The Adventures of Pete

I realize it has been quite a while since I've posted here and I would like to apologize.  The break is largely due to a massive influx of new music (via external hard drive swapping with a buddy at work) and the purchase of a new ipod.  The combination has become a perfect storm of music.  Needless to say I need to create a more rigid posting schedule and stick to it.  Here is a tentative weekly posting schedule.*

Monday - This is generally a busy day for me so unless I miss a sunday link dump, you probably won't see any new posts.

Tuesday - 95% of the time I have tuesday off of work and the wife almost always works leaving me plenty of time to write a serious post.  Expect the latest article in the alphabet project to be posted on tuesdays.

Wednesday - Wednesdays will be devoted to posts on music.  Reviews, lists, mixtapes, and rants will be posted every wednesday without fail.  This is a new topic for this blog but one that I feel will receive a lot of attention.  Whenever possible I will include download links, myspace page links, and music videos.

Thursday - Might have time for a quick post about food or beer but I generally reserve my thursdays for video games with the guys.

Friday - No posts.*

Saturday - No Posts.*

Sunday - Sunday link dump.  This will be posted without fail.  No exceptions.

Monthly feature - A chapter from my upcoming novel.  This is a project that has been in the works since last June but has been put on the back-burner for a while now.  Hopefully by forcing myself to post a chapter once a month I will stop procrastinating and finish this silly little thing.

Cheers!

*subject to change

Beards are a phenomenal bit of human anatomy on the right person.  A big, burly guy with a beard is seen as a macho man.  He carries with him the lumberjack persona which, in Michigan, is a sign of masculinity and virility.  Now a big burly woman with a beard is quite the opposite.  No offense to big, burly, bearded women who read my blog but honestly, you should really consider your options - laser hair removal is quite affordable these days (link).

The history of the beard dates back as far as human history goes.  The ancient egyptians took great pride in their beards.  The royalty and high ranking members of society wore hair on their chins that was often dyed or braided with gold.  Even women of royalty wore false beards of gold tied to their heads with ribbon.  The tradition spanned almost 1500 years from 3000 BCE to 1580 BCE.  In Mesopotamia beard were oiled and dressed with tongs and curlers to create elaborate ringlets.  Throughout history, beards have been highly regarded as signs of dignity, wisdom, and virility.  Then, during the time of Alexander the Great, shaving started to come into fashion.  Old Alex feared that the beard would serve as a handle to grab and hold the solider while he was killed.  While he made a valid argument, he forgot how awesome and scary a soldier looks with a beard.  Men of the Germanic tribes were not allowed to shave or cut their hair until they had slain their first enemy.

From the renaissance to the present day beards have gone in and out of fashion.  18th century Russians with beards were taxed in an attempt to bring Russia in line with Western Europe.  In America, the beard was largely unpopular until the Civil War.  For some reason war and manliness brings out the beard-lover in all of us.  During that time many war heros and generals sported significant beards.  It is interesting to note that up until the time of Abraham Lincoln, no president wore a beard.  After Abe, every president except Jackson and McKinley wore facial hair in some form or another.  Ambrose Burnsides, a soldier in the Union army, was made famous for his unusual facial hair.  He joined strips of hair from in front of his ears to his mustache, while leaving his chin clean shaven.  His unusual sense of style became so fashionable that the term "Burnsides" was coined for the look.  The syllables were later reversed giving us "sideburns."

Beards have long been an important part of many major religions.  Prominent greek gods such as Zeus and Posiden are always portrayed wearing a beard.  Almost all middle eastern religions consider the beard to be an integral part of a man's body and that it should be preserved, maintained, and respected.  In Islam, there are many scholars who believe the beard is mandatory, though shaving for ritualistic purposes is equally respected.  Orthodox Jews prohibit the use of single blade razors to cut their beards as the single blade against the skin "mars" the beard.  Only scissors are permitted as they have two blades and therefore do not come in contact with the skin.  Hasidic jews, however, do not remove or even trim their beards.  In Christianity Jesus is always portrayed wearing a beard.  Beards in Catholicism are worn to show vocation and in Eastern Orthodox Christianity all members of the clergy wear a beard and at various times it was required that all members wear a beard.

