.

Happy 1st Birthday . . .

. . . to my son, Link!

I've scheduled this post to show up at the same time he was born, but I think this blog's clock is set to the wrong time zone.

Happy Mother's Day!

To my mom, my wife, my mother-in-law, and my grandmother.

More Journalistic Impropriety

You should read the article first.

I think this is absolutely disgusting. First of all, this is hardly a big enough deal to write a story about. Secondly, it's one of the most obvious cases of a journalist losing impartiality that I've ever seen outside of local news outlets' treatment of local sporting events (with local teams playing out-of-towners).

But recent accounts of the episode have omitted key details that suggest there was more truth in the essence of Clinton's tale than her critics, and even her presidential campaign, have acknowledged.

I really think it's inappropriate for a journalist to be speaking about how much "truth" (which is obviously used metaphorically here) is in "the essence" of something. I read and re-read this section to determine whether or not they were quoting a Clinton campaign spokesperson. They weren't.

And again at the close of the article:

But according to Casto's account, Bachtel's medical tragedy began with circumstances very close to the essence of Clinton's now-abandoned account: the lack of insurance created a $100 barrier to needed medical attention close to home.

Again, the writer is talking about "the essence" of the story. And of course the writer decides what the essence of it is. The writer decided that "the essence" of the story is not that the woman was turned away from a hospital where she had never been before (presumably or impliedly at the ER) because she wouldn't pay up front. And that she tried again and was turned away again. No, of course not.

It's this kind of bullshit that makes me understand why we need Fox News.

Happy Birthday . . .

. . . to my beautiful wife, Laura!

Kosovo's Independence

News Story Here

PRISTINA, Kosovo - The U.S. and major European powers recognized Kosovo on Monday, a day after the province's ethnic Albanian leaders declared independence from Serbia. Giddy Kosovars danced in the streets when they heard of the endorsements.

Kosovo's leaders sent letters to 192 countries seeking formal recognition and Britain, France, Germany and U.S. were among the countries that backed the request. But other European Union nations were opposed, including Spain which has battled a violent Basque separatist movement for decades.

. . .

Russian President Vladimir Putin has argued that independence without U.N. approval would set a dangerous precedent for "frozen conflicts" across the former Soviet Union, where separatists in Chechnya and Georgia are agitating for independence.

My immediate thought was this: why don't we recognize the Confederate States of America? This is the exact same thing that the American Civil War was fought over, no matter how much everyone's dumbed-down American history classes tried to make it about the injustices of slavery. I don't see how we can justify recognizing Kosovo as an independent nation unless we simultaneously say that fighting our own Civil War was a mistake.

I'm not entirely on the side of Spain and Russia here when they say that this is a matter that should be taken up by the U.N, and they can't simply unilaterally state that they are a separate country. The article doesn't mention China, but I imagine that their fight with Taiwan puts them on the same side.

It might be that the Kosovars do have a right to be a separate country. I'm not familiar enough with the situation. But I don't believe that their methodology is correct, and it is apparently causing a lot of international tension.

Winning Is Good

I just found out that I won my first trial. Just thought the universe might like to know.

Sports Nerds

A colleague of mine mentioned the other day that he plays fantasy football. I said that it was a nerdy thing to do, and he tried to argue with it. Now, I don't mean anything negative when I say "nerdy," but apparently people that are really into sports find it to be offensive. (I also don't mean anything negative about the person in question--he's a great guy.)

[Image taken from here.]

But the bottom line is that people that are really into sports have a lot in common with nerds.

I should point out that I don't think everyone who enjoys watching sports is a nerd, just like everyone who's seen Star Wars obviously isn't a nerd (otherwise I think 99.999% of the population would all be nerds).

The most obvious resemblance is due to fantasy football. This goes beyond the mere term "fantasy," and it's such a nerdy thing to do that it hardly needs explaining.

Fantasy football, it is argued, is somehow "real," whereas the things which concern traditional nerds, Warhammer 40,000 for instance, are apparently less than "real." The thing is, I'm not sure what resemblance an athletic competition has to real life. Neither one is real in the sense that it has any bearing on a person's day-to-day life--or on anyone's day-to-day life--and that to me is the defining difference between real and not real. Football is no more real than Babylon 5. Both are exhibitions for entertainment purposes, and the fact that one is entirely preplanned makes no difference.

The focus on statistics (both in and out of the fantasy football leagues) is incredibly nerdy, and I don't see how focusing on the statistics of, say, Peyton Manning, is any different from focusing on the statistics of a Timber Wolf BattleMech.

Trivia is also a huge source of resemblance between the two varieties of nerds. Look, I don't care who won the 1944 Rose Bowl anymore than I care which numbered episodes of Star Trek involved beings of pure energy.

ESPN (along with its offshoots) is probably the most thrashing indictment of any perceived difference between sports nerds and traditional nerds. They have an entire network, ESPN Classic, dedicated to the great athletic competitions of yesteryear. Sounds like people watching the original Star Trek series to me.

The nerdiest thing you'll find on the ESPN networks, though (aside from discussions of fantasy football), is the completely irrelevant arguments they make and then televise. Discussions of hypothetical situations abound: what would happen if Team A defeats Team B and Team C beats Team A? Wow! Wouldn't that be awesome! Or wait--who's better, the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team or the 2004 USC Trojans? Of course, it would also be really cool to see what would happen if Spawn and Batman were in the same comic. But wait a minute--there's actually a comic to see what would happen if Spawn and Batman were together, so, which one is more "real" now?

This is just a start, though. There are many other resemblances you could find, if you worked at it. And the only point I'm trying to make here is that all nerds are the same. Sports nerds, no matter how much they want to be, are no better than sci-fi nerds. There are, of course, many other varieties of nerds, and that is the subject of the following illustration, which is by no means all-inclusive (click to see larger):

Exterior Paint

The exterior is (mostly) painted now. These pictures were taken on Saturday, November 18.