Michael Jackson Is Dead!

No, not that Michael. The one that didn't drink Pepsi and didn't sing.

The man in question was the great Beer Hunter, who died yesterday morning 30th of August. Sad day for all beer lovers around the world.

This Yorkshireman was 65 years old when he passed away. (27.3.1942 - 30.8.2007) In December 2006 we learned he was suffering from Parkinson's disease. Apparently already for a decade or so.

We shared two great passions. A passion for great beer and for great whiskey. He created the modern classification system for top yeast and bottom yeast beers.

Thanks to him I have discovered so many nice beers. One of my current favourites is surprisingly a fruit beer, although I am not normally willing to mix non-beer elements with beer. (I support Germany's beer law from 1516. Octoberfest in 2016, I'm going!) Lovely Lindeman's Framboos is a very nice beer that actually has beer taste and real rasberries in it. Not too fruity so it doesn't taste like rasberry soda, and the beer is not too strong to hide the fruits. Excellent balance. Michael was actually a fan of this Finnish beer-like drink called Sahti.

On his pages, section World View he starts:

The Kalevala, the national epic of Finland, describes the creation of the world in 200 verses, but needs 400 in which to explain the origins of beer. This is no small subject, which is why I've devoted much of my life learning about beer, the brewers who make it, the breweries where they work and a variety of beer cultures. I've got stories to tell you about all of these subjects and more.

I think I need to go to a Belgian pub tonight to drink a beer on his honour.

His pages: The Beer Hunter

Why Didn't Scientists Ask My 5th Grade Teacher?

I just read an article about water spiders and their method of surviving under water. The incredibly smart scientists at the University of Bern, Switzerland have determined in a fresh new study that a water spider spins its silk to produce an air bell when it lives under water. This was taught to me in 5th grade by my biology teacher.

This tip is for those same scientists, so they don't need to spend so much time studying this: There's some water spiders that have some sort of hairs on their bottom that traps the air and they can dive! (Also taught in 5th grade...)

Also, I would recommend that those scientists read those same 5th grade biology books we have in Finland to gain some base knowledge before these ground breaking studies.

...Just trying to help here.

This also raises some questions. Where and how the scientists thought the water spider builds its nest before they found out about the silky nest underwater?

Proper Pet Peeves Morning

Normally I don't have pet peeves. Normally I have major malfunctions. Normally I have so many twists in me knickers, if I'd attach a propeller to 'em and let go, I'd fly away. So small things don't bother me. But this morning I had just so many small things annoying me.

This morning was different and I blame my new cell phone. My phone broke down. The green button, up arrow, and numbers 4, 5 and 6 didn't work. Most of the letters were under those buttons so can't even type SMSes. I bought a new phone yesterday, which was difficult enough. I don't want a camera in my phone. I don't want R Kelly singing as my ringtone. I want a phone that is small, can make a call, can receive a call, can receive a text message, can send a message and has an alarm clock. That's it. So I got this new fancy gizmo thingie and set up my alarm.

This morning I woke up when overly cheerful British woman was chirping "It's time to wake up. It's 7 o'clock." I jumped out of my bed. WTF?! Who's in my room? ...oh, my new alarm clock. I don't want to hear any human voices in the morning before I have my coffee. Especially too cheerful.

I had some friends over from Finland, which meant I had to be in a pub yesterday. (They left this morning.) I got just in case 2 litres of juice for me. One to be drank during the night (when waking up in cold sweat) to make the hang over easier in the morning and one litre so I can drink a bit in the morning when I wake up completely. I drank the other juice during the night as planned. In the morning I went downstairs to the kitchen and noticed the other litre was gone. I guess my housemate had it in his room. We share our food so it's normal one juice can be somewhere else, if there's more. He just didn't know I had planned my juice drinking this time.

So I planned to drink tap water instead. The glass that I have next to the sink I normally use to drink had a butter knife in it. And no clean glasses. (I know, should wash the dishes more often.)