With such a long and rich history, there have been countless styles of beard worn throughout the world.  Every year there are beard and mustache competitions that showcase the finest examples of facial hair growth throughout the world.  Here are just a few examples of some truly awe inspiring beards:

The freestyle competition (the second and forth from the left are excellent examples of this style) are by far the strangest beard styles but the rest are true masterpieces of facial hair growth.

My reason for writing this article, aside from giving you a bit of useless knowledge, is my way of mourning the loss of my beard.  Barely two hours ago I ended the life of my glorious beard.  We had a great winter together and that beard always kept my face toasty warm.  My beard got lots of compliments and decreased the number of times I was carded buying beer (which is both good and bad because they are supposed to card me if I look younger than 35... did my beard really make me look close to 40?).  But the cold season has ended and spring is just moment away.  It is always sad to see the remains of a 5 month project laying there, lifeless, at the bottom of the sink.  My new razor cut each hair down like trees in a rainforest.  It all went so quickly I didn't even have to time to savor the humorous parts of the process (seeing myself with a goatee, fu-manchu, mustache, and hitlerstache).  So goodbye old friend.  You will be missed.  Not by Sarah, but you will be missed.

For more information on beards please visit http://www.beards.org/

Cheers!

I've just now decided to base the next 26 articles i write (excluding link, video, and image posts) on letters of the alphabet.  The first article will be on a topic starting with the letter "A" and the last, "Z."  As cool as it would be to actually write about each individual letter, I think it might get a little boring after "B."  So without further delay, I give you Part A of my Alphabet Series.

The alphabet has a fascinating history which bears a short discussion.  The alphabet we use today is known as the Latin Alphabet as is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world.  It is a direct descendent of the Greek alphabet developed by the Romans to write latin.  In its infancy, the Latin alphabet consisted of 21 letters - ABCDEFZHIKLMNOPQRSTVX.  The letter C was used for both a G and K sound.  Later, the Z was dropped and replaced with a new letter, G.  After the roman conquest of Greece the letters Y and Z were added to the alphabet.  During the middle ages the letter W was introduced to aid in the pronunciation of germanic words.  It was also during the middle ages that I and U were distinguished as vowels while J and V were consonants.  Prior to this the letters were interchangeable.  Writing style changed frequently during the middle ages until the invention of the printing press.  It was then that the written latin alphabet began to become standardized.

As the latin alphabet spread additions were made to adapt to new languages.  I consider this to be just one more reason the Romans held such an immense empire for so long.  Their ability to seamlessly integrate themselves into every culture they conquered was genius.  In England, the latin alphabet was expanded to include several runes - wynn, thorn, and the irish letter eth.  Eventully wynn became w and thorn and eth were replaced with "th" thus eliminating the need for two extra letters in the alphabet.  Yogh was another letter added at one point but it too was eliminated in favor of "gh."  AE (æ) and OE (œ) are ligatures that were derived from Anglo saxon runes as well but were never truly replaced in the alphabet.  They are occasionally used when writing latin words or in dictionaries for pronunciations but by and large these ligatures are ancient history.

Creating an alphabet to represent a language was no easy task and I applaud the efforts of the Romans for creating such a masterpiece in only 26 letters.  In contrast, the alphabet in Cambodia has 74 letters and there are roughly 6,000 - 7,000 characters in written Chinese (40,000 if you count obscure characters).  This number is deceiving because chinese characters are not individual letters that make up words but words themselves or even complete thoughts.  Regardless, I do not think I would be able to create a series of unique symbols that correspond to individual sounds.  Well done Romans, well done.

