Of course I have my Amazon list, but for family then there are always other items that don't exist I'd love to have so here are a few quick thoughts.

Babylon 5 podcast mentions the DVDs are on sale I have season 1, but would love the rest.

You, me, and a Chicken Fried Radio Tshirt or Bumper Sticker would be great!

Microbrewed Adventures or the beer style books like the Hefeweizen

Last and if someone wins the lottery or is feeling really generous this will always be an option.

Couldn't agree more.

It was a nice first dusting, the cold is well just that, but fits the season so I don't mind in the least. There is a great little snow video on the AZ Daily Sun's website, go check it out.

I have been making Butternut Squash soup for the last few years at Thanksgiving. It’s pretty simple, but I never have written it down. I took a recipe we found a while back and just wing it. The downside to this was this year I couldn’t find the base recipe so I forgot a key ingredient and had to run to the store Thanksgiving morning.

So this is partially so I have the recipe written down somewhere and share a great soup.

4 Butternut Squash
4-5 of broth (veggie, preferable but chicken works too)
2-3 Leeks
4-5 cloves of garlic
Olive Oil
Salt
Nutmeg
White Pepper

Slice the squash in half and remove seeds, a grapefruit spoon is perfect for the task. Olive oil and salt the halves of squash and put on cookie sheets. Roast the squash in an oven at 400 degrees for an hour.

They should look like this…






Let the squash cool.

Half the leeks, clean them and dice finely. Crush and mince the garlic. Sauté the leeks with a bit of olive oil in the soup pot. Keep the temperature low, no need to brown, just lightly sauté. As the leeks are close to finishing add the garlic for brief sauté. When the garlic becomes fragrant add the broth to warm.

Scoop out the squash meat into a blender add broth and leek mixture. Blend. It may take two or three times to fit all the squash. A thick cream or a bit thicker is the constancy you are looking for the soup. Pour the mixture back into the soup pot and simmer.




Add a dash of nutmeg, salt and white pepper to taste. Becareful with the white pepper, it’s easy to over season.

Serve and enjoy!

I don't listen to much radio any more my ipod contains my music and a good selection of favorite podcasts. That said the one time I do tend to listen is first thing in the morning as I take a shower and get ready for the day. But recently the morning DJ I enjoyed moved to midday and I don't enjoy the replacement. Just a bit too much of that "Hey everybody" wacky DJ voice going on.

Okay on to the point the radio station just went through one of those format changes and I heard the new "I just love the (insert new name here)", but during the commercial I heard something that made me take a page from SAJU's English book.

A person on the ad said "Each song is better than the next" so that means that the station is progressively playing worse and worse music?

Just a good reminder why I don't listen to the radio much.

"I don't think movie theaters will ever go away"

So spoke a man who probably hasn't seen a film in a theater with sticky floors, bad sound system, or even noticed how overpriced the popcorn is in years.

I only see a film or two a year in theater, most of them aren't a priority. Not that I haven't wanted to see some of them, just the experience isn't worth the trouble. Probably part of the reason I signed up with Netflicks. I can wait a couple of months after release to see things. No rush.

Theaters can't compare to an environment where you can ocntrol the start and finish times, the temperature, the neighbors with cell phones, and the overpriced food stuffs. With today's surround sound and big screens we have our own theaters and we really won't need theirs.

Between keeping Lott in the Senate leadership and then today's election for House leadership it seems the Republicans have learned nothing from Election day. A pity for those in the blogosphere who thought it might be a wake up call. Still waiting to see if Pelosi will put the only living judge ever impeached by the Senate in charge of House intellegence committee.

Both parties fighting to make the worst decisions, it would be funny if it weren't so sad.

Christmas is coming and Reason magazine makes a great gift I heard .....just a hint.

I was checking the AZ Daily Sun today and I noticed a little more in depth their new box at the top of the screen, I dislike it initially because I notice it seems to lag the front page stories by 10-15 seconds. Then I noticed the had a blog section, so far not too many posts nor do they have much of a voice to it. That said it's a start and these things need time to develop. What impressed me the most was this post that they have returned to the past policy of having the archives open. I am glad to seem them have a blog and opening back up the site to allow more access for the community. Good going guys.

A coworker was very excited about Rumsfeld’s resignation. Too excited really I thought for someone who had never worked in DC, defense industry, or the military. It bothered me but I couldn’t quite put my finger on the why.

This morning I awoke with my answer, it reminded me of the often ugly side of DC life. Those narrow-minded folks who were more tied to their party identity over the fact that at the end of the day we were and are all Americans. All too often in DC I would be in a perfectly pleasant conversation at a reception or party and eventually the question would come up “Where do you work?” With my response some people would turn and leave the conversation though it had been perfectly nice up to that point. They valued that party affiliation over friendship and conversation while it bothered me, it more depressed me that they were such shallow people.

I understand that my coworker doesn’t like Rumsfeld and that is fine, but the man has committed the better part of a lifetime working for public service and that ought to earn some basic level of respect.

Goldwater’s autobiography did influence me in this way, I enjoyed the section where he talked about at the end of the day, regardless of the political debate he and Kennedy would often sit down and play cards together. I tried to carry that same mindset with me to DC, because some of the best people I got to know and still remain friends with were working for the other side of the aisle.

I think it comes down to this are you an American or are you a party affiliation?

If you look at the post voting comments alot of it goes back to the issue of corruption. But the question is did the Dems pickup that message?

If so Hastings will not be the Chair of intellegence committee, Harmen will be their choice. The reasons for this are obvious, but I think it will be a bellweather event on determining if the 110th Congress is going to be productive or buisness as usual. I suspect the later, but hope to be proven wrong.

The best summary of Tuesday's election is by Mark Tapscott "When Republicans worry more about staying in government than about limiting government, they get thrown out of government."

So it struck me with the passage of Prop 203 last night who will be most impacted and the answer is Arizona buisness. Right now I buy 80% of my pipe tobacco out of state and 20% of my cigars. Considering that the new tax would cover roughly half my shipping costs when I buy a package of cigars from JR Cigars, without including what the tax was previously, it makes more sense to buy my cigars from them. It's just cost effective and besides they usually ship them so quick they are better condition than most of the local stores keep them.

All policy impacts behaviour, this one means I'll be shopping out of the state more. Instead of getting some revenue, they will get none. I am probably not the only one.

Checkout Coyote blog for what the election means on AZ ballot measures and Libertarians. Good stuff.

Postscript: What Republican may fair best out of this election? John Shadegg. I wouldn't be surprised if he won minority leader. Interesting thought to say the least.

Post Postscript:(11/9/06) Close, but no cigar, Shadegg is running for Minority Whip. It makes sense as he has been active in the Whip organization while in Congress.