I went to the shower and noticed my towel was still wet. And it took ages to get warm water.

Then to the toilet. Of course the toilet seat was wet. (Could've been water from the shower, since they are in the same bathroom/toilet room.) But it annoyed anyways.

I put some clothes on and went outside. Had time to go to the corner store to buy a Red Bull since I didn't have my juice. In the store I noticed I had no money with me and they only accept cash...

Since it's been slightly chillier than last week, I put a long-sleeve t-shirt on me. It was little bit chilly earlier for a t-shirt, but too hot for a hoodie. Today, of course, it was too chilly to have only long-sleeve on. I would've needed the hoodie too. Of course.

Couple days ago I didn't have a lighter on me, so I stopped to the closest tobacconist to buy one. I took a lighter from the counter and gave the guy €2 coin. I was waiting for my change and the clerk only asked if I needed something else. I said I need my change. He said the lighter was 2 euro. For one lighter. You get 5 lighters for that. He had already punched it in so I didn't feel like the hustle of asking the money back and I did need a lighter. So I just took it. Anyways, I was lighting my morning ciggy, and guess what. Yep. The lighter was finished. I bought an almost empty lighter for €2! Luckily I found another lighter from my pocket. The one I thought I didn't have when I bought the expensive lighter. Figures.

I listened to music and of course my iPod ran out of batteries.

My shoes have rope-soles, so they suck a lot of moisture when the ground is wet. After dodging all the dogshite on the way to work I managed to get in and into the elevator and *splat* - step on some spilled coffee.

Finally, I got to work and, well, then all the trouble really started...

More Space Travel Agencies - Galactic Suite

There's yet another Space Travel Agency, called Galactic Suite.

They offer 3 days in an orbital Galactic Suite Space Resort! In one day it goes 15 times around the Earth, so every day you'll see 15 sunrises! One time around the world takes 80 minutes, and the top speed is 28 000 km/h! Way cool! It takes 18 weeks to train to this.

Jules Verne would probably be amazed of the new "Around The World In 80 Minutes".

The price? €3.000.000,00...

The site:
http://www.galacticsuite.com/

I Got Walked Over

Start humming Nancy Sinatra's These Boots Were Made For Walking at this point...

I got walked over. Irma Geddon is visiting here. Since last Saturday my back has been so painful I needed to hold my coffee mug with two hands. She knows that Japanese-kinda-style foot massaging thingie, and she walked over my spine. Darn, I heard more snaps, crackles and pops than from a bowl of Rice Crispies. But I can walk normally now!

Amazing!

Anyways, check her site. Nice music.

She is the singer in Rattle Machine, which is in Mikseri,too, and has also been singing in Maywell.

Finding South With Only The Time And The Sun

I just found this article how to find South with your wristwatch and the sun. Couple of other tips for that.

The original method:

Hold a watch with 12 o'clock at left. Move your arm so the hour hand points at the sun. The spot halfway between the hour hand and the 12 is south.

Tip #1: So, what if you don't have a watch? I use this method quite often when I don't know where I am, but since I don't wear a wristwatch and my cell phone has a digital clock, I "imagine" the watch on my hand. It's a bit more time consuming, but it works.

Although I prefer to find the North, but it's only a matter of taste.

Tip #2: What if it's cloudy? It is quite difficult to pinpoint the sun through the clouds sometimes. Take a pen, a knife, anything pointy and place the tip on your thumbnail. You should see a faint shadow on the opposite side where the sun is.

Doesn't work during the night, but for this there's the Northern Star...

Tip #3: If you know where's North and South and you see the sun, it is quite easy to reverse engineer the time if you don't have any time keeping device with you.

Elementary, dear Watchon, I know, but I hope it helps someone.

Aphorism Of The Day Pt.10

Again, to keep the theme of today's ranting:

Some girls play "hard to get". I play "hard to want".

