- Posted: 4 hours ago
- Tags:burningman
Well, it doesn't get much closer than this. I leave for the playa in 36 quick hours. Things have come a long way in the past couple weeks. My camp's numbers have swelled quite a bit, which brings new energy and new people. Everyone in the camp is super positive and super energized, the buzz is completely overwhelming, and awesome. We have nearly finished every project that we as a camp set out to do, complete from a spinning bar (18' in diameter!), to first class dj's and a sound system, and several major pieces of art!
I believe I have just about everything packed, from the lizard tail, to the solar lights, and we are foaming at the mouth. So this will probably be my last post here on this side, but I will definitely see you on the other side! Sometime after the 3rd of september.
Cacaaaaaw!
If you make it to the playa this year, make sure and swing by 9:30 and Esplanade to say hello!
- Posted: 2 weeks ago
- Tags:burningman, esplanade
Well, Burning Man just released camp placements this week, and believe it or not, my camp has landed on the ESPLANADE!.
So, this ultimately means that Bat Country will be on what is essentially Main St. Burning Man. On the esplanade we will have the opportunity to expose our art and our camp to many many more people, and in exchange we will have a healthy dose of non-stop action for the entire time of the event.
Needless to say, I am pretty excited. This will be my third year straight attending the burn, and it is unreal to me how it just gets more exciting each year. Each year so far has presented new challenges, adventures, and memories, but this year by far has surpassed the previous two in terms of challenges. Adventures and Memories pending.
I believe Bat Country consists of some of the finest people in the world, and in turn will make this one for the books. From a spinning carousel bar, to Hunter S Tuesday, coming to a playa, near you!
- Posted: 1 month ago
- Tags:government
*Sigh* I love America, I have never been more patriotic than recent months, but some things occasionally make me cringe. Lately, I have been thinking about how often our government just gets totally ripped off. A great example that I came across today is that we are apparently building 'comfort capsules' for our 4-star generals to ride in when they are flying. This is basically just a really cushy environment including leather and plasma tv screen's, because well, you know, our generals need that stuff. It looks like some people that are not asleep in congress tried to stop this frivolous spending of money, but apparently they just went ahead with the project anyways.
"In all, for the past three years the service has asked to divert $16.2 million to the effort from what the military calls the GWOT, or global war on terrorism."
Now its one thing that we are making the mistake of buying this frivolous stuff in the first place, which I think is a terrible use of my hard earned tax money, but its a totally separate issue that it even costs this much to begin with. The article I read quotes: "Changing the seat color and pockets alone was estimated in a March 12 internal document to cost at least $68,240." What!! You have got to be kidding, right? I wish. I imagine there is a whole plethora of people and business in our great country that could re-upholster 4 chairs for less than $70k! Call me crazy, sure, but I would definitely be willing to take the challenge. It seems like when most people think of selling something to the government it gets blown way out of proportion and the government just ends up paying whatever the said price is. I, for one, would really appreciate it if at a minimum they could at least haggle it down a bit. It makes me sad enough knowing that my contribution to the country this month, has gone to pay for plush environments to support military personnel, but several public school districts have gone to a 4-day education week, because we can't seem to scrape up enough money to pay for the school bus gas money.
I wonder what would happen, if people were allowed to check a checkbox each month, for where their tax money should be spent. Something tells me a lot more of it might be spent on useful things like education, and a lot less might be spent on war. If the IRS implemented that, I would give them major kudos, however, I wonder how much it would cost them to implement.
Read Article at: The Washington Post
- Posted: 1 month ago
- Tags:applevalley, desert
It is a bit hot today, but thanks to the swamp cooler CDBP helped me fix, my house inside is a nice chill 65. Outside says:
110F!
Even though it is a bit on the warm side, it is more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.
I just posted some more pictures from around my house here.
- Posted: 2 months ago
- Tags:recipe, salmon
Both for reasons of keeping notes, and to share with others, here is a recipe for my favorite seafood dish, salmon.
So to start you need a good size of salmon, hopefully silver or king, but pink is ok too. This recipe works well with 1-2 lbs of fish, but you can adjust as needed.
- 1/2 can of beer
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil
- few shakes of garam masala
- 2-3 cloves of garlic or garlic powder
- 4-5 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 2-3 handfuls of brown sugar
- few pinches of basil/spinach/oregano
- If you like spicy, some sriracha or other hot sauce
The above is very 'loose'. IE - You don't have to have exactly these ingredients, and/or you can play with them and substitute as needed to get the desired taste your after. I hardly ever make exactly the same marinade two times, but it always has the soy sauce, olive oil, beer, and citrus.
Take the fish and put it in a nice heavy duty zip lock back with all the above ingredients. Try to get out as much of the air as you can, zip it up tight, and lay horizontal in your fridge for at _least_ 30 minutes. If you leave it for longer than 12 hours it can get a little over-powering, so I recommend like 2-6 hours for best results.
After you have marinated the salmon, its time to cook. I only cook salmon in 2 different ways. The first way is the easiest, and basically the most juicy. I take the salmon and put it in a large skillet, hopefully one big enough to lay all the fish skin-side down and not overlap any. Put a lid on it, and cook it on LOW heat until you start to see white residue (fat) coming out of the fish, now it is ready to eat.
If grilling on a bbq, you need to either put it on the top shelf, and coat the shelf with olive oil first, or construct a makeshift foil layer for the salmon to sit on while cooking. Ultimately you just want to avoid having to pull the salmon off in pieces if it sticks to the grill. You basically cook it almost the same amount of time, until you see the white fat start to come out of the fish. On the bbq if you use something like mesquite chips you can get a really nice flavor. Usually the bbq is slightly less juicy, but sometimes more flavorful. Low heat is key.
Good Luck!
