The economy and Vegas

Sorry about punctuation and such- blogging on the road using the iPhone.

The economy has been sucking for most people, but nowhere shows it better then America's playground - Vegas. Last season there were a lot layoffs here- makes sense, layoffs are everywhere. But it's the trickle down effect. People that are worried about money are hardly going to blow a grand on a weekend. Restaurants that have been around for years have shut their doors forever. Most places that are still open are only open five days a week. Hotel stores that used to be open all day, every day now spend as many hours closed as open. Vegas has been struggling as much as anywhere else I've seen, more so then some. I really feel sorry for what some of the people I know here have been going through.

There does seem to be a light at the end of this tunnel though. It's a Sunday night and Vegas seems busier then it has been on my last couple of visits. The restaurant I had dinner in had as much business as I'd ever seen in there. People may not be spending massive amounts of money yet, but at least they are showing up. Maybe things will be back to their wild and craziest soon. I certainly hope so.

Watchmen A.R.G.

Just played around with the small A.R.G. associated with the Watchmen film- www.6minutestomidnight.com -

The premise of the site is that Rorshach shows you tests and you enter what you think you see. Correct answers will unlock clips that tell you about the characters from the film. I went through the usual answers that were expected (I won't spoil it here- there are other places to go for that kind of info), but I got stuck on the final one and had to look it up. Now comes the fun- I've seen the site as it was intended, so now comes entering random things to get unexpected responses. I went with "Dog" first, because I've read the graphic novel, and got a good response. I tried several others, but responses weren't all that great. On a tip from a forum post I found, I went with "Alan Moore"- the response was great. If you want to know what was said, you can try it for yourself.

All in all, I found it to be a fun little A.R.G for ten minutes.

Resolutions

Back when the clock struck midnight and this year was rung in, I made a list of resolutions (something I'd resolved never to do in earlier life- but what the hell, I need to change things up). I even signed the list. My dearly beloved put the list on the fridge, lest I forget. She's not holding my feet to the fire or anything- these are my resolutions, I doubt she cares too much.

Anyway- here's the deal. I've decided to post the list here too, as a public act of...I don't know... something or other.

1)Perfect these recipes:
a)Mulligatawny Soup.
b)Pub Curry (which isn't defined on the list, but it's a Tikka Masala- I'm still trying to decide between Tofu for dearly beloved or Chicken for me to enjoy alone),
c)Scrambled Eggs (my scrambled eggs are edible, but far from perfect),
d)Pancakes (again, I do a nice pancake, but I think I can do better).
e)Fish dish to be determined later (I didn't want to be specific, because I might cheat here and make Fish Tikka Masala if the end of the year is coming quickly).
f) Completely random dish to be determined by whim...which has turned out to be french vanilla ice cream. Check this one off- I've done it, and can replicate it whenever I feel like- wahoo! It's good to see I achieved something in the first couple of months of the year.

2) Perfect my Bread & Tortilla "Instinct" - I've put this under a separate number and away from "Number 1) Perfect these recipes" because I've already got this somewhat down. This challenge is to keep making bread and tortillas, not just to perfection (for my taste) but to make them so often that I can make them by instinct alone. Well, instinct and flour and water and so on...but instinct instead of doggedly following a recipe in some book. So far this year, I've made a couple loaves of bread that were fine and one batch of tortillas that weren't.

3) Make Marshmallows - I'm not going for perfection here. I'll settle for "yummy".

4) Make Penuche Fudge - One of my great aunts gave me penuche fudge when I was just a wee lad. I love penuche fudge, but it costs an arm and a leg and a couple of extra toes to buy it. I want to at least try a batch by the end of the year. I've really got to work on the whole "soft ball" fudge making thing.

5) Lose 30 pounds - Okay, this is the problem. Look at the above list...I'm going to "perfect" all that food and still lose weight. How? Well, I've been going to the gym most days (at least 4 times a week) which helps, and I've been sick for the last few days (hurray lost water weight!). This is going to be the problem spot.

That's the list- and I resolve to do these things in 2009!
If I don't, well, there's always 2010.

To Have and Have Not

In the film "To Have and Have Not", script co-written by William Faulkner based on an Ernest Hemingway novel, the most famous lines were ad-libbed by the actors.

Ice Cream

I just made my third ice cream (well, second ice cream - one was a sorbet).

The first ice cream I made was a french vanilla. It came out great. I was so happy with the result that I figured I could do no wrong. Because I was riding high, I decided to go with a flavor that I felt could fail- my pride could take it. For my second try, I went with the beer sorbet (as found in the Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book). The beer sorbet was...frozen sweet beer. The texture came out fine, I was happy there. I'd used my favorite beer, Guinness Stout.

A quick aside: I think there are three perspectives on beer. The first one doesn't like beer at all, the second likes the effect of beer but not the actual flavor. I probably fall into a third group, I actually like the taste of beer. I don't drink all that often but when I do, I like a nice flavorful stout or porter. I don't care about the actual alcohol content. I'm not getting drunk, I'm enjoying a tasty beverage.

At first, I didn't care too much for the beer sorbet. Frozen beer wasn't really doing it for me. However, on the second (or maybe the third) tasting, I suddenly loved it. This isn't the first time this has happened to me. Years ago, I tried Moxie. I was thirsty and had opened a Moxie cola. I hated the flavor, felt it was nasty- like cold medicine nasty. I don't know if it was a hot day or if I was too lazy to get a different drink or even if I just didn't want to waste it, but I kept drinking it. Sips at first, because that's easier, of course. By halfway down the bottle, I'd forgotten that I thought it was nasty. By the time I'd finished the bottle, I was ready for another soda. I had a large selection of drinks (thanks to a recent stop at Galco's) but I found myself reaching for another bottle of Moxie. Now, when I'm at Farmer's Market or somewhere that has Moxie, I'll choose it over other soft drinks.

I don't know when the first time something like this happened to me. It could have been coffee or broccoli or something. I doubt it'll be the last. My taste seems to evolve quickly, it's probably a good thing. Of course, if you are thinking that now that I like beer sorbet, I'll keep on making it all the time, you are wrong. I just made Kahlua-Amaretto ice cream. Life is too short to stick with one type of frozen dessert.

mixing my metaphors

I find that I've started mixing metaphors lately. It doesn't really worry me, due to the "mutts are usually healthier than pure breeds" thingie. I should probably throw in a mixed metaphor here for humor or something, but since I'm still working on my first cuppa coffee today, it would shoddy at best.

English is a living language

English is a living language. It coughs, farts and wheezes just like the rest of us. I've heard that its having troubles with stairs these days. The poor thing is getting old.