10 Sure Ways To Gain Love [PICS]

Fooled ya, didn't I? No, no 10 sure ways to gain love, no 11 best ways to improve your bed-performance, no 10 absolute ways to make you rich here. Not even any funny pictures to visualize it.

Instead, a rant from a guy who is wondering: What's wrong with a little bit of honesty? (How do you spell hypocric... hypocraz... hipocrys...)

I was reading Violent Acres, one of my favourite blogs in the net. Although it has been quite dull lately, it has its moments. She was writing about 7 Surefire ways to gain the interest of any woman. While this is sarcastically written, it still made me think: This kind of "education" is so common nowadays. 10 best ways to balance your checkbook. 10 sure ways to advance in career. 10 ways to improve your self-esteem...

As if 10 short sentences will somehow magically change your life.

No own initiative required.

Here is my very unpopular opinion about "The best ways to gain interest of a woman".

1. Be honest.
2. Be yourself.

That's it. I hate players and I hate the fact some people have these "don't call the one you like for couple of days after the first date" bs.

And don't call me player-hater either. Just don't talk about me in the same sentence as those people who have developed an art form of "playing".

If I see an interesting looking person I might complement the person for that. Not to gain access to panties. What I don't like is people who use hours in front of a mirror to twist every and each hair separately to create a "look". F that. That's not you. I don't like people who use make-up. That's not you either. If you have a beautiful face, why hide it behind a mask? If you don't have a beautiful face (in your opinion) then by using make-up you create false advertisement. In this case, do not expect honesty from anyone else either. For me a model can be ugly and a person someone else might find not-so-attractive can be beautiful. It's how you wear yourself. If you like yourself, you are beautiful. It shows.

Perfumes... Yuch... While they were commonly used in the middle ages to hide the smell when people didn't have as good cleaning facilities we have now, I think we have advanced beyond that. Instead of Chanel #5, take a shower.

Needless to say, I am single at the moment. And most likely will remain that way. In this advertisement ridden world it's difficult to find a natural, self-confident people. People are scared to consume more and more things they don't need by creating a threat they are not going to be liked unless they use this product to color their whathaveyou and to hide this and that and to push this thing up. Buy this cream, or your face looks ugly and no-one loves you. I do not wish to date a product. I want to meet a person.

If I say I like your hair, it's because I like your hair. If I do not like your [insert anything here] I most likely won't say that unless I know you. (I still keep some of my mother's teachings, like "if you can't say anything good, don't say anything at all.") If I know you, and you look like sh*te some morning, either stay away from me or prepare to hear a comment about it. I try to give an honest opinion if and when it is applicable. If something insignificant is wrong, like your precious hair happens to have one curl that's not fitting in, I do not care. But if you have bags under your eyes that look like they can hold a litre of water, I will most likely mention that and ask what happened to you yesterday.

The reason why I can walk to anyone I like and talk and compliment and maybe even ask out for a date straight on upon the first time I see you it's because I don't want to play any games. And I do not worry if I get rejected. The biggest tip I can give to anyone is: You are not unique. You are not a snowflake. Don't believe anyone else would be either.

The "dream girl" who rejects you when you are just being you doesn't deserve you. If the "dream girl" who dates you when you play those games you can find on n+1 magazines and internet pages, then you don't deserve her.

Actually there's not that many girls that are "out of my league". Those girls are most often out of my reality. You stay in your plastic world where you can make believe that "pink makes boys wink". But please, do not come to talk to me with those unrealistically painted lips.

Most importantly, show a persona. I don't care if you agree with me, as a matter of fact most of my best friends do not share my view of life. We have many arguments over politics, ethics and such. If I want someone to like whatever I like and agree with everything I say, I'll get a dog. If you disagree with me, say it. And say it loud. I won't bite. And if I talk to you and I disagree with you, prepare for a debate. If this scares you, bummer.

Unfortunately my interests won't include the fashion color of this season, so I can't disagree with that one, but instead we may drift towards a discussion about fashion itself. And lemming-syndrome... For me fashion=uniform. Uniform=no individuality. No individuality=Soul bypass.

