Continue reading “The best pictures of June from National Geographic”
The best pictures of June from National Geographic
The Unites States of Pie – yum!
We hold this truth to be self-evident: America loves pie.
Food writer Adrienne Kane celebrates that right. She has gathered those regional pie recipes into a new cookbook, United States of Pie.
Some excerpts from the interview:
Bakewell Pie: “is adapted from the very common English dessert, Bakewell Tart. I found the Bakewell Pie recipe in an 1886 cookbook called The Unrivalled Cook-book and [Housekeeper’s] Guide. It’s a raspberry jam on the bottom, and then an almond meal sponge on top. It’s not too sweet, so
Chocolate Raisin Pie: “It’s sort of like a brownie in a pie, and it has that wonderful combination of chocolate and raisins — think Raisinets,” Kane says. “And it’s obviously from the West Coast, actually from Southern California. It comes from the fact that California is grape country and raisin country, and it’s sort of an adaptation of using what’s around you.”
Sack Pie: “That is an intriguing recipe. You bake the entire pie in a large paper bag, and so it steams the fruit and the fruit becomes very tender. And then at the last moment, you take it out of the bag and finish it off in the oven and just sort of brown the crust and the top … It sort of smells papery in your kitchen for the first half-hour or so, but I will tell you that it doesn’t taste papery at all.”
Source: NPR – A Pie For All Regions: Serving Up The American Slice
Jane Austen’s beautiful 200 year-old ring goes up for auction
A ring once owned by author Jane Austen will be auctioned by Sotheby’s later this month. Austen, the author of the much-loved novels “Pride and Prejudice,” “Sense and Sensibility” and “Emma,” never married or had children, but the ring has remained in the possession of her family since her death in 1817. Scholars had been unaware of its existence, and it is expected to sell at auction for $31,000 to $46,000.
The ring is made of gold with a cabachon blue stone of natural turquoise. It is, as Sotheby’s auction house notes, in a simple style Austen wrote of sympathetically in her work. In “Mansfield Park,” Fanny Price is given a gold chain by her cousin Edmund, who tells her, “I consulted the simplicity of your taste.”
The ring will be offered at Sotheby’s English Literature, History, Children’s Books and Illustrations auction on July 10.
Southern California ends rainy season in a drought – El Niño possibly coming
The 2011-12 rainy season — which ran from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012 — has come to an end with less than impressive numbers, according to figures compiled by the National Weather Service. None of the six key sights where the weather service records long term precipitation reported above average rainfall.
- San Diego – 8.03″ (avg. – 10.34″)
- Orange County – 6.32″ (avg. – 13.33″)
- Riverside – 5.53″ (avg. – 12.04″)
- Los Angeles – 8.69″ (avg. – 14.93″)
The season that starts today could be different. The U.S. Climate Prediction Center says that an El Nino appears to be developing in the eastern equatorial Pacific. If the periodic climate change system continues to strengthen, it could lead to above average rainfall this winter in Southern California.
Source – Gary Robbins, U-T San Diego
Continue reading “Southern California ends rainy season in a drought – El Niño possibly coming”
A map of the world’s undersea cables – as $5 billion-worth more comes online
…The rest of the world is continuing to demand more broadband, and the industry of undersea cables and long haul broadband providers has spent up to $5.5 billion to meet that demand with new cables coming online in 2012 and 2013, according to TeleGeography.
The analysis firm released its latest submarine cable map that shows all of the new pipelines as well as what carious countries use and prices along major routes. The trend is clear. The world is coming online and these cables are the lifeblood of that online awakening. From the report:
As demand for international bandwidth continues to increase—growing 45 percent in 2011 — operators around the world are upgrading their existing network infrastructure and making substantial investments in new cable construction.
Source – A visual guide to undersea cables and their $5.5B price tag
An Arctic Circle view of the world’s undersea cables:
Continue reading “A map of the world’s undersea cables – as $5 billion-worth more comes online”
Environmentalist, and wealthy cofounder of Burt’s Bees, fights to create America’s next National Park
Burt’s Bees cofounder Roxanne Quimby wants to hand the government a new national park in northern Maine—election-year politics and residents’ NIMBYism be damned. Brian Kevin investigates the boldest conservation plan in decades.
Technically, this Idaho-shaped chunk of land, which contains a 30-mile stretch of the International Appalachian Trail, is known as the East Branch Sanctuary. But around Millinocket it’s simply referred to as “Quimby’s land.” The self-made millionaire owns it, along with 119,000 acres of other timber-company lands that she started buying up back in 2000, when Burt’s Bees was raking in about $23 million a year. Her plan was to give the property to the National Park Service, thereby galvanizing other donations that would eventually establish a 3.2-million-acre wilderness in the last great undeveloped region east of the Rockies.
But the campaign stalled out of the gate. Public land is a tough sell in northern Maine, where residents are accustomed to hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, and cutting timber. Many didn’t cotton to the rhetoric of a wealthy environmentalist; others feared that the proposed park would spell the end of the region’s struggling paper mills.
But a dozen years and a few hundred Ban Roxanne bumper stickers later, Quimby is back with more practical ambitions. Last spring she announced plans for a dramatically reduced 74,000-acre Maine Woods National Park just east of Katahdin, carved entirely from her own property. And thanks to better diplomacy and a new emphasis on economic benefit, Quimby is beginning to win hearts and minds.
The uncut story – The Fight to Create America’s Newest National Park
Amazon Studios selects four TV projects for online streaming – further Netflix competition
Just a month after we brought you news that Amazon Studios was calling for original comedy and children’s series projects, the company announced today that it has selected its first four projects, choosing three comedies and one children’s show.
The company has switched its focus to four TV projects, they are:
- The 100 Deaths of Mort Grimley – Where a man kills himself, then is forced to become an avatar of Hell, with the duty to get a special list of 100 people to commit suicide in his stead, or else be damned to spend all of eternity next to his cruel, smothering mother.
- Magic Monkey Billionaire – When their magician owner dies after winning the lottery, Rabbit and Monkey are shocked to learn that he left his money to happy moron Monkey and donated evil genius Rabbit to a 2nd grade class. In each episode, Rabbit hatches a plan to steal Monkey’s billions.
- Doomsday – A mockumentary about the supposed end of the world.
- Buck Plaidsheep – A courageous critter from Fleecy farm, who’ll face any danger and solve any problem. Armed with a variety of vehicles, Whether it be a jet pack, rowboat, hang glider or even a jeep, He always has the best vehicle to get the job done.
More about Amazon Studios – Amazon Studios goes head-to-head with Netflix, selects first four original TV projects for production
Favorite Commercial: Chicago baseball vs. Chicago baseball – Round 1
The Windy City Showdown begins. Nick Offerman and Craig Robinson go head to head in this long-standing MLB rivalry between the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox. Which side are you on?
Join the conversation on Facebook: New Era Cap
See all three Chicago vs. Chicago commercials:
- Round 1 – making fun of Wrigley Field
- Round 2 – how far would you go for a World Series win
- Round 3 – can you sing the national anthem?
Favorite Commercial: Chicago baseball vs. Chicago baseball – Round 2
The Windy City Showdown continues as Craig Robinson quizzes Nick Offerman about the lengths he would be willing go to for a Cubs World Series win.
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Favorite Commercial: Chicago baseball vs. Chicago baseball – Round 3
The Windy City Showdown continues as Craig Robinson and Nick Offerman battle in the 7th inning stretch.
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