Webcam

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station Webcam

New Acquisitions

Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain

David Trottier, The Screenwriter's Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script

__________________________________

I've read the former but never owned a copy of it.

Anyway, we've been knocking around the idea of a screenplay for a while. Thought we might at least get some idea of how the process works.

Addendum: If anyone has any recommendations re: screenwriting software, I sure would appreciate the advice.

Strawberry Crepes

A simple crepe recipe:

Ingredients -

Strawberries (I normally get ~2-3 containers)
Cream cheese (~2-3 tubs)
Sugar
Powdered Sugar

Mix 1/2 of the strawberries (after cutting off the tops, etc.) with sugar to taste.

Mix cream cheese with powdered sugar to taste.

Mix in 1/2 strawberries with cream cheese mix.

Fill crepes with cream cheese/strawberry mix.

Cover filled and rolled crepes with strawberry and sugar mix.

Refigerate for 1/2 hour to an hour.

300

I'm probably going to see the film 300 tonight. The movie deals with the battle of Thermopylae (~480 BCE). The number three hundred refers to the three hundred Spartans (along with seven hundred Thespians) who held a vital pass during the war between the Greeks and the Persians. By holding the pass and causing the Persians significant losses the Spartans and Thespians secured the retreat of their Greek allies and thus their ability to regroup and fight another day. Significant Greek victories against the Persians followed this battle (indeed they pushed Persia out of Greece and thus ended the war), therefore sealing the importance of Thermopylae and the sacrifices of the men there.

Thermopylae also of course helped secure Europe (for the time being) from an Asian conquerer, and a number of scholars see this as an important factor in the continuing development of European culture.

Addendum: Upon reading a few more reviews I've decided not to see this film.

Air France

Beautiful Air France poster from 1935.

Feel...

Good, inc.

Boeuf

I'm making boeuf bourguignon for dinner tonight. A simple, classic piece of French cooking that I make every so often. Note that I do not make my version of this yummy dish with mushrooms or pearl onions.

Addendum: I made daube provençale* the other night. It was my first attempt. My one recommendation is to let it sit overnight.** This allows the lamb to soak up all those juices.

*This recipe is a bit different than the one I used, but they are similar. One of the main differences of course is that I used lamb instead of beef.

**In other words, the second bowl I ate of the stuff the next day was much, much better.

No Butter?

“We’ve gone back and replaced all of the nice, good butter with supposedly trans fat-free margarine,” said Rick Doyle, the Schwartz regional manager. “The hardest one for us was the croissant. We replaced butter with palm oil. From my perspective it’s not a croissant any more. It’s lost all its lamination and flavor.”

As my wife can tell you, I am a pretty passionate guy when it comes to croissants.

Cleon - Black Hat?

After the death of Pericles, Nicias, who subsequently fell in Sicily, appeared as leader of the aristocracy, and Cleon son of Cleaenetus of the people. The latter seems, more than any one else, to have been the cause of the corruption of the democracy by his wild undertakings; and he was the first to use unseemly shouting and coarse abuse on the Bema, and to harangue the people with his cloak girt up short about him, whereas all his predecessors had spoken decently and in order.

-- Aristotle, The Constitution of Athens (trans. Sir Frederic G. Kenyon)

It's A Big Ad!

Expensive Ad!

This has been knocking around the internet for a while I realize, but it is still an awesome commercial.

New Books

Jed Rubenfeld, Freedom and Time: A Theory Of Constitutional Self-Government

Max Pohlenz, Freedom In Greek Life And Thought: The History Of An Ideal