- click images to enlarge -
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Thursday, February 17, 2011
Three digital paintings by Jack Brummet: Roses
Three digital paintings: Roses - by Jack Brummet
- click images to enlarge -
- click images to enlarge -
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Three flower paintings by Jack Brummet
Three flower paintings (digital) by Jack Brummet
Click the flowers to enlarge.
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Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Red Beans & Rice
Since it's been about three years since we posted a recipe, I guess it's time. . . /jack
jack's red beans and rice
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried small red beans, rinsed and sorted over (don't use kidney beans...they're lame)
- a hearty splash of olive oil
- 1 chopped bell pepper
- 2 quarts water
- 6 cloves chopped garlic
- 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow or white onions
- 3/4 cup chopped celery
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (maybe a little more) + freshly ground black pepper
- 1 chopped chipotle in adobo, or red pepper flakes, tabasco, habanero sauce, etc.
- 2 or 3 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons crushed fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried)
- 1/2 pound or more smoked sausage, sliced into 1/3" thick rounds
- cooked white rice (say 3-5 cups)
- chopped green onions for garnishing
- Sort the beans, cover them in a pot with water 3" over the beans. Soak all day or overnight. Drain and set aside. Or do a quick soak if you're in a hurry or a bad planner..
- In a large (preferably cast iron dutch oven) pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add ham hocks and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the onions, celery and peppers, salt pepper, chipotle, and cook until the vegetables are soft (3 min).
- Add the sausage, bay leaves, thyme, and cook, stirring, to brown the sausage and ham hocks.
- Add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute (don't brown it...sweat it).
- Add the beans and water, stir, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring every few minutes, until the beans are tender and starting to thicken (1 1/2 to 2 hours). Add water if necessary.
- Mash about 1/2 a cup of beans in the pot with the back of a wooden spoon. Check for seasoning.
- Serve over rice and garnish with green onions (no cheese or sour cream...it's great straight!).
- Put out Tabasco and other hot sauces, maybe some chopped jalapenos, and plenty of beer.
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Monday, February 14, 2011
All This Is That Re-heated (from January 2005): Foot Washing Baptists & The Catholic Devils
By Jack Brummet
Social Mores Editor
My friend, Doc, (http://drstephencw.blogspot.com/) today details his involvement in the Rama cult (he didn't jump the rails, but his former guru, Rama, did). [1] He also wrote a couple other interesting pieces on Rama earlier in the week. Rama sounds a little like Marjo Gortner, Jimmy Swaggart, or any other charlatan with a good rap. He was prodigiously good at extracting cash from the flock. Interestingly, he hooked in a lot of software developers just at the moment when many software businesses were cranking up their acts and starting to make boatloads of money.
Thinking about cults reminded me of my Baptist roots. We were American Baptists. I'm not sure about the other Protestant sects, but our church had definite opinions on the other churches. The Jewish faith was well-regarded, since it was the cornerstone of the Protestant religions. I didn't hear much about the Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Churches of Christ, Grace Fellowship, Reformed Protestant, United Brethren, First Christian Church, Church of the Nazarene, Pentecostal, or even the Menonite, Quaker, Episcopal, Amish, Shaker, or Evangelical Covenant churches.
The Catholic Church was regularly and savagely excoriated. I remember preachers railing against "The Cult of Mary." "THEY FORSAKE OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR HIS VIRGIN MOTHER AND CONDEMN THEMSELVES TO PERISH IN THE FIRES OF THE GREAT DECEIVER!" In our church, the crucifix was empty, but in the Catholic Church, Jesus eternally suffered, nailed to the cross. "THEY CELEBRATE THE AGONY AND MURDER OF OUR LORD IN THEIR STATIONS OF THE CROSS!! THIS CHURCH CELEBRATES THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHRIST TO HEAVEN."
"THEY DO NOT EVEN READ THE BIBLE! THEY IGNORE THE GOOD BOOK! THE NEW TESTAMENT OF CHRIST OUR LORD IS IGNORED!" Confession was an excuse to sin even more--a free pass to perdition! Our ministers ranted against The Priests, The Nuns, The Brothers, The Bishops, and Cardinals. Most of all, they railed about the devil incarnate: His Holiness, The Pope, in his gilded palace, The Vatican.
The Reverend bemoaned "THE ABOMINATION OF THE EUCHARIST," the foul and damning Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation and its perversion of what was clearly intended by Our Lord to be symbolic.
"THE CATHOLICS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OUTRAGES OF THE SAINT BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY MASSACRE IN WHICH FIFTY THOUSAND OF GOD'S PRECIOUS CHILDREN WERE MURDERED! THE CATHOLICS RAN THE INQUISITION!"
There were, of course, also degrees of weirdness within our own denomination. The Southern Baptists with their prohibitions against makeup and dancing among other things, were considered a hopeless bunch of joyless prunes (even in our church, which went so far as to use Welch's Grape Juice for communion). Looked even further down upon were the Immersion Baptists--who took you to the river for baptisms, even in January. We did that only in the summer, but it was more ceremonial that doctrinaire. Still further down the line were the Foot Washing Baptists. At last you come to the Snake Handling Baptists, who were so out there that they did indeed feel like a cult. There is probably another splinter sect of Baptists somewhere, performing even wackier acts in the name of religion.