My favorite letter has to be "S."  It is my favorite letter to write because you can write it so many ways.  We've all made the cool old english S with the six vertical lines connected by diagonal lines and the letter itself reminds me of so many wonderful things.  Summer, snowboarding, Sarah, smiling, sunshine, soul, etc.  Anyone else have a favorite letter?

Cheers!

In lieu of the normal sunday link dump (on monday morning) I've posted five videos that I found throughout the week.  Please pay attention to the notes above the videos as some of them may not be appropriate to watch at work or in a public setting.

Flight Attendant Rap

LED Sheep (courtesy of @luketheslowone)

Did you know?  This will blow your mind hole

Here's a blast from the past.  I still have the CD.

Cheers!

The history of the potato chip is like many other American snack foods.  An angry chef in Saratoga, NY was fed up with a picky customer complaining that his potatoes were too soggy.  Determined to fix the problem the chef, George Crum, sliced a potato so thin there would be no way it could be soggy.  He fried them in boiling hot oil until they were completely crisp and then salted the heck out of them.  In 1853 it was unheard of for a diner to use his hands to eat so Crum thought he was really sticking it to this unruly customer.  Instead, the customer LOVED this "crunchy potato slice" and it soon became a Saratoga standby.  Thus the potato chip was born.  Mass production began in the early 1900s but it wasn't until the invention of the sealed bag that potato chips became a mainstream american staple.  Interestingly, it wasn't until the 1950s that potato chips were sold with salt on them.  Prior to then they were sold with seasoning packets so the customer could add the salt when they opened the bag.  It took a little company in Ireland, Tayto, to develop the technology to add seasoning during production.

The popularity of the potato chip sparked the production of other fried, salted snacks such as corn chips (Fritos, SunChips), tortilla chips (Doritos, Tostitos), baked chips (Baked Lays), and pringles (which are made from a ground potato dough that is extruded into chip form and deep fried).  By now you've realized that I like chips.  I've eaten a lot of chips throughout the years and I've had some good ones and some bad ones.  So here it is, my top five favorite chips (in no particular order).

1.  Jimmy Johns Regular or Salt and Vinegar Chips - Those of you that have eaten at Jimmy Johns know that their chips are some of the best.  This is a thick, extra crunchy chip with plenty of salt.  The regular chips are awesome but go out on a limb and try the salt and vinegar.  It is a perfect balance of salt and sour that goes great with a Billy Club or a Turkey Tom.

2.  Cooler Ranch Doritos - Doritos brand tortilla chips have recently branched out into a wide variety of flavors but like always, the original is still the best.  I've eaten an entire bag of these delicious triangles in one sitting on several occasions.  They are even better with an ice cold can of PBR.

3.  Krunchers Mesquite BBQ - Krunchers brand potato chips were always a fancy treat growing up.  They came in a smaller bag than regular lays and cost a lot more.  But every once in a while we'd splurge and get these amazing crisps.  The BBQ flavor is superb.  I've never had a better barbecued chip.

4.  El Matador Tortilla Chips - This is a chip company based in Grand Rapids, MI so you know it must be good.  This is a super thick, super crunchy corn tortilla chip covered in what I've always assumed is popcorn salt.  The extra thickness of the chip makes it perfect for salsa or any other hearty dip.  I recommend a spinach artichoke dip for these chips.

5.  Cheddar Cheese Pringles - There is something about that tube of chips that brings out the kid in all of us.  I know the first thing I do when I pop that top is make a duck bill with the chips.  The cheddar cheese flavor is my personal favorite.  I love a good artificial cheese flavor and Pringles makes one of the best.

Hope I've wetted your appetite for a crispy snack.  Leave your favorite chips in the comments section.  Cheers!

