Sitting around playing the English-Lithuanian version of Lexico this weekend with Egle and Ed. It's a good game, lot's of funny words and expressiuons come up, which prompted Ed to say "Pirštas be nago, du cibuliai kabo: kas aš esu?" ("Finger, no nail, two onions hanging: what am I?")
First some funny guesses avoiding the obvious answer: I said it was an elephant's trunk, and Egle said it was banana with onions attached, I think. Then I came up with my own joke: "Keturi pirštai be nago, du cibuliai kabo: kas aš esu?"("Four fingers, no nail, two onions hanging: what am I?")
Ed guessed, Calamari Starfish! but that wasn't the answer. No more guesses? Anybody else want to guess? Scroll down for the answer.
.
..
...
....
.....
......
.......
........
.........
..........
Keturi pirštai be nago, du cibuliai kabo: kas aš esu? Dr. Zoidberg!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Phony Backgammon
I'm tired of my stupid phony backgammon! On the way to work I read for 35 minutes on the bus, but on the way home I'm too tired, so usually I play backgammon on my phone. It's a total crock though. Whatever the most dramatic thing that could ever happen is happens 92% of the time, which is 8.5 times more than is statistically probably. Whenever I think, "oh, if i got double fours now I could cinch this thing," I get double fours. Whenever I think "I'll totally win this as long as he doesn't get a 2 and a 5," that's exactly what he gets. Over and over again, I count on it! I'm afraid it's training me to play too conservatively. What a pain in the ass.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Oh, now I get it!
I went out the the trolley stop after my Legal English class today. I thought, "I just missed my trolley, how could I forget that I only have five minutes? Oh well, I've got 17 minutes till the next one, I'll see if I can find a kibinas."
That's because I only had a banana and orange for lunch, but I was pretty hungry. I just wanted to be moving around really, also, because it's so cold. I crossed one street and then I saw a promising place, and then another street to get to it: Greek Kebabs. There was a sign in the window for kebabs in a pita for five lits, which is only double what I expected to pay for a kibinas. Good deal!
As they made me my kebab I still had eight minutes left to make the three minute walk to the bus stop. However, shockingly, I saw my trolley roll right by. I thought, "Can this possibly be an eight minute long red light?!" Alas no, either the last trolly was ten minutes late, or the next one was seven minutes early. Shit!
I walked back to the bus stop with my kebab, and saw that the next trolley was in 17 more minutes. At least I could eat in peace (it's probably illegal to eat kebabs on the trolley). Soon after I finished my kebab, which was a pretty good one, incidentally, the trolley came...ten minutes early! "Wow," I thought, "maybe somethings blocking traffic between here and the beginning of the route or something."
When I got to work I checked the trolley schedule online to see if it had changed or something. Furthermore, according to my google calendar, the times I expected the trolley match neither the schedule posted at the stop nor what I have noted in my planner. Then I realized: I was looking at 12 o'clock times instead of 1 o'clock times. Oops.
That's because I only had a banana and orange for lunch, but I was pretty hungry. I just wanted to be moving around really, also, because it's so cold. I crossed one street and then I saw a promising place, and then another street to get to it: Greek Kebabs. There was a sign in the window for kebabs in a pita for five lits, which is only double what I expected to pay for a kibinas. Good deal!
As they made me my kebab I still had eight minutes left to make the three minute walk to the bus stop. However, shockingly, I saw my trolley roll right by. I thought, "Can this possibly be an eight minute long red light?!" Alas no, either the last trolly was ten minutes late, or the next one was seven minutes early. Shit!
I walked back to the bus stop with my kebab, and saw that the next trolley was in 17 more minutes. At least I could eat in peace (it's probably illegal to eat kebabs on the trolley). Soon after I finished my kebab, which was a pretty good one, incidentally, the trolley came...ten minutes early! "Wow," I thought, "maybe somethings blocking traffic between here and the beginning of the route or something."
