Journal Entries
Headache
Posted May 3, 2005
Working on new article. Short notes alone amount to 12 pages, 7,000+ words. Am in despair. 
Need analgesic.
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Latest reply: May 3, 2005
Too many cooks...
Posted Apr 26, 2005
Emboldened by our previous (successful) soup experiment, Ham and I decided last weekend to determine how much cooking (ie. damage) we could get done with a hot plate and a metal bowl. The following is a report of the experiment:
Part 1: Food
We decided on two of the most basic foods available at the supermarket, eggs and tinned luncheon meat, reasoning that there was very little that could go wrong with either ingredient. (And the prospect of eating fried egg and luncheon meat sandwiches was fairly appealing). The eggs were of the low-cholesterol variety, and came in a tray of six. After some discussion, we thought it would be a good idea to get a spatula as well, as we probably wouldn't do a very good job turning the eggs with metal spoons.
Part 2: Preparations
We began our culinary adventure at half-past six. Ham was set to work opening up the can of luncheon meat and slicing it up into thin slices... which was about when it became evident that whatever skills Ham had in manipulating knives, they certainly weren't in the kitchen department. Okay, I'm being nice. Instead of nice thin slices, what we wound up with were jagged strips of gruesomely murdered pig. Change of plan. We were going to eat luncheon meat cubes instead of slices.
Part 3: Cooking up a storm
It became clear, after the meat had been diced and thrown into the pot (in which a pat of butter was happily bubbling away), that we weren't going to be eating meat in any recognisable shape at all. Minced meat it was, I acquiesced, looking at the mess. I stirred it. And stirred it. And stirred it some more. Then Ham took over. And it was still the same bloody shade of pale pink as when it came out of the can. And neither of us knew exactly what colour luncheon meat turns to when it is cooked, if the method is not frying in a skillet full of hot oil. (We should have done our research beforehand...)
After about fifteen minutes of chasing minced pork around the pot, we decided that most of the microorganisms in it had to be dead and roasted, and so focused our attention on: The Eggs. Initially it was decided that we would have two fried eggs apiece, but in light of recent events, we thought it would be best to make omelette with the meat we had in the pot. And the heck with it - we'd throw in all the eggs. SO, with Ham manning the meat, I cracked six eggs into a plastic container and whisked it for a bit, and then dumped the lot into the bowl.
What we instantly got was - bits of meat bobbing aimlessly in egg soup. We stared at each other in horror, and said in hushed voices, 'Oh crap, are we gonna have to *drink* that?'
Happily, biochemistry prevailed, and the protein in the egg eventually coagulated, enabling us to stir the glop into something that vaguely resembled food. By the time we took it off the hot plate, we were fairly certain that there was nothing left alive in it - the meat was unevenly browned, and the egg had turned a strange shade of off-white.
Happily, the dish tasted better than it looked, and neither of us came down with food-related disorders. Maybe we'll be more daring next time and try something a little more technical - like fish...
Hey Tom, weren't we supposed to start our own cooking show? 
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Latest reply: Apr 26, 2005
Facing the Music
Posted Apr 20, 2005
I desperately miss my brass quintet. It's been ages since we last got together to seriously play anything, really - Jeff went to Hanover on vacation in March, and then took 'maternity leave' from our group because his wife was expecting (and delivered a baby girl on the 10th of this month! 
). I wish we were organised enough to function without the leader, but even if we were, music just isn't music when you remove a part from it. Anyway, (music) life is expected to return to normalcy this week, so yay... And I'll get to test out my new Denis Wick 4BL mouthpiece in a quintet setting. 
Life without music is... just no life at all.
On a sadder note, one of our university band friends passed away on Saturday evening, after having spent the past six months or so in a coma following a horrific car accident. Alex, you will be missed. And your bass trombone stands unclaimed in our practice room. 
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Latest reply: Apr 20, 2005
Rant for the day
Posted Mar 18, 2005
Farlander's rant for the day:
There are times when I think that it would be nice to have an EDIT POST option in conversation threads here at Hootoo. Now, I'm a member of several other forums outside, and being a perfectionist, I find it highly useful for there to be an option to make corrections or additions. Not having such an option here at Hootoo sometimes just drives me utterly bonkers, especially when I make a typo in the post and don't catch it until after I hit the 'Post' button... and I can't do a darned thing about the mistake! And when I double/triple post by accident, I can't remove it either. (At HF you'd be lynched if you didn't clean up your own mess). So... why is it that this edit/delete option isn't available here? Wouldn't it help save space since, if you could just *add* to your last post, you wouldn't have to make additional ones? 
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Latest reply: Mar 18, 2005
Need help for addiction!
Posted Mar 17, 2005
Good grief. In a senseless birthday shopping spree last weekend I made the grievous mistake of purchasing Myst, Max Payne *AND* Max Payne II: The Fall of Max Payne. It was less than two weeks before that I bought The Sims 2 University Pack; I still have three chapters to go in Mafia; Hitman: Contracts is languishing on my shelf, and Bloodmoney is just around the corner. And they're all calling out to me! That, coupled with my recent surge of marathon writing, means that my bed and I are no longer best friends. Is there perhaps a Gamer-aholics Anonymous someplace that'll take me in?
Note to self: Must. Get. Lucifer: Exodus.
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Latest reply: Mar 17, 2005
Farlander
Researcher U206300
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