Devices

This post will comprehensively summarize the latest in computerized gadgetry. Good, or not-so-good.

Have you seen the newest iphone? The 4G ifphone? I have one in a playful and wacky banana shape. Check out how life-like it is.

You can put it in a bowl of real bananas and no one can tell which one is the iphone. Brilliant. I picked it up in Micronesia, and this is one time the copycat version is actually available before the real prototypes have hit the trade shows. Works great so far. No dropped calls, and the phone isn't nearly as slippery as the trad iphone design, so no dropped phone either. The best part? The peel is the bumper cover - when you pull it back, it smells just like banana flavoring. Sort of like those candy necklaces on the elastic cords.

If you would like some candy necklaces for Halloween trick-or-treats, you can get them from Oriental Trading.

On to my favorite computer theme. The virtual computer. No one seems to be "there" yet with this concept. However, a new try at the "less is more" machine comes from China, with a completely wireless device. This time it is a TV. I suppose more people still watch TV than use computers. What do you think?
I am not lying this time. Take a look at this site: COMPLETELY WIRELESS TV.

Next, I would like to shamelessly invite any and all of you out there in the netherworld to get the free app DROPBOX. That is, if you don't already have a way that you are keeping your hard drive space open, and amassing all those documents and photos you love to amass simultaneously. My own computer says "NO" to icloud. My computer says its system is not new enough, and like that. So.... I have gone with option B and I am very pleased with the results. You might be too. Why don't you try it?

Last but not least, for today. Calendars. I am not happy with any of them. I have a google calendar, a microsoft word interactive calendar, a bigtent calendar, ical, three paper calendars and one dry erase calendar. I can't seem to sync them. I tried using itunes and www.sprint®.com. Not working yet. I will try some more tomorrow.

Can't Let Go

A fungal "want-to-be conk" will be motivated, I think, by the portrait of its distant relative. Although he is long deceased, this gentleman was known to grow a centimeter a day in his prime.

As a youth, he rubbed shoulders with luminaries including a Nepenthese and also three Platyceria. The Nepenthese met an untimely end while braving temperatures which plunged to 20ºF. This burst over 90% of the Nepenthese's cell walls, ensuing in wilting, a sickeningly green smell and ultimately, death.

The Platyceria accidently drowned while on a vacation in the bathroom.

Top Ten Uses for Woodchuck

You have all been clamoring for this, so I give in.

Woodchucks.

1. incentives to make that caged garden/racquetball court I keep yakking about.


2. Rapid response test kits for antifreeze efficacy.
Or at least conversation starters about such things.

3. Volunteer mining dervishes to dig up broken glass you never knew you had.




















4. Fur collars and neck wear. I hear woodchuck fur is not particularly warm. Why oh why do woodchucks always look so frigging angry? They are so incredibly scary. Just look at this one.

5. Stew
Here is a nice one.Why don't you try it next Friday night? Don't use the woodchuck from "2," unless you want a quick trip to Emergency.

WOODCHUCK (GROUNDHOG) STEW


1 woodchuck

2 onions, sliced

1/2 cup celery, sliced

Flour

Vinegar and water

Salt and pepper

Cloves
Clean woodchuck; remove glands; cut into serving pieces. Soak overnight in a solution of equal parts of water and vinegar with addition of one sliced onion and a little salt. Drain, wash, and wipe. Parboil 20 minutes, drain, and cover with fresh boiling water. Add one sliced onion, celery, a few cloves, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until tender; thicken gravy with flour.

6. Vocabulary enlargers for your personal quota of expletives. Just substitute a new word for every mundane monosyllable you are about to scream each time you enter the garden.

7. Instant horror film footage. I get shivers just looking at this creepiness of this sly specimen.

8. The best work-out your dog can get. Look at this vicious creature. Scarface here is a typical example of these brutal and wicked beasts.

9. Stimulus for creative methodology.

10. Fodder for heated debates on "all things pink and fluffy" versus "shotgun and sling shot practice."

Fungal organisms on and in us

photo of Aspergillus © 2000-2007 doctorfungus.org

$50 off sale! This week only! 

Your fungal fingerprint!!

Most of us think of fungal infections when the words fungus and humans wind up in the same sentence. Livestrong itemizes five of the most common fungal infections that crop up relentlessly. Fungal infections can be notoriously difficult to eradicate, partly because fungi and and animals (such as humans) largely tolerate the same living conditions, and what is poison to one, is poison to the other as well.

However, many fungi happily co-exist with people, and visa versa. Candida albicans, so sorely misaligned as a villainous trespasser, is in actuality a member of the healthy flora in the human gut. It is only when it overgrows a reasonable population that it becomes a problem.

In June, a short article by Rosie Mestel (Los Angeles Times) outlined a few details of the Human Micriobiome Project report:
"You won’t find links to disease from the data from the five-year Human Microbiome Project, because all the subjects had to be in super-duper health. The volunteers couldn’t even have gum disease, which affects maybe 40% of Americans. There’s a reason why only healthy people were chosen. The scientists wanted to figure out a baseline healthy microbiome to compare against people with medical problems, and it’s expected that what they have found will inform a raft of future studies into disease and the microbes that we harbor. And yes, researchers are finding links to a lot of disorders: inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, psoriasis, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis and more. Such links have to be studied in depth before scientists can be sure that the microbes are actually contributing to the conditions."