When I got to work I checked the trolley schedule online to see if it had changed or something. Furthermore, according to my google calendar, the times I expected the trolley match neither the schedule posted at the stop nor what I have noted in my planner. Then I realized: I was looking at 12 o'clock times instead of 1 o'clock times. Oops.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Article of the Day
The Off-Center President--Obama says he'd settle for a single term—and seems to mean it, by Peggy Noonan
This was a pretty good one, the most interesting article I read today anyway. I like her articles more often than not.
This was a pretty good one, the most interesting article I read today anyway. I like her articles more often than not.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Article of the Day
Sarah Palin's Cheat Sheet Palms the Show? I guess there's no such thing as bad publicity. But here's what I don't get: in movies, people have been using invisible receivers in their ears for decades: Old School, to name just one. Doesn't that technology really exist? Why doesn't anyone use it?
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Article of the Day
The Electorate vs. Obama's Agenda, by Charles Krauthammer, is pretty accurate as I understand things.
Friday, February 05, 2010
Article of the Day
How Climate-Change Fanatics Corrupted Science, by Michael Barone, gives a good answer to the question how, as in, "in what ways?" I'd like more, though, on the question of how, as in, "how is it fuckin possible?!"
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Article of the Day
Try Googling It, Mr. President, by John Stossel, is a nice little piece that proves beyond a doubt what a turd Obama is.
Diet Guidlines according to Bloodtype
Blood type I
Eat lots of:
spinach
tomatoes
brussel sprouts
poultry
rabbit
grains
peanut butter soup
mustard
lemons
raw currants
spicy
Don't eat:
pork
mayonnaise
sour cream
avocados
coffee
beer
Eat lots of:
spinach
tomatoes
brussel sprouts
poultry
rabbit
grains
peanut butter soup
mustard
lemons
raw currants
spicy
Don't eat:
pork
mayonnaise
sour cream
avocados
coffee
beer
Monday, January 25, 2010
Rabbit Meat
For my birthday this year my aunt Silvija taught me how to slaughter and skin a rabbit. It's not difficult, but it's also not that easy: there's a sort of mental hump you have to get over. It's a bizarre stream of consciousness: she takes out a largish bunny and has to calm him down, saying things to him, "there there, shhh, everything's okay, just relax buddy"; then she says to me, "now grab one of those sticks and whack him here or here," pointing between his ears or right behind them. I decided between the ears made for a better angle. Should I whack it as hard as I can? "Yup," she said. I had to go through the motion of bringing the stick down on it's head several times before I actually did it. I wasn't sure I could even do it; she'd offered to just let me watch this time, if I wanted, but I thought, I can do this. And I did: I brought the stick down right between the ears with a mighty whack that crushed his skull immediately. His extremities shot out and he shook for a moment, but no sound betrayed the slaughter, which was very good: my aunt told me if you don't get the job done at once they start squealing, and then all the other rabbits in the other room start squealing, and that's a sound the neighbors can hear. We then hung him up by a back foot off a roof beam and left.
You can leave rabbits hung up in the cold for days, but if you do they'll be frozen when you skin them, which will freeze your hands, so told me Silvija. So just a couple hours later we went back to finish the job. "Cut his feet off," she said, handing me a pair of tree shears. Holy shit I thought, what if he's just knocked out? Before we'd started she'd told me about a time the rabbit was only knocked out, and when she came back for it it'd escaped. What if it's like that? Well, I sure hoped not, which is about all I could do. I cut the front feet off.
Now if you're going to skin a rabbit, you should string him up first. That way, when you get to the skinning, you can just pull the skin down: otherwise you have to hold the rabbit in one hand and pull with the other, which I can't imagine is very easy. She showed me how to slice through the skin on one back leg, then I did the other one. The important thing is not to cut into the meat: first, that makes the meat not as good; second, then it gets bloody (we got through the whole process with barely any blood on our hands). We next cut down to connect the incisions and start pulling the skin down over the belly. As you pull the skin down, minus the little bit around the butt hole, steam rises, which is kind of gross. You have to keep snipping away at the transparent paper like thing that keeps the skin attached, which is even more delicate: if you cut through the intestines you'll ruin the whole meat.
