Rocky Mountain National Park. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 2/6/14.
Archive for February 2014
Involuntary Car Wash 3 comments
The Snow In The Pines 6 comments
Trees blanketed in white, deep powder snow at your feet and sunshine welcoming a blue sky day in Rocky Mountain National Park. Photo by C. Brindle 2/2/14. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 2/5/14.
Bacon Swiss Cheeseburger Stuffed Mushrooms 2 comments
Ingredients
- 12 large crimini mushrooms
- 1 pound extra lean ground beef
- 2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs
- 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
- 1 clove garlic
- 4 slices bacon
- 1-3/4 onions
- Butter
- Teaspoon of sugar
- Mustard
- 1/2 pound Emmentale cheese (or substitute any Swiss cheese)
Directions
Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Put mushroom caps into a buttered baking dish. Set aside.
Mince bacon. Fry until crisp. Remove bacon from the grease, set aside.
Finely chop 4 mushroom stems and sauté with 1/4 of an onion, finely minced in a small amount of the bacon grease, until translucent. Add 1 finely minced clove of fresh garlic. Stir for 1 minute. Remove to cool.
Put ground beef in a bowl. Season with 2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Add bread crumbs and the mushroom/onion sauté and stir to combine.
Dice 1-1/2 yellow onions. Melt butter in skillet over medium to low heat. Add onions, stirring occasionally until golden brown. Add salt, pepper, and a teaspoon of sugar. Set aside to cool.
Grate cheese.
Fill mushroom caps with ground beef mixture. Bake in a 375* oven for 25 minutes.
Remove from oven. Place small amount of mustard on top of each. Spoon 1 teaspoon of carmelized onion on each. Top with cheese. Sprinkle bacon. Return to oven for 5 minutes until cheese is melted.
Oh, So Blue Leave a comment
Glacier National Park, as seen from and in Lake McDonald. Photo: Edward Wrzesien. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 1/31/14.
Snowy Sequoias 2 comments
Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 2/1/14.
Sunset Over The Joshua Trees 1 comment
Sunset at Joshua Tree National Park. Photo: Steven Clouse. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 2/2/14.
Thursday Tips: Deus Ex Machina? Leave a comment
Wonderful perspective here … the art of the photograph is not in the camera … it is behind the camera!
The Wardrobe Malfunction 1 comment
It was 10 years ago, and it changed The Game forever.
It only lasted 9/16 of a second, but in an era before Facebook (!) and before DVRs were standard fare in American homes, what became known as The Wardrobe Malfunction became the most watched and re-watched event in the history of TiVo.
35,000 more people signed up for TiVo immediately after The Game.
Justin Timberlake actually coined the term, “Wardrobe Malfunction,” which just missed becoming the word of the year, according to the American Dialect Society (they wisely chose red state, blue state instead).
Superbowl XXXVIII was on CBS that year, and the NFL had hired MTV to stage the halftime show. During the show, Justin Timberlake sang Rock Your Body from his first solo album … and while singing “gonna have you naked by the end of this song,” he reached over and ripped part of Janet Jackson’s bustier away to reveal her right breast.
America was stunned. I remember standing in my living room and thinking, “What did I just see?” That’s what happened at Superbowl parties all across the country. What did we just see?
There was a congressional investigation into what we saw, why we saw it … and how to keep it from happening again. Congress reached a bi-partisan agreement (back when that was still possible), and promptly raised the indecency fines that could be levied by the FCC from $32,500 per incident to $325,000 per incident.
Eventually, CBS (who could have been fined for every single television station that aired the offensive 9/16 of a second) settled and paid $550,000.
The NFL banned MTV from producing future halftime shows. After this cultural, uh, low point, here are the featured performers since:
2005 – Paul McCartney
2006 – The Rolling Stones
2007 – Prince
2008 – Tom Petty & The Heartbrakers
2009 – Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
2010 – The Who
2011 – The Black Eyed Peas, Usher, Slash
2012 – Madonna, Nicki Minaj, MIA, Cee Lo Green
2013 – Beyonce, Destiny’s Child
2014 – Bruno Mars, Red Hot Chili Peppers
As you can see, it was six years before the NFL allowed a female to be a lead performer at the Superbowl halftime show again. Because, clearly, it was all Janet’s fault.
So, what really happened? Conspiracy theorists love questions like this.
Apparently, Timberlake and Jackson conspired and then agreed to do the bustier rip-a-way without rehearsal. Without telling the producers. Without telling anyone. Maybe it was their intent to rip away the leather and leave some red lace covering Jackson’s skin (which prompted the creation of the term “Wardrobe Malfunction”). Maybe this was just out of control attention-grabbing by Pop stars that went too far on a national stage without supervision. To this day, Timberlake won’t discuss what happened. Jackson won’t comment on it any more, either.
Read the ESPN article below for an exhaustive account, with some revealing pictures.
Just don’t look at them longer than 9/16 of a second.
And enjoy today’s game!
More
Huffington Post: Janet Jackson’s…
The Star Bridge Leave a comment
The majestic Natural Bridges National Monument with the equally majestic Milky Way make for one beautiful photo. The Monument is about 50 miles from the 4 Corners boundary in southeastern Utah. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 1/29/14.