My apologies internet, for not posting everyday like I had originally promised.  I realized this week that when I am busy, posting gets put on the back burner.  I've also decided that posting everyday is slightly overwhelming and a tad unnecessary considering I rarely have anything insightful to say.  So for now on you can expect at least a couple posts a week depending on my level of busyosity.  Without further ado, I give you your sunday link dump.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/15/windpower-motoring - Three cheers for electric sports cars!  This is a unique twist on the electric car idea that I've thought about for years.  It makes perfect sense to put wind turbines on a car to help power it.  I really hope the auto industry giants don't destroy this brilliant group of engineers.

http://www.funntube.com/?p=392 - Holes are awesome.  These are some of the best holes in the world.

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/perfectly-sculpted-melons/8903 - Some tantalizing melons to drool over.  You could just gobble them right up.

http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Twenty-for-Twenty-Vegetarian-Edition/Detail.aspx - This is probably my favorite website right now.  So many great recipes and so many tips on how to make great meals for cheap.  This particular article gives you a twenty item shopping list that you can make a wide variety of meals with.  I opted out an entirely vegetarian menu and added chicken and beef to the list.  I may have a slight crush on eastern cuisine at the moment.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-20-second-timeout22-2009mar22,0,3537870.story - Ever wonder why, in tennis, the score 40-40 is called deuce?  Here's the reason.

Cheers!

Last night I attempted my first curry.  Originally it was supposed to be a vegetarian curry but I'm no celery sucker so I caved and added some chicken.  The result was darn tasty so here's the recipe:

1 T. Curry Powder

1 t. Ginger Powder

3 cloves minced garlic

1 T vegetable oil

1 lb Chicken

1 bag frozen stir fry veg (broccoli, carrots, onion, water chestnuts, mushrooms, etc.)

1 large can petite diced tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a heavy skillet or wok.  Add minced garlic and curry powder and saute 20 seconds.  Add tomatoes and ginger powder and bring to boil.  Add chicken in bite size pieces or thin strips (uncooked).  When chicken is cooked on the outside add frozen vegetables.  Cook for 20 minutes stirring frequently.  Serve over rice.

Next time I would add potatoes or chick peas (garbanzo beans) for a sauce soaker.  I would also add more ginger and some cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, green chilies, or just some hot sauce to bring some extra heat to the curry.  What I made had almost no spice at all which would work well if you are cooking for a crowd that likes different levels of spice.

Up next in the world of indian food - dal.  For those not familiar with dal, it is a curried lentil stew that can include veggies and is served over rice or with flat bread.  Another great addition to a vegetarian menu.  I've never cooked with lentils but apparently they are packed full of protein (26% which ranks #3 on plants with high protein.  Soybeans and hemp top the list).  This should be another fun experiment.  I'll have to wait a while for the curry smell to dissipate though, the wife is not keen on curry and the whole house reeks of it.

If you try out my chicken curry recipe leave a comment and let me know how it turned out and if you did anything different.  Cheers!

Took a couple days off from posting.  It was a really long week at work which pretty much drained me of all creativity.  But here it is, another sunday link dump.

http://www.liftopia.com/ - I suppose it is a little late in the season for this, but next year it will be used and abused.  You can buy lift tickets in advance based on the number of expected skiers on any given weekend.  Simple supply and demand formula allowing you to get some seriously sick deals on lift tickets at a lot of great hills and mountains.

http://foodoro.com/ - Online farmers market (sort of).  Obviously the site doesn't have that wonderful community aspect that a real farmers market has, and you can't buy fresh produce.  But otherwise you can order some really amazing food from the site.

http://www.najle.com/idaft/ - turn your keyboard into a daft punk song creator.

http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2009/03/13/photo-manipulations-by-erik-johansson/ - photo manipulation at its finest.  these are some incredible works of art.

I guess that's all for today.  Tune in later tonight for the exciting conclusion to last week's post "Food Obssession" in which our hero describes the curry he made and how awesome it was.

Cheers!

