Shangri-La .... or so it would seem

Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda is a classic. Of course, other Zelda games have been released, but it all started with a cave, an old man, and a wooden sword. :) It possibly could be the best game of all time. I remember playing this game every day after school at my friend's house. We collected segments of the tri-force like madmen. Every little piece was another job well done. Every new piece of equipment like a red candle or a raft was a godsend. I have the theme song burned into my brain. (More Original Zelda Music)

I can't remember how long it took us, but many man-hours were put in. Well, I found out that Zelda can be conquered in 26 minutes and 56 seconds. How in the world this can be achieved, I have no idea.

Pop.....Pop.....Pop

My ears have been popping the last couple of days. It is driving me crazy. Every time I breath in, my ear pops. I've tried chewing gum and holding my nose shut and trying to blow air up my Eustachian tubes. I've also put one of those foam ear plugs in my right ear to try to keep it from popping. Nothing has worked so far. When I was younger, when I would get ear infections, my ear drum would rupture. Maybe I should go scuba diving or mountain climbing and make them POP.

SCUBA - Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. Scuba is such a common word, that it seems weird that it is really an acronym.

Speaking of ear popping and scuba diving; when I went to Space Academy (Space Camp for juniors and seniors in high school), I was on the engineering team and we went scuba diving to simulate the weightlessness of space. They didn't want want to let me dive since I had my ear drum rupture several times when I was younger. "Do you realize you have a scar on your eardrum?" Yeah, I realized all the pain caused by having my ear drum tear open if that is what you mean. I could see this doctor walk up to a war vetran and ask them if they realized their right leg was missing. I really wanted to go diving, so they tested the pressure of my ear with some weird device. My ear was as good as anyone else's, so I was good to go.

We dived in this huge tank of water that was in the middle of the space center. They had us on a metal platform and taught us how to use the scuba equipment. It is a weird sensation to first breath in while you are underwater. We descended slowly down a ladder and the instructor kept giving us thumbs up signs and we had to give him a thumbs up back indicating that we were ok. On the bottom of the pool, there was a mock up of a lunar lander and some giant construction toys. We had to build a tower out of these and pretty much jump around like we were on the moon, etc.

Visitors to the space museum would look through little portholes and watch us. It was fun to go to the side of the porthole and pop up unexpectedly and scare the people by suddenly appearing in front of them.

One of the guys lost his regulator and started swimming for the surface. This is a no-no, even in a tank like this. We were probably 40 feet down and he wasn't letting any air out of his lungs as he went up. Maybe the instructor might have over-reacted, but he grabbed the kid on the way up and hit him in the stomach to make him blow air out. The guy was really shaken up about it afterwards. I'm just glad my regulator didn't come out of my mouth while I was that deep. That is the one thing that made me nervous about doing it.

I've always wanted to go scuba diving again, but haven't yet. I don't have much desire to do it in the ocean, but if I go to the caribbean someday, I will probably try it again.

Salmon with Sesame and Orange-Ginger Relish

I promised I would add this recipe so here it is in all of its glory.

Salmon with Sesame and Orange-Ginger Relish

8 servings (Closer to 3 with me)

1/3 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 2 1/2-pound salmon filet (wild is supposedly better)

3 large navel oranges

1/2 cup matchstick-size red pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion (The onion I used was really strong so be careful with this.)
2 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 teaspoon oriental sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt (I used regular)
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

Vegetable Oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

Whisk first 3 ingredients in small bowl to blend; transfer to 13X9 glass baking dish. Place salmon, skin side up, in orange juice mixture; (I added more juice to really marinate it) cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours and probably best to marinate overnight); Bring to room temperature 30 minutes before cooking.

Using small sharp knife, cut peel and white pith from oranges. Working over bowl, cut between membranes to release segments into bowl.