Ach...

Enough ranting.

Chili-Con-Carne(ish) food-like-substance

Incredients:

1.5 - 2 tablespoons of honey
10 cloves (or so) of garlic (trust me, they'll vanish)
2-3 onions
2 red paprika's, or 1 red and 1 green, or the red, green & yellow bag - doesn't matter if there's 3...
250g of 100% rundvlees (minced beef)
6 pack of Palm beer (or 2)
800g beans (like 60 cents or so in AH)
A whole bunch of chili!
Butter
Cream (or creamcheese or sour cream or whatever)
Flour
Herbs and sh*t. Like parsley and basil and such. Maybe some soya thing if you like... I don't know, you are cooking, not me.
Minimum of 6 tomatoes
Peppermix of some sort or ground pepper... black's fine if you have no mix.
Sh*tload of Paprika powder (pikant or whatever)
That big mix of peas and carrots in a glass jar (like 600-800g also) - maybe 70 cents.
That blue box of champignons á 70 cents
Whole bottle of red wine (cheapest 2-3 euro bottle. 2 if you want.)

Buy the veggies from a market, rather than from a shop - it's cheaper. In this case you can leave the peas and carrots away and just buy few whole carrots - like 5 of them? and cut them into pieces.

Instruments:

5l pot
A Frying pan
A Spatula
Big friggin' knife
Blender
Piece of wood to cut things on top

NOTE: Do NOT add water to anything else, except the base of the sauce! Only wine, or beer if you run out of wine.

Groundwork:

Open a beer, take a sip.
Take your clock and hide it.
Take your measurement tools and hide them.

Measurements:

Tablespoon = tablespoon(ish) - make a small cup with your hand or something
A pinch = tiny bit
A glass = roughly 1-3 dl's of something - measured by eye

Peel the tomatos:

Cut the skin of the tomato in four. From the stem part down, until you reach the top again and then 90 decree angle from it.Put the tomatos in boiling water for few seconds - until the skin starts to peel a bit.Take a sip of the beer.Take the tomatoes off the water and peel them. Watch out, might be hot... you know... boiling water and all...Cut in tiny pieces and add into the pot.

(Optional) Peel the mushrooms:

The slippery, slimy skins on top of the champignons are easy to take off. It helps if you cut the stem off and add them to the pot.Now, keep the mushroom under a mildly running nicely warm water with the stem side up, and gently rub from top to bottom, rotating the mushroom in your hand. The water will help to peel the skin off little by little. If you don't like to peel them, don't - see if I care. Then just wipe them clean or wash them and continue: Cut the mushrooms in big chunks. Remember to take a sip of beer after every 3-4 mushrooms you peel. Add the mushrooms to the pot.

The sauce:

Open the wine and add like... a glass of it into the pot.Turn on the heat. As in, small heat - start slowly heating up the pot and the contents.

Cut the paprika in huge chunks and add to the pot.Take a sip of the beer.Open the bean can, pour out the water (we no want water here, only beer or wine), add to the pot.Same thing with the peas and carrots jar. Away with the water and to the pot!If you bought carrots from the market instead of the jar, cut them in pieces and add to the pot. D'uh...Mix the pot a bit.Put 5-6 cloves of garlic and the chilis in a blender and make a fine mix. Remember to take a sip from the beer.Add the mix into the pot as well.Add the rest of the garlic cloves in whole to the pot. (Of course peeled...) This is our clock.Take a sip of the beer.Cut the onions in chunks and add to ... guess where... yes! to the pot!Cutting onions makes one cry easily. Treat yourself with a big gulp of beer.Add some herbs, pepper and paprika powder in.

