What's in my head?

The random ideas, questions, and thoughts that enter this feeble brain.

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Rocky Balboa Speech

Here's a monologue in the latest Rocky movie that I think more of us should pay attention to. This is not a very elegant speech, and a line coming from Rocky Balboa's mouth loses something when it hits the written medium, but it has a very clear message. For me, this is the high point of the movie.

Somewhere along the line you changed. You stopped being you. You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you're no good; and when things got hard you started looking for something to blame, like a big shadow. Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!

Now if you know what you're worth than go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers sayin' you ain't what you wanna be because of him or her or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that!

Until you start believing in yourself, you ain't gonna have a life.





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Saturday, December 16, 2006

Tiramisu

Tiramisu
Ingredients:
1 14oz package savoiardi ("ladyfinger") biscuits
4 eggs
3 cups strong coffee (espresso would be traditional)
14 oz mascarpone cheese
4 oz sugar
1 oz cocoa powder
Cognac or brandy (optional) to taste

Instructions:
Separate eggs.
Beat the egg yolks and sugar together into smooth creamy consistency. If you are concerned about uncooked egg products, do this step over a double boiler until mixture lightens in color and forms ribbons when you lift the whisk up. DON'T SCRAMBLE THE EGGS!
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peak stage.
Mix the mascarpone cheese with the egg/sugar mixture and then fold in the egg whites.
Mix the coffee and liquor. Dip the savoiardi in the this mixture one at a time, and place in a single layer in the bottom of a 9x13 pan or casserole. These cookies soak up a lot of coffee and get soft quickly. It will take some practice to get right. Spoon half the egg-cheese mixture over top, evenly.
Repeat with second layer.
Dust top with cocoa.
Chill until serving time. For best results, prepare 24 hours before serving.


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Sunday, October 01, 2006

Dev know-it-alls and AJAX

It happens every time. Someone mentions AJAX on some newsgroup of forum somewhere, and some know-it-all developer will come out and say "This is nothing new. I've been doing this for years. You are all stupid." Bleh.

While I do agree that AJAX isn't exactly new, Jesse James Garrett did a powerful thing when he coined that term: he put a handle on an abstract idea. Computer scientists need to do this type of thing all the time. The Gang of Four weren't inventing anything when they wrote about the Decorator pattern, but giving it a name made it easy for people to use and discuss it.

If you think about it, the term "AJAX Application" makes absolutely no sense. Really, what is an "Asynchronous JavaScript And XML Application"? Is it an application that helps you write tools that use Asynchronous JavaScript And XML? No! The term has matured beyond an acronym and is now used mostly to describe hybrid client web applications. ( I know I've heard people say "Google Maps is an AJAX web application". ) For better or worse, that is how the term is being used now. I believe that language evolves, and with that is makes sense that words can also evolve to mean different things.

Perhaps I should say "Google Maps is an Ajax web application."

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Saturday, January 07, 2006

mmmmmm pizza

So a couple of nights ago I head on over to Tutta Bella Pizza here in Seattle. Pizza is one of my favorite foods, and usually I am open to the different characteristics of pizzas from different places. For example Romios Pizza is heavily laden with toppings and an incredible amount of cheese, but it's very greasy and all that cheese makes the pizza very heavy on the stomach.

There is absolutely nothing I can pick on with Tutta Bella Pizza. I sampled both the Regina Margherita (Pomordoro San Marzano, fresh mozzarella, parmigiano, fresh basil) and Prosciutto e Rucola (Italian Ham and Arugula - Pomodoro San Marzano, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto di Parma, fresh arugula, extra virgin olive oil, shaved parmigiano reggiano ) both were absolutely dilicious Neopolitan pizzas.

The crust was thin and simple, and the sauce, which most places drown out with toppings, was the highlight of the night. From what I can taste ( and I am no expert ), it seemed to be nothing more than very recently ground fresh Roma tomatoes and a pinch of salt. This sauce was fresh and light, and went very well with the crust. The cheese was added sparingly in slices, which added to the overall effect. It was a fantastic pizza which I wholeheartedly reccommend.


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Friday, December 16, 2005

iClassic

Monday, December 12, 2005

More food!

I keep saying that when my wonderful fiancee arrives that I have many places to take her. Well the only problem with that is the fact that I have a terrible terrible memory.

So here are some more places for my list
Chinooks
Szmanias
Canlis
The People's Pub

Please leave comments with your favorite Seattle destinations!


Continue reading More food! ...

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

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