Mix red pepper and next 7 ingredients into medium bowl to blend. Fold in reserved orange segments and any accumulated juices. (Can be prepared 1 hour ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Preheat oven to 450 F. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil; generously brush with vegetable oil. Place fish skin side down, on prepared baking sheet; Sprinkle with salt and pepper; Bake until fish is just opaque in center (about 20 minutes) Using large spatula, gently loosen salmon from foil. Put salmon onto platter and mound orange relish down the center of fish; sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

It was very good on rice pilaf and sugar snap peas on the side.

Recipe was features in April 2004 issue of Bon Appetit.

Another Family Visit

Vanessa, Teigue & Molly came by for a visit this week. They came in on Monday night and just left today. I always have a good time when I am around the kids. I become a human jungle gym for them to climb on. Molly's vocabulary is really improving. I was able to communicate with her about almost everything.

Molly and Teigue playing with my hats.

A big entertainment feature this week was that Teigue got to watch parts of Blue Planet that he had not seen before. He loves watching the series and will explain what kinds of animals that they show during it to you. He also seems to want every type of animal in the world to keep for his own. Unforunately for Molly, she thought we were going to watch Finding Nemo and was looking for Nemo during the first run of Blue Planet.

On Tuesday, I went with all of them over to Dale and Janet's farm near Gwynn Valley. Molly fell asleep on the way there and didn't wake up until we were about to leave. There we were met by Janet, Sarah, Amy and lots of kids. I didn't realize that it was a mother event so I felt out of place. I was even told that I "looked weird". Hazel pointed out this fact to her mother, Sarah. Janet was overcome by allergies, so the pony ride would have to wait until Wednesday.

Teigue checking out the chickens.

Teigue walking up the driveway. (Probably need to click on the picture to see a larger version.)

The two ponies, Hershey and Pumpkin.

Teigue drawing in the sand.

Molly checking out the chickens after she woke up.

Vanessa then took the kids over to Josh and Sarah's for dinner.

I didn't get to see them very much over the next couple of days. They did get to ride ponies on Wednesday. (I hope Vanessa took some pictures that I can show here.) Vanessa also took them up to see the sheep on Thursday. When I got back home, we all went to eat Chinese at the Twin Dragon. On the way in, I let Teigue play on the fake rocks they have around the fountains and pool. Mom pointed out that there was a "Don't climb on rocks sign". Teigue ate about as much as I did. He really seems to like the chicken skewered on sticks. Molly didn't eat that much, but she seemed to enjoy herself. They both got to throw some coins in the pool. Another boy was playing on the "rocks" and Teigue told him to get down that there was a sign not to play up there. Vanessa then took the kids to Franklin park for some event. When they came back in last night, Teigue and I watched Blue Planet one more time before I went to bed.

They left for home early this morning.

Network Security

I ran accross a couple of network security tools today.

Nessus is a free remote security scanner. It basically checks your network for any security holes. There is a Windows version (NEWT) available as well.

Knoppix STD is a customized operating system (linux) that boots off of a CD. It has lots of network management and security tools on it.

[For those who are interested in Linux, I recommend that they try out Knoppix. It doesn't write over any of your hard drive and boots from a CD.]

Bear Attack

I was telling my friends the other day that I used to have dreams about bears and panthers all the time. Well last night I had another bear dream....

I was at my Dad's house and we were walking around outside. I saw a brown bear and her cub in the pond. The pond was mostly empty so they were down in the mud. Beaver's dog, Bruce went over to investigate. My dad and I went over and made a lot of noise to scare them away. The two bears started walking away slowly and receeding into the forest behind the barn. Well, the cub decided to come back over and see what we were doing. We knew this was bad since the mother bear would probably attack us if it saw us near her cub. We tried to scare the cub away but it ignored us and went inside the backyard fence. The mother started to make her way back and went around the front of the house. Well, she was concerned and started tearing her way into the house. She knocked the breeze-way door off the hinges. I ran down to my Dad's truck to get a rifle. I found the rifle behind the seat, but I couldn't find any bullets. Then I made my way to the front door and was surprised to find it unlocked. My Mom and Sister were in the living room, so I told them what was happening. We all ran back to the breeze-way only to find that Dad had killed the bear with a bush-axe. When I turned to examine the bear, she lifted her head slightly, so I ran off to find bullets again....