Once you've pulled off the skin you snip though the same paper like thing to get at the organs. First you remove the good ones, the liver and kidneys. The most delicate cut of all is to remove the gall blatter: it's tiny organ the shape of a large vitamin, and nicking it rather than snipping it off would ruin the liver. She did that of course, and I was very impressed. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, her son is one of the most highly regarded surgeons in Vilnius. Last, only the intestines are left; you cut through the pelvis so you can remove them still connected to the butt hole (without cutting them and risking getting shitty). A similar risk is present when removing the bladder, but luckily our rabbit had just relieved itself, apparently.
Once we got down to the end I understood why I had to cut the front feet off: the skin came off the front legs together with the feet intact easily, instead of having to pull the skin off the feet. once we got to the head it was sort of stuck, and I asked isn't it simpler to just chop the head off at this point. You don't cook the head anyway, right? And that's what we did. We actually cut it a bit farther down the neck than is necessary, but we did that because of the might whack I'd struck: there was a big bloody bruise under the skin all the way down the neck from the skull, which is apparently considered bad to eat. Although she did tell me about a blood soup that my grandfather's mother used to make when they slaughtered bigger animals. She also told me she used to save the tails for Liepa and Sirvydas to use in school plays.
I took the carcass home to butcher. I couldn't find a cook book that showed how to do it exactly, but it wasn't complicated, just like a chicken really, except with no breast. There were six good pieces: the back legs had the most meat, the front legs had less but some, the lower-back had plenty, and the ribs and upper-back had some too. Silvija said some people prefer the lower-back, which has two loin shaped pieces, and some prefer the back legs, which look sort of like chicken thighs, because the drum stick part of the leg is just bone, really.
After two days of brining I used this recipe for rabbit fricassee, and it turned out really well, the gravy especially was very tasty. My special lady and I each ate a back leg, and my five year old took a bite or two of a front leg. She was rather squeamish about eating it, because rabbits are "so polite." I made sure to butcher it out of her sight, but I didn't lie to her when she asked what's for dinner. My special lady, especially, having grown up on a farm, thought it appropriate for her to understand where food comes from.
You can leave rabbits hung up in the cold for days, but if you do they'll be frozen when you skin them, which will freeze your hands, so told me Silvija. So just a couple hours later we went back to finish the job. "Cut his feet off," she said, handing me a pair of tree shears. Holy shit I thought, what if he's just knocked out? Before we'd started she'd told me about a time the rabbit was only knocked out, and when she came back for it it'd escaped. What if it's like that? Well, I sure hoped not, which is about all I could do. I cut the front feet off.
Now if you're going to skin a rabbit, you should string him up first. That way, when you get to the skinning, you can just pull the skin down: otherwise you have to hold the rabbit in one hand and pull with the other, which I can't imagine is very easy. She showed me how to slice through the skin on one back leg, then I did the other one. The important thing is not to cut into the meat: first, that makes the meat not as good; second, then it gets bloody (we got through the whole process with barely any blood on our hands). We next cut down to connect the incisions and start pulling the skin down over the belly. As you pull the skin down, minus the little bit around the butt hole, steam rises, which is kind of gross. You have to keep snipping away at the transparent paper like thing that keeps the skin attached, which is even more delicate: if you cut through the intestines you'll ruin the whole meat.
Once you've pulled off the skin you snip though the same paper like thing to get at the organs. First you remove the good ones, the liver and kidneys. The most delicate cut of all is to remove the gall blatter: it's tiny organ the shape of a large vitamin, and nicking it rather than snipping it off would ruin the liver. She did that of course, and I was very impressed. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, her son is one of the most highly regarded surgeons in Vilnius. Last, only the intestines are left; you cut through the pelvis so you can remove them still connected to the butt hole (without cutting them and risking getting shitty). A similar risk is present when removing the bladder, but luckily our rabbit had just relieved itself, apparently.
