Weekend At Kermie's: The Muppets' Strange Life After Death | The Awl

They got it wrong with Kermit. What made him great wasn’t his design or his funny glottal affectations. It was his sense of humor. Humor is intangible, and it can’t be copyrighted, licensed or sold. As a society, we have come to use copyright like plastic—to prevent spoilage and feed our illusions of immortality, but there is no act of congress that will stay death’s hand. When someone is dead, you don’t get them back—not in this world. They may pass into myth, but walk, talk and sing, no.
via theawl.com

Kermittyfrog. Just let him go. :(

The Crystal Goblet or Printing Should be Invisible - Beatrice Warde, 1932

Imagine that you have before you a flagon of wine. You may choose your own favorite vintage for this imaginary demonstration, so that it be a deep shimmering crimson in color. You have two goblets before you. One is of solid gold, wrought in the most exquisite patterns. The other is of crystal-clear glass, thin as a bubble, and as transparent. Pour and drink; and according to your choice of goblet. I shall know whether or not you are a connoisseur of wine. For if you have no feelings about wine one way or the other, you will want the sensation of drinking the stuff out of a vessel that may have cost thousands of pounds; but if you are a member of that vanishing tribe, the amateurs of fine vintages, you will choose the crystal, because everything about it is calculated to reveal rather than to hide the beautiful thing which it was meant to contain.
via designhistory.org

Somehow, it brings to mind these this article as well.

Bacon-fat-fried kou rou bao, five-spice chicken skins, cajun fries, and (unfried) masala coffee granita

This Weekend's Test Subjects
(The usual pancackles were there on account of their being a safe, tasty staple.) Cajun fries leftover from dinner at Popeye's, and kou rou bao - a traditional steamed, savoury stewed pork bun. And um. Chicken skins. Yup. Chicken skins. That I stole from my cats, whom I feed raw. Rubbed up with 5 spice seasoning and left to sit in the fridge overnight.

The Results

Kou Rou Bao Fried in Bacon Fat
Oooh glorious. Super light and crispy outside, fluffy and airy inside, and right in the middle - savoury stewed pork oozing fatty goodness. OoOooO. If you've ever had pan-fried or deep-fried mantou, this is exactly what they would be like if you stuck meat in them, then fried them in bacon fat. ;)

Cajun Fries Re-fried in Bacon Fat
Hrm... Well they were nice, but I can't say they were hugely improved one way or the other. Not going to do these again.

Five-Spice Chicken Skins Fried in Bacon Fat
TBH the five-spice seasoning kinda overpowered the baconnyness of it. Nuggetboy supplies that they were very much like pork rinds, which makes sense, considering they're... welll - chicken rinds? Not bad, but horribly, horribly dangerous to cook. O.o The oil was spitting and jumping and bouncing everywhere. I think next time I'll just marinade the chicken itself in the five spices for a less dangerous and equally satisfying bit of chicken.

Masala Coffee Granita
Having seen the Error of My Fork Whacking Ways, I made up this batch by whacking it regularly as it froze, resulting in a much airier, finer texture. (Not that you can see it here. -_-) It's definitely less coarsely icy and granular than the lemon attempt, and I'm really quite pleased with it. Not to mention, a cup of coffee turns into a lot more granita than coffee! The combination of freezing and whacking seems to intensify the flavours. All in all - very pleased with this. In fact... dangerously so, because now I'm plotting a whole series of granitas! And I've gone so far as to buy more kitchen implements (eeeee!) because one of the instructions I turned up mentioned using a whisk in the initial stages for an even finer, creamier texture...

Forsaken World & World of Warcraft - It isn't always about the price.

One of the things I've noticed about the F2P model is that some peeps seem to think that F2P (P2W) games are inherently inferior to subscription games - and that the only reason why people could possibly be playing F2P games is because they haven't got the cash for a subscription.

<.< Let's ignore that F2P games can cost a lot more if you aren't careful.

I'm not playing Forsaken World because it's F2P.  I do use the cash shop - but I make sure that I don't spend more than a subscription would cost (in fact, I spend less right now, but that's just me).

The thing is, even if FW and WoW were both subs, or both F2P, I'd play FW over WoW in a heartbeat.

I am, however, a jaded ex-raider, who won't even pick up an MMO if it has 'endgame PvE raiding' as a feature. I'm also self-reliant to the point of neuroticism in MMOs. XD

So for me, FW is better than WoW. Not just 'better because it's free'.

Outright better.

Oh yah, for those who want 'support' for my statements about WoW... I played it for 3 years, starting in Vanilla. Stopped for 2 years just before WotLK came out. Had 10 70s at that point. Some very geared - since I mention raiding, that's a given. Went back for one month when Cata came out, levelled a holy priest from 1 - 85 on a fresh account. Cancelled after that one month. So I'd say I have a fair amount of knowledge when it comes to WoW. ;)

A Low Impact Woodland Home

via simondale.net

You are looking at pictures of a house I built for our family in Wales. It was built by myself and my father in law with help from passers by and visiting friends. 4 months after starting we were moved in and cosy. I estimate 1000-1500 man hours and £3000 put in to this point. Not really so much in house buying terms (roughly £60/sq m excluding labour).

Main tools used: chainsaw, hammer and 1 inch chisel, little else really. Oh and by the way I am not a builder or carpenter, my experience is only having a go at one similar house 2yrs before and a bit of mucking around inbetween. This kind of building is accessible to anyone. My main relevant skills were being able bodied, having self belief and perseverence and a mate or two to give a lift now and again.

This is sooooo absolutely gorgeous. And amazing. O.o Eeee!

Oh well then, I guess I know why my sorbet - isn't. XD

Another option for those without an ice cream machine is to turn this sorbet into an icy granita. To make a granita, transfer the chilled mixture to a large, shallow pan and place in the freezer, rather than processing in the ice cream machine. When you see ice crystals beginning to form around the edges of the pan, stir the granita using a fork, scraping it off the bottom and sides of the pan to ensure an even consistency when freezing; continue to stir and scrape, breaking up the ice crystals, every thirty minutes until it is completely frozen, about 3 hours. Stirring is a crucial step in making granita, as the goal with granita is to create coarse granular crystals of ice to achieve the perfect grainy texture.
via gildedfork.com

Moar info here too! I think I'll change the name when I make this again. I WILL MAKE IT AGAIN DAMMIT.

That, and next time (and this time too haha!) I'll call it 'granita'...