Anchovies – Season Brand
I had a steak in the refrigerator last weekend, and also had some flat leaf parsley in a baggy. I went to the food closet and got a box of 
Season Brand anchovies. 
I’m not sure where I purchased them, but they were very good when I opened the container.
I used several while frying the steak on the stove top, and also used some garlic flavored olive oil during the cooking process. Anchovies disintegrate during the process.
I got out my blender and added the parsley, some of the garlic flavored olive oil, some anchovies, a little fresh onion, and garlic and some salt and pepper. This blends up into a bright green pesto which is excellent with steak. I think I got this recipe from one that Emeril Legasee had posted online several years ago.
The steak and the pesto were very good!
Smithfield’s Chicken -n- BBQ TEA SUCKS!
They must have changed their tea! I have tried it in Fayetteville, Clayton and just this afternoon in Lumberton, NC and they all have changed to this sucky, non-tea-like drink. I actually had them take it back the first time, but then they brought the new back to the table and it was just as unpalatable.
ADDENDUM [09/15/22]: I’ve probably written about Smithfield’s awful tasting tea elsewhere. During my recent 50th high school reunion, a few of us at a table started talking about Smithfield’s unsweet tea, which has a horrible, non-tea like flavor. Their sweet tea is deliciously sweet, but it is obvious that they don’t give a rat’s ass about their unsweet tea. In fact, it tastes like someone has taken cigarette ashes and added them to water. That is the closest thing I can compare the taste to. It was so refreshing to have more than just me stating how horrible their unsweet tea tasted.
Anyone Received the New Swivl Yet?
An April 17, 2014 video from Ohio State University.
This is one of the first examples of the new Swivl. Although you do not see the device itself, you do see the new tracking unit.
My original posting and addendums below:
I’ve been waiting for mine. I ordered it in early January 2014, and at that time it was supposed to be a 6 weeks wait. On Feb. 18th, I received an email that they would ship in early March. It is now March 12th and I just sent the company an email asking if there was some problem.
I haven’t seen any postings (by non company persons) showing off their new Swivl yet.
—
ADDENDUM: I received a reply from the Swivl rep that said they would be shipping the new Swivl out in another couple of weeks. That would make shipment the end of March. That would be 3 months from when my credit card was charged. *As much as I wanted to “play” with the new device, I sent an email cancellation notice and asked if there was anything else I needed to do to cancel my order.
ADDENDUM-ADDENDUM: I did receive my order amount refund (by check, my choice) within a week! Still don’t see anyone’s video examples from using the new Swivl.
It was sort of odd. I was interested in this little piece of hardware, that had been offered at an extremely reasonable price during the first iteration. The refinements and redesign of the proposed second iteration looked great. But, the second iteration had a sizeable jump in price, and the company appeared to have put their energies in what I consider a tangent, Cloud Video. The trick for Swivl was as a device that caused your camera to follow you, and remotely record very good audio. I wasn’t interested in having a special place to store and deliver the created videos. I can put those on YouTube.
Hmmmm… No, Ho-Hum.
I just read an review of “the Monuments Men” in the Up & Coming Weekly Magazine. Sounds like this should have gone straight to Historical Movie Preservation and the reels left in a corner until they had deteriorated beyond repair. I know they are probably stored on everything but reels now, but one can hope.
Colored Cauliflower
I still think something is wrong with this.
There are people living under the Rowan Street bridge that goes over Hillsboro Street. Apparently, they have been living there for at least a couple of years. It’s not that the City of Fayetteville, or the new mayor are unaware of this. How can he be? I emailed him about this and he responded that he would pass this along to the correct department.
If I wasn’t already living in Fayetteville, I would prefer to live in the 300 Hay section of town. I see that one of those units is currently listed at $375K. But, if I was down and out, it would be nice to know that just a couple of blocks away (a little closer to the Airborne Museum and the Fayetteville Train Depot), I could lay down a bed mattress, find some blankets or used clothing, and stay for free under the Rowan Street bridge. It boggles my mind that the City of Fayetteville finds it unnecessary to do anything about this!
Odd Call from Time Warner Survey Derivative
A few days ago, I received a call from a woman that said she was with Time Warner (or perhaps doing a survey representing them). She was polite and asked if I would take the survey. I said, “yes.”
She asked if I was using a cell phone or a land line. I told her I was on a cell phone.
She asked if I was driving or operating some other machinery, to which I said, “no.”
She made a comment about my Time Warner service having recently changed, and I affirmed that was true. (A few days before the Super Bowl.)
She asked what services I had dropped. I said I had dropped TV.
She asked which services I had kept or added. I said, “Internet.”
She then thanked me for taking the survey and the call ended.
???
What was up with that? She only verified what she should have already known. Could I have answered differently to receive more questions?
Istanbul was Constantinople Then…
Mellon Foundation Awards Davidson $800,000 to Expand Digital Studies
http://www.davidson.edu/news/news-stories/131213-mellon-foundation-digital-studies-award
][
Among these initiatives is "Davidson Domains," which will provide every Davidson student a unique domain name and access to an open-source platform like WordPress. The Web domain will serve as a foundation for students’ online presence
at Davidson and beyond. As students progress through the Davidson curriculum, they will learn how to add content to the domain from any aspect of their experience. Students might use it to display outstanding assignments, samples of internship work or research
experience, and more.
][
I like the idea that they are giving their students a unique domain name. I love WordPress as an eportfolio. It should be interesting to see if eportfolios at Davidson are any more successful than they have been elsewhere.
I think that a good deal of faculty time and effort would be needed to help students determine which examples of their works and experience should be included in the eportfolio.
Chromebooks, ePortfolios, the Flipped Classroom and WordPress
It would seem that if you (the Institution) were recruiting a higher percentage of incoming students that would need remedial courses, and that because of this you would have a higher percentage of students failing to complete college in 4.5 or 5 years… that you would help them start preparing before they ever arrived on campus. You would also get them in as cheaply, at least for the first two years, so that if they did indeed fail, they would leave the institution with a minimal post-college bill.
Having said that, I am a technician, and as such here are three suggestions:
· Provide incoming Freshmen with a Chromebook and make all courses during the first two years Chromebook friendly. That means storing their documents in the Cloud, and using an LMS (or LMSes) that work well on a Chromebook. Google Docs
· Establish an ongoing relationship with possible candidates as early as possible, and establish whether they will need remedial activities. If so, why not have them work online in some remedial activity. Use WordPress for a development eportfolio.
· Reduce per course costs by attempting to eliminate book fees. Students don’t have to purchase or rent books for their courses.
o Wherever possible use free online course materials.
o Faculty become adept at student “touch”.
§ “Touches” are the personal, intimate, communication between professors and students which can be found nowhere else, and that make the learning process special.
“… You get a free Chromebook, and are not required, for the first two years, to purchase or rent any textbooks, and we will provide you with a personal financial advisor.“
Bill Gibson, II 