Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Bacon Mayonnaise

Oh hell YES.

Step by step, with photos.

(h/t Instapundit)

UPDATE 2/27: Antonio Mendoza comments--"It might actually be good for you. See, for example, this:

http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/skinny.html

Hit the link, read and decide for yourself. Value added entertainment...here is the description in the linked article of margarine being manufactured:

This is the process that turns polyunsaturates, normally liquid at room temperature, into fats that are solid at room temperature-margarine and shortening. To produce them, manufacturers begin with the cheapest oils-soy, corn, cottonseed or canola, already rancid from the extraction process-and mix them with tiny metal particles-usually nickel oxide. The oil with its nickel catalyst is then subjected to hydrogen gas in a high-pressure, high-temperature reactor. Next, soap-like emulsifiers and starch are squeezed into the mixture to give it a better consistency; the oil is yet again subjected to high temperatures when it is steam-cleaned. This removes its unpleasant odor. Margarine's natural color, an unappetizing grey, is removed by bleach. Dyes and strong flavors must then be added to make it resemble butter. Finally, the mixture is compressed and packaged in blocks or tubs and sold as a health food.

Pass the butter, please.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

A Concise Statement of My Philosophy of Life, by The Eagles

I'll be getting back to chess posting soon.

In the meantime, here's a song that I've been thinking about for years. Sometimes I think it should be an FCC requirement that radio and television stations play it every hour on the hour, 24/7/365. Then it might become ingrained in the national consciousness. We would be so much happier and healthier for it.

Well, in truth I don't believe in FCC mandates, I believe in freedom of speech. And I'd like to use mine right now to say:

STOP THE WHINING, ALREADY.

And now, for your listening pleasure:



I turn on the tube and what do I see 
A whole lotta people cryin' 'Don't blame me'
They point their crooked little fingers ar everybody else
Spend all their time feelin' sorry for themselves
Victim of this, victim of that
Your momma's too thin; your daddy's too fat

Get over it
Get over it
All this whinin' and cryin' and pitchin' a fit
Get over it, get over it

You say you haven't been the same since you had your little crash
But you might feel better if I gave you some cash
The more I think about it, Old Billy was right
Let's kill all the lawyers, kill 'em tonight
You don't want to work, you want to live like a king
But the big, bad world doesn't owe you a thing

Get over it
Get over it
If you don't want to play, then you might as well split
Get over it, Get over it

It's like going to confession every time I hear you speak
You're makin' the most of your losin' streak
Some call it sick, but I call it weak

You drag it around like a ball and chain
You wallow in the guilt; you wallow in the pain
You wave it like a flag, you wear it like a crown
Got your mind in the gutter, bringin' everybody down
Complain about the present and blame it on the past
I'd like to find your inner child and kick its little ass

Get over it
Get over it
All this bitchin' and moanin' and pitchin' a fit
Get over it, get over it

Get over it
Get over it
It's gotta stop sometime, so why don't you quit
Get over it, get over it

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Some Non-Chess Entertainment

Scroogle - no cookie, no search-term records, access log deleted every 48 hours...SO THEY SAY. Could this be a COVER for Google to get you to let your guard down. Is it run by the FBCINSA? Nah. Only a guy who has read Illuminatus! seven times would think that way.

Guy goes "undercover" at Wal-Mart and feels just fine.

Roger L. Simon on A Night with Timothy Leary. In Hollywood, no less. I actually attended one of the Leary/G. Gordon Liddy road shows mentioned in the piece, around 1981-2 at the campus of the University of Nevada Reno. I also read a lot of Leary's books. There's more than meets the eye to him--and to Liddy.

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Three Points, One Position

The title of this post is meant to stimulate your interest by being a bit mysterious. Let me explain...

Muller and Lamprecht's excellent Fundamental Chess Endings gives this position as 4.16:

White to move



From Loginov-Loskutov 1996

Any serious chess player will recall playing positions similar to this one and how difficult it can be to win them even though a clear piece up.

So what are my "three points?"

1. I recently did a post on "What is a "Better" Position?" At a glance, Black is obviously "much" better, but is the position "won" for him? The conclusion of this game might make you rethink this terminology.

2. The end of the game will provide a position that all of us must know 100 percent stone cold in order to avoid endless heartache and tears for the rest of our careers.

3. It's been awhile since I did one of my Homer Nods posts ("...and yet I also become annoyed whenever the great Homer nods off." Horace, Ars Poetica). Even very good chess players sometimes play very bad chess, and examples of this can serve to encourage the rest of us, to say that maybe we shouldn't beat ourselves up over our own little blunders. In this case Black was an International Master trying to post a nice upset over a Grandmaster, and an IM should probably be able to win almost 100 percent of the time from this position.

Enough talk, let's go to the record. For convenience, here is the position again:



The first few moves are obvious: 1. Kh6 Bd3 2. Kg7 Bg6 3. f4 Kb2 4. Kf6 (if 4. f5 Bxf5 5. Kxf7 Kc3 -+) Kc3 5. f5 (diagram):



and now 5. ...Bh5 wins (and working out the variations is great exercise), but even if it only drew, I think that the choices are so limited most of us would play it right away; instead, 5. ... Kd4?? 6. fxg6 fxg6 7. Kg7 1-0 because after 7. ...Ke5 8. Kxh7 Kf5 9. Kh6:



Mutual zugzwang! Whoever is to move loses. Learn it, use it, LIVE IT! When pawns are locked in an ending, plan and scheme to get this position--with the right player to move, of course.

Going back to the first diagram, is there any way you would have thought an IM playing Black would be resigning after seven moves? Don't let it happen to you!