There’s an interesting article online about the networks’ attempt to combat the recession. It suggests cutting the number of episodes per season, following the British model for scripted fare.
The writer is referring more to the British scripted dramas rather than comedies. In England, comedies are (usually) written by the creator(s). As a result, a British comedy usually has only six episodes per season. This both helps keep costs down and presents no haggling over ownership rights since there are fewer writers.
Rumrunners Super Burger Dog Recipe
A burger? A dog?? NO! It’s a Super Burger Dog.
Thanks to QBabe for this wonderful idea! I’ll give a brief explaination and let the pics explain themselves. After the pics, I’ll give some hints/changes for doing them again. My apologies to the dial up posters 🙁
I used 3 1/4 oz of plain straight Ground Chuck for each one. Flattened out to just a tad longer than the dog. I added a couple slices of Colby Jack cheese and then molded the burger around the dog and the cheese. Just a sprinkling of S n P and garlic powder on the burger first. I pinched the ends tight and rolled a slice of bacon around the burgerdog and fastened each end with a toothpick. I then dusted lightly with Dizzy Pigs Dizzy Dust for added flavor. Cow Lick would also be excellent. I put the finished product in the freezer for approx 45 minutes to ‘set up’ and be easier to handle for the grill.
Introducing DFS
Distributed File System (DFS) is a feature of Windows Server that existed in Windows NT 4.0, but didn’t really become useful until the release of Windows Server 2003.
At its simplest, DFS is a technology that allows you to create “virtual file shares” and add what amounts to symlinks or junctions to real file shares to it. So if, for example, you had a situation where you needed to share ten folders off seven different servers, you could instead create a DFS share and create links to the real shares. As far as your end-users are concerned, it’s only the one file share. That way, all users have a “S: drive” with the same folder structure, instead of one group (Finance) having one set of mapped drives and another group (Marketing) having another.
What’s even better is that you can map a DFS link via WAN connection, so people in two different offices can have the same file shares regardless of location. You can also build redundant DFS shares: just create a new share, robocopy the existing data to the new share, then add both shares to your DFS root. That way, if you ever need to take one of those servers offline, end users will still be able to access the data. In fact, they shouldn’t even notice a difference!
Although DFS was created for corporate customers, I have found one neat use for it at home. As you might know, I got a new computer for Christmas. That computer runs Windows Vista Home Premium; it therefore cannot join my local SBS 2003 domain, which has around 8 total shared folders. As you might also know, Windows networking has always been pretty crappy. After a week of owning the new computer I got sick of getting the dreaded “multiple connections to the same server using more than one set of credentials are prohibited” error with all the different file shares (even though I was only using my domain username and password). I therefore went in and created a DFS share for my local domain. I now map the DFS share as a drive, and Windows only asks me for credentials when I first map it – from that point on it’s smooth sailing!
Learn everything you could ever want to know about DFS here.
R.I.P. Sid
I seriously meant to post this on Monday. Seriously. I’ve been counting down for years to post it, but it totally slipped my mind in the wake of all the Super Bowl hoopla: Monday was the 30th anniversary of the death of Sex Pistols’ bassist, Sid Vicious.
On February 1st, 1979, Vicious was released from New York City’s infamous Riker’s Island jail. He had spent 55 days there after his arrest for the murder of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. Sid had actually used his time in Ryker’s to fully kick his heroin habit. The night of his release, a party was held in his honor. However, Sid’s mother had some heroin delivered to the party – against the wishes of everyone else at the party. The heroin was of remarkable purity, and Sid accidentally overdosed. According to NYC’s then-Chief Coroner, Dr Michael Baden (who you may know from countless Autopsy specials on HBO), Vicious died peacefully in his sleep at around 10 am on the morning of February 2, 1979.
Most everyone in the 30-50 age bracket knows the story of Sid Vicious; for those of you that don’t, here’s a summary:
The Strangest Thing You Will See Today
Read about it here.
SB Parade Photos
OK folks…. one last Super Bowl related post: pictures from the parade held in Pittsburgh this past Tuesday.
Below: the crowd reaches even into the parking decks!
Below: Troy Polamalu takes a dive into the crowd!
Below: “Dad” (defense coordinator Dick LeBeau) loves the crowd!
Fluff cycle, please!
Anthony Bourdain and Suicides
So, this past Monday night the missus and I went to bed kind of early. After getting the bed and getting all comfy, we started watching No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. This was a new episode, based in Chicago.
As it often happens on Bourdain’s show, he was paired up with a neighborhood foodie to visit some local institution. In this case, it was a “Chicago food historian” who took him to a local dive to experience the “mother in law“: a beef tamale served in a hot dog bun with chili poured on top.
When it came time to place their orders, the food historian suggested that they get “suicides” to drink. Bourdain looked confused, and asked what that was. The historian said that it was “when they go down the line of drinks and put a random amount of each drink in the cup. That way it’s different every time”. Bourdain still looked confused, but as he always does, he just shrugged his shoulders and went along with it. Eventually the food was brought out, and when Bourdain took a sip of the drink he said something along the lines of “it’s like every childhood nightmare I ever had in one glass”.
Final Thoughts: SB 43
Wow. What can I say? That was one of the most thrilling Super Bowls ever, and though it looked kind of bleak for the Steeler Nation for a couple of minutes, our team pulled through.
And how appropriate. All season long, the Steelers formula has been this: put the World’s Best Defense on the field and keep the game close. When necessary, Big Ben and company will get the job done on offense, even if it ain’t pretty. All season long we’ve heard about how great the Steelers defense has been, and how it just might be the best defense since the 2000 Baltimore Ravens or the 1990 New York Giants. Some in the Steeler Nation even whispered the phrase “Steel Curtain II”, comparing the team to the 1976 Steelers, arguably the best defensive team in NFL history.
That defense played really well for the first three quarters of the game. Madden and Michaels barely mentioned the name “Larry Fitzgerald” after the first quarter. The defense even managed to pull off the defensive play of the year with James Harrison’s 100 yard interception return. But then it all started going downhill. The Steeler offense – so prone to sputtering at just the wrong time all season long – couldn’t get it going in the forth quarter. And the defense, which had been so good for so long, lost its composure and quickly fell apart. LeBeau moved Troy Polamalu off Larry Fitz, and Ike Taylor, despite a valiant effort, just couldn’t compete. In fairness, it seems like no one could stop Fitz during this post season.
So it was up to Big Ben and the offense to get the job done. Tomlin put the entire team on Ben’s shoulders. Ben Roethlisberger – the quarterback that had a passer rating of 22.6 in Super Bowl XL. The same man that gave the Super Bowl XL game ball to Jerome Bettis, not only for sentimental reasons, but also because deep down he felt as though he didn’t deserve it. And, just like another quarterback that once wore the number seven, Big Ben delivered. 1:56 left in the game, 3rd and 6 at their own 26 yard line: a 13 yard catch by Holmes. An 11 yard catch by Washington. An incredible 40 yard catch and run by Holmes. And then… with 42 seconds left… the pass that just might get him in the Hall of Fame. An MVP catch by Santonio Holmes, a guy that’s won us far more games that I would have predicted at the start of the year.