Each of us has a unique microbial "fingerprint" that identifies us as surely as our DNA fingerprint. You can not change yours no matter how many times you wash your hands, or change your diet!
“Even identical twins harbor substantially different microbial communities, suggesting that the collective genomes of our microbial symbionts may be more personally identifying than our own human genomes…” Noah Fierer et al, 2010

A repository for microbial fingerprints will be the next wave in identity protection. it's just microns away!

More Sale info later. Stay tuned.

lookitup:
fungal infections
human microbiome project
Metagenomics of the Human Intestinal Tract

Dinner Plate

About dinner plates. Or sea turtles. Take your pick.
We never use them in our house. Either one. They are so danged large."Once turtles reach dinner-plate size, they appear at feeding grounds in nearshore waters." Sea Turtle Conservancy website

Dinner plates are apparently useful as a visual guide to size. But what, exactly, is dinner plate size?

The Dinner Diva website carries an article by Monica Reinagel, M.S., L.D./N. called "Why We Overeat." In this short piece Monica states "researchers have observed that the average size of a dinner plate in the 1950s was 9 inches across. By the 80’s it had grown to 11 inches and today the average dinner plate is a whopping 13 inches." I am going to check that right now. I have my grandmother's dishes in the cabinet. They date from well before the 1950s. They look like this.

AND this plate measures a whopping 9 7/8" in diameter. Almost a full 10". So much for researchers. Or else my grandmother surpassed the norm in her ownership of dinner plate size. Now I will measure a plate purchased from World Market circa 2003. It measures 10 3/4". And it is humungous. We never ever ate dinner on that plate. Maybe World Market went out of business here because their dinner plates were too large. Just sayin'.

Occasionally you will hear rumblings about human size and life-span that go like this: Our lives have gotten longer on the average and we humans have become larger on the average over the course of time since the middle ages. In the middle ages, the average lifespan was 55, if you made it through the first few years of your life. The average height was somewhat less than ours, depending on who you are talking to about this. The enlarging trend does not hold up retrospectively if we look further back into humanity though, according to some.

How about Dee Finney's site "Giants of the Bible." She describes giants of Peru. "Some of these men were so tall that from the knee down they were as big as a man. Their eyes were the size of plates." The plate business again.

The website titled "Vegetarians Are Evil" claims that men have lost size and stature simply because they formed an agricultural society instead of staying hunter-gatherers, as they originally were.

However, most dietitians point out that we are actually too large, if not too tall. The real link to our growth is based on our dinner plates. Just sayin'.

Here is a dinner plate of the Deruta majolica variety. It was introduced to Italy by the Spanish in the 11th century, which puts it well before the 1950s. I have no idea how large this plate is. Maybe it isn't even a dinner plate. Just sayin'.

So, what size is a sea turtle that is the size of a dinner plate? I don't know. This is making me grouchy.

I do not know what we would use a sea turtle for, either.

baby sea turtle photo from Sea Turtle Cafe

Among the other things is next month's dinner

Dinner is in here somewhere. If not in the "weeds," then in the recently planted beans or squashes.

I couldn't stop with the bean winners from last year, I added tiger eye, a Guatemalan heirloom variety (so far, nameless) and tomorrow will plant "magpie" to complement the Petaluma gold rush and Arikara varieties chosen last fall.

Who knows what this came from, below? I don't want to keep refering to it as U169. Help me here. 9µm in length. They look like Jordan almonds.....

The U.S. Forests of the '60s

The book find of the week, with beautiful illustrations by Jack Kunz.

"The Secret Life of the Forest" is simply presented, and clearly described. Author Richard M. Ketchum depicts forests purely as a product resource, nonetheless, it is a lovely volume. TOO BAD the symbiotic fungi aren't part of the picture yet!!!

Forest study has come a long way from fifty years ago.

Weeding the Weeds

How did I get rid of all those weeds in the cracks of the front sidewalk, you may ask. I raked them out with a garden claw. It was effective and satisfying, almost as good as squeaking chalk on a blackboard. Here are some other weed removal options I have gleaned from gardening experts.

1 - A kettle of boiling water slowly poured along the cracks in the pavement will kill any weeds, annuals and even many perennials. It is even more effective if you cut off the weeds close to ground level first, before pouring water over.

2 - A 20% solution of acetic or citric acid will kill weeds. This is a lot stronger than household vinegar, which is only 5% acetic acid. The household vinegar may be strong enough to kill emerging baby weeds, however.  Weed Pharm is a brand of stronger acidic weed killer, and it is organic, and also not inexpensive.

