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About this blog

the Beast's Lair

Entries in this blog

art

Would you like to play a game?

Do you want to read or listen to music for fun? I understand perfectly. After all, what's the point otherwise? We ask too little of our art these days. We want it to give us a few laughs. We like to be entertained, maybe excited or even frightened. We don't often ask that it teach us anything and that's a shame. That's what art is for. It's supposed to challenge you, disturb you, open your eyes, expand your consciousness and understanding. There is another level to reading and listeni
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in art

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Home Audio

Cambridge Audio Christmas

This Christmas I had two choices: either I let my old stereo die or replace it with something new and modern that could do things like streaming my old system could not. I've been replacing it by bits, but my old amp was on its last legs. I did my homework. I read reviews, looked at specs and found something I could afford and gave me the kind of options I wanted. The core of my new system is a Cambridge Audio ARX-85. It's a capable little amp that can push 85 watts over two pairs
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in Home Audio

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media

The Unblinking Eye

The Unblinking Eye Once upon a time, the news of the world came to us at the sedate speed of the newspaper man's Linotype. The news of the world would arrive at your door every morning along with sports, comics, book reviews and obituaries. On its way, editors might decide that the typhoon in China or the earthquake in Persia wouldn’t be of interest to local subscribers. Sometimes the images of distant disasters and war took weeks or months to end up before the public.
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in media

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science

Scientific Consensus

Scientific Consensus Alfred 1 Wegener (1880-1930) was a German meteorologist who picked up an interest in geology. He wondered why some continents like Africa and South America fit together almost like a key? He began to wonder: do continents move? In Victorian times such an idea seemed ludicrous as every good Christian fundamentalist knew that the world was 10,000 years old. Anyone who might suggest processes like Wegener s or his contemporary James Hutton that to
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in science

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Memes

Memeing In the First Republic

Some people might think that the 1st memes invented were Keyboard cat, Philosoraptor and the numa-numa guy. That would be very, very wrong. Imagine you lived in a Kingdom that was one of the most powerful and influential in the world but, it had fallen on hard times. The king was, by all accounts, a corrupt incompetent dolt. The people were hungry and the spoiled, foolish Queen, when told there was no bread for the peasants said let them eat cake. While this might sound u
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in Memes

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COVID-19

The Truth About COVID-19

COVID-19 is a modified Coronavirus(1). Coronaviruses are first cousin to the Rhinovirus which cause the lions share of head colds. One guess which family causes the rest of them: coronaviruses. Coronavirus and Rhinovirus are positive stranded RNA virus which means their genetic material is the single stranded RiboNucleaic Acid (RNA). They differ significantly from DioxyNucleaic Acid (DNA) based viruses. RNA viruses do not have double-stranded genetic material of DNA viruses and are much sma
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in COVID-19

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recipes, southern

Cassarole for a Dinner on the Grounds

Many Protestant denominations have a wonderful tradition called Dinner on the Grounds. That alone is enough to give you religion but, I digress. It's often held in late summer or early fall so the bounty of farms and gardens can be shared with friends and neighbors. Many a little old church lady... ...will don her blue wig and show off her best recipes. This is why there are no anorexic Baptists. If you would like a taste of this heavenly goodness without the associated hymns and
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in recipes, southern

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astronomy

Fun with the Eagle Nebulea

This is the Eagle Nebula. It is otherwise known as M-16 or "the Pillars of Creation". As a star forming region, it has long been studied. The Hubble's images from the nineties have given us a better look at it than ever before. We can now see structures that no telescope ever before could resolve. This gave us a chance to see these gems. All of these artifacts are gas, dust, multiple stars in the process of formation and their interactions. The Demon is five major stars form
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in astronomy

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writing

Experimental Writing (or Thanks for being my Guinea Pigs)

I have two rather large writing experiments that I've been running for a while now. I have been running them at GA because I can access them directly and don't have to go through an intermediary to post or do hot online edits. These are highly experimental, and I'm trying a lot of new and different things. I'll share my findings here. I had several goals that I wanted to achieve: Get proficient with self-editing Work on the process of outline => draft => revision
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in writing

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music, albums, vinyl

The Vinyl

Like many kids my era, I collected albums, smoked a lot of weed and listened to music real loud. Unlike many of my contemporaries, I held on to my collection and treated it with great care. It sounds as good today as it did in the seventies. Jackson Browne The Pretender LP   R The Beatles Abbey Road LP   R Foreigner
Music

CD Collection

I have a bunch of CDs and I had to get them organized, so I'll know what I have and where they are. I'm working on my vinyl collection too but, it's a lot more work. I'm taking them out, cleaning them covering the outside in plastic and replacing the liners that need it with an after-market product. I wanted to have this list in a few different places. Anyway, gaze upon my works and despair. Yes- there are duplications (trade bait). Location is where they are. After getting this actually done I'
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in Music

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preview

The Summer Job (A Preview)

Phillip is 16 and new in town with his first job: working for the Y. With no friends and his Dad stuck in London (or was that Hong Kong or Singapore?), he resolves to make a few. One of the new fiends older brother Andy is known to be a real asshole and, he wants to have a talk to Phillip.    
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in preview

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horrible writing advice

Horrible Writing Advice

Horrible writing advice... Heroes wear white. They ride on high white horses and have shiny plot armor. They are, of course, interesting because who wants to read about a bum, right? Heroes should be flawless role models because seeing them overcome their petty human experience is just plain boring. Villains wear black. Their horses don't really like them. They don't get shiny plot armor because the writers guild demands it! They aren't very interesting because they're just plain old e

Mary Sue (with appologies to Buddy Holly)

If you knew Mary Sue Then you'd know why I feel blue With Mary, my Mary Sue Oh well, I loathe you, gal Yes, I loathe Mary Sue! Mary Sue, Mary Sue I'm so fucking sick of you Oh, Mary, F-ing Mary Sue Oh well, I loathe you Yes, I loathe you Mary Sue Mary Sue, Mary Sue Annoying, bitchy, perfect Mary Sue Oh, Mary, f-ing Mary Sue I'm so f-ing sick of you Die horribly perfect Mary Sue!
JamesSavik

JamesSavik

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Shrimp Creole

Cajun food is a lot like jazz. There are some basics but, there a lot of ad lib going on. Some of the old recipes were designed to vary significantly depending on what you had on hand. For something like Jambalaya the rice and spices are constant but, it can be loaded up with anything from sausage, hamburger meat, shrimp, deer meat, etc. It's how a Mom could feed a lot of kids based on what's in the kitchen. It's not hard to do, fun and you come up with some absolutely delicious stuff.
JamesSavik

JamesSavik

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Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients: 3 X chicken breasts 1 X large onion (red or yellow) 1 X green bell pepper 1 X red bell pepper Spice Mix: 1 TBS chili powder 1 TBS Cumin 1 Teaspoon salt 1 Teaspoon black pepper   1 large crock pot   Steps: Prep the veggies Slice onions and peppers.   Load up the crock pot Create a bed of onions and peppers for the chicken.   Park the chicken on a bed of onions and peppers
JamesSavik

JamesSavik

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Porky's Chili

Porky's Chili Ingredients 1 pound lean ground beef 1 pound pulled pork (smoked is best, no bbq sauce) 1 medium red onion 1 bell pepper (may add or sub Anaheim or Poblano) 1 small can chili peppers (heat depends on your tastes) 1 can Hunts chili fixings 1 can Rotel chili fixings   Spices (note: this is a "safe" amount. If you are more adventurous, you can turn up the volume by adding more chili powder, cumin or red pepper at your own risk)
JamesSavik

JamesSavik

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Virology 101

Take this course from Columbia           For more check him out  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyFgCoP4ovsHbt92vM4zN2A
JamesSavik

JamesSavik

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Chili Verde

This is my version of the recipe. Your mileage may vary. 🙂 Chili Verde 2 pounds pork loin cut into chunks- browned on the stove 1 X 28 oz can of tomitillos (crush them 5 X 7 oz cans of verde salsa 1 X can Rotel 1 X small can of chili peppers (to taste) 1 red onion chopped 3 garlic cloves 1 tbs chili powder 1 tbs cumin  1/2 teaspoon red pepper  1 tsp black pepper Put in (large) crock pot for 4-6
JamesSavik

JamesSavik

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Excellent Caronavirus Information Video

This gentleman has been on the case since the very start. He has had a daily video and, published this summary. Things are looking up. It looks like we're not going to have the deaths we thought we might. Lockdown may be boring but, better bored than infected with this little monster.
JamesSavik

JamesSavik

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Get Well Soon

I am going to recommend a book that's timely and provides some perspective. Get Well Soon by Jennifer Wright is a short history of the worst pandemics in history. It starts with the Antonine Plague which so weakened the Roman Empire it eventually fell. The book proceeds through history and the big nasty pandemics that collapsed empires and economies like Black Death, Yellow Fever and even AIDS. What is important about this book it that is notes the historic mistakes almost every societ
JamesSavik

JamesSavik

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Remember when?

Remember when we used to joke about the Corona virus? It's not like we haven't seen new viruses get hyped like SARS and MERS. Someone would leap on a podium, bang a shoe and claim it is the end of the world and, it would fade away. Remember how the politicians didn't even take a break from their regularly scheduled circle jerks? Yeah. That was really stupid. Remember how we made fun of the conspiracy theorists on the internet that said Wuhan was the home of the Peoples Republic Bioware
JamesSavik

JamesSavik

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The Shadows were the true Heroes of B5

The Shadows were the real heroes of B5. They didn't play games with the younger races like showing up looking like angels, turning them into telepaths or twisting them with decadent introspective philosophy like the filthy Vorlons with their disgusting fetish for religious fanatics. The Shadows asked what do you want but, they didn't protect them from the consequences of their lusts for power. Evolution is driven by conflict. Growth through pain. The Shadows were intellectually honest
JamesSavik

JamesSavik

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The Company

What the heck is going on with this story?! It's 200 thousand words in twelve chapters. It is experimental: a sort of limited stream of consciousness novel that could easily grow to a million or more words. I have a cast of characters that takes up a database. I'm having fun with it and I  have a purpose for it. I'm working on the craft, work process and self editing, so I can get out more material quicker. There's no better way to do it than jump in the deep water. Yeah- the
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JamesSavik

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