Adagio Tea

I finally got the banner ad posted on my blog (you may need to scroll down a bit to see it). As I posted before about Adagio Tea... This coupon gives you $5 off coupon and in return I'll get "credits" towards buying more tea. I've enjoyed this new tea pot, and have enjoyed tasting these new (and a bit strange) tea flavors. I've had 4 different green teas so far: Hojicha (pictured above) so far one of my favorites as there is a certain sweetness to it, and it's similar to "normal" tea. Genmai cha (very unusual) it has toasted rice and bits of popcorn in it! It's so different I'm not sure if I like it or not. Green Pekoe - very "vegetably" almost tastes like spinach but sweeter, I like this one when it's brewed lightly and not too strong. Citron Green - a very good tea with lemon/lime flavors added, A close call with this one being my favorite.
I still have 4 more white tea samples to try yet, (not to mention the MANY varieties on their website!). So check it out, and don't forget the $5 coupon below. I have not recieved any spam from them either. One more thing, they have an active message board, a tea muse section, and even a section on cooking with tea.

Country Boys

I just finished watching a really good documentary series on PBS. It was a 3 part series broken into 1 hour shows shown on Mon, Tues, and Wed nights at 10pm. The series was riveting. It's hard to describe and put into words... I'll do it anyway... Basically followed the lives of two young men (Cody and Chris) around 17 years old. They were going through tough times but kept going. The series followed their decisions for a period of years condensed down to a 3 hour "movie". Like I said, It doesn't lend itself to words. BUT... something I've never seen PBS do before and that is really cool of them to do... the night after the show premiers, they put the episodes up on the internet where you can watch them for free. They are also broken into smaller segments so you don't need to watch all 3 hours in one sitting. Try to watch this if you can...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/countryboys/

Second generation TV...

Just a strange thought that popped into my head this morning...
As I mentioned before, I've been on this merry go round of a planet for almost 4 decades now... I was thinking this morning about how much TV I watch and that it's TOO much. I thought about how much TV my dad watches and it also is too much... Then I wondered if that was a "learned" behavior, or how much of a choice I have in this. I thought back to when I was a kid and would spend time watching Speed Racer cartoons, and Gilligan's Island reruns, and how much I enjoyed it. So TV was something I grew up with. It was part of my childhood... Part of my learning... Etc...
Then it struck me, I'm really only the second generation of TV watchers. My parents were the first generation. Our kids are only the third generation... I think we have a lot to learn yet about TV. How is it useful, how is it hurtful, what other ways will TV change in the future, etc...
I was talking to my friend over lunch about this and he said "we're the first generation of computer users" - wow! Look at how much computers have changed (improved) in our generation. This led us both to suggest that there will be a melding of TV and computers in the future (It's just starting to happen now! With Apple selling TV shows to be viewed in itunes or on your ipod).
It was just something that struck me that TV is such a "young" technological breakthrough. I wonder how long it will last in it's current form.
Something to think about... While watching TV of course...

Robots and Tea

This Saturday morning, I sit here at my computer just checking some of my daily websites, and came across another interview with Theo Jansen who I blogged about his amazing "wind robots" before (or as he calls them "Beach Animals"). It's a short interview, but every time I see this guy's creations, and learn a little more about him, I admire him even more. Mixing science and art... perfect :)
In addition to reading the interview, I looked at the homepage of the website and it looks pretty interesting. I will be adding this website to my "daily websites".
http://www.artificial.dk/

“When the weather was beautiful I thought it was a waste of time to sit in front of the computer” - Theo Jansen

Tea>
I recently discovered a new website (Simply Recipes- it's actually just a blog) that led me to this website about tea via a banner ad...
http://www.adagio.com/
I have always wanted to taste tea using fresh tea leaves as opposed to the bags of tea that have sat on the grocery store shelves for who knows how long.
I'm not usually the type person who clicks on banner ads, and then orders an item from a website that I know very little about. But after doing a little digging, and feeling safe with placing an order online, I did. I was "suckered" in by good design basically... The website itself is very nicely designed; easy to navigate, very nice use of colors, nice photographs, and a touch of humor. Then I saw this small single serve "tea pot" (you might get two small cups of tea out of it, but I usually drink tea in a mug). It's a really incredibly simple design to brew a fresh cup of tea easily and with little mess. I watched a small video clip (or flash animation) and thought 'I gotta get one of these' (it's cheap too for about $24 and that includes about $10 worth of sampler teas). I placed my order and the very next day I got it via fedex. It works great, and the sampler teas are great. Two especially stood out... The "Genmai cha" and the "Citron green". The Genmai when I opened it gave me a bit of a shock... it had "things" in it, they almost looked like small grubs! But I tasted one, and was very surprised that it was toasted rice (there are also bits of popcorn!). I just finished my first cup of this and it was very good. I have not tried the Citron green yet, but the smell of this tea is amazing.
I know... I'm hyping this website up a lot and after all it's just tea right? But after wondering myself, why I was very enthusiastic about this website, I figured it out... I'm almost 4 decades old! I've been eating and drinking all my life, so when I discover a new taste or smell that I've never experienced before in my 4 decades of eating and smelling, it really surprises me and teaches me that there are things out there that I have not yet discovered yet.
When you place an order you can email your friends and family a $5 gift certificate... If you would like me to email you one of these gift certificates email me and I'll send you one.
{removed - see the banner ad on the side now}

Enjoy your weekend.

