Tag: general geekery

So you can see for yourself

Here’s a screenshot of my Weatherbug from a few moments ago.

Forget about "winter is coming". It has arrived.
Forget about “winter is coming”. It has arrived.

So that is showing a temperature of minus 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit with a windchill of minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit.  I think this may actually be one of the coldest, if not the coldest, temperature I have ever experienced.  And I don’t think it’s stopped yet.

Sorry to keep going on and on, but weather (and weather history) fascinates me so I am just geeking out about all of this.   I am wondering if temperature records may be broken tonight or tomorrow.

-Geoff

What we’re reading now- holiday edition

We’re back from our hiatus.  We’ve had our battle with Mass Health and we came out victorious.  So, it’s time to catch all of you up on what we’ve been reading and doing other than preparing to fight for our right to health care.

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Pork pie – for vegetarians

I promised I would post a picture if I managed to make anything that came out reasonably tasty, and so here you go.  This is the Pork Pie recipe from A Feast of Ice and Fire, but made with a “Ground Sausage” from one of those companies that make meat substitutes.  It came out delicious, despite my inability to do the top crust correctly (hopefully do better next time).

If Samwell could fly, he'd be back at Castle Black having a slice of this.
If Samwell could fly, he’d be back at Castle Black having a slice of this.

Anyway, I think I might try something else this week.

Happy Thankgiving everyone!  And happy Hannukah too!

-Geoff

 

The Joy of Medieval Cooking

Thanksgiving is next week, and for those of us who love to cook, this is one of the absolute best times of year.  And ever since I decided to explore medieval cuisine, I have been wanting to try new dishes, and so I have been collecting books on the subject (and not just Chelsea and Sariann’s awesome Game of Thrones cookbook).  Thank goodness for ABE Books, or else I would never have been able to find many of these, or afford them once I did find them.

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History coming to the big screen next year

Nathaniel Philbrick is one of my favorite historians.  I especially love his superb maritime history books.  And it turns out that one of his books is being made into a movie.  Heart of the Sea is based on his book In the Heart of the Sea, in which Philbrick recounts the story of the Essex, a whaleship that was rammed and sunk by a sperm whale in 1820, far out in the Pacific Ocean.  Its crew was stranded in small boats for several months until they were rescued and in the meantime they had been forced to commit cannibalism.  The disaster served as inspiration for Herman Melville, who used it and his own experience on a whaler to help him create the novel Moby Dick.

The film, directed by Ron Howard, is set to be released sometime in 2014.   And there are at least three actors from Game of Thrones that are also in this film: Joseph Mawle (Benjen Stark); Donald Sumpter (Maester Luwin); and Jamie Sives (Jory Cassel).  Good Northmen all, and all dead, sadly.*  So that frees them up to be in this film.  I am looking forward to it.

-Geoff

*Technically, Benjen Stark is missing, but let’s just say that it isn’t looking good for him to be alive at this point.

A quick note on history and food in ASOIAF

As I mentioned before, I have been doing a lot of experimenting with medieval recipes in recent years.  And this includes trying many of the delicious-sounding foods from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.  Thanks to the diligent work of Chelsea and Sariann, we ASOIAF fans have a fantastic resource to explore our foodie sides.  Everything I have made from their website and their book has been delicious, so seriously, try making some of their recipes.

Recently, I noticed something about George’s books that I had not noticed before: an utter lack of potatoes, Irish or sweet.  Now, at first glance this would seem to make sense, because they are both “New World” foods that would have been unknown to medieval Europe, which is the historical basis of much of Martin’s writing.  Potatoes would not be introduced to Europe until the 16th century, when the Spanish brought them over.  So no potatoes in Westeros, right?  Makes sense, right?

Yes, it would… except that there are plenty of examples of other New World foods that are present in Westeros.   So why include them but not potatoes?

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More things you should be reading right now

Geoff and I have been dealing with a pile of bureaucratic red tape so high that 1) we’re tired and 2) I know now how to spell bureaucratic without looking it up or using spell check.  So, in lieu of real content I present you with More things you should be reading right now.  All links are, as always, SFW.

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Go buy something

We may or may not have mentioned that recently Niki treated us to a day at the Renaissance Faire. This was our birthday gift and also something we planned WAY in advance seeing as how Geoff and I have insane schedules and the Faire falls after the beginning of the school year and Niki is a middle school teacher.

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Teri is getting this out of her system now

Teri is one of the most photogenic people I’ve ever met. She’s also incredibly good at mugging for the camera and she’ll pose with just about anything.  Seriously.
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Prospecting in New Hampshire

Geoff and I have wanted to go panning for gold or gem hunting for a long time.  I have had the bug for a particularly long time since I’ve been reading about gems and minerals since I was a wee geek.  As yesterday we both had a rare Saturday off at the same time, Geoff planned a day in NH where we could go gold prospecting.  Yep, there’s gold in those granite hills.

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