When does a cult become mainstream? When does a cult jump on the rail and become a church, or religion? I'm not really sure. Clearly, the Church of Latter Day Saints has transcended cult status and gone on to become the fastest growing church in the world (I think Orthodox Judaism is the second fastest growing).
[1] check out the links in the articles there--one to Wired and one to a whole (free) book on the Project Gutenberg site).
Social Mores Editor
Thinking about cults reminded me of my Baptist roots. We were American Baptists. I'm not sure about the other Protestant sects, but our church had definite opinions on the other churches. The Jewish faith was well-regarded, since it was the cornerstone of the Protestant religions. I didn't hear much about the Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Churches of Christ, Grace Fellowship, Reformed Protestant, United Brethren, First Christian Church, Church of the Nazarene, Pentecostal, or even the Menonite, Quaker, Episcopal, Amish, Shaker, or Evangelical Covenant churches.
The Catholic Church was regularly and savagely excoriated. I remember preachers railing against "The Cult of Mary." "THEY FORSAKE OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR HIS VIRGIN MOTHER AND CONDEMN THEMSELVES TO PERISH IN THE FIRES OF THE GREAT DECEIVER!" In our church, the crucifix was empty, but in the Catholic Church, Jesus eternally suffered, nailed to the cross. "THEY CELEBRATE THE AGONY AND MURDER OF OUR LORD IN THEIR STATIONS OF THE CROSS!! THIS CHURCH CELEBRATES THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHRIST TO HEAVEN."
"THEY DO NOT EVEN READ THE BIBLE! THEY IGNORE THE GOOD BOOK! THE NEW TESTAMENT OF CHRIST OUR LORD IS IGNORED!" Confession was an excuse to sin even more--a free pass to perdition! Our ministers ranted against The Priests, The Nuns, The Brothers, The Bishops, and Cardinals. Most of all, they railed about the devil incarnate: His Holiness, The Pope, in his gilded palace, The Vatican.
The Reverend bemoaned "THE ABOMINATION OF THE EUCHARIST," the foul and damning Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation and its perversion of what was clearly intended by Our Lord to be symbolic.
"THE CATHOLICS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OUTRAGES OF THE SAINT BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY MASSACRE IN WHICH FIFTY THOUSAND OF GOD'S PRECIOUS CHILDREN WERE MURDERED! THE CATHOLICS RAN THE INQUISITION!"
There were, of course, also degrees of weirdness within our own denomination. The Southern Baptists with their prohibitions against makeup and dancing among other things, were considered a hopeless bunch of joyless prunes (even in our church, which went so far as to use Welch's Grape Juice for communion). Looked even further down upon were the Immersion Baptists--who took you to the river for baptisms, even in January. We did that only in the summer, but it was more ceremonial that doctrinaire. Still further down the line were the Foot Washing Baptists. At last you come to the Snake Handling Baptists, who were so out there that they did indeed feel like a cult. There is probably another splinter sect of Baptists somewhere, performing even wackier acts in the name of religion.
When does a cult become mainstream? When does a cult jump on the rail and become a church, or religion? I'm not really sure. Clearly, the Church of Latter Day Saints has transcended cult status and gone on to become the fastest growing church in the world (I think Orthodox Judaism is the second fastest growing).
[1] check out the links in the articles there--one to Wired and one to a whole (free) book on the Project Gutenberg site).
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Sunday, February 13, 2011
Sasquatch in the garden: Digital Painting - by Jack Brummet
Digital painting by Jack Brummet
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Saturday, February 12, 2011
Tahrir Square: Lost Horeseman of the Apocalypse, or Lens Flare?
Thanks to jeff clinton.. for discovering this. . .
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Happy Birthday, Lanky Link
by Jack Brummet
Executive Branch Editor
Happy Birthday to Abraham Lincoln!
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Egypt's 18 Day Revolution: Free At Last? Maybe. Hopefully?
By Jack Brummet
Arab Affairs Editor
I had to laugh when I saw this headline, especially the sub-head "Military In Control." Either we've drastically lowered the bar, or Hosni Mubarak was an even bigger S.O.B. than I ever thought.
When before have we ever decided a country was free when the military took control? Granted, the military showed far more wisdom and foresight than Ex-President Mubarak. . .at least at the end. They too, however, were flummoxed by the country's reaction to Mubarak's "hand over power" ruse. But when the masses once again arose in anger, the army knew it was game over. In the next day they apparently (no one knows for sure yet what exactly happened) made it clear to the President he no longer had their support, which set the stage for his resignation. So it is not a junta or coup d'etat, but hopefully a caretaker military government that will arrange for elections, and hand over their own power to a newly-elected leader. We hope.
Arab Affairs Editor
I had to laugh when I saw this headline, especially the sub-head "Military In Control." Either we've drastically lowered the bar, or Hosni Mubarak was an even bigger S.O.B. than I ever thought.
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