29 October - More Genius Marketing from the Marketing Geniuses


Digital signed title page of Animals Aloft

Not content with the brilliant Animals Aloft

26 October - Hanuman at the Movies



Oh, I can't wait to see this - India's first full-length animated movie,

25 October - Animals Aloft Book Signings


Unidentified dog (left) and the Spirit of St. Louis, 1927.

We haven't quite worked out who will be appearing as "Allan Janus" at book signings for

25 October - Here We Are Again



Whew... back again from

19 October - So Long


Leroy and Natasha

I'll be away for a couple of days, attending the annual meeting of ALTGEM, the Association of Less Than Generously Endowed Museums - I'm traveling by bus, by the way. I'll be chairing one of the panels - "A Shred of Dignity? Strategies for Donor Shake-Downs" - should be interesting and thought-provoking.

Above, one last cat shot for the road. Back on Monday.

KITTEN GROSSMAN UPDATE - Friend of the Museum Lisa Grossman has late-breaking coverage of Kitten Grossman lapsing cutely into a scampering-induced coma.



link   home

Those are indeed "firehouse eggs" (although I encountered the method first as called "hobo eggs", a misnomer, judging by the Google search results). Next time, try sprinkling some shredded cheese on top...

You can use a similar technique, without having to waste the egg white, using corned beef hash or hash browned potatoes. An alternative is to make a little nest for the egg in the middle of some chopped tomatoes and onions, perhaps mixed with salsa, or potatoes O'Brien, perhaps mixed with ham. The white holds it all together. You can put a lid on the frying pan to make sure it's all cooked, or you can flip the whole mess over.

Variations abound.

I went into a Mom & Pop Butcher Shop today in Smithsburg [Maryland]. Under the glass counter was a tub of pon haus. The little sign on the tub said pon haus.

I bought a pound. The label that they stuck on it said Scrapple.

So there it is.

We are all three way proud of our Panabasis coverage. But permit me to update your update in one regard. The last three pictures are of Kitten Grossman's second full-scale encounter with Dog Luke (I am not, of course, taking into account the pre-show action, noses pressed to the gate and so on) - his first having been unphotographable, more's the pity. I've never seen such a perfect hissy fit in such miniature: tiny spit, tiny hiss, tiny batting of paws, and lightning scamper to safety under the radiator, thence to glare at the monster for at least half a minute until curiosity got the better of him.

17 October - The Kitty of Babylon



From the far reaches of Babylon, New York, Friend of the Museum

However the Miers nomination turns out, the fact that Bush submitted it is an unflattering reflection on his character. In the Federalist No. 76, Alexander Hamilton writes that the Senate’s role in confirming appointments is designed to make the President

both ashamed and afraid to bring forward, for the most distinguished or lucrative stations, candidates who had no other merit than that of coming from the same State to which he particularly belonged, or of being in some way or other personally allied to him, or of possessing the necessary insignificance and pliancy to render them the obsequious instruments of his pleasure.

Hamilton was no naïf about human nature, but in the present case his formula seems to have underestimated the Presidential capacity for both shamelessness and—well, courage isn’t quite the right word. Arrogance.

15 October - The Unbearable Lightness of Kittens



You can't get much more cuteness into a picture than in this masterpiece by

Susie and her little sister were a little nervous when they began their first ride on the transcontinental blimp express. Only the pilot appeared confident.

CHANGE YOUR PLANS AND ROUTE OUT BIN LADEN AND HIS WHOLE GANG?

1. The Iraq war question is a poverty/hatred question blown large by international Historical Prestige Pressures forces. It is no longer a kill or be killed battle simple question. The war is no longer strictly necessary anymore.

2. You must rely on website techniques to locate all the bin Laden locations and start your trailing works from there. You must recruit large number of Arabic linguists (no translator interpreter necessary). CIA FBI staffs no use here in this game.

3. You must have 10-15 big nations closely working with you in interchanging intelligence infos on daily basis you must trust their honesty too and understand the dire consequence. In this exchange you will get useful critical informations on enemy's movements and locations instantly. Don't mess around and waste very short time table.

4. May be American laws prevent arrest actions of enemy agents like opposite to those dictatorship South American countries. You must modify those American arrest law in your country.

If you think quick actions are not necessary with respects of capturing enemy's gangs in Arab countries plus Pakistan/Agfaghanistan (sic!) etc etc .. (like everything in USA has to process through Congress etc) .. then Iraq war would have a slow long ways to go and more bloody sacrifices would have to be tolerated by million American families month after month in next couple of years. Do not like to ace quick fast actions allowing Adolf Hitlers to remain at large.

13 October - Culinary Experimentation



Yesterday we were talking about a sort of egg dish on a discussion list that I subscribe to - an egg is dropped into a piece of bread and both fry together. After reading an account by Friend of the Museum

Heat a skillet to medium.

While the skillet heats, lightly toast a slice of bread. Cut a small hole in the center of the bread - I used a small wineglass.

Break an egg; separate the white from the yolk. Discard the eggwhite.

Throw enough butter into the skillet. Place your bread in the skillet. Fry the bread for a minute or so. Flip the bread.

Carefully pour the yolk into the bread hole. Season the yolk with salt and pepper. A little paprika would be good, too. Cook 'till done.

Eat. Would be good with a couple links of sausage, too, I bet - even better, scrapple. Mmm... We think it's called Firehouse Eggs.

UPDATE - Dr. John Herrera of the High Speed Triumph Research Laboratory suggests pon haus (or ponhaus) as a substitute for scrapple. Dr. Herrera sends this rustic anecdote of ponhaus-making with his friends, the Mackenzies, back in the deep woods of Prince Arthur County, Maryland:

The Mackenzie Clan made pon haus by boiling the hog organs in a big kettle of water. They removed the organs and ground them up. This is the puddin. They added cornmeal, flour, salt, red pepper, and black pepper to the broth and boiled it whilst scraping the bottom vigorously to keep it from sticking. When it was done, they poured it into plastic tubs. It cooled to a semi-solid state. This was then sliced and fried. It's pretty much cornbread. Scrapple may have actual meat in it. This may be the difference.

Do I sound like the Foxfire Book?

10 October - A Walk in the Park with Cats


Natasha waits up for Booper

Not so many visitors to

We also saw some of the Preserve's deer herd - such pretty creatures. Since a case of Lyme Disease was reported in Washington Grove recently, I'll limit myself to observing them through a powerful zoom lens.

6 October - Armed and Fluffy

5 October - Lab Cats



Dr. John Herrera, director of the famous

I'd like you to meet Buster and Ragtime Annie, Associate Mascots.

They are the offspring of the Frederick Motorsports Shop Cat and an unknown father, maybe a Ginger Cat.

Buster is the biggest of the litter of nine and Annie is the bravest. Buster is half-again bigger than Annie.

Felix Holstein hates them and has gone into hiding.

3 October - Dogs with Guns



And now, for your viewing pleasure, a dog with a Luger (