Once we got down to the end I understood why I had to cut the front feet off: the skin came off the front legs together with the feet intact easily, instead of having to pull the skin off the feet. once we got to the head it was sort of stuck, and I asked isn't it simpler to just chop the head off at this point. You don't cook the head anyway, right? And that's what we did. We actually cut it a bit farther down the neck than is necessary, but we did that because of the might whack I'd struck: there was a big bloody bruise under the skin all the way down the neck from the skull, which is apparently considered bad to eat. Although she did tell me about a blood soup that my grandfather's mother used to make when they slaughtered bigger animals. She also told me she used to save the tails for Liepa and Sirvydas to use in school plays.
I took the carcass home to butcher. I couldn't find a cook book that showed how to do it exactly, but it wasn't complicated, just like a chicken really, except with no breast. There were six good pieces: the back legs had the most meat, the front legs had less but some, the lower-back had plenty, and the ribs and upper-back had some too. Silvija said some people prefer the lower-back, which has two loin shaped pieces, and some prefer the back legs, which look sort of like chicken thighs, because the drum stick part of the leg is just bone, really.After two days of brining I used this recipe for rabbit fricassee, and it turned out really well, the gravy especially was very tasty. My special lady and I each ate a back leg, and my five year old took a bite or two of a front leg. She was rather squeamish about eating it, because rabbits are "so polite." I made sure to butcher it out of her sight, but I didn't lie to her when she asked what's for dinner. My special lady, especially, having grown up on a farm, thought it appropriate for her to understand where food comes from.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Friday, January 08, 2010
Martinis in the Bathtub (A Facefuck do-here-instead because my status update was over 420 characters--that's why it's in the 3rd person)
This guy has a hard enough time drinking martinis as it is, but let him tell you, doing it horizontal in the bath-tub without spilling cold drips of booze onto himself is not possible. Here's one tip, though, for the majority of you out there who share this problem: the booze drips may be unvoidable, but the cold water drips condensed to the bottom of the glass making it to your chest aren't: you can nullify them by dipping the bottom of your glass into the hot bath water before taking a sip. Then only hot water drips onto your chest, as long as your cold drink goes *into* your mouth. Gerai Luck!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
The Tyranny of the Majority Party, By Fred Barnes, includes some interesting history.
Sure hope William Daley is right.
Sure hope William Daley is right.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Article of the Day
Serfdom vs. liberty in 2010, by Colin McNickle, is a very fun dream, but I'm pretty sure that's all it is. Americans are a long way from the zeal required of revolutionaries.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Kindergarden Christmas Work
This morning I took the pleasure of religious expression during my kindergarten English class. Each week I try to add something new, though it's mostly repetition. By the eighth week we have Hello, Good morning, My name is _____, Have a nice day, and Good bye under our belts, as well as counting to ten, naming some colors, and answering the questions How are you (the answer is I'm fine), how old are you, and which color do you like under our belts. By under our belts I mean some of the kids remember these phrases sometimes, but regularly when I ask some her age she tells me her age, for instance.
I also have the problem of asking any question, what's your name in particular, and getting responses like Šukšlė, Susiukas, or Kakū. (Garbage, pee-pee, poop) Misbehavior abounds too, but whatever.
This morning we had a decent class, though. And we had a fun new phrase, Merry Christmas. I brought my kid's stuffed Christmas begarbed reindeer to kindergarten and each kid got a chance to tell it Merry Christmas (although some kids said their age bųy accident instead). As I was prepping for the class, I thought, this lesson is probably forbidden in America. Stupid PC culture.
I also have the problem of asking any question, what's your name in particular, and getting responses like Šukšlė, Susiukas, or Kakū. (Garbage, pee-pee, poop) Misbehavior abounds too, but whatever.
This morning we had a decent class, though. And we had a fun new phrase, Merry Christmas. I brought my kid's stuffed Christmas begarbed reindeer to kindergarten and each kid got a chance to tell it Merry Christmas (although some kids said their age bųy accident instead). As I was prepping for the class, I thought, this lesson is probably forbidden in America. Stupid PC culture.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Article of the Day
Yes, there is Santa, He’s no liberal myth, by Michael Graham, is a quite a nice piece on BS. The objective research evidence on liberals believing BS (...About 50 percent more Democrats than Republicans say they have spoken to the dead...) is amusing indeed. The rest is agreeable and fun to read as well.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Is There a Doctor in the House? By Howard Fineman
Ron Paul was my favorite 2008 candidate for president.
