Clam chowder as it was meant to be
In my travels last summer, I dined one evening at
Dooger's Seafood & Grill in Cannon Beach, Oregon. The first-course soup was their own homemade clam chowder; it was amazing, perfect, melt-in-your-mouth creamy and tender. This is what clam chowder was meant to be.
The most complete recipe I could find was on
Cooks.com. It sounds right, but the cooking directions are a tad vague. Does anyone want to give this a shot? Let me know how it turns out.
Dooger's Clam Chowder:
1 lb. boiling potatoes
1 c. half & half
1/2 c. whipping cream
26 oz. canned sea clams
1/4 tsp. seasoning salt
Dash of ground thyme
Dash of white pepper
Peel and boil potatoes. Drain and mash lightly. Put clams in pot and heat. Add potatoes and seasonings. Let simmer. Heat milk, add clam mixture. Add butter.
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Labels: food, travel
Once More to the Lake
Summertime, cool morning air, the idyllic lake surrounded by towering trees: this is one of those iconic, near-perfect experiences which, once passed, we wish could have stretched for just a little longer.
"I guess I remembered clearest of all the early mornings, when the lake was cool and motionless, remembered how the bedroom smelled of the lumber it was made of and of the wet woods whose scent entered through the screen ... as I was always the first up I would dress softly so as not to wake the others, and sneak out into the sweet outdoors and start out in the canoe, keeping close along the shore in the long shadows of the pines. I remembered being very careful never to rub my paddle against the gunwale for fear of disturbing the stillness of the cathedral."
(excerpt:
"Once More to the Lake" - E.B. White, 1941)
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Labels: imagine yourself here, literature, ponderings
Modeling the cardiovascular system
There are several popular models of the cardiovascular (CV) system. Depending on your training and experience, one may make more sense than others. Personally, I prefer the fluid flow model; incidentally, this is probably the closest analog to the actual CV system itself, because blood behaves largely as a fluid.
The Windkessel fluid flow model is relatively straight-forward, with elements representing the aorta and the peripheral circulation (i.e., all of the other veins, arteries, etc. in the body). The aorta is modeled by an elastic chamber, exerting pressure on the fluid it contains, and the peripheral circulation is modeled as a rigid tube of constant resistance; the system input is given as a volume inflow rate.
Another analog to this model is that of an electrical circuit:
Fluid element ~ Circuit element
Flow rate ~ Current
Pressure ~ Voltage
Elasticity ~ Capacitance
Fluid inertia ~ Inductance
Valves ~ Diodes
Resistance ~ Resistance
The circuit can be laid out as follows:
The heart will be represented by an alternating-current (AC) current source, providing a current (blood flow rate) of specified period and amplitude (ranging from zero to a positive value). The flow will then pass through a diode (valve) to prevent backflow into the source (heart). Here, current (blood flow) can pass through the diode (valve) in one direction only.
The flow then encounters an inductor (arterial element) and resistor (aorta) in parallel. Here, the resistance is the proportionality of the voltage (pressure) across the element to the current (blood flow rate) through it; the inductor (inertial component) induces a voltage (pressure) that opposes any change in current (blood flow rate).
Following this, the flow encounters a capacitor (systemic/arterial compliance) and resistor (systemic resistance) in parallel. Here, the capacitor (compliance/elasticity) stores an amount of charge (blood volume) proportional to the voltage (pressure) across the element (aorta); i.e., it stores an amount of energy proportional to one-half the square of the voltage (pressure). Resistance here is the same as described above.
The circuit after this point goes back to the source, with a branch to common ground (blood supply, "reservoir"). Here, ground (supply) merely provides a reference "low" voltage (pressure) for the rest of the circuit.
>> Cole et al. (2005):
"A LabVIEW Model Incorporating an Open-Loop Arterial Impedance and a Closed-Loop Circulatory System," Annals of Biomedical Engineering.
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Labels: engineering, science
OK, I think my brain just exploded
This particular recurrence of Exploded Brain Syndrome may have been caused by the
sheer awesomeness of this photograph and the accompanying news articles.
Just, uh, wow. I cannot summon the words to describe just how
incredibly awesome this is. It's like my childhood dreams about flying.
Read:
>>
"Rocketman flies over Alps with jet-pack strapped to his back">>
"Holy Jetpacks, Fusion Man! Swiss Man Flies With Own Wings"--
Labels: engineering, imagine yourself here, travel
A wee taste of Geoffrey Chaucer
In the General Prologue of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, some space is devoted to describing each of the travelers. We'll have a look at his take on the Monk. If you want to read along, the passage can be found
here, with a modern translation given alongside the original Middle English. For the convenience of the more casual reader, I will offer translations as close to the original wording as I can get.
Chaucer’s description of the Monk is fraught with the kind of sarcasm that I enjoy so much in his writing. This becomes evident beginning in lines 177-178, where Chaucer writes of the Monk's disregard for a certain text condemning his favorite pastime:
"
He thought of that text not a pulled hen,
That says that hunters are not holy men "
Clearly the Monk enjoys hunting and other things too much to let such old-fashioned religious notions get in his way. At first read Chaucer seems to agree with this philosophy (l. 183-192):
"
And I said his opinion was good.
Why should he study, and make himself mad,
Upon a book in cloister always to pore,
Or work with his hands and labor,
As Austin bids? How shall the world be served?
Let Austin have his work to him reserved!
Therefore he was a rider aright:
Greyhounds he had, as swift as fowl in flight;
Of riding and of hunting for the hare
Was all his lust, for no cost would he spare. "
Why should the Monk study and labor? "How shall the world be served?" This seems justification enough; Chaucer writes, "Therefore he was a rider aright," as if this is the best thing on which the Monk could possibly spend his time and effort. The verses that follow give a description of the Monk's person, giving him the air of a rich man who has spared no expense in the pursuit of fashionable comforts: fur-trimmed cloak, gold pin, well-conditioned boots, and, from all indications,
very fine dining.
Some might say that Chaucer genuinely agrees with the Monk's habits, being of a practical mind; the Monk can't change the world or really improve the quality of life for lesser people, so why should he waste his time?
However, especially in light of Chaucer's other works, such an observation would seem to be drastically out of character with his apparent set of moral values.
"
Suffice unto your things, though they be small,
For avarice is hateful, ...
Savor no more than behooves you "
The above, translated from Chaucer's "Ballad of Good Counsel," praises the simple lifestyle and the virtue of being satisfied with no more than you need. Considering his verses about the Monk, I find myself responding with equal sarcasm to the Monk's own set of values. "How shall the world be served," indeed?
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Labels: literature, philosophy
