Le ShakèrnattE

Ingredients:

• Freshly brewed espresso
• Ice
• Tangerine EmergenC
• Fresh miniature kiwi slices (optional garnish)

Steps 2 Success:

1. Layout all the ingredients for one attractive preliminary shot!
   
2. Cook up some espresso
   
3. Take a second to briefly admire your handiwork – dammmmn that looks good!
   
4. Add ice to mini-cocktail shaker (novelty perfect-cube ice recommended) then pour one pouch of EmergenC (any flavor could work besides that disgusting acai flavor!)
   
5. Add that cute lil’ cup of espresso you made in step 2 & patted yourself on the back on in #3
   
6. Shake it! Yeah! (put lid on first!) and keep on going until that puppy is cold! Then pour it into an attractive awaiting pre-iced preferably glass receptacle…
   
7. Not too shabby, amirite!?!
   

Taste Profile:
Unexpected – neither of the main ingredients able wins the battle for tastebud control, it ends up as an uneasy draw, a relaxed citrusy espresso blend. Not altogether unpleasant!

Backstory:
Two of the most important drinks in my life right now are both delicous splashes of energy and vitality. The simple rich creamy bite of a fresh espresso. The tangy vitamin C-y relief of a well prepared EmergenC. During a moment of relatively clarity today (9/4/2010) I realized that these two miracles of drink-ability had the potential to coexist in a single refreshing drink.

Epilogue:
I have not been made sick from this drink yet, a good 10 minutes after finishing it, I believe that is a pretty major victory. You know what? I think I might actually make this again, I am feeling pretty great right now!

infared06, originally uploaded by nate_marsh.

With a tripod and an infrared (note, 2 Rs!) filter you can take some pretty interesting urban landscapes. I like the faux-false color plus the ability to capture movement with a surreal almost dreamy softness – each of the exposures is between 20-40 seconds and then I converted them to greyscale, the come out of the camera with a pinky red hue.

I obviously have a lot to learn about controlling camera with this puppy on, but it was a wholly enjoyable process, check out the whole set!

Normal Scene (zzz):

Infrared Scene (!!!):

Full Set

I rather like this view of JP Pond!

Every day on the way home from work, I see this cat flopping around on the street, happy as can be!

ColoPana, originally uploaded by nate_marsh.

You keep looking real pretty CO!

Hm, need something to read, dum de dum de der
What’s this in my bag? Why it’s a double issue of the mf’ing New Yorker!
Cover is a fresh hot slice of NYC
Playa drew it on his iPhone, that works for me!

Check the TOC, see what’s going down
Looks like a tight line-up, flip to the Talk of the Town
Hot damn, I sure just learned a lot!
Including a fascinating snippet on the best Manhattan tater tot

Instead of going shopping, I’d rather be fed to sharks,
but you bet your sweet bippy – I’ll read anything by Patty Marx!
Some good laughs from Shouts and Murmurs
An absurdist piece on an alcoholic housewife & an escaped family of lemurs

Following this, a counter-intuitive piece from Gawande about using floss
And then a left-field article by McPhee on high-school lacrosse
Off to a good start, how about an in-depth profile?
Looks like it’s on the lead editor of the Chicago Manual of Style

Platon’s grainy black & white photo of that dude was the bomb
Gotta check out the rest of his portfolio on Newyorker.com
Now a Gladwell piece on the psychology of choosing a wedding dress
Which surprisingly is an accurate indicator of future career success

Usually when I get to fiction my attention wanders…
But AYFKM? It’s a story from George Saunders!!!
Nice exploration of mass media and a sentient parking meter
Now excuse me I gotta skip this article on modern theater

Oh man, I accidentally skipped a few
Totally overlooked a great lit review!
That 600 page tome on the East India Company sounds OFF THE HOOK
(Note to self: never ever read that book)

Please lord let there be a sketchbook soon by Chast or Ware
All those intense articles can be hard to bear
Did I mention the cartoons this week are spicier than tarragon?
And we got some A+ illustration Spots in the margin

Sasha’s got the details on a hot Brooklyn-based indie group
Must have taken a lot of PBR to get that scoop!
Anthony Lane just ripped some action sequel blockbuster a new one
Watching a chick flick with him does not sound like much fun

Last but not least the witty winner of this week’s caption contest
And what a surprise: he hails from Cambridge, Massachusetts!
The New Yorker magazine continues to entertain me silly
Hats off to you monsieur Eustice Tilly!!

I speak of a food so divine…
The smell, the texture, the taste – sublime

It’s born and raised on a simple stalk
Rooted in the earth, unable to walk
In the field it grows a mask
Preparing it’s contents for their holy task

The massive combines, they finally come
And it’s trip to my belly has formally begun.
After harvested it’s shucked and dried.
Losing it’s beautiful hair it surely cried…

The cob now is no longer needed
& to a lucky cow it is summarily feeded
At last released from their structured cells!
Freedom! Liberation from their restrictive shells!