Ron Paul was my favorite 2008 candidate for president.
Monday, December 07, 2009
Article of the Day
In Steven Greenhut: We're increasingly ruled by rules, Greenhut gives several examples of things in America banned by the government. This reminded me of an argument I had with Gedas, because Lithuania has the same problem: "It's a lot easier...for authorities to target law-abiding citizens...than it is to target the real bad guys."
The result? I have to have people bring me ammonia from America in the form of After Bite. This stuff costs like two bucks, it's just plain ammonia, but I can't get it. Housewives in Lithuania can't use it as a cleaning agent. Why? Because somebody drank it once and died. So fuck it, this multi-use, convenient product will not be available for anybody.
How about Krupnikas, the Lithuanian spiced honey liqueur? Nope, can't have that in Lithuania. Well, you can have the shitty factory version from Maxima which is disgusting and gross. But can you make your own, delicious Krupnikas? No, brewing this traditional Lithuanian liqueur is restricted to emigres. This form of patriotism is restricted to Lithuanians abroad. Why? Because some bums drank too much grain alcohol and died once. Good luck finding it for sale now; as in Greenhut's examples, getting it now is part of the underworld economy.
The result? I have to have people bring me ammonia from America in the form of After Bite. This stuff costs like two bucks, it's just plain ammonia, but I can't get it. Housewives in Lithuania can't use it as a cleaning agent. Why? Because somebody drank it once and died. So fuck it, this multi-use, convenient product will not be available for anybody.
How about Krupnikas, the Lithuanian spiced honey liqueur? Nope, can't have that in Lithuania. Well, you can have the shitty factory version from Maxima which is disgusting and gross. But can you make your own, delicious Krupnikas? No, brewing this traditional Lithuanian liqueur is restricted to emigres. This form of patriotism is restricted to Lithuanians abroad. Why? Because some bums drank too much grain alcohol and died once. Good luck finding it for sale now; as in Greenhut's examples, getting it now is part of the underworld economy.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thanks Be To Good Times
Thanksgiving was a tremendous success this year. The preparation and cooking lasted several days as usual, but for the first time we had so much fun the festivities lasted into the night, the next day, and the next night too, almost until midnight: a thirty hour Thanksgiving!
The menu included:
Perfect Turkey
Gravy made from Awesome Turkey Giblet Stock
Sausage Stuffing
Awesome Sausage, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing
Sweet Potato Casserole I
Stir Fried Broccoli
Cheese Garlic Biscuits II
Fetaki Mushroom Noodle Casserole*
Roasted Carrots with Whiskey Glaze
Cranberry Sauce
Chutney (Ed's delicious home made chutney)
Wild Mushroom Sauce
Zucchini-Chocolate Chip Muffins
Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Graham Cracker Crust
*One item that had to be scrapped was the Zucchini Alfredo. The zucchini was over ripe and did not tenderize while cooking. Thank God I tasted it before pouring it over the fantastic noodles that special lady brought me back from Italy. I redid the sauce as a fetaki mushroom sauce.
And the morning after I made beer bread with the left overs.
Aidas won the food eating competition as usual, but may have overeaten. He and Kristina had to leave more than 24 hours earlier than the others without much drinking to blame.
The first evening we hit the sauna, the man cave, and played a beirut tournament. After several rounds of play while Gintaras and I were still in the sauna we decided we needed some breweries to rehydrate. We beat my special lady and Linas, then we beat Ed and Donatas, and no challengers arose: Eglė and Giedrė either pussed or were too drunk. We won! Luckily the games were close enough that we got to quench our thirst anyway. And just in case we didn't, back to the man cave!
Next day we did the sauna again after being party to the shampoo effect. We had a terrific afternoon playing Alias and Cranium, but then made the mistake of playing Žodžių Bokštas (Up-Words). That took forever; towards the end it was high time to say labanaktis! I was really glad they stayed because it's nearly impossible to get a game of Cranium going, it's only the second time I've been able to play it in Lietuva since getting it for Christmas. You need four people with a decent knowledge of American pop culture, and it always seems more appropriate to play something like Beirut during the party proper. The stragglers left on the day after the party turned out to be perfect cranium players.