I've had a twitter account for almost a year now but I've only recently started using it to it's fullest potential.  This is largely due to the fact that there has been so much mainstream media attention.  I did this more out of curiosity than blind trend following and was pleasantly rewarded.  I was intrigued last year when the "blog-o-sphere" started going bananas for this little website.  First it was touted as the facebook killer, then it was laughed at for constantly going down due to server overloads.  The famous twitter fail whale was all I read about on tech blogs.  Since then its seems the company has gotten their act together and have employed one of the best marketing tactics I've ever seen - getting famous people to use the service and talk about it constantly.

The service was founded in 2006 and has since become it's own company.  In 2007 it began to gain popularity amongst the hardcore web geeks.  Then came campaigning time in the US.  Politicians quickly discovered the usefulness of the service because the could connect instantly to their constituency.  With the integration of the Twitter API (application programming interface - basically a set of data that allows programmers to utilize the service in their own applications) on blackberrys and iPhones as well as desktop clients Twitter became mobile.  This allowed users to update their followers from anywhere at any time.  This was a huge breakthrough in campaigning because these candidates could be brutally honest with the voters and let them know exactly what they were doing, thinking, or about to do.  A quick tweet before they hop on a plane lets everyone know that the rally in Anywhere, USA went great and now their off to Randomville for the next rally.

Twitter helped a number of politicians, including President Obama, gain a foothold on the young voter demographic.  Seeing the success that many of these politicians had, more jumped on the band wagon and soon the media started reporting about members of congress tweeting during sessions of congress (and you wonder why nothing gets done in washington...).  Since November the twitter movement has steadily increased.  More and more people started to get curious about this strange little service.  What could be so captivating about people writing, in 140 character or less, about inane subjects such as what they are eating for dinner, or how great their morning run was?  Goes to show you that we're all voyeurs in some respect (reality television shows are the most popular programs on air at the moment).

Celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher, Britney Spears,  Shaq, Lance Armstrong, Jimmy Fallon, MC Hammer, Tony Hawk, and many others have also begun using the service which certainly appeals to our need to know everything about celebrities' lives.  Every 24 hour news channel has run at least one story on the service and just the other night on the local news they did a report on the twitter craze that is sweeping the nation (http://www.wxmi.com/pages/tech_trends - check out the video called "twitter surgery").  Crazy right?

Then last night twitter went on a tour de force making it's presence felt on both the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.  Ellen Degeneres spent a good portion of her interview talking about Twitter and trying to explain what it was to Jay.  She just kept going on and on about this crazy website and how cool it was.  Jimmy Fallon actually made Twitter one of the main segments of his show.  He had the hosts of Diggnation (an internet tv show) and Russell Brand (british comedian) all take part in a Twitter experiment on the air.  They all broke out their fancy MacBook Pros and tweeted on camera.  I would love to see the site traffic reports for the hour after that aired.  I guarantee twitter added at least 10,000 new users.

The recent updates to Facebook are a direct response to the growing popularity of twitter.  By implementing live updating in the news feed, changing the status bar from a third person statement to a question, "What's on your mind?," and making status updates the primary focus of the homepage, facebook is basically saying, "Twitter is getting too close for comfort.  We need to take what they are doing and make it a part of our service so we don't lose members."

I've really enjoyed my head first dive into Twitter and I encourage all of you to give this new service a try.  I know some of you have already jumped on board and are following me.  Thanks!  Check it out - http://twitter.com/pbuzzell - and if it is something that appeals to you feel free to follow me.  I can't say that I find myself terribly interesting, but occasionally I can produce an entertaining musing.  If you think it is just another stupid internet time waster let me know in the comments.  I'm still on the fence about the service myself, but it sure is fun reading about what Lance Armstrong and Rainn Wilson (aka Dwight Schrutte) are doing at any particular moment in time.  Just the other day Lance tweeted about how he and his son were working on a pinewood derby car for the scouts.  He even included a picture of the work in progress.>

Cheers!