3 - Just dig them up and eat them. My personal favorite solution. If you live in an older home, or in an urban area, get your soil tested for lead and arsenic first, before randomly eating your weeds. Also, identify the weeds you eat BEFORE you put them in your mouth. A friend of a colleague ended up in the emergency room after walking out his front door and eating random weeds. And he calls himself an agronomist.
...You can dress them up but you can't take them anywhere.

Here are a few good weeds to start.

Dandelions. The babies, not the big ones with flowers already.

Purslane. Crunchy and juicy. Yum.

Lamb's Quarters. Tastes kind of like asparagus and cucumbers mixed.

Nettles. You have to cook these to get the sting out.

Creeping Charlie. Get the new leaves, not the old tough ones. That shouldn't be hard, the thing grows like the dickens.

Sheep Sorrel.

Shepherd's Purse.

Common Mallow or Cheeses.

Add a few berries, a couple of walnuts and a package of Saltines. That's some good eating.

There are loads of other plants thriving where they shouldn't be. The varieties above are what I see today in our yard by the adjoining sidewalk I haven't weeded yet.

falling pollen

Dyson 3 Piece Asthma And Allergy Cleaning Kit - 91613005$69.98 Abt Electronics & Appliances

TEACHING FIDDLE TO KIDS

My observations are being posted at this site:

fiddle and kids

If you are mainly interested in fiddle, kids, or fiddle and kids, this will be the go-to spot.

The site you are at now will remain, as always, random.

Bismarck Adult and Baby Supplies

I just got the new catalog! Here is a page from it. Great stuff, from great people.

Well Water Hand Pump
Best Value 99.99
This hand pump draws well water quickly and effectively and with rugged cast iron construction is built and engineered to last. Draws water up to 23 feet. Does not include any hardware to attach to base.
Manufacturer Warranty:
3 months parts / 3 months labor

Blue Color for Eyes Only
Eye Bluer-Upper
169.00 includes prescription and Blue
Get North Dakota in your eyes. Contact lenses for every correction includes built in Blue.

Tow Head remediation
Call for quick price quote
Brings back the tow in your hair. For all ages. Safe for infants.
Send hair swatch, or call for quote. Prices vary.

Vowel Elongation and Flattening
SALE PRICE LIMITED TIME 299.99 and up

Gain slight elongations, or full lengthening. Become more aware of elongation, and more importantly, learn what to do when it happens.

Treatment may include stuttering modification techniques such as pull-outs and cancellations. Speech modification strategies may also be indicated, particularly easy starts or light contacts. Treatment may also include a large amount of education on stuttering.
Lessons delivered in unmarked brown package. Discreet and effective for all accents.

Macaroni Salad
Ingredients and full recipe 6.29 plus shipping
    •    4 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
    •    1 cup mayonnaise
Rest of ingredients with order.

Directions
Mix it up like you always do.
Optional add-ins: 1/2 cup cooked peas, OR 1/2 cup cubed Velveeta.

Ring Macaroni Salad
Ingredients, recipe and salad mold, only 3.99 while supplies last
1  can fruit cocktail
and more

Drain fruit and cook until thick: drained fruit juice, 2 tbsp. cornstarch 2 eggs, beaten 1/2 c. real lemon juice.
Mis it with rest of ingredients and put it in the mold to chill, like you always do.

Exclusive!! FREE RECIPE FOR FOURTH OF JULY!

Buns Recipe
Ingredients
    •    1 cup milk
    •    1/2 cup water
    •    1/4 cup butter
    •    4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    •    1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast
    •    2 tablespoons white sugar
    •    1 1/2 teaspoons salt
    •    1 egg

Directions
    Mis up, knead and shape like you always do. Let the buns rise in a warm place until double in size and bake up.

SPRAY ME IN

Spray 15.99

Lotion 7.99

NEW! Especially for Teens!!

In 1.5 oz mister spray

Matching all-over lotion. Never greasy, whisper soft.

Three new varieties!! 

Smells that come fresh from the field

Mix and Match for a personalized YOU

Smell of Corn

Smell of Sesame

Smell of Oil Rig

Still available, until our stock runs out!

Smell of Soybean

Smell of Sugar Beet

Smell of Sunflower

ROLLERS LIKE YOU CAN’T FIND ANYMORE

3.79

Pink or blue, with holder prongs in separate package

Available with or without central bristle brush

Mixed size assortment includes:

6 jumbo

12 large

16 medium

8 small

Forty two rollers!!

Tomato Pollen

This pollen is from a "Paul Robeson" tomato blossom. I have overwintered two tomato plants indoors, and I am about to make cuttings from them. These will be re-rooted and I may be lucky enough to have some super-early tasty tomatoes!

microscopic relatives

Imagine these bouncing around inside your nostrils. No wonder pollen makes people sneeze. This particular grain looks a lot like one of our dog's play toys.

These grains above are gathered around an air bubble that got stuck between the microscope slide and the cover slip. The flowers don't look at all like the pollen grains!

Good thing, too. If the flowers looked like the pollen grains, they would look like badminton racquets, which don't look like flowers at all.

Here is part of a bug's leg.That's it for now.