A good time was had by all!
The menu included:
Perfect Turkey
Gravy made from Awesome Turkey Giblet Stock
Sausage Stuffing
Awesome Sausage, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing
Sweet Potato Casserole I
Stir Fried Broccoli
Cheese Garlic Biscuits II
Fetaki Mushroom Noodle Casserole*
Roasted Carrots with Whiskey Glaze
Cranberry Sauce
Chutney (Ed's delicious home made chutney)
Wild Mushroom Sauce
Zucchini-Chocolate Chip Muffins
Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Graham Cracker Crust
*One item that had to be scrapped was the Zucchini Alfredo. The zucchini was over ripe and did not tenderize while cooking. Thank God I tasted it before pouring it over the fantastic noodles that special lady brought me back from Italy. I redid the sauce as a fetaki mushroom sauce.
And the morning after I made beer bread with the left overs.
Aidas won the food eating competition as usual, but may have overeaten. He and Kristina had to leave more than 24 hours earlier than the others without much drinking to blame.
The first evening we hit the sauna, the man cave, and played a beirut tournament. After several rounds of play while Gintaras and I were still in the sauna we decided we needed some breweries to rehydrate. We beat my special lady and Linas, then we beat Ed and Donatas, and no challengers arose: Eglė and Giedrė either pussed or were too drunk. We won! Luckily the games were close enough that we got to quench our thirst anyway. And just in case we didn't, back to the man cave!
Next day we did the sauna again after being party to the shampoo effect. We had a terrific afternoon playing Alias and Cranium, but then made the mistake of playing Žodžių Bokštas (Up-Words). That took forever; towards the end it was high time to say labanaktis! I was really glad they stayed because it's nearly impossible to get a game of Cranium going, it's only the second time I've been able to play it in Lietuva since getting it for Christmas. You need four people with a decent knowledge of American pop culture, and it always seems more appropriate to play something like Beirut during the party proper. The stragglers left on the day after the party turned out to be perfect cranium players.
A good time was had by all!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Flustered? What a bone head.
Yesterday I was a bit flustered after work, apparently. I walked out as usual to Kalvarijų Street. Usually I just flag down a micro bus, but this time I had a bunch of bus tickets burning a hole in my pocket. I began crossing the street to walk to the bus stop, when I immediately noticed a great micro bus: I usually take the five, which runs more often, but when I get a fifteen it's better, it brings me closer to home. So I dashed through the intersection just in the nick of time. Actually I wasn't in the nick of time, the micro had to wait for me during a green light, but I made it. Awesome.
I had no money. Not awesome. I told the driver crap, I don't have any cash, I'll have to get out and go to an ATM. The kind man told me just to sit down this time and forget it. Awesome. As we drive by Kalvarijų Market I reach for my phone. I have to call my special lady to ocme pick me up at the end of the bus route, because the bus doesn't take me all the way home, and it might not be safe to walk home at night. As I did this what do I find but my keys? Oh, yeah, I took the car myself today. Not awesome. I tell the driver to let me out, it seems that I've forgotten something else as well and have to go back.
Here is my walk back. Before I even got the car my wife had already called me to ask why I'm not home yet. I hadn't even left work properly yet.
I had to walk
I had no money. Not awesome. I told the driver crap, I don't have any cash, I'll have to get out and go to an ATM. The kind man told me just to sit down this time and forget it. Awesome. As we drive by Kalvarijų Market I reach for my phone. I have to call my special lady to ocme pick me up at the end of the bus route, because the bus doesn't take me all the way home, and it might not be safe to walk home at night. As I did this what do I find but my keys? Oh, yeah, I took the car myself today. Not awesome. I tell the driver to let me out, it seems that I've forgotten something else as well and have to go back.
Here is my walk back. Before I even got the car my wife had already called me to ask why I'm not home yet. I hadn't even left work properly yet.
I had to walk
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
This is my counter:
