The UFO Pictures I Took

Here are the UFO pictures I took when I was little. Can you identify it?

(The black thing in the second picture is the strap from my camera case. Also, these are actually pictures of the original pictures because they were taken with a film camera. The dot at the top is a hole from a push-pin that I used to put these on my bulletin board, and there are visible creases in the first pic.)

Jesus Christ!

I saw this on Reddit:

It’s from Surviving the World, which has a lot of fun lessons.

Recipe – Chickpea Burgers

It’s weird for me to post a recipe, but since my vegetarianism was a result of my reason-based outlook, I think it fits in here. If people like the idea of posting recipes I’ll do it more often!

Since I stopped eating meat I’ve been looking for an alternative to burgers that’s not disgusting, and it’s hard to find. I can’t stand the taste of soy, and those burgers that try to taste like meat are usually dry and weird-tasting. The other night I went to a BBQ and the hostess kindly made me a chickpea burger that I absolutely loved, mainly because it wasn’t trying to taste like meat.

Here‘s the recipe:

2 tsp vegetable oil
3 green onions (including tops) chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp each dried oregano and chili powder
1 cup diced sweet red or green pepper and/or ½ cup chopped pickled hot peppers
Half tomato, chopped
1 can (19 oz) chick-peas drained and rinsed
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tbsp cilantro or parsley, chopped

1. In nonstick skillet, heat 1 tsp of oil over medium heat and cook onions, garlic, oregano and chili powder, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add red pepper and tomato. Cook, stirring for about 3 minutes or until pepper is tender and liquid is evaporated.
2. In food processor, mix pepper mixture with chick-peas; transfer to bowl. Stir in bread crumbs, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste until well combined. Pressing firmly, shape into 4 burgers.
3. In nonstick skillet, heat remaining oil over medium heat and cook burgers for 4 minutes on each side or until heated through.

Serves 4

You can make this ahead through to step 2 and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.

The friend that made them for me used extra bread crumbs because the patties weren’t staying together well. She also used both green peppers and pickled ones. She cooked them on the BBQ but it was a bit of a challenge, so it’s probably best to do it in a skillet. You just eat it on a bun with whatever condiments you would normally put on a burger.

On the website where she got the recipe it says you could also omit the breadcrumbs and cook them in a frying pan to use as filling for tacos.

Enjoy!

Star Trek Cologne

I’ve been slacking with my posting lately, but this is too good not to pass on…

Now the Star Trek enthusiast can complete his or her look with a scent to match:

Tiberius:

Product Features

• Boldy go.
• Explorer. Soldier. Time-Traveler. Diplomat. Legend.
• Citron, black pepper, and cedar create refreshingly clear top notes, layered over warm vanilla, white musk and sandalwood base notes
• casual yet commanding cologne spiked with freshness and sensuality

Red Shirt

Product Features

• Bright, clean and Direct with Top notes of green mandarin, bergamot and a hint of lavender
• RED SHIRT Finish Strong with base notes of leather and grey musk.
• A daring mens fragrance for those brave enough to place no trust in tomorrow.

And for the ladies…Pon Farr:

Product Features

• Straight from the planet Vulcan, this 50 ml container of Star Trek Pon Farr Perfume is all you need to drive your man (or men) wild.
• With base notes from sandalwood, peach, and mulberry, Pon Farr is perfect for those bright sunny days and warm summer nights spent together at the beach, around the fire, or simply watching your favorite affaire d’honneur. Sharp and aggressive, simple yet exotic, use it with care!
• Pon Farr: In the Star Trek universe, Vulcan males and females go into heat every seven years, going into a blood fever, becoming violent, and finally dying if they don’t mate with someone with whom they’re empathically bonded.

Amazing!

A Chart Explaining Intelligent Design

Cracked.com has a funny article about intelligent design logic, I especially love this chart:

Psychic Oscar Predictions

I love it when psychics make verifiable claims, don’t you?

Their proven track record for accurate predications for those in the public eye has PsychicSource, the nation’s oldest and most respected psychic network in high demand this Oscar season, as people from Hollywood to Manhattan want to know who will walk away with the coveted Academy Awards on March 7. However, Psychic Source’s predictions are as much about credibility as they are the fun of knowing the winners — and major upsets — ahead of time.

Wow, they sure are confident! If they get them all right this year then I’ll probably be putting some money down on their predictions for next year. Lets see who they say will win…

In the Best Picture category they pick Inglorious Basterds. I haven’t seen it but personally I think Precious or that crapfest Avatar will win. I hope Up or District 9 wins.

For Best Actor they chose Morgan Freeman in Invictus. Seems likely.

They predict Precious star Gabourey Sidibe for Best Actress, I wouldn’t be surprised…everone loves the noob!

Here are the rest of their predictions:

Best Supporting Actor
Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”

Best Supporting Actress
Mo’Nique, “Precious”

Best Director
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”

Best Original Screenplay
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”

Best Adapted Screenplay
Geoffrey Fletcher, “Precious”

Music, Best Original Score
James Horner, “Avatar”

Music, Best Original Song
Take It All, from the movie “Nine” (Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston)

They also predict that Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will do so well that they’re asked to come back next year…I sure hope so!

I’ll post Psychic Source’s hits and misses after the show on Sunday, see you then!

A Bit of Bragging and a Selfish Request

If this kind of thing annoys you then please ignore, but I’m very excited because my blog had more than 20,000 hits in January:

So I just want to say thanks for reading and thanks so much for your comments everyone!

I also want to point out that at the bottom of every post (at least when I remember to do it) there are buttons for a number of social networking sites:

If you have an account at one of these sites I would love it if you would click those buttons at the bottom of a post that you like to submit it to the social networking site of your preference. Out of the buttons I have, I only belong to Reddit, which I found out about when someone was poking fun at my deconversion due to Religulous story, so even if you think something I said is idiotic I think you should submit me 😉

—

Okay I get very uncomfortable promoting myself, so now I’m going to promote someone who deserves it:

Dr. Rachael Dunlop is an awesome advocate for evidence-based medicine, as well as a skeptical blogger and podcaster. She’s up against a quack in Twitter’s Shorty Awards, so if you have a Twitter account click here to vote for her!

Hi Mom

Welcome!

The Slippery Slope of Gay Marriage

You may have already seen this comic if you read Pharyngula, but just in case you haven’t, here’s a fantastic comeback to the slippery slope argument against gay marriage:

You can find more fantastic comics like this one at  SMBC.

Anti-Swine Flu Holy Water Dispenser

Italian Inventor Luciano Marabese has come up with a more sanitary way for churchgoers to get their holy water.

Traditionally, Catholics dip their hands in a communal bowl of holy water and make the sign of the cross. But with the threat of swine flu this ritual has become riskier. Marabese’s holy water dispensers work like soap dispensers in a public restroom.

What’s so holy about the water if it can’t even stop the spread of germs?