Boobs for Bourbon Street

Here is a wonderful chance to make a charitabel contribution and have some fun while doing it.

http://www.boobs4bourbonst.com/

take care

-Bluto

Talk like a pirate day. Arrrrgh.......

Today is talk like a pirate day.

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/
http://www.talklikeapirate.com/buzz.html
what's your pirate name? http://www.fidius.org/quiz/pirate/

If you go to subway for lunch, be sure to order your sandwich with extra chedaarrrrrrr.

take care

-Bluto

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest starts tomorrow at noon! Being rather proud of my German heritage, I am quite excited by this. The fact that I enjoy beer and sausages doesn't hurt any, either.

But just in case you din't know, Oktoberfest is more than just a bunch of drunk Germans walking around in lederhosen and staring at the the frauleins. It actually started as a festival to celebrate the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig's marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. If you'd like to learna littlee bit more about the history I suggestyoui check out die Weisn website.

Personally, I'm going to drink a couple beers and make some bratwurst from Buster's with homemade sauerkraut. Which remindss me. I tried a new recipe for sauerkraut and marinated pork loin last weekend. Though the pork was only OK, the sauerkraut turned out quite good (for store bought stuff anyway). It combined one can of kraut with 1/2 an apple about a 1/4 of an onion, 1/2 a beer, 6 ounces of apple juice concentrate, 1 tbls cider vinegar, and 1tblsp good mustard. Bring it all to a boil for a few minutes and then let it simmer to reduce the moisture. Quite tasty. I might even make some more this weekend.

And one of the great things about Oktoberfest is that it isn't over at sundown on Sunday night. It lasts until the first Sunday in October. So we have an excuse to enjoy ourselves every night between now and then. Sadly, there are no big carnivals here to celebrate with. I guess I'll just have to make do with what I've got.
Prossit!

take care

-Bluto

So called Martini bars

I'd like to address the so called Martini Bars that seem to be popular right now. Am I the only person who find them a little offensive?

Don't get me wrong. I've got nothing against and honest martinin. But I think that some of the people who frequent these establisments have seen a few too many episodes of "Sex and the City."
Let me be more clear about my aggravation:

Apple Pucker and butterscotch schnapps do not a martini make!

A martini consists of gin and vermouth. Or vodka and vermouth. Dry vermouth is used almost exclusively, though one can also order a perfect martini which calls for equal parts of both sweet and dry vermouth.

Simply creating a sugary sweet mixed drink (or "girly drink" if youi will) and pouring it into a martini glass does not mean youi have a martini. It just means you have a screw driver in a martini glass.

Now, this isn't to say that all these new drinks are bad. Some are, some aren't. What they most certainly are not are martinis. And this is starting to give martinis a bad name. I was having a conversation with a bartender at my favorite watering hole recently and were discussing this very problem. She told me that earlier in the week a group of people had been come into the bar. One of them ordered a martini. Being and astute bartender, she was able to size up her customers and didn't believe that this individual was really a martini drinker.
She politely asked if there was naything else she could get for him. No. He wanted a martini.
So she made it, and brouht it over.
The customer took one sip and literally spit it out.
"What is this?", he said. "It tastes like pure alcohol!"

Well of course it did, you idiot. It's a martini. It is pure alcohol. this gentleman was simply ordering what he preceived to be a cool drink. He had no idea what he was really in for. Maybe he'd heard martinis are making a comeback and wanted to look cool. Who knows?

The same bartender also told me the story of the customer who said, "I want a very dry martini, with an extra shot of vermouth." That's like saying, "I want a decaf coffee with and extra shot of caffeinne." In the martini world dry means less vermouth. The dryer the martini, the less vermouth it has.

This kind of ineptitude really pisses me off. I'm sure I'll have more to say about it later, but for now I've gotten it off of my chest.

take care

-Bluto

NU is accepting students displaced by hurricane Katrina

Here is a letter sent to faculty staff and students by President Miliken on 9/2/2005:

Dear Colleagues and Students:

We have all been saddened by the news of Hurricane Katrina and the stories of personal grief and tragedy that have emerged over the past several days. This devastating natural disaster has affected the lives of millions, and our hearts go out to them. I have received calls and e-mail messages from students, faculty and staff asking what they can do to help, and offering suggestions for university efforts. In the face of such an overwhelming situation, our initial gestures may seem small. In the long term, I know we will find ways to make more signifigant contributions to the recovery and rebuilding efforts that lie ahead.

I want to update you on some of the things the University of Nebraska community is doing to assist victims of the hurricane. First, thousands of college students in the Gulf Coast region -- includding many students from the Midwest -- havce seen their campuses closed indefinitely due to hurricane damage. We have opened the doors of our campuses to them.

For those students elegible for admission who are unable to return to their home campuses, we will immediately accept as many as we can at out compuses. Wel will allow them enroll this fall at in-state tuition rates, and provide assistance in quickly registering them for classes, finding housing and whatever additional help they need.

On Wednesday, we established an e-mail address (NUhelp@Nebraska.edu) and a 24-hour tool-free number (1-800-742-8800) to handle inquiries. Prospective students can also complete a brief form at www.nebraska.edu. We have provided this information to local and national news outlets and to the national higher education associations.

we have received many inquiries over the last two days, and our campuses are already working with the displaced students who wish to enroll at NU this fall. I want to commend the individuals on each campus who have taken on additional responsibilities and are providing timely, patient and professional assistance to these students. the reaction from students and parents with whom we have talked has been very positive.

There has been an enormous outpouring of support from faculty, students and staff on all of our campuses. Student and other groups are organizing fundraising efforts. Faculty and students are discussing service-learning programs involing on-site assistance. NU students, faculty and staff who have personal ties to the affected area have been encouraged to seek counseling and other assistance through existing university programs. We are also looking into providing space, to the extent available, to accomodate faculty from affected institutions.

Thank you in advance for your generous donations of time and assistance. I am grateful that the University of Nebraska can play a small role in prviding help to those affected by Hurrican Katrina.

James B. Milliken
President, University of Nebraska

This is a great way for NU to help suppoer the victims. I'm glad to see that we are helping out in any way possible. More information can be found at www.unl.edu

take care

-Bluto

Hurricane Katrina Relief

For those interested in helping to support victims of hurricane Katrina, here are several sites where you can make donations and get info:

http://writerscafe.net/donations.html#fark9

http://mystfire.net/katforum/index.php

http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate/

http://katrinahelp.blogspot.com/2005/08/request-to-firefighters-nationwide-to.html

http://www.fema.gov/press/2005/resources_katrina.shtm

I hate to have to say this, but if you do decide to donate through a website please be careful. Some asshats have already set up fake charities in an effort to capitalize on this trgedy. Several suspicious domains (last I checked the content had been changed, it looks like the owners are squatting on these domain names now) are listed here:

katrinahelp.com
katrinacleanup.com
katrinarelief.com