Corruption...

There was nothing on TV last night (still no new LOST episodes!)... So I flipped over to watch some C-span. I caught some interesting "hearings" about what is now being talked about on all the news stations (and internet). Jack Abramoff. I'm still unclear on all the details, and who was charged with what, and who did what, but the hearings that I saw were interesting. You can watch them on Cspan now There's a part one, and part two... Part two is the one I saw (and not all of it) as it was 3 hours long! But if you want to skip to the good part go to 1:29:00 to see the interview with Italia Federici (that's a woman's name). She was stuck in the hot seat and either she's very intelligent, or not so bright... I think she may be very intelligent because she was able to frustrate both Senators McCain and Dorgan and yet she never really said the "wrong" thing that would incriminate herself.
I wrote down some of the key players:
Senator John McCain - R - Arizona - Indian Affairs Committee Chairman
Senator Byron Dorgan - D - North Dakota - Indian Affairs Committee Vice Chairman
-
Italia Federici - Council of Republican for Environmental Advocacy - President
Jack Abramoff - Former Lobbyist
Steven Griles - Former Deputy Interior Secretary - Bush Administration
Michael Rossetti - Former Interior Department Counsel - Bush Admin.
-
Cspan commentators:
Michael Crowley - New Republic Senior Editor
Matthew Continetti - Weekly Standard reporter

---
whew... lots of people to keep track of...
In a nutshell here's what I got out of it... Abramoff was a lobbyist for a bunch of American Indian tribes who wanted to build Casino's. Abramoff was trying to help them get these casino's built (and at times hinder other Indian casino's who might compete with his clients). He would 'encourage' the tribes to donate/give LARGE sums of money to Italia's environmental group... and in return (this is the tricky part) She would speak to those in the Interior of Bush's Admin, to put in a word about certain issues.
Basically, here's some money, now see if you can make something happen in the gov, so that we can build some casinos. The whole thing just "stunk" of corruption. Each one on the hot seat would plead and swear that THEY were telling the truth, yet it was in direct conflict with what the other person would say was the truth. So obviously someone was lying.
Even if you are not interested in all the political mumbo-jumbo it's interesting to watch these people squirm on the hot seat. The one guy Griles, reminded me of that Seinfeld episode where George had eaten some spicy Kung-Pow Chicken, and was all red and sweating, when they asked him if he stole some baseball equipment :)

I wish I could give you the exact link to open the realplayer video off of the cspan website, but I can't figure out how. (if anyone knows post it in the comments). Just go to Cspan.org and look for: C-SPAN Special: Jack Abramoff & the Tribal Lobbying Investigation, Part 2

PS> You know you must be getting old, when the commentators on Cspan look like they just got out of high school. Even though they looked young, these guys knew their stuff!

Manly Man

I wanted to blog briefly about a new project I started... I'm knitting myself a scarf of all things. I thought it would be neat to have a Harry Potter scarf (yes, I'm a nerd and a geek) and thought, why not try to do it myself. My mom and sister both know how to knit (very well too!) and I wondered how difficult it is to learn. At first glance, to watch them knit or crochet it looks like plain ol' "magic"... they twirl their fingers around a string using one or two sticks, and out the other end comes something of beauty and usefulness. So, with a quick lesson from my mom, I was able to get motivated.
I got my yarn, a couple of sticks (still can't call them knitting needles), and went online for some tutorials to start. Within an hour or so, I was ready to give up, and go buy a stupid scarf. (I don't even wear scarfs). But then something clicked, and I started to get it. I've since had to destroy my first attempt as I was doing something wrong, and couldn't figure out what (kept adding a stitch). But now I've got the beginnings of a scarf going. I don't know if I'll ever do this again, but it is an interesting experience and it's creative as well. There's something really cool to me to be able to make something with your hands that has a use. It strikes a note of being anti-corporate that I like too.
Now I'm off to go drink some beer, watch some football, burp, and kill a small helpless animal to compensate for this scarf making business.

happy new year

Happy New Year!
Starting my year off right!
Visited a book store (and bought 2 books)
Slept late
Watched several episodes of Mythbusters on a Mythbusters marthon today.

Hope your year is starting off right as well.