Soon I spot a bag of them in a store,
I buy them and their journey seems over, but wait – there’s more!
Now, with much thoughtful trepidation
I begin the final steps of their preparation

Ah, the homely kernel does not realize the special treat
It may become with the right application of heat!
The mechanism itself matters not,
Be it hot air, microwave or scalding oil in a pot

The culinary staccato soothes anticipation
and announces an arrival of this delicious creation
It’s state is reduced to entropy…
and I am as happy as a flea!

At last we have 2-3 second between pops
Silence descends as the machine stops…
The steam clears, a snack is born
Behold this simple perfection: a bowl of popcorn!

Update – we raced again in 2007 as Global Cat-astrophe – here’s a flickr gallery of event
If you cannot see the links to the movies & photos, click here

How To: Sand a Cat

There are thousands of ways to skin a cat but what about sanding one? Not so easy, is it? Well, here’s a great solution – presenting Hello Gritty!

Last February, the New England Belt Sander Racing Association approached the nonprofit I work for, Community Servings, to become the benefiting charity of their annual race. I volunteered at the event and got a taste for the action. This year I wanted to make an impact, to bring a little something to the show.

Together with a dedicated team consisting of a graphic designer, an architect, a science whiz and an Individual Giving Coordinator we decided to assemble a sander that would change the hearts, if not the minds, of the crowds assembled at the Sanderdome at Kenyon Woodworking. We decided that we needed something fresh and different with a decidedly macho edge to it. And, what is more hardcore macho than a little mouthless female adolescent Japanese cat?

Exhibit A – Hello Kitty

In order to adapt Hello Kitty to the sander medium we needed a couple things. Firstly, we needed a belt sander, which was handily supplied by our architect/grease monkey, Mike. And we needed ideas, big ideas to shape this hunk of yellow & black into a throne for Her Kittynesses. The inspirado and finishing touches were provided by Nicole & Emily – the science lady & the designer. Oh, an this year’s theme was, in simple terms, “medical”

Exhibit B – A DeWalt Beltsander

One of the most difficult tasks fell to me – locate & purchase a suitable Kitty for the platform, one that didn’t overwhelm the sander or marginalize her starring role. Luckily, Boston has not one but two Hello Kitty themed retail establishments within a 5 minute walk of one another. There’s a kiosk in the Prudential Center that failed me and then the much superior Hello Kitty World. There I found what we were looking for but it was unfortunately hugging a giant apple. I have since learned that Hello Kitty is officially 5 apples tall and weighs in at 3 shiny apples. So we had to modify her just a tad, no more apple!

This slideshow shows in greater detail the creative process. After the platform was completed we mounted it on the sander itself, now decked out custom stickers and an agressive racing strip, through a small screw on the top, giving a very clean and airy looking. The only real modification was some guide wheels to keep ‘er from hitting the sidewalls (the tracks are 12″ wide). The name was actually the last thing we came up with, it seems so obvious now, we like to think it was fate…

Exhibit C – Hello Gritty

We were all comfortable with the look by Saturday morning but her actual track performance was very questionable. We were luckily able to give her a test run before the races started and were delighted to see that she could actually zip down the track without hitting the walls, albeit at a pokey pace.

When all the beltsanders had been registered there was a slight problem. There are two different categories of racer, Stock & Modified. Stock is just what we did, fancy up a sander without changing the insides. Modifed sanders, on the other hand, are mostly less attractive but contain huge engines and other customizations to let them fly down the track. They asked for volunteers to switch into the Modified category because they had many many more Stock than Modified. We decided that because Hello Gritty wasn’t exactly tearing up the track, we should toss her into the Modified, hoping that crowd sympathy and a small act of God might propel us to Gold.

The assembled racers were a sight to behold as this gallery shows.

The races themselves take place on a two laned track that is 50ft for Stock and 75ft for Modified. A good modified racer can come cover that ground in 2.8 seconds easy. The system there is nice & professional a bell is rung and a “christmas tree” countdown starts (two rows of lights red, red, orange, orange and green) – when it hits green you punch a large control button and the juice flows into your creation, hurtling it down the track where it is caught in a cushiony nest at the end. There is a timing circuit in place for photo finishes. Here are some photos of the races, watch the people’s heads follow the little machines.

We did just about how we thought we’d do against a giant modified sander. Our competition was known as “Al’s Evil Twin”. Everyone settles in, the bell rings, the lights flash down (two false starts and you lose, tough but fair!) and I hit the button. Our little creation lurches forward and keeps pace the first 10 feet and then hits it optimal cruising speed which is well below her competitor and Hello Gritty loses in the 1st round, sadly. Here are two movies that document the first heat – Angle One – (3.71MB) & Angle Two (9.28MB).

We consoled ourselves with beers and other exciting races. Lo & behold at the awards ceremony – Hello Gritty was chosen to be “Rookie of the Year” – a good sign that Hello Gritty will make a reappearance for 2007!

Exhibit D – Gritty & Trophy

Photos

From Start to Finish

Other Racers

The Races

Movies
Hello Gritty vs Al’s Evil Twin1 (3.71MB)
Hello Gritty vs Al’s Evil Twin2 (9.28MB)