My dad..... the bear killer.

Aerogel

This stuff looks fake, but Aerogel is the lightest solid known to man. It is 99.8% air and 1,000 times less dense than glass.

It is also a great insulator. (39 times better than the best fiberglass insulation)

Recently, it has been used to collect Comet Dust. Since Aeorgel is so porous, comet dust will bury itself inside the material. In doing so, it will leave a trail so scientists will be able to find the particles relatively easy.

The price to make the substance is coming down, so maybe one day you will have aerogel insulation in your attic. Or perhaps, firefighters will incorporate them into their suits.

Dr. Bronner's

What camping trip is complete without a bottle of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Pure-Castile Soap. The label is always fun to read and a valuable source of entertainment if you need one.

"Warning! Keep Out of Eyes! Wash Out with Water!
Don't Drink Soap! Dilute! Dilute! or Wet Skin Well! OK!"

"ALL Absolute cleanliness is Godliness! Who else but God gave man Love that can spark mere dust to life! Poetry, uniting All-One! All brave! All life! Who else but God! 'Listen Children Eternal Father Eternally One!'"

I bought some from Black Dome for Nostalgia's sake, but forgot about it and left it in my car.

Easter Camping

Sara-Ann and Caleb came up this weekend, and they brought a bunch of people with them. Leah, Beverly and Rick also joined them. Saturday morning I got a bunch of messages to pick up various things at the grocery store from my mom, but when I tried to call her the phone was busy. I went ahead and picked up the things I knew she wanted and called her from the store. She had left the modem on the computer accidentally.

When I got there, everyone was getting ready to go hiking. We went up to Devil's Courthouse and then stopped by Courthouse Falls on the way back.

A little later, TJ and Jenara came up. Jason and Lori Jacques also came and brought Clara and Mary with them. (their kids ;P) We all went over to feed the fish. Jason joked that he wanted to know when my Dad was going to town so he could come up and go fishing. On the way over to the pond, Clara yelled at us not to step in the (sheep) poop. Dad replied that it wouldn't hurt you, but she said that you "still wouldn't want to eat it."

We got a chance to play Mao (sp?) and TJ entertained us by constantly getting penalties. One of the most basic rules of the game is that you can't ask questions. He broke this rule over and over. Before we could really get into the game, dinner was ready. Dad had fixed us all Taco Salad.

After dinner, we went out and set up camp. It was too late to really go anywhere, so we camped in the back yard. I set up my tent for Sara-Ann and Leah, which was very spacious. Caleb brought his tent which was a lot smaller, but we managed to make it through the night. We had a nice campfire that we roasted marshmallows for smores and hotdogs. Poor Caleb had to put up with my "white noise" snoring that even Sara-Ann heard. Rick told us in the morning that he heard some weird sounds which were probably UFO's. =)

Mom made us a fantastic Easter Dinner. Honey Baked Spiral Sliced Ham, Corn, Asparagus, Rolls... It was great. Beverly also made us some Strawberry Pie which was a great dessert.

GMail and Sphere XP

A lot of people including myself thought that GMail was an April Fools joke. They are offering 1 gigabyte of storage to each user so you will never have to delete email again. Each email will be grouped with its replies displayed as a conversation. I imagine Yahoo will be coming up with a counter-measure soon. I just wish I could get a SB-Email account.

Another thing I found was Sphere XP. It is a 3-D desktop replacement tool that is certainly interesting. I don't think I will download this though. I have other things like this (not 3-D however) and find them interesting for about 5 minutes.

Happy First Birthday

My Blog is one year old today. I've made 132 entries over the past year and hope to write just as many in the coming year.

I think I will run out and buy myself a present like a chicken, bacon & swiss sandwich from Arby's.

My Little Pony.

Be sure to check out the official site of My Little Pony. Hopefully, I will have my collection finished soon. I only have the wishing well playset left.

EDIT: April Fool's Day. =P