Congratulations to Clay and Candice, two of the smartest and sweetest New Orleans bloggers, who were married today.
I was there the evening they first met. *sniff* Ayushman Bhava, you two!
What really pisses me off about the new rules is that every time a network talks about them, they show Brett Favre Losing To The Saints footage the entire time. What is the viewer supposed to take away from that? The thinly-veiled assumption that changing the rules is justified because he should have rightfully won or some fraking thing. Thirteen plus times on his butt in that game, but the OT killed him. Call the waaambulance.
The Vikings are one of the four teams to vote against the new OT rules, but that doesn’t change what the powers that be at the NFL think is an appropriate win. Hey, I’m sorry you lost all that money in Vegas betting on the wrong team, but this is not the way or time to change the rules.
1. Finally, Wisconsin is recognized for something we’re really, really good at. Thanks to Nathan at Flowing Data for posting this FloatingSheep gem.
Flowing Data | Where Bars Trump Grocery Stores: “Red dots represent locations where there are more bars than grocery stores, based on results from the Google Maps API. The Midwest takes their drinking seriously.” Actually, it’s just Wisconsin that does. Central Minnesota, Chicago and southeast Illinois lightweights need not apply.
2. USA Today Science Fair | Tectonic Plate Model Lets Users Play With 3D Planetary Puzzle
Dubbed MORVEL, for Mid-Ocean Ridge VELocity (because much of the data comes from the mid-ocean ridges) it was created by University of Wisconsin-Madison geophysicist Chuck DeMets and collaborators Richard Gordon of Rice University and Donald Argus of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
MORVEL lets allows users model the relative movements of 25 interlocking tectonic plates that account for 97 percent of the Earth’s surface. It’s being presented in the April issue of Geophysical Journal International and is based on work the scientists have been doing for the past 20 years.
A dynamic three-dimensional puzzle of planetary proportions! Chuck was on my MS thesis committee and we used older versions of MORVEL in our graduate geophysics classes. Glad to see this great research and teaching aid get the attention it deserves.
Yeah, I’m on a bit of a food tear today. Fellow Vatul and multiple-award-winning film producer, Harini, reminded me in a series of tweets that today is Rama Navami, or what Hindus celebrate as the birthday of Lord Rama, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu the Preserver. New Orleanians get this and some others don’t: Hindus eat certain, special foods on special religious occasions. On Rama Navami, the food of choice is kosumalli and drinks are panakam and neer moru. Who knows, maybe Rama favored these items, I’ll have to consult my mother. Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure northern Wisconsinites think Jesus liked Tom ‘n’ Jerrys because we sure drink a lot of them come Christmas time.
Nandita Iyer has a culturally insightful post up about Rama Navami foods and their recipes. Her cucumber kosumalli recipe sounds delicious and easy to make, so I hope she doesn’t mind if I reproduce it here. The 1/2 cup of moong dal is chock full of protein and so tasty with the cucumber and spices. Here is Nandita Iyer’s Cucumber Kosumalli for your Rama Navami:
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup moong dal
1 large or 2 medium cucumbers, peeled, finely diced
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp salt
Few sprigs of coriander leaves, washed and finely chopped
1 tsp oil or ghee
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida granules
1-2 tbsp of fresh coconut scrapings for garnishingINSTRUCTIONS
Wash and soak 1/2 cup yellow moong dal (husked and split moong) in 2-3 cups of water for 1 hour. Drain in a mesh strainer for 15 minutes or so.
In a medium bowl, mix the chopped cucumber, lemon juice, salt, coriander leaves and toss well.
In a small tempering ladle, heat 1 tsp ghee or oil – splutter the mustard seeds, add the asafoetida, stir for a few seconds and toss this on the kosumalli.
Garnish with fresh coconut scrapings.
For D, Candice and all other interested parties:
INGREDIENTS
vegetable/canola oil
4 cans of (dark or light) red kidney beans (a.k.a. rajma) – Progresso is best, stay away from Bush’s
1 14 oz. can of diced, steamed, peeled tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
2 onions, chopped into little cubes
5 garlic cloves, chopped into little bits
1 green chili, chopped into little bits
1 tsp fresh grated ginger1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp garam masala powder
6 cilantro sprigs
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat oil in a pan – oil should form a thin film over entire cooking surface. Once oil is hot, add cumin seeds and heat until seeds sizzle. Add chopped onions and garlic and and stir until onions are translucent.
- Add 1 tbsp of tomato paste and 1/2 tsp of garam masala and mix all pan contents thoroughly. [Many add garam masala along with rajma and other spices at this point, but I like to work the garam masala into the dish in stages.]
- Add the can of diced tomatos. Stir thoroughly. Add 1/2 tsp of garam masala and mix in.
- While tomato cooks down, open and add all four cans of rajma. Add the rest of the garam masala and all other spices and stir.
- Bring the flame down to a simmer and cook until the rajma has a thick, gravy-like consistency. Make sure you don’t overcook and make the beans mushy. Add salt to taste at this stage.
- Remove pan from fire and let sit for a while. Add cilantro as garnish. Serve with naan, chapatis or rice or eat a whole bowl sans carbs like I do.
The Swinging Tuxedos, with Petra Bassus on vocals and my friend Thomas Hoffmann at the drums, perform a tribute to fabled German singer and actress, Mary Roos.
Help Oiled Birds
Please help some innocent living things by supporting the efforts of The International Bird Rescue Center in locating, rescuing, and cleaning wildlife affected by the ongoing oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Click on the pelican to donate.