Put some heat on the frying pan and add some oil. (Yes, you can use the butter if you don't have oil. I know I didn't mention it in the incredients...) Fry the meat a bit on quite high heat. Hopefully there's still some red parts left when the liquid from the meat comes off. When the liquid comes off the meat, pour it away and continue frying, but add the honey and some pepper and paprika powder into it. When it's been frying there a bit, add some wine - not too much, but so it little bit boils there. Boil the wine off. Add a bit more and boil it off. A whole glass should be enough, but boil it as long as it becomes just meat again. (Dries up.) Take a sip of the beer. By the way, try a bit of this meat by itself. Nice innit? Fry it a bit too much, tiny bit too burnt. It adds taste to the sauce. Add the lot in to the pot.

Now just add some more wine into the sauce. Take a sip of the beer. Wait until it boils. (Should be boiling already slowly.)

Put the frying pan back to the fire and add butter. Like, a lot. And for the love of Pete, do NOT wash the pan in between. We want all of the taste of the meat. Add flour and make a paste out of the butter and flour. When the flour becames more brown (cooks) add some water. You can use the water we used to peel the tomatoes, if you have an extra pot where you peeled them. Boiling water preferrably so it boils immediately on the pan. Not too much water, we want a thick sauce from this. Stir until roughly all the lumps are gone and add to the pot. If it didn't become thick enough, take a sip of the beer and make another round of this - just put butter, flour and some water on the pan...

If you want to be lazy, you can use like those Chili Con Carne mixes or couple sauce mix bags instead. Then you don't need to add any water, just mix the Chili Con Carne mix in a glass with the wine and add that mix into the pot while stirring.

Add rest of the wine.

Take a sip of the beer, light a ciggie if you smoke and stir the sauce every few minutes. (Watch for the ashes. Keep the ciggie outside. It's chili con carne, not chili con ashes.) After like an hour or so add some cream or cream fresh or sour cream or cream cheese... After couple hours more the tomatoes have vanished completely and the garlic cloves have turned translucent. The sauce's ready. Serve with boiled potatoes or boiled rice or ... the heck do I know what you like...

If the sauce gets too thick during the cooking add some wine or beer into it and keep on boiling. Slow boiling all the way. Adding more liquid and boiling it down only makes it better. And when you heat it up tomorrow and add a bit of beer and boil it longer it's even more better.

China and US dollars

I read today from the newspapers China maybe liquidating all the US dollars they hold. That's 1.33 Trillion dollars. At the moment USA is borrowing dollars from China in order to buy products from China. If China does what they hint, this would inflate dollar so badly I think the whole American economy would collapse.

900 Billion dollars in US treasury bonds... That's a lot of bonds.

This would affect us in EU as well. Maybe Euro would stand a chance, but we are so heavily merged our economy to US that the inflation would be bad for our economy too.

I hope to hear more about this in the next weeks. Like the whole UK vs Russia diplomatic "scandal" seems to be drying out. I guess UK was just ruffing its feathers or something. No follow-through. Haven't seen anything on the news about the incident.

World leaders, here's a free tip: Use as delecate diplomatic skills as you have when you are dealing with countries that have different point of view from what you have and have enormous mass behind them - like China, Russia and Japan. Just try not to shoot yourselves in the foot.

I don't want my bread to cost €10 000,00...

An Advertisement Idea

I was watching Dispatches: What Makes Britain Rich, and I had an idea for advertisement. This ad could work in the Netherlands, at least. In the part where they were talking about football I saw a sports brand logo on the chairs. There were blue chairs and some white in between and those white chairs spelled out the name of the brand. There's a double trance party in Amsterdam, one party is white and the other is black. Dress codes for those parties are white and black, respectively.

When the football stadium is full and the cameras are on, the paid logo cannot be seen on the stadium chairs. What if parts of the seats would have a dress code too? If the colors of the home team would be red and white, they could have red and white dress codes and arrange the seats for those colors. The advertisements would be from those companies that use those colors anyways. The ticket you buy would have the dress code printed on it and the stadium could advertise through paying customers.

Just an idea, maybe it's never going to be tested, but if it is I can always turn back and say "I told you so".