http://www.peoplesregime.com/ The People's Regime The People's Regime <mictator@peoplesregime.com> http://www.peoplesregime.com/column.php?id=502 For many, the word "East" can evoke images of any of the following things: I-95, hoagies, the Yankees, Taipei, Tokyo, sushi, or karaoke. For me though, the East has meant that riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma and stuck in an empty vodka bottle. I’ve never been to Spain or experienced Italy, or countless other beautiful destinations, and with any luck, one day I will. Instead, for some inexplicable reason, I have been pulled to a region where I have no business at all in being. No heritage reasons. No real academic reasons. No pursuits of potential love interests… Just a simple and undeniable feeling that despite the difficulties in communication and culture, I am home when I am there. So,... http://www.peoplesregime.com/column.php?id=496 Friday Night Live, for those of you that don't know, was a sketch comedy group at Alfred University started back in 1992 by Dan Napolitano. It was the first organization I joined at Alfred after transferring down in 1995. I did quite a bit of stage acting in the series, and finally ended up as the person who produced, directed, and shot all of the video shorts for the show. Don't ask me how that ended up happening, I really don't remember how, but it ended up being something that I really enjoyed. All of the video editing was done on an ancient VHS to VHS recorder. This basically meant that you had to get things right in one take, or else you had to start over from the beginning. It also didn't allow for easy duplication of ta... http://www.peoplesregime.com/column.php?id=498 This is my painstakingly refined (I know; who knew I ever did more than one iteration of anything? I'm as surprised as you are) pancake recipe. For those of you who were up at the Ranch for NYE, lo, these three months back, this is what I made on NYM. It's based on the King Arthur flour "Basic Pancake or Waffles" recipe, tweaked to provide maximum nutritional value while minimizing dishes/fussiness. After all, when you're making pancakes, chances are you aren't even through your first cup of coffee. The proportions listed here are actually a half recipe - usually enough for two or three people with a few left over for toasting and snacking later. In a 2-cup liquid measure, combine: 1 cup milk (I usually us... http://www.peoplesregime.com/column.php?id=501 I realize by now you’ve probably wrapped on another “exciting and super special” season of Heroes. You may be taking a break right now to come up with some new ideas for the next ‘even better’ season of the show. Here’s my advice, don’t. Simply let the show die in peace. Now before you dismiss me as yet another angry fan, please give me a second to explain. I, like a lot of other fans of this show, really got swept into the first season. It was like a real live X-men weekly TV show. I mean any comic book nerd worth his weight in newsprint and acid free plastic storage bags would be lying if they weren’t even a little bit excited about that show idea. You had a large stable of characters, a super villain, and ... http://www.peoplesregime.com/column.php?id=499 Dear DTVanswers.com I, as a member of the MTV generation, have never had MTV available at home, and despite a few moments in high school, never missed it. *Gasp* What sort of evil torture did my mother give me? Was I chained to a radiator in a closet? No. We never had cable. We watched with rabbit ears. I have learned to adapt to the fuzz, squiggly lines and general greyness of the moving pictures. I have enjoyed antenna tv, and the free over the air broadcasting. In my own home, my family has made the choice - economically and philosophically - to not have cable. Which is why I am quite displeased with the recent conversion to digital. Like many Americans, I received my coupon, purchased my converter b... http://www.peoplesregime.com/column.php?id=497 It's been a long trip from the Folgers of my early days to the heights of coffee snobbery at which I now find myself. It started by discovering Dunkin Donuts coffee. At some point I learned how much better it was if you ground the beans yourself, and switched to whole beans. Then, brewing methods -- French Press, vacuum-driven coffee makers, eventually coming back to the drip coffeemaker and settling on the best of the best. Without question, the biggest improvement in my coffee has come from learning to roast. It takes a little practice, but even your mistakes will be drinkable. Once you hit your stride, you will be delighted with every morning cup. <... http://www.peoplesregime.com/column.php?id=495 The past has no hold on you These words burned across the page of my latest Modesitt paperback, read cover to cover from the moment I awoke in Cancun, Mexico until I arrived on my couch later that night. The phrase resonated so clearly with my life, where it had been, where it was now, and where it was heading. There are ... gaps ... in my memory. There are holes left unfilled, discernible blanks where there should be images and pictures and memories. I have been rightfully accused from time to time of focusing my will with laser like precision upon a goal either distant or near but always ahead. In truth, I rarely reflect on the past. It is full of emotional moments, pain, humiliation, failures, shortcomings, bro... http://www.peoplesregime.com/column.php?id=494 As it is summer for me, I've been doing a lot of car work (for myself and others) and doing logs for gas mileage improvements in this day of spiking gasoline/petrol/diesel pricing. Here, I will entail both simple, and complicated methods that which you can apply to increase gas mileage on an existing car with both cheap + something that will pay for itself over time assuming that you'll own the car for more than a year. Mechanical Simple: -Take out the crap in your car that you don't need! Extra weight costs you mileage! The lighter the car is, the better the gas mileage. Note that I am not suggesting that you strip out things, just removing things out of the trunk that you don't necessarily need on a ... http://www.peoplesregime.com/column.php?id=493 This was my very first batch of pickles. It was much easier than I'd expected. These were "half sour" pickles. It took 6 days to age. Here are the instructions, in case you want some. For supplies, you will need: A 1-gallon jug A stock pot 3-4 smaller, heat-resistant containers for storage. Make sure they're good for more than 220 degrees (as we'll be pouring boiling water into them.) Old pickle jars are great. Tupperware's usually great too. PET bottles -- say, a former peanut butter jar -- is no good, it can't take the heat. Sharp knife Your ingredients: 20 pickling cucumbers 6 cloves of garlic 1 cup kosher salt or pickling salt 1 bay ... http://www.peoplesregime.com/column.php?id=492 So, I signed up for Twitter a bit back. If you're unfamiliar with Twitter, it's either an up-and-coming phenomenom (if you're like me) or a Holy-crap-do-you-live-in-a-cave thing (many who already use it). In essence, you answer the question of, "What are you doing?" with a post that cannot exceed 140 characters. A lot of people - myself included - panned the hell out of this concept when we heard of it. It seemed to me a wildy stupid way to waste time - "Watching TV" and "pooping" seem like status updates I can do without. I ended up signing up because I saw Jeph Jaques, the